HSU: Ch. 341

When the sky began to brighten, Masashi walked out of the cave with Kaguya.

The red sun slowly peeked out from the mountain peaks. Sunlight filtered through gaps in the leaves, landing at their feet. As the breeze stirred the canopy, patches of light and shadow on the ground shifted and danced.

Kaguya opened her mouth and took a deep breath. Unable yet to reclaim her power, she displayed far more humanity than she had in the original timeline.

Hagoromo believed his mother's change began only after she gained overwhelming power. Perhaps he wasn't entirely wrong. 

When everything in the world becomes fragile before you, it's natural to grow cold.

But now things were different. At this moment, she probably wasn't even a match for Masashi.

"Kaguya-hime, I'll have to trouble you to follow me around for a while," Masashi said. "I still have some things to take care of."

"It's fine. I do not mind," she replied casually, then immediately showed him what she did mind.

She happily dashed into the forest, performed a full set of techniques, then returned looking fully satisfied.

"Why exactly did you go beat up the forest?"

"I was just trying it out," Kaguya said with a long, dreamy sigh. "It feels so wonderful to use my own body."

"If you want to hit someone, could you at least warn me first?"

Masashi had no choice but to add that line.

Lacking her former power didn't make Kaguya harmless. That sequence she just performed, if you pulled any current Hyūga ninja out right now, every single one of them would be taken out instantly.

She didn't have her absurd chakra reserves anymore, but her mental strength and technique remained. And her ancestral-level insight was still intact.

Appearance-wise, aside from retracting her horns and no longer having the tomoe Rinnegan open on her forehead, she looked, well, without those obvious non-human features, like an extremely attractive young woman.

Next, Masashi brought Kaguya along and began trekking across mountains and rivers.

Soon after, he just let loose and moved at full speed.

Because Kaguya's mobility was insane.

Born from a body created through Yin-Yang Release, she completely surpassed humans in physical capability. The problem was simply that she was wearing the same style yukata as Masashi, with the Uchiha fan crest on her back paired with those unmistakable Byakugan eyes. Far too eye-catching.

And once Kaguya got excited from running, she even had spare energy to tease him a little. She was used to flying everywhere, but now that she had to experience the era of running on foot again, she found it delightful.

Masashi, however, didn't have her leisure. He had run straight from the Land of Rivers to the Land of Rain.

After re-entering the Land of Rain, he immediately found traces of Suna.

Suna ninjas and Ame ninjas were joining forces to attack members of Akatsuki.

Because of Nagato, Ame and Akatsuki had enjoyed a lengthy honeymoon period, but now, again because of Nagato, the two sides had returned to their original state.

Among them, Kakuzu was the most active.

Meanwhile, Akatsuki had lost Black Zetsu, leaving the group suddenly without a leader, forced to fight independently.

The worst part was that some of them had originally been fighting alongside Ame ninjas against Suna ninjas, until Ame and Suna received an order, at which point they turned around and fought Akatsuki instead.

Akatsuki's main base was still in the Land of Rain, which made the country rather chaotic now.

Even losing Nagato's stabilization for a short time exposed the country's fragile side.

Kaguya, however, quite liked this kind of chaos.

"I remember when I first arrived on this planet, it was like this as well, very lively," she said as they walked across the wilderness of the Land of Rain, watching the frequent battles with nostalgic fondness. "Though there weren't this many people back then."

"Well, it has been many years," Masashi said. He didn't know exactly what era Kaguya came from, but it certainly wasn't as developed as now. "Still, the environment now isn't what it used to be. The natural environment of this country is already considered pretty good among the nations."

"It was a necessary sacrifice for cultivating the fruit," Kaguya said bluntly. "Besides, without my guidance, they couldn't even use the land they already possessed properly. I was careful. The place I cultivated the God Tree back then had no people."

"Oh?" Masashi, curious, asked, "After the chakra fruit has already formed, does the God Tree still absorb resources from the surroundings like before?"

"Once the fruit has formed, of course not," Kaguya replied. "I cherish the land. I would never take this planet's energy the way my clan does."

Masashi was surprised. From the sound of it, Kaguya was practically an environmentalist.

"Actually, I've always been curious," he said. "Your Ōtsutsuki clan, what are you all planting these trees everywhere for?"

"To become greater forms of life, of course."

For this question, Kaguya answered earnestly.

"But I intend to pursue that goal in my own way. Even if my former clansmen return, I will not yield."

Masashi decided not to continue that topic. Whoever from the Ōtsutsuki shows up, there's only one option anyway.

Fight.

He didn't participate in the ninja battles occurring throughout the Land of Rain. Instead, he brought, no, accompanied Kaguya on her joyful wander.

She was walking completely at random, going wherever she felt like going.

To Kaguya, everything around her, whether good or bad, was something new and interesting. However, even for someone like Kaguya, who had essentially been imprisoned for a thousand years, the Land of Rain could only offer so much novelty. Most importantly, she didn't like rainy weather.

On the fifth day, she said she wanted to go somewhere else.

Fortunately, by that time, Ame and Suna had returned to the negotiating table. At least on the surface, no Akatsuki ninja could be seen in the Land of Rain anymore. But Nagato was still nowhere to be found. The main negotiators were still the same people, but the location had moved to a small town on the border between the Land of Wind and the Land of Rain.

As Konoha's representative, Masashi's "guest," Kaguya, became the center of attention.

There was nothing to be done. Anyone who saw her standing there could tell she was no ordinary woman.

The aura of a goddess from ancient times still remained unmistakably, even in a different era. To be honest, none of the current Five Kage or daimyō could hope to possess such a presence.

Back when Kaguya was revered as the Rabbit Goddess, she was essentially the ruler of the entire world.

"Pacifying the chaotic age" basically meant killing everyone who caused trouble, then achieving universal peace. Actually, in Masashi's opinion, taken literally, this was indeed what "pacifying chaos" should mean.

If the wildest troublemakers were all still alive and well, and you hadn't recruited them as subordinates, what exactly had you pacified?

It could only be said that the way the shinobi world developed had much to do with Hashirama's choices, as well as the world's unique social structure. If Hashirama hadn't established the era of nations and villages, ninjas probably wouldn't be tied to countries even now.

When Masashi arrived at the small town chosen as the negotiation site, he spotted Itachi and the others waiting at the entrance from afar.

Both Suna and Ame ninjas kept their distance from this group.

When Masashi reached them, everyone's eyes naturally fell on Kaguya.

"Are these all your subordinates?" Kaguya found this group of still-bloodstained young men rather pleasing to the eye.

She had seen plenty of violent youngsters. It was familiar.

Masashi himself had once been an unrestrained, edgy teenager.

Back then, his worldview had been: Talk shit? Cut first and be done with it.

"Masashi-nii?" Itachi looked at Masashi.

He had strong opinions about this woman who addressed Masashi so casually.

Identity aside, she had Byakugan, which was already suspicious, what bothered him was something else.

Who was she? And how did she get to call one of the people he respected most by name, so casually?

Judging by her appearance, she looked about his age too.

"This is Kaguya-hime, an... elder from the Hyūga clan." Masashi introduced her.

He then began to wonder how he was going to explain to the Hyūga clan that he had found them an ancestor. This was important.

The Hyūga, sometimes they were really inflexible.

He wasn't afraid they wouldn't treat Kaguya as an elder, they absolutely would worship her properly. What he feared was that before they figured things out, every Hyūga clan member might get beaten up first.

That would be disastrous.

"Greetings."

After giving a perfunctory and emotionless greeting, Itachi said seriously to Kaguya, "Your attitude toward Masashi-nii is far too casual. I don't think that's good."

"You are Masashi's younger brother?" Kaguya nodded. "Very well. Out of special permission, you may call me Kami-sama."

Masashi nearly choked on his own breath.

"Itachi, she is joking with you," he quickly said. "Just call her by her name as usual."

Kaguya raised an eyebrow, but upon seeing Masashi's expression, which clearly said "Please, don't make this worse," she thought for a moment and decided to let it go.

After all, she had promised Masashi: identity issues were his to handle.

She was the progenitor of chakra. She had excellent credibility.

---

The little incident at the town entrance didn't affect the Konoha ninjas' mood as they entered. After all, the Byakugan felt familiar and friendly to Konoha people. As everyone knew, if there was a Byakugan user in the team, the scout could slack off. To be honest, the appearance of a Byakugan user could be pretty eerie, especially at night, but the Hyūga had been deeply involved in Konoha's military operations ever since joining the village. They were the golden teammates everyone had gotten used to. Now, instead of being creeped out, people felt energized when they saw them.

Take this for example: Although everyone knew that Hyūga girls rarely married outside the clan, you still felt like something was missing from your youth if you didn't at least try to chase one.

After a brief pause at the entrance, the group officially entered the town. It was a border town, the infrastructure far from good, not even a dirt road. But full of natural atmosphere. After all, investing heavily in infrastructure on the border rarely paid off. Even towns on the Land of Fire border couldn't avoid harassment from certain types who operated around border areas.

But lately things had been better, because Konoha produced this murder maniac with master-level tracking and trace-analysis skills, someone who would suddenly appear at your bedside some night ten days or half a month after your "job," greeting you with a "good evening."

Nice, wasn't it?

As Masashi and the others walked along the muddy main road of the town, they kept stepping in small puddles.

And then they heard continuous splashing footsteps.

Kaguya indeed disliked rain, but she did enjoy stepping in puddles after the rain.

To the Konoha ninjas, everyone except Masashi, seeing such a lively Hyūga was unusual. She acted like someone who'd been cooped up at home her whole life and never gone outside. Most importantly, no one in the village had ever seen this person before, at least not officially. ANBU absolutely couldn't afford face-blindness. Perfect memory of important or sensitive village individuals was a basic requirement. Otherwise, if someone who clearly wasn't from the village yet fit all those criteria walked past you and you failed to recognize it, then what was the point of being ANBU?

Still, since this Hyūga was brought by Masashi, no one said anything.

If she were an outsider, then this would become a clan matter, "returning to the Hyūga lineage," and ANBU wouldn't touch that. That'd be internal clan politics, maybe barely related to administration at most.

So everyone endured the noise in their ears and pretended they were used to it. Some even felt a bit sympathetic, such an innocent, cheerful girl would probably turn into one of those polite Hyūga young ladies not long after returning to the clan.

One less bright, happy little girl in the world.

Masashi, meanwhile, was thinking about finishing the negotiations as quickly as possible and taking Kaguya back to Konoha.

Every flaw of the Hyūga would become an advantage in this situation. Their strict, proper mannerisms were perfect for hosting Kaguya.

The meeting venue was the town's single tavern.

It was the only one around, and most customers weren't locals, passing merchants, wandering ninjas, ronin. None of them were peace-loving types. After Suna and Ame designated it as the meeting place, all those usual rough customers disappeared. Even Ame was a giant to people like them. And Kusa, despite being looked down on by the Five Great Villages, was considered "avoid if possible" in the underground world.

At the tavern entrance, teams from Suna and Ame were already present, glaring at each other with "what the hell are you looking at" eyes.

Then they heard a rapid series of splashing footsteps.

Kids did that kind of thing at home.

Whose kid was this? Who was splashing around out here?

The two sides stopped glaring and turned toward the sound.

They saw a group of masked Konoha ANBU, but something was off about their atmosphere. They didn't know that these ANBU had been driven crazy by Kaguya's antics the entire way, unable to complain, holding it all in.

If someone picked a fight with them right now, they'd probably be delighted.

Konoha ANBU normally walked without a sound, but now, accompanied by that strange splashing noise from who-knows-where, they stopped uniformly at the tavern entrance and split into two lines. Only then did the Suna and Ame ninjas notice Masashi standing among them. And the woman beside him. A Hyūga, beyond doubt.

At first glance, the Suna and Ame ninjas felt that this was what true nobility should look like. If only her face weren't still showing the satisfied expression of someone who'd just had fun splashing in puddles. Not wearing a mask, that was normal. Even Konoha's enemies knew Hyūga rarely joined ANBU. The regular forces couldn't even get enough of them.

But this Hyūga was strange, she wore the same clothes as Masashi. And their demeanor toward each other wasn't hierarchical.

The Suna and Ame ninjas began spinning hypotheses in their minds.

Could it be, judging by her innocent look, was she a Hyūga child who ended up outside the clan and got found by Masashi?

How lucky could he be?

All clans had such cases now and then, but for the Hyūga it was rare, their bloodline was far too obvious.

"Masashi-sama." Imagination aside, the Suna and Ame leaders stepped forward to salute immediately.

"Has the Kazekage arrived?" Masashi asked.

As for Ame, there was no need to ask. If Nagato wasn't here, then there was nothing to ask about.

"Yes, the Kazekage and Chiyo-sama are already upstairs waiting for you."

"Thank you. My apologies, I'm a bit late due to some matters." Masashi offered a polite remark, then turned to Kaguya. "Will you go up with me, or... No, please come with me, Kaguya-hime."

Leaving her here felt like trouble waiting to happen.

Kaguya nodded.

The Suna and Ame ninjas on the side were shocked that Masashi actually used polite speech with this Hyūga woman.

Just what kind of status would make even the White Ghost speak respectfully?

Masashi had already led Kaguya upstairs.

The ANBU remained on the ground floor. Itachi, out of habit, scanned the surroundings first. Seeing the Suna and Ame ninjas secretly glancing at Kaguya as she ascended the stairs, he let out a deliberate, meaningful "hn."

No, this wasn't a reminder. It was a warning.

"Don't look at what you shouldn't."

The person already went upstairs, what were you staring at? Plotting against Konoha's bloodline limit? If so, then Itachi would have a word with you.

The Suna and Ame ninjas, receiving the "message," instantly felt Itachi's Will of Fire and hurriedly fixed their gazes straight ahead.

Not looking, not looking, there was a lunatic here.

---

Upstairs, the first thing Masashi saw was the seated four:

Rasa, Chiyo, Konan, and Kakuzu.

No surprise, Sasori still played it safe and didn't come. After all, Suna had their ultimate weapon here, his grandmother.

All that talk about "the sin of assassinating the Third Kazekage must not be forgiven" was just an excuse. Sasori's real crime was choosing to join Ame instead of returning to Suna.

If he did return, Masashi was sure all they would need to do was give him a new face and name, and he'd be back to work like nothing happened.

Suna ninjas were always pragmatic.

"Oh my, what a lovely girl." Chiyo's squinted eyes even widened a bit upon seeing Kaguya. "Planning another marriage? Congratulations."

Rasa glanced over, suspicion flickering in his eyes as he wondered if this was some kind of raise-your-own-ultimate-weapon scheme. Konan shot a sidelong look as well, thinking dryly that even in the middle of a war, men somehow always found time for "distractions." Kakuzu assessed the girl for barely a second before dismissing her entirely, unfamiliar, unverified, and therefore not worth any money.

"Thank you all for waiting. I'm late," Masashi said with a smile, pulling over a stool and placing it beside his seat.

Then, he tugged Kaguya and guided her into the seat.

"This is someone from the Hyūga clan whom I encountered while away. Her rank is extremely high, so she is qualified to join this negotiation. I hope everyone understands."

"Just a chance encounter?" Chiyo's eyes narrowed again. "She doesn't have the usual demeanor of your Hyūga clan. She must be a lost bloodline. If her seniority is as high as you says, the friendship between Hyūga and Uchiha must surely become even stronger."

Rasa didn't speak, but his face clearly showed envy.

A high-ranking Hyūga meant pure blood, which meant an even stronger Byakugan. Why wasn't she discovered by Suna?

If Suna had found her, he would ensure the village offered her a massive harem, every eligible man in the village for her to choose from.

"These details aren't important." Masashi raised a hand, ending the topic. "I only wish to explain the necessity of this action. Kaguya-hime has more than enough status to be here."

"Kaguya... not an ordinary name," Chiyo nodded. "Since you say so, of course we accept it. Right, Kazekage?"

"Of course. We trust your judgment. Let's begin."

With Rasa's words, everyone withdrew their wandering thoughts and focused again.

Compared to the others who had already entered the negotiation mode, Kaguya sat dazed. Because Masashi had just pulled her. That was a completely new experience.

She, the exalted Rabbit Goddess, whose believers felt satisfied just being able to kneel near her. If during their kneeling they happened to glimpse her toes, they could boast for a year. If one managed to speak a word or two with her, they'd brag about it for life. No one had ever touched her hand.

In her memory, the only physical contact humans ever had with her was through fighting.

Strictly speaking, even that was during the period when she had just consumed the chakra fruit, before she fully digested it.

After she transcended into the "Rabbit Goddess," aside from her two children, no one even got near her.

Anything within eight kilometers, one tailed beast bomb, and it was gone.

So this bold action, should she forgive it? Punish it? Or reward it?