"Whose servant are you? And why do you attack my shrine?"
Just as Suzuki Kaguya was about to further invoke her Kekkei Tōta to assault the barrier, a woman's figure suddenly appeared within it.
Upon her head rested a golden crown, from which faint divine radiance emanated, exuding an intense sense of holiness and ritual.
Her attire was adorned with pendants and emblems denoting high status, while her face bore markings reminiscent of Sage Mode.
Suzuki Kaguya's eyes narrowed—a subconscious motion he used to assess an opponent's strength.
The woman before him radiated a power entirely different from chakra, yet its magnitude was undeniable.
This was not an opponent he could easily defeat in a short time.
However, since the other party had taken the initiative to appear without displaying overt hostility, Suzuki—confident in his own power—was unafraid to engage in dialogue.
"Are you the one controlling this puppet army?"
"Hmph, what insolence. It was I who first questioned you. You should answer my inquiry before daring to pose your own."
Hearing this, Suzuki Kaguya found himself momentarily taken aback. It had been a long time since anyone in the shinobi world had spoken to him in such a tone.
"It's not that I intended to attack, but your puppets interfered with my lord's affairs."
"Your lord?" The priestess caught onto that particular phrase and continued, "These shikigami are merely my envoys, sent forth to locate the hidden sanctuaries of this world. I never ordered them to attack anyone."
"Perhaps you didn't, but their mere power is enough to destroy most nations in this world."
"So, you have come to avenge those dead mortals?" A hint of hostility flashed in her eyes. From Suzuki's wording, she had already discerned that he was unfamiliar with the ways of gods and spirits.
It was simple—those versed in the divine arts would never have spoken to her in such a manner.
In the realm of gods and spirits, the suppression of spiritual rank was absolute.
Just as gods themselves were ranked in hierarchy, a main deity held unquestioned dominion over all subordinate gods of the same pantheon.
And she, having already mastered the highest secret art of onmyōdō—the Rite of Taizan Fukun—had long since become an undying, eternal being.
Moreover, the fact that he referred to her soldiers as puppets rather than shikigami revealed that he had never received any onmyōji training.
Suzuki Kaguya, perceptive as ever, also sensed her rising hostility, but he calmly replied, "In this age, death comes to all—few can escape it. I have no interest in avenging them."
Then his tone hardened. "However, if your actions have offended my lord, then even a death god must consider carefully whether they are qualified to do so."
"It seems you revere this so-called 'lord' of yours quite deeply?"
"Of course. In this world, there exists no one who can stand equal to my lord."
His words piqued the priestess's curiosity. Her divine eyes—capable of perceiving yin and yang—had long made her feel detached from humanity. To her, she was no longer human.
Though Suzuki Kaguya was no follower of the divine path, his composure and the power he possessed were impressive.
What intrigued her most, however, was the extraordinary reverence he held toward a certain existence. His tone brimmed with faith—a rare quality among the strong.
To earn such devotion from one so powerful was no easy feat.
It seemed that the lord he spoke of was the very being who obscured her Onmyō Sight.
Her mastery of the onmyō arts allowed her to infer much from subtle details, and since the entity behind him likely possessed power rivaling that of a living god, determining each other's limits before acting was a matter of prudence.
"I can temporarily halt my shikigami's actions," she finally said, raising her head high. "But only after meeting this so-called 'lord' of yours."
The priestess's gaze was regal, commanding. "If your lord truly deserves such faith, then let me witness with my own eyes what manner of divinity they possess."
The moment the priestess's words fell, a cold, ethereal voice suddenly echoed from behind Suzuki Kaguya.
"Then you may stop your shikigami's actions now."
...
Within the Lunar Capital—
Seated high upon the throne, Satsuki's eyes flickered with awareness.
"Oh? It seems the situation over there has progressed."
Remote possession techniques had long been a hereditary ability of the lunar branch of the Ōtsutsuki Hamura line. After obtaining the Tenseigan, even possessing the body of a living being posed no challenge for Satsuki.
Naturally, Suzuki Kaguya carried within him one of Satsuki's prepared safeguards.
...
Faced with Satsuki's sudden manifestation, the self-assured priestess's pupils contracted sharply. The kaleidoscopic patterns within her Yin-Yang eyes reappeared and began to spin frantically.
Even though it was merely a projection of Satsuki's will, the sheer presence alone made the shrine maiden's entire body tremble. Her divine eyes flooded her mind with incessant warnings—ceaseless alerts of the overwhelming might of the being before her.
"Impossible!"
A cry of agony tore from her throat as she instinctively covered her eyes. Between her trembling fingers, divine blood streamed down her cheeks, glowing faintly as it fell.
Just a mere projection, and yet she could not even gaze upon it directly.
"Even among gods, none should possess such strength in the mortal realm! What kind of monster is this?!"
This utterly shattered every principle she had ever learned in the path of Onmyōdō.
Gods were bound by celestial laws—they could not intervene freely in mortal affairs. Yet the existence before her had completely broken that law.
She had encountered many who wielded divine or demonic power rivaling that of gods or spirits, but never before had anyone's mere presence caused her Divine Sight to spiral out of control.
At that realization, even one as powerful as this priestess could not suppress the surge of fear rising from the depths of her soul.
"To pry into another's secrets without permission is quite a risky act, you know."
Satsuki's projection slowly approached the barrier. After a brief inspection, she spoke calmly, her tone carrying quiet authority.
"Shall I break this barrier myself and let the resulting backlash tear through your power, or will you dispel it of your own accord?"
The priestess's face, twisted in pain, flickered red and pale by turns. Clenching her teeth, she ultimately chose not to persist in futile defiance.
Forming a hand seal, she withdrew her energy. The surrounding barrier dissolved, reverting into a talisman before disintegrating into ash midair.
The result was unsurprising.
Having already borne the brunt of Suzuki Kaguya's Kekkei Tōta assault and with its sustaining power now withdrawn, the talisman held no remaining strength. Against a Kekkei Tōta-level force, there could be no survival.
After Satsuki's appearance, the priestess's attitude changed drastically.
After all, her timing had been impeccable—and with mere presence alone, she had forced the priestess's Divine Eyes into a state of violent backlash.
That single moment established an unshakable impression within the priestess's heart.
Satsuki's sacred bearing and her appearance—so in tune with the aesthetics of divinity—left a profound mark on the priestess's mind.
In the hierarchy of Shintō, hierarchical suppression is absolute.
And now, this priestess stood firmly on the suppressed side.
"Knowing when to yield in trivial matters… it seems you're not entirely foolish," Satsuki remarked inwardly. She then raised her hand, and a soft blue light emanated from her wrist, gently restoring the priestess's damaged eyes to their original state.
Even this casual gesture left the priestess utterly shaken.
"You… what are you?"
Just appearing before her had caused her Divine Eyes to go berserk, and with a simple wave, Satsuki had restored them as if it were nothing.
Had the beings of this world truly become so absurdly powerful?
Though Satsuki's sudden arrival had caused such a dramatic shift, it was, in truth, nearly impossible to make this priestess's Divine Eyes spiral out of control.
Her eyes represented one of the highest forms of ocular techniques within the entire discipline of Onmyōdō.
While not the strongest among all, their versatility was unmatched—they excelled in intelligence gathering, exorcism, blessings, divination, and the commanding of shikigami. Even when observing gods, she had never before suffered such backlash.
At worst, she would simply see nothing—only chaos.
But that was before her Divine Eyes were perfected.
This ocular technique was, in essence, a miniature array of immensely complex talismans and seals, meticulously condensed and inscribed into the eyes through sacred ritual.
It had taken her countless years and trials to achieve it.
Not only was the technique extraordinarily adaptable and functional, but its stability was also exceptional precisely because it lacked extreme specialization.
Even after its completion, she had faced the gods of Yomi without once losing control.
It was that very stability which had allowed her to successfully perform the Rite of Taizan Fukun—the greatest secret art of the Onmyōdō lineage.
"Before asking who I am," Satsuki said coolly, "you should first fulfill the promise you just made."
"..."
Though powerful, the priestess could not resist the oppressive aura surrounding Satsuki and was forced to yield a step.
Nevertheless, her power was indeed formidable.
Closing her eyes, she began to emit a radiant golden light. The energy coursed through her body until her entire form gleamed like a golden apparition.
"Homage! Universality! All Vajra! Fudō Myōō! Withdraw!"
With the chant, a faint divine power spread outward. All shikigami touched by it—save those still working within the lands of demons—had their eyes dim before collapsing into fragments of stone.
"Now that we have a proper foundation for conversation," Satsuki said calmly, "allow me to introduce myself. I am Satsuki Ōtsutsuki, lord of the Lunar Capital—currently the guardian of this world."
"I am called Yao Bikuni, a grand onmyōji from another world."
Yao Bikuni?
The name struck Satsuki as faintly familiar, though she couldn't immediately recall from where.
Choosing not to dwell on it, she instead asked another question. "Why were you searching for the Sage Lands?"
From Suzuki Kaguya's earlier exchange, Satsuki had already gathered that this was the purpose behind the puppet army's actions.
"To oppose a certain man," Yao Bikuni answered frankly, "I must cultivate the most powerful shikigami in existence."
"Oh? And who might that be?"
Without hesitation, Yao Bikuni revealed the name. "Another grand onmyōji—Asakura Hao."
Asakura Hao?
The name stirred no recollection in Satsuki's memory.
Perhaps hoping to win favor—or maybe simply due to her ingrained sense of hierarchy—Yao Bikuni continued, elaborating further.
"He once studied under the onmyōji Hanmo Tadatsugu in Kyoto. Coincidentally, I trained under the same master."
"So you are fellow disciples, then," Satsuki observed.
"That was long ago," Yao Bikuni replied, her tone laced with resentment. "Ever since he killed Master Hanmo, our relationship has been one of irreconcilable hatred."
A disciple who murders their teacher and betrays their sect… indeed, such enmity could never be resolved.
Upon hearing this, Satsuki made no comment. Instead, she shifted the subject. "That may explain why you came to this world—but you still haven't told me how you knew of the existence of the Sage Lands here."
"It was merely a transaction."
"A transaction?"
Satsuki's Tenseigan briefly turned toward the uppermost peak of the shrine still under construction, then she withdrew her gaze.
Yao Bikuni did not specify with whom this transaction had been made, and that detail wasn't Satsuki's concern.
Her focus lay elsewhere—in observing the way the priestess had just used her power.
From the technique Yao Bikuni had employed to dissolve her puppet-shikigami, Satsuki had already discerned a few clues.
In terms of sheer energy output, the priestess hadn't used much power at all.
If one were to compare it in shinobi terms, it was roughly equivalent to the total chakra of an elite jonin—negligible when measured against the hundreds of thousands, even millions, of shikigami she controlled.
"Her power is indeed of the Shintō type," Satsuki concluded silently, "but the method and precision of its use are far more advanced than what exists in this world. The efficiency is simply incomparable."
This realization piqued Satsuki's interest.
Such a technique was not a trivial matter.
In fact, it was exceedingly rare in this world.
The essence of power enhancement boiled down to two things: gaining access to more energy sources, and improving the efficiency with which that energy was utilized.
Yet within the original shinobi world, nearly all forms of growth revolved around the former.
Take, for instance, Naruto Uzumaki: from learning to extract his own chakra, to tapping into the Nine-Tails' chakra, then mastering Sage Mode, and eventually creating increasingly complex and powerful transformations—all of it centered around obtaining greater energy reserves.
But the art of using one unit of strength to achieve tenfold results? That subject was rarely explored.
Perhaps it was written that way to emphasize Naruto's enormous chakra capacity—after all, if such techniques were common, that advantage would be meaningless.
However, it was now evident that not every world's inhabitants pursued the same brute-force path.
At least in this case, someone had chosen technique over raw power.
It was precisely because of this that, after assessing the priestess's value, Satsuki had decided to intervene personally.