Momoshiki was nowhere in sight. He had disappeared.
Now she was stranded in the past, with no clear way to return unless she found Momoshiki and retrieved Karasuki from his hands.
This time, she wouldn't make the same mistake. She would go all out against him, with no restraints. She would make sure to do things right. To not be overconfident.
She would kill him.
Kaguya let out a heavy sigh, reminding herself that she alone was to blame for this situation.
Any change, no matter how subtle, could alter her present—which was now the future—forever.
Karasuki himself had made sure to warn Momoshiki when he awakened him.
And that was why Momoshiki was surely already on his way to Konohagakure.
It didn't matter if he didn't obtain the Kyūbi's chakra in this timeline. As long as the future changed, everything she had built would crumble.
Luckily, Momoshiki didn't know about Konan. If he did, that would be a serious problem.
…
"Momoshiki."
I approached him, floating above the skies of Konohagakure.
He wasn't even trying to hide his presence.
Finding him with my Senrigan wasn't difficult.
The Sandaime Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, must have been completely terrified at that moment, unable to understand what was happening.
I could feel numerous Leaf Shinobi gathering below us.
The civilians were being evacuated to safe zones within the village.
And there, in his hands, Momoshiki held Naruto as if he were nothing more than a sack of potatoes.
If I didn't act soon, he would steal the Kyūbi's chakra from him.
"Oh, Kaguya, you're late," Momoshiki said with a smug grin, his tone that of someone who had already won.
I watched him coldly, but my eyes locked onto his hand, which was slowly reaching toward Naruto's stomach, where the Eight Trigrams Seal was located.
"Even if you steal the Kyūbi's chakra… even if you kill him… nothing will change for you. I will kill you anyway."
"Hehehe…" Momoshiki chuckled upon noticing my concern. "But it will change everything for you, won't it?"
He didn't expect what came next.
"Not really."
Delta struck Momoshiki from behind with brutal force. The impact was enough for the unconscious Naruto to start plummeting toward the ground.
I moved instantly. I caught him in my arms and, without wasting a second, activated Sukunahikona. His body shrank to a microscopic size. Then, with precise control, I stored him in Daikokuten's space, where he would remain in stasis.
No matter how much time passed, Naruto would stay the same. Even if a thousand years went by, he wouldn't age a single day.
Of course, I didn't plan to keep him there for long.
As for Delta, she had been inside my Daikokuten when Momoshiki dragged us both into the past. That was why she was here now.
With Naruto out of his reach, Momoshiki roared in fury.
A cyan chakra cloak enveloped my body. Six magatamas appeared around my neck, and a horn formed on my forehead.
Chakra danced over my skin like living flames. My hair stood on end, rising in all directions.
If I weren't entirely focused on the battle, I would have probably mocked myself for how much this transformation resembled something from Dragon Ball.
The Rinne-Sharingan on my forehead opened, and my Senrigan and Tenseigan activated simultaneously.
Even the Kokugan in the palm of my right hand was unveiled.
A red chakra scythe materialized in my hands, violently contrasting with the cyan aura radiating from my body.
It was the manifestation of my technique: Ōdachinagi—a technique I had obtained from Kinshiki.
The battle was about to begin.
The air vibrated with pure energy as Kaguya vanished from her position, moving at a speed Momoshiki could barely perceive.
Her chakra scythe descended like a lightning bolt. Momoshiki raised his Bō in a desperate attempt to block the strike, but the force of the impact made it crack like fragile glass.
The ground beneath his feet fractured. A shockwave swept through entire buildings, unleashing a hurricane of dust and debris.
Fortunately, the civilians had been evacuated. No one was hurt by it.
Kaguya would make sure to rebuild everything, restoring it to how it was before she left.
Momoshiki growled, retreating quickly, but Kaguya was already behind him.
"You're too slow."
Her fist struck his face with devastating force. Momoshiki was sent flying like a projectile, crashing into a mountain on the horizon.
The rock shattered—along with the carved face of Hiruzen Sarutobi.
There was no respite. Before he could move, dozens of black stakes rained down on him, piercing his limbs and pinning him to the ground.
"Damn you, Kaguya!" Momoshiki roared, forcing his chakra to break free.
But Kaguya simply snapped her fingers—though it wasn't even necessary in the first place.
The stakes shrunk to a microscopic level inside his body, merging with his flesh and bones, suppressing his chakra from within.
"You can't win. Stop embarrassing yourself."
Momoshiki roared in fury and raised his hand toward the sky.
The atmosphere turned crimson as a titanic chakra orb formed above them, absorbing energy from everything around it. Its size was enough to wipe Konohagakure off the map.
"Die, Kaguya!"
With a violent motion, Momoshiki hurled the destructive sphere.
But Kaguya didn't even blink.
She calmly raised her hand. The titanic orb shrank into nothingness within the space of Daikokuten.
"You should already know that won't work."
Before Momoshiki could react, Kaguya appeared right in front of him.
Her hand pierced through his chest effortlessly. Blood gushed from his mouth.
His eyes widened in horror. He couldn't move.
"You're insignificant," Kaguya whispered, devoid of emotion. "An ant that almost ruined everything."
With one swift motion, her scythe came down.
The sound of flesh being torn apart echoed through the battlefield.
Momoshiki's head hit the ground with a dull thud.
Kaguya gazed at his lifeless body for a moment. Just like with Shibai, Isshiki, and Kinshiki, she transformed his remains into Red Earth and consumed them.
She gained no new techniques. Only an increase in chakra and physical capabilities.
Momoshiki was nowhere near as powerful as he would have been if he had consumed Kinshiki.
With the last Ōtsutsuki dead, Kaguya could finally breathe in relief.
Over the next few hours, she dedicated herself to rebuilding Konohagakure, restoring it to its previous state.
She also had to go through the trouble of erasing the memories of everyone in the village.
It was tempting to kill Danzo with her own hands.
She even erased the memories of the animals—and even the insects.
She wouldn't allow even a tiny mistake to alter the future. She knew the Aburame Clan could control insects, but she didn't know if they could communicate with them.
Just imagining that an insect's memories could change the future…
It would be disastrous.
Finally, she placed Naruto back where Momoshiki had abducted him.
She also revived several Shinobi who had died, as they had been too close to the battle.
"Let's go home, Delta."
"But, Kaguya-sama…" Delta spoke in a hesitant tone. "Wouldn't it be better to stay in this timeline? We could change everything. We could make things flow exactly as you want…"
I cut her off.
"If you change something—whether in the past or the future—you might alter everything completely. Any experience, good or bad, thoughts and feelings… could be erased forever."
"And luckily… I have someone I love waiting for me to return, Delta."
"I understand…" Delta murmured, disappointed.
She understood Kaguya's reasoning, but she couldn't help feeling a tinge of jealousy.
In her mind, Kaguya belonged only to her.
Her heart should be hers and hers alone. No one else's…