"Main quest updated: Objective—become the strongest being of this world (progress: ??/??). Collect one world's Root Data (progress: 1/1). Advancement condition achieved. New side quest unlocked: Collect one Planetary Core (progress: 0/1). Prerequisite fulfilled. Reward: Chrono Medal ×1. Locating suitable planetary coordinates…"
"Hm?"
The sudden change within her mind felt almost unreal to Satsuki.
The so-called Strongest System Across All Worlds had been silent for so long that, had it not displayed this new prompt, Satsuki might have forgotten it even possessed such functionality.
After all, the impression this system had left upon her could be summed up in one word—underwhelming.
"Hey, host, if you keep insulting me like that, you'll hurt my feelings!" A golden sphere of light materialized before Satsuki, bouncing irritably in the air.
Satsuki cast it a sidelong glance. "So, tell me—this new mission, it's related to that otherworldly visitor, isn't it?"
"Heh, as expected of my host—you saw right through it." The system offered a quick flattery before continuing, "In the previous world, the objective was to collect relics akin to the Six Paths' treasures. But by a twist of fate, you instead obtained the Three Divine Kings' Sacred Wheel."
"From a practical standpoint, that ability is far superior to those so-called relics. However, when you later used Vipralopa: Earthly Wheel Reincarnation Annihilation, it drained an immense amount of power from the Giant Tenseigan. The strain damaged its core."
"Although you restored it to optimal condition using Status Infusion, that only addressed the symptoms. The Giant Tenseigan still cannot keep pace with the full might of the [Aspect of the Demon Buddha]."
Resting her chin on her hand, Satsuki asked slowly, "So your solution is to collect a planet's core essence? Is this a plan derived from the Akashic Records?"
"Exactly. While you didn't outright defeat the Enlightened One in the previous world, you did manage to talk him down. Technically, that counts as a draw..." The system's tone wavered, as if still haunted by the memory. "Honestly, for you to reach parity with such an entity was beyond even my calculations. A draw with the strongest is still the strongest, after all. Thanks to that, I was able to accumulate a portion of energy from the encounter."
"I see." Satsuki closed her eyes. "So during all this time, you've been searching for a source of planetary core essence."
"Precisely. During your exchange with that otherworldly priestess, I detected a spatial coordinate hidden within her shrine."
"If we can access that coordinate and reach her world, there may be an opportunity to acquire a planet's core."
...
Meanwhile—
Satsuki and Yao Bikuni had moved inside the shrine, while Suzuki Kaguya had already returned to the Lunar Capital.
"If your sole purpose is to defeat that onmyōji known as Hao Asakura," Satsuki's projection said calmly from the audience chamber, "then I may be willing to assist you. But surely you don't expect such aid to come for free."
Having witnessed Satsuki's overwhelming might firsthand, Yao Bikuni knew it would be absurd to reject the opportunity to recruit such a powerful ally.
Satsuki's strength had far exceeded anything she had ever imagined. Yet, because her Divine Sight had been blocked, she knew nothing of Satsuki's origins—and thus had no leverage to negotiate.
"May I ask, what sort of offering would be required for your aid?" Yao Bikuni asked respectfully.
"Offering? I have no need for such things."
Satsuki's projection replied, "My conditions are simple. First, you will help me establish a passage to your world."
"That will not be a problem."
To Yao Bikuni, this request hardly seemed like a demand—after all, if Satsuki were to intervene, she would naturally require access.
"The second condition: you may continue your campaign against the shinobi world, but only along this route."
As she spoke, Satsuki displayed the route map before her.
Following the route marked on the map, it began at the Land of Demons and stretched eastward—passing through several ruined castle towns and forests—before leading directly to a place named the Lunar Capital.
Yao Bikuni glanced at the map's destination and hesitated. If her memory served her correctly, the other party had introduced herself as the lord of the Lunar Capital.
"What do you mean by this?" she asked cautiously.
"What? Is this condition unacceptable to you?" Satsuki's projection gave her little time to think. "Or do you have a different proposal?"
"No, it's just... unexpected."
The conditions were strange—absurdly lenient, even. For her, it was an unforeseen stroke of fortune.
"Such conditions are too generous to me. It hardly seems fair to you."
"The same condition holds different weight for different people," Satsuki's projection replied calmly. "Differences in information and interests shape our perspectives on what holds value."
That was precisely why cooperation between individuals could exist.
"If these are truly your terms, then I accept," Yao Bikuni said after a pause. "But there is one question I must ask first—if I were to conquer the Lunar Capital, would you intervene?"
The answer she received was simple—and chilling.
"If you can manage that, I would be most pleased to see it."
With that enigmatic statement, Satsuki's figure slowly dissolved before Yao Bikuni's eyes, scattering into faint motes of light.
...
After Satsuki's departure—
Within the great hall, the lone priestess sat in silence as several will-o'-wisps floated in from the surrounding air.
The leftmost spirit flame spoke first, its voice hoarse and indistinct. "My lady, do you truly believe her words can be trusted?"
Before the central priestess could answer, another spirit flame—the second—responded lazily, her tone feminine and teasing. "Trust or not, Hannya, that depends not on the words themselves, but on the weight of the one who speaks them."
"Ao Andon is right," said a third flame, drifting about in slow circles as the shadow within it seemed to sniff the air. "I couldn't sense any power from her... yet my sword-heart has been screaming in warning since her appearance."
The fourth and final flame radiated the greatest pressure, and its voice was the most human of them all. "If even Inugami—who is the most attuned among us to power—says this, then that being is no ordinary spirit. Even Lord Yamata no Orochi's half-manifested form may not be her match."
When Suzuki Kaguya returned to the Lunar Capital, dawn had already broken the next day.
Without delay, he headed straight to the main hall to meet with Satsuki.
Perhaps fearing that Satsuki would once again disappear without warning, Ranzuki had also arrived early. Since much of the city had been damaged by the puppet army, reconstruction was now the top priority.
Most regular operations within the Lunar Capital had been temporarily halted. Aside from the puppets responsible for maintaining the city's barrier, the rest had been dispatched to assist with rebuilding.
"Tch, you're really something, host. When the Uchiha compound was destroyed, you at least used Samsara Rebirth to fix it up—but now that it's your own place, you're just going to ignore it?" The golden system orb floated beside Satsuki's ear, grumbling.
"This is Ranzuki's homework," Satsuki said coolly. "Do you expect me to solve it for her? She bears the name of Ōtsutsuki. The hardships she'll face in the future will be many, so she must learn to grow quickly. I can't protect them forever."
"Hmph, so dishonest, host…" The system muttered quietly.
After all, it knew full well that Satsuki had left a temporal seal on Ranzuki—allowing her to traverse time and space at any moment. Even Suzuki Kaguya bore a Tenseigan descent mark, an anchor for Satsuki's projection.
It had never seen anyone so protective of their own.
Of course, the system wasn't foolish enough to say that aloud.
As agreed beforehand, Suzuki Kaguya refrained from mentioning Satsuki's direct appearance to Ranzuki. Instead, he simply reported what he had learned about the otherworldly intruder—focusing on the fact that she had managed to block his Kekkei Tōta attack using nothing but a single talisman.
"So, this otherworldly visitor isn't someone to be taken lightly," Ranzuki said, her eyes glinting with battle spirit. "At last, an opponent worthy of my full attention. But her allies remain unknown—that's still a threat."
"And that is precisely what you will handle," Satsuki replied.
At that moment, a small, intricately designed bird-shaped puppet flew through the high window of the tower.
One of the nearby puppets approached and extended its hand, allowing the bird to perch. From its leg, it removed a small paper slip.
Satsuki took it, unfolded the message, and scanned it briefly. "It seems the Uchiha are finally making moves."
The intelligence, sent by Shirakumaru, contained two key points: First, the Uchiha clan's upper ranks had realized that the Nine-Tails was missing. Second, Shirakumaru had completed his mission within the clan and would return to the Lunar Capital within the day.
"Two days since I left their compound, and only now do they notice the Nine-Tails' absence. Their efficiency isn't exactly impressive."
Perhaps they were delayed… rehearsing some dance?
Satsuki mused idly, but in truth, she didn't much care about the Uchiha's internal affairs. Shirakumaru's return was far more important.
"Lady Satsuki, is there good news?" Ranzuki asked eagerly.
"Shirakumaru will be returning to the Lunar Capital soon," Satsuki replied, then added teasingly, "Though he has other assignments waiting, so he won't have much time to assist you."
"Lady Satsuki, you underestimate me…" Ranzuki puffed her cheeks like an indignant child. Despite her maturity, moments like this reminded everyone that she could still act adorably childish in Satsuki's presence.
"It's just that I've exchanged messages with Shirakumaru over the years, but we haven't met in person for so long. Finally, I'll have the chance," she admitted.
Suzuki Kaguya chuckled beside her. "Indeed. Sometimes, Lady Ranzuki even mutters about why Shirakumaru was the second puppet to gain self-awareness—after Kiyomaru—instead of her."
"A-ah, Mr. Suzuki! When did I ever say that?" Ranzuki exclaimed, flustered, like a cat caught hoarding treats.
Satsuki, however, paid little mind to such trivialities. "Although Shirakumaru will be back, he remains in charge of intelligence on the Uchiha clan. You'll still rely on him for information, so keep things amicable."
"Yes, Lady Satsuki, I understand."
"Also," Satsuki continued after a brief pause, "there's something else I must attend to. I may need to leave the shinobi world again for a time."
"Huh?"
The news struck Ranzuki like a bolt from the blue. She immediately grew tense. "Mother—oh, I mean, Lady Satsuki! Is there a mission that absolutely requires your personal attention? Can't we share the burden with you?"
"There's no need to be so anxious…"
Satsuki turned the Three Divine Kings' Sacred Wheel in her hand. Golden light radiated from the Brahma Creation Wheel, and in the next instant, a figure identical to Satsuki appeared beside her.
Aside from lacking the Ōtsutsuki earrings and the Sacred Wheel in her hand, the duplicate was indistinguishable from the original.
Then, both Satsukis spoke in unison: "While my true self travels to that other world, this avatar will remain here to monitor the situation. However, the challenges the Lunar Capital faces will still be yours to solve." ×2
A gleam flashed through Satsuki's Tenseigan, and simultaneously, Ranzuki's eyes turned a brilliant blue—the mark of a secondary Tenseigan.
An immense surge of ocular power flowed from Satsuki's eyes into Ranzuki's.
Moments later, the transfer ceased.
"Now, your Tenseigan can also summon the Hamura Statue. It's only effective against lesser enemies, and operating it demands tremendous ocular strength—but it will serve as excellent training for your own Tenseigan."
"Understood, Lady Satsuki."
Though she had received a formidable weapon, Ranzuki's expression remained somewhat downcast.
Originally, Satsuki had intended to share one of her Ōtsutsuki earrings with her.
But she then remembered—the process required a verification step to confirm whether the recipient carried the bloodline of Hamura Ōtsutsuki.
Ranzuki's current body, after all, was one Satsuki had once purchased from the Senju clan for experimentation.
It had no relation to the Ōtsutsuki lineage whatsoever. Thus, it could not pass the earring's authentication.
Even with her current administrative authority, Satsuki couldn't override this restriction. It was, quite literally, a built-in safeguard—something akin to a factory setting established when Hamura himself had created the Giant Tenseigan and the Ōtsutsuki earrings.
In truth, those earrings were highly advanced technological devices. Yet even with all her accumulated knowledge, Satsuki could not fully explain their mechanisms.
What was evident, however, was that both the Giant Tenseigan and the Ōtsutsuki earrings reflected the quintessential Ōtsutsuki design philosophy—
A strict hierarchical structure.
Under that hierarchy, the Ōtsutsuki clan stood supreme, viewing all other beings as mere insects beneath their feet.
It was undeniable—even Satsuki herself had once been deeply influenced by that mindset. Combined with her identity as a transmigrator, that superiority complex had felt almost natural at the time.
Had she not endured countless trials across multiple worlds, had her soul not begun its gradual ascent toward a higher state of existence—
Then perhaps, sooner or later, she too would have become a perfect embodiment of a true Ōtsutsuki.