The Rabbit Goddess was what most people dismissed as a myth. A story told to frighten children into obedience or to give desperate men something to pray to when war loomed too close. They said she could bend oceans, smother wildfires, and make forests rise or wither on a whim.
They were wrong about one thing.
She was no myth.
Kaguya Ōtsutsuki walked calmly through the monastery that crowned the mountains above the lands below. Stone pillars towered overhead, carved with symbols long eroded by time, while prayer flags snapped softly in the high-altitude wind. The air was clean and sharp, filling her lungs with each measured breath. Her white garments flowed around her as she moved, untouched by dust or grime, as if the world itself refused to stain her.
She was beautiful, undeniably so. Long white hair spilled down her back like silk, reinforcing her past as royalty and feeding the rumors that clung to her name. Some whispered she had once been a princess. Others claimed she was a succubus in disguise, a temptress hiding fangs behind a gentle smile.
Kaguya found that rumor especially amusing.
No, it wasn't her appearance that drove men to their knees.
It was her power.
She could not command the elements outright...not in the way legends claimed but she could manipulate them through her eyes. Three eyes, each different, each terrifying in its own way.
The White Eye, as she called it, occupied the sockets on either side of her face. Pale and pupil-less, they gave her the appearance of blindness. In truth, they allowed her to see nearly everything through walls, terrain, and flesh alike granting her almost full vision in every direction, save for a small blind spot at the upper back of her neck.
More than that, the White Eye revealed something hidden within every living being. A circulatory system not of blood, but of glowing pathways that pulsed faintly beneath the skin. In others, it appeared dim and fragmented. In her, it burned bright and whole.
She suspected it was the source of her strength whatever force separated her from humanity but she did not yet fully understand it.
The Tome Eye lay sealed within a vertical slit in the center of her forehead. When opened, the world slowed to a crawl. Every movement stretched out, every action easy to read and anticipate. The eye itself was crimson, with a dark pupil at its center, encircled by three rotating tomes etched with unreadable symbols.
With it, she could memorize anything she saw techniques, movements, even patterns of thought. It also allowed her to perceive a weaker version of the glowing system the White Eye revealed, though far less clearly.
It shared its space with what she believed to be her greatest power.
The Rinnegan.
When active, the eye filled the slit completely, its ripple-patterned surface spreading across the entire orb. Its sclera and iris glowed a soft, unsettling purple. Through it, she could manipulate the five basic elements: wind, water, fire, earth, and lightning. Not summon them from nothing but command what already existed, shaping the world through sheer will.
She could switch between the Tome Eye and the Rinnegan simply by closing the slit and focusing her intent. Even so, she could feel it something deeper, dormant. Abilities locked away, waiting to be awakened.
The potential terrified and thrilled her in equal measure.
She had already conquered most of the lands inhabited by humans. The Lightning Daimyō and the Fire Daimyō had fallen without resistance her mere presence enough to force submission. They knelt, trembling, offering their banners and their people.
Others had been less wise.
(FLASHBACK)
She hovered above the battlefield, her feet never touching the ground. Below her stood an army of samurai, ranks tight, hands white-knuckled around spears, swords, and bows. Their armor gleamed beneath the sun, though fear dulled its shine.
Whispers rippled through their lines.
"Oni."
"Goddess."
"Shinigami."
Some believed she had come to cleanse the world of mankind, to end their era in blood and fire.
Kaguya felt nothing.
They had drawn their weapons. That alone sealed their fate.
A few brave or foolish men shouted orders. Bows were raised. Spears angled upward, tips trembling as they aimed at her heart.
She smiled faintly.
Her voice carried effortlessly across the field.
"Fear me."
The earth answered first.
Stone spikes erupted from the ground without warning, impaling men where they stood. Armor crumpled as jagged rock punched through steel and flesh alike. Bodies were lifted screaming into the air before sliding down the spikes, leaving trails of blood that steamed against the stone.
Fire followed.
Flames burst from the soil and wrapped around the army, washing over ranks in waves of blistering heat. Armor glowed red, then white-hot, fusing to skin beneath. Men clawed at their own chests as molten metal burned into muscle. The smell of scorched flesh filled the air, thick and choking.
The wind howled.
A violent gale tore through the battlefield, lifting soldiers off their feet and hurling them into one another or smashing them against the ground. Bones snapped audibly. Some were flung into the spikes, their bodies splitting open on impact, organs spilling out in wet, horrible bursts.
They screamed for mercy.
She gave none.
Lightning cracked down from the sky, threading through armor and bodies alike. Men convulsed as electricity cooked them from the inside, eyes bursting, blood spraying from mouths and noses. The ground became slick with gore, mud turning dark beneath the carnage.
Within moments, the army ceased to exist.
Silence followed, broken only by the crackle of dying flames and the wet sounds of cooling bodies collapsing.
Kaguya descended slowly, her feet finally touching the blood-soaked earth. She looked upon the ruin without pride or regret.
These lands were hers.
Their lives had been hers.
And they had chosen how quickly they would end.
(FLASHBACK END)