Dark Soushiki Ōtsutsuki

"Hmph... You want to protect this cursed world? This world is bound to self-destruct eventually as long as shinobi exist. We are gods! Our goal is to revive our ancestor because she's the only one who can save us all. I've tried to see through the eyes of these mortals, but they're simply destructive. If you believe they are worthy of choosing their paths, you are an enemy. And you know very well, what I do with my enemies..."

- Dark Soushiki to his other counterpart

Dark Soushiki Ōtsutsuki (冥遁大筒木そうしき, Meiton Ōtsutsuki Soushiki) is an alternate counterpart of Soushiki Ōtsutsuki from an alternate universe, where, unlike his alternate counterpart, Soushiki became corrupted with power, much like his ancestor, Kaguya Ōtsutsuki.

Early Life
Dark Soushiki's life was the exact same from his alternate counterpart until the day he turned ten years old. On that day, Soushiki was challenged by one his fellow clansmen to a spar battle, and Soushiki accidentally killed him with his enormous power and was exiled from his home by the rest of his clan as a result. Wandering around the forest, Soushiki met Black Zetsu, who told him about his ancestor, Kaguya Ōtsutsuki and how she was worshipped as the Rabbit Goddess (卯の女神, Usagi no Megami), and later as a Demon (鬼, Oni) after many feared her power, despite Kaguya saving their lives from wars. As a result, her two sons rebelled against her and sealed her away. Despite Black Zetsu's speech, Soushiki was still not convinced, and despite feeling that he was unfairly kicked away from his home, he still loved his family. Suddenly, many of Soushiki's clansmen appeared and attempted to murder him for his earlier actions, but Soushiki effortlessly defeated them all. Black Zetsu re-appeared and finally convinced Soushiki that the world was plagued with hatred, and Kaguya was the only one who could save it, and Soushiki took his first step into the darkness by mercilessly killing his clansmen that attacked him.

An Unexpected Turn of Events
For several years, Soushiki and Black Zetsu lurked around the shadows of the world in hopes of one day reviving Kaguya, and Zetsu talked about how Hagoromo's children, Asura Ōtsutsuki and Indra Ōtsutsuki were battling each other for the majority of their lives, and said that Indra and Asura would both reincarnate and their descendents wound inherit their chakra, and told him that they needed to manipulate one of Indra's reincarnates to help complete their plan, but stated that it would probably take many centuries to be completed. One day, however, Asura himself found and confronted Soushiki and Black Zetsu when they were close to Asura's home, and Soushiki explained to Asura about their plans, despite Zetsu's protests. Asura claimed that he couldn't allow them to continue their plans and regretfully claimed he needed to destroy them, but Soushiki laughed at his comments, revealing his immortality to Asura. However, Asura then summoned his followers and as his followers distracted Soushiki by engaging him in battle all at once, Asura effortlessly hunted and destroyed Black Zetsu, putting an end to their plans as Zetsu was the mastermind behind the plan. Soushiki cursed Asura and retreated from the battlefield. Realizing that without Black Zetsu, their plans would be impossible to achieve.

Another Chance
Many centuries after Black Zetsu's demise, Soushiki kept lurking in the shadows and his hatred for the world growing more and more. By the time of the, Soushiki had finally completed his technique which he had been working on for many decades. Naming it Universal Travel Technique (ユニバーサルトラベルの術, Yunibaasaru Toraberu no Jutsu), Soushiki became capable of travelling to an "twin" universe from where he departed from, and upon arriving there, Soushiki became shocked to see that the enviroment didn't changed, and assumed the technique had failed. However, the Black Zetsu from that universe suddenly appeared and confronted him, asking him about his change in appearance, much to Soushiki's confusion and he proceeded to explain to Black Zetsu about his situation. Black Zetsu believed his words, sensing a sinister chakra inside him, and informed him about his alternate counterpart, which was protecting the world instead of fulfilling his duties in reviving Kaguya, much to Soushiki's disgust.

Afterwards, Soushiki kept his existence hidden from the rest of the world, except from Black Zetsu, in order to not draw attention to their plans, and kept a close look on the Akatsuki, as Zetsu was manipulating everything from the shadows. Occasionally, Soushiki would travel to distant places to small countries in order to kill as many people as possible in order to aliviate his boredom. At some point after the announcement of the, Soushiki informed Kabuto Yakushi the location of Madara Uchiha's corpse, so that Kabuto could blackmail Obito Uchiha into joining forces with him and bring Madara back through the Impure World Reincarnation technique, to prevent Obito from betraying Madara by not bringing him back to life.

Personality
Before his corruption, Soushiki's personality was the exact same of his alternate counterpart's, being kind-hearted, gentle and friendly towards his family and friends. However, after being exiled from his home by his clansmen for accidentally killing one of their own, and being hunted down by his own clan and being corrupted by Black Zetsu, Soushiki finally gave into hatred and took his first step towards the darkness by mercillesly killing his attackers. Afterwards, Soushiki became a pure evil individual, showing no remorse for all the lives he took, and showing no mercy for anyone, including children or infants.

Soushiki also became extremely sadistic, showing immense amounts of joy and relief every time he caused pain, suffering and killed others, laughing uncontrollaby at the sight of others' despair and if by some miracle anyone survived his rampages, Soushiki would personally hunt down and slowly, and brutally, murder the survivors. One prime example was when he attacked a small village and some young children managed to survive by hiding underground their houses. Soushiki realized this and hunted them down, and after seeing the look of pure fear in their faces, Soushiki claimed they would be sent to Hell and brutally murdered the children with his bare hands, beating them to death and licked their blood that was left on him afterwards.

Soushiki seems to feel pure hatred towards his alternate counterpart, mostly because his alternate counterpart was a pure-hearted individual and truly cared about the world. When they first met face-to-face, Soushiki told his "goody toe-shoes" counterpart that just thinking about him made his body shake in anger, and couldn't stand the fact that there was another him that was the complete opposite and would make him wish he could die by destroying everything he cared about: the world itself.

Reveling in his power, Soushiki openly declared himself the supreme god upon his corruption, repeatedly and consistently vocalizing his divine brilliance and absolute authority. His ego is displayed by how he refuses to even defend himself against Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha, his tendency to hover high over the battlefield to "look down" on everyone both figuratively and literally. Befitting his attitude, Soushiki also uses very formal speech patterns, and uses the pronoun 'watashi' (私) when referring to himself. By the time of the, however, Soushiki notably switches from 'watashi' to 'ore' (俺), a more masculine, casual pronoun, which can be used to sound arrogant. Soushiki also uses sophisticated language as ways to display his arrogance and superiority over "mere mortals" such as shinobi.

Soushiki has also displayed an personal interest in the Nine-Tails, which was once referred as the embodiment of hatred, and in order to feel such hatred, Soushiki defeated the beast and absorbed half of its chakra, which further increased his powers. Many decades later, Soushiki displayed extreme disgust and hatred after the Nine-Tails had become friends with Naruto Uzumaki and constantly called the Nine-Tails a "monster" or "filthy beast".

Appearance
Before his corruption, Soushiki looked the exact same as his alternate counterpart: having spiky, shoulder-length, light-blue hair and two black horns that stuck out from his head. His eyebrows were cut short — a symbol of his nobility — and had permanent Rinnegan eyes. After being corrupted, his appearance changed drastically: his hair turned black after being consumed by hatred and his skin became slightly more pale than usual. After stealing half of Kurama's chakra, Soushiki also gained three whisker markings on his cheeks. He wore a black, full-length kimono, beneath which, he wore a necklace which was made up of six white magatama. On the back of his kimono was a larger, black Rinnegan marking with a pattern of nine magatama arranged in three rows of three beneath it. Despite being over a thousand years old, Soushiki stills has the appearance of a young adult, due to his ability of retaining his youth for the rest of the eternity.

While under the usage of the Tenseigan, Soushiki's appearance again suffers a unique change; his hair turns shiny blue, the same color as the Tenseigan, and his skin becomes slightly more pale. His clothing also changes, with his cloak becoming black with dark blue pattern, along with his necklace's magatama. Soushiki also gains two black horns that stuck out from his head.

While under the effects of Sage Mode, Soushiki underwent a unique change in appearance; his hair turned red, and earned orange pigmentation around his Rinnegan eyes. His clothing also changed, with his trademark black cloak turning red with the pattern turning orange and his necklace's magatama turning purple.

Abilities
Much like his alternate counterpart, Soushiki is considered by many as one of the most powerful individuals in history, with his power being considered equal, if not great, than Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki's. His power was so great, that many hailed him as the Second Six Paths (二人目の六道, Futarime no Rikudō). After his corruption and rampages throughout the centuries, Soushiki was hailed as a Demon God (魔神). Being a direct descendant of, Soushiki is capable of using Yomotsu Hirasaka, allowing him to travel to any of. Soushiki also learned and fully mastered Sage Mode without ever travelling to.

Chakra and Physical Prowess
Shoushiki was blessed with remarkably powerful and equally large reserves of chakra, almost considered to be infinite. With no prior training, he had an innate and immensely precise control over its power, having no need to perform hand seals for his various feats and proved to be very versatile in its usage. He was also incredibly skilled in Medical Ninjutsu, capable of healing others almost in an instant without wasting any chakra.

Soushiki also displayed incredible hand-to-hand combat, effortlessly killing many powerful members of his own clan with his bare hands without the need to use any kind of ninjutsu. During his battle with Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha, Soushiki was able to fight off both of them with just one hand and was capable of breaking Naruto's ribs with a single kick, despite Naruto being under his Six Paths Sage Mode.

Ninjutsu
Soushiki had a vast mastery in ninjutsu, being capable of using many difficult techniques without the use of hand seals. He could hide within surfaces, and create create thousands of shadow clones without using almost any of his chakra.

Bukijutsu
Whenever he was battling, Soushiki was mostly using his bukijutsu skills, most specifically his gunbai, with which he could shield himself and redirect attacks, or wield it like a mace or flail. Before traveling through universes, Soushiki acquired two gunbais, which became his most tresured and reliable tools and proved to be incredibly useful in battle.

Nature Transformation
Soushiki was able to utilise all five basic nature transformations, including Lava Release, Storm Release, Ice Release, Wood Release, and Yin-Yang Release. A few days after he was born, Soushiki demonstrated to be able to use Fire Release when he accidentally spit a fireball when he sneezed. He could also expel a large stream of flames from his mouth. With his gunbai, Soushiki could create powerful gusts to repel enemies. With Water Release, Soushiki could create walls of water around himself for protection and create water dragons, even without a nearby water source.

With his Ice Release kekkei genkai, Soushiki could create spears made of ice and impale his opponetns, freeze the surrounding air and create an ice dome around himself to act as a defence. He can also infuse their chakra with ice on the ground and bring it to the surface, trapping his opponent within the ice by controlling its movements and completely surrounding them in the ice. While surrounded by ice, Seimei can thrust his arm and create a black ether-like dragon to strike his opponent. Seimei can also encase his fists into ice to increase his striking power or, alternatively, allowing him to use his fists to block stronger attacks than he would be able to otherwise, and including manipulate pre-existing ice create a giant tiger with it to strike his opponents.

Soushiki has the ability to use the kekkei tōta, where he combines the first three elements to perform the advanced element Dust Release, which can pulverise things to molecular-sized dust, and he could also increase their size and power, dealing damage to the opponent from a distance. Despite being a powerful ability, Soushiki doesn't enjoy using it, as he feels that it kills his enemies too quickly and prefers killing others in a slowly and painful way.

Soushiki was also capable of using Wood Release, with his skill being comparable to Hashirama Senju himself or greater. He could create gigantic flowering trees that could render a foe unconscious, wood clones whose individual strength matched his own, and wood dragons which could bind targets.

Soushiki was shown using Yin Release to create lightning bolts, and Storm Release – a mixture of water and lightning-natured chakra – to create energy beams that could cut through the Six Paths Rods.

Soushiki has also shown the ability to use Dark Release, being capable of forcibly extract the physical and spiritual energy of another ninja, even from a considerable distance. Soushiki can also converts the chakra absorbed from the Dark Release: Inhaling Maw technique into light blue flames, turning it back on his enemies with amplified strength to blow them away. Soushiki has also developted his own personal technique, the Dark Release: Shadow Ball Technique, which allows Soushiki to create a sphere made of shadow from his hands and throw it on his enemies as projectiles, and if hit, it sucks the opponent inside a black hole and eradicates them completely.

Tenseigan
When he reached adulthood, Soushiki awakened the Tenseigan after experiencing some inexplicable strain in his eyes, which were the cause of slowly awakening the Tenseigan. Black Zetsu theorised that the reason behind it was because of Soushiki's direct lineage from Kaguya Ōtsutsuki. With these eyes, he can control attractive and repulsive forces. He also activates the Tenseigan Chakra Mode, which grants him enhanced strength, speed, and durability. He can compress this state into his hand to create a tremendously powerful chakra blast than can deplete enemies' chakra to the point of unconsciousness. While under the Tenseigan Chakra Mode, Soushiki gains a cyan-coloured chakra shroud with six magatama markings on his collar, dark markings over his eyebrows and lower eyelids, and a single horn shaped like Kaguya's extending from his forehead.

Rinnegan
From the first few moments of his life, Soushiki demonstrated the ability to manifest the Rinnegan. His Rinnegan was unique in color, having turned red after being consumed by hatred, with Soushiki claiming that the change in color was probably made from the blood spilled from his murders and thought that the blood of all his victims ran through his eyes. Alongside Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki, he was believed to have been the only person to have fully mastered the Rinnegan. With the Rinnegan, Soushiki could use all of the abilities of the Six Paths Technique, such as the Preta Path to absorb chakra, and the Deva Path to perform Chibaku Tensei, and make use of the attractive force. He could also generate a corporeal invisible shadow to prevent being attacked.

Senjutsu
At some point, Soushiki learned Sage Mode on his own without the training from and mastered it rather quickly. His Sage Mode was unique as it changed not only his eyes, but his entire appearance, from hair to clothing. Combined with his powerful chakra and Rinnegan, Soushki was enabled to use Six Paths Senjutsu. With this, he could perform additional feats such as flying and levitating freely.

Truth-Seeking Ball
Soushiki also had the ability to manifest up to ten Truth-Seeking Balls at a time, which are composed of the five basic nature transformations, Yin–Yang Release and the Six Paths Sage Chakra (六道の仙人チャクラ, Rikudō no Sennin Chakura). Their chakra is highly malleable and versatile, such that he could use them as high speed projectiles, and protective barriers. With their usage, Soushiki is capable of launch a series of Truth-Seeking Balls at the opponent, forcing them straight into the ground. Then, several platforms, alongside the opponent, are lifted into the air, with Soushiki creating an invisible clone to strike the opponent hard enough to blow them onto another floating platform. After that, four more invisible clones are created, which punch the opponent with force enough to send them straight into the ground. Finally, Soushiki uses Chibaku Tensei to create multiple satellites and drop them on the opponent. With the usage of Yin-Yang Release, Soushiki could also create physical forms from nothingness, which he usually used to create small towns only to destroy them afterwards to admire his powers.

Kaguya Ōtsutsuki Strikes
After Madara Uchiha successfully cast the Infinite Tsukuyomi, Dark Soushiki appeared before him and Team Kakashi, much to Madara's shock, having battled against Dark Soushiki's alternate counterpart and assumed he'd changed appearances and grew stronger, but Dark Soushiki explained about himself, and Madara became stunned at the fact that Dark Soushiki came from an alternate universe, before focusing on Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha once again. As Madara declared his dream of peace a reality, Black Zetsu, attached to Obito Uchiha's body, stabbed Madara through the chest. Madara was left shocked and horrified, remarking that Black Zetsu was his will with Black Zetsu berating Madara before Black Zetsu revealed that his will was that of Kaguya's much to Madara's horror. Black Zetsu then began covering Madara's body with his own malleable mass. As Sasuke and Naruto attempted to intervene to stop the revival from going ahead, Dark Soushiki stopped them before they were captured by hair-like appendages while Madara's body continued to expand, growing off of enormous reserves of chakra from the victims of the Infinite Tsukuyomi. His body growed till Black Zetsu's mass completely engulfed him, thereby completing Kaguya's revival who now stood in Madara's place, Kaguya having been successfully brought back into the modern ninja world.

Dark Soushiki became stunned at the sight of Kaguya, and declared her the "definition of beauty" before bowing down to her. Kaguya calmly praised Soushiki for his part in her revival, before turning her attentions to Naruto and Sasuke. Kakashi asked her about her motives, which led her to state that the world was her nursery and as such she wanted no more fighting to damage it any further. She then teleported Team 7, Dark Soushiki, and Obito Uchiha into an active volcano, telling them that she would have them disappear. Dark Soushiki calmly levitated and assumed victory, but was shocked to see that all of them had survived and returned to Kaguya's side afterwards and watched the battle as Kaguya told him to not interfere.

Soon after, Dark Soushiki became shocked to see his alternate counterpart arriving at and confronted him. Upon seeing Dark Soushiki, Soushiki exclaimed that his actions were regrettable and claimed that he'd never thought that the first living being he'd ever killed would be himself, before preparing to face them in battle. Not wanting to distract Kaguya, Dark Soushiki teleported himself and his counterpart to another one of Kaguya's dimensions before engaging him in battle.

While in the manga their battle was skipped, in the anime, however, Dark Soushiki managed to cause damage to Soushiki, with him stating it was the first time he'd suffered such damage, before the two engaged in a taijutsu battle. Suddenly, Dark Soushiki froze Soushiki inside ice, but Soushiki easily broke free. Dark Soushiki, however, quickly launched a powerful thin stream of lightning from inside his mouth, which pierced through Soushiki's shoulder, but he quickly recovered and countered by launching a series of Truth-Seeking Balls at him, but Dark Soushiki avoided them all rather easily. Soushiki claimed they were equally powerful and their battle could last for eternity because they were both unable to die. Soushiki sensed someone's chakra getting weaker and weaker and attempted to teleport to their location, but was stopped by Dark Soushiki.

Dark Soushiki claimed he would tear Soushiki apart, and which would unable him to regenerate. They continued battling until Dark Soushiki sensed Kaguya's chakra disappearing and teleported to her location, with Soushiki in pursuit. Arriving at her location, Dark Soushiki became shocked after seeing Kaguya being sealed away, alongside Black Zetsu, and exclaimed he would bring her back to life again someday, but was stunned to see Soushiki behind him, stating he'd have to change his plans, before sending Dark Soushiki to the new moon created, and have him sealed away alongside Kaguya and Black Zetsu, preventing them from ever being revived again.

Legacy
Its pratically impossible to assume the full extent of Dark Soushiki's powers. Being hailed as the only one who was equally powerful, if not stronger, than Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki, Soushiki was hailed by many as the Second Sage of the Six Paths, a title that Dark Soushiki believed he deserved, and hailed himself as superior than Hagoromo.

After his corruption and continuous rampages throughout the world, Dark Soushiki became the most feared individual in history, even more than Kaguya Ōtsutsuki as she was largely forgotten through time. Dark Soushiki became the first individual able to travel through universes by his own-created technique, although many people never truly knew this, and the only ones who know about this are Team Kakashi, Black Zetsu, Kaguya Ōtsutsuki and Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki.