Research Institute, underground shelter.
Amado, his face covered in dust, looked up toward the surface: "Is it over?"
The shelter was already a mess. Despite multiple layers of reinforcement inside and out and being hundreds of meters underground, the great war of the Kekkei Mora on the surface had still affected this place, destroying large areas within the shelter.
The command center had not been spared either, with a large section having collapsed.
Sasori said: "It should be over, right? There are no more vibrations!"
Damon looked at his sister, Ada: "Who won?"
Ada shook her head with a solemn expression.
Her Senrigan had been invincible in the past, but now it was repeatedly failing. Just like now, she could not observe the situation of the great war on the surface; in the vision of her Senrigan, the entire surface was a blur of chaos.
Amado adjusted the crooked glasses on the bridge of his nose and analyzed: "Since the Leader chose to set an ambush here, he must have made full preparations."
"Mm!"
This time, Sasori nodded in agreement.
From B disguising herself as Shinji for combat, to the sudden appearance of two Kekkei Mora—Hikari and Kaguya Otsutsuki—joining B to ambush Otsutsuki Shibai, this series of changes proved that Shinji had not completely lost control of the situation.
...
On the surface.
Looking at the kneeling, gradually decaying Otsutsuki Shibai, Karin let out a long sigh of relief: "Finally took this guy down!"
Karin, disguised as Shinji, had been under immense pressure. Especially after Otsutsuki Shibai obtained the power of the Hegemon of Terror and his strength climbed straight to the peak of Kekkei Mora, she had even prepared herself to die in battle at one point.
Fortunately, Otsutsuki Shibai's fear of Shinji was buried deep in his bones. Thus, after discovering his opponent was not Shinji, he immediately lost his nerve and fell into the trap Shinji had prepared for him.
Hikari said: "Now that he's dealt with, the other puppets will be easy to handle!"
Kaguya Otsutsuki looked around.
Although the doomsday scene of the shinobi world had not stopped with the defeat of Otsutsuki Shibai, without a peak Kekkei Mora like him, those other puppets scattered across the world whose hearts were corrupted by the Hegemon of Terror were indeed not much of a problem in the eyes of three Kekkei Mora.
Boom
Just as the three were preparing to move separately to clear out the puppets controlled by the Hegemon of Terror one by one, a crack of thunder suddenly exploded in the sky above.
"What's happening?!"
The three looked up at the sky together.
In the originally dark sky, a twisted vortex appeared. This vortex shredded the clouds, shredded the lightning, and even shredded space!
It rapidly expanded, spreading across half the sky in the blink of an eye, as if the entire heavens were being ground to pieces!
Hikari's expression stiffened as she cried out: "Oh no!"
As soon as she spoke, a stream of dark purple smoke erupted from the center of the vortex, then descended from the sky, pouring over Otsutsuki Shibai's body!
Everything happened too fast; the three simply had no time to stop it. Or rather, even if they had anticipated it, they were powerless to stop it.
Because that massive vortex shredding space in the air was clearly the handiwork of the Hegemon of Terror.
This terrifying Hegemon obviously did not want to give up a useful pawn like Otsutsuki Shibai. At the critical moment, it acted to forcibly break through the space barrier of the shinobi world, transmitting its power into the world and pouring it into Otsutsuki Shibai's body.
Whir
Soon, an indescribable, terrifying chakra erupted from the body of the previously kneeling and decaying Otsutsuki Shibai.
This chakra was so strong that even Karin, Hikari, and Kaguya Otsutsuki, fellow Kekkei Mora, could not look at it directly and had to turn their gazes away.
"Hahaha, I told you, you cannot kill me!"
With a crazed laugh, Otsutsuki Shibai stood up from the ground.
Kaguya Otsutsuki managed to look at Otsutsuki Shibai, and her face instantly changed: "How is this possible!?"
Karin and Hikari heard something was wrong and also endured the discomfort to look at Otsutsuki Shibai. They found that the bone rods previously stuck in his body had all turned to ash, dissipating into the dark purple smoke.
The shinjutsu-fied All-Killing Ash Bones had been cleared away!
Clearly, Otsutsuki Shibai could not have achieved this on his own; only the Hegemon of Terror could do such a thing!
"Are you surprised?" Smiling, Otsutsuki Shibai continued: "I told you long ago, you have no future!"
Karin frowned slightly: "His power is still rising!"
Hikari echoed: "Mm, it seems even stronger than before!"
Their perception was correct. With the continuous injection of the dark purple mist, Otsutsuki Shibai's aura climbed steadily. He not only restored himself to the level of a peak Kekkei Mora but was even continuing to surge upward!
Kaguya Otsutsuki instinctively began to tremble: "This..."
Otsutsuki Shibai enjoyed the shock of the three: "See that? This is my true power!"
Karin ignored Otsutsuki Shibai and instead looked at the vortex in the sky above: "Forcibly breaking the space barrier like this... even for a Hegemon, it should be very taxing!"
The expression on Hikari's face also changed from initial shock to a pleasant surprise: "Yes, its consumption must be massive!"
Kaguya Otsutsuki said: "Are we going to use that move?"
Karin shifted her gaze to the Otsutsuki Shibai opposite her, the corners of her mouth curling into a grin: "Don't panic, he hasn't reached his strongest state yet!"
Listening to the conversation of the three, Otsutsuki Shibai felt something was wrong: "Are you few scared out of your wits? You're about to die; aren't you afraid at all?"
Karin stared at Otsutsuki Shibai: "In your current state, you're not qualified to make us afraid. If you've got the guts, get even stronger!"
"I—"
Otsutsuki Shibai was momentarily speechless.
Hikari then placed a hand on Karin's shoulder: "Hey, can you get any stronger than this?"
Kaguya Otsutsuki also reached out and placed her hand on Karin's other shoulder, her eyes looking at Otsutsuki Shibai with both trepidation and expectation.
Otsutsuki Shibai began to feel uneasy deep down: "You... what exactly do you want to do?"
His strength was clearly exploding, and he was just one step away from surpassing the level of Kekkei Mora and stepping into a higher dimension. But for some reason, the shinjutsu Premonition was frantically warning him, as if he were only one step away from the abyss.
Boom
With a burst of roar, Otsutsuki Shibai finally surpassed the peak of Kekkei Mora. Under the cost-blind investment of power from the Hegemon of Terror, he stepped into the realm of All Creation Power.
"Ah..." After a low moan, a look of enjoyment appeared on Otsutsuki Shibai's face: "The long-lost feeling has returned. Yes, this is my true realm!"
However, just as he was preparing to declare victory to Karin's group, Karin, Hikari, and Kaguya Otsutsuki formed hand signs together and then shouted simultaneously: "Shinjutsu, Jiko Choga, Banished!"