Chapter 268: I'll Gladly Accept These Eyes
At the same time, while the reincarnated Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara were locked in a fierce battle, the Ōtsutsuki Isshiki, who had taken over Jigen's body, returned once again to the Shinobi World.
His clash with Uchiha Dali had left his body greatly weakened.
Although he had recovered to about forty or fifty percent of his strength after some time, he still urgently needed to find a suitable place to recuperate in order to fully restore himself.
At this moment, Ōtsutsuki Isshiki set his sights on one place—the moon.
During his thousand years of lurking in the Shinobi World, Isshiki had not only used Jigen's body to gather complete intelligence on the ninja world, but he had also thoroughly investigated the situation on the moon.
The moon people saw today was actually created long ago by Kaguya Ōtsutsuki's two sons, who combined their power to use Six Paths: Chibaku Tensei.
It was both Kaguya Ōtsutsuki's prison and the place where the Ten-Tails' husk was sealed.
But most importantly, it was also where Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki's younger brother, Hamura Ōtsutsuki, and his descendants had lived.
For so many years, Isshiki had never gone there, for two simple reasons.
First, back then, Hagoromo's younger brother Hamura was still alive. His strength was immense, and with countless clansmen at his back, Isshiki had no desire to provoke them unless absolutely necessary.
Second, he feared disturbing the sealed Kaguya Ōtsutsuki.
In his then-current state, if her seal were broken, the consequences would be troublesome.
As for the Ten-Tails, he already had one of his own. The one sealed with Kaguya was of little importance to him.
But now, things were different.
With his formidable perception, Isshiki could clearly sense the intense conflict raging on the moon.
Hamura's clan and descendants had long since split into main and branch families.
And those two factions were now locked in war.
The reason behind their strife didn't interest Isshiki in the slightest. What he wanted was the power residing on the moon. It wasn't pure, but it was still the power of the Ōtsutsuki clan.
If he could obtain it, not only could he rapidly recover his strength, but his power would rise to new heights.
"Though it can't compare to the evolution brought by consuming a chakra fruit, at least it's still an enhancement."
Thinking this, Isshiki decisively flew toward the moon.
This was the perfect opportunity.
Uchiha Dali was no longer in the Shinobi World—Isshiki had sealed him inside Kara's headquarters in another dimension.
No matter how strong he was, escaping from there was a fool's dream.
Meanwhile, the Ōtsutsuki branch family on the moon was locked in civil war. Countless had already died, leaving their overall strength drastically weakened.
All Isshiki had to do now was swoop in and reap their power.
"Once I plunder the moon's power, I'll head to Konoha and deal with those fools. After that, no one will be able to stand in the way of my plan."
With this thought, Isshiki soon arrived at the moon.
The place was shrouded in a gray, desolate hue.
The starlight was dim and lifeless.
There wasn't even the faintest trace of air.
For ordinary people, long-term activity here was impossible, let alone survival.
But for the Ōtsutsuki, an alien race, this was nothing.
Isshiki strolled leisurely toward a distant castle.
At this moment, the two warring factions hadn't noticed the arrival of this uninvited guest.
He did not rush to intervene. Instead, once inside the castle where the battle was raging, he chose a vantage point that overlooked everything and sat down, calmly watching the bloody carnage unfold below.
The branch family members, once kin, were now slaughtering each other. The ground was littered with corpses.
Isshiki noticed something curious: the dead had their eyes immediately gouged out.
One pair of Byakugan after another was collected by one side.
This piqued his interest.
He continued to observe silently.
Soon, he saw the countless Byakugan being fused in a special way, forming a massive eyeball.
That eye radiated a terrifying chakra. It was far weaker than a chakra fruit, but its power was definitely not to be underestimated.
"Interesting. So that's the power I'm about to claim? Heh…"
Isshiki kept watching without making a move.
There were still many combatants left on the field.
The battle raged on for a while longer, with waves of fighters falling one after another.
Soon, only a few dozen remained.
"Looks like it's nearly over."
Isshiki thought to himself, waiting patiently.
Sure enough, about ten minutes later, the battle finally ended.
One side emerged victorious at great cost, seizing all the Byakugan from their defeated foes.
But the survivors of that side were grievously injured, clearly not long for this world.
Isshiki felt nothing at the sight.
Power struggles were commonplace within the Ōtsutsuki clan.
The temptation of power was simply too great.
He himself had once been betrayed by his own subordinates for it and nearly lost his life here.
Now, not only did he feel no sympathy, but he was eager to seize that power for himself.
So, he stood and in a flash appeared before the heavily wounded branch family members, who were desperately fusing the Byakugan they had gathered.
The moment the strangers saw him, their eyes filled with alarm.
But with their injuries, they had no strength left to fight.
"Thank you for the splendid performance."
"The power within this eye is truly captivating. I'll gladly accept it."
Isshiki cast a cold glance at the survivors as he spoke.
Then, without another word, he turned and calmly walked toward the massive eye.
The closer he came, the more clearly he could feel its astonishing power. It was on par with the Rinnegan—no, in terms of chakra, even greater.
"You bastard! Don't think you can steal the Tenseigan we worked so hard to create!!"
One of the branch family members shouted in defiance, trying to stop Isshiki.
At those words, Isshiki halted in front of the giant eye and turned his head slightly.
"Oh? So this is called the Tenseigan?"
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