The Tenseigan chakra was one of the ultimate forces that reigned above this shinobi world.
Its most direct manifestation was that, through Tenseigan Chakra Mode, one could step directly into the Six Paths level and summon the Truth-Seeking Orbs.
To Satsuki, the Truth-Seeking Orbs were, in essence, symbols of authority.
When the extraterrestrial Ōtsutsuki used the Ten Tails to transform this world's natural energy, they divided that energy into levels of authority according to their own interests. As administrators—or, rather, as self-proclaimed gods of this world—the Ōtsutsuki naturally set their own bloodline and power as the highest authority.
All other forms of chakra manifestation, aside from senjutsu which derived from untouched natural energy, were invariably set far below the Ōtsutsuki bloodline in authority, so long as they were born of power once processed by the Ten Tails' Divine Tree.
The proof of this theory lay in the nine tailed beasts.
At their core, the tailed beasts were merely collections of chakra, and within this world's natural hierarchy of authority, they occupied a lower level. No matter how vast their power, when faced with the Uchiha clan's Sharingan, the Uzumaki clan's sealing arts, or the Sage Clan's artifacts, they were easily suppressed.
In the past, Satsuki had conducted an experiment with Gokuma Senju, suppressing Gyūki with her chakra. Even then, she had only needed to draw on a fraction of her power to completely overpower the Eight Tails.
Similarly, Uchiha Tajima, with his Mangekyō Sharingan, could indirectly manipulate a portion of Kurama's chakra.
This was not a matter of sheer strength, but of natural authority.
Through her observations, Satsuki concluded that this authority was determined by two factors: the closeness of one's bloodline to the Ōtsutsuki, and one's own individual strength. Together, these two aspects established the level of authority.
Thus, the Truth-Seeking Orbs symbolized one who had become the highest authority in this world.
Yet the power of the Truth-Seeking Orbs carried an unmistakable air of bullying the weak: they were designed not primarily to counter other Six Paths beings, but to suppress all below that level. These black spheres contained the force of all things and nothingness. For anyone lacking Six Paths power, contact with them meant instant erasure into nothingness. For those who possessed Six Paths power, they could be touched freely. Their form could shift at will, transforming into various weapons, and their inner composition allowed for dazzling effects.
This design clearly existed to enforce a hierarchical order.
"The only one within the Six Paths tier who still wielded truly overwhelming force was likely Kaguya, who had reached the so-called 'Kekkei Mōra' level."
As she continued to pour Tenseigan chakra into the bone spear suspected to be transforming into All-Killing Ash Bones, Satsuki observed the color of its surface gradually darkening with time.
It was indeed transforming into All-Killing Ash Bones—and at an alarming speed.
"It seems that within this lies not only a power of annihilation, but also a mechanism that spontaneously absorbs external energy."
Satsuki realized the color shift on the bone spear's surface was directly tied to the annihilation force. Her Six Paths-level Tenseigan chakra was serving as nourishment for its self-propelled growth.
As the spear transformed, a profound annihilation force began to stir upon its surface, like the movements of a fetus.
"It seems certain now—the Shikotsumyaku is a degraded form of the All-Killing Ash Bones. The reason their clan members die the further they develop the bloodline limit must be linked to this spontaneous advancement, wherein the Shikotsumyaku absorbs the chakra of its wielder."
In the shinobi world, chakra was the product of fusing one's spiritual and physical energies, inseparable from one's life itself.
Thus, the self-advancement of the Shikotsumyaku, for the Kaguya clan whose bloodline was already diluted, was nothing less than a death sentence.
To push the ordinary Shikotsumyaku bloodline limit to evolve into the Kekkei Mōra level of the All-Killing Ash Bones required absorbing an astronomical amount of chakra. Anyone who understood the gulf between the two would recognize just how terrifying the required energy truly was.
The Shikotsumyaku alone could not be broken even by Shukaku's ultimate shield.
The All-Killing Ash Bones, however, could slay a Six Paths-level being outright. Even for Satsuki as she was now, a single strike would mean only one outcome—death.
The gap between the two was of another dimension entirely.
Yet if this bloodline were truly so overwhelming—so much so that its natural evolution could annihilate the Kaguya clan's geniuses—then Suzuki Kaguya's development of a so-called inhibitor for the bloodline sickness was highly suspicious.
"The Shikotsumyaku's bloodline sickness was something even Orochimaru in later generations could not overcome. And Suzuki Kaguya? Could he really have created a medicine strong enough to resist such a force?"
And yet, Suzuki's very existence made Satsuki hesitate. If he had no method of suppressing his Shikotsumyaku's advancement, he could never have pushed the bloodline to such extremes.
To uncover the mechanism, experimentation was unavoidable.
With this thought, Satsuki drew out the vial Maei Kaguya had given her. Uncorking it, she used a dropper to place several drops of the liquid onto the bone spear.
Moments later, a strange phenomenon occurred.
Through the Tenseigan's microscopic perception, Satsuki saw the inhibitor rapidly spread upon contact with the evolving Shikotsumyaku bone. The force of absorption began to diminish at a visible rate.
Soon, on the spear's surface, a thin cellular membrane was generated by its stem cells, covering the entire bone.
As this layer oxidized and solidified, both the absorbing force and the faint annihilation energy were sealed away, while the once-gray bone reverted back to white.
When the color shift was complete, the absorption force was gone entirely.
Exiting Tenseigan Chakra Mode in deep thought, Satsuki began to analyze what she had observed.
"It seems this so-called bloodline sickness inhibitor is, in fact, a blocker of cellular signal transmission. It disrupts the Shikotsumyaku's natural self-advancing signals and creates a protective membrane on the surface, preventing the annihilation force from harming the user."
She instructed a puppet to record her observations and deductions into the research log.
But how exactly had this inhibitor itself come into existence?
Though Maei Kaguya had described the supposed manufacturing process, after witnessing the phenomenon through the Tenseigan, Satsuki realized that the principle behind it was far beyond what the Kaguya clan could have achieved.
To systematically research at such a level would have required immense prior study, consuming vast manpower, resources, and wealth. It was not something that could have gone unnoticed.
"Or… was this inhibitor simply discovered by chance? The product of countless trials and errors, stumbled upon by accident?"
That possibility could not be dismissed. But Satsuki decided she would confirm it directly.
After resealing the bone spear into a scroll, she moved with several jonin puppets in escort toward the castle's puppet repair division.
Since Satsuki had only puppets and a handful of human subordinates, the repair division also served as the medical ward. And there, clinging faintly to life, was Suzuki Kaguya.
The puppet repair division was located in a relatively secluded part of the fortress, usually with few guards. Its energy supply was connected directly to the giant Tenseigan.
By converting the endless chakra of the Ryūmyaku, most of the maintenance here was automated.
The division housed mechanical arms and scanning devices adapted to puppet structures. Nearby, in a temperature-controlled warehouse, dozens of wooden crates were neatly stacked, sealed with wax, each containing spare parts.
Here, puppet mechanical damage, worn parts, and minor upgrades could all be handled efficiently. Scrapped components were sent by conveyor to the lower-level disposal plant, sorted by type, and processed accordingly.
And that was only part of the repair division's functions.
In more hidden sections, there were facilities for extracting shinobi combat memories, processing the data, and programming puppet AI.
In practice, this meant teaching puppets ninjutsu, genjutsu, taijutsu, and other specialized counters according to their classification.
They could be used not only for combat but also for production. As someone from a modern world, Satsuki firmly believed in the creed: "Science and technology are the primary productive force."
Of course, the process of achieving this was far from gentle.
For the shinobi used as raw material, having their combat experiences forcibly extracted from their brains was anything but pleasant.
It was no exaggeration to say that the technology in just this one room of the fortress already surpassed the entire outside shinobi world by an unimaginable margin.
If she wished, it would not take long for Satsuki to field a massive puppet army capable of trampling the whole shinobi world.
The system had once suggested it.
At the time, Satsuki's reply was:
"You're right. It wouldn't be difficult for me now." As she flipped through an experimental record, marking notes with her pen, she responded calmly in her mind: "However, I refuse."
"This would waste time and serve no purpose."
She closed the record book and, almost absentmindedly, cast a glance at the system.
"It would prove nothing except the stupidity of whoever suggested it."
System: …You dare insult me again?
The subject was dropped there. Whether or not this choice was worth celebrating for the world at large, no one could say.
...
And as the only prisoner in this place—
Suzuki Kaguya was confined in a cell built specifically for him.
His body was bound in a cross-shape against a white board, covered in black sealing scripts. Some suppressed his chakra flow to prevent activating the Shikotsumyaku, while others were trigger seals designed to keep him from escaping. For example, if he left the room, a space-time jutsu would immediately return him.
When Satsuki arrived and saw Suzuki still unconscious, she frowned slightly, then ordered a puppet to wake him.
The puppet drifted before him, forming rapid hand seals.
"Water Release: Water Wave."
A stream of water splashed across Suzuki's face. The force was well controlled—enough to sting, but not to harm.
The shock of cold jolted Suzuki, and his awareness finally returned.
After a long sleep or coma, a person's vision was always blurred upon waking. Though he could not see clearly, the pain coursing through his body reminded Suzuki that he was still alive.
"You're awake?"
Satsuki watched as the white-haired youth's pupils gradually adjusted to normal size. She then took out the vial and held it before him.
The moment his blurred vision fell upon the vial, an overwhelming killing intent burst from his body.
This vial was far too important to the Kaguya clan—it must never fall into another's hands. Though his condition was dire, Suzuki was prepared to stake his life to seize it back.
That killing intent endured—until his vision cleared enough to see the face of the one holding it.
Immediately, the killing intent vanished.
"I thought you would throw yourself at me regardless of the cost," Satsuki said calmly. "It seems you are far more rational than I imagined, clansman of the Kaguya."
"..."
Suzuki's reply was silence. As a shinobi, he knew all too well what capture meant. And he had already witnessed this woman's overwhelming power firsthand.
"Silent?"
Satsuki was unfazed as Suzuki turned his head away.
Retracting the vial, she said, "That's not a wise move. I have a dozen ways to rip what I need from your head. I chose to ask you only out of consideration for that boy."
At these words, her sharp perception noted a slight change in his heartbeat and pulse.
She pressed further: "Do you know why you are still alive?"
These words made Suzuki recall that boy who had always followed him. At last, he turned his head back to face the woman before him.
It wasn't the first time he had seen her appearance, yet even now her beauty struck him. Draped in a short kimono that revealed the smooth lines of her figure, her presence was even more alluring.
Every word he knew to describe splendor could be piled upon her without excess.
But when his eyes met Satsuki's golden Tenseigan, a profound, soul-piercing depth surged within him, a lofty aloofness that looked down upon all things.
"You…"
Suzuki stared blankly into those eyes. They were not unfamiliar to him. Once, he himself had worn the same gaze.
From the moment he awakened the Shikotsumyaku as a child, he had borne his clan's scorn and his enemies' fear.
Yet unlike his clansmen, who reveled in war's frenzy, his isolation had given him more time and space to think.
Battle. Eat. Solitude. Thought. Then battle again. Eat again. Think again.
Day after day, year after year—he grew accustomed to fighting, accustomed to eating, and accustomed to pondering: Why do I fight? Who am I?
This way of life made his thinking diverge further from the Kaguya clan.
As his strength grew, so did his status. Until one day, another small village fell beneath his clan's slaughter as always.
But that battle was different. The previous clan leader had died, and the others pressed the symbol of leadership into his hand, declaring him their strongest.
He had looked around at the frenzied faces, the eyes glowing blood-red with bloodlust, the mouths ceaselessly chanting "Kill! Kill! Kill!"
And in that moment, he could no longer avoid a truth he had always buried: the Kaguya clan was a family that lived only for battle. Only in battle did they find "the meaning of life." Only in bloodshed did they feel their existence.
But he was not like them.
Suzuki realized then that he was not the same kind of creature. He had no kin. He was a monster. A monster destined for solitude.
From that day forward, his eyes changed. Everything around him ceased to matter. Nothing was worth concern. Everyone became just a symbol.
And today, in this woman's eyes, he saw the same gaze.
But mingled within hers were things he lacked. Things missing from himself.
This realization planted something new amidst his death-seeking resolve.
"I am still alive because my bloodline has undergone some kind of change."
Satsuki's expression did not shift. She simply waited for him to continue.
In that moment, Suzuki's thoughts raced endlessly before he finally answered: "You need my help. And only I can provide it. But in exchange, I want to know one thing."
Hearing this, Satsuki narrowed her golden eyes slightly. She did not say anything like, 'What right do you have to bargain with me?' Instead, she followed his sudden shift in attitude and asked, "What is it?"
"Someone like you… can you tell me, does life have meaning?"