Faced with the vast, dark swarm of the Ōtsutsuki fleet, the Shinobi World immediately dispatched its own fleet to launch a counterattack.
These fleets were formed from the same personnel who had once been deployed to eliminate Momoshiki, now further upgraded and modified based on real combat experience.
The two opposing fleets clashed at the edge of the star system, energy weapons pounding back and forth. Although the Ōtsutsuki side possessed immensely powerful energy shields, the shinobi forces had learned from past battles—carving defensive barrier seals onto every ship's cannons to withstand enemy fire.
However, the expected stalemate—or the optimistic hope of pushing the enemy back—never materialized.
This Ōtsutsuki fleet was merely the vanguard.
From the rear emerged the true main force—so vast it filled the entire star system, with hundreds of planet-sized motherships among them.
One mothership charged its weapon and, with a single blast, crippled the Shinobi World's meticulously prepared fleet.
The Ōtsutsuki, in turn, lost only a few unmanned crafts from their vanguard during the initial exchange.
Even worse, once a mothership shattered the shinobi's barrier defenses, they completely lost the ability to block even the ordinary cannon fire of the unmanned crafts—let alone match the speed of the Ōtsutsuki forces.
The surviving ships either burst apart under dense bombardment from the unmanned crafts or were dragged into massive stars, never to return.
Only a handful managed to force their way through the Ōtsutsuki's fire net, ramming directly into the enemy.
They deployed their last surviving modified shinobi to board an enemy vessel—but it turned out to be only a smaller unmanned craft. The craft self-destructed, wiping out the Shinobi World's most elite space shinobi.
This battle inflicted catastrophic losses on the shinobi side.
Their original plan—to push the battlefield beyond the star system—was now impossible.
The gap between the two sides was insurmountable. One side was led by lifeforms at the level of veterans of countless planetary conquests.
The other side had only just grasped the basics of interstellar navigation, their only real combat experience being a skirmish on the Moon.
Compared to the Ōtsutsuki, the Shinobi World's spacefaring technology wasn't even on par with primitive tribes.
Soon, the Ōtsutsuki's manned fleets, shielded by unmanned craft, charged straight toward the Shinobi World.
Even though the shinobi had redeployed numerous chakra cannons—and had even positioned them on the Moon—the Ōtsutsuki were clearly prepared.
Relying on their mothership's might, they obliterated the Moon entirely, then bombarded chakra cannon zones on the planet's surface with terrifying firepower.
Even with Naruto, Boruto, and others joining the defense, the mothership's power was overwhelming—they could only manage to preserve a fraction of their forces.
Then, under heavy cover fire, countless manned ships descended toward the surface.
From them poured Ōtsutsuki vassals, beings corrupted by chakra:
Some looked human like those of the Shinobi World, yet wielded chakra to unleash all kinds of elemental attacks.
Others had wings, could fly or dive through the ground, and carried spears and blades capable of absorbing chakra—unleashing deadly strikes like some angelic war race.
Still others were bizarre beasts, seemingly descended from animals yet able to manipulate chakra.
Under the command of newly arrived Ōtsutsuki branch family members, these forces swiftly tore down the remaining chakra cannons.
Even so, the shinobi fought back—paying a heavy cost in lives but killing many of the vassals.
The strongest among them were jōnin level, the weakest no more than genin, with a few at the level of a Kage, known as "senior combatants."
If not for the sudden attack, the Shinobi World's own forces could have wiped them out.
But with the branch family in support, things became far more dangerous.
Each branch family fighter was only slightly weaker than Kinshiki. On average, it took three tailed beasts to hold one at bay; the Nine-Tails and Eight-Tails could handle one each alone—but even then, they could only tie down a maximum of five.
Even with Kage-level elites working together, they couldn't stop the Ōtsutsuki advance.
The invaders slaughtered civilians without restraint, seeing the planet as destined to become a vassal world.
Those without the ability to wield chakra were to be exterminated, leaving only shinobi to be bred later.
If not for the need to search for the legendary power left behind by the so-called Ōtsutsuki God, they wouldn't have bothered with direct combat—they'd simply have scorched the planet's surface with energy weapons, then reshaped it afterward.
...
But the branch family's slaughter drew a counterattack from the Shinobi World's top fighters.
Sarada and Mitsuki struck from the shadows, using their dōjutsu and Sage Arts to assassinate many branch family members.
From Orochimaru's research on Kinshiki, they had also learned how to prevent themselves from being parasitized by Kāma.
Even if the branch family wanted to reincarnate through them, it was impossible—they had to settle for ordinary shinobi instead.
Ironically, those chosen for reincarnation were the lucky ones. They had standing orders to report such cases immediately, whereupon Orochimaru—working in the rear—would extract the Ōtsutsuki soul from their bodies.
He would also decompress the Ōtsutsuki's physical form to a level a normal human could withstand—allowing the freed shinobi to inherit part of the Ōtsutsuki's bloodline and strength.
In short, the Shinobi World was using Ōtsutsuki methods to fight the Ōtsutsuki.
For a time, the enemy's advance on the ground slowed, and there was even a chance for a shinobi counteroffensive.
...
Meanwhile, Naruto and Boruto had stayed out of the ground battle.
As the strongest of the Shinobi World, their role was to decide the war's outcome with a single strike.
Though they knew the gap between themselves and the enemy, father and son decided to try.
They slipped past the fleets transporting the branch family and vassals, looping around to strike at the mothership's flank.
But they were spotted before they could attack directly, and were forced into battle against Ōtsutsuki main family warriors guarding the mothership.
Main family or not, these opponents were nearly as troublesome as Momoshiki himself.
Fortunately, the two had amassed a wealth of experience fighting Momoshiki.
These main family members didn't have his potential—they merely had more actual combat experience.
But this experience, gained from crushing weaker foes, couldn't compare to shinobi veterans who fought evenly matched enemies—or even stronger foes—day after day in desperate battles.
Under the combined assault of father and son, the main family suffered heavy casualties.
Then, from within the mothership, emerged an Ōtsutsuki who had ascended to a true god.
Yet even at such a transcendent level—worlds apart from ordinary Ōtsutsuki—he fell to Naruto and Boruto's teamwork.
The decisive moment came when Boruto's Jōgan erupted with a power that froze time itself, allowing them to kill an Ōtsutsuki god.
From the corpse, a Kāma mark shot out, intending to return to the mothership in search of a new host—but it was pulled into Boruto's Jōgan instead.
The Jōgan began evolving, Boruto's body transforming beyond his control, leaving him temporarily unable to fight.
The ambush had failed.
Naruto hurried to cover Boruto's retreat, even awkwardly activating the Flying Thunder God Technique.
But then—a mechanical, thunderous roar split the void.
From the heart of the fleet, a monstrous colossus hurtled forth at terrifying speed.
It was a mechanical giant shaped like an Ōtsutsuki, its presence freezing all surrounding energy and laws—like a true divine being.
This was… Ōtsutsuki Ryūshiki.
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