Kaguya's gaze fell on him, and something stirred in her pure white eyes.
Some instinctive, primal bond between mother and child.
She bent down, reached out, and touched the top of Black Zetsu's head. His body went rigid, then relaxed completely.
Genya watched with his hands in his pockets. Hashirama stood beside him, watching too, and spoke.
"She looks... like she isn't a bad person."
Genya shrugged.
"You sure?"
Kaguya raised her head, her gaze lingering on Genya for a moment. She sensed it-that faint trace of Indra's chakra.
Then her gaze moved to Hashirama. Asura's chakra was stronger, purer.
Her brow furrowed briefly, then smoothed out.
Black Zetsu wiped his face and turned toward Genya and Hashirama.
"Mother, they're... friends."
Kaguya looked at him, neither nodding nor shaking her head.
The word "friends" was far too unfamiliar to her.
The next second, she vanished.
It wasn't the Body Flicker Technique or Space-Time Ninjutsu. She simply vanished, like a drop of water merging into the ocean, like a snowflake falling onto a field of snow.
Kaguya was already standing before Hashirama.
Her white robes fluttered gently. Her face was so close to his that he could see her eyelashes.
Pale fingers reached out and lifted Hashirama's chin. The touch was gentle.
Hashirama froze. The mighty God of Shinobi stood utterly motionless while a woman held his chin.
It wasn't that he didn't want to move. He simply sensed no malice from Kaguya, only something he couldn't quite describe-a gaze like a mother's as she looked at her child.
Hashirama slowly turned his eyes toward Genya beside him, his gaze screaming, What is going on?
Genya spread his hands. There was nothing he could do.
Black Zetsu hurriedly floated over, his voice urgent and respectful, like a eunuch reporting to an