Lily and Kaguya standing there looking like "two sisters reunited" left Carl utterly confused, and Toneri—who had been sensing the situation from afar—the moment he saw this scene, his mind went completely blank.
After that brief confusion, Toneri quickly came to a realization: of course Carl and that so-called woman of his were also members of the Ōtsutsuki Clan!
Not the Ōtsutsuki from their moon, but the Ōtsutsuki from the vast universe—the so-called pure-blooded Ōtsutsuki!
And that woman named Lily clearly had a close relationship with Kaguya. Perhaps she had come specifically to save Kaguya but ended up suffering the backlash of the seal, getting sealed together. That must have been what alerted an even stronger Carl.
With that thought, everything suddenly made perfect sense to Toneri.
No wonder Carl was so overwhelmingly powerful. No wonder he could perfectly synchronize with the power of the Tenseigan! He was the true heir of the Ōtsutsuki!
Cold sweat dripped down Toneri's forehead as he clenched his fists.
Now that Ōtsutsuki Kaguya had already been released—just one Kaguya was already terrifying—and now there were two even stronger ones with her… If Ōtsutsuki Kaguya wanted revenge for being sealed for hundreds of years, who in the world could possibly stop this trio?
If these three joined forces, forget the Shinobi World—this entire planet would probably be wiped out!
By then, their old conflict between the Main and Branch families would become a complete joke… no—actually, it had already become a joke!
With a thud, Toneri fell to his knees, despair covering his face.
...
Toneri's movement drew the attention of all three.
Lily glanced at the kneeling Toneri and asked,
"Who is he? He looks quite similar to Kaguya."
Carl pointed toward Kaguya.
"Ask your good sister. She should know."
Hearing that, Lily looked toward Kaguya. Kaguya stared at Toneri, her brows slightly furrowed, and slowly said,
"He should be a descendant of Hagoromo or Hamura."
Lily raised a brow.
"You've mentioned Hagoromo and Hamura before. They were your children. So that means he's your descendant too?"
Kaguya nodded lightly and murmured,
"Yes. He is also my descendant."
Though she admitted it, her tone carried absolutely no warmth.
Understandably so—Kaguya had been sealed for centuries by her own two "sons." But in truth, Hagoromo and Hamura were never her sons in the human sense. Kaguya had never mated with any human male. Hagoromo and Hamura were beings she created using Yin–Yang Release after consuming the Chakra Fruit.
As for why she created them, perhaps the long loneliness on an unfamiliar world, paired with seeing how humans lived through blood relations, made her desire companionship.
Of course, these children were never meant solely to keep her company. More likely, Kaguya had considered that if someday the Ōtsutsuki came for her, these two would serve as her most loyal protectors—far better than fighting alone.
Judging from how she later descended into madness and created the White Zetsu Army, Carl felt Kaguya was, deep inside, an extremely insecure woman—so insecure that she grasped at any solution, no matter how misguided.
Creating Hagoromo and Hamura was understandable. Creating White Zetsu, however, was truly baffling. Considering the godlike abilities displayed by later Ōtsutsuki members, White Zetsu was nothing more than cannon fodder.
The tragedy was that after all her efforts, Kaguya ended up hurting herself the most. Before the Ōtsutsuki even arrived, she was sealed by her own two loyal protectors—her "good sons"—locked away in darkness and hung in space like a lantern for the entire Shinobi World. She was literally reduced to providing her last bit of light.
From that perspective, Kaguya was even more tragic than Lily.
Lily had stayed sealed with Kaguya only for a few days, and it seemed Kaguya had never told her any of this—because yes, it was humiliating. Lily, still clueless, continued asking,
"Kaguya, since he's your descendant, shouldn't you go talk to him? He looks devastated over there."
Carl immediately noticed Kaguya's already pale face grow even paler the moment Lily said that. He coughed lightly, stepped forward, and pulled Lily to his side before she could crush Kaguya's dignity any further.
He deliberately put on a stern expression.
"Hey, hey, hey. Your man here worked his ass off to get you out. Shouldn't the normal reaction be giving me a big tight hug first and then smothering my face with kisses?"
The moment he said that, not only Lily but even the always-expressionless Kaguya twitched the corner of her mouth.
Staring at Carl's dead-serious face, Lily burst into laughter before quickly forcing herself to hold it in. Her eyes curved, already edging into crescent moons.
She opened her mouth, intending to mock Carl like usual—but once the words reached her lips, they changed into something else.
"Do you want me to do that?"
The sudden counter-question caught Carl off guard. He blinked, hesitating for a moment. The instant Lily saw him hesitate, that strange, fragile feeling blooming in her heart instantly vanished.
She turned her head away and said coldly,
"Looks like I overthought it. Since when has the great Carl ever lacked someone to hug him?"
Carl would've been an absolute emotionless idiot if he didn't understand now—Lily had definitely gotten emotional just now!
Seeing her turn away in a small sulk, Carl didn't hesitate. He spread his arms and pulled her tightly into an embrace right in front of Kaguya.
Being suddenly hugged, Lily froze. Her face flushed crimson. She twisted lightly in Carl's arms as if trying to hide something and muttered,
"Why are you hugging me?"
"You won't hug me, so I'll hug you. What's wrong with that?"
"You're hugging too hard…"
"That shove you gave me earlier was way harder."
Lily stiffened. She raised her head—and met Carl's golden eyes. The heat in them made her heart tremble.
She immediately lowered her head again and whispered like a mosquito,
"I just felt that if we both got sealed, everything would be over…"
"So you believed I would definitely break the seal? Or that I would come back just to free you? Didn't you always say I didn't care about you?"
Faced with Carl's triple question, Lily pressed her lips tightly together. In the end, she only let out a tiny hum and buried her face deeper into Carl's chest, refusing to speak.
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+100 chapters on p@treon/tambeerg