Naruto: Unlocking Kaido Template

Kaguya was an undeniably powerful opponent—terrifyingly so—but she lacked the cunning of the outside world. Deceiving her wasn't difficult. That was, in fact, part of the reason she'd been sealed in the first place. She simply didn't understand human nature.

Holding a black orb that looked oddly like a Pac-Man in his hand, Zixu stared at Black Zetsu, who was still trying to devour him even now. Without hesitation, Zixu slapped him across the face.

"Settle down. You don't want anything to happen to your mother."

Chinano had only just grasped the use of the Light Gate and still struggled with its control. It had taken Zixu and the others considerable time to stabilize the portal and leave.

Black Zetsu slowly stopped thrashing. He had been so overwhelmed with joy at his mother's resurrection that he'd lost all sense of control. That lapse gave Zixu the opening he needed. Kaguya's simplicity, while not stupidity, made her vulnerable without someone like Black Zetsu by her side.

"I can tell you a secret," Black Zetsu muttered, "but in exchange, you'll have to let me go—"

Before he could finish, Zixu slapped him again, harder this time.

"Still trying to negotiate? You're a hostage, dumbass. Get some self-awareness."

Black Zetsu hadn't expected Zixu to be so ruthless. If he wasn't still useful, Zixu would've eliminated him already. He opened his mouth to speak again, but the casual wave of Zixu's hand made his body tense in fear. Finally, he blurted out:

"Orochimaru! He's the mastermind behind all this. His ambitions are enormous. And you? You're part of his plan too. But in his eyes, you're safest dead..."

Zixu froze, lowering the hand that was mid-slap. Before he could fully process what he'd just heard, the Light Gate shimmered and pulled them back to their original world.

Hatsuizumi was the first to realize something was wrong.

She had stationed her insect scouts near the Sacred Tree to monitor the battlefield, but now... there was only silence.

"All of the bugs are gone... and the fungal mats—they've been completely devoured..." Her smile vanished, and her body shuddered slightly. She could no longer maintain Sage Mode, and with it, her ability to perform Sage Art was gone too.

"Stay alert," warned Chinano. She'd been sustaining the Tenseigan this entire time, and her chakra reserves were dangerously low. Without Karin constantly feeding her chakra, she'd have collapsed long ago.

A biting wind swept across Zixu's face. The world around them had changed. Time itself felt warped, flowing differently from moment to moment.

The land beneath them—once covered in roots of the Sacred Tree and fungal growth—was now exposed, but something was off. The earth had turned pitch black.

Zixu looked up. The moon was gone, and the stars were nowhere to be seen. Only endless, suffocating darkness stretched across the sky. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Karin didn't dare summon fire to light their path. In this kind of darkness, a flame was an invitation for predators. She shut her eyes, relying instead on her senses to navigate the eerie terrain.

No signs of life. Only shadows creeping at the edge of sanity. Somewhere in the dark, something slithered and crawled, the rasping friction of scales on stone making the hair on their necks stand up.

"Snakes..." Hatsuizumi muttered. Even without Sage Mode, she could recognize them. Tiny bugs sprouted from her palms, rebuilding her insect swarm from scratch.

Black Zetsu, still in Zixu's grip, chuckled grimly. "Orochimaru has already won. What he wants—what he's always wanted—is the entire world."

He was trying to amplify Orochimaru's threat while shrinking back slightly, hoping they wouldn't finish him off just yet. If he could stall long enough for Kaguya to return, there was still a chance to capture them all in one swift strike.

But Zixu wasn't buying it.

He tightened his grip. Black Zetsu, reduced to a struggling, inky sphere, couldn't escape. Zixu's hands turned dark as his Haki surged, completely sealing Black Zetsu's movements. Red blood dragons emerged behind Zixu, roaring as they dove toward their target.

They sank their fangs into Black Zetsu's limbs, piercing his chest and body. Despite his howls and rage, Black Zetsu was sealed.

If it weren't for how annoyingly persistent Black Zetsu was to kill, Zixu would've finished him off right then and there. But this would do—for now.

"Snakes, huh?" Zixu narrowed his eyes at the slithering forms crawling around them. It reminded him of a place he'd been ignoring all this time.

Ryuchi Cave. The White Snake Sage.

"She mentioned something about researching how to become a dragon... And those so-called Three Goddesses? Still quiet. And Kabuto... he already mastered Ryuchi Cave's Senjutsu..."

Zixu connected the dots quickly.

"Kabuto must've been with Orochimaru back then. And Orochimaru had been to Ryuchi Cave before. Kabuto would've picked up his scent after years together. So... Orochimaru and the White Snake Sage likely formed a pact long ago."

The sound of slithering in the dark grew louder. Something massive was moving toward them.

Chinano and the others scanned their surroundings, but the landscape had changed. There were no familiar figures, no Roran, no Whirlpool country.

The eerie rustling of insects and serpents filled the air, a creeping cacophony. Somewhere in the dark, Hatsuizumi had already engaged an unseen enemy.

Zixu clenched his fists. He was close to unraveling it all. Orochimaru had never truly been in his grasp.

Devil Fruit... System...

Zixu remembered the host Black Zetsu had once possessed—the one who looked exactly like him. After Kaguya was resurrected, they hadn't given that host a second thought. Maybe they should have.

Then, the battle thickened in the shadows—and Kaguya arrived.

Her long hair floated around her like a ghostly halo as she landed. Her eyes swept the void, and her expression changed. Confusion. Then shock.

"Chakra... it's gone," she whispered.

Closing her eyes, she focused, trying to feel the pulse of the world. But there was nothing. The chakra that once filled every corner of nature—air, water, earth—was vanishing. The environment felt normal, but that was the problem.

It meant there was no longer any chakra to draw upon.

Ninjutsu would wither like plants cut off from their roots. Every use would drain what little remained.

Kaguya herself was unaffected—for now. Her body still held immense reserves of chakra. But in battle? That could change quickly.

And knowing that, her demeanor toward Zixu and the others shifted slightly.

Naive didn't mean stupid.

Zixu and his crew had been fighting her until recently. If they weren't responsible for this, then the only one who could be...

"...Orochimaru," she muttered coldly.