After successfully averting the village-destroying crisis, the old couple didn't hesitate for a moment.
They still remembered: the real enemy wasn't dealt with yet. Karin was likely fighting one against two right now.
They had to get there immediately!
Fortunately, Sasuke could use his Six-Tomoe Rinnegan to open a long-distance portal.
Karin's extreme-speed flight was indeed very fast, but it still fell short compared to true instantaneous movement and spatial travel.
By the time the two arrived at the battlefield where Karin was fighting the two Otsutsuki, the battle had already reached a fever pitch.
It was clear that Karin's strength was truly formidable.
In fact, she was even stronger than the other current Kage of the Five Great Nations.
And her fighting style didn't rely on Chakra, so she was almost never countered by Momoshiki.
But even so, it didn't mean Karin could simply overpower the two of them.
On the contrary, Karin's situation was now extremely precarious.
Not long after Karin used her [As One Wishes] divine speed to forcibly carry the two Otsutsuki away from Konoha, Momoshiki and Kinshiki reacted.
Kinshiki immediately created new weapons and directly slashed at the Garuda's bird claws.
Most of Karin's defensive power was concentrated in her feathers, and her Armament Haki couldn't compare to Konohamaru's or Sasuke's.
Thus, caught by this sneak attack, a large wound immediately appeared on the giant bird's claw.
Momoshiki's situation was similar, and if not for her quick reaction, a high-pressure water jet would have severed Karin's claw completely.
With both claws injured and in pain, Karin had no choice but to release the two.
"Not a so-called Ninjutsu? You lower life form, you're more interesting than those two."
The two Otsutsuki floated back in the sky. Momoshiki reached out and touched the blood staining his body, rubbed it between his fingers slightly, and then his eyes instantly turned fierce.
"So, this transformation is your reliance?"
In front of Momoshiki, Chakra Fluctuations appeared once again.
"After I kill you, it won't be too late to go capture that fox."
After speaking, a bolt of lightning shot from his palm towards Karin.
From their earlier contact, Momoshiki was already well aware of how fast Karin was.
If he used those slow attacks again, he probably wouldn't even be able to touch her shadow.
Zap-
The electric light reached Karin in an instant. Perhaps because of her earlier injury, Karin couldn't immediately activate her divine speed to dodge again.
She could only curl her body into a giant spherical shape, using those incredibly hard feathers to form a defensive layer.
[Vajra Body]
The lightning blasted against Karin's body without obstruction, one strike after another, with no intention of stopping.
Seeing Momoshiki attack, Kinshiki also summoned other weapons to help.
But his action was stopped by Momoshiki.
"Step back! I want to torture this lower life form to death myself!"
Hearing this, Kinshiki could only obediently stand to the side and wait.
Soon, a large patch of feathers on Karin's body was shattered by the blasts.
The defensive power of those feathers was indeed strong, but under this continuous, relentless assault, they would still be destroyed.
Yet Karin, wrapped within the feathers, didn't feel despair. Instead, she waited quietly for a chance to counterattack.
She knew clearly that anxiety and panic couldn't defeat an opponent.
This was something Naruto had once taught her.
"Huu-"
Letting out a long breath, Momoshiki seemed to have finally vented the frustration of being outsmarted by 'lower life forms' on Karin, and thus prepared to deliver the final blow.
"Kinshiki, restrain her."
"Yes! Momoshiki-sama!"
Kinshiki showed no surprise at Momoshiki's sudden change in attitude, silently creating countless chains that bound towards the golden sphere in mid-air.
Momoshiki understood clearly that if Karin was allowed to move freely, his attacks might very well miss their target.
Now that his anger was vented, it was time to get down to business.
It was at this moment that Naruto and Sasuke successfully arrived, taking over just before Karin could be restrained.
Thud! Thud!
Their attacks simultaneously struck Kinshiki and Momoshiki, sending them flying.
Sensing the change, Karin immediately retracted her Vajra Body state and, ignoring her already battered and bruised body, stared fixedly at Momoshiki, who had been sent flying by Naruto.
"Haah-"
She inhaled and a massive amount of air gathered in front of the Golden-Winged Bird.
"Great Virtue: Piercing Void!"
In the next moment, the airflow began to compress on its own, the pressure at its center constantly rising. The invisible pillar of wind was compressed from a diameter of seventy or eighty meters down to only half a person's height.
In contrast, its destructive power increased exponentially.
Like a laser cannon, after a period of charging, this harmless air transformed into a terrifying current capable of destroying everything and shot towards Momoshiki, who had been sent flying by Naruto.
He subconsciously raised his hand, wanting to activate [Takamimusubinokami] again to absorb the Ninjutsu.
But Momoshiki quickly realized that Karin's attack wasn't created by Chakra.
The wind pillar slammed into Momoshiki like a cannonball.
Momoshiki could only passively use both hands to block in front of him.
Crack!
The clear sound of bone fracture represented the first time an Otsutsuki had been physically pushed back in a direct confrontation.
Momoshiki's disheveled figure fell straight from mid-air. Seeing this, Kinshiki, not even caring about the additional slash Sasuke landed on him, rushed down immediately.
Kinshiki managed to catch Momoshiki before he hit the ground.
The cost was several more wounds on his own back.
"How dare you... How dare you... These lower life forms!!!!"
Cradled in Kinshiki's arms, with his ribs, arm bones, and collarbone all fractured to varying degrees, Momoshiki let out a hysterical roar. Then he turned his gaze towards Kinshiki.
"Kinshiki! Become my power!"
"Yes, Momoshiki-sama."
Without the slightest hesitation, Kinshiki agreed.
Enduring the pain of his broken bones, Momoshiki raised his hand and activated the secret technique [Chakra Edible Creation], transforming Kinshiki into a glowing red Chakra Fruit.
This fruit was clearly on a different level from the ones he had consumed before.
After swallowing it in one gulp, Momoshiki's body was immediately enveloped in a crimson light and thick smoke.
When the smoke cleared, what was revealed was a Momoshiki with brown-red skin, the long horn on his head transformed into an ox-horn shape, and an additional eye on his forehead.
"Feel… my divine power!"
Accompanied by Momoshiki's roar, a terrifying shockwave instantly spread outwards.
The forest touched by the shockwave seemed to suffer some kind of cutting force, neatly severed in the middle.
Fortunately, this place was already quite far from Konoha Village.
"Be careful, this guy feels different now."
Even without Sasuke's reminder, Karin and Naruto could see the change in their opponent.
Karin transformed back into her human-beast hybrid form, seemingly replacing a certain female character, acting as the third person coordinating with Naruto and Sasuke to launch a synchronized assault on Momoshiki.
All three possessed formidable Taijutsu abilities. Combined with Amenotejikaru-assisted repositioning and Karin occasionally manipulating whirlwinds for sneak attacks, even though Momoshiki's physical stats had risen several levels after his enhancement, he was still forced back step by step.
But this suppression didn't last long.
It seemed Momoshiki, having undergone his 'evolution', had already familiarized himself with his newly acquired power.
"Hah!"
With a casual wave of his hand, dozens of red light weapons appeared in the void, shooting towards the trio.
Just as the three managed to knock those things away, they saw Momoshiki clap his hands together against the ground.
[Inukaitakerunomikoto]
Giant dragon heads made of earth and stone lunged towards the three.
Naruto and Sasuke tacitly used the Majestic Attire Susanoo again, tearing apart those dragon-headed, snake-bodied monsters.
But Momoshiki seemed completely unconcerned. His hands waved casually, and a variety of strange, powerful Ninjutsu, like lightning, whirlwinds, fire, and water, were thrown out like they cost nothing.
The power provided by one Otsutsuki Clan's member as 'fuel' was more than enough for him to squander.
Karin transformed into the giant bird and crashed through the fire-formed giant bird, but then a giant magma giant made of earth, stone, and lava reached out to grab her.
"Move, Karin!"
The voices of Naruto and Sasuke rang out. Karin quickly changed direction in mid-air.
Meanwhile, Kurama swung its giant blade, slicing the giant apart.
Scalding magma gushed out continuously from the cut, but Momoshiki, who had been standing on the giant moments before, had now disappeared.
"Die!"
Momoshiki's voice came from directly above Naruto and Sasuke.
Immediately afterwards, a torrent of magma erupted from the ground where they stood, covering Naruto and Sasuke almost instantly.
Whoosh-
Karin's attack in her human-beast hybrid form was this time caught single-handedly by Momoshiki, who threw her into the air.
Then, with a squeezing motion of his other hand towards Karin's direction, countless rocks and debris spontaneously flew up, converging towards that spot.
Chibaku Tensei!
Momoshiki, in his current state, could also use this technique now.
Karin struggled constantly, but no matter how much the surrounding rocks shattered, they would reform and cover her again. She could only watch helplessly as Momoshiki extended his hand towards Naruto and Sasuke below, whose condition are unknown after being severely wounded by the magma.
"This is the final blow! Feel honored, lower life forms, that you forced me to use this move."
As he spoke, a massive, deep red energy sphere rapidly accumulated in his palm.
It somewhat resembled Naruto's Super Big Ball Rasengan.
Below, Naruto and Sasuke, seemingly critically injured, had temporarily exited their Sage Mode and Susanoo states.
Above their heads, the deep red spiral energy sphere had already grown to a terrifying size.
'Move!'
'Move, damn it!'
Karin couldn't just stand by and watch the Naruto and Sasuke of another world die before her eyes.
Never before had she hated her own weakness so much.
'If only I hadn't slacked off during training.'
'If only I had seriously learned the forbidden techniques Naruto-san gave me.'
'If only I had properly honed my Haki...'
This intense emotion seemed to become the key that unlocked a certain door.
Stamina, Haki, even life force… all were forcibly squeezed out of Karin at this moment.
It was truly thanks to her being a member of the Uzumaki Clan, as anyone else subjected to such draining would probably lose their life before any power could be extracted.
Screech-
Suddenly, a seemingly real, yet illusory bird cry seemed to echo in the ears of everyone present.
"Hmm?"
Momoshiki's movements paused slightly as he looked up at the rocky sphere in mid-air.
Below, Naruto and Sasuke helped each other stand up, trying to recover their stamina as much as possible, preparing to go all out once more.
Crack-
Crackle crackle crackle-
It seemed as if something inside the giant rocky sphere was expanding.
The Chibaku Tensei, large enough to destroy the entire Konoha Village, now showed signs of being 'burst open' from within.
Momoshiki's brow furrowed slightly, and he prepared to increase his power, covering it with more earth and rock.
But his actions couldn't keep up with the speed at which the Chibaku Tensei was being torn apart from within.
"Screech!"
That was a real, genuine cry of a divine bird.
Golden light burst forth from the cracks in the rock, followed by an immensely large wing.
Within a few seconds, the wing had nearly doubled in size, but this didn't seem to be the end.
In the next moment, the rocks shattered.
A giant divine bird, wreathed in golden flame-like clouds, with wings spread wide enough to blot out the sky and sun, broke free from the Chibaku Tensei!
The golden, shining divine bird seemed to become a second sun in the sky!