The cold moon dust crunched under my sandals as I sprinted across the lifeless terrain. Above me, the floating palace loomed closer, casting a ghostly shadow across the battered surface.
As I approached the massive structure, the portal that connected it to the ground shimmered into existence—a bridge of silver light. An invitation... or a challenge.
Either way, I accepted.
I launched upward, sand coiling around my feet to give me a sudden burst of speed. In an instant, I landed at the palace entrance, my cloak billowing in the cold lunar breeze.
The silence of the moon was heavy—cold, like the surface beneath my feet.I walked through the palace gates, eyes scanning the intricately carved hallways, until finally, I found him.
Toneri.
He stood alone at the edge of a marble platform overlooking Earth. His back was turned to me, his pale robes swaying gently in the lunar breeze—if such a thing existed.
"I've been watching your world for a long time" he said before I could speak."Endless wars. Bloodshed. Pain passed down like inheritance."
His voice was steady, but something in it cracked—like an old scar opening.
"I watched from here as nations tore each other apart. As children were raised only to kill. As peace became just a pause before the next slaughter."
I stepped forward slowly, my sandals crunching against the polished stone.
"I've lived that life," I said."I was raised to be a weapon in that cursed system. But are we not changing that now?. Even I grew up to be something different."
He turned then, the silver light of Earth reflecting in his pale eyes.
"You were an exception," Toneri replied. "But exceptions do not rewrite the rule."
He gestured toward the planet. "I see how fragile your so-called peace is. I saw the First War. The Second. The Third. Now the Fourth. Tell me—what has changed?"
I clenched my jaw, but didn't raise my voice.
"You're right," I said. "We've made mistakes. We've lost too many. But we're trying. We just ended a war that could've ended everything. We brought back the dead. We united enemies. People who used to hate each other now fight for one another."
I looked him in the eye.
"That matters."
Toneri shook his head, stepping away from the edge.
"You think your world deserves to continue because of a few hopeful words? Because of one fragile moment of unity?"He raised his hand, and I felt the tremor in the air as chakra stirred around us.
"No," he said. "I will not watch another century of bloodshed. I will do what no one else has had the resolve to do."
He raised his eyes to mine."I will drop the moon upon the Earth. I will wipe away the filth and give the world a clean slate."
I didn't move. I just looked at him.
"You're not saving anyone," I said. "You're giving up."
Toneri's expression didn't waver, but I saw the flicker in his gaze.
"You speak of peace like it's permanent," he said. "But it isn't. Your kind proves that again and again. You are flawed. All of you."
"We are," I said honestly. "But we're also capable of more than you think."
My chakra stirred now—quietly, not in challenge, but in readiness.
"You think destruction will cleanse the world. But you're only repeating what caused all this in the first place—fear, pain, and running from it all."
Toneri's hand twitched at his side. For a second, I thought he might reconsider.
But then he turned, and his eyes hardened.
"It's too late."
The floor beneath us trembled. I felt the tension in the air rise like a coming storm.He was preparing to fight.
So was I.
Sand began to swirl around me, rising in delicate spirals.
I whispered under my breath, "Then I'll stop you here."
His body lit up with divine power.
Toneri's hair rose like a halo as his form was engulfed in a radiant cyan aura, spiraling with pure Tenseigan energy. His eyes, once still and composed, now blazed like twin suns of judgment.
He raised his hand to the sky above the ruined palace ceiling.From thin air, a massive golden wheel of light materialized—Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion, a technique of pure devastation.
It spun, humming like the end of the world.
In the past, I would've met it with sand. But now?
I raised my arm.My Karma seal pulsed gold across my skin and then shifted—twisting, spiraling, absorbing the very nature of the jutsu before it could even finish expanding.
A portal bloomed beside me—rippling black and gold—and Toneri's own redirected light blast roared back out of it behind him. He barely spun in time to evade, but I didn't give him a second.
I was behind him in a flash, kicking his side.He blocked, but skidded across the palace floor, leaving scorched lines in the stone.
I felt the rinnegan burn in my right eye as I glanced briefly toward Toneri.That eye—Madara's eye—still had untapped power, but it wasn't compatible with me. Limbo wouldn't come no matter how I tried. His essence resisted me.
Because it isn't mine.
I wondered—if I removed it, let my Ōtsutsuki blood awaken naturally—what would grow in its place?
Toneri's golden light surged again as he roared, pushing his body beyond its limits. "Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion!" he shouted, swinging the colossal disk of chakra down at me like a divine guillotine.
With a single motion, I raised my hand and absorbed the attack—not crudely like the Preta Path, but efficiently, like siphoning breath from the wind.
The golden disk collapsed into a stream of energy and vanished into my palm. My body tensed, resisting the immense power, but I held firm.
Toneri's face twisted in disbelief. "You… absorbed it? Completely?"
"I warned you," I said quietly. "I'm not here to kill you. I'm here to end your delusion."
He launched toward me again, this time with pinpoint strikes of Tenseigan-enhanced chakra—faster, more precise, but still flawed. I opened a small rift in space behind me and stepped through it, reappearing above him. His head whipped up just in time to see me crash down, slamming him with a heavy strike reinforced by gravitational pressure.
He skidded across the marble floor of the Moon Palace, coughing, the air knocked out of him.
"You speak of cleansing humanity," I continued, my voice echoing. "But you've never lived among them. Never bled beside them. You think you're above them because you were born here—because you inherited power you don't fully understand."
Toneri's eyes glowed as he stood, shakily. "You're wrong… I do understand it! I've watched your wars from above. Your hatred. Your endless cycle of pain!"
"Then maybe you should have come down sooner," I said, narrowing my eyes. "Fighting from afar only breeds ignorance."
He screamed in frustration and summoned another attack—a massive, condensed beam of light from the Tenseigan, shot straight at me.
I didn't dodge.
Instead, I reached forward, and cut the beam.
With my Mystic Eyes of Death Perception now active, I could see the death lines even on chakra itself—on light, on energy, on reality. I traced a hand through the air and slashed the invisible line running down the core of the blast.
It collapsed instantly, unraveling in a wave of broken particles.
Toneri stared at me in horror. "What… what are you?"
I descended slowly toward him, my eyes still glowing with black rings and crackling white lines. "I'm someone who survived everything you thought you understood. I've become more than just a shinobi. But even now—I don't use this power to judge others."
Toneri trembled, weakened by the sheer drain of the battle. His chakra cloak flickered.
I walked closer. He tried to raise his hand again—one final, desperate attack—but his arm shook too much to aim it.
"You've lost, Toneri," I said, not with malice, but with truth. "And I'm giving you a choice."
I extinguished my death eyes and released a slow breath.
"You can continue clinging to a false interpretation of Hamura's legacy. Or you can listen. And we can prevent the real enemies from tearing this world apart."
Toneri stared at me in silence, panting. Finally, the golden light of the Tenseigan Chakra Mode dimmed, flickering out entirely.
He collapsed to his knees.
"…Then speak," he said at last, "and tell me what you believe Hamura really wanted."
The silence of the Moon was deeper than any desert night.
I stood outside the ruined halls of Toneri's palace, the broken remnants of our battle scattered around me like memories waiting to fade. But there was something unfinished in all of this. Toneri's resolve may have been broken, but his confusion still lingered.
If I was truly going to end this—truly bring clarity—I needed to do more than just speak for Hamura.
I needed Hamura himself to speak.
I closed my eyes and let the world fall away.
The Karma seal bloomed across my body like golden fire, and I reached—not with my hands, but with my will. Somewhere in the unseen layers of the world, where chakra and spirit converge, I called out.
"Hamura… Sage of the Moon. If your will still lingers—hear me."
Nothing, at first.
Then—wind.
But not the kind that touched skin. It passed through my chakra, like a breath from beyond time itself. My Rinnegan pulsed dully behind my eyelid. And then, I saw it.
A shape in the void. A presence—calm, towering, serene.
He had long white hair that flowed like silk, a gentle aura around him that radiated immense power restrained by infinite wisdom. The same crescent moon symbol marked his forehead, but unlike the divine pressure of the Sage of Six Paths, his presence was quieter—more reserved.
He didn't speak with words. He resonated.
"You have reached far, Ōtsutsuki child of Earth."
I opened my eyes, and in that moment, Hamura's spiritual form was visible—hovering above the cracked stone of the palace. Toneri had emerged from the shadows, his eyes widening in disbelief.
"H-Hamura-sama…?"
Hamura turned his head slowly, meeting Toneri's trembling gaze.
"You have misread my silence, Toneri," his voice echoed gently. "I did not create the Moon to separate or destroy—but to preserve. My will was not vengeance. It was hope."
Toneri fell to his knees.
"I… I thought… I was continuing your legacy…"
"You chose fear. And fear blinds even the purest blood."
I said nothing. I just watched as the illusion of purpose unraveled in Toneri's expression.
Hamura's form floated forward and placed a spectral hand on Toneri's shoulder.
"You are not beyond redemption."
Toneri broke down—not with words, but tears.
And for the first time… the Moon felt less cold.
I stepped forward, the silver light of the Moon casting long shadows over the shattered palace.
Hamura and Toneri stood before me—one a spirit from the dawn of chakra, the other a man slowly piecing himself back together from the ruins of pride and delusion.
But peace was never permanent. I knew that better than anyone.
"I didn't come here just to stop a misguided plan," I began, my voice steady. "There are greater threats… and they're coming. More Otsutsuki."
Toneri looked up at me, stunned. Hamura's expression was unreadable, but I felt a ripple in the air—a silent acknowledgment.
"They're not like you, Hamura. Not like Kaguya, even. These ones are stronger and even more ruthless. If they set their eyes on Earth again… the world won't survive without preparation."
Hamura's eyes, pale and endless, met mine.
Toneri's hands clenched at his sides. "Then what do we do? We've already sacrificed so much…"
I looked between them.
"You don't need to sacrifice anything anymore," I said. "You need to protect. That's what Hamura truly wanted. And for that… you'll need strength."
I turned to Hamura.
"Bless Toneri. Share your strength with him—not as a punishment, not as penance. But as a guardian. Someone who understands this Moon. Someone who won't let it become a weapon again."
Hamura gazed at Toneri for a long moment. Then… he nodded.
"So be it."
The spiritual form of the Sage of the Moon lifted one hand. A cascade of gentle silver light flowed from his body—pure and unshakable. It enveloped Toneri, who staggered back, overcome with emotion.
His eyes shimmered with renewed power, and the air around him seemed to settle—less tense, more balanced. A guardian reborn.
"I'll protect the Earth from here," Toneri whispered, eyes wide with new clarity. "I promise."
Hamura floated higher, his robes flowing with the stillness of the stars themselves. As he drifted into the cold of space, he turned back one last time.
"I will watch from space for any Extraterrestrial Threats. And if I notice something amiss, I will return."
Then he was gone—fading like a dream into the black canvas beyond the Moon.
I let out a quiet breath.
So this… was the start of the next chapter.
Not war. Not conquest.
Preparation.
And I would make sure the Earth was ready.
I stood over Toneri as silence returned to the Moon Palace—cold, sterile, ancient. The shattered remains of our battle still littered the chamber. Cracks ran along the floor, and faint blue dust from the Tenseigan shimmered in the still air like snow suspended in time.
Toneri knelt in the rubble, not in pain, but in thought. I could feel it.
"I'm opening a portal back to Earth," I said calmly, lifting my hand. The golden spiral of my Karma Seal flared, and space bent to my will. A tear formed in reality itself—a smooth rift that showed the dunes of the Wind Country on the other side. "You're coming with me."
He looked up, his voice hoarse. "To… Earth? After all I tried to do?"
"Yes," I replied, my tone resolute. "You've seen the world from above. Now it's time you walk through it."
He hesitated, the wind of the portal brushing through his white hair. "And if I refuse?"
I stepped closer, locking eyes with him.
There was a long pause. The swirling portal hummed like a heartbeat, warm and alive.
Finally, Toneri rose to his feet. "Then… I will go. If only to see what kind of world you are willing to protect."
I nodded, saying nothing more.
Together, we stepped through.
The blinding white of the moon gave way to golden sands and deep blue skies. The wind hit me first, warm and familiar. The sun above the Hidden Sand Village was gentle today—almost as if the land itself recognized its protector's return.
I dismissed the portal behind us with a flick of my fingers. Toneri stood silently beside me on the rocky outcrop just outside the village, gazing down at the vast settlement below.
"That… is Suna?" he asked, wonder creeping into his voice.
I gave a short nod. "My home. You're not a prisoner. But you are being watched. Don't make me regret this."
His eyes narrowed slightly. "And you still trust me?"
I looked ahead, watching the wind dance across the sand. "No. But I trust that you can change."
We descended slowly toward the village gates.
(End of Chapter)