Ōtsutsuki Zero-shiki put away the Ten'ō and looked up at Chiga.

"Uchiha Chiga, I hope your body can provide enough nourishment for the Ten-Tails."

The moment he spoke, the Ten-Tails beneath his feet let out a thunderous roar. Its gaping maw opened wide, and a blood-red energy orb began to form—growing rapidly in size.

Chiga's eyes narrowed. He could tell this was no ordinary attack—it was a Truth-Seeking Orb. Now that Ōtsutsuki Zero-shiki had taken full control, the Ten-Tails' power had doubled in ferocity.

Zero-shiki grinned maliciously.

"Taste this."

The Ten-Tails released the Truth-Seeking Orb with a roar, launching it straight toward Chiga. Yet Susanoo didn't flinch. Wisps of dark smoke trailed from Chiga's left eye as he stood calmly atop the ethereal giant.

A massive, dark vortex materialized in front of Susanoo, and the Truth-Seeking Orb was sucked into it, vanishing completely.

Zero-shiki scoffed.

"Hmph. Just a defective product of the Divine Tree Fruit."

That line caught Chiga's attention.

"So Devil Fruits… are they derived from Divine Tree Fruits?"

"More or less. As I said, this Ten-Tails is unique. When it entered this world, it absorbed a massive amount of unknown energy and produced numerous fruits. The people here call them Devil Fruits."

"If that's true, why didn't you consume all of them? You shouldn't have any limit, right?"

"Hmph. When a Devil Fruit spawns, it vanishes and reappears somewhere else in the world. Tracking them is a hassle. And to me, they're useless. They don't enhance my strength in any meaningful way."

Chiga nodded. He understood what Zero-shiki meant. After absorbing twelve Devil Fruits himself, his ocular power had peaked. Any additional fruits made little difference now.

Devil Fruits were, in essence, failed versions of Divine Tree Fruits. They couldn't trigger the evolutionary leap that true Divine Tree Fruits brought to Ōtsutsuki. But for Chiga—who hadn't yet awakened his full Ōtsutsuki potential when he arrived in this world—the Devil Fruits had been a crucial stepping stone. Through them, his bloodline had finally evolved. He became a true Ōtsutsuki.

This was only possible because he possessed the Rinnegan. Any other Uchiha or Senju from his original world would have only been able to handle one Devil Fruit, just like natives of this world. Beyond that, their bodies would explode from the excess energy.

The Rinnegan played a vital role in maintaining balance.

Reflecting on all this, Chiga realized how fortunate he was. Without the twist of fate that brought him to this world, he might have had to rely on becoming the Ten-Tails Jinchūriki to evolve. But the Ten-Tails in his original world bore Kaguya's will. Even if he eliminated Black Zetsu early, Kaguya could still possess him at any time.

Here, in this world, evolving through Devil Fruits had been the perfect route. And now, the Ōtsutsuki Chiga had become, far outstripped Madara's Ten-Tails Jinchūriki form—in both raw strength and ability.

Zero-shiki seemed to have reached the same conclusion.

"I never thought Devil Fruits would work so well on you. When you first arrived, you were pitifully weak. Now, you've grown into someone who could rival even the most promising juniors of our clan."

Chiga raised a brow.

"Are you referring to Momoshiki, Urashiki, and the others?"

Zero-shiki paused, confused.

"I've heard of Momoshiki. Urashiki doesn't ring a bell. The one I remember most is Ōtsutsuki Isshiki. My master originally intended for him to inherit my role as guardian after I was sacrificed to the Ten-Tails. You know of him?"

Chiga went silent. Of course he knew Isshiki. In Boruto's timeline, Isshiki had been the greatest threat—the final boss, so to speak.

Were it not for Naruto's Baryon Mode, made possible by Kurama's ultimate sacrifice, Isshiki wouldn't have been defeated. His downfall had come due to the limits of his imperfect vessel.

Worse still, his path had been riddled with tragedy. Kaguya ambushed him and fed half of his body to the Ten-Tails. If not for stumbling upon Jigen, Isshiki would've perished right then and there.

Eventually, even after finding the perfect vessel in Kawaki, he still met his end at the hands of Naruto and Sasuke—two unstoppable forces of their world.

Seeing Chiga's silence, Zero-shiki pressed him.

"You know him, don't you? What happened to Isshiki?"

"He's dead."

"Nani?! Someone managed to kill an Ōtsutsuki?"

"He was ambushed by his own guardian and became food for the Ten-Tails."

Chiga left out Naruto's role. The cause of Isshiki's demise ultimately traced back to Kaguya.

Zero-shiki couldn't hide his disappointment. That was the one chosen to succeed him? A failure who let his guardian stab him in the back?

More importantly, who was this guardian?

"Who was Isshiki's guardian?"

"Ōtsutsuki Kaguya."

"Kaguya? That pathetically weak woman?"

"...Yes."

Zero-shiki was stunned. He remembered Kaguya vividly, but not for the right reasons. While Isshiki stood out for his excellence, Kaguya stood out for being notably weak.

The Ōtsutsuki Clan had very few females. Kaguya was already rare by gender, but she had always been among the weakest. In their society, there was no sympathy for weakness—regardless of gender. Her fate was always to become someone's guardian, to be fed to the Ten-Tails in the end.

Weakness, in any world, was a sin.

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