Isshiki's Memory

Let me explain that again.

Kakashi's Chakra reserves had never been large to begin with. The official databook gave Kakashi a stamina stat of 6; even as an Elite Jonin, his Chakra was only just enough to meet the baseline for an ordinary Jonin. So, in my setting, during Konoha's Year 60, Kakashi had a standard 1 ka of Chakra after deducting the consumption of the Sharingan. Even without the Sharingan, his Chakra reserves would only be at the level of an ordinary Jonin. He was the kind of ninja who was severely short on mana.

Of course, he had more Chakra later on, but that was purely Kishimoto's art falling apart.

I'm not taking the blame for that.

After an unknown amount of time, Seiji awoke from his meditative state. The amount of Chakra within his body had increased again, and its quality had risen to another level as well.

In quantified terms, Chakra was measured in ka and pillars. A pillar was also called a Chakraton: 1 pillar = 1,000 ka.

In the original story, Kakashi Hatake, who had to constantly devote Chakra to sustaining the Sharingan when he first appeared, was the standard 1 ka. Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage and God of Shinobi, was the standard 1 pillar.

The standard Chakra reserve for a Special Jonin was 1 ka; for a Jonin, 2–3 ka; for an Elite Jonin, 5–20 ka; for a Chunin, 0.3–1 ka; and for a Genin, 0.1–0.3 ka.

(Chakra reserves did not absolutely equal strength, nor did they equal ninja rank, but in most cases in the Ninja World, the amount of Chakra one possessed was tied to a ninja's strength and rank.)

At present, Seiji's Chakra reserves were roughly at 2.1 ka. Moreover, the quality of Seiji's Chakra far surpassed that of ordinary ninja. In other words, when Seiji used the same ninjutsu, it would be more powerful.

"It's time to sort this out properly." Seiji let out a long breath and began continuously reviewing the memories that had fused into his own.

The information Jigen and Isshiki had accumulated over a thousand years was immense. Merely going through it took a full five days.

Within those memories, Seiji saw Isshiki and Kaguya descend upon the Ninja World.

He saw the two plant the God Tree.

He saw the God Tree grow, blossom, and bear fruit.

He saw Kaguya, unwilling to be sacrificed, rise up and launch a sneak attack on Isshiki.

He saw Kaguya consume the God Tree's fruit and evolve once more.

He saw the birth of Hagoromo Otsutsuki and Otsutsuki Hamura.

He saw the two rebel against their mother, Kaguya.

He saw both sides battle across the Ninja World until heaven and earth were torn apart.

He saw Kaguya suffer the seal imposed by her own children.

He saw the birth of the moon.

He saw the consciousness Kaguya had split off before being sealed escape.

He saw Hagoromo Otsutsuki's departure.

He saw the birth and spread of the Shinobi Creed.

He saw the conflict between Indra and Asura.

He saw Hagoromo Otsutsuki use Yin-Yang Release to divide the Ten-Tails that belonged to Kaguya and create the Nine Tailed Beasts.

He saw the birth of the Senju Clan, Uchiha Clan, and Uzumaki Clan.

He saw Hamura's Descendants return from the moon to the Ninja World.

He saw the birth of the Hyuga and Kaguya Clan.

He saw countless clans, great and small, emerge and vanish over the Thousand Years, waging prolonged wars and forming shifting alliances against one another.

He saw all manner of Kekkei Genkai emerge, while a dazzling variety of ninjutsu was continually created.

He saw Indra's and Asura's Chakra reincarnate time and again, clashing in fated duels over and over.

He saw the emergence of Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha.

He saw the Senju Clan and Uchiha Clan reconcile.

He saw the founding of Konoha, Sunagakure, Kumogakure, Iwagakure, and Kirigakure.

He saw the battle at the Valley of the End.

He saw Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha, though they possessed the blood of Otsutsuki Descendants and were still ultimately mortals, unleash Super Kage-level combat power.

He saw the convening of the first Five Kage Summit.

He also saw the outbreak of the first five-village melee that swept across the entire Ninja World.

The final memory stopped at Isshiki's boundless regret and unwillingness after he was forced to reincarnate and resurrect, only to be counter-killed by his father, Genji, due to his own arrogance, with both of them perishing together.

These secret events, most of which had long been buried in the river of history, left Seiji utterly enthralled.

At the same time, combined with the various video clips he had watched in his previous life, although Seiji was not familiar with the plot of Naruto, he now knew nearly all the secrets of the Ninja World. It allowed him to let out a long breath, easing some of the pressure of facing an uncertain and unknowable future.

Furthermore, through Isshiki's memories, Seiji gained a clearer understanding of his own race than he had possessed in his previous life.

The twin horns on his forehead were not merely a symbol of the Otsutsuki; they also represented his status as a legitimate member of the Otsutsuki Clan's main branch.

The Otsutsuki Clan, capable of crossing the stars and surviving in the void of space, possessed extraordinary talents and power. Their horns were the outward manifestation of their Otsutsuki Bloodline.

Those of the main branch had twin horns, while those of the branch families had a single horn. Kaguya, Momoshiki, Urashiki, and the legendary Shibai from Seiji's past-life memories were all members of the main branch, whereas Kinshiki and Isshiki belonged to branch families.

There was no absolute hierarchy between the main branch and the branch families; in the end, strength was what mattered. Under normal circumstances, however, members of the main branch possessed significantly greater talent and power than those of the branch families.

Ōtsutsuki Isshiki alone was an exception. Unlike most Otsutsuki, whose eyes were both Byakugan, his right Byakugan had mutated into a golden, rice-character-shaped "Black Eye" marked with black patterns.

Moreover, thanks to the Dojutsu Sukuna Hikona, awakened from his mutated Black Eye, which allowed him to shrink himself and anything he saw other than living beings, as well as Daikokuten, a Dojutsu that stored shrunken objects or people in a time-frozen extradimensional space for convenient retrieval at any time, Isshiki's combat ability ranked among the best even within the Otsutsuki Clan.

Thus, among the two-person teams sent out to plant God Trees, there was no so-called relationship between guardian and protected. Isshiki, who came from a branch family, and Kaguya, who came from the main family, held nearly equal status.

Equal status meant that strength would ultimately decide everything. The weak would be sacrificed to the Ten-Tails, allowing the God Tree to bloom and bear fruit. At the time, Isshiki's overall strength clearly surpassed Kaguya's, so it was no surprise that Kaguya had launched a sneak attack.

Over the long years, the Otsutsuki Clan had never experienced internal slaughter among its own members, so Isshiki had held no guard against Kaguya whatsoever.

Kaguya's actions undoubtedly constituted betrayal in the eyes of the Otsutsuki Clan. That was also why she feared the other Otsutsuki so greatly, planted the God Tree a second time, and frantically created White Zetsu in preparation for war.

After fully digesting the memories, Seiji's path forward gradually became clear: he would continuously elevate his bloodline and ultimately evolve into a complete Otsutsuki.

With the information Isshiki had left behind, Seiji clearly knew that Isshiki had secretly hidden a smaller Ten-Tails in his extradimensional space. This ownerless Ten-Tails was currently dormant, waiting for a destined person to claim it.

As standard equipment for an Otsutsuki, the Ten-Tails could greatly accelerate an Otsutsuki's growth. That alone made it worth Seiji's careful planning. Although this Ten-Tails was still incomplete and required the sacrifice of Otsutsuki Bloodline, the Ninja World had Tailed Beasts split off from another, larger Ten-Tails that could serve as substitutes.

According to the information Isshiki had left behind, the planet where the Ninja World was located was exceptionally special even throughout the Otsutsuki's long history of planting God Trees. Ordinary planets struggled to sustain even one God Tree. Yet when Ōtsutsuki Isshiki and Kaguya Otsutsuki first arrived in this world a thousand years ago, they discovered that the energy here was exceptionally abundant—enough to support at least two or three plantings.

Furthermore, after Kaguya was sealed away, Hagoromo Otsutsuki established the Shinobi Creed and spread chakra throughout the world. After a thousand years of development, chakra had long replaced the difficult-to-cultivate Natural Energy as the mainstream power of the Ninja World.

That flourishing vitality, that state in which all things thrived and competed, meant the Otsutsuki no longer had to act as they did on other planets.

The Ninja World could develop sustainably without causing catastrophic destruction, becoming the perfect nursery for the cyclical production of Chakra Fruit.