The battle continued for another hour, neither side showing any signs of slowing down. By this point, the advantages Shanks had painstakingly built over the years had begun to show their true value. After extensively modifying his DNA to bring it much closer to that of the Otsutsuki clan, Shanks had experienced an enormous increase in chakra capacity and overall vitality. It was not a transformation limited to himself alone—every one of the Uzumaki siblings had undergone similar enhancements, allowing their physiques and chakra networks to reach heights far beyond what ordinary shinobi could ever achieve. Because of that, even Todoroki—the youngest and, in terms of raw combat ability, the weakest among the Uzumaki siblings—was capable of standing toe-to-toe against powerful Otsutsuki clan members.
In fact, he was doing far more than merely holding them back; he was overpowering them. His ice had reached temperatures frighteningly close to absolute zero, freezing chakra and matter alike with terrifying efficiency, while his flames had become equally monstrous, reaching temperatures of at least fifty thousand degrees Celsius. Every exchange between his elemental attacks and the Otsutsuki's techniques reshaped the battlefield, leaving behind fields of frozen crystal one moment and seas of molten earth the next.
The same could be said for the other Uzumaki siblings. Each possessed overwhelming strength that allowed them to dominate their respective opponents, ensuring the Allied Shinobi Forces never completely lost control of the battlefield despite the overwhelming number of enemies. High above them, however, the fiercest battle remained between Shanks and Masashiki.
Throughout the entire hour, Masashiki exhausted nearly every technique at his disposal. Countless combinations of chakra abilities, devastating staff techniques, and overwhelming attacks rained down upon Shanks in an endless barrage. On a few rare occasions, he succeeded in landing solid hits: cuts opened across Shanks' body, bones cracked, and blood stained his clothes.
Yet before Masashiki could capitalize on any injury, Shanks' body regenerated almost immediately. Flesh knit back together, broken bones restored themselves, and every wound vanished as though it had never existed. His healing ability was so absurd that even the brief satisfaction Masashiki felt after landing an attack disappeared in an instant. Adding to his frustration, Shanks' chakra reserves were astonishingly vast. Although they still could not rival Masashiki's own reserves, they were more than sufficient to sustain such an intense battle for an extended period. Combined with his regeneration, it became nearly impossible to wear him down through attrition alone.
And that single hour proved to be more than enough.
Far away, within the isolated dimension Masashiki had relied upon for countless years, the World Destroying Orb finally completed its task. The dimension was gone. Not damaged. Not shattered. It had been completely erased from existence. The secret world that had allowed Masashiki to transfer any damage inflicted upon himself no longer existed, leaving nowhere for injuries to escape. From this moment onward, every wound he suffered would belong solely to him.
The instant Shanks sensed the disappearance of that dimension, his eyes narrowed slightly. Now.
Without wasting even a fraction of a second, he activated Astral Imprint. A crown mark instantly appeared upon Masashiki's forehead. As one of the eldest members of the Otsutsuki clan and among its absolute strongest, Masashiki's perception was naturally extraordinary. The moment space fluctuated around him, he realized exactly what Shanks intended and immediately retreated. However, no matter how far he moved, the distortion in space followed him like a shadow, as though space itself had locked onto his existence.
In the very next instant, Shanks emerged precisely where he intended to appear—only a few inches away from Masashiki. Before Masashiki could react further, Shanks firmly placed both of his hands upon his shoulders. Of course, if Shanks wished, this was the perfect opportunity to kill him. But that had never been his objective. Masashiki was simply too valuable to eliminate.
As one of the Otsutsuki clan's highest-ranking elders, he possessed knowledge that no outsider could obtain through ordinary means. Through him, Shanks could discover the true location of the Otsutsuki clan, learn the full extent of their military strength, uncover their hidden resources, and, most importantly, gather information about the one existence he considered the greatest potential catastrophe—the Otsutsuki God. Did such a being truly still exist? Did the current Otsutsuki clan possess any connection to that entity? Or had the so-called Otsutsuki God already transcended them entirely? Those unanswered questions had remained in Shanks' mind for a long time.
To obtain those answers, Masashiki had to remain alive, and to capture someone of his caliber, brute force alone would never be enough. The greatest weapon of the Uzumaki clan had always been their sealing techniques. Immediately, Shanks activated one of the clan's most powerful sealing arts, directing it toward Masashiki's chakra network to completely suppress and seal away every trace of his chakra.
The moment Shanks' hands touched his shoulders, Masashiki understood everything. If he were successfully sealed, interrogation would inevitably follow—an outcome that was entirely unacceptable. Although Masashiki still believed the Uzumaki clan alone could not destroy the Otsutsuki clan, he knew with absolute certainty that if these monsters ever located the Otsutsuki homeland and launched a full-scale invasion, the Otsutsuki would suffer catastrophic losses. They might be the undisputed rulers among countless worlds, but even kings had enemies they could not afford to underestimate.
Without the slightest hesitation, Masashiki made his decision and activated a hidden seal buried deep within his mind.
Boom!Boom!Boom!
A chain of deafening explosions echoed across the battlefield. The gigantic Otsutsuki spaceship on the sea began violently disintegrating from within as explosion after explosion tore through its structure. Massive sections collapsed, engulfed in fire before crashing apart in midair.
Then came something even more horrifying. The heads of every Otsutsuki slave—whether dead or still desperately fighting below—began exploding one after another.
Boom!Boom!Boom!
The gruesome detonations spread across the battlefield like a plague, blood and shattered flesh erupting in every direction as countless enslaved beings died instantly, transforming the battlefield into an even more horrifying scene than before.
The moment Shanks sensed what was happening, his expression darkened. All the satisfaction he had felt after finally capturing Masashiki vanished in an instant. Moments ago, he had believed everything had gone according to plan. With Masashiki alive, they would finally be able to uncover the truth about the Otsutsuki clan—their true headquarters, their military strength, and the secrets they had hidden across countless worlds. If circumstances permitted, Shanks could even organize an expedition with the strongest members of the Uzumaki clan and the Allied Shinobi Forces to strike the Otsutsuki at their source, dealing them a devastating blow before they could launch another invasion.
All of those possibilities disappeared before his eyes.
Masashiki's body suddenly began disintegrating. Tiny cracks spread across his skin before his flesh rapidly crumbled into glowing particles that scattered into the wind. At the same time, every remaining Otsutsuki clan member on the battlefield experienced the same fate, their bodies breaking apart from within as though some hidden command had been activated simultaneously throughout the battlefield. It was obvious what had happened: the moment Masashiki had activated the hidden seal within himself, the other surviving Otsutsuki had done exactly the same.
"Shit..." Shanks muttered under his breath.
It was not only him who understood the implications. The expressions of Antares, Naruto, Sasuke, Guy, the Uzumaki siblings, and the other elite shinobi all became grim as they watched the scene unfold. This was far worse than simply losing Masashiki. Even if the enslaved alien soldiers had survived, they could have become valuable sources of information to learn the location of the Otsutsuki homeworld or discover clues about the routes they traveled between dimensions. Likewise, had the gigantic spaceship remained intact, countless possibilities would have opened before them to study its technology, understand its methods for interstellar travel, and trace its path. Now... everything was disappearing.
The spaceship continued exploding from the inside until enormous sections completely collapsed, flames engulfing its massive frame before the entire vessel broke apart in the sky, raining burning debris toward the sea below. At the same time, the bodies of every Otsutsuki continued disintegrating until almost nothing remained behind. Years' worth of potential information vanished within minutes.
Shanks slowly closed his eyes and took a deep breath. There's no use dwelling on it now. As the leader, he understood better than anyone that he could not allow frustration or disappointment to spread across the battlefield. Everyone present had fought with everything they had to protect their world; they deserved to celebrate their victory, not watch their commander dwell on what had been lost.
Opening his eyes once more, Shanks floated high above the battlefield. His calm yet powerful voice echoed across the sky, reaching every corner of the war-torn land. "Everyone..."
Every shinobi instinctively looked upward, hundreds of thousands of exhausted eyes turning toward the red-haired man floating in the heavens.
"Today, we were victorious. We won. Your courage, your sacrifices, and our unity made this victory possible. Together, we defeated the invading Otsutsuki clan and protected our world." His gaze swept across the devastated battlefield below. "I know this victory may not feel as rewarding as we hoped. We failed to obtain many of the answers we sought, and countless opportunities disappeared before us. But we accomplished something far more important: we protected our home. We ensured that our families, our villages, and the future of this world continue to exist."
The battlefield remained silent.
"As for learning more about the Otsutsuki clan..." Shanks continued, "we will not give up. Search the battlefield. Recover every remaining body and every fragment that still exists. If there is even the slightest clue left behind by these alien invaders, we will find it."
His words quickly reignited everyone's determination. With the war finally over, only one enormous task remained: cleaning the battlefield.
The scale of the battle was unlike anything the shinobi world had ever experienced. More than a million corpses lay scattered across the land, covering vast stretches of space. The Allied Shinobi Forces had suffered approximately one hundred thousand casualties—a devastating loss despite ultimately achieving victory. Considering the circumstances, however, the outcome had been unavoidable. Although the strongest combatants had carried the majority of the burden by confronting the Otsutsuki elites, the ordinary battlefield had been far more brutal. Even the weakest among the alien slaves possessed combat ability comparable to that of a Jonin, while well over half of the Allied Shinobi Forces consisted of Chunin-level shinobi. Against such overwhelmingly powerful enemies, casualties on this scale had sadly been expected from the very beginning.
Soon, an enormous cleanup operation began. Recovery teams spread across the battlefield, collecting every usable corpse, fragment, weapon, and piece of unfamiliar technology for future research. Medical units searched tirelessly for survivors buried beneath debris, while sealing specialists carefully secured any remains that might still contain valuable information.
After giving the necessary orders, Shanks finally returned to the Uzushiogakure to oversee post-war operations from there. The work proved to be unimaginably vast. With more than a million bodies scattered across the area, requiring investigation, the combined efforts of the Allied Shinobi Forces lasted an entire month before the battlefield was finally cleared and every recoverable specimen had been transported for research and analysis.