For a moment, the atmosphere fell into silence.
That voice didn't speak again for quite some time. After a long pause, it finally said,
"The power of the nine tailed beasts surpasses everything. Gather all nine, and you will obtain the true power of the Sage of Six Paths."
"I've already experienced it," Kyoichi replied. "Right— I even sealed away a pitch-black thing. Do you happen to know what that was?"
"…Huh."
Ōtsutsuki Kaguya fell silent.
That was Black Zetsu.
And judging from her reaction, she had clearly already realized that Black Zetsu was hers.
Just who exactly was this kid?
She couldn't understand it. The secret of Black Zetsu hadn't been discovered even by the Sage of Six Paths or Ōtsutsuki Hamura—yet it had ended up exposed by a child.
No wonder, some time ago, she had sensed a fluctuation resembling the Six Paths: Chibaku Tensei.
"Kaguya-senpai, if there's nothing else, I'll come visit you again sometime in the future."
"What I said is true!"
"I believe you. But if I release you, who's to say you won't turn against them? Or that you and the God Tree—both outsiders—won't simply drain all the world's spiritual essence and leave?"
A faint, mocking smile appeared on Kyoichi's face.
Ōtsutsuki Kaguya fell silent again. She couldn't find words to persuade him. If it had been Black Zetsu, he would probably have spun up a dozen excuses on the spot.
But—
For a reclusive old shut-in like her, expecting that much was probably too much.
Kyoichi lowered his gaze to the old man on the ground.
He didn't know this Ōtsutsuki elder's name. Their way of thinking— their ideals—weren't necessarily what the shinobi world needed.
Like destroying the world and remaking it—
That was simply madness.
"Wait!"
"Don't you want to become stronger?"
"Do you even know that I am your ancestor? How dare you treat me like this!"
"…Ugh!"
Ōtsutsuki Kaguya's voice became hysterical, erupting into furious screams.
If Kyoichi left now, who knew when he would ever return? And then the Moon would truly have no living beings left at all—lonelier than ever.
But Kyoichi ignored her. He sealed the corpse clutching the Tenseigan into a sealing scroll, then walked forward and looked down at the child lying on the ground.
Eyeless, eyes closed, completely still.
Judging by appearances, he had probably been born not long ago.
It could only be said that the Ōtsutsuki bloodline was truly absurd. With no food or water on the Moon, a child like this had somehow managed to survive until his teens.
Of course…
Ōtsutsuki didn't really seem to need those things in the first place.
Kyoichi picked up Ōtsutsuki Toneri and rose into the sky.
He glanced into outer space, then looked back down at the Moon.
"Senpai, I'm leaving. If the enemies you mentioned really do come someday, I'll come back then. As for loneliness…"
He chuckled lightly.
"…there's nothing I can do about that."
Honestly, someone like Ōtsutsuki Kaguya was probably better off staying sealed. Visiting her once in a while was fine, but letting her out?
No thanks.
She looked powerful, but her thinking was astonishingly simple. If her power were swapped with Madara's, Madara could probably beat Kyoichi one-handed.
As for Kaguya…
Not to underestimate her, but Kyoichi honestly felt that, given enough time, he might even manage to brainwash her.
Of course—
If he said that out loud, Kaguya definitely wouldn't believe him.
Getting to the Moon was difficult. Getting back, however, was easy.
A Flying Thunder God jump back to the Chibaku Sphere, a few hops as stepping stones, and he was straight back in the shinobi world. It barely cost him any chakra. Midway through, he even performed an eye transplant on himself.
The Rinnegan was powerful, but the strain it placed on the body was no joke.
If he weren't already an Asura-type body, he doubted he could use it freely at all—he'd probably have to "live frugally" with chakra like Nagato.
An ordinary Senju would fare even worse.
Which just went to show that Nagato's Uzumaki constitution was on a whole different level.
Kyoichi sealed the eye away, then used Flying Thunder God to return to Jiraiya.
They were still at sea—only this time, Jiraiya was alone steering the boat, while Nagato was off to the side experimenting with chakra nature transformation.
The instant Kyoichi appeared—
Splash!
The boat flipped.
Nagato, who was already channeling chakra, reacted instantly and leapt away, standing on the water's surface. Jiraiya, meanwhile, nearly got dumped straight into the sea.
He steadied himself awkwardly, staring at the overturned boat floating upside down, utterly speechless.
"Couldn't you pick a normal time to show up?!"
"Cough—accident. Pure accident."
Kyoichi coughed lightly.
Even he didn't want things to turn out like this. Thankfully, Ōtsutsuki Toneri was remarkably calm—still fast asleep, completely unbothered, even smacking his lips once or twice.
Only then did Jiraiya notice the child in Kyoichi's arms. His eyes went wide.
"You… you went up there for a bit and—"
Splash!
This time, he really went into the water.
With a single kick enhanced by brute force, Kyoichi sent Jiraiya flying into the sea, his expression perfectly calm as he turned to Nagato.
"The last surviving member of the Ōtsutsuki clan on the Moon."
"…What?"
Nagato froze for a few seconds, then understood. "Internal conflict?"
"Yeah. Not over power—over ideology."
Kyoichi explained the situation of Hamura's lineage.
Nagato was deeply shaken. This clan was…
Strange.
Then, after hearing about Ōtsutsuki Kaguya, he was even more startled.
Sealed away, yet still able to influence the outside world—
Even if it was just basic voice transmission.
After thinking for a moment, Nagato said,
"Kyoichi… I really don't want the Rinnegan anymore. Keeping it puts Yahiko and Konan at risk. In your hands, it's far more useful."
Kyoichi thought briefly, then nodded without fuss.
"It's not especially useful to me either. I'll seal it—if you ever need it, come find me."
"That works. And about these eyes—"
"We still can't cultivate new ones. You'll have to use these for now."
Kyoichi sighed helplessly.
Eyes were far harder to cultivate than ordinary tissues—the neural complexity was on another level entirely. Even now, the hospital hadn't succeeded in growing eyes using White Zetsu cells.
So for the time being, the only thing he could give Nagato was this pair Shisui had provided.
Nagato hesitated, then finally nodded.
For most people, the Sharingan was a heavy burden. For him, it was nothing—
Compared to the Rinnegan, this was barely any strain at all.
At that moment, Jiraiya resurfaced, flipping the boat upright as he came out of the water.
He'd heard everything underwater.
It all sounded absurd—but the more he thought about it, the more it felt exactly like the sort of thing those people would do. Whether it was the Sage of Six Paths or Hamura, they were all idealists to the core.
Himself included.
Jiraiya stroked his chin, pondering for several seconds, then came to a conclusion.
They all had one thing in common—
They were all on good terms with the Great Toad Sage.
Which could only mean one thing.
It was all the Great Toad Sage's fault.