"Although your body does not belong to the Uchiha clan, your development of the Mangekyō Sharingan's abilities is quite impressive. It seems you haven't wasted these past few years."
To receive an artifact from the Uchiha clan, a suitable vessel was required. The most common medium was the Susanoo, manifested after awakening the Sharingan.
Since Shirakumaru had successfully found an Uchiha artifact, it indirectly indicated that he could already summon this signature technique of the clan.
"However, to awaken the Rinnegan, one must possess a body strong enough to sustain it. From here on, you must focus your efforts on mastering Sage Mode."
"Understood."
As soon as those words fell, the door between them was opened by the power of the Tenseigan. Satsuki then took a scroll from her hand and tossed it to Shirakumaru. "When your Sage Mode training reaches an adequate level, take this scroll and seek out Kiyomaru."
"Forgive me, my lady, but regarding the Hagoromo clan—do you have any further orders?"
"Send out part of the puppets to search for the tailed beasts' whereabouts, and leave some to remain in the Uchiha compound as our allies."
Since Satsuki had already obtained the Uchiha clan's artifact, whether the Hagoromo clan continued to stay with them no longer mattered.
What truly interested her was Shirakumaru's potential.
If the so-called Rinnegan required the fusion of Indra and Asura's chakra to produce the omnipotent power of yin and yang, then perhaps her own chakra, as a member of the Ōtsutsuki clan, would be sufficient to achieve that very fusion.
It was indeed something worth considering—for Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki and Hamura Ōtsutsuki's ocular powers were fundamentally different.
One belonged to the Sharingan lineage, and the other to the Byakugan line.
To attempt to use the power of Hamura's bloodline to awaken the Sharingan from Hagoromo's lineage—such an experiment had no precedent across the entire shinobi world.
Thinking of this, Satsuki glanced at Shirakumaru, who still stood before her awaiting further orders, and instructed, "Fusing my cellular sample is extremely dangerous for you. You must ensure you've reached your most perfect state before proceeding to the next step."
Shirakumaru bowed deeply. "I will remember your words, my lady."
"Good. Then go and do what you must."
As Shirakumaru vanished, the room once again fell silent.
Satsuki drew the small folding fan from her waist. Three black beads, each formed from a Dead Line Boundary, now hung from its tail.
She took the one that sealed the Nine-Tails, and projected her consciousness into it.
Passing through a fog-like space, her consciousness, wrapped in golden Tenseigan light, entered the interior of the Dead Line Boundary.
Inside the barrier, there was no up or down, no left or right—only a white throne suspended in the void.
It was modeled after the Temple of Time of the Demon Goid King, Goetia, which Satsuki had once recorded.
At this moment, the Nine-Tails was bound by multiple chains in the vast space before the throne. Though it roared furiously, it could not escape its restraints.
As the mightiest of all tailed beasts, the Nine-Tails' fate had always been intertwined with sealing.
From being controlled by the Uchiha, to being sealed by the First Hokage, to becoming the jinchūriki of Mito Uzumaki, then Kushina Uzumaki, and later Naruto Uzumaki…
It was practically the Che Guevara of the tailed beast world—being sealed seemed almost like returning home, and being talked into submission again and again.
When Satsuki appeared before the throne, the Nine-Tails immediately noticed her presence. Its fierce expression froze as it sensed her chakra, and it asked in shock:
"This chakra… You! What is your connection to Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki?!"
Toward the Sage of Six Paths, its 'birth father,' the Nine-Tails felt both reverence and fear. Anyone connected to that being was not to be trifled with.
"It seems your memory remains sharp even after all these years, Kurama."
Satsuki walked slowly toward the Nine-Tails and looked up at it. "As for your question—the Sage of Six Paths can be considered another ancestor of this body."
"Another ancestor…" The Nine-Tails' eyes widened. "Could it be—you are a descendant of Hamura Ōtsutsuki's line?!"
Perhaps because it saw the descendant of someone familiar, the Nine-Tails did not display the same hostility toward Satsuki, a direct descendant of the Ōtsutsuki clan. Of course, it might also have been because it couldn't sense any malice from her.
"Correct," Satsuki said lightly, "but there's no reward for it."
"How is that guy Hamura doing now?"
"It's been far too long. Our ancestor's physical body could no longer endure the passage of time. He now exists only as a spiritual being."
"Even a sage cannot resist the erosion of time…" The Nine-Tails' tone carried a faint, almost imperceptible sadness. "Since Asura inherited Ninshū, the Sage of Six Paths has rarely appeared. I suppose he too has already…"
"In my eyes, Kurama, your fate is far more miserable than that of the two ancestors," Satsuki teased softly. "Do you still have the leisure to pity them? Or have you simply grown accustomed to life under seal?"
"Hmph!"
The Nine-Tails snorted, refusing to answer. If it weren't powerless, who would willingly live locked away in darkness?
"Tell me," Satsuki continued with a faint smile, "as the strongest of the tailed beasts born from the Ten-Tails, have you ever thought of one day returning to become the Ten-Tails again?"
"Absolutely not!!"
Like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, the Nine-Tails bristled completely, roaring in fury. "Even if I must remain sealed here for eternity, never again to see the light of day—I will never, ever return to being the Ten-Tails!"
"Is that so?" Satsuki nodded slightly at his response. "If that's how you feel, then I have only one course of action left."
As she spoke, the Three Divine Kings' Sacred Wheel on her wrist emitted a beam of blue light that shone directly upon the Nine-Tails.
The beast instinctively struggled to evade it, though it didn't know why. Being illuminated by that blue light made it feel as though its entire being—body, chakra, and soul—were completely laid bare before her.
Yet, bound tightly by the chains, the Nine-Tails could not move at all.
"Since you refuse to return to the Ten-Tails, I won't force you," Satsuki said softly. "After all, what the Ten-Tails requires is merely your chakra."
The Three Divine Kings' Sacred Wheel's ability of Status Infusion could record the target's current state—and then infuse that same state into another.
To memorize the Nine-Tails' present condition and chakra signature was, therefore, no difficult task.
What Satsuki found more intriguing, however, was how the consciousness of these tailed beasts had come into existence in the first place.
After all, strictly speaking, the Ten-Tails was nothing more than a weapon developed by the Ōtsutsuki clan for harvesting planetary energy.
Even if it possessed a degree of autonomy, according to the original records, the Ten-Tails lacked the vivid and diverse personalities displayed by the tailed beasts that came after.
Satsuki, who had once theorized about the relationship between the native sages of this world and Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki, held a hypothesis: that the consciousnesses of the tailed beasts were perhaps safeguards—mechanisms created by the planet's own native sage forces to prevent the Ten-Tails' return.
"You intend to resurrect the Ten-Tails?" The Nine-Tails was filled with fear at Satsuki's revealed 'ambition.' "Do you even understand what that thing is? Bringing it back would only spell catastrophe for this world!"
"Of course I know what the Ten-Tails is," Satsuki replied calmly. "In fact, I might understand it even better than you—who are but a fragment of it."
Maintaining the scanning field of the Fate Wheel, she looked directly at the beast. "After all, I am an Ōtsutsuki too, am I not?"
"Then why do you still wish to revive it?" The Nine-Tails was completely unable to comprehend Satsuki's reasoning.
"To the shinobi world, the rebirth of the Ten-Tails would indeed be a calamity," Satsuki said indifferently. "It would drain every ounce of this planet's energy, leaving behind nothing but a true final dharma—a world of spiritual extinction. Natural energy would vanish, chakra would cease to exist, for it would all be condensed into a single Chakra Fruit. Without chakra, there would be no shinobi, no sages… and no tailed beasts like you."
The Nine-Tails strained against its chains. "Is that the future you seek? What benefit could there possibly be in destroying everything?"
Yet, even as Satsuki spoke of such a merciless vision, the beast still couldn't sense even a trace of malice from her.
Her expression remained serene as she answered, "Because I cannot entrust the future of this world to a handful of children playing their little games."
At the current level of Ōtsutsuki civilization, their technology was overwhelmingly superior—a dimensional disparity compared to the shinobi world.
In the so-called Boruto era, their initial visit was merely to deal with the traitor, Kaguya Ōtsutsuki. To them, the entire shinobi world was beneath notice.
Yet later, when Momoshiki and Urashiki fell at the hands of Boruto and his allies, everything changed.
From the perspective of the Ōtsutsuki main family, such acts were tantamount to a declaration of war.
And when that time came, how could the shinobi world possibly withstand the wrath of the main clan?
Could a few powerful individuals alone stand against a civilization of higher dimensions?
Even Kaguya—who had devoured the Chakra Fruit—did not possess such confidence, hence her creation of the vast White Zetsu Army.
So how could a mere handful of strong individuals resist the entire Ōtsutsuki main family?
A laughable notion. Anime might portray such fantasy—but the real world Satsuki now inhabited could never allow such miracles.
To oppose a higher-dimensional civilization, one must develop a civilization of equal scale. Otherwise, the shinobi world's future could be summed up by a single phrase:
"To destroy you… what of it?"
Thus Satsuki explained to the Nine-Tails, "The Ten-Tails is nothing more than a tool used by the Ōtsutsuki main family to harvest planetary energy. The first Ōtsutsuki who descended upon this world did not come here to coexist peacefully with humanity."
"What are you trying to say?" the Nine-Tails asked warily, detecting the deeper meaning in her words.
"It's simple," Satsuki said. "As one of the first Ōtsutsuki to arrive, Kaguya came here with a purpose—to plant the Ten-Tails, harvest this planet's energy, and deliver it to the main family. But circumstances changed, and she chose to consume the Chakra Fruit herself, using the Infinite Tsukuyomi to enslave the entire shinobi world."
Her tone was measured, her eyes calm. "Do you understand what such an act means in the rigid hierarchy of the Ōtsutsuki family?"
Betrayal.
A chill spread through the Nine-Tails' heart. If that were true, then it was inevitable—other Ōtsutsuki would come.
The stricter the hierarchy, the harsher the punishment for betrayal. If the main family tolerated Kaguya's actions, then any other field operative could claim the same right to seize a Chakra Fruit for themselves. In that case, the authority of the main family would crumble.
Therefore, they would never forgive her.
And when that day came—could the shinobi world truly resist several beings on par with the Sage of Six Paths?
Once the planet's energy permissions had been classified and locked by Ōtsutsuki technology, the answer was self-evident.
...
"So," Satsuki continued, "even though I have the strength to protect myself for now, I will not sit idle and await annihilation. To prepare, I must understand our enemy—where they are, how strong they are, their abilities, their weaknesses, how much time we have left, and what chances we hold. And in this world, the only one who truly knows those answers… is Kaguya Ōtsutsuki."
The scan neared completion. With a flick of her hand, Satsuki commanded the Three Divine Kings' Sacred Wheel to retract its blue light, restoring it to its original form.
By then, the Nine-Tails' defiance had already begun to wane. After hearing Satsuki's words, its initial resistance faded into a heavy, uneasy silence.
Yet the Nine-Tails still refused to yield. "What you're saying is too immense. I can't take your word for it alone."
"It doesn't matter," Satsuki replied calmly. "I never needed you to believe me."
With a wave of her hand, a rift in space appeared in the air, opening directly to the outside world. At the same time, the chains binding the Nine-Tails loosened all at once, sinking back into the ground beneath.
"You're free now," Satsuki said lightly. "Go wherever you wish."
The Nine-Tails couldn't comprehend her actions. Across the entire shinobi world, countless people coveted its chakra and strength—yet this woman, after capturing it, simply released it without hesitation?
"You caught me… just to lecture me?" it asked incredulously.
"Lecture you?" Satsuki shook her head slightly. "I have no interest in that. I don't consider myself qualified to preach to others. I merely stated a fact."
With that, she turned away and stepped into the spatial rift, her figure vanishing into the void.
The Nine-Tails watched in silence, its expression shifting through layers of conflicting emotion before it too walked toward the rift.
After a dizzying sensation of spinning through time and space, the beast finally reappeared in the physical world.
But immediately, it sensed that something was off.
It was now inside an ordinary house. The woman who had called herself an Ōtsutsuki descendant spared it only a brief glance before turning her gaze elsewhere.
When the Nine-Tails tried to summon its chakra, it was shocked to discover that its power had been sealed—it couldn't mobilize even the faintest trace of energy.
Even more astonishingly, the nine great tails behind it had dwindled to a single one.
Its appearance now was no different from that of a plump, ordinary fox.
The once boundless ocean of chakra within it was now almost completely gone, its presence imperceptible.
How can I… be unable to use chakra at all?! The realization left the Nine-Tails stunned.
"This place lies within my Vipralopa Domain," Satsuki's voice came from behind, calm and composed. "Here, you can only maintain your most basic existence. You cannot wield any power in my presence. If you wish to regain your former strength, you'll have to leave this place."
Turning around, the Nine-Tails saw her resting her chin on one hand, eyes closed, already entering a state of meditation.
It recognized this posture immediately.
When the Sage of Six Paths trained or contemplated the future of the shinobi world, he would often assume the very same stance.
In that instant, before the Nine-Tails' eyes, the image of the Sage of Six Paths overlapped perfectly with that of the woman before it—the descendant of the Ōtsutsuki.