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Tsunade finally understood!!!
Why Sasuke, having just defected from Konoha, had so bizarrely appeared in the Uzumaki clan's Mask Hall!
Why he and Orochimaru had shown up at the Konoha cemetery, trying to stop Obito from taking Kakashi's eye!
And why he had assaulted the Five Kage Summit wearing a mask, delivering both the pain of defeat and a declaration of war!
But more than all that, it solved her single greatest confusion—one that dwarfed all the others!
—Why! Why was Sasuke, a boy of only fourteen, so damn powerful!!!
So everything… all of it… was an effort to prevent the ninja world from being destroyed by the Rampaging God, Shibai!
Sage Katsuyu had also just learned the truth. But with a thousand years of experience, her expression was far calmer and more solemn than Tsunade's.
"So it's true… the threat of that clan was never eliminated?"
"That clan…?" Tsunade lifted her gaze.
"Exactly what Orochimaru spoke of," Sage Katsuyu said. "The Ō‧tsu‧tsu‧ki Clan."
"You know?" Tsunade's voice hitched. "About them?"
Orochimaru smiled faintly. "But of course. You lived through that era, after all. A thousand years ago, when Kaguya descended upon this land… you, along with the sages of Mount Myōboku and Ryūchi Cave, had just made your home on this planet, correct?"
The words hung in the air. Sage Katsuyu, in her form as a young girl with emerald eyes, stared deeply at Orochimaru. "You even know that much… Did Gamamaru or Medusa tell you?"
Gamamaru was the true name of the Great Toad Sage of Mount Myōboku.
Medusa was the true name of the White Snake Sage of Ryūchi Cave.
Orochimaru gave a slight shake of her head. "No… Not from those two elders. I merely pieced it together from the scattered clues of my previous life."
"Lady Katsuyu, you…"
Tsunade stared, shocked, at the small slug. Only now did she realize that the Katsuyu she'd known for decades also harbored secrets she'd never imagined.
"…Sigh."
Sage Katsuyu let out a weary breath.
"Neither of them are speaking… It seems they're leaving it to me."
"Orochimaru… you are correct. We sages are not the original inhabitants of this land known as the 'Mirror Moon Land.' We hail from a planet far, far from this one. A place called… the 'Land of Hardened Continents'!"
Orochimaru's vertical pupils glinted with realization. "So it truly was the Land of Hardened Continents!"
Jiraiya and Tsunade looked at her simultaneously. "You know of it…?"
Orochimaru explained, "The powerful of the Ōtsutsuki Clan subsist by plundering the energy of planets. Worlds teeming with life-energy are their preferred targets…"
"The cosmos is vast, filled with countless planets, but only a mere seventy-two are known to sustain life. They are called the Seventy-Two Provinces of the Reed Plains—the Reed Plains for short. Each has its own name, but the one with the most prosperous chakra civilization… was the Land of Hardened Continents. It is said humans born there could wield chakra from birth. Those who mastered sage arts were commonplace. Its territory was vast, its defensive capabilities legendary—truly 'hardened.' But… even a civilization that powerful… was breached over twelve hundred years ago."
"I discovered records of these events in the ruins of the 'Land of the Rising Clouds' during my previous life…"
"Ah, yes. The Land of the Rising Clouds—that was the planet Sasuke and I fled to. The texts concerning the Land of Hardened Continents were brought there by survivors on the day of its fall!"
"Yet, not long after the Land of Hardened Continents fell… the Land of the Rising Clouds followed."
"The fall of the Rising Clouds most closely aligns with the time the Ōtsutsuki arrived here, in our Mirror Moon Land. The period when the Three Great Sage lineages became active here also traces back to that."
Orochimaru's eyes shone with the light of a new, profound truth.
"So I had theorized that the sages likely originated from the Land of the Rising Clouds. I never imagined the origin was the even greater Land of Hardened Continents!"
With Orochimaru laying the groundwork, Sage Katsuyu seamlessly took over the narrative.
"Correct. The Land of Hardened Continents was the ancestral home of our three great sage lineages… and of the human populace our ancestors protected. That land possessed nine suns. Natural energy was boundless. Chakra civilization had flourished there for over a millennium. Under the joint governance—and mutual restraint—of the three Sage Ancestors, a relatively harmonious and stable ecosystem was maintained. The Sage Ancestors themselves lived for over three thousand years. Under their protection, the longest-lived humans could reach three hundred years of age. Warriors who surpassed even the current Five Kage in power… were countless!"
Tsunade was aghast. "A civilization that strong… was destroyed by a clan called the Ōtsutsuki?"
At this, even Katsuyu's expression grew shadowed and inscrutable.
"Yes. The ones who attacked and destroyed our homeland were a pair of Ōtsutsuki. Compared to the power of those two… the Ōtsutsuki who arrived in this Mirror Moon Land a thousand years ago are utterly insignificant."
In other words… Orochimaru thought, Ōtsutsuki who far surpass Isshiki and Kaguya.
Sage Katsuyu continued, "Ōtsutsuki typically operate in pairs. One is the 'Superior,' the other is the 'Guardian.' Our entire nation pooled its strength. We managed to slay the 'Guardian'… but we could not overcome the 'Superior.' To avoid total annihilation, the three Sage Ancestors chose to remain and fight to the last alongside our homeland. They created an opportunity for the humans they protected… to escape."
"Many humans chose to stay and die with the Ancestors… to face the Superior. Others successfully fled to the Land of the Rising Clouds."
"There is one thing… I learned only much later…"
"Those who fled to the Rising Clouds… they went not to hide, but to fortify that backward civilization. To build it into a final line of defense!"
Tsunade breathed, "A final… line of defense…!"
"Yes," Sage Katsuyu said gravely. "They were not cowards seeking to save their own skins. They went to ensure the Land of the Rising Clouds could become the last bastion… to protect the distant planet where the final descendants of the three Sage Ancestors they revered… were being sent!"
"Gamamaru, Medusa, and I… we are those final descendants. That distant planet… is this Mirror Moon Land we stand upon now! And that final line of defense… no longer exists."
The secret of the Three Great Sage lineages' origin, and why they established their sanctuaries on this planet to coexist with humans, was now laid bare!
But… there was one thing Orochimaru desperately needed to know.
"Sage Katsuyu… do you remember… the name of that Ōtsutsuki Superior from back then?"
Sage Katsuyu shook her head slowly.
"I was but a hatchling then. So… I do not recall. I only remember… k hanging in the sky, looking down upon the land… clad in a garment of pure… black…"
Black.
Orochimaru's pupils contracted violently.
Because… in her previous life, when Shibai descended upon the earth… k too had hung in the sky, looking down upon the land… clad in a robe of… black!!
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