Chapter 217: The Truth Behind the Withered Population of the Otsutsuki Clan

"Well, that's true; it's my fault for not considering it thoroughly."

Reminded by Uchiha Gin, Hamura Otsutsuki mentally gauged the size of the Tenseigan and realized it would indeed be quite a struggle for one person to hold, so he replied with a hint of apology,

"Are there any others besides this?"

Although he had already set his heart on the big eyeball, he was still prepared to squeeze out the last remaining value from this great-granduncle before him.

"Are you interested in puppet arts?"

Hamura Otsutsuki thought about it with a bitter face, recalling the figurines he used to make when he had nothing to do, then his eyes lit up and he asked,

"No, I'm still brewing something big; I don't have any interest in those mindless things of yours."

Pointing at his own eyes, Uchiha Gin gave a disdainful smile; he hadn't even spent the old man's inheritance yet, and when he transformed, he would make all you old fossils green with envy.

"Don't you have any stronger ninjutsu, weapons, or anything? I can accept those."

Uchiha Gin looked at the miserable-looking Hamura Otsutsuki with suspicion; could he really be a poor relative, even more broke than a blank slate?

"I do not possess the ninjutsu you speak of."

Hamura Otsutsuki frowned, because in his era, the concept of ninjutsu had not yet been raised, and he relied entirely on brute force when fighting.

When he got excited, he would just hold Truth-Seeking Balls in his hands and clash head-on; whoever flinched was a coward, so he simply didn't know, nor did he need to know, the flashy ninjutsu of the descendants on the ground today.

"As for weapons, my staff was merely a product of Yin-Yang Release, and it dissipated long ago with my death."

Hamura Otsutsuki gave up at this moment, spreading his hands to show he was penniless and had nothing left but this old face—see how much it's worth.

"Then are there no special abilities?"

Uchiha Gin, unwilling to give up, made a final struggle; as one of the first localized members of the Otsutsuki clan in the universe, having some special abilities wouldn't be too much to ask, right?

"There is, the Power of Yin."

Hamura Otsutsuki's eyes darted around, and he blurted out.

"Give it to me, give it to me!"

That was good stuff; Sasuke relied on that thing to unlock the Rinnegan in the late stages. If he had that, wouldn't he be able to take off from the start?

"It's gone, I gave it back to my big brother."

"Then what the hell are you talking about?"

Uchiha Gin was choked with anger; this old guy was just playing with him like he was a cricket.

"Actually, there is another state for the Tenseigan."

Seeing Uchiha Gin turn to leave, Hamura Otsutsuki, having no other choice, had to bring out his trump card and slowly revealed the secret hidden in his heart.

This was the power he had kept hidden for many years, prepared to give his big brother a little shock.

"What?"

Uchiha Gin, who had only walked two steps, stopped and turned his head with an "I knew it" expression.

This old guy really wasn't honest; no wonder the Hyuga clan couldn't stand up and the Kaguya clan died out early—with your petty mind, how could you accomplish anything great?

Being narrow-minded is the most shameful thing; closing oneself off is a dead end.

"When a person simultaneously possesses the chakra of the Otsutsuki clan and the pure Byakugan of the Hyuga clan, under the fusion of these two primitive powers, this person's Byakugan will undergo a miraculous change, evolving into the Tenseigan that controls the power of Yin and Yang; space-time abilities will be at their fingertips, and destroying stars will be a matter of course."

"Then what should I do?"

Although he was almost crippled by Hamura Otsutsuki's sweet talk, Uchiha Gin, who knew the plot well, did not lose himself; instead, he frowned and asked,

In the original work, that Toneri Otsutsuki upgraded to the blue Tenseigan on the spot after swapping in the pure Byakugan of his sister-in-law, Hanabi.

But he didn't have Otsutsuki chakra right now; even if the Byakugan in his eyes had the purity they spoke of, he shouldn't be able to awaken the Tenseigan, right?

"Oh, don't be impatient. Isn't there still the Tenseigan in the hands of the branch family descendants? Once you defeat those rebellious children of the branch family, I will teach you how to control the Tenseigan."

Fine, fine, fine—round and round we go back to the starting point; I just have to fight the descendants of the Otsutsuki branch family, don't I?

"The Tenseigan contains the power of tens of thousands of Byakugan from the Otsutsuki clan; not only can it serve as an offensive weapon to release beams that destroy heaven and earth, but it can also nourish the owner and replenish their energy."

Hamura Otsutsuki, fearing that this promising descendant Uchiha Gin would run away, vividly explained the secrets of the Tenseigan to him.

He only hoped that this guy could help him quell the rebellion of the branch family descendants and allow his big brother's life's work to be preserved.

Good grief, so the big stone eyeball is also a small Tailed Beast? Could that thing be a product you secretly researched on the moon because you were envious of your brother crafting nine cute pets?

"Good! When do we set off? I can't wait!"

Uchiha Gin was secretly delighted; he didn't expect that by bluffing this great-granduncle, he could get an unexpected harvest, so he immediately waved his hand, indicating he could start the job now.

"Don't be in such a hurry; let me tell you about those rebellious children of the branch family first."

Hamura Otsutsuki grabbed the impatient Uchiha Gin and spoke tremblingly,

"Uh, I'm all ears."

Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated; let's listen to him nag for a while longer~

"The branch family relies on sacrificing the Byakugan of their clansmen to drive the maturation of the Tenseigan. By now, there are fewer than a hundred living Otsutsuki descendants on the moon."

Speaking of the branch family, although there was regret in Hamura Otsutsuki's eyes, there was also a hint of pity; they were all his children, and both palms and backs of the hands are flesh.

"Don't you have a portal? Go down and find the Hyuga clan to intermarry; wouldn't it be wonderful to slowly restore the population?"

Uchiha Gin had never understood why the Otsutsuki clan didn't go down to the ninja world to snatch some handsome men and beautiful women to come to the moon to multiply, instead of waiting until the future when only one Toneri Otsutsuki was left guarding the clan grounds alone.

"There is a gate~"

Speaking of the portal, a look of nostalgia rose in Hamura Otsutsuki's eyes; those were the happiest times he once had.

"If there's a gate, why not use it?"

Uchiha Gin felt a joy in his heart; there was hope for him to go home!

"It's locked."

???

"Huh?"

"I said, it's locked!"

The nostalgic look turned into annoyance; Uchiha Gin had seen such an expression on the face of his little cousin Shisui—that was when his hidden adult magazines were discovered by his big cousin; comparing the two, they were exactly the same.

"With your status, who would dare to lock your gate?"

Although he already had a guess in his heart, Uchiha Gin still asked curiously,

"It's... it's my big brother."

Hamura Otsutsuki's eyes were a bit shifty, and his aged, gray face turned slightly red when he mentioned this. This unusual performance aroused Uchiha Gin's intense curiosity, and he heard him ask,

"Why? Aren't you two good brothers?"

"Uh... sometimes, one shouldn't live too clearly, you know?"

The old man spoke of other things, acting vague and trying to muddle through.

"It's already this late, Ancestor, what are you still hiding? People have been dead for so long, what are you still shy about?"

The long-haired man, who hadn't spoken for a long time, felt anxious in his heart upon hearing Hamura Otsutsuki's vague performance; it was already a moment of life and death, why was the ancestor still worried about his own petty business?

So, not wanting to watch the branch family continue to jump around, he steeled his heart and exposed the truth,

"It's all because the Ancestor would sneak down to the ground whenever he had nothing to do, and when he came back, he would bring several women with him, making the moon a mess and the ground miserable."

Holy crap, a shocking piece of gossip—the Sage of Six Paths' brother was actually a flower-picking thief!

"Cough, cough, cough... that was all mutual affection, and I promised to take them to see the moon!"

Hamura Otsutsuki, having his bottom line exposed, had a flush of red flash across his aged face; he gritted his teeth and glared hatefully at the long-haired man, his threat evident.

"Then why did the Ancestor's brother seal the teleportation technique?"

The long-haired man had nothing in his pitch-black eye sockets, so he couldn't see the threat in Hamura Otsutsuki's eyes and continued to explain as if no one else was there,

"It's all because the Ancestor neglected his duties and would sneak down to flirt and seek flowers whenever people weren't paying attention..."

"Nonsense! That was me observing the plight of the people!"

After saying this, Hamura Otsutsuki, who could no longer bear it, had a flash of purple light in his hand, and the chattering long-haired man instantly disappeared from the inner hall, leaving no trace.

"Hehe, do you believe me?"

The noisy, gossiping voice came to an abrupt end. Hamura Otsutsuki, his expression slightly softened, turned his head and asked Uchiha Gin with a "warm" look,

"That goes without saying; except for Brother Chun, I only believe you."

Uchiha Gin nodded like a garlic-pounding pestle, but in his heart, he was constantly complaining,

I believe you, you ghost; you old bastard are really bad~

"Cough, cough... In order to prevent petty people from coming to the moon to do evil through the portal, my big brother used his sword to seal the portal between the ground and the moon. This is the reason why the Otsutsuki clan's population has withered."

Hamura Otsutsuki looked serious, and his logical explanation was convincing.

The reason, which was not at all far-fetched, made Uchiha Gin nod repeatedly, fearing that if he were a second late, he would be sent to see his big brother by this kind-looking great-granduncle.

So the black long sword at the bottom of the water was the big lock used by the Sage of Six Paths to seal the portal to the moon, aimed at preventing petty people from coming to the ground to do evil and snatching women.

Having figured this out, Uchiha Gin immediately felt a sense of awe for his ancestor; this kind of righteousness in sacrificing one's own kin was something ordinary people could not reach.

"Then how did I get up here? Wasn't it locked?"

Thinking about it, Uchiha Gin frowned; since the portal had been locked by the Sage of Six Paths with a lock, how was he teleported up?

"Actually, I am also very curious about how you got up here. Logically speaking, my big brother's seal can only be broken by himself or someone with a bloodline concentration close to his. How could an Otsutsuki like you..."

Hamura Otsutsuki stroked his chin and muttered to himself; clearly, the purity of this descendant's Byakugan was so high that his own bloodline must be dominant, and those of his big brother were just extras~

"Hey, hey, hey, when did I become an Otsutsuki? You have to be responsible for what you say!"

Uchiha Gin, with black lines on his face, heard the old man change his family tree and retorted with some frustration,

"Don't you want the Tenseigan?"

"Hehe, I think Otsutsuki sounds very imposing; it really is a surname tailored for me~"

Uchiha Gin took out a pen on the spot, erased his surname, and crookedly wrote the three big characters "Otsutsuki" in front.

"Good, good, good! Once you complete the mission, besides the Tenseigan, I will teach you a space-time technique that can teleport you back to the ground."

Knowing the physical condition of the descendant before him perfectly well, Hamura Otsutsuki had no intention of imprisoning Uchiha Gin on the moon to replace him as his mother's jailer.

In his view, the nine Tailed Beasts his older brother had fashioned were difficult for ordinary people to gather, the most important Ten-Tails husk was still lying quietly on the moon, and his mother was doing well in prison, reforming herself and striving to turn over a new leaf.

"Alrighty~ You really are my good ancestor; once I get back, I'll burn a carriage full of beauties for you."

Overjoyed, Uchiha Gin accidentally blurted out what was on his mind, and the moment it left his lips, he realized he had said the wrong thing.

Before he could even attempt a remedy, he heard the righteous and awe-inspiring voice of Hamura Otsutsuki.

"Cease your babbling! I, Hamura Otsutsuki, have lived a life of integrity; how could I be such a shallow person!"

His aged face was now solemn and dignified, like a holy sage radiating golden light, making the impure-minded Uchiha Gin feel so ashamed that he wanted to kneel and apologize.

"Go attend to your business; the future of the world is entrusted to you!"

Without waiting for Uchiha Gin to apologize for his previous abrupt words, Hamura Otsutsuki had already waved his hand and sent him out of the inner palace.

Opening his eyes again, he had returned to the dilapidated city from before; the desolate scene around him made him subconsciously think the encounter had just been a dream.

Just as he was feeling doubtful, an aged and familiar voice suddenly reached his ears, sounding cautious, as if afraid of being discovered by others.

The owner of the voice was none other than Hamura Otsutsuki, who had just finished arranging the mission; he spoke slowly in a somewhat constrained tone.

"Burn a few more, and make sure there's roast chicken—the more, the better!"

It seemed he was truly starved, to the point of craving roast chicken.

My great-granduncle's spirit is as vigorous as ever; he is truly a role model for our generation!

Having accepted the additional hidden mission from Hamura Otsutsuki, Uchiha Gin was finally certain that what he had just experienced was by no means a dream.

He steadied himself and looked toward the floating island in the sky; that should be the base of the remaining Otsutsuki branch family.

He tilted his head to look at the giant crescent-shaped emblem hanging on the floating island—that was the clan crest of the Otsutsuki branch family, and the sphere in the middle of the crescent should be the hiding place of the Tenseigan.

Since the map was already marked, Uchiha Gin prepared for a quick battle, intending to take down the descendants of the Otsutsuki branch family as fast as possible so he could go home and slack off.

At this point in time, let alone Toneri Otsutsuki, even his father was likely still just a cell; the strength of those who did not appear in the original work was nothing to fear, and he should be able to clear this dungeon easily.

"Beep, beep, beep! Intruder detected!"

Just as Uchiha Gin was thinking about how to speed-run the dungeon, a group of figures wrapped in bandages descended from the sky, the dense crowd surrounding him so tightly not even water could pass through.

These figures stared at Uchiha Gin with lifeless eyes, repeating the previous words like a broken record.

He hadn't expected the other side to serve themselves up on a platter before he even attacked; thinking of this, Uchiha Gin secretly refined his chakra, preparing to give this distant cousin a little taste of ninja shock.

"The intruder is over there!"

Just as Uchiha Gin was preparing to exert his power, several crisp voices rang out; having sensed no malice in the hearts of the newcomers, Uchiha Gin slowly dispersed the chakra in his hands in confusion, frowning as he looked at the several pretty figures rushing toward him.

"Besties! It's a man! A handsome man!"

(End of chapter)