Chapter 926

It was precisely because of this that even after the two clans shook hands and made peace, establishing Konoha, on the surface everyone appeared quite composed, but in truth neither side had ever stopped tripping the other up behind the scenes.

In truth, the Byakugan is far more powerful than the Sharingan, but it's like a warship hiding some fearsome firepower—without a captain who truly understands her, it can never bring out its full strength. The Hyuga clan, who only ever used the Byakugan for their Gentle Fist, can hardly be called a good helmsman.

The greatest secret of the Sharingan lies in the fact that it is merely an incomplete dōjutsu; its true completed form is the legendary "Rinnegan"—no, even one step beyond that.

And in this world, only one person has ever truly completed it, and that is Ōtsutsuki Kaguya-hime.

At this moment, Kaguya-hime's eyes were not focused on any particular place, for she did not need to deliberately look; she only had to think of it, and the image would be captured by her at once.

The reason she had chosen such a place, one that overlooked all of Konoha, was simply that she wanted to find somewhere reasonably cool and breezy, where her long hair could sway in the wind for her to pose.

"What reason is there to move against the Uchiha clan, who are members of Konoha? Even if the White Snake Sage instructed me to assist you, you still need a proper reason, don't you?" Orochimaru looked at Kaguya-hime in puzzlement, unable to agree with the so-called next-step plan the other had just laid out.

"This concubine's reasons are not suited for you." The reason Kaguya-hime wanted the Uchiha to exit the stage of history was, first, because she intended to take revenge on the daughter who had betrayed her a thousand years ago.

Second, because she could not tolerate being defeated once again. Hagoromo would plan every matter down to the last detail.

So she would absolutely not simply seal herself away on the moon and call it done. And with the intelligence Xiao Jue had been feeding her, she understood all the more clearly that Naruko and Sanā were very likely the safety fuses Hagoromo had left behind.

Precisely because of this, as potential vessels Hagoromo might use against her, Uzumaki Naruko and Uchiha Sanā—one of them had to die.

Uzumaki Naruko, as the Nine-Tails jinchūriki, still had other living value, so Kaguya-hime had been unable to lay a hand on her from the very start; the other choice was a different matter entirely.

Kaguya-hime absolutely would not allow anyone to seal her again. Combining these two motives, the conclusion was clear.

In truth, she and the Uchiha clan could never have coexisted. As for whether she felt any guilt toward Uchiha Sanā, Kaguya-hime could answer that very readily.

Not at all!

She and Sanā were acquainted, thanks to Naruko before, but that did not affect Kaguya-hime's plan to kill every single member of the Uchiha clan, Sanā included.

To put it bluntly, a thousand years ago she could sacrifice, without so much as a blink, the devout followers of her divine kingdom who had served her for years. So just what kind of nature truly hides beneath Kaguya-hime's goddess-like image?

A relationship that amounts to nothing more than a nodding acquaintance would never be an obstacle.

"You said just now that they are members of Konoha—was that true, Orochimaru?" After only a brief pause, Kaguya-hime suddenly turned the question back on Orochimaru, and his reaction was just as Kaguya-hime had anticipated: the other fell silent.

The rift between the Uchiha clan and the village was, one could even say, plain for all to see, and was in fact growing steadily worse. Members of the village? More likely, what they truly wanted was to be the village's masters.

"Perhaps I should let you meet an old friend; the two of you will certainly have plenty to talk about." Kaguya-hime thought of someone, and if that person appeared before Orochimaru, it would surely be very entertaining.

Without Kaguya-hime making any visible move, Black Zetsu had already soundlessly emerged from a nearby tree, and Orochimaru did not detect the approach until the other released a faint trace of aura—by then the other was already within three steps of her.

Since Orochimaru had completed the White Snake Sage's Sage Transformation trial, such a thing had never happened again, so at this moment her heart was seized by a violent sense of alarm, and she drew the Kusanagi Sword outright.

When she saw clearly that the one who had come was Black Zetsu, who had cooperated with Young Yuanzi, the slash already sent out could no longer be recalled.

"I'm not the old friend you're thinking of, well—although we could say we're quite familiar. But come with me somewhere now." A branch that had instantly thrust up from the ground took that slash in Black Zetsu's stead, and completely locked the Kusanagi Sword in place. She waited until the force left Orochimaru's grip on the blade, then simply retracted it.

Young Yuanzi, Black Zetsu, Lin Cheng, and that ancestor's consciousness—what on earth…?

Orochimaru's mind was in utter chaos, all manner of intelligence tangling together, and before she could react, Black Zetsu reached out and pulled her into the shadows.

From beginning to end, Kaguya-hime maintained her posture of leisurely swinging her legs, though in her hand she now held a skewer of red bean dumplings that Black Zetsu had just brought.

Loulan City, underground space, the eye of the Dragon Vein formation.

"You're here? Then the timing is just right." Standing beside the God Tree, Qianqian turned her head and spoke at the very moment Jiraiya and Young Yuanzi were led in by the Queen of Loulan.