Before the Sage Art chakra of the three sages and the golden meteors completely disappeared, Ryosuke pushed the moon back to a distance of 380,000 kilometers.
This process inevitably involved calculations from the research institute, tiny adjustments bit by bit, and C-Moon's keen judgment of gravity,
C-Moon isn't very smart, but correspondingly, its perception is excellent.
During this time, Ryosuke had considered whether he should simply blow up the moon once and for all, solving the problem permanently and preventing anything like this from happening again in the future.
After thinking it through carefully, Ryosuke felt that keeping the moon brought far more benefits than destroying it.
The first benefit was in aerospace.
They could establish a second space center on the moon, taking advantage of its low gravity and lack of atmosphere to greatly reduce the design difficulty of space warships.
If the ninja world managed to develop universe-class warships in advance, why would they ever be afraid of someone like Toneri pushing the moon over to block out the sunlight, such a crude tactic?
Absolute darkness?
Go talk to my planet-destroying cannon.
Besides aerospace technology, there was also the research into space-time ninjutsu.
The space-time ninjutsu designed by Otsutsuki Hamura was different from the overly brutal Heavenly Transfer Technique, which placed an enormous burden on the body, and also different from the Flying Thunder God Technique, which demanded extremely high talent.
Space transfer between the ninja world and the moon was almost imperceptible. Once activated, it placed no requirements on the user whatsoever, perhaps… the only requirement was knowing how to swim?
Once the research institute successfully cracked this technology, countries and ninja villages that were originally worlds apart would, in the truest sense, become closely connected.
Of course, all of that was for later.
Right now, Ryosuke was still focused on fine-tuning the moon's position.
No one knew how long passed before a researcher lying prone on the moon's surface raised two small green flags and waved them continuously, signaling that the positioning adjustments were complete.
Ryosuke floated above the lunar surface, gazing distantly at the sun far away.
At the same time, across the global ninja world broadcast system, a gentle yet powerful female voice announced the news to the entire ninja world, "…After 203 hours, 44 minutes, and 19 seconds, the Absolute Darkness crisis has officially been resolved."
"Everyone, we have reclaimed the sunlight!"
Cheers and jubilation echoed through every corner of the ninja world.
In the truest sense, this was the moment when all life in the ninja world, sages, humans, summoned beasts, regardless of stance, shared a common enemy and stood together on the same front line.
Ryosuke thought of Hidan, and thought of White Snake Sage No. 18.
"In the past, we were enemies, but that is already the past."
"In the future, we may be enemies, but that has not yet happened."
"Only in the present are we comrades fighting side by side. This is living in the moment, the most intense and exhilarating 'Way of the Present.'"
Ryosuke savored these words carefully.
"It really is… quite different."
At this point, the three sages had gone their separate ways. The Slug Sage and the Great Toad Sage each returned home to rest. White Snake Sage No. 18 fell into a coma after the operation ended and was transported to the research institute for treatment.
On the moon's surface were hundreds of busy staff members, some organizing battlefield debris, others delving into the Otsutsuki base in search of useful ninja tools and documents.
The Sage Art chakra within Ryosuke's body was also nearly exhausted. He floated back down to the lunar surface. When they saw him return, everyone who had been busy subconsciously put down their work and looked at him with eyes full of admiration.
This was different from the enemies Ryosuke had defeated before.
Whether it was the Akatsuki, or the financial conglomerates and daimyo, many people never truly felt it; they would only think, "Oh, the lord daimyo was beaten and chased away. Now it's Lord Ryosuke who's in charge of us."
But Toneri...
He was a madman from an extraterrestrial civilization who tried to wipe out all of humanity.
Ryosuke had, in the truest sense, saved the world from this madman's hands.
Feeling everyone's gazes, Ryosuke thought for a moment, then released the last bit of remaining Sage Art chakra, forming a protective barrier that covered the area above.
The staff working on the moon's surface immediately felt their bodies lighten, their fatigue dissipating.
Ryosuke nodded to them. "Thank you all for your hard work."
Then he passed through the crowd and entered Hamura's underground base beneath the moon. Only after finding an empty spot did Ryosuke drop down and sit heavily on the ground, rubbing his temples in exhaustion.
From the moment Kaitian No. 2 was destroyed and Toneri declared war, Ryosuke hadn't closed his eyes once.
He went through two rounds of intense battles, first with the puppets, then with Toneri himself.
In between, he created golden meteors filling the sky to protect the ninja world, while constantly maintaining Hermit Purple to monitor Toneri's every move and draw the exploration maps for the Gate-Opening Squad.
After everything was over, he still had to push the moon back to its original position.
Ryosuke hadn't rested for a single moment. Now that he suddenly relaxed, he felt a little dazed and empty. He took a can of iced black tea from the Ghost Room, slowly drank half of it, and finally recovered a bit.
"Time to check the gains from this round."
Earlier, aerospace and space transfer were mentioned, those were the gains in research.
Next were Ryosuke's personal gains.
3,300 soul fragments, 300 more than the White Snake Sage. And this was only from defeating him, if he had killed him, it would probably have reached around 3,700.
After unifying the ninja world, killing opponents was no longer Ryosuke's main source of soul fragments. Instead, it was more a way to assess an opponent's combat strength.
From this perspective, Toneri was indeed the strongest enemy Ryosuke had ever encountered.
No exceptions.
"If not for the power of the three sages, and not for the golden meteors condensed from the will of tens of billions of people across the world… even if I could have won this battle, it would have been a pyrrhic victory."
"How could it be this easy, like this?"
"But… Toneri's combat power was already this terrifying, and he was only a descendant of the Otsutsuki. Just how strong was the first-generation Otsutsuki Kaguya?"
"And how strong must the higher-ups of the Otsutsuki clan be, the ones who sent Kaguya to the ninja world in the first place?"
It wasn't that Ryosuke revered the ancients and belittled the present, it was simply that the Naruto world fundamentally followed a bloodline-based logic.
The purer the bloodline, the stronger the power.
"I still need to keep practicing."
Without relaxing from defeating a powerful enemy, Ryosuke continued to look at the other two rewards.
The Ascension Star Core, he was already very familiar with it, so he set it aside for now.
Ryosuke turned his gaze to the item that appeared for the first time, the "Resonance Speaker." Its description was extremely simple.
[Resonance Speaker.]
[Effect: Designate one five-star Stand to resonate. The next time a five-star Stand appears from a normal/special draw, that Stand is guaranteed to be drawn.]
[After the Stand is obtained, the Resonance Speaker disappears.]
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