"I think this should be enough... Descendant of Ryuken Otsutsuki... and Ashura Otsutsuki," the enemy leader said.
The remnants of BattleBot Mk-II disintegrated into black dust, dispersing across the white surface.
Ryu grabbed his head due to the mental strain of [Overclocking].
The enemy leader raised his hand, palm upward. The dreamscape responded to his will. The white dreamscape rippled around them. The scorched battlefield smoothed over, cracks sealing themselves. The massive crater from the [RasenMagnetar] filled in, white ground reforming like water flowing backward.
A round table rose from the surface between them. Chairs followed, growing from the ground in simple, functional shapes.
The Byakugan user gestured toward the chairs. "Shall we?"
Ryu straightened fully, brushing dust from his shoulder—more habit than necessity. "I believe he liked to call himself Ryuken Hamura. His family name was stripped from him."
The enemy leader's Byakugan narrowed slightly as he sat. "How do you know you're his descendant? His name is long forgotten on earth."
"How do you know?" Ryu countered.
The Byakugan user replied, "We have records of all the children of our progenitor, Hamura Otsutsuki—written by his own hand before his death." He paused, those all-seeing eyes studying Ryu.
"In our forefathers' records, your Hamura Clan's founder is mentioned as 'Ryuken Otsutsuki'. A son born on earth without any special abilities that marked the Otsutsuki bloodline."
Murmurs ran through the gathered moon dwellers immediately.
"A descendant from a branch family?"
"We thought he was just another ninja who discovered the base..."
The enemy leader continued, "Our ancestor, Hamura Otsutsuki, had other children on Earth as well, beyond Ryuken's bloodline. A daughter named Kaguya, named after her grandmother, the Rabbit Goddess, took after her legacy and founded a clan in her own name, shaping the future of their lineage. A son named Hyuga, who did the same. They sought their own glory, their own legacy."
He leaned forward slightly. "But Ryuken... he was different. Despite being cast out, despite having no abilities, he honoured his father and named his clan the Hamura Clan." He paused. "You are the last remaining of Ryuken's bloodline, except for your adoptive grandfather."
Ryu remained silent for a moment. All others except the leader and his right-hand man didn't know about Ryu's heritage until now. Murmurs from the council members began again.
The enemy leader raised his hand. Silence fell. "My name is Taro Ōtsutsuki, leader of the people of citizens of the moon." He gestured to the tall man beside him. "This is Kiyomizu Ōtsutsuki, my right hand."
Taro studied him carefully. "Based on your expression, you already know who we are."
"Yes, I already knew," Ryu said. "You all are the most invasive distant relatives I've ever had—so nosy that you even invade dreams."
One of the council members scoffed.
Ryu leaned back in his chair and asked, "You are here to stop my satellite project?"
"We are trying to protect our secret," Taro confirmed.
Ryu replied, "I now understand that, for your secret, you invade dreams, erase memories and sometimes kill the people in their dreams."
"Yes."
Ryu paused. "I understand. I myself have too many secrets." He met Taro's gaze. "But you don't have anything to fear from me—I knew of your existence, though I didn't expect you to find me first."
One of the council members—younger than the others, with a bitter edge to his voice—leaned forward. "Then you must stop your project. It will expose us."
Ryu continued. "This satellite project is important to me—for the world. It will connect people. I will not stop it." He paused. "But maybe we can work something out."
Several council members exchanged glances.
The bitter-voiced man's hands gripped the table edge. "What do Earth people know besides waging wars?"
One of the blind council members turned toward Taro. "We should destroy his mind."
Kiyomizu cut him off. "We witnessed how fortified his mind is. His mental defences are formidable."
Another council member argued, "If we cannot erase his memory, then we erase him. The ninjas cannot stop our elites."
Ryu's expression didn't change. "I know the moon people don't like people from Earth. But I remind you—even before chakra was shared with common people, wars existed. The Rabbit Goddess Kaguya Otsutsuki herself waged war before eating the God Tree's fruit. Violence existed long before shinobi." He paused. "Even Tenji, the father of our forefather, Hamura Otsutsuki, waged wars before people knew how to connect to and use chakra."
The council erupted in a flurry of voices and gestures.
"He's lying," one council member hissed. "No outsider could know such ancient history."
Another leaned forward, voice sharp with suspicion. "There is no one named Tenji in our records. Even we don't know that name—"
A third council member's tone carried disbelief. "How does an Earth dweller younger than 10 know what happened millennia ago—"
"Silence," Taro said quietly.
The room fell into immediate silence, tension thick in the air.
Taro's expression shifted. His gaze locked onto Ryu. The mention of ancient names he had no knowledge of confirmed something in his mind. Ryu knows more than he should about the past present and future. He asked, "What becomes of my people?"
The other council members were confused. Even Kiyomizu's composed expression cracked slightly with confusion.
Taro continued, speaking to everyone. "I saw visions of the future in his memories. The missing Gedo Mazō. The Ten-Tails from stories, the Otsutsuki elders. Wars that will reshape the world." He paused, his eyes fixed on Ryu. "And a figure—something I can only describe as a primordial god, standing before this boy."
Murmurs erupted around the table.
Taro raised his hand again. "He is a seer... an oracle... Our records speak of seers born once every few generations. You are also one." He looked around at the council. "You know things even our complete records don't contain."
"Does my clan survive? Tell me."
Ryu sighed, weighing the outcome of confirming what Taro already saw in the brief glimpse of the future he saw in Ryu's memories.
Ryu thought, 'He already knows. I should try to form an alliance with him. If I could save them from civil war, then I would have formidable backing.'
"I'll tell you," Ryu said. "But first—I want to know. Why are you living on the moon? The Gedo Mazō, the thing your forefather guarded... it's gone. Why remain there? I know the price you pay to stay on the moon."
Taro sat back in his chair. "The hatred of Earth people runs deep in those of the moon. They refuse to abandon their land, their history. It is their home now."
He elaborated on the significance of the Tenseigan, an Energy Vessel powered by the eyes of their people, which not only sustained their civilisation but also kept the husk of the ten-tails securely locked away. And how this power source operated the puppets that built and sustained their city, forming the foundation of their civilisation. Abandoning it would mean losing everything they had built, their history, their culture and their way of life.
Ryu then asked. "What do you eat? Do you farm on the moon?"
"We travel to Earth for food."
"With what money?"
"We control small, remote islands—places the great nations ignore," Taro explained. "Our puppets farm them under cover of night and fish the shores."
Ryu's mind clicked through the implications. Puppet labour. Resource dependency. A civilisation built on the extracted power of their own people's eyes—and yet they despise common people from Earth. The irony was almost poetic.
He leaned forward, resting his forearms on the table. "That device is powered by the eyes of your people. The same people you claim to protect." He paused. "You're trapped in your own contradictions. You hate Earth but depend on it."
Several moon people tensed, hands curling into fists.
"You speak of contradictions, but you don't understand necessity," Taro said, his voice hardening. "We built everything on that power. Without it—"
"Without it, you'd have to change," Ryu interrupted. "And that terrifies you more than extinction. That is why you went extinct."
Ryu met his gaze. "Yes. Your clan dies out."
Shock coursed through the council like an electric current, visibly unsettling each member.
"How?" Taro's voice cracked slightly on the word. "Was it our ancestor, the Rabbit Goddess Kaguya?"
"No," Ryu said. "It will happen before that. A civil war with only one survivor—a boy named Toneri Otsutsuki." Ryu let the word hang in the air.
Every face turned toward Kiyomizu, awaiting his reaction.
"Your son," one whispered.
Kiyomizu's face paled. Surprise cutting through his usual composure. His hands, resting on the table, trembled slightly.
Around the table, council members had horrified expressions.
Ryu's eyes settled on Kiyomizu. "So you're the father of that brat."
Taro's voice tightened. "Why? Why did it happen?"
"The divide you created," Ryu said. "The branch family will believe humanity is unworthy. They will seek to destroy Earth—to wipe it clean." He paused, watching their faces. "That plan will require the Tenseigan Energy Vessel. The main family will refuse. They will want coexistence, or at least neutrality."
His voice grew colder. "A civil war will erupt over the use of that power… to commit genocide… just because you feel your people are better and we earthlings are warmongers." Ryu leaned back. "In the end, the entire clan will be ruined, reduced to only one survivor."
The silence that followed was absolute.
Several council members showed expressions of realisation and fear, understanding the gravity of Ryu's words. Half of those present harboured intentions to eradicate ninjas from the Earth; they knew what Ryu said might come true.
Taro fixed a piercing stare at him for a long, tense moment.
Then he spoke, voice quiet. "Can you save us?"
Taro looked at Kiyomizu—at the man whose son would be both survivor and victim. Then back to Ryu. When he spoke again, his voice had lost its edge. "Kiyomizu has been observing you for days now. Your work. The way you help those whom others have abandoned. I believe you have a greater purpose in life… perhaps to save this world."
Kiyomizu's voice was measured when he finally spoke. "You protect the weak without asking for payment. You build instead of destroy."
Taro continued. "Please... help us."
Ryu took a moment and then said, "I will help you to the best of my ability."
He paused, looking around the table, then met Taro's gaze directly. "But first, I am the one needing your help."
##PoWeR StOnEs PLeaSE##
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