Chapter 89

"I hate you, father!" Tsugumi exclaimed before slamming the door leading to her bedroom right in front of my nose

"*sigh* Being a father sure is rough uh..." I mumbled before sensing someone hugging me from behind, though, unlike usual, it wasn't breasts I felt first on my back but a large belly instead

"Don't worry, she's still young but she will understand once she grows up." Tsunade mumbled back as she was holding me tightly

"I know... I just hope she doesn't lose herself now." I added as I took one of her hands holding me and gently kissed it

There were two reasons why Tsugumi was like this... Firstly, she realized that the one overlooking the exam and therefore her turn was none other than a clone of mine, and secondly, she... Failed and didn't become a Chūnin.

"I... *sigh* There's no way she would believe that my disappearance during the exam was to save Konoha, would she?" I asked Tsunade as I held her hand and moved back to our bedroom

I didn't feel bad about her failure since it was something she needed to become more mature, I hoped so.

"I mean, you were able to prevent something so well that not even a trace is left around to prove that it would've happened." Tsunade said as she knew what I did and prevented when I left the arena

That's right, when I sensed that someone invaded Konoha, I instinctively teleported to the place where I kept the One-Tail and the Five-Tails sealed and stopped Chikako before she could do anything by using my Kunitokotachi on her, freeing her from the control she was put under before having a nice and long conversation with her.

Chikako told me what Black Zetsu's plan was for the attack, and it is correlated with what Shisui told me before, which was that he had to brainwash Tsugumi, Yugito Nii, and Fū for 'future use'.

Obviously, he didn't do so, nevertheless, I then asked Chikako to 'play along' while I teleported to a place where I could prepare my counter-plan.

One thing I did some years ago was to absorb someone from the Kurama Clan who had their 'Kekkei Genkai', and to do so I had to profane one of their graves.

While Uroko Kurama was currently the only one capable of using it, it was not fully exploited since she was far too weak and inexperienced to bring her Clan's bloodline ability to its full potential.

But this problem was not shared with me since, after absorbing this power, I specifically gave the task to train it to a dozen of my clones.

In fact, I constantly had clones working their ass off to train in many different kinds of Jutsu, most of the time in Fūinjutsu or Barrier-Jutsu, after all, what was possible with such techniques was crazy.

Decades of constantly training truly came to a clutch thanks to these clones.

As such, I used the Reality-Bending Illusion technique from the Kurama Clan combined with my knowledge of Fūinjutsu and Barrier Jutsu to make anyone outside of the village's range see something else.

While their technique usually made those inside the area fall under the illusion, I reversed it so that those outsides would see what I wanted them to see.

Yes, this technique had a few flaws, for example, I couldn't focus it on one person which meant that everyone outside of Konoha saw what I arranged, but this problem was taken care of by sending the member of Origins to catch them all so I could make them forget what they saw.

Also, this plan forced me to take care of Black Zetsu in the following days at most since, if he came back here, he would realize that everything he thought happened didn't, which would make it difficult for me to catch him later on, even more saving Chikako.

While I was soon finished with the Seven-Tails chakra, I still needed a few weeks and it was too long and risky, as such, I only had one option left.

"I have to quicken the pace... Honey, I will leave the village, hopefully tomorrow, and take care of him." I explained as I was going to leave our room instead of going to sleep

"What? But you didn't finish doing what you wanted? Isn't it too risky?" Tsunade asked but I quickly replied "No, but with what's missing, I can ask for a favor and do it tonight." before leaving the room and moving towards Fū's bedroom

Knocking on the door, I heard a "Yes!" which told me that the girl was not yet sleeping, something I didn't mind since she was a hyperactive girl

"It's me, can I enter?" I asked before the door was opened by the green-haired girl wearing her cute teddy bear pajama

"Is something wrong?" I heard Fū ask worryingly, seems like my face was not as expressionless as usual

"Kind of... Say, Fū, could I talk with Chōmei privately?" I asked as I entered her room before both of us sat on the side of her bed

"Sure! But I didn't hear her since yesterda- Oh, never mind." Fū energetically replied as Chōmei finally gave her a sign of her presence

"Thanks." I said before laying one of my hands on her stomach while the other was ruffling her hair to calm her down, making the process to visit Chōmei easier before closing my eyes

The moment I opened them back, I was in the place where Chōmei was able to freely fly around, a place looking like an Amazonian jungle where an insect-like creature like her enjoyed living in

"I didn't expect you to be waiting for me. Seems like I owe Kurama one as well." I said as I saw Chōmei land in front of me, her size making my neck ache just by looking upward

"He told me that you needed my help as soon as possible so I knew you would be coming." Chōmei first said which made me curiously ask "I didn't specifically tell him why I needed your help though? Did he guess?"

While the Chūnin Exam was going on and Black Zetsu began his 'attack', Kushina did give birth to a boy, a boy they still called Naruto and one who did not have a hint of Asura's chakra within him.

While I told Kushina and Minato what was going on with one of my clones, Kushina asked me if it was possible to transfer Kurama to Naruto so that he would be protected.

I promptly warned her that, first of all, Naruto being an infant couldn't take in the entirety of Kurama's chakra, and, secondly, I told her that our enemy was expecting Naruto to be the next Jinchūriki since she was supposed to be dead.

As such, I refused her request, at least until I finish off Black Zetsu to not risk Naruto's life.

"Kind of. Anyway, I still need to hear it from you." Chōmei exclaimed, making me sigh before requesting "I need you to give me a portion of your chakra, however, it will not be reversible."

"Not reversible? What does that mean?" Chōmei asked as she didn't understand what I implied and was quite the curious Tailed Beast

"Well... As you know since you are one, 'Tailed Beasts' recover their chakra with time, in fact, you are virtually immortals... But right now, I do not really need you to 'give' me some of your chakra, instead, I need to 'steal' a portion of your chakra, which, with my ability, will make it my own and complete what quantity of it I still have to generate."

"Why would that be the case?" Chōmei asked again, making me slightly worried that she would refuse

"How should I say it to make it simple... See, the first time, when I asked for some of your chakra, it was only so that I could 'copy' it and make my own Seven Tails' chakra, that's why the amount you give me doesn't really matter at first." I started to explain as I moved my hand while doing so, trying to convey my words with both my speech and my movements

"Now, this works differently if I was to steal it by using Suijin, my Mangekyô's ability, which was enhanced back when I awakened the Rinnegan to also absorb a living target. It does not mean that I will absorb you completely, instead, I will halt the process the moment I have converted enough of it, something that can only be done on a living target since the absorption is far from instantaneous in this case." I finally added as I scratched my head embarrassedly, hoping that she would agree

"So you will decrease my maximum amount of chakra? How much?" Chōmei asked which made me bite my lower lips before saying "That's right, it will certainly make you weaker than before but you will still have more chakra than Saiken-" only to be interrupted by Chōmei as she exclaimed "I don't need to know how much I will have left, I just asked you how much do you need, after all, I don't care if I permanently lose some of it, I have too much chakra anyway."

While I stayed dumbfounded with my mouth still open for a while, I ended up smiling as I exclaimed "Thank you, Chōmei, truly."

Though, before beginning the absorption, I still had to warn her "Just so you know, the process will be painful but Fū will not even feel a thing."

"That's great, this child doesn't deserve to feel more pain." Chōmei mumbled which made me chuckle as I was glad that she was one of, if not the, kindest Tailed Beast

"Then... Please brace yourself." I said before laying my hand on her shell as I activated Suijin, making my right eye shine as Chōmei's body started to shrink while her chakra was getting absorbed

While Chōmei did not utter a sound, taking on the pain of being absorbed alive, I stopped the moment I reached the required amount, leaving behind a smaller and weaker Chōmei, albeit she was still stronger than the Six-Tails chakra-wise as I said before.

"Once again, thank you." I said before allowing her to rest, well, more like I needed to quickly go to my sealed room since I felt my eyes tickle now that I finished gathering all the Tailed Beasts' chakra

When I opened my eyes, I didn't have the time to explain anything to Fū as I teleported away, hoping that Chōmei would at least tell her that there was nothing to worry about.

The moment I arrived at my room, I finally lost consciousness as I felt someone pulling me, however, I did not feel the usual coldness leading me to Kaguya's castle.

"So, hum, nice to meet you, Stepson? Or Ancestor? God this is weird now that I think about it." I said out loud as I was now facing an old-looking man with spiky hair and three eyes, two classic Rinnegan but he had a red one on his forehead

"Three thousand six hundred and fifty-two times." the man in front of me mumbled as he didn't look directly toward me and massaged his temples

"Hmm? Sorry, I didn't catch what you said." I confessed as I didn't know what he meant just now

"I've been calling you here three thousand six hundred and fifty-two times! And you ignored every single one of my calls!" the old man finally yelled as he was obviously angry at me

"Ah- I remember that your first call happened like... Eleven years ago? Seems like you didn't work on weekends." I jokingly answered as I saw a tick mark on his forehead, near his third eye before I added "Still, I blacklisted you back then and I forgot to take you off of it so I didn't receive a single call from this point on."

"You're... Ah~ nevermind, it's been a long time since I last felt annoyed by someone." he first said as he held his head for a short time before adding "While you already guessed who I am, I should introduce myself properly. I am Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki."

"Nice to meet you then, I'm Yuichi Senju." I then replied without joking with him this time nor was I surprised by who he was

Since I was a bit in a hurry, I went straight to the point by asking "So, why did you call me here? As you might know, I don't have much time and I don't know how different it flows in this... Dimension of yours."

"I know, and whatever is happening to your eyes will take time, something that I can help you with." Hagoromo surprisingly suggested which made me wonder "Why would you want to help me? I mean, I'm essentially doing this to revive Kaguya, the one you sealed yourself, remember?"

"I know that as well, however, I had all the time to watch you, and the way you spared my children to achieve your goal was the first reason why I started to doubt my own decision." Hagoromo started to explain before changing the scenery around us, showing me the one I was going to hunt starting tomorrow

"You see, this... Thing that you called Black Zetsu, I've been observing it for as long as you made me learn of his existence, and I know for sure that he does not have an ounce of loyalty toward Kaguya, I've begun to think of him as a parasite, the one that made her lose her mind... Do you perhaps know more?" Hagoromo asked me while I could see the guilt showing on his face

'Well, both Kaguya and Black Zetsu are completely different than how I expected them to be' I thought before replying "I did talk about Black Zetsu with Kaguya multiple times, and, from what I learned, his creation was due to a technique she learned back at the Ōtsutsuki Clan, something that allowed them to separate a part of themselves if needed..."

"But, there's something weird about it... Where you aware that Kaguya did not come to our planet alone?" I then asked as I recalled the story Kaguya told me

"This... No, she didn't tell me or my brother about it from what I recall, but if it was the case, shouldn't we know about his current whereabouts?" Hagoromo calmly asked as he sat down on a chair that suddenly appeared out of thin air

"That's the thing, Kaguya said that she left him to die back when they arrived on the planet, she told me that he had a totally different rank within the Ōtsutsuki Clan, her being a low-ranked member of it... That's why I asked her if he also knew the technique she used, and that's when she told me that it was only taught to low-ranked members instead of the 'Kāma', the advanced technique that allows them to survive even death." I explained as I made a wooden chair under me so I could sit down as well

"Mmh... There's definitely something weird about it. Seems like my theory of it being a parasite is quite close to the truth." Hagoromo exclaimed as he brushed his goatee

"Precisely. It made me think of the Hyūga Clan's seal that they used on the branch house... But unlike them, it doesn't feel like something to control or kill them but instead uses them even further, after all, Kaguya told me that she was supposed to be the sacrifice to the Ten-Tails sapling." I started to explain as I felt my chakra fluctuating

"Also... I know that killing Black Zetsu will warn the Ōtsutsuki Clan, so, if the 'sacrifice' somehow betrayed them, I'm guessing that this technique allows them to learn about it... In fact, I believe that Black Zetsu can already call them if he wanted to." I added as I explained what I learned from Yushiro while adding some of my own assumptions

"...But he doesn't. Is it related to the loss of the Ten-Tails? Who knows, it might be the first time since they started to cultivate and harvest chakra that the 'beast' was shattered into pieces, nine to be exact. Maybe he does not want to call them when the thing they are looking for is not ready, maybe he believes that he would be killed if he doesn't take the Ten-Tails' for himself... I can't say for sure." I continued as I knew that Hagoromo was both a great listener and a helpful fellow

"You're pretty capable for a man, doing two things at once." I jokingly said since he was both listening to me and allowing me to awaken my eyes and make the Ten-Tails chakra from the chakra I gathered

"Let's say that I had time to improve." he first replied before adding "And I told you before, I called you here to help you. Though I wouldn't have been of help until you gathered everything, I would've liked it if we talked before."

'I guess being the man who split the Ten-Tails made him rightfully capable of mending it back' I thought as the chakra I gathered from the Tailed Beasts was finally combined into one

"Your time here begins to run out now that your eyes awakened... Once you revived Kag-, no, I should say Mother, please tell her that I apologi-" Hagoromo started to declare but I interrupted him by saying "You should tell that to her yourself, I will make it happen, don't worry." as I got up from my seat and stretched a little while my eyes itched more than before

Chuckling as he closed his eyes, Hagoromo replied "You're right, an apology should always be given directly... I can't believe I received a life lesson from someone several centuries younger."

"Pft, think of it as fatherly advice then, 'boy'." I teasingly let out before disappearing, unfortunately missing the priceless expression Hagoromo should have on his face

...

"Mmh, I feel exceptionally great." I said out loud as I 'woke up' in my sealed room, feeling that some of my chakra changed

Getting up from the ground as I fell unconscious before, I looked to the side where I left a mirror and saw how my eyes changed.

[Here]

"I expected this much... So, they should be called Tensei Rinne Sharingan now? Urgh, not only the name is too long but I have yet to release the full power of the Tenseigan. Guess I know where to go and what to do after Black Zetsu." I said to myself as I knew that doing so will allow me to be ready for the Ōtsutsuki Clan's future assault quicker than ever

While I sealed them before being born here for a childish reason, back when I thought of this world as a playground, I partially regretted such a choice since it would have come in handy for sure.

Needless to say that the next couple of days is going to make me busy.

But first... It's time to stop someone once and for all.