Chapter 202 – Ōtsutsuki Hamura (Major Chapter)
"…This is—"
Deep within the moon, at the ancestral tomb where generations of lunar Ōtsutsuki lay buried, a hazy figure quietly emerged.
An old man, with horns upon his head and pallid Byakugan eyes, looked into the distance with deep confusion.
This was none other than Ōtsutsuki Hamura, brother of the Sage of Six Paths, and true founder of the moon's hidden world.
For ordinary lifeforms, death meant the end.
But for him—and for his elder brother—it was different. Even after their mortal forms perished, their souls endured.
And now, he had been awakened… stirred by the eruption of an immense chakra deep within the moon.
That chakra—
"…Why does it carry Mother's presence?!"
Long ago, he and his brother had nearly destroyed the shinobi world itself in their struggle to seal away their mother. Even as disembodied spirits, they had remained vigilant ever since.
Yet as Hamura peered closer, something was amiss.
The combatant he sensed was neither his mother… nor her "Kāma."
Hamura was no stranger to the technique of the Kāma. But this youth bore no such mark. His power was not borrowed—it surged from within himself.
"…What in the world is going on?"
Confusion clouded Hamura's spirit. Perhaps it was because he had only just awakened… or perhaps because the sight before him truly defied reason.
Could this boy be one of the "Heavenly Ones"—their ancient enemies?
After all, their mother had tried to weaponize humanity—binding them to the God Tree and creating White Zetsu—precisely to fight against those beings from beyond the stars.
But no. This young man's chakra felt like their own bloodline, not that of the outsiders.
Most of all—his eyes.
The Tenseigan. Hamura knew this power well. Formed by combining the power he had left behind with the Byakugan of his descendants.
No "Heavenly One" could ever wield it.
"Then… he is one of my descendants? Or…"
The more he thought, the less it made sense. Finally, Hamura sighed. Best to watch carefully for now. If necessary, he would alert his brother.
---
While Hamura pondered, Kitagawa Gen stood before the colossal Tenseigan.
"At last… it's mine."
He still felt that invisible gaze upon him, but his attention was fixed on the prize.
Besides, even if someone was spying, this was their domain, not his. And more importantly—he didn't sense any hostility.
If he had, he wouldn't have been so calm.
"Still… I don't like being watched."
Rubbing his chin, he muttered to himself. The figure's strength was unknown—perhaps unfathomable, like the Sage of Six Paths… or perhaps only a lingering spirit.
"I recall… when Urashiki came to the moon in the future, Hamura did nothing at all."
He shook the thought aside. No point dwelling on it. He had already reached the Tenseigan.
"The Tenseigan…"
Staring up at the giant eye, he couldn't help but feel awe. This was the very purpose of his coming here.
Placing a hand upon it, he poured chakra in.
The dim, fading light within the Tenseigan slowly returned to brilliance.
Its unfocused gaze grew sharp once more, clarity restored.
"As expected… this eye was formed from countless Byakugan of the main family. The scale is… staggering."
As he exerted control, he could faintly sense the dynamics of the entire moon. Not only its interior—he could even perceive its exterior.
More than that… he could feel the trajectory of the moon itself. He could control its orbit.
"…Incredible."
Gen's voice carried genuine admiration. Despite centuries of misuse by the Ōtsutsuki, the Tenseigan still brimmed with unfathomable might under his chakra.
"In that case…"
His chakra flared more violently, and the Tenseigan resonated in perfect harmony, bending entirely to his will.
He hardly had to force it—it obeyed as though it had always been his.
"If you wish to watch, then I'll give you a spectacle worth watching."
Golden chakra blazed into the heavens. Invisible tremors rippled outward, spreading across the sky itself.
---
Meanwhile, in the Hidden Leaf.
"Are all our jōnin assembled?"
Sarutobi Hiruzen massaged his aching temples. Looking over the gathered shinobi, he spoke gravely.
"You've all seen the disturbances on the moon. We don't know what's happening up there, but those meteors could cause catastrophic damage. I want preparations made immediately. Understood?"
"Yes, Hokage-sama!"
Every jōnin nodded. The events unfolding on the moon were beyond comprehension. But they knew one thing—if meteors fell unchecked, the consequences would be devastating.
Konoha was no stranger to such threats.
Not long ago, a meteor had come crashing down outside the village—aimed at a giant beast. Only intervention from Gen—and the redirection of the aftermath—had spared them destruction.
Otherwise, Konoha might no longer exist.
"Gen… this time, we'll have to rely on you again."
Hiruzen turned to face Gen's clone, sighing helplessly.
"The fall points are uncertain, but I'll have Flying Thunder God markers set in advance. When the time comes—"
"I understand. I'll take a team and respond."
Gen's clone nodded. Still, inwardly, he felt a twinge of embarrassment.
Because he knew—this entire mess was his doing.
"…Damn those Ōtsutsuki."
He cursed silently. Still, he reassured himself the danger would be manageable.
But then—
"Hm?"
He looked up toward the moon, raising a finger to the sky with feigned puzzlement.
"Everyone… look. What's that?"
"What is it?"
The Leaf shinobi, already tense, instantly followed his gaze.
And in the next heartbeat—their eyes went wide.
The meteors streaking through the heavens, blazing with fire, suddenly stopped.
As though seized by an invisible hand, they froze in midair.
And then—
With a strange pulse of chakra—
The meteors turned back.
Drifting silently, impossibly, back toward the very place from which they had come.
Countless fragments of stone surged upward toward the moon, glittering like scattered stars across the heavens.
Moments later, the once "chaotic" sky returned to an unnatural calm.
The full moon still hung bright and pure, its silver light spilling gently across the earth.
But the meteor shower—those blazing tails streaking across the night—was gone, as though the scene had never happened at all.
"...What in the world is going on?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi stared in shock, his very understanding of reality shaken.
The gathered shinobi exchanged bewildered glances. None of them could comprehend what had just transpired.
Among the Hyūga clan, heads tilted skyward as well. There was something strangely familiar about the energy that lingered in the air.
For Hinata and Hanabi especially, that resonance struck deep in their bones.
And it wasn't just them—throughout the entire shinobi world, every person who had witnessed the event was left confused and unsettled.
Even Black Zetsu, lurking unseen within Konoha, found himself at a rare loss.
"The moon... what exactly happened to the moon?"
This question echoed silently across every heart in the shinobi world.
Days passed. Investigations continued, but no one found an answer.
Meanwhile, high above on the moon, Kitagawa Gen calmly leafed through the vast archives of the Ōtsutsuki clan.
Though internal wars had nearly destroyed them, the lunar branch family and main family alike had preserved their thousand-year inheritance—texts, records, and secrets spanning back to the dawn of shinobi history.
Which meant this library contained knowledge of incalculable value. Perhaps even the essence of truths lost for millennia.
"These records... they'll be useful. And they'll buy time while the Tenseigan recovers its strength."
The Tenseigan had already expended a massive amount of chakra, especially after Gen had used it to "repair the moon" and "save the shinobi world."
It was a miracle the eye hadn't shattered completely.
If he was to keep drawing power from it, he'd need to be careful—let it recover first.
"Besides..." Gen's eyes narrowed. "I need to find a way to deal with Hamura's constant spying."
Being stared at day after day had grown irritating. The old man never revealed himself, never spoke, only observed—like a researcher studying a specimen.
That was a game Gen had no patience for.
And now that the Tenseigan was regaining its luster, it was time to act.
"I never thought shinobi history was this twisted..."
Inside Hamura's shrine, Gen closed one of the ancient volumes, unable to stop himself from sighing in awe.
"So the Uchiha and Senju... they were brothers all along."
One of his shadow clones nodded, but quickly frowned.
"Still... isn't it odd how much they resemble the Hyūga?"
"Probably some branch family that wandered down to the earth," another clone said offhandedly. "Not like they could've found their way back up here anyway. Without the Tenseigan's guidance, we wouldn't have made it either."
Gen stroked his chin. "Strange, though. The texts say the Sage of Six Paths founded Ninshū to guide humanity. So why did he allow his two sons to tear each other apart instead of stopping them?"
"Good question," mused another clone. "Could there have been a purpose behind it?"
Indra and Asura's endless conflict... Gen himself struggled to define it. But he felt sure of one thing—if the Sage truly wished to stop them, he could have.
Yet the war raged for a thousand years, reincarnations locked in ceaseless battle.
Perhaps... intentionally so?
The clones exchanged glances, then one spoke deliberately, playing into Gen's staged performance:
"What if the Sage wanted them to fight? To forge the shinobi world into a weapon against the so-called 'Heavenly Ones'?"
The idea quickly snowballed.
"A brutal plan... but it makes sense. War sharpens chakra control, hones battle instinct, and breeds strong shinobi. Entire generations raised in blood and conflict—prepared for the day the true enemy arrives."
"Even if countless lives were sacrificed, the world itself would grow stronger. A cruel logic... but a logic nonetheless."
One clone even sneered: "And what of the Hyūga, left on the moon? Doesn't it make sense they were stationed here as sentinels? The first line of defense against invaders from beyond the stars."
Gen listened in silence, letting the theories spiral. His real goal was simple: bait Hamura, or perhaps even the Sage himself, into reacting.
And sure enough, in the Pure Land—
Ōtsutsuki Hamura appeared, his expression dark with unease.
He had been observing Kitagawa Gen all this time, puzzled by the boy's actions.
The Tenseigan repaired the moon. The shinobi world spared from destruction. Days spent poring over books, not chasing his mother's will.
None of it aligned with the threat he had expected.
And now... these words.
Could it be true? That his elder brother, the Sage of Six Paths, had orchestrated everything from the very beginning?
The thought sent chills through him.
"Was... my brother a genius after all?"
For if that theory was true, then the cruelty of it was matched only by its brilliance. A plan not just to protect the shinobi world, but to ensure its survival against the heavens themselves.
But the doubts gnawed at him. He needed answers.
"Hamura, why are you here?"
The voice came suddenly.
Hamura turned—and there floated his brother, Hagoromo, gazing at him with faint curiosity.
"Brother, you—"
"What is it? We've been apart so long, and now you can barely speak?" The Sage chuckled, though confusion flickered across his face.
Hamura swallowed, torn. "I... I was just thinking. About Indra. About Asura. About... your plan."
Hagoromo's smile froze.
"My plan...?"
"You let them fight. For a thousand years. So the world would be ready, didn't you?"
The Sage's face stiffened further.
"And when I came to the moon—was that, too, part of your design?"
"..."
For a long moment, Hagoromo simply stared at his brother, utterly bewildered.
What was Hamura even talking about?
But before he could answer, both brothers suddenly looked up.
Even the Pure Land sky could not veil what they felt.
The moon's shadow shimmered before their vision.
And upon it—
Kitagawa Gen sat cross-legged, his body wrapped in radiant golden chakra. His aura was shifting, swelling, becoming something beyond human.
Then, with a thunderous pulse, his chakra erupted.
A brilliant azure light burst from within the moon, piercing the void of space itself.
Ancient, alien power radiated outward, echoing through the cosmos.
And before Gen's eyes, a familiar system screen appeared—
[Name: Kitagawa Gen]
[Bloodline: Ōtsutsuki Clan (Development: 58%)]