I own neither Naruto nor One Piece…
CLANG!
CLANK!
CLASH!
Steel clashing against steel, and hard flesh striking flesh. This was the sound anyone would have heard if they were to get close enough without being torn apart into pieces from the shockwaves that reverberated across the valley.
The cacophony emanated across the vast landscape like fierce thunder strikes roaring across the sky, as loud and ear-shattering as the constant roars of lightning itself.
Around a large, shattered statue which was obviously just a shadow of its former glory and surrounded by roaring waters and blazing flames, was a place that could only be described as a desolated wasteland as ash poured down furiously as if it has a deep grudge on the earth below.
This was the Valley of the End, the legendary landscape upon whose foundations the fate of their world was written again and again. Located close to the border of the Land of Fire and the Land of Sound, it was a mighty landscape where legends had carved their tale that later dictated the course of history itself.
This was a place that had witnessed the infamous feud between Hashirama and Madara; a location that had marked the beginning and the end of the tale of a young boy who had walked upon the path of vengeance and his friend who had chased him through that arduous road till the very end through sheer grit and determination alone.
Upon the two broken statues that signified the symbol of comradeship between two titans, there stood two young men. Their eyes resolute and their lips twisted into small frowns that could barely be perceived even if one were to look for it.
CLANG!
A shockwave once again tore the earth apart as the water that surrounded them, so quick that the speed of their movements transcended human imagination as the two men instantly crossed the vast space separating them and met their opponents in the middle of the valley.
Their weapons clashed and firmly locked amongst themselves, as both combatants held their places, never letting each other overpower the other.
A medium-sized crater was forcefully created beneath their feet as the air they were floating upon trembled, releasing a shockwave that parted the lake beneath them and tore apart its underwater surface due to the sheer strength and force behind their blows.
Sparks flew wildly as their weapons ground against each other before just as quickly, they separated in practiced, flawless motion and jumped back to their previous footholds, continuing the impasse.
The three combatants faced each other, fury and irritation apparent on each of their faces.
"Tch."
Grunted one of the two. The young man in question had a furious scowl on etched his usually calm and unemotional features. With his smooth spiky raven-black hair which seemed to defy gravity and long bangs that framed his unblemished face and concealed his left eye, he possessed features that could be considered extremely handsome which were only accentuated by his pale, smooth skin which had numerous scratches on it, seemingly just received from the battle currently unfolding.
The left sleeve of his shirt fluttered wildly in the cold wind, and upon closer inspection, it easily could be noted that it was not housing an arm from the elbow down and his remaining hand clutched his majestic sword, the Sword of Kusanagi, in the reverse grip. Ready to block or parry should the enemy strike.
Yet, his most striking feature was neither his mesmerizing face nor was it his disturbingly loose sleeve, pointedly fluttering due to the lack of an arm.
If asked one could only answer that the most mesmerizing aspect of this boy was none other than that sharp, unyielding eye that glowed with an ethereal red which resembled haunting blood and seemed to peer into your very soul.
This was Sasuke Uchiha…
The brother of Itachi Uchiha of the Sharingan by blood and of the future Seventh Hokage, Naruto Uzumaki by bond.
A veteran of the fourth shinobi world war and ultimately an important piece who played a crucial role in defeating the goddess Kaguya. The wielder of the legendary doujutsu, the exalted Rinnegan, which oddly enough was not yet activated, and the infamous Mangekyou Sharingan that glowed a bloody red.
"I barely have enough chakra to keep the Sharingan activated, let alone the Rinnegan. It seems that our opponents are strong, much more than I initially thought." The ninja muttered to the man beside him in frustration.
"Yeah, they are a troublesome bunch. Even though these are not the worst odds we have faced, dealing with them would be far from easy." Naruto Uzumaki, the future seventh Hokage and perhaps Sasuke's only friend replied.
"Troublesome?" Sasuke muttered, shaking his head. "Perhaps you should spend less time with that Nara."
After mastering his purple dojutsu and embarking upon a long quest to investigate the true origins of the Otsutsuki, Sasuke had been repeatedly using his Rinnegan's Yomotsu Hirasaka for the last two days, and that had almost stripped off most of his chakra and rendered his admittedly impressive chakra pool almost empty.
Sasuke wordlessly cursed his luck— or lack thereof— as he thought he would be able to rest for the time being and hopefully gather enough chakra to conjure a portal straight back home after a few days of respite.
But alas, his abysmal luck was so bad, that his pursuer—which he never knew he had— spotted the place where he was resting and instantly attacked him like a rabid dog as soon as he had laid his eyes upon him. Which led to his current predicament.
"I need at least a minute of rest to activate the Rinnegan" He concluded with certainty. He clutched his aching left eye and closed it in hopes of speeding up the Rinnegan's cooldown process.
He looked ahead to see the lone figure of his enemy calmly standing there as if assessing every move and action. The ninja's pursuer who had chased him across numerous dimensions and had even followed Sasuke back to his home sported a deathly-pale complexion only native to the Otsutsuki clan.
Calm and delicate features graced his face, with wide, pupilless white eyes framed by elegant round eyebrows cut in a way reminiscent of nobility. The hereditary doujutsu that was the inherent ability of the elite Hyuuga clan of Konoha and was also the mark of the Rabbit Goddess herself, the Byakugan, stared at him blankly.
How he managed to match his every move while wearing a kimono and a geta sandals was beyond him. Sasuke had to admit, that even he had to give his enemy a credit for that.
His flawless taijutsu which was honed through experience earned by a thousand battles was extremely deadly as was his unknown ninjutsu that could match his own. But even then, the most notable of all was a pair of Rinnegan which were comfortably placed in both his palms.
But unlike his own single Rinnegan or any previous ones that he has seen, his pursuer's version that sat comfortingly on his palm was blood red in colour. They reminded him of Danzo and his ghastly white appendage embedded with the eyes of his kin, only serving to further escalate his growing ire.
But if there was anything the Uchiha learned in his life as a shinobi, then it was to never underestimate an opponent. Sasuke had applied that rule in every battle thus far, and it mostly secured him the win. Foolishly underestimating an enemy and letting your guard down could very well lead to your own demise. Hell, Naruto beside him was the living testament to that.
"We need to be careful." The Uchiha quietly spoke, glancing at his partner beside him while scanning his enemy for any sudden moves at the same time. "This foe cannot be underestimated, Naruto."
The black-haired glared at his pursuer, irritation made clear in every syllable as he spoke to his friend. What had he done to have seemingly attracted this Otsutsuki out of nowhere and earned his ire and enmity in the first place?
He genuinely did not know. But as far as he's concerned, this was an Otsutsuki. And the last Otsutsuki he met not named Hagoromo wasn't exactly a good guy… or woman.
"Who are you, and what do you want?" Naruto asked from his side, who stayed true to his nature and chose diplomacy as his first option before all else and loath as he might, Sasuke honestly could not find it within himself to blame his only friend for it. "Why are you here?"
The white-haired enigma silently tilted his head, only eager on continuing the staring contest between the two and never breaking his calm and collected persona, as if contemplating whether or not he should answer the human's question. He resembled a proud emperor looking down upon slaves not worth his attention.
The Uchiha clicked his tongue at his arrogance and could only wait for him to answer, all the while taking advantage of the momentary pause for chakra recovery.
Suddenly, the white-haired being who had pursued him back to his home world smirked. This somehow made Sasuke uneasy— not because the smirk did not at all suit his delicate features, which it didn't— but because he had seen that same smirk from his previous adversaries, namely Madara and Kaguya.
It also served to warn the ninja that things will not go swimmingly for him from here on out and that was never a good sign.
Then he spoke, his voice cold and his words even colder.
"A dead human should not ask questions." He started with a surprisingly deep voice in contrast to his soft facial features. "But for lasting this long against me, I shall give you the honour of knowing my name."
The Otsutsuki paused, before continuing arrogantly with the same cold emotionless mask still plastered on his fragile-looking face." My name is Momoshiki Otsutsuki. Remember it, intruder."
Before Sasuke can even think of anything, the now-known Momoshiki spoke again. "As for what I want, your intrusion into our seedbeds is intolerable, a punishment is in order. Surrender now and your death shall be swift and painless. I shall even graciously reward you for your courage, human, by letting me turn you and this world of yours into a chakra fruit to be consumed by me. In that sense, you will continue to live on as part of my divine self and your abilities shall rest in my glorious possession."
'Momoshiki?' The name oddly felt familiar to the former avenger. Maybe he had read it in one of those stone tablets that he had unravelled in one of Kaguya's dimensions.
He was snapped from his musings when he saw Momoshiki get into a ready position, probably to attack him once more. He heard Naruto curse beside him and promptly raised his weapon for the clash that was about to happen.
It happened quickly and suddenly, just as Sasuke knew it would happen.
Almost instantly in a fraction of the hundredth of a single second in an unparalleled feat of speed that Sasuke had only ever seen before in men who could walk amongst gods and not be found wanting, Momoshiki crossed the distance that separated them, appearing in front of them in a blur of speed that his Sharingan could barely keep track of.
Another shockwave shook the earth below them, as Sasuke instantly blocked the palm and felt his bones creak in protest as his veins threatened to burst under the pressure. 'The Gentle Fist or at least a variation of it.' Sasuke thought, deducing as such from the fact that the simple palm strike from Momoshiki had directly bypassed the durability of his skin.
Momoshiki was not deterred when he saw his attack being blocked so effortlessly and spun around in a circle in an attempt to kick Sasuke who leaned backward to dodge his attack.
He could not be blamed for targeting Sasuke first, for he was made well acquainted with his power when he had chased after him and would obviously view him as a greater threat than Naruto who had just arrived. But in hindsight, he should have focused more on the blond beside him.
Yes… he probably should have.
"Yonton: Rasengan!"
But even when taken by surprise from the side by an opponent he had completely disregarded, Momoshiki— in a feat of reactive instinct that even managed to take Sasuke by surprise— managed to raise his other arm to summon forth an unknown jutsu that created a spear of darkness meant to cut through the blazing sphere of magma before it could touch his stomach.
Then the sphere of scorching death reached his spear.
Momoshiki immediately gritted her teeth as the sphere created by the opponent he had casually disregarded before actually began to push him back and much to his horror— seemingly disintegrate whatever part of his attack that the Rasengan touched!
The spiralling ball of chakra that spun around in circles that spelled death was not just created for show...it was grinding through his attack!
Constant friction and boundless heat were carving through the strength of the attack down until it was weakened enough to break through!
With the threat of Sasuke holding him in his place Momoshiki had no choice but to hold his location, and though the constant grinding had been destroying the spear he had conjured, nevertheless his attack was bound to weaken the sphere as well and create an opportunity for him to capitalize on the opening that would create!
As he feared, the spear of darkness soon broke against the power of the Rasengan.
But his hopes were dashed without mercy as he soon found that the tiny sphere was not any weaker by the time it reached him. The attack was self-perpetuating?
Damn it.
Momoshiki could do nothing but curse silently and when it hit his stomach, it felt like someone had placed a grinder on it.
The agonizing grinding and the ruthless turning of the waves of the blazing hot chakra were scorching and tearing through his very skin!
But finally, finally, the compressed energy exploded and sent him flying backward at speeds that broke the sound barrier many times over. It spoke significantly of the potency of the attack when that Momoshiki was grateful that the explosion had happened, for at this point he would have done anything to get away from that horrible sensation.
But then again, all that happened because he was caught off guard.
But now he knew...
Sasuke cursed silently, his sharp eyes which perceived the world in perfect detail told him that Momoshiki would not be taken by surprise after this. But then again, this change was irrelevant to the greater battle, none of the opponents they had fought had ever had to nerve to take them lightly, Kaguya perhaps but even she had been forced to acknowledge their strength.
'Taju Kage Bunshin no Jutsu'
One turned into a thousand, as Naruto staying true to his unpredictable nature refused to not let go of the opening his initial attack had created and immediately capitalized on it.
'Five seconds to go…' Thought the Uchiha impatiently, as he carefully counted the remaining time that was hindering the ninja from using his supreme doujutsu, waiting for it to be available once more. He gathered had enough chakra to use Rinnegan now, but its ocular abilities were not fully charged yet.
And then the sky itself was filled with orange as all thousand copies of Naruto jumped straight towards the Otsutsuki who barely even had the time to widen his eyes with as much strength as they could, glowing with warmth and sunshine as they all simultaneously enshrouded themselves in a cloak of heavy golden chakra created from the power that Hagoromo had blessed them with.
To the Momoshiki in the sky who had not yet recovered from the devasting strike of the Rasengan, the puny human who suddenly revealed unexpected strength that had quite literally blown him away had jumped straight towards her with speeds that vastly surpass his own...
But the distance between them and his own considerable speed gave them more than enough time to react. The dojutsu that sat upon his palms glowed with a sinister light and countless swords of light that radiated power and might that far surpassed the strength of a Kage were created in the air above him.
Momoshiki raised his pale hand and paused for a moment even as Naruto's cerulean eyes widened, and then he simply brought down his outstretched hand as if slashing the air apart with an invisible dagger.
The spears of light were launched at Naruto and his barrage of a thousand clones, who in response to this, simply smirked in response and began an elegant dance of death as his form blurred, leaving trials of shimmering gold, afterimages even the Byakugan could not dispel. It was like a perfect dance, how each move flowed seamlessly to the next even as spears of light formed in the air by their thousands, hurled forward by unseen hands, and crashed against each other.
Though it was like watching a whirlwind, there was no chaos, no disorder. Every move had a purpose, every action a goal, not a single motion was wasted.
The Otsutsuki only watch as two of the copies went behind the original and then flung him towards him even as another orb of power took form in his hands and before the original reached him, the other clone once again threw its final brother towards him with all of its strength before dispersing itself with a loud pop.
Was he trying to use the clone as a distraction?
Momoshiki refused to fall for it!
He elegantly dodged and removed himself out of the way of the clone thrown as a projectile faster than any bullet could hope to be and then refocused his efforts on the incoming original. He formed another spear of darkness that sucked in all light from its surroundings and charged the incoming blond with his spear raised.
One Rasengan met the might of the spear of darkness in a clash that temporarily pushed back both his opponents and released a shockwave that once again devasted the surroundings around them.
Momoshiki dodged the powerful arm that attempted to grab him and flew upwards, smirking as he revelled in the knowledge that he now held the upper hand.
Mortals had no right to stand in the heavens alongside the true gods. Astoundingly strong though he may be, but in the end even with all his power, his opponent was just a human who was naught but helpless when suspended in the sky without any foothold with which he could maneuverer freely
Bijuu: Rasengan!
He then spat out blood as he felt something smash into his back with tremendous force!
The clone.
The clone was not the distraction...
The blond had used himself as a distraction!
"Take this, you bastard!" Naruto grinned as he saw his clone smash the dense orb of power into the back of the Otsutsuki who let out a soundless scream laced with untold agony and boundless rage as he felt his divine flesh begin to give way as the attack once again ground its way through his perfect body.
Then the explosion happened.
Momoshiki felt the force of the scorching explosion that burned his back sending him flying towards the ground at speeds that no Kage could ever hope to match as gravity which he once thought of as an ally so suddenly turned against him.
But his eyes widened once again, and he could do naught but curse in rage as he found a raven-haired man whose menacing eyes glowed red in the darkness waiting for him.
Sasuke coldly raised his single hand without an expression on his face, and the very air around him hummed as raw power reverberated through it. It began with a single blue spark that instantly engulfed his hand in an aura formed of the heavenly tribulation of lightning which shrieked with the chirpings of a thousand birds.
But Momoshiki was not so weak that a single attack— no matter how strong— would render him helpless and rob him of his common sense. Before he could enter the range of the avenger, the Otsutsuki spread his arms and gracefully used them to balance himself as he began flying back towards the sky.
But even the heavens refused him shelter, as Naruto who had begun his descent from the sky above as that dammed orb of power once again spun into shape atop his palm. Momoshiki growled, not even finding the time to voice his frustrations before he was forced to move yet again.
He could have avoided one of them but not the other.
So instead he intercepted them.
It was one of the most remarkable examples of Taijutsu Sasuke had ever seen. He spun in place, counter-clockwise, allowing the Naruto and his Rasengan to fly through where his left shoulder would have been as he turned before he used his momentum to reach out with his other hand in an attempt to strike at the exposed side of the blond with an open palm that glowed ominously with chakra.
Unfortunately for him, Sasuke had already predicted all this with his Sharingan that could divine the future.
The golden form of Naruto switched place with him at the very last second, just as the lethal attack of Momoshiki was about to land on him.
"Wha—?!"
Sasuke was prepared to block the palm strike of the Otsutsuki from the very beginning, unlike his friend Naruto whose previous position and speed did not allow him the use of such manoeuvres.
Chidori!
Rasengan!
Both the attacks struck Momoshiki at once, one from Sasuke who elegantly weaved out of the way just twisting his body in a circle to allow the attack to harmlessly pass through empty air, and the other from Naruto whose accumulated momentum was transferred into his bandaged arm.
"Do not underestimate us, you geezer!" Naruto shouted, even as another shockwave tore through the heavens themselves while the pungent smell of charred flesh was mixed with the toxic scent of ozone.
But Sasuke was not done yet, numerous kunai popped into existence near his hands with a single twitch of his finger accompanied by a trivial trickle of chakra through the seal on the back of his hand, and with ease that could only be attained through decades of practice, he kicked a simple pebble and then with a single movement of his wrist launched the kunai in his hands through the air at speeds that shattered the sound barrier and broke human comprehension.
Momoshiki was too far away from the trajectory of his attacks, and the speed at which he was sent flying was so fast that no kunai could have ever hoped to catch up to him.
But much to his growing frustration, he was once again taken by surprise and left dumbfounded by mere humans as his position was instantly and ruthlessly switched with that of the pebble which Sasuke had kicked and he was suddenly displaced and placed right before the kunai which were enshrouded in chakra and were coming right at him in speeds at broke the barrier of sound many times over.
"Curse you, mortals. You humans will rue this day." Momoshiki spoke, his voice cold as he elegantly dodged the sharp kunai with the grace that only came with the ease of movement created through years of practice. Mere knives, no matter how fast, would never be able to even graze him.
But then, he suddenly found it much harder to move his body.
He looked down in surprise to find several small wires— astoundingly sharp and created from absurdly tough steel— wrapped around his person, connected to those knives he had just dodged. He growled in rage as he found that an exalted being like him had been tricked once more by the wily humans who had been fighting against him.
Sasuke's fingers twitched slightly, and the steel wires— which aside from a small flash were invisible even to his Sharingan eye— tightened around Momoshiki, digging deep into his pale flesh and drawing a thin trickle of blood.
"I would recommend surrendering while you have the chance. Our simple grievances can be settled through peaceful diplomacy and we are prepared to overlook your acts of aggression if you calm yourself before the situation can escalate any further. " Sasuke spoke, genuinely hoping that the Otsutsuki would stop.
Momoshiki for his part, just bared his teeth at the demands of these puny mortals who by all rights should have been thanking his venerable self by prostrating before him for even acknowledging to such an extent that he addressed them directly.
He just could not understand these humans before him at all. These mortals used the most unorthodox and strange ways of fighting he had ever seen throughout his entire life!
All of the supernatural beings he had met and fought throughout his long lifetime used different ways of fighting which could typically be categorized into recognizable types. To overthrow an opponent, one had to either use greater power, use greater speed, or have better technique. That was how many would defeat one another
But these humans fit into none of those categories. It simply was not done!
Sasuke, seeing that his opponent was not replying simply sighed in regret. If possible, even he would have preferred to use diplomacy just as Naruto had initially wanted.
Once again, his sparks burst into life around his hand as his dark chakra surged, and the scent of ozone spread through the air as the sky above darkened and the pressure upon his shoulders increased a hundredfold as the air itself grew heavy with power.
"If anything, I regret that what could have been settled through words came to this." Sasuke sighed once again and the heavens above roared in fury.
Kirin!
Then the world itself was engulfed by white…
The entire valley was devasted by the time the blank spots in his perfect vision faded away. The little water that was left in the air was vapourised by heat that for an instant matched the temperature of a star and the rocks around them had long melted, converted into scorching slag that glowed red at the same time the oxygen in the air had been converted into ozone, leaving little for them to breathe.
Kirin had once been his ultimate move, meant to end the most significant fight of his life as his greatest trump card. It was the accumulation of his efforts and pains that he had undertaken for the sake of his revenge and as his powers had increased with time, its maximum potency had also followed suit alongside.
If one were to compare the Kirin he had used against Itachi with the Kirin he had used just now, then it would not surprise him even if the second one was revealed to be a thousand times stronger.
A radiant golden glow flashed across the corner of his eye and Sasuke felt the corner of his lips curling into a warm but rare smile as he relaxed momentarily. "Is it finally over, Sasuke?" Naruto asked, coming to a stop beside him as his golden cloak faded away.
"Bravo. Indeed, this went beyond what I had expected from mortals." A cold voice drawled, sending chills across their spines as their eyes widened. "Truly an unprecedented surprise~"
It was their turn to be surprised and instinctively they both took a step backward, subconsciously bracing themselves by assuming their natural stances and fortifying their position.
"But then again you humans cannot be called completely human either." Momoshiki smirked, his pale eyes flashing as he wiped a smudge of dirt from his pristine clothes, "The impure chakra of mortals cannot hurt an Otsutsuki unless it is mixed with divine chakra itself. This is a law that has never been challenged for we gods stand beyond the reach of mortals. No, with that golden form of yours and that Rinnegan, it would be more appropriate to consider you two impure members of the exalted Otsutsuki race rather than pure mortals."
"W-What do you mean, you geezer?" Naruto asked from beside him, his voice eyes widening for a moment, "Super sage gamps, sure gave us his divine chakra, but the fact that we remain humans cannot be challenged. I refuse to accept otherwise."
"Do not listen to this drivel, Naruto." Sasuke frowned, and the crimson glow of his eyes turned even deeper, knowing that the words of his opponent had caught the interest of his blond friend. "You cannot trick us with your words."
Momoshiki elegantly raised his pale arm and the pair of Rinnegan that sat upon his palm glowed malevolently with power. The air grew dense with chakra as untold pressure bore down upon them, and gravity increased tenfold as it pushed them downwards.
"I must admit, at this very moment—you both are strong, stronger than even I could have ever imagined." Momoshiki admitted, "Perhaps that indeed was my gravest mistake. But from this moment onwards, I shall cast aside my arrogance and fight you both not as lesser humans but as fellow gods of the Otsutsuki Clan." He closed his eyes, before opening them again with resolute determination in his eyes. "Prepare yourselves."
Sasuke's eyes widened, and he barely had enough time to reach out and grab Naruto beside him to teleport away before once again, white engulfed the world as the heavens themselves roared…
The scent of ozone once again spread through the air, as lightning that for an instant burned hotter than the sun itself forced the very gaseous molecules to condense into scorching plasma and divided the very molecules of oxygen into its base components.
The desolate Valley of the End where legends had crashed to change history itself was once again devastated beyond remembrance as a dragon of heavenly thunder raged upon its depths and scorched the earth itself into molten slags of magma.
"That was your Kirin was it not, Sasuke?" Naruto asked as soon as they reappeared, dense golden chakra once again engulfing him as he activated his chakra cloak in preparation for the fight that was about to come. "Do you understand what it means? We cannot attack him carelessly, anymore."
"He can absorb jutsu in his right palm, and then release the same jutsu in his left palm, greatly amplifying its effects and firepower." Sasuke carefully deduced glaringly sharply at his smirking opponents, recalling what the enemy had done moments ago. So chakra-based attacks were out of the question.
Then the albino Otsutsuki's smirk stretched wider, Sasuke's eyes narrowed at that. 'He's planning something.' The dark-haired man carefully deduced, even someone with half a brain could conclude as such. Sasuke raised his guard even further, anticipating even the slightest twitch of motion from his enemy using the Sharingan.
He was tired, very tired. But he was not about to succumb to the exhaustion just yet, although it was probably marred on his face. But on the other hand, appearing to be tired could make the enemy drop his guard in most cases.
But regardless of whether he was tired or not, however; he was on a mission, and he was not about to fail.
'!'
Out of nowhere, Sasuke felt the presence of someone other than the Otsutsuki that was in front of him. The ninja instinctively looked at the ground and saw a shadow looming overhead, a shadow that was rapidly growing in size the more he looked at it.
'Above!' Sasuke mentally exclaimed, realizing what the shadow was.
With extreme speed, Sasuke jumped away to dodge what he thought was his impending doom. It turned out, he was right after all, as a just split-second after he had jumped away, a large, red rod seemingly made of pure concentrated chakra was swung with immense strength and blinding speed that would've been impossible to dodge even for the legendary Kage-level shinobi.
BOOM!
The massive rod impacted the ground where he was previously standing and resulted in an explosion of dust and rubble.
The resulting shockwave and some rubbles still hit him though, further flinging him outwards and disrupting his manoeuvrability and effort to straighten himself.
"Sasuke! Be careful, there are others besides him!" Naruto, who had been separated from his side due to the sudden attack exclaimed, charging forward in a blur that was intercepted mid-air by a white phantom in the form of another Otsutsuki whose body unlike his slender peers was bulged with bulky muscles that screamed of unsurpassable strength.
'Shit, I forgot about those other ones!' Sasuke cursed mentally. He was far too preoccupied with fighting the Otsutsuki before him that he had completely forgotten about his subordinate. Sasuke berated himself for his incautiousness, the fact that he overlooked his enemy's ally in a dire situation like this was something completely unacceptable by his standards.
Sasuke steadied himself in mid-air and landed a distance away from the duo. When the dust cloud finally cleared, Sasuke saw the one who had escaped his notice and sneaked up on Naruto. He was a large, hulking being who currently towered over the shorter of the two. He was very tall, enough that Sasuke extrapolated that the newcomer easily dwarfed even Ai, the fourth Raikage, who was arguably one of the largest shinobi he had ever seen in the Elemental nations.
Sasuke once again berated himself for having forgotten the very palpable man before his eyes drifted towards the other one who had attacked him with his red rods.
Short white hair atop the pale skin that was the characteristic of all Otsutsuki, alongside a pair of blue Rinnegan that radiated with potent chakra. Like Momoshiki, he too wore a lavender-white kimono-styled battle outfit over his elegantly slender torso. A disgustingly annoying smirk played on his lips as he narrowed his eyes at him.
"Heh, you really have gotten slow, Urashiki." The white-haired Rinnegan wielder casually mocked, commenting on the smirking man's failed attempt at a sneak attack. Oddly enough, the smaller of the two wasn't even close to being disappointed. Momoshiki's grin stretched further at this development.
The human had just dodged a sneak attack from Urashiki, who was praised among the Otsutsuki clan for his sheer speed and agility. Despite his small size, the Otsutsuki was actually one of the fastest fighters in the clan, and to have dodged his attack, let alone an actual sneak attack was extremely impressive by his standards. No one had ever dodged a blow from him, not until the dark-haired Uchiha.
"It is just as you say, Momoshiki-sama. These humans cannot be underestimated." Urashiki nodded and ran a pale hand through his white hair as he spun his red rod in an intricate motion before allowing it to rest on his shoulder. "I can see why you ordered me to retrieve that from the main clan, such a situation does indeed justify its usage. We should consider them a threat on par with a rouge Otsutsuki and deal with them accordingly."
There was an impasse as the three Otsutsuki faced a pair of men who had transcended the bounds of humanity, a moment of tense quietness accompanied by a sense of trepidation so sharp that it could have cut through the hearts of men and gods as easily as the Susanoo could carve mountains.
"Deal with us accordingly?" Naruto finally spoke, forever true to his brash nature as he cut through the apprehension without a single shred of hesitation and challenged the bold claim of his opponents with a small grin that tugged at his lips, "But to do that you would have to defeat us first, ya'know. Sure, you are far more powerful than any normal human could ever be but even then, none of you are a match for us."
Sasuke could feel the corners of his lips tugging into a small smirk as his Sharingan perfectly recorded the expressions of outrage and shock that spread across the pale faces of their opponents at the bold claims of his friend.
If there was one thing that Naruto had been good at from the very start then it would be annoying the hell out of others, and Sasuke would freely admit that it felt good, to see someone at the receiving end of his Naruto's loose tongue that was capable of spewing words that were capable of getting under the skin of even the calmest of men without restrain.
"They certainly are impudent, Momoshiki-sama," Kinshiki growled as he stepped forward, his voice a heavy baritone that rumbled forth from his throat. "Shall I deal with them?"
"Calm down and restrain yourself, Kinshiki. Anger would only hinder us at this point, none of us are any match for these humans. Loath as I am to accept it, but defeating you mortals in a straight clash certainly seems to be beyond our capability for now." Momoshiki answered, turning towards Naruto as his eyes flashed with rage. "But then again, fighting is not the only way to end a battle, is it not?"
He paused, clearly trying his best to quell his growing thirst for blood as he took a deep breath to calm himself. Even gods had never dared to address him with such cheek. These humans would beg for death while screaming in pain and agony, this he vowed to himself.
He then turned towards the slenderer of his two pale companions who stood behind him, "Urashiki, have our compatriots at the main clan prepared that for regular operation?
"Yes, they have granted their approval. Though they were surprised indeed to see that you were prepared to go that far just to deal with mere mortals."
"They do not have the authority to pry into my personal ventures, it seems that I shall once again have to remind them of that." Momoshiki scoffed, never taking his eyes off the humans who dared oppose his celestial authority. "But before all else, I must first deal with these insolent pests."
"As you say, Momoshiki-sama."
Urashiki bowed his head, and took a step backward, seemingly cupping his hands in prayer as he closed his vibrant blue pair of Rinnegan eyes, and kneeled in subversion.
"Sasuke, be careful." Sasuke was surprised to see Naruto's cerulean eyes widen in what he perceived to be shock and subconsciously took a step backward, "They seem to have prepared some sort of trap. I sense something that should not exist, something that seems to be distorted…"
Suddenly, the empty air above Urashiki's hand rippled as power crashed down upon them in its entirety. Space itself was distorted as the abyss of nothingness twisted apart the very fabrics of reality itself.
This was neither chakra nor science, neither the divine chakra of the six-paths nor the lifeforce of the planet itself in the form of senjutsu. It was something more, something far greater…
"Consider it your honour, for your power even forced me to cast aside my pride and depend upon other means in order to personally educate you two." Momoshiki sneered, looking down upon them with the same arrogance as that of a god peering down from heaven to observe an ant. "Humans that are ignorant of the vastness of heaven must never provoke those who stand above them."
Naruto and Sasuke were frozen in space, bounded by the infinite coercion of the space-time itself, as the void itself trembled and the very laws of the universe shook in agony and despair.
"Those of the Otsutsuki descent have eternal existence and the creation of the Karma has further distanced us from the throes of death. Mortals do not jest when they proclaim us immortal. But these very factors make dealing with those such as us even harder. Rouge members of our clan that must be put down are rare, and those with higher dojutsu such as the Rinnegan which grants powers over space-time are even rarer. But make no mistake, they certainly do exist, and conversely so do the means to counter them."
A pristine white diamond-shaped seal that radiated power shone brightly on his hand as pale white patterns depicting intricate runes of power spread through the arm of the Otsutsuki who had cast aside his pride as a god just to defeat two lowly humans.
Sasuke purple Rinnegan widened as a sharp agony cut through his eye, burning every single cell in his skull as untold anguish stabbed his burning eye with hot knives of molten steel. A slow trickle of blood dripped past his long lashes and trickled down his chin as the nerves around his Rinnegan pulsed again and again.
For reasons he did not yet know, his mind at that moment thought of a certain legend of his own Uchiha Clan, about a legendary jutsu that was capable of turning reality into imagination at the cost of a Sharingan and the one that existed as a counter to that certain jutsu through the same sacrifice.
Izanagi and Izanami…
Could it really be? Had the Otsutsuki really devised a technique on that level solely to counter the Otsutsuki who possessed the Rinnegan? Was Momoshiki truly so desperate that he would retort to using such techniques?
The pale Otsutsuki who had devoured entire worlds slowly, gently touched the void that had congregated above the palm of his retainer and smiled, his pale lips contorting into a macabre visage of rage and wrath.
"You have been a thorn in my side for long enough, user of the Rinnegan. Your tricks shall not elude my might anymore, for I shall deal with you first."
The very space around him froze as an unseen force wrapped itself around the soul of Sasuke Uchiha as if the right hand of God itself were restricting his origins, locking himself in his place as his very body and soul trembled together in resonance.
Time itself had stopped moving and the authority of the very laws that governed the universe was challenged as the glow of the white diamond seal on Momoshiki's hand glowed with power, its radiance growing blinding as all even the light of the sun above was suppressed by its glow and the shadows around them drew back in fear and
Sasuke found himself unable to move, unable to speak, and even unable to breathe as his Rinnegan pulsed again in untold agony.
Tenkengen!
His eyes which could see and comprehend the movement of every form of energy in the universe widened in horror, even as red blood trickled down from it without any signs of stopping because those eyes allowed him to actually see what Momoshiki had done, they allowed him to witness and understand the abomination which he had created.
He saw everything clearly in slow motion, mere seconds passing in what he perceived as days, helpless to move as he stood frozen in space.
He saw wow space-time itself screamed as reality itself wrapped around him resembling an event horizon of an eternal blackhole. Unable to do anything as an unseen force that could not be resisted pushed him towards the abyss that lay beyond the universe. Rendered helpless as he was pulled away towards a hole that shone with the blood of the universe.
Darkness slowly engulfed him and he could not even speak as helpless as he had been on that fateful night when his own brother had betrayed him, forced to watch in shame as the cerulean eyes of his only friend shone with tears that threatened to burst forth at any moment even as he leaped toward him in an attempt to drag him away.
The last thing he remembered hearing before the darkness of the abyss claimed him was the desperate cry of the man he considered a brother in all but blood.
"Sasuke!"
This is the prologue. Thanks for reading…
