Chapter 304 – Hagoromo… I Lost! The Final Path of Evolution?
"Y-Your attack—"
Kaguya's voice trembled.
Before her eyes, the Ten-Tails — moments ago roaring with defiance — suddenly convulsed, its entire body collapsing with an earth-shaking thud.
For a second, she simply stared, her mind blank.
The world around her had warped — space and time twisting together like mirrored waves.
Then came the delayed shockwave — Gen's strike detonated, light rippling through the void before hammering down on the beast's body with unstoppable force.
The impact was beyond reason, beyond comprehension.
"What… what was that?"
Kaguya's voice faltered as the afterglow faded.
Gen only smiled faintly.
"Let's call it my own technique. Or perhaps… my dōjutsu."
His eyes gleamed with cold amusement as he gazed down at the crippled Ten-Tails.
"Still alive. Barely. Good. That means I can proceed to the next phase."
It was, after all, the reason he'd come here.
And to his mild surprise, dealing with this Ten-Tails had proven easier than expected.
"Strange, isn't it? The Ten-Tails is supposed to be the progenitor of all Tailed Beasts… yet it's weaker in some ways. No mind. No will. Just raw instinct."
"Do you even hear yourself talking?" Kaguya snapped, irritation breaking through her awe.
She had learned much about this world since being released — perhaps too much. The irony of listening to Gen mock their greatest weapon made her temples ache.
"Even if the Tailed Beasts have some level of intellect," she said coldly, "even if they cooperate with their hosts, they're nothing compared to the Ten-Tails. You know that."
Gen tilted his head.
"Not necessarily. Remember Naruto Uzumaki?"
Kaguya sighed.
"That was no miracle. It's the same as when lesser creatures try to challenge us."
Her tone hardened.
"Ordinary life has no power to resist. This world — this entire shinobi era — was forged by Hagoromo from a thousand years of corpses and blood."
Her eyes flicked toward Gen.
"Especially now that you exist. You carry the inheritance of all that death, all that evolution. Otherwise…"
Gen raised a brow.
"Hold on. You sound like you've got the wrong idea about your precious son."
"No. I haven't," she said flatly. "He sealed me away — that alone proves how calculating he was. Cold. Ruthless."
Gen's smile faded.
"…"
Kaguya hesitated, her gaze lowering.
"He may have even…"
"Even what?" Gen asked, genuinely curious.
But she fell silent.
He didn't press her. Instead, he turned his attention to the motionless Ten-Tails.
With a step, he descended and opened a dark rift beneath its massive body.
ROAAAR—!
The beast tried to thrash, but Gen's boot came down hard on its skull, pinning it to the ground.
"Stay."
The space gate began to pull, a vortex of golden light consuming the creature.
Simultaneously, in the Amenominaka, the God Tree's Core stirred — its roots trembling as they absorbed the energy flooding in.
"What's wrong?" Gen asked absently. "You stopped talking."
Kaguya hesitated, her voice dropping to a whisper.
"It's nothing…"
But her mind was racing.
She suddenly understood why Hagoromo had been so obsessed with the idea of "forging peace through conflict."
Because he had seen this.
He had foreseen Gen — this aberration of the Ōtsutsuki bloodline.
And he had seen what would come after.
"The 'Path to Godhood'…" she breathed.
The words made her shiver.
In that instant, she finally understood why both Hagoromo and Hamura — true, pure-blooded Ōtsutsuki — had chosen to abandon their flesh and live as spiritual beings.
"It wasn't to guide humanity…" she whispered. "It was to avoid him."
To retreat into the Pure Land.
To let the feud between Indra and Ashura expand unchecked, feeding Gen's evolution from afar — creating the perfect storm for his ascension.
And worse—
"Even Black Zetsu's schemes… maybe they allowed them. He forged false relics of the Hyūga, not to release me — but to lure me out!"
Her voice trembled.
"If I met Gen, if I was revived into his path—"
Her breath hitched.
"Then I was meant to be the sacrifice for his Path to Godhood!"
The realization chilled her to the core.
There was no proof — but every piece fit too perfectly.
Hagoromo's thousand-year vision.
The wars.
The reincarnations.
The coincidences.
All leading here.
To him.
Gen — the evolution beyond the Sage himself.
Kaguya stared at him, trembling.
He looked gentle.
But his methods — his terrifying precision, his mercilessness toward other Ōtsutsuki — were proof enough.
He would devour them all, one by one, until nothing God remained but him.
---
ROAAAAAR—!!!
Her thoughts shattered as the Ten-Tails was finally dragged screaming into the Amenominaka.
The air shook with its agony.
Then came the sound — wet, hungry, devouring.
A symphony of annihilation.
Kaguya's eyes widened in horror.
"Damn it…" she whispered.
Kaguya's face had gone deathly pale.
The terrible thoughts that had been circling in her mind only grew darker as that sound—the deep, tortured wailing of the Ten-Tails—echoed through the void.
It felt like an omen.
A glimpse of her own future.
"Well, well… not bad," Gen murmured, smiling faintly. "Still struggling, are you?"
What made it worse was that he laughed—he actually sounded entertained by the creature's agony.
"Good," he said softly, almost playfully. "The more it struggles, the more alive it proves to be. And the more alive it is… the sweeter the harvest."
Kaguya's lips twitched, her skin turning even paler.
He actually enjoys it…
He's truly Hagoromo's legacy—an Ōtsutsuki who's adapted perfectly to this merciless, blood-soaked world.
---
"Keep struggling," Gen continued calmly, his tone turning cold and godlike.
"Your energy will soon become part of me."
It wasn't a lie.
Despite the horrific cries echoing through the void, there was no gore—only energy transfer, pure and absolute.
The Ten-Tails, though a beast, was still a God Tree.
And the feeding of the God Tree was governed not by blood, but by laws of chakra and will.
Gen's God Tree Core was different from all others—fed on endless resources and God fruit.
Now, having severed its dependency on him, it existed as a separate, autonomous entity—vast, insatiable, and incomprehensibly strong.
Against such power, the wounded Ten-Tails never stood a chance.
"Rest well," he said lightly. "There's another Ten-Tails waiting for you soon. And I'll be expecting a fine fruit in return."
As the last echoes of the beast's screams faded into silence, Gen smiled and snapped his fingers.
The dimensional gate slammed shut.
---
He floated in stillness, eyes glinting faintly.
"I wonder…" he mused.
"What kind of faces will the Ōtsutsuki make when they see my Kekkei Mōra… and what lies beyond it?"
A hint of amusement tugged at his lips.
"Shock? Rage? Or delight at seeing what they once feared?"
His voice lowered.
"But first… I need Shibai Ōtsutsuki's remains."
"I've already located them. Just a little longer."
He murmured this almost absently before glancing at Kaguya, who remained silent within his essence.
"Come," he said cheerfully. "Let's go meet Shibai. He may be dead, but legends like him… always have something useful left behind."
Kaguya said nothing.
Her mind was spinning, lost in spiraling dread.
"Hey," Gen prompted, brow lifting. "What's wrong with you now?"
Silence.
For a long moment, there was only the whisper of fading chakra currents.
Finally, Kaguya exhaled a shaky sigh.
She looked upon the void where the Ten-Tails had once stood—now empty, silent, erased.
Its cries still echoed faintly in her mind.
"Hagoromo…" she whispered.
"You were far colder… and crueler than I ever imagined."
Gen blinked, confused.
"?"
"I admit it," she said softly. "I've lost."
Gen frowned slightly, sensing the tremor in her chakra. He truly couldn't understand what this woman was thinking.
---
But elsewhere, her thoughts were not wrong.
Far away, in another plane of reality—
the three sealed Ōtsutsuki—Isshiki, Momoshiki, and Urashiki—were beginning to lose their composure.
They hadn't yet faced Gen directly, but the mere fact that he had broken through the Amenominaka was enough to terrify even them.
"That power…" Isshiki muttered. "It can't be—Kekkei Mōra?"
The realization made all three of them fall silent.
"A Kekkei Mōra…" Urashiki murmured. "That's not just power. That's evolution itself. A new life order."
And the "Path to Godhood" — the mysterious technique Gen was pursuing — seemed to embody both strength and transcendence.
The implications were clear.
"If it's real," Momoshiki said slowly, "then its value surpasses anything we've ever known…"
But then, even they stopped talking.
It was too dangerous a thought.
Too close to truth.
"Perhaps we're mistaken," Isshiki finally said, his voice low. "We'll confirm everything soon enough."
The others nodded quietly.
"Yes… confirm first. Always confirm."
Yet even as they spoke, their gazes drifted elsewhere — their expressions dark with unease.
"That bastard Gen must know we're watching," Isshiki growled.
"If not, he'd have finished his enemies long ago. He's baiting us."
"But why?" Momoshiki frowned. "He's not pressing his attacks… and he's not leaving either."
Urashiki's eyes narrowed.
"Could it be the Ten-Tails?"
"He wants all of them," Isshiki said coldly. "And he's waiting for us to make a move. He knows if we act too soon, we might destroy the balance—and his plans."
The thought made his teeth grind.
Especially because his Ten-Tails — and the one thing he prized most — were gone.
Worse still, hidden in the deepest part of his sealed space lay something infinitely more dangerous: the remains of Shibai Ōtsutsuki.
And Gen was heading straight for it.
"That lunatic…" Isshiki hissed. "He wouldn't dare use Lord Shibai's corpse for his Path to Godhood—would he?"
Even as he said it, he knew the answer.
Yes, he would.
Because that corpse, that relic of God evolution, had once belonged to him.
"Damn it," he snarled. "Because of that fool Gen, Genshiki will gain everything I've worked for!"
Their fury reached its peak — the three of them burning with rage and frustration.
They were powerless to stop him.
Not yet reborn.
Not yet whole.
---
Then, suddenly—
"Wait," Urashiki muttered. "Do you feel that?"
Isshiki frowned.
"What?"
"His aura… it changed. It weakened for a moment — and now it's growing again. Stronger. Wilder."
Momoshiki's eyes narrowed.
"That can't be…"
Urashiki's voice trembled.
"Could this be… the mark of an Evolver?"
Isshiki froze.
"Impossible…"
But the truth was undeniable.
Gen's chakra was no longer that of a man — it pulsed like the God Tree itself.
The scent of its roots, its life force — unmistakable.
"He's becoming one with it," Isshiki whispered. "He's evolving into the God Tree!"
Their faces darkened.
"If that's true," Momoshiki said quietly, "then devouring him may be the only way to ascend ourselves…"
---
Meanwhile, on the battlefield—
Obito, Nagato, and Kimimaro felt it too.
A vast pressure, swallowing the sky.
Gen's chakra flared violently, a storm of divine energy erupting around him.
The ground split. The air itself vibrated.
Trees of light burst from the earth, spiraling toward the heavens, wrapping around him like the roots of creation itself.
A deep blue radiance ignited around his body, burning like sacred flame.
Behind him, three Truth-Seeking Orbs floated into being, circling slowly.
Obito's eyes widened.
"That… that's the same power Ōtsutsuki Genshiki used before!"
Nagato's jaw tightened. Kimimaro trembled.
All three could feel it — a pressure that didn't belong to this world.
"Could it be…" Nagato whispered, "…that Gen has reached the end of evolution?"
The words hung heavy in the air.
Gen's aura surged again — an ocean of power, divine and suffocating.
Then, with a low hum, the world itself seemed to breathe.
BOOOOM!
His chakra exploded outward, blinding white, racing across the skies — a tide that engulfed the entire shinobi world.
The three were thrown to the ground, breathless, trembling.
And above them, Gen floated — silent, radiant, infinite.
"So this… this is what it means to be an Evolver," Obito whispered.
None of them could deny it.
They weren't witnessing a man anymore.
They were witnessing transcendence.