Hoshino slowly loosened his fingers, Tenseigan the light of the Hoshino receded like the tide, finally hovering between the two of them, radiating a warm halo.
Otsutsuki Toneri knelt before the throne, his long, snow-white hair disheveled and draped over his shoulders, his empty eye sockets 'staring' in the direction of the Tenseigan.
His fingertips dug deep into the lunar rock, his knuckles turning bluish-white from the excessive force.
despair.
This emotion, like a cold venom, spread from the depths of my bones throughout my body.
A thousand-year mission, the glory of the clan, the judgment of the Shinobi World —all beliefs crumbled the moment the Tenseigan a different owner.
He could not sense any response from the Tenseigan, as if he were a blind man stripped of his senses, even his 'existence' itself becoming blurred.
Without the Tenseigan, what am I?
The will of Hamura's ancestors has ultimately been tainted...
Hoshino's senses swept over Toneri's trembling shoulders, offering neither explanation nor pity.
"Come with me."
Toneri didn't move. He squeezed out a hoarse laugh, which sounded like self-mockery or resignation.
"Kill me," he finally spoke, his voice dry and rough like sandpaper, "Or alter my memories, just like you did to the Tenseigan."
Hoshino stopped and turned her head to 'look' at him.
"You deserve a better ending. I'm just borrowing the Giant Tenseigan; I'll return it to you in the future. I can even help you awaken your own Tenseigan."
Changing one's perceptions may be a shortcut, but shortcuts can stifle potential.
Of course, another reason is that people who have been completely reconstructed by the Twin Hands are like puppets on strings.
The essence of his soul was covered up, the trajectory of his destiny was forcibly reversed, and he was no longer an independent life, but an extension of his will.
In Hoshino's eyes, such a person is no longer a person, but a tool.
Upon hearing this, Otsutsuki Toneri suddenly looked up, a flicker of disbelief appearing in his empty eye sockets.
Hoshino said no more, and lightly tapped the ground with his fingertips.
The moon rock rippled like water, revealing the deep staircase below.
At the end of the stairs, a stone door covered with ancient runes can be vaguely seen, with a faint blue light seeping from the cracks.
"You've never truly understood what Hamura Otsutsuki left behind."
Otsutsuki Toneri's body stiffened. Of course, he knew that door; it was the 'purification room' recorded in the family records, where no one was allowed to enter and disturb the peace of the ancestors.
But how did they know? Or... have I been wrong all along?
At this moment, Hoshino had already stepped onto the stairs, his footsteps echoing under the empty dome of the clean room.
After a moment's hesitation, Otsutsuki Toneri decided to follow.
His fingertips unconsciously traced the wall, the cold touch of the moonstone reminding him of the nights he spent exploring the palace alone during his childhood.
At that time, he believed that this clean room held all the answers of Hamura's ancestors.
But now, there's nothing here.
The clean room was circular, no more than ten feet in diameter, with smooth, mirror-like walls. Only on the wall directly opposite the entrance was a huge relief carving.
The Sage of Six Paths, wielding his staff, Hamura Otsutsuki, raising his light sword, are facing off against Kaguya atop the God Tree.
The paint on the relief has long since peeled off, leaving only the deeply carved lines.
"You brought me here..." Otsutsuki Toneri's voice sounded particularly dry in the enclosed space, "Just to see this?"
Hoshino did not answer. He walked to the relief and placed his hand on the forehead of the Hamura statue.
Click--
The muffled creaking of mechanisms turning came from inside the stone wall.
Suddenly, Hamura's eyes on the relief sculpture lit up with blue light, and a phantom figure slowly peeled away from the wall.
White hair, white robe, and two horns on his forehead—it was the remnant soul of Hamura Otsutsuki.
"A thousand years... and yet it still awakens!" The voice of the remnant soul was like the rustling of wind through withered leaves, "Who comes..."
Halfway through his sentence, Hamura Otsutsuki frowned, looking at the young man in front of him, somewhat confused about the current situation.
Is this the moon, or perhaps a secluded chamber deep within a palace? Logically, only one's descendants should be allowed to come here.
But this gray-haired youth was clearly not one of them.
"Who are you?"
On the other side, Otsutsuki Toneri staggered back half a step. He had knelt and worshipped the portrait of his ancestor countless times, but he never thought he would meet him in this way.
"I'm here to discuss cooperation," Hoshino, getting straight to the point.
Upon hearing this, the remnant soul of Hamura Otsutsuki narrowed its eyes slightly, its gaze sweeping between Hoshino and Otsutsuki Toneri before finally settling on Hoshino.
His gaze was deep, as if he could see through everything.
"Cooperation?" Hamura Otsutsuki's voice carried a hint of doubt and wariness. "You are not my descendant, yet you have set foot here and even gained control of the Tenseigan... Just who are you?"
"That's not important!"
Hoshino raised his hand and waved it, and a golden energy condensed in the air, transforming into a holographic image.
The video presents the history of the Shinobi World, Otsutsuki Kaguya's sealing, Black Zetsu's conspiracy, the threat from another dimension, and the eyes peering through the rift in spacetime.
" The Shinobi World is about to face an unprecedented crisis, and we need your power."
Hamura Otsutsuki remained silent for a moment, his gaze gradually becoming serious. He looked at Otsutsuki Toneri and asked, "Is what he said true?"
Otsutsuki Toneri lowered his head and replied, "Ancestor... I... I don't know."
The remnant spirit of Hamura Otsutsuki gazed at Toneri, a hint of pity in his eyes. He sighed slowly, "So that's how it is..."
His gaze pierced through the body of the Toneri, seeing the shell hollowed out by obsession. Looking around, he found no trace of other clansmen within his perception range.
On this lonely moon, only these two figures remain.
When his gaze fell upon the Giant Tenseigan in the center of the palace, formed by the forced fusion of countless Byakugan, his remnant soul trembled violently.
The imprisoned, Byakugan consciousnesses wailed silently, as if telling a cruel truth.
"I understand..." Hamura's voice was heavy with unspeakable sorrow, "In the end, our clansmen still chose this path of no return."
His gaze returned to Toneri, looking at the face that resembled his own but was filled with pain, and at the eyes that should have inherited his pure Byakugan but were now just empty sockets.
"For the sake of your so-called 'mission,' you are willing to sacrifice the eyes of your own kind..." The remnant soul of Hamura Otsutsuki gently shook his head, "This was absolutely not my intention."
Otsutsuki Toneri's body trembled violently, his fingernails digging deeply into his palms.
Those deliberately forgotten memories suddenly surged back.
The wailing of his clansmen before their deaths, the screams of agony as his Byakugan was forcibly removed, and... the madness of him personally merging his last Byakugan into the Tenseigan.
"Ancestor... I..." Otsutsuki Toneri's voice was fragmented, as if he were about to collapse at any moment.
Hamura Otsutsuki raised his illusory hand, seemingly wanting to touch this pitiful descendant, but then stopped halfway.
He turned to Hoshino, a serious expression appearing on his illusory face.
"Young man, tell me your purpose. Since you can awaken my remnant soul, your request must be extraordinary."
Hoshino nodded slightly, and an incredibly clear holographic image unfolded in the center of the clean room.
In the scene, countless spacetime rifts spread like a spider web, and a massive expeditionary force is gathering.
"The dimensional war has begun." Hoshino's voice was deep and solemn. "A Six Paths Level powerhouse from another dimension is leading a million-strong expeditionary force towards this world."
The image focuses on the figure wearing a white mask.
Nine Truth-Seeking Orb surrounded his body, and his Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan and Rinnegan were activated simultaneously. The powerful Chakra fluctuations could be felt even through the images.
Hamura Otsutsuki's remnant soul was suddenly jolted. "This power... is actually comparable to my brother's!"
"This is impossible!" he muttered to himself, "Besides my brother and me, there shouldn't be a third being at the Six Paths Level in this world..."
As for the mother, she is a truly immortal being above the Six Paths, therefore she can only be sealed away.
"Of course, they don't exist in this world; they come from the depths of spacetime."
Hoshino put away the holographic image. "We are facing not only enemies from another dimension, but also unknown forces behind them."
At that moment, Otsutsuki Toneri suddenly spoke up and asked, "Ancestor, what should we do?"
"Wait a minute, let me confirm something."
Hamura Otsutsuki clearly didn't completely believe Hoshino's words. His illusory hands slowly came together, and a faint blue Chakra fluctuation emanated from his body.
These Chakra spread out like ripples, penetrating the walls of the purification room and extending into the endless void.
Hoshino waited quietly, while Toneri watched his ancestor's every move with bated breath.
About fifteen minutes later, Hamura Otsutsuki suddenly opened his eyes. The light of his remnant soul had dimmed considerably, but his eyes still shone with certainty.
"I have confirmed that what Hoshino said is true. The spacetime barrier is collapsing, and that unfamiliar Six Paths Power is indeed approaching the Shinobi World."
Toneri clenched his fists, his empty eye sockets trembling slightly. "Ancestor, how should we deal with this?"
Hamura Otsutsuki turned his gaze to Hoshino: "Young man, your power is extraordinary, but the current strength of the Shinobi World is still insufficient to counter such a threat."
Hoshino nodded and said, "Therefore, I need your help."
"You want me to contact my brother, right? So you've always known he's still alive! Fine, back then my brother and I were willing to do anything for the sake of the Shinobi World world and our mother, and now we'll naturally cooperate fully for the sake of all beings once again."
Hamura Otsutsuki sighed, raised his illusory hand, and a soft blue light emanated from his body.
The Chakra fluctuations gradually intensified, and the air in the purification chamber seemed to solidify, as a power transcending time and space was gathering.
Toneri held his breath, a long-lost sense of awe appearing in his eyes.
This was the first time he had witnessed the power of his ancestor firsthand, and even a remnant soul still left him in awe.
Hoshino quietly observed, sensing the flow of Hamura's Chakra. He could feel that a connection across the Pure Land was being established.
A moment later, the space inside the clean room distorted slightly, and a phantom figure slowly emerged.
The Sage of Six Paths.
He held a tin staff, had two horns on his forehead, and his gaze was deep and peaceful.
" Hamura, it's been a long time."
"Brother," the remnant soul of Hamura Otsutsuki bowed slightly, his voice tinged with longing, "Time is of the essence, I must disturb your peace."
The Sage of Six Paths ' gaze swept over Hoshino and Toneri, finally settling on Hoshino.
"I already know everything. You're making preparations, and so am I!"
Hoshino stood in the center of the purification room, his eyes slightly moving, a barely perceptible smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.
Just as I expected...
He murmured to himself, his thoughts like undercurrents surging beneath the calm surface of a lake.
He had already guessed it from the moment the Resurrection Plan started going unusually smoothly.
The fact that souls like Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha, who should have been bound by the Pure Land, could return to the human world so easily must have involved the cooperation of the Sage of Six Paths.
"It seems you've been keeping an eye on the Shinobi World," Hoshino said, his voice so calm it betrayed no emotion.
"But you allowed Black Zetsu's conspiracy to continue for a thousand years, yet you stepped in to help him at a crucial moment. I'm very curious, what changed your stance?"
Upon hearing this, the remnant soul of Hamura Otsutsuki was shocked. "Brother, this..."
It seems he really doesn't know anything about Black Zetsu!
The Sage of Six Paths raised his hand to stop his younger brother's question, his gaze remaining fixed on Hoshino.
"Because we saw a variable."
"Your soul does not belong to this time and space, young man."
"When you crossed the barrier of time and space and descended upon the Shinobi World, the resulting energy surged like a torch in the darkness, guiding those who coveted this world."
The remnant soul of Hamura Otsutsuki abruptly turned to Hoshino: "What? You are...?"
"A time traveler," Hoshino calmly admitted, a bitter smile playing on his lips. "It seems my arrival has only hastened the arrival of the crisis."
No wonder...
Hoshino mentally sorted everything out.
The unusual activity of the Dragon Vein, the premature collapse of the spacetime barrier, and the eyes peering through the cracks... all of this has been explained.
The Sage of Six Paths nodded slowly. "What's done is done. Instead of assigning blame, we should think about how to deal with it."
His gaze toward Hoshino was scrutinizing. "Therefore, I choose to take a gamble, a gamble that you, this variable, can become the savior of the world, rather than the source of disaster."
Hoshino was silent for a moment, then suddenly chuckled, "You're quite magnanimous. But you made the right bet. Regardless of whether this crisis started because of me, I will take full responsibility."
Otsutsuki Toneri stood to one side, his empty eye sockets shifting back and forth between the two.
This sudden truth was hard for him to process.
"So..." Toneri's voice trembled slightly, "Our current enemy is chasing after him?"
"Not entirely." The Sage of Six Paths shook his head. "The fragility of spacetime has always existed; Hoshino's arrival merely accelerated the process. Even without him, this invasion would have happened sooner or later."
Hoshino continued, "But now, at least we have time to prepare."
The night sky over Sunagakure was exceptionally clear, with countless stars like shattered diamonds embedded in the deep blue canvas.
Temari stood on the rooftop of the Reform Society building, the night breeze ruffling her pale golden hair.
Ever since Hoshino left, she would stand here for a while every night, gazing at the moon in a daze.
"Are you worried about that guy?"
Kankuro's voice came from behind him. He was holding the newly purged puppet core with a mischievous smile on his face.
Without Temari, Temari said, "Mind your own business."
Just then, a silver-blue shooting star streaked across the night sky, its light growing brighter and brighter until it finally plummeted straight toward Sunagakure.
"That is..."
Temari's pupils suddenly contracted, and the "meteor" abruptly slowed down a hundred meters above the ground, transforming into two figures that landed lightly.
Hoshino's long, gray hair fluttered in the night breeze, behind him floated an awakened eyeball emitting a soft, eerie light, and beside him stood a boy in white.
"I'm back."
Hoshino's voice remained calm, yet it made Temari's heart skip a beat.