Chapter 8 "The First Real Step"
Sasuke doesn't go with them yet — but he doesn't fight either.
He disappears into the shadows again… but not to Orochimaru.
He's thinking. Processing. Starting to change.
Meanwhile, Galen begins preparing Naruto, Tsunade, and the clan heads for the next big threat:
The Akatsuki.
Obito.
And the coming Fourth Shinobi World War.
But behind it all… something darker stirs.
Galen sees glimpses of another force.
Something older than chakra.
Something that knows him by name.
Location: Meditation Chamber – Deep in Mount Myōboku
Night. The stars shimmer beyond the sacred pool of still water.
Galen sat in perfect stillness.
Frogs whispered ancient songs in the background. The Force swirled around him — light and shadow, memory and possibility.
He had seen the vision. The war. The beasts. The resurrection of a being older than all Shinobi history.
Kaguya.
And now… he reached for her but not with hands With the Force.
He let go of his form. Let his soul drift into the astral winds that surrounded the world of chakra. The same place where Sage of Six Paths had once touched minds across time.
And in that place… he found her.
Kaguya Ōtsutsuki stood alone in a void of stars and ice.
Her eyes, pale as snow, narrowed the moment she sensed him.
"You… are not of this world," she said.
"I'm not," Galen replied, stepping across nothingness, cloak flowing as if moved by unseen tides. "But I see you."
She looked down at him with disdain. "You cannot understand what I am."
"You're not a goddess," Galen said, calmly. "You're afraid."
Her eyes flared. "Silence."
"You were powerful," he continued. "But you betrayed your clan. You consumed the fruit to gain control. You created chakra to unite… and then to dominate. And now…"
He raised his hand.
And the Force showed her.
[Force Vision: The Truth of Kaguya]
She saw the Ōtsutsuki clan.
Thousands of them. Cold, efficient. Eyes like hers. Power beyond anything this world knew.
She saw herself — a single daughter — chosen to prepare a planet for harvest, then consumed by love, then by fear, then by power.
And then… sealed. Alone. Forgotten.
And now? Even if she returned?
The clan would not take her back.
They would erase her.
Because she is weak. Because she felt. Because she chose to protect what she once meant to harvest.
"You're not a queen," Galen said. "You're a ghost."
[Back in the Void]
Kaguya fell to her knees, her expression breaking for the first time in millennia.
"No…"
"You don't have to return to them," Galen said, stepping closer. "You can choose something else."
Her voice shook. "There's… nothing else."
"There is," he said. "The Force. The balance you once craved. It flows through this world too — not chakra. Something deeper. I can feel it in Naruto. In Hinata. In the children who still believe in peace."
"You think peace can survive the Ōtsutsuki?" she asked bitterly.
"No," Galen said. "But I think you can help destroy them."
Kaguya looked up slowly, uncertain. Suspicious. But… listening.
Galen stood beside her, eyes closed, his hand glowing faintly with Force light. He had shown her everything — the truth, the future, the loneliness of godhood. And still, she listened.
She had cried.
Not for herself.
But for the sons she lost. The love she broke.
"I want to change," she whispered. "I want to walk the path you do… but I don't know how."
"I know," Galen said gently. "You were built to carry power. Now, you have to let it go."
Kaguya lowered her head. "But… how do I exist without it?"
The air shimmered.
And suddenly—
A warm light began to shine.
A presence. Ancient. Familiar. And full of calm.
Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki stepped forward — robes flowing, Rinnegan soft with sadness.
"Mother."
Kaguya's breath caught in her throat.
"I sealed you long ago," Hagoromo said. "But not because I hated you. Because I feared what you had become. What the power had done to you."
Kaguya's eyes trembled. "I was trying to stop the others… to protect this world."
"And now," Galen said, "she sees it. She chooses to change."
Hagoromo looked to Galen — and smiled.
"You are not from this realm. But you walk with the wisdom of one who understands balance. Thank you."
Then he turned back to his mother.
"There is a way to free you," Hagoromo said. "But there is a cost."
Kaguya looked up. "What is it?"
"You must release your chakra. All of it. The Tree. The bloodline. The divine abilities. You will become mortal."
The silence was heavy.
For a moment, her face faltered. Fear flickered.
"Without chakra… what am I?"
Galen stepped forward.
"Alive." he said. "Free. And still you."
Kaguya closed her eyes.
And suddenly — the Force responded.
A ripple of light passed through her. Not chakra. Not Sage energy.
Something older.
A vision.
[Force Vision: A New Kaguya]
She stood on a hill, barefoot, surrounded by grass.
Children laughed nearby — not warriors, not soldiers.
Her white robes were simple. Her eyes soft. Her hair braided loosely by a child — a descendant.
She held no chakra.
But they came to her for wisdom. For guidance.
Because she understood now what it meant to protect without control.
And for the first time… she smiled.
"I don't need it," she whispered.
She looked to Galen.
"I don't need power anymore."
Galen nodded. "Then let go."
Hagoromo raised both hands.
His Rinnegan flared, the moon above glowing bright.
Galen raised his hand beside him — the Force coalescing, merging with Hagoromo's light.
And Kaguya released it all of it.
The chakra tree crumbled. The godlike aura faded. Her eyes lost their Byakugan glow. Her bones felt lighter.
She was small. Human.
And free.