Chapter 12: The One Who Knows Everything
On the other side, Sugito and Nobuya, who had failed their mission, could only return to the Kaguya clan's territory after their injuries had healed.
In the courtyard of the clan head's residence, a middle-aged man with a face somewhat similar to Genji's stood with his hands behind his back, his tall figure standing still under a tree. His expression was blank, and he exuded authority without anger. This was Kaguya Musashi, the current head of the Kaguya clan.
"Clan Head, the mission has failed!" The two arrived near Musashi and knelt on one knee.
"Tell me about it," Musashi said calmly, without the furious outburst the two had expected. But the more he acted this way, the more uneasy the two became. As loyal lackeys of Kaguya Musashi, they knew his character very well: patient, ruthless, ambitious, power-hungry, willing to disregard family ties for the sake of power. He had risen from an ordinary clan member with no background to exchanging favors with elders from various branches, eventually staging a counterattack to become the clan head. The traits of a Tyrant were vividly displayed in him.
"Some unexpected situations occurred," Sugito explained.
"A monk-like man, with a clear target, went directly to Kaguya Genji's house. The subsequent battle also showed that his target was indeed Kaguya Genji. He was likely an old enemy coming to seek revenge." Sugito's explanation successfully led Musashi astray, taking him further and further away from the truth.
Nobuya continued, describing Jigen's appearance and attire in detail to Musashi, hoping to see if their clan head could recognize Jigen.
"Continue," Musashi said noncommittally, but he was wondering about Jigen's origin in his heart. Although his two subordinates had not awakened their bloodline, the Jōnin of the Kaguya clan had always been synonymous with strength in the ninja world. Someone who could defeat the two of them together should not be unknown.
"We didn't know at first that this person was coming for revenge. Not knowing his identity and seeing that he looked like he had ill intentions, we had no choice but to attack. But unexpectedly, the two of us were instantly defeated without any resistance. The enemy seemed to be proficient in space-time ninjutsu!" Nobuya's shallow knowledge could not recognize the essence of Jigen's techniques and could only make wild guesses.
Hearing this, Musashi, who had thought the two had been defeated after a fierce battle and had barely escaped with their lives, couldn't help but narrow his eyes.
"To defeat the two of them instantly... that's not much different from my own strength, and I already have the power of a Kage. My brother actually had such a terrifying enemy!" Musashi thought to himself. In the descriptions of the two, Jigen's strength already qualified him to threaten Musashi.
"The two of us were defeated by this person, but he seemed very arrogant and didn't bother to kill us. When we woke up, the battle was already over. We went to see the battlefield, and Kaguya Genji should have used the Dance of the Seedling Fern." The two described the battlefield traces they had seen to Musashi in detail.
Finally, after hearing that there were still three piles of ashes remaining on the battlefield, the corners of Kaguya Musashi's mouth couldn't help but curve upward, but this scene was not seen by Sugito and Nobuya.
"It seems my brother fought desperately. The effect of the Ash Bones Technique is indeed terrifying," this thought flashed through Musashi's mind.
"I wonder if my nephew also awakened the Shikotsumyaku and used the Ash Bones Technique as well, or if Genji didn't control it well and accidentally injured him. Well, it doesn't matter. The result is that they both perished together." Musashi, who had never let go of his hostility and vigilance towards Kaguya Genji's family, finally felt relieved at this moment.
"Alright, go down! I won't punish you this time. Be careful to keep the details of the mission confidential." With the threat gone, Musashi felt a great weight lifted from his heart and waved his hand to dismiss them.
The actions Kiyoshi took before leaving, with the help of Sugito and Nobuya's divine assistance, ultimately successfully deceived Kaguya Musashi.
Kaguya Musashi, who had served as the clan head for many years, could be said to know the secret techniques of the Shikotsumyaku like the back of his hand. Even if Genji used the Blood Burning Technique, at most he could only briefly unleash power close to the Kage level. And he naturally couldn't imagine that the crippled Genji could simultaneously protect Kiyoshi while dying together with an enemy who seemed to possess Kage-level strength. One must know that there was a huge gap in strength between a Kage and an elite Jōnin.
No longer thinking about these things, Kaguya Musashi turned his attention to how to further his own position. For him, as the current head of the Kaguya clan, which was a top-tier fighting force in the Hidden Mist Village, and being a Kage-level powerhouse himself and a high-ranking member of the Hidden Mist Village, coupled with the fact that although the Kaguya clan and the village were outwardly estranged and lived separately outside the village, they were after all one of the three great bloodline clans that established the Hidden Mist Village. The position of Mizukage didn't seem so far away from him.
The Hōzuki clan produced a Second Mizukage, and the Yuki clan produced a Third Mizukage. So why couldn't the Kaguya clan produce a Fourth Mizukage?
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Kiyoshi woke up from his meditation, adjusted his posture, and seemed very satisfied with the information left by Isshiki.
With the Chakra reserves of a Jōnin level, and having gained the combat experience of Jigen and Isshiki Otsutsuki, the nearly 9-year-old Kiyoshi could now be said to fully possess the fighting power of a Jōnin level.
The only regret was that Kiyoshi had not yet awakened his own eyes.
After all, for the orthodox Otsutsuki clan, Kiyoshi could only be considered a wild one. He could only guess based on the information left by Isshiki that perhaps his current Otsutsuki bloodline was not strong enough or had not reached a certain level.
However, Kiyoshi could clearly feel that something was brewing in his eyes. And he could also vaguely sense the Daikokuten space left by Isshiki, but he couldn't establish a connection with it.
Perhaps as he continuously integrated Isshiki's gift into himself, he would be able to awaken his own Byakugan or other eyes.
Cheering himself up, Kiyoshi, who had recovered to his peak condition, set out on the road to find a town again.
The current Kiyoshi knew most of the secrets of the ninja world, understood all the history of the past thousand years, saw through the essence of the ninja world, and could already be called someone who knew everything. Coupled with his scattered understanding of Naruto from his previous life, he already had the qualifications to become a chess player in the entire ninja world.
The next evening, Kiyoshi finally arrived at a town of a fairly good size.
This was a medium-sized town located in the southern part of the Land of Water, while the village where he had been exiled was in a more remote area further south.
Kiyoshi knew that his horns were considered quite unique in the ninja world, so he used the Transformation Technique to change his appearance, hiding the horns on his forehead and the red dot between his eyebrows that symbolized the Kaguya clan.
Slowly walking into the town, although Kiyoshi didn't deliberately release any aura, his cold and stern face, although delicate, still revealed a hint of "keep away".
Kiyoshi, who had come to the outside world for the first time, was still a bit curious about it. Although he had seen more prosperous cities and capitals of various countries in Isshiki's memories, this was after all his first personal experience.
(Most of the memory scenes were actually seen by Jigen under Isshiki's control, meaning many memories belonged to Jigen. However, Isshiki reincarnated and revived through Jigen's body, which can be said to have devoured everything of Jigen. For the sake of simplicity in the subsequent text, Jigen and Isshiki will no longer be described separately and will be collectively referred to as Isshiki.)
Walking through the town, Kiyoshi slowly experienced the atmosphere of life that he had never felt in this life.
Influenced by Isshiki Otsutsuki, the characteristic of having a lofty, god-like attitude was now slowly fading away.
The memories of Kiyoshi's previous and current lives and the memories of Isshiki Otsutsuki constantly intertwined, and he gradually returned to the posture of a normal human being. Perhaps in the future, when Kiyoshi's bloodline evolved into a complete Otsutsuki, he could be called a god. But at least for now, he was not a god, only a human named Kiyoshi, Kiyoshi Otsutsuki.