The sun rose over the imperial palace, bathing the towering spires in warm morning light. Within the throne room, Emperor Yhwach sat gazing out the towering windows as his twin sons, Hagoromo and Hamura, knelt before him.
"My sons," Yhwach said, "Today, you begin the next phase of your training. For too long, your skills have gone untested. No longer. You will join the imperial army on the northern border. There, you will face the tribes who resist our rule."
Hamura's eyes lit up with cool delight, while Hagoromo shifted uneasily. Yhwach continued, "Prove yourselves, and earn your rightful places as princes of this realm."
The boys bowed deeply, then took their leave. As soon as they were out of earshot, Hamura said, "Finally, a chance for glory. Those savages will cower when they feel our power."
Hagoromo frowned, replying, "Must we always resort to violence, brother? Surely there are peaceful ways to bring unity."
Hamura scoffed. "Your naive ideals blind you to reality. Power is the only path to order and civilization. Either they submit or die."
They parted ways to ready themselves for the journey ahead. Hagoromo found his mother, Kaguya, gazing solemnly out at the god tree.
"Mother, I fear this campaign will only breed more conflict," Hagoromo said. "Hamura thirsts for battle and domination. I wish to find common ground."
Kaguya placed a hand on his shoulder. "Seek your own path, my son. Your compassion could unite where only divisions lay before."
Hagoromo nodded, heartened by her words.
At the barracks, Hamura strode with purpose, running through sword forms, anxious to test his skills against worthy foes. A scout approached, kneeled, and said, "My prince, the tribes have struck first, ransacking villages along the border." Hamura's eyes narrowed. "Ready the men," he commanded. "We march at dawn."
As the imperial army marched north, Yhwach retreated into his inner sanctum. Kneeling, he sent his consciousness soaring through time and space. Surveying the tangled web of destiny, he saw the threats lurking among the stars—powerful Otsutsuki clan members, drawn by the divine tree's fruit.
Yhwach's goals required power. He had saturated the world with reishi by culling resistance and turning the dead into spirit particles. But the Otsutsuki posed a far greater threat. He needed the strength of a god.
Kaguya had devised a ritual for this purpose. She would allow herself to be consumed by the ten-tails. Reborn through the god tree, she would bear fruit granting Yhwach the power he desired. They needed only a karma vessel to contain her essence.
Yhwach searched myriad futures until he found the orphan girl, Ada. She would serve as Kaguya's vessel until the time of her resurrection.
The day came, and Yhwach oversaw the solemn ritual. Kaguya smiled sadly at her sons before the ten-tails swallowed her whole. Her karma was sealed within the weeping Ada, housing the goddess' soul.
It was a painful blow, losing their mother. But Yhwach drove his sons relentlessly forward in their training, keeping them preoccupied as decades passed and the god tree grew ripe.
When the fated day arrived, Yhwach consumed the fruit wholly. The fruit's mystical energy suffused Yhwach, eliciting a dramatic transformation. His youthful face became an imposing mask, with strange black Ootsutsuki markings spreading across his black cloak in intricate patterns as it turned white. Horns erupted from his forehead backwards hiding within his hair, framing blazing crimson eyes containing eons of power. Sturdy black sclera contrasted against glowing red irises, reminiscent of a solar eclipse at totality. His hair faded to an ethereal silvery white and floated lightly around him, imbued with ancient chakra. Yhwach's body turned lean yet muscular, exuding great strength and speed. A long white cloak whispered at his feet. He moved with fluid grace, radiating an awe-inspiring presence. This ascended form contained raw power capable of reshaping worlds to match Yhwach's vision.
The time of ascension had come.
Troubling visions soon followed. Yhwach investigated a disturbance in the spirit realms and found an Otsutsuki scout had reached the moon. This vanguard for invasion had to be eliminated.
Yhwach projected his spirit form atop the lifeless lunar surface, his cloak billowing in the void. In the distance, a horned figure watched silently amidst the craters. This had to be the Otsutsuki invader.
"You trespass in my domain," Yhwach called out.
The cloaked figure replied in a gravelly voice, "I am Ukon, vanguard of the Otsutsuki. We have come to harvest worthy worlds like ripe fruit. This realm's time has come. Are you a descendant of the previous Ootsutsuki who came to this land?"
Yhwach's eyes narrowed. "Leave now or face oblivion."
Ukon sank into a fighting stance, his Byakugan pulsing. "Your defiance sentences you to death!" Purple chakra swirled around his palms as he charged.
Yhwach swiftly drew his sword to block the punishing strikes. Ukon's Gentle Fist pummeled his defenses, but Yhwach's spirit form regenerated any damage. He counted on Ukon's arrogance to defeat him.
"Is running all you can do?" Ukon taunted. He lifted rubble with crushing gravity before launching it.
Yhwach sliced through boulders and withstood the bombardment. When Ukon paused, he blasted back with explosive arrows of reishi. Ukon warped space to consume the attack then ripped open a void to banish Yhwach. But Yhwach resisted the suction and filled the void with his reiatsu until it collapsed. The landscape smoldered from their traded attacks.
Ukon panted, unused to such resistance. He charged again only for Yhwach to sidestep and impale his shoulder, forcing him to one knee. "Tell me, are their others coming?" Yhwach commanded.
"You will not get answers from me!" Ukon broke away and assumed a meditative stance, a final technique brewing. Sensing oblivion approaching, Yhwach drew on his deepest well of power. Dark clouds gathered as he prepared his technique. Ukon glared hatred and swung his arms to unleash erasure. A ferocious battle erupted, energy blasts pummeling the lifeless landscape. The Otsutsuki unleashed twisting dimensional portals, but Yhwach's immortality rendered him untouchable. At last, he obliterated the scout with a hugh blast. Yhwach's blast consumed all, purging this domain. Ukon disintegrated along with miles of lifeless rock. Yhwach sighed, knowing more scouts would come. His planet would not fall quietly.
Returning to his physical form, Yhwach received dire news - Hagoromo and Hamura were locked in combat within the capital, their ideological rivalry turned violent. Yhwach raced to the scene where the brothers clashed like forces of nature, decimating buildings and civilians alike.
"Enough!" Yhwach bellowed, freezing time around them with his new godly powers. "Your conflict threatens everything we've built," he thundered. "The Otsutsuki will soon arrive, and you bicker like children!"
Ashamed, Hagoromo and Hamura bowed deeply, both named by their mother. Yhwach had no such feelings or connections for the both of them. But sometimes he felt that urge to crush them and put them in their place. "Forgive us, father," they said in unison. Yhwach grimly acknowledged their apology and restored time's flow. This infighting had to end if they were to withstand what was coming.
Far above, on the moon's surface, cracks spread from the site of Yhwach's battle with the scout. Fissures split the land, spewing molten ore. The entire moon began to break apart...
Destruction rained down on the earth in a cataclysmic meteor shower, bringing tidal waves and earthquakes. Once it ended, the imperial city was in ruins. Yhwach gritted his teeth in fury - this disaster was now part of the timeline he must steer history through.
In the aftermath, Hamura provided order, coordinating relief efforts and reconstituting the army to maintain control in this chaos. Hagoromo helped the people, healing the injured and listening to their hardships.
Yhwach was proud of their leadership, coming together to rebuild despite their rancor. The disaster had tempered their rivalry, binding them against shared adversity.
In the aftermath of the cataclysmic meteor strike, the imperial capital lay in ruins. Hagoromo walked the debris-strewn streets, healing the injured and comforting the bereaved. His brother Hamura patrolled overhead, using his Susanoo to clear roads and redirect floodwaters.
Though opposites in temperament, their efforts unified the populace in recovery. None dared oppose the princes' authority. But whispers spread of rebellion brewing in the shadows.
As the capital rebuilt, Hamura and Hagoromo journeyed abroad to consolidate their father's domains. Hamura was stern but just, quashing dissent with overwhelming force. Hagoromo sought compromise and reconciliation where he could, but did not hesitate to fight when needed.
Between campaigns, they returned to the capital for political and martial training under Yhwach's stern tutelage. A decade passed, and order was firmly established across the realm. With peace came rumors of threats beyond the borders.
Hamura was troubled. "Must violence be our only recourse?" he asked Hagoromo one night. "Peace through force is no true peace at all."
Hagoromo replied, "Your naivety will be your undoing, brother. Our subjects respect only strength. The Pax Imperia brought prosperity, but the people chafe under its yoke."
"Then should we not lighten their burden?" Hamura responded.
Hagoromo shook his head. "They are children who must be led firmly. The strong must rule the weak for society to function."
Their philosophical rivalry deepened, but civil war was averted. For now, the empire was united against potential external foes. Patrols scoured the borders for signs of invasion.
Yhwach was concerned. Visions revealed that Otsutsuki threats lurked among the stars, but none walked the earth. Some other power opposed him.
The answer came at sunrise one foggy morning. A towering beast emerged from the mists, wrecking buildings with each earth-shaking step. It was a tailed beast, the eight-tails, rampaging towards the palace. Beast of immense chakra power created the day, Kaguya consume by the ten tails.
Its corrosive chakra cast the city in red haze. Archers lined the walls, raining arrows on the monster to no effect. Hamura and Hagoromo flew to intercept it, weaving hand signs in unison.
"Fire style: Majestic Destroyer Flame!" they shouted together, unleashing a conflagration hotter than the sun's core upon the tailed beast. It shrugged off the blow, swatting them aside like insects.
Hagoromo pulled water from the air to shield them as they recovered. "Its chakra is too dense," he said. "We must use senjutsu!" They tapped into nature energy, entering sage mode.
The beast charged another corrosive blast. Hamura and Hagoromo rocketed away, evading it narrowly. Vaulting overhead, they drove sage chakra-charged fists into the tailed beast's skull.
It staggered, howling in pain. Pressing their advantage, the brothers pummeled it relentlessly, blow after thunderous blow. Until finally, it collapsed, shrinking and morphing into a man.
The old sage introduced himself as Gorou. He described his homeland in the distant west, ruled by tyrannical warlords wielding forbidden techniques to dominate tailed beasts as living weapons. An extremist faction had sent him to destabilize the empire.
Hamura scoffed. "Foreign cowards resort to such dishonorable methods only because our strength vastly exceeds theirs."
Hagoromo pondered deeply. If immoral powers could turn men into monsters, perhaps wisdom and virtue could reverse the process. This "Gorou" was a victim as much as a villain.
Yhwach was pleased by his sons' victory, but perturbed by the implications. This was orchestrated by forces beyond his sight. Not because he couldn't see their future, but because he had become an Ootsutsuki himself. Now decades later every single human living on this realm was half quincy and half Ootsutsuki. His Almighty sight of the future had been infected. Changed. Limited. Chaotic. He couldn't see the future of other God-like-beings like himself. He must bolster his ranks with elite warriors, equalling or surpassing the tailed beasts in might. For his dojutsu was not perfect. Not yet. He had vague memories of his this man lying on a pool of water holding his father and the immense shield of power he possess was there for the taking. He needed that power to reshape creation. For his goal was no longer longivity or immortality. It was... vengeance.
Thus the Sternritter were formed, replaces and further empowered Yhwach's old guard. Hagoromo and Hamura hand-picked lieutenants, training them intensely to awaken their full potential. The most gifted were taught quincy techniques and bestowed schrifts by Yhwach. Soon, twenty-six mighty warriors bore letters of power into the battlefield.
Yet rebellions continued to smolder across the empire. Yhwach dispatched Hagoromo and Hamura to identify and eliminate the ringleaders. They crisscrossed kingdoms and principalities, quelling uprisings with strategic violence. The world will be theirs.
The resistance was tenacious, evading destruction despite brutal repression. Eventually, a pattern emerged - all revolts radiated from the distant Senju territories.
The princes arrived unannounced to investigate. Approaching the forested stronghold, their advance was halted by a towering wall of gnarled roots and vines. Then, stepping out from the greenery stood a man with shoulder-length black hair and piercing red eyes.
"Halt, invaders," the man declared. "This kingdom will never bow to tyranny while I draw breath."
Hagoromo stepped forward diplomatically, only for Hamura to ignite his Susanoo and slash at the vegetation barrier. The man responded with quick hand signs, causing the very forest to come alive.
Colossal roots erupted from the ground, entangling Susanoo's limbs as massive trees pummeled it. Howling with effort, Indra slashed free and launched a lightning spear at the man, who barely blocked it with a wooden golem eruption.
Hagoromo placed a restraining hand on his brother's shoulder. "Enough! Let us parley." The man cautiously accepted. They reconvened at his stronghold, where he was revealed to be Hashirama Senju, leader of the insurgents.
Over cups of tea, Hagoromo and Hamura found common ground in their dreams of peace. Meanwhile, Hamura fumed at this unworthy filth daring to defy their family's divine rule. It was blasphemy he itched to cleanse in blood.
Yet Hashirama intrigued Yhwach. Perhaps loyalty could be more easily won through comradeship than fear. Thus the wood-wielder came to the capital as an honored guest to demonstrate goodwill, and assess the imperial princes for himself up close.
The Senju saw much to admire in Hagoromo's spirit, and much to concern him in Hamura's. But Yhwach's power and vision made Hashirama reluctantly accept vassalage, for the greater good and to protect his people.
In return, his sovereign rewarded Hashirama with a Sternritter schrift. The forest sage became the first letter "A" - The Almighty Wood. With his power added to their ranks, none could challenge the empire.
In the following years, the Sternritter swelled as promising warriors proved themselves worthy and mastered quincy combat under royal tutelage. Yhwach bestowed schrifts upon the elite, ever watchful for rising threats.
The Uzumaki princess Kushina was given the letter "B" - The Berserker Storm. The taijutsu prodigy Might Guy received "C" - The Celestial Fist. The peerless swordsman Ganryu gained "D" - The Dancing Blade.
So too did the mysterious prodigy Haku become "E" - The Endless Ice. The shadow warrior Zabuza took the letter "F" - The Fathomless Silhouette. The iron-willed Kakashi was granted "G" - The Glaring Lightning.
Hashirama served ably for decades, but grief haunted him. His only daughter had been born with a weak constitution, too feeble to endure combat training. She perished young, leaving him distraught. Compare to the Sternritters who had been granted longivity and eternal youth thanks to his majesty's blood.
The compassionate Hagoromo sought to console his friend, confiding that it was Hashirama's power keeping his ailing wife alive. His wood release could restrain even death, however briefly. But it couldn't safe his own daugther.
Hamura overheard, scoffing at this "unnatural" use of their gifts. When Yhwach questioned him, Hamura told all. The emperor was intrigued, commanding his sons to investigate this phenomenon without informing Hashirama.
Studying the grieving widower from afar, astonishing truths became clear. Proximity to Hashirama enhanced vitality and recovery in all living things, even reversing injuries completely given time. Yhwach called him to the palace under false pretenses.
There, Hashirama again professed loyalty and fealty. Yhwach nodded sagely before passing judgment - "Your life and death transcend nature's realm. Therefore, you shall serve as warden for the dead."
With that, he ignited Hashirama's Vollstandig, forcing him into a torturous partial transformation. The Wood Sage screamed as roots erupted, twisting into a prison around him.
Horrified, Hagoromo shouted, "Father, stop this madness!" Yhwach replied, "He will guard the borders between worlds, ensuring no souls escape back to the living." Hashirama pleaded for death, but Yhwach merely sealed him beyond sight, damned to forever stand sentinel between realms. To keep any balancers from coming to this realm.
Hagoromo wept for days at his friend's cruel fate. Hamura said nothing, for he knew Hashirama had received only what he deserved for his unnatural acts. None could oppose the King's decrees.
In Hashirama's absence, lesser conflicts arose. But the Sternritter were ever vigilant defenders of stability and order. At times, Hamura's methods were severe, but not unjustified. Fear must be sustained for Yhwach's vision to prevail.
Through it all, Hagoromo meditated, seeking enlightenment and guidance. He honed his sage arts in isolation, wondering if a power existed beyond even the Almighty. A way to change fate itself?