"If you work it out that way, doesn't that mean the Sage of Six Paths was most likely an Otsutsuki too?"
Uchiha Itachi sucked in a cold breath. This guess was genuinely frightening.
In the past, he had always thought the Sage of Six Paths was only a Sage who existed in myths and legends. Whether someone like that had ever truly existed in reality was something no one knew.
But now that he thought about it, it was very possible.
Because the path of eye evolution had already become extremely clear. From the Byakugan to the Sharingan, and then from the Sharingan to the Rinnegan.
And the Sage of Six Paths, who possessed the supreme Rinnegan, was very likely an Otsutsuki.
Only that could explain many things, such as why the so-called Sage's Eyes and Sage's Body could be passed down as bloodlines.
"So the Sage of Six Paths' real name should be Otsutsuki Hagoromo?"
Uchiha Itachi voiced his deduction.
He made that guess based on the names Hagoromo and Hamura that Kaede Kitahara's diary had mentioned.
"And the other so-called Hamura, who also left behind bloodlines that split into the Sage's Eyes and the Sage's Body, should have the full name Otsutsuki Hamura."
Uchiha Itachi sucked in another cold breath.
If that was true, didn't it mean the Otsutsuki Clan had already come to the Shinobi World a thousand years ago? And the descendants left behind by two members of the Otsutsuki Clan had gone on to develop into powerful clans throughout the Shinobi World.
Put that way, the Senju Clan, the Uzumaki Clan, the Uchiha Clan, and the Hyuga Clan were basically siblings.
And those siblings had been fighting one another for a thousand years. It made him think of Nagato's words. People simply had no way to understand or trust one another.
Even brother clans and their descendants had become enemies locked in opposition. What hope was there for outsiders?
Achieving peace in this world was far too difficult.
"But if the Sage of Six Paths is this so-called Otsutsuki Hagoromo, then adding in Otsutsuki Hamura makes two members of the Otsutsuki Clan. That means the Otsutsuki Clan very likely operates in pairs," Uchiha Itachi said.
Judging from the information that had appeared in the video and Kaede Kitahara's diary, members of the Otsutsuki Clan almost always appeared two at a time.
Otsutsuki Hagoromo and Otsutsuki Hamura. Otsutsuki Kinshiki and that other Veiled Unnamed Otsutsuki. Then the earliest ones to appear, Otsutsuki Isshiki and Otsutsuki Kaguya Hime, who had ambushed Otsutsuki Isshiki.
These Otsutsuki all appeared in pairs, almost like the Akatsuki's setup.
"So are they paired up to monitor each other?" Uchiha Itachi had his own guess.
If that was true, then everything made sense.
Of course, he had no idea what the internal situation of the Otsutsuki Clan was really like. He could only compare it to the similar structure of the Akatsuki Organization.
"No, wait. The legend of the Sage of Six Paths..."
Uchiha Itachi suddenly remembered something. He remembered the legends about the Sage of Six Paths, the parts he had once treated as nothing more than myth. For example, the story said the Sage of Six Paths had fought a powerful being known as the Rabbit Goddess for several months, and in the end, saved the Shinobi World from the Rabbit Goddess.
That was how the myth went. But something from over a thousand years ago had been passed down to the present, and by now, there was no way to know what had really happened back then.
But what if it had not been a myth?
What if there really had been a Rabbit Goddess back then?
Uchiha Itachi sucked in yet another cold breath, making his own contribution to global warming.
"That Rabbit Goddess... couldn't be Otsutsuki Kaguya Hime, could she?"
Something immediately clicked in Uchiha Itachi's mind.
According to Kaede Kitahara's diary, Otsutsuki Kaguya Hime had ambushed Otsutsuki Isshiki. Although he had no idea why those two Otsutsuki had suddenly turned on each other, the final victor had clearly been Otsutsuki Kaguya Hime.
Under normal circumstances, if Otsutsuki Kaguya Hime had won in the end, she should have survived until now. Kaede Kitahara's diary said the Otsutsuki Clan was nearly a clan of gods, beings who could live for an extremely long time.
But there were no records related to Otsutsuki Kaguya Hime in the Shinobi World. That left only one possibility.
"Was she defeated by Otsutsuki Hagoromo and Otsutsuki Hamura?"
Uchiha Itachi immediately thought of that earth-shattering battle, the one that had been recorded as myth.
Just like when Orochimaru betrayed Akatsuki and escaped, Akatsuki had also sent people after him.
It fit. It all fit.
Every piece fit perfectly.
"And afterward, for some unknown reason, Otsutsuki Hagoromo and Otsutsuki Hamura remained in the Shinobi World and left descendants behind. Those descendants gradually split into the Senju Clan, the Uzumaki Clan, the Uchiha Clan, the Hyuga Clan, and so on."
As Uchiha Itachi sorted things out up to this point, he felt many questions resolve themselves at once. It was like a sudden flash of understanding.
Although the part in the myths about fighting for several months was a little absurd. As far as he knew, no ninja could fight continuously for months.
Even someone at the so-called Super Kage Level would probably be completely spent after fighting nonstop for a day or two.
At the end of the day, Super Kage Level was still a mortal level. They still had their own stamina limits.
Their stamina was just far greater than an ordinary person's, which gave others the feeling that they were unfathomable.
But if it was the legendary Six Paths Level, maybe that could be done. That was the level of gods.
"Otsutsuki Hamura and Otsutsuki Hagoromo are clearly different from the others whose names end with 'shiki.' So within the Otsutsuki Clan, are there different branches and factions? These 'shiki' might belong to the same smaller faction, while the 'hagoromo' and 'hamura' line might be another faction. The only question is which one Otsutsuki Kaguya Hime belongs to.
"Or perhaps there is also a faction with 'hime' in its naming?"
Uchiha Itachi thought through many things. Based on their names, he felt he could sort these members of the Otsutsuki Clan into categories.
"It looks like the Byakugan should be their basic ability. Both Otsutsuki in the video have it. But that Veiled Unnamed Otsutsuki also has the Rinnegan, so the Rinnegan likely represents a higher level of power within the Otsutsuki Clan," Uchiha Itachi murmured to himself. "Otsutsuki Kinshiki doesn't have it, and his abilities seem relatively limited.
"And there is an obvious superior-subordinate relationship between the two of them. That Veiled Unnamed Otsutsuki is clearly the leader, while Otsutsuki Kinshiki is obviously the subordinate.
"So do the Otsutsuki also have master-servant relationships? Is it a structure where one master brings one servant?"
Uchiha Itachi recalled the structure of noble families in the Shinobi World. Even among people who might be of the same clan, there were still servants and masters. The most famous example was, of course, the Main House and Branch House of the Hyuga Clan.
Their obsession with rank had reached a level that even the Uchiha Clan found somewhat diseased.
And among those classified as Branch House members, there were still the Branch House Clan Head, the Branch House Elders, ordinary Branch House members, and ordinary clan members who lacked the ability to awaken the Byakugan.
That strict hierarchy was something he had rarely seen before.
"Seen that way, between Otsutsuki Hagoromo and Otsutsuki Hamura, Otsutsuki Hagoromo should have been the dominant one. After defeating the Rabbit Goddess, he became the Sage of Six Paths, famous throughout the Shinobi World, while the other one remained unknown."
Uchiha Itachi continued speaking.
"And between Otsutsuki Isshiki and Otsutsuki Kaguya, Otsutsuki Isshiki should have been the dominant one. Otherwise, it would not have been described as an ambush. So was this Otsutsuki Kaguya Hime overthrowing her superior from below?
"That makes sense too. That must be why she drew the attention of the Otsutsuki Main Family, which eventually sent the brothers Otsutsuki Hagoromo and Otsutsuki Hamura to defeat her."
It fit. It all fit.
Once he arranged it this way, didn't everything line up?
"But if Otsutsuki Hagoromo and Otsutsuki Hamura are still around, what kind of attitude would they have toward the Shinobi World?" Uchiha Itachi began to worry about that.
Judging from the myths and legends, the Sage of Six Paths, Otsutsuki Hagoromo, founded Ninshu and taught the native beings of the Shinobi World how to practice Ninjutsu. He was a progenitor-level figure of the Shinobi World.
Looked at that way, he should not be harmful to the Shinobi World.
But what if?
What if he also bore malice toward the Shinobi World?
For a moment, Uchiha Itachi felt his paranoia begin to flare up.
Because he had learned far too many terrifying things, his mind immediately started considering the most dangerous possibilities.
At that moment in the video, Otsutsuki Momoshiki called Otsutsuki Kinshiki and flew directly into the sky.
Uchiha Sasuke had clearly realized how troublesome their opponents were and said, "We can't go all out here. Everyone will get caught in it."
"Their target seems to be me. I'll draw them away," Uzumaki Naruto immediately said. "Who are you?"
"I am Otsutsuki Kinshiki. This is Lord Otsutsuki Momoshiki."
Honest Man Otsutsuki Kinshiki answered with complete honesty.
"What do you want from me?"
Seeing that the other side could communicate, Uzumaki Naruto quickly asked.
"We will gather the scattered Chakra into one and complete the task Kaguya Hime failed to finish on this land," Otsutsuki Kinshiki answered honestly.
Hearing this, Uchiha Itachi could not help frowning, because he thought of even more possibilities.
These two had come to complete the task Otsutsuki Kaguya Hime had failed to finish?
What task?
So Otsutsuki Isshiki and Otsutsuki Kaguya Hime had come to the Shinobi World with a mission. But because something unknown happened, Otsutsuki Kaguya Hime overthrew her superior from below and ambushed Otsutsuki Isshiki.
That directly caused the mission to fail.
Later, the Otsutsuki Main Family sent the two brothers, Otsutsuki Hagoromo and Otsutsuki Hamura, to defeat her. Judging from the results recorded in myth, that defeat should have succeeded.
But the Otsutsuki Main Family was clearly not satisfied.
Was it because Otsutsuki Hagoromo and Otsutsuki Hamura had passed Ninjutsu to the people of the Shinobi World for some unknown reason?
"So that's why Otsutsuki Kinshiki said just now that mortals had learned knowledge they should not have learned. He meant Ninjutsu, didn't he?" Uchiha Itachi reached his conclusion.