Secret News

Outside Genji's home—or rather, Seiji's home now—Seiji happened to run into Gonbei, who was about to head out to handle matters for Genji.

"Uncle Gonbei! Long time no see!" Seiji, still the same humble young man, greeted Gonbei.

"Young Master Seiji, good morning! Looks like the mission went smoothly. Hurry inside—Lord Genji has been waiting for you ever since he learned you were back!" Gonbei replied just as warmly.

As an Anbu, Seiji's whereabouts and mission details were normally kept under absolute secrecy.

However, Gonbei was Elder Genji's personal guard and butler, so it was hardly strange for him to know about Seiji's circumstances. Moreover, Genji was an elder whose authority was comparable to the Mizukage's. Though he no longer involved himself much in affairs, his influence remained. The moment Seiji and the others entered the village, someone had already informed Genji of Seiji's return.

"Grandpa! I'm back!" Seiji felt nothing but closeness and respect for this old man, who truly treated him as his own grandson.

"Come, little Seiji, let Grandpa take a look. You weren't hurt, were you?" Though he already knew the mission's outcome and understood that his grandson's strength was not to be underestimated, Genji still showed concern for Seiji, who had just completed his first Anbu mission.

"How could I possibly get hurt? I'm really strong!" Seiji said smugly.

"Hahaha, that's right. Of course my grandson is strong!" Genji smiled kindly at Seiji, his eyes filled with satisfaction.

"Come, to celebrate your first completed S-rank mission, Grandpa has a reward for you." As he spoke, Genji rose and walked to the side, picking up a scroll he had prepared long ago before handing it to Seiji.

"This was given to me by an old fellow from the Kaguya Clan back then. Originally, he asked me to give it to Genshi at an appropriate time." At the mention of Seiji's father, Genji's voice unconsciously paused before he continued, "But I never expected that I would never see him again."

"Grandpa, it's all in the past." Seiji called out softly.

"Yes, it's all in the past." Genji sighed. "Now, I'm giving it to you. This is said to be the only surviving scroll that records the Kaguya Clan's complete history and secrets. Carefully use the power of your bloodline to sense it, and you'll know how to open it. Go back and study it well."

Seiji accepted the scroll, extremely satisfied with Genji's reward.

Seiji did not lack ninjutsu. Isshiki's gifted memories contained countless ninjutsu he had seen and collected over a Thousand Years, waiting for him to slowly uncover and learn.

The information from those memories gave Seiji a fairly solid understanding of the Kaguya Clan, but there was no way he could know everything about the clan as thoroughly as this old predecessor did.

"Go on. No need to keep this old man company. Go study well and continue improving yourself. I look forward to the day you become the Mizukage." For the first time, Genji voiced his expectations for Seiji.

Seiji froze at his words. He had not expected Genji to have such complete confidence in him. But on second thought, it made perfect sense. A nine-year-old genius Jonin with a bloodline limit, born of a prestigious family, with Elder Genji as his grandfather—Seiji already possessed every prerequisite for becoming Mizukage. His lineage and background were impeccable.

Seiji gave Genji a bashful smile, silently acknowledging his hopes. Then, after respectfully bowing to Genji, Seiji turned and returned to his room.

Sitting cross-legged on his bed, Seiji placed the scroll across his lap and drove the Chakra within him, infused with the power of Shikotsumyaku, toward the seal on the scroll.

As a large amount of Chakra containing the power of Shikotsumyaku flowed into the scroll, a crisp click rang out before long, like the sound of a lock being opened. The scroll unfurled on its own.

Seiji began reading it carefully, and the opening introduction already left him somewhat astonished.

"The Kaguya Clan's bloodline originally stemmed from the bloodline of God. Our ancestor was named Otsutsuki Hamura." Seiji knew this because he possessed Ōtsutsuki Isshiki's memories. Yet in this era, when ancient clans such as the Senju Clan and Uchiha Clan had already lost most of their history, it was truly unbelievable that a clan like the Kaguya, known only for brute force, still possessed a scroll recording events from a thousand years ago.

"Ancestor Hamura left behind three branches of bloodline. Only two remain in the Ninja World today: the Hyuga, who inherited the eyes, and the Kaguya, who inherited the body." According to Seiji's memories, the bloodlines of both the Kaguya and Hyuga had been passed down by Hamura's Descendants after they returned to the Ninja World from the moon. It seemed that although the Kaguya Clan had preserved some matters from a thousand years ago, they knew nothing about the moon, nor did they know that another branch of Hamura's bloodline still existed there.

"It is speculated that the eyes and body can complement one another. When they appear together, one may obtain the ultimate power of this world." Seiji paused when he read this. This was information he had never known. Though he knew the Kaguya and Hyuga were both Hamura's Descendants, he had never considered that there might be some connection between them.

But a moment later, he thought of something and revealed an expression of sudden realization.

That was it. Seiji recalled fragments of information he had seen in his previous life: the Uchiha Clan and Senju Clan were descendant families that had inherited the Sage of Six Paths, Hagoromo Otsutsuki's, eyes and body. When the powers of the Senju and Uchiha came together, they would draw forth the power of the Six Paths.

Then, if the powers of the Hyuga and Kaguya—also clans descended from a sage—were combined, they should likewise be able to produce a similar power.

"For a Thousand Years, our clan maintained close ties with the Hyuga, exchanging what we had and even intermarrying on many occasions. The results of this complementarity were gratifying. In the Hyuga, the purity of the Byakugan increased, allowing them to see farther and even granting the Byakugan a Dojutsu capable of suppressing and intimidating Chakra. In the Kaguya, it greatly enhanced the Shikotsumyaku, making Kaguya bodies even stronger and allowing them to easily use the Ash Bone Technique, which ordinary clansmen could only perform by burning their bloodline and life force. But regrettably, after all these years, the so-called ultimate power never appeared." Seiji gradually accepted the theory of complementarity. Since he knew more information, cross-referencing it made it clear that this speculation was correct.

As the bloodline source above even Otsutsuki Hamura, Kaguya Otsutsuki possessed both the Byakugan and the All-Killing Ash Bones. The so-called ultimate power most likely referred to a complete Kaguya Otsutsuki bloodline.

As for why no one had ever achieved it after all these years, it was likely because their bloodlines were not pure enough. But that was not a problem for Seiji. After all, he already possessed an initial Otsutsuki Bloodline, and the bloodline within him was still constantly evolving. In truth, Seiji's initial atavistic awakening of his bloodline was thanks to his mother's side. Few people knew that the Sixth Elder's mother had come from the Hyuga Clan's Main Family.

Having obtained this secret information, Seiji saw an entirely new path toward improving his bloodline. While he was not deranged enough to go to Konoha and "borrow" a few members of the Hyuga Main Family—or a few pairs of Byakugan—for experiments, Seiji firmly believed that the Hyuga Clan's bloodline contained something that could be of positive use to him, perhaps even accelerating the evolution of his bloodline.

"Our clan and the Hyuga Clan have been friends for generations. Even after our clan relocated to the Land of Water, we never lost contact with the Hyuga Clan. Though we no longer intermarried, we continued to exchange letters." Seiji's eyes lit up when he read this. So the Kaguya and Hyuga still remained in contact. However, this channel of communication was probably limited to the upper echelons now, perhaps even solely in the hands of the clan heads.

"After the Heavenly Ninja's death, the Hyuga went through several upheavals and lost this related information. Though contact between us was never severed, the two clans, belonging to different ninja villages, were destined to be unable to continue experiments related to our bloodlines. Descendant, whether you reveal the secret of the Hyuga bloodline is for you to decide. This old man, already a relic of a bygone era, will not interfere." Upon reaching the end, Seiji let out a long breath.

Today, Seiji had truly received far too many secrets he had never understood before.

Although he still could not establish contact with the Hyuga Clan, that did not prevent Seiji from making plans in advance.

(A small clarification—this is a personal speculation and part of this book's setting.)

The Kaguya Clan likely inherited Kaguya Otsutsuki's All-Killing Ash Bones bloodline. However, All-Killing Ash Bones was a Kekkei Mōra-level ability. After Shikotsumyaku was developed to its limit, it would gradually display some of the instant-death properties of All-Killing Ash Bones. For clansmen with insufficient bloodline purity, their own regenerative ability could not keep up with the rate of corrosion, causing their bodies to collapse. This was the Kaguya Clan's so-called bloodline disease, and also why the Ash Bone Technique required burning bloodline power and life force.

However, if one's bloodline was sufficiently pure and close to the original bloodline—or if one simply awakened a higher-level Otsutsuki Bloodline—then no problems or so-called bloodline disease would occur.