Within the illusion of the "Dragon Palace Mirage Sea," Naruto and Hamura stood ready for battle, contending with the giant starry whale Otohime controlled and the oppressive force of the entire illusion.
In the real world, however, their bodies stood rigidly in place as though someone had pressed pause. Their eyes were vacant, their minds clearly immersed completely in the illusion.
An intrigued smile now appeared on Otohime's face, pale as frost and snow and too exquisite to belong to a mortal.
She stepped lightly, as though gliding across water, and appeared before Naruto in an instant.
Leaning forward slightly, she extended slender, jade-like fingers and gently pinched Naruto's chin, still somewhat youthful but already sharply defined. She forced his head down, bringing his vacant eyes level with hers.
"Just now... I failed to notice."
A trace of surprise colored Otohime's ethereal voice as her golden Rinnegan carefully "examined" the inside of Naruto's body.
"A part of the God Tree, a delicious power of its very essence, lies dormant deep within this boy."
Her gaze passed through Naruto's body, directly "seeing" the Nine-Tails chakra within the Sealing Space.
"What a... fine 'elixir pill.'"
Otohime's lips curved into a chilling smile, as though she were appraising a precious medicinal ingredient about to fall into her hands.
For the Otsutsuki, devouring powerful sources of chakra was their primary means of evolution.
Becoming an Otsutsuki required consuming the Chakra Fruit borne by the God Tree, while the Ten-Tails was the God Tree's husk. Naturally, the Nine-Tails, separated from within the Ten-Tails, was also part of the God Tree.
Eating the Nine-Tails would be equivalent to consuming a portion of the God Tree's crystallized essence.
Before her words had faded, golden light flashed in her eyes, and the hand pinching Naruto's chin abruptly shifted