Past Events

Seeing all the yokai staring at him, the Kappa shrank farther behind the pillar.

"Kappa, step out and speak!" the Tengu barked.

"Yes!" The Kappa emerged from behind the pillar and said tremblingly, "Back when I was still a young Kappa, a toad lived in my pond.

It called itself Gamamaru, a little yokai capable of dreaming prophetic visions!"

Hearing this, Menma said, "That's right. This Gamamaru is now the leader of Mount Myōboku, one of the three great sacred lands where I come from.

Besides Mount Myōboku, there are two other sacred lands: Dragon Cave and Wet Bone Forest!

Dragon Cave is led by a white snake, while Wet Bone Forest is led by a gigantic slug."

The Tengu fell silent for a long while before sighing. "I had thought High Plain of Heaven was the only place left in the world where yokai still existed. I never expected there to be yokai elsewhere in the world!

Good! This is truly wonderful!!"

As it spoke, the Tengu's eyes began to mist over.

Menma said, "I have an even more terrifying suspicion now, but I'm not sure whether I can say it!"

"Nothing should be left unsaid. Please, speak freely!" the Great Tengu urged.

Menma shook his head. "Not yet. I still cannot determine everyone's stance, nor can I be sure whether you harbor ambitions toward my world. So I need to confirm a few things with you first."

The yokai exchanged glances. After a while, the Great Tengu said, "If you have any questions, please ask them without restraint. We will tell you everything we know!"

Menma nodded and asked in a grave tone:

"Thank you. Then I'll begin.

First question: are there any humans in High Plain of Heaven?"

"More than a thousand years ago, there were still a few surviving priests and onmyoji in High Plain of Heaven. But human lifespans are short, so they all passed away long ago."

Menma nodded to show that he understood, then continued, "Second question: what became of the humans on the original continent?"

The Tengu thought for a moment. "We don't know much about that, but they should have carried on their lineage, shouldn't they? After all, wouldn't you, as a human, know best?"

Menma shook his head without saying anything, then asked, "Third question: if the enemies from back then return to destroy the remaining half of the planet, what do you intend to do?"

The yokai immediately erupted into unrest. "What? They'll come again?!"

"Damn it! If those bastards dare come back, I'll tear them to pieces!" the hot-tempered oni man snarled viciously.

"Enough, quiet down!" the Tengu roared, then looked toward Menma. "You wouldn't say something like that without reason, would you?!"

Menma nodded. "Indeed. According to our intelligence, members of their clan will return within the next few years to harvest the remaining fruit.

When that time comes, will you still have the courage to fight them?"

The Tengu was about to speak when Menma raised a hand to interrupt it. "Don't rush to state your position. What I'm about to tell you is of the utmost importance. It won't be too late to decide after you've heard it."

"Please, tell us!"

"If my analysis is correct, then at least some of the humans on our Ninja Continent are actually descendants of those outsiders! Furthermore, these humans possess the continent's most advanced military power!

These humans have a collective name: Ninja!" Menma dropped the bombshell without hesitation.

"What?!" The yokai were struck dumb with shock!

Even the Tengu lost its composure. "Do you have any basis for what you're saying?"

"To verify this hypothesis, I ask that you cooperate with me in conducting a few small experiments!"

After saying that, Menma held out his hand and gathered chakra in his palm. Facing the Tengu, he said, "Please sense it. Is this power the same energy that weakened you and so many other yokai?"

At that, the Tengu cautiously extended a finger and touched Menma's chakra. Its expression darkened. "That's right. This is that power. Please explain why you possess such power!"

Menma looked at the Tengu and slowly said, "It's a long story, and because so much time has passed, many details can no longer be verified. So I can only combine the information I know and tell you the most likely conclusion I have reached."

There was a group of visitors from beyond the heavens. They were aliens from other planets in the universe.

They wore white robes, had pale faces, and bore horns. We call them the Ōtsutsuki Clan.

They wandered through the universe, searching for planets with life.

Once they found a living planet, they would plant a species known as the Divine Tree to absorb the planet's life force.

As the Divine Tree absorbed life force, it released an energy suitable for the Ōtsutsuki Clan's cultivation and caused the planet's land to collapse.

Once all the planet's life force had been absorbed, it would bear a fruit known as chakra.

As long as a member of the Ōtsutsuki Clan ate this fruit, their life level would rise, completing their evolution!

While the Divine Tree was absorbing the planet's life force, it was discovered by the planet's native beings, and a great war broke out between the two sides!

The battle ended with the aliens' victory, but the planet was also split in half during the war.

The defeated native beings could only hide within the planet's fragments and struggle on.

The Divine Tree had absorbed only half of the planet's life force, and the Chakra Fruit it produced could not satisfy the Ōtsutsuki Clan's evolutionary needs.

The Ōtsutsuki Clan could only plant a Divine Tree seed on the other half of the planet, leave behind a servant named Kaguya Ōtsutsuki to guard it, and then depart to search for new living planets.

The servant developed selfish desires. Unwilling to remain a servant for life, she secretly ate the Divine Tree's fruit.

But only then did the servant truly realize that even with this power, she was still no match for her masters.

The servant began searching for a way to save herself. In the end, she came up with the idea of merging with the Divine Tree and distributing chakra fruits to the planet's native beings.

Yet she was naturally distrustful of the native beings, so she seduced a mortal and bore her own children.

The servant Kaguya had two children. One was named Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki, and the other was named Hamura Ōtsutsuki.

As the two brothers gradually grew up, they also discovered their mother's ambition. She wanted the humans on the planet to cultivate an energy called chakra, then use the Divine Tree to harvest them all at once!

As descendants of the Ōtsutsuki Clan, Hagoromo and Hamura possessed the most chakra. Once their mother began the harvest, neither of them would escape death.

The two did not wish to wait helplessly for death, so they joined forces to separate their mother from the Divine Tree and seal her away.