On the moon, two families at war

After a long search, Tetsuhiro and Madara finally found the passage deep in the forest.

"Into the water again?" Madara recalled his unpleasant experience last time.

Tetsuhiro hurried to promise, "I guarantee it'll be spacious inside this time, and the trip will be short." At the same time, he thought, We both still have a lot to learn. We're no good at underwater combat, aerial combat, or fighting in space.

"Fine. I'll trust you one more time." Madara finally jumped in.

Sure enough, the passage gradually widened, and the two felt as though they had entered a Bubble World.

"Genjutsu? A cheap trick." Madara broke free instantly and turned to look at Tetsuhiro.

This idiot actually fell for it. He swam over, pressed his palm against Tetsuhiro's back, and declared, "Release!"

Inside the illusion, Li Tetsuhiro was complaining to his roommate about the novel "I Possessed Hashirama and Swept Through the Shinobi World" when everything suddenly began to spin.

When he woke again, he was already inside a cave. Madara Uchiha stood before him with his arms folded, and a vast emerald-green lake lay beside him.

"What happened to me?" He shook his head, feeling as though a lifetime had passed.

"You were too careless. You fell under Genjutsu," Madara said with some disdain. "This should be the moon. I can sense a battle outside."

"Now that you mention it, I do smell a faint trace of blood. We can still make it if we go now!"

Tetsuhiro sprang to his feet with a kip-up, steadied himself, and rushed out.

Passing through the rocky cave, they saw flashes of light in the distance. Chakra exploded amid the constant sounds of fighting and screams...

"Kill them! Wipe out those corrupt Main Family bastards!"

"Members of the Branch Family, you've been deceived! Stop this war!" A young man in an old-fashioned robe had his arm severed by an enemy's blade. "Aah!"

Just as the attacker was about to take his life, a tall, cold-faced man with long hair stopped him.

The man placed a hand over his head and uttered only two words: "Soul absorption."

He felt his entire being float upward, then suddenly lost consciousness.

After absorbing the attacker's soul, Madara opened his eyes. "Hamura Otsutsuki, a conflict of ideals between the Main Family and Branch Family... Destroying the world?"

"It seems you already know everything." Once his shock passed, the young man from the Main Family asked, "Who are you, and what do you want?"

Tetsuhiro and Madara exchanged smiles. Tetsuhiro patiently explained, "We accidentally came through the passage from the planet below-what you call the lower world."

"Impossible! How could people from the lower world be so powerful?"

"Heh. Now that we're here, we certainly won't stand by and do nothing." Tetsuhiro pointed at the Giant Light Orb. "That looks pretty important. Let's head there first."

"Works for me."

After a few bursts of movement, hundreds upon thousands of puppets charged at them before they could get close.

"Enough for a warm-up?"

"This few? Not enough." With that, Madara charged into their ranks.

His right hook smashed the head of the puppet before him. He sidestepped a slash, then sent another flying with a Rolling Kick, knocking several more down.

With a succession of sweeping kicks, he sent the puppets flying several meters.

Madara fought through the horde of puppets like a god of war.

When their controller realized the relentless attacks were getting nowhere, he immediately fired an energy beam at Madara from the Giant Light Orb.

"Perfect! Just the chance to test this move." Madara brought his hands together with a forceful clap.

"Wood Release: Hōbi Technique!"

The beam failed to pierce his defenses.

"Come on, entertain me!" Madara stood in the center, laughing wildly.

"Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence!"

Countless roots surged out of the ground, strangling everything around them!

"Increase the output! Hurry!" The enemy leader issued commands with his eyes closed.

More than a dozen beams shot from the light orb, destroying the roots one after another.

"Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence!"

Madara pressed both hands against the ground. Fueled by his chakra, four towering stems burst from the earth and immediately bloomed.

"It's poisonous! Hold your breath!" Only when his clansmen began collapsing one after another did the leader realize what was happening. He ordered concentrated fire to blast down the stems.

After that, however, only a dozen or so people remained beside him.

Madara eagerly urged him, "That eyeball has other abilities, doesn't it? Hurry up and use them."

"Damn you! You commoners from the lower world dare look down on our clan? Prepare Concentrated Beam Mode!"

The light orb was actually a Giant Byakugan, created by gathering the eyes of every member of the Otsutsuki Branch Family.

It had already devastated the Main Family. Tetsuhiro and Madara had still arrived a step too late.

"Good! Dance! Struggle!" Madara had regained his wildly arrogant demeanor.

The laser grew steadily brighter. With the Branch Family leader's furious roar of "Die, you bastard!", it finally fired.

Madara entered Sage Mode, brought his hands together, and roared in turn, "Super Shinra Tensei!"

Boom! The two tremendous forces collided, tearing the heavens and earth apart. The entire moon shook violently.

Fortunately, Tetsuhiro had seen the danger coming. Using the Clone Technique, he rescued every member of the Ōtsutsuki Main Family he could find and took them far from the battlefield.

They thanked Tetsuhiro repeatedly, increasing his chances of winning them over.

The earthquake lasted five minutes before finally subsiding. Still worried, Tetsuhiro used the Body Flicker Technique several times in succession to get back.

He found Madara breathing a little heavily, one foot planted on the Branch Family leader, with corpses strewn all around him.

"Surrender or die?"

The man continued cursing between ragged breaths. "Lower-world commoner... filthy, lowborn scum... Enjoy your triumph while you can. In the future..."

Crunch! When had Lord Madara ever endured such abuse? Before the man could finish, Madara crushed him underfoot.

"..." It happened so quickly that Tetsuhiro had no time to stop him. Fortunately, he knew the plot; otherwise, he would have been completely at a loss.

"This is your clan's internal affair. You can deal with the survivors yourselves. We came here for two reasons. First, to take you down to live with the Hyuga, who are an offshoot of your clan.

"Second, for this Giant Byakugan. We're taking it. Any objections?"

"No, none. Please help yourself, benefactor. But we've grown accustomed to living here. Please allow us to remain."

"This isn't a suitable place to live. Besides, it'll become a strategic location in the future. No one can live here anymore."

"Why should you decide?" Another young man stepped forward. "You're only outsiders. Don't demand too much."

"Heh." Tetsuhiro pushed down Madara's raised hand and explained gently, "You remain here to guard the Ten-Tails' husk and Princess Kaguya, correct?"

"H-how do you know our ancestral instructions?"

"Then there's even less reason to stay. We've already summoned the husk to the lower world, and Black Zetsu will soon revive Princess Kaguya."

"..." They immediately gathered to one side and conferred in hushed voices.

A long while later.

The Otsutsuki clan leader stepped forward. "Your word alone is no proof. We'll send people down with you to take a look."

"Fine. Wait a moment." Suddenly remembering someone, Tetsuhiro searched for a while with the Kagura Mind Technique. That distinctive chakra should have belonged to him.

Using Agility, he rushed over, knocked down two guards, and carried the boy back.

"Big brother, who are you?" the curly-haired little boy asked softly.

"Someone who will change your fate and save you."

"Why change my fate? Why save me?"

"Because there are so many other wonderful things you can experience. You shouldn't be bound by others. You still have a happy future ahead!"

"Happiness? A future?"

"Will you come with me? To explore everything we don't yet know."

The little boy opened his eyes, revealing empty sockets. "Even when I'm like this?"

"They're only eyes. It's nothing. You'll be able to see very soon."

The two came before the Giant Byakugan.

Tetsuhiro's heart suddenly trembled. The [bloodline activation rewarded by the system] long ago had resonated with it.

Excited, Tetsuhiro reached out to touch it. The Byakugan responded immediately, and he decisively tried absorbing it. To his surprise, he really could absorb it with ease!

"Haha! It really works!"

Tremendous energy surged into his body, continuously strengthening and perfecting his bloodline.

His eyes also kept absorbing those smaller Byakugan. He could feel his bloodline changing, and he was growing stronger by the moment!

Madara stood beside him, observing as he guarded him. "Good. Keep growing stronger like this. I need you beside me on my path to invincibility."

By the time Tetsuhiro had absorbed all the energy, his pupils had turned completely white, and he had automatically awakened the Byakugan. He could clearly feel how much his strength had increased. Combined with his Yang Power, he was stronger than ever.

After examining the changes in his body, he opened his palm and gently pressed the pair of Byakugan resting there into the little boy's sockets, performing a painless operation right on the spot.

The boy slowly opened his eyes and shouted happily, "I can see! This is wonderful! So this is the world? You're that uncle?"

Tetsuhiro smiled confidently. "Yes. My name is Hashirama Senju." He pointed at Madara and introduced him. "That prickly fellow is Madara Uchiha. Don't let his attitude fool you. He's a good person."

"Hmph! You talk too much."

"Hello, Uncle Hashirama, Uncle Madara. My name is Otsutsuki Toneri. Thank you again for saving me. From now on, I'll do what you say."

"Uncle?" This was the first time anyone had called Madara that.

"We'll see. Your future is still yours to discover." Utterly speechless at the boy's insistence, Tetsuhiro simply took his hand and walked away.

But Toneri whispered to him, "Actually, I'll listen to you most of all."

"Fine. Changing little Toneri's outlook is going to be a long road."