The Road Ahead

"Qing Si, Yagura, what plans do you have for the future?" Qian Nai asked between mouthfuls.

"Mmph... I... mmmph..." With his mouth stuffed full of food, Yagura let out a string of meaningless, muffled noises.

"Swallow your food before you talk!" Hearing Yagura's incomprehensible reply, Qian Nai was utterly speechless and couldn't help shooting him a glare.

Yagura shrank his neck and sped up his chewing. When facing Qian Nai, even though they were not siblings by blood, Yagura always felt naturally suppressed, like a younger brother before an older sister.

"As for me, for now, I'll just focus on completing ANBU missions properly and working hard to improve my strength. I want to become a Jonin as soon as possible. After that, I want to become a member of the Shadow Guard like my father and help the Karatachi Clan grow stronger. Of course, it'd be even better if I could become Mizukage in the end, but with Brother Qing Si around, the Fourth is probably out of reach. I can compete for the Fifth instead." Yagura spoke with longing in his eyes.

"The Shadow Guard!" Qing Si's heart jolted. He had never expected Yagura's father to have been a member of the Shadow Guard as well. He just did not know whether it had been the Third Mizukage's or the Second Mizukage's Shadow Guard.

"Which Mizukage's Shadow Guard was it?" Qing Si could not help asking. He wanted to confirm whether Yagura's father had known his own father.

"Second Mizukage Gengetsu Hozuki's. During the First Shinobi World War, Father followed Lord Gengetsu to the Land of Earth. Unfortunately, he fell into an ambush and returned grievously wounded. Although he was saved, his health remained poor. Not long after I was born, he passed away. A few years after Father died, Mother missed him so much that she followed him to the Pure Land." Mentioning his deceased parents, Yagura's expression dimmed.

As expected, Yagura's father was Father's companion in the Shadow Guard, Qing Si thought.

"It's all in the past, Yagura. Look forward. You have us now. Qing Si and I are both your family." Qian Nai comforted the downcast Yagura, and Qing Si nodded in agreement.

Yagura nodded, then shook his head firmly, casting off the gloomy feelings stirred by memories of his departed family. Then he turned his gaze toward Qian Nai, who had just comforted him.

"Then I'll talk about myself. My parents also died during the last Shinobi World War. In an encounter with Hidden Rock's demolition unit, they were severely wounded by the Bloodline Limit, Explosion Release. Though they forced themselves back to the village despite their injuries, the village's medical capabilities at the time were not enough to save them. In the end, their wounds flared up, and they died. I was already four years old then. I never want to experience the feeling of watching my loved ones die before my eyes again. So from that day on, I decided to study medical ninjutsu. I want to become the greatest medical ninja in Hidden Mist Village!" Qian Nai grew somewhat emotional as she spoke.

"The good news is that I'm very talented at learning medical ninjutsu. And the Hozuki Clan's inherited Hydrification Technique is an enormous help when using Water Release medical ninjutsu. So from now on, I'll work hard to develop medical ninjutsu. As your older sister, I'll protect both of you properly." Qian Nai made her promise to Qing Si and Yagura.

"As for the Hozuki Clan, although the clan hopes another genius like Grandpa Gengetsu will emerge and become Mizukage, it seems that no one in our clan currently has that talent." Qian Nai smiled helplessly.

"All right, we're done talking. Now it's your turn." Qian Nai looked at Qing Si, signaling for him to speak.

His thoughts churned. Facing the two friends who had opened their hearts to each other, Qing Si considered it carefully before deciding to tell them about his circumstances. Family should not hide such things from one another.

"My father knew your father," Qing Si told Yagura, opening with a bombshell.

Yagura's mouth fell open in shock, but then confusion arose. If their fathers had known each other, his mother should have mentioned Qing Si to him, since they were the same age. Yet throughout his life, Yagura had known absolutely nothing about Qing Si. He had never even heard Qing Si's name.

So Yagura looked at Qing Si, waiting for his explanation.

"My father was Kaguya Genji, the captain of Second Mizukage Gengetsu Hozuki's Shadow Guard." Another massive bombshell landed.

"No wonder you have the Dead Bone Pulse!" Qian Nai and Yagura suddenly understood, but a moment later, they felt something was off. After all, they knew Qing Si's full name was Qing Si Otsutsuki.

"But why don't you have the surname Kaguya? And it seems the Otsutsuki surname has never appeared in the village before." Yagura continued questioning him.

"Because our family was driven out of the Kaguya Clan by that treacherous scoundrel Kaguya Musashi. The Kaguya Clan doesn't even have our names anymore!" Qing Si's face darkened, and killing intent unconsciously radiated from him. Although it was not directed at Yagura, it still raised goosebumps all over his body.

"Sorry. I got too worked up." Qing Si came back to himself and apologized to the two of them.

An orphan in his previous life, he had finally gained a father and mother who loved and cared for him in this life. Yet that hard-won happiness had been destroyed by Kaguya Musashi. Whenever Qing Si thought of it, he could not suppress his emotions or his killing intent toward Kaguya Musashi.

"It was merely a power struggle within a great clan. My father was simply the loser. They did not dare openly break the rules and act against us directly, but in the shadows, they wanted to wipe out our entire family." Qing Si composed himself and tried to recount it to them in a calmer tone.

"Since the Kaguya Clan refuses to acknowledge our family, I won't beg them to let me return to the Kaguya Clan. With you two and Grandpa Yuan Shi, I'm living very well now. Besides, my bloodline is no longer the same as the Kaguya Clan's. My bloodline has evolved!" Qing Si revealed his secret to them.

"Next, I'll gradually cultivate ninjutsu of other attributes. Relying solely on the Dead Bone Pulse and Water Release in battle makes my fighting style too limited. I possess chakra of all attributes, so naturally I should have more varied methods." Qing Si casually showed off again.

"Grandpa Yuan Shi hopes I'll become Mizukage someday. That was also Father's dream while he was alive. I carry their expectations, and becoming Mizukage to make Hidden Mist Village stronger has now become my dream as well. As for my strength, because of my bloodline, I probably won't make any breakthroughs for the next three to five years. Besides continuing to develop the Dead Bone Pulse and master other ninjutsu, I want to further improve the quality of my chakra. I know a secret technique for compressing chakra. I'll sort it out later and teach it to you both." Qing Si finished.