After finishing the memory reading.
Imu pressed down his heavy mood, his surface expression still one of calm indifference.
Thinking carefully.
The Ōtsutsuki civilization was indeed powerful, but they could not possibly descend upon the shinobi world right away.
Especially those six high-level figures—they would never so easily leave the Ōtsutsuki homeworld.
By reference to the "original plot," even the trio of Ōtsutsuki Momoshiki had to wait thirty-six years.
So there was no need at all to feel worried about this.
What he needed to do was ensure that, during this period, the World Government possessed enough power to contend against the Ōtsutsuki civilization.
Even if some accident did occur, drawing a massive invasion from the Ōtsutsuki civilization.
He still had two backup measures prepared.
One was to consume the number of times "Truth" could act, and the other was to shut down the Dimensional Gate and abandon the shinobi world.
No matter how it turned out, the initiative seemed to remain in his own hands.
So Imu shifted his focus.
He began, before the soul of Ōtsutsuki Isshiki, to take the spoils that were rightfully his.
Using the divine power bestowed by the "Lord of the Underworld of Starfish," he controlled Ōtsutsuki Isshiki's soul consciousness.
Forcing him to release everything within "Daikokuten."
Soon, all kinds of items began appearing from thin air, falling one after another upon the Colorless Haki Imu maintained.
The most numerous were the densely packed chakra rods.
But the most conspicuous were those thirteen gigantic black-and-red cubes and the spherical black sealing cauldron.
Imu showed not the slightest courtesy.
At once, he spread open his left palm, sucking the chakra rods, gigantic cubes, sealing cauldron, and all manner of alien metals entirely into his "Pocket Dimension."
"And then, the Ten Tails."
Of course Imu had not forgotten the Ten Tails he had absorbed into his body.
Though it was only a juvenile Ten Tails, it was still a fine thing.
But Ōtsutsuki Isshiki was now dead, unable to control his own body.
Imu himself did not know how to draw the Ten Tails out, yet fortunately he had someone who did.
"Hagoromo, come."
He at once activated the "Truth Contract," summoning Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo from the "other-dimensional space" to stand before him.
This "Truth Contract," while unable to summon across universes, could within the scope of a single universe ignore any space or domain.
"Lord Imu, please command me!"
The moment Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo appeared, he dropped to one knee, greeting with reverence.
"Extract the juvenile Ten Tails from his body," Imu ordered coldly.
"Yes, I shall obey your command!"
Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo was unsurprised. Rising to his feet, he gathered chakra into his palm, blue energy instantly radiating from his hand.
At once he thrust his palm into the abdomen of Ōtsutsuki Isshiki's corpse.
From the naked eye, his hand had truly gone inside, yet no wound appeared.
Very soon, a glowing magatama the size of a baseball was pulled out by his right hand.
Through the radiance one could faintly see within the magatama a miniature white Ten Tails.
"As expected of the Ten Tails—even as a juvenile, this amount of chakra far surpasses that of the Tailed Beasts!"
Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo sighed in deep emotion.
Imu merely glanced at it twice before storing the magatama sealing the Ten Tails into his "Pocket Dimension."
Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo felt a tinge of regret at seeing that it was not granted to him.
Earlier, he had thought that among the Star Gods under Imu's command, only he himself could make use of this juvenile Ten Tails, so he had speculated it might be gifted to him.
But now it seemed he had overthought it.
At last...
Imu began to activate "Stigmata Alchemy."
On the back of his left hand, the pattern of the "Kabbalah Tree of Life" appeared, shining with bright white light.
In the next instant...
Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo watched as Ōtsutsuki Isshiki's soul was refined into a red gem whose surface glimmered with golden streams of light.
The Philosopher's Stone!
Imu likewise stored it into his "Pocket Dimension." It had to be said, this harvest was truly abundant.
From inside out, this Ōtsutsuki Isshiki was a treasure.
Imu's gaze settled upon Ōtsutsuki Isshiki's corpse.
This was a complete Ōtsutsuki body, its utility value unimaginable.
One had to know that even Senju Hashirama's cells had myriad wondrous uses—let alone those of Ōtsutsuki Isshiki.
He immediately stored it away. Whether to keep it himself or deliver it to the Academy of Sciences, that he would decide later.
Especially Isshiki's two eyes—truly supreme alchemical materials.
Thus, from his soul, his body, his Ten Tails, and all the wealth of his life, all now belonged to Imu!
Imu waved his hand, opening an air-door leading into the other-dimensional space.
He let Aramaki and Little Kaguya come out, while also retrieving the seven gigantic cubes he had confiscated earlier.
"Lord Imu!"
Just as Little Kaguya once again hopped onto Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo's shoulder—
Aramaki suddenly dropped to both knees, pressing his forehead to the ground, hurriedly shouting: "This subordinate, begs your pardon!"
"What crime have you committed?" Imu raised a brow.
"As a Lieutenant General I was defeated by outsiders!"
At these words, Imu fell silent. He had forgotten that although he had already revoked the World Government's previous unreasonable orders, the habit of nearly 800 years had caused many to still retain the fear of failure and expulsion.
"So long as you do not cower from battle or surrender, there is no crime. When facing an opponent you cannot overcome, surviving to bring back intelligence is itself a merit."
Imu casually defined it thus, even as his gaze shifted to Aramaki's chest.
As expected, the black "Kama" had already turned white.
"Aramaki, do you know what changes your body will undergo next?"
Aramaki, who had just shown joy at Imu's words, immediately let his expression collapse.
"I know. Lady Kaguya has already told me. It seems this subordinate can no longer remain human…"
"What nonsense are you spouting!"
Aramaki's words provoked Little Kaguya's displeasure: "How are we Ōtsutsuki not human?"
In her view, this Aramaki had been given such a boon, yet still complained.
The Ōtsutsuki bloodline was one of the rarest treasures in the entire universe!
"Tch, Ōtsutsuki are still outsiders. I want to be a Starfish man!"
Remaining in his kneeling posture, Aramaki turned his head to angrily retort at Little Kaguya.
"…"
Imu looked on speechlessly at this scene.
...
Elsewhere, after some time had passed since the battle between Isshiki and Imu ended.
Inside Rōran, Shiryu looked contemplatively at the Den-Den Mushi dangling in his palm.
He didn't understand why Sakazuki had summoned him out.
Because he always thought in the worst possible direction.
So the first thing that came to mind was that Sakazuki was going to make a move against him.
As for the reason, he couldn't think of one now, but he could only choose to obey the order.
What else could he do?
And besides, it might not necessarily be the worst case.
He couldn't refuse a command or, even worse, rebel against the World Government based on a baseless suspicion.
Shiryu's thoughts were, in truth, wild conjectures.
Sakazuki suddenly calling him out into the wasteland was unsettling.
"Don't worry. You are immortal now."
At that moment a chilling voice appeared in Shiryu's mind.
"Tsk, I hope you're actually reliable~" Shiryu mocked back in his head.
At the same time he no longer hesitated, ignoring the pairs of eyes cast from the city.
He transformed into an extraordinarily swift afterimage and sped out over Rōran's walls, dashing into the lush, vibrant woods.
Thanks to Aramaki's efforts, the area around Rōran was nothing but lawns, flowerbeds, or groves—no trace of desert in sight.
Yet these beautiful scenes swept past Shiryu's vision at high speed.
To be honest, the closer he drew to Sakazuki, the more tense Shiryu became.
There was nothing he could do.
The pressure Sakazuki exerted was simply that overwhelming.
Speaking of which, the reason he could still control his killing intent now was owed to Sakazuki's past guidance.
"You really are useless—afraid of one person to this extent. I'm beginning to doubt whether I chose the wrong man."
The chilling voice, laced with obvious displeasure, reappeared in Shiryu's mind.
"There's nothing to say to an impious evil god like you who's never seen the world. If you want to leave, do it now."
Shiryu snorted coldly, showing no courtesy to the other party, even though the other was a god.
"Hehehe, that won't do—I still need you to show me the world. There must be all kinds of souls across the myriad realms; just thinking about it makes my mouth water!"
"Then shut up. I told you before: between us, I am the master!" Shiryu warned.
"Hah, how could I, a proud death god, end up with someone who doesn't revere gods."
The chilling voice grumbled, but then fell silent within his heart.
This allowed Shiryu to calmly think about the matter before him once more.
"Could it be that this guy's situation has been discovered?"
"But how is that possible? Kenbunshoku Haki shouldn't be able to sense its presence."
Shiryu thought with unsettled doubt.
But in any case, the distance between him and Sakazuki grew ever smaller.
Before long, Kenbunshoku Haki perceived the latter's aura.
It was still so scorching, still so powerful, but it seemed to carry a trace of anger?
This sent a chill down Shiryu's spine.
Although various secret experiments had already confirmed that he truly possessed the so-called immortal body, he still did not feel he could defeat Sakazuki.
If he couldn't beat him before, he certainly couldn't beat him now.
---
I will post some extra Chapters in Patreon, you can check it out. >> patreon.com/TitoVillar
---