Sandstorm of Souls

"Gramercy, mine dearest cousin! 'Tis truly honorable to hast thee by mine side." Saimei told Chiyoko with affection as she phased through the portal into the warm winds of the high noon desert roads, "But I'm curious, wherefore didst thou leave a chakra version of thyself behind in the palace?"

Listening to Saimei's question, Chiyoko responded accordingly. "It will take care of things in another place, Saimei." she verbally said before communicating with her cousin telepathically. "Saimei, since identifying him from Earth's Exosphere, I can sense him approaching now." She said, activating her Byakugan and clearly seeing the mans face, gaining info on him.

"My Empress, I can summon troops at your first command." Teronia said as he made his away to Saimei's side.

"Mine judgment betokens me such an action won't be behoveful. I shall personally take care of Uncle Dearest." Saimei replied, turning her head from Teronia and into the skies.

"So be it, My Fair Lady. But I will assist you in anyway I see most beneficial to our cause." Teronia replied once more.

"Fair enough." Saimei replied while still scanning the skies, this time activating her Byakugan.

The rays of the sun beamed down upon the heated desert. Bullets of sweat leaked for the pores of Seika, the strong winds howled in the ear. He glanced back to check on the strangers behind him. Though they seeming to be holding out well despite being in the godforsaken desert for hours now. Seika himself seemed to be fine, but he didn't know how long the others would last. Merely a few miles from there destination, the view of the Wind Village was visible for all to see. Suddenly, Seika's attention was grasped by his inner conscious, informing him of what would lie ahead. And as he neared the trio, he began to wonder who they were..

Saimei analyzed the newcomer's chakra with her dōjutsu, confirming this man indeed possessed a great deal of Hagoromo's chakra, as well as being a direct descendant of the Sage's son and Saimei's cousin, Indra, "I can see wherefore Uncle chose thy body to house his own essence, but I am tempted to say ye art not Uncle Hagoromo." Saimei immediately questioned the man.

Chiyoko looked on as the man approached nearer. "Saimei, I hope you have a plan..." she thought, not wanting to resort to her own actions to do the task at hand, but deciding to take action anyway if needed. Looking at him, she could see her uncles chakra radiating off of the young man, appearing the same as it did centuries ago. Ascending into the air slowly, Chiyoko neared the man from a great distance.

Uhh." The man started, looking about the terrain before, glancing back at the young looking woman. The words that stuck out mostly were "Uncle Hagoromo". Seika halted the groups movement as he advanced alone, stopping several meters from where she stood. Falling into his subconscious mind, Seika stood before his spiritual master. "You mind helping me with this?" He joked, looking to the elder for answers.

"These two women before you are the daughters of my siblings, Hamura and Chiyo."

"Your nieces.." Seika concluded, looking over to the taller one then at the man that stood beside Saimei. Returning his attention back to Saimei, Seika offered a simple greeting. "Hello, I am Uchiha Seika. And I take it that you're the niece of Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki?"

"Thou art correct. I am Ōtsutsuki Saimei. Lastborn of Ōtsutsuki Hamura. I wish to speak with the man currently within thee." Saimei replied, her expression neutral while she contacted Chiyoko telepathically, "Chiyoko-chan, pray hold on. Thither is nay need fer violence as of yet."

Chiyoko acknowledged her cousins request and stopped her ascent before quickly descending down to her side, stopping just above the ground.

The mam bore a emotionless facial expression, as the second niece descended to the ground. He couldn't shake his feeling of uneasiness about the unfolding predicament. It all seem to be so set up. Two of the Legendary Sage's kin out in the middle of the Wind country, basically awaiting for his arrival. If in they seemed harmless, Seika had been in many encounters where he had been backstabbed at a single moment's notice. From such traumatic experiences, he learn to be on guard even when it's not necessary.

"I don't see why not." Seika finally answered not moving from where he stood. Closing his eyes. Seika began to focus his potent energy to his eyes, activating his infamous dōjutsu. And with its activation, Seika's pupil dilated and began to spawn ripples from the center which traveled to the corners of his eyes. And in the two most inner rings, six tomoe aligned perfectly radiating a bright teal hue. In order to grant her request, Seika would have establish even the slightest of eye contact; bringing her with him into the depths of his mind.

Shortly after establishing eye-contact with Seika, Saimei closes her eyes and enters his subconscious; a black void with an unremarkable "floor" beneath their feet. Ahead of her were Seika, who stood beside the Sage himself, who had his back turned towards Saimei, "...Uncle!" Saimei said, a deep nostalgia affected Saimei, clearly visible on her facial expression and wide eyes.

The last time Saimei saw her Uncle alive was when she was but a child. Her father and the Sage were close, as he used to visit her and her siblings often, and not even his funeral did she attend due to her later role in the Western Empire. All these memories came flushing back to the young Ōtsutsuki, almost causing tears to well up in her eyes, which she managed to hold back for now.

"Saimei. Thou hath barely aged a day since thou had made a mark upon thy eyes. What doth brings thou upon this vast mind scape?" Hagoromo asks. His knowledge of his surroundings is more than apparent, his realizations that he has been residing within the confounds of Seika's mind. But seeing Saimei's visage was like looking into the past to him, how he spent much time with the children his brother had bore. "Prithee tell thy. How hath thou been since that fateful day, thy child?" Hagoromo asks, the orbs on his back floating peacefully as he sits there, still and at ease with a shakujō gripped in his hands.

Seeing Seika look at the two, as well as his eyes transfiguring themselves as they activated, Chiyoko knew Saimei was elsewhere. Deciding to traverse the boundaries of space-time itself, Chiroko projected an astra into the pure land, instantly being within her cherished uncles presense, while Chiyoko herself remained in the world of the living. Communicating with her uncle through her astra remotely, her uncle wouldn't be able to see her, be he would be able to sense her within the area. Able to sense and communicate with Saimei telepathically, she could hone in to her uncles spirit to hear Seika, should he speak. "Dear Uncle Hagoromo, its been exactly 2 weeks, 4 days, 5 hours and 27 minutes since I last spoke with you. How have you been?" Chiyoko asked the man she learned the art of Ninshu from with a smile.

"Uncle Dearest, 'tis an immeasurable honor to see thee once again!" Saimei bowed with great respect before her Uncle, "If I don't misunderstand thy words, then thou wilt already wot wherefore I requested an audience with thee."

"Chiyoko. Thou hath learned much in the ways of Ninshu 'Tis without doubt that thou art listening to the conversation thy and Saimei are currently undergoing." Turning around to face Saimei, his eyes project a tone of sincerity, a smile upon his aged face. "There is much to speak about, thy am sure. Thy have been privy to the events transpiring amongst the world. But thy have no vision to see it other than through the eyes of thy host. Regardless, we must make haste with these conversations. Thy have many fears that there wilt be events most dark. Thy hath felt the presence of an unforgettable evil, and thy am sure thou hath as well." The sincerity on Hagoromo's face turns to a more serious demeanor as he looks upon the mind scape. Delving into Seika's memories, he projects what Seika has seen before, the places the Zetsu have begun to invade. "This threat is spreading at an unsurpassable rate. It willn't be long before they begin to control the entire world, thy fear. Thy fears they will bring about untold destruction upon the world, like they hath once before."

Seika stood aside Hagoromo as he and Saimei greeted one each other, his face still bearing the look on nonextant emotion. Hearing the other's voice startled him slightly as he wondered how'd she had been able to listen in on the conversation despite not being within Seika's mind itself. Something that brought even more uneasiness onto his shoulders. Though he had been listening as the two chattered, Seika would find himself lost in their words; not being able to fully process what they were saying. My goodness.... He thought to himself as Hagoromo explained the current state the world would be falling towards.

Chiyoko looked on as the conversation transpired. She patiently waited for a decision to be made regarding the situation.

"Mine dear General Teronia hath already counseled me on this matter, all the reason wherefore I require Grandmother's chakra. I will cleanse this world of conflict and those vile shinobi that defile the chakra thou so generously bequeathed to them! Pray, understand mine cause, Uncle Dearest!" Saimei pleaded with the Sage, still bowed before him.

"Thou wish to cleanse the world... by burning it. This is not what we were raised for. The intentions of thy mother were dark and cold, 'tis why thy and thy brother sealed her all those years ago. To possess her power would be to repeat history. Thy would be sealed like thy mother was. Failure to learn from history dooms thouself to repeat it. Thy predicted the events that would transpire upon passing thy teachings of Ninshuu. 'Tis a turn of events that fate itself predicted. The day thy try to attempt to destroy the world will be thou undoing, just as it was for thy mother." Hagoromo was always privy to Saimei's intentions, having watched her with a careful eye more than she realized. "Thy am aware that thou hath absorbed the souls of thou brothers in thou pursuit for power. Thou actions are slowly mirroring Kaguya's more and more. Peace by force is responded in kind by force. Thy am afraid thy cannot help thou, for thy hath no intentions of releasing thy mother once again." Looking upon her face with great disappointment, he turns his back to her once again, awaiting her retort.

Taking in her grandfathers answer loud and clear, Chiyoko's expression turned to one of dismay.

In Kaguya's Dimension... Chiyoko's clones arrived in its personal dimension before meditating on the memories of Kaguya. sorting through the vast memories Upon taking a more in-depth analysis within her very own obtained memories, the clone identified two now  clan members, who perished in  nearly. These shinobi were stated to have been more powerful than Kaguya herself due to their battle prowess. With their resurrection in mind, they would prove valuable assets in the upcoming battle against Black Zetsu, and even Kaguya herself, should she be revived, as well as the Shinobi Union.

In the Main World, Almost 5 Miles from Sunagakure... Chiyoko made up her mind in that instant. Ceasing her astra from her uncles location, it flew off into the pure land, as if in search of something, though her Hagoromo, Seika, nor Saimei would know this. With her eyes locked on Seika, Chiyoko prepared herself as the astra in the pure land secured exactly what she needed to bring her plans into fruition.

Despite barely being capable of understanding what she was saying, Seika could fully read Saimei's intentions. Not coming as much as a surprise to the man. He chuckled lightly, taking minor steps toward the young empress staring into her eyes. "I must say.. I'm not very surprised at all. You Ōtsutsuki all seem to want to rid this world of war and cease humans from weaponizing chakra by weaponizing it and using to oppress and establish what you claim as " order"or "peace".. Wanting to obtain power similar to your grandmother, as Old man Sage said; it mirrors her. To Kaguya, her intentions were the same as yours. To end war and human conflict. She did so singlehandedly. With her power, essentially your want to do the same. Though your intentions may be pure, your way of going about them are not. If you truly want to end this war, then join the Shinobi Union. And together we can finally get rid of Kaguya and Zetsu for good. However, if you deny then there is nothing more we can discuss. You've received your uncle's answer and you've received mine. What will you choose to do?"

"Thou misunderstand me! I doth not wish fer oppressing humans! What Grandmother Dearest did was misguided, but nay longer will the same misprision be commited. I wish to recreate history, one whence the only repeating aspect, is dateless, everlasting peace!" Saimei pleaded once more, "Pray, Uncle! Entrust thy Ninshū and Six Paths to me, lest mine brothers' sacrifice be fer naught!" Saimei fell to her knees on the verge of tears, her hands clasped together under her chin and a frightening hopeless stare that fell upon Saimei's visage as she looked towards the Sage of Six Paths, apparently ignoring Seika.

"It is obvious thou wilst not take no for an answer. Very well. But thou must prove thouself to thy. Prove that thou can use thy power. Seika. Thy want thou to test Saimei's power. See if she is worth of obtaining thy power. I want her to prove thy right, that her deeds will only bring darkness upon this world once again." With a sigh, Hagoromo looks towards Saimei once again before turning his vision away once more.

Seeing as the woman completely ignored his statement, Seika also sighed, containing slight frustration as he unfolding his arms. His white eyes looked over to the woman before he snuck a glance at the Sage beside him. "Whatever you say. Even though I don't agree with this. I haven't questioned any of your decisions thus far.. I'll continue to stand by your choice. But you and I both know how this is going to end." And with their minds made up, Seika and Saimei returned to the physical world. In all of this, the group of Amegakure Ninja wished in confusion at the two groups were seeming in a staring contest.

Saimei opens her slightly teary eyes and stares at Seika for a moment, "If that is how thou wish it, Uncle Dearest. I will showcase thee mine resolve!" By placing her hand in front of her with the palm up, she suddenly materialized Hamura's own shakujō, clenching her fist around the middle shortly after and preparing herself for battle, "We shouldst end this yarely, shinobi. If thou despises violence, thither be nay need fer moore words."

"M'lady...!" Teronia called from behind.

"Teronia, Chiyoko, I beg of thee, doth not interfere with mine labor! But I only ask this, doeth not let anyone else interfere in return!" Saimei spoke with determination, her Byakugan activating at the end of her sentence.

"Very well, My Empress! Your wish is my command!" Teronia bowed courteously before jumping inhumanely high and landing heavily between Seika and the Ame-nin group. He slammed his hand on the floor and summoned several undead soldiers to his side, "If any of you wish to interfere with Her Holiness, you'll have to go through me first!"

Much to her displeasure, Chiyoko put aside her wants and acknowledged her cousins request, jumping back several hundred feet to observe the battle.