Night came earlier in the Land of Gold than it did at sea.
The shadows of the hills stretched longer, swallowing the reddish-brown sandy soil.
The sky shifted from orange-red to deep purple, then was soaked through with ink-blue.
In the distance, the lights of the mining area flickered on like scattered fireflies in the valleys.
The chimneys of the smelters still belched a dark red glow, painting half the sky with a faint crimson radiance.
The group’s campsite was nestled in a wind-sheltered hollow between the hills.
Shizune had started a fire and was preparing a simple dinner: dried rations, jerky, pickled vegetables bought from the Land of Iron, and a pot of hot water made into soup.
Tonton lay at her feet, his nose twitching toward the pot from time to time, drooling.
Tsunade leaned against a flat rock, idly swirling her sake flask.
This was the last of her stash.
Once it was gone, she’d truly be out.
Her eyes were half-lidded, whether resting or lost in thought was impossible to tell.
Yamada Souji sat at the edge of the campsite, his back to the fire and his face turned toward the distant mining lights.
His blindfold remained in place, his figure blending into the deepening night.
He was thinking.
Or rather, he was organizing his thoughts.
For over a year, he had focused entirely on treating his Kekkei Genkai disease and establishing ties with Tsunade and her apprentice.
He’d had almost no time to quietly think about the path he wanted to take in the future.
Now the disease was cured, the treatment was over, and he was still traveling, with more than enough time to sort everything out along the way.
First: the Cursed Technique System.
He had spent six years figuring out its rules, and he had more or less figured them out.
The core rule was simple: Kill shinobi.
Gain cursed energy.
It didn’t matter whether the target was an ordinary shinobi, a shinobi from one of the Great Nations, or a missing-nin.
As long as the target possessed chakra, the moment they died, his cursed energy would increase.
The amount gained was proportional to the target’s strength, but completely unrelated to the method of killing.
Beyond that, there was no other way to cultivate it.
Or rather, he had tried countless methods.
Meditation.
Body tempering.
Stimulating it with chakra.
He had even tried using the Six Eyes to analyze the internal structure of cursed energy itself.
Every single attempt had failed.
Cursed energy was like some kind of debt attached to his soul.
It could only be paid off through killing, never accumulated through diligence.
Once his cursed energy reached a certain threshold, the system would activate the roulette wheel for a draw.
The first threshold had been the first-kill reward: The Six Eyes.
Those eyes capable of analyzing everything.
The second had been Black Flash.
A resonance technique between chakra, cursed energy, and physical force, capable of unleashing destructive power beyond normal limits.
The third had been the Innate Technique · Ice Formation Cursed Technique.
The ability to convert cursed energy into absolute cold, capable of freezing matter, energy, and even certain concepts.
He had no idea when the next threshold would arrive, nor how many thresholds existed in total.
The system panel displayed nothing but a set of cold numbers: [Current Cursed Energy: 8473/10000] He was still more than 1,500 points away from the next threshold.
Based on the average gain of fifty to one hundred points from a chunin and eighty to two hundred from a special jonin, he still needed to kill another twenty to thirty shinobi.
That was clearly impossible while traveling with Tsunade.
That woman might not be as perceptive as a sensor-type ninja, but her eyes were frighteningly sharp.
Back in the Land of Hot Water, she had figured out that he had fought someone simply from the rhythm of his breathing and the slight redness of his skin the moment he walked through the door.
If he started slaughtering people right under her nose, forget continuing the journey together.
She would probably dismantle every bone in his body on the spot.
So, the path of cursed energy could only be put on hold until after he left Tsunade’s side.
This was the direction he could devote himself to with everything he had.
Although Tsunade was unwilling to formally accept him as her disciple, after more than a year together, coupled with the bargain they had struck over drinks, she truly had been teaching him.
Her lessons were casual, often laced with sarcasm and ridicule, but everything she taught about chakra control, the principles of medical ninjutsu, and the human body’s chakra pathways was genuine knowledge.
Chakra Enhanced Strength was only the beginning.
The Six Eyes gave him a terrifying rate of learning.
Any technique, as long as he watched its complete execution from start to finish once, could be broken down into every detail of its chakra flow, every point where force was applied, and even the possible areas where the technique itself could be optimized.
Tsunade’s remark earlier that day, “It can analyze everything,” had been frighteningly accurate.
Beyond Tsunade’s teachings, he possessed another advantage: His foreknowledge of future events.
He knew the general direction the future would take.
The next major event would be the Konoha Crush, when Orochimaru would join forces with the Hidden Sand Village to launch an attack on Konoha.
He also knew the truth behind the Uchiha clan massacre, every member of the Akatsuki, the outbreak of the Fourth Great Ninja War, and Kaguya Otsutsuki’s resurrection…
At the moment, all of that knowledge seemed useless.
But when the right opportunity came, every one of those pieces of information could become a bargaining chip for survival or a means of obtaining greater benefits.
Finally, and most importantly: The bloodline of the Kaguya Clan.
When he had escaped the Hidden Mist six years ago, he had been nothing more than a six-year-old child.
Simply surviving had already been a miracle.
There had been no opportunity to investigate the secrets of his clan.
Later came years of wandering, pursuit, and treating his illness, leaving him with even less time to think about it.
But now…
His illness was cured.
His strength had also improved.
It was finally time to consider this question.
Was the Shikotsumyaku truly the entirety of the Kaguya Clan’s bloodline?
He knew the truth.
Kaguya Otsutsuki.
The Progenitor of Chakra.
The Rabbit Goddess.
Her technique, All-Killing Ash Bones, allowed her to launch bones generated from within her own body as weapons.
Anyone struck by them would begin to collapse at the cellular level before eventually crumbling into ash.
That kind of power…
That level…
Could it really be a coincidence that it was connected to the Kaguya Clan’s Shikotsumyaku?
Or was the Kaguya Clan truly descended from that goddess?
A branch of her bloodline?
Or perhaps some incomplete inheritance?
The original work never gave a clear answer.
The only thing known was that Kimimaro’s Shikotsumyaku represented the pinnacle of the clan’s power, a talent seen only once in a thousand years.
Yet even that was nowhere near the conceptual level of destruction possessed by All-Killing Ash Bones.
Was their bloodline simply not pure enough?
Or did awakening All-Killing Ash Bones require some special condition?
Six Paths Power?
The chakra of the Ten-Tails?
Or perhaps something even simpler…
Some inherited legacy.
Some ritual.
Some secret art buried by the passage of time.
At that moment, he remembered the ruined remains of his clan’s settlement outside the Hidden Mist Village.
On that night, when he was six years old, he had fled in panic.
He had only managed to escape with his life.
The clan’s archives…
Its scrolls…
The records passed down through generations…
They should all still be there.
If the Hidden Mist hadn’t completely destroyed them…
If they were still hidden somewhere…
Souji’s fingers unconsciously tapped against his knee in a slow, steady rhythm.
Once the thought took root, it could no longer be suppressed.
But it was far too dangerous.
Although the Hidden Mist had already abolished the Bloody Mist Policy, and the newly appointed Fifth Mizukage, Mei Terumi, was carrying out reforms, the hunt for the Kekkei Genkai clans still continued.
Entering rashly would be nothing less than walking straight into a trap.
To do that, he would need to prepare.
He needed intelligence.
An insider.
And enough strength to ensure that even if he were discovered, he could still retreat safely.
There was another problem.
He would also have to avoid Tsunade’s route.
She and Shizune were heading for the Land of Lightning, while the Land of Water lay to the southeast, in the exact opposite direction.
“Kid!” Tsunade’s voice suddenly rang out, interrupting his thoughts.
Souji turned toward the firelight.
Tsunade had already sat up from the rock and was looking straight at him.
Her sake flask was empty now, casually tossed aside.
“Why are you sitting so far away?
Afraid I’ll steal your food?” “I was just thinking about something.” Souji stood up, walked back to the campfire, and sat down beside Shizune.
She was ladling out the soup and handed him a bowl with a few pieces of jerky and pickled vegetables floating inside.
“What are you thinking about?” Tsunade accepted her own bowl of soup, blowing gently across the steaming surface.
“Thinking about what else those eyes of yours can do?” “The future.” Souji took a sip of the soup, his voice calm.
“Tsunade-sama, have you ever been to the Land of Water?” Tsunade raised an eyebrow, a hint of amusement appearing in her eyes.
“The Land of Water?
That godforsaken place called the Hidden Mist?
I’ve been there.
Back during the war.
Why?
Thinking about going back?” “Just curious.” Souji shook his head.
“I want to learn more about the Kaguya Clan.” “Learn what?” “Your clan’s already been wiped out.” Tsunade’s words were merciless.
“You finally escaped, and now you want to go back and dig up your ancestors’ graves?” Shizune’s heart skipped a beat.
She quietly tugged on Tsunade’s sleeve, but Tsunade brushed her hand aside without taking her eyes off Souji.
Souji, however, showed no sign of anger at the remark.
He simply answered calmly, “I do want to go back and take a look.
There may be records left behind in the clan about the origin of our bloodline.”