The castle was eerily quiet, with only puppets moving about in the vast halls.
Kawakui and Genjin walked down a long corridor before arriving at a pavilion, where they quietly took their seats.
Kawakui narrowed her grayish white eyes and gazed toward the distant twilight, lost in thought.
Genjin's eyes were the same color, and his eyesight was even worse than hers.
In fact, this condition was not unique to the two of them. The remaining three members of the Ōtsutsuki Clan all possessed the same grayish white eyes.
The root of this problem could be traced back to the ancient civil war.
Back then, differing interpretations of Hamura Ōtsutsuki's final wishes caused the Main Family and Branch Family to split apart.
Before long, war erupted between the two sides.
Several years later, despite being at a disadvantage, the Branch Family used countless Byakugan to create the ancestral eye, the Tenseigan, and ultimately brought about the destruction of the Main Family.
However, victory brought them no joy.
The Branch Family had no time to celebrate before they were forced to face the consequences of a decaying clan and a damaged moon.
As the population rapidly declined, the birth rate continued to fall until only five people remained.
It was impossible for the Branch Family not to feel regret.
However, what they regretted was not their ideals.
They regretted completely wiping out the Main Family and driving their descendants to the brink of extinction.
With such a tiny population, suitable marriage partners became nearly nonexistent.
By now, every surviving member of the moon's Ōtsutsuki Clan was the result of generations of inbreeding.
Although it preserved the purity of their bloodline, it also caused numerous recessive genetic disorders to emerge, especially affecting their Byakugan.
The Byakugan, which should have been pure white, began developing gray impurities generations ago.
Now, every single one of them possessed dull grayish white eyes.
From the oldest, Ishii, to the next generation, Sōgi and Zon, and even the younger cousins, Genjin and Kawakui, none were exceptions.
These eyes could hardly be called true Byakugan anymore.
Because none of them possessed a pure Byakugan, none of the five surviving clan members could awaken the Tenseigan.
Still, they had long since become accustomed to it.
After all, they had been born this way.
Sitting on the long bench, Kawakui looked upward.
Embedded within the dome was a jewel shining as brightly as the sun.
It was the artificial sun.
Seeing her quietly staring into space, Genjin spoke.
"What's so interesting about it? It's looked the same for more than a decade."
He was right.
It had remained unchanged for over ten years.
No matter how much someone liked a view, staring at it every day would eventually become unbearable.
That was also why so many members of the clan had chosen hibernation.
Life had simply become too monotonous.
But things had not always been this way.
Surrounding the artificial sun were countless jewels arranged like stars.
According to ancient stone tablets, there were once special periods when the artificial sun would dim, allowing the other jewels to illuminate the entire moon.
Combined with countless polished mirrors embedded in the walls and ground, they created magnificent displays that resembled changing seasons and shifting constellations.
Unfortunately, everything had been lost.
When the civil war broke out, every member of the Main Family who knew how to operate those systems died.
As a result, the moon was left with nothing but an eternal, unchanging twilight.
Kawakui paid no attention to Genjin's complaint. She had heard similar remarks countless times before.
She murmured softly to herself.
"I heard Earth has both sunrise and sunset. I wonder what that's like."
Genjin looked at her.
"You're thinking about going to Earth?"
"Why shouldn't I?" Kawakui replied calmly.
"We originally came from Earth. If I stay here forever, I can already see exactly how my life will unfold until I die."
There were only two people of the same generation on the entire moon, herself and Genjin.
Once they came of age, they would inevitably marry.
A few years later, they would likely have a child.
If it were a boy, he would be named Ōtsutsuki Toneri.
If it were a girl, she would be named Ōtsutsuki Sakurano.
And because of generations of inbreeding, the child's condition might be even worse than theirs.
Perhaps the child would even be born blind.
To be honest, Kawakui was tired of this life.
But leaving the moon was easier said than done.
Although the Gedo Statue had been summoned away, causing the barrier between Earth and the moon to automatically reopen, that only applied to ordinary humans.
The Ōtsutsuki Clan themselves still could not pass through.
Because of their powerful bloodline, the Tenseigan's Barrier Ninjutsu continued to reject them.
Only someone capable of awakening the Tenseigan could remove the seal.
But without a pure Byakugan, awakening the Tenseigan was impossible.
There was, in fact, a Giant Tenseigan hidden within the artificial sun.
However, they could only borrow a fraction of its power and could not fully control it.
Naturally, they could not break the seal either.
As things stood, the passage was one way.
Shinobi from Earth could reach the moon.
The moon's Ōtsutsuki could not travel to Earth, except through lifeless puppets.
Kawakui turned to Genjin.
"What will Father and the others do if they capture the intruder?"
Genjin answered immediately.
"If it's the person who awakened the Rinnegan, Father and the others will use the Giant Tenseigan to eliminate them directly. That person is most likely after Ōtsutsuki Kaguya."
One of the clan's responsibilities was to guard the seal and prevent Kaguya from ever being released.
"But if Father is right, and the intruder is from the Hyuga Clan that remained on Earth, then things will be different."
"He would probably possess a pure Byakugan."
"They would remove his Byakugan and infuse it with the Giant Tenseigan's chakra to create a new Tenseigan."
A trace of mockery appeared on Kawakui's face.
For thousands of years, this branch of Hamura's descendants had proudly preserved the Ōtsutsuki surname.
They considered themselves superior to Kaguya's other descendants, such as the Hyuga, Uzumaki, Senju, and Uchiha.
In their eyes, those bloodlines had become diluted after countless generations of intermarriage with ordinary people, and much of their original heritage had been lost.
As a result, these moon dwellers looked down upon the shinobi of the ninja world.
Yet now, these so called pure Ōtsutsuki no longer possessed true Byakugan themselves.
Instead, they had to rely on the Hyuga Clan they once despised.
The irony was impossible to ignore.
Kawakui felt neither sympathy nor anger.
To be honest, simply remaining sane in this environment was already an accomplishment.
There was little room left for any other emotions.
Still, if obtaining a pure Byakugan truly allowed someone to awaken the Tenseigan, they would probably choose Genjin to receive the transplant.
Kawakui glanced at Genjin's excited expression.
If he obtained the Tenseigan, he would likely wipe out humanity on Earth without hesitation.
It was not just because the Gedo Statue had been stolen.
Ever since childhood, they had been taught that the world created by Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki, the Sage of Six Paths, was a failure.
The moon had already become a prison.
Did they intend to turn Earth into one as well?
"They really are a bunch of hopeless idiots."
A faint look of disgust appeared on Kawakui's face.
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