As the last hope of survival shattered, Ōtsutsuki Isshiki fell into complete despair. He stared deathly at Carl, his ocular power pouring out madly as the sky was instantly covered by countless black cubes.
The sight confirmed it for the Kirigakure shinobi—these two were the very combatants who had been fighting in the forest.
Witnessing such a spectacle with their own eyes sent an indescribable shock through their hearts. Even Mei Terumī, the Mizukage herself, stood there stunned.
The black cubes floating in the sky were far beyond the scope of conventional elemental ninjutsu. Any single one of them radiated overwhelming pressure—let alone so many at once.
Carl didn't even bother to raise his head, as if there were nothing at all above him.
He smiled faintly and said,
"This kind of move is useless against me. Looks like you've really run out of tricks, Isshiki."
Isshiki said nothing. His eyes widened slightly, and the black cubes in the sky came crashing down.
The next instant, boundless darkness surged from Carl like a raging sea. Before the horrified eyes of the Kirigakure shinobi, it collided head-on with the descending cubes.
There was no earth-shattering explosion—only the silent erasure of cube after massive cube, swallowed whole by the darkness. Not a single one reached the ground, let alone struck Carl.
Isshiki did not stop channeling his ocular power. Maintaining the aerial assault, he condensed a Yin–Yang black rod in his hand and shot forward as a streak of light toward Carl.
Their fists collided.
A crimson haki flash erupted, shockwaves rippling outward. Mei Terumī, standing near Carl, couldn't possibly withstand such force. Just as she was about to be blown away, Carl lifted his hand and clenched his fist in midair. Dark gravitational force instantly stabilized her in place, forming a faint black barrier around her.
For Carl, this level of protection was merely incidental. But for Mei, who realized he was shielding her while fighting such a monstrous enemy, it was something else entirely.
Facing an opponent this powerful and still sparing strength to protect her—at that moment, even the strongest woman of Kirigakure found herself half-believing in love at first sight.
But Carl then waved his hand, moving Mei out of the battlefield, while simultaneously binding Isshiki in place with darkness.
Before Isshiki could break free, Carl pressed a Truth-Seeking Orb against Isshiki's chest.
Blinding white light burst forth—then a violent explosion.
...
When the smoke cleared, a massive crater had formed. At its bottom stood Carl, and beside him, Isshiki, half-kneeling on the ground.
Isshiki's white robe had been blown to tatters, his exposed upper body riddled with wounds. One hand braced against the ground, he gasped for breath.
Carl raised a hand toward Isshiki's head. Sensing danger, Isshiki forced his battered body into a rapid retreat—but his speed was now far inferior to Carl's. In the blink of an eye, Carl caught up and slammed him into the ground with a single foot.
Darkness surged up from the earth, completely immobilizing Isshiki. Resentment filled his eyes, yet he sneered coldly.
"Want the Ten-Tails in my possession? I'd rather die than give it to you!"
Having clung to life for centuries, Isshiki had nothing left to lose. His lifespan was nearly over anyway—any death was preferable to being fed to the Ten-Tails as fertilizer.
If nothing else, he would make things unpleasant for Carl to the very end.
But reality disappointed him once again.
There was no anger on Carl's face.
He simply bent down and lightly wiped a finger across Isshiki's back.
Looking at the pale violet blood on his fingertip, Carl smiled.
An ominous feeling surged in Isshiki's heart. He desperately forced his ocular power to activate once more, unleashing the black-eye technique Daikokuten, firing a Yin–Yang black rod straight at Carl's forehead.
Such an attack was long since useless.
With a momentary phase shift, Carl avoided it effortlessly, then sealed Isshiki's eyes with darkness, preventing him from using any ocular techniques at all.
Carl had originally planned to destroy Isshiki's eyes outright—but then reconsidered. If Isshiki lost his eyes, his "nutritional value" might drop. That wouldn't do.
So he opted for a sealing method instead.
Trapped in darkness, Isshiki finally panicked, roaring from the ground,
"What are you going to do to me?! The clan will discover the truth sooner or later! They won't let you get away with this!"
Carl grabbed the back of Isshiki's chilled neck and chuckled softly.
"Great. Let them come. The more Ōtsutsuki there are, the better—chakra fruits are always in demand."
"You—"
Squch!
Isshiki's voice cut off abruptly.
Carl's fingers had pierced deep into the back of his neck, and a strange, eerie power flooded into Isshiki's body.
Gravely injured and with his abilities sealed, Isshiki quickly collapsed. His consciousness was overtaken entirely.
Isshiki had become nothing more than Carl's puppet.
Carl dispersed the darkness binding him. With hollow eyes, Isshiki slowly rose to his feet, raised a hand, and pressed it against the air.
The separate dimension containing the Ten-Tails opened.
...
The Ten-Tails, bearing a massive crimson eye, roared at Carl.
It was Carl's first time seeing a living Ten-Tails. He examined its grotesque form and commented flatly,
"Ugly."
Its head was enormous, but intelligence was nonexistent. In the original timeline, this Ten-Tails would later develop self-awareness, take on human form, and be named Jūra—but that future was no longer possible.
Its fate was to become a tree, and then bear a great fruit for Carl.
Under Carl's control, Isshiki slowly floated up and flew toward the Ten-Tails' dimension.
Upon seeing Isshiki approach, the massive crimson eye on the Ten-Tails' head filled with frenzied greed.
Devouring an Ōtsutsuki was an instinct etched into its very being.
As Isshiki reached the Ten-Tails, Carl released his control.
The first thing the newly conscious Isshiki saw was the Ten-Tails' enormous, twisted face—and its gaping mouth, open like a black hole.
"No—!!!"
Isshiki's shrill scream echoed through the dimension, growing weaker and weaker, until all that remained was a chilling, bone-grinding sound of chewing.
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+80 chapters on p@treon/tambeerg