Soon, the internal introductions concluded, and everyone quietly continued maintaining the Phantom Dragons Nine Consuming Seals technique.
At this moment, the vitality of the Great Dog General had been completely stripped away, leaving behind only his massive body still serving as a source of yōkai energy.
As for the Shikon Jewel, the two warring spirits within—the curved and straight souls—both sensed their mutual crisis of annihilation. Yet, the main body of the straight soul, Midoriko, had already resolved to perish alongside the yōkai souls composing the curved spirit.
Thus, when the Phantom Dragons Nine Consuming Seals began extracting the Jewel's power, the straight soul instead entangled the curved one, preventing its escape.
Only after both souls were drawn out and devoured by the massive mouth of the Gedo Statue did the Shikon Jewel—an existence destined in later generations to stir countless tales of love, hatred, and tragedy, even serving as the catalyst behind Inuyasha and Kikyo's fateful romance—vanish completely without a trace.
With the Jewel's disappearance, the sealing process proceeded even more smoothly. Before long, the once-shut eyes upon the Gedo Statue opened one after another, signifying that its energy reserves were nearing completion.
"In less than a single day, we've gathered enough chakra to fill the Gedo Statue? Truly unbelievable."
Even Zetsu was surprised by the speed and success of the plan's progress.
In his past schemes, not to mention reaching this stage, even his attempts to incite conflict between Ashura and Indra to cultivate a pair of Rinnegan had proven excruciatingly difficult. It was precisely because of how arduous the Rinnegan's creation was that his plan had remained stuck at the first stage for countless years.
Yet now, from the moment the sealing ritual began extracting chakra until this very instant, Zetsu couldn't shake the feeling that everything was proceeding under the push of some external force.
And without a doubt, that driving power came from the Ōtsutsuki standing at the Jewel position—though even knowing he had become but a cog in that being's grand design, he could do nothing to resist.
While Zetsu's mind raced, the one maintaining the energy channel, the Great Brahma King En'ō, spoke in a solemn tone: "The sealing is nearly complete."
Those words snapped Zetsu back to reality. Casting his gaze toward the Gedo Statue, he saw that all of its previously closed eyes were now open.
At the same time, the chakra dragon formed by the Phantom Dragons Nine Consuming Seals was drawn back into the statue, and the Great Dog General's now-yōki-depleted corpse fell heavily to the ground with a thunderous crash.
"Though not composed of the complete chakra of all nine tailed beasts, it's sufficient to resurrect the Ten-Tails."
Satsuki gazed upon the myriad eyes flickering across the Gedo Statue's surface—three thousand luminous pupils, gleaming like stars that endlessly rose and perished. Within them, she could clearly perceive the immense power within the statue beginning to awaken.
After a thousand years of imprisonment, the Ten-Tails God Tree was finally about to return to the world…
...
Above the Cloud Palace.
A place that had always exuded solemn majesty was now shrouded in an air of silence.
As the Lady of the Western Lands, Princess Inukimi was not seated upon her resplendent throne. Instead, she stood upon the vast courtyard, gazing expressionlessly at the two fang blades embedded before her—Tenseiga and Tessaiga.
Just moments ago, the two swords had simultaneously flown back to the Cloud Palace and pierced into the ground there.
As the blades that had accompanied the Great Dog General through countless battles, Tenseiga and Tessaiga were treasures he never parted with. And now, to see only the swords without their master… the truth was all too clear.
...
"My lord…"
One of the Great Dog General's long-time retainers, the flea demon Myōga, wept bitterly before the twin blades.
"Enough crying, Myōga... No matter how hard you cry, the Great Dog General will not return."
Standing beside him were Tōtōsai and Sheath, who, though equally filled with sorrow, still sought to console the mourning Myōga.
"Y-you're right…"
"Myōga," Princess Inukimi's calm yet piercing voice came from behind, "how does the Great Dog General wish to handle the Tessaiga?"
From the flea's trembling back, her words continued, as though seeing through all secrets: "Since he once said he would leave Tenseiga to Sesshōmaru, I imagine he intended to leave that Tessaiga to the offspring of himself and that human woman."
Upon hearing this, a large bead of sweat rolled down Myōga's forehead as he stammered nervously.
"Ah… th-this, well, did the lord… ever say something like that?"
Princess Inukimi ignored Myōga's feigned ignorance and stepped directly before Tessaiga. She extended her hand to draw the blade—however—
Golden lightning burst violently across Tessaiga's surface. The corner of Inukimi's lips twitched subtly before she withdrew her hand.
"Hmph... it seems that fool arranged things quite thoroughly for himself after death."
Then, in a sudden shift of tone, the ever-dramatic Princess raised one sleeve to cover her face, her voice turning sorrowful.
"To think I was just worrying for his safety moments ago... how utterly pointless that was."
Ah, no—she hadn't been worried at all.
Watching the theatrics-possessed Inukimi, Myōga and Hōsenki both broke out in a synchronized cold sweat.
Yet, Inukimi's next words returned to her usual composure.
"Since this blade has been sealed by the Great Dog General himself, Sesshōmaru won't be able to wield it. I'll entrust it to you, Myōga."
"Eh—what?"
Myōga froze in shock.
"As for Tenseiga, Tōtōsai, you'll deliver it to my unlovable son."
"What?!"
The order sent Tōtōsai leaping in alarm.
"Tōtōsai," Inukimi said evenly, "as the smith who forged these famous blades, surely you're capable of handling such a small task."
Reclaiming her seat upon the throne, she added coolly, "However, should Sesshōmaru happen to cut you down, I'll make sure to light incense for you every year in memory of your spirit."
"Ah... thank you for your concern, Lady Inukimi. I'd rather live a few more years if possible."
...
"I never imagined I would see the ancestor of this body within my lifetime. Truly, fate weaves strange threads."
Satsuki murmured softly to herself.
In her eyes, she could already perceive a peculiar stream of life information converging as the Ten-Tails was resurrected. It was now gathering around Zetsu, intertwining with him to form a massive cocoon of blue light.
The cocoon rose high, eventually aligning itself with the nine eyes of the Gedo Statue.
At this stage, the Ten-Tails was still only in its first form.
It was far from possessing the power of the Rinne Sharingan—even the ability to fire a Tailed Beast Bomb was uncertain. Yet as long as resurrection was achieved, regaining its full might was merely a matter of time.
More importantly, the radiance surrounding Zetsu grew increasingly intense, and within that luminous glow, the faint outline of a woman in white robes began to appear.
Moments later, the cocoon dissolved, revealing the figure clearly before them.
The woman possessed pale skin and flowing white hair. Upon her forehead was a single Rinne Sharingan, and from her temples grew two horns. Her face bore the distinctive white brow markings of the Kaguya lineage. She wore garments adorned with magatama patterns, and her white eyes gleamed with divine light.
Across the span of millennia, the very origin of the shinobi world—the being revered as the Rabbit Goddess, Kaguya Ōtsutsuki—had finally been resurrected in this place.
"This is the person Lady Satsuki mentioned—the origin of the Ōtsutsuki on Earth, Kaguya Ōtsutsuki?"
Standing at the North position, Suzuki Kaguya looked up at the figure floating high above—Kaguya Ōtsutsuki herself—and felt an indescribable sensation rise within him.
From her distinct brow markings, he indeed recognized traces of his own lineage. Yet within her pale eyes and the Rinne Sharingan embedded upon her forehead, he also perceived reflections of the Hyūga and Uchiha clans.
Having just been resurrected, Kaguya Ōtsutsuki herself was still somewhat disoriented.
At the moment of her sealing by her two sons, her form of life had been forcibly transformed by the effects of the Kekkei Mōra into another state of existence. Now, being revived once more, it felt as if a sudden fracture in time had bridged directly from her sealing to this instant.
One moment, she had been imprisoned—and the next, she was here.
Fortunately, she still recognized the Ten-Tails before her.
And around her, she could sense familiar chakra—those belonging to Hagoromo and Hamura.
"Was it you who resurrected me? And those eyes of yours…"
Kaguya's pale gaze fell upon the figures below, each glance stirring faint recognition.
"Mother… these people are from the Lunar Palace. It was thanks to them that you were resurrected."
From within Kaguya's long sleeve, Zetsu's head emerged, peering out as he explained.
"Lunar Palace…"
As Kaguya was still piecing together her understanding of the situation, Satsuki revealed her true form, floating into the air to stand face-to-face with her.
"I am Satsuki Ōtsutsuki, leader of the Lunar Palace—and the one who brought you back."
"You said… Ōtsutsuki?" Kaguya's Byakugan fixed sharply upon Satsuki. "Yet your hair and eyes bear none of our clan's traits."
"That's because at least half of my blood belongs to the humans of this world," Satsuki explained calmly. "As for my ancestor…" She raised a hand to reveal the earring she wore—engraved with the Ōtsutsuki clan's crest. "He was none other than Ōtsutsuki Hamura, the one who once sealed you away."
"Hamura… What of him now?"
"Ancestor Hamura passed away of old age."
"Old age? Then that means Hagoromo as well…"
"Though Ancestor Hagoromo's physical body has perished, his chakra and spirit still linger within that world."
"I see… so Hagoromo still lives?"
The tone with which she spoke those words was impossible to describe—neither joy nor sorrow. Then Kaguya's gaze turned downward, taking in the figures gathered below.
"Byakugan, Rinnegan, All-Killing Ash Bones… Are these all my descendants from Earth?"
"They are, to varying degrees, connected by Ōtsutsuki blood," Satsuki replied.
...
Faced with the original source of her very existence, Satsuki, uncharacteristically, exercised patience as she answered Kaguya's questions.
Once Kaguya had roughly understood the present situation, she finally steered the conversation to its core.
"After all this effort… what was your purpose in resurrecting me?"
The moment those words left Kaguya's lips, Satsuki knew that the true discussion was about to begin.
The resurrection of Kaguya Ōtsutsuki had always been the most crucial element of Satsuki's grand design.
This plan had two greatest challenges: first, gathering the elements required for Kaguya's revival; and second, determining how to handle her after awakening.
Kaguya Ōtsutsuki, strictly speaking, was not an evil being. In fact, by temperament, many would even call her a naive and gentle soul—a so-called "pure-hearted fool."
Yet even such a soul could not remain unchanged after enduring so many betrayals.
Especially with Zetsu ever at her side, assisting and whispering, anyone who thought they could simply deceive her was gravely underestimating her.
Having been betrayed multiple times, Kaguya had come to despise betrayal above all else. It had become almost impossible for her to trust others again.
And since the ones who had betrayed her were those closest to her by blood, that very intimacy only deepened her mistrust.
In modern terms—Kaguya was someone scarred too deeply by "family."
Therefore, Satsuki had no intention of appealing to sentimentality. Instead, she chose honesty.
From her understanding of history, truth itself was the surest path.
"My purpose in resurrecting you," Satsuki said calmly, "is to fight against the Ōtsutsuki main family beyond the stars."
"What?!"
Kaguya's expression froze, and from within her sleeve, Zetsu's head poked out once again in shock.
"Yes, Mother. She told me before that her goal is to eliminate the Ōtsutsuki main family."
"To eliminate the Ōtsutsuki main family?"
Almost instinctively, Kaguya Ōtsutsuki found the notion utterly absurd.
"Yes," Satsuki replied calmly. "That is why I resurrected you—to obtain the starfield coordinates of the Ōtsutsuki main family's domain in your world. As for everything else, you may leave it to me and my subordinates."
Even Zetsu was momentarily stunned by her words.
The "dutiful son" of the shinobi world had always believed that Satsuki intended to revive his mother to borrow her power in order to strike down the main family. He had never imagined that her true purpose was merely to acquire information.
According to the memories Zetsu inherited from Kaguya, there was no one in the shinobi world capable of opposing the power of the Ōtsutsuki other than his mother herself.
"The main family's starfield coordinates?"
Kaguya murmured softly, as though long-forgotten memories were flashing across her mind. Finally, her gaze settled once more upon Satsuki. "It seems your understanding of the Ōtsutsuki far surpasses that of Hagoromo and Hamura."
"The two ancestors were merely blinded by external influences," Satsuki replied evenly. "Had they been allowed time to think clearly, they too would have eventually uncovered the truth."
For instance—why did Kaguya, after conquering the earth, still offer sacrifices to the God Tree?
At that time, she had already consumed the Chakra Fruit, possessed unmatched power, and had even cast Infinite Tsukuyomi to cleanse the world once before. She had already remade the earth to her will. There were no longer any threats to her existence.
So why the offering?
The ultimate reason was simple—to guard against the arrival of other Ōtsutsuki who would later come to Earth.
And why guard against them? Because once those beings descended, they would not only seek to "retrieve" Kaguya for her crime of consuming the Chakra Fruit, but also command the God Tree to destroy the entire shinobi world.
To those beyond the stars, concepts such as love or redemption meant nothing. Only power mattered.
The extraterrestrial Ōtsutsuki never regarded the humans of Earth as kin.
To them, humans were nothing more than lowly creatures—no different from livestock. Killing them was as trivial as crushing ants.
In truth, the "darkened" Kaguya cared little for the fate of the world itself. But beyond her own survival, there were two beings she still held dear—her sons, Hamura and Hagoromo.
At that time, they were her only solace in this world.
Should the invaders discover her sons, the Ōtsutsuki would show no mercy. The fact that they were her children would not save them.
Perhaps unwilling to let her sons know such cruel truths, Kaguya continued her lonely mission of transforming humans into White Zetsu. Meanwhile, in the shadows, several sages—believing that the fall of Isshiki meant the end of the Ōtsutsuki threat—grew dissatisfied with Kaguya's dominance over the world's faith.
Thus, events unfolded into the tragic cycle of betrayal and conflict between mother and sons—repeated again and again.
—
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