The hall was frighteningly quiet.
Light from the purple sky filtered through the windows, making everyone's faces look a little eerie.
Ōtsutsuki Jing stood in the middle and looked around at everyone.
"You've all had enough rest," he said. "Now, allow me to explain everything."
He paused.
"First, about our Ōtsutsuki Clan. We are not the Hyuga Clan. We are descendants of Lord Hamura Otsutsuki, the younger brother of the Sage of Six Paths. For generations, we have lived on this moon, guarding the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path and maintaining the seal."
Hyūga Tenshu shot to his feet.
"Hamura's descendants? Then our Byakugan..."
"The Byakugan originated with our ancestor Hamura." Ōtsutsuki Jing looked at him, his voice calm. "The Hyuga Clan is a branch of Lord Hamura's descendants who remained in the Shinobi World rather than following him to the moon. To put it plainly, you are a branch family, the portion left outside."
Those words struck Hyūga Tenshu like a club to the head.
He opened his mouth but could not get a word out.
His face alternated between pale and ashen.
So the Hyuga Clan had strutted around for over a thousand years, only to be a "branch family left outside" in the eyes of the real deal?
That was quite a blow.
Hyūga Tenshu dropped back into his stone chair and fell silent.
Ōtsutsuki Jing paid him no mind and continued.
"As for what the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path is, that requires starting from the beginning."
He walked to the center of the hall and traced his fingers through the air.
Chakra flowed from his fingertips, forming glowing images in the air.
"Long ago, a woman named Ōtsutsuki Kaguya descended upon the Shinobi World from beyond the heavens."
A woman with white hair