Three days ago, Otsutsuki Kozo had stood staring at the clan's sacred relic with a look of utter confusion. The Giant Tenseigan was flickering, its gaze fixed intently on the sky. Naturally, Kozo followed its gaze and looked up.
He saw nothing.
By the second day, he was astonished to see the Tenseigan actually rotating. The sacred relic was sentient—the slumbering place for the souls of generations of Otsutsuki ancestors. It would never move without reason.
No longer daring to ignore the anomaly, Kozo fetched the clan's largest telescope, activated his Byakugan, and peered through the lens.
An hour later, the Great Elder of the Otsutsuki leaned in to take a look. His blood ran cold. His Byakugan was far superior to Kozo's, and as a result, he saw much more.
Circling high above in the heavens were several monsters. They were encased in purple carapaces with massive, furry wings that barely reflected the sunlight.
Most terrifying of all, every single monster was staring at the Moon with a single, giant eye. Under that unwavering gaze, the Great Elder felt a palpable surge of killing intent.
But even more frightening than the monsters themselves was what lay behind them: a faint, shimmering "river" crawling slowly through the void, advancing from the direction of the Shinobi World toward the Moon.
"See for yourselves," the Great Elder whispered. "We are in grave trouble."
The other elders took turns at the telescope. Each one paled, their expressions shifting from shock to a sense of deep, indignant rage.
"Is this an attack from the surface-dwellers?"
"These vermin are seeking death!"
"The mission our ancestors left us was correct—the people of the surface are far too dangerous."
"Eliminate them! They must be wiped out!"
The Great Elder began to manipulate the Giant Tenseigan to observe the Shinobi World. The task was immensely difficult for him; it required his absolute concentration just to maintain a shaky control over the relic.
A long time passed before the Great Elder finally stopped. He was shaking like a leaf, his robes completely drenched in sweat that dripped onto the floor.
As the others rushed to support him, he said weakly, "Something is wrong. The surface-dwellers are slaughtering each other as they always do. There is no anomaly. The monsters approaching the Holy Abode are not their doing."
"Yet the monsters come from the surface. There is no doubt: something has gone terribly wrong down there."
The Otsutsuki grew even more frantic. Having looked down on the Shinobi World from their high perch for centuries, they possessed a sense of absolute superiority. However, they hadn't experienced a true war since the slaughter of the Main House centuries ago. Faced with an unknown enemy, they were utterly at a loss.
When people don't know what to do, their first instinct is to find someone to blame.
"The surface-dwellers are useless! They can't even keep watch over their own world."
"The descendants of Hagoromo are trash, just as expected. We should wipe them out. Every last one!"
"Enough of this squawking!" the weak Great Elder barked. "Go and prepare. Tomorrow, we kill them all."
"Ah... yes! Understood!"
Once the rest of the clansmen were dismissed, only the core elders remained with the Great Elder.
"To be honest," the Elder sighed, "this enemy is truly dangerous. They can actually traverse the void. That is a power that should belong only to our ancestors."
"Can we... can we really win?"
"We can. If these monsters haven't even wiped out the surface-dwellers, why should we fear them? We have our castle, our kin, the Seven-Color Light Platforms... and we have the Tenseigan."
"Right. We still have the Tenseigan."
Confidence returned to the elders. Indeed, the Tenseigan was invincible.
Only the Great Elder knew the truth: the clansmen capable of fully awakening the Tenseigan had not yet appeared. None of them possessed enough power to actually trigger the relic's offensive capabilities.
But there was no need to voice such morale-crushing facts.
The next day, sixteen Otsutsuki stood atop the high platforms surrounding the castle. The activated Seven-Color Light Platforms emitted a soft radiance, winding around the ninjas like ribbons of light.
"Commence the attack."
Centering on each platform, dozens of light beams surged toward the sky like hundreds of glowing arrows shot into the firmament.
The Great Elder watched through the telescope, frowning. "You missed! Too far back! Everyone, focus! You must lead the target!"
"Again!"
"Still no hits! What is wrong with you? You are on the platforms—you can see the enemy directly! Again!!"
Boom! Another wave of light beams tore through the void.
In the Great Elder's vision, a beam finally struck an enemy. The monster turned red, glowing under the heat before venting a massive plume of smoke. It spiraled out of sight like a punctured balloon.
"Excellent. The enemy is destroyed. Continue."
The successful hit sent a wave of excitement through the Otsutsuki. They immediately prepared to lock onto the next target.
Then, they noticed the monsters were moving. Suddenly, they became impossible to pin down.
While the array's magnification allowed them to see the enemy, the slightest twitch of the platform caused the aim to drift wildly. It was incredibly difficult to maintain a lock, yet without the magnification, they couldn't see the enemies at all with the naked eye.
This time, even the Great Elder didn't scold them. Once the monsters scattered, even he couldn't find them. The Otsutsuki were forced to pan their vision inch by inch, slowly searching for the fleeing foes.
Twenty minutes later, an Otsutsuki finally spotted one. He roared the coordinates for the platform's alignment, and the automated puppets immediately helped the other platforms sync their aim.
The Great Elder watched, annoyed. Is there a way to help me adjust my telescope, too?
With the experience of the first kill, the Otsutsuki's second volley was far more lethal. They secured a clean kill in a single strike.
But finding the next monster proved even harder.
"Perhaps we can use a scatter-shot?" suggested an Otsutsuki, pointing to a passage in a tattered ancient text. "The ancestors designed a scatter-shot mode. It records how to use it here, but the records explaining why they did it are missing."
"What use is a scatter-shot?" a hot-tempered elder snapped. "Send my Sokuten up. Let it test the strength of these monsters directly."
Under the glow of the Tenseigan, the elder's core puppet rose steadily into the sky, soaring into the void and easily taking down a monster.
"Hahaha! As expected, they are weak!" the hot-tempered elder gloated. "I can see them clearly now. None of you are getting away!"
However, things quickly took a turn for the worse. The monsters began to fight back.
After six hours of bitter fighting, the monsters were wiped out, but the Otsutsuki had suffered heavy losses. Four clansmen had been killed by the "monsters."
The Great Elder stood before a destroyed light platform in silence. The once-smooth surface of the platform was now riddled with dense clusters of holes. He reached out to touch the finger-thick bullet holes; the smooth, melted inner walls proved the extreme heat of the projectiles upon impact.
Another elder approached. The Great Elder asked, "What is the enemy doing?"
"The monsters in the distance are accelerating. They will arrive in two days at the latest."
"Do we have enough materials to repair the platforms? When can they be fixed?"
"We have plenty of supplies, and the repairs are simple. They will be ready by tonight."
"Good. But it's not enough," the Great Elder said, walking briskly toward the castle.
"Great Elder, where are you going?"
"To search the ancestors' journals and records. We cannot simply sit here and take hits. We must launch a counterattack."
"I will help you."
Meanwhile, Aburame Tetsumaru had arrived at the transition orbit aboard a Rocket Bug. After de-boarding the craft, he immediately began forming hand seals.
Ninja Art: Summoning Jutsu!
A massive Hive was summoned. Upon opening, it released hundreds of Worker Bugs and dozens of stacks of steel plates. However, the moment the Worker Bugs emerged, they began to struggle violently. Some exploded on the spot, others curled into balls after a few twitches, and the majority continued to writhe in agony.
Out of hundreds of Worker Bugs, only about a dozen remained unaffected, waving their antennae as they waited for orders.
"Testing... testing... can you hear me?"
"Loud and clear. Main body, are you alright?"
"The Bio-Armor Unit 2 is working perfectly. I don't feel any discomfort. Heh, this zero-gravity feeling is so strange."
"Argh! I want to go up and experience it too!"
"Cut the chatter. The main body will be floating right over our heads in two hours. Hurry up! Time is of the essence!"
Tetsumaru suppressed his playfulness, centered his mind, and began to work. "Alright, let's report the status of the Worker Bugs."
"Ready when you are," replied the avatar of the newly formed Space Station Group.
"In short: thirty percent are already dead. Most of the rest have completely lost control. Not many are left functioning. Number 208, 79, 331..."
"Wait, only that many? Hold on, Number 331 just kicked the bucket, too."
"Main body! Quickly, summon new Satellite Bugs! We need the armed worker satellites with the extra armor plating."
Ninja Art: Summoning Jutsu!
This time, the Hive contained Satellite Bugs—five large and five small.
The large Satellite Bugs slowly unfolded, revealing two pairs of massive purple wings. These were the swarm's version of solar panels, used to recharge the Satellite Bug's energy. Four parasitic Jet Bugs began to fire, pushing the satellites toward the Moon.
During the flight, the Satellite Bugs continued to deploy. Three layers of emergency-added external carapaces opened, maintaining a thirty-centimeter gap between each layer and the main body. This "spaced armor" was designed to absorb the enemy's light beams, preventing internal burns to the organs.
Each large Satellite Bug towed a fist-sized smaller unit. These "Spy Satellites," with a lifespan of only two months, were meant to maintain scouting capabilities even if the larger units were shot down.
Tetsumaru didn't stop. He continued to summon five more Hives containing three types of Armed Bugs. These were smaller, lacked the massive solar wings, and had abdomens bulging with nutrients.
The Armed Bugs were equipped with hundreds of tiny Jet Bugs, giving them far superior maneuverability.
These three types of Armed Bugs were designed for bombardment, interception, and sniping, each carrying a different weapon loadout.
Watching the 113 Armed Bugs quickly overtake the satellites and race toward lunar orbit, Tetsumaru finally began directing the remaining Worker Bugs to weld the steel plates. Their goal was to build a temporary space station for resting.
From the look of things, the Otsutsuki's combat capability wasn't bad. The war could last a long time, and Tetsumaru couldn't just float in the transition orbit indefinitely.
Being "adrift" was not only inconvenient; it was psychologically taxing. Everywhere he looked was either the Shinobi World, the Moon, or the endless void of the stars. In such an environment, one could suffer from both agoraphobia and claustrophobia simultaneously.
For a long-term stay, a shelter was mandatory.
"Main body, when will the Armed Bugs reach the battlefield?"
"At their current speed, the morning after tomorrow."
"So we can't do anything tomorrow? Without combat results, how are we supposed to improve? Are we just supposed to build blindly?"
"Of course we keep building. No matter how flawed they are, they have enough combat power to keep the pressure on the enemy."
"Understood. Then we'll continue modifying the Broodmothers and shifting more production capacity. The daily output is only a hundred units right now—that's way too low."
"Exactly. The main body releases them all in ten minutes; the least we can do is give him enough work to fill an eight-hour shift."
"That's brutal."
"Psh, war is different. Once we push the main body to a '997' schedule, I bet the war will be won."
The conversation eventually devolved into the usual banter.
"Does anyone else feel like this is a turn-based war? Like, one turn every two days?"
"You're not wrong. The Otsutsuki side hasn't made a move either. It's like we're both on the same rhythm. Did we actually sync up with them?"
It was a prophetic remark.
In the early hours of the third day, a fierce two-hour battle broke out. It ended in a loss for Tetsumaru's side.
After the clumsiness of the first encounter, both sides had summarized their gains and losses. The efficiency of the new attacks had improved dramatically—far outstripping the minor upgrades in defense. This led to a much faster rate of destruction; over a hundred Armed Bugs were wiped out in just two hours.
The Otsutsuki lost over thirty puppets. However, these were high-quality puppets—elites comparable to Jonin on the ground—wasted in an environment they weren't suited for.
Otsutsuki Great Elder: "Improvement! We must improve the puppets! Make them more suitable for celestial combat. We are launching a counter-offensive. Put every effort into the modifications!"
Aburame Tetsumaru: "Reduce the number of bombardment-type Armed Bugs. Split the air-superiority types into two categories: one that sacrifices armor for extreme maneuverability, and another with thickened armor for heavy firepower."
In the early hours of the fourth day, 160 Armed Bugs clashed with over 40 puppets for three hours. The first two hours of orbital combat ended with the total destruction of the puppets. For the remaining hour, the Otsutsuki operated the Seven-Color Light Platforms with terrifying efficiency, sniping down the 40-odd remaining bugs in orbit.
By noon on the fifth day, the improved next-generation Armed Bugs arrived. They engaged in a fierce battle with the equally improved puppets. In this battle, the Otsutsuki attempted a "surface-to-orbit coordination" tactic for the first time, achieving a resounding victory.
The Otsutsuki Great Elder looked at the resources remaining in their storehouse, feeling a secret chill in his heart.
Tetsumaru sat inside his newly constructed drum-style gravity chamber, joking with his avatars in the Land of Tea. "We really are playing a turn-based game now."
The Tetsumarus weren't worried about the losses on the front lines. The Broodmother's production capacity was shifting rapidly, and the number of Armed Bugs was skyrocketing every day. Their confidence was unshakable.