The Kaguya Clan

Only now did Pakura realize that she had been too naive.

It was impossible to just snatch a few random Kaguya clansmen to fulfill her quota; the other party had likely already realized she was merely going through the motions.

What seemed like a lack of specific requirements was, in fact, a hidden demand that proved even more difficult to manage.

If she were to capture Kaguya clansmen recklessly and without restraint, she would inevitably alert these battle-crazed maniacs.

Once the Kaguya Clan was on guard, capturing them later would become far more difficult, and the difficulty coefficient of the mission would skyrocket.

What a miscalculation.

Pakura felt as though her own cleverness had backfired on her.

In a hidden underground laboratory somewhere in the Land of Water.

The Kaguya clansmen captured by Pakura were now being housed here for Lan to study.

The original owner of this laboratory was, naturally, Orochimaru. It had been constructed during the Third Ninja World War to facilitate the study of Kirigakure ninja secrets at close range.

The proverb about a wily rabbit having three burrows suited Orochimaru perfectly; he had built countless laboratories like this one in various locations, some of which he hadn't visited in years.

This particular facility had been left idle after the war ended, and Orochimaru had later gifted it to Lan.

Perhaps the experimental facilities and instruments here were outdated in Orochimaru's eyes, but for Lan, who only wanted to conduct some preliminary research on the Kaguya Clan, they were barely sufficient.

Through the analysis of the instruments, the physical data of the Kaguya Clan made Lan's eyes light up.

The cellular strength of the Kaguya Clan far exceeded that of ordinary ninja, and they also displayed remarkable vitality, which was likely the power of Yang Release chakra.

It seemed the Kaguya Clan truly possessed Sage Body traits similar to those of the Uzumaki and Senju clans.

Perhaps, as he had hypothesized, the Kaguya Clan and the Hyuga Clan were distant relatives, both belonging to the remnants of Otsutsuki Hamura's bloodline on Earth.

Just as the Senju and Uchiha had respectively inherited the Sage Eyes and Sage Body of Otsutsuki Hamura, the Hyuga and Kaguya clans had done the same.

If that were the case, then the Kaguya Clan's Sage Body might have a complementary effect on the Byakugan, much like Hashirama Cells did for the Mangekyo Sharingan.

With this hypothesis in mind, Lan began to delve deeper into the bodies of the Kaguya clansmen, even using the power of his Tenseigan to extract their chakra and integrate it into his own.

To his pleasant surprise, when the Kaguya chakra entered his body and combined with his own to produce new chakra, it actually caused his Tenseigan to pulse.

It was a pity that the Kaguya clansmen he had captured were all too weak; their chakra was not only lacking in quantity compared to Lan's, but it was also incomparable in quality. The power generated by fusing with such chakra could only pique his Tenseigan's interest slightly, without providing any significant practical benefit.

However, even this much made Lan feel excited, as the growth of his Tenseigan's ocular power had recently stagnated, and the new ocular jutsu he had expected to awaken soon had suddenly seemed like a distant prospect.

Now that there was a glimmer of possibility to further enhance his ocular power and accelerate the awakening of his jutsu, he naturally had to seize it.

Lan summoned a puppet activated by the Tenseigan. "Go tell Pakura to capture a few Kaguya clansmen with outstanding talent and sufficient strength.

Be quick. You are no longer needed here; go and help her complete this matter as soon as possible."

Upon receiving Lan's order, the group of puppets assisting in the laboratory set out in unison to help Pakura complete her new task.

Within the Kaguya Clan's territory.

BANG!

With a deafening crash, the table in front of him was smashed into a large hole and then shattered into pieces.

The young Kaguya patriarch listened to the information reported by his subordinates and flew into a rage.

"Two more clansmen have gone missing! What are you people even doing?

Is your brain really filled with nothing but muscle?

A bunch of simple-minded, brawny trash!

I'll give you two days. You must find the culprit for me, or I will send you down to the underworld yourself to answer to those clansmen."

Hearing the patriarch's furious outburst, the Kaguya elders felt a chill in their hearts.

Given the patriarch's volatile temperament, his threat was certainly not just empty words.

Seeming to have realized something, one of the Kaguya elders spoke up.

"Patriarch, to be able to snatch so many clansmen without a sound, the person's strength must have reached that of an elite jonin.

Such strength would not belong to a nobody. From the initial disappearance of ordinary clansmen to the current abduction of young and talented ones, it looks like a step-by-step probe.

Do you think this might be..."

Hearing the elder speak this way, the Kaguya patriarch knew the man must have a suspect in mind.

"We are all our own people here. You don't need to speak in riddles; just say what you know directly."

Receiving the patriarch's permission, the elder continued.

"To succeed repeatedly, the enemy must be acting in an organized and premeditated manner, and they are not few in number.

Actually, we haven't come up empty-handed; we found some remains of puppets at the scenes where our clansmen disappeared."

"Puppets? Could it be that the Sand Village is playing tricks?

No, if it were truly their doing, they would never leave behind such obvious evidence. This is likely someone deliberately framing them, trying to lead our investigation toward someone else."

Listening to the clan leader's analysis, the elders hurriedly flattered him, "As expected of you, Clan Leader, your insight is sharp; you would never fall for such a deceptive scheme."

Hearing the sycophantic words of his subordinates, the simple-minded Kaguya Clan Leader nodded with great satisfaction. Then, he recalled the previous matter regarding Pakura, and a sudden, ominous premonition washed over him.

Could the village be planning to discard the hunting dog once the rabbit is caught? Although the peace negotiations with the Sand Village had been delayed, anyone with eyes could see that it would happen sooner or later.

Once the war ended and the pro-peace faction gained power, war hawks like them would likely face suppression. What was happening now might just be an appetizer; if they chose to compromise and retreat, they would inevitably face even greater oppression.

Where there is oppression, there is resistance. Thinking of this, the Kaguya Clan Leader stood up and declared, "Acting with such secrecy—it doesn't take much thought to know it's the idea of those rats in the village, trying to test and push our clan's bottom line step by step. Fine, since that's the case, let's let these damned bastards know our stance. Let's revolt against these turncoat scoundrels."

Hearing the Kaguya Clan Leader's wild words about flipping the table, the Kaguya clansmen surged forward, each of them fearlessly shouting at the top of their lungs, "If they think they can treat our clan as easy targets, we must let them know our strength."

"I've long since found them eyesores. A bunch of cowardly, incompetent fools holding the high-level power of the village; if this continues, the village will be finished sooner or later."

"That's right, we of the Kaguya Clan are the greatest clan in Kirigakure. The position of Mizukage should have been inherited by our Clan Leader to begin with. Why should a Jinchuriki tool be allowed to become the Mizukage?"

"Exactly, kill them all and seize the position of Mizukage while we're at it."

Because of the various policies in Kirigakure, the long-suppressed anger of the Kaguya Clan was ignited in this moment.

Although a failed rebellion would inevitably lead to the annihilation of their clan, for the war-crazed Kaguya Clan, this was of no consequence. They were a group of lunatics who loved to fight; dying in battle was, in their eyes, no big deal.

Unlike the Uchiha Clan, who kept shouting about rebellion but never took action until their entire clan was slaughtered, the Kaguya Clan were all men of action. They truly intended to revolt.

However, because the timeline was two or three years ahead of the original, this was a period shortly after the end of the Third Ninja World War, when people were longing for stability.

At a time like this, there likely wouldn't be many people responding to a rebellion, but to the Kaguya Clan Leader, that didn't matter; after all, he didn't think much of ordinary people anyway.

"Send someone immediately to find the leader of the Yuki Clan and tell him I wish to conspire with him for a great cause."