Meruem's true body returned at this moment. Once the true body was back, everything became simple. Never mind that Asura and Indra now had only their original soul-level power left; even if they combined with their reincarnated vessels and fought at full strength, they still wouldn't be a match for the Meruem before them.
Just now, Meruem had already absorbed Kaguya's power. Though he hadn't fully digested it, the two could no longer stand against him.
With a few careless swipes right in front of Indra and Asura, he beat them both within an inch of dispersion. As souls, the two were already on the verge of being scattered.
It's no exaggeration to say that Meruem is now the strongest existence in the Naruto world. Even if the Sage of Six Paths, founder of the shinobi world, were resurrected, he'd be nothing more than fodder before Meruem.
Otsutsuki Toneri was also unfortunate. He'd been living comfortably like a lord on the moon—though now he was the only one left up there. If he hadn't come down to Earth, Meruem never would have even thought of him, but he just had to let Asura and Indra talk him into running down here to court death. As the old saying goes, you won't die if you don't court death.
Toneri's strength wasn't exactly overwhelming. Compared to the likes of Six Paths Madara, the Sage of Six Paths, and Kaguya, he lagged far behind; at best he was on par with Madara in his normal state. In the original, after Asura had left Naruto's body, Naruto's fight with him was a fifty–fifty coin flip.
Against Meruem—who at this point completely crushed even the likes of Madara, Asura, and Indra—there was only one outcome: a beatdown.
And a one-sided stomp at that. It's hard to say which is stronger between the Rinnegan and the Tenseigan—their original owners were brothers, after all.
But in overall utility, the Rinnegan wins out, being the most practical and coming with the super sealing technique Chibaku Tensei.
Even the Rinnegan no longer impressed Meruem, because after absorbing Kaguya, Hamura Otsutsuki, and the Six Paths Madara housed within Kaguya, Meruem's eyes mutated.
Well—rather than "mutated," "evolved" is more apt. And don't forget, Hamura's eyes were the Tenseigan. In other words, Meruem now possessed the full Tenseigan's abilities.
Naturally, Toneri's incomplete version held no interest—trouncing him was only to be expected.
With the energy in his body not yet fully digested, Meruem certainly didn't care for Toneri's level of strength, and, given Toneri's self-destructive behavior, Meruem casually eliminated him.
As for Asura and Indra—in the end, because of the irreconcilable hatred between them and Meruem over the killing of their father (Hagoromo), grandmother (Kaguya), and uncle (Hamura), they too were taken out by Meruem.
Having done all this, Meruem now ran rampant in the Naruto world. Only his original purpose for coming remained—the God Tree's fruit.
Meruem wanted the fruit, and the remaining shinobi lacked the strength to stop him. Even if every one of them learned the Eight Gates and could open the Gate of Death, at most they could contend with Meruem for a while. In the end, Meruem would still win.
Back then, Kaguya had obtained the God Tree's fruit by casting massive numbers of humans into Infinite Tsukuyomi, turning them into White Zetsu and extracting their power to form the fruit.
But that wasn't the only way. As Musashi said earlier, gathering all the chakra in this world into one could also produce the God Tree's chakra fruit.
Moved by Naruto and Sasuke's final stance, Meruem made a decision.
You trust me, and I'll return a peaceful world to you.
He extracted all the chakra from everyone in the Naruto world, leaving only Sasuke's and Naruto's chakra. He would leave this world to the two of them, believing that with their absolute strength, they could realize peace—at least until they died.
"This fruit is finally mine." Looking at the red fruit wafting a strange fragrance, Meruem resisted the urge to swallow it in one gulp.
Why resist? Simple. He hadn't even digested Kaguya's power yet; if he ate this fruit now, the power within it might blow him apart on the spot.
Though Meruem was said to have a perfect body, he still had limits. To become stronger, he could only evolve step by step, ascending to higher tiers.
Meruem hadn't expected the God Tree's fruit to contain such astonishing energy. No wonder even Kaguya, the strongest in the Naruto realm, never stopped coveting it.
And she claimed that eating the God Tree's chakra fruit would grant immortality. Meruem had thought it a joke, but after seeing the fruit himself, he felt that eating it could very well bring longevity. Perhaps not immortality, but certainly an extended lifespan.
Back to the root of it: what is chakra? Life energy. A fruit laden with almost inexhaustible chakra—wouldn't it extend life?
In particular, Meruem would wager the fruit he now held contained more energy than the one Kaguya ate long ago.
It makes sense when you think about it. When Kaguya ate the fruit, how many people in the world cultivated chakra? The Sage of Six Paths is said to have spread chakra to the masses—but he only gave them the seed to draw chakra forth.
Among the masses, those with talent let that seed take root and grow into towering trees. These people were called shinobi. Later, people discovered chakra could be trained from the body's cells—this was the original method of chakra cultivation in the shinobi world.
As more and more people practiced and the number of shinobi grew, the total amount of chakra across the Naruto world only increased.
Ultimately, that formed this chakra fruit for Meruem. If Meruem had hardened his heart and turned everyone in this world into White Zetsu, the fruit would have contained even more energy.
But there was no need. Annihilating an entire plane was overkill. Besides, there were some people in this world who didn't warrant such a thing.
However, Meruem did cut off the existence of chakra for everyone except Sasuke and Naruto—in simple terms, in this Naruto world, no one besides those two would ever again be able to use or acquire chakra.
There were exceptions for those willing to follow in Meruem's footsteps—such as the remaining members of the Uchiha. The previous battles were not something shinobi of, at best, elite jōnin level could take part in, so Musashi hadn't let them fight. After the Uchiha massacre, the surviving clan members almost suffered no casualties in this war.
As for whether the children Naruto and Sasuke would later have after they married could obtain chakra—that was hard to say, though the probability was over eighty percent. The premise, of course, was that the children had the aptitude to become shinobi.
So it might very well develop into, for the sake of "inoculation," getting the two of them to… ahem. Granted, only if the two agreed.
Discounting Meruem and the others, the two of them were already the strongest in the world. Now that everyone else had lost chakra, they were invincible.
Returning peace to you—given Naruto's personality, after Meruem and the others left, this world would remain peaceful for a while.
At least until the two of them died. Eternal peace? That exists only in fairy tales. Children's fairy tales, at that—not dark fairy tales or those for adults.
"Host. Congratulations on obtaining the God Tree's fruit. You may unlock the next world." When Meruem obtained the fruit, the System's voice, which hadn't appeared for a long time, sounded again.
"Where is the next world? Can I choose?"
"You can. Previously, sensing the host's life in danger, the System automatically chose the most suitable world."
"The world of Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan—can I go?"
"Searching… You can, but that world's plane tier is relatively low and will do almost nothing for the host's growth. Not recommended. The System recommends: Dragon Ball, Saint Seiya LC, Saint Seiya SS, Inuyasha, Fairy Tail, and Digimon."
"No matter. I'm only going to that world to obtain one thing. But among the worlds you suggested, I understand the others—but why are there two Saint Seiyas? And… what is Digimon supposed to be? Isn't that about 'Chosen Children'? Ten? Or twelve years old? Is that really a high-tier world?"
"The Digimon world's plane tier is very high. Do not dismiss its danger just because children appear. The battles are fought by Digimon, not children. The Royal Knights and the Seven Great Demon Lords—any one of them—have the power to destroy a world. Saint Seiya LC is the prequel to Saint Seiya SS, that is, the canonical history. However, the worldlines of Saint Seiya SS and LC are not necessarily identical. They may change due to the appearance of another parallel historical line, Saint Seiya ND. In other words, if you choose the Saint Seiya LC world, the later history is Saint Seiya SS, but SS may change because of ND."
"What a mess."
"…After the Hades arc of Saint Seiya SS, the historical route is Saint Seiya ND."
"Why didn't you just say that."
"…"
"Which world is that bastard Yoma in?"
"Both worlds truly exist, and neither world affects him in any way. The System does not recommend the host go there. Though your current strength is no weaker than that world's twelve main gods, the object you seek has true power beyond that once unsealed, and those possessing great power in that world are far more numerous than what appears on the surface."
"…"
"Preparing the Nura world."
(End of Chapter)
[Get +20 Extra Chapters On — P@tr3on "Mutter"]
[Every 100 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter Drop]
[Thanks for Reading!]