The wind atop the mountain suddenly turned violent, sweeping sharp fragments of stone between the three of them with a howl.
Ōtsutsuki Isshiki's projection stood where it was.
Moonlight passed through his translucent body, casting a blurred gray shadow on the ground.
"Questioning and accountability?"
Isshiki repeated those words, his tone brimming with barely restrained fury.
And Momoshiki did not miss that detail.
He tilted his head, his rabbit-ear-shaped horns tracing a sharp arc in the moonlight, and the smile on his lips grew increasingly mocking.
"What?" Momoshiki drawled, his voice rising at the end. "Not satisfied with that answer?"
The mountain wind whipped Momoshiki's white robe with a rustle. The fabric billowed in the wind, yet not a single unnecessary crease appeared.
Then Isshiki spoke.
"Momoshiki."
"What tone do you think you're taking with me?"
Isshiki's projection fixed Momoshiki with an utterly imperious stare.
Had Isshiki come in person rather than using a projection to meet the two of them, they would already have been fighting.
"Even if the Main Family sent you to hold me accountable."
Isshiki's gaze was icy. "You should not forget the most basic rules of the Ōtsutsuki Clan."
"My standing in the clan is far above yours."
Isshiki spoke each word distinctly. "That was true a thousand years ago, and it remains true today, a thousand years later."
"So, Momoshiki!"
"Watch your attitude when you speak to me."
Silence abruptly fell over the mountaintop.
Momoshiki snorted, still looking at Isshiki with disdain.
Meanwhile, Kinshiki Otsutsuki stood beside them without moving a muscle.
His gaze remained level, fixed straight ahead. The clash between these two lords from the upper ranks of the Ōtsutsuki Clan had nothing to do with him.
Kinshiki knew his place very well.
He was Momoshiki's attendant, Momoshiki's guard.
That meant he