Beneath the God Tree, countless shinobi fell in swathes like withered leaves drained of life.
Their faces were pale and shriveled, their eyes lifeless. Every last trace of chakra was drawn out of them, turning into wisps of ethereal light that flowed into the God Tree towering above the clouds.
The God Tree's branches writhed as though alive. At its summit, a fissure like a fleshy flower bud slowly opened, releasing a low, ethereal, ancient chant-as though some unspeakable being were about to awaken, and all heaven and earth trembled and sang in anticipation.
The earth shook, mountains crumbled, and the sky shuddered.
A distorted humanoid silhouette faintly emerged among the clouds. It was the origin of Kaguya's will, awakening deep within the God Tree!
Just like that "descent of a deity" ten thousand years ago, the course of fate had returned to its starting point.
Atop a mountain ridge, Black Zetsu stood on a rock like a bank of black mist, his cloak snapping in the wind. He seemed one with the land itself, a fragment of will that had slept for thousands of years and finally awaited its moment of resurrection.
He gazed up at the blood moon hanging high in the sky, twisted fanaticism burning in his eyes.
"Just a little more... a little more chakra... and Mother... can return..."
He murmured, his voice like the sobbing of a resentful spirit, or the chanting of a priest.
Wisps of chakra dust lingering in the wind were silently swept away by the God Tree's roots and merged into the body of Kaguya's source-the "Vessel of God" about to break free of its seal.
Black Zetsu's gaze suddenly flickered toward a distant hill, his eyes growing cold.
Obito Uchiha stood silently in the wind, his back to the