The One Who Knows Everything

Elsewhere, after their mission failed, Sugito and Shinya could only return to the Kaguya Clan territory once their injuries had healed.

In the Clan Head's residence, within the courtyard, a middle-aged man bearing a somewhat similar face to Genji stood beneath a tree with his hands behind his back. His posture was straight and imposing, his expression blank, yet he radiated an unquestionable authority. He was none other than Kaguya Musashi, the current head of the Kaguya Clan.

"Clan Head, the mission failed!" The two approached Musashi and dropped to one knee.

"Tell me about it," Musashi said blandly, without the rage they had expected. Yet the calmer he was, the more unsettled they became. As Musashi's loyal lackeys, they knew his character well: patient, ruthless, ambitious, and power-hungry, willing to disown even his own kin for power. Rising from an ordinary clansman with no background to trading interests with the elders of every branch, and ultimately clawing his way up to become Clan Head, Musashi embodied every trait of a true tyrant.

"Some unexpected circumstances arose," Sugito explained.

"A man dressed like a monk headed straight for Kaguya Genji's home with a clear objective. The subsequent battle also proved that Kaguya Genji was indeed his target. He was most likely an old enemy who had come to settle a grudge." Sugito's explanation successfully led Musashi astray, taking him further and further from the truth.

Shinya continued, describing Jigen's appearance and clothing in detail to Musashi, hoping to see whether their Clan Head recognized him.

"Go on." Musashi neither confirmed nor denied it, though inwardly he was puzzled by Jigen's origins. While his two subordinates had not awakened a bloodline limit, Kaguya Clan jonin had always been synonymous with strength in the Ninja World. Someone capable of defeating the two of them together should not have been unknown.

"At first, we didn't know that he had come for revenge. Without knowing his identity, and seeing that he clearly meant trouble, we had no choice but to attack. But we never expected to be defeated in an instant, without any ability to resist. The enemy seemed to be proficient in Space-Time Ninjutsu!" Shinya's shallow knowledge prevented him from recognizing the true nature of Jigen's technique, leaving him to speculate blindly.

Hearing this, Musashi's pupils contracted. He had assumed that the two had only been defeated after a hard battle and had barely escaped with their lives.

To defeat the two of them instantly means he isn't far below me, someone who has already reached Kage-level. My younger brother actually had such a terrifying enemy! Musashi marveled inwardly. Based on their description, Jigen's strength had become enough to threaten him.

"The two of us were defeated by him, but he seemed extremely arrogant and couldn't be bothered to kill us. By the time we woke up, the battle was already over. We checked the battlefield, and Kaguya Genji should have used the Dance of the Seedling Fern." The two described the traces they had seen at the battlefield in detail.

When he finally heard that three piles of ash remained on the battlefield, the corners of Kaguya Musashi's lips could not help but curl upward. However, Sugito and Shinya did not see it.

Looks like my younger brother fought desperately. The Ash Bone Technique truly is terrifying. The thought flashed through Musashi's mind.

I wonder whether my nephew also awakened the Shikotsumyaku and used the Ash Bone Technique, or whether Genji lost control and accidentally injured him. Well, it doesn't matter. The result is that they all perished together. Musashi, who had never let go of his hostility and wariness toward Kaguya Genji's family, finally put his mind at ease.

"Enough. You may leave. I won't punish you this time, but make sure the details of this mission remain confidential." With the threat gone, a huge weight lifted from Musashi's heart as he waved them away.

The measures Seiji had taken before leaving, together with Sugito and Shinya's miraculous assistance, had ultimately succeeded in deceiving Kaguya Musashi.

Having served as Clan Head for many years, Kaguya Musashi knew the secret techniques of the Shikotsumyaku like the back of his hand. Even with the Blood Burning Technique, Genji could at most briefly erupt with power close to Kage-level. And it never occurred to Musashi that, after a crippled Genji perished together with an enemy suspected of possessing Kage-level strength, he could still protect Seiji at the same time. After all, there was an enormous gap in strength between Kage-level and Elite Jonin.

No longer dwelling on this, Kaguya Musashi instead began considering how to take his status a step further. As the current head of the Kaguya Clan, one of Kirigakure's strongest fighting forces, he was a Kage-level powerhouse himself and one of Kirigakure's upper ranks. Furthermore, although the Kaguya Clan and the village were only united in appearance and lived separately outside the village, they were still one of the three great bloodline clans that had founded Kirigakure. The position of Mizukage no longer seemed so far beyond his reach.

The Hozuki Clan had produced a Second, and the Yuki Clan had produced a Third. So why couldn't the Kaguya Clan produce a Fourth?

Seiji woke from meditation and adjusted his posture, appearing highly satisfied with the information Isshiki had left behind.

With chakra reserves at the jonin level, Seiji, who was nearly nine years old, had now fully attained jonin-level combat strength after gaining the battle experience of Jigen and Ōtsutsuki Isshiki.

His only regret was that he had yet to awaken eyes of his own.

After all, compared to the true Ōtsutsuki Clan, Seiji could only be considered a wild one. Based on the information Isshiki had left behind, he could only speculate that his Otsutsuki Bloodline was not yet concentrated enough, or that he had not yet reached the required level.

However, Seiji could clearly feel that something was being nurtured within his eyes. Moreover, he could vaguely sense the Daikokuten Space left behind by Isshiki, though he was unable to establish a connection with it.

Perhaps, as he continued integrating Isshiki's gift into himself, he would awaken his own Byakugan—or perhaps some other kind of eyes.

After steadying his emotions, Seiji, now fully recovered, once more set out in search of a town.

Seiji now understood most of the Ninja World's hidden secrets, knew all the history of the past thousand years, and had seen through the true nature of the Ninja World. He could already be called a man who knew everything. Combined with his fragmented knowledge of Hokage from his previous life, he was now qualified to become the one moving the pieces across the entire Ninja World.

By the following evening, Seiji finally arrived at a fairly sizable town.

It was a medium-sized town located in the southern part of the Land of Water, while the village where the exile settlement was located lay in a more remote area further south.

Seiji knew that his pair of horns were rather distinctive even in the Ninja World, so he used the Transformation Technique to change his appearance, concealing the horns on his forehead and the red dot between his brows that symbolized the Kaguya Clan.

As he slowly walked into the town, Seiji did not deliberately release any aura, but his cold, handsome face still gave off an air that warned strangers to keep their distance.

Although Seiji had seen even more prosperous cities and the capitals of various nations in Isshiki's memories, this was still his first time personally experiencing the outside world, and he remained somewhat curious about it.

(Most of those memory scenes were actually things Isshiki had seen while controlling Jigen. In other words, many of the memories belonged to Jigen. But Isshiki had reincarnated and revived through Jigen's body, essentially consuming everything Jigen possessed. To simplify the later narration, Jigen and Isshiki will no longer be discussed separately, and Isshiki will be used to refer to both from here on.)

Walking through the town, Seiji slowly took in the atmosphere of life that he had never experienced in this life.

The aloof, godlike disposition he had developed under the influence of Ōtsutsuki Isshiki was also gradually fading away.

The memories of Seiji's past and present lives continuously merged with those of Ōtsutsuki Isshiki, and he gradually returned to the state of an ordinary human. Perhaps one day, when Seiji's bloodline evolved into that of a complete Ōtsutsuki, he could be called a god. But at least for now, he was not a god. He was merely a human named Seiji—Seiji Otsutsuki.