Kaguya's Legacy

"This is it?" Kakuzu asked as we stood before a small hidden cave, clearly not impressed. "This is the grand entrance to the Moon? A dirty little hole in the ground?"

"What were you expecting? A giant stone arch with glowing runes? A stairway to the heavens?" I retorted as I walked into the cave.

He just grumbled as he followed behind me, clearly still not convinced that I wasn't leading him on a wild goose chase.

The cave was dark and damp, the air heavy with the smell of earth and rot. The only light came from the small opening at the entrance, but it was more than enough for me. With my Byakugan, the darkness was as bright as day.

We walked for a few minutes, the ground sloping downward, the walls closing in on us. The only sounds were our footsteps and the dripping of water from the ceiling.

It was a perfectly normal cave, with nothing to distinguish it from any of the countless other caves that dotted the Land of Fire.

But I knew better.

I could feel it, a faint, almost imperceptible pull, a connection to the Moon, a remnant of the power I had once wielded.

"You can feel it, can't you?" I asked, my voice echoing in the small space.

"Feel what? The damp? The cold? The draft?" Kakuzu shot back, his tone dripping with sarcasm.

I shook my head. Clearly, I had expected too much, or rather, I had just ignored that what I felt was my connection with the Moon, something no other person could feel.

"Never mind, but it's best to keep your guard up from here on," I warned him.

He might not believe in my destination, but he at least understood to be on guard in a strange place.

We continued deeper into the cave until we reached a large, circular chamber. In the center of the chamber was a pool of water.

The room was dark, pitch black. Neither Kakuzu nor I had brought along any light, yet even in this thick darkness, the pool seemed to glow faintly with the soft light of the Moon.

It didn't reflect the light, as there was no light to reflect; it seemed to emit it, an ethereal, silvery glow that filled the room with a sense of peace and tranquility.

"A pool? Don't tell me we are going to swim to the Moon?" Kakuzu scoffed.

"In a way," I said, a small smile on my face as I walked up to the edge of the pool. The water was clear and still, the surface smooth as glass.

It did look impressive, but the fact that we had reached this place so easily was already surprising. Or maybe reaching this place was easy, but leaving was the difficult part?

"Come," I said, and entered the pool without explanation.

The water was cold, but it wasn't an unpleasant cold. It was a... refreshing cold, a cold that seemed to wash away the fatigue of our long journey. And no sooner had I entered the water than I left it.

And more so, despite having submerged myself in the pool, as I emerged again, I wasn't soaked; not a single drop of water stuck to me or soaked my clothes.

Kakuzu's curiosity finally got the better of him, as he was one who couldn't stand not knowing things.

He cautiously entered the pool, his body tense, ready for an attack.

But nothing happened.

He emerged on the other side, as dry as I was.

But we were no longer in the cave.

Well, we were in a cave, but a very different cave.

"Okay, I admit, this pool isn't simple at all," Kakuzu said, turning back to the pool of water and watching it suspiciously.

It was far larger on this side, and not the only feature of the room either; empty glass-like bubbles filled the room.

"So, you were right," he said, turning to face me, a grudging respect in his eyes. "There is something to this... Moon mission of yours."

"I told you," I said, a small, smug smile on my face. "Now, shall we?"

"Lead the way," he said, his tone all business.

We soon left the initial room and walked through a twisting passage. The walls remained rough stone, but it was different; every inch of them seemed to give off a faint light.

Though, to my Byakugan, it was far more than that. Every inch of this place was infused with chakra.

Finally, I stopped once more.

"What is it?" Kakuzu asked as he stopped behind me.

"If we continue, we will be discovered," I said as my Byakugan saw far more than Kakuzu could.

It wasn't just the chakra all around us, but also far more, which included all kinds of traps and warning systems, including dormant puppets hidden inside the walls and ground.

"So, it's finally time for a fight?" he asked, not doubting my words at all.

"I hope we can avoid that until we gather more information. From what I know, the clan that lived up here went through a civil war not long ago, leaving it almost wiped out," I explained.

"Then why are you still so cautious?" he asked.

"Because before this civil war, this clan would have been far more powerful than even the entirety of Konoha added together. So even if it is down on its last legs, it still isn't something to be underestimated," I explained.

That made the old man hesitate. I could see the gears turning in his mind. He was a greedy bastard, but not a fool. He understood the risks.

"So, what's the plan?" he finally asked, ready to listen.

"The clan, the Ōtsutsuki clan, is a distant relative of the Hyūga clan, or rather, the Hyūga clan is itself a branch of the Ōtsutsuki clan. So, if the one who comes to visit is a Hyūga, they might not start with open hostilities," I said, reaching up to remove my blindfold.

For the second time in years, I fully revealed my eyes before others. The last time was when Pain used force to make it fall off. This was the first time I revealed them willingly.

"The Hyūga clan is a branch clan?" he asked, shocked at the information. "That's..." He didn't know what to say.

"Ironic?" I added. "Indeed, the clan which is split into two branches is merely a branch itself, but just because they are connected to the Hyūga clan, one shouldn't underestimate them. After all, both the Hyūga and Kaguya clans come from the Ōtsutsuki."

I could see Kakuzu's eyes widen at my words.

"So, you aren't a member of the Kaguya clan after all; you are a member of this Ōtsutsuki!" he exclaimed, having figured out the truth.

"Well, that explains why you know so much about them, and why you are so much stronger than anyone from either the Kaguya or Hyūga clans," he thought out loud, as the final piece of the puzzle clicked into place. It explained everything: my multiple Kekkei Genkai, my strange abilities, my vast knowledge, my unnatural strength. It all made sense now.

"The clan's civil war, it was between the main family and the branch family?" he asked, a thoughtful look on his face.

I gave a slight nod. "Indeed, but not because of hatred like the Hyūga, but because of their goals. The main family wanted to stay and live peacefully here, continuing their duty, while the branch family wanted to return to Earth and conquer it."

"Sounds like the Uchiha," Kakuzu noted, a hint of contempt in his tone. He had fought a few Uchiha in his time, and he had a good idea about their nature.

"In a way, it is, but the Ōtsutsuki had the ability to do it, though rather than conquer, it would maybe be more accurate to say they wanted to wipe out everyone, and then take it for themselves," I clarified.

"Ha, now that does sound just as crazy as the Uchiha. Well, Uchiha and Kaguya, with some Hyūga added together. What an insane clan," he said, as he started to rub the back of his neck, thinking about what to do.

It seemed he was starting to believe that this mission wouldn't be nearly as easy as he had thought. He might be strong, but fighting a clan of superpowered beings was a different story.

"So what's the plan, princess?" he finally asked, once more confident that I knew what I was doing. "Are we going to talk our way in, or are we going to fight our way in?"

"Neither," I said, a small, confident smile on my face. "We are going to walk in."

Before he could ask what I meant, I started to walk forward, my steps slow and deliberate.

"Be ready for the worst. We don't know the current situation, but the winning side, the branch family, should be weak right now, so this is our best chance. In fact, in a decade or so, I suspect they will attack the world in full to wipe out the Elemental Nations. So if anything, we are dealing with a threat before it becomes one."

"If they are that dangerous, why not report it to Pain? Surely he could deal with them?" Kakuzu asked.

"He could, but that would also mean we can't take what we want. You want their money, and I want a treasure that belonged to the main family," I told him, not lying to him.

Because the main family should have the Tenseigan, or at least, they used to. But it was still here, still waiting for me to claim.

I might not know exactly who had it or what happened to it during the war, but I was sure it wouldn't be hard to find. As long as I could find at least Toneri, I should be able to find my prize.

He seemed to be thinking about my words, no doubt weighing the risks against the potential rewards. And while he was a greedy bastard, he wasn't a fool. He knew that fighting a clan of superpowered beings was a risky proposition, even for him.

But then again, the potential rewards were too great to pass up. The treasure I was after, the money he could loot... it was a chance of a lifetime.

"Alright," he finally said, his tone resolute. "I'm in. But if we get into a fight, I'm taking everything of value I can get my hands on."

"Like you wouldn't take everything you can even if we don't get in a fight," I said, a small, knowing smile on my face. "Now, let's go."

We continued down the passage, the silence broken only by our footsteps. The air grew colder, the light from the walls dimmer. And then, we saw it.

The passage opened up into a vast cavern, so large that its ceiling was lost in the darkness. In the center of the cavern was a massive, floating castle, its towers and spires reaching up toward the roof, its walls glowing with a soft, silvery light.

But the castle was in ruins. Its walls were crumbling, its towers broken, its gates hanging from their hinges. A silent testament to the fury of the civil war that had torn this clan apart.

And all around the castle were more ruins. Once, a mighty city had sat here, filled with countless members of Hamura's Ōtsutsuki clan.

Kakuzu watched it all, though mostly he focused on the castle, because even in its current state, it was worlds beyond even the Fire Daimyō's estate. "Well, color me impressed. You are indeed the princess of a rich family," he stated as he looked at the ruins. Even ruined, the wealth that once must have been here was beyond comprehension.

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