The Kaneki Clan and Hiruko

Rainwater seeped silently through cracks in the ceiling, each drop pattering onto the cold floor with a low, muffled sound in the quiet room.

Raiga Kurosuki looked nervously at Koko, who had been silent since earlier, his single eye, exposed outside the bandage, tightening slightly with each drip of water.

He nervously swallowed, wanting to say something, but afraid of interrupting the man's thoughts, he could only stand stiffly in place, even his breathing was very soft.

At this moment, Kou had no time to pay attention to Raiga Kurosuki's reaction. His brows were furrowed, and the light in his eyes flickered, as if he was deep in thought.

"[Moon]...?"

As he whispered the name of the organization, a sense of unease settled over him.

He had absolutely no recollection of the mysterious organization called "Moon" that Raiga Kurosuki had just mentioned.

Neither in the original timeline nor in all the intelligence he gathered after arriving in this Ninja World did the name of this organization appear even once.

But he did know some information about the Iwagakure missing-nin who defeated Raiga Kurosuki and brought him Obito.

Kaneki Eito, Kaneki Mitero, is from the Kaneki Clan of Iwagakure.

It was a small ninja clan located in the southern mountains of the Land of Earth, far from the main city of Iwagakure.

The clan is small, with only a few dozen members across generations, yet they possess a dual bloodline inheritance that is extremely rare even in the entire Ninja World — Lava Release and Steel Release.

However, compared to the Mei Terumi family, whose situation was similar, the Kaneki Clan's plight in Iwagakure was truly tragic.

Due to their strong clan identity and their refusal to align themselves with any faction, such as the Tsuchikage or elders, the Kaneki Clan is constantly targeted by the Iwagakure leadership in terms of resource allocation. The tasks assigned to them are also mostly extremely dangerous, resulting in a consistently high casualty rate among clan members.

Faced with such blatant discrimination, the Kaneki Clan could only dare to be angry but dare not speak out.

After all, although the Kaneki Clan inherits the powerful kekkei Lava Release and Steel Release Kekkei Genkai, whether they can awaken them is another matter entirely.

Even among the Uchiha Clan, which has a history spanning thousands of years, only a handful of members are capable of awakening the Sharingan. This is even more true for the Kaneki Clan, whose population size and awakening rate are far smaller than those of the Uchiha.

It wasn't until four years ago, when the twin brothers from the Kaneki Clan's patriarch's family awakened the two Kekkei Genkai generations of their clan, that this small clan, struggling to survive in the Ninja World, finally saw a glimmer of hope.

However, just as everything was about to develop in a positive direction, the entire Kaneki Clan, including the two genius brothers who had just awakened their Kekkei Genkai, vanished from their clan territory overnight, as if they had been wiped out of the Ninja World...

Thinking of this, a cold glint flashed in Kou's eyes.

When he learned of the Kaneki Clan's mass extinction, he was busy with reforms in Mist Village.

The reason he was distracted by gathering information about that remote tribe was simply to plot against Hiruko -Chimera Technique, wanting to make some preparations for the future.

Looking back now, the period when the Kaneki Clan disappeared coincides with the time when Obito left Mist Village!

At that time, I never thought of it that way. I just assumed that the Iwagakure higher-ups were like Danzo to the Uchiha clan, secretly wiping out the entire Kaneki Clan and then giving the same story to the outside world, calling it a disappearance.

"But thinking about it now, it doesn't seem to be the case..."

He sighed silently in his heart, and the already heavy feeling in his heart sank even further.

"If that so-called Moon Organization really exists, then its members couldn't possibly consist of only those twin brothers."

"Judging by their age, they are at most teenagers, so they are not of much use to Obito."

That organization must still be hiding some ruthless individuals whose strength is at least no less than that of the official members of Akatsuki!

"For example..."

Involuntarily, a name surfaced in Kou's mind—a name he had been secretly searching for in the Ninja World for years, yet had never found a trace of—

"Hiruko."

He silently uttered the name in the depths of his heart, his gaze instantly becoming exceptionally solemn:

"If Hiruko really on Obito, then things will be in serious trouble..."

Just as Koko was still lost in his own thoughts, Raiga Kurosuki, seemingly unable to contain his anxiety any longer, quickly reminded him:

"Hey, Uchiha Kuro! That's all I know."

"I don't know what you're thinking right now, but I'm giving you a piece of advice: you'd better not show anything strange in front of that guy who calls himself Ban."

"If that happens, we'll both be finished!"

As he spoke, he seemed to recall some unpleasant memory, and whispered with lingering fear:

"That man is quite terrifying."

"... You don't need to remind me of that."

Hearing Raiga Kurosuki's admonition, Koko temporarily paused his thoughts and answered without hesitation:

"I know far more about him than you do—"

He paused mid-sentence, looked at Raiga Kurosuki's eyes, which still held a hint of fear, and remained silent for a long while.

After a moment, he sighed, the self-mockery in his voice sounding even more weary against the backdrop of the rain outside the window.

"No, perhaps I don't know as much about him as I thought."

Looking at Kokoro, who seemed to be sighing over something, a meaningful glint flashed quickly in the single eye of Raiga Kurosuki, which was sticking out from under his bandages.

Kou shook his head, dispelling all the inappropriate feelings in his heart, then raised his hand and casually waved it at Raiga Kurosuki:

"Okay, I understand everything you've said."

The information you provided is indeed quite important to me.

Don't worry, I will do my best to protect that child named Ranmaru.

Raiga Kurosuki's eyes suddenly lit up, and he abruptly bent down, bowing deeply to Kou.

"I am extremely grateful!!"

"There's no need for all this. This is just a transaction."

He waved his hand and continued in a friendly tone:

"Just like you said, we're in the same boat now."

If you receive any further information about that Moon Organization, please notify me as soon as possible.

Raiga Kurosuki nodded quickly, indicating that he understood.

Kouchi was about to leave when, as if remembering something, he turned his gaze back to Raiga Kurosuki and asked calmly:

"By the way, you should have already thought of a reason for dealing with Madara, right?"

"Ah."

Raiga Kurosuki solemnly replied:

"If Uchiha Madara asks, just say that I want to have a serious talk with you about our old grudges, since we'll be working together for a long time to come."

"If you put it that way, that man won't suspect anything."

At this point, Raiga Kurosuki raised his hand, pointed to his left eye which was wrapped in layers of bandages, and said confidently:

"Because of Ranmaru's Red Eye, Madara's Genjutsu are not very effective against me."

He won't get anything out of me, you can rest assured about that.

"... Is that so? That's good."

Kouchi gave Raiga Kurosuki a deep look:

"In that case, let's stop here. I wish us a pleasant collaboration."

As he spoke, he turned around and casually waved to Raiga Kurosuki behind him.

The tall figure vanished instantly from the direction of the entrance, leaving only a few wisps of Chakra that hadn't yet dissipated, slowly fading away at the gate...

Raiga Kurosuki watched Koko's disappearing figure and breathed a sigh of relief.

He subconsciously turned his head and looked in the direction Obito had just left, a complex emotion surging in his eyes.

Raiga Kurosuki stood there silently for a very, very long time...

--

P. S.: The story of the Kaneki Clan and the two twins is not made up by the author; they are two of the three villains in the official novel [Gaara's Secret Story: Sand Fantasy].

One rather abstract aspect of the novel is that the real reason for their defection was the persecution of the Kaneki Clan by the Iwagakure leadership.

The reason for the persecution was nothing more than the perception that they were a threat, coupled with the fact that the twins were not yet fully grown and were weak, so they looked down on them (the will of the overlord!).

In the novel, Kaneki Twins's father is an elite Jonin Iwagakure who was ordered to guard a high-risk border pass alone. He was ambushed by missing-nin from multiple countries and urgently sent a letter requesting reinforcements.

The Iwagakure leadership, wary of the Kaneki Clan, deliberately delayed the arrival of reinforcements, watching helplessly as the twins' father was killed in battle.

In order to cover up their inaction after the war, the high command distorted the truth and charged the Kaneki Clan and even reducing the family's residential territory, effectively excluding the entire Kaneki family.

The two brothers, who were teenagers at the time, were so enraged that they killed the mastermind, an elder from Iwagakure, and then became missing-nin.

These two are quite strong. In the novel's timeline, it's after the Fifth Shinobi World War, when Gaara 20 years old. Each of them individually is a Kage, and together they can suppress Gaara after the Fourth Shinobi World War. It feels like they're both at the peak of Kage level.

It's quite extraordinary that Iwagakure was able to force those two to leave; it just goes to show they deserve their lack of talent.