The Moon, Hamura Shrine.
Deep within the shrine, streams of light flowed through the void, clearly displaying scene after scene of the brutal fighting unfolding across the ninja world.
Ōtsutsuki Nobunaga and Ōtsutsuki Shingen stood side by side before the luminous screen, neither speaking.
"Heh."
After a long silence, Shingen let out a cold snort, breaking the stillness within the shrine.
"Nobunaga, do you see it now?"
"This is the world you've placed so much hope in."
"Those so-called ninja villages. Those so-called shinobi."
"Day after day, year after year, what do they do besides slaughter one another and fight for power?"
"They're no different from beasts."
"No, they're worse than beasts. At least beasts know satisfaction once they're fed. The chain of hatred among these shinobi never ends."
"And especially that Higashino Shinichi!"
"Do you truly believe this is the world Ancestor Hamura wished for us to protect?"
Nobunaga remained calm as he replied slowly.
"Shingen, war is never the fault of only one side."
"All you see is the killing."
"You fail to see that behind every person who takes up a weapon lies something they wish to protect."
"That Higashino Shinichi is protecting his companions and his village in his own way."
"The will that drives him is no different from the mission our Ōtsutsuki Clan has carried for generations—to protect the ninja world."
"Protect?" Shingen threw back his head and laughed loudly.
The laughter echoed through the vast shrine, sounding particularly harsh.
"Using slaughter to protect others? What a grand and noble excuse!"
"That brat called Higashino Shinichi probably has more blood on his hands than anyone else in this entire war!"
"When he infiltrated the Land of Lightning several months ago, how many people did he kill? Can you even count them?"
"And you dare claim that a butcher with blood-stained hands shares the same mission as the Ōtsutsuki Clan?"
Nobunaga fell silent for a moment before speaking again.
"To stop killing through killing is already difficult."
"To stop killing without killing—that is true greatness."
"But how can all things in this world proceed exactly as one wishes?"
"He kills in order to protect."
"And after the killing, he is genuinely thinking about how to bring peace to this world."
"Is that not a path worth looking forward to?"
He paused and waved a hand.
The images in the void shifted once more.
The bloody battlefield disappeared, replaced by a peaceful village somewhere within the Land of Fire, far removed from the flames of war.
In the scene, new houses were rising from the ground.
Roads stretched farther under the collective labor of the villagers.
Rice stalks swayed gently in the fields beneath the breeze.
Several children splashed and played beside a stream, their laughter seeming almost capable of passing through the screen itself.
"Look."
"These people are building their lives with their own hands."
"They have not participated in the war."
"They have harmed no one."
"Should they be buried alongside the world's mistakes?"
"If your plan were carried out—if this world were purified—should these people, everything they have worked to create, and even the laughter of those children all be reduced to nothingness?"
Shingen's gaze lingered on those scenes for a brief moment before he let out another cold laugh.
"Sentimentality."
"This isn't sentimentality, Shingen."
Nobunaga straightened his back and met his younger brother's gaze without yielding, his pale eyes unwavering.
"This is the bottom line for a guardian."
"Every time we interfere with this world, we must proceed with the utmost caution, because we cannot afford the consequences of a mistake."
"Do the lives of those innocent people not deserve protection as well?"
Shingen likewise straightened up.
The air between them seemed to twist and tear under an invisible force.
After a moment, Nobunaga let out a soft sigh and was the first to step back, his tone easing.
"Shingen, I didn't call you here today to continue arguing."
"I have some good news."
"Masako is pregnant."
Masako was his daughter-in-law.
After learning the news, Nobunaga had hoped to use the occasion to mend his relationship with his younger brother.
Over the years, their ideological differences had driven an increasingly deep wedge between them, and it had been a long time since the two brothers had held a proper conversation.
He had thought that news of a new life might help ease the growing rift between them.
Unfortunately, just as with every conversation they had had in recent years, it had only taken a few exchanges before they fell into another argument.
The realization left him feeling deeply exhausted.
Upon hearing the news, Shingen fell silent.
After a while, he finally spoke in a stiff, dry tone.
"Then congratulations, brother."
"The Main Family has another heir."
"Shingen..."
Nobunaga sighed softly and shook his head.
"Do you know something?"
"Our clan was never supposed to have a Main Family and a Branch Family in the first place."
Truth be told, the entire situation was rather absurd.
Originally, the Ōtsutsuki Clan on the Moon had no distinction between Main and Branch Families.
Everyone living on the Moon belonged to the same clan.
Naturally, there had been no need to follow the example of their distant relatives in the ninja world, the Hyūga Clan, and brand their members with the Caged Bird Seal to prevent the Byakugan from falling into outside hands.
Whenever a clan member died, their Byakugan would be merged into the Great Tenseigan deep within Hamura Shrine, becoming part of its power.
However, at some point in history, no one knew exactly when, irreconcilable differences emerged among the lunar Ōtsutsuki regarding both the state of the ninja world and the will left behind by Ancestor Hamura.
Only then did the distinction between Main Family and Branch Family gradually come into existence.
And that distinction had never been based on birth or bloodline.
It was based entirely on ideology.
Those who believed the ninja world should continue to be watched over and protected belonged to the Main Family.
Those who believed the ninja world had become beyond salvation and should be purified belonged to the Branch Family.
The two men standing here, Ōtsutsuki Shingen and Ōtsutsuki Nobunaga, were twin brothers born from the same womb.
By bloodline, Shingen should have belonged to the Main Family.
Yet in the end, he had joined the Branch Family's faction and had even become its leader.
"Heh."
Shingen sneered.
"Let's just hope this child doesn't grow up to be as stubborn and backward as the rest of you fools in the Main Family."
With that, he flicked his sleeve sharply, turned around, and strode toward the shrine's exit.
The sound of his footsteps gradually faded into the empty corridors.
...
Shingen returned to his residence with a gloomy expression.
He stood silently in the room for a long time before his gaze finally settled on the portrait of Ancestor Hamura hanging on the wall.
The figure in the painting wore a calm expression, as though he had looked across a thousand years and was quietly observing the clan that had been divided by ideology.
Shingen remained silent for a long time.
"We can't wait any longer!"
"The Main Family—and Nobunaga—are completely beyond reason!"
"They've already strayed from Ancestor Hamura's true will!"
"The purification must be carried out by us, the Branch Family!"
And if the Main Family dared stand in the way...
Then they would all be killed.
The moment the thought surfaced, even Shingen was startled.
Those were his blood relatives.
His clansmen.
His own twin brother.
But the hesitation lasted only a moment before his eyes hardened once more.
It had to be done.
For Ancestor Hamura's will.
For the future of this world.
Some prices had to be paid by someone.
But how?
Shingen's mind began racing.
Although the lunar Ōtsutsuki Clan had split into Main and Branch Families, their situation was nothing like that of the Hyūga Clan in the ninja world.
The Main Family did not hold absolute power over the life and death of the Branch Family, nor did it monopolize the clan's higher-level secret techniques.
The gap in strength between the two factions was not that overwhelming.
However, there were still more clan members who supported the Main Family's ideals.
Furthermore, the Great Tenseigan, which contained the collective power of the entire clan, remained firmly under the Main Family's control.
If they fought head-on, the Branch Family had no chance whatsoever.
Therefore...
They had to gamble everything on a single throw.
They had to launch a thunderous surprise attack before the Main Family had time to prepare.
Which meant—
The Branch Family needed its own...
Tenseigan.
At that thought, Shingen abruptly raised his head and looked into the mirror.
Reflected there was a pair of pure, flawless Byakugan.
Staring into those eyes, a bold and utterly insane idea rapidly took shape in his mind.
---
I will post some extra Chapters in Patreon, you can check it out. >> patreon.com/TitoVillar
---