From the simple gray cloak draped over his body, a pressure surged outward, carrying the weight of destruction itself. Behind him, faint ripples spread through the void, twisting space ever so slightly.
On the surface of the moon, a few Shadow Clones that had been maintaining training formations suddenly stiffened. The pressure doubled without warning, forcing several of them to disperse into smoke.
From below, the figure seemed like a wrathful spirit wreathed in gray fire, descending upon the shinobi world.
This was none other than Ayanami Kaito's Six Paths Chakra Mode. Though only partially mastered, the incomplete state still warped the environment around him. If his control had been perfect, the violent fluctuation moments ago would never have happened.
In this state, Kaito felt an overwhelming command over the elements. Each of the five elemental natures responded instantly to his will. He could weave most techniques with no more than a thought—just like the ability granted by his Thunder Fruit.
Raising his hand, Kaito willed fire into existence. A sea of crimson flame erupted around him, its searing heat spreading across the barren lunar surface. The ice-cold stillness of the moon was instantly shattered, replaced by sweltering waves of heat.
From afar, it looked as if a massive fire had been ignited in the endless black void, casting light across the silent starry expanse.
With another gesture, the raging sea of fire condensed, twisting into the form of a colossal flame dragon that roared and coiled through the air.
Click. Crack.
The eruption of power had not gone unnoticed. Several figures emerged, rushing toward him from all directions. Each wore strange armor and bore a forehead protector etched with the crest of the moon. Their faces were pale, their eyes dull, and their movements mechanical—puppets of the Ōtsutsuki clan.
Kaito narrowed his eyes.
"So these are the Ōtsutsuki's guardians… Perfect. I'll test this mode on you."
Without hesitation, he flicked his wrist. Another sea of flames surged outward, engulfing the advancing puppets in a blazing inferno. Their outer garments burned away instantly, revealing their true artificial forms. Their metal bodies began to glow, warping black under the heat.
Hum!
The puppets retaliated, each raising an arm. Dozens of golden orbs of compressed energy formed in an instant before shooting outward in a hailstorm. The first volley alone numbered ten spheres, but the barrage only grew denser.
From within the storm of fire and light, Kaito's voice was calm.
"Too weak."
The golden projectiles hammered forward like rain, but against his current strength, they were little more than sparks.
Hum.
Space rippled around him, swallowing his body whole. In the blink of an eye, Kaito reappeared behind the puppet ranks.
"A bit slow… Let's push it further," he whispered.
A sharp wave of his hand stirred the inferno once more. This time, fierce gales swept through the flames, merging wind with fire.
Hum. Hum.
The flames roared violently, pulled upward into a spiraling vortex. In moments, the battlefield was consumed by a towering tornado of fire, its heat doubling with every second. The weaker constructs were incinerated instantly, their remains scattering like black stardust across the lunar surface.
Even the sturdier puppets could not withstand the blazing storm. One by one, their forms crumbled into ash until only their leader remained, still resisting desperately. Its frame glowed with cracks of molten light, before at last it too succumbed, dissolving into black cinders scattered by the infernal winds.
Silence returned.
The entire puppet garrison had been erased by Ayanami Kaito.
Hum. Hum.
But before he could lower his guard, a suffocating aura surged upward from deep within the moon. It spread across the lunar surface like a tidal wave, shaking the very crust.
Boom! Boom!
The ground quaked violently, fissures splitting open as though some colossal beast had turned beneath the soil.
Then came a voice—deep, cold, and imperious, carried on currents of chakra.
"Who dares… slay my guardians? You seek death!"
As the final word reverberated, a figure materialized before Kaito. He wore a robe of pale blue and white, simple yet elegant. His pupils glowed a piercing sky-blue, patterns of stars swirling within—the mark of the Tenseigan.
Kaito narrowed his eyes, recognizing the power.
"So… my meddling woke him? Or did the loss of his guards stir him?" he wondered silently.
The young man glared upward, his tone dripping with disdain.
"You killed my guards?"
The energy radiating from Kaito's form was immense, yet the Ōtsutsuki's arrogance remained unshaken. With the Tenseigan in his eyes, he regarded himself untouchable.
Kaito offered a half-shrug.
"Yeah. I was testing some techniques when they suddenly attacked. I didn't mean to kill them all… but it happened."
He was, admittedly, intruding. Absorbing another's Tenseigan and destroying its guardians wasn't exactly honorable. Still, he didn't feel the need to apologize.
The Ōtsutsuki's expression darkened. His body blurred, vanishing from sight, and when he reappeared the air itself trembled with fury.
"Ah! The Tenseigan of my ancestors! The sacred Tenseigan!" His roar echoed across the desolate plain.
Now standing in midair, his face flushed with rage, the power radiating from him warped the landscape. The cold, barren moon transformed under the weight of his chakra, as if the world itself had been dragged into a fiery hell.
The Tenseigan was the pride and legacy of the Ōtsutsuki clan. As its guardian, losing it during his very awakening was unthinkable. For him, there could be no forgiveness. Someone had to pay.
"You took the Tenseigan!" His voice was sharp as blades, each word laced with killing intent.
Kaito's tone was steady.
"No. But its power… was absorbed by me."
Those words snapped the last thread of the Ōtsutsuki's sanity.
"You… You thief! You abomination! I'll tear you apart!"
In his glowing eyes, the stellar patterns of the Tenseigan blazed to life, unleashing a pupil force that shook the very heavens.
______
Milestone,
100 Power stones = 1 Bonus Chapter