[Fourth Raikage A]: Foreseeing the future?
[Ōnoki]: Hey, hey, hey—are you serious? That's completely overpowered!
[Rasa]: Doesn't that mean all our attacks would be known to them in advance?
[Mei Terumi]: If they already know everything, how are we supposed to fight?
[Kakashi Hatake]: Actually, everyone, you don't need to worry too much.
[Mei Terumi]: Oh? Do you have a countermeasure?
[Kakashi Hatake]: Not exactly. What I mean is—if Nagi and Shibai wanted to deal with us, they would only need to release their pressure. Honestly… we probably aren't even worthy of making them use future sight.
[Fourth Raikage A]: …
[Ōnoki]: …
[Rasa]: …
[Mei Terumi]: …
[Jiraiya]: Kid, what you said is true, but it still stings. Still, the fact that neither of them can land a hit on the other is pretty interesting.
[Orochimaru]: Indeed. They see each other's future, then predict the future that the other sees. As a result, neither of them can actually land an attack.
[Tsunade]: If you didn't know better, you'd think the two of them were dancing. Hahaha.
[Kushina Uzumaki]: Dancing? Now that you mention it, it really does look like that.
[Nagi]: …
The Screen Continues…
While Nagi battled Shibai, the shinobi of the Ninja World had also begun fighting the Ōtsutsuki clan.
Hinata, Naruko, Satsuki, and Madara served as the main combat forces.
Naruto remained nearby, assisting Sasuke in analyzing the unique abilities of each Ōtsutsuki.
Meanwhile, the other shinobi followed the instructions of the First, Second, Third, and Fourth Hokage, withdrawing and setting up strategic ambushes.
As for Ōtsutsuki Haku-shiki, he lowered the head he had been holding high, found a place to sit, and casually watched the battle between the ninja and the six Ōtsutsuki.
Hinata vs. Ōtsutsuki Matsu-shiki
"Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion!"
Hinata wielded a massive golden chakra sword and slashed toward an Ōtsutsuki main-family member named Matsu-shiki.
"Hmph."
Matsu-shiki summoned a chakra black rod.
"Ōnamuchi!"
The black rod in his hand suddenly expanded, becoming enormous and thick. Swinging it violently, he smashed it toward Hinata.
The chakra blade and black rod collided fiercely.
Hinata felt the tremendous force transmitted through her arms and clicked her tongue.
"Tch… just like Sasuke said. Not only does the black rod grow in size—its strength and speed increase significantly as well."
Realizing a direct clash was disadvantageous, she quickly changed tactics.
"Gentle Fist Art: Eight Trigrams Sword!"
Hinata spun the blade in a graceful flourish.
Her movements suddenly became soft, fluid, and elegant, her posture calm and composed, her body and mind unified.
Instead of directly clashing with the black rod, her chakra sword began circling and redirecting its momentum, wrapping around the rod's trajectory and dispersing its power.
Seeing these strange movements, Matsu-shiki frowned.
"What's going on? My strength and speed are clearly superior. What kind of technique is this human using?"
Seeing his confusion, Hinata secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Among the six Ōtsutsuki, Matsu-shiki was the strongest overall.
If they wanted to win, she had to stall this opponent.
Once Naruko and the others defeated the remaining Ōtsutsuki, they could all gang up on him together.
The Eight Trigrams Sword style she was using had actually been inspired by Nagi's Taiji Sword technique.
Using a force of four ounces to deflect a thousand pounds.
Its main purpose: delay the enemy.
Another Battlefield
Elsewhere, Naruko and Satsuki were fighting two other main-family members—Take-shiki and Ume-shiki.
However, the two girls fought while gradually retreating, clearly executing some kind of strategy.
Meanwhile, Six Paths Madara clashed fiercely with a branch-family member named Ōtsutsuki Xiang-shiki, one of Matsu-shiki's subordinates.
"Sage Art: Yin Release — Thunder Dispatch!"
Madara unleashed purple lightning shaped like branching tree limbs from his palm.
Xiang-shiki spun a black rod rapidly in his hand.
The swirling rod caught and dispersed the purple lightning entirely.
"Kagutsuchi: Flowing Flame!"
Xiang-shiki swung his rod, releasing a blazing fire shockwave.
"Hmph. Playing with fire in front of me?"
Madara shattered the attack with his Six Paths staff, then charged forward.
Xiang-shiki also rushed in, black rod raised.
Clang! Clang! Bang!
The weapons collided repeatedly, producing crisp metallic echoes.
Both fighters possessed extraordinary combat instincts and experience.
Neither wasted a single movement, making the battle incredibly intense to watch.
Watching from the sidelines, Haku-shiki showed slight surprise.
"I didn't expect a human to match Xiang-shiki in combat technique. Not bad."
The Ōtsutsuki generally preferred overwhelming clashes of techniques. Compared to the raw destructive power of their abilities, the intricacies of taijutsu and martial skill were usually less important.
Although Xiang-shiki was weaker than the main family as a branch member, his combat experience and instincts were extremely formidable. In terms of pure battle prowess, he was even stronger than most main-family members.
Unfortunately, his status sealed his fate.
As a branch member, he was destined to serve as a sacrificial servant for the clan.
Haku-shiki then looked toward another battlefield.
"Now this side is rather interesting."
There, Naruto and Sasuke were fighting two branch members named Ding-shiki and Lan-shiki.
But they were using the same strategy as Naruko and Satsuki—fighting while withdrawing in another direction.
"I didn't expect the humans here to be this strong. Looks like the outcome is still uncertain."
He shrugged.
"Though it has nothing to do with me anyway."
In the eyes of the Ōtsutsuki Main House, both the main and branch families were essentially the same.
The branch family acted as the main family's enforcers. When the time came to sacrifice someone to the God Tree or to serve the clan's needs, they had to offer themselves without hesitation.
The main family, meanwhile, was responsible for submitting the Chakra Fruit. Of course, they were allowed to keep a portion of its benefits.
In the end, both main and branch families were merely servants of the Main House.
If they died, they died.
Nothing to regret.
At worst, they would simply replace them with a new batch.
Haku-shiki looked around leisurely.
For him, being a spectator to this battle was quite entertaining.
Chat Discussion
[Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki]: Uh… Mother, are the main and branch families really just servants of the Main House?
[Hamura Ōtsutsuki]: Is the Main House really that powerful?
[Kaguya Ōtsutsuki]: …
[Isshiki Ōtsutsuki]: …
Good grief—how were they supposed to answer that?
Were they really expected to admit they were just employees of the Main House?
[Kaguya Ōtsutsuki]: Ahem. The Main House holds bloodline suppression over both the main and branch families, so it's difficult for us to develop thoughts of rebellion.
[Isshiki Ōtsutsuki]: Hmph. Power is everything. Even the Main House, I—
[Tobirama Senju]: Hmm? You can beat them?
[Isshiki Ōtsutsuki]: Of course… not.
[Izuna Uchiha]: Then what exactly were you trying to say?
[Madara Uchiha]: Main house, main family, branch family… Heh. That structure sounds suspiciously similar to the stubborn Hyuga clan.
[Uchiha Setsuna]: Lord Madara is right. In our era, the branch family were supposedly guards of the main family, but in truth they were little different from servants.
[Ōnoki]: Heh. We even have a recent example—like the Kumogakure diplomatic incident from a few years ago.
[Nagi]: Sigh… and the saddest part is still that "caged bird" seal. The child of a scapegoat remains a scapegoat.
[Hiashi Hyuga]: …
[Hizashi Hyuga]: …
[Neji Hyuga]: …
◇ BONUS & SUPPORT ◇
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 10 reviews — drop a comment!
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ Read 70 chapters ahead on P@treon → patreon.com/Chakraflow789