Chapter 94

"Even though I haven't left this place much these past few years, I'm always pleased to be back home." I said out loud as Shiromari landed in the Senju Compound while I warned Tsunade about my arrival beforehand with a small clone of mine, making her wait near our landing place

"You're already back! I'm glad, how did it g-" Tsunade hurriedly asked as she was waiting for me by peacefully reading a book on a bench but froze when she saw the woman at my side which didn't look like the Kaguya she knew along with a sleeping baby in her arms

Since Kaguya's original appearance was unusual, she transformed herself to look like a Hyūga Clan member, making her previous snow-white skin rosier while hiding her third eye and her horns.

She didn't fully change her appearance however as she chose to keep her grey-white hair the same along with the two red dots on her forehead, around her now hidden third eye, but also her Byakūgan, making others believe that one of her parents was from the Hyūga Clan while the other was from the Kaguya Clan.

Thankfully my relationship with the current Hyūga Clan's head, Hiashi, was more than great thanks to Hizashi and how they mended their relationships over the years, along with the abolition of the 'Caged Bird' cursed seal used on the branch family which, while it did make the old folks grumpy, negated most internal conflicts they were usually enduring.

Because of that, bringing an 'outsider' who wields the Byakūgan wouldn't be as difficult as it would have been since they won't force her to be branded with the Caged Bird.

Also, since at the time of the Warring States the Hyūga Clan exiled some members, my great grandfather being one of them, I could use this excuse to explain how she came to be, though they might wonder how lucky she was to inherit the Byakūgan since the chances are lower the further away from the Hyūga Clan her relative was.

Nevertheless, before I could even explain a thing, I evaded a chakra fist projection Tsunade launched at me without moving from her spot, an attack that destroyed the trees behind us like butter while I couldn't help but mumble "Mh, I'm glad to have taught you that one." speaking about both the kind of attack she used and the punch first ask question later mindset

"What did you expect? With my condition being as it is now, our second child will be born in three weeks now that you're back so be prepared, I wouldn't come and punch you myself." Tsunade replied with a smile while I moved closer to her which allowed me to carefully hug and kiss her

Not willing to kiss for too long since I noticed a green-haired girl spying on us from a tree, I took a step back and said "You already met each other before but allow me to introduce both of you properly. Kaguya, this is Tsunade, my wife. Tsunade, this is Kaguya, my, uh..." but trailed at the end as I didn't know what to say while Kaguya looked at me with expectations

"Let me guess, soon-to-be second wife?" Tsunade let out with a smirk which made Kaguya smile after hearing that

"Yeah, though it will not be official for quite some time since it requires a lot of paperwork on my side." I replied before looking at Kimimaro which also made Tsunade look at him and curiously say "While I expected you to come back with Kaguya, you didn't tell me that you would have a kid as well..."

She then looked up to meet my gaze and continued "...I do need some explanations because while I do not mind Kaguya being with you, I even helped in that regard, getting her pregnant without saying anything makes it difficult for me to hide my jealousy... You didn't take advantage of her I hope?"

"Of course not! I did not do anything to Kaguya!" I honestly replied but Kaguya's next few words made it disastrous for me as she mumbled "But we kissed... We even did 'that', and he is our child..?" with a voice that became more saddened with every word leaving her mouth

Kaguya's distress made the misunderstanding between Tsunade and us even worse and so was her glare as she clenched her fist and was seriously thinking about ripping my family jewels once and for all, while a child's voice muttered "Pervert..." where I previously sensed Fū hiding and spying

'This is going to take a while to explain, isn't it' I thought as I inwardly sighed and hardened my lower body with Metal Release just in case my situation got any worse.

*Several hours later*

'*sigh* At least I kept my jewels intact' I thought as I was leaving our house to go elsewhere now that the misunderstanding was cleared

It took a pretty long time since on one side I have a pretty innocent woman who doesn't understand most of what I say when it's not bluntly explained and on the other side I have a short-tempered wife, even more with her pregnancy at such an advanced stage, who is therefore even more on edge than on her period.

I can't be mad at her for that, it's just that time of the month but worse.

Nevertheless, I decided to leave the two women together so that they could have their private chitchat and moved towards the Senju Clan training ground where I used to train when I was younger.

I asked Tsunade if she knew where Tsugumi was and she told me that she was training, something that did surprise me since she was too lazy and proud, the latter may be because I was spoiling her too much.

But Konan confirmed this statement since I received one of her bird origami who transformed into her and told me that she was watching over Tsugumi without her noticing just as she was 'tasked' to do.

The poor blue-haired girl was worried sick for me when I left without saying anything to do something dangerous, she tried to hide it from me but her cold facade was not working since I knew her too well now.

The house was quite peaceful despite my arduous conversation with Tsunade and Kaguya since Yukimi, Tenzō, and Guren were currently being trained by Chizu outside of Konoha while Shisui was taking his sweet time with his mother as he deserved.

That brat Yugito was out for a mission with her teammates now that she successfully became a Chūnin, leaving only the two youngest, Fū and Jūgo around the compound.

While the latter was recovering after exhausting himself from training how to master his control over natural energy, the former was still snooping around as I said "You can come out Fū, I know you're here."

"...You're not going to punish me?" Fū wondered as she knew that I noticed and heard her before but I replied "Come on, I'm not that petty." as I knew how mischievous she could be and this was far from requiring a sermon from me

"Hum... I made this for you." Fū then revealed as she sheepishly came up to me with a bag in her hands after jumping down from the tree she was hiding in

"Oh? Thank you." I said as I took the bag and opened it, revealing some baked cookies which made me ask "Cookies? You baked them for me?"

"Y-Yes... I was worried when you suddenly left a few days ago after meeting Chōmei, even though she told me that you would be fine, and since I didn't know what I could do to help I thought of baking some cookies." Fū said which made me smile before taking one of the butterflies looking cookies and eating it

"...How are they?" Fū asked as she surely retried every day to get such results since she never cooked anything before

Kneeling to be somewhat at her height, I ruffled her hair and gently replied "They're tasty, and you even made them with salted butter caramel, my favorite flavor, thanks." which prompted the girl to happily hug me as she enjoyed my patting

While she was and will surely always be a hyperactive girl, she was by far the child who required the most parental love, at least she craved to receive it but would never say it out loud.

"Since you did something for me then I will also do something for you... Let's see, today wouldn't be possible but how about I cook anything you want tomorrow for dinner? You can ask for anything, even multiple dishes." I then suggested as the girl's expression brightened even more before exclaiming "Really?!"

"Of course." I replied as I should be capable of cooking anything she asked for anyway but then I saw her overheat as she tried to think about what she wanted to eat but couldn't choose anything for now

"Pft, don't worry, you have the whole day to think about it." I let out before kissing her on the forehead and added "Thank you for the cookies, I will finish them today for sure." as I began to munch another one afterward while she released me from her hug and took a few steps back

"It's a promise then!" Fū exclaimed as she ran into the house, happy about my suggestion which made me chuckle as I started to walk towards the training ground again but with the bag of cookies at hand

When I wasn't far from it, I heard the sound of someone training with a method we recently created along with Shikuro by using the lightning bees I took back with me eighty-three chapters ago.

These giant bees had an innate ability to create clones of themselves made in honey, an ability we decided to use in training by making them moving targets who could launch attacks and be 'killed' without any consequences at all since they were clones.

Also, while the bees I took with me back then were huge, and not stealthy at all because of the lightning they kept on generating as their wings buzzed, Shikuro and the Aburame Clan began to 'create' new species from them via means I do not dare to talk about.

Let's just say that they made many kinds of hybrids which was even more helpful during training because they now had different sizes, degrees of stealth, speed, and so on.

The bees clones used in training didn't even need an Aburame to be operated, you only needed to be 'marked' by one of their members with a Fūinjutsu and the clones would listen to you for a certain duration, usually less than a day, and when the time run out the clones won't go berserk but simply vanish.

The Aburame Clan began a business with that, making them highly appreciated by most of Konoha's shinobi since they could lend you the appropriate bees depending on your level, the cost being higher for Jōnin since high-level bees were more difficult to train in the first place.

And honestly, it was a great way for Genin to get experience against ambushes or multiple foes, though the bees couldn't use Ninjutsu aside from launching sticky honey on you like a paintball, something that allowed you to know how many you evaded and how many you didn't.

Nevertheless, when I arrived I finally saw Tsugumi quickly moving around the trees and taking down the bees one by one while using her Wood Release, creating pinecones sharp and tough enough to pierce even a large tree's trunk before exploding.

What was even more surprising for me however was the two beautiful black wings sprouting from her back along with the same Sage Mode pattern as me.

[Here]

'She can use the Sage Mode after training for less than a week? What a monstrous talent' I thought as I saw her use the enhanced mobility given by her wings, albeit with some difficulty since it wasn't easy to learn how to use extra members perfectly, along with fast and even shortened hand signs to launch her Ninjutsu

Making my presence known, Tsugumi noticed me while she was in the air and blurted out "Dad..? Why are you here?" as she landed not far from me while she instructed the bees to be on standby

"I can't even go and watch my daughter train without any reason?" I let out as I checked out her wings, delighted to see that both were looking the same unlike me who had one of them being slightly ethereal since it was made mostly from chakra

"You always have a 'reason' for what you do, at least that's what you told me." Tsugumi said as she believed that I was just lazing around in our house for the last couple of years

"*sigh* Seems like I owe you an explanation as to what I've been doing all these years." I said as I sat on a wooden bench I made while speaking before patting the bench, asking her to sit down and listen

I never told Tsugumi what I've been doing recently, by that I mean what I've been doing since the last war ended, and I also omitted the parts where I gathered the Tailed Beasts chakra whenever I told her stories of my adventures.

But now might be the best time to tell her since Kaguya was revived, she will at least not be even more distant with me if she knows who and why Kaguya is here.

As such, and thankfully she agreed and sat down on my right, I began to explain what I've done in the past that I didn't tell her before, rehearsing what I had told her by adding what I skipped.

I then explained why I was cooped at the house and why she mostly saw clones instead of me except when she was going to sleep since I was always here just long enough for Tsunade to fall asleep.

I was glad that she was an understanding girl, and when I told her about my encounter with her future brother, she had stars in her eyes as she asked me many kinds of questions, some I couldn't answer as well.

She was surprised when she learned that such an immense threat to the shinobi world was unknown by most if not all humans, it felt almost unreal, and I could sense her esteem toward me rising after figuring out that I was going against them almost alone.

"I... I'm sorry about before father, it was my fault for being so childish..." Tsugumi mumbled as she looked down and clenched her fists that laid on her thighs

"It's fine sweetie, I can assure you that I wasn't perfect either, nor am I nowadays... I needed quite a lot of waking up calls in my life to be as I am today." I explained as I took her in my arms and hugged her

"These people... When will they arrive?" Tsugumi asked which bugged me a little but I still replied "I don't know yet, it could be next year or in more than ten years. All I know is that I need to prepare everything before they invade... And by that I mean unifying the shinobi world, not by force but by sharing a common enemy."

"Won't they all agree once they know about your story?" Tsugumi innocently asked which made me unable to contain a small chuckle as I replied "Unfortunately, politics and the human mind aren't that easy, Tsugumi."

I already had a plan ready with Madara to make the world know about the Ōtsutsuki, this was the easiest way for the shinobi world to be unified, by letting Isshiki wreak havoc or impersonate him if it was too dangerous by using the Ten-Tails.

Sometimes for the greater good, one needs to make sacrifices, as such, I need to make everyone understand how much of a threat the Ōtsutsuki Clan can be if we don't prepare for them by decimating certain inhabited places.

After all, if I once again get rid of the threat before it happens or before it can have a big enough impact, people won't believe that it is worth the attention.

"...Then I should train harder!" Tsugumi finally let out which made me frown as I answered "You won't be part of those who will fight sweetie, I won't allow it." which made her retort "B-But..! What if I someday encounter one of them and have to fight before you can arrive? I should get strong enough to face them isn't that right?"

"I'm not forbidding you from training harder, just from taking part in this dangerous incoming face-off... Sure, if you need help during your training tell me, remember that you have access to my Jutsu library, just think wisely about which techniques you want to learn." I explained before flicking her forehead with my finger, making her release a small yet audible 'Ouch!'

"If making a wooden bench is a technique in the library then I should truly choose wisely." Tsugumi said with a teasing smile as she rubbed her forehead where I previously hit her

"Cheeky girl, stick to your explosive pinecones, will you... Actually, how did you make them explosive?" I then asked slightly curious about it since it wasn't something I taught her

"I just did..?" Tsugumi answered which made me release a desperate sigh as I thought 'Geniuses and their innate talent' since I had to use some pretty tough scientific knowledge to make most of the plants and trees I could create nowadays

Seems like people like Hashirama and Tsugumi simply made them out of instinct and ideas, how nice it should be.

Nevertheless, our talk took so long that the contract she had with the bees ran out, and the sun was almost out of our view.

"Alright, we should go home, I'm sure everyone is hungry now." I let out before hearing Tsugumi's stomach grumble which validated my speculation

I should take it easy for the next couple of days, at least I have to rest long enough to be ready for my small holiday on the moon.

I just need to find something to fly me to the moon, hopefully, it won't be too difficult to find.