Using the Chibaku Tensei to seal Kaguya within the moon and to guard the Gedō Statue, the younger brother of the Sage of the Six Paths, Ōtsutsuki Hamura, led his clan to the moon, leaving only a branch of their lineage on Earth—the present-day Hyūga clan.

After Hamura's death, his descendants split into two factions due to differing interpretations of his final words.

One faction, the branch family, believed that the world created by the Sage of the Six Paths had been plagued by war for millennia and was a failure that should be erased.

Thus, using the Tenseigan, they massacred the main family members who had advocated for peace.

Toneri is a direct descendant of this branch family. He now lives alone in a castle on the moon, overseeing the Earth.

With the main family completely wiped out and the branch members gradually dying out over time, only a few Ōtsutsuki remain on the moon.

Orochimaru's space-time abilities are not particularly strong, but with the power of the Six Paths and the Rinnegan, opening a portal to the moon is a trivial matter.

He had long known about the existence of people on the moon, yet they had never descended to Earth.

Now that Kaguya was searching for the coordinates of the Ōtsutsuki homeworld, Orochimaru finally had the time to investigate the situation on the moon.

The Ōtsutsuki clan is an aloof and arrogant race.

Especially the war-hungry faction of the branch family—they view humans as mere ants.

In the near future, they may even attempt to destroy the world, much like Kaguya once did.

Thus, before heading to the Ōtsutsuki homeworld, Orochimaru took the initiative to eliminate them before they could invade Earth.

Under these circumstances, eliminating future threats was the goal of Orochimaru's actions.

Toneri was originally supposed to awaken the Tenseigan, possessing enough power to split the moon itself.

But at this moment, he was only around ten years old. He had neither the Tenseigan nor even a normal Byakugan.

He had been blind from birth.

Before the overwhelming power of their ancestor, Kaguya Ōtsutsuki, they couldn't even flee.

"Damn it…!"

"Ahhh!"

"Curse you… Die!"

"Aaaah!"

"Who are you…? Who…? Ka… Kaguya…?"

Kaguya's expression remained ice-cold as the veins bulged at the corners of her Byakugan-infused eyes.

With Kaguya's pure Byakugan power coursing through her, the gray bone in her hand mercilessly pierced through the body of the last surviving Ōtsutsuki.

As she watched his body crumble before her, Orochimaru's voice rang out beside her.

"I had originally thought… you wouldn't be able to do it."

"Why wouldn't I be able to?" Kaguya asked indifferently.

A smirk formed at the corner of Orochimaru's lips. "They are Hamura's descendants. Which means… they are your descendants as well."

"Shouldn't you hesitate before striking down your own kin?"

"No, they are the descendants of humans."

"Oh?" Orochimaru raised an eyebrow. "So you're cutting ties so decisively? It seems you truly hate them. Even after I stripped the Ten-Tails' will from you, your hatred remains unchanged."

"I entrusted my power to them so they could protect humanity. Yet, those two traitors not only defied me but turned their swords against me, sealing me away for a thousand years." A cold glint flashed in Kaguya's eyes. "If you were in my place, wouldn't you hate them?"

"Of course," Orochimaru said calmly. "But if you truly hate them so much, why haven't you gone to the Pure Land to kill them?"

To Orochimaru, the phrase "soul eradication" was merely a technical term. In the shinobi world, it was known as erasing chakra imprints.

When a shinobi dies, their spirit enters a place known as the Pure Land.

Ordinary ninjas, due to their weak spiritual energy, exist there in a mindless state.

But those who possess the Rinnegan are different.

The Rinnegan is the eye of an immortal, capable of summoning the King of Hell and wielding the powers of the Six Paths of Reincarnation.

What kind of privileges these eyes grant in the Pure Land, Orochimaru wasn't entirely sure.

But at the very least, they allow one to retain their consciousness.

Just like Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo.

He remembers everything from his time in the Pure Land.

With Kaguya's current power, she could easily split off a portion of her spiritual energy and descend into the Pure Land to hunt down Hagoromo.

But…

"Erased from existence…" Kaguya muttered.

After a long pause, a trace of sadness surfaced on her once-impassive face.

Tears welled up in her pale gray eyes and streaked down her cheeks.

"But… they were still… my children…"

At that moment, Kaguya could no longer suppress her sorrow.

Crystal-clear tears rolled down her pale cheeks and fell to the ground.

No matter the world, a mother's love is the most profound force of all.

There are always more unfilial sons than there are cruel mothers.

Think about it, raising a child with such care, only for them to betray you in the end, turning their blade against you…

No mother could endure such pain.

That's why, no matter how much Kaguya claimed to hate her two unfilial sons, she could never truly bring herself to erase them completely.

"Here." Orochimaru pulled out a tissue from somewhere and handed it to her. "Whether you admit it or not, in my eyes, you're just… a pitiful woman."

Almost reflexively, Kaguya accepted the tissue.

Orochimaru continued, "When you break it all down, this entire conflict stems from a failure to communicate. If you had just explained your reasons back then… and if Hagoromo had told you the name of the woman he loved, maybe none of this would have happened."

With that, Orochimaru turned away, walking toward the massive golden Tenseigan.

"Take your time thinking about it. I'm going to check on the Tenseigan."

(To be continued.)

***

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