Chapter 259 - 263: Defeating Otsutsuki Kaguya

Early morning.

Half asleep, Tsunade registered a weight on her chest and opened her eyes.

"Why do you act like a child?" she complained, finding Natsuki exactly where she’d expected to find him.

For an answer, he bit down lightly.

Tsunade’s brows drew together. Then she sighed, gave up, and ran her fingers through his hair, her expression going soft and distant.

Thinking back over how she and Natsuki had gotten here, it played like a dream.

It clearly wasn’t one.

"Get up. If we take too long, Kushina and the others will figure it out." She steadied her breathing and her voice both.

"They’ll find out sooner or later." Natsuki lifted his head.

Tsunade paused.

She had no intention of telling Kushina anything. Having it put to her like that, out of nowhere, left her without a response.

She opened her mouth, and Natsuki covered it with his own.

Her whole body jolted, and when she came back to herself she glared at him.

Natsuki ignored the glare in favor of a more physical argument, and inside a minute Tsunade had lost the ability to construct one of her own.

9:00 AM.

Natsuki carried Tsunade into the living room.

It was empty. Kushina, Nonou, and Nawaki had all gone to work.

"Where is everyone?" Tsunade asked, chin on his shoulder.

"I caught them before you woke up. Told them not to wait for us." Natsuki adjusted his grip, smiling.

"Were you lying to me earlier?" Tsunade blinked.

"No." His tone was entirely serious. "I meant it."

"I... we’re not suited to being public." She hesitated over it.

"Why not?" Natsuki offered a comparison. "Even a Daimyo can keep a household full of wives and consorts, and I outrank a Daimyo."

"Is that why you built the Alliance?" Tsunade asked, exasperated.

"Anyone who objects, I’ll kill," Natsuki said breezily.

"I’ll think about it." She was somewhere between amused and helpless.

He let it go there. It wasn’t a thing to rush, and they had all the time in the world.

They showered, ate, and headed for the Hokage’s building.

"If you’ve got nothing on, come by my office more often." Natsuki bent and kissed her.

"Mm." Tsunade nodded — then remembered something. "Forget about today. It’s your birthday."

"You’ve only just reminded me." Natsuki blinked. "Whose fault is that? You came to me last night. I assumed my birthday was yesterday."

"You take advantage and then play innocent." Tsunade rolled her eyes.

"See you at noon," Natsuki chuckled.

"Mm." She stepped in, kissed him, and then went to her desk.

Natsuki turned and left.

Mikoto and Konan were already waiting in his office.

He greeted them both in his usual fashion on the way past.

"Natsuki." Mikoto’s voice was warm. "The banquet is all in hand. We can start eating right at twelve."

Natsuki nodded and picked up the day’s documents.

There were no significant events in the shinobi world anymore. Most of what crossed his desk was Alliance business.

After this long, the Alliance held every key industry there was, and the shinobi world could fairly be described as thriving.

[Congratulations! Host has unlocked Emiya Shirou’s Template Ability 5: The Everdistant Utopia.]

The line surfaced without warning, and Natsuki’s mood lifted immediately.

He could feel the scabbard sitting inside him, and he knew exactly how to use it.

Good. With the Everdistant Utopia, Kaguya — or the clan behind her — became a considerably simpler proposition.

A knock at the door.

"Come in."

Minato and Nagato walked in.

"Congratulations on finishing the job." Natsuki was smiling.

"How did you know?" Minato stopped short.

"Your faces," Natsuki said, offhand.

In reality he’d known from the notification. The Everdistant Utopia’s condition had been true peace in the shinobi world — and with Minato and Nagato having swept the last of it clean, in a real sense, the world had achieved it.

"You’ve earned it. The Police Force stays permanent from here. If unrest turns up anywhere in the world, it’s yours to handle."

"Understood." Minato was beaming.

Nagato, unusually, looked outright happy.

Their dream had finally landed.

"Go rest. I’ll see you both at noon." Natsuki waved them out.

A moment later, another knock.

Pakura came in.

"I’ll be speaking with the Kazekage privately." Natsuki glanced at Mikoto and Konan.

They nodded and withdrew.

Once the door shut, Pakura crossed the room without ceremony and sat down in his lap.

Natsuki slipped a hand inside her clothes and rested it against her back.

He’d told her a long time ago not to wear backless outfits in front of other people, which meant an extra step for him these days.

"What do you want for your birthday?" Pakura settled against him.

"You showing up is the gift." Natsuki smiled.

"It’s your birthday. You’re allowed to ask for something outrageous," she said after a moment’s thought.

"How outrageous?" Natsuki raised an eyebrow.

"For instance... I could work with your secretary." Her face colored slightly.

"Tomorrow night." Natsuki kissed her cheek.

Pakura paused, then understood. Tonight was obviously already spoken for.

"There’s time before lunch," Natsuki said, reaching for her. "Let me make it up to you first."

Some while later, Pakura had thoroughly received her compensation.

Noon came around fast, and Pakura left looking worn through.

She wasn’t the only Sand shinobi attending the banquet, and arriving on Natsuki’s arm would have raised the wrong questions, so she went to join her own delegation first.

Judging the time about right, Natsuki went to Tsunade’s office.

He pushed the door open and found her sprawled inelegantly across the sofa.

"Tsunade-sensei." He was smiling. "Heavy workload today? You look wrecked."

"Work’s done. I’m lying here because I want to," she said, eyes shut.

"Would you like a massage?"

He stopped in front of her, and from that angle the view was excellent.

"No." Tsunade snorted. "I know exactly how a massage from you ends."

"It’s nearly twelve. I have some restraint." Natsuki raised an eyebrow.

Mostly, he had just finished with Pakura.

He sat down on the sofa, let her rest her head in his lap, and worked at her temples.

Tsunade shifted into something thoroughly relaxed.

Natsuki behaved himself, and kept at it until noon.

"Come on." Tsunade sat up and reached for her shoes. "You can’t be late to your own birthday."

He nodded and opened a portal.

They came out onto the street where the banquet was being held. There were so many guests that several streets had been rented for the occasion.

"Lord Hokage!"

The greetings started the moment he appeared.

"Natsuki-sensei!" Yahiko, Might Guy, Uchiha Shisui, and Yuhi Kurenai pushed forward through the crowd.

Beyond them stood delegations from every village — Ohnoki, Pakura, Terumi Mei, Mabui.

They’d all come because it was Natsuki’s birthday and not attending was unthinkable. Skipping it and being remembered for skipping it was not a trade any of them would make.

After the rounds of pleasantries, Natsuki formally opened the banquet.

Lunch ran two or three hours before it finally wound down.

Dinner drew a smaller crowd, though still a substantial one — Tsunade, Kushina, Nawaki, plus Orochimaru, Jiraiya, Minato, and others.

Afterward the guests said their goodbyes and dispersed.

Natsuki then turned to the evening’s actual agenda.

He went to Tsunade’s room first, under the pretext of discussing ninjutsu. Late that night, he returned to his own room and Kushina and Nonou.

His birthday ended, as it had run, on a rather full schedule.

The next day.

Natsuki came into the Hokage’s office, greeted Konan and Mikoto, and raised a hand.

A doorway opened. He stepped through, and came out on the moon.

Today’s objective was Otsutsuki Kaguya.

There were two ways to reach her.

The first was Black Zetsu’s route from the original story — resurrect her through a Ten-Tails jinchuriki.

The second was to force entry into the sealed dimension holding her.

Both were extraordinarily difficult. The first had taken Black Zetsu over a thousand years and a great deal of luck. The second required strength substantially beyond the Sage of Six Paths.

Natsuki happened to satisfy the second condition.

Yomotsu Hirasaka!

He turned his attention toward the deep interior of the moon and walked into the black portal.

When he stepped out again, he’d arrived.

A white-haired woman in white robes stood before him.

Otsutsuki Kaguya.

"Who are you?" Her eyes opened, and surprise showed on her face.

She had not expected anyone to reach a sealed dimension this deep inside the moon.

"Did Black Zetsu send you?" A thought struck her, and her expression brightened.

A thousand years sealed away. Her appetite for freedom needed no explanation.

"I killed Black Zetsu." Natsuki was smiling. "My reason for coming is simple. I’m here to defeat you."

"You’re of the clan." Her face changed dramatically as the possibility landed.

Anyone who could kill Black Zetsu and reach this dimension had to be formidable beyond question. She couldn’t imagine any origin but the Otsutsuki.

"We’ll talk after I’ve beaten you."

Natsuki stepped forward and undid the seal.

Kaguya barely had time to register it before the world shifted and she found herself in another dimension entirely.

"Amenominaka?" She looked around, and the shock burst out of her. "You really are one of us!"

Amenominaka was a layered dimensional technique spanning six spaces.

And critically, it could only be obtained by eating a God Tree’s chakra fruit.

Her identification confirmed, Kaguya attacked without hesitation.

Eighty Gods Vacuum Attack!

Countless strikes tore toward him.

Eighty Gods Vacuum Attack!

Natsuki clenched his fists, expression unchanged.

The counterbarrage ripped straight through hers and landed on her in its entirety.

Kaguya was hurled backward and slammed into the ground hard enough to leave a crater.

"That’s impossible." She coughed up blood, horror written across her face.

She’d assumed he was strong. But she had eaten a chakra fruit. By any reasonable accounting, the gap should not have been anywhere near this wide.

Fortunately she was immortal. Damage on this scale wasn’t fatal.

She got back up, and the Rinne Sharingan on her forehead lit.

Infinite Tsukuyomi!

An invisible wave of psychic force rolled outward — the Infinite Tsukuyomi deployed as a single-target genjutsu, which, paired with the Rinne Sharingan, was arguably the strongest genjutsu that had ever existed in this world.

"Is that everything you have?" Natsuki asked flatly.

Seeing him entirely untouched, Kaguya’s stomach dropped.

Barring surprises, he had the Rinne Sharingan too. And his was stronger.

This was becoming a problem.

She gritted her teeth and raised a hand.

Expansive Truth-Seeking Ball!

A Truth-Seeking Ball of impossible scale bloomed into being. Space warped around it as though the dimension itself were about to come apart.

The Everdistant Utopia!

The scabbard deployed.

The black sphere swallowed Natsuki whole.

Kaguya let out a breath — and greed followed immediately behind the relief. If she could absorb his chakra, her own strength would climb further still.

The thought had barely formed when she watched the black sphere get thrown back at her.

Natsuki was standing exactly where he’d been. Not even his clothes were disturbed.

Kaguya went completely blank, and the impulse to run arrived a heartbeat later.

She reached for Yomotsu Hirasaka without hesitation.

The black portal opened — and Natsuki appeared behind her via Hirenkyaku and closed a hand around her shoulder.

The delay cost her everything. The Truth-Seeking Ball reached them both.

"No—"

Kaguya screamed.

Immortal or not, the Expansive Truth-Seeking Ball’s output was enough to put her through agony.

Natsuki simply took it head-on behind the Everdistant Utopia again.

When it finally went quiet, Kaguya was unconscious.

Natsuki considered it briefly and decided against killing her.

He knew very little about the Otsutsuki clan. Kaguya could serve as an informant and fill in the gaps.

All of which would have to wait until she woke up.

[Congratulations! Host has unlocked Yhwach’s Template Ability 2: Advanced Abilities.]

[Congratulations! Host has unlocked Gojo Satoru’s Template Ability 2: Limitless Cursed Technique.]

Natsuki nodded.

Beating Kaguya had been easy. It should have been — his strength had left hers far behind some time ago.

And with that, every present threat to the shinobi world was accounted for. It could develop in peace for decades.