A pitch-black dimensional rift opened behind Kaede. The All-Killing Ash Bone, infused with a power that transcended even time itself, shot toward his back.
But,
What froze Kaguya in place was that…
Even with his eyes closed, Kaede tilted his body ever so slightly the moment the rift opened. He effortlessly avoided the Ash Bone without even looking.
"If you were at full strength, you might have been a bit of a problem," Kaede said calmly, "but in your current state, you pose no threat to me at all."
Kaguya's heart sank deeper and deeper as his words echoed in her ears.
She could clearly sense that Kaede's eyes were evolving. The power of the Rinnegan and the Tenseigan were gradually fusing together. Once the fusion was complete, she wouldn't be able to hold onto the Ten Tails. Kaede's power would overwhelm her completely and seize control from within!
She had never feared anyone from this world, not even Hagoromo, because after consuming the Chakra Fruit, she had become truly undying and indestructible.
Every ninja ability in existence had originated from the God Tree's fruit. No matter what power they wielded, they could never truly harm the progenitor of chakra.
At most, she could be sealed, but never killed.
But,
Kaede was different.
Kaede was an outsider, someone who did not belong to this world. Even if much of the power he now wielded had been taken from her, he could still seize the God Tree's power for himself.
In other words…
Kaede could kill her.
"I can't win…"
"In this state… my speed, my power… it's all too weak… I can't defeat him…"
Kaguya bit her lip as she stared at Kaede. The expression on her face was no longer that of the cold and detached progenitor of chakra, but of someone facing an existential threat.
She viewed the people of this world with indifference. In her eyes, they were merely seedlings, tools cultivated for chakra. But Kaede… Kaede was different. Like her, he came from beyond. In her eyes, he was a being on the same level as herself.
Kaede didn't attack Kaguya.
He was still maintaining both the Time Barrier and the Time Reversal, suppressing the Ten Tails beneath his feet. So long as he maintained this grip, Kaguya couldn't take full control of the beast. That also meant Kaede couldn't afford to separate from the Ten Tails.
If he lost contact with it, Kaguya would immediately seize control, restore her full form, unleash Infinite Tsukuyomi, and use God: Nativity of a World of Trees to devour the chakra of all ninjas, returning to her peak in an instant.
He just needed to hold this position.
Once the Tenseigan and Rinnegan fully merged, he would have enough ocular power to confront Kaguya's will directly. Then, using his time powers, he could completely eject her soul from the Ten Tails' body.
ROAR!!!
The Ten Tails let out a furious roar.
It began to thrash wildly, trying to throw Kaede off its head. Kaguya extended her hand again and fired another All-Killing Ash Bone at him.
The ground quaked violently beneath the Ten Tails' struggle, but Kaede stood firm, completely unmoving, as if rooted into the earth.
Kaguya's attack missed once again.
"It's useless," Kaede said coolly. "You will never reclaim the Ten Tails from me."
"Despicable…!" came Black Zetsu's hiss through gritted teeth. "The Ten Tails is Mother's body. You're the one who stole her power and took control of part of her body, and now you're saying she's the one trying to take it from you?!"
Why did that somehow sound... convincing?
And he couldn't exactly deny it either. Because it was true, he had no intention of letting Kaguya regain her full power and drop an Infinite Tsukuyomi on the entire world.
"Mother, this isn't working," Black Zetsu growled. "We can't do anything to him like this… We have to give up on the Ten Tails for now! If we keep this up, we risk being sealed again!"
Kaguya's expression froze slightly. "That won't work. Without the full power of the Ten Tails, I can't activate Infinite Tsukuyomi, and I won't be able to reclaim all of my strength."
"You must be decisive, Mother!" Black Zetsu urged. "Now isn't the time to hesitate! If we drag this out and he completes his power, we'll never be able to stop him! And besides… I still have one last trump card!"
Kaguya's expression shifted, flickering between uncertainty and resolve.
She was a cautious individual.
Even after consuming the Chakra Fruit and becoming the progenitor of chakra, she never believed she could defeat members of the Otsutsuki main family in a head-on battle. That's why she created an army of White Zetsu, to extract chakra slowly, to grow stronger over time.
Just like Kaede suspected, this Kaguya, for all her power, was overly cautious.
And caution, when needed, could also mean decisiveness.
Now that she had determined she had no chance of victory in her current state… she chose to retreat!
Pop!
Kaguya tore her lower half free from the Ten Tails' tail.
This wasn't just a spiritual separation, she also absorbed a massive portion of the Ten Tails' power with her. As a result, the Ten Tails beneath Kaede shrank rapidly, soon becoming roughly the size of the Nine Tails.
"How decisive…" Kaede murmured.
Sensing her movement, he conjured a sword of Truth-Seeking Orbs in his hand and thrust it directly into the Ten Tails below.
Shhhhhh!!
The blade pierced the Ten Tails, unleashing a terrible wail. Its body split apart from the center, collapsing into seven or eight large fragments.
Each of those fragments writhed, transforming into separate tailed beast forms. All were split apart, except for the Three Tails, Seven Tails, and Nine Tails, which had already been outside the Ten Tails' body.
During this process,
Kaede absorbed a portion of each tailed beast's power, further enhancing the Six Paths power within his body, accelerating the transformation of his eyes.
Kaguya took one last glance in his direction, but chose not to engage him. Instead, she activated Yomotsu Hirasaka, slipping into a dimensional portal and vanishing from sight.
"You're not going after her?!" came Kurama's voice in Kaede's mind.
Kaede shook his head. "I can't use the Tenseigan's power right now. I can't open a portal… And in this condition, chasing her would be pointless. Let her run for a while."
As long as the tailed beasts' power remained here, Kaguya couldn't restore her full strength. Unless she escaped the shinobi world entirely, fleeing to the stars.
Though truthfully…
Even that wouldn't save her.
Because the Ten Tails was part of her, it effectively acted as a spatial coordinate. No matter how far she ran, Kaede could always open a portal and follow.
As for the "final trump card" Black Zetsu mentioned…
Kaede already had a faint idea of what it might be.
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Completed version available on Patreon.com/Veltoria