"Brother, I'll follow your lead."
After hearing those words, Ōtsutsuki Hamura's expression shifted slightly before he spoke in a deep voice.
"We've endured in silence for so long. At last… it's time to begin reeling in the net."
"Heh."
A cold glint appeared in the Sage of Six Paths' indifferent eyes.
"Our foolish mother thought that leaving behind Black Zetsu in the shinobi world would keep us in the dark."
"She truly underestimated us."
"This time… we'll make Mother completely give up."
As he spoke, clear disdain appeared on the Sage of Six Paths' face.
After all, as the first Ten-Tails jinchūriki and the first person to uncover the true nature of chakra, his control over the shinobi world had long reached an astonishing level.
Because of that—
He had always known about Black Zetsu's existence.
Even Black Zetsu secretly manipulating his two sons—Indra and Asura—had never escaped his awareness.
But from beginning to end, the Sage of Six Paths had never exposed it.
Because he had been laying out a grand plan for the shinobi world.
Even his sons, Indra and Asura, were merely pieces on his chessboard.
Unfortunately—
Plans could never fully keep pace with change.
Now the sudden rise of Uchiha Ren had completely disrupted the Sage of Six Paths' perfect arrangements.
At this point, even he could only adapt step by step.
"Oh, right, Brother."
A moment later, Hamura seemed to recall something.
His eyes turned cold as he asked pointedly,
"Uchiha Madara was revived by Black Zetsu and now possesses the Rinnegan. Do you think he can defeat Uchiha Ren?"
"No."
The Sage of Six Paths shook his head without hesitation.
"Why?"
Hamura frowned in confusion.
"With Madara's abilities and the terrifying power of the Rinnegan, he should at least have a chance."
"The gap is too great."
The Sage of Six Paths sighed faintly.
"Uchiha Ren has already absorbed the power of the Giant Tenseigan."
"He awakened an eye that is almost unheard of in this world—the Rinne-Tenseigan."
When he mentioned the Rinne-Tenseigan, even the Sage of Six Paths himself showed a trace of disbelief.
Once upon a time, he had attempted to combine the powers of the Rinnegan and the Tenseigan.
His goal had been to create exactly such an eye.
But after countless experiments, every attempt had ended in failure.
Eventually, even he had given up.
He concluded that the Rinne-Tenseigan existed only as a theoretical possibility.
And yet—
After absorbing the Giant Tenseigan's power, Uchiha Ren had effortlessly awakened a pair of Rinne-Tenseigan.
In a sense, it was a direct slap to the Sage of Six Paths' pride.
"The Rinne-Tenseigan…?"
Hamura's mouth twitched slightly.
He wisely chose not to continue the topic.
After all, Ren's successful awakening of the Rinne-Tenseigan was directly tied to the Giant Tenseigan created by the Moon's Ōtsutsuki clan.
In other words, as one of the clan's ancient ancestors, Hamura himself bore unavoidable responsibility.
"Enough."
After a few seconds, the Sage of Six Paths changed the subject.
"Continue monitoring the vessel of Ōtsutsuki Isshiki—Jigen—secretly."
"Understood."
The moment Hamura heard the name Jigen, his expression became serious.
"Jigen has kept a very low profile in the shinobi world. He hasn't done anything unusual."
"He's only gathered a few subordinates and formed a rather obscure organization."
"Kara."
"Kara…"
The Sage of Six Paths inhaled slowly.
"If he's already forming an organization, that means Ōtsutsuki Isshiki is no longer content to remain hidden."
Hamura nodded solemnly.
Back when the two brothers had betrayed their teacher and sealed their mother, Ōtsutsuki Kaguya, they had learned some secrets she had once hidden.
Thousands of years ago, in the ancient era—
Ōtsutsuki Isshiki and his attendant, Ōtsutsuki Kaguya, had descended upon Earth.
Their mission was to cultivate the Ten-Tails into a Divine Tree and complete the task assigned by the main Ōtsutsuki family.
Isshiki had planned to sacrifice Kaguya—who was ranked below him—to the Ten-Tails.
But at the critical moment before the sacrifice, Kaguya suddenly turned against him and severely wounded him.
In the end, using most of Isshiki's body, Kaguya successfully cultivated the Divine Tree.
As for the remaining fragment of Isshiki's body—
He used a secret technique called Sukunahikona to shrink himself and escape.
Then he implanted himself into Jigen's body in the form of a Kāma.
The Kāma was a special ability unique to the Ōtsutsuki clan.
When activated, strange dark markings would spread across the user's body, greatly enhancing their power.
The markings could even change color depending on the user's nature.
"Alright. That's enough for now."
After a long silence, the Sage of Six Paths took a deep breath.
A faint glimmer flashed within his deep Rinnegan.
"No matter what happens…"
"In the end, the two of us will be the ones who win."
"Just like when we sealed our mother, Ōtsutsuki Kaguya."
"I understand."
A fierce killing intent appeared in Hamura's Tenseigan as he nodded firmly.
—
At the same time.
In the depths of space.
Buzz—
A brilliant white light flashed.
In the next instant, a planet the size of Earth shattered into dust and vanished into the universe.
"The Divine Tree cultivation has failed."
Floating in the void, the massive Ōtsutsuki Kinshiki looked down at the destroyed planet and spoke coldly.
"This planet no longer has any value."
"Exactly."
Ōtsutsuki Urashiki added calmly,
"Let's continue searching for unharvested planets. We need to cultivate more Divine Trees and complete the mission assigned by the Ōtsutsuki main family as soon as possible."
"Alright."
Kinshiki grinned.
But suddenly—
Ōtsutsuki Momoshiki, who had remained silent the entire time, seemed to sense something.
Excitement appeared in his voice.
"No need."
"I already know where the disgrace of the Ōtsutsuki clan—Ōtsutsuki Kaguya—is hiding."
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