The moment the moon split apart, the sky truly fell.
It was no metaphor. It shattered in earnest, like an eggshell smashed from within. Chunks of stone, large and small, rained down. The largest rivaled entire villages, and even the smallest were the size of houses, striking the ground with an unending series of booms.
More than half of Konoha's newly repaired houses collapsed again in an instant, sending dust billowing into the sky.
Shuo stood atop the ruins and looked up. The moon was gone, leaving only an enormous dark shape suspended in midair.
Its entire body was a ghastly white, yet it was heavier and colder than the surrounding darkness. Eyes were embedded densely across its body, all the same pale gold as Isshiki's, staring fixedly downward-at him alone.
"Fuck."
Shuo cursed under his breath and looked down at his palm. That speck of light was now as bright as a miniature sun, so hot that his palm tingled.
The Fragments stood in unison behind him, all forty-five eyes glowing, never leaving his side.
Hand Princess Big crawled to his feet, fear in her voice. "What is that?"
"The Ten-Tails. The real thing."
Shuo's voice was terribly grim.
Hand Princess Big raised her head and gazed at the monster that blotted out the sky, murmuring, "It's so big... Can we beat it?"
Shuo paused and told no lies. "I don't know. But we have to fight."
He took a step forward, and the Fragments behind him immediately followed. Faint light flowed back and forth between him and the Fragments, cycling over and over like breathing, binding them tightly together.
The Ten-Tails moved in midair. Rather than drifting slowly down, it plummeted like an immense mountain collapsing, crashing into the ground with a boom that shook the very earth