Caught in the powerful gravitational pull, Minato remained unnervingly calm. Instead of fighting the force, he used the momentum, his hands blurring into a single, complex seal.
"Sage Art: Flying Raijin - Stage Three!"
From the dark golden cloak of his Nine-Tails Chakra Mode, a dense shower of glowing kunai-shaped markers, forged from pure chakra, shot out like a golden rain. They didn't fly straight but fanned out, creating a complex, three-dimensional web of teleportation points that completely enveloped Toneri's position.
The gravity tugging at Minato suddenly vanished as he disappeared. Toneri's senses screamed a warning, and he instantly locked onto a figure that materialized from the rain of light directly at his flank.
"Yin-Yang Release: Rasengan!"
A Rasengan, swirling with the fundamental forces of creation, slammed into Toneri. A defensive shield of black Truth-Seeking Orbs instantly materialized around the Otsutsuki, absorbing the impact with a deafening CRACK! The force of the blow still sent him staggering back, forcing him to retreat outside the dense net of Minato's chakra markers.
"It seems I have still underestimated you!" Toneri snarled, his eyes blazing with fury. As a descendant of Hamura, his knowledge was vast, but he had never witnessed space-time ninjutsu of this speed and complexity. "In that case, let's see where you plan to run!"
With a roar, Toneri shot high into the lunar sky. His right hand clenched and rotated as before, but this time, seven Truth-Seeking Orbs spun into existence before his palm. They merged and compressed, the energy fluctuations they emitted warping the very space around them, dwarfing the power of his previous attack.
"Silver Wheel Reincarnation Explosion!"
BOOM!
The space before Toneri seemed to shatter. A colossal storm of silver-green energy erupted outwards, an indiscriminate, world-ending typhoon that expanded to consume everything in its path. It was aimed not only at Minato but at the entire area below, where Naruto and Hinata were fighting for their lives.
Is he not afraid of destroying his own clan's legacy? Minato thought, sensing the massive energy signature of the Tenseigan vessel located deep inside the moon, directly in the blast's path. But there was no time to ponder his enemy's recklessness. To ensure Naruto and Hinata's safety, he couldn't simply teleport away.
He clenched his hands, and a specially-made Hiraishin kunai appeared in his grip. He held it horizontally before him, his golden chakra cloak flaring violently against the oncoming storm, yet his figure remained as steady and unyielding as a mountain.
"Space Barrier!" he yelled, pouring every last drop of his clone's chakra into a single, desperate defense.
Deep inside the moon, Naruto's sensory abilities had led them directly to their target. With Hinata's Byakugan navigating the labyrinthine corridors, they arrived in a vast, pulsating chamber.
"This is…" Hinata's breath caught in her throat, her beautiful brows furrowing in horror. Suspended in the center of the room was the source of the moon's power: a colossal, living sphere woven from countless, stolen Byakugan, all staring blankly into the abyss. Through her own bloodline, she could feel the faint, sorrowful echoes of the thousands of souls trapped within.
"We have to destroy it now, Hinata! It's the only way to save everyone on Earth!" Naruto urged, having explained the full situation to her on their way.
"Right," Hinata nodded, her expression hardening with resolve. She turned her eyes to Naruto, a hint of her usual shyness returning for a moment before she suppressed it. This was no time for hesitation.
Naruto stepped forward and took her hand in his, his grip firm and reassuring. "Let's do this together!" he said with a confident grin.
Hinata nodded again, this time with a heavy, determined finality. She focused, gathering every ounce of her Hyuga chakra and pouring it into their clasped hands. Naruto did the same, channeling his immense Six Paths power to meet hers.
ROAR!
Their combined chakra erupted, taking the shape of two ferocious lion heads, the signature of the Hyuga's ultimate technique. Then, Naruto's golden Six Paths chakra surged into the construct. The ethereal blue lions were instantly engulfed in brilliant gold, expanding exponentially in size and power until they resembled divine, celestial beasts.
Naruto and Hinata looked at each other, their breathing, their will, their very heartbeats falling into a single, perfect rhythm.
"Six Paths: Twin Lion Gentle Step Fist!" they yelled in unison.
The golden lion-beasts roared and lunged forward, biting down on the colossal Tenseigan vessel with devastating force.
CRACK!
The giant sphere trembled violently before shattering in a blinding explosion of light. For a moment, Naruto and Hinata were surrounded by what looked like a sea of brilliant stars. They were not stars, but the thousands of Byakugan, now freed. As they floated past, fragmented memories and emotions—the final thoughts of the Otsutsuki clan members—flashed through their minds.
"We have to help Dad!" Naruto yelled, snapping back to reality. He could feel the violent, overwhelming chakra from Toneri's attack raging on the surface. "It'll be bad if his clone is destroyed!"
FWOOSH!
A massive Nine-Tails chakra claw sprouted from his back, forming a giant Rasengan above their heads. With Hinata's hand still in his, Naruto shot vertically upwards. The Rasengan smashed through the ceiling of the chamber, blasting a direct path to the surface.
On the lunar surface, the cataclysmic Silver Wheel Reincarnation Explosion finally dissipated, its fury spent against Minato's unyielding spatial barrier. The blast had, however, struck the gateway connecting to Earth's underground. The portal distorted violently, the image within flickering before vanishing completely as the power source of the Tenseigan vessel was severed. Minato's escape route, and his marker, were gone.
Toneri, being the wielder of the Tenseigan, felt its destruction the instant it happened. A wave of absolute shock, followed by murderous rage, contorted his features. The legacy of his entire clan, a thousand years of sacrifice, had been erased in a single moment. He glared at Minato, his eyes promising a painful death.
"Nice work, you two," Minato said, ignoring Toneri's killing intent as he smiled with relief. But his smile vanished as he looked toward the Earth. His expression changed to one of horror. The moon… it hadn't stopped. It was still falling. As it drew closer, he could see its fractured surface shedding more and more massive meteorites that rained down on the world below.
His head snapped back to Toneri. "It's you!" he exclaimed in disbelief.
"A sharp mind for a lowly human," Toneri sneered, the pattern in his Tenseigan glowing with malevolent light. He had once needed the vessel to move the moon, but now, his own eyes had fully evolved. He was the Tenseigan. With his own power, he could finish what his ancestors had started.
"You humans will pay for your sacrilege!" Toneri looked down at Minato, sensing the massive chakra drain the Hokage's clone had suffered defending against his last attack. "You cannot possibly withstand the next one."
He raised his right arm. The black orbs in his palm suddenly pulsed, turning a brilliant, sickly green. They spun, emitting a dazzling light before collapsing inward, condensing into a single, terrifying sphere of power. Toneri poured every last remnant of his chakra into this one attack. The green light intensified, burning brighter and brighter until it shifted into a blinding, divine gold.
Terrifying waves of energy pulsed from the golden orb. High in the sky above the moon, a colossal sword of light began to form, so immense it seemed to possess the power to cleave the heavens and the earth. Even from the surface of the Earth, a new, terrible star seemed to ignite in the sky.
Minato's face was tense. His clone's power was spent. He had nothing left to stop this.
Toneri raised the golden orb high. "Disappear!" he screamed, and brought his hand down.
The devastating attack fell, a pillar of divine judgment aimed at Minato and the entire surface of the moon.
"Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion!"