As a transmigrator, Izanami existed on a narrative level far above anyone else on this planet.
After a thousand years, most people believed that the Sage of Six Paths and ninshū were nothing more than myths and legends.
But Izanami knew they were real.
He knew that the Sage of Six Paths had both a mother and a younger brother.
After the two brothers sealed their mother, the Sage of Six Paths became the Ten-Tails' jinchūriki and set out on a long journey of atonement.
Ōtsutsuki Hamura, by contrast, married and took concubines, expanding his lineage through reproduction.
When the Sage of Six Paths relinquished his status as the Ten-Tails' jinchūriki, he placed the Gedo Statue on the moon.
To guard it, Ōtsutsuki Hamura led part of the Ōtsutsuki clan to relocate there.
The branch of the clan that remained on Earth gradually evolved into the Hyuga clan over the course of a millennium.
Just as the Sage of Six Paths possessed the ultimate dōjutsu—the Rinnegan—his two sons, once their opposing powers were unified, also had the potential to awaken it.
Ōtsutsuki Hamura likewise possessed an ultimate dōjutsu: the Tenseigan, a power that embodied both destruction and creation.
And his descendants, provided they met conditions similar to "polarity unification," also had the potential to awaken the Tenseigan.
Moreover, unlike the near-impossible conditions required to obtain the Rinnegan, there existed a secret method to forcibly fuse a large number of Byakugan into a Tenseigan.
It was precisely because of this method that the Ōtsutsuki clan on the moon was annihilated.
At present, only one survivor should remain there.
Ōtsutsuki Toneri.
When Izanami was three years old, inspiration struck him. He temporarily abandoned the idea of copying the talent traits of Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke—because he thought of Ōtsutsuki Toneri.
As the final descendant of the moon's Ōtsutsuki branch family, Toneri possessed a pure Ōtsutsuki bloodline, with a degree of ancestral return comparable to Ōtsutsuki Asura and Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo themselves.
This purity granted him the talent of a Sage's Body.
Uchiha Madara, even after implanting Senju Hashirama's cells, only awakened the Rinnegan at the very end of his life.
Ōtsutsuki Toneri, however, needed only a few days for his Byakugan to evolve into the Tenseigan.
The moment he awakened it, he could enter Tenseigan Chakra Mode, condense Truth-Seeking Orbs, and unleash techniques like the Silver Wheel Reincarnation Explosion and the Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion—attacks powerful enough to cleave the moon in half.
His talent and chakra were terrifying, even more exaggerated than those of Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke.
If he descended from the moon and lived on Earth, he would be the ultimate cheat.
If he also brought down the medium required to operate the Giant Tenseigan, then unless Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama were revived, or the Sage of Six Paths personally intervened, the entire ninja world would fall under his control.
If he were just a bit more ruthless—if he preemptively seized Hinata's or Hanabi's Byakugan—
Then there would be no Shippuden.
Only The Legend of Toneri.
Unfortunately, Ōtsutsuki Toneri was a classic chūnibyō shut-in.
Unless he matured, he would never descend from the moon until he was convinced the ninja world was truly beyond salvation.
But Izanami knew something else.
Toneri had once visited Earth—and Konoha—during his childhood, before his father's death.
Using the Giant Tenseigan as a medium, he secretly observed Hinata once.
He fell in love with her at first sight.
Yet he did not disturb her life, instead planning to descend with an ancient vow and propose once he had matured.
The result?
His so-called "fiancée" already had someone she liked.
His feelings went unreturned.
Izanami had no particular opinion about this foolish chūnibyō recluse.
Based on his deductions, the year Toneri came should have been when Hinata was three years old.
After her third birthday, Hizashi's death in place of his brother caused subtle changes in Hinata's standing within the clan.
Her later personality only further disappointed Hyuga Hiashi in his eldest daughter.
Hinata's grandest birthday celebration was held when she was three.
So Izanami chose to gamble.
He used his one and only copy opportunity on Ōtsutsuki Toneri.
There would be countless chances to obtain the talent traits of Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke.
But Toneri's talent trait was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
If he missed it, he would have to wait until two years after the end of Shippuden.
The information on the light screen now proved that Izanami's gamble had paid off.
He hadn't merely loitered around the Hyuga clan on Hinata's third birthday.
He had wandered aimlessly throughout that entire year.
Appearances could be deceiving.
Talent traits could not.
As long as a target wasn't a puppet or completely invisible, no matter how Ōtsutsuki Toneri and his father disguised themselves, Izanami could see the bubbles surrounding them.
Heaven favored those who helped themselves.
Through patience, caution, and relentless effort, Izanami finally spotted the blind Ōtsutsuki Toneri and his father in the crowd on Hinata's third birthday—
The very same day the Kumogakure envoy delegation arrived in Konoha.
It had to be said—the Kumogakure envoys were incredibly lucky.
If that father and son pair had stayed until nightfall, and if they had dared to kidnap Hinata, they would have been completely annihilated.
Instead, they merely used the Giant Tenseigan's medium to take a distant look at Hinata, who was celebrating her birthday inside the clan compound rather than attending the public festivities.
Then they left Konoha.
Ōtsutsuki Toneri, born without eyes, did not possess the Byakugan Bloodline Limit talent trait.
Nor did he have any low-level traits at all.
There was only a single, massive red bubble—
Ōtsutsuki Bloodline.
Izanami had seen this same trait on members of the Hyuga clan, but its color was entirely different.
Their Ōtsutsuki Bloodline traits were at most blue.
Even Toneri's father only had a purple-tier Ōtsutsuki Bloodline—not even gold.
Only Toneri's surpassed gold, reaching the highest known tier:
Red.
Izanami didn't hesitate for even a moment.
He copied it directly.
Over the next three years, Izanami began to defy fate itself.
After completing his first chakra extraction, his original talent trait—Chunin Aptitude (Green)—upgraded to Super Kage Aptitude (Gold).
As the name implied, as long as he didn't die young and continued to grow, he was destined to become an existence on the level of Senju Hashirama or Uchiha Madara.
If he later transplanted Hinata's or Hanabi's Byakugan and condensed Truth-Seeking Orbs, he would become a Six Paths–level being.
A few months later, Izanami unlocked a new talent trait:
All-Element Constitution (Purple).
It turned out that Izanami possessed an all-element affinity, just like Senju Tobirama, Hiruzen Sarutobi, Orochimaru, and Kakashi Hatake.
At the age of five, he unlocked yet another trait.
That one gave him quite a scare.
Because—
He awakened the Byakugan.
Yes.
He awakened the Byakugan—not as permanently transformed eyes.
Under the influence of the Ōtsutsuki bloodline, Izanami's eyes remained normal most of the time, just like Uzumaki Himawari's.
Only when he activated the Byakugan did veins bulge at his temples and his pupils turn white.
This discovery finally let Izanami breathe a sigh of relief.
Otherwise, he might have been forced to wear sunglasses at all times—or, like Kakashi Hatake disguised as a reporter in the original story, buy colored contact lenses just to pass as normal.