Beauty and power...
Most of the time, they are not mutually exclusive.
In fact, things of immense power often appear incredibly beautiful.
As Shigen's Armored Ten Tails Susanoo stood over the world, the overwhelming chakra it radiated symbolized the pinnacle of strength across the land.
In comparison...
The grotesque, towering humanoid rabbit form of Ōtsutsuki Kaguya, despite its similar size post-ten-tail transformation, looked ragged and outclassed by Shigen's majestic white tiger.
Even the aura alone showed who was dominant.
But...
Kaguya wasn't out of options yet.
She immediately began absorbing the chakra of shinobi from the outside world, pulling it into herself. Behind the monstrous rabbit, a black Truth-Seeking Orb began to form—growing steadily and ominously.
This orb…
In the real world, it would be enough to obliterate everything.
A display of power.
But intimidation...
Can only be matched by equal intimidation.
Behind Shigen's Armored Ten Tails, another massive Truth-Seeking Orb formed—like a black sun blotting out the sky, hovering behind the Susanoo-clad white tiger.
"..."
Black Zetsu trembled.
If either of these orbs were unleashed...
The entire dimension would be annihilated.
There was no surviving a clash of such magnitude.
And yet neither Shigen nor Kaguya moved to detonate them.
Instead, the two titanic beings lunged at one another and began to brawl!
"ROAR!!"
The blue-chakra-enveloped tiger lunged, jaws snapping toward the rabbit's head!
"GRAAAH!"
Kaguya's rabbit form thrashed, clawing desperately at the tiger's face—wild-eyed, like a beast driven to the edge!
A colossal crimson Tailed Beast Bomb ignited in the tiger's jaws—
It slammed into the rabbit, blasting a crater into its torso!
But…
The wound wasn't enough to stop it.
The rabbit regenerated quickly and lunged again!
In that moment—
The two greatest powers on Earth…
Resorted to pure primal savagery!
And this primal violence…
Was beyond any outsider's interference.
In fact...
Very few even witnessed this epoch-defining battle.
A clash that would decide the fate of the shinobi world, the heir to rule the future—
Only Naruto and Sasuke had front-row seats.
Wait—
Not just them.
Two more arrived.
Obito Uchiha seized the moment when Kaguya's space-time transfer was disrupted by Shigen's interference. With Kamui, he brought Kakashi into the battlefield.
And the moment they arrived—
They were speechless.
"What… are we supposed to do?"
Kakashi could only whisper.
"What… can we do?"
Even Obito, always composed, was visibly shaken as he watched the giants collide—
Every blow they exchanged caused shockwaves strong enough to nearly knock them down.
This level of combat…
Even Susanoo couldn't survive in it.
But despite their awe, everyone present knew one thing:
That towering white tiger clad in Susanoo armor—
Would be the final victor.
"ROOAR!"
A massive katana appeared in the tiger's paw-like hand—
It gripped it with terrifying human precision and cleaved down, severing the rabbit and the grotesque flesh orb on its back in one swing!
That swing—
Severed Kaguya's connection to all the tailed beasts.
Their chakra was stripped from her body, and the Ten-Tails transformation collapsed.
She fell—
Back to human form.
The orb splashed to the ground—
And from it emerged the nine tailed beasts, now free.
But the moment they stood up, they all shrank back in instinctive fear.
Each beast stared up, trembling, at the towering white tiger.
"What is that thing..."
"It has the chakra of another Ten Tails..."
They knew—
This wasn't an enemy they could challenge.
Elsewhere, all the chakra Kaguya had absorbed dispersed.
Uchiha Madara, lying flat on the ground, looked up, completely lost.
"No—!"
Obito suddenly panicked—
He noticed Kaguya's colossal Truth-Seeking Orb falling from above.
With her reverted to human form and severed from the tailed beasts, she could no longer control it.
That orb—
Could erase the entire dimension.
But the armored white tiger calmly raised a paw and opened a massive space-time portal.
As the orb fell—
It was banished to another dimension.
Next moment—
The tiger swung its enormous blade again, cleaving Kaguya from the sky.
She couldn't dodge.
Couldn't resist.
The legendary Rabbit Goddess plummeted to the ground, blood spraying from her mouth.
She had…
No fight left in her.
Once victory was assured, the massive tiger began to shrink—
Slowly reverting back into the unassuming form of Shigen.
"You lost."
Shigen approached calmly, step by step, his hand slowly closing as his eyes remained as indifferent as ever.
"..."
Kaguya's face twisted in terror.
"Shigen…"
"Mother had her reasons..."
"The danger to this world hasn't ended!"
Black Zetsu suddenly crawled out of her sleeve, frantically trying to plead on her behalf.
"You don't understand the enemies Mother had to prepare for. Only by raising armies could she feel safe—"
"Shigen, Shigen—!"
It begged desperately:
"We shouldn't be fighting—we should be working together against the Ōtsutsuki beyond this world!"
"Losers…"
"Since when do they get to suggest alliances?"
Shigen's eyes glinted with chilling finality:
"And who ever said you were worthy to be my ally?"
"..."
Black Zetsu froze.
"Enough."
"Let's finish this."
"I have more important things to do than entertain the defeated."
Shigen placed his hand on Black Zetsu's head, draining its memories.
Its body crumbled into dust—
The schemer who had manipulated the shinobi world for a thousand years…
Was no more.
"..."
Everyone watched in stunned silence.
Because this…
Was when the victor decides the fate of the world.
Black Zetsu's fate was death—
What of their own?
But Shigen didn't care for their unease.
His body vanished through Yomotsu Hirasaka—
Reappearing beside Uchiha Madara.
He began inspecting Madara's condition.
"..."
Madara looked up at him, bewildered.
Why was he—
Concerned with him?