HSU: Ch. 304

As it turns out, you should never casually let someone who knows Flying Thunder God Technique pat your dog head.

The Flying Thunder God Technique had, in theory, no upper limit, as long as there was enough chakra. If someone like Minato could teleport the Nine-Tails out of the village with his chakra capacity, then there was really no need to even mention Masashi.

Hanabi's chakra level was nowhere near the Nine-Tails. And so, under everyone's gaze… she vanished.

The Hyūga clan members, who were already good at adapting to circumstances, turned and fled without a word upon seeing this. The uncontrollable chakra surge crashed down like a tangible object, completely flattening the entire mansion and even compressing the surrounding ground.

The chakra fists she had conjured didn't get a chance to hit Masashi, instead, they struck the ground, venting all their power there.

At that moment, the Hyūga clan demonstrated a ninja's agility, playing hide-and-seek. Their flexibility was on full display, not a single one got hit. When everything was over, there was not a soul left. As for the destroyed building, nobody even gave it a second look. If a building with no one in it gets destroyed, so be it.

Who cares? Right now, all of Konoha was flush with cash, the Hyūga clan included.

Ever since Masashi started "making money" with the whole village, no one really cared about fixed assets anymore.

In the original timeline, this kind of situation would've been impossible, everyone's wallets were tight, including the Hokage Building. That's why the Konoha Crush Plan resulted in the highest damage in village history: half the forces wiped out.

A similar thing happened on the Night of the Nine-Tails. Konoha's losses should've been far less, but Hiruzen and the others chose to prioritize driving the Nine-Tails out of the village. To do that, the ninjas had to abandon their agility advantage and fight the beast head-on. Basically, they traded lives to protect assets.

Masashi found that pitiful.

But in reality, most of Konoha's buildings were easily rebuildable. The truly important infrastructure was well-protected. The Konoha ninjas in the original timeline could've fought more freely using their home-field advantage.

In this timeline, thanks to a well-funded Chunin Exam, no one worried about reconstruction costs. Evacuations were quick, and ninja casualties were minimal. On the other hand, the elite forces from the three other major villages who were allowed into Konoha were practically wiped out. It was a profitable exchange, later on, Konoha's ninjas had a much easier time in battle. Casualties were lower than in past regional wars. In some cases, battles resulted in zero losses, like an armed parade.

He caused such a massive ruckus in the village without hesitation because he believed Konoha could now handle it. And he wasn't wrong.

After he and Hanabi disappeared, and the chakra waves began to dissipate, the village's top fighters started to arrive.

First was Minato, the fastest Hokage in Konoha's history at Body Flicker Techniques. The Hyūga clan wouldn't refuse his entry, so he had no trouble getting there.

Right after him came Tobirama.

The two Hokage surveyed the scene and quickly understood what had happened.

"What happened here?" Minato asked Hiashi.

The matter of Masashi treating Hanabi was already known to the Hokage Building. Her condition had long drawn their attention. As a master of chakra research, Tobirama had already found the whole thing suspicious. If Masashi hadn't intervened first, he was planning to volunteer himself.

"It's nothing. Hanabi had another episode," Hiashi said, his face covered in dust. He was the dustiest of them all.

It couldn't be helped, as the clan leader, he had to appear calm and composed in front of his people. In other words, clan leaders had to act cool.

I could dodge, but as long as no one dies, I won't! Is this dust? No! These are medals that only a clan leader earns!

"Her destructive power is even greater than last time," Tobirama remarked as he looked around. "No casualties, I assume?"

He had also rushed to the scene last time. Back then, the buildings were still intact, and a bunch of people ended up swinging from trees. Hiashi had face-planted with a huge footprint on his rear.

There was no such thing as unexplained bursts of power and chakra. Chakra changes weren't reversible either. Yet whenever Hanabi had an episode, her chakra changed and reverted later, and the techniques she used weren't even from the Hyūga clan. There had to be something fishy going on. And the most reasonable explanation he could think of was Reincarnation Technique. It had never been made public, but it had long been a hot research topic among top ninjas. Muzo was a prime example.

Yet the Hyūga clan leader remained tight-lipped.

He understood that the Hyūga had become a marginalized clan under their disciples' leadership. But with the current state of affairs, such evasiveness wouldn't help. The Hyūga were starting to resemble the old Uchiha, while the Uchiha were now actively involved in village matters, the Hyūga remained distant. If not for Hanabi's situation, the Hyūga clan wouldn't even be in the spotlight right now. The real focus should've been Kakashi's Mangekyō Sharingan.

"I believe Hanabi is likely possessed," he said bluntly. "We need to address this."

"It's already being dealt with," Hiashi replied. "This matter has been entrusted to Masashi."

His stance differed from Tobirama's. He respected every Hokage but understood clearly that the Hyūga clan's management style dictated a particular relationship with the Hokage Building. Their past tendency to align completely with the Hokage had already proven to be a mistake.

He hated the Main House/Branch House system, but he also didn't want the Hyūga to become another Shimura clan. As for what future generations decided, that was no longer his concern.

"That's good," Tobirama nodded and said no more.

He turned and left.

Minato stayed behind. As the current Hokage, he had procedures to follow. Also, Kakashi's situation was only temporarily shelved, not resolved. He hoped to gain some support from the Hyūga clan.

He knew Kakashi far too well.

Only a small circle knew the truth about Obito. Everyone had silently agreed not to spread the word. Kakashi hadn't been present during those events. Out of personal concern, he hadn't told Kakashi the truth, he feared it would break him.

Meanwhile, Tobirama didn't return to the Hokage Building after leaving the Hyūga compound. As a sensory ninja with a vast range, he was already heading out of the village. This time he moved much faster than when he arrived at the Hyūga's. Since being reanimated, he had placed many Flying Thunder God marks around the village.

This was a familiar direction.

It was the same direction Madara had taken when he attacked Konoha with the Nine-Tails years ago. Only now, the so-called Valley of the End no longer existed.

As he approached, the sound of chakra colliding with the earth became audible.

When he activated Flying Thunder God again and teleported, what greeted him was a chakra-formed fist. The fist roared past his face and clashed with another Susanoo fist.

The effect was much like a ninjutsu showdown.

As the shockwave blasted past his position, he teleported to another spot. From there, he could see it all clearly: Masashi was in Perfect Susanoo form, going blow for blow with a transformed Hanabi.

The surroundings were already a complete mess.

Who exactly is occupying that girl's mind?

Tobirama looked up at the distant figure, just a small dot suspended in mid-air, and was full of questions. The chakra usage was extremely similar to the Uchiha clan's Susanoo, but obviously of a much higher level. Of course, Masashi's Susanoo wasn't normal either.

With the power of the tailed beasts loaded into the Susanoo, its performance far exceeded that of traditional jinchūriki.

Back when the tailed beasts were being sold, aside from the Uzumaki clan, the other organizations' jinchūriki techniques were honestly just so-so. That was one reason Tobirama hadn't strongly opposed the sales.

Right now, however, Masashi wasn't bothered by nearly as many questions as Tobirama. The person in front of him was undoubtedly Kaguya. Even though the "hardware" didn't match, she couldn't execute the Eighty Gods Vacuum Attack properly, there was no mistake.

Nominally speaking, Kaguya was the true progenitor of the Senju, Uzumaki, Uchiha, and Hyūga clans. But Masashi felt absolutely no psychological pressure trading blows with her. In fact, he was more interested in how many T-rated scenes she had seen. So, he was putting real effort into his performance.

"A mysterious powerhouse, huh…" Saying such cheesy lines made even him get goosebumps. he asked, mockingly formal, "Are you an ancestor of the Hyūga?"

Her method of appearing seemed somewhat inspired by his reincarnation technique. But logically, that shouldn't be the case, he hadn't watched Boruto, but he knew these Ōtsutsuki were all reincarnation experts. Apparently, his research had caught the attention of a big shot.

You couldn't accuse someone of copying you unless you had material worth copying.

"Do you not know who I am?" Hanabi finally spoke, or rather, Kaguya through her body.

Staring at Masashi, the current "Hanabi" was fuming. Their chakra connection allowed her to see parts concerning the shinobi world in his memory. And setting aside the bizarre experiences, his interests and fetishes were utterly shameless. And in those memories… there was her in them!

Who was she?

The entire modern world was built by her treacherous children! And yet this descendant, countless generations removed, was more disrespectful to her than anyone else.

In the Ōtsutsuki worldview, everything was quantifiable. Traveling to other worlds and reincarnating was normal. To her, Masashi's situation was simply that of a descendant.

No problem.

And even knowing who she was, he still touched her? And imagine such filthy positions?

Clearly, he hadn't been disciplined properly.

Even though her true body was still sealed on the moon, she was seething with rage. What made it worse was that Masashi's memories, the only source of information from the outside world in her long isolation, were all trashy.

But she had no other choice.

And after watching for a while… somehow, she even started to… enjoy it?

As a sworn ascetic, she had always viewed that primitive reproductive method as unacceptable. But eternal solitude had worn down her resolve. Undoubtedly, she had been defiled. Her children were disobedient, and this descendant was outright corrupt in mind.

It was unforgivable!

Before she re-emerged in the world, she had to correct this warped mindset. She should have done this to her children back then. What they lacked in education, she would now make up for.

"No idea. Anybody else know? I sure don't." Masashi responded cheerfully.

Although Kaguya possessed Hanabi's body and could now breathe fresh air, she lacked the true power of her real body. He didn't know how those other Ōtsutsuki reincarnated with full power, but this version of Kaguya clearly couldn't handle him.

The hardware gap was too large. Overclocking wouldn't help.

In the original timeline, Kaguya was revived using Madara as the core, after he had absorbed the full Ten-Tails, plus an infusion of chakra from practically everyone.

But now?

She still looked like Hanabi. Her only change was metaphorically dying her hair, she couldn't even awaken her iconic Rinne Sharingan with nine tomoe.

A boss breathing prematurely with no power, how should one respond?

Naturally: go hard, mess around, and gather intel.

The four tailed beasts were extremely cooperative, providing an endless supply of chakra. In the cursed seal space, the four beasts, linked through chakra, could clearly observe everything.

They were all created by Hagoromo, but they were well aware of their true origin, and the one standing opposite Masashi now was that very source.

After so many years of having their own consciousness, none of them wanted to return to being mere parts of the Ten-Tails. Helping him meant helping themselves.

Back outside, Masashi's Susanoo had reached its strongest form. Its size had grown further, and it now embodied all four tailed beasts' abilities. Opposite him, dense chakra wrapped around Hanabi's body, forming a defense not weaker than the Susanoo's, and a more agile offense.

The two forces clashed, chakra fists continuously reshaping the terrain. If it were a normal Susanoo, it would have been shattered already. Fortunately, Masashi didn't follow standard rules, he was holding his own.

Truth be told, Kaguya wasn't very imaginative. She was more of a strength-over-everything type, which suited his taste.

He was the same. Both had extremely refined chakra control, bloodline limits, and ocular powers.

The chakra fist from Hanabi's palm was powerful, paired with the Byakugan's precision, it even surpassed his destructive ability.

But he had his own edge. He could use the Rinnegan. Even though Hagoromo claimed his Rinnegan came from Kaguya… Well, in the original timeline, Hagoromo appeared before Madara, who was already the Ten-Tails jinchūriki, and you think Madara wouldn't slap him?

BOOM!

A Shinra Tensei from Susanoo blasted out with tremendous force. The air and debris compressed into a visible "membrane", pushing back even the weakened Eighty Gods Vacuum Attack. But it still couldn't break through the chakra around Hanabi.

Kaguya still packed a punch. And she was even angrier now.

"Insolent! Insolent!" Kaguya had never lost her composure like this, but now she didn't care. This was infuriating beyond words.

"I am… the Ancestor of Chakra! I will not let you defile my land!"

She was furious, yes, but still stuck to her character.

Protecting this land.

Such dedication to a role, even as a boss, Masashi had to respect that. So, he decided to talk properly. Mainly because after all this brawling, he realized he wasn't getting any useful intel.

"The Ancestor of Chakra…" He struck a thoughtful pose. "My best friend, Black Zetsu, once told me that was his beloved mother's nickname, but that was a very ancient being."

Then, he suddenly let out a cold laugh.

"I don't know who you are, but if you impersonate my friend's mother, I won't stand idly by."

"Shameless fool!" Kaguya sneered back. "Everything about you comes from me. Your thoughts lie bare before me. You knew everything from the start, deceiving me is impossible. But seeing as your feelings weren't completely false, I'll give you a chance."

"Let's hear it." Masashi neither confirmed nor denied. Best not to shut down the conversation.

"Serve me. Pledge your loyalty. You are my descendant, it is only natural."

"Heh…" Masashi scoffed. "Sorry, but my tastes won't allow that. You're too flat now."

Kaguya froze.

Then understood.

And exploded with rage.

"I will correct you, then discard you! You'll regret those words in your dying breath!"

With that, she launched another furious attack, surging forward.

Her body might be weak, but in the mindscape, that was her true domain. There, this disobedient descendant would finally face her real power.