Pre-Chapter A/N: Here we go with another chapter, coming in right on time. Next four chapters on my patreon(https://www.patreon.com/c/Oghenevwogaga)— same username as here and link in bio.
When he reached the ground, he stood and walked the rest of the distance between himself and us.
"Who are you and what do you want?" Madara snarled out the words. He was angry. And somehow, seeing that allowed me to rein in my own rage. This was not something he had planned. He was as much at a disadvantage here as we were.
"I am Ishiguri Otsutsuki. Descendant of Hamura Otsutsuki. By my side here is Black Zetsu, the incarnated will of our shared ancestor Kaguya Otsutsuki," he said. Madara didn't seem to have recognised either of them, so that meant Black Zetsu had not played the game of pretending to be Madara's will in this world. Useful information.
'What are you getting?' I asked Kurama.
'The Otsutsuki is telling the truth. He feels calm. But there is an undercurrent of fear there. Not directed at anything in the here and now. It is a vaguer feeling. A fear of the future, maybe? Or something in his past? It means something, though. As for the Black one, nothing. Nothing at all,' he said. Okay, I could work with that. I knew how to leverage fear for my own purposes. Every shinobi did.
"As for what I want, I want to save the world. Both the world as you know it on this planet, and the world as I know it on its moon," he said.
"What do we have to do with that?" Uzume asked now, not pleased either to be so easily dispatched as a threat. He was stronger than us. That much was readily obvious. Uzume did not like it. I saw opportunity there instead.
"A better question would be what I want to save the world from. And to answer that question, I need to begin with a story," he said, and then he waved his hand, changing the world around us. A genjutsu. Of course, my chakra control was shot to hell so I couldn't break out of it.
The world around me turned into a barren landscape that differed from what Rain had become in that instead of a man-made waste caused by the battle of titans, it was just a flat field where nothing grew for miles in every direction. Well, except for that. It stretched for miles in the air. So far up that without my byakugan, I couldn't even clearly see the top.
"In the beginning, there was no chakra. All the power in this world was contained in a single tree. That tree was known as the Shinju. The God Tree. Every planet with life has one. And the Otsutsuki's youngest Princess, Kaguya, came here to harvest the tree and take its fruit for herself. It was to be her first harvesting. But upon arrival, she felt pity as she looked upon the state of man. Taking the fruit would kill the planet. So she hesitated and had mercy. But mercy was weakness to her people. She could not return without the fruit. For if she did, another would be sent, and they would not have such pity. So she stayed here on earth. And eventually she fell in love, and that love bore fruit." While he spoke, we saw a person who had to be Kaguya meet a man and fall in love and begin married life. We watched as she fell pregnant, and then one day a portal like the one he had used to come here opened in their skies.
"The Otsutsuki were long lived, but even they would not forget Kaguya for too long. Another was sent to check on the Princess." It was a man that looked eerily similar to her. His hair was shorter, his body bulkier, but the facial structure, the horns, and the skin were more or less the same.
"This one did not have the pity she did. She tried to show him the beauty of man, but when he looked at her, all he felt was disgust. Otsutsuki were not meant to procreate with their lessers, he thought. And so he tried to kill her. But Kaguya, whether she had eaten the fruit or not, was still royalty. She was still an Otsutsuki Princess and the gap between the royal court and the servant class was immense. She killed him in the end, but not before he could send a message back to the homeland." We watched as Kaguya tore the man apart with savage aggression, and then he managed to make a portal at the last minute and rip off one of his horns before sending it through.
"Kaguya knew now that the peace she had experienced would not last anymore. She could return to her family, of course. The children in her stomach would die, but she would be allowed to continue to live as a Princess. But she did not want that. She had fallen in love with the earth, and so she chose to protect it in her own way. She ate the fruit and awakened the fullness of her power." As he said that, the representation of Kaguya flew to the top of the tree and ripped the fruit in the middle of its bud out and devoured it. We watched as its juices ran down her mouth and then she began to scream as her body shifted. Her skin lightened even further, becoming the ethereal white I was more familiar with seeing her as, and then her forehead split open with the Rinnesharingan growing in that hole seconds later. She went from woman to goddess in a matter of minutes.
"But she did not kill the earth. She first of all used her newly awakened power to hide the earth. You see, the Otsutsuki travel through complex routes across Space Time that are mapped by the greatest of their seers. Those with byakugan capable of not just seeing for miles away, but across the vast expanse of the universe, through dimensions and galaxies with perfect precision. She destroyed the routes that led to the earth and did not stop there. She ripped apart and jumbled hundreds of other routes. She left the Otsutsuki across the Cosmos stranded wherever they were before her actions, and those on their home world were left with no way off it."
"And then she used her power to cast the infinite tsukuyomi, the greatest genjutsu known to the Otsutsuki that can only be cast by reflecting the Rinnesharingan against the full moon, that put half the world in genjutsu. She used the roots of the god tree to harvest the life force of those who she had placed in the dream world. Their life force was fed back into the earth and created the nature chakra that you use now. She created this world, Kaguya," he said, and then the view was of her standing as a giant in the cosmos, ripping up threads here and there before tying others to each other, or moving ends from one place to another.
"But eventually power does what it does. It corrupted her. The infinite tsukuyomi was supposed to be a temporary measure to give the planet the power to resist Otsutsuki travel and to spread the power of the god tree to humanity. But she became paranoid. She spread the jutsu's reach further and further until only her small village was safe. And then she increased the drain. The power did not go to the earth anymore. It went to her. And through her to her sons. She was pregnant for seven years, and then on the seventh, she birthed twin boys, Hagoromo and Hamura. The three of you are descendants of Hagoromo, and I am a descendant of Hamura," he said. Well, I was a descendant of both but there was no need to be pedantic now.
"Her sons grew and their power grew as well. Until Kaguya's paranoia hit a new peak. She turned on her own sons, and seeing the cruelty of their mother, they turned on her as well. They fought for three months, in which Hagoromo awakened the Rinnegan and his brother, the tenseigan, which are these eyes I use now. Their power grew with time and when she was in danger of being overwhelmed, Kaguya turned the Shinju, which had taken power from nine-tenths of humanity by now, into the creature known as the ten tails, breathing life into it with the power of yin-yang release. With it by her side, she was able to fight her sons for six more months. In the fighting, the moon itself was destroyed. And eventually the ten tails was beaten. She was sealed, and the husk of the ten tails was sealed by the chibaku tensei both brothers could use while working together to make a new moon. One that held Kaguya and her ten tails in its core," he said. The visuals of the fight were terrifying, showing landscapes shifting with gestures from them. Kaguya drained an entire ocean with a flick of her wrist, and with a stomp of one foot, Hamura brought it back into being. It was godlike, what they did in their battle.
And then we watched as the moon was destroyed to nullify the infinite tsukuyomi and rob Kaguya of her endless power source, before a new one was made from the six paths chibaku tensei with her as its core.
"The chakra that made up the ten tails was a fusion between the power of the shinju and the life force of humanity. Hagoromo was able to return a good amount of it to humanity, but the rest of it he sealed within himself. And when he reached the end of his life, he split it to form the nine tailed beasts. The greatest share of that chakra rests in one of you now," he said, giving me a look at that. I met his gaze. He might have held me here, but that did not mean I would bend my head to him. Plans were already forming in my head. The tenseigan would be a tough foe, but the time would come where I would be able to beat it.
"Before this happened, our ancestors diverged paths. Hamura, after forming a family here, took the bulk of it with him to the moon to watch over his mother and the ten tails, as well as to gaze upon the paths so he would know if the Otsutsuki ever regained the ability to come to earth. That role, and these eyes of his, have been passed down from head to head of the Otsutsuki clan. I am only the most recent wielder of these eyes, and with them, I can see that the Otsutsuki have regained their ability to travel through the paths and have been sorting them out. They will find the Earth in a matter of years, or sooner even. And when that time comes, humanity must be prepared. Kaguya gave us the gift of time, and we must not waste it," he said, and there was silence among us until it began. Madara released a harsh laugh.
"The Sage was a myth. The Rabbit Goddess was the same. I am the closest thing this world has ever had to a God and while I do not know what you aim to achieve with this farce, do be informed that I will not take part in it," he said. But there was a glint in his eyes that did not quite rhyme with the words he spoke. He was testing this man. Ishiguri.
"Nothing hides from these eyes, Madara Uchiha. After all, was the coming of the Otsutsuki not the reason that Black Zetsu helped you awaken those eyes in your skull all those years ago?" Ishiguri asked. So, Madara and Zetsu had met before then? Was that where Zetsu had got those Mangekyou? That would make sense, but also not make sense at the same time. Madara probably still had his original eyes stored somewhere in much the same way that I had Izuku's stored away, but that did not explain why Madara would have given them to anyone. A Black Zetsu less than completely loyal to him would be a poor candidate. Madara remained silent, and so the Otsutsuki turned to us instead.
"So what do we do?" I asked, choosing to believe for now. If he was lying, I would find a way to kill him for it. But why would he be? He already had us at his mercy. I had a few safeguards, but none that I was confident would do much to stop a tenseigan wielder from killing me in this state.
"We plan and we prepare. That is why I came here now. I've been watching the two of you closely and right now you are humanity's best hope on earth. If the two of you can manage to set aside your differences for the time being, then I believe this planet has a future," he said.
"I saw that fight with Kaguya. There's no way we can measure up to something like that," I said even as Madara scoffed and Uzume shot me a look. Yes, it was defeatist, but it was also realistic. And to be honest, if there was some buff that he had in mind, it was best to get it out in the open now rather than waiting for it to become too late.
"The Otsutsuki are weaker than they have ever been. Kaguya's actions saw to the death of hundreds of their strongest. Those caught offworld have been unable to consume new chakra fruits and even their long-lived selves could not survive so long without access to it. Then the home world was also badly hit. With no chance of expansion, the Otsutsuki turned on themselves. If they had been able to focus their full attention on the paths, they would have fixed them centuries ago, but the infighting saw them destroy their progress as soon as it was made. A civil war broke out, and the royal family only managed to quell the last embers of resistance a century ago. We just need to beat back the first offensive and from there, we can win," he said.
"How do you know so much about what's happening there?" Uzume asked. She still looked doubtful about the whole thing and I knew she was only playing along to follow my lead.
"I can see it. These eyes... Hamura's eyes. They are the most powerful our bloodline ever created. With them, I can see as far as Tsuki, the Otsutsuki homeworld," he said.
"Enough of this nonsense. Release me now. If there are any beings coming to my planet, then I will show them the wrath of the Uchiha and that will be that," Madara said.
"Apologies, Madara-san. But I can not do that yet. The Moon, where my people live, is going to be a prime target. We will work to defend ourselves, of course, and are confident in our chances. But there will be nothing we can do if they manage to get a foothold on earth from which to send endless hordes at us. While my ancestors were fine to allow you and yours take whatever path you wanted, that is no longer the case. Not while our futures are so tied. The fate of my home depends on the fate of this planet of yours. So I will not allow you to fail at this. A plan must be made. Here and now. Peace or a cessation of immediate hostilities until after the Otsutsuki are dealt with. And then you must prepare yourselves for the invasion," he said with a hard edge to his voice.
"You have to admit, this is all still very hard to believe. An alien race. An invasion. Now I'm not saying I don't believe you, but if there could be some evidence shown to us, then maybe we can accept that," I said. Sure, I believed him. But something told me Madara didn't. And if Madara didn't believe then there would be no peace. This binding had quieted Kurama for a bit, but I knew he would be frothing at the mouth at the prospect of any sort of peace deal with Madara. Particularly since we'd had him only a few minutes ago. We could have won—Uzume and I.
The Otsutsuki, Ishiguri or whatever his name was, looked over at Black Zetsu and sighed.
"Humans. Oh so predictable," Black Zetsu said, voice a deep growl, before a wave of his hand caused a portal to open a few metres away from us. Out of it came a man. Well, not a human, just a humanoid male. The pale skin, horns on his head, and long white hair that reached down to his back pointed him out as anything but human. The odd robes as well.
He looked over to us, and a sneer fell on his face. He spat something in a language no one here could understand, and then he was gone. He was so fast that I struggled to track him without my byakugan or sage mode. One second he was so far away, and the next, he was flying through the air, having been tossed there by Ishiguri. Two of his truthseeker orbs shot up as spears. The Otsutsuki—the one not on our side—slapped both of them away with hand motions that were not quite the gentle fist but were somewhere close to it, before he landed on the ground again.
This time, Ishiguri was the one to attack. He blitzed the alien, said alien managing to breathe out a hurricane that did nothing to deter him in that time before he attacked. He weaved out of the way of a two fingered thrust, grabbed the arm, and then snapped it, breaking the bone and causing the alien to scream out. Ishiguri grabbed him by the neck then and dragged him over to us.
"This is an Otsutsuki scout. He's been searching for the earth for a month now. Zetsu had been manipulating the spatial paths to keep him away. He stopped doing that for a second, and then he was here. This is the weakest of their kind, trained not for combat or conquest, but reconnaissance. The warriors, five times stronger. The Generals? Fifty times stronger. The Royals? A whole different league. That is who comes for us. For this planet. If you doubt me, use those eyes of yours to confirm the truth," he said, and his truth seeker orbs left us, forming back into orbs and going to float behind him. I activated my byakugan, and he was right.
The body was... far from human. It looked like us, but that was just about it. Instead of a chakra network, the body just had chakra. In some ways, it was more chakra than flesh and blood. And it was so much chakra. This was the weakest of them and it had as much chakra as someone like Uraume, an Elite Jounin in her prime.
"Now, let us discuss peace. And then war," Ishiguri said.
A/N: This has been in the works for so long now. I wish I could have seeded more hints in but I wanted it to be a surprise and everything I came up with ended up being too obvious. I did some of it with Orochimaru's cave, and even the whole tools of the Sage subplot. Next chapter comes on here by Sunday night (Two chapters this week as promised). Next four chapters up on patreon(https://www.patreon.com/c/Oghenevwogaga) (same username as here and link in bio), support me there and read them early.