Everything was soon prepared.
Ōtsutsuki Riku sat there with vacant eyes, mechanically answering Hanzo's questions.
Standing nearby, Hattori Murakami and Yakushi Nono listened with growing dread.
The origins of the Ōtsutsuki…
The hidden secrets of the shinobi world…
The clan that lived on the moon…
The shell of the Ten-Tails…
An ancestral doctrine that spoke of world annihilation…
By the end, both of them felt as though they had just listened to an outlandish myth.
Yet Hanzo's grave expression made it clear—this might all be real.
"One last question," Hanzo said calmly.
"Where is the passage to the moon? And how do you return?"
"The passage to the moon… is… west of the Land of Fire… the ruins in the Forest of Wood…"
Ōtsutsuki Riku spoke in broken fragments.
"Our way back… reverse… summoning… and… teleportation. Using a parent–child sensory technique… to transmit information…
The clan head confirms our position… and then summons us back."
Hanzo's eyes sharpened.
Blue chakra flames ignited on the five fingers of his right hand.
Each flame bore a single character:
Metal. Wood. Water. Fire. Earth.
"Contract Sealing."
Tadpole-like sealing symbols rapidly spread across Riku's body, forming a complete jutsu array and severing his summoning contract. Only then did Hanzo continue.
"Explain the teleportation."
"Using the power of the Tenseigan… directly guiding us back. But… it requires extremely precise location data."
"I see."
Having obtained the information he wanted, Hanzo fell silent in thought.
"Looks like my workload just got heavier. Troublesome."
Noticing the expressions of the two beside him, he glanced over.
"Why do you both look like that?"
"…Lord Hanzo," Murakami said hesitantly,
"Do you… really believe what he said?"
Even after illusion-based interrogation, Murakami still found it hard to accept.
"The sky won't fall as long as there are tall people holding it up. What are you afraid of?"
What Hanzo meant was that the souls of Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo and Ōtsutsuki Hamura still existed, still watching over the shinobi world. If something truly catastrophic happened, they would intervene.
But Murakami and Nono didn't know that.
They instinctively assumed Hanzo was referring to himself.
As long as the so-called Demigod of the Rain still stood, what was there to fear?
"No wonder you became the leader… that kind of presence is truly admirable."
"???"
Hanzo decided not to dwell on it. They probably misunderstood something—but that wasn't important.
What really concerned him was someone else.
Uchiha Madara.
His Rinnegan had already awakened.
And the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path had been taken.
While thinking, Hanzo casually gouged out Ōtsutsuki Riku's eyes.
Byakugan—at this point in history, they were extremely rare commodities.
And now there was a ready-made pair.
"Anyone want one?" Hanzo asked.
"They're pretty useful for reconnaissance."
After all, in the shinobi world, eyes were basically plug-and-play equipment.
"…Lord Hanzo, what about Konoha—"
"We've already stolen bloodlines. Do you really think we're worried about more trouble?"
"…In that case, maybe leave one for the medical division. It should be extremely useful."
"Fine. Leave one for them. I'll take the other."
"And his secret techniques too. The Ōtsutsuki's development of the Byakugan is far beyond Konoha's.
There was that technique that directly interfered with mental activity via the Byakugan—and that puppet-control technique. It's clearly not ordinary puppetry."
"Continue the interrogation. He's useless now."
"No matter what methods you use, squeeze everything out of him. This is his final value."
"All of this information is classified at the highest level. No leaks."
"Yes."
Hanzo turned and left the interrogation room. The rest could be entrusted to them.
He needed to head to the hospital for an eye transplant.
"So many problems… the Ōtsutsuki, Madara… and Black Zetsu too."
Even he hadn't noticed it himself—when he first reincarnated into this era, his attitude had been one of resentment and apathy.
But now, influenced by Hanzo's original memories, his mindset and way of thinking had quietly begun to change.
"If an Ōtsutsuki vanishes from the shinobi world, the ones on the moon will definitely grow suspicious."
"Should I go up there and spread poison everywhere first?"
"Still… that ancestor statue is a real headache.
If I run into someone using Tenseigan Chakra Mode, I'd probably die."
Suddenly, he slapped his forehead.
"How did I forget about this?"
He pulled out a scroll.
Flying Thunder God Technique.
"What if I prepare a hundred thousand explosive tags for the Ōtsutsuki?
Bomb them once, teleport away… wait a while, then bomb them again?"
"…Still, this technique is pretty complex. It'll take time."
"Let's put the Ōtsutsuki aside for now."
"If I can catch their main-family vs branch-family civil war later on, maybe I can pick up some scraps."
---
Elsewhere — The Land of Earth Battlefield
The Iwagakure army and the Kumogakure forces had already entered a tense standoff.
Suddenly—
A surge of crimson chakra erupted from the Iwa formation, soaring into the sky and forming a gigantic red ape.
Black-and-red chakra gathered before its mouth as a pitch-black sphere rapidly expanded.
"Lightning Style: Lightning Straight!"
The Third Raikage transformed into a streak of blue lightning, charging straight toward it.
Lightning chakra violently stimulated his body, granting him explosive speed.
"Hell Stab!"
"Earth Style: Mud Wall!"
Iwa shinobi slammed their hands onto the ground.
Hundreds—no, thousands—of earth walls erupted upward, blocking the Raikage's path.
"Useless."
A flash of lightning.
Every earth wall shattered into fragments.
Not a single layer could slow him down—even for an instant.
Before the Third Raikage's spear-like thrust, all defense was meaningless.
But just as he reached the midpoint—
A ring of yellow-brown light suddenly rose around him.
Sparks flew as his Hell Stab collided with the barrier, yet he couldn't advance even a single step.
"What?!"
Sealing Barrier: Earth Mountain Barrier.
A portion of Iwagakure's original defensive barrier had been dismantled and repurposed here—and its effectiveness was undeniable.
The barrier rapidly sealed shut, forming a yellow-brown hemispherical dome.
A flash of white light—
And the Third Raikage vanished from the battlefield.
Everything within the barrier was sealed into the separate space it created—
Earth Mountain.
"ROOOOAR—!"
Amid furious roars, the Four-Tails' Tailed Beast Ball finished forming and was fired straight toward the Kumogakure army.
What followed was the thunderous charge and battle cries of the Iwagakure forces.
"Kill—!"
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