The air in the Akatsuki's dim chamber was heavy, and it felt as though the very stone walls were leaning in to hear Alex speak.
A faint drip of water echoed somewhere in the tunnels, cutting through the silence between each revelation. The torchlight flickered, stretching shadows across the carved floor, and in those shadows the faces of the Akatsuki seemed locked in grim stillness.
Alex's lips curled into a faint smile, the kind of smile that said he had lived through truths no one else in this room could imagine.
"Before Hagoromo ever became the Sage of Six Paths…" He began slowly, letting his voice fill the chamber with unhurried weight, "…there was someone else... Someone who was far stronger than him."
The words slithered through the air like a cold draft.
Kakuzu, usually so collected, leaned forward slightly, his stitched brow furrowing.
"You mean to tell me," He said, his gravelly voice tinged with disbelief, "that there was someone… stronger than the Sage of Six Paths?"
Alex's chuckle was soft, but it carried like a bell in the stone room.
"Haha... of course, there was," he replied, tilting his head, "And no one could have known... when her existence was never recorded in your history books? The story was buried long before your clans began keeping scrolls."
He let the question hang there, his dark eyes scanning the room before landing on Konan.
Her gaze was steady, but Alex saw the faintest flicker of curiosity in it that she tried to mask with stoicism. She cut him off before he could continue.
"'Her'…" Konan's voice was calm, but edged with interest. "You said 'her.' The person you're talking about… is a woman?"
Alex turned his head toward her, his smile deepening just enough to make it feel personal.
"Yes, Konan," He said, drawing her name out ever so slightly, "I'm talking about a woman. And not just any woman. She was the mother of Hagoromo, the mother of the Sage of Six Paths himself. The first generation Jinchūriki of the Ten Tails."
The chamber erupted with small, involuntary reactions as sharp intakes of breath, low mutters, eyes narrowing as if the truth itself was a weapon.
Kisame's gilled face twitched into a grin. "Heh… you're saying the Sage's mommy could take him down?"
"She didn't need to 'take him down,'" Alex replied evenly, his gaze never leaving Konan's. "She was so strong that Hagoromo could only seal her away. She was, for all intents and purposes… an immortal."
Konan's lips pressed into a thin line. Somewhere inside, she felt an odd tug, a part of her mind analyzing the information with a shinobi's discipline, another part wondering how Alex spoke about such a being with the ease of someone discussing the weather.
Then, with the same casual precision, Alex reached into his side and raised something into the dim torchlight.
Black Zetsu, bound and squirming, his twisted form looking somehow smaller under Alex's grasp.
"This," Alex said, his voice like the snap of a blade being drawn, "is no ordinary creation. This thing is the consciousness of Kaguya Ōtsutsuki herself. You could say… he's the younger brother of Hagoromo."
A low ripple of disbelief moved through the Akatsuki like a gust.
Obito's lone Sharingan trembled, his masked face angled toward the inky creature.
"Then… that means Zetsu has been alive for hundreds of years…" His voice cracked, just enough for those closest to notice.
"Of course," Alex said simply, as though Obito's realization were obvious. "And he's been busy. He is the reason behind the centuries of blood between the Uchiha and the Senju clans."
Konan's brows knit together, her paper-like composure faltering for a heartbeat.
"But why?" She asked sharply. "Why pit the clans against each other? What would he gain from such conflict?"
Alex's eyes gleamed, not with joy but with the satisfaction of a teacher unveiling the next page of a forbidden book.
"The Uchiha and the Senju," He began, pacing slowly now, "are the descendants of Hagoromo's two sons. Indra, Hagoromo's elder son, inherited powerful ocular abilities from his father, and he is the ancestor of the Uchiha... Ashura is the younger son, and he inherited the Sage's body and life force. He is the progenitor of the Senju."
His boots tapped softly against the stone floor as he spoke, each step measured.
"Black Zetsu needed the power of both lines combined. Only then could someone awaken the Rinnegan. And tell me, Konan…" He stopped just in front of her, lowering his voice slightly. "…who was the only man in history to succeed?"
She held his gaze, refusing to look away. "…Madara."
A faint smirk crossed Alex's face. "Very good."
Alex continued, "By manipulating the descendants of both clans for centuries, Zetsu engineered their hatred, their wars, their grudges. All for one purpose, to birth a man with the Rinnegan... and Madara Uchiha became that man."
His tone deepened, becoming a slow, steady drumbeat.
"With the Rinnegan, and by gathering the nine-tailed beasts into the Gedo Statue, one can awaken the Ten Tails. And by becoming the Ten Tails' Jinchūriki… and projecting your eye onto the moon…"
He stopped, letting the words drip into silence.
"…you can unseal Kaguya Ōtsutsuki."
A visible shiver passed through the group. Kisame's grin faltered. Kakuzu muttered something about fools chasing godhood.
Alex's gaze swept the room once more.
"And whoever unseals her," He said, his voice softening almost to a whisper, "will die. She'll take that person's body as her vessel without hesitation."
The torches seemed to flicker lower, shadows crawling higher along the walls.
"Black Zetsu," Alex went on, shaking the struggling creature slightly for emphasis, "planned everything from the very beginning. Every war that happened in the Ninja world and all the deaths that occurred in those wars... he was behind it. And he did all that... just to free his mother."
He straightened, letting the silence stretch. "Even Madara was just another piece on his board. When the time came, Zetsu would have betrayed him without hesitation by killing him, to bring Kaguya back."
Pain's Rinnegan eyes were fixed on Alex, unblinking. He felt the room's tension coil tighter and tighter, like a bowstring drawn to its limit.
"The 'Eye of the Moon Plan' you've been told," Alex said finally, "is a farce. The truth was hidden, buried, rewritten in stone by Zetsu's own hands."
Obito's mind was spinning. He imagined the Uchiha clan's main shrine, the ancient stele standing there like an unshakable truth. His voice, when it came, was quieter but sharper.
"You're saying the stele was altered?"
Alex met his eyes again, and this time, there was just the faintest trace of a smirk, as if he enjoyed that he was keeping pace with him.
"Yes. Hagoromo created it as a warning to future generations... a warning not to seek power by gathering all the chakra of the tailed beasts... Not to become like his mother. But Zetsu… rewrote the warning into a roadmap... one that led exactly where he wanted it to."
--- ✦ ✦ ✦ ---
📢 Author's Note 📢
If you're enjoying this story and want more chapters right now, I invite you to check out my Patreon. There you'll find:
✅ Daily updates – never miss a day of new content
✅ Advanced chapters – read far ahead of public releases
✅ Exclusive perks & extras – only available to patrons
Your support not only gives you early access but also helps me dedicate more time to writing and expanding this story. Every reader who joins makes a huge difference.
👉 Dive into more chapters today: patreon.com/Myth_Valley
Let's keep the adventure alive! 🔥📚✨