A new day.
The sun was bright.
After Natsume had people feed Hagoromo and Hamura, he personally cooked and made two bowls of noodles.
"Lady Goddess, I accidentally made an extra bowl."
He showed a gentle smile and said, "If you don't mind, please honor me by trying it."
"…"
Kaguya glanced twice.
The noodles were tonkotsu ramen. From the looks, they were quite good—and very fragrant.
She thought of the merits Natsume had earned yesterday, then imitated him, picked up the chopsticks, and lifted out two strands.
As the ramen entered her mouth, an extreme burst of flavor blossomed on her tongue.
Kaguya paused, a little stunned.
Much tastier than a chakra fruit.
"How is it?"
Natsume asked expectantly.
"Too little energy. A waste of time."
Kaguya's demeanor remained as cool as ever.
Natsume was a bit disappointed.
As expected of an ascetic.
She only pursues power.
But contrary to Natsume's expectation that she'd stop after a single taste, Kaguya finished the entire bowl.
"Did you select suitable people yesterday?"
Noticing his gaze, Kaguya instinctively changed the subject.
"They should already be assembled outside the palace."
Natsume set the bowl down and said, "Let's go take a look."
On hearing this, Kaguya rose and walked out.
On the square outside the palace, three hundred people had gathered.
They all looked vigorous.
Seeing Kaguya, they knelt in unison and cried out, "Greetings to the Goddess!"
Natsume had notified them in advance.
But even without that, in the presence of a being far beyond their level of life, awe would arise unbidden.
Kaguya swept her gaze over them.
Her first impression: awful—very awful.
The kind of weeds by the roadside she wouldn't even notice.
She became even more aware of Natsume's specialness.
In this world, only he could make her feel a trace of comfort reminiscent of home.
Kaguya raised her hand.
She had no desire to speak with them.
From her white palm, thumb-sized chakra seeds drifted forth and sank one after another into the bodies of these three hundred people.
"Thank you, Lady Goddess!"
The three hundred showed feverish fervor, chanting incessantly.
A thousand words, ten thousand words—still empty.
Nothing compares to personal experience.
Though they were only seeds, they already felt unprecedented power.
It was a leap of life, a major step in their evolution.
Besides, gods did exist.
In their eyes, Kaguya was undoubtedly a high deity.
As for an alien invasion—they couldn't care less.
Kaguya frowned. Too noisy.
She turned, looked at Natsume, and then went back into the palace.
The meaning was clear: the rest is yours.
"Lady Goddess has shared only a seed. If you want it to take root and sprout, it'll take your effort."
Natsume stood before the square and said, "Next I'll teach you how to refine chakra."
…
[Because of your actions, Hagoromo's fate has changed. You gain 50 destiny points.]
A few days later, after Natsume finished teaching the chakra refinement method, he heard the Sacred Ring of Fate's prompt.
In theory, if he replaced the Sage of Six Paths and spread chakra, he should influence countless fates.
In practice, no—judged purely by outcome, no matter who spreads it, it's the same for them.
A very indirect relation.
Thus, it only affected Hagoromo.
Night.
Natsume and Kaguya were eating.
He used the same excuse.
He'd accidentally made too many dishes.
Because she wanted to eat, Kaguya didn't expose him.
It had to be said—it was quite delicious.
The Otsutsuki clan are born strong, busy every day planting trees.
They hadn't developed much in food, drink, and amusement.
Before this, Kaguya mostly ate heavenly materials and earthly treasures containing chakra.
The flavors were all over the place.
"Hold out your hand."
Kaguya suddenly spoke.
Natsume set down his chopsticks and opened his right hand.
"This is the ninjutsu you wanted."
Expressionless, Kaguya spread her hand and casually grasped Natsume's.
Chakra carrying information surged into his head.
"Let's call it the Skynet Login Device."
Natsume nodded with satisfaction.
This unknown ninjutsu was much stronger in effect than the Magic Lantern Body Technique.
As expected of the true progenitor of chakra.
Seeing his smile, Kaguya inexplicably felt a trace of joy.
But she quickly cast it aside.
Dinner ended.
Natsume began drafting the game rules.
First, determine the currency unit for chakra. For convenience, he used "ryo."
He did want to use "credits" as the unit, but he had to avoid too many ripple effects.
Second, the ninjutsu currently available for exchange.
Natsume's specialties were Water Style, Earth Style, taijutsu, and genjutsu.
Sufficient for the early stage.
Later, it would rely on Kaguya to create more.
He actually had an idea: after a while, once he'd raised her affection, have her improve Gentle Fist, then teach it to Hyuga Hinata.
Too bad he didn't have the specifics of the Caged Bird, or he could have Kaguya crack it outright.
Third, the vital quest system.
For players, quests are the driving force.
But quests could be posted anytime; he'd add them later.
After writing, he noticed Kaguya peeking at him.
Or rather, openly staring.
She was somewhat like the Slug Sage.
She'd stayed too long—too bored.
Becoming an ascetic was a way to endure the long, lonely years of planting trees.
Although there was also Otsutsuki Isshiki, their status differed; they had little to talk about.
"Lady Goddess, would you like a bath?"
Natsume looked up and asked.
"No need."
Kaguya paused, then said, "I'm not human."
"But bathing is quite comfortable, Lady Goddess. You could try it."
Natsume kept persuading.
Mainly, Kaguya was in a deified state now, putting a lot of pressure on him.
If he could bring her down to a human level—or rather, pull her out of the ascetic identity and let her have emotions—she'd be far easier to handle.
Kaguya glanced at him, said nothing more, and left the study.
That was clearly a refusal.
Natsume wasn't upset. Take it slow.
…
Time passed.
A year later, the three hundred people had finally, barely, reached genin level.
But they only had brute strength, no technique.
Natsume finally pushed a version update and opened the chakra shop.
He listed three ninjutsu:
Substitution, Clone, and Transformation.
Each cost 100 ryo of chakra.
Roughly the amount a normal genin refines in six months.
In other words, these three hundred could at most exchange for two ninjutsu.
But none of them felt it was excessive—on the contrary, they were ecstatic.
Kaguya was also in a good mood.
This wave of exchanges had already reclaimed all the chakra she'd previously scattered as seeds—and multiplied it several dozen times.
She now approved of Natsume's method even more.
If they'd gone with human sacrifice before, three hundred people as offerings likely wouldn't yield this much chakra.
And it would be one-off.
"How is it?"
Natsume noticed the faint smile on Kaguya's face.
Even after a year together, her smiles were still rare.
"Not bad."
Kaguya nodded, then said, "Still a bit slow."
"No rush."
Natsume laid out his plan: "Next, we'll expand outward from these three hundred through the Land of Ancestors, then begin a campaign of unification. Eventually, the entire world will provide you with chakra."
Hearing this, Kaguya's lips curved slightly.
She looked at Natsume, pressed her lips together, and thought she should give him some reward.
With that thought, she reached out and stroked his cheek.
Under Natsume's surprised gaze, she leaned down and pressed her lips to his.
The initial contact was soft, almost tentative, her full lips brushing against his with a warmth that sent a shiver through him.
Natsume's eyes widened for a split second before he responded, his hands instinctively rising to cup her face, pulling her closer.
Kaguya's breath hitched as their mouths melded, her lips parting slightly under the gentle pressure.
He took the invitation, his tongue slipping past her teeth to explore the wet heat of her mouth, tasting the faint, ethereal sweetness that seemed uniquely hers—like distant stars and ancient power.
She stiffened at first, unaccustomed to such intimacy, but didn't pull away.
Instead, her fingers tightened on his cheek, nails lightly grazing his skin as she leaned in further, her body pressing against his.
Natsume's tongue danced with hers, teasing and probing, coaxing a soft, involuntary moan from deep in her throat.
The kiss deepened, growing more urgent; he sucked gently on her lower lip, eliciting a subtle gasp, while her free hand slid to the back of his neck, pulling him impossibly closer.
Their breaths mingled hot and ragged, the air between them charged with unspoken desire.
Kaguya's mind raced—what was this sensation?
The way his tongue tangled with hers, the slick slide of saliva, the building heat pooling low in her core—it was both alien and intoxicating, a reward turned into something far more primal.
After a minute, they parted, both breathing heavily, a thin string of saliva briefly connecting their lips before breaking.
Kaguya frowned slightly and left the room.
She went to the rooftop, as usual staring at the stars.
Only now there was a strange feeling lingering in her heart.
She didn't understand it—and had never experienced it.
Natsume, however, was quite pleased.
On Kaguya he'd found the perfect embodiment of gap moe.
She held the power to destroy the world, yet lacked the corresponding wisdom.
Which was fine.
If she were as clever as a demon, no matter how beautiful, Natsume wouldn't dare approach.
Too many extra lives wouldn't be enough.
…
After a month, the three hundred all learned two of the three basic techniques.
So Natsume posted their first quest: recruit new disciples.
As long as each recruited one hundred people, they could learn the remaining basic technique for free.
If they exceeded two hundred, they'd be rewarded with a new ninjutsu: the One Thousand Years of Death.
Ahem.
It really is an E-rank taijutsu.
At five hundred and one thousand, there would also be rewards: the D-rank Binding Jutsu and Body Flicker.
Beyond that, no new rewards.
Because it was enough.
Wave after wave, it wouldn't take long before everyone in the Land of Ancestors with ninja talent became a player.
However, this batch of chakra seeds would now cost money.
Not much—30 ryo of chakra.
At least enough for Kaguya to break even.
If they didn't have it up front, it would be deducted.
Thus, when the new players received their login devices, they were pleasantly surprised to find their balance was minus 30 ryo.
But they were all grateful to tears.
After all, they now had the possibility of becoming strong.
As for Kaguya—she had become a landlady.
…
Another year passed.
The number of players surged to three thousand.
That was the limit of the Land of Ancestors.
The rest just lacked talent.
So far, Natsume had released six basic ninjutsu.
That was essentially three thousand ordinary genin.
While Kaguya could slap them dead with one hand, to other countries this was dimensionality reduction warfare.
Natsume then posted a new quest:
Unify the world.
"Teacher!"
At that moment, a little brat ran in.
Hamura.
Since he was an alien, being able to run and jump at two years old made sense.
As for "teacher," it was because Natsume was currently teaching both brothers.
Everything from knowledge to ninjutsu.
After all, Kaguya didn't know how to do that.
"Mother asked you to come."
"Okay."
Natsume rose and headed for Kaguya's room.