The Ōtsutsuki Clan (大筒木一族, Ōtsutsuki Ichizoku) is an ancient clan originating from another world, having arrived to the Earth over a thousand years ago. Several members of this clan have heavily influenced both the shinobi and the world at large with their actions having shaped the world into what it is today.[1] Some members of this clan have unusual anatomy such as horns, they also tend to have paler complexions. They are the progenitors of notable clans such as the Senju, Uzumaki, Uchiha, Hyūga, and Kaguya clans. They are also the originators of puppets.
In The Last: Naruto the Movie, it has been long thought that the clan itself is nearly extinct in name, but it's still extant through Hamura's line, with the sole member, Toneri Ōtsutsuki himself. However, the clan's bloodline status remained extant through Hamura and Hagoromo's descendants on Earth, although over time they have divided into numerous clans. But later in Boruto: Naruto the Movie it is later revealed that actually there are still many distant descendant members of this clan that live scattered in numerous and various realms in the universe. However, aside fripom Momoshiki's and Kinshiki's death and after this point, the fate of the rest of the surviving distant descendants of this clan is unknown.
History
At some point in the past, the Ōtsutsukis left their home realm. The reason why they left is unknown, but presumably for seeking more power to strengthen themselves. By using her natural prowess (because the chakra in that time is something that is never known by most living beings at that time, and the Ōtsutsukis tend to use the word "power" to described it). They traveled to many realms in the universe throughout ages using their self natural prowess. If they find an interesting place where the "power" could be obtained, they will stay there. It could explain the reason why they live scattered across the universe. Momoshiki also stated he had seen various interesting sentient beings, various interesting planets and places, and what and how the alien life is doing, with his own eyes, so he could actually compare them. This indicates there might actually be many of them and other alien beings out there. At an unspecified time a wave of Ōtsutsuki led by Princess Kaguya landed on Earth, which in that time was a war-torn world.
In distant time, mankind fought countless battles, leaving the Earth soaked in blood. A tree would grow from the blood of the deceased, getting attention of the Ōtsutsuki clan, as it bore a fruit of great power. Princess Kaguya, leader of the clan, would later consume the fruit to transcend and bring peace using her unrivaled power. Seen as a deity by humanity, Kaguya settled down amongst them, as she would eventually get pregnant and bear twin sons. However, Kaguya became despotic, as the power having clouded her judgement, resorting to control mankind by force, something which would change her public image of a benevolent goddess into that of a demon. In a fit of jealousy that her chakra had dispersed into her children, Kaguya merged with the Shinju to turn against her own sons in the form of the monstrous Ten-Tails. After the fierce battle, with Hagoromo and Hamura standing victorious, Hagoromo sealed her into himself, becoming the first jinchūriki. On his deathbed, the tailed beasts were made from her chakra, with her body sealed to form the core of a celestial body that would be known as the Moon. Hamura, succeeding to the leadership of the clan, later departed along with the rest of the Ōtsutsuki to the moon in order to guard their late princess (something they weren't aware of, thinking it to be only the Shinju), while Hagoromo would stay in order to spread chakra to humanity and teach them the concept of Ninshū.
The Main family defeated by the Branch family.
The clan was separated into two parts, the Main family and the Branch family; the clan inhabited the moon for a thousand years, and the descendants of Hamura sealed their eyes within the Tenseigan, a giant orb accumulating tremendous power. The Branch family misinterprets Hamura's celestial decree, if they determined that mankind were using their chakra for evil after a millennium, they would unleash that power upon them. Clashing over differing ideals, the clan divided itself between the main and branch families and warred with each other, driving the clan to the brink of extinction.
Members of the Ōtsutsuki clan's Branch family.
One millennium later, Toneri Ōtsutsuki, a direct descendant of Hamura and sole survivor of the otherwise extinct clan, would return to undo what his ancestors had made, planning to destroy humanity by having the moon collide with the earth, as a punishment for humans abusing chakra for militant purposes, and also specifically targeting Hinata Hyūga with the intent to make her his wife and have her help him repopulate the Earth after its destruction.[2]
A little over a decade later after Toneri's attack, two distant descendants of the Ōtsutsuki clan, Momoshiki and Kinshiki would arrive on earth in search of the tailed beasts. After abducting Naruto and fighting him, his son and Sasuke in another dimension, they would ultimately be defeated by the three shinobi's combined effort.[3]
Abilities
Kaguya using her clans main dōjutsu, the Byakugan.
It is very difficult to define the limits of their natural prowess. In Boruto: Naruto the Movie, the border of their prowess revealed to be unclear and far beyond human understanding. In ages where chakra is something that was never known by most beings at that time, they were somehow able to and displayed an ability to travel many realms throughout the ages using their natural prowess. It's also shown that the remaining "purest" members of this clan like Momoshiki and Kinshiki have very unique attributes and archetype than humans and even other Otsutsuki clan's members. This indicates that the clan members somewhat retained both nigh-omnipotence and nigh-omniscience attributes, to the point that even a being like Kaguya feared both of them and forced her to amass countless White Zetsu Army in the past in order to fend off against them and attempted to stop their attempt to steal her chakra. Another interesting trait of the clan is the very extreme longevity which they possessed, like Momoshiki and Kinshiki. They were still alive after centuries had passed and displayed no significant aging. Some of notable clan members also tended to display a certain mix of power hunger and god-like complex although most of the clan members did not display it.
Aside their natural prowess, as one of the original people to have received chakra, the strength of it is extremely powerful and in massive quantities compared to most shinobi. The kekkei genkai, most importantly the three great dōjutsu originated in this clan with the Byakugan, Sharingan, and Rinnegan being wielded by members of the clan. Kaguya possesses a predecessor ability of the Shikotsumyaku. Most of the members are born with the Byakugan, which they would seal into the Tenseigan, the clan's ultimate weapon.
As the originators of puppetry, they also have advanced knowledge in mechanical engineering, as they are capable of creating various types of puppets. Interestingly, instead of chakra threads, they directly control their puppets using the power of the energy vessel. The energy vessel allows for the puppets to also work independently in various tasks, making their puppet abilities somehow equivalent with real-life robots.
The clan appeared to be very knowledgeable in the art of fūinjutsu, even long time ago before the concept of chakra itself created, and they can make their own intricate and advanced sealing techniques. As shown by both Hagoromo and Hamura's capability to seal the Ten-Tails with Six Paths — Chibaku Tensei, a very powerful ancient sealing technique that even Hagoromo or Hamura with their own prowess in their youth were not able to perform it by themselves, so they ended up splitting it into two separated parts. Hagoromo eventually mastered it to the point where he can perform it by himself, but not in the mortal plane. The Six Paths Ten-Tails Coffin Seal was also likely created by Hagoromo at some unspecified time as the technique's description and instruction were inscribed on the Hagoromo's tablet which came to be possessed by the Uchiha clan. From Hagoromo's line, the clan's abilities in fūinjutsu apparently eventually passed to the Uzumaki clan. From Hamura's line, the clan also developed some form of sealing method for sealing their own Byakugan to the Tenseigan, although the reason why they did it was unknown. Another testament of the clan's abilities was an unnamed curse technique that was applied to the Tenseigan vessel and according to Hinata, made it impossible to destroy the vessel by anyone not part of Hamura Ōtsutsuki's lineage, instead draining them of their chakra.
The chakra of the clan members is also powerful enough to transcend time along with their soul and consciousness, even many years later after their deaths, as shown by Hamura - the last patriarch of the main family and the rest of his dead clansmen being able to meet with Hinata, to give her power and knowledge. Hagoromo was also able to temporarily materialise in the physical realm of the living, using his residual chakra in Madara's remains. His sons' Asura and Indra chakras and souls would also continuously reincarnate into their descendants over the millennium.
Trivia
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The Ōtsutsuki clan Main Family's symbol.
- "Ōtsutsuki" (大筒木) roughly means "big bamboo tree" and is derived from an obscure passage in the second volume of the Kojiki about the genealogies of Emperor Suinin, eleventh emperor of Japan, which states that he had a consort named Kaguyahime no Mikoto (迦具夜比売命), the daughter of a king named Ōtsutsukitarine no Miko (大筒木垂根王); tradition holds that these individuals served as the basis for Princess Kaguya and the old bamboo cutter in The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter.
- During the clans civil war, the main and branch families used different emblems to set each other apart: the main family used an eight-pointed sun ray, while the branch family used a combination of the Six Paths Yin and Yang symbols, a crescent moon and a sun.
- The clan's name is romanised as Ootutuki in the fourth databook, in the Retsu no Sho it's changed to Ootsutsuki.
- In The Last: Naruto the Movie, it has been shown the clan's traditional attire is very unique, as they appear highly inspired by a variety of ancient Asian cultures, particularly Japanese, Chinese, and Middle Eastern. Commonly, they donned ceremonial kimonos (with various decorations from the back) with sash tied over the right shoulder and shinobi sandals. In battle, they donned the clan standard battle attire which resembles ancient Middle-Eastern attire: a turban, a mask over the lower-half of their face, a white vest, purple sash, purple pants and a purple long-sleeve shirt with bandages over their arms and feet, and additionally using long robes for commander level.
- Additionally, the clan architecture also very unique, as they appear highly inspired by a mix variety of many cultures. Their dwelling architecture at their ninja city appear highly inspired by Roman and Medieval Europe culture. A ruin of a temple in the ninja city where a broken statue of Hamura located appears to be inspired by Buddhas of Bamiyan and a stupa where an ancient oath inscribed appears to be inspired by Borobudur's stupa. Toneri's castle architecture appeared highly inspired by Chinese, Japanese, and Tibetan cultures with Gothic-inspired ornaments decorated its interior.
- Hinata is referred to by the entire clan as royalty, being dubbed as the "Byakugan Princess" (白眼の姫, Byakugan no Hime, literally meaning: White Eye Princess), What this title means and why she is given is currently unknown, but by having this title, Hinata had unique abilities like being the sole individual capable of destroying the Energy Vessel.
- The aspects surrounding the Ōtsutsuki members also bear resemblance to the Q Species, a nigh-omnipotent and nigh-omniscient alien species in the Star Trek series. Both of them also shared similarities e.g. originated from a different dimension than human, all-in-white design and appearances, and same view to humans as "lower beings", and their role as "observer" to mankind.
