Peering from the Shadows

"Good thing that idiot delivered himself right to my doorstep..."

Hozuki Shingetsu had not yet fully mastered Destructo Disc. He had originally worried about missing, but Kaguya Hirotoshi had been so considerate as to use his own whip to hold himself in place.

With a stationary target, it would have been downright embarrassing if Hozuki Shingetsu still missed.

That was right—Destructo Disc was one of Hozuki Shingetsu's hidden trump cards.

As a transmigrator, now that he had come to the world of Naruto, how could he possibly not "invent" the famous Rasengan?

As one of the few Ninjutsu in Naruto with its entire training process openly revealed, if a transmigrator could not even use the Rasengan, he might as well take off his skirt. But likewise, if he only knew the Rasengan, that would be wasting the broad perspective granted by being a transmigrator.

Perhaps it was a tribute to his predecessor, but throughout the world of Naruto, traces of Kishimoto paying homage to Dragon Ball could be seen everywhere.

For example, the Lightning Release Chakra Mode that closely resembled a Super Saiyan transformation, the battle-race Uchiha Clan, the similar circumstances of Uchiha Sasuke and Vegeta, and so on.

So in the world of Naruto, it was perfectly reasonable for me to invent a "Destructo Disc" based on the Rasengan, wasn't it?

However, because it required compressing erratically moving Chakra into a dense, flat disc, even though Hozuki Shingetsu knew the Rasengan's training process, recreating Destructo Disc had still taken a great deal of time.

Even now, it still had certain flaws—namely, Destructo Disc could not move far from Hozuki Shingetsu's palm. Perhaps, like the Rasengan, it could only be thrown once Chakra nature transformation was added, thereby replicating the true Destructo Disc from Dragon Ball.

Unlike the still-unsatisfied Hozuki Shingetsu, everyone present fell silent upon witnessing the scene before them.

Before the battle began, it was not as if they had never considered that Hozuki Shingetsu might win. But they had never imagined that he would win in such a manner.

"Was that Ninjutsu just now a hand-seal-free technique?" A Jonin turned to his companion, seeming to seek confirmation.

"Yeah! It was a hand-seal-free technique. Judging by its power, it was already worthy of being called A-Rank Ninjutsu. Add that incomplete Water Release Chakra Mode, and it could be said that this young genius of Kirigakure had already invented two advanced Ninjutsu."

"Two advanced Ninjutsu? Could it be that, like Lord Gengetsu, he also possessed exceptional talent for Ninjutsu research?"

Although ninjas as powerful as Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama could earn everyone's admiration through their overwhelming individual strength, Ninjutsu inventors like Senju Tobirama and Hozuki Gengetsu earned even greater respect. Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara could not make you stronger, but the Ninjutsu invented by the Second Kage could.

As Kirigakure's Second Mizukage, Hozuki Gengetsu had not only invented the famous Steaming Danger Tyranny, but had also simplified the Hidden Mist Technique and Silent Killing Technique from Mirage. He could be called Kirigakure's Senju Tobirama.

When they had previously heard Hozuki Shingetsu being called "the second Hozuki Gengetsu," quite a few people in Kirigakure had scoffed, believing it was merely the Hozuki Clan boasting about itself. But now, it seemed the rumors were not baseless after all!

"We, the Kaguya Clan, lost this battle." Kaguya Yoshio wore a dark expression as he had his clansmen carry away the unconscious Kaguya Hirotoshi. With the bone proliferation of Shikotsumyaku, losing his right arm would not cause Kaguya Hirotoshi's combat strength to decline too severely, but it would also cut off any possibility of further improvement. How could that not enrage Kaguya Yoshio?

Though he had considered the possibility of Kaguya Hirotoshi losing as part of his plan to lull the Hozuki Clan into complacency, when that outcome truly appeared before him, Kaguya Yoshio still could not accept it.

"After some time, I'll send over the information on the eligible girls in our clan. Hozuki Shingetsu can simply take away whichever one he finds suitable."

After leaving those words behind, Kaguya Yoshio did not even meet his "bargain son-in-law," Hozuki Shingetsu. He simply left with a cold face.

"Haha, old bastard, you finally got yours?"

Watching his old rival suffer, Hozuki Zangetsu naturally felt immensely satisfied. He patted the shoulder of his son, who had walked over, and happily told Hozuki Shingetsu about the wager.

"A marriage alliance with the Kaguya Clan? No, I refuse."

Hozuki Zangetsu had expected his son to be delighted, but he had not expected this reaction.

"As long as you marry a Kaguya girl, we might obtain Shikotsumyaku!"

Hozuki Shingetsu shook his head. He did not want his future wife to sprout bone spikes all over her body whenever she got excited. If that happened during some happy fun... hiss, it was terrifying just to think about.

Besides, after finally coming to the ninja world, if he did not have several famous female ninjas at his side and thoroughly collect them, would this transmigration not have been wasted?

"No, no. I already have someone in mind for my wife."

"Oh? Which family's girl is she from? What does she look like?"

Hozuki Zangetsu had not expected his precocious son to already have someone he liked. At once, he looked at him with a thoroughly gossipy gaze.

"Her looks are beyond question." A head of red hair surfaced in Hozuki Shingetsu's mind.

Regarding his marriage, aside from his goal of collecting women, Hozuki Shingetsu would also choose someone who could provide enormous help to his future ambitions, considering the benefits of a marriage alliance. And as it happened, the person in his heart met all those requirements.

Though after marrying her, it felt unlikely that, given her temperament, she would allow him to keep collecting women... but where there was a will, there was a way!

They could talk about that later.

"How was it?"

In the dense forest not far away, Vortex White Zetsu, possessed by Uchiha Madara, silently watched the scene unfold.

"Average. Only that hand-seal-free Ninjutsu was somewhat interesting. That half-finished Water Release Chakra Mode still lacked polish," Uchiha Madara commented flatly.

Even the complete Lightning Release Chakra Mode was merely so-so in his eyes, let alone this half-finished Water Release Chakra Mode. That hand-seal-free Ninjutsu, however, was genuinely impressive. Still, from that brat, Uchiha Madara seemed to sense a strangely familiar aura.

The aura of a despicable wretch who only knew how to launch sneak attacks and play dirty tricks.

"But as a pawn to disrupt Kirigakure and even the Shinobi World, he was quite suitable, wasn't he, Lord Madara?"

Uchiha Madara nodded, acknowledging the point.

Judging from how the brat had stirred up trouble lately, he was not the peaceful sort. In terms of results, his goals aligned with Uchiha Madara's.

"Disrupting the Shinobi World... It seemed time to report this to the main body." Vortex White Zetsu's consciousness gazed at the distant Hozuki Shingetsu, lost in thought.