Chapter 618: Kenichi Amamiya Comes Clean
"The war is about to begin."
Kenichi stared at the calendar in front of him with mixed feelings.
Before he knew it, the date he and Hagoromo had agreed upon had finally arrived.
Tomorrow.
Tomorrow, they would put their plan into action and officially launch their attack against Isshiki.
Kenichi still felt that everything was happening somewhat quickly.
But he also understood that continuing to wait carried its own dangers.
The longer Isshiki was given to recover, the stronger he might become.
If they allowed him enough time to regain more of his former power or prepare additional trump cards, dealing with him would become even more difficult.
Besides, Kenichi had already completed almost every experiment he could reasonably perform before the battle.
For those experiments he could not complete, he had still done his best to prepare alternatives.
At this point, there were no more breakthroughs he could realistically obtain in the short term.
He still had plenty of ideas.
The problem was time.
Actually turning those ideas into usable results could take months or even years.
Unless Kenichi could somehow use the time machine to jump into another timeline and gain additional time for research, there was simply no way to achieve another massive improvement before tomorrow.
"Do you think we can win?"
Amado looked at Kenichi with concern.
By now, Amado knew much more about the situation.
He understood who Isshiki was.
He also understood just how dangerous the enemy Kenichi was preparing to fight could be.
Unfortunately, Amado had gradually realized that there was very little he could personally contribute to the actual battle.
His expertise lay in science and technology.
Against someone at Isshiki's level, most conventional scientific ninja tools would accomplish very little.
Still, Amado had prepared one final gift for Kenichi.
It was only a prototype.
A rushed, incomplete product that had undergone very little testing.
But Amado had already confirmed that the basic principle worked.
If it could provide Kenichi even the slightest advantage against Isshiki, Amado would consider the effort worthwhile.
Whether it would actually work against someone like Isshiki was another matter entirely.
"That guy is certainly unusual."
Kenichi's tone remained calm.
"But ultimately, he's still just one person."
"A severely injured man whose body is already approaching its limit."
"He isn't a god."
Kenichi did not possess absolute confidence in tomorrow's battle.
Far from it.
But there was something he understood clearly.
This was their opportunity.
If they fought, they had a chance of winning.
If they refused to fight because they were afraid of failure, then there would be no chance whatsoever.
Kenichi had never been the type to wait for death.
So he intended to try.
If they succeeded, naturally that would be ideal.
And despite all his caution, Kenichi did possess a certain amount of confidence.
While organizing and examining his memories through genjutsu, he had remembered enough of the future storyline to understand one important fact.
Isshiki was not invincible.
In the future Kenichi remembered, Isshiki had eventually been defeated and killed.
He had not even been the final enemy Naruto and the others would ever face.
That meant there was a way to kill him.
Furthermore, this battle was taking place far earlier than Isshiki's eventual confrontation with Naruto and Sasuke in the Boruto era.
Kenichi had deliberately chosen a period when Isshiki was still severely restricted by his vessel.
And unlike the future Naruto and Sasuke, Kenichi had spent an enormous amount of time preparing specifically for him.
He had Hagoromo.
Madara.
Hashirama.
The resurrected Kage.
The strongest living shinobi.
Modern weapons.
Sealing techniques.
Scientific research.
And numerous other contingencies.
Taking all of that into account, Kenichi felt that they had at least earned the right to be confident.
Hearing Kenichi's words, Amado relaxed slightly.
Failure might not necessarily destroy Amado personally.
But he still cared deeply about whether Kenichi survived.
Kenichi was his friend.
More importantly, Kenichi had helped him with something no one else had ever managed to accomplish.
Akebi.
His daughter had returned to him because of Kenichi.
If Amado had instead chosen to follow the other path available to him and relied on Isshiki, whether Akebi could ever have truly been resurrected would have remained uncertain.
Based on everything Amado had learned so far, he had never seen evidence that Isshiki could genuinely resurrect someone in the way Kenichi had.
Kenichi had already done it.
For that reason alone, Amado naturally favored Kenichi.
"By the way."
Amado suddenly reached for something nearby.
"Kenichi, I made this for you."
He handed over a strange device.
"It's based on one of my previous projects."
"I modified it so that it can endure substantially more power than before."
"I don't know whether it'll actually be useful against Isshiki, but I still hope you'll take it."
Kenichi accepted the device curiously.
After examining it for a moment, he recognized the design.
It was one of Amado's scientific ninja tools.
The device could absorb or redirect ninjutsu to a certain degree, essentially reflecting the incoming technique back toward its source.
Kenichi had tested an earlier version.
Unfortunately, the original had severe limitations.
It could handle weaker ninjutsu.
But once the incoming technique exceeded a certain amount of power, the device could no longer contain it.
Instead of reflecting the attack, it would simply be overwhelmed and destroyed.
Because of that limitation, Kenichi had never paid much attention to the project.
But if Amado had improved it...
Perhaps it could still prove useful.
Kenichi had no idea whether it could withstand anything Isshiki would actually use.
Still, when he saw Amado's sincere expression, Kenichi thought about it for a moment and accepted the gift.
"Thank you."
Then he turned the device over in his hands.
"Amado, how much ninjutsu energy have you tested this version against?"
Amado's expression became slightly awkward.
"I haven't been able to test its true upper limit."
Kenichi raised an eyebrow.
"The strongest ninjutsu I can personally use can be reflected by it."
"But whether it can handle something at your level..."
Amado shook his head.
"I don't know."
Kenichi understood.
Amado himself was not particularly powerful compared with the monsters currently gathering in Konoha.
Still, from Kenichi's perspective, Amado's basic combat ability could probably be classified around elite jonin level.
Combined with the unusual scientific ninja tools he possessed, his overall effectiveness could potentially reach Kage level in the right circumstances.
But elite jonin level chakra output meant almost nothing to Kenichi now.
So whether the device could survive an attack from Isshiki remained extremely doubtful.
Even so, Kenichi was pleased.
Perhaps the tool itself would not matter in tomorrow's battle.
But the underlying technology might still become useful for future research.
Unfortunately, Kenichi no longer had much time to investigate it.
He thanked Amado again, stored the device, and quickly left the laboratory.
There were still several things he needed to prepare before tomorrow.
Amado watched him leave.
Then he sighed.
"I really can't help much."
He looked around the laboratory.
"All I can do now is hope their plan succeeds."
When it came to fighting Isshiki directly, Amado understood his own limits.
He would only become a burden on the battlefield.
The best thing he could do was continue handling scientific work so Kenichi would have fewer things to worry about.
With that thought, Amado turned and headed toward the cloning laboratory.
Perhaps there was still something useful he could accomplish there.
He wanted to examine the Kaguya clone experiments again.
If he could discover another method to stabilize or cultivate the clones, perhaps he could produce something useful for Kenichi.
Even a small contribution would be worthwhile.
Amado quickly opened another cultivation chamber and began preparing a new clone experiment.
...
"Hagoromo."
Kenichi sat atop the Hokage Rock, overlooking Konoha below.
"Have you decided what you're going to do about Kaguya?"
Over time, sitting here and watching the village had become one of Kenichi's favorite ways to relax.
Konoha stretched out beneath them.
People walked through the streets.
Children played.
Shinobi moved between buildings.
Everything looked peaceful.
It was difficult to imagine that tomorrow, many of the strongest people in the entire Shinobi World would be risking their lives in a battle against an Otsutsuki.
Hagoromo sat beside Kenichi.
At the question, his gaze drifted away.
He had already considered the matter thoroughly.
At least, he thought he had.
But now that the possibility of actually releasing Kaguya was so close...
Hagoromo could not help feeling nervous.
He knew exactly what kind of relationship he had with his mother.
And he knew perfectly well how Kaguya felt about what he and Hamura had done to her.
They had sealed her.
For an extremely long time.
No matter how necessary Hagoromo believed that decision had been, Kaguya was unlikely to simply forget it.
That thought gave him a headache.
Kenichi glanced at Hagoromo.
Then quietly breathed a little easier.
If Hagoromo did not intend to release Kaguya immediately, that was naturally the best possible outcome.
Kenichi had recently noticed something unusual about Kaguya's consciousness fragment.
Its resistance had weakened enormously.
In fact, it had become almost lifeless.
Normally, Kenichi should have considered that a success.
He had spent so much time conditioning the fragment precisely to weaken its resistance.
But somehow...
The fact that Kaguya had suddenly become so quiet only made him more nervous.
Someone like Kaguya suddenly ceasing to struggle did not necessarily mean she had surrendered.
It could just as easily mean she had stopped wasting energy.
And that possibility was terrifying.
Kenichi could not help wondering whether Kaguya's anger toward him had actually become even worse.
Perhaps she had already decided that struggling inside the container was pointless.
Perhaps she was simply waiting.
Waiting to be released.
Waiting to find Kenichi.
Waiting to kill him.
The more Kenichi thought about it, the more conflicted he became.
If Hagoromo chose not to release Kaguya, then everything would be much simpler.
Kenichi and Hagoromo could simply fight Isshiki together and see whether their combined preparations were enough to defeat him.
Kaguya should remain the absolute last resort.
Only when every other method had failed and they were truly facing destruction would Kenichi willingly support Hagoromo releasing her.
Naturally...
Kenichi could not say that directly.
Hagoromo was not stupid.
If Kenichi suddenly became unusually opposed to releasing Kaguya, Hagoromo would immediately suspect something.
And if Hagoromo discovered what Kenichi had been doing to his mother's consciousness...
What would happen?
That was an extremely troublesome question.
Kenichi hesitated.
Perhaps he should probe Hagoromo first.
At least then he could understand what the Sage of Six Paths was thinking.
"Hagoromo."
Kenichi coughed lightly.
"You know how difficult Isshiki is to deal with."
"But if you and I cooperate, I think we still have a reasonable chance of defeating him ourselves."
"So what do you plan to do about Kaguya?"
"Do you want to release her immediately?"
"Or should we wait until the situation becomes completely hopeless before unsealing her?"
Hagoromo did not notice anything strange about the question.
They had already discussed Kaguya several times.
So from his perspective, Kenichi was merely revisiting an important part of their battle plan.
At most, Kenichi seemed slightly more concerned than usual.
But that was understandable.
Tomorrow was the day they would finally confront Isshiki.
Hagoromo himself felt nervous.
Naturally, Kenichi could feel the same.
So Hagoromo seriously considered the question.
"As for Mother..."
He paused.
"I can at least be confident about one thing."
"If I release her, Isshiki should become her primary target."
Kenichi's expression stiffened slightly.
Hagoromo continued.
"Mother and I certainly have our grievances."
"But when it comes to Isshiki, she should understand what matters most."
"After all..."
Hagoromo looked toward the distant village.
"No matter what happened between us, Kaguya is still my mother."
Kenichi's mouth twitched.
If this had been before his experiments...
He would have completely agreed.
Kaguya had every reason to hate Isshiki.
Isshiki had intended to sacrifice her.
Their conflict was far older than Kaguya's conflict with Hagoromo.
Under normal circumstances, Isshiki should absolutely be the first person Kaguya wanted dead.
But now?
Kenichi genuinely had no idea.
He had spent months interfering with Kaguya's consciousness.
Implanting memories.
Creating artificial emotional experiences.
Forcing her consciousness to live through fabricated relationships.
Conditioning her perception of him.
And because the consciousness fragment apparently remained connected to Kaguya's main body...
The sealed Kaguya might remember all of it.
So what exactly was Kaguya thinking right now?
Kenichi had no way to know.
The connection only allowed memories and sensations to be transmitted.
It did not allow him to hold a conversation with Kaguya.
If Kaguya still regarded Isshiki as her greatest enemy, everything would be fine.
She could attack Isshiki first.
They could defeat him together.
Then deal with everything else afterward.
But what if she did not?
What if Kaguya emerged from the seal, looked directly past Isshiki, and immediately came after Kenichi?
Even worse...
What happened after Isshiki died?
Kaguya might decide that it was time to settle accounts with Kenichi.
And that was where the real problem appeared.
Kenichi was not only worried about Kaguya.
He was worried about Hagoromo.
Would Hagoromo side with his mother?
The possibility was impossible to dismiss.
Just as Hagoromo himself had said...
Kaguya was his mother.
And Kenichi's recent actions toward Kaguya could easily be interpreted in a very unfortunate way.
He had literally spent months implanting false memories in which Kaguya formed an intimate relationship with him.
In other words...
Kenichi had effectively been trying to become Hagoromo's stepfather.
Would Hagoromo have an opinion about that?
Almost certainly.
Kenichi stared ahead for several seconds.
Eventually, he came to a decision.
He needed to tell the truth.
There was no point continuing to hide this.
If he concealed it now, only for the situation to become desperate tomorrow and force Hagoromo to unseal Kaguya, then the truth could explode at the worst possible moment.
That would be far more dangerous.
Better to tell Hagoromo now.
Before Kaguya was released.
Then Kenichi could see how Hagoromo reacted.
If Hagoromo truly could not accept what he had done...
Well.
Kenichi still had the time machine.
Worst case, he could simply return to his own timeline immediately and leave this entire mess behind.
Kenichi cleared his throat.
"Ahem."
Hagoromo turned toward him.
Kenichi hesitated one final time.
Then he spoke.
"There's something I need to tell you…"
....
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