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Chapter 203 - Chapter 201 – Firefly and Moonlight

Chapter 201 – Firefly and Moonlight

After those last words, Kitagawa Gen had no more interest in wasting his breath.

In truth, these people were already as good as dead.

A few words to wound their pride was enough—for true despair, fists spoke louder.

Still, he noticed something.

"The power of the Tenseigan is converging… focused onto a single host? So this is the Tenseigan Chakra Mode?"

His senses were razor-sharp—of course they were, the power was of the same origin as his own.

But beyond that, he felt something stranger, something hard to describe.

"…As if someone is watching me."

He wasn't entirely sure if the sensation was accurate. But he chose to believe it.

After all, the moon was a place of ominous mysteries. It was not only where Ōtsutsuki Kaguya was sealed, but also the resting ground of Ōtsutsuki Hamura.

And besides—

Whether Hamura's soul had truly passed on or still lingered in some form… who could say?

A roar of chakra split the silence. In the next instant, a man wreathed in searing green light burst forth from the sky.

His entire body was cloaked in blazing chakra, almost identical to the Ōtsutsuki Toneri Gen remembered from his memories.

But this one was different. His chakra burned like fire itself—and to Gen's eyes, that fact was unmistakable.

"So the flame of his life is already weak… and he's burning what little remains just to fight me?"

Gen nodded faintly to himself. The man had chosen to gamble everything.

"I don't care who you are!"

The Third Elder's furious roar snapped him out of thought. His chakra surged violently, eyes locked on Gen.

"Even if it kills me—I'll take you down!"

"Remember this name—Ōtsutsuki—"

BOOM!

Before he could even finish, his vision blurred. A massive force slammed into his chest, hurling him away like a cannonball.

The ground erupted with a thunderous crash as his body carved a crater into the surface. Yet in the very next heartbeat, he staggered back to his feet—only to find Gen already standing before him.

"So fast?!"

His twisted expression froze as he threw a desperate punch.

Whoosh—

But Gen vanished in a flicker, and the strike hit nothing but air. Another crushing blow landed before he could react, hurling him across the battlefield again, gouging a deep trench into the ground.

"What… what speed is this?!"

Two exchanges—yet both times, Gen's movements were so ghostly swift that even his Byakugan couldn't trace them.

"This is impossible! I'm using Tenseigan Chakra Mode—how can the gap be this wide?!"

The Third Elder's mind reeled. He was already burning away the last of his life force, every flicker of chakra a pyre consuming his body.

Yet after just two rounds, he realized the truth—he couldn't even see his enemy clearly, let alone land a hit.

"He's using Tenseigan Chakra Mode too… but why is his power so far beyond mine?!"

He barely found his footing again before Gen appeared once more, lips curled in a faint smile, eyes cold as death.

That look filled him with humiliation and rage. Forcing himself upright, he bellowed,

"Even if I die, I'll drag you to hell with me!"

BOOM!

His fists erupted in a storm of blows. A shimmering green aura spread around him, forming a wall of chakra-infused strikes that filled the sky.

"Hm?"

Gen arched a brow. This technique resembled the Hyūga's Eight Trigrams Palm… but far more intricate, more destructive.

"Stronger too… could it be—?"

Suddenly, he understood.

The Hyūga clan's Eight Trigrams Palm was nothing but a degraded, incomplete version of the Ōtsutsuki's Eighty Gods Vacuum Attack.

From the moment they descended into the Shinobi World, the Hyūga had already seemed like diluted shadows to him.

"So it's true—they've regressed. Worse, they've lost much of the knowledge that still survives here on the moon."

If so… then the great library hidden in Hamura's shrine might still hold invaluable secrets.

Gen's eyes gleamed with renewed interest.

"Silver Wheel Reincarnation Explosion!"

In a blur, he raised the Sword of Totsuka, its blade igniting in blinding radiance. A tempest of wind chakra gathered and condensed around it.

With a single slash, the storm howled forth—raw, annihilating force unleashed.

BOOM!

The hurricane winds clashed with the elder's fist barrage. The storm whirled tighter and stronger, grinding the chakra fists into nothing.

No matter how wildly the elder swung, the storm only grew fiercer, pressing closer and closer.

"How can this be?!"

His face drained of color. His life force burned, his body screamed with pain, but the gap only widened.

"Look out!"

A desperate voice thundered from the heavens, jolting him back to awareness. He leapt back frantically—yet the storm still caught him.

"AAAHHH!"

A scream tore from his throat. One of his arms had vanished—silently sheared away by the gale, leaving only blood and a delayed wave of agony.

Gasping, trembling, he looked up—just in time to see Gen descending slowly, calm and merciless.

"Is that all?"

Gen's voice was indifferent, his gaze cold.

Hum—

Before the elder could even speak, the Totsuka Blade flashed again.

This strike was even faster.

"Gahhh!"

Blood erupted as a deep gash split across his chest, nearly severing him in two. Only sheer instinct had saved him from being bisected outright.

But there was no reprieve. In the same instant, Gen seized him by the head.

An irresistible force dragged him forward, his mind scattering as information bled from his thoughts into Gen's grasp.

"You…"

He struggled, but the difference in their Tenseigan was absolute. He was powerless.

"Shh."

Gen shook his head, his tone utterly flat.

"Stay quiet. Consider it the last shred of dignity I'll allow you."

"Dignity?"

The elder's teeth ground so hard they nearly cracked. This humiliation—this mockery—was unbearable.

But then, his expression shifted. Twisted, feral.

"Dignity, is it? Then I'll show you what true dignity means!"

BOOM!

Chakra erupted from his body, a suicidal blaze as his life force ignited in full.

"…Forgive me."

Back in Hamura's shrine, the Great Elder let out a weary sigh.

And then his chakra surged violently, even as the giant Tenseigan thrashed and rebelled, straining to break free of his control.

Blood seeped from his trembling body, but he endured, forcing the power into submission.

"Now… awaken! Tenseigan!"

His roar echoed as the colossal eye blazed, flooding the chamber with blinding light.

That dazzling radiance condensed into a massive pillar of light, cutting through the eternal night with overwhelming brilliance.

Like an unstoppable divine hammer, it crashed down upon the battlefield where Kitagawa Gen and the Third Elder clashed.

Rumble—!

The moon itself trembled.

A tidal wave of raw energy exploded outward like a raging tsunami, flooding everything in its path.

The once-darkened lunar interior—shrouded in silence after the artificial sun had failed—was suddenly illuminated again. But this was no gentle warmth of sunlight. Instead, chaos reigned: entire swaths of land were torn apart and hurled into the air.

Faraway islands disintegrated instantly, swallowed by surging seas that boiled away even as they devoured the collapsing landmasses.

The ground caved in endlessly. The entire moon quaked so violently that even the shinobi world far below could feel it.

"Damn it! What's happening?"

"Is the moon… going mad? Or could it be—"

In Konoha, more and more eyes turned upward, horrified by what they saw.

Not just them—the whole shinobi world felt the anomaly.

"Look! What is that?!"

Someone screamed, pointing at the heavens in disbelief.

Every gaze turned skyward. For an instant, all froze in silence.

They could faintly make out a colossal beam of light erupting from within the moon itself—tearing into the void of space.

Countless meteors, torn from orbit by the shock, scattered like shrapnel across the stars.

---

Inside the moon.

The Great Elder panted heavily, his body already shriveled to the brink of collapse.

His life force was nearly spent. To wrestle for control while simultaneously forcing the Tenseigan to unleash its power—such strain was beyond human endurance.

But if it could destroy even one of these celestial invaders…

If it could prevent the unsealing of that being…

If it could protect Shēren…

"Then it's all worth it."

Breath ragged, he whispered to himself as he watched the moon's interior collapse around him.

Yet the next instant, his chest tightened. His breathing stopped.

"Worth it?"

A voice—light, almost mocking—brushed his ear.

His vision swayed. Quietly, almost painlessly, his body was severed clean in two.

He fell, watching helplessly as blood pooled beneath him… and as Kitagawa Gen stood calmly behind, his blade dripping scarlet.

"You—"

He tried to speak, but only silence came.

His eyes clouded with despair. The difference was too great… like a firefly trying to outshine the full moon.

Kitagawa Gen walked past without a second glance, heading straight for the colossal Tenseigan that now flickered dimly.

As he passed the fallen elder, his voice was cold, detached:

"Pathetic. You couldn't even manage to entertain me."

But just as the words left his lips, his gaze flicked across the ruins.

That feeling again. Stronger than ever.

The sensation of being watched.

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