After displaying the strength of his space-cutting flying sword slash, Shanks immediately understood the situation. Although a slash that could sever space itself was powerful enough to slice apart the giant Titans created from the incredibly durable materials of Masashiki's dimension, there was no point in wasting time destroying them one after another. As long as those strange materials continued to exist inside this dimension, which was completely under Masashiki's control, the enemy could simply recreate the Titans endlessly. No matter how many pieces Shanks cut them into, they would only reform again—an endless cycle that favored Masashiki.
Then there is only one answer, Shanks thought. He was left with a single option: to completely destroy the dimension itself.
A plan had already formed in his mind. Without hesitation, the Truth-Seeking Orb sword in his hand dissolved into countless black motes before disappearing entirely. At almost the same instant, Shanks brought both of his hands together in a sharp clap.
Boom!
As he did, several more colossal Titan-like structures charged toward him from different directions, their massive footsteps causing the entire dimension to tremble. Masashiki was clearly determined to erase Shanks completely. Some of the towering giants swung fists large enough to flatten hills, while others wielded enormous swords forged from the very material of this dimension. Those house-length blades looked like ordinary longswords in their hands, yet every swing carried terrifying force capable of splitting mountains. The surrounding air distorted from the pressure alone, but Shanks remained perfectly still, completely unconcerned by the devastating attacks closing in from every side.
Chakra erupted around his body like a storm. With his palms still pressed together, a tiny black vortex began forming between them. As he slowly separated his hands, the vortex rapidly expanded, twisting and compressing the surrounding space. Countless streams of chakra flowed into its center while Yin-Yang Release fused perfectly with the power of the Space control. Within moments, a giant pitch-black sphere hovered between his hands.
This was no ordinary sphere. This was Shanks pushing both his mastery over space and his control over Yin-Yang Release to their absolute limits, elevating the Truth-Seeking Orb's power into something even more terrifying. The black sphere devoured light itself, its surface impossibly smooth, as if every law around it had collapsed inward. It resembled a miniature black hole, yet its destructive nature was even more absolute, capable of erasing anything unfortunate enough to come into contact with it.
Looking up at the enormous face of Masashiki formed within the clouds of the dimension, Shanks smiled faintly. "Well, I am leaving. Enjoy my final gift, and I hope you like this move of mine." His smile widened ever so slightly. "I call this... World Destroying Orb."
The moment those words left his mouth, Shanks vanished from Masashiki's dimension. The World Destroying Orb remained behind, expanding silently and steadily. Within seconds, it had grown to the height of an adult man before slowly descending until its lower half touched the ground beneath it.
The instant contact was made, the ground simply disappeared. There was no explosion, no debris, no shockwave. The earth was swallowed whole, as though it had never existed in the first place. Space itself seemed to collapse into the black sphere before vanishing from existence in complete erasure.
Then something even more horrifying happened. As if the World Destroying Orb had become excited after consuming a portion of the dimension, its expansion accelerated dramatically. Its growth became faster with every passing second, greedily devouring everything around it in a terrifying chain reaction.
Realizing the danger, Masashiki immediately fought back. Dark clouds churned violently across the sky as countless bolts of lightning rained down upon the growing sphere. Deafening thunder echoed throughout the dimension, illuminating everything in blinding flashes, yet nothing happened. The lightning simply vanished the moment it touched the orb, erased without leaving behind even the faintest ripple.
The giant Titan structures charged once more, throwing themselves toward the World Destroying Orb under Masashiki's command. Massive fists crashed into it, while enormous swords descended with enough force to split continents. Yet the result was always the same: whichever body part came into contact with the black sphere was instantly swallowed without resistance and erased from existence. Entire arms disappeared, then shoulders, then the Titans themselves, their colossal bodies rapidly consumed. The World Destroying Orb never slowed, growing relentlessly and swallowing the ground, the Titans, and everything else in its path at an increasingly terrifying speed as the very dimension itself began disappearing piece by piece.
Masashiki's expression darkened as he watched the World Destroying Orb continue expanding without any sign of slowing down.
If this continues to grow at this rate, it is only a matter of time before my entire dimension is devoured, he realized, his fists tightening. No... I cannot let this happen.
Without another moment of hesitation, Masashiki shifted his attention back to the main battlefield on Earth, where Shanks had already teleported after leaving the dooming dimension behind.
Perhaps... if I can kill Shanks, then the terrifying black sphere will lose its creator and stop consuming my dimension, Masashiki reasoned. It was merely a possibility, not something he was certain of, but it was the only hope remaining.
The chances, however, were grim. They had already exchanged countless blows, and despite using every advantage he possessed, Masashiki had failed to overpower Shanks even once. Every clash had only reinforced how troublesome his opponent truly was. Nevertheless, he had no other choice. If he allowed the World Destroying Orb to continue unchecked, everything inside that dimension would eventually vanish into nothingness. If that happens then his biggest advantage against Shanks would be gone and it would be only moments before he will be killed by Shanks.
With determination replacing hesitation, Masashiki gripped his staff tightly and shot toward Shanks at tremendous speed.
Boom!
His staff descended with overwhelming force. Almost simultaneously, the familiar black Truth-Seeking Orb sword materialized back into Shanks' hand as if it had never disappeared. Without the slightest delay, he swung upward to meet the incoming strike.
Clang!
The collision shook the heavens. A massive shockwave erupted in every direction, distorting the surrounding air and forcing the nearby clouds apart. Even the space between their weapons rippled violently under the pressure of the impact, yet neither side gave an inch.
The moment their weapons separated, both disappeared from their previous positions, reappearing hundreds of meters away in the blink of an eye. Staff and black blade collided repeatedly, each impact producing another deafening explosion that echoed throughout the battlefield. Their figures flashed across the sky like streaks of light, exchanging dozens of attacks in moments as they continued their aerial battle high above the Earth.
Meanwhile, the situation below had gradually begun shifting in favour of the Allied Shinobi Forces, with the greatest reason for that change being Antares. After a fierce battle, he had successfully killed the enhanced Momoshiki, who had evolved after consuming his own partner, Kinshiki. With one of the strongest Otsutsuki eliminated, Antares was finally free to assist elsewhere on the battlefield. His overwhelming strength immediately became a deciding factor as he moved from one clash to another, intercepting and engaging the remaining high-ranking Otsutsuki clan members—each of whom possessed terrifying power capable of overwhelming ordinary Kage-level shinobi.
Elsewhere, Naruto and Sasuke were also fighting without holding anything back. Rather than facing a single opponent, they were continuously engaged in one-versus-two and even one-versus-three battles against multiple powerful Otsutsuki at the same time. Their teamwork remained flawless, years of fighting together allowing each to instinctively cover the other's blind spots while relentlessly pressuring their enemies.
Much of their current strength came from the tremendous boost granted by the Sage of Six Paths, whose power had elevated both of them to an entirely new level. However, that was not the only reason. Unlike the original timeline, both Naruto and Sasuke were significantly older, more experienced, and far stronger than they had been during the Fourth Great Ninja War. Their years of continued growth had only widened the gap between their past and present selves.
Moreover, this world had remained in a constant state of preparation for war, so neither of them had ever become complacent. It was nothing like the Boruto timeline, where Naruto had largely stepped away from regular combat because of his responsibilities as Hokage while Sasuke had carried most of the burden by traveling across the world investigating the Otsutsuki clan and searching for traces of future threats.
Here, both of them had remained active fighters from beginning to end. Continuous battles, relentless training, and constant vigilance had ensured neither had grown rusty. On top of that, both Naruto and Sasuke had received guidance from extraordinary shinobi such as Shanks, Guy, and Antares, allowing them to polish their combat skills even further and push their already monstrous abilities to even greater heights.
Of course, the presence of nearly ten million alien slaves brought by the Otsutsuki clan was still a tremendous problem. Their sheer numbers flooded the battlefield like an endless tide, inflicting heavy casualties upon the Allied Shinobi Forces despite lacking the individual strength of the Otsutsuki elites. Yet the battlefield had not descended into complete chaos. The Uzumaki siblings, Naruto, Sasuke, and the other high-tier combatants continued holding back the strongest enemies, preventing them from freely slaughtering the ordinary shinobi and giving the Allied Shinobi Forces the precious opportunity they needed to stabilize the battle and gradually push the invading army back.