Chapter 327 — Above the Clouds, Kaguya Descends
Momoshiki and Urashiki hesitated for not even a heartbeat.
They knew all too well how dangerous the man before them was.
The moment the battle began, they immediately chose to transform.
In their earlier fight, they had considered using these evolved forms against Ōtsutsuki Gen…
But they never got the chance.
Gen simply struck too fast, too brutally, too decisively.
They were crushed before they could even think about invoking their final trump cards.
But this time—
"This time is different! There are three of us!"
"We'll kill you, consume you, and seize whatever relic you're hiding!"
"I… no, we will ascend the true Pathway to Godhood!"
With enraged roars, the two lunged forward—
and Gen surged toward them at the same instant.
Four streaks of blinding light collided—
BOOOOM!!!
Raw energy erupted in visible waves.
The already shattered earth simply couldn't endure that magnitude of force—
The ground heaved like a rising tide, layers of rock rippling outward in shock.
A deafening sonic boom followed, and all four figures burst upward into the sky.
Their violent chakra churned through the heavens like a tidal storm,
distorting the very air with sheer pressure.
From the very first exchange, none of the four held anything back.
Their strikes were full-force, lethal—
the kind of battle where one mistake equals death.
The shockwaves spread far and wide.
In only an instant, the Allied Shinobi Forces were caught in the aftereffects.
"These bastards…"
Every shinobi stared skyward, hearts clenching.
They couldn't even comprehend what they were seeing—
Only four streaks of clashing light, too fast to track.
Even Naruto, Sasuke, and Hashirama wore heavy expressions.
"I can't see a thing… not a single movement."
Naruto muttered through clenched teeth.
Hashirama nodded helplessly.
Even Sasuke's eyes narrowed, frustration evident.
"Even with the Rinnegan, I can't follow them.
They're too fast… especially Ōtsutsuki Genshiki."
They had fought him before—
and they already knew he surpassed them.
But seeing him now, fighting seriously for the first time…
The gap was monstrous.
"Gen, can you see it clearly?"
Tobirama finally asked, turning toward the silent figure beside them—Gen's God Tree clone.
The other shinobi immediately looked over as well.
"And your eyes—are they the same as the Byakugan? Can you see Uchiha Madara's situation too?"
Gen had inherited the power of the Sage of Six Paths' younger brother.
His eyes resembled the Byakugan, but no one knew their true capabilities.
Naruto's Sage Mode also altered his eyes…
So what exactly could Gen see?
"I can see everything."
Gen's clone didn't bother to pretend anymore.
His identity might be exposed any moment; hiding was pointless now.
"Their battle level has risen.
Their power has grown stronger as well."
In truth, Momoshiki and Urashiki's second forms were impressive.
From the main body's perspective, their base capabilities had increased by at least thirty percent—
Maybe even more.
But despite that, he felt no concern.
He could see the fight.
He could feel it.
Even in only a few dozen seconds of exchange, one thing was clear:
Gen's main body still held the advantage.
Even against three transformed Ōtsutsuki, he continued to suppress them.
"It seems Momoshiki and Urashiki really did learn well from Nagato and Kimimaro. Their combat instincts have improved. And Isshiki, of course, was always proficient…"
Gen paused slightly.
His clone smirked.
"But it still isn't enough."
Gen's God Tree clone silently repeated what he was sensing, then spoke aloud:
"Ōtsutsuki Genshiki holds the advantage. As for Uchiha Madara… he's ignoring everything and continuously channeling power into the moon. At this rate—"
"That's the ritual to summon Mother!"
Black Zetsu couldn't help blurting out, eyes locked on Gen's clone.
The more he observed this person, the more unsettled he felt.
Gen was a walking paradox—like staring into fog.
No matter how he probed, he couldn't see through him.
And yet… something about Gen's chakra felt unsettlingly familiar.
Almost like…
He had some connection to Ōtsutsuki Genshiki himself.
"While they're distracted, we should move. Stay ready for anything,"
Gen's clone said. The main body's situation was fully within his awareness.
But—
BOOM.
Before he could say more, a distant explosion tore open the sky.
A figure plummeted like a meteor, crashing into the ground with an earth-shattering impact.
A towering mushroom cloud rose.
The shockwave swept across the battlefield like a hurricane.
From above, Gen's voice drifted through the moonlit air:
"Some progress… but still far from enough."
He was floating in the sky, bathed in lunar light—clearly having activated the Tenseigan Chakra Mode.
Momoshiki and Urashiki really had improved—
forced to learn tactics from the "hellish education" the Shinobi World had given them.
With both in their second transformations, they were no longer trivial opponents.
Even Gen had to take them somewhat seriously now.
And Isshiki…
Isshiki was never someone to underestimate.
Fully restored, he was a threat worthy of caution.
"So then—why don't the three of you simply stop resisting," Gen asked lightly, "and join me in climbing the Pathway to Godhood?"
"SHUT UP!"
Momoshiki roared, attacking from behind.
In his hand appeared a red-glowing chakra blade—Kimshiki's.
He swung with a wicked angle that he never possessed in the past—
the mark of hard-earned combat experience.
At the same instant, Isshiki flicked his wrist.
Countless microscopic rods—yin–yang black receivers—shot toward Gen like a storm.
"You really think," Gen smirked, "I can't see that?"
A Truth-Seeking Orb shifted instantly into a massive shield, intercepting the barrage.
Gen slid his body just slightly, letting Momoshiki's slash miss by centimeters—
and retaliated with a sweeping strike of his golden blade.
"And really… do you think your toy blade can reach me?"
"You—!"
Momoshiki desperately summoned another of Kinshiki's weapons—
a massive red battle-axe—
and slammed it in front of himself as a shield.
CLANG!
The axe shattered instantly.
Gen's blade drove forward, unstoppable.
"Senior, death is but an extended sleep. Why fear it? And if your fall helps me advance—why resist it?"
"Damn you—!"
Momoshiki dodged wildly, but Gen's strikes seemed to erase every escape route.
Then—
just before the golden blade cut into him—
a strange distortion rippled.
The sword suddenly shrank, collapsing in on itself as though seized by an invisible force.
"Oh?"
Gen raised a brow.
"Sukunahikona, hmm?"
Of course—
Isshiki's divine ability to shrink anything non-living.
Even a technique like Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion was not exempt.
Gen's smile widened.
"Not bad."
His chakra burst outward.
The eerie radiance in his silver eyes flared—resisting Sukunahikona while simultaneously warping the surrounding space.
The blade didn't physically strike Momoshiki—
Yet—
SPLAT.
A spatial fold ruptured, and a violent force punched directly through his chest.
"GAH—!"
Blood sprayed.
A deep wound tore across his torso, and his expression twisted in pain.
"You're folding space… letting the attack slip through reality and strike me?!"
Momoshiki gasped.
"Have you three never bothered analyzing your failures?"
Gen asked calmly, stepping forward again.
"BASTARD! DIE!!"
Urashiki, freshly recovered from being slammed into the earth, surged upward with a roar.
The golden Rinnegan on his forehead flared.
Isshiki followed a second later, his black rods materializing with deadly intent.
None of them answered Gen's question—because the truth was embarrassing.
They never shared insights.
Never coordinated properly.
Each viewed the others as tools and stepping stones.
Even now, facing a common enemy, their pride suffocated logic.
"You're just a lucky brat who inherited this planet's power," Isshiki growled.
"But don't forget—"
His chakra changed abruptly—
no seals, no buildup, just an instantaneous shift in quality and form.
"When I arrived here, this world wasn't even called the Shinobi Realm.
There were no ninjas.
I watched the techniques you rely on evolve from nothing!"
"And yet," Gen replied coldly, "you wield them worse than I do."
"You arrogant little—!"
The three Ōtsutsuki lunged again.
And again, Gen met them effortlessly.
"Apologies," Gen said, parrying a simultaneous assault from three directions,
"but I truly don't think much of you."
Golden light carved the night sky.
Explosions rippled like thunder.
Space bent and warped under their power.
"You never once considered that your clan could be more.
You accepted whatever 'pills' your superiors handed down as the only path to evolution."
"You never sought your own way upward.
Never questioned the system that keeps you chained."
"But I…
I am not like you."
A devastating chakra storm erupted around them.
The ground split open for miles, forming a massive canyon.
Gen's voice boomed like divine proclamation:
"They sealed away the truth because they already know everything!
We are nothing but livestock to them—fuel for their ascension!"
"In all eternity, only Ōtsutsuki Shibai transcended the cycle.
No one else even approached his level.
That cannot be coincidence."
"If they can do it—why can't I?"
"The throne of heaven has been vacant for far too long, my seniors."
Gen's chakra detonated—
and all three Ōtsutsuki were blasted back at once.
At that exact moment, the sky split open.
The light of Infinite Tsukuyomi pierced heaven and earth—
not as an illusion, but as a gate.
A passageway.
Since they hadn't aimed it at the people, no one was trapped.
And through the crimson lunar radiance—
A silhouette emerged.
Kaguya.
Gen lifted his head and smiled.
"Kaguya has descended.
You cannot stop me anymore."
"Surrender yourselves.
Align your will with mine.
And together—
we will climb the Pathway to Godhood."
"Let us look down upon the clouds—
and forge a new world that belongs to us."