The space around them seemed to stop. Everyone froze in place, unable to move.
The massive Susano'o slowly faded away without its caster's support. But before disappearing, the crimson Totsuka Blade in its hand pulled out from Kaguya's shoulder, dragging a transparent soul into the gourd it was connected to.
It was Orochimaru's soul. Her expression couldn't be seen, but Sasuke could still feel her shock and disbelief.
But that wasn't the main point.
Naruto and Sasuke widened their eyes, staring in disbelief at the "Kaguya" in front of them. Their hands were less than five centimeters away, yet it felt like a divine punishment was keeping them from getting closer.
Yes—their bodies were completely frozen. In what felt like the blink of an eye, the blazing lava world had turned into a land of snow and ice. Huge blocks of ice wrapped around them. They couldn't tell how cold it was, but at this moment, besides their eyes, not a single part of their bodies could move.
"Kaguya" opened her eyes, that distant, indifferent gaze instantly familiar to both of them.
"Omniscient of Heaven…" Her voice no longer sounded like Orochimaru's sinister hiss, but instead carried a proud, icy tone, as if she looked down on everything in this world.
Her Byakugan closed, and the bloody Rinne Sharingan glowed faintly. Behind her, a black portal opened, slowly
The next second, "Kaguya" appeared outside the giant ice block. She walked through the air with a calm, leisurely grace, peering at the two of them trapped inside the clear ice.
"Dragging that guy's soul out must've been tough on you two. Not that I couldn't have done it myself."
Orochimaru's weakening soul had sped up her arrival.
"Kaguya… the real one?" Naruto's mouth was frozen, so his words came out strange. He rolled his eyes toward her, confusion showing in his gaze and voice.
Confident, proud, cold—that was how Kurama had once described Kaguya. Under Orochimaru's control earlier, she lacked all three. She had confidence, but not the absolute kind Kurama spoke of—more like a different kind of assurance.
But now, this "Kaguya" perfectly matched Kurama's
That overwhelming confidence and icy aura made Naruto believe the person standing before them was truly Kaguya herself.
"Too bad. You guessed wrong." A faint smile curved on
It was just a small smile, but on such a flawless face, it carried both coldness and pride, making her beauty shine even more.
Sasuke's eyes suddenly shrank as a thought hit him. Ignoring the fact that he couldn't speak properly, he forced the words out: "Uchiha Madara!"
Naruto froze, then instinctively looked at Sasuke with an expression that screamed, "Sasuke, are you out of your mind?"
As if unwilling to be reminded of something, "Kaguya's" smile vanished. She gave a cold hum. "I'm going to cast Infinite Tsukuyomi. If you want to stop me, do it here and then return to the shinobi world."
That soft hum brought out the beauty of her voice to the extreme. Cold, yet strangely alluring. Naruto's first thought was, "If Kaguya cursed someone with this voice, it would probably sound amazing."
Naruto's eyes went blank, his face showing a weird, violated look.
After speaking, "Kaguya" turned and walked into the Yomotsu no Hirasaka, disappearing into the frozen world. Sasuke watched her leave with a cold stare, his heart sinking deeper and deeper.
He turned to Naruto, about to speak, only to be stunned at Naruto's dazed, ruined expression. "Are you stupid now?"
Naruto's voice trembled. "I… just now… actually thought Kaguya's voice sounded really nice…"
This kid… never mind. Kaguya's voice really was nice.
Sasuke sighed helplessly. He wanted to shake his head, but his frozen body wouldn't let him. "We need to find a way out of this space. Madara… once Kaguya's gone, he'll definitely cast Infinite Tsukuyomi. Only we can stop him."
"Kurama's still out there," Naruto replied without thinking.
Sasuke let out a heavy breath. "I don't mean to belittle Kurama, but if the one inside this 'Kaguya' really is Uchiha Madara, then even with all three of us, it'll be tough."
Madara, with Kaguya's power, and without caring whether Kaguya's true body woke up or not—would unleash Infinite Tsukuyomi without hesitation.
Just thinking about it was unbearable.
Naruto also knew how serious this was. He tried to gather chakra, but for some reason, inside this ice his chakra was stuck, unable to form a Tailed Beast Bomb or Rasengan.
But it wasn't like he had no way at all. He looked at the
With a thought, the orbs dissolved back into spheres,
As for Sasuke, he closed his eyes. He couldn't gather chakra, and even his eye power was affected. Luckily, it was only weakened, not blocked, so he could still use his eye techniques—it just needed a little more time to prepare.
About ten seconds later, the ice cracked open, and Naruto jumped out. The next moment, Sasuke opened his eyes, his Rinnegan Sharingan glowing faintly, and with Amenotejikara he instantly teleported to Naruto's side.
Naruto stretched his stiff, frozen body, then turned his head to look around this snowy space. As the name suggested, snowflakes drifted down from the sky, the ground was completely covered in snow, and brushing away some of it revealed clear ice crystals beneath.
No wonder it was so cold.
Sasuke pulled back his wedge and asked Naruto, "Can
"Flying Thunder God or Kamui." Naruto wasn't sure if Summoning would work, but since this was a space barrier, space ninjutsu seemed more reliable.
"I was thinking the same thing." Sasuke looked at the endless whiteness at the horizon. "But you haven't learned Flying Thunder God yet, and we don't have Tobirama's markings on us. As for Kamui… do you know where Kakashi is?"
Kakashi, you disappeared at the start of the war. Now the battle is reaching its peak—where are you?
Sadly, Naruto had no idea where Kakashi was either.
He scratched the back of his head and asked, half-joking, "How about I just learn Flying Thunder God right here? Didn't Kurama say before, when we're cornered, we always manage to pull off something crazy? Maybe I'll
Sasuke rolled his eyes. "You've been trying to learn it for years and never even got started. If it were that easy, you'd already know it."
Naruto scratched his head in embarrassment.
Sasuke sighed. "I'll try talking with Urashikiki. That guy also knows the Yellow Izanami-Hirasaka. He should have some way."
"Oh… so should I still try learning Flying Thunder God?" Naruto asked, rubbing his head.
"…" Sasuke paused, then said helplessly, "Fine, try. Who
Honestly, it was a long shot. There was still a 99.99% chance they'd have to rely on themselves. Hopefully Urashikiki wouldn't play riddles again. If he did, then Sasuke could only check whether the Totsuka Blade still had some room left inside.
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