After stepping outside, Orochimaru glanced at Kaguya beside him and said calmly, "It seems that all of your father's people must be dead."

"I expected as much," Kaguya replied indifferently.

"No wonder you didn't even hesitate when you told me to kill those two the moment we arrived. So that's what happened."

"A coup d'état—if it succeeds, eliminating the opposing side is a perfectly normal outcome, isn't it?"

"That's true." Orochimaru smirked. "Let's go. Time to get to work."

---

Ōtsutsuki's home planet, Flying Tree Country.

This was an ancient nation.

The architecture in the town's center resembled the grand palaces of royalty.

On this planet, only the Ōtsutsuki clan was deemed worthy of such treatment.

At this moment, nine people sat within the main hall of the central building, all clad in the robes of the Ōtsutsuki clan. However, the man seated at the highest position had additional ornate decorations on his robe.

He was the temporary leader of this town—Ōtsutsuki Takeshi.

"What? The two guards stationed at the teleportation portal have disappeared?"

Ōtsutsuki Takeshi frowned upon hearing the report.

He had once been a subordinate of Kaguya's father. After the rebellion a thousand years ago, Momoshiki's father sought to exterminate all of Kaguya's father's followers. In order to survive, Takeshi had no choice but to swear loyalty to the opposing side.

As luck would have it, his new master required someone to manage the city, so he was reluctantly accepted.

Moreover, due to the shortage of manpower, he was even granted a God Fruit.

This delighted him beyond words.

After all, a God Tree required vast amounts of time and countless sacrifices to bear its fruit. From a thousand years ago until now, only two batches of divine fruit had ever been produced.

Thus, upon receiving one, Takeshi devoted himself wholeheartedly to Ōtsutsuki Momoshiki's service.

Hearing that the guards were missing, his expression turned serious, it was a matter concerning the safety of the other God Trees.

"They never abandon their posts without reason. I suspect…"

Ōtsutsuki Takeshi made his decision immediately. "Deploy all remaining clan members to find them. Bring them back alive if possible. If they're dead, I want their corpses!"

"Yes!"

The eight subordinates acknowledged the order and then began conversing among themselves.

They were all Takeshi's trusted aides, having received a portion of his chakra, so they were eager to assist him.

Ironically, Orochimaru had always believed the Ōtsutsuki clan to be a superior race, capable of world-ending destruction with just a single member.

But reality was different.

Aside from their long lifespan and their ability to traverse space, their raw combat power wasn't significantly beyond that of a Kage-level warrior.

The modern Ōtsutsuki clan's strength no longer came from innate ability but from God Trees and God Fruits.

Over time, they had become utterly dependent on chakra.

More importantly, their method of utilizing chakra was completely different from that of ninjas on Earth.

The current Ōtsutsuki clan was so selfish that even among their own people, only a select few possessed chakra.

As a result, those few wielded an immense amount of chakra.

And because Ōtsutsuki Momoshiki ruled this planet, it had long since become an Ōtsutsuki world, one that had known no war for generations.

For many reasons, their chakra usage had remained crude, with little refinement.

Their strategy? Massive chakra expenditure.

Their techniques were overwhelming, brute-force "big moves" that consumed absurd amounts of chakra with no efficiency or skill.

By contrast, Earth's ninjas, influenced by the Sage of Six Paths, had made chakra widespread. But since they were still human, their individual chakra reserves were far more limited.

This limitation led to the development of intricate ninjutsu that conserved chakra.

Of course, if an Earth ninja were to directly face an Ōtsutsuki clan member with chakra, the outcome would be like an egg smashing against a rock.

The reason was simple—those few Ōtsutsuki members who possessed chakra had an absurd amount of it due to their bloodline.

Moreover, nearly all of them had Truth-Seeking Orbs.

Against them, conventional chakra-based elemental jutsu were utterly ineffective.

To harm them, one would have to rely on Senjutsu or Taijutsu.

Or, of course—sealing techniques.

---

Back to the main hall.

After watching his subordinates leave, Ōtsutsuki Takeshi exhaled in relief.

Just as he was about to stand and attend to his next task, a sudden sense of unease washed over him.

His heart skipped a beat.

Ahhh!

Two agonized screams erupted from outside the palace—confirming his worst fears.

He recognized the voices. They belonged to the very subordinates who had just left.

His subordinates… Ōtsutsuki clan members… had been killed?!

Ōtsutsuki Takeshi's expression darkened as he leapt outside.

What he saw made him frown.

Six remaining Ōtsutsuki members had formed a defensive circle, surrounding a white-haired man wielding a black sword.

At the man's feet lay the corpses of two Ōtsutsuki warriors.

Takeshi's gaze landed on the black sword, it was a Truth-Seeking Orb weapon!

How does this man have a Truth-Seeking Orb?!

Takeshi was utterly bewildered.

After all, not every Ōtsutsuki possessed chakra. And this stranger, someone he had never seen before was clearly not one of Momoshiki's subordinates.

With that realization, Ōtsutsuki Takeshi narrowed his eyes and shouted, "You don't look like one of Momoshiki's men. Who are you?!"

The man smirked.

"You're about to die. What's the point of knowing?"

[To be continued.]

***

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