Yuki Yoru's spiritual pressure shook the Three Realms—everything bowed before it.
That overwhelming pressure didn't just shatter Mount Myōboku, or weigh down upon the entire shinobi world—it even reached the moon.
Ōtsutsuki Toneri and Uchiha Obito, locked in fierce combat, both froze mid-strike.
"…Yuki Yoru…" Toneri mouthed the name.
Through the power of the Giant Tenseigan, Toneri could gaze down on the shinobi world from the moon. For years now, he had known of this man—the most fearsome figure of the past decade, the root cause of the wars that plagued the world.
After his father's death, Toneri had used the Tenseigan many times to watch Kirigakure, to watch Yoru. But he never dared keep his eyes fixed on him for long. He was still young, his strength not yet fully grown. If Yoru noticed, not only would his life be in danger, but the moon's greatest treasure—the Giant Tenseigan—could fall into enemy hands.
So Toneri had never been able to keep tabs on Yoru in real time. He knew the man was strong. That was why he remained on the moon, building power, training relentlessly.
But he had never imagined Yoru would become this strong.
"…Fine."
Facing Uchiha Obito's invitation, Ōtsutsuki Toneri agreed with almost no hesitation.
Only by feeling that immense spiritual pressure could one understand just how powerful Yoru was. Such vast spiritual pressure probably required unleashing the full power of the Giant Tenseigan to match.
Toneri was not a brainless brute. Not only did his talent and ability approach that of his ancestor Hamura, but he also possessed a keen intellect.
Facing an opponent of that caliber, his strength alone was insufficient. Finding a powerful ally was the only correct approach.
Besides, he had already intended to cooperate with Obito.
"If we're allies now, are we just going to stand around like this?" Obito's gaze flicked toward the distant clash of the Gedo Statue and the Hamura Statue. His voice was low, heavy.
Toneri wasn't in a hurry. He formed a hand seal, canceling the summoning of the Hamura Statue, and at the same time withdrew from Tenseigan Chakra Mode.
He was not worried that Obito would backstab him here. On the moon, especially inside the Moon Palace, the power of the Giant Tenseigan had already covered everything. Unless Obito could burst out with a power equivalent to the might of Yuki Yoru from before, he would basically not pose a threat to him.
Seeing that Ōtsutsuki Toneri was so easy to talk to, Obito also breathed a sigh of relief and canceled the summon of the Gedo Statue.
The pressure Toneri had given him was immense—greater even than what Shisui had once imposed. Even if he fought with his life on the line, he had no confidence that he could survive.
Seeing the two shake hands and make peace and even form an alliance because of Yuki Yoru's spiritual pressure, Black Zetsu also couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
The strength of the descendants of that disobedient son Hamura had truly shocked Black Zetsu. Even though the current Obito had stepped into the Six Paths realm, he couldn't see any possibility of victory.
The strength of the descendants of that disobedient son Hamura had truly shocked Black Zetsu. Even though Obito had already stepped into the realm of the Six Paths, he still couldn't see the slightest chance of victory.
Come to think of it, he even found himself a little grateful to Yuki Yoru.
With the Gedo Statue dismissed, Toneri looked as if he were about to say something, but after a moment of thought he stayed silent. Instead, he turned and said:
"Follow me."
Although this was inside the Moon Palace, it was only the outer area of the Moon Palace.
The entire Moon Palace was incredibly vast, and this place had already been ravaged by the battle between the two of them. It was naturally not a place to talk business.
Ōtsutsuki Toneri turned and walked deeper into the Moon Palace, with Obito and Black Zetsu following close behind.
As the three moved, countless humanoid puppets emerged from the cracks in the palace ruins, quickly clearing the rubble left by their battle.
Although the puppets' clothing was largely similar, their features indicated a wide variety of types.
The appearance of these puppets further confirmed one thing for Obito and Black Zetsu:
Besides Toneri, there were no other living people on the moon!
"Forgive my bluntness," Black Zetsu said suddenly, his gaze fixed on Toneri's still-youthful back, "but if my senses aren't mistaken, you are the only lifeform left on this entire moon? Your clan once dwelled above the earth, far removed from the clamor of the world below. Even without striving to become some great power, you shouldn't have fallen to this state. Did something happen? Was it an invasion?"
The current state of the Moon Ōtsutsuki made Black Zetsu and Obito curious, but Black Zetsu felt more concern.
For the Moon Ōtsutsuki to have become what it was today, it was definitely not something that ordinary people could do. It was even possible that it was his mother's kin...
Ōtsutsuki Toneri's steps faltered slightly before he continued deeper into the Moon Palace.
"We were also prosperous in the past, but different ideals ultimately led us to become what we are today." A calm voice came from Toneri's mouth. He walked and answered at the same time: "If we are going to cooperate, no matter what the goal is or what the purpose is, the same ideal is the foundation of everything."
"Naturally." Obito Uchiha said indifferently: "Our ultimate goals may be different, but right now, Yuki Yoru is the biggest obstacle to us realizing our respective ideals and goals!"
"Very well, but achieving this goal will be difficult."
Ōtsutsuki Toneri led Obito to a conference room and took the seat at the head of the table himself.
His strength was above Obito's, so he naturally had to take the initiative in their cooperation. Besides, he still needed to figure out some things.
"You may not know this, but the reason why ancestor Hamura left us on the moon, besides watching the creatures of the shinobi world so they don't go astray, the biggest reason was to guard the Gedo Statue."
"But decades ago, the Gedo Statue disappeared from the moon. My ancestors searched for it but had no results... Back then, was the statue stolen by you?"
"..." Obito glanced at Black Zetsu with a strange expression.
Black Zetsu, who claimed to be the consciousness of Madara Uchiha, coughed lightly and explained: "It was not stolen. It was our first time on the moon as well."
"My master awakened the Rinnegan during his battle with his fated rival. At that time, he sensed something and performed a summoning jutsu. We didn't expect him to directly summon the Gedo Statue."
"The Rinnegan, huh..." Ōtsutsuki Toneri nodded slightly, as if the pieces fell into place.
The Rinnegan was the eye of ancestor Hagoromo, and the Gedo Statue was the husk left behind after he extracted the chakra from the Ten-Tails' body. The two having some kind of inexplicable connection was reasonable.
"Then, the second question."
Ōtsutsuki Toneri looked at Obito and Zetsu. "We both felt the earlier display of power. Even combining our strength, defeating Yoru remains highly difficult."
"As you can see, I am still young. Unless you can provide me with a way to crush Mizunotsuki Yoru outright, our alliance will need to wait—ten years at the least, perhaps even several decades."
For now, his body had yet to fully mature and could not endure the vast chakra of the Giant Tenseigan.
But in just a dozen more years, once his body had matured to the proper stage, Toneri would be able to fully unleash the talents that rivaled those of his ancestor Hamura. With the power of the Giant Tenseigan at his command, then—even if Yuki Yoru's current might was suffocating—Ōtsutsuki Toneri would have the confidence to stand and fight!
Thus, Toneri made his stance plain: if you want to form an alliance, then present a method. If you cannot, then I will not accompany you!
"I understand your concern," Obito answered, unfazed by Toneri's words. After a moment's thought, his voice sank low. "As for a method… I do have one. I possess a power great enough to crush Yuki Yoru. But to bring it forth, I will need your help."
Toneri's brows arched slightly. "Oh?"
"The Gedo Statue." Obito said each word clearly. What he said made Toneri's expression change slightly.
"In the past, the Sage of Six Paths drew out the chakra of the Ten-Tails, dividing it into the nine tailed beasts. What remained—the husk—became the Gedo Statue.
"Yuki Yoru's strength is indeed extraordinary. But if we gather the chakra of all nine tailed beasts and restore the One-Eyed God (Ten-Tails), then even Yuki Yoru will not be our match!"
"Are you mocking me!?" Toneri's face hardened. "The very purpose of us, the people of the moon, is to guard the Gedo Statue. And now you want me to help you revive the One-Eyed God? What kind of joke is this!"
"Rigid clinging to rules is the greatest shackle of all," Obito retorted. "I don't believe you will let yourself be bound by such hollow dogma. After all, everything we do is for the sake of our shared ultimate goal."
Obito's words paused. He pointed to his own eyes, then at Toneri's.
"Besides, the Sage of Six Paths had you guard the Gedo Statue because he feared the One-Eyed God would revive and bring calamity, feared that no one in the future could withstand it.
"But with your eyes and mine—even if the One-Eyed God were revived—so what? Together, we would stand against it. You and I are just like the Six Paths brothers from back then!"
Obito with his Rinnegan, Toneri with his Tenseigan—their powers could not truly rival Hagoromo and Hamura, yet together they were not far off.
If the two powers were combined, dealing with a Ten-Tails would really not be a problem!
Such flattery clearly struck a chord with Toneri. When Obito compared him to Hamura himself, even those pure white eyes of his gleamed a little brighter. The sight made Obito want to laugh.
No matter how formidable his power, in the end Toneri was still a child. And he knew all too well what children at this age craved most.
"I am far from worthy of comparison to Ancestor Hamura," Toneri replied coolly, though the pleased look in his brow was hard to conceal. "But with our combined power restraining the God of the Heavenly Eye is not impossible.
"As for how to restore it—do you have a plan?"
"There is."
Obito gave a slight nod, his tone low and heavy. "I've already infused the Gedo Statue with chakra from the One-Tail, the Two-Tails, the Eight-Tails, and part of the Nine-Tails. As for the Three-Tails and Six-Tails, those were originally the Tailed Beasts of Kirigakure—clearly they're in Yuki Yoru's hands."
"The Nine-Tails is in Konoha, while the Four-Tails, Five-Tails, and Seven-Tails belonged to Iwagakure and Takigakure. But ever since the Third Great Shinobi War, those three have vanished without a trace. I suspect they too are under YukiYoru's control, though searching them out will be troublesome."
Obito then went over the current state of the shinobi world in broad strokes, paying particular attention to Yoru's Shinigami and Quincy forces.
Ōtsutsuki Toneri nodded repeatedly. Though he had already learned much of this beforehand, Obito's manner of speaking left him satisfied. It showed the man truly wished to cooperate—and truly needed his power.
"I can help you pinpoint the locations of the remaining Tailed Beasts," Toneri said gravely. "But how you capture them will be up to you."
"Is that true?!"
Obito shot to his feet in excitement, his eyes fixed on Toneri. Capturing Tailed Beasts, in truth, wasn't difficult. Even Akatsuki in the past had possessed the power to hunt them down.
The real problem was finding them.
Originally, with White Zetsu's surveillance, even if a Tailed Beast went into hiding somewhere in the shinobi world, it couldn't escape detection. But now, with almost all of them hidden away by Yuki Yoru, not even White Zetsu could dig up so much as a single hair.
If Toneri was willing to help and pinpoint the locations of the Tailed Beasts, then with Obito's invincible Kamui that came and went without a trace, wouldn't the remaining Tailed Beasts be an easy catch?!
"Don't celebrate too soonI'm only responsible for helping you pinpoint their locations. As for the capture, you will still need to handle it yourself." oneri Ōtsutsuki poured some cold water on him: "If the one guarding them is one of Yoru's captains… or Yoru himself… that will be troublesome."
"No need to worry!"
Obito was full of confidence.
As long as he knew the location of the Tailed Beasts, he had a hundred ways to take them!
"There's no time to lose. The shinobi world is still in chaos. I hope you can provide us with the locations of the Tailed Beasts as soon as possible!" Obito was eager to get started and said impatiently.
"It won't take long." Toneri dismissed the concern with a flick of his hand. The Giant Tenseigan had the power to monitor the shinobi world. Even if those creatures were hidden away by Yuki Yoru, with enough expenditure of ocular power, they could still be found.
But he hadn't come here to do charity work. Even as allies, if Obito wanted his help, he would have to pay a price.
"While you're gathering the Tailed Beasts, I need you to do something for me first."
"Just say it," Obito replied without hesitation.
"I need you to bring someone back for me." Toneri's gaze sharpened, his voice rising with emotion as he spoke the name: "As long as you can deliver her to me, I'll even help you capture the Tailed Beasts myself."
"Oh?" Obito's curiosity was piqued. "And who could be worthy of such attention from you?"
"The Byakugan Princess!"
"Who?"
"Hinata... Hyūga!"