Kaguya

At this moment, above the Black Pool, the moonlight was clear and bright.

The green mist, originally as thick as a spiderweb, was pierced by beams of silvery-white moonlight, lighting up dreamlike pillars of light that were magnificent and beautiful, as if from a fairy tale world.

Logically speaking, moonlight is merely sunlight reflected by the moon; how could its penetrating power be so much stronger than sunlight? But this world was clearly not a world that followed logic.

"Because moonlight is different from sunlight." Katsuyu lowered her head and gave a perfunctory reply, sounding quite insincere.

Her tone was just like someone brushing off a small child.

Nagato, however, understood: "Because inside the moon, there is the power of Kaguya Otsutsuki, right?"

The moon in this world was not a real moon, but the result of a devoted son named Otsutsuki Hagoromo sending his own mother into the sky. If one were to tell an ordinary person that their mother had "flown away," it would definitely be an insult. But to say it to Otsutsuki Hagoromo was merely stating an objective fact.

"You even know about Kaguya Otsutsuki?" Katsuyu was somewhat startled, tilting her head to look at Nagato. The feeling was as if she had seen a wild monkey that somehow understood addition and subtraction within ten.

Nagato felt deeply insulted and began to reflect on himself. As an "omniscient and omnipotent" transmigrator, and the leader of the ninja world who was just carrying rice in Konoha, how had he fallen to this state? To be looked down upon by a slug—could it be because the sound of Katsuyu's voice was too cute?

"Come to think of it, you did mention the Otsutsuki clan before. I thought you only knew about Hagoromo because of the Rinnegan." Katsuyu muttered to herself.

"Well, thanks a lot for that." Nagato replied dryly.

After learning the Sage Mode of Shikkotsu Forest, he could perceive Senjutsu Chakra from Katsuyu that was similar to the energy within his own body. It couldn't help but give him a feeling that Katsuyu was very close to him. Now, Nagato helplessly understood the meaning of what Katsuyu had said earlier; no wonder this creature had said that learning her sage arts would make him like her child.

This was entirely a connection established through chakra, similar to a feeling of sharing the same roots and origin.

Yet, this was the complete opposite of the feeling Katsuyu gave Nagato. The Rinnegan in his eye sockets, although connected to his flesh and blood, remained filled with coldness and a sense of alienation, as if they were not part of his body at all.

That feeling was as if what was installed in his eye sockets were not a pair of real eyes, but a pair of mechanical eyes without sensation. Although there were no obstacles when using them, there was absolutely no feeling of seamless integration or ease. They appeared cold and heavy, completely out of place with his body.

Nagato shook his head, banishing the discomfort of his eyes from his mind, and tried asking Katsuyu another question: "Katsuyu, have you ever seen Kaguya? What kind of person was she?"

It was said that the sages of the Three Great Sage Regions were immortals who had survived since the era of Kaguya. They possessed the most complete and reliable intelligence in this world; it would be a pity not to ask if he had the chance.

Katsuyu replied: "I have seen chakra the size of stars fall upon this land. I have also seen human hands divide yin and yang, marking the boundary between the living and the dead. And I have seen people walking alone, wandering between humanity and divinity. You humans possess too many emotions—regret, desire, insatiable greed, pain, and struggle—to the point of becoming completely hollow."

The tone of this giant slug was full of emotion. However, the words she spoke were devoid of practical meaning. Except for the first sentence, which allowed Nagato to understand the gist, the rest was completely incomprehensible.

"What does that mean?" Nagato bared his teeth, wanting to throw the Katsuyu off his shoulder. He felt that Katsuyu had no intention of telling him information about Kaguya and was intentionally speaking in riddles.

"Sigh..." Katsuyu let out a sigh, making Nagato's brow twitch.

He heard disdain in that sigh, which angered him so much that he gritted his teeth and said: "What would a shut-in slug like you know? Why are you sighing here? And since you're such a shut-in, why did you sign a summoning contract with someone like Tsunade?"

Katsuyu answered leisurely: "Don't you think it's quite interesting to have a part of your body summoned out every once in a while?"

Hearing this, Nagato's expression changed, and he patted his forehead with some frustration. It wasn't frustration at not understanding what Katsuyu meant, but frustration that he actually understood it. That was truly terrifying; what happened to the idea that different species couldn't understand each other? He didn't want to have mutual understanding with a slug.

"You really are the master of the shut-in world!" Nagato said with an expression of admiration.

"Thank you!" Katsuyu replied with polite indifference.

The conversation could no longer continue, and Nagato decided not to pay any more attention to the Katsuyu on his shoulder. He began to swim in the Black Pool, enjoying his physical fitness—which far exceeded that of an Olympic champion from his previous life—amidst the moonlight. After swimming for who knows how many laps and adapting to the state of Sage Mode, he climbed out of the Black Pool and used the Summoning Jutsu.

"Poof--!" The Asura Path was summoned over by him.

Because the Black Receivers on its body had disappeared, the Asura Path, having lost its source of chakra, had turned back into a corpse, and the Rinnegan in its eyes had also vanished. Nagato used the power of the Deva Path to repel the Black Water from his body and began to take the red-cloud black robe off the Asura Path to put it on himself.

Although the clothes on the Asura Path were a bit large, making it so he couldn't even extend his hands from the sleeves, it was still better than being naked. He didn't like running around in the buff.

After putting on the clothes, Nagato wrapped the black robe tightly around himself and walked barefoot out of the Black Pool.

Katsuyu, who had been lying on his back the whole time, crawled out from his collar and said: "Where are you going? You don't think your training ends here, do you?"

"Of course not, do you think I'm as stupid as you?" Nagato shook his head, letting Katsuyu stay on his back; he actually found this creature quite cute anyway. "I have more important things to do now."

Ever since he transmigrated into Nagato, he had been very clear about who his greatest enemy was, and he had been racing against time to become stronger.

Originally, his plan was just to learn sage arts to give himself stronger power for self-preservation. He hadn't expected to gain so much in Shikkotsu Forest—not only mastering sage arts without side effects but also curing all the hidden ailments in his body. His Sage Body was in an unprecedentedly optimal state, giving him the foundation to further improve his strength.

Nagato quickened his pace, his heart burning with intensity. He had to prepare his trump card for dealing with Obito before Obito found him.

In Sage Mode, his speed was extremely fast. Before long, in the green mist far from the Black Pool, he saw the massive body of the Cerberus. This stupid dog was lowering its three heads, squatting there foolishly without moving. When Nagato walked closer, he discovered that the dog's face even looked aggrieved.