Chapter 326 — The Truth of the Ōtsutsuki Clan?
"Gen!"
Space twisted—chakra roared—and Kitagawa Gen's figure stabilized in the midst of the Allied Shinobi Forces' formation.
The moment Naruto saw him, the blond idiot practically exploded:
"Senpai!!"
"Gen!"
"Fifth Hokage-sama!"
These shouts instantly drew thousands of eyes.
Excitement rippled across the battlefield.
If Gen was standing here unharmed…
Then Nagato, Obito, and Kimimaro—the three vessels possessed by Ōtsutsuki—
had already been dealt with.
And the parasitic Ōtsutsuki inside them had been forced out.
They had sensed the chakra surges earlier, but without Gen's physical arrival, they didn't dare assume anything.
Now that he appeared—
Hope flooded the entire army.
"Senpai, are you alright?"
Ino hurried over, voice gentle, concern in her eyes.
Hinata and Neji stared intensely—Byakugan users unable to hide their awe.
Every Hyūga present activated their Byakugan to gaze upon him.
According to the clan's ancient relics, this man was a bearer of their origin—
the one who carried Hyūga's true inheritance.
"Gen, no injuries?"
Tobirama rushed over as well, scanning him from head to toe—
Then his eyes lit up fanatically.
"Gen, look! The Sage of Six Paths—the Great Sage—has appeared!"
"…?"
Gen gave Tobirama a very confused look.
Why was this man glowing with religious fervor?
"Yes! The Great Sage himself has descended," Hashirama added, nodding confidently.
Naruto grinned and waved happily.
"The old man even gave us new powers! We can finally join the fight!"
Fighting was Naruto's biggest obsession.
He refused to sit still.
"Idiot. You nearly died last time," Sasuke grumbled—but even he agreed.
"Ōtsutsuki Genshiki is not someone to underestimate. Power or no power."
"Indeed."
Hashirama clenched his fist.
"Any Ōtsutsuki is terrifying—"
He suddenly froze.
Sweat rolled down his forehead as he hastily amended:
"—except the Sage of Six Paths! He truly acts for the sake of the world!"
"…."
Gen's expression twisted slightly.
Why did Hashirama look like he was apologizing in advance?
And as soon as he spoke, countless shinobi immediately echoed:
"Yes! The Sage fights for us!"
"He's different from the other Ōtsutsuki!"
"He is the only benevolent Ōtsutsuki!"
"…."
Gen slowly turned his head.
Floating in the air, the Sage of Six Paths stared back at him—
a face full of sorrow, pain, and sheer exhaustion.
The two held eye contact for a long, miserable moment.
Gen finally waved awkwardly.
"…Hello, Sage of Six Paths."
I am NOT fine!
Hagoromo screamed in his heart.
All the rumors…
All the conspiracies…
All the misunderstandings that painted him as a cold-blooded mastermind…
Traced back to this one troublemaking Ōtsutsuki.
If not for him transforming into "Ōtsutsuki Genshiki" and acting mysteriously…
Would Black Zetsu have snapped like that?
Would ridiculous relics appear?
Would Tobirama's paranoia evolve into… whatever this is?!
ALL! YOUR! FAULT!
And Gen still had the nerve to greet him like nothing happened?!
"Hello, Kitagawa Gen. I have long been aware of your existence…"
Though miserable inside, Hagoromo kept his dignity.
This was not the time to start a family argument.
The fate of the world was still on the line.
Besides…
Shinobi education had collapsed long ago.
If not, they wouldn't have produced someone like Tobirama—
living proof of that collapse.
And Gen, who crawled out of this broken system as a full Ōtsutsuki?
Yeah, he absolutely could not afford to offend this one.
"A pleasure to finally meet."
"…Huh?"
Naruto and Sasuke blinked.
The shinobi army murmured in confusion.
Was this really the ruthless, mother-sealing, son-tormenting, conspiracy-weaving Sage of Six Paths?
Why was he so… polite?
"Yes, we should've met sooner." Gen smiled.
Hagoromo sighed deeply, voice tinged with bitterness.
"Indeed…
Considering how extraordinary you are, we truly should've met."
Naruto whispered, confused:
"…Why is the Sage acting like he's scared?"
Even Black Zetsu froze.
Since when did his "heartless brother" treat someone with such respect?
"Anyway," Hagoromo continued softly, "although events have… deviated wildly from what I expected… the priority now is the situation before us. We can discuss the rest later."
"Agreed."
Gen nodded.
This was merely a clone anyway; the full conversation could wait.
"And the enemy must be dealt with first.
The shinobi world has suffered long enough."
"…!"
The army clenched their fists.
He was right.
This suffering needed to end.
"Alright!"
Naruto pumped his fist.
"Let's defeat the Ōtsutsuki and finish this!"
"Protect the shinobi world!"
"End this nightmare!"
Their collective shout surged like a tsunami.
They had finally heard the truth—
their world tormented for centuries—
and the culprits were the Ōtsutsuki.
They refused to let this continue.
"And we must protect the Sage's mother! We can't let Genshiki devour her!"
A random shinobi shouted.
Gen: "…?"
Hagoromo: "…???"
"Right! We must safeguard her!"
"Don't let her fall into Genshiki's hands!"
"Never let the Ōtsutsuki do as they please!"
Gen and Hagoromo both stared blankly.
Somewhere, beyond them, three ancient Ōtsutsuki slowly descended from the skies.
---
"Genshiki."
Momoshi, Urashiki, and Isshiki hovered above—their Byakugan fixed on Genshiki.
Revival was not a pleasant feeling.
Being forced to resurrect through kāma was humiliation.
Even worse—
their vessels had been killed first.
They lost massive amounts of energy.
And the one responsible—
the one who hunted them down like prey—
was standing right here.
"You detestable creature…"
Momoshiki trembled with fury.
"I have waited a long time for this day."
"No need to shout," Gen replied calmly.
"I've waited too."
His star-lit eyes glimmered.
"I once thought you shared my ideals, Momoshiki.
But you disappointed me.
So…"
His chakra flared suddenly.
"This time, be ready.
I won't give you a second chance."
"How arrogant!" Urashiki snapped.
"Do you think this will be like before?
We are three.
You are one."
"…Three versus one and we still feel nervous…"
Urashiki trailed off, realizing how pathetic that sounded.
Even he cringed.
"Genshiki," Isshiki cut in, voice more composed, "your threat is too great. We would prefer not to fight, but we must."
He hesitated, then asked:
"There is something I have always wondered.
Will you answer it?"
Gen nodded politely.
Though they would inevitably battle, he still maintained the "grace" of an Ōtsutsuki.
Besides, Kaguya's descent wasn't done yet.
And he was waiting to extract the Ten-Tails.
"I'll answer whatever I can, Isshiki-senpai."
"What are you doing?"
Kaguya hissed inside the seal.
"Why be polite? We should attack now!"
"I'm waiting for you. And the Ten-Tails."
Kaguya almost choked.
Even now he was thinking of the Ten-Tails?!
And… waiting for her?
That didn't feel comforting at all.
Isshiki pressed on:
"You knew my truth from the moment we met, didn't you?
You exposed me immediately.
Why?
Did you already know…?"
"About the 'Path to Godhood'?"
Gen smiled faintly, feeling the sky's dimensional rift widening.
"You can understand it that way.
There's no problem with that."
"What…?"
Isshiki's eyes widened.
He was admitting it?
Openly???
"Then you… knew everything?"
Urashiki and Momoshiki leaned in, eyes burning.
"Does the 'Stairway to Godhood' truly exist?!"
"It exists," Gen replied without hesitation.
"It was merely sealed away."
He didn't even blink.
After all—
as far as he was concerned, all of this was true enough.
And if he could lead the entire Ōtsutsuki clan into chaos?
Even better.
"Why do you think we are strictly limited to gaining power through God Trees?"
His tone turned somber.
"Why do we hand over every chakra fruit we obtain?
Why are there so many newborn Ōtsutsuki…
while true higher beings among us are so few?"
Isshiki, Momoshiki, and Urashiki stiffened.
Newborn Ōtsutsuki were everywhere.
But beings on the level of Šibai Ōtsutsuki?
Almost nonexistent.
"Why… indeed?"
Urashiki muttered.
"Because," Gen continued, voice dropping,
"the greatest nourishment for an Ōtsutsuki…
is another Ōtsutsuki."
A long silence.
Even the resurrected trio swallowed hard.
Gen sighed, face darkening with false sorrow.
"Our clan consumes too much.
The energy needed to advance is monstrous.
Yet we are forced to grow slowly…
forced to hand over the fruits…
forced to stagnate…"
"Unless," he said quietly,
"someone breaks the rules."
Isshiki's brows furrowed.
"Do you mean—
something once happened in our clan that changed everything?"
-
In that instant, the three resurrected Ōtsutsuki finally understood.
Isshiki and Urashiki instinctively glanced toward the scowling Momoshiki…
then toward Kitagawa Gen standing before them.
These two… had both done it.
"Don't look at me."
Momoshiki clicked his tongue in irritation before speaking bluntly:
"The 'Path to Godhood' does work. Devouring Kinshiki did greatly elevate my power—
But it was far from enough."
"Because it was too little," Gen cut in calmly.
"Before I went searching for Isshiki and Kaguya, I found something unexpected in the clan's homeland…
an ancient text. A sealed scripture."
"A scripture?"
Momoshiki's brows furrowed—Isshiki and Urashiki stiffened as well.
This… might be the key.
"What did it say?"
"That scripture was sealed tight. It took me years—centuries perhaps—to fully undo the bindings."
Gen shook his head with a soft sigh.
"But what it recorded was… fascinating. It chronicled the forgotten history of the Ōtsutsuki clan and—"
He paused deliberately.
"—the war that was buried, erased, forbidden.
A war between Ōtsutsuki."
Isshiki, Momoshiki, and Urashiki froze.
For a heartbeat—
then two—
their eyes widened.
And then—
"…We were right."
The same thought flashed through all their minds.
Their fists clenched.
They had suspected something like this for centuries.
"A civil war… there really was an unthinkable Ōtsutsuki civil war!"
"And the root of that war was the so-called 'Stairway to Godhood'!"
"No wonder everything is restricted—no wonder chakra pills are rationed—no wonder advancement is controlled!"
"So that's why higher-level Ōtsutsuki are so rare!
Those who approached Šibai's level were all killed!"
Even though Gen's story was full of holes—
even though he offered zero evidence—
in that moment, they believed him completely.
Because Gen's overwhelming strength had already proven one thing:
an Ōtsutsuki could transcend the rules.
And… Momoshiki had done it too.
He admitted his devouring had produced real results.
If one Kinshiki wasn't enough…
What if there were more?
"Alright," Gen said, glancing toward the sky as his lips curved into a faint smile.
"I've said what needed saying.
And before Kaguya descends… there's something we must settle."
"I trust you now understand what the Stairway truly represents."
"For beings like us, evolution is not a choice—
it is survival.
To stagnate… is to die."
The Truth-Seeking Orbs shifted—compressing, reshaping—
forming a long golden blade pointing toward the three Ōtsutsuki.
Their expressions darkened.
But behind that darkness—
excitement.
BOOM—!
In the next moment, Urashiki and Momoshiki erupted with overwhelming chakra.
Dark clouds rolled across the sky.
Thunder vibrated in the air.
The world trembled beneath their release.
Steam surged from their bodies, flooding the battlefield like a rising tide.
"What… is happening?!"
The Allied Forces had already gathered, but this monstrous chakra still filled them with instinctive terror.
Naruto stared at the distant storm.
Sasuke clenched his teeth—the wind whipped his bangs aside, exposing the rippling Rinnegan within his eye sockets.
"They're about to fight."
Gen's God Tree clone remained perfectly calm.
"Things are about to get… troublesome."
As chakra raged, Momoshiki and Urashiki underwent drastic transformations.
Urashiki's forehead bone-plate shed into two fan-like appendages.
Black curse-like patterns—marks of an unsealed Kāma—spread across his body.
Momoshiki sprouted twin curved horns.
His hair grew long and wild.
Black divine patterns streaked across his face, body—even his horns.
And on both their foreheads—
a thin crack slowly opened.
Within it—
a gleaming golden Rinnegan awakened.
Their aura skyrocketed.
"That's right," Urashiki growled.
"For beings like us… to stop evolving is to die."
Momoshiki's killing intent sharpened like a blade.
"No matter how strong you are—today, you die."
Gen remained serene.
He even turned to Isshiki with a faint smile:
"Well then… Isshiki-senpai. What about you?"
"…?"
Isshiki blinked at him.
"They've transformed. Aren't you going to?
Or is this your limit?"
"…."
Isshiki's face darkened.
He really had nothing left—no hidden forms to unveil.
"Since you have nothing else—"
Gen's voice softened.
Then his figure vanished.
"It's my turn."
BOOM—!!!
In a single step, Gen appeared at their side.
His golden blade cleaved outward—
A shockwave of tangible force blasted across the battlefield.
Chakra winds surged like a hurricane, sweeping everything in their path.
The true battle had begun.