Isshiki's Gift and Seiji's Metamorphosis

After an unknown amount of time, Kaguya Sugito and Kaguya Shinya, whom Isshiki had knocked unconscious at the village entrance, slowly came to. They looked at each other and revealed bitter smiles. Struggling to their feet, they pulled the black rods from their bodies, supported one another, and headed toward where the battle had taken place.

"Who exactly was that monk? How could he defeat the two of us in an instant?" Sugito asked in confusion.

The two, ignorant and arrogant as they were, had no idea how terrifying the strength of true powerhouses could be. Under Kaguya Musashi's leadership, the Kaguya Clan had become increasingly brainless and conceited.

They usually showed no respect even when facing the Mizukage, and had even dared to entertain the thought of challenging him. Unable to comprehend Isshiki's abilities, they could not imagine where in the Ninja World someone so powerful could possibly exist.

When they arrived at the site of Genji and Jigen's battle, they saw white bones and fragments scattered all over the ground. The two still recognized their own clan's Kekkei Genkai and knew that this was Genji's ability.

They continued toward the second battle site. Looking at the bone bullets scattered everywhere and the three piles of ash left on the ground, neither of them could identify anything this time. After all, having never awakened their Kekkei Genkai, they did not understand the Ash Bone Technique, an ultimate move even among the abilities of the Shikotsumyaku.

Why were there three piles of ash? Before leaving, Seiji had taken some from Isshiki's share and fabricated the illusion that he too had died to the Ash Bone Technique. He hoped this would deceive Kaguya Musashi, who also possessed the Shikotsumyaku, and prevent him from investigating further.

Elsewhere, Seiji, already far away, was slowly sensing the changes within himself.

As a boss-level existence, Otsutsuki Isshiki's first kill had yielded an enormous haul. Genji's soul had already returned to the Pure Land, so all the gold dropped belonged to Seiji.

That was life—every road was covered in both flowers and thorns. After the thorns came the flowers. For Seiji, it truly meant sweetness after bitterness.

Isshiki's death caused the Karma mark he had just carved onto Seiji's body to vanish. Yet the thawed and dissolved information of Otsutsuki Isshiki remained within Seiji, and more than half of it had already thawed. Only Isshiki's consciousness, immense Chakra, and power were gone.

The Karma that had lost Isshiki's control was Seiji's most perfect nourishment. The more than half-thawed information contained all kinds of secret knowledge from the Ninja World over the past Thousand Years, as well as all of Isshiki's memories since arriving on the planet where the Ninja World was located. To Seiji, who had lived in such a remote corner of the world, those memories and knowledge were the finest gift possible.

For Seiji, a descendant of Otsutsuki Hamura, the direction of his bloodline's awakening and evolution was Kaguya Otsutsuki. Seiji's bloodline had already undergone an initial atavistic awakening and possessed some Otsutsuki traits. Thus, the ownerless Karma was nothing less than a perfect tonic to him. Everything Isshiki possessed was slowly being devoured and digested by Seiji, merging into his bloodline.

Seiji walked without any particular direction. He had never gone far from the village where he had been exiled; the farthest he had ever traveled was the lake near the village.

After merging with Isshiki's memories, Seiji discovered in frustration that Jigen—or rather, Isshiki—had likewise never visited the remote borderlands of the Land of Water in the past Thousand Years.

And so, an awkward problem arose.

Seiji was lost.

Helpless, Seiji could only pick a direction and keep moving forward. Along the way, he casually dealt with several wild beasts that had wanted to make a meal of him. He carried one enormous bear with him as provisions.

Because he had left in too much of a hurry, Seiji had not brought the Storage Scroll Genji had left behind. Thus, he could only pull out his own spine and transform it into a long Bone Whip, dragging the giant bear along as he traveled.

Shocking! The mighty Shikotsumyaku Kekkei Genkai was actually being used to carry food!

The Karma being consumed by his bloodline was constantly and subtly improving every aspect of Seiji. At the current pace, he could sense that it would take roughly five years to completely digest the gift Isshiki had left behind.

Soon, three days passed, and Seiji's body had fully recovered. As his injuries healed, his body sent him signals of hunger.

During the recovery period, his body had considerately postponed the need to replenish energy. Now that it had returned to normal, however, bloodline evolution required vast amounts of energy. The signals from his body continually urged Seiji to eat.

Finding a cave, Seiji tidied it up a little and built a simple stove from branches. He dragged over the giant bear, drew a Bone Blade from his body, completely butchered the remaining bear meat, and placed it on a rack built above the stove. Circulating his Chakra, he formed a flame in his palm, lit the stove, and began cooking the bear meat.

After awakening his Otsutsuki Bloodline, he naturally possessed all seven attributes: wind, Lightning, water, fire, earth, yin, and yang. Although Seiji had never learned Fire Release, his talent was there. Converting Chakra into flames was still something he could accomplish.

P.S.: Nagato possessed all seven attributes because Madara Uchiha had transplanted the Rinnegan into him during childhood, subtly influencing him over time.

Seiji quickly ate his fill. More than half of the remaining bear meat went into his stomach, becoming fuel for him to increase his strength. All that could be said was that it had been a good bear!

Inside the cave, Seiji sat cross-legged on the ground. The Chakra within his body continuously circulated along a route that had become familiar to him. As it flowed, Seiji repeatedly compressed his Chakra according to the method he had obtained from Isshiki's memories, raising the quality of his Chakra to a new level.