(T/N: There is now a p.atreon for this work, and any new work I add will be dropped there first. check it out for an early release of up to 30 chapters edited smoothly. https://www.p.atreon.com/INeedRest)
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Colt never imagined his first conversation with Ōtsutsuki Kaguya to start like this.
The other party actually mistook him for someone else? She even identified him as the old Sage of Six Paths!
This was simply an insult!
After all, wasn't he still young and handsome? How did he look to her like an old man?
"No wonder, I have long felt that your kind of existence should not appear in the ninja world today. Could you be the reincarnation of Hagoromo's Chakra?"
Black Zetsu said with a bit of sudden realization:
"If that's the case, then it's no wonder you possess the Rinnegan and can use the Wood Style."
Speaking of this, Black Zetsu's voice immediately became angrier:
"Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo! You're still standing against your own mother"
"…" Colt was speechless.
Black Zetsu's imagination was too vivid.
Or maybe he had been making up stories for thousands of years, that he could now create one and believe it himself.
"I'm not the Sage of Six Paths, or Hagoromo, as you call him."
Colt reluctantly spoke, pointing at Naruto and Sasuke behind Ōtsutsuki Kaguya.
"On the contrary, the two of them are the reincarnations of Hagoromo's descendants. Isn't it a bit exaggerated to mistake me for the wrong and OLD person?"
Black Zetsu laughed mockingly:
"You still claim you're not Hagoromo, yet you can recognize them as the reincarnations of Indra and Asura. Only I, who has lived for thousands of years, could know that... it could only be you Hagoromo, their father."
Naruto, listening to their conversation, shouted incredulously, "Father?"
Sasuke's eyes were filled with complicated emotions.
What the hell was this? What was going on?
A vein popped over Colt's head.
Do you have to make it so dramatic?
He said, a little irritated:
"I already told you, I'm not the Sage of Six Paths!"
By now, Colt probably understood why Ōtsutsuki Kaguya was so sure.
The original two brothers, Hagoromo, inherited the powers of the Divine Tree, while his younger brother Hamura belonged to the Ōtsutsuki bloodline.
Today's Colt was more similar to Hagoromo than Hamura, and his Chakra was highly similar to the old sage.
No wonder Ōtsutsuki Kaguya was so convinced.
"Okay..." Kaguya nodded slowly, and the traces of her tears disappeared.
But in the next second, she suddenly lashed out!
Her long white hair grew wildly and became as sharp as steel, aiming to pierce Colt's entire body.
This move caught Colt off guard.
They were just talking, so why did it suddenly escalate?
That's not playing fair!
The Truth-Seeking Ball behind him expanded, enveloping his entire body and blocking Kaguya's attack.
Colt took advantage of the opening and delivered a powerful punch.
Kaguya quickly raised her arm to block, but she was still hit hard and sent flying a long distance.
Thus ended the first round of their confrontation.
"Hagoromo, I won't fall for your tricks again this time..."
Floating in the air, Kaguya still firmly believed that Colt was Hagoromo, and her words carried a hint of sadness.
It seemed that thousands of years ago, Hagoromo and Hamura's victory had been far from honorable.
"Mother, be careful of Indra and Ashura. Both of them possess the technique that could seal you."
Black Zetsu, acting as her strategist, began to guide Kaguya in combat.
And Kaguya, showing her trust in him, gently nodded.
Without warning, a black spatial crack appeared beside Sasuke.
[Yomotsu Hirasaka]
This is the ultimate space-time ninjutsu, a form of bloodline limit. Its speed is unmatched, even by the Flying Thunder God technique.
The next second, Kaguya's arm appeared beside Sasuke and pressed down on his shoulder.
Then Sasuke vanished.
"Sasuke!" Naruto shouted, forming a spiraling shuriken in his hand.
"Don't worry brat, your turn is coming too. Mother, banish this one to your space as well."
"But don't place the two of them in the same world."
Black Zetsu patiently guided his mother, who was woefully inexperienced in combat.
Hagoromo and Hamura's victory thousands of years ago had, after all, been due in part to Kaguya's lack of combat skill.
Now, with Black Zetsu's guidance, there would be no repeat of past mistakes!
Kaguya used her elusive spatial powers to send Naruto to one of her personal dimensions.
In this world, only two 'living' beings remained: Colt and Kaguya.
After securing Naruto and Sasuke, Kaguya turned her attention to Colt.
Her white eyes opened wide, and a fierce energy erupted around her.
The terrifying pressure swept towards Colt, making the very earth and sky tremble.
Just standing there, Colt felt as if the world itself was his enemy.
But... what was the world?
The purple glow of his Nine Tomoe Rinnegan flashed, and the overwhelming pressure vanished in an instant.
A storm brewed in the distance, the seas rising into terrifying waves. Overhead, dark clouds gathered, and arcs of lightning crackled ominously.
"Hagoromo, you will lose this time."
Kaguya spread her arms wide as her long white hair danced wildly behind her, sending out countless sharp needles.
With the Byakugan's incredible insight, she aimed precisely at every vital point on Colt's body.
If any of them struck, they would instantly immobilize him.
Colt's expression remained unchanged.
He extended his palm and flicked his wrist.
A sharp wind blade formed in front of him and shot forward without hesitation.
The seemingly indestructible hair needles were instantly shattered, but the wind-blade didn't stop. It continued its trajectory toward Kaguya like a roaring dragon.
"Such an attack won't work."
Kaguya calmly extended her palm, allowing the wind blade to approach.
But as soon as it neared her hand, the sharp wind dissolved into a gentle breeze, merely ruffling her robe.
"It really is pointless."
Colt nodded in agreement.
Though he had released the jutsu casually, it contained the power of the Six Paths. Normally, it would devastate any opponent beneath that level.
But Kaguya's mastery of Chakra nullified its effects entirely.
"If that's the case... then let's get serious."
Black lightning crackled in Colt's palms as the dense power of the Sage Arts caught Kaguya's attention.
"Hagoromo, your Sage Arts have become so powerful."
Back then, Hagoromo's mastery of the Sage Arts from Mount Myōboku had been one of the main reasons for Ōtsutsuki Kaguya's defeat.
A vein throbbed on Colt's forehead.
This woman was doing it on purpose, wasn't she? How many times had he told her?
He wasn't Hagoromo!
Swish!
Colt appeared in front of Kaguya in an instant, his right hand encased in lightning as he struck out.
Kaguya swept her sleeve, trying to knock Colt away with a gust of wind, but it was ineffective. Her sleeve was sliced cleanly off.
Zila!
Colt thrust forward without hesitation.
Kaguya's Rinne Sharingan spun, and in a flash, they were transported to a dimension filled with boiling magma.
She used the opportunity to put some distance between them.