"Why..." Fū froze for a moment, then asked, "And what do you mean by leaving the shinobi world? Are you going to retire and stop being a ninja?"
Toneri took Fū by both hands and said with a deeply earnest expression, "The world the Sage of Six Paths created was a failure. Come witness the birth of a new world with me."
Fū was utterly bewildered, but Toneri was already pulling her along, racing through the woods.
Before long, they reached a bare mountain wall. Before Fū could ask anything, they headed into a labyrinth of underground caves.
The crystals inside the caves dazzled Fū. With no idea where to go, she quietly followed Toneri as they wound through the many passages.
As Toneri pulled Fū along, he had already made up his mind.
According to the records his ancestors had left behind, the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, which the Ōtsutsuki Clan had guarded for generations, was the husk of the Ten-Tails.
The thieves of the Akatsuki had stolen the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path precisely for the Ten-Tails Revival.
By taking Fū, the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki, to the moon, he could thwart the Akatsuki's plans and prevent the Ten-Tails from ever becoming truly complete.
Once he came of age and acquired a pair of Byakugan, he would be able to destroy this failed world.
Soon, Toneri reached the place where the cave crabs gathered.
Hearing the disturbance, the crabs converged on him, staring eagerly in his direction as their mouthparts moved, releasing mournful screeches.
They were the guardians of this place, relying on the spring water of the Earth-Moon Passage to survive and reproduce.
But around ten years ago, the Earth-Moon Passage had been cut off, and the spring water had begun to dry up. Trapped underground,