Chapter 908

"My name is Ōtsutsuki Hāori." Her movements matched the frailty of her voice; Hāori slowly raised a finger to point at the sky above.

"The second daughter of Ōtsutsuki Kaguya, the progenitor of chakra, and the warden of the Ten-Tails' sealed vessel. To all, there are nine tailed beasts—but in truth, there is only one true tailed beast: the Ten-Tails, Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo."

To prevent her mother, transformed into the Ten-Tails, from returning, he sealed her entirely—now the Moon—and extracted the Ten-Tails' immense power, splitting it into nine parts and hiding them in nine locations hidden in the world. Yet even so, these nine fragments, representing the tailed beasts, still possessed terrifying destructive power.

A thousand years have passed since then, and these tailed beasts have been divided among people, becoming weapons of war. For example, Hāori's elder sister, Uzumaki Mito, and her niece, Kushina, both once served as jinchūriki of the Nine-Tails.

Ōtsutsuki Hāori appeared extremely weak; Cici even felt the woman might not live much longer. During her self-introduction, Hāori made no effort to conceal her identity, openly stating her true origins—details Cici had long known. What puzzled her was this: Kaguya was the Ten-Tails, yet Ōtsutsuki Hāori deliberately kept the two separate. Was she trying to preserve her family's dignity? After all, imprisoning one's own mistress as a child—how dishonorable to speak of such a thing.

"A thousand years ago, your sister's footsteps spread across the world, and she also brought ninjutsu to prominence." Cici succinctly summarized what came after Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo. The most important words came last: "People naturally used it in the very place you two least wished it to be."

Ōtsutsuki Hāori knew exactly what Cici meant. Even on the Moon, she could still observe parts of the world above through some means. Human development was inseparable from the history of the Shinobi World—its conflicts and bloodshed, like a thread, with each war a needle piercing through it.

Cici had expended so much effort to reach the Moon and meet Ōtsutsuki Hāori a thousand years later, confirming her conviction that Kaguya, still sealed, must also be alive. As a long-lived being herself, Cici thought that if she were in such a state, she would likely abandon thought and enter prolonged hibernation—it would be better. After all, unable to move, unable to hear, unable to speak, unable to think—such a state would be unbearable.