"Naruto: My Ninja Skills"Chapter 207: Just Looking
"Presence"—it sounds mystical, yet it's a tangible, undeniable sense of existence.
Some people can simply stand there quietly, naturally composed, doing nothing more than glancing around, yet they immediately make you feel they're not someone to provoke.
If you can avoid trouble with them, you'd better not try.
This Ōtsutsuki clansman who had entered the cemetery became instantly vigilant upon seeing Yūshin, yet couldn't immediately adopt a hostile stance.
The lunar environment was fundamentally different from Earth's. Wariness aside, two strangers meeting had no immediate reason to start fighting.
Moreover, Yūshin had come here to pay respects to old friends—surely his way of honoring them couldn't involve spilling their kinsmen's blood before their graves? That would be far too absurd.
"Are you... a descendant of Ōtsutsuki Nagatsuki?" Seeing the other's excessive tension, Yūshin spoke first.
This question was quite important. Yūshin would adopt different approaches based on the answer.
Bloodlines, once diluted and distant with time's passage, rarely disturb the mindset of the "long-lived." For instance, did Yūshin now feel any special affection for the Uzumaki Clan?
Not really—Yūshin found most Uzumaki quite unfamiliar.
A clan is merely a nominal designation. True relationships depend on specific individuals, and one's attitude toward those individuals determines the mode of interaction.
The same applied to Ōtsutsuki Hamura's descendants. If Yūshin could see traces of Ōtsutsuki Nagatsuki in this ninja, certain emotions would carry forward; otherwise, the man was simply a stranger.
"Nagatsuki... is indeed my ancestor. I am a descendant of his lineage."
This Ōtsutsuki clansman considered briefly before honestly answering Yūshin's question. The reasoning was simple—such information had no need for concealment.
"Excellent. What's your name?"
Yūshin's logic was even simpler: your ancestor was excellent, therefore you are excellent... He felt no need to understand this person further.
"I am Ōtsutsuki Kogen. Might I ask who you are? I don't believe I've ever seen you within the clan."
"Me? Since you're Ōtsutsuki Nagatsuki's descendant, have you ever heard of someone called 'Kan'?"
"Kan? According to family legends, the Sage of Six Paths had a disciple named Kan who once saved our lineage and was a friend to several ancestors... He possessed an extended lifespan and maintained contact with our forebears, but one day, he vanished without a trace."
"I didn't vanish—I was merely hidden somewhere on the moon, sleeping... I am Kan. I've just awakened."
"You... are you truly our ancestor's friend?"
Ōtsutsuki Kogen appeared somewhat incredulous—sleeping for such an extended period seemed impossible.
He glanced at the bouquets Yūshin had placed before the tombstones. He recognized these as flowers, but had never seen so many varieties... Over the millennium, the passage between moon and Earth had been severed, causing the cognitive abilities of many of Hamura's descendants to regress to varying degrees.
"I should be able to produce a small wooden box to verify my identity, but that box was subsequently lost."
Yūshin gestured with his hands to indicate the box's approximate size.
Lost it certainly was—he had erased the summoning mark from the box and transferred it to the Sage of Six Paths' coffin. If he performed summoning now, he would only bring the coffin and Hashirama's remains within it to the moon.
With such detailed supplementation, Ōtsutsuki Kogen began believing Yūshin's account... Yūshin's tone contained no exaggerated elements, and paradoxically, because the matter seemed so outrageous, Kogen found it highly credible.
"Kan... senior, this awakening of yours is for...?"
Yūshin didn't respond to the other's probing, instead asking:
"Hamura's descendants—I mean your Ōtsutsuki Clan's population and urban scale—don't they seem considerably diminished from their most prosperous period?"
The phrase "Ōtsutsuki Clan" felt awkward, since Hamura's descendants could only be considered counterfeit Ōtsutsuki.
The more they discussed the past and the more surprised he seemed about current conditions, the more it proved Yūshin's identity.
"Our clan's child survival rates have been declining consistently..." Ōtsutsuki Kogen said with visible difficulty.
Yūshin opened his mouth to say something but swallowed his words... With all this inbreeding, forget low survival rates and population decline—it's miraculous you haven't driven yourselves to extinction.
"Additionally, due to the Main and Branch House system within the clan, conflicts arise periodically, and quite a few have died from such disputes."
Ōtsutsuki Kogen added another reason. He hadn't intended to mention this, but somehow, after seeing Yūshin's expression, he naturally felt compelled to confide.
Like a student whose school life isn't going well wanting to tell a teacher or parent.
"Hmm? Another Main and Branch House system? It seems your ancestor Hamura set a precedent and bad example when he divided the family... I'm somewhat disappointed in you all."
The trajectory of events struck Yūshin as rather absurd.
The Hyūga employed a Main and Branch House system, and these pseudo-Ōtsutsuki did the same. This "coincidence" made one suspect the root lay with Ōtsutsuki Hamura... Hamura had divided his people in two—some remaining on the surface, others brought to the moon—and his descendants had followed this pattern of "differential treatment."
However, the pseudo-Ōtsutsuki and Hyūga systems differed somewhat. The Hyūga Main Family consisted of a single lineage with all others as Branch Houses, while the pseudo-Ōtsutsuki Main and Branch Houses were nearly evenly split. Their power balance was more equal, making conflicts potentially more devastating.
Because the pseudo-Ōtsutsuki Main and Branch House system wasn't determined by bloodline, but by attitudes toward the world "created" by the Sage of Six Paths.
The Main House believed they should uphold their mission and protect the Sage's world.
The Branch House considered such blind trust and even blind loyalty to the mission incorrect. Things develop and change—how could the Ōtsutsuki remain static?
If they could prove the Sage's world was an error, they shouldn't continue protecting that mistake but should destroy the world and recreate it themselves.
One could only say that even fake Ōtsutsuki remained Ōtsutsuki—their ambitions were extraordinarily high. As they say, standing high allows one to see far. The pseudo-Ōtsutsuki were already on the moon—who could see farther than them?
"Kan-senior, we..."
"I understand. It's not entirely your fault. The more closed the environment, the more likely absurd things will emerge. You're somewhat ridiculous, but not completely so."
Yūshin expressed understanding. The mission Hamura had assigned his descendants was problematic. Confined to the lunar environment, it would drive people mad if not kill them outright.
The Main House sought stability, the Branch House sought change—nothing fundamentally wrong with either approach.
One could even praise these people's psychological resilience as sufficiently excellent; otherwise, they wouldn't have managed to coexist until now.
However, contradictions would only accumulate. The day when they could no longer be suppressed would inevitably arrive.
"Kogen, what about you—are you Main House or Branch House?"
Yūshin asked out of curiosity. Whether the other was Main or Branch House made no difference, as Yūshin vaguely recalled that in several decades, both sides would erupt in warfare, leaving both severely weakened and nearly extinct... Only one survivor would remain.
"Me? Kan-senior, our Nagatsuki lineage is rather special—we don't belong to either faction and serve more as mediators between both sides... From the beginning, ancestor Nagatsuki was particularly favored by ancestor Hamura, and over time, we acquired a special status."
"...So you're responsible for breaking up fights?"
"Yes, Kan-senior."
Yūshin shook his head. When both sides truly began fighting, the mediators would likely die fastest.
Thinking this, Yūshin withdrew a sheet of paper from behind him, casually folded it several times into an origami bird, then held it in his palm.
The paper bird came to life, hopping a few times before fluttering its wings and landing on Ōtsutsuki Kogen's shoulder.
"Yin-Yang Release...?"
Ōtsutsuki Kogen had good judgment—he actually recognized Yūshin's technique.
Don't think Yin-Yang Release too mystical—Yūshin had simply separated a portion of chakra and imbued it with "vitality."
"You're Nagatsuki's descendant. In the future, if you encounter an irreversible situation, you may try summoning me. I can provide assistance once."
Then Yūshin had another thought and continued:
"Or if you grow weary of the lunar environment, you can return to the surface with me now."
Ōtsutsuki Kogen looked at that magical paper bird. Upon hearing Yūshin's suggestion, he felt momentarily tempted... The moon truly wasn't a place for ordinary people to inhabit.
But immediately after, he shook his head:
"As an Ōtsutsuki clansman, I cannot violate our ancestor's commands. I'm deeply grateful that Kan-senior is willing to offer assistance, but... the Main House actually possesses certain means to return to the surface, yet no one in our Ōtsutsuki Clan has ever abandoned our mission."
"Well... as long as you're happy." Yūshin patted the other's shoulder, then said nothing more.
Fine words, but when the Demonic Statue gets stolen, don't lose your minds...
The mission was merely superficial. What Hamura's descendants actually did was serve as lunar holdouts.
Or put more bluntly, their thinking had become quite metaphysical—as long as they remained on the moon, they were fulfilling their mission.
But in reality? They had no way to prevent others from stealing the Demonic Statue, nor could they prevent the dutiful son from rescuing his mother.
Hamura's descendants were ultimately not Hamura himself.
"Your ancestor Hamura should have left considerable research materials during his lifetime. Take me to see them."
A thousand years ago, when Yūshin first arrived on the moon, he had heard Nagatsuki's descendants describe Ōtsutsuki Hamura's later life.
Hamura monitored the lunar seal while, having nothing else to do, "wrote books," recording his lifetime experiences and cultivation achievements in written form.
Too idle indeed—on the moon, one couldn't even find a place to fish. It was like being locked in solitary confinement, leaving Hamura with nothing but paper and writing.
Of course, he left these materials hoping his descendants could learn his techniques and better protect the lunar seal... Wishful thinking.
"Kan-senior, you're..."
"I'm just taking a look. Your Ōtsutsuki Clan keeps those materials as mementos anyway—they don't serve any practical purpose, do they?"
"..."
Ōtsutsuki Kogen couldn't refute this. Clearly, Hamura's descendants couldn't grow to Hamura's level by studying his knowledge.
Their innate qualities were different. If one considered the Sage of Six Paths brothers as extensions of Ōtsutsuki Kaguya's life, then even "second-generation" figures like Indra and Asura possessed at most half the Sage's innate potential.
To breakthrough in innate qualities required two methods: first, mutation—genetic mutations always bring endless possibilities; second, the Sage brothers marrying and producing pure-blood offspring.
Well, mutation seemed more reliable—Senju Hashirama's mutation direction was quite perfect.
"Kan-senior, just looking?"
"Naturally. I need to verify certain information... At my advanced age, would I deceive a child like you?"
Yūshin didn't lie, but "just looking" carried about the same meaning as "just the tip."
"I can enter the archive, but you... I cannot bring a stranger like you into the Ōtsutsuki Clan's core areas."
"Don't worry, just go in yourself. I have ways to follow you."
Yūshin could use space-time ninjutsu—even multiple types. Infiltrating secret areas posed no challenge... During his White Zetsu-Man days, he specialized in infiltration. Now as the God Tree-Man, though his methods differed, he could still easily achieve his original objectives.
Both parties reached an agreement, after which Yūshin prepared to examine Hamura's materials.
It wasn't that Ōtsutsuki Kogen completely trusted Yūshin, but rather...
On one hand, those materials lacked practical value for them—like the Ruyi Jingu Bang in the Dragon Palace: impressive origins, but essentially scrap metal.
On the other hand, Ōtsutsuki Kogen had accepted Yūshin's paper bird and needed to reciprocate somehow.
The next day, Ōtsutsuki Kogen entered the Ōtsutsuki Clan's core archive. No one had visited this place for ages—dust covered everything.
Ōtsutsuki Kogen didn't know how to summon Yūshin, so he could only pause and observe before each massive bookshelf.
Immediately after, spiral ripples appeared in the space before him, and Yūshin stepped through.
"Excellent location... just lacks cleaning staff."
"If you devoted even one-tenth the effort you put into maintaining the cemetery to cleaning this place..."
Elderly people are like this—upon arriving somewhere new, they habitually nitpick and find fault with everything, quite irritating.
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