Another Path: A Parallel Future

by Kaiba Setou

A few weeks after defeating Toneri Otsutsuki, Naruto was sent to a confidential S-Rank mission. After more than a year, he was now about to return to Konoha. However, despite the current peace, the threat of Otsutsukis were still lurking around. What if the Otsutsukis started to become active during the 'Blank Period' before Naruto became the Hokage? (Post 'The Last' Movie).

16. Chapter 15: Against Kaguya?

CHAPTER 15: Against Kaguya...?!

-Flashback-

CLASH!

Two massive Perfect Susanoos clashed, creating a massive shockwave that shook the entire space. One of the Susanoo was sent downwards while the other was flung upwards due to the clash's massive impact.

'He really is strong…' Sasuke, the one who's piloting the purple-colored Perfect Susanoo that was flung upwards, muttered to himself.

He's still currently within the same space where he met with the Sage of the Six Paths during the 4th Great Shinobi War. However, this time, the one he was dealing with was the remaining fragment of Uchiha Madara's consciousness and Chakra residing on the left arm that was being attached to him on the surface world.

'…' Madara now with activated Rinnegan on both eyes while piloting his blue-colored Perfect Susanoo, stared with interest towards Sasuke. 'For him to awaken the Rinnegan at his age… and capable of fighting against me like this head-on… I knew that there was some form of connection between the two of us. But for it to be like this…'

Sasuke then dashed at high speeds towards Madara despite the titanic size of his Perfect Susanoo. Madara then fired multiple Yasaka Magatama towards Sasuke, however, the younger Uchiha dodged them midway while blocking those he couldn't dodge with his Susanoo's swords.

"…!" As if his instincts told him, Sasuke immediately stopped dashing forward, then turned round and used the left arm of his Chakra Construct to block a sudden incoming attack. And it was no other than from a Limbo Clone; an astral clone created by Madara's Limbo: Hengoku ability of his Rinnegan. And that Limbo Clone itself was clad with its own Perfect Susanoo.

The very moment that Sasuke blocked the Limbo's Perfect Susanoo, he immediately set it on fire with his Amaterasu and destroyed it with Enton: Kagatsuchi. But that moment of distraction was enough for the original Madara to attack Sasuke from above with his dual-wielding Perfect Susanoo slash, sending Sasuke down to the watery surface of the ethereal space where they were fighting.

With Madara now glaring down towards him, Sasuke gritted his teeth.

"Uchiha Sasuke… the last surviving member of my beloved clan…" Madara said with a dangerous expression. "Together with Uzumaki Naruto, you have defeated Otsutsuki Kaguya, the one who consumed me thru Black Zetsu. Both of them used me… and used the Infinite Tsukuyomi that I believed as the one that will bring salvation to this world… just for the sake of their revival."

Madara then cast Mokuton: Jukai Koutan around Sasuke. The younger Uchiha then narrowed his eyes, then immediately charged a Chidori on his Perfect Susanoo's left hand...

"I always believed that I have the capability of changing the world. I discarded everything in pursuit of this one singular goal. A goal that I always believed was right. But despite the all-seeing capabilities of my Sharingan… and even my Rinnegan, I failed to realize that my dream is nothing more than a mere tool… My dreams, my ambitions were nothing more than a stupid ideal that I falsely believed into." Madara continued.

"Now what? Despite everything that you achieved, you're now lamenting on your own failures?" Sasuke said as his Perfect Susanoo charged towards the growing Mokuton: Jukai Koutan, slammed its arm to the ground, allowing the potent lightning chakra to disperse evenly, making it crawl to the ground, shattering the growing Jukai Koutan to smithereens.

"No. There is no way I will lament on what I did this entire time. After all, I reached the end of my goal. I've seen the end of my ideals. Despite me being used by Black Zetsu and Kaguya, I am proud that I was able to show Hashirama what I can do and reach the realization of my dreams on my own…"

"…" Sasuke didn't dispel the Chidori on his Perfect Susanoo's left hand after destroying the Jukai Koutan, as if already anticipating any possible sudden attacks from the elder Uchiha.

"While within Kaguya, I've seen fragments of important parts of history that lead us to the current situation…" Madara continued. "Both of us were Otsutsuki Indra's descendants… both of us inherited his Curse of Hatred. Yet… unlike him, unlike me, you chose to accept your differences and acknowledged Otsutsuki Ashura's ideals… thru Uzumaki Naruto. And due to such, the Curse of Hatred between Ashura and Indra... the cycle of their battle thru generations...have ended."

"Yet… that is where your own path lies. You are walking an entirely different path than your predecessors." Madara then closed his eyes as he began tapping Chakra deeper within him. "Yet… here you are… desiring the power of your predecessors that you discarded… by having my Six Paths' Chakra seep together with your own Six Paths Chakra. Why?"

"The one I discarded is the Curse of Hatred. But I didn't discard anything from my past… crimes." Sasuke replied. "Despite the difference in ideals, I believe that I'm still walking down the same path as of you and Indra. We're fighting solely for the ideals we came to believe into…"

"…However, unlike the two of you who have already seen the end of your ideals, I wanted to try a different approach from that same path… an approach where someone like us attempting to understand another person, sharing their pain instead of drowning ourselves within our own selfish delusions that lead to our own hatred and despair."

"Still, you desire power!" Madara dispelled his Perfect Susanoo, then he became clad with potent Chakra, making Sasuke narrow his eyes and prepare for the worst. "What made you so sure that unlike me and Hashirama, things will end up differently between you and Naruto?! What made you so sure that this fragile peace you have will not lead to greater darkness due to your desire on protecting it, just like on how Hashirama turned out to be when he chose to kill me for the sake of protecting the Village?!"

Madara then transformed into his Ten-Tails Jinchuuriki form, an appearance reminiscent of the Sage of the Six Paths, complete with Gudou Dama on his back and a shakujo in his hand. And with a single hand seal, he materialized multiple gigantic meteors above them. And with another hand seal, the meteors began to fall with increasing velocity in every passing second.

"Because I... have nearly succumbed to darkness... Yet there were still people who believed in me. I tried to push them away with everything that I have, yet they were able to pull me back. Their desire to understand me overpowered my intent to cut them away from me." The younger Rinnegan user replied to Madara.

Sasuke then charged Chidori on the three other hands of his Perfect Susanoo. He then further amplified its power with Six Paths' Chakra.

"You used your hatred as means to increase your power, to take everything on your own. And I nearly ended up like you." Sasuke continued. "That's why this time, I'll use my power to protect those who continued to believe in someone like me… They chose to understand and share my pain even though they don't have anything to do with it. That's why… I need more power so I can continue walking together with them and protect this peace that they worked so hard for…"

"…that's why, I'll have this left arm installed on me, and use whatever power I might gain from it as part of my own…!" The two pairs of his Perfect Susanoo's hands clasped together, allowing the charged Chidori's on all four hands to meld together, amplifying each other's potency and magnitude as lightning began to form and strike all over the location that made even Madara smirk in acknowledgment…

"Susanoo: Vajra (Tempestuous God of Valor: Vajra)!" Sasuke yelled as he dispersed the lightning jutsu he kneaded, creating a potent combination of lightning strikes and thunderstorms on a much grander scale than the Juubi's Tenpenchii. The powerful jutsu then completely vaporized all of Madara's incoming meteors on contact, turning them into nothing but dust.

Madara attempted to protect himself from the wide-area jutsu by enveloping himself with a circular dome created from his shapeshifted Gudou Dama. However, due to the jutsu having the power of the Six Paths, Madara's Gudou Dama barrier shattered in contact, making the elder Uchiha skid backwards, then dodged the additional lightning strikes being produced by the powerful jutsu.

As the storm of lightning subsided, Sasuke dispelled his Susanoo, then landed on the water surface of the ethereal plane. He was lightly panting, as the jutsu he just cast took a massive toll on his Chakra, aside from the fact that he was also already maintaining his Perfect Susanoo for quite some time.

He then drew his sword, then stood in a Kenjutsu stance while looking towards his predecessor who was still in his Ten-Tails Jinchuuriki form.

"And that's the reason why… I will defeat you right here, right now… no matter what… so that you won't corrupt my mind and body during the installation of this left arm…"

Madara looked directly towards Sasuke. His pair of Rinnegan stared at his younger successor in interest.

And in that instance, Madara disappeared from his current location, then reappeared behind Sasuke, with his shakujo aiming to attack the younger Uchiha from behind…

But as if already anticipating it, Sasuke blocked the incoming attack from behind with his lightning-clad sword, creating an immediate clashing impact that produced some massive wind gusts reaching a few hundred meters.

"And what made you think that I intend to corrupt and take over your body?" Madara asked with a small smirk on his face.

"…!" Sasuke reacted in a surprised expression… "…Then… why are you fighting me like this?!"

-Flashback End-

"…!" Yamanaka Ino, currently at Konoha Central Communications Unit performing as the comms medium of the entire Shinobi Alliance, felt a powerful, disturbing presence that suddenly appeared from Sakura's location. And since Sakura was currently with Naruto and Sasuke fighting Moryo and believing that those two must focus on fighting against the said powerful demon, Ino contacted Sakura in their behalf thru her Telepathic Communication Jutsu to verify what she just sensed.

"Sakura, what's this oppressing presence that suddenly appeared out of nowhere? What happened to Moryo's presence?" Ino spoke thru Sakura's mind.

"Ino…" Sakura muttered, her voice lightly shaking. "…you need to inform Kakashi-sensei and the other Kages… that Otsutsuki Kaguya has returned."

"…!" Ino can't help but feel surprised after hearing the statement from her close friend. "That… Otsutsuki Kaguya… the one who ate the Chakra Fruit from the God Tree… the Goddess of Chakra that Naruto and Sasuke-kun defeated and sealed during the end of the 4th Shinobi World War?!"

"Yes. You need to tell the Kages now! And tell them that no matter what happens, don't even attempt to come here, or even attempt to send reinforcements! Kaguya is on an entirely different level than Madara. Nothing will matter, regardless of what kind of reinforcements will be sent here. For now, just leave things to us!"

"Understood. But you will need to tell us everything that's happening real time, word per word!"

Ino complied, then immediately contacted Kakashi and the rest of the Kages telepathically to relay the dangerous information on hand.

"…" Kakashi narrowed his eyes due to the dangerous situation at hand. He's still in the Hokage Tower with Shikamaru and Sara, while the Raikage was situated on the Hidden Cloud to personally command the firing of the Chakra Diffusion Cannon against Moryo's Stone Army should the need arises. The Kazekage and Tsuchikage were commanding the advanced army by the Shinobi Alliance to slow down the advance of Moryo's Stone Army located at the borders of the Land of Demons, while the Mizukage was commanding the reinforcement army who's currently on their way as backup the advanced army's headquarters.

"Otsutsuki Kaguya… the one who used Uchiha Madara to revive the Ten-Tails, implant the Shinju, and imprisoned the entire world thru Infinite Tsukuyomi during the previous Shinobi World War…" Shikamaru muttered specifically for Sara to understand the level of threat that Naruto and Sasuke were currently facing. "How… how did something like locating and apprehending this Shin Uchiha lead to this worst-case scenario right under Naruto and Sasuke's noses?"

"That's not the point here…" Kakashi muttered to Shikamaru. "Naruto and Sasuke were not the kind of Shinobi who will let their guard down, considering the gravity of the current situation. We have already fought Kaguya before, and more than anyone, the two of them knew very well how powerful and dangerous she was for them not to do their best to stop her revival…"

"So what should we be asking is… what kind of situation… and what kind of beings… were capable of driving someone of Naruto and Sasuke's level to a corner with them not being able to stop Kaguya's revival?" Kakashi muttered in all seriousness, enough for the other Kages to hear.

"Being nearest to the Land of the Demons, we can say that Naruto and Sasuke were fighting with the best that they can against Moryo." Gaara replied thru the telepathic link that Ino had established. "The one thing that we can say right now, was that the very moment that the powerful, oppressive presence surfaced from where Naruto and Sasuke were currently fighting, the entire Stone Army that we were fighting against also stopped moving, then suddenly turned into dust…"

"Then, it should be safe to say that Moryo has already been defeated by those two since the Stone Army is part of his power." The Mizukage replied. "But how did Otsutsuki Kaguya able to resurrect herself? According to your intel, Black Zetsu, who instigated her revival before, was also sealed together with Kaguya in one of her dimensions, right?"

"The best-case scenario is that she had an additional back-up plan if ever Black Zetsu failed to revive her," Oonoki said while glaring towards the location where they just sensed the oppressive presence.

"Best case scenario…? Why was that considered the best-case scenario despite creating the worst possible outcome?!" Raikage asked in anger due to the sudden dangerous predicament they were currently in.

"…because at worst case scenario… is that there might be other beings operating right under our noses whose sole purpose was to revive and use Kaguya for whatever reason they might have. And if that really was the case… those beings… knew a lot about many important things that we barely knew of… since they can pull out something grand as reviving a being like the Goddess of Chakra herself…" Oonoki gritted his teeth in frustration.

"…Since those beings... has very vital information regarding these powerful beings... known as the Otsutsukis…"

The Kages narrowed their heads in frustration and wary. If such beings… or such organization was currently existing that even bypassed the combined intelligence capabilities of the entire Shinobi Alliance, then…

-Scene Change-

Unknown location...

"So this… is Otsutsuki Kaguya…" Delta muttered while watching the turn of events with a rather unimpressed reaction as if she already expected the current development.

"Not only that you were able to come up with a such complex plan to revive Kaguya, you were also able to execute that plan properly despite Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke being around… that's I have no words but worship for you…" Boro said as he stood a few meters away from Delta… he then looked towards a certain direction, before muttering...

"…Jigen-sama…"

"…"

A man sitting on a seemingly 'throne' looked intently towards the projected screen that was displaying the events up to Kaguya's emergence. This mysterious individual seemed like a fairly tall man with shaved head aside from the long, mohawk black hair tied in long ponytail down on his back.

The said man then stood and walked closer to the projected screen. He's wearing a long, flowing white robe with vertical black markings on the hem of its sleeves and robe. And the most distinct part of his appearance was the same diamond-shaped marking on his chin similar to the marking that Shin/Moryo acquired after absorbing and melding with the Shinju's stump.

"Finally…" The man, now known as Jigen, said with a confident smirk. "An awakened Rinnegan, all the Bijuus Chakra compensated by the Shinju's stump that contained fragments of Chakra from those beasts, and a monster with Chakra levels rivaling that of the Juubis to compensate the same amount of missing Chakra, were all the requirements needed to revive Kaguya…"

"But, with Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke around, even with all those requirements, her revival is doomed to fail because they will definitely attempt to stop it. As such, preparing a vessel capable of housing and accepting Kaguya's Kāma took a while. However, Shin fit that bill due to his unique physical characteristics of accepting anything transplanted on his body without any chance of rejection."

"With the influence of Kaguya's own Kāma that I personally implanted on the Shinju's stump that I cultivated similar to what I did to Black Zetsu before, together with the influence of the Shinju that Moryo absorbed, Shin's body evolved much faster to become a proper vessel. That's why the Rinnegan was able to manifest from their Mangekyou Sharingan easily, unlike the time on how and when Uchiha Madara awakened those eyes. And with the Priestess destroying Moryo's essence, all that's left was to make the massive Chakra that Moryo had left behind be absorbed by the Gedou Mazou…"

"And now that Kaguya has been revived, you can now use her again to do what was intended to be done on this planet a millennia ago…" Delta said to Jigen.

"That's right. She caught me off guard and betrayed me back then… but that doesn't mean… that I'll just let her get away from it that easily…" Jigen said as he opened a portal in front of him while glaring towards Kaguya thru the projected screen. "I'll just need to prepare myself before welcoming her back. And with both descendants of Hagoromo with her, I'll need the two of you to be on standby… since Kaguya will definitely not come with me peacefully."

"Yes, Jigen-sama."

"As you wish, Jigen-sama."

Delta and Boro replied as they kneeled on their right knee in front of Jigen before he entered his space-time portal.

-Scene Change-

"…"

"…"

Naruto and Sasuke have visible beads of sweat running down their faces as they once again stood face to face against the Goddess of Chakra herself.

"How come… things ended up like this…?" Naruto gritted his teeth while still in his Ashura Chakra Mode together with Shion within his Chakra Modes' gigantic avatar, the Six Paths: Kunitsukami.

"And here I thought that we're doing everything that we can to defeat Moryo… yet from how I can see it, Moryo's defeat became a mere catalyst for Kaguya's revival?!" Sasuke said as beads of sweat rolled down from his forehead to his chin. He's still within his Indra Susanoo together with Sakura with activated Byakugou.

Otsutsuki Kaguya, on the other hand, looked around, then looked at the palm of both her hands, opening and closing it, as if determining her current state by herself…

She can clearly remember the events from her previous revival… from how Black Zetsu used Uchiha Madara's body to become her own vessel after the completion of Infinite Tsukuyomi, up to the point of her being sealed again by her own son, Otsutsuki Hagoromo, using Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke as his instruments to perform the Six Paths: Chibaku Tensei seal…

'I see… I've been revived again.' Kaguya muttered within herself. 'But this revival… feels different than before…'

She then seriously looked towards the two gigantic chakra avatars levitating a good distance away from her. And that glare from the Chakra Goddess was enough for both Naruto and Sasuke to feel powerful, oppressive pressure from her, that they nearly lost concentration on maintaining the form of their respective Chakra Avatars.

"This… presence… is far beyond that of Moryo's…" Shion muttered as she lost her consciousness before she could even finish her statement due to Kaguya's oppressive intimidation, opting Naruto to immediately create a Kage Bunshin to catch the now unconscious Priestess.

The oppressive pressure from Kaguya was also more than enough for Sakura to nearly pass out, but she forced herself to bite her lips, making blood trickle down from her mouth, to stop herself from losing consciousness.

"Ashura's successor… Uzumaki Naruto, Indra's descendant… Uchiha Sasuke…" Kaguya muttered while continuously emitting such otherworldly overwhelming pressure. "You stand before me yet again…"

"…"

"…"

"Since the two of you have sealed Black Zetsu together with me last time… my revival should have been impossible…" Kaguya continued. "So, tell me… were you the ones responsible for my revival this time?"

"Why would we revive someone like you?!" Naruto replied. "Someone who intended to enslave the entire world under Infinite Tsukuyomi… use everyone as a mere power source of the Shinju to create a Chakra Fruit for you to consume… there's no way we'll revive someone like you!"

"…" Kaguya narrowed her eyes, as if finally understanding the current situation. "I see… so that's the current situation…"

"…!" Sasuke, upon hearing Naruto's words and Kaguya's response… finally realized something and somewhat connected the dots together.

"So your revival, this time… is not part of any of your grand scheme similar to the plan you entrusted to Black Zetsu…?!" Sasuke immediately asked.

"I have no reason to answer your question," Otsutsuki Kaguya then released massive amounts of Chakra, creating powerful gusts of wind that would put a powerful storm in shame. "There is only one other person who can revive me other than Black Zetsu… And if that person was responsible for my current revival… then…"

"…another person…"

"…who can revive Kaguya other than Black Zetsu?!"

Naruto and Sasuke further braced themselves. Naruto then immediately instructed the Kage Bushin who was carrying Shion to take the unconscious Priestess to Konoha. The Bunshin complied, immediately disappearing thru Hiraishin.

"No need to send me away." Sakura said as she looked towards Naruto, as if already knowing that Naruto will also attempt to send her back to Konoha thru Kage Bunshin and Hiraishin. "The three of us fought together against her before, so I know that I can contribute on this fight against her."

Naruto then looked towards Sasuke, with the Uchiha simply replied with a nod.

"The situation is grim, but we need a medical ninja with us on this battle." Sasuke said to Naruto. "Aside from the fact that her Byakugou can act as an external Chakra aid that we can use to perform my space-time jutsus just in case Kaguya began spamming those dimension jutsus against us like she did before. So, I'll take care of Sakura."

"Fine." Naruto then further pumped more chakra on his Ashura Chakra Mode and his Kunitsukami Chakra Avatar.

"…if that person… was the one who revived me this time… then this world… my very own beloved nursery… will have no hopes to survive…" Kaguya muttered with a dangerous glare. "And I won't allow that to happen… because all Chakra… solely belongs to me…!"

Kaguya then kneaded Chakra on her right palm, directed towards both Naruto and Sasuke. Naruto, on the other hand, immediately clapped both his hands in front of his face. One of the three pairs of his Kunitsukami Chakra avatar also did the same clapping position. Naruto then began kneading Chakra into his Chakra Avatar...

"YASOGAMI KUGEKI (Eighty Gods Vacuum Attack)!" A rain of massive ethereal fists created from pure potent chakra charged towards Naruto and Sasuke.

"RIKUDO KUNITSUKAMI: SHIN SUSENSJU (Six Paths Kunitsukami: True Several Thousand Hands)!"

Naruto then performed his own variation yet a much more powerful variant of one of Senju Hashirama's strongest attacks, projecting a circular frame consisting of thousands of Chakra Arms created entirely from pure potent Chakra equipped on the back of his Kunitsukami Chakra Avatar, then fired all the thousands and thousands of Chakra Arms towards Kaguya's incoming attack…

"SHIN SUSENJU: CHOJOU KEBUTSU (True Several Thousand Hands: Summit Enlightenment)!"

The multitude of Chakra Arms from Kaguya and Naruto's attack clashed mid-air, creating multiple destructive vibrations in succession, shaking the entire country where the battle was currently taking place.

"WWHHHOOOAAAA…!" Naruto continued the exchange, not allowing himself to be overpowered by Kaguya.

"I won't allow you… to damage my nursery… my planet… anymore!" Kaguya further added additional Chakra to her attacks, trying to dominate Naruto's own barrage.

"Then… why don't you… send us to one of your worlds like you did so before!" Sasuke then reappeared behind Kaguya, still on his Indra Susanoo, aiming to strike the Chakra Goddess with a projected lightning-clad sword equipped on one of its left limbs.

"…!" Kaguya then created a Yasogami Kugeki-based Chakra arm on her left arm to block Sasuke's attack without stopping her exchange with Naruto. Sasuke then maneuvered his Indra Susanoo to perform another strike using another projected lightning-clad sword from the right arm of his Susanoo.

However, Kaguya simply created a shield using her very own long, white hair, by strengthening it with her potent chakra, blocking the other attack, then raised her left palm towards Sasuke's direction.

"…!" Sasuke then immediately distanced himself and his Indra Susanoo from Kaguya after sensing the danger, as the Chakra Goddess began firing her one-hit kill attack…

"TOMOGOROSHI NO HAIKOTSU (All-Killing Ash Bones)!" Kaguya then began firing the protruded bones in rapid succession.

Sasuke piloted the Indra Susanoo to fly in random trajectories to dodge the rapid-fire barrage of All-Killing Ash Bones attack from Kaguya. He knew the capability of the attack, so he cannot allow himself, even his Susanoo, to get hit by such dangerous jutsu.

"…!" Naruto, after he saw the massive damage on the landscape as he continued his exchange of attacks against Kaguya, stopped himself from attacking, making his chakra avatar get hit by the Yasogami Kugeki, pinning him to the ground while continuously being bombarded by the ethereal Chakra fists before stopping after a few seconds.

The female Otsutsuki, after stopping her Yasogami Kugeki against Naruto, pointed her right palm towards the area where Naruto landed, then began firing a barrage of Tomogoroshi no Haikotsu towards it. The blonde Shinobi immediately recollected himself, then returned fire with an Oodama Rasenshuriken, detonating it mid-air to deflect the barrage of one-shot-kill jutsu aimed towards him.

Sasuke was able to maneuver his Indra Susanoo to Kaguya's back despite him continuously dodging the All-Killing Ash Bones, then aimed to slash the Chakra Goddess again from behind.

But as a Byakugan user with almost no visual blind spots, Kaguya simply protruded huge amounts of her bones from her back, blocking Sasuke's slash without budging an inch. And with the same bones that blocked Sasuke's slash, Kaguya fired those bones at point blank towards Sasuke and his Susanoo.

With no means for immediate maneuver, Sasuke used Amenotejikara to swap places with Kaguya, making Kaguya being targeted by her own All-Killing Ash Bones.

However, Kaguya simply used the Yomotsu Hirasaka (Underworld Slope Hill) to create a spatial rift that blocked the All-Killing Ash Bones, with another of the same space-time jutsu appearing near Sasuke, releasing the blocked Ash Bones again directly towards him.

"SHINRA TENSEI (Almighty Push)!" Sasuke, with Amenotejikara's cooldown, ended up repelling the Ash Bones with Deva Path's ability.

But that small window allowed Kaguya to land a Yasogami Kugeki attack into Sasuke, also sending him, together with his Indra Susanoo, violently down to the ground.

"As always… too strong…" Sakura muttered, her face intimidated, as she was able to watch the battle in the front seat since she was also waiting for an opening that she can take advantage of to help her teammates against the powerful female Otsutsuki, but to no avail.

Kaguya Otsutsuki then began descending in good distance away from Naruto and Sasuke.

"She's still as powerful as before…" Sasuke said as his Indra Susanoo stood from the ground.

"But there's one thing that's nagging me…" Naruto said as his Kunitsukami Chakra Avatar also stood. "She's been firing her Tomogoroshi no Haikotsu at every moment possible. With that, we can summarize that she intends to defeat us as soon as possible."

"…" Sasuke simply listened to Naruto, opting for his rival to continue.

"But if she really does intend to defeat us as soon as possible, then why doesn't she just use her dimension-shifting thing, the Amenominaka, to summon us together with herself to one of her dimensions, and corner us from there? Why is she taking such a dangerous, seemingly desperate approach of fighting us here if she had a much better chance of taking us out in one of her dimensions?"

"Now that you've said it…" Sakura understood what Naruto was pointing out.

"Just a hunch, but it's not like she doesn't want to… but she can't just do so randomly," Sasuke said while glaring towards Kaguya. "Because… performing the Amenominaka consumes huge amounts of Chakra."

"…" Kaguya once again narrowed her eyes towards Naruto and Sasuke. It seemed like after a few exchanges of attacks, despite her intending to end the battle as soon as possible, those two descendants of Hagoromo already saw the weakness that she had in this current incarnation of hers.

"... and right now, without the Infinite Tsukuyomi and Shinju around that made her seem to have nigh-infinite Chakra back then, she had finite amounts of Chakra that she can use against us right now. And performing Amenominaka would deplete huge amounts of her current chakra reserves immediately." Sasuke continued his analysis.

"While her current Chakra reserves right now still outmatched our current level, she can't just use some big space-time jutsus, unless she doesn't have any other choice, is that correct?" Sakura summarized.

"Right… unless she doesn't have any other choice… or…"

"She's reserving her full power so she can be able to fight against that person who did all these just to revive her…"

Naruto and Sasuke had the same line of thought.

"Uzumaki Naruto… Uchiha Sasuke… you two… don't understand what's really going on…" Kaguya said as she once again released potent amounts of Chakra, preparing for another round of attack. "All the Chakra of this world is mine… and it should only belong to me… because if it wasn't… it will only end up being consumed by him…"

"By him… you mean that person responsible for your current incarnation…" Sasuke intuitively asked Kaguya.

"…" Kaguya didn't reply.

"Either way… This world doesn't need you. This world doesn't belong to any of you…" Naruto said with a glare. "This world… our history… our future… belongs to us… and you don't have any right to treat us as mere source of your power!"

"…" Kaguya once again didn't reply.

"Naruto," Sasuke said, as if finally realizing something, "If Kaguya doesn't have the Infinite Tsukuyomi and the Shinju at her disposal, then… that simply means…"

"She's also not immortal." Naruto replied.

"So we can just defeat her and kill her right here, right now…" Sasuke returned his attention towards Kaguya.

"But how can you possibly do that? Even right now, you're having trouble against her!" Sakura yelled at her two teammates. "You cannot use Ninjutsu and Genjutsu against her. And only physical attacks like Taijutsu have the hopes of damaging her!"

"After suggesting something like that... it seemed to me like you already have your own means to defeat an Otsutsuki, huh… Sasuke…" Naruto said with a small smirk.

"And with that expression, it seemed like you also have one of that, too," Sasuke said with a smirk.

"You two… what are you…?" Sakura said with confused face.

"Then, all we have to do is to find out which of those means that the two of us have will be more effective against an Otsutsuki…"

"So… we'll be having a match here again?"

"Hnn…"

Sasuke then closed his eyes. Then, he dispelled his Indra Susanoo, shattering huge amounts of his potent, dark purple-colored Chakra that created the said Chakra construct… however, the potent amounts of shattered chakra didn't disperse, as those chakras merely compressed themselves, infusing itself into Sasuke's sword equipped on his left hand.

The Chakra from Indra's Susanoo continued to be compressed and condensed within Sasuke's sword, until the sword was clad with very heavy, potent, dark-purple-colored lightning Chakra, with the remnants of Indra Susanoo's armor now acting like a purple-colored shoulder and arm guard despite not being directly attached to his left arm.

"Sasuke-kun…" Sakura muttered as she landed on the ground with Sasuke simultaneously. "You compressed… the entirety of your Susanoo's power… into your sword…?!"

"RIKUDO SUSANOO: ASSHUKU (Six Paths Susanoo: Compression)," Sasuke muttered calmly as the sword of his left arm was now brimming with power.

Naruto, on the other hand, also dispelled his Six Paths Kunitsukami, but not his Ashura Chakra Mode. And while still in descending mid-air, he closed his eyes, then absorbed natural energy. And in a second, red pigmentation surrounded both his eyes. As he landed on the ground, he slowly opened his eyes, displaying the toad-eyes that implied him entering Toad Sage Mode.

However, a fox-slit also formed into his pair of irises, overlapping with the aforementioned toad-eyes. The whisker marks on his cheeks also became thicker and more feral. And most notably, the blue, flickering, flame-like Chakra being produced by the Ashura Chakra Mode gained a new layer of reddish Chakra…

"Bijuu's power… on top of Sage Mode… while still on this Ashura Chakra Mode thing…" Sakura had her mouth hanging…

Kaguya, after she saw the transformation of the two successors of Hagoromo, gritted her teeth.

"Just like Hagoromo… you intend to defy me till the very end… yet you two… were just mere fragments of my power…"

"We might be just a mere fragment of your power… but that doesn't mean we don't have what it takes to beat you down," Naruto said as he prepared his fighting stance.

"This entire time after we have fought you, we have trained and prepared ourselves in case someone like you appear on this world and do something like this again…" Sasuke said as he pointed out his sword equipped with condensed Indra Susanoo Chakra.

"That's why… Otsutsuki Kaguya, this time, we'll show you what we Shinobi truly were capable of!" Naruto muttered as the two of them prepared their fighting stance, preparing to engage in battle against the Mother of Chakra.

-Scene Change-

Unknown space-time dimension...

On the other side of the portal, Jigen then stood in a peculiar place… a place that only those with the power of the Otsutsukis should be able to have access to…

And within a dark, massive confinement room that could house a huge mountain or two, a massive beast that dwarfed even the Tailed Beasts roared towards the newly arrived Jigen. The beast has the familiar singular red-eye similar to that of Kaguya's forehead known as the Rinne Sharingan, and has its gigantic tails pinned with multiple huge black chakra receivers, keeping them in place and making the beast immobile.

"Hey there, my very own Juubi," Jigen casually greeted the titanic, immobilized creature. "I hope you're being a good boy in here…"

"GGRRROOOAAAHHHH!" the massive beast, now known as the Ten-Tails, roared again in hostility towards Jigen. The roar from the beast alone shook the entire location, with vibrations reaching multiple kilometers away.

The Juubi tried to move and attack Jigen yet couldn't due to the huge black receivers implanted and pinning its entire body.

Jigen then stretched his arm forward, then began absorbing huge amounts of Juubi's Chakra into himself.

"Kaguya has been finally revived… so now, I finally have a proper Otsutsuki for you to consume, just as it was always intended to… for you to become a proper Shinju…" Jigen said to the beast, however, knowing that the beast won't understand him, he was just merely talking to himself. "However, we will be dealing with Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto as well… so I need as much power as I can use…"

After a few more minutes, the Juubi felt weakened due to the Chakra absorption, then its face fell hard to the ground, then lost consciousness.

"I'll need to get Kaguya as soon as possible… before those other Otsutsukis, specifically Momoshiki and Kinshiki, came to notice of that world… the Shinobi World's potential… the very same potential why Kaguya deliberately chose to betray me…"

Author's Note:

Thanks for reading the latest Chapter!

By the way, Sasuke's Rikudo Susanoo: Asshuku is inspired from Yoh Asakura and Amidamaru's Over Soul V2. Keep that in mind when imagining it. Thanks!

Please leave a review for additional motivation. Thanks!