Chapter 267 – Two Ōtsutsuki
The moonlight was hazy, the heavy mist deepening the darkness of the night.
Shrouded in fog, the small town seemed unnaturally quiet, broken only by the occasional bark of a dog.
Inside one of the houses, Utakata jolted awake.
Ever since leaving Kirigakure, he knew they wouldn't let him go so easily. Tonight, however, the weight of unease pressed sharply against his chest—an omen he had been discovered.
"Kirigakure's hunters?"
He gave a cold snort and silently rose to leave.
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!"
A roar tore through the mist, a massive dragon of water surging straight toward him. Utakata scoffed.
"Water Release: Water Formation Wall."
A towering barrier surged up at once, colliding with the raging dragon and halting its advance.
In the Land of Water, where moisture was endless, water-style jutsu were always amplified.
But Utakata's expression darkened the moment he saw who had attacked.
"Kisame Hoshigaki… Jūzō Biwa… Kurosuki Raiga?"
"Yo, long time no see." Kisame's shark-like grin gleamed under the moonlight, as ugly as it was menacing.
Utakata grimaced.
"You're the last people I wanted to meet…"
Before he could move, four more figures stepped from the mist, their eyes gleaming with cruel anticipation.
"Six-Tails' jinchūriki, huh? Lord Orochimaru will be pleased."
"Orochimaru's dogs, is it?" Kisame and the other Mist swordsmen exchanged glances. Strange allies… but allies nonetheless.
---
Elsewhere in the town, Ao swept the area with his Byakugan, his face grim.
"Not good. He's surrounded—strong chakra signatures everywhere."
"Troublesome," Mei Terumī muttered, brow furrowing. After a pause, she gave the order:
"Prepare to move. Utakata must not—"
"Watch out!" Ao's warning came too late.
The ground split open with a sickening crack. Razor-sharp bone spikes erupted upward, tearing through the streets like a forest of spears.
Thanks to Ao's shout, Mei and her team leapt to the rooftops, barely escaping the silent ambush.
"Bones…? Don't tell me…"
Their faces paled as the realization struck.
"The Kaguya clan?"
They had no time to dwell on it. More bone spears erupted, larger and sharper than before, shredding houses and turning the town into a white graveyard of skeletal spires.
"Move!" Kisame barked. He and the others flared their chakra without hesitation, unleashing torrents of power that made the thick fog tremble and recoil.
Chaos swallowed the town.
---
Not far away, deep in the forest, a lone figure knelt clutching his skull, face twisted with agony.
"Kill them… kill them all…"
His eyes burned with bloodlust. Memories fractured in his mind—he remembered being seized with other children, forced into cruel experiments, infused with a foreign power. Only he had survived.
But instead of being hailed as a success, he was branded a failure—sealed away like an afterthought.
The power inside him had tormented him ever since. It seared his body like molten metal in a furnace, breaking him down only to stitch him back together.
He had begged for death, but death never came. Each time, the power dragged him back, forcing him to suffer again.
Now, he wanted only one thing: to destroy everything.
Slowly lifting his head, his pained expression twisted into a vicious smile.
"It starts here!"
BOOM—
His chakra exploded outward. The rhomboid seal on his body flared violently, and his appearance warped as his power surged.
He roared to the heavens and charged toward the town.
---
"Hm?"
On the sea, nearing the Land of Water, Kitagawa Gen suddenly felt the tremor. His eyes narrowed.
"So… he finally moved?"
With Flying Thunder God, they had already crossed into the Land of Waves. One more stretch of ocean, and they'd reach the Land of Water.
Even from that distance, Gen instantly sensed the taint of Isshiki Ōtsutsuki's chakra.
"And Mei's already used the kunai I gave her… things must be bad."
The Land of Water was now a crucible of chaos—Obito moving in, Isshiki's White Kāma stirring, Akatsuki plotting in the shadows, and now Urashiki's descent.
"Three Ōtsutsuki… and a White Kāma. Quite the gathering."
Gen wasn't afraid of Urashiki—he even knew his weaknesses—but a full-scale battle would devastate everything in its path.
And there was another risk: someone else might snatch the White Kāma before him.
That was something he could not allow.
---
"You're lost in thought again, Gen?"
Tobirama's sharp voice cut in, pulling him back.
"Still brooding over what I said earlier? It was just speculation, nothing more—"
"Save that speech for the Sage of Six Paths," Gen muttered, giving the Second Hokage a side glance.
His tone hardened.
"The situation in the Land of Water is spiraling. Mei has already called me with Flying Thunder God. I'll have to move ahead first."
"The Fifth Mizukage, then?" Hashirama asked, frowning.
"Not officially yet, but yes." Gen nodded.
Hashirama's face grew solemn.
"Can you jump straight to her?"
"I can. She's marked with the kunai, so I have a coordinate."
He turned serious.
"But I'll go alone first. You two follow later."
"You're worried about…" Hashirama began, only to be cut off by Tobirama.
"Ōtsutsuki Isshiki. That's what has you on edge."
Gen's silence was confirmation.
"Akatsuki will likely clash with him. If I step in at the right time, it could turn the tide. Besides…"
"Edo Tensei," Hashirama finished quietly.
Both brothers understood. Against Isshiki's devastating Yin–Yang Release, even their immortal bodies might crumble. Gen moving first would both probe the threat and draw the enemy's attention, giving them a chance to strike from the shadows.
Hashirama exhaled slowly.
"Then be careful, Gen."
Tobirama Senju handed his Flying Thunder God kunai to Kitagawa Gen, though his expression was far from relaxed.
"And listen—if things truly spiral out of control, I advise you to retreat, even if Kirigakure is an ally."
Gen tucked the kunai away with a faint smile.
"Don't worry. I know my limits."
He turned, the faintest edge of amusement tugging at his lips.
"Besides, be careful yourselves. Corpses like you aren't easy to come by."
The moment he finished, chakra flared violently around him—then he was gone, vanishing into thin air.
Tobirama clicked his tongue, glaring at the empty space.
"Yin–Yang Release… what a troublesome power."
He turned to his brother, sharp-eyed.
"Your body contained both powers, didn't it? Could you replicate that?"
Hashirama shook his head with a weary sigh, forcing a rueful smile.
"Not in this state. Death has its limits. Hah… so this is what it feels like to be a burden—depending on a child to draw the fire for us."
Even Tobirama had no words for that, his usual edge dulled by resignation. Hashirama, however, went on softly:
"Perhaps you were right, brother… only under the Sage of Six Paths' cruel trials could someone like Gen emerge—one capable of standing against the Ōtsutsuki."
---
High above the mist-shrouded town, Urashiki Ōtsutsuki watched with growing delight.
So many strange creatures, wielding fragments of their power—such a sight was unheard of on other worlds.
"So… the one who drew me here was that empty 'Kāma,' was it?"
Resting his fishing rod across his shoulders, he smirked.
"Don't tell me Isshiki's rebirth failed?"
That pale Kāma carried Isshiki's might, but not his soul. Its host's spirit was little more than a muddled haze. Urashiki couldn't help but suspect the worst.
He stretched lazily, joints cracking, then looked back down with disdain.
"No matter. Just a swarm of ants biting at each other, borrowing our power."
Though their skirmishes held a kind of novelty, the gap between them and a true Ōtsutsuki was too vast. His interest was already fading. Collecting the scattered power was far more worthwhile.
"And this world still carries traces of the Ten-Tails' chakra… tch, what a jackpot. If I'm lucky, I may even find another fruit."
Chakra rippled faintly around him as he prepared to move. But suddenly, his head snapped around.
Behind him, space twisted. Folds of darkness bent in on themselves, and a yawning gateway split the sky.
"Yomotsu Hirasaka…?"
Urashiki narrowed his eyes. He knew that technique well.
From the rift stepped another figure, robed in white.
As he emerged, the mists blanketing the Land of Water thinned, moonlight spilling down upon him. His face remained hidden in shadow, but his eyes—two brilliant stars glowing with azure radiance—locked onto Urashiki.
Even Urashiki felt a weight press down on his chest. For a long breath, he simply stared. Then his lips curved upward.
"Oh? To think I'd find another clansman on this backwater world."
He tilted his head, smile widening.
"I am Ōtsutsuki Urashiki. And you are…?"