บท 97: Chapter 98
"I never thought that I would have to go back down there one day..." I let out as I joined Jiraiya and Chizu since the clue given to me by Osha was apparently right
"You went there before? I knew you were crazy but this place is said to be cursed since no one ever come back, can't believe I'm standing side by side with a living ghost." Jiraiya let out as the Moon Pearl in his hand was going crazy since it was a Full Moon tonight
"Yes, actually that's where I got my hand on the medicine that saved you Chizu, talk about fate." I declared as I ignored Jiraiya's joke and looked at the terrifying mist that was sucking anything dry from their lives
"Here, stick this to yourself and activate it with your chakra, it will create a barrier around your body to prevent the mist from slowly eating us alive." I said as I gave them protective tags since I knew how the mist worked and it wasn't friendly with living beings
"What? Eating us alive? You're kidding right?" Jiraiya let out but still quickly activated the tag for protection while Chizu did the same
"No I'm serious, the Valley of Judgement's mist comes from a weird-looking tree's glands and acts like enzymes to digest whatever fell below... It also creates black humanoid beings that are more proactive to take you down and makes you lose your sense of direction if you do not have a Dōjutsu such as the Byakugan." I said as only the Byakugan was effective against the mist dangerous effects
'So this is where you put the gate uh, Hamura' I thought as I remembered the path leading to the cave where the 'core' of the valley was located
The roots of this tree spread all around the Valley's ground, and the Eye Medicine Plant, which was a walnut-like fruit but similar to a real eye look-wise, was only found on this tree, being nurtured by the nutrient absorbed by the roots... It now makes sense to me as to why everything was related to Dōjutsu and more precisely the Byakugan's usefulness within the mist.
"Alright, be sure to follow me closely... Actually, we're going to hold hands, as embarrassing as it may be it would guarantee that none of you get lost." I said as I took Chizu's hand and Jiraiya's hand like they were my children so they wouldn't be lost in a Park
While Jiraiya was looking at me with a weirded-out face, Chizu's hand began to hold me a lot tighter, but it felt like she didn't want to let go not because she would get lost but because she wouldn't be able to 'protect me' if we ended up being separated.
Nevertheless, we then jumped down and once we reached the ground, the humanoid forms began to appear from the walls as I said "We'll start running now!" before taking the path I remembered was leading toward the cave entrance
On our way, I realized that there were a lot more humanoid shapes trying to catch us, as if they sensed that we had the key allowing us to open the gate leading to the Moon.
Unfortunately, it seemed like the Valley truly tried to hinder us as the entrance to the cave was nowhere to be seen.
"Oh for fuck sake, we're still going through there I don't care." I said as I used the Asura Path to create from my now mechanical torso a freaking large extendable drill that, while it covered our entire vision, was powerful and large enough to force a path for the three of us
"We go spelunkin' my friends!" I shouted before laughing uncontrollably while Jiraiya was swearing without stopping either, believing that I was crazy for rushing straight into a wall and also wondered where the hell this drill came from
And just like that, I began to tunnel all the way to the Valley's core, while disregarding the screams made by Jiraiya but also the valley itself since I noticed the roots that were getting destroyed by my drill, making the wall around us 'bleed'.
It still took a few minutes to get there and I also realized that the opening behind us slowly closed once we arrived at the cave where the bloody tree was waiting for us.
"What a horrifying tree... Do we have to throw the Moon Pearl into its... Mouth? Urgh, the mist is really released from it, and these fruits look like real eyeballs... Did you really use them as medicine? Never in my life will I accept to eat one." Jiraiya continuously exclaimed as he looked at the tree in disgust
Taking back my drill and 'closing' my torso, I let go of my friends' hands and took the Moon Pearl before explaining "You don't eat them, you drink what's inside." making him even more disgusted before adding "You see what's stuck at the base of the tree? That... Pitch black corpse's hands are like a receptacle for something spherical, what's weird though is that they weren't like that when I came here before."
"You did tell me that the gate would be noticeable only with this thing on us so maybe that's what it meant." Jiraiya said as he shrugged his shoulder while I neared the center of the room with the Moon Pearl in hand
"Yuichi-sama, please be careful." Chizu worryingly exclaimed and pretty much doomed me as I just placed the orb between the pitch-black humanoid's begging hands
"See Chizu, that's how you raise a flag, and possibly not a great one..." I said as I saw the Moon Pearl's shining white color shift into a darker, murkier crimson color while the cave began to vibrate
Taking a few steps back to join my two friends, I saw the tree's maw suck in the mist with an insanely quick pace until the whole cave, and even the whole valley, was fully cleared before closing itself.
All the fruits then began to fall and wither, no longer being usable, before the tremors stopped and something or someone emerged from below the tree.
"Hey, Yuichi." Jiraiya exclaimed to which I just replied "Yes." as I was looking at the figure that appeared with some apprehension
"Doesn't he kind of look like you? But with horns, a halo above the head, and white skin?" Jiraiya then added to which I nodded as I replied "And the two wings along with the black marking means that he's using my Sage Mode..."
While the being didn't seem to be aggressive yet, I looked at both Chizu and Jiraiya and turned to face them before saying "I'm sorry about what I'm going to do but... It might be too dangerous for both of you." as I laid my hand on their chest and teleported them away from the valley since the path leading us here was now closed
I then turned back to face the being that looked like a version of myself who was born an Ōtsutsuki and saw him sneer at my tentative to save my two friends, though his smirk didn't last long as I broke a sealed talisman that quickly spread an intangible barrier around us until it covered the whole valley before solidifying.
"If you're a copy of myself then you know as much as me that you cannot break out of here nor teleport away until either the time's run out or someone from outside deactivates the barrier..." I first said before exhaling and closing my eyes for a moment to then suddenly opening them back as I added "Now I should get serious or it might take too long." as I activated my Sage Mode which granted me my two black feathered wings as well as the black markings around my face and torso
I then raised my hand forward and used Shinra Tensei, sending a repulsive force toward this impostor only to see him do the same, making both our attack clash between us and slowly making the cave crumble.
Bigger rocks began to fall from the ceiling only to get crumbled to dust when they got pushed between the two repulsive forces that were clashing against each other, and with a deafening sound, the entire cave collapsed around us, making me use my other hand to cover my back and my head with a wooden dome that continuously repaired itself since the force we exerted was destroying it.
Once the moon's light began to reach us, I used Swift Release to amp up my velocity as I dashed toward the sky, stopping my use of Shinra Tensei which made him destroy everything that was behind me up to the barrier's border.
Not wasting time, I raised my hand down toward him and used the Asura Path to change my arm into a large rocket launcher, sending a missile with a black and yellow nuclear symbol.
"Say hello to my little friend!" I let out as I boosted the deadly projectile's speed with Swift Release, making it reach the ground in an instant
However, while I expected my localized nuclear fallout to blow it up to nothingness, I felt a bitter cold emanating from the rubbles before seeing him holding the now frozen missile in his hand covered not with simple ice but with Frostbite Release's intense cold, preventing the missile's explosion from occurring.
He then looked at me and sent a plethora of what seemed to be simple fireballs at first, if not for their ability to drain the water of anything they touched since he was using Scorch Release.
While they weren't moving quickly, they would be following me regardless of where I go, so instead, I dashed toward them and cut them all with my sword before retreating so that I wouldn't be damaged by the explosion they make once destroyed.
Unfortunately for both of us, we couldn't absorb our attacks with the Preta Path since all of them were imbued with natural energy, or else we would have been fighting with our fists and swords like some normies all night long.
'I don't know how much this thing is copying me... But if it is at my current level and knows as many techniques as I do then I should just improvise new ones' I thought before opening my arms which created a large number of sharp ice projectiles, some shaped like spears, some as thin as a needle or some as thick as trunks before launching them toward my clone who didn't seem to fly too high despite having the ability to do so
But he didn't need to as he raised lava in front of him to melt the ice the moment it would have contact, something I expected which is why I decided to send from my hand many lighting rays which almost made me want to shout 'unlimited power' as I broke down the now melting ice projectiles while directing these rays at him to hide their true purpose.
And as I intended, a mist was produced and it was also carrying many microscopic ice shards, completely harmless shards, and he knew it pretty well as he disregarded it and instead began to root himself in the ground before launching massive wood-like tentacles towards me.
'So he wants to catch me huh? And he's still not moving much... It feels like he's protecting something' I thought as it seemed like he wasn't going all out, not because he couldn't but because he was scared of the consequences
As such, I began flying around at high speed to evade the roots while looking around to locate whatever he was defending, which wasn't the tree since it was completely withered.
'Wait, that pitch-black corpse is still below the tree? And the Moon Pearl is gone... Am I fighting against a reflection made by the pearl and not that thing? No, it doesn't matter, my plan should still work' I thought as the mist our previous clash produced was still spreading around the ground
Unsheathing my sword once more as I made up my mind, I began to cover it in plasma which was something I saw my son do when we met at Rōran, and dashed towards the roots before spinning like a madman, cutting them to pieces as I was seemingly brushing them with my body, using them to make my movements easier.
The plasma coating on my sword prevented the wood tentacles from growing back since the places I cut were now in a state that directly altered any solid, liquid, and gaseous matter having contact with my sword in plasma as well.
I then darted towards him with my sword aimed at his chest, which he tried to block by encasing himself in thick layers of crystal.
"Eh, you truly believe that this little trick of yours will be enough? Don't make me laugh, we both know the answer." I let out as my sword was slowly cutting his crystal barrier like butter, while he looked at me without being intimidated or scared by my incoming slash
But the moment my sword was about to reach him, he broke the crystal surrounding him with his hand and punched me on my side with a metal-covered fist and enough strength to knock me away to the nearest rock wall, making my sword fall to the ground in front of him.
He then sent his roots toward me once more and the moment his vision of me was hidden by them, I raised my finger and thought 'Gotcha' as I launched a sequence of small yet deadly rays of light from it that began to spread all around the battlefield, bouncing in the mist thanks to the broken pieces of ice that were still suspended in the air.
The light began to pierce everything, the roots, the rocks, the thing, and it also reached the pitch-black body behind him as I waited long enough for the mist to spread around it.
And while the thing did not utter a single word from getting more hole than a gruyere cheese on his body, the pitch-black body below the withered tree released a loud painful screech as it was getting pulverized by the light rays.
"What the..." I let out as I saw it open its eyes which revealed a Byakugan as the left eye and a brown-colored Rinnegan as the right eye
It was easy to notice how much he resented me for injuring him, but I didn't stand still for too long as I sensed the thing I was previously facing reforming itself, as such, I got up and dashed in front of the stuck pitch-black body and laid my hand on his head before saying "Suijin." which slowly but surely began to digest it as its body liquefied and was getting absorbed by my right eye.
Looking behind me, I saw the top of my still plasma-coated sword a few centimeters away from my neck, my 'clone' wielding it but stopped when I got rid of the pitch-black corpse as he began to crumble into dust, leaving the still red-colored Moon Pearl behind him which was floating and suddenly expanded, revealing a portal large enough for someone my size to pass through.
Closing my eyes to sense if something or someone was still within the barrier, I was glad to not find anyone and began to review what I just absorbed, mostly to know what it was and the techniques he could use.
'Interesting, this corpse was actually a member of the Ōtsutsuki Clan from the Moon who got banished to Earth two millennia ago after killing his fellow clansmen, taking their eyes, and giving himself back the ability to see' I thought as I learned for sure now that the Ōtsutsuki living on the Moon were all blind, their eyes being used to fuel what was known as the Tenseigan, but not the Dōjutsu, instead, it was a powerful vessel of energy and also what I was looking for
The Moon Pearl was his only way of becoming free as he wanted to take over the body of the one bringing it to him... Not the original purpose of the Moon Pearl, but he did a lot of research about it and knew a few things it could do aside from opening the gate.
I couldn't find anything on how he got his hand on the Rinnegan, it felt like his memories of it were intentionally deleted... At least, I now know that it was his Rinnegan's unique ability that allowed the creation of the Eye Medicine Plant's tree and abilities, something that would have been more useful if it weren't for my ability to recreate plant lifeforms I extensively studied.
'Does members of the Ōtsutsuki Clan awaken the Rinnegan under certain circumstances if not born with it or them? Mh, if so, it would be worth finding a way to awaken their Rinnegan just before I absorb them, the unique abilities granted by such Dōjutsu could come in handy, though it might bite me in the ass if they suddenly power up' I thought before looking at the sky to see the barrier I set up finally vanishing as the time was up
And not even a minute later, Chizu arrived and exclaimed "Yuichi-sama, are you alright?!" as she looked all around my body to see if I was injured somewhere
"Don't worry Chizu, it was a lot less disastrous than I expected it to be... But you know, better be safe than sorry." I said as it wasn't as dangerous as I believed it to be since it was quite slow and defensive
While I used the legendary Patting no Jutsu on Chizu to ease her worries, Jiraiya arrived seemingly tired as he tried to catch his breath.
"Geez, she's a quick one isn't she?" Jiraiya let out before feeling the cold glare coming from Chizu because of his innuendo
Now that I think about it, Chizu's body seemed to emanate vapor which meant that she used that Kinjutsu she created to greatly enhance her physical abilities by increasing her blood flow to a level most humans would die from a heart attack.
"You didn't need to use something so dangerous just to join me you know, Chizu... It reduces your lifespan and neither me, your brother, his children, nor everyone living with us would be happy to see you die before you grow old... Not that you physically become older despite being barely younger than us." I said as she looked away, a little bit guilty for her action
"Why am I the only one from our generation who grows old? Life's so unfair..." Jiraiya sulked as he was almost the only one with some wrinkles in our generation
"Don't worry, Orochimaru and I will soon do something about it." I replied which made him shiver as he remembered his first meeting with female Orochimaru
He was drunk and didn't recognize him, needless to say that he began flirting and Orochimaru, whose skin was healthier at that time, played along, as such, when he began to spy on him as he was bathing in a hot spring, he was surprised when 'she' was quite packing down there.
...He then ended up vomiting for three days straight after understanding that it was Orochimaru.
"Hey, Yuichi." Jiraiya exclaimed as he waved his hand in front of me and brought me back from my thoughts
"Yeah? Sorry, I get lost in thoughts quite easily nowadays." I let out as I scratched my head but what he said next surprised me "Your eyes, I mean, I think your right eye has an additional tomoe..."
I shifted my gaze to Chizu who acquiesced with a nod of the head which was enough for me to make a small crystal mirror and look at my own eyes.
"What the- Well, I guess that's new." I let out as I was making a few hypotheses in my head
I don't know if it happened because I absorbed a Rinnegan or because I absorbed an Ōtsutsuki, though he was just a descendant of Hamura Ōtsutsuki so they are only half-bloods at most...
Hmm, I will know more once I absorb a member of the Ōtsutsuki Clan's main branch, if I get two tomoe from that then I guess I only got one because this guy I absorbed was a half-blood.
And I will surely absorb some of the people living on the Moon, which will confirm whether or not the Rinnegan mattered.
In the end, the real question would be what's the point of getting an additional tomoe? And how many do I need for it to matter?
I knew that my Dōjutsu was special and unique, partially because I was born with a sealed Tenseigan, which was soon going to be unsealed, but also because I was born in the Senju Clan with an Uchiha father...
For example, ever since I got my Mangekyô Sharingan, I unlocked two abilities, Kunitokotachi for my left eye and Suijin for my right eye... But after getting the Rinnegan, and beyond, I wasn't granted a new unique ability, like Madara's limbo for example.
Instead, my two abilities 'evolved' along with my Dōjutsu.
Kunitokotachi no longer has the downside of not being usable if there are multiple people around my target, and the cast is almost instantaneous instead of requiring an awkward time where we look at each other's eyes.
As for Suijin, I couldn't absorb living targets before and the time of death degraded the quality of everything I absorbed... I also needed time to digest while nowadays I just get it directly, though I obviously need to review everything in my head, like the memories, for example.
Looking around me and locking my gaze at Chizu, I said "Don't worry, I do not feel weird or tired in any way because of that." before looking at the gate, creating a clone, and giving him a scroll containing a Fūinjutsu I made before
"My clone will rebuild the Judgment Valley since half of it was destroyed and the mist is gone, I don't want unwanted guests to arrive... I will also place two barriers, one preventing others from reaching the gate and a larger one making them see what I want them to see, that nothing changed in the Valley." I first explained as my clone got to work
"You two will have to stay and guard the place. My clone will relay to you my current state and in case something bad happens, I can switch places with him even from the Moon... Though that will cost me quite a large amount of chakra, the largest amount I will ever spend even." I said as I omitted the chakra required to revive Kaguya which was almost everything I stored until it happened
"Alright, fine. I knew we wouldn't be following you through the portal anyway." Jiraiya let out before taking out a scroll and said "Here, take it."
"What's in it?" I asked as I didn't want to open it yet
"We don't know if there is Natural Energy on the Moon, so I gave you something the toads developed, a large portative Natural Energy container, but also bottles of toad oil. Since opening the container will release the Natural Energy around, and we also don't know how will it spread, I thought that covering yourself with the oil would allow you to use it without wasting anything." Jiraiya said which was extremely thoughtful of him
"Thanks, I didn't think of that at all." I said with a smile as I packed away the scroll in one of my pockets
I thought about the potential breathing issues as well as the lack of atmosphere, and covering my body with chakra was my go-to, while I also prepared a lot of oxygen, though I could stop breathing for an extremely long time and still speak by using chakra as a medium with Sound Release, which didn't need air to work.
I finally looked at the portal, or I guess the 'gate' behind me and after taking a couple of deep breaths, I said "I'll be back." before walking into the gate
The moment I stepped inside, everything around me began to spin as my vision went black.
Hopefully, everything will be fine.
ความคิดของผู้สร้าง 
Yasashiki
Yasashiki Done.
4k words, and in the end, we’re not yet on the Moon.
I took my time but you know it, I don't have a set schedule and I had to go through an important moment in my life last week so I once again didn't finish the chapter at the time I expected to, my mind was too preoccupied to do so.
If you find some grammatical mistakes, please comment about them, it will help me improve not only my English but my writing skills as well.
Anyway, thanks for reading and I hope that you enjoyed it!
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