Then where were they?
Since they were not dead, where were they?
Had they even allowed chaos to sweep across the Shinobi World? Had they allowed the Otsutsuki Branch Family and the Main House of the lunar Shinobi World to slaughter one another?
Where exactly had they gone?
Were they hiding?
Or were they doing something else?
Uchiha Itachi sank deep into thought, his mind a complete mess. Based on the information currently known about the Otsutsuki Clan, their strength was powerful enough to become the standard by which an entire realm of power was measured. How could the Sage of Six Paths possibly be dead?
But if he was not dead, then where was he? What was he doing?
Why was he watching his own descendants go extinct one after another?
Was there still something he did not know?
"Is he hiding from Otsutsuki Isshiki?" Uchiha Itachi thought about it. That seemed to be the only explanation, because an Otsutsuki Isshiki, whose strength was said to be unrivaled under heaven, was still hidden somewhere in the Shinobi World.
Kaede Kitahara had never used that kind of description even when talking about the Sage of Six Paths. That showed just how highly he regarded Otsutsuki Isshiki's strength. Yet after all these years, Otsutsuki Isshiki had never appeared.
Itachi's instincts told him this might be directly connected to the brothers Otsutsuki Hagoromo and Otsutsuki Hamura.
Or perhaps the three of them had been entangled somewhere all this time?
Thinking about it that way, it did not seem impossible.
But if that was true, then the Shinobi World was far too terrifying. He had originally believed he had already touched the darkness of the Shinobi World. Only now did he realize he had merely been standing in shallow water. He had never set foot in the true depths.
"Otsutsuki, Byakugan, Tenseigan, Tenseigan Chakra Mode."
Hyuga Neji felt both of his hands trembling. He had seen hope, but that hope was far too faint. Although he now knew that the Byakugan could evolve, and might even have a second stage or a third stage, how was that supposed to be achieved?
He had no idea at all. He could have endured the darkness if he had never seen the light.
"Why let me know all of this? Was turning me into a caged bird not enough?"
Hyuga Neji muttered to himself.
"Is this my fate?"
For the first time, he began to doubt the fate he had always spoken of.
All along, Hyuga Neji had believed in so-called fate. Or perhaps he had used fate as an excuse. He was a genius, and being born into the Hyuga Clan was his fate, so he was completely different from those Dead Lasts.
But at the same time, being bound by the Caged Bird Seal was also a kind of fate. At least, that was how he had always comforted himself.
Now, however, all those comforts no longer worked, because he had begun to feel that fate was unfair. Before, if he had not seen any of this, he could still console himself that he had merely gained one extra Caged Bird Seal. But now he had been told there were more possibilities, that the Byakugan still held greater potential.
Yet all of that had been stopped by the Caged Bird Seal. What a terrifying thing that was.
Even Otsutsuki Toneri had disdained the idea of stealing the Byakugan of the Branch House. Otherwise, he should have been able to take as many as he wanted. That proved the Byakugan could not be sealed by the Caged Bird Seal. Once it was sealed, there would never be another chance.
So resentment was born in him. Deep, overwhelming resentment. Why should he have to endure this result?
"Otsutsuki Toneri!"
A few traces of eagerness flashed through Uchiha Sasuke's eyes. He and Uzumaki Naruto were both future saviors of the world. How great would it have been if he had gone to the moon back then too? Though staying in Konoha had also been pretty cool.
That Chidori Current had been unbelievably cool.
Hadn't Kaede Kitahara said it? Being strong was only temporary, but being cool lasted a lifetime.
"There's actually another world inside the moon. But how does one get there? Surely you can't just fly over."
Hatake Kakashi silently speculated.
"There must be some place similar to a teleportation array that connects the two worlds. But those brothers, Otsutsuki Hagoromo and Otsutsuki Hamura, were truly incredible. They were no different from the gods of legend. To think they could separately establish the foundations of the earthly Shinobi World and the lunar Shinobi World. That's terrifying."
As Hatake Kakashi thought about it, he felt even more deeply how frightening the Otsutsuki Main Family was. Just two random people from that family had already been this terrifying. Who knew how many powerful beings like that still existed within the Otsutsuki Main Family?
This world was far too dangerous. There truly was not much he could do. But with the Chunin Exams about to begin, he still had some means available.
"Orochimaru, this time, let's see whether I can take you down with me when you stand before me."
Hatake Kakashi gripped the short blade in his hand. In the diary video, when he had confronted Orochimaru, he had not even been able to bring them both down together. It had been utterly humiliating.
Orochimaru certainly had a famous master's inheritance, but how was Kakashi inferior in the slightest? If anything, he would only be stronger. There were even more Hokage gathered around him.
In the Land of Rain, inside the Akatsuki Organization's base, Deva Path Pain sat on a stone chair. Before him stood Kakuzu and Hidan, both members of the Akatsuki Organization.
"You failed to complete that bounty mission last time," Deva Path Pain said.
At the mention of that, Kakuzu's expression turned ugly. Last time, he had only wanted to earn some money on the side, but he had ended up suffering a loss instead. He had lost several hearts in a row. It had been a terrible deal.
And before the battle had even ended, that brat had been swept away by a mysterious force.
For a heart to be worthy of his interest, it had to be at least Elite Jonin level. He had only just managed to replenish hearts of all five attributes.
"That damn brat!"
Kakuzu clenched his fists.
"So that's the guy who made you suffer such a big loss?" Hidan grinned. Seeing his teammate stumble like this, he could not help laughing out loud.
After all, Akatsuki was full of people with twisted personalities like this.
"According to intelligence sent by our informant in Konoha, that brat named Kaede Kitahara has already been promoted to Tokubetsu Jonin during this period."
Deva Path Pain said, "Based on your description from last time, his strength is actually no weaker than yours. For someone his age, he is indeed quite troublesome."
Deva Path Pain called him troublesome, but his expression did not change at all. According to their estimate, Kaede Kitahara's strength was at most about the same as Kakuzu's. That was only ordinary Kage Level. Within the Akatsuki Organization, which member was not Kage Level?
And naturally, these members had not all joined peacefully and willingly. Quite a few had been beaten by him until they had no choice but to join.
To save their own lives, they had even said things like they would join the Akatsuki Organization.
It was just that he could not personally handle everything himself. He had to assign these tasks to others. With Kaede Kitahara's strength, he was enough to pose a major threat to a single member of the Akatsuki Organization.
Kakuzu's expression grew even uglier. Saying that the boy's strength was no weaker than his was simply giving Kakuzu too much credit. Last time, he had suffered a huge loss. Several of his hearts had been blown apart with ease, yet he had not been able to do anything to the other party.