Death.
Death is the start of this tale.
For over many millennia, she had grown up with death surrounding her at every turn.
The death of a world and its inhabitants, in exchange for a chakra fruit to be harvested from a God tree.
It was a cycle that Hitomi had lived over and over again, following The Ōtsutsuki Will also known as the will of the Ōtsutsuki - it is a doctrine which dictates that clan members (like herself) consume the life energy and genetic material of other worlds in order to continuously evolve, with the ultimate goal of attaining godhood.
In the entire history of the Ōtsutsuki clan - the first and only one known to have achieved this goal was Shibai Ōtsutsuki who had achieved godhood after eating countless chakra fruits.
A being that every Ōtsutsuki strived be at, enforcing their ambitions and their clan's doctrine to continue on harvesting and eating chakra fruits, draining the life of many worlds which withered and died out in the process.
In the beginning Hitomi Ōtsutsuki was like every Ōtsutsuki member, having that same mindset. And yet something had changed within her..
It started thousands of years ago when she began to notice the smaller details, ones that an Ōtsutsuki like herself shouldn't notice at all.
The moment she took the chance to stop and just truly look; the celestial being had seen the beauty in every walk of life, with each world she went to. She saw it all in various forms, from animals to sentient mortal beings.
Why should an Ōtsutsuki look at the life that belongs to a world? Why should an Ōtsutsuki acknowledge that very same life?
There was no answer to those questions; Yet Hitomi Ōtsutsuki would stare with her emotionless eyes at the sight of the stars in the skies always looking like glittering diamonds as it was breathtaking in it's own right.
The celestial woman turned her gaze from the stars to the plant life of the worlds she had been to, throughout millennia. Her emotionless and stoic demeanor remained on the exterior of her being as if unfazed by the sights themselves, and yet it was a different story in the interior of herself.
Everywhere she looked at, everywhere she saw, there was something, always something that was reaching out to the cold yet emotionless and bottomless being of her soul. It was foreign, it was strange, it had no name for her to describe it yet at the time of her discovering it in the first place.
Why is she, Hitomi Ōtsutsuki, feeling this way even now? Again, the celestial being had no answer for this, none to be found by her.
But time, time would pass as the time is endless for her and the Ōtsutsuki clan themselves. But during the seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months and years that would pass by, those strange yet foreign feelings surely evolved from the more observations of the various life forms that dwell on a world/planet or dimension.
Soon the celestial being would properly name then define those strange foreign thoughts and feelings that were swirling within her.
The first one was Curiosity, curiosity towards the worlds she was assigned to. That was what started it all, the foundation of the unknown experiences that would plague the one known as Hitomi Ōtsutsuki.
The so-called curiosity of the Ōtsutsuki woman, turned towards the environment of each world she posted on. The same worlds that had a God Tree on time, at the time before those worlds would wither and die.
This period of curiosity would last for one hundred years as Hitomi Ōtsutsuki, a member of the Ōtsutsuki clan, explored every corner of the world she was currently on. Then the celestial being's curiosity turned into appreciation at the end of that one hundred years, Hitomi experienced the sensation and feeling of appreciation for a planet.
A planet with life, life that has its unique beauty that compliments the world it lives in.
It was baffling and confusing to Hitomi - To experience these new sets of emotions, thoughts and feelings was.. it was something unprecedented that it sent a feeling of fear into her.
For such a long time over many millennia that have gone by, Hitomi Ōtsutsuki had felt nothing towards the life that existed or used to exist on the worlds that haven't withered until they did. She was emotionless, cold and stoic, she didn't feel anything to any lifeform or creature that wasn't a part of the Ōtsutsuki clan.
But now that door of the unknown has been opened and it couldn't be closed now.
Despite her intentions of ignoring those emotions, those foreign feelings, they didn't go away. No, they simply build up over time, growing stronger and stronger. To the point that the celestial being would subconsciously send glances to the life dwelling on the planet that has a God Tree.
Another one hundred years passed as those thoughts, emotions and feelings of appreciation towards life had become conscious in the mind of Hitomi Ōtsutsuki.
And this time, the Ōtsutsuki woman didn't resist at all. Yes she didn't resist at all as the celestial being observed her assigned planet in secret, keeping it a secret away from her assigned partner.
Despite the appreciations, Hitomi Ōtsutsuki remained emotionless and distantly stoic. For that part of her has always been a part that could never go away in the few lifespans of a mortal.
But those various emotions, thoughts and feelings of appreciation still have major influence over her as appreciation suddenly turned into fondness, fondness for nature, for plant life.
This was a strange concept, a strange experience, a strange feeling for her to deal with now. And yet here she was, experiencing the first feeling of fondness that she has felt since being brought into this plain of existence as this was the first time of her discovering fondness in that moment of truth.
Fondness was warm, reassuring in a way. No it felt more than that to her - it was more powerful than appreciation, it was more overwhelming than appreciation.
Despite that, once again, there was no emotion showing on the face of Hitomi Ōtsutsuki. She remained physically stoic, emotionless, distant and cold on the outside of her body and within her soul still.
Another one hundred years passed as at the end of those one hundred years, the due date of the god tree producing a chakra fruit on her and her partner's assigned planet, had come.
The moment that God Tree produced a Chakra Fruit, Hitomi Ōtsutsuki didn't pay attention. No, her pupil-less eyes found themselves drawn to the landscape of her assigned planet instead then.
It was barren, dead, stripped of life as everything and every being was dead, hollowed out as if sucked dry. No life remained, no nature energy remained here as it was all gone from the landscape, from the surface of this planet.
At that moment, for the first time, Hitomi Ōtsutsuki felt both horror and disgust. The horror of what happened to the beauty of the life that dwelled here and the disgust at what she had helped some, of what she had remained by, doing nothing at all.
After the chakra fruit was harvested from the God Tree; those feelings would still linger, linger on and grow for the next one thousand years until the next harvest of the God tree's chakra fruit.
During that time, a new set of feelings would grow over the course of one thousand years. A darker and much more stronger feeling than before, it was the feelings of bitterness and resentment that swirled within her.
The bitterness and resentment of Hitomi Ōtsutsuki would be aimless, unable to decide on which to be aimed at. But that would soon change upon seeing the sight of another dead world, brought on by the god tree.
Then those emotions of bitterness and resentment were now aimed at both herself and at her clan.
It was so confusing at first, the Ōtsutsuki woman was lost, lost in her own mind and thoughts as she automatically helped to plant more God Trees on various other planets nearby.
Countless memories of lifeless worlds, lifeless planets and dimensions filled her mind as the bitterness, the resentment and the hate would grow beneath her coldness and stoic demeanor.
It had grown to a point that the Ōtsutsuki woman had felt a desire, a want and a need that bloomed inside her like a flower. She had found herself wanting to not plant a God Tree through an Ten-Tails sapling, due had found herself not wanting to ruin the beauty of a planet's nature of life.
These wouldn't die off, these wouldn't go away as these would remain within her mind. These would grow and grow over time, her indoctrination beliefs faltering before shattering into pieces, bit by bit as the decades would pass by.
At the end of her mental transformation - the Ōtsutsuki woman didn't care about attaining Godhood any more, the celestial being didn't want to drain the life out of another world again. This was so bizarre and confusing to her, to her instincts as an Ōtsutsuki, to her very own identity.
Before, just like every other Ōtsutsuki in the clan, Hitomi wanted to attain Godhood, wanted to ascend to a higher plain of existence, to reach where Shibai Ōtsutsuki had gone. But now, those previous desires were diminished, nearly gone as they were replaced by the taste of sweet bitterness instead.
If she were to resist, to stop carrying out the Ōtsutsuki Will - it would only result in death by the hands of the most powerful Ōtsutsuki members in the clan, or worse by the hands of the clan's elders and the patriarch.
The entire body of Hitomi Ōtsutsuki almost shook in fear at the thought of the most powerful and high ranking members of the Ōtsutsuki clan. The elders and patriarch were possibly the most powerful and godlike members of their clan besides the time of Shibai Ōtsutsuki.
By their existence alone - it was where Hitomi knew that she had no choice but to continue following the mindset, the doctrine of the Ōtsutsuki Will. Doing all of that while keeping her true feelings, emotions, thoughts and opinions on the matter to be nothing more than a guarded secret.
The more chakra fruits she ate over the few thousands of years that have passed, the more strength she gained. Sometimes it would be her or her assigned partner being fed to a Ten-tails sapling to plant a God Tree on a planet before being revived via the Karma Seal.
All the while, Hitomi Ōtsutsuki had begun to write down what she knew about her assigned worlds before they could be ended by the God Tree in the end. She didn't know why she did it, The Ōtsutsuki woman didn't have any words to explain but it felt like something she needed to do.
Once the celestial being was done writing it down, she would preserve the knowledge and lock it up tightly at one of her personal dimensions, with the purpose of keeping the memories of those worlds alive.
It wasn't much, it clearly wasn't enough in the terms of capabilities of both the Ōtsutsuki clan and The God Tree themselves. The Ōtsutsuki woman wished she could do much more but that was what she could do in the moments she had.
With the non-existent shackles of The Ōtsutsuki Will clearly tightened around her throat, suffocating her with each second that seemed to be the most painful than the last in both psychology and Spiritual sense.
But the celestial being known as Hitomi Ōtsutsuki would endure in silence, keeping her mouth shut while listening to the words, to the news, to the reports of her fellow Ōtsutsuki clansmen in the meetings that only happened once in a few hundred years at most.
Then one day, that's when it came - the news and acknowledgment of the unexpected missing presences of: Kaguya, Isshiki, Kinshiki, Momoshiki, Urashiki.
Kaguya Ōtsutsuki and Isshiki Ōtsutsuki had been missing for the last one thousand years, no report had come in from them while the other three were the most recent in being missing as they were previously sent to find both Kaguya and Isshiki.
By that time, the news of this had reached every Ōtsutsuki. Many members in the clan, both high and low rankings, had not taken it well, considering the fact that Momoshiki, Kinshiki and Urashiki hadn't returned yet. Meaning that something had happened to them, something that many of the Ōtsutsuki didn't tolerate.
Could it be that Kaguya Ōtsutsuki and Isshiki Ōtsutsuki betrayed the Ōtsutsuki clan? No, that couldn't be possible as Isshiki Ōtsutsuki was loyal, loyal to the Ōtsutsuki Will itself. But the matter about Kaguya Ōtsutsuki, was a different topic entirely for the rest of the Ōtsutsuki clan.
Kaguya Ōtsutsuki, a member of the Ōtsutsuki clan and younger sister of the current clan's patriarch,
The Ōtsutsuki clan sent a scouting team to the worlds that Isshiki Ōtsutsuki and Kaguya Ōtsutsuki were assigned to.
By the time that the scouting team had returned back to report their findings, only three words echoed and linger in the minds of the clan's leadership;
The Shinobi World...
- - - - - -
Konohagakure, Land of Fire
The night was filled with countless beautiful stars and all wasn't silent at all.
Across the village of Konohagakure, countless Konoha shinobi fought against otherworldly enemies that obviously were not from this world.
No, these enemies they were facing were members of the Ōtsutsuki clan.
The worst part is that the entirety of the Ōtsutsuki clan is here. They have unexpectedly arrived in the middle of the night, splitting their forces into five massive groups that spread to each village; Konohagakure, Kumogakure, Kirigakure, Iwagakure and Sunagakure.
The Ōtsutsuki group, the one currently laying waste to Konohagakure at the moment, had 400 Ōtsutsuki members.
In the streets of Konohagakure which were filled with Chūnin, Tokubetsu Jōnin, Jōnin that were currently battling against these celestial beings as best as they could. But it wasn't enough for them, unfortunately.
"Earth Style: Earth Flow River Jutsu!"
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
"Water Style: Giant Waterfall Jutsu!"
"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough Jutsu!"
A storm of multicolored Ninjutsu erupted in all directions, blasting straight at various members of the Ōtsutsuki clan.
But all of the Ōtsutsuki, the ones being attacked, immediately absorbed the Jutsus through the usage of the Rinnegan's Preta Path, shocking many of Konohagakure's Shinobi as memories of Nagato's attack from years earlier had resurfaced in their minds.
Before the various Konohagakure Chūnin and Jōnin had the chance to react; the Ōtsutsuki members shoot out black chakra receiver rods from the palm of their hands, while the more powerful high ranking Ōtsutsuki members used one of their Kekkei Mōra; the All-Killing Ash Bones in which they hardens their own bones and protrudes them out of their palm's skin before firing these bone projectiles which instantly pierced various Shinobi.
As a result, many Shinobi crumbled to piles of ash while other Chūnin and Jōnin were quickly slaughtered by the Ōtsutsuki members whose speed was as fast as a flash. In which the combined forces of Ōtsutsuki's Taijutsu and speed had quickly overwhelmed experienced veteran Shinobi, striking at their tenketsu into disrupting the flow of chakra and preventing them from using it before the celestial beings finished them off brutally.
The example of this brutality came in the form of a receiver rod, shot at a hyper speed rate by an Ōtsutsuki, stabbing through a Chūnin forehead which effectively killed them in one go.
During these battles, various Ōtsutsuki members had displayed various Dōjutsu such as; The Rinne Sharingan, Rinnegan, the Byakugan, the Sharingan, or even the Tenseigan and Kokugan in rare cases. Each Ōtsutsuki had unique Jutsu, gained from their Dōjutsu, which were used in their battles against Konohagakure's Shinobi forces.
In areas of Konoha where the Shinobi couldn't arrive or get to in time, mobs of civilians screamed for their lives as they tried to escape to the shelters safely.
Unfortunately an Ōtsutsuki appeared above them before unleashing a massive stream of fire, without hand signs, that engulfed the entire streets, immediately burning the crowds alive as they screamed out in agony.
In another area, An Female Ōtsutsuki levitated above the general hospital of Konohagakure that was filled with doctors, nurses and medical-nin.
The Ōtsutsuki lifted both palms of their hands. "Shinra Tensei!" The celestial being shouted, unleashing an repulsive force that was so massive and powerful that it immediately destroyed the hospital in one go as screams arose from the destruction.
With the general hospital building being reduced into nothing but a crater, The Ōtsutsuki member suddenly dive towards the survivors of the hospital, with her Rinnegan in her left eye and the Byakugan in her right eye while her third eye had the Rinne Sharingan.
What next was a massacre as screams filled the air once more with large amounts of blood spilled into the air while corpses fell down onto the ground in puddles of their own blood. As the Ōtsutsuki member struck them down with their bare hands as she grabbed both doctors' heads and smashed them together, easily reducing their heads into nothing but compressed flesh as their blood exploded in the process
"CHAA!!!"
Without even looking behind, The female Ōtsutsuki member swiftly stepped to the side with grace as out of the corner of her eyes, she saw a pink haired human woman with green eyes missed upon striking her fist at her.
'This is bad, this isn't one or two Ōtsutsuki. There's 400 of them here at the village..!' Sakura thought, gritting her teeth as she narrowed her eyes, glaring at her Ōtsutsuki opponent before her.
The pink haired kunoichi charges at the Ōtsutsuki, while gathering a dense concentration of chakra in her fist as she brings her back in preparation. "Shānnarō!" Sakura yelled out, performing 'Cherry Blossom Impact' by launching her fist forward at her opponent.
The Ōtsutsuki swiftly caught Sakura's fist with her left hand, but the force of Cherry Blossom Impact was unleashed as the shockwave exploded with tremendous blades of wind that spread outwards, blowing the rubble away from both opponents.
The hand that caught Sakura's fist, looked to be damaged but The Ōtsutsuki's hand was instantly healed and repaired by the Ōtsutsuki's own Regeneration Factor.
'Ah, it practically healed in an instant..!' Sakura became alarmed by this, quickly throwing her other enhanced fist at the Ōtsutsuki.
Upon seeing this, the Ōtsutsuki member causally dodged as the Byakugan appeared in her left eye and the Sharingan with three tomoe appeared in right eye as well.
'Crap, they have never displayed the Sharingan before!' Sakura thought with worry, her expression hardened with a sharp glint in those green eyes of hers.
"Yin Seal: Release!" The pink haired kunoichi shouted as a pattern started to appear from the Strength of a Hundred Seal on her forehead.
The Ōtsutsuki unleashed a swift barrage of Taijutsu strikes at the pink haired kunoichi who counterattack with moves of her own. But the Ōtsutsuki's strength behind those strikes of hers, were more brutal that blocking them was still enough to have one's bones break from the onslaught.
"Shānnarō!" Sakura roared out, throwing her fist at the Ōtsutsuki. In which the Ōtsutsuki member raised an eyebrow.
Suddenly 90,000 thousands of roots burst out of the rubble and lunged themselves towards Sakura, catching the pink haired kunoichi off guard by this. 'Wood Release..?!' Sakura gaped at the famous nature transformation, originally associated with the First Hokage - Hashirama Senju.
Sakura tried to shatter the incoming roots by using her chakra enhanced fists with the aid of the Strength of a Hundred Seal. However the roots outnumbered the pink haired as they slithered like snakes while overwhelming her while they slammed into her from all sides.
"Gah!" Sakura gritted her teeth, while the roots tightly wrapped themselves around her upper body and waist, binding her while the root's thorns stabbed into her flesh in which they absorbed chakra from her in large quantities.
'They are draining my chakra reserves..!' The pink haired kunoichi struggled to move, but the roots tighten their hold on her with each time her body moves, effectively restricting more movement.
The Ōtsutsuki wasn't done yet as without using hand signs she had used large amounts of chakra into utilized Wood Release to cause flowering trees formed out of the hospital's rubble and surround the area before producing pollen that quickly spreads upon blooming.
That's where Sakura had made her mistake. It nearly made her pass out unconscious, but by her willpower Sakura managed to keep herself conscious albeit barely though.
Before Sakura could have thought of a solution or anything else that could have helped her, The Ōtsutsuki didn't dare to give her that chance.
"Mokuton (Wood Release): Amber Cocoon Sealing Art." The Ōtsutsuki utters, calmly lifting and letting out a simple hand wave from her hand.
Beneath the pink haired kunoichi's feet, more roots sprouted out of the ground before beginning to wrap around her.
"Grrre!!" Sakura tried to resist this, but the bind of roots restricted her movements while constantly absorbing her chakra in a slow manner.
Sakura's resistance proved to be futile as the roots completely wrapped around Sakura's body in a rapid pace, ensnaring her into a cocoon which began to fill up with liquid amber sap.
Inside the wooden cocoon, Sakura gasped and took in a large breath of air, holding it in before she was completely submerged in liquor sap of amber which started to solidify quickly.
'Sasuke-kun… Sarada…' Those were Sakura's last thoughts before darkness took hold of her consciousness while her body was encased and frozen inside a giant amber stone inside the wooden cocoon.
- - - - -
Away from where the general hospital used to be at; Multiple massive explosions went off throughout different areas of the village as many buildings were destroyed and reduced to rubble, with the Shinobi forces of Konohagakure rapidly dwindling at a fatal rate.
At the nearest hidden shelter, inside it were massive numbers of civilians; men, women and children huddled together as fear was written all over their faces as the walls and ground shook with each explosion echoing outside the shelter.
Suddenly the shelter's doors exploded open, shattered into a thousand pieces as many civilians screamed in fright, backing away as an Ōtsutsuki slowly came walking out of the explosion's smoke.
The Ōtsutsuki stood there, watching the fear and despair on their faces while tears built up in their eyes. The celestial sneered in disgust at the human civilians, viewing their presence and existence as nothing more than garbage.
Forming a massive, gigantic spiraling sphere of chakra from his right palm, the Ōtsutsuki member slammed the spiraling sphere of chakra against the civilians as the screams began as light engulfed everything.
Before long, a destructive explosion erupted from inside the shelter, instantly obliterating everything and everyone inside as the shelter collapsed upon the Ōtsutsuki emerging unhurt before flying to someplace else in Konohagakure.
At the same time, other hidden shelters of Konohagakure were suddenly under attack by various high ranking members of the Ōtsutsuki clan as clouds of rubble and smoke were sent high up into the sky while many structures of the village were quickly reduced to rubble.
Somewhere at the front of the Academy whose building was set ablaze by white flames, Iruka coughed up blood upon being pinned down on his back by various black receiver rods impaling his limbs.
The seven feet tall Ōtsutsuki standing over Iruka, stared at the man with an empty gaze. While behind the celestial being were countless corpses of children laying all over, with dull yet empty looks in their eyes while faces of fear remained.
'This is the end of the Shinobi world, huh…?' Iruka sorrowful thought, laying there helplessly while staring up at the sky that was filled with dark clouds of smoke and the smell of fire.
Aiming his palm at the man, the seven foot Ōtsutsuki shot out an All-Killing Ash bone which impaled Iruka's stomach causing him to rapidly crumble into a pile of dust, effectively killing him in an instant.
Nowhere was safe, nothing was safe as these Ōtsutsuki possessed massive chakra reserves that were like impossibly gigantic oceans compared to every Shinobi or Tailed Beast in the Shinobi world itself. No Kage was capable of stopping these celestial beings, not even Naruto Uzumaki or Sasuke Uchiha as the former lost his tailed beast including Six Path Sage Mode and the latter lost his lone Rinnegan days before.
All of this was truly the end of the Shinobi world, driven by the force of the Ōtsutsuki's need for retribution. As the sin of the Shinobi World, is them possessing chakra.
At Konohagakure's gate, many surviving civilians and clan members flee in large groups while various Shinobi are stationed at the gates that quickly become one of the village's last bastions.
Among those Shinobi was Kakashi Hatake who turned to face Hinata Uzumaki standing there with a look of worry. "Hinata, you and the children need to get out of here now." The former sixth Hokage told her. "With Naruto and Sasuke holding off the enemies at the center of the village as best as they could, Konohagakure isn't safe anymore."
"There's no way I ain't running away from here!" Boruto protested before Hinata was given any chance to respond as the son of the seventh Hokage pressed on. "The village is under attack and Dad is-!"
"Konoha is under attack by 400 Ōtsutsuki." Kakashi bluntly stated with a sharp tone, his gaze staring down at Naruto's son. "Before, the village had to face one or two Ōtsutsuki. Now.. this is different."
Boruto shut up upon hearing that while behind him stood Sarada Uchiha, Mitsuki, Kawaki Uzumaki and Himawari Uzumaki. All of them, except Himawari, grimaced at the realization of how much worse this situation truly is.
"But Lord Seventh.." Kawaki gritted his teeth, clenching his fists while glaring darkly at Kakashi. "I won't let anything or anyone stop me from helping him."
"But there's Ōtsutsuki everywhere across the village." Sarada voiced her concerns. "It'll be impossible to get to where Lord Seventh and my dad is at-"
Sarada was interrupted as a large massive explosion had gone somewhere in the village with pieces of rubble scattered across through the air.
"That came from the direction of where the Hyūga Compound is at!" One of the nearby Chūnin exclaimed.
Hinata gasped upon hearing this, her pupil-less eyes widened in horrific realization while Himawari had a look of fear in her eyes.
"Big brother.." Himawari turned, her lips trembling. "Grandpa, Auntie.. they-"
"They can't be.. they.. gotta be alright." Boruto mumbles, his eyes widened with disbelief and shock. "Grandpa and Auntie gotta be.."
"Boruto.." Sarada softly said, her eyes filled with worry for her friend.
"Well, I never thought I would find you here, Momoshiki's Vessel."
Everyone, including fleeing civilians, froze upon hearing this new voice as the Uzumaki family and their allies slowly turned around to see an Ōtsutsuki levitating there with an emotionless gaze.
"Boruto Uzumaki. My name is Tobishiki Ōtsutsuki and because of your status as Momoshiki's Vessel, I won't kill you." The Ōtsutsuki calmly stated, landing on the ground with his own two feet before continuing on. "But for your friends and family, well.."
"Don't touch them!" Boruto yelled out as he formed the Rasengan in his left palm before impulsively charging towards the Ōtsutsuki. "Rasengan!"
"Boruto!" Hinata screamed out, her hand reaching for her son as she ran after him.
Tobishiki's eyes charged into the Rinne Sharingan as it had red sclerae and irides, with a ripple pattern and nine tomoe spreading over the eyeballs.
Kakashi's eyes widened in recognition. "That is-!"
"Amenominaka."
Suddenly Tobishiki and Boruto Uzumaki instantly disappeared from this dimension.
"Boruto!" Both Sarada and Mitsuki yelled out, seeing their friend and teammate disappearing before their very eyes.
Hinata's eyes had a look of devastation, seeing her firstborn child disappearing along with Tobishiki Ōtsutsuki. The Hyūga woman felt her knees weak, her hands shaking.
Kakashi's eyes quickly narrowed as the Sixth Hokage quickly used body flicker to appear at Hinata's side and pushed her out of the way. Just in time as an All-Killing Ash Bones projectile suddenly came and impaled Kakashi's left shoulder.
And just like that, Kakashi Hatake quickly crumbled into a pile of ash much to the horror of every Shinobi at Konohagakure's gate.
Before anyone had a chance to react to what just happened, three Ōtsutsuki members appeared and levitated above them all. The leader of this Ōtsutsuki trio spoke up in a cold and emotionless tone. "Mortals, You have two choices: give up and become our clan's servants or die with the rest of your species as atonement."
Every civilian and Shinobi looked at these three Ōtsutsuki with uncertainty and unease, the latter were showing faces of hesitation.
Kawaki glared at the three Ōtsutsuki as the Kokugan appeared in his left eye, with his Kama activating and its pattern spreading; clearly prepared to fight on.
Sarada and Mitsuki had looks of grim resolve, clearly having the intention of not giving up.
Hinata held Himawari close to her as the wife of the seventh Hokage fiercely glared at the celestial beings while her daughter looked uncertain.
Today was the last stand for Konohagakure and it's inhabitants.
- - - - -
Somewhere else within Konohagakure, the streets were reduced to nothing but rubble with pools of blood or ashes that filled in the gaps as buildings were destroyed while multiple pillars of smoke rose up into the sky from different areas throughout the village.
Hokage Rock wasn't spared from the onslaught of the Ōtsutsuki clan as many of the stone faces of previous/current hokages were heavily disfigured to the point of being unrecognizable.
The compounds of various clans weren't even spared either; the compounds of the Nara, Yamanaka and Akimichi clans were completely obliterated as members of said clans were nothing more but black burnt corpses now.
Revealing more streets to be filled with countless butchered bodies of civilians, Shinobi and clan members littering the remaining streets that weren't completely destroyed in the constant attacks of the Ōtsutsuki.
The Will of Fire was quickly drowned by the countless waves of despair and hopelessness that washed over whatever survivors remained in or out of Konohagakure.
Many villages like Konohagakure were in the same state of affairs due to the overwhelmed powers of the Ōtsutsuki clan as they continued the Purging of the Shinobi world without mercy.
Dreams were quickly snuffed out, countries were shattered as anarchy spread out through the lands of Sand, the land of fire, the land of sea, the land of Earth and the land of lightning as well.
Back at Konohagakure - The Hyūga clan compound was engulfed in flames and reduced to embers as various corpses of Hyūga laid on the ground in various pools of blood, while the corpse of Hiashi Hyūga lay dead by the compound gates.
Hanabi Hyūga struggled to get up her feet, but she wasn't given a chance as an Ōtsutsuki slapped her across the face, the force of it instantly sent her back flying and crashed through the walls of the compound before rolling onto the street.
"Gghhh..!" Hanabi gritted her teeth, her body aching in unbearable pain as blood leaking out of the corner of her lips. The second daughter of Hiashi was horribly weakened as she and the rest of her clan didn't last even a few minutes against the lone Ōtsutsuki that attacked the compound.
'Father…' Hanabi's lower lips trembled, upon remembering the brutal death of her father as he was instantly pierced through the chest by the Ōtsutsuki's bare hand.
Before she could have the chance to dwell any further, the Ōtsutsuki stepped onto Hanabi's head, slamming her face against the ground without any warning.
"The pathetic existence of your clan isn't worthy of bearing the Byakugan." The Ōtsutsuki coldly stated, his emotionless gaze staring down at the Hyūga. "All Descendants of Kaguya Ōtsutsuki are to be killed, this is my clan's patriarch decree."
"Why don't you do it then..!" Hanabi spat out, losing all composure of being a Hyūga, unable to physically resist against the Ōtsutsuki who easily pinned her down constantly by his left foot. "F-Finish it!"
A mocking laughter was met in response to the Hyūga's words as the Ōtsutsuki found the sight of Hanabi's pitiful state to be amusing at this moment. It was always amusing to see the anger, hate, sorrow and despair on his targets.
But as the Ōtsutsuki stared down at the defeated form of Hanabi Hyūga, the celestial being narrowed his pupil-less eyes upon closely observing the Hyūga's eyes for a mere moment.
"It seems your eyes are very pure indeed." The Ōtsutsuki finally commented, his facial expression adopted a more stoic and emotionless one. "Now I realized it would be a waste to kill someone who inherited the purest Byakugan in Kaguya's line of descendants."
"What are you talking about..?" Hanabi glared at the Ōtsutsuki, hatred and confusion mixed within those eyes of hers.
"Something that doesn't concern you at this moment." The Ōtsutsuki stated emotionlessly before opening Yomotsu Hirasaka, a space-time portal next to him. "For you, you will be coming with me, Human."
"H-Hey-!" Before Hanabi could speak any further, she was immediately knocked out cold by the Ōtsutsuki who struck her face with enough force necessary.
Then the celestial being picked up and carried the unconscious body of Hanabi Hyūga as the pair disappeared into Yomotsu Hirasaka which closed behind them and disappeared out of existence…
- - - - -
Death.
The familiar sight of death had filled her line of sight, the entirety of her gaze's vision.
Hitomi Ōtsutsuki saw death when she walked through the completely destroyed parts of this village, this Shinobi village called Konohagakure - the destroyed buildings of such a community, a culture that surrounded her at every turn.
If the celestial being had looked up ahead in the distance forward, she could have seen Hokage Rock with its stone faces now completely destroyed by the strength of the members of the Ōtsutsuki clan.
But also, that wasn't what Hitomi was focusing on. The Ōtsutsuki woman was focusing on the various signs of death that were littered on the ground, literally before her.
Pools of blood have stained the streets that have been reduced to nothing but rubble and debris. As the bodies of children, men, women and piles of ash littering them like the common worthless trash or insects that they were in the eyes of The Ōtsutsuki Clan.
And then, there were the ones who tried to fight back against her ever so powerful clansman.
Countless dead bodies of Shinobi and kunoichi which laid on the ground with their jackets having a red swirl on the back. As Hitomi summarized, it must have meant something to them, for that red swirl to be stitched on the back of those jackets then.
While it didn't hold meaning to Hitomi Ōtsutsuki, she clearly acknowledged that it held meaning for them, for their so-called Shinobi village as a whole.
Still, it didn't hide the look that each of every corpse's lifeless eyes was filled with various different emotions; fear, despair, anger, courage, anxiety and so much more than that - other emotions that couldn't be explained by a few mere words.
Even now, she could hear the distant sounds of battle, of the massacre of Konohagakure in the far distance at different locations within the Hidden village as Hitomi's emotionless gaze briefly glanced upwards and saw several of her clansmen soaring through the air, some with Truth-Seeking Balls as they all were diving towards the remnants of Konohagakure's forces.
Hitomi just watched with an emotionless gaze, standing there while observing the continuing massacre that was being delivered by members of her clan.
Just within her line of view - an fellow Ōtsutsuki member used their Rinnegan's Animal Path into summoning various creatures like a giant panda, rhino, centipede as they all had the Rinnegan in their eyes, signalling them to be a part of the Animal Path.
The ground shook and rumbled, beneath Hitomi Ōtsutsuki's feet, due to the summoning animals of the Rinnegan's Animal Path now laying waste to the rest of Konohagakure.
Hitomi did nothing as she slowly turned away, standing there for a silent moment before continuing walking through the streets of rubble and corpses. The Ōtsutsuki woman had walked gracefully like an otherworldly being with her beautiful long hair dragging across the ground.
Like a flower had bloomed in the middle of a battlefield that was filled with nothing but blood and death.
Carefully avoiding stepping on the various corpses of Shinobi and civilians, The Ōtsutsuki's lips pursed into a thin line, upon having activating her Byakugan in her left eye and her Sharingan in her right eye as she stared in the direction of where Shinobi resistance still remained but was quickly dying out.
It was from there that she recognized many of the inhabitants of this world have been able to use chakra in which they use it to cast techniques with hand movements as those techniques seemed to be nothing more than just failed attempts at reproducing the effects of Shinjutsu itself then.
Quickly shift her focus from that to the Shinobi usage of chakra - Hitomi logically rationalized that the reason why these humans, these mortals possessed the ability to have and wield chakra has probably something to do with the remaining absence of Kaguya Ōtsutsuki and Isshiki Ōtsutsuki.
To truly know, the Ōtsutsuki woman must search for the answer of why these humans have chakra, since the ability to use chakra was a feat that is reserved for the Ōtsutsuki clan only.
The answer could only be found in the books that contain History of this world, Hitomi quietly concluded. The Ōtsutsuki woman would know that many of her clansmen would want answers to how these mortals, these humans, could have possessed the ability to use chakra.
With an objective now forming in her mind, Hitomi silently stroll across the path while passing by destroyed buildings and various piles of more rubble with the stench of metallic blood in the air.
Eventually she seemed to have found a place that could solve her objective as Hitomi found herself staring at what looked to be a large building structure with only books on display behind its windows.
Indicating that this must be a library of sorts, that somehow managed to be in a mostly pristine state, despite the cracks and dried up blood that seemed to stained the exterior walls.
Standing in front of the building itself, Hitomi stared up at it before walking forward as she approaches its doors. The celestial being pushed them open and entered the structure, in which she saw the inside of this presumed library.
The Ōtsutsuki woman saw countless books and scrolls all over the shelves on each floor above one another. As the shelves completely filled out the entirety of the main area of the liberty itself, the sight of it alone was showing the vast knowledge that this building, and village by extension, has.
Walking to one of the shelves, Hitomi reaches out and grabs a book to which she opens it as she begins to read its contents of the information, the knowledge that it contained.
What was meant to be a short read, turned into a long three hour reading session which led Hitomi to read more books and more of them. Soon reading books turned into reading whatever scrolls this library may have had within them.
While being buried in her reading, the Ōtsutsuki woman had not even noticed the sounds of battle, the sounds of a massacre had died off already
There were many terms, many unknown words in each book, some confusion but some explaining what it meant. Hitomi memorizes each and every word, every information and every fact from the books as she tosses them into one of her personal dimensions upon reading them.
The celestial being more on towards the more deeper sections of the building, from there Hitomi had begun her search for any kind of history books or scrolls that may have been here to begin with.
That was when she had found it, a recently published history book. Hitomi opened it and began to read at the beginning to which many things were revealed to her, upon the more she read ln.
The book talked about Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki known as the Sage Of The Six paths with the eyes of the Rinnegan, who had travelled across the land giving chakra to every one in this world, spreading his ideals and religion of ninshū. For the sage's ultimate desire was to bring peace to the war-torn world which made him widely known as the Saviour of this World.
That was where Hitomi paused in her reading, stoically staring down at the text's words while thoughtfully thinking deep about this revelation, this new kind of information that had been revealed to her.
The Ōtsutsuki woman suspects that this 'Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki' must have been a direct descendant of either Isshiki Ōtsutsuki or Kaguya Ōtsutsuki. Hitomi knew it wasn't Isshiki because it couldn't possibly be him since he wouldn't fall for some mortals, for humans at the very least, it wasn't in Isshiki's nature.
Her thoughts turned to the only remaining suspect that could be the parent of this Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki. Hitomi suspected that it was Kaguya Ōtsutsuki instead. The theorizing about Kaguya Ōtsutsuki had started to put a few pieces of this strange puzzle together as it would seem.
The last time Hitomi had seen Kaguya was one thousand and two hundred years ago. Hitomi knew that beneath Kaguya's apathetic demeanor was someone who was truly a good and caring person, a personality that wasn't seen in the Ōtsutsuki clan. But it was something that Hitomi never commented or talked about, for the sake of her sister.
But now the discovery of Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki had made Hitomi to ponder deeply. What happened to both Kaguya and Isshiki? Are they dead? Did they betray the Ōtsutsuki clan? Or did Kagiya somehow betray Isshiki instead then?
That last thought seemed to be the most likely as it only made Hitomi's face softened a bit, wondering if she and her were similar in their beliefs or thoughts that were still forming one thousand years ago?
"Reading books belonging to those inferior creatures?" A voice called out from, behind her, in a disgusting tone.
Almost dropping the book, Hitomi turned to look and see who it was. "Norishiki." She spoke in a monotone voice, while showing her acknowledgment of his presence, her stoic gaze remained.
The being in question had the usual appearance of an Ōtsutsuki, pale white skin, white pupil-less eyes and horns that curved to the side. Norishiki gave off a deep frown. "Of course, I would find you here in all places." He spat those words out, glaring around at the interior of the library. "Wasting your time dwelling within this place of knowledge belonging to those pathetic creatures, what kind of trash knowledge is even worthy to be ready by us, the gods?"
Hitomi gripped onto the book tightly as she narrowed her eyes at him. "You ignorant fool. You don't know what you are even speaking about." She coldly spoke, her gaze grew to be more emotionless and stoic. "Knowledge is power as well. Clearly these mortals had some knowledge that had helped them defeat Momoshiki, Kinshiki and Urashiki. If you continue to believe that your current state is enough, then otherwise you might end up like those three."
"Tch." Norishiki gave off a scoff, his frown deepening even further with a sharp glint in his pupil-less eyes, obviously not taking her words seriously. "Those fools shouldn't have been bested by mere mortals in the first place. Clearly they were weak and a disgrace to the Clan."
"Because none of us had ever honed and sharpened their abilities." Hitomi pointed that out, due to witnessing how skilled some of this world's inhabitants are. "Or otherwise, if you have tried to attack two of these world's protectors from before they lost the Kyuubi and Rinnegan, then you might have met the same end as our fallen members."
"Be careful with those words of yours, Hitomi Ōtsutsuki. They may not be very well received by the others in the clan." Norishiki warned her in a low and dangerous yet dark tone. "The only reason why every member in our clan is forbidden from killing someone like you is because of your status being the sister to the current patriarch of our clan."
"That last part is true." Hitomi replied in an impassive tone, her emotionless gaze didn't change. "But another reason for that is because of my, my sister and my brother's lineage, which is said to have the potential to let us join Shibai Ōtsutsuki in the next plane of existence."
Hearing this, Norishiki growled a little out of annoyance, having been told that countless times. "Oh yes I know, that same old information within the clan." The Ōtsutsuki scowled. "But in reality, all of us Ōtsutsuki have the potential to become Gods and join Shibai, upon the more chakra fruits we harvest and eat from the God Trees themselves, the closer we are to attaining Godhood."
Hitomi remained silent at this, the Ōtsutsuki woman knew that Norishiki had a point. But it subtly amazed her to see her clansmen not acting arrogant like he usually was, the Ōtsutsuki woman wondered what brought this slight attitude change.
"We are celestial beings in nature." The Ōtsutsuki woman slowly said, her composure remained emotionless. "For the more we eat chakra fruits, the more closer we are to the clan's goal-!"
"And yet, I don't sense that willingness to carry out the Ōtsutsuki Will within you, Hitomi Ōtsutsuki." Norishiki cut her off, his pupil-less eyes glaring at the Ōtsutsuki woman. "Is that reluctance, unwillingness in your eyes?"
Hitomi completely went silent as if something or someone had stolen her breath. The Ōtsutsuki woman narrowed her eyes, a frown formed on her face as she glared right back at Norishiki as displeasure began to emit from her.
"Are you thinking of betraying the Ōtsutsuki Will?" Norishiki sneered, his eyes filled with a dark look. "I'm starting to see a pattern here; five clansmen missing upon arriving on this planet? I wonder who will be next, will it be you?"
"Careful, Norishiki Ōtsutsuki." Hitomi quietly spoke in an emotionless tone, her Rinnegan appearing within both of her eyes. "No one is permitted to hurt the family of the clan head, by the decree of our patriarch himself."
When she told him of this, Norishiki backed away upon being reminded of this. The Ōtsutsuki let out a snarl of anger before turning away from Hitomi. "The clan head's decree won't save you for every trouble you may or may not cause in the future, Hitomi. Eventually you have to face the judgement of the elders and the clan head himself!" The Ōtsutsuki immediately claimed this. "In the meantime, go ahead and waste your time with these pathetic books!"
Saying his piece, Norishiki stormed out of the building before levitating off the ground and flying up into the sky while Hitomi was left completely alone in the liberty building.
She didn't say anything as silence completely surrounded her at that moment. But the tension that was previously there in the atmosphere had dissipated as everything seemed to be dead and calm once again for now.
Hitomi smoothed out her expression which quickly became emotionless, lacking any signs of emotions or thoughts as the Ōtsutsuki woman turned back to look at the books within this building...
- - - - -
Levitating high above the now ruins of Konohagakure, was an Ōtsutsuki whose height was seven feet and nine inches tall. His horns resembled a bull's horns, while his clothing consisted of white-colored kāṣāya garment over grey yukata robes and white tabi socks and grey zōri sandals.
From a distance, it made this Ōtsutsuki look like a Monk. But in actuality, this Ōtsutsuki was something more than just a simple yet lowly monk.
This was Orishiki Ōtsutsuki, the clan head of the main branch of the Ōtsutsuki clan, Kaguya and Hitomi's elder brother.
The Patriarch of the Ōtsutsuki clan senses one of his fellow clansmen approaching him. The clan head didn't say anything at all, especially when Norishiki arrived as the latter levitated from behind.
The two Ōtsutsuki members didn't say anything as Norishiki remained silent out of respect for the clan head's authority that Orishiki is wielding right now.
"Speak, Norishiki." The Patriarch simply commanded, not looking at him as Orishiki continued to look down at the destruction of Konohagakure.
"Lord Orishiki. Victory is surely in our clan's hands today." Norishiki slowly began saying, keeping his usual attitude in check. "But I have concerns."
"Concerns..?"
The Ōtsutsuki didn't flinch at the sudden sharpness in Orishiki's voice. Instead Norishiki pressed onwards, knowing that there's no turning back. "Yes, concerns." He nodded, lowering his gaze towards the broken sight of Konohagakure. "It is clear what happened to Kaguya and Isshiki. The latter was betrayed by the former due to her soft nature, which should have been a sign of her being unable to carry out the Ōtsutsuki Will."
Orishiki remained silent, clearly listening to Norishiki's words. But the tension was slowly building up in the background between the clan's patriarch and Norishiki.
"Therefore I suspect the same kind of betrayal will happen again, but this time by Hitomi's hand instead." Norishiki stated his words, his pupil-less eyes narrowed with malice. "I beg you to consider preventing this and take action now rather than later!"
"And what would you have me do..?" Orishiki calmly asked, his hands slowly curled into clenched fists. "When she, us and the rest of the clan are on the proper way closer towards attaining Godhood?"
"Because it is clear that Princess Hitomi proved to be a threat, a liability that the clan can't afford to take!" Norishiki stressed his words out, resisting the urge to snarl at the clan's patriarch. "We must destroy and kill the root of the problem before it can have the chance to strike back at us! We can't let your favoritism towards your sisters, Princesses Kaguya and Hitomi, hold us back any longer into killing-!"
"Norishiki."
Norishiki suddenly went frozen still upon when Orishiki had simply released a tiny position of his chakra which unleashed massive powerful shockwaves that paralyzed and subdued Norishiki, in place despite levitating.
The shockwaves, from the tiny portion of Orishiki's released chakra, instantly cleared and removed all clouds from the sky, drastically changing the weather in a few seconds just from the clan head's chakra being released.
'T-this chakra…!' Norishiki found his body couldn't move against the onslaught of Orishiki Ōtsutsuki's released chakra.
Finally Orishiki calmed his chakra down, which let Norishiki move once more again. The patriarch of the Ōtsutsuki clan slowly turned around and faced Norishiki, revealing that Orishiki left eye had a silver-colored Rinnegan and his right eye had a Byakugan while his third eye on his forehead had a golden Rinne Sharingan.
"You took a step out of line." Orishiki spoke in a cold emotionless tone, his gaze seemed to be able to be pierced into one's soul, while warning Norishiki. "You should know better what my thoughts are on the matter."
"Y-yes, please accept my apologies, Lord Orishiki." Norishiki spoke those words through his teeth, bowing his head as a sign of submission while lowering his gaze.
This time Orishiki didn't answer right away, instead he turned away from the Ōtsutsuki before looking towards the destroyed Hokage Rock.
"Good. I accept your apologies." The patriarch of the Ōtsutsuki clan answered before adding. "But don't you dare think that you know better than me, ever again. Now go find Tobishiki, you and him will go ahead to capture the girl with Senrigan."
Clearly done with this conversation with Norishiki, Orishiki lifted his hand to do a simple wave as Yomotsu Hirasaka opened in front of him. The clan head of the Ōtsutsuki clan went through and disappeared into Yomotsu Hirasaka as it closed upon after his entry, leaving Norishiki alone in this part of the sky of this world.
Norishiki furiously glared at where Yomotsu Hirasaka was before it had disappeared. The Ōtsutsuki snorted, though a scowl quickly retook its place on his face. "I'll be sure to remember that." He mutters darkly. "Your views may blind you, Lord Orishiki. But I'm sure once I speak to the elders, they will help you see how dangerous of a threat that Hitomi will pose to the Ōtsutsuki Will."
Having said his piece to nothing but the empty sky of this world, Norishiki took off with the intention to find Tobishiki, so the hunt for the Senrigan could begin.
To Be Continued…
- - - - -
Author's Note:
You can read more of this story on my AO3 account - Thorinprim_20