Passing through layer after layer of ruins, Kiyosuke continued deeper underground.
With a flick of fire, the darkness receded, revealing rows upon rows of earthen mounds—graves. Each one bore a simple wooden marker, weathered with age.
"Looks like plenty of people died here. Too bad I didn't bring White Zetsu—could've used Edo Tensei to get some answers."
He shook his head and followed the faint trail of chakra until he came upon a long-haired man in tattered robes. The man sat cross-legged on the ground, motionless, eyes closed, as if lifeless.
The clothes he wore were unlike those of the modern world—foreign, ancient.
Kiyosuke could feel a gentle current of chakra pulsing inside him.
"Seems he's in some kind of suspended state. Interesting."
He reached out and gave the man a light tap.
The moment his hand made contact, the man jolted awake. Chakra surged through his body once more as his eyes snapped open—only to reveal empty sockets.
"Holy shit—what kind of monster are you?!"
Kiyosuke instinctively jumped back. The man's eyes had been gouged out completely, leaving hollow pits behind.
"Who are you?" Kiyosuke asked quietly.
The man didn't answer. Instead, he turned his hollow gaze toward some unseen direction and muttered,
"The Princess of the Byakugan… has arrived… No… it must not be this way… I have to…"
He reached out and clutched Kiyosuke's arm tightly.
"No matter… who you are… please… give this… to the Princess of the Byakugan… fulfill Lord Hamura's will…"
He opened his mouth, and a small orb of soft pink light floated out.
The instant the orb left his body, the man deflated like an empty shell and collapsed, lifeless.
"Uh… seriously? That fragile?"
Kiyosuke frowned. "Princess of the Byakugan? Does he mean Hinata? And… Hamura… that must be that Hamura."
Ōtsutsuki Hamura—the younger brother of the Sage of Six Paths, Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo. The second son of Ōtsutsuki Kaguya, bearer of the Byakugan, and one of the two brothers who sealed their own mother away.
After sealing Kaguya, Hamura had led a portion of his descendants to live on the moon, both to guard the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path and to keep watch over his mother's prison.
They became the ancestors of the Ōtsutsuki clan on the moon and the Hyūga clan on Earth.
In short, just like his brother, Hamura was a dutiful son.
It seemed this ancient city had once belonged to Hamura's descendants… and something had clearly gone wrong here.
Kiyosuke touched the glowing orb but couldn't interact with it in any meaningful way. With no other choice, he stored it away, buried the corpse respectfully, and turned to leave.
...
Reuniting with the others, Minato said,
"The entire city's deserted. I only found some old documents—but the writing looks like some kind of coded symbols. I can't read it."
Kiyosuke took one, glanced over it, then handed it to Neji.
"Try looking at it with your Byakugan."
"Alright. Byakugan!"
Neji activated his Byakugan—and to his surprise, he could decipher the script. He read aloud slowly,
"The Branch Family… believes that the world created by the Sage of Six Paths is a mistake… that it should be destroyed and rebuilt. But we… we believe in waiting. Lord Hamura's true will was never to destroy his brother's creation."
He continued reading. The text detailed the wars among Hamura's descendants on the moon.
After Hamura's death, his lineage obeyed his final wish—to guard the Demonic Statue. But decades ago, the statue vanished. Meanwhile, endless wars raged across Earth. The Branch Family began to believe that the Sage's world was fundamentally flawed and had to be destroyed.
The Main Family opposed them, insisting that peace was still possible—that the world had hope.
But a year and a half ago, when the Ten Tails revived, the Branch Family's resolve hardened. They gathered the power of every Byakugan they had and forged a massive weapon of destruction. The record ended abruptly there—the writer likely perished soon after.
"So that's it," Naruto said, nodding as things clicked into place. "Then the ones who kidnapped Hinata and Hanabi… must be from this Branch Family."
"Why would they capture the two of them, though?" Neji frowned.
"To continue their bloodline," Kiyosuke said coldly. "After the wars, most of the moon's Ōtsutsuki probably died off—maybe only men remain. To preserve their lineage, they'd turn to the Hyūga, who share Hamura's blood. And it just so happens that the Hyūga Main Family consists of those two sisters."
Everyone's expression darkened instantly.
Kushina slammed her fist into her palm.
"Those bastards! Then let's hurry and bring Hinata and Hanabi back!"
"Yeah!" Everyone nodded in agreement—none of them had the heart to rest now.
Kiyosuke took out the glowing orb and handed it to Neji. "Try using it."
Neji absorbed the orb, and his eyes widened as images flooded his mind.
"I saw it… the battle between the Main and Branch Families. The Branch used the combined power of their Byakugan to annihilate the Main Family—but they suffered heavy losses too. In the end… only one child survived. His name was Toneri."
"I see." Kiyosuke looked up at the artificial moon overhead. "Then that means Hinata's being held there."
He smirked. "What a place to pick for a hideout."
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Naruto shouted.
"Right!"
They immediately took off, soaring toward the artificial moon on the back of the great eagle.
As they drew closer, everyone could see the structures dotting its surface—clear proof that it wasn't just a lifeless rock.
"She's definitely in there," Kiyosuke said.
Then, Naruto pointed ahead. "Wait—what are those?"
Tiny black dots poured out from the artificial moon.
Neji narrowed his eyes. "Puppets."
"Figures."
Kiyosuke's voice was calm, almost bored.
"Take them down."
He shot forward alone, fire flaring around him. The puppets swooped in riding mechanical hawks, but within moments, Kiyosuke's flames devoured them all, leaving nothing but cinders drifting through the void.
"These things burn worse than kindling from the First Hokage's yard." He dusted off his hands, unimpressed.
Minato sighed helplessly. "Looks like Kiyosuke just keeps getting stronger."
"Well, it has been years," Kushina said with a grin. "He's only in his thirties—still in his prime."
After all, Kiyosuke was the one man who'd managed to fight Uchiha Madara and live to tell the tale.
"Alright," Kiyosuke said, turning serious. "I can sense Hinata's chakra. Let's move."
He pointed toward the direction he sensed, and the group veered that way.
But as they flew, more and more puppets emerged from the artificial moon, swarming toward them.
Kiyosuke's brow furrowed. Among all the signatures, he could sense only three living chakras—Hinata, Hanabi, and another one far stronger than the rest.
Ōtsutsuki Toneri.
His chakra was immense—perhaps not on Naruto's level, but far exceeding that of Hoshigaki Kisame.
And on top of that… there was something else within him. A strange, unfamiliar chakra—something new and growing.
It seemed this fight was going to be a real problem.