Chapter 177

Black Zetsu's thinking was far more thorough. Even if the worst-case scenario played out and they couldn't acquire the Sage of Six Paths' younger brother's power, they could still make sure to claim all the assets of the moon's branch Hyuga clan under Toneri—like the massive Tenseigan.

That alone made it worth it.

But…

It also showed that Madara still wasn't as meticulous as Black Zetsu.

Uchiha Madara acknowledged Black Zetsu's foresight, and instead of staying behind to rest and recover, he immediately used Reverse Summoning.

"Reverse Summoning Technique!"

Madara's figure instantly vanished from the moon. Thanks to possessing the Rinnegan, which was directly connected to the Gedo Statue (Ten Tails), he could reverse summon himself to the location of the Ten Tails—near Cloud Village.

······

Meanwhile—

Beneath the moon, on Earth—

"You've gotta be kidding me!"

The moment Uchiha Madara sliced the moon apart, ordinary ninjas and civilians across the world saw the scene—

Or rather—witnessed it directly.

Because—

As night fell, the moon suddenly… split in two.

In the black sky, instead of one light source—there were now two halves of the moon!

This… who had ever seen such a thing?

No one.

"The moon… it actually split—!"

Even Senju Tobirama was completely stunned.

He instinctively reached for his communicator.

But only then did he realize the group chat had stopped for the day. So all he could do was stare in shock at the sky.

He was a man who trusted research, who placed his faith in science and discovery.

But…

From the appearance of Ōtsutsuki Toneri to now—the splitting of the moon—Tobirama realized...

There were far too many things he had never seen before.

Sorry.

This was definitely one of them. He now truly understood how little he knew about this bizarre world.

"Could it be… Uchiha Madara…"

"That bastard…"

"WHAT THE HELL IS HE DOING?!" Tobirama roared.

"..."

"..." Kitahara Kaede.

He looked down at the little ninja bunny in his arms.

The bunny's eyes were also wide with shock—followed by confusion.

It lowered its head and stared at its own paws, as if… confirming its own existence.

So it was true.

Kitahara Kaede now confirmed his suspicion: the moon was empty.

Which meant… Ōtsutsuki Kaguya had long since escaped the seal placed by her two unfilial sons—

—and had transformed into his little white bunny?

That meant—

She must have broken free around three years ago, when he first found the bunny.

And because she escaped the seal, she lost all her power, eventually becoming a silent, powerless white rabbit?

······

Meanwhile—

At Mount Myōboku.

And in Konoha.

"..." Ōnoki.

"Tsuchikage-sama—!"

Although the Chūnin Exams were over, Ōnoki remained in Konoha. Or rather, he intentionally chose to stay—

Effectively making himself a voluntary hostage.

A cowardly move, perhaps.

But both he and his former master Mu agreed: it was a wise and meaningful decision.

Because—

This era was different. Even more so than during the First Hokage's time.

For the other ninja villages, this was the most difficult era ever.

Konoha—this once-collapsing tower—had not only been raised back up but was still rising higher.

And now…

Ōnoki looked up toward the sky.

The moon… had been cut into two halves.

…Crap.

Was this really something humans could do? This was the realm of gods!

When they were in the group chat, Toneri hadn't even made a splash. He was swiftly defeated by Kitahara Kaede.

But now…

The moon had been cleaved in half.

Clearly—regardless of whether it was Kitahara Kaede's power or Uchiha Madara's power—both were completely unreachable to him.

Dust Release? Dust his ass.

Might as well take a break.

······

Meanwhile, in Sound Village—

Future Mizukage - Mei Terumi was preparing to evacuate.

"Mizukage-sama—!"

Chōjūrō ran over, panting heavily.

"The moon in the night sky—after its last approach—it's now split in half!" he reported nervously.

"Oh." Mei Terumi responded calmly with just that one word.

"…Mizukage-sama, aren't you surprised?"

On the side, Haku, the Ice Release genius who had joined Kirigakure and was now following Mei Terumi, looked stunned.

"Of course I am," Mei replied. "But we now live in a time that's completely different from before."

"An era like this… produces geniuses."

"And powerhouses."

"And since our Hidden Mist Village isn't producing geniuses or powerhouses…"

"…then we should simply accept the reality, shouldn't we?"

"So, no need to panic."

"This isn't a big deal."

"What's more important to our village right now is—emptying out all of Orochimaru's assets here!" Mei Terumi said firmly.

Unlike Ōnoki's pessimism, Mei Terumi remained calm and collected.

After all—if the sky falls, let the tall ones hold it up.

What she needed to do, or rather could do, was focus on her own job.

Besides—

She'd already latched onto Kitahara Kaede's leg. If he wanted to destroy the Hidden Mist Village, he'd have done it directly.

So as long as he didn't—the village's survival lay in continuing to follow his lead.

And if things escalated beyond what Kitahara Kaede could control—

Then the ninja world would be destroyed anyway, and there'd be no point in worrying.

······

Far away—

Sand Village.

"Temari…"

"There's another strange phenomenon in the night sky—" Kankurō reported while tuning his puppets on a rooftop.

They were said to be Scorpion's childhood toys—the ones made by Lady Chiyo.

"..." Kankurō.

Even if they were just "toys," the puppets left behind by Scorpion were exceptionally powerful.

But he himself… still couldn't modify or craft puppets on his own just yet.

Sigh.

Now that Lady Chiyo was gone, the village no longer had any master puppeteers to guide him.

Kankurō felt that if he didn't keep reviewing and refining what he'd learned, he'd eventually fade into irrelevance.

Gaara was strong, but people used to say it was only because he was a Jinchūriki.

But—

Even after the One-Tail was taken away, Gaara's strength remained formidable.

Now, his sister Temari had become the Fifth Kazekage.

And he—Kankurō—was just… nobody.

The pressure weighed on him, so when he noticed the split moon, he rushed to find Temari.

"Go to sleep," Temari said bluntly. "Don't overthink all that nonsense."

"If Konoha doesn't issue any emergency instructions, we'll just live our lives as usual," Temari said.

"To be honest, our Sand Village doesn't have nearly as many strong predecessors compared to Konoha." She sighed.

"…Ah—" Kankurō paused.

Even Temari didn't care about the changes in the sky?

Near the window, a female ninja glanced at the night sky, staring at the split moon.

To her, being revived through Edo Tensei was already shocking—but now, the moon splitting open?

Her whole worldview was falling apart.

And yet, Temari still thought none of this mattered?

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