Chương 111: Sakura's Wager and the Truth Behind the Shikotsumyaku!

"Why would you want to summon more help?" Tsunade asked suspiciously, as she observed Karin and Neji rummaging around the bunker's closets to find clothes. "What's going on here, exactly?"

As grateful as Tsunade was for the timely rescue, there were definitely more than a few weird things about her rescue party— and while there might have existed any number of valid answers to any line of inquiry that Tsunade might have asked her saviours, she couldn't help but notice the weird look on the red-headed girl's face when she had voiced her question…

"You mean, you haven't told her yet, onee-sama?" said Karin innocently. "We're on a secret rescue mission to save the Hyūga princess from the Hidden Cloud."

"So, they're sending children…?" said Tsunade, with a scary smile on her face. "To conduct a combat-search-and-rescue mission… in the second-strongest shinobi village?"

But before Sakura could clarify that nobody had actually given them this mission, least of all the village's higher-ups who wanted Hinata dead before she could make little baby Hinatas for the enemy, Tsunade exploded with rage.

"THOSE SENILE CODGERS!" she hollered. "SO, THE COUNCIL OF GEEZERS WANTS ME TO COME BACK TO KONOHA TO BECOME HOKAGE? OH, I'LL RETURN TO KONOHA ALL RIGHT, MARK MY WORDS— TO KICK THEIR DUSTY OLD BUTTS!"

Mission accomplished… maybe?

"Actually, nobody really tasked us with saving Hinata-chan," said Sakura hesitantly, "Technically, you might call us missing-nin for leaving the village without permission— unless, a certain Hokage candidate happened to make our mission official…?"

Tsunade stared at Sakura in disbelief.

"Absolutely not; you're in over your heads, and I won't have the deaths of children on my conscience," said Tsunade harshly. "Make no mistake, I WILL break all of your legs, if that's what it takes to drag you back to the village!"

'Well, this is definitely a problem,' said Inner Sakura. 'We could always give up, ya know…'

It was true that losing Tsunade's goodwill and Tenten's space-time Ninjutsu was definitely a huge blow to the mission, but Sakura didn't want to leave Hinata to the miserable fate of breeding an entire clan into existence all by herself.

However, that wasn't all there was to it; there was also a breast hunt target currently living in the Hidden Cloud, and Sakura definitely wanted to check her out; it was important to her future growth! (As a shinobi, of course).

'What would Naruto do in this situation?' said Inner Sakura thoughtfully. 'Talk no Jutsu? No, wait— I know just what to say!'

"Why don't we make a wager, Lady Tsunade?" Sakura proposed. "You can choose the terms, but if we win the bet, you'll need to give us your blessing for our mission."

If there was one thing Tsunade loved, it was gambling— there was no way she'd refuse! Of course, Sakura was certain that Tsunade would pick something impossible for her to achieve, but she was confident in her ability to get things done!

"And if you lose?" asked Tsunade suspiciously. "You'll come back to the village with me quietly?"

"You'll get to break our legs and drag us back to the village," said Sakura nonchalantly. "Because there's no way we're abandoning Hinata."

Tsunade looked at each of the three Genin incredulously; their eyes were clear, devoid of even the slightest shadow of a doubt. Sakura's eyes reflected clarity of purpose, Karin's eyes were filled with hearts, and Neji's eyes were… well, to be perfectly honest, Tsunade couldn't quite tell what the young boy was thinking— those empty, milky-white eyes of his… they kind of creeped her out, to be honest…

"Oh, fine," Tsunade sighed. "Just give me a moment to think of something…"

As she tried coming up with a bet of some kind, Tsunade glanced at Sakura, who was waiting for her to say something with her arms crossed under her chest. Her thin arms propped up her plump breasts, so that the upper curve of their creamy white flesh almost touched her chin… was it just Tsunade's imagination, or did Sakura's breasts look a bit bigger than before?

"Why don't we make the bet that I can't learn the Lord Fourth's signature Jutsu?" Sakura proposed. "That one's pretty difficult, isn't it?"

"Not a chance," said Tsunade drily, as she rubbed her shoulders, noting that they felt lighter than they had in years. "You're one of Jiraiya's disciples, aren't you?"

Sakura clicked her tongue in annoyance, and Tsunade went back to scanning the room, searching for something to give her an idea for their wager… and that's when her eyes fell on a certain barrel.

"Hup," Tsunade grunted noncommittally, as she went to pop open the barrel's lid.

From the snippets of conversation she had overheard through her alcohol-induced haze, those Sound Four people had kidnapped the pink-haired girl in the hopes of having her cure the person inside the barrel, with her Iryō Ninjutsu— and in her capacity as a medical professional, Tsunade was quite curious to see what kind of patient would need the specialized healthcare that only Sakura could provide...

Tsunade peeked inside the barrel and found a boy curled up in the foetal position. His skin was pallid and sweaty, and there was blood pooling out of his mouth— which was never a good sign. She poked and prodded at his body a few times in different locations, before deeming it safe to tear off the sealing tag that had been placed on his forehead, to keep him in a limited state of stasis for travel.

"Kill… me…" Kimimaro exhaled. "I won't… betray… Lord… Orochimaru's… secrets…"

Tsunade shook her head sadly.

Unfortunately for him, Kimimaro suffered from a terminal case of Too Powerful to Live— the exact same disease afflicting Uchiha Itachi. Indeed, Kimimaro was just too strong and too cool to live in the same world as the protagonists, so he just had to die to allow their story to progress…

All jokes aside, the source of Kimimaro's genetic disease lied in his ancestry. Indeed, Kimimaro belonged to the Kaguya clan, which made him one of Otsutsuki Kaguya's many descendants— just like the Uchiha, Senju and Hyūga.

…

Descendants of the Otsutsuki had many special abilities hard-coded into their blood, but this was most apparent in those who had inherited their eyes: the Uchiha and the Hyūga.

The Uchiha clan's Sharingan (and the Rinnegan, by extension) were the result of atavistic evolution; it was their bloodline's attempt to revert their eyes to the Rinne Sharingan, which was a Dōjutsu that could normally only be obtained by an Otsutsuki who had devoured an exceptionally potent chakra fruit from the Divine Tree.

Indeed, the Mangekyō's Susanoo was only a degenerated version of the chakra 'mecha' suits that Otsutsuki elites (those who had consumed chakra fruits from planets equal to the planet of the shinobi) would manifest in combat against higher-tier civilizations; and the ability to control Tailed Beasts through Genjutsu was only a degenerated version of the ability to control a Divine Tree!

As for the Byakugan, unlike the Rinne Sharingan or the Rinnegan, all Otsutsuki and Hyūga clan members possessed the Byakugan by default; a highly versatile Kekkei Mora which had the potential to evolve into many more unique Dōjutsu…

…

As for the Senju and the Kaguya clans, instead of receiving Dōjutsu, they had inherited degenerated aspects of the Otsutsuki's physiques: the Sage's Body and the All-Killing Ash Bones, respectively.

Possessing the Sage's Body meant being able to withstand immense quantities of chakra, passively absorb natural energy, heal faster and live for much longer than ordinary beings. The Sage Body was the culmination of the best DNA that could be found on any planet; absorbed and collected by the Divine Tree and condensed into a chakra fruit, for the purpose of continuously evolving the Otsutsuki towards godhood.

Among the Senju, Hashirama had been the closest to returning to the origin of the Sage's Body: a miniature Divine Tree in the form of a human. But in the end, Hashirama had never surpassed the limits of humanity and transcended to the Six Paths level, content with remaining human to the very end— for the candle that shines twice as bright burns half as long…

And finally, just like the bloodline abilities that the Uchiha, Senju and Hyūga had inherited from Otsutsuki Kaguya, the Kekkei Mōra that the Kaguya clan had inherited had also devolved; from All-Killing Ash Bones, the ability to disintegrate all matter with one's bones, to Shikotsumyaku, the ability to control bone growth.

But unfortunately for them, the Kaguya clan had never completely lost their ability to disintegrate all matter into dust. Indeed, their own bones would slowly kill them from the inside, because they hadn't inherited the Senju's and the Uzumaki's powerful lifeforce, leaving them unable to withstand the toxins seeping out of their bone marrow and into their bloodstream!

And so, nature and the survival of the fittest had taken its course, causing less and less Kaguya clan members to be born with the ability to awaken the Shikotsumyaku; as those who would awaken their Kekkei Genkai would often die young, before they could get the chance to reproduce.

However, even though the Kaguya clan had basically bred their Kekkei Genkai out of existence, the latent danger had always remained in their bones, whether they had awakened their Kekkei Genkai or not. Just like with lead poisoning, the toxins that the Shikotsumyaku constantly discharged into their bloodstream had caused Kaguya clan members to become increasingly more stupid, aggressive, and deranged— which had ultimately led to their clan's destruction, just as nature had intended…