"The Byakugan..."
"I can feel the Byakugan..."
The trembling voice came from deep within the tomb. Though the surroundings were shrouded in darkness, Satsuki's Byakugan clearly perceived the figure—a projection left behind by a soul and lingering will.
It was a fixed-program construct, taking the form of a deceased male from Hamura's clan. The moment it sensed the presence of Byakugan dōjutsu and Ōtsutsuki chakra within Hamura's tomb, it would activate.
It would then use the chakra message orb in its mouth to relate the history of Hamura's main family and branch family to the visitor.
Satsuki knew this well—she had been here before. In the proper flow of events, if nothing in the storyline collapsed, Hinata Hyūga would one day trigger this same sequence and become one of the tools used to destroy the giant Tenseigan.
Satsuki remained unmoved by the projection's performance. Still, the projection went on, its empty eyes opening, mouth twisting in a pained moan as it dropped a faintly glowing purple orb from between its lips.
As a pure-blooded descendant of Hamura, and with a pair of Byakugan on the verge of the Tenseigan's evolutionary limit, Satsuki's eyes resonated with the orb. To her, this was less "resonance" and more a specialized identity verification—the account and password being the visitor's possession of the Byakugan or Ōtsutsuki chakra.
When she opened her eyes again, she stood amid a battlefield from centuries ago, where Hamura's main family and branch family clashed. From her vantage point, both sides were immense—easily numbering in the thousands.
From among the branch family's main battle faction was brought forth a strange device: the famed Tenseigan. Placed high upon an altar and bound by six thick cords, it glowed with a pale violet light.
The main family's pacifists, upon seeing it, gave no reaction. They simply stood in formation, forming a long, silent queue.
The branch leader raised a hand. The Tenseigan flared, releasing a wave of energy—and then unleashed a beam of devastating light that tore through the main family ranks.
The explosion ripped through the Hamura main family's formation. None survived that day—save for Satsuki Ōtsutsuki.
The branch family, by contrast, suffered almost no losses.
When the vision faded, Satsuki's face was as calm as still water. The holes in this memory were glaring. First: why did the moon's main family pacifists lack a Tenseigan while the branch warmongers possessed one? Second: why were the roles of "main" and "branch" tied to stances toward the outside world? Was it because the warmongers were branch, or because they were branch they became warmongers? And why would such a difference in policy escalate to mutual slaughter?
And most critically—why did the outside prophecy exist at all?
"When the bonds of humanity crumble, the Tenseigan shall awaken, and with the Moon's fist, mankind shall be destroyed."
This prophecy was arguably the very root cause of Hamura's line's self-destruction. Many years later, Toneri Ōtsutsuki would wage war on Earth because of it—and, inevitably, fail.
"Such an obvious provocation," Satsuki murmured at the tomb. "And yet everyone believed it so easily?"
"We are the children of Hamura."
A proud voice came from deeper within the tomb. In Satsuki's Byakugan vision, the gravestones vanished, replaced by the forms of Hamura's main family, eyes closed in repose.
"We are the main family of Hamura's Ōtsutsuki line, destroyed by the branch family who twisted Hamura's will. Now only you can destroy the Tenseigan, Princess of the Byakugan."
The same line she had already heard once before. And it was not yet the end of their speech.
Once the projections that had taken human form parted to either side and knelt, an elderly figure slowly solidified from the mist, advancing under the respectful welcome of all present.
He was aged, with long, disheveled white hair hanging loosely over his head. He wore the distinctive garb of Hamura's lineage, small horns jutting from his forehead, and several Truth-Seeking Balls drifting in his wake.
Hamura Ōtsutsuki—the only other known Six Paths–level being in the shinobi world. Though his sockets held only ordinary Byakugan, he could still conjure Truth-Seeking Balls through his own power.
Hamura was the very reason Satsuki had come.
Though long dead, a being of his caliber could treat death as merely another state of being. He had the means to return, or to continue in some other form. And Satsuki believed that, had he truly wished to, he could have easily ended the conflict between the main and branch families.
Which raised the critical question: why had he stood by and allowed them to annihilate one another, until almost none survived?
"I want an answer, Ancestor." Satsuki poured chakra into her eyes, the brilliant, starry gold drawing Hamura's gaze.
"Remarkable... my descendant," Hamura murmured, surprise and satisfaction mingling on his face. "You hold greater promise than even I or my elder brother."
Then his tone grew weighty.
"But know this—if you learn the truth, the fate awaiting you will be heavier than you can imagine. Failure will doom you beyond redemption."
Satsuki ignored the warning, stepping toward him slowly. Though their powers were worlds apart, her gaze remained calm and cold.
Standing before him, she spoke softly: "There are four kinds of people in this world. The first: fools."
Her golden eyes met those of the Six Paths–level ancestor. "Even beings as strong as you and the Sage of Six Paths were ensnared by schemes, unable to use your vast abilities as they should have been. Asura and Indra were goaded into fratricide for millennia, never seeing their true enemy."
Hamura's heavy lids lifted slightly as he studied his proud, exceptional descendant. Her dress was the most ornate of Hamura's robes; her every movement carried an elegance reminiscent of the mother he had sealed away.
"And the second?"
"Those whose power is great, but whose hearts lack resolve. Whatever their moral standing—right or wrong—once they choose a path, they must be prepared for its cost. Without that, they revel in fleeting victories, falter at unexpected defeats, and even turn traitor in the face of adversity."
Countless images flashed through Satsuki's mind, but she gave only a cold summary: "They betray the dead who sacrificed for them, and the dead they themselves created. They are failures, through and through."
"And the third?"
Satsuki gestured around them.
The meaning was clear—dead men.
Something strange flickered in Hamura's eyes.
After a long silence, he asked at last: "As you say, there are four kinds of people: fools, failures, the dead..."
Lowering her hand, Satsuki swept her robe aside. The golden light of her near-Tenseigan flared as she finished for him:
"And me."
Even Hamura was taken aback.
Was she arrogant or ignorant, confident or reckless? He could not say. But her absolute self-assurance in that moment moved him.
Beneath her cold gaze, he sensed immeasurable reason and resolve.
It was enough to make his decision.
"Descendant, tell me your name."
"This body is named Satsuki Ōtsutsuki."
"Satsuki..." Hamura repeated softly, as if committing it to memory. After a pause, he moved the Truth-Seeking Balls before him. At his will, they parted to reveal a pair of dark-golden earrings, adorned with the Ōtsutsuki crest.
"In the name of Hamura Ōtsutsuki, I proclaim Satsuki Ōtsutsuki the head of the moon's Ōtsutsuki main family. Let these earrings be the proof."
He lifted the earrings. Mysterious power bore them around Satsuki before they settled into her ears.
The projections of the Ōtsutsuki behind Hamura bowed deeply toward her, silently acknowledging their new main family head.
"Go, descendant worthy of awakening the Tenseigan. When you have mastered the giant Tenseigan, you will know everything. And what my brother and I could not accomplish, I entrust to you."