Ch.154 Ōtsutsuki Hamura's Request!

In the Land of Lightning, at the Cloud Thunder Gorge:

Swoosh.

A Hidden Cloud shinobi descended from the sky, landing in front of Killer Bee. Bowing slightly, he said, "Lord Killer Bee, Lord Raikage has sent a message requesting that you meet with him immediately!"

Killer Bee, who was holding a notebook and pondering his lyrics, bobbed his head to a rhythm. "Yo yo..."

The Cloud shinobi was exasperated, rubbing his temples. "Lord Killer Bee, this mission is of the utmost urgency. Lord Raikage has instructed that you move quickly and meet him at the designated location!"

"Got it, got it!" Killer Bee closed his notebook and stretched lazily.

The Cloud shinobi sighed in relief and continued, "Lady Yugito is leading a squad toward this location to rendezvous with you. Once you've met, you'll head out to join Lord Raikage."

Killer Bee's casual expression turned serious. "Yugito is part of this mission too?"

"Yes."

Killer Bee frowned slightly. "This isn't a war with the Hidden Leaf, is it?"

As he had been training in the Cloud Thunder Gorge, he hadn't kept up with the latest news from the shinobi world. So when he heard that both Raikage and two Jinchūriki, himself and Yugito, were involved in the operation, his mind immediately jumped to the possibility of war.

The Cloud shinobi quickly explained, "You misunderstand! This mission is to capture a member of the group called 'Akatsuki.'"

"Akatsuki?" Killer Bee blinked in confusion. "Why does my brother need to lead the mission to capture a member of some secret organization?"

The shinobi, responsible for relaying the message, handed Killer Bee a dossier on the Akatsuki. "Lord Killer Bee, this Akatsuki organization is no ordinary group. Lord Raikage just returned from the Five Kage Summit in the Hidden Leaf, where they discussed strategies to deal with this organization."

Killer Bee quickly skimmed through the dossier, his expression growing more serious.

Like many other high-ranking shinobi in the Five Great Villages, Killer Bee had never taken bounty hunter organizations too seriously. To him, they were like sewer rats—not difficult to handle, just annoying to deal with.

But after glancing over the Akatsuki's information, he realized that this "Akatsuki" wasn't an ordinary bounty hunter group at all—it was an alliance of S-rank criminals.

Many of its members were rogue shinobi from major villages, including infamous figures like Sasori of the Red Sand, rumored to have killed the Third Kazekage, and Uchiha Itachi, who massacred the entire Uchiha clan.

"No wonder my brother has to lead the mission!"

After this realization, Killer Bee no longer underestimated the mission.

Swoosh swoosh swoosh.

Moments later, with the sound of rushing wind, Yugito Nii, the Two-Tails Jinchūriki, arrived at the Cloud Thunder Gorge with her four-man squad.

As soon as Yugito landed, she called out briskly, "Killer Bee, are you ready?"

Killer Bee glanced at the three shinobi standing behind Yugito, his expression turning more serious.

These three were well-known elite shinobi from the Hidden Cloud.

Among them, Karui possessed the Storm Release Bloodline Limit and was an elite jōnin of the Hidden Cloud. The other two, Shi and Gessha, were also elite jōnin, one specializing in genjutsu, medical ninjutsu, and sensory skills, and the other possessing the Magnet Release Bloodline Limit.

Yugito's four-man squad, combined with the "AB" combo of the Raikage and Killer Bee, was a force strong enough to take down even a Kage!

The Cloud shinobi responsible for communication stepped forward to urge them, "Lord Killer Bee, Lady Yugito, Lord Raikage is waiting for you both in the Land of the Moon. Please meet with him as soon as possible!"

Killer Bee replied, "Let's go!"

"Right!" Yugito nodded without hesitation and dashed off, with Killer Bee following close behind.

In an instant, the two Jinchūriki, along with their three elite jōnin companions, became black dots in the sky as they quickly disappeared from the Cloud Thunder Gorge.

...

Meanwhile, wandering through an abandoned town on the moon, Neji stared in disbelief. "I can't believe there's a town of this scale on the moon."

Shinji was equally amazed.

He had known that the Ōtsutsuki clan lived on the moon and that their numbers were significant, but standing amidst the ruins of a town they once inhabited still filled him with awe.

Suddenly, Neji stopped and picked up a rusted, broken kunai from the ground. "Even kunai forged from steel have completely corroded. It seems this place has been abandoned for a long time. But it's strange—why would such a large town be deserted?"

Shinji replied, "Look around you."

Neji looked around carefully, observing the surroundings. After a while, he exclaimed, "It looks like... a battle took place here? No, wait! You said the moon only had the Ōtsutsuki clan. So why would there be a war? Who were they fighting?"

Shinji remained silent.

"Could it be...?" Neji seemed to realize something and stared at Shinji. "Could the Ōtsutsuki clan on the moon have had a civil war?"

Shinji explained, "The Ōtsutsuki clan on the moon, like your Hyuga clan, also has a division between the main family and the branch family. However, there is no 'Caged Bird' seal here, so the main family couldn't completely suppress the branch family. Over time, their conflicts escalated until a war broke out."

Neji asked urgently, "What happened then?"

Shinji continued, "At first, the main family was stronger than the branch family. But in order to win the war, the branch family sacrificed many of their members to gather all their Byakugan and create a giant Tenseigan. With it, they swept through the battlefield and annihilated the main family."

"W-what!?"

Neji was shocked. He had never imagined that the civil war within the Ōtsutsuki clan on the moon would be so brutal and bloody, ending with one side being completely wiped out.

He looked around again.

At that moment, the ruined town before him seemed like a giant graveyard—a grave for the Ōtsutsuki clan.

...

The two continued exploring the ruins of the town and soon came across a crumbling stone temple.

"Ancient vow: When the bonds of humanity crumble, the Tenseigan shall awaken, and with the fist of the moon, humanity shall be annihilated!"

Neji read the inscription on the altar, his brows furrowing deeper and deeper.

He turned to Shinji and asked, "Sir, what does it mean by 'the fist of the moon will annihilate humanity'?"

Shinji explained, "This is likely part of the agreement between Ōtsutsuki Hamura, the brother of the Sage of Six Paths, and the Sage himself. After defeating and sealing away the 'Goddess of the Rabbit,' Hamura migrated to the moon to guard the seal. Before leaving, he made a pact with his brother, the Sage of Six Paths, that if humanity ever fell into corruption, he would descend to cleanse the world and restore order."

Listening to Shinji's explanation, Neji felt a sense of disbelief, as though a myth had come to life before him. "These are just legends, right?"

"Legends?" Shinji chuckled. "Do you know what 'the fist of the moon' refers to?"

Neji shook his head in confusion.

Shinji pointed around them.

Neji's confusion deepened. "Sir, does 'the fist of the moon' refer to this temple? Does this temple have the power to destroy humanity?"

Shinji smiled. "Use your imagination."

Neji was momentarily stunned, and then his eyes widened. "Y-you mean... the 'fist of the moon' is the entire moon itself?"

Shinji's smile faded, and he nodded. "Exactly."

Neji was incredulous. "How is that even possible?"

"In front of the giant Tenseigan, nothing is impossible," Shinji replied. "It's entirely likely that, in the near future, the remaining branch family members on the moon will use the giant Tenseigan to steer the moon toward the Earth, unleashing the 'fist of the moon' to annihilate humanity."

Neji was alarmed. "We can't let that happen!"

Shinji sighed. "Indeed. A weapon like the giant Tenseigan cannot be left in the hands of madmen."

Boom.

At that moment, the altar suddenly cracked open, revealing a hidden passage leading downward.

Shinji's eyes sharpened, and he couldn't help but feel pleased. "Bringing Neji along was the right decision!"

Neji, both surprised and puzzled, asked, "There's a secret chamber under the altar?"

"Let's go check it out."

With that, Shinji entered the passage, and Neji followed closely behind.

Before long, they arrived in a dimly lit chamber.

Despite the low light, the two dojutsu-wielding shinobi could easily observe their surroundings. A quick glance revealed that the chamber hidden beneath the altar was actually a vast burial chamber filled with graves.

Countless rounded tombs were arranged in neat rows, stretching into the darkness. It was impossible for them to estimate just how many graves filled the chamber.

Suddenly, a figure emerged from the shadows.

Neji shouted, "Who's there!?"

The figure, stumbling slowly, approached Shinji and Neji, muttering, "The Byakugan... I can feel the Byakugan!"

Shinji scrutinized the strange man.

He appeared to be in his fifties, dressed in the attire of the Ōtsutsuki clan, his face deathly pale, looking more like a corpse than a living person.

But most strikingly, his face bore only empty, dark eye sockets—there were no eyes.

At that moment, the man opened his mouth and spat out a glowing orb, which floated in the air before suddenly exploding.

"Ah!"

Neji let out a startled cry, as if he had seen something, and froze.

Shinji quickly asked, "What did you see?"

After a long pause, Neji finally replied, "In that orb, I saw the war between the main and branch families... I-I also saw the giant Tenseigan! On the battlefield, the main family's members were all killed under the power of the giant Tenseigan!"

Shinji frowned. "That's all?"

With a cracking sound, the strange man's body disintegrated, collapsing into a heap on the ground. Tilting his head, he whispered, "You must stop the Ōtsutsuki..."

Neji examined the body and stood there, lost in thought.

Shinji remained silent, standing quietly by his side.

After a long time.

Neji finally snapped out of it and said to Shinji, "Sir, I saw Ōtsutsuki Hamura, the brother of the Sage of Six Paths!"

Shinji asked, "In the orb just now?"

Neji nodded and continued, "It was just as you said earlier. The branch family on the moon used the giant Tenseigan to destroy the main family. But they twisted the last words of Ōtsutsuki Hamura. They truly intend to use the giant Tenseigan to destroy the Earth!"

Shinji calmly asked, "What did Ōtsutsuki Hamura ask of you?"

Neji hesitated before replying, "He asked me to destroy the giant Tenseigan and prevent this disaster."

Shinji's expression darkened.

At first glance, Hamura's request seemed reasonable. Destroying the giant Tenseigan would indeed prevent the branch family from annihilating the Earth.

But upon further thought, something felt off.

The giant Tenseigan was formed from the combined Byakugan of the entire Ōtsutsuki clan on the moon, embodying the clan's power. Destroying it would mean erasing the last remnants of the Ōtsutsuki on the moon.

"This old man must not trust Neji with the giant Tenseigan's power, so he'd rather destroy it than risk it falling into someone else's hands!"

Realizing this, Shinji's mind began to race.

Currently, the moon only had the giant Tenseigan. The branch family didn't possess individual Tenseigans. It would be another eight or nine years before Ōtsutsuki Toneri would transplant Hanabi's Byakugan and evolve it into a Tenseigan.

For now, the branch family could only control the giant Tenseigan indirectly through techniques and seals.

This was Shinji's opportunity!

If he could steal the techniques or seals used by the branch family to control the giant Tenseigan—or if he could help Neji acquire the Tenseigan before Toneri—he might be able to seize control of the giant Tenseigan himself.

...

After leaving the underground mausoleum, Shinji and Neji stealthily made their way to the castle where the branch family now resided.

"One, two, three... forty-one, forty-two," Neji counted, his face darkening as he turned to Shinji. "Sir, there are forty-two sentry posts around the castle, all manned by Tenseigan puppets. There must be hundreds of them!"

Shinji shook his head. "You forgot to count those above."

Startled, Neji quickly looked up, only to see scattered black dots hovering above the protective barrier surrounding the castle.

Focusing his attention, Neji realized that those black dots were Tenseigan puppets riding on puppet birds, numbering in the hundreds.

"This..."

Neji was speechless.

The branch family's castle was not only protected by a massive barrier but was also surrounded by an uncountable number of Tenseigan puppets.

With such tight security, even with his Byakugan, Neji didn't know how to infiltrate the place.

Shinji, too, found himself in a difficult position.

He knew that in the original timeline, there were still eight or nine years before Toneri's attempt to destroy the world. So, he wasn't sure how many members of the branch family were still left at this point.

Coupled with the giant Tenseigan and the countless Tenseigan puppets, sneaking into the branch family's castle was no easy task.