Once Kaguya locked onto him, Byakuya felt an unprecedented sense of danger surge within.
Kaguya was, without question, the most powerful enemy he had ever encountered. Her technique, All-Killing Ash Bones, could even annihilate members of the Ōtsutsuki clan outright. Although Byakuya considered himself a formidable fighter even among the Ōtsutsuki, he wasn't confident he could survive an attack from that ability.
Forming hand seals, he swiftly used Shadow Clone Jutsu. Along with his clones, Byakuya launched a coordinated attack on Kaguya.
Kaguya didn't hold back in the slightest. She immediately unleashed Eighty Gods Vacuum Attack, obliterating all the shadow clones in front of her. Each clone that was struck instantly dissipated into smoke.
That was when she noticed the real Byakuya concealed among the clones. She opened a spatial rift and appeared behind him, grabbing him with the intention of absorbing him immediately.
But the moment she touched him, Byakuya's body turned into an explosive tag, erupting in a fierce explosion.
The blast, of course, couldn't harm Kaguya, but it was enough to leave her disheveled. Even her pristine kimono, white as moonlight, was now stained with soot, leaving her looking quite a mess.
Looking ahead, she spotted Byakuya standing several hundred meters away, watching her with a mocking gaze.
Kaguya's expression darkened. She realized that this ninja born from the shinobi nursery was not ordinary. But apart from her two traitorous sons, Hagoromo and Hamura, there should be no one in the world capable of harming her.
She instantly teleported again, reappearing in front of Byakuya with the intent to strike.
This time, Byakuya did not evade. He slashed his Yin-Yang Style longsword directly at the incoming Kaguya, striking her arm and leaving a distinct cut.
Kaguya tightened her gaze.
She wasn't surprised that he could hurt her. His chakra, while not quite at Ten-Tails level, was very close, but she had the upper hand in sheer power. So why was she being outmaneuvered?
Her gaze shifted to Black Zetsu resting on her sleeve, as if asking what to do next.
Black Zetsu pondered for a moment, then gave advice like a conniving strategist: "Mother, Byakuya is the most cunning ninja in the shinobi world. It's perfectly normal that you're at a disadvantage in terms of combat tactics. But you can leverage the terrain to your advantage."
Kaguya nodded slightly and activated Amenominaka.
In an instant, the world around them shifted. The two were now in a volcanic domain filled with lava, the air thick with the stench of sulfur.
Byakuya was honestly a little stunned. He knew of Kaguya's Amenominaka, which could forcibly transport all combatants into one of the realms of her Starting Sphere of Dimensions. But this power felt borderline broken.
What if she transported them to outer space? Would he be lost forever?
Still, despite his surprise, he wasn't worried. He had already mastered the Flying Thunder God Technique and had spatial coordinates in the shinobi world he could return to at any time.
Plus, the information from the Ten-Tails included many space-time secrets. For fighters at his and Kaguya's level, moving through different realms wasn't much of a challenge.
Sensing the volcanic energy around him, Byakuya quickly launched several Fire Style Senjutsu techniques.
Giant fireballs, dozens of meters in diameter, materialized instantly and hurtled toward Kaguya's location, burning so brightly they were blinding.
Kaguya glanced at the fireballs but made no effort to dodge. In her mind, these were simply masses of chakra; chakra was nothing more than her food, completely harmless to her. But in the next moment, the fireballs struck her face directly.
The searing heat, over a thousand degrees, melted and scorched her form, disfiguring her momentarily.
Moments later, she regenerated and returned to her original appearance, but her gaze toward Byakuya was now laced with fury and confusion. Why had his technique harmed her? Wasn't that fireball just composed of chakra?
Byakuya noticed her confusion and smiled as he explained, "My dear princess, ordinary ninjutsu indeed has no effect on you, the progenitor of chakra. But what if it's Senjutsu? Senjutsu isn't composed of chakra alone."
"Senjutsu…" Kaguya murmured as if recalling something. "Back then, that child Hagoromo used Senjutsu too… So you were sent by him to seal me away again? But I won't let Hagoromo act so willfully this time."
Before her words even finished, she activated Amenominaka again, this time shifting them to the ice world.
Here, Kaguya ruled supreme. With just a thought, massive glaciers surged forth and entombed Byakuya in ice. But Byakuya unleashed his chakra outward, instantly shattering the ice. His gaze toward Kaguya now carried a hint of helplessness.
Couldn't she at least let him finish speaking? He hadn't come to seal her; he just wanted to talk.
Still, one look at Kaguya's expression told him that negotiation was impossible.
As the progenitor of chakra, sealed away by her two sons for a thousand years, Kaguya had long since lost the ability to communicate with others. And now, with his chakra levels being abnormally high, she had naturally marked him as prey.
If he wanted her to calm down and listen, he would first have to teach her a painful lesson.
With that in mind, Byakuya summoned Sage Art: Susanoo. A towering Susanoo took shape in a breath's time, wielding a Yin-Yang Style longsword as it charged toward Kaguya.
Kaguya was unafraid. She flew toward him again, using Eighty Gods Vacuum Attack once more.
The colossal Susanoo was destroyed in an instant, but just as quickly, it reformed and struck Kaguya with its longsword, slicing her cleanly in half.
For Kaguya, being bisected was not a serious injury. She regenerated almost immediately.
Byakuya knew this well. He understood that he couldn't defeat her easily, as his only option was to wear down her chakra completely to eliminate her threat.
All the while, he had to be cautious of her potentially placing a Karma seal on him and taking over his body.
This was one of the reasons he didn't want to get entangled in a prolonged battle and preferred to talk things out. Another was that he wanted more intel from her about the Ōtsutsuki clan.
As he cleaved her down again and again, Kaguya's gaze began to clear. She looked at Byakuya with confusion.
The first time he cut her in half, she had been terrified. She feared that he would seal her away again with Six Paths: Chibaku Tensei, the same way her sons had once defeated her.
But despite having multiple chances, Byakuya hadn't sealed her.
Could it be that… he wasn't one of Hagoromo's agents?
She stopped mid-air and asked cautiously, "Byakuya… you're not one of Hagoromo's shinobi?"
Byakuya sighed with frustration and replied, "Of course I'm not some errand boy for the Sage of Six Paths. His two sons' reincarnations are still hanging around in the shinobi world. They're the ones who inherited Chibaku Tensei."
"Then why did you attack me?" Kaguya narrowed her eyes.
Byakuya patiently explained, "Dear princess, you attacked me first. And Black Zetsu stabbed me in the back yesterday. I think I'm entitled to some explanation from him, don't you?"
Kaguya didn't respond, but turned her gaze toward Black Zetsu.
Black Zetsu looked awkward and finally said, "Byakuya is telling the truth. I did attack him yesterday. But it was all for your resurrection, Mother. I feared he would try to stop the Eye of the Moon Plan…"
Byakuya nodded, then said, "I will indeed stop the Eye of the Moon Plan. From that standpoint, we are naturally enemies. But let me ask you, Kaguya, what is your goal in activating the Infinite Tsukuyomi?"
Kaguya pondered for a moment and slowly said, "I consumed the chakra fruit… and I fear retaliation from the main family."
As one of the pair sent to plant the Divine Tree on the ninja world, Kaguya's initial attack on Isshiki may have been out of fear of being devoured by the Ten-Tails, or a desire to monopolize the chakra fruit.
But the moment she devoured the fruit, her only goal became resisting the main branch of the Ōtsutsuki clan.
Byakuya nodded again and asked, "Then how do you plan to resist the Ōtsutsuki main family, Lady Kaguya? With those White Zetsu created by the Divine Tree? No matter how powerful they are, they wouldn't be able to handle beings like us."
Hearing this, Kaguya fell silent.
Byakuya was right. No matter how strong White Zetsu became, they couldn't rival the Ōtsutsuki main family. At most, they could buy time so she could strike down any intruding Ōtsutsuki one by one.
But all of that hinged on a condition: the number of invading Ōtsutsuki must be no more than three.
If more than three arrived, then even with the chakra fruit as her backing, she wouldn't be able to hold out against their overwhelming divine techniques.
Seeing Kaguya's silence, Byakuya knew his words had hit home and pressed further, "Lady Kaguya, you've always thought that Hagoromo and Hamura betrayed you, but did you ever tell them anything about the Ōtsutsuki main family?"
Kaguya shook her head, her expression dazed. "I don't think I did…"
Byakuya clapped his hands, walked up beside her, and said, "You activated the Infinite Tsukuyomi to harvest the ninja world's chakra, yet never told Hagoromo and Hamura the truth. Of course, they would rebel. As their mother, did you ever consider what they might have thought?"
Kaguya once again fell into silence, unable to answer.
Before arriving on the ninja world, she was merely a servant of the Ōtsutsuki branch family, sent here as an offering to be devoured by the Ten-Tails. After defeating Isshiki, she had been harvesting chakra to defend against the main branch.
After giving birth to her sons, she had never thought through such deep questions. Hagoromo and Hamura had never had a proper conversation with her either.
Watching Kaguya's contemplative expression, Byakuya knew his "talk no jutsu" had succeeded, but not because his words were particularly persuasive. Rather, it was because he possessed the power to actually threaten her.
He couldn't permanently seal Kaguya, but he could restrict her movements. If push came to shove, he could even call on Naruto and Sasuke to help force her back into her sealed fate.
Once he felt the atmosphere was just right, Byakuya said, "Lady Kaguya, your enemy is the Ōtsutsuki main family. I'm also constantly on alert for threats from them. In that sense, we aren't enemies. If you're willing, I can serve as a mediator to help you speak with Hagoromo."
He paused for a moment, then shifted his tone, "But if you're not willing, then you'll have to go back to staying on the moon, enjoy another thousand years of imprisonment."
Kaguya's expression immediately changed. She clearly didn't want to be sealed again.
Black Zetsu, seeing her reaction, realized that his mother had been completely played by Byakuya. He forced himself to ask, "Then Byakuya, what's the price? Given your personality, you wouldn't do this for free."
Byakuya smiled and said, "Of course not. As compensation for playing peacemaker, I want Lady Kaguya to join the Akatsuki, and abide by the rules of the Akatsuki. But in return, you won't face the threat of the main branch alone anymore."
Black Zetsu frowned and said, "You want to restrict Mother with an organization's rules? She's the progenitor of chakra, the ancestor of all shinobi. I absolutely won't allow it."
Byakuya's expression darkened. Coldly, he replied, "Black Zetsu-senpai, I don't believe you have the authority to decide for Lady Kaguya. And if you keep interrupting, I won't hesitate to join forces with Hagoromo and Hamura. I can still take on the main branch with their help."
At that moment, Kaguya, who had been silent for a long time, finally spoke, "I want to give it a try. I don't think I've ever truly spoken with Hagoromo before. So before that happens… do I need to join the Akatsuki? How do I join?"
"All it takes is signing a contract…"
Byakuya pulled out a pre-prepared contract and handed it to her, saying, "Lady Kaguya, just leave a chakra imprint here."
Kaguya nodded, took the contract, and placed her imprint on it.
As the contract was sealed, a pleasant digital voice rang out in Byakuya's mind:
[Kaguya Ōtsutsuki has joined the Akatsuki. You have obtained Kekkei Mōra, Chakra Fruit, Amenominaka, and the Rinne Sharingan with Nine Tomoe.]
Without any hesitation, Byakuya immediately clicked to claim the reward.
This time, his body didn't undergo any dramatic changes. Aside from a slight itching between his eyebrows, as if a third eye was about to emerge, everything felt entirely natural.
At first, Byakuya had been confused, but then he realized it made perfect sense.
He already had nearly all the bloodline limits within him. And the ultimate form of those limits… was Kekkei Mōra. The chakra fruit was essentially the combined essence of the nine-tailed beasts and the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path; he already possessed those powers.
And if he wished, he could even replicate his body's data using chakra to create Kāma. That wasn't hard either.
After all, the core concept behind Kāma wasn't all that different from Orochimaru's Cursed Seal of Heaven; it was just a more advanced technique to record one's essence through chakra, used for possessing others.
Turns out, he had already reached the level of an Ōtsutsuki-class lifeform.
As Byakuya reflected on this, Kaguya too could feel the surge of power within him. She didn't know his secrets and simply assumed he had been hiding his true strength.
Clearly, Byakuya couldn't be a native of the ninja world. He had to be from a different clan altogether.
And unlike her, Byakuya had even escaped pursuit by the main family. She just didn't know what price he had paid. Could it be that he had already lost his own planet and Ten-Tails?
Still, now that she had joined forces with Byakuya, at least for now, she wouldn't have to worry about the main family's threat.