"Hamura probably regretted sealing Mother back then. What he asked you to do now was likely to lift Mother's seal, wasn't it?" Hagoromo Otsutsuki's words struck Ueno Kei's heart like the tolling of a morning bell.
Ueno Kei's expression darkened slightly. He stared at Hagoromo Otsutsuki for a long while without speaking.
"Heh, Hamura thought you didn't know what he was planning." After a moment of silence, the gloom vanished from Ueno Kei's face, and he smiled, speaking with a hint of indifference.
That tone made Hagoromo Otsutsuki pause slightly. He smiled faintly and shook his head.
"You needn't be like this. Even if Hamura's goal differs from mine, I am certain that his original intention is the same as mine! He would never allow our mother, Kaguya, to act recklessly. This land has suffered enough wounds. True peace cannot allow Mother to destroy it once again. I believe Hamura's stance on this has not changed either, has it?"
It was as though Hagoromo Otsutsuki could see through everything with his words. Ueno Kei suddenly found himself at a loss for words, as if Hagoromo Otsutsuki had seized every advantage from the start. Ueno Kei could not find a single opening to interrupt, as though he were being led around by the nose.
"Hamura merely wants to—" Just as Ueno Kei was about to say something, Hagoromo Otsutsuki interrupted him.
"That is ultimately only Hamura's own idea. Since he entrusted this matter to you, he must have left the judgment to you as well, mustn't he? Right now, I merely wish to hear your answer." Hagoromo Otsutsuki spoke calmly.
"What is your true answer?"
"What do you seek?"
Hagoromo Otsutsuki gazed directly at Ueno Kei with his weathered Rinnegan, eyes that seemed capable of seeing through all things. An unparalleled