Chapter 60: The Weight of Legacy

Conversations in the Dark

The underground chamber was steeped in silence, its air thick with unspoken words. Shadows flickered against the stone walls, cast by the dim glow of a single candle that stood between Ryūsei and the last survivor of the Moon's Branch Family—a woman who had once served the Main Family he had lost.

His golden-tinged Byakugan glowed faintly in the darkness as he studied her. His voice, when he finally spoke, was calm—but edged with something sharp, something cold.

"Why should I spare you, when you killed my partner?"

The woman did not tremble under his gaze.

Instead, she lowered her head slightly, her expression unreadable.

"…Because vengeance is not justice," she said quietly.

Ryūsei's gaze sharpened. "You speak as if your hands are clean."

The woman inhaled softly, as if steeling herself. "They are not."

Her voice carried no excuses, no justifications. Only the raw truth.

"We did what we thought was right. We were taught that the Main Family ruled with arrogance, that we—the Branch—were meant to be their shadows, their protectors. But over time, that purpose was twisted. We came to believe we were their captors instead."

She paused, her fingers tightening around the fabric of her robes.

"The war consumed us. It did not matter who was right anymore… only that we did not lose."

Ryūsei remained silent, his expression unreadable.

Then, the woman looked up, her gaze finally meeting his.

"I do not ask for forgiveness. Nor do I expect mercy." Her voice was steady. "But if you still carry the will of the Main Family… if you still seek to rebuild what was lost—then you need us. You need Toneri. And he… he needs you."

A tense silence followed.

The candle between them flickered, its small flame dancing in the dark.

For a long moment, Ryūsei did not move.

Then, finally, he exhaled.

"Prepare yourself," he said, rising to his feet. "We leave for the Moon tonight."

Return to the Moon

The journey was swift.

Beneath the cover of night, Ryūsei led the small group through the skies, his chakra guiding them toward the celestial ruins of the once-great Moon Clan.

The path was familiar to him—imprinted in his blood, in the memories that had surfaced upon awakening his true nature.

Yet, when they finally landed upon the Moon's surface, an unsettling malice greeted them.

The air was cold.

The grand palaces of the Ōtsutsuki stood in eerie silence, their once-proud architecture cracked and broken. The war had left its scars, and time had done little to heal them.

Ryūsei's eyes narrowed as he stepped forward. He could feel it.

The remnants of battle. The lingering echoes of chakra—of power that once ruled the heavens, now reduced to dust.

At the heart of it all, within a collapsing temple, a single presence remained.

Toneri's father.

The last living warrior of the Branch Family.

As they approached the ruined entrance, the woman beside Ryūsei hesitated, her breath catching in her throat.

"…He's still alive."

Ryūsei didn't slow his pace.

"Not for long."

The doors creaked as they stepped inside, revealing the final guardian of a lost civilization.

Seated upon a fractured throne, his robes stained with blood, Toneri's father opened his eyes.

And when they met Ryūsei's, they burned with hatred.

The Throne of the Fallen

A rasping chuckle escaped the old man's lips, low and mocking.

"So… the last of the Main Family finally returns."

His voice dripped with venom, his once-proud posture straightening despite the blood seeping from his wounds. His gaze did not carry the weariness of a dying man—only a twisted satisfaction.

"You are too late, child." His smirk widened. "This throne no longer belongs to your kind."

Ryūsei took a single step forward, the air shifting as he did.

The pressure in the room changed.

Something heavy descended upon the chamber.

The woman's breath hitched as she felt it—a crushing presence unlike any other, radiating from Ryūsei like the weight of the heavens themselves.

Even the candle between them flickered violently, its flame wavering under the unseen force.

The old man's expression faltered for the first time.

"Your arrogance," Ryūsei said quietly, "is amusing."

His Byakugan shimmered, a golden glow overtaking the pale silver.

Before the old man could react, his mind was no longer his own.

The walls of the temple seemed to melt away. Reality itself blurred at the edges. And in an instant, he was no longer seated upon the throne.

Instead—he stood on the cold stone floor, staring up at Ryūsei.

The boy had taken his place.

Toneri's father staggered, his breath coming in short gasps. He could still feel the throne beneath him, yet… he was no longer sitting.

Panic flashed through his eyes. "W-what did you—?"

And then, the pressure doubled.

His knees buckled.

Something ancient in the blood of the Moon Ōtsutsuki recognized it—the authority, the right to rule.

The next moment, he knelt.

Not by choice.

Not by injury.

But by force.

A force that demanded obedience.

Ryūsei looked down at him, his gaze cold, his voice absolute.

"You do not deserve to sit on my father's throne."

The words resounded in the empty chamber, carrying the weight of a truth etched into bloodlines, into history itself.

The old man trembled, his body betraying him as he struggled to rise, to fight back.

But he could not.

He could never.

Ryūsei leaned forward slightly, his golden Byakugan boring into him.

"Tell me," he murmured, his tone eerily calm. "Did it feel good? Betraying your gods? Killing your kin? Do you finally understand… what you've lost?"

The man gritted his teeth, fury and humiliation twisting his features.

"…You are a child," he spat. "A relic of a dead family. You will never—"

Ryūsei's chakra flared.

The ground beneath them cracked.

Toneri's father gasped, the sheer weight of the energy pressing down upon his very soul.

Ryūsei's voice was softer this time.

But it was no less lethal.

"Speak again, and I will ensure the Branch Family ends with you."

The old man fell silent.

For the first time… his hatred was replaced by fear.

Ryūsei exhaled, the immense pressure slowly easing, allowing the man to breathe again.

Then, he turned his gaze to the maid, who stood frozen by the doorway—watching everything, her eyes wide.

Without looking at the kneeling man before him, Ryūsei spoke once more.

"Bring me the child," he ordered. "Now."

A heavy silence followed.

Then, slowly, she nodded.

And with that, the fate of Toneri Ōtsutsuki was sealed.

The future of the Moon Clan had begun its shift.

To Be Continued…