Before the eyes of all present—faces pale with fear—two vast, dreamlike golden pupils emerged within the clouds.
They carried no emotion, only an indifferent, detached gaze cast upon the shinobi below—or perhaps they were not truly looking at anyone at all.
Such a vast celestial disturbance, such an immense gathering of chakra, gave everyone present the same unnerving illusion: their bodies seemed to shrink, transforming into ants crawling upon the earth, finally witnessing for the first time a fleeting glimpse of this world's true reality.
Everyone who beheld those colossal eyes—even Uchiha and Kaguya clansmen patrolling several kilometers away—was struck by an overwhelming, irresistible pressure the moment they looked up.
All who stood beneath the golden radiance, save for Kiyomaru, collapsed to their knees under this sky-shattering might.
Within the gaze of those golden eyes, the very gravity across the land was warped by the unconscious release of their energy. Only Kiyomaru, whose chakra could merge with it, remained unaffected.
Yet a few among the strongest, though caught off guard, managed with great effort to rise.
"For thirty years I have roamed the shinobi world—never once has anyone made me kneel!"
With a furious roar, Ai Tachibana erupted in a storm of lightning, muscles swelling, hair bristling straight upward. A surge of raw power traveled from his feet into the ground, fissures spreading hundreds of meters outwards. Temples bulged, veins stood out like cords—he was the first to stand.
Nearby, Suzuki Kaguya called upon his Shikotsumyaku, forming an exoskeletal armor around his body. The creaking of bone echoed as he slowly forced himself upright under the crushing weight.
The Uchiha clan head, Tajima, was the last of the three to rise.
But Satsuki did not overlook him. In that brief moment, through Kiyomaru's sight, she saw his Sharingan shift instinctively—only for him to forcibly suppress it with sheer willpower, returning it to the ordinary three-tomoe state.
Tajima Uchiha had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan, yet for some reason chose not to reveal his trump card here.
As for the others—including the prodigiously gifted Madara Uchiha, Izuna Uchiha, and many more of their kin—they could do nothing but lie prone, unable to move.
This made the situation delicate. Suzuki Kaguya and Ai Tachibana both noticed, though they exchanged no words, keeping their thoughts to themselves.
The moment passed in silence, and before the oppressive, unknown external force, they remained—at least for now—a united front.
Still cloaked in lightning, Ai Tachibana offered Tajima a token of verbal respect. "Is this genjutsu?"
"I don't know," Tajima replied, shaking his head. "But regardless, this is a power we must never lightly provoke."
"Agreed," murmured the silent Kaguya clan head.
"Three clan heads—what are you discussing?" Kiyomaru stood calmly, his voice mocking. "My lord's presence here is no game. This is to truly show our clan's strength."
"What did you say?"
"Boy, are you toying with us?"
"What nonsense is this? This terrifying pressure that has nearly robbed the Kōga shinobi group of its fighting strength—is mere play to you?"
Every Uchiha present bristled at Kiyomaru's arrogance. Pinned to the ground, they did not wish to believe—could not believe—that such a being existed in this world… one that could inspire fear even in the Uchiha.
"I don't believe it! This must just be large-scale genjutsu!" Madara Uchiha, pinned to the ground, veins bulging at his temples, trembled under the crushing weight. His eyes shifted into single-tomoe Sharingan. "Once I break it, this cheap trick won't be frightening at all!"
With difficulty, he tried to turn his body, raising his hands to form seals. As expected—nothing happened. His body remained pressed to the earth, unmoving.
Yet he was not alone. Many among the proud Uchiha attempted the same, refusing to believe such a being could exist—one whose gaze alone could keep the mightiest of their clan prostrate.
The Sage Puppet Formation Satsuki had crafted at great personal cost was no mere trick. This oppressive spectacle was only the side effect of its power leaking into the world. As she gained control over it, the suffocating pressure and warped gravity slowly faded.
But the eyes remained.
Those golden pupils in the sky grew clearer still, intricate patterns forming within like a starry night in constant flux. All things seemed to emerge and perish in an eternal cycle, until the designs converged into a six-petaled flower at each iris' core.
Seeing this through Kiyomaru's eyes, even Satsuki was surprised by the change in her summoned Ōtsutsuki sage chakra.
Though different from the Tenseigan awakened by Toneri Ōtsutsuki, she instinctively knew—this was a supreme ocular power spoken of in legend, rival to the Rinnegan: the Tenseigan.
And it was golden.
Alas, this was only an energy projection shaped by her altered Byakugan through vast amounts of Ōtsutsuki sage chakra—not a true Tenseigan grown within her own sockets. It granted her no direct, permanent augmentation.
Wary of the unknown transformations that might occur from merging natural energy with Ōtsutsuki chakra, she dared not yet absorb it fully.
But nothing stopped her from wielding these golden Tenseigan as weapons.
Within them surged unprecedented power—to destroy, to restore.
Judgment of the Ten Kings · Veil of Light and Shadow.
The golden Tenseigan slowly closed. In the sight of all present, the once-clear sky fell into absolute darkness and silence.
It was not true night, but the total stripping of the five senses from all within range. Strong or weak, all became deaf, blind, and mute before its power.
Their chakra no longer answered their will. Their breath faltered, even the three clan heads—who had still been standing—collapsed like the rest.
Their thoughts froze, awareness congealed. Time itself seemed to stretch into infinity, each moment an eternal slumber.
In that brief darkness, they tasted death.
…
No one knew if it lasted an instant or days.
Then, the golden eyes reopened. Light returned to the mindscape. In that blink, Satsuki's vast store of Ōtsutsuki sage chakra was spent.
The eyes faded, clouds and lightning dispersed, and the blue sky shone once more.
In that fleeting span, all had died in spirit once—and so deep was the shock that not even fear could rise in their hearts, only dazed emptiness.
"Rest easy, Clan Head Tajima. You alone remember what happened here." Satsuki's controlled chakra carried the words directly to the one man who had resisted, however slightly, with his Mangekyō Sharingan.
All others stood bewildered, unaware of what they had just endured.
"This… was our memory erased?" Tajima's gaze swept over his clan, expression heavy. That jutsu—if it could be called such—was beyond imagination.
Those terrible eyes had not only stripped every sense, body, and chakra from its victims… they had erased their memories as well.
What kind of power was this?