Chapter 30: The Road Ahead
"Kiyoshi, Yagura, do you have any plans for the future?" Senno asked while heartily enjoying her meal.
"Umm... I... umm umm umm..." Yagura, whose mouth was stuffed full, made a series of unintelligible muffled whimpering sounds.
"Swallow your food before you talk!" Hearing Yagura's unclear answer, Senno was completely speechless and couldn't help but glare at Yagura.
Yagura shrank his neck and sped up his chewing. Facing Hōzuki Senno, even though they weren't blood-related siblings, Yagura always had the feeling of a younger brother being naturally suppressed by his older sister.
"As for me, for the time being, I'll just focus on completing missions well in the Anbu and work hard to improve my strength, striving to become a Jōnin as soon as possible. After that, I want to become a member of the Shadow Guards like my father, and at the same time, make our Karatachi clan stronger. Of course, it would be even better if I could eventually become the Mizukage, but with Kiyoshi-nii around, the Fourth seat is probably out of the question. I can try to compete for the Fifth," Yagura said with a look of longing.
"Shadow Guards!" Hearing this, Kiyoshi's heart jolted. He hadn't expected Yagura's father to also have been a member of the Shadow Guards, although he didn't know if it was the Third or Second Mizukage's Shadow Guards.
"Then, whose Shadow Guards were they?" Kiyoshi couldn't help but ask, wanting to confirm if Yagura's father knew his own father.
"It was the Second Mizukage, Lord Gengetsu Hōzuki's Shadow Guards. Father followed Lord Gengetsu to the Land of Earth during the First Great Ninja War, but unfortunately, they were ambushed and he died on the spot. I heard that in the end, only the captain, who was from the Kaguya clan, returned to the village heavily injured. After Father passed away, not many years later, Mother missed him too much and followed him to the Pure Land," Yagura said, his expression somewhat downcast as he mentioned his deceased parents.
"As expected, Yagura's father was a comrade of Father's in the Shadow Guards," Kiyoshi thought to himself.
"It's all in the past, Yagura. Look forward. You have us now. Kiyoshi and I are your family," Senno said, comforting the downcast Yagura. Kiyoshi nodded in agreement with what Senno said.
Yagura nodded, then shook his head vigorously, shaking off the low and negative mood of remembering his deceased relatives. He then turned his gaze to Hōzuki Senno, who had just spoken to comfort him.
"Then let me talk about my situation. My parents also died in the last Great Ninja War. In an encounter with the explosion squad of the Hidden Stone Village, they were heavily injured by the Explosion Release Kekkei Genkai. Although they returned to the village in their heavily wounded state, the village's medical level at that time was not sufficient to save them, and they ultimately died from the severity of their injuries. I was already 4 years old at that time. I don't want to experience that feeling of watching my loved ones pass away in front of me again. So, from that moment on, I decided to learn medical ninjutsu. I want to become the most powerful medical ninja in the Hidden Mist Village!" Senno said, becoming somewhat emotional as she spoke.
"What's gratifying is that I have a strong ability to learn medical ninjutsu, and our Hōzuki clan's inherited ability, the Hydrification Technique, greatly assists in the application of Water Release medical ninjutsu. So, I will work hard to develop medical ninjutsu in the future. As your older sister, I will protect you both well," Senno made her promise to Kiyoshi and Yagura.
"As for the Hōzuki clan, although the clan hopes that another genius like Grandpa Gengetsu will become the Mizukage, it seems that no one in our clan currently possesses that talent," Senno said with a helpless smile.
"Alright, we've all spoken. It's your turn," Senno said, looking at Kiyoshi with a meaningful glance.
Thoughts swirled in his mind. Facing his two companions with whom he had already shared his heart, Kiyoshi carefully considered and decided to tell them about his situation. There shouldn't be any secrets between family members.
"My father knew your father," Kiyoshi said to Yagura, starting with a bombshell.
Yagura's mouth dropped open in surprise upon hearing Kiyoshi's words, but then he felt somewhat puzzled. If their fathers knew each other, then as contemporaries, his mother should have mentioned Kiyoshi's existence to him. However, he had absolutely no knowledge of Kiyoshi from childhood to adulthood, and he hadn't even heard Kiyoshi's name. Yagura looked at Kiyoshi, waiting for his explanation.
"My father was Kaguya Genji, the captain of the Second Mizukage, Lord Gengetsu Hōzuki's Shadow Guards, and also the only Shadow Guard member you mentioned who returned to the village," another heavy bomb was dropped.
"No wonder you have the Shikotsumyaku!" Senno and Yagura suddenly understood, but then they immediately felt something was wrong, after all, they knew Kiyoshi's full name was Otsutsuki Kiyoshi.
"But then why isn't your surname Kaguya? And it seems like the surname Otsutsuki has never appeared in the village before," Yagura then asked.
"Because our family was driven out of the Kaguya clan by that treacherous villain Kaguya Musashi! The Kaguya clan doesn't even have our names anymore!" Kiyoshi's face sank, and he subconsciously emitted a wave of killing intent. Although it wasn't directed at Yagura, it still gave Yagura goosebumps all over his body.
"Sorry, I got too emotional," Kiyoshi said apologetically to the two, having realized his reaction.
In his previous life, he was an orphan. In this life, he finally had a father and mother who loved and cared for him, but this hard-won happiness was destroyed by Kaguya Musashi. Every time he thought of this, Kiyoshi couldn't control his emotions and his killing intent towards Kaguya Musashi.
"It's just a power struggle within a large clan. It's just that my father was the loser. On the surface, they didn't dare to break the rules and directly attack, but in secret, they wanted to exterminate our entire family!" Kiyoshi calmed himself down and tried to explain to the two in a soothing tone.
"Since the Kaguya clan doesn't recognize our family, I won't go begging them to let me return to the Kaguya clan. With you guys and Grandpa Seiji, I'm living very well now. Besides, my current bloodline is already different from the Kaguya clan. My bloodline has evolved!" Kiyoshi revealed his secret to the two.
"Next, I will gradually practice ninjutsu of other elements. Relying solely on Shikotsumyaku and Water Release for combat, I think my fighting style is still too limited. I possess Chakra of all five elements, so I should have more diverse means," Kiyoshi inadvertently showed off a bit.
"Grandpa Seiji hopes that I can become the Mizukage in the future. Father also had this dream when he was alive. I carry their expectations, and making the Hidden Mist Village stronger by becoming the Mizukage is now my dream as well. As for strength, due to my bloodline, I probably won't have much improvement in the next three to five years. Besides continuing to develop Shikotsumyaku and mastering other ninjutsu, I want to further improve the quality of my Chakra. I know a secret technique for compressing Chakra, and I'll organize it and teach it to you later," Kiyoshi said finally.
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