Several kilometers from the waterfall.
Kazama Kaguya toyed with the scroll he had given Kisame Hoshigaki earlier. He stared at the three options written on it, then ripped it to shreds with a sharp rrip.
"Kirigakure's barrier layout? A list of the higher-ups and their weaknesses? The summoning formulae for the Seven Ninja Swords? I'm not trying to overthrow Kirigakure. What would I need those for?"
"Teacher Kisame, your weakness is way too obvious."
He scattered the scroll fragments into the rushing river, feeling pleased with himself.
Sometimes, to open a window, you had to insist on tearing down the roof.
The scroll had only ever been a pretext. Now that he'd achieved his goal, he could toss it aside.
Kazama Kaguya knew that if he'd asked Kisame Hoshigaki to teach him from the start, Kisame never would have agreed.
But if he first offered Kirigakure's intelligence as payment, Kisame would choose the option that seemed troublesome, yet didn't require him to betray his principles at all.
"Teacher Kisame, you were my Jonin instructor once, after all. How can I let you go without teaching me something real?"
"Kirigakure can't compete with Konoha because it lacks the Will of Fire. If you don't give anything up, how am I supposed to grow? When a rogue ninja makes a name for himself, Kirigakure gets some of that fame, too."
In high spirits, Kazama Kaguya found a spot suitable for a long-term campsite, then took a Summoning Scroll out of his ninja pouch.
He'd prepared the supplies before defecting. The scroll contained a tent, first-aid medicine, an iron pot, dried meat, seasonings, and other essentials. Now they'd come in handy.
"It's a shame I don't have Earth Release in my chakra nature. Otherwise, Wood Release would've been the first thing I unlocked."
Kazama Kaguya got to work setting up the tent.
Using Wood Release to build houses was one of the Ninja World's greatest wonders.
Take a luxurious mansion with you wherever you went. Everyone who tried it loved it.
Of course, Kazama Kaguya's innate chakra nature was only Water Release; he had no Earth Release. Once he developed an Earth nature through training, he wouldn't have to go to all this trouble.
After spending half an hour setting up camp, Kazama Kaguya sat cross-legged inside the tent and opened the information on the Evolution Obelisk again.
[Evolver: Kazama Kaguya] [Chakra: 30 cards] [Chakra Natures: Water, Lightning, Yang, Yin] [Bloodline: Pureblood Otsutsuki - Young Form] [Bloodline Awakening Techniques: All-Killing Ash Bones, Karma Seed] [Kekkei Genkai: Shikotsumyaku, Byakugan] (Charge: 0%)
Looking at the line that read [Chakra: 30 cards], Kazama Kaguya said with satisfaction, "After evolving into an Otsutsuki Larva, my chakra went from 0.3 cards to 30 cards. That's a full hundredfold increase."
"So, did my charging speed increase a hundredfold, too?"
He looked at Equation List 1, full of anticipation. "Equation, charge."
[Current chakra: 30 cards. Charging efficiency: 50% per day. Continue charging?]
"Fifty percent efficiency?"
Kazama Kaguya was overjoyed. "Ha! The charging speed really did increase a hundredfold."
Before evolving, with only 0.3 cards of chakra, he could charge the equation by just 0.5% a day.
Compared to that, it was like riding a rocket.
"Charge. Charge it now!" Kazama Kaguya issued the command, excitement all over his face.
[Charging...] [Charging complete]
The Evolution Obelisk drained chakra with brutal efficiency. In the blink of an eye, it had sucked away 99 percent of his chakra.
The charge reading on the obelisk shot up to 58%.
As a huge amount of chakra was drained, Kazama Kaguya's face turned deathly pale.
That familiar weakness washed over him, bringing back the sickly look of a terminally ill patient.
"Same old routine, same old feeling. Just like those two years in Kirigakure."
Feeling the discomfort in his body, Kazama Kaguya felt as if he'd returned to Kirigakure.
For the first two years after transmigrating, he'd spent nearly every day charging to his limit.
To maintain a daily charging rate of 0.5%, he'd lived in a constant state of chakra depletion.
He'd been skin and bones, his face deathly pale, looking every bit like someone in the throes of Bloodline Disease with little time left to live.
Fortunately, the Kaguya Clan were straightforward people, with no scheming or infighting. Even as someone with Bloodline Disease, he'd managed to scrape by.
But things were different now.
The weakness felt the same, but the gains were a hundred times greater.
Compared to the enormous benefits, these tolerable side effects were insignificant.
A charging efficiency of 50% per day meant he could evolve a new Kekkei Genkai in just two days.
"Two days! That's all it'll take to master Storm Release! In a year, I could get 180 of them!"
Kazama Kaguya clenched his fist, his eyes filled with longing for power.
But that was the ideal scenario.
Reality wouldn't be so simple.
If he kept charging to his limit and drained all his chakra every day, he'd probably die without even knowing what hit him.
"My body needs to charge faster, too. I absolutely can't push myself like this again."
Suppressing his weakness, he left the tent and started cooking. He boiled up a huge pot of dried meat, enough to replenish his physical energy.
But mental energy took longer to recover after it was depleted. Usually, that required plenty of rest and meditation.
And after that, he'd still have to train under Kisame Hoshigaki.
Kazama Kaguya was sure that after Kisame had been tricked so many times, he'd finally gotten his chance to teach him a lesson. Kisame would definitely put him through the wringer.
"I suppose this is what I asked for. At least I don't have to worry about Kisame holding back."
"Starting tomorrow, I'll lower the charging rate a little."
Kazama Kaguya weighed the costs against the gains and finally settled on a more suitable figure.
Spend 15 cards of chakra a day, and gain 25% charging efficiency.
Keep the other 15 cards of chakra for combat and ninjutsu training.
Evolving a Kekkei Genkai every four days was completely manageable.
"Then that's settled."
Having made up his mind, Kazama Kaguya quickly polished off the cooked dried meat, then returned to the tent, sat cross-legged, and began meditating to recover his mental energy.
This kind of meditation was similar to a half-asleep state.
By emptying his mind and thinking of nothing, he could quickly ease the pain of having his mental energy drained.
But as soon as Kazama Kaguya entered his meditation this time, he sensed something different from before.
Before he knew it, he'd entered a hazy, gray world.
In this world, he was a glowing white spirit, still in the form of an Otsutsuki Larva.
White hair and eyes, horns on his head, floating in midair.
His form was somewhat indistinct, lacking a sense of reality.
Countless wisps of smoke-like mist drifted all around him, light and airy.
At the center of the spiritual world, dense gray fog surrounded a colossal obelisk.
It reached from the heavens to the earth, as if it held up the entire world.
The obelisk glowed a gentle silver-white. It stood silently in the depths of his mindscape, its surface inscribed with row upon row of golden characters that shimmered brightly.
"Is this the Evolution Obelisk? Are those golden characters my personal information?"
Kazama Kaguya stared at it in shock.
He'd never imagined his cheat would be a tangible object.
He gazed at the enormous monument, its surface gleaming gold and silver, and felt an immense, mysterious aura wash over him.
He instinctively tried to approach it.
The next instant, the colossal obelisk suddenly vanished, transforming into a streak of light that shot into his body.
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