The Otsutsuki clan on the moon had sent people to the shinobi world?
Rei Kaguya truly had not seriously imagined that possibility before.
Among his few memories related to the Otsutsuki on the moon, Toneri Otsutsuki, who obtained the Tenseigan by taking Hanabi Hyuga's eyes, was actually a character of roughly the same generation as Naruto Uzumaki. Now, when Naruto Uzumaki had only just been born not long ago, Toneri Otsutsuki should still be a child, far from growing to the point where he could use the Tenseigan to drive the moon into falling.
And if they had not reached the step of driving the moon down onto Earth to complete the destruction and creation of the world, then the Otsutsuki on the moon actually had no reason at all to interfere in the shinobi world's conflicts and wars…
Unless someone summoned out the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path—the shell of the Ten-Tails originally sealed inside the moon—and used it as a tool of war, exposing it to the eyes of the moon's Otsutsuki.
But the method they used this time—ambushing the Hyuga clan grounds, severely injuring Hiashi Hyuga, and stealing his Byakugan—did not look like an operation to retrieve the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path no matter how one looked at it.
Then what exactly was their goal?
"I have a question. I wonder whether Lord Hizashi is willing to answer it for me?"
After thinking for a while, Rei Kaguya raised his head, looked at Hizashi Hyuga with his white eyes, and asked in a low voice.
"This concerns the safety and survival of the entire Hyuga clan, even all those who possess the Byakugan. As long as I know the answer, I will explain it to you with all my strength."
Hizashi Hyuga, who had long understood the severity of the matter and had already made full mental preparations on the way here, nodded and answered without hesitation.
"Then… before you came here, did the people of the Hyuga main family tell you what the true purpose of the Caged Bird Curse Mark is?"
Rei Kaguya threw out a probing topic, intending to use Hizashi Hyuga's answer to verify the judgment he and Orochimaru had previously made. After Hizashi Hyuga froze for a moment, he smiled bitterly and sighed.
"What you are asking should be the purpose of the Caged Bird Curse Mark when it was first created, not the purpose it has reflected countless times upon us branch family members over the following hundreds of years, correct?"
"Correct."
With the stakes so high, Rei Kaguya had no intention of concealing anything. He pressed his ten fingers together and said in an unruffled tone,
"The Caged Bird is a powerful Curse Mark that can ignore distance to kill the person branded with it and completely destroy their Byakugan, ensuring that the caster's Byakugan cannot be taken by other hostile forces. But the Hyuga clan is not a ninja clan particularly skilled in sealing techniques like the Uzumaki clan. Your ancestors painstakingly created such a powerful formula as the Caged Bird Curse Mark, yet only used it to maintain the main family's authority and suppress the branch family's power… To be honest, that is quite strange."
"At the beginning, it was not like that…"
Hizashi Hyuga's expression sank. He let out a long sigh, sorrowful and unwilling.
"In the beginning, the Caged Bird was ultimately created to protect the Hyuga clansmen who possessed the Byakugan from having their eyes taken by the Otsutsuki on the moon, who had suddenly gone mad… Although it is a very tragic and shameful method, the fact that the Hyuga clan has been able to exist safely until today also means we cannot completely deny the role the Caged Bird played in it."
As expected.
The war between the Otsutsuki main family and branch family on the moon had affected the Hyuga clan left behind in the shinobi world, causing the already obsessive and deranged branch family to notice these fellow clansmen living on Earth who possessed the Byakugan.
In order to complete the treasured weapon, the Tenseigan, that could fully defeat the Otsutsuki main family as soon as possible, the Otsutsuki branch family turned their blades toward the Hyuga clan, who had nothing to do with this dispute at all, attempting to harvest enough Byakugan from them to complete the giant Tenseigan.
Although this plan was ultimately forced to stop because the Hyuga ancestors gritted their teeth and created the insane Curse Mark known as the Caged Bird, it also planted the seeds for the increasingly intense conflict and hatred between the Hyuga main family and branch family in the future.
"Another story where an idea born from good intentions was ultimately corrupted and eroded by reality."
Rei Kaguya shook his head, then said to Hizashi Hyuga in a calm tone,
"I roughly understand the course of events. Leave the person who attacked and heavily injured Lord Hiashi to me. However, as payment, I hope to receive blood and cellular tissue from a main family member more outstanding than Hyuga Makoto from the Hyuga clan. It would be best if I were allowed to specify the target myself… Do you have the authority to make that decision, Lord Hizashi?"
"…I need to discuss it with the clan elders."
Hizashi Hyuga shook his head as if he had expected this.
"But considering their current state of panic, like startled birds without any sense of direction, the probability that they agree to your request should still be fairly high."
"Then while I trace the attacker's movements, I will wait for the good news you bring, Lord Hizashi."
Rei Kaguya smiled and nodded at Hizashi Hyuga.
…
Almost at the same time, inside a dark and deep underground cave that no ninjutsu could detect.
"Obito… I have brought a topic you may be interested in."
Black Zetsu's figure slowly emerged from the shadows that covered everything, speaking to Obito Uchiha, who sat atop the head of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path and was attempting to use his own chakra to drive and command it.
"What news?"
Obito Uchiha opened his eyes and asked in a somewhat unfriendly tone.
"Someone attacked Konoha while it was being rebuilt."
Black Zetsu deliberately kept him in suspense, only lowering his voice and speaking the insignificant portion of the intelligence he had brought back.
"We are not the only ones eyeing the Land of Fire's resources. Now that Konoha is injured, there will naturally be plenty of people wanting to probe whether it still has the qualifications to stand at the peak of the shinobi world, and whether it still has the qualifications to be counted among the Five Great Shinobi Villages… Is something like that worth you coming here specifically to report to me?"
"No. You only think that because you did not see the attacker's appearance."
Black Zetsu recalled the image he had accidentally captured while monitoring Konoha—especially that figure with white eyes, white hair, white clothing, and many magatama-shaped patterns on his clothes. A surge of intense hatred immediately rose in his heart toward the "elder brother" who had once betrayed his mother, Otsutsuki Kaguya—Otsutsuki Hamura.
At the same time, the appearance of Hamura's descendants also served as a reminder to Black Zetsu, who had not seen them for many years.
On the road to resurrecting his mother, his enemies were not only the descendants of the Sage of Six Paths, Otsutsuki Hagoromo.
"Is he special?"
Obito Uchiha narrowed his eyes. The blood-red Mangekyo Sharingan in his eye socket slowly began rotating.
"According to what I have learned from the Uchiha Stone Tablet and certain ancient texts left behind by the clan… that person possesses many traits extremely similar to the legendary Sage of Six Paths."
Black Zetsu restrained his slightly turbulent emotions and dutifully played the role of being the manifestation of Madara Uchiha's will. After Obito Uchiha heard this deception, his tightly furrowed brows could not help relaxing slightly.
Traits similar to the Sage of Six Paths?
He sounded like someone with great observation and research value…
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