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"As expected."
Madara glanced around at the countless graves surrounding them, suddenly feeling a sense of weariness.
He turned and walked toward the exit of the underground cemetery, saying, "After you obtained the power of Enma, the Sage of Six Paths and his brother would no longer appear before you."
"True enough."
Kaito chuckled and addressed the group, "Let's head out first. We can talk more outside."
Sasuke supported Neji as they walked at the back of the group.
"Hey, you alright?" Suigetsu leaned in to examine Neji before turning to Karin. "Hey, Karin, hurry up and heal Neji!"
"No need." Before Karin could respond, Neji refused outright. "I'm just weakened from excessive chakra depletion. I'll recover after some rest."
Suigetsu pressed closer, curiosity burning in his eyes. "So, that ghostly old man absorbed your chakra? And earlier, it looked like you were possessed—what did that feel like?"
Neji, still leaning on Sasuke, kept his head lowered, his eyes fixed on the ground. He had no intention of answering Suigetsu's questions.
"Hey! Neji!" Suigetsu waved a hand in front of his face, undeterred. "We really owe Sasuke's uncle this time. So this is what an onmyōji is like—just like the legends say, exorcising ghosts and demons!"
He seemed unusually excited, rambling on without pause.
"Shut up!"
Sasuke shot him an impatient glare, his voice sharp.
"Tch!" Suigetsu muttered under his breath, still unfazed. "It's my first time seeing something like this, so of course I'm amazed. You've probably seen it all before—that's why you're so calm."
"Heh."
Up ahead, Kaito, who had already reached the exit, suddenly turned back to stare at Suigetsu, a faint smile playing on his lips.
"Hozuki boy."
Suigetsu, standing on the stone steps below, looked up. Backlit by the light, Kaito's silhouette carried an indescribable eeriness.
"Wh-what is it?" Suigetsu found himself inexplicably nervous.
"From what I've observed, many of the shinobi from Kirigakure likely have traces of yōkai blood in them." Kaito's voice was low and ominous. "After all, quite a few shinobi born in the Land of Water possess inhuman traits, don't they?"
"I-Is that so?" Suigetsu stammered. "Th-that's just the result of ninjutsu!"
"So, Suigetsu must have yōkai blood too!" Karin immediately seized the opportunity to mock him, pretending to have an epiphany. "Uncle, you should exorcise this idiot yōkai right away!"
"Perhaps we should test it?" Kaito raised a finger, the tip glowing with a faint blue spiritual light.
At the same time, the others who had already stepped through the stone gate turned to look down at Suigetsu from above.
"Sasuke, save me!" Suigetsu instantly ducked behind Sasuke before peeking out again. "I'm not a yōkai! I-I'm Sasuke's comrade!"
"Heh." Kaito suddenly retracted his finger, his smile widening. "Just a joke. Hurry up and come out."
With that, he stepped through the stone gate and into the "sunlight" outside.
"Ahahahaha—!" Karin burst into exaggerated laughter, pointing at Suigetsu. "Suigetsu, you coward! Hahaha—!"
"You vicious fangirl!" Suigetsu glared at her venomously.
"Enough." Sasuke cut them off sharply, still supporting Neji as he ascended the steps.
Suigetsu and Karin obediently fell silent, though they continued to exchange heated glares.
The group made their way back through the abandoned village. Throughout the journey, Suigetsu kept his distance from Kaito, always positioning himself as far away as possible.
Though Kaito had seemingly only joked, Suigetsu's instincts screamed at him to stay away—something about the man unsettled him deeply.
Kaito noticed his reaction but merely smiled faintly, choosing not to provoke him further.
"Let's rest for now." Kaito took out the talisman that had absorbed Hagoromo's chakra earlier. "I need to examine the information Hagoromo left behind."
With that, he formed a one-handed seal.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
A surge of purple energy manifested in the open space as the massive head of Enma-Ō slowly emerged.
Kaito tossed the talisman forward. Enma-Ō's mouth opened wide, an eerie hand stretching out to snatch the talisman before retreating inside.
Then, the deity began chewing.
Kaito stepped closer, his black eyes shifting into the Mangekyō Sharingan, its five-pointed star pattern identical to Enma-Ō's. After a few seconds of silent exchange, he nodded.
"I see."
Kaito pressed his palms together, and Enma-Ō's head gradually sank back, the purple energy dissipating.
"As you all know, chakra contains spiritual energy." Kaito addressed the group, who were watching him with keen interest. "What Hagoromo left behind in the underground cemetery wasn't a simple clone—it was a construct created using advanced Yin-Yang Release."
"By having Enma-Ō read Hagoromo's chakra memories, I've learned what truly happened to the descendants of Hagoromo on the moon."
His gaze swept over the members of the Hyūga clan present.
"To put it simply, the main family and the branch family went to war—and in the end, the branch family won, slaughtering every last member of the main family."
"What?" The Hyūga members paled.
"Hah!" Neji let out a bitter laugh. "Even the descendants on the moon were divided into main and branch families?"
"Indeed. However, the moon shinobi didn't have the Caged Bird Seal." Kaito looked up at the "sun" in the sky. "And the branch family didn't wage war against the main family because their freedom was restricted."
"Then… what was the reason?" Hinata clasped her hands tightly, her voice trembling slightly.
"The branch family believed that the world created by the Sage of Six Paths was a failure—that shinobi had never ceased waging war." Kaito sneered. "They saw themselves as the inheritors of Hagoromo's will, destined to destroy the shinobi world forged by the Sage and create a new, better world in its place. The main family, on the other hand, held the opposite view—they believed that despite the constant wars, the shinobi world would gradually improve over time. When the two sides went to war, the branch family sacrificed their eyes to create an immensely powerful weapon—fusing all their Byakugan into a single construct—which ultimately secured their victory."
Following Kaito's gaze, everyone looked up at the "sun" in the sky, its golden light radiating ceaselessly.
"So that's the weapon they created by combining all their eyes?" Madara narrowed his eyes. "The energy it emits is astonishing. I never imagined the Byakugan could be used like this."
Izuna, however, focused on another detail, his tone laced with irritation. "A failed world? Destruction and rebirth? Who do they think they are—gods?"
Just then, a rift tore open in the "sun."
Countless figures astride flying birds surged forth, raining down a barrage of golden beams upon the group below.