Access to the artificial sun required either a special jutsu or chakra unique to Hamura Ōtsutsuki's lineage—either was sufficient. For Satsuki, this posed no problem.
As she approached the artificial sun in the sky, accompanied by the unconscious Toneri and a host of puppets, its surface parted like the automatic doors of advanced technology. Detecting the chakra of both Satsuki and Toneri, it opened a passage to admit them and their escort.
Inside the artificial sun, the true giant Tenseigan was now only a step away.
Only those of noble status were permitted to behold the true Tenseigan.
That was what the accompanying puppet remarked—and it was all the confirmation Satsuki needed to pinpoint its location.
Who here could possibly be considered nobler than a direct descendant of Hamura Ōtsutsuki, already possessing a proto-Tenseigan? In this place, only she fit that description.
Though Satsuki disliked the word noble, she could not deny the truth: on this moon, home to only two descendants of Hamura, she alone possessed the Byakugan. That alone placed her above the rest.
Moreover, she bore Hamura's explicit recognition as the legitimate head of the lunar Ōtsutsuki main family—a title of no small significance.
Infusing her eyes once more with chakra, Satsuki swept her gaze across the interior of the artificial sun.
The most conspicuous structure was a red-green castle rising from the ruins: Toneri's residence. It radiated multiple chakra signatures, but all were merely puppets—mostly non-combat models for daily use.
Beyond the castle lay a vast field of floating debris-islands orbiting a massive crescent-shaped floating island. At its very heart hovered a perfectly spherical object.
Even with her peerless ocular power—the foremost in the shinobi world—Satsuki could not pierce the strange energy shrouding that sphere. It blocked her vision entirely.
Such a detail, to one with the Byakugan, was as obvious as a neon sign.
No wonder even someone as guileless as Hinata could later pinpoint the Tenseigan's true location at a glance, enabling her and Naruto to destroy that priceless treasure.
That Toneri could fail to account for such a glaring weakness was… breathtaking.
"Throw him into the castle," Satsuki ordered a nearby puppet. "Don't let him die—but by whatever means you choose, keep him silent for the next three days."
With no interest in visiting that tasteless castle, she mounted a flying puppet and headed directly for the giant sphere.
The sphere's surface concealed shifting passages visible only to the Byakugan. To ordinary sight, it appeared a seamless globe.
Entering one such passage, Satsuki paused for a moment at the sight within.
The corridor, just wide enough for four to walk abreast, stood barely two meters high. Red-glowing orbs floated throughout, bathing the walls in light that made the place feel like the inside of a forge.
The tunnel was short. As she ventured deeper, Satsuki felt a stirring within her Byakugan—a pulse that was not painful, bringing no burden to her body.
It was more like joy. A signal. As if her eyes sensed the presence of a kin spirit ahead, urging her toward it.
After about ten minutes, she reached the tunnel's end. Beyond lay a vast, darkened chamber crowded with massive crossbeams—some horizontal, some angled, some vertical.
And at the chamber's heart, bathed in golden radiance, was the giant Tenseigan.
As she gazed from afar into the golden brilliance of the giant Tenseigan, an inexplicable force stirred within the chamber. It was as though countless clansmen called to her, as though kin whispered gentle greetings. That warmth wrapped around Satsuki, lifting her lightly and carrying her to the great Tenseigan's presence.
The Tenseigan's diameter exceeded twenty meters. In its pupil bloomed a slowly turning six-petaled flower—the crest of the main family of the Ōtsutsuki clan.
Without even extending her senses, Satsuki could feel the terrifying power contained within. Moving the moon closer to Earth? That was but the shallowest use of its might.
Bathed in the great Tenseigan's vast yet tender ocular power, her vigilance eased. She poured chakra into her eyes, pushing them to their limit.
Two-petal patterns flickered faintly in her golden irises until they resonated in strange harmony with the Tenseigan before her.
A vast voice spoke directly into her mind.
"After a thousand years, a clansman worthy of awakening the Tenseigan has at last appeared."
The voice, born of the Tenseigan's own ocular might, found speaking directly to her mind no difficulty at all.
It continued: "Worthy clansman, have you received the recognition of Lord Hamura? Only with the leader's recognition can I open the highest level of authority to you—and grant you my power."
Satsuki drew out her Ōtsutsuki earrings from beneath her hair, flooding them with her chakra. A pale violet light shimmered upon them. Moments later, the Tenseigan's pupil projected two golden beams onto the earrings.
After a few seconds, the light faded.
"House-head authority confirmed. Target identified as pure-blood Ōtsutsuki. Target confirmed to possess the qualifications to awaken the Tenseigan…
Highest authority granted. Please register your name."
"Satsuki Ōtsutsuki."
"Consulting clan records…
Record found. Identity confirmed, bloodline verified.
Bind as sole highest authority holder? Warning: once bound, all other control rights will be erased. To regain control, authorization from the highest authority holder will be required."
"Bind."
At her word, an immense stream of information poured into her.
It was the recorded history of Hamura's clan, beginning with the origins of Hamura's mother—Kaguya Ōtsutsuki—and ending with the moment Hamura and his brother Hagoromo sealed her away with the Six Paths: Chibaku Tensei.
History flashed before Satsuki's eyes like a swiftly turning film reel. The details, the incredible truths, unfolded before her.
She had long harbored suspicions, but they were born of conjecture and conspiracy theories, lacking decisive proof.
Now the missing evidence lay before her.
Even the ancient oath beyond had been deliberately altered over the centuries, leading Hamura's descendants to misunderstand its meaning.
The distorted version read:
When the bonds of our kin collapse, the Tenseigan shall be revived; with the Moon's Fist, humanity shall be destroyed.
But the original text was:
Ancient oath for the Hamura clan: Should the bonds of our kin collapse, the one who defies fate shall revive the Tenseigan and, with the Moon's Fist, annihilate humanity's progenitor.
The brutal truth behind the centuries-long conflict between Hamura's militant and pacifist factions was this: their struggle existed to bring about the collapse of their kin's bonds, thus triggering the birth of the Tenseigan.
This was why Hamura himself had refrained from interfering.
It was a provocation, cruel and cold-blooded—and Satsuki could think of only one figure who would orchestrate such a thing.
But what goal could drive Hamura to such lengths, to demand such a horrific sacrifice from his people?
The answer was that so-called humanity's progenitor.