The newcomer was none other than Satsuki Ōtsutsuki.
For some time, she had been training in senjutsu within her secret sage land. Today marked her first attempt at entering Sage Mode.
The moment she succeeded, her vastly enhanced perception linked with the giant Tenseigan, immediately sensing the crisis surrounding Ranzuki.
This Tensei Puppet was her most valued creation. It could endure setbacks, but never destruction.
Without hesitation, she activated the space-time technique she had inscribed upon Ranzuki's body and transported herself there, arriving just in time.
...
"How… how is this possible?"
The sight before Suzuki Kaguya defied all imagination.
The gray-black bones forged through his transformed Shikotsumyaku, hardened to an unparalleled degree, had been effortlessly stopped by a single finger of this woman who had suddenly appeared.
Cold dread swept over him, his body trembling.
Run! Escape!!!
Deep within his heart, a voice born of pure survival instinct screamed in desperation.
But the very air around him had grown heavy the instant she appeared, pressing down on him with suffocating weight. Even the bone armor encasing him creaked under the unbearable strain.
He could not move a single step. He could only struggle vainly against the crushing force.
Then her gaze shifted toward him.
In that moment, his heart quaked violently.
This woman… she was an existence far beyond the limits of his understanding.
Her features were exquisitely divine, and the slender horns rising diagonally from her brow marked her as something other than human—perhaps not human at all.
Most of all, those golden eyes. Strange, dazzling, incomprehensible—they stirred within Suzuki not awe, but a deep-seated, long-buried fear clawing back to the surface.
Somewhere, sometime, he had seen something like this before.
"As a whetstone, you've done well," Satsuki's voice was devoid of emotion, an indifferent statement. Then, a wave of killing intent so vast it shook the heavens erupted from her.
"But… you've done far too well!"
The finger that held his massive bone spear flicked lightly.
An irresistible torrent of force surged down the weapon and into Suzuki. His gray armor, already strained to its limits, shattered into dust.
Even his unbending frame, the pride of the Kaguya clan's leader, collapsed beneath the overwhelming might. Veins bulged across his forehead, his jaw clenched so tightly blood seeped from his gums. His pride refused to bow.
But this strength was beyond anything he could resist. In less than a second, the light in his eyes dimmed, and he fell unconscious beneath the crushing power.
Easily subduing Suzuki, Satsuki's Tenseigan swept across his body. Her transcendent perception discerned instantly that his form was collapsing from within.
The cause—his own bones.
"Shikotsumyaku backlash?"
Then, gently supporting the still-weak Ranzuki, she examined the wound on her foot. With her golden Tenseigan vision, she saw a gray, murky energy lingering there.
That power had annihilated Ranzuki's senjutsu chakra and even erased parts of her enhanced body tissue.
Satsuki infused her own Tenseigan chakra into the wound, forcing the strange energy back. Then, with ease, she shattered the bone spike completely, freeing Ranzuki's foot.
Yet that power unsettled her. Simple Shikotsumyaku alone could not do this.
Her mind drew the connection to another, far more dreaded ability.
"All-Killing Ash Bones?"
No… if it were truly the All-Killing Ash Bones, Ranzuki would already be dead, and even she would not have blocked it so easily with one hand.
This was something else—something between Shikotsumyaku and the All-Killing Ash Bones. A bloodline limit that stood as a diluted remnant.
It seemed Suzuki Kaguya, as a descendant of the Ōtsutsuki, had inherited only a weakened version of the All-Killing Ash Bones.
Even so, this was still a subject worthy of study—perhaps more valuable to her than his bounty.
Lost in thought, Satsuki did not notice the strange look Ranzuki was giving her.
In Ranzuki's eyes, Satsuki at that moment appeared as a goddess descending from her dreams. Her luxurious black robe was embroidered with golden cranes and a vivid dragon, its fine silk shimmering. The open collar revealed the proud line of her chest, while her satin-black hair flowed down to her waist like a river of night.
At her waist, a dark-gold knot tied like a butterfly accentuated her form, while beaded tassels of gems and glass swayed lightly, chiming softly with each movement. Her delicate feet rested in high-heeled sandals that lifted her height, their sharp slope and elegant arch making her stance even more captivating.
This dreamlike figure lowered her golden eyes, gazing at Ranzuki's wounded foot.
Flustered, Ranzuki's face burned red with shame.
Satsuki, deep in thought, noticed the unusual flush on her face and frowned slightly.
"Other than your foot, are you injured anywhere else?"
At her words, Ranzuki's cheeks grew even hotter. She longed to speak, yet hesitation knotted her heart.
So shameful… for Lady Satsuki to see me like this. Would she be disappointed? Would she abandon me? What must I do to prove myself again?
These tangled emotions overwhelmed her more than the battle just fought. In the end, she whispered so faintly it was like a mosquito's buzz: "N-no, Lady Satsuki."
"Good."
Still, to be sure, Satsuki activated the giant Tenseigan to examine her condition. Though Ranzuki's puppet body bore no external injuries, it was riddled with hidden damage from overuse of senjutsu, ninjutsu, and brutal taijutsu combat. Several critical meridians had even ruptured. Fortunately, her sage-enhanced body was already beginning to heal, so it was not fatal.
"Can you stand?"
"N-no problem."
Only then did Ranzuki realize she had been half-leaning in Satsuki's arms. Her blush deepened, and she hurried to stand. But pain lanced through her wounded foot, and she nearly fell again—until Satsuki caught her.
"It seems you'll need to rest for a while."
"I-I'm sorry," Ranzuki said, hanging her head.
"There's no need to apologize. I thought your Sage Mode alone would be enough to keep you safe in the shinobi world. That's why, to avoid certain hidden powers discovering you, I forbade you from using your Tenseigan Chakra Mode. But today proves that carries its own risks."
Satsuki's voice softened slightly. "Once you recover, continue your missions. But if things grow dire, you may enter Tenseigan Chakra Mode freely—do not hesitate."
Leaning against her shoulder, Ranzuki whispered, "Yes, Lady Satsuki."
Then, her body lifted into the air. Guided by Satsuki's gravitational control, she drifted gently into a black space-time corridor.
Turning her gaze toward the unconscious Suzuki Kaguya, Satsuki prepared to leave—yet her eyes flicked toward a granite boulder. A glint passed through her golden pupils.
The massive rock crumbled into powder as if it were tofu, exposing the white-haired boy hiding behind it.
No questions were needed. From his distinct eyebrows alone, she knew his relation to the fallen Suzuki.
With a wave of her hand, she infused natural energy into a healing jutsu and cast it upon the unconscious man, keeping him alive for now.
"Before his last breath fades, find him a grave."
Without waiting for a reply, she turned to leave.
As she stepped toward the space-time corridor, a tug pulled at her robe. She glanced down—the white-haired boy had approached, his youthful face calm as he looked up at her.
Their eyes met: his expression blank, hers lofty and untouchable.
Neither spoke. With a sweep of her left hand, both Kaguya clansmen were drawn into the corridor by her gravity manipulation. Then Satsuki herself stepped into the passage.