While Senju Hashirama wrestled with the burden of leadership in Konoha, Raizen lived a life that didn't fit him at all.
Shallow Water Island.
A forgotten speck of land far off the mainland. A few hundred families. Fishermen. Quiet mornings, quiet nights. A place where nothing ever happened.
Of course, that made it perfect for hiding a wounded god.
And perfect for Raizen to hide himself.
He disguised his chakra, blended into the local families like another sunburnt islander hauling nets, and kept watch from the shadows over the one being he couldn't afford to ignore: the Ōtsutsuki survivor lurking deep in the island's interior.
Raizen hadn't come here to rest.
He'd come to observe, wait, and eventually strike.
And over weeks of careful surveillance, listening to the so-called "god" mutter to himself in fevered irritation, Raizen finally pieced together the truth.
Ōtsutsuki came from beyond the sky.
Born with chakra.
Born with hunger.
The sacred tree wasn't a myth. It was an energy furnace built from devouring worlds.
Ten Tails was its living core.
And every member of the clan coveted that power.
This one—this lone Ōtsutsuki—did not come here on a mission of conquest.
He came because Black Zetsu dragged him here.
Raizen sat cross-legged in his tiny thatched hut, staring at the candle flame as the realization sank in.
"So that's it. Zetsu couldn't touch me directly… so he brought a monster instead."
It was almost funny. Almost.
Black Zetsu wanted the timeline to snap back to the "correct" path.
Wanted Hashirama and Madara back on rails.
Wanted Raizen out of the center of the world.
And using a wounded Ōtsutsuki as bait?
That was exactly Zetsu's brand of pathetic brilliance.
The plan almost worked.
Raizen chased the intruder.
Left Konoha.
The clans began moving again.
Hashirama took temporary power.
Madara drifted back toward suspicion.
The old history was trying to resurrect itself.
Raizen scowled.
"Over my dead body."
He continued gathering scraps of intel. Most came from the Ōtsutsuki's own restless muttering.
The Ōtsutsuki clan didn't have a stable pathway into the ninja world.
This one only arrived because Zetsu fed him coordinates.
He came alone.
He wanted Ten Tails.
He wanted eternal power.
But Raizen's mind caught on one detail and refused to let go.
"If they had no way here… then how did Momoshiki and Kinshiki show up in later generations?"
A cold chill threaded down his spine.
Something didn't add up.
Something was missing.
But speculation wouldn't get him answers.
Only memory would.
And to rip memories from an Ōtsutsuki… Raizen would have to kill him fast enough to prevent him from erasing himself.
Last time, he hadn't brought Madara or Hashirama because he'd feared exactly that.
If the Ōtsutsuki panicked, he'd wipe his own mind and escape—leaving Raizen with nothing.
Not this time.
This time would be a clean, surgical elimination.
One strike.
One death.
One mind ripped open before fading.
"A one-hit kill. And no mistakes."
Raizen leaned back, closing his eyes, running through plans like a gamer preparing for a boss fight he couldn't afford to lose.
Traps.
Seals.
Environmental control.
Chakra suppression nets.
A layered kill box.
He sighed.
Beating the Ōtsutsuki was doable.
Stopping him from erasing his memories?
That was the true nightmare.
But he would do it.
He had to.
For the ninja world…
for the village he built…
and for the future that absolutely would not exist if the Ōtsutsuki clan gained even a fraction of Ten Tails' power.
Raizen's thoughts drifted back toward Konoha.
His preparations there.
His quiet safeguards.
His contingencies.
Some clan elders were already making noise.
Some were waiting for him to vanish completely before striking.
Raizen snorted.
"Jump as much as you want. The real threats aren't you idiots… it's the things falling out of the sky."
Because if the Ōtsutsuki clan returned in force, the ninja world wouldn't be a battlefield anymore.
It would be a harvest field.
He knew the history.
The truth behind Kaguya.
The truth behind Ten Tails.
The development of ninjutsu wasn't a story of human progress.
It was a story of resisting an alien clan that wanted to turn the world into fertilizer.
Raizen opened his eyes, gaze sharp.
"Before we talk about tail beast balance… we deal with the family that grows chakra like crops."
His fist tightened.
"How do I kill an Ōtsutsuki in one shot… without giving him a chance to fight back?"
The candle flame flickered.
No answer came.
But Raizen would find one.
He had to.