The Moon.
On a floating island adrift in the pale silence, an ancient palace stood like a relic carved out of time—lavish, cold, and utterly indifferent to mercy.
Inside the palace—
A child with hollow, unfocused eyes tilted his head as if he'd sensed something sweet in the air. His expression brightened with a strange, innocent excitement.
"Father… is this the Hyuga Princess?"
He leaned forward slightly, almost greedy—yet not with hunger for flesh, but for something deeper.
"I like her… her aura feels good." His voice turned small, pleading. "Can we… not take her eyes?"
SMACK!
The sound cracked through the hall like a whip.
A bright red handprint bloomed across the boy's cheek.
"You know what you're saying?"
The man who struck him had pure white eyes and silver hair, his face twisted with a fury that looked more monstrous than cruelty.
Ōtsutsuki Seitian.
The one who had taken Hinata.
He stared down at his son as if looking at a defect that needed to be corrected.
"We are the descendants of the Ōtsutsuki," Seitian said, voice cutting and cold. "We exist to fulfill the will of our ancestors—"
His jaw tightened, the words grinding out like they were forged in hatred.
"—to erase the failed world created by the Sage of Six Paths."
He took a slow breath, but it didn't calm him. It only made the fury settle deeper.
"Do you understand?"
The boy clenched his small fists, stubbornness flashing through his blank gaze.
"I don't."
He lifted his chin, defiant in a way that didn't match his fragile frame.
"There are only two of us on the Moon now." His voice sharpened. "If you die… it'll be just me. How am I supposed to carry on the bloodline?"
Seitian's face twitched.
His palm rose again—ready to strike.
Then the boy leaned forward, almost daring it.
"Go on. Hit me."
His voice trembled, but he didn't back down.
"Mother. Grandpa. Grandma." He spat the words like broken glass. "You killed them and took their eyes. If you've got the guts—kill me too."
For a moment, the palace felt colder.
Not because of the Moon.
Because of what a child could say so naturally—like death was just another family tradition.
Seitian's hand hovered… then slowly lowered.
His gaze slid past his son and landed on the girl lying on the floor.
Hinata Hyūga.
Eight years old.
Trapped in genjutsu, her breathing faint but steady—like a small candle trapped under glass.
Seitian's voice became calm again, but it was the calm of someone who had already decided what a life was worth.
"I won't kill her," he said flatly. "Not yet."
He turned his head slightly, as if discussing the weather.
"The Hyūga still have another pair of high-purity Byakugan. When her younger sister grows a little… I'll take her too."
The boy's face lit up.
"So… you're not going to destroy the Earth?"
Seitian's eyes sharpened.
"Not yet. The timing isn't right."
He stepped closer, the palace lights catching the hard edge in his expression.
"But one day, I will erase that world. Completely."
The boy looked down at Hinata again, conflicted in a way he didn't know how to hide.
"Then… send her back," he said quietly. "If she wakes up here… she'll be terrified."
Seitian's reply was indifferent.
"Fine."
He made a small motion—like dismissing an insect.
In response, a massive humanoid puppet, a mechanical guardian shaped like a silent executioner, moved with heavy precision toward Hinata.
It raised an arm.
One step more and it would reach her.
Then—
BOOM!
The air itself detonated.
A pale shockwave slammed into the puppet like a divine hammer, pulverizing the construct into fragments—metal and stone exploding outward in a brutal spray.
Seitian's pupils tightened.
"What—?!"
He reacted instantly, scooping his son back and retreating dozens of steps in a blur, landing in a guarded stance.
But the one who had entered the palace didn't even look at them first.
A man in a Hokage cloak walked through the shattered doorway as if he'd stepped into his own home.
Ren.
He crossed the hall without urgency, without hesitation, and knelt beside the small figure on the ground.
"Found you."
He lifted Hinata gently into his arms—careful, steady, protective.
Only then did his gaze flick up.
Not to ask.
Not to negotiate.
Just to acknowledge what was about to be erased.
Seitian's teeth clenched so hard it looked painful.
"Fifth Hokage…"
His voice dripped with fury and disbelief.
"You actually dared to come to the Moon."
Ren didn't flinch. He didn't even bother with drama.
"Why wouldn't I?"
Ren's eyes turned cold.
He glanced at Seitian like someone glancing at a stain.
"You slaughtered your own clan here. Wiped out the main family. Felt good, didn't it?"
Seitian froze.
A flicker of shock cracked his composure.
"That's impossible." His voice rose. "How do you know that?"
Ren's smile was thin and sharp.
"I know a lot."
His gaze shifted slightly—past Seitian, to the boy behind him.
"And I know why you took Hinata."
Ren's eyes narrowed, voice turning cruel with accuracy.
"For him."
He nodded toward the child.
"Your son. The one you made pay the price. Ōtsutsuki Toneri."
Toneri's shoulders tensed, as if the name hurt.
Seitian's face darkened like a storm front.
"Shut up!"
He roared, veins bulging in his neck.
"My son isn't blind. He's destined to destroy the shinobi world!"
Ren laughed once—short, dismissive.
"Destined?"
His tone turned almost amused.
"For a so-called 'guardian of the Moon,' you're just a butcher in a palace."
Ren's gaze sharpened, every word landing like a blade.
"You ripped out your own son's Byakugan for that Tenseigan construct of yours… and you still dare to talk about destiny?"
Seitian's entire body shook.
The truth had always been there—but being exposed was different.
It peeled away the lie he'd wrapped around himself.
He had forced the Moon's clan into massacre.
He had crafted the Giant Tenseigan from stolen eyes.
And when he was one step short—
He had reached for the nearest "high-purity" Byakugan.
Even if it meant cutting out his own child's.
Seitian's voice broke into a snarl, raw and ugly.
"You—!"
He couldn't finish the sentence.
Because for the first time, Ren wasn't just calling him an enemy.
Ren was calling him what he really was.
A creature pretending to be a savior.
Seitian's eyes burned with humiliation and rage.
"You shouldn't be here," he hissed, the words trembling. "You shouldn't even know any of this!"
Ren adjusted Hinata's position slightly, cradling her more securely, as if shielding her from the very sound of Seitian's voice.
Then he looked up again.
Calm.
Cold.
Certain.
"I'm here because you crossed a line."
His voice dropped a fraction—quiet enough to feel worse than a shout.
"You took a child from my village."
Ren's eyes glinted.
"And now I'm going to show you what happens… when Konoha comes to collect."
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