Blue chakra flared around Toneri Ōtsutsuki's hands, streaming outward like twin serpents. The Tenseigan's energy writhed in his grasp, seeking to coil around Naruto.
But Naruto only smiled. He had already marked Toneri during their earlier clash. The Flying Thunder God formula pulsed faintly on the moon heir's body, unseen by all but Naruto himself.
The chakra snakes lunged forward. Just as they were about to engulf him, Naruto vanished in a flash of gold.
Toneri blinked—Naruto reappeared an instant later, not yards away but directly before him, eyes blazing.
"What—?!" Toneri's voice broke with disbelief. He hadn't even sensed the movement.
Naruto's palm thrust forward, chakra compressing into a dense, whirling sphere. A Mini Tailed Beast Ball shimmered in his hand, black and violet light bleeding into the air.
The detonation shook the moon's hollow core. The explosion swallowed Toneri, pulverizing the palace wall behind him. The stone split and collapsed. For a moment, the Ōtsutsuki heir's form vanished entirely in the radiance.
Orochimaru, watching from a distance, let his tongue curl against his lips. "How elegant… truly refined. To shape the tailed beast's chakra into such precision—Naruto-kun, you wield devastation as if it were an art." His grin widened, snake-like. "A pity for the one caught in it. He never stood a chance."
Naruto did not celebrate. His golden eyes tracked the crumbling debris calmly. He knew Toneri wouldn't fall so easily.
Sure enough, the Ōtsutsuki staggered back into view. His robes were shredded, skin torn, and bleeding. The glow of the Tenseigan pulsed desperately through his body, knitting flesh and bone.
Toneri swayed. He had not expected this. At the very beginning of their battle, to be struck down so harshly, his pride screamed in protest. He drew again on the Tenseigan's power, forcing more chakra into his wounds. If he faltered now, he would never stand again.
But before he could fully stabilize, Naruto flickered into being before him once more, golden afterimages trailing.
Toneri's mind snapped to the truth. He's marked me. That's how… That's why he's always there.
Rage and panic surged together. Toneri thrust his hands outward, summoning an immense gravitational repulsion.
"Begone!" he roared.
The blast tore outward, an invisible wave that shredded walls and cracked the moon's bedrock. The entire chamber shook as if it might collapse. Within a kilometer radius, everything not bolted down was hurled flat against the ground.
But Naruto was not among the fallen. A flicker of golden light, and he reappeared well clear of the wave, untouched.
Toneri's chest heaved. His lips split, coughing blood onto the stone. "Dodged…? My body… this damage is worse than I thought."
His limbs trembled, his eyelids heavy. Only sheer will kept him upright. Every exchange left him closer to collapse.
Across the battlefield, the great stone statue Toneri had summoned continued its desperate struggle against Naruto's fox avatar. Each time it regenerated, another Tailed Beast Ball smashed it apart. Again and again, the Nine-Tails' golden construct tore it down. The outcome was clear—the statue was being suppressed utterly.
Toneri's vision blurred. His confidence fractured. Impossible… no one from that world should be able to corner me…
From the sidelines, Orochimaru tilted his head. "Naruto-kun, it seems your prey can barely stand. Perhaps it is time to conclude?"
Naruto appeared beside him in a flash of light, nodding once. "Yeah. It's over."
Toneri saw him, and something inside broke. Panic overtook pride. He turned, staggering toward the Tenseigan chamber deeper within the palace. If he could reach it—if he could unleash its full might—he could still destroy these invaders.
Naruto's smile was faint, unhurried. "Running? No, that won't work."
In a blur, he was gone again. A heartbeat later, he stood before Toneri's path, barring the way.
"Why… why do you keep appearing in front of me?!" Toneri screamed, half-mad with fear.
Naruto didn't answer. His fist crashed into Toneri's jaw, sending him sprawling into the stone floor.
The Ōtsutsuki heir lay motionless, battered into unconsciousness. Naruto grabbed him by the collar, hauled him upright, and drove another punch into his stomach. The agony forced Toneri awake with a strangled cry.
"I won't let you escape this easily," Naruto said coldly.
Golden chakra flared across his hand. His fingers pressed into Toneri's abdomen.
"Five Elements Seal."
Toneri convulsed as the technique locked his chakra pathways, severing his connection to the Tenseigan's flow. His body went limp, powerless.
Naruto released him, tossing his body before Orochimaru. "He's yours. Handle him as you see fit."
Orochimaru's tongue flicked eagerly. "Alive… preserved… perfect. A specimen like this is priceless." His eyes gleamed, nearly feverish.
With Toneri sealed, the massive stone statue crumbled, its chakra flow severed. Fragments clattered to the floor, inert at last.
Naruto's cloak receded, golden flames extinguishing as he released both Nine-Tails Chakra Mode and Dragon Vein Sage Mode. His shoulders eased. Only an enemy on the level of the Sage of Six Paths himself could force him to draw upon everything he carried now.
He turned and strode toward the core chamber. Orochimaru followed, Toneri slung over his shoulder.
They emerged into a vast hall. Suspended in its center floated a sphere of light dozens of meters across, radiating blinding power—the Tenseigan itself, monumental and terrible.
Orochimaru's eyes widened. "Exquisite…! This is no mere dōjutsu, but a divine chakra construct. Its density eclipses even the tailed beasts."
Naruto's gaze hardened. "I'll seal it."
"The Tenseigan… into yourself?" Orochimaru's voice was half awe, half hunger.
Naruto pressed his hand to his stomach. The Eight Trigrams Seal stirred in response. Already burdened by the Nine-Tails and the Dragon Vein, his seal space strained at its limits. But he would not let this power remain unclaimed.
He formed the hand seals. "Eight Trigrams Seal."
The formula on his abdomen spun violently, dragging at the Tenseigan. The giant eye resisted, chakra lashing out, but the suction grew inexorable. Slowly, inexorably, the Tenseigan was pulled inward, compressed into the sealing space.
Agony racked Naruto's body. White steam hissed from his skin as if he were being scalded alive. His muscles locked, trembling.
Inside the seal space, Kurama watched silently, massive tails coiled. The golden fox sat beside the swirling mass of Dragon Vein chakra. Above them, the Tenseigan's form now loomed, radiant and alien, suspended like a second sun.
"Damn brat," Kurama growled. "You'll kill yourself stuffing this much inside."
Naruto forced his body to adapt, teeth gritted until blood seeped from his gums. Minutes crawled by like hours, but at last, the storm within the seal settled.
He sagged to one knee, panting. The Tenseigan was bound—but he could feel its rejection. Unlike Kurama's chakra or the Dragon Vein, this power would not yield to him. Not without the blood of the Byakugan to bridge the gulf.
"It's stable," Naruto murmured. "For now, that's enough."
Orochimaru, uncharacteristically silent, finally whispered, "You are… truly terrifying, Naruto-kun." His voice was not mocking this time, but reverent.
Naruto rose, steady again. "We'll split up. Search the archives. Take everything worth keeping."
Orochimaru's grin returned. "Hehe… I was hoping you'd say that."
For hours, they scoured the moon's hidden vaults, sealing away scrolls and relics. By the time they regrouped, the moon was silent, its guardians defeated, its secrets plundered.
"Shall we return the long way?" Orochimaru asked, though his eyes already betrayed impatience. He yearned to retreat into his lab, to dissect, to study.
Naruto placed a hand on his shoulder. "No. I'll take us back directly. Flying Thunder God."
In a flash, they vanished, the lunar palace dissolving into nothing.
They reappeared within Orochimaru's underground chamber, Toneri unconscious on the stone floor.
Orochimaru licked his lips. "Then I leave you here, Naruto-kun. I have research to begin."
Naruto inclined his head. "Do what you want. I've got my own path."
Kabuto entered then, carrying instruments, bowing low. Naruto clapped his shoulder once in passing, encouraging. Then, without lingering, he vanished again into golden light.
The moon's power now rested within him. But his mind had already turned elsewhere. He had a teacher to find, and perhaps to save.
Far away, Jiraiya's search had led him to the misty borderlands of the Land of Water. Rumors of the Akatsuki had brought him here, and now his path bent toward Nagato—the student who had once been hope, and had become something darker.
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