The moment Tsukimi finished speaking, the sea shook again.
This time, it wasn't just ripples. The entire sea was sinking.
"What's going on?" Naruto grabbed a nearby rock.
Sasuke's Rinnegan detected something abnormal.
Deep beneath the sea, the black tentacles were growing wildly. They weren't attacking—they were weaving some kind of structure.
"It's building a teleportation array." Sasuke's expression changed. "The Gatekeeper is trying to drag its true body out of another dimension and into reality!"
Tsukimi closed her eyes, and the Byakugan on her forehead suddenly opened.
The eye radiated a silvery-white glow, and the space around them began to twist.
"It's too late." Despair filled Tsukimi's voice. "The seal has completely collapsed. The Gatekeeper will arrive in ten minutes at most."
Nagato raised his head, purple light swirling in his Rinnegan.
He could see countless tiny cracks splitting open in the sky, each one connected to a different space.
Those spaces were filled with corpses.
The remains of giant beasts, humans, and even Tailed Beasts.
"Is this the Harvesting Program's record?" Nagato's voice was cold.
"Over the past thousand years, it has wiped out thirteen civilizations." Tsukimi smiled bitterly. "The Moon Country was the fourteenth, and the Shinobi World will be the fifteenth."
The Raikage struggled to his feet, blood still running from the web of his thumb.
"Can't the Five Great Shinobi Villages unite and defeat a mere program?"
"We can't." Tsukimi shook his head. "The Gatekeeper has a complete Otsutsuki combat database. Any technique it has seen will be countered."
"Besides, it isn't alive. It doesn't tire, feel fear, or hesitate."
"Its sole purpose is to eliminate every Chakra life-form on this planet that exceeds the acceptable limit."
Tsuchikage Ōnoki gritted his teeth. "Then why did you show up? Just to tell us to wait for