On the border of the Land of Fire, Urashiki sat quietly on the edge of a cliff. Below him lay a wide, flowing river. In his hand, he held a bright red fishing rod.
The fishing hook dangled in the river below, giving an air of serenity. Since the day he joined forces with the Akatsuki to invade Konoha and got defeated by Akira, Urashiki had stayed here, fishing quietly.
He used this time to recover from his injuries and found a deep sense of calm within himself. It felt peaceful, and Urashiki truly enjoyed it. Thus, he had spent these past days in this tranquil spot.
By now, Urashiki could feel that his wounds were mostly healed.
A gentle breeze passed by, making the surface of the river below glisten in the sunlight. Suddenly, Urashiki's fishing rod twitched slightly. With a lift of his hand, a large fish flew out of the water!
Urashiki caught it mid-air, a carp weighing at least seven or eight pounds.
"You've grown pretty big, haven't you? Lucky for you, I'm not hungry today," Urashiki said, patting the fish's head. He then unhooked it and threw it back into the river.
The tranquil atmosphere returned. Urashiki resumed sitting quietly, but after a short while, he suddenly spoke, "Who's there? Come out, stop hiding."
As his voice fell, a shadowy figure, pitch black and seemingly a part of the darkness itself, emerged from the grass nearby. The figure had no visible facial features, merely a dark silhouette.
"The product of yin-yang release fused with spiritual willpower, is it?" Urashiki glanced at the figure and spoke calmly, instantly recognizing Black Zetsu's nature.
"Impressive, as expected of a member of the Otsutsuki clan," Black Zetsu responded with a tone filled with admiration.
Whether he was impressed by Urashiki's ability to sense him or by his capacity to see through his true nature, the praise was ambiguous.
"Oh? From the way you talk, it seems like you know a lot about the Otsutsuki clan," Urashiki said, for the first time properly looking at Black Zetsu.
"I know a little, here and there," Black Zetsu nodded.
"That's impossible," Urashiki said, raising an eyebrow. "In this timeline, there shouldn't be any Otsutsuki other than me... Wait."
Urashiki's face grew contemplative, and then something dawned on him. He narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing Black Zetsu. "You... You know Kaguya-hime, don't you?"
As soon as Urashiki spoke the name, Black Zetsu felt a spark of delight in his heart. "So, he knows Mother, Kaguya, after all."
But, before Black Zetsu could respond, Urashiki shook his head again. "Something doesn't add up. Kaguya arrived on this planet over a thousand years ago. How would you know about her?"
"Wait a minute," Urashiki said, as he took a step closer, glaring at Black Zetsu. "You were part of the Akatsuki, weren't you? Where did you learn about the traitor, Kaguya-hime?"
"Traitor!?" Black Zetsu's heart skipped a beat.
Until that point, Black Zetsu had hoped that Urashiki, as a fellow Otsutsuki, might assist him in freeing Kaguya. That was why he revealed himself. But now, hearing that Urashiki called his mother a traitor...
"This is bad... things are really not going the way I thought," Black Zetsu thought, suddenly anxious. "Mother only gave me one mission: to release her from the seal. She never explained much about the Otsutsuki clan!"
Indeed, Black Zetsu was born from Kaguya's will, with only one purpose—to free her from her imprisonment. He knew all about Hagoromo and Hamura, as well as Indra and Ashura's conflict, which he secretly orchestrated. But when it came to the details of the Otsutsuki clan, or the fact that Kaguya was considered a traitor, those were things Kaguya had kept from him.
If Black Zetsu had known about Kaguya's status as a traitor, he wouldn't have been so eager to confront Urashiki. And now, here he was, face to face with the Otsutsuki, desperately trying to fix his mistake.
"Where is Kaguya-hime? Where is she hiding?" Urashiki's eyes turned crimson, evolving into Tomoe Rinnegan. He glared down at Black Zetsu, demanding an answer.
"I don't know... I have no idea who this Kaguya-hime is!" Black Zetsu lied. He was quick to adapt, and as the slyest of schemers, he instantly understood that it would be better for him to pretend ignorance.
"You don't know? Then how did you come to know about the Otsutsuki clan?" Urashiki's suspicion had not yet subsided as he stared intently at Black Zetsu.
"I did encounter two individuals who claimed to be Otsutsuki, but their names were different," Black Zetsu said quickly.
"Two people claiming to be Otsutsuki? What were their names?" Urashiki pressed.
"One was called Otsutsuki Hagoromo, and the other was Otsutsuki Hamura. They were brothers and natives of this planet. Otsutsuki Hagoromo was even revered by the shinobi world as the Sage of Six Paths," Black Zetsu explained. "However, their appearances differed from yours. Especially Hagoromo, who had purple Rinnegan eyes and even a red Rinnegan on his forehead."
Knowing now that Kaguya was a traitor to the Otsutsuki clan, Black Zetsu had no intention of revealing anything about her. Instead, he shifted the focus to Hagoromo and Hamura.
"Otsutsuki Hagoromo? Hamura?" Urashiki's face showed surprise.
The Otsutsuki clan's lifespan was long, and most members knew one another. But he had never heard of anyone named Hagoromo or Hamura. Furthermore, they were supposedly native-born Otsutsuki on this planet.
"So, these two are Kaguya's children, then?" Urashiki thought to himself. He suspected that the two unknown names were the offspring of Kaguya-hime.
Although the current timeline seemed quite different from his original one, Urashiki felt restless knowing that there were people with Otsutsuki blood out there. Especially this Hagoromo, revered as the Sage of Six Paths—he must be quite well-known in the shinobi world.
If he could track him down, perhaps he could learn more about Kaguya's whereabouts.
"I'm satisfied with the information you've given me. But surely, you didn't come all this way just to give me this information out of goodwill, did you?" Urashiki asked, shifting his gaze back to Black Zetsu.
"A favor? Is that what you want to know?" Black Zetsu thought. Truthfully, he wasn't here for personal gain—he had wanted to enlist Urashiki's help in freeing his mother. But now, knowing that Kaguya was considered a traitor, Black Zetsu was eager to keep her existence hidden.
He knew he needed to ask for something, otherwise Urashiki would never believe he was acting without any ulterior motive.
After a moment of thought, Black Zetsu finally spoke, "Your fishing basket, I found it interesting."
As he spoke, Black Zetsu extended his hand and pointed to Urashiki's fishing basket. "I saw you extract chakra from others and store it in that basket, turning it into these pills. Could you perhaps give me one of them?"
To be honest, Black Zetsu didn't really understand what those pills were, but they seemed valuable to Urashiki. It was the only thing he could think to ask for.
"Oh? You took a liking to my pills? Quite an eye you have," Urashiki said, raising an eyebrow in surprise.
After a moment's hesitation, he reached into his fishing basket, rummaging around before pulling out a pill the size of a dragon's eye. He held it in front of Black Zetsu.
"I'm not unreasonable. Since you've given me information I wanted, I'll give you what you asked for," Urashiki said.
"Thank you," Black Zetsu said, taking the pill with both hands.
But as soon as he did, he noticed that Urashiki was still staring at him, making it clear what he expected next.
Black Zetsu sighed inwardly, realizing what he had to do. He opened his mouth and swallowed the mysterious pill.
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POWER STONE!!!
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Note: If you are interested, you can read up to 20+ chapters at patreon.com/Emik01.
Although Black Zetsu didn't know much about Otsutsuki Urashiki's pills, he had observed Urashiki extracting chakra from others multiple times and transforming it into pills. At critical moments, Urashiki would eat the pill to boost his chakra.
In any case, it seemed like a good thing, right?
Under Urashiki's watchful gaze, Black Zetsu opened its mouth and swallowed the pill.
Immediately, Black Zetsu felt a massive surge of chakra within itself, and visible chakra started to emanate from its body.
"My power has increased so much!" With the pill consumed, Black Zetsu could clearly feel its strength growing significantly.
"Not bad. It seems that the absorption of the pill worked well for you!" Urashiki nodded slightly as he observed the changes in Black Zetsu's chakra.
"The effect of this pill is indeed impressive!"
Feeling the enhancement in his chakra, Black Zetsu was overjoyed.
No matter how you looked at it, his power had increased, which could only be a good thing, right?
"Alright, I have said everything I needed to say. I will leave now."
The pill's effect was an unexpected bonus for Black Zetsu. After thoroughly feeling the increase in his strength, Black Zetsu spoke to Urashiki.
"Okay, you may leave," Urashiki nodded, then sat back down.
He cast his fishing line into the river below and quietly waited for the next fish to take the bait.
Watching Urashiki, Black Zetsu hesitated for a moment, not immediately departing.
"What's wrong? Do you still have something to say?" Noticing that Black Zetsu hadn't left, Urashiki asked.
"I'm just curious." Black Zetsu replied, "If you don't actually want the fish, then why are you fishing?"
Indeed, Black Zetsu was very curious about Urashiki's behavior.
When he first arrived, he had seen Urashiki catch a large carp, only to release it back into the water.
"The catch isn't the important part. It's the process of fishing that I enjoy," Urashiki said.
"Quite refined!" Black Zetsu nodded in realization and even raised a thumb in praise of Urashiki's attitude. After understanding what he wanted to know, Black Zetsu had no intention of lingering and sank back into the ground, disappearing quickly. Despite praising Urashiki's elegance, internally, Black Zetsu couldn't help but think he was crazy.
Not wanting the fish but loving the act of fishing?
It's like working hard without wanting a salary—what else could you call this but madness?
Although his injuries had mostly healed, Urashiki wasn't in a rush.
His primary objective was still to obtain the chakra of the Nine-Tails, which was his main focus.
As for Kaguya? He decided he would deal with that after acquiring the Nine-Tails chakra.
Initially, Urashiki had thought that, having traveled to this timeline, it would be relatively easy to obtain the Nine-Tails chakra.
But it turned out that this timeline also had its fair share of powerful individuals, and things weren't as simple as he had expected.
"If I had known this, I wouldn't have traveled just a few years; I should've gone back by several decades, maybe even centuries!"
The image of Akira transforming into a golden dragon flashed through Urashiki's mind, and he thought back to how he had underestimated the timeline, assuming there wouldn't be such formidable foes.
Indeed, he had never anticipated encountering a powerful enemy like Akira in this timeline.
He had heard that the Nine-Tails had existed for over a millennium.
Had he known, he would have chosen a period devoid of such strong adversaries.
Originally, as a member of the Otsutsuki clan, Urashiki hadn't considered the shinobi world's so-called "strongest" much of a threat.
But after being defeated by Akira, and previously being pushed back by Sasuke and Naruto from another timeline, the repeated setbacks had made him realize something.
The shinobi world indeed had strong individuals capable of threatening him.
It wasn't the easy "ride-over-all" scenario he had initially envisioned where he could easily accomplish his goals!
Let's leave Urashiki's current situation aside for now.
On the other side, everything had been quite peaceful recently, and Akira's attention was focused mainly on Hinata's development of the Tenseigan.
Practicing gravitational pull and repulsion, Hinata had become more skilled. She was getting better at controlling the coins that spun around her wrist, making them move smoother.
These days, Hinata had been getting more and more proficient in her control of the Tenseigan.
Hinata had officially stepped into the realm of Kage-level shinobi.
From a comprehensive standpoint, Hinata was now the only member of the Hyuga clan to evolve to the level of the Tenseigan, making her arguably the strongest Hyuga clan member!
Moreover, it wasn't just Hinata who had been training these days; everyone else had been intensifying their training as well.
Kage-level shinobi had once been considered the pinnacle of power in the shinobi world.
But with the successive emergence of the Rinnegan, and individuals like Akira and Sasuke who were above Kage-level, those Kage-level shinobi had witnessed even higher mountains.
Therefore, no one was complacent just because they were Kage-level.
Everyone—the Sannin, Kakashi, Might Guy—they all focused on training even harder.
Sasuke, as the sole Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan user, primarily trained to enhance his visual prowess.
Although his overall strength had nearly doubled, his chakra levels hadn't increased; it was mainly his ocular abilities that had improved.
With his enhanced visual prowess, Sasuke could now reach the fourth stage of Susanoo, where the Susanoo was covered in armor.
Of course, the next step would be reaching the point where his Susanoo could stand on two feet and walk upright.
When he finally reached that level, there would be a qualitative change, and his Susanoo's size would increase significantly!
"No, it's not enough. Still far from it!" Sasuke muttered as he looked at his Susanoo, which lacked legs. His heart was full of determination.
Akira was only an ordinary Mangekyou Sharingan user, yet each of his wooden clones could summon a fully-formed Susanoo.
And here he was, an Eternal Mangekyou user, still unable to match even one of Akira's wood clones?
This was something Sasuke simply couldn't accept!
Shaking his head silently, Sasuke pushed himself to focus harder and continued his training.
Meanwhile, over at Mount Myoboku—one of the Three Great Sage Regions—Naruto sat cross-legged with toad oil applied to his body to help him sense natural energy.
Next to him were Fukasaku and Shima, the two Great Toad Sages, standing by as his guardians.
Should Naruto mess up during training, they would use their sticks to disperse the natural energy around him, preventing him from turning into a frog statue!
However, thanks to Akira giving him two opportunities to experience Dragon Sage Mode, Naruto found his training for the Toad Sage Mode going smoother than before.
Having experienced Sage Mode before, Naruto was eager to grow stronger, knowing that only through mastering Sage Mode could he truly leap in power.
Elsewhere, Kakashi was also working hard on his chakra training.
Kakashi knew very well that his greatest weakness was his limited chakra reserves.
Thus, if he wanted to increase his power, focusing on boosting his chakra reserves was key!
Though chakra control was also important, even the most skilled cook can't work without ingredients.
Without enough chakra, it wouldn't matter how well he could control it.
Jiraiya and Tsunade were also training, although their progress wasn't as fast as the others.
Reaching middle age meant that, no matter how hard they tried, their physical capabilities were what they were.
So their desire to push their strength beyond current limits wasn't as urgent.
More importantly, once you're middle-aged, unless there's an extraordinary situation, dramatic increases in strength aren't very likely!
Interestingly enough, among the Kage-level shinobi in the Leaf, Roshi and Han had the easiest path to growth!
Being Jinchuriki, their strength primarily relied on the chakra of their respective Tailed Beasts.
Though they had previously been able to use some of their Tailed Beasts' chakra, they couldn't fully achieve something like Yugito Nii or Killer Bee, who could transform at will.
However, this issue was nothing before Akira!
With Roshi and Han, Akira simply displayed his Mangekyou Sharingan in front of them. The overwhelming ocular power subdued them instantly.
Before long, the Four-Tails Son Goku and Five-Tails Kokuo inside them became much more docile!
With the Tailed Beasts inside them behaving, Roshi and Han's overall strength naturally rose significantly!
And just like that, two more months went by in the blink of an eye!
During these two months, the shinobi world was unusually peaceful, with everyone working silently to improve their strength.
Everything seemed like the calm before the storm, with everyone preparing for the potential war ahead—a storm on the horizon…
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