"You and the Sage of Six Paths..."
"Both fought Isshiki to protect the shinobi world and were gravely wounded. One was sealed upon the moon, while the other disappeared to parts unknown..."
Sarutobi Hiruzen's voice seemed almost ethereal, as though drifting out from the Pure Land itself.
Yet those words floated straight into Kaguya's heart.
You could explain it that way?!
Kaguya's heart immediately stirred.
Isshiki really was useful...
She was a petty person. So even though she regarded the inhabitants of the shinobi world as ants, she still didn't want everyone distrusting her once she returned...
But with Hiruzen's explanation, it actually sounded perfectly plausible!
More importantly...
Although Kaguya would never admit it to herself, she really did miss the Sage of Six Paths and Hamura.
She even missed those two interesting children, Indra and Asura...
The day Hiruzen had taken Naruto and Sasuke by the hand to eat ramen, Kaguya had recognized her two grandsons and fallen into a daze.
How wonderful would it have been if none of those family conflicts had ever happened?
She should have been the one holding her two grandsons' hands...
Kaguya was an Ōtsutsuki who simply wanted a family life.
That was the true nature of the Rabbit Goddess who, in the original timeline, had cried upon seeing Naruto and Sasuke while fighting them to the death...
"Fine. I'll trust you for now."
Kaguya reluctantly nodded.
In reality, even if Hiruzen could release her immediately, Kaguya would refuse unless she could cast the Infinite Tsukuyomi over the entire shinobi world.
Because she didn't believe that rebellious son of hers could possibly have died so easily...
Even when Kaguya had been the Ten-Tails' jinchūriki and possessed that overwhelming power, she still hadn't defeated the Sage of Six Paths. As far as she was concerned, Hamura had mostly just been extra support...
A thousand years had passed.
Kaguya no longer had the Ten-Tails, while there was no telling what bizarre techniques and abilities that monstrous son of hers had developed in the meantime!
She needed time to build herself up.
If she recklessly exposed herself and ran back into the shinobi world now, wouldn't she just get beaten up again?
Even Kaguya could understand something that simple...
'Hagoromo...'
'You're learning ninjutsu? Then I'll learn it too!'
Kaguya thought viciously.
Treacherous ninjutsu could make plain, straightforward chakra several times more powerful...
But now she could learn it too!
Her jinchūriki and partner was none other than the man people called the Professor of Ninjutsu!
"Let's shake hands."
Within the mental space, Hiruzen spoke solemnly to Kaguya.
"This will be the proof of our cooperation..."
Kaguya paused.
But she still extended her pale hand and firmly clasped Hiruzen's.
The Hokage smiled inwardly.
An appropriate sense of ceremony could strengthen mutual trust, especially with someone like Kaguya...
After pulling her hand back, Kaguya unconsciously rubbed it with her fingers.
This was the first time she'd ever entered into an alliance like this with someone else.
It felt strangely novel...
"In your eyes, I'm probably very weak. Little different from an ant..."
Hiruzen began.
Kaguya was about to tell him that he had actually just barely reached the entry threshold for an Ōtsutsuki. His abilities were rather uneven, but he could arguably be regarded as half a member of her kind...
Before she could speak, however, Hiruzen continued softly.
"What I want to ask is this: using my current normal state as the baseline, if I could unleash a hundred times that power for a short period, would I be capable of killing an Ōtsutsuki?"
Question marks practically materialized over Kaguya's head.
Wait...
Turning chakra into ninjutsu and multiplying its power several times was already ridiculous enough...
What did he mean by a hundred times?!
Had he simply decided the rules no longer applied?!
"Through pure taijutsu."
Worried that Kaguya might not understand, Hiruzen explained the principles behind the Eight Gates.
The Eight Gates involved using an unwavering will capable of affecting the physical body to release the human body's restraints, turning the body into something akin to a furnace and producing an explosive, cascading increase in power over a short period.
Ordinary people found it extraordinarily difficult.
After all, a normal person couldn't consciously control their autonomic nervous system. They couldn't simply decide to stop their own heart from beating. Those restrictions existed as part of the body's self-preservation mechanisms.
The Eight Gates, however, deliberately defied those ironclad restrictions, forcing the body itself to burn away in the full blaze of youth...
In that sense, it was quite similar to the Baryon Mode the Nine-Tails would develop in the future...
For Hiruzen, mastering the Eight Gates wouldn't be particularly difficult. That didn't mean his training was several times harsher than Might Guy's or Might Duy's. Rather, he possessed an extremely unusual 'dual system'...
The construction of the Ten Thousand Seals Body Integration Seal and the gradual transformation of his flesh into a sealing system had made his body more controllable to a certain extent, allowing Hiruzen to deliberately regulate it according to his own will.
Combined with his 'dual system' and his body-activation techniques, Hiruzen would still possess a hidden reserve of energy even after opening the Gate of Death.
He would still suffer catastrophic injuries, but he wouldn't necessarily burn himself away completely.
Hearing the principles behind the Eight Gates made Kaguya feel that shinobi truly were terrifying creatures...
Especially because, from Kaguya's perspective, an average Ōtsutsuki who hadn't entered their second stage wouldn't necessarily possess a body much better than Hiruzen's...
If he could really increase his strength a hundredfold for a brief period, he genuinely might kill an Ōtsutsuki!
"But wouldn't that kill you?"
Kaguya couldn't help asking.
"If your body burns itself out, ordinary techniques won't be able to save you. I can't even imagine how much chakra restoring you would require..."
At minimum, it would take something on the scale of the Infinite Tsukuyomi—or the entire shinobi world willingly giving Hiruzen their chakra.
Hiruzen smiled.
Leaving aside the fact that opening the Gate of Death might not actually kill him...
"Do you think the shinobi under my command are afraid to die protecting Konoha?"
"No..." Kaguya thought for a moment, seemingly beginning to understand.
"Then why would I, their Hokage, be afraid?"
Hiruzen spoke softly.
"I'm simply glad your answer proves that I have a way to harm enemies who come to invade us. What frightens me most is being powerless—lacking the strength to protect what matters to me."
It was both a declaration and a warning to Kaguya.
The Gate of Death could be used against any Ōtsutsuki.
Naturally, that included her if she refused to cooperate.
But this wasn't a threat. It was merely a necessary display of one of his cards to prevent needless internal conflict.
"Besides, with your help in the future, opening the Gate of Death might not kill me at all. Perhaps I'll even be able to open it twice?"
Hiruzen said with a smile.
Kaguya fell silent.
She was discovering that shinobi were truly terrifying, terrifying creatures...
Because Hiruzen apparently wasn't even the only person capable of using the Eight Gates.
That shinobi named Might Duy...
If Kaguya didn't possess the Ten-Tails and he opened the Gate of Death against her...
Even she would find him extremely troublesome.
Every damn one of them could start burning themselves for power!
And the Hokage apparently wanted to do it twice!
And here's the best part: even the Tailed Beasts could do it...
"I'll teach you ninjutsu and how to fight. When the time is right, I'll make sure you're freed. And whether it's your relationship with the Sage of Six Paths or some of the things that happened in the past, I'll find a way to help you settle them."
"I'll help you become a respected Rabbit Goddess protected by the shinobi world."
Hiruzen summarized the terms of their cooperation.
"In exchange, you'll tell me about the Ōtsutsuki Clan and its structure..."
"And preferably help me with my training."
Kaguya nodded.
"Fine. But I have one condition..."
"Go ahead."
Kaguya spoke with utmost seriousness.
"The Pure Land is very likely connected to Hagoromo. If you're my ally, then someday you may have to fight him alongside me."
"That rebellious son of mine is extremely powerful. Ever since he was a child, he was always making strange tools and inventing ninjutsu, yet no one ever kept him properly under control. He's just like that shinobi named Senju Tobirama..."
Kaguya was referring to the Treasured Tools of the Sage of Six Paths.
"I absolutely despise betrayal. But I saw you withstand pressure from so many people to continue supporting one person. That moved me enough that I'm willing to try trusting you."
"You must treat me the same way you treat that shinobi named Senju Tobirama."
"If you can do that, I'll treat you the same way."
Kaguya stared intently at Hiruzen, her gaze seeming to carry a terrifying weight.
Though Kaguya herself didn't realize it.
After all, Hiruzen had been the first to swear upon the Will of Fire...
Hiruzen nearly lost his composure.
Wait...
Why was Tobirama-sensei's name suddenly coming out of a sage's mouth?!
Had he really become the shinobi world's biggest celebrity?!
He was famous all the way up to the Ōtsutsuki now...
If the Sage of Six Paths really was still alive, surely he wouldn't know Tobirama's name too, would he?
The man who raised hell in the Pure Land...
"Very well."
Hiruzen let out a long breath.
"I promise."
"Good..."
Kaguya smiled sincerely.
"I can help you organize those threads inside your body, make them denser, and gradually transform them into something like mine..."
She was referring to the immature version of his bloodline threads gradually transforming into Kekkei Mōra.
Kaguya didn't understand the underlying principles, but she'd possessed this ability passively from birth.
"What else do you need me to do?"
Kaguya asked.
"Do you have any controllable techniques designed to kill a single target?"
Hiruzen thought for a moment.
"I want to further strengthen my body, but I can no longer find any method capable of inflicting meaningful yet controllable damage on me."
Kaguya considered it.
Within the mental space...
A gray bone slowly emerged from her hand.
All-Killing Ash Bones!
The bargain-bin version, anyway...
The current Kaguya was merely a wisp of chakra and consciousness residing inside Hiruzen, so she couldn't use the complete version.
But precisely because of that, it was actually suitable for training with Hiruzen.
If it were any more powerful, Kaguya wouldn't be able to control it precisely enough, and one careless mistake might reduce the Hokage to dust...
After all, even Isshiki at his full strength had been put down after taking several hits from Kaguya's complete All-Killing Ash Bones...
"Would this work?"
Kaguya asked uncertainly.
"It should be reasonably powerful..."
Facing the All-Killing Ash Bones...
Even this bargain-bin version...
Hiruzen sensed the aura of annihilation hidden beneath its apparent calm...
He had to give Kaguya the damn respect she deserved!
A sage was still a sage...
She really did have something terrifying up her sleeve.
"Can you control it accurately?"
Hiruzen blinked.
"I'll teach you chakra control first. Once I've prepared sealing barriers throughout my body, we'll start with a limited test on a small area..."
Kaguya had initially wanted to say that she could handle it.
But if she accidentally caused irreversible damage to Hiruzen, she would be the one suffering the greatest loss...
"Fine. We'll do it your way!"
Kaguya nodded.
And just like that, Hiruzen and Kaguya, neither of whom seemed particularly concerned about moderation, decided that the 'bargain-bin All-Killing Ash Bones' would become the next stage of his body-tempering regimen.
One of them actually dared suggest it.
The other actually dared try it...
And absurdly enough, it might even work, because strictly speaking, both of them were the sort of people who had already broken the rules and never bothered putting them back together...
"By the way, how much do you know about alternate timelines?"
Hiruzen suddenly thought of another question.
"Under extreme circumstances, is it possible for a large number of Ōtsutsuki from other timelines to appear all at once?"
The various paradoxes and strange phenomena created by alternate timelines were too numerous. Hiruzen had to be cautious.
"No."
Kaguya shook her head.
"Space-time imposes restrictions on powerful beings. Someone at your current level would experience a degree of suppression upon entering another timeline and would need time to adapt. Taking energy away from another timeline is even more difficult. That's simply one of the laws governing space-time."
"Unless extremely unusual circumstances arise, Ōtsutsuki won't travel to alternate timelines to harvest energy. It's both dangerous and inefficient..."
"Using the shinobi world as an example, would you trade one of those 'Sage Region Pills' for an ordinary rock?"
Hiruzen nodded thoughtfully.
Suppression?
Kaguya abruptly changed tone. She gave a cold laugh, her voice suddenly dripping with mockery.
"Though I suppose you can never be completely sure. Some useless descendants of the main family might resort to it when they need to complete their tree-planting assignments..."
Hiruzen blinked.
That was some serious resentment...
"Padding their record. You're the Hokage. Surely you understand that much?"
Kaguya said darkly.
"But don't worry. It's extremely unlikely."
Kaguya was talking about the frivolous Urashiki.
Every now and then, he would spend extremely precious space-time energy to obtain comparatively worthless chakra from another timeline, simply because it made his assignments easier.
If Kaguya had possessed resources like that back then, she wouldn't have ended up working under Isshiki...
"I understand..."
Hiruzen nodded.
"Oh, and find some way to let me access that shinobi forum too. Preferably with the ability to make posts..."
Kaguya turned her head away as she spoke.
She was rather interested in its 'Family Problems' section.
She planned to post about what had happened between herself, the Sage of Six Paths, and Hamura, then let the entire shinobi world judge who had really been at fault!
Though naturally, she'd have to present her side of the story in the best possible light...
What Kaguya didn't know was that the Sage of Six Paths was also an extremely active reader of the shinobi forum.
The two of them might even end up arguing with each other there...
Hiruzen's expression became rather strange, but he didn't refuse.
He could treat it as a way for the Rabbit Goddess to begin integrating into the shinobi world ahead of time...
Arguing with people online more often might help build her emotional resilience.
At least then she might stop going to extremes whenever someone disagreed with her...
At that very moment...
The Sage of Six Paths stood beside Toneri, wearing an honest, simple smile as he spoke to Tenzō.
"Council Member Tenzō, it seems this grandnephew of mine really does have Hyūga blood..."
Tenzō was absolutely delighted, turning Toneri's hand over in his own as he examined it, his face lighting up with a broad smile.
"Oh, Ichiraku-san, what are you talking about?! He doesn't merely have Hyūga blood—it's exceptionally pure!"
"Wonderful. Wonderful! This is fantastic..."
At first, Tenzō had assumed that yet another poor distant relative had come looking to attach themselves to the Hyūga Clan...
Over the clan's thousand-year history, there had certainly been cases of Hyūga members fleeing the clan. But after several generations, their Byakugan blood would gradually become diluted until their descendants became indistinguishable from ordinary people.
There had once been the Kohinata family, for example. But by now, even they had returned to Konoha, since the issue of the Caged Bird had already been resolved.
Tenzō had assumed Toneri was probably another case like that.
Then he took one look at him and froze!
This wasn't diluted blood.
This was practically an atavistic throwback to the clan's ancestors...
"Ichiraku-san, don't worry. You can continue living with Toneri as usual, but the Hyūga Clan will support him with everything we have. I'll personally arrange Konoha shinobi status and residency records for both you and Toneri..."
"I'll speak to Hokage-sama myself!"
Tenzō felt positively rejuvenated by the good news.
The Uchiha Clan had produced one outrageous shinobi after another. They could even dig a Seisui out of Kusagakure...
At long last, heaven had finally shown the Hyūga Clan some favor and given them fair treatment!
"Then I'll have to trouble you. My grandnephew hasn't interacted with many people, so his social skills may not be particularly good..."
The Sage of Six Paths chuckled.
"That's nothing! Absolutely nothing!"
Tenzō waved a hand grandly.
He'd even managed to straighten out Nakamaro...
Toneri would be easy!
"By the way, perhaps you also have some Hyūga blood..."
Tenzō blinked and looked toward the Sage of Six Paths.
Now that Toneri was taken care of, there would be no problem arranging things for the Sage of Six Paths while he was at it.
"There's no need for me. All I know how to do is make ramen. As long as the children are doing well, that's enough for me."
The Sage of Six Paths spoke with utter simplicity.
He had to receive an invitation from Hiruzen first, or else follow the proper procedure...
Everything had to be legitimate and aboveboard.
Tenzō couldn't help giving the Sage of Six Paths a thumbs-up.
As expected of the Ichiraku Ramen partner whom Hokage-sama had personally praised...
Now that was perspective!
...
In the alternate timeline...
Sasuke was nursing a terrible headache.
Normally, after killing Orochimaru and forming Team Hebi, his next step should have been to find that bastard Uchiha Itachi and take revenge...
That was happening at roughly the same time Jiraiya was heading toward Amegakure.
But because of the disturbance in the Dragon Vein, the Akatsuki had recently become extremely secretive about their movements.
The situation around Rōran had previously been monitored by Sasori of the Red Sand. Even though Sasori had already been killed by Chiyo and Sakura, the informants he'd left behind had been taken over by Pain.
The Akatsuki was therefore watching the situation closely.
Because of that, Sasuke had accidentally missed his battle with Deidara entirely...
"Hey, you've gotten pretty famous, Sasuke..."
Suigetsu raised his eyebrows.
"That Naruto really does care about you! He actually came up with a lie like that and broadcast it across the entire shinobi world, claiming that the Uchiha in another timeline are all still alive..."
"And telling you to go see your family!"
After returning, Naruto had followed Orochimaru's instructions to the letter.
His methods were extremely crude.
He went directly to the bounty stations to send registered letters addressed to Sasuke and asked Mount Myōboku to contact Granny Cat.
Then he sent multiple shadow clones toward areas where the Akatsuki operated and the ruins of Otogakure, having them march straight inside while shouting at the top of their lungs...
It was harassment from every possible direction.
Obviously, Naruto hadn't discussed any of this with Hokage Tsunade.
But Yamato, Neji, Sai, and the others from the alternate timeline had all kept silent. They'd even helped Naruto convince Guy, Tenten, and Sakura not to report any of it.
They were going to act first and deal with the consequences afterward.
"And he even said Orochimaru-sama is going to become Hokage, and that Konoha has approved his perfectly reasonable research..."
Suigetsu laughed.
"Who would believe something like that...? The Dragon Vein? Yeah, right!"
But Sasuke's expression had clearly changed...
Part of him genuinely believed it.
Because Sasuke didn't think Naruto would ever use his family to deceive him...
The two of them could fight.
They could even try to kill each other without holding anything back.
Yet beneath all of that existed an indescribable trust that no outsider could understand.
Perhaps that was what a bond truly was...
And at that very moment, a voice suddenly emerged from inside Sasuke's body.
"Sasuke..."
"Let's make peace."
"I want to go with you and see that other timeline!"
Suigetsu immediately recoiled in fright.
"Orochimaru-sama, you're not dead?!"
Sasuke was equally stunned.
Hadn't Orochimaru's reincarnation failed?
Hadn't Sasuke sealed him away with his Sharingan and taken everything from him?
How was he still alive?!
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