Doubt Him! Understand Him! Then... How Many Floors Can a Bag of Rice Be Carried?

Inside the room, twenty or thirty members of the Kaguya Clan gathered, their anger barely contained.

In front of them lay the corpse of one of their clansmen, murdered in an assassination.

The Kaguya Clan had originally numbered at least forty or fifty, but successive assassinations and high-risk missions had left them suffering heavy losses.

At the front stood the clan head, roaring furiously. "My clansmen, the Kaguya Clan must fight back! We are a clan of warriors. We can die gloriously in battle, but we must never be assassinated in silence and humiliation."

"Fight back! Kill Karatachi Yagura and set things right!"

His furious shouts rang in their ears. Kazama Kaguya went along with the crowd, putting on a look of burning rage. But when they began making specific plans for the raid, he activated the power of All-Killing Ash Bones and coughed up several mouthfuls of blood.

###

"Cough, cough, cough..."

The pungent smell of blood made everyone frown.

With their entire clan nearing the brink of life and death, seeing blood before the attack had even begun was certainly dispiriting.

Kazama Kaguya seized the opportunity to say, "Clan Head, the Fourth Mizukage truly deserves to die. I want to join the raiding party too, but I'm afraid I'd hold back the attack. How about I stay here to guard our compound and stop those civilian ninja from sneaking in?"

Kazama Kaguya looked so gravely ill that it was hard to refuse him.

After a moment's silence, the clan head said, "The rest of you will come with me. We have only one chance. Your Bloodline Disease is too severe, so stay here and guard the compound. If those greedy civilian ninja dare to trespass, kill them all."

"My Kaguya Clan may have been targeted and assassinated by Karatachi Yagura for a long time, but we won't let those jackals take whatever they want."

By the end, his face was set in a murderous scowl.

In the firelight, his sharply defined face stood out, his cheekbones jutting so high they seemed ready to pierce his skin and drink their fill of blood.

Seeing that he had gotten what he wanted, Kazama Kaguya promptly assured him, "Clan Head, don't worry. As long as I'm alive, no one will get through the gates of our compound."

"Good." The clan head nodded in satisfaction, then began assigning Kimimaro's task.

Though he was regarded as a weapon, he was still young and wouldn't be much help in assassinating the Mizukage. He was assigned to go alone and slaughter civilians, drawing the attention of the village leadership and covering the main force's raid.

Soon, Kazama Kaguya saw Kimimaro emerge from the Dungeon.

His mission was to launch a night raid and kill everyone he encountered, civilian or ninja.

The two exchanged a glance but said nothing.

Everything had been arranged in advance.

After Kimimaro headed into the village to begin killing, the clan head gathered all their fighting forces.

Kazama Kaguya thought they would set out at once, but an unexpected turn of events stopped them.

With dozens of eyes upon him, the clan head suddenly pulled out a key and pressed it into Kazama Kaguya's hand. "Kazama, this is the key to the clan storehouse. Keep it safe."

Kazama Kaguya froze, completely unprepared for this.

"The storehouse key? You're giving it to me?" He looked utterly incredulous.

In the Kaguya Clan, he had always been a nobody. He knew exactly how little he mattered.

The storehouse held countless treasures accumulated by the Kaguya Clan.

Kazama Kaguya had coveted this key, but had never dared to dream of having it. Now, somehow, it had landed in his hands.

The clan head paid no attention to his changing expression. He paused, the light in his eyes dimming as his face grew complicated, as though he were delivering his last words:

"Kazama, it's good that you won't be joining the raid. Guard the compound. If this mission fails, Karatachi Yagura won't let us return alive. Our clan's destruction is imminent."

"Once we leave, only women and children will remain. You're nearly dead yourself, and you won't be able to escape either."

The clan head sighed, his voice growing lower and rougher.

"The Hozuki and Mizuki Clans have already been wiped out. If we lose, take the women and children into the storehouse. Set off every Explosive tag inside. Don't let our clan's bloodline and accumulated wealth be exploited and used to torment us."

His words felt weighted with a thousand pounds of iron, striking Kazama Kaguya until his head spun.

"No, I'm going to become a missing-nin. I've already found a bodyguard. I'm supposed to run away!"

Kazama Kaguya screamed inwardly. The key in his hands felt like a red-hot brand, burning to the touch.

All he wanted was to survive, flee to Konoha, obtain the Byakugan bloodline, evolve into an Otsutsuki, and live safely in the Ninja World. He'd even get to show off a little and enjoy the thrill of wielding tremendous power.

But what was this supposed to be?

Was the clan head using women and children to guilt-trip him, setting a trap so he'd die alongside the Kaguya Clan?

Even after he'd just set Kisame Hoshigaki up, this was too much of a backlash!

"Clan Head..."

Kazama Kaguya tried to throw the key away, but the clan head stopped him.

The clan head grasped his hand and pressed the key firmly into his palm. His voice was sincere.

"Kazama, I believe in you. There are no cowards in the Kaguya Clan."

"If we succeed, Kirigakure will have a new ruler. If we fail, you'll be the one to preserve our clan's dignity."

After speaking, he turned to look at the clansmen standing resolutely behind him, his eyes full of satisfaction.

Chakra surged. Shikotsumyaku activated, and bone spikes burst from his body, forming a massive bone spear.

The clan head raised it like a battle standard and let out a furious roar.

"The Kaguya Clan has nothing but unyielding bones! Kill!"

The next instant, countless bone spikes shot into the sky, forming a pale torrent that surged toward the Mizukage Building.

Kazama Kaguya stood rooted to the spot, utterly petrified.

His face flushed red as he watched the white torrent quickly disappear, then cursed loudly:

"Damn it, you old bastard! You're guilt-tripping me?"

"The Kaguya Clan has no cowards, only unyielding bones?"

"I..."

Kazama Kaguya wanted to shout, "I'm a coward! I just want to survive!"

But when the words reached his lips, he couldn't force them out.

Because from a nearby house, women began emerging with young children.

They neither cried nor made a fuss. Every one of them had Explosive tags strapped to her body, and they stared straight at him with the look of someone ready to die.

The Kaguya compound was terrifyingly quiet in that moment.

"Explosive tags? Human bombs? Better to shatter like jade than remain intact like a tile? Is this what the Kaguya Clan's unyielding spirit means?"

Kazama Kaguya froze completely, as if a thunderbolt had struck him in the heart.

"Madness. This is absolute madness. This fucked-up world... damn it!"

His voice trembled with helplessness as his heart waged a fierce battle.

All he wanted was to survive. What was wrong with that?

But in this situation, if he ran away in front of all these women and children, he'd probably be haunted by it for the rest of his life.

Even if he gained the power of the Otsutsuki, he'd still be nothing but a rat in the sewers, never able to show his face.

"Eternally standing above the heavens? Ha. I spoke too soon."

"The wind's too strong up there. I'm just a nobody. Why am I having such a ridiculous daydream...?"

"So the Ninja World really is this much of a cesspit? No wonder the madmen of the Uchiha Clan keep trying to create a beautiful, peaceful world."

"Doubt him! Understand him! And then..."

In that moment, Kazama Kaguya suddenly understood why so many missing-nin had supported the Infinite Tsukuyomi plan.

He even understood why, from the Sage of Six Paths to Hashirama Senju, Madara Uchiha, Nagato, Obito, and even Naruto Uzumaki, all of them had sought peace.

Everyone was simply sick of the torment that killing inflicted on the heart.

He sighed, countless thoughts rising and falling within him.

His childish, wishful thoughts quickly burned to ashes.

What remained were thoughts heavy with responsibility—bitter, agonizing, and soul-wrenching.

"Maybe someday I'll have to shout, too: How many floors can a bag of rice be carried?"