Chapter 26: Secret History
In front of Elder Seiji's house, no, it could now also be said to be in front of Kiyoshi's house, Kiyoshi happened to meet Gonbei, who was about to go out to handle matters for Elder Seiji.
"Uncle Gonbei! Long time no see!" Kiyoshi was still the humble young boy, greeting Gonbei.
"Young Master Kiyoshi, good morning! It looks like the mission went very smoothly. Please go in, Elder Seiji knows you're back and is waiting for you!" Gonbei replied kindly as well.
As an Anbu member, Kiyoshi's whereabouts and mission details were normally under absolute secrecy.
However, Gonbei was Elder Seiji's personal guard and butler, so it was not surprising that he knew about Kiyoshi's situation. Moreover, Elder Seiji, as an elder whose power was equal to the Mizukage, although he didn't manage affairs much anymore, his influence still remained. When Kiyoshi and the others stepped into the village, someone had already informed Elder Seiji of Kiyoshi's return.
"Grandpa! I'm back!" Kiyoshi felt full of closeness and respect for this old man who truly treated him like his own grandson.
"Come, little Kiyoshi, let Grandpa take a look. You're not injured, are you?" Although he had already learned the results of the mission, and Elder Seiji knew that his grandson's strength was not to be underestimated, he still expressed his concern for Kiyoshi, who was carrying out his first Anbu mission.
"How could I possibly get injured? I'm very strong!" Kiyoshi said proudly.
"Hahaha, that's right, my grandson is of course very strong!" Elder Seiji smiled kindly at Kiyoshi, his eyes filled with satisfaction with Kiyoshi.
"Come, to celebrate your first completion of an S-rank mission, Grandpa will give you a reward." As he spoke, Elder Seiji got up and walked to the side, picking up a scroll that had been prepared long ago and handing it to Kiyoshi.
"This was given to me by an old fellow from the Kaguya clan back then. Originally, I was entrusted to give it to Genji at the right time." Mentioning Kiyoshi's father, Elder Seiji's tone paused subconsciously before continuing, "But I never saw him again afterwards."
"Grandpa! It's all in the past," Kiyoshi said softly.
"Yes, it's all in the past!" Elder Seiji also sighed, "Now I'll give it to you. This is said to be the only existing scroll that records the entire history and secrets of the Kaguya clan. Carefully sense it with your bloodline power, and you will know how to open it. Go back and study it well!"
Kiyoshi accepted the scroll, very satisfied with the reward given by Elder Seiji.
Kiyoshi was not lacking in ninjutsu. The memories gifted by Isshiki contained a vast amount of ninjutsu seen and collected over thousands of years, waiting for him to slowly explore and learn.
The information obtained from his memories gave Kiyoshi a relatively good understanding of the Kaguya clan, but it was absolutely impossible for him to know all the information about the clan like this old senior.
"Go, you don't need to stay here with this old man. Go study hard and continue to improve yourself. I look forward to the day you become the Mizukage," Elder Seiji said his expectations to Kiyoshi for the first time.
Kiyoshi was stunned upon hearing this, not expecting Elder Seiji to have such confidence in him. But upon careful thought, it made sense. A 9-year-old genius with a bloodline limit, who was also from a prestigious family, coupled with his grandfather, Elder Seiji, Kiyoshi already possessed all the prerequisites to become the Mizukage. He could be considered a person with solid roots and a promising future.
He smiled shyly at Elder Seiji, which could be considered an acknowledgment of Elder Seiji's thoughts. Then, Kiyoshi respectfully bowed to Elder Seiji before turning and returning to his room.
Sitting cross-legged on the bed, Kiyoshi placed the scroll on his lap and channeled the Chakra containing the power of the Shikotsumyaku towards the seal on the scroll.
As a large amount of Chakra containing the power of the Shikotsumyaku flowed into the scroll, after a short while, a "click" sound was heard, as if a lock had been opened, and the scroll automatically unfurled.
Kiyoshi began to browse carefully, and the introduction at the beginning surprised him somewhat.
"The Kaguya clan, whose earliest bloodline originated from the bloodline of the gods, with an ancestor named Hamura Otsutsuki." Kiyoshi knew this because he possessed Isshiki Otsutsuki's memories. However, in this era where millennial clans like the Senju and Uchiha had already lost most of their history, it was truly unbelievable that the Kaguya, a clan only known for their recklessness, still possessed a scroll recording history from a thousand years ago.
"Ancestor Hamura passed down three bloodlines. Currently, only two remain in the ninja world: the Hyuga, who inherited the eyes, and the Kaguya, who inherited the body." In Kiyoshi's memories, the bloodlines of Kaguya and Hyuga were passed down by the descendants of Hamura who returned to the ninja world from the moon. It seemed that although the Kaguya clan had preserved some information from a thousand years ago, they did not know about the moon or that there was another bloodline of Hamura on the moon.
"It is speculated that the eye and the body can complement each other. When the eye and the body appear together, one can obtain the ultimate power in the world." Seeing this, Kiyoshi was stunned. This was information he didn't know. Although he knew that Kaguya and Hyuga were both descendants of Hamura, he had never thought that there would be any connection between the two.
However, in an instant, something else came to his mind, and he showed a look of realization.
Yes, Kiyoshi remembered some fragments of information he had seen in his previous life. The Uchiha and Senju clans were descendant families who inherited the eyes and body of the Sage of Six Paths, Hagoromo Otsutsuki. When the power of the Senju and Uchiha combined, it would bring out the power of the Six Paths.
Then, the combination of the power of the Hyuga and Kaguya, both being descendant families of the Sage's brother, should also produce similar power.
"For thousands of years, our clan and the Hyuga have maintained close ties, sharing resources and information, and even intermarrying many times. The results of this complementarity are gratifying. It is reflected in the Hyuga clan through an increase in the purity of the Byakugan, allowing them to see further and even giving the Byakugan a dōjutsu with Chakra pressure and deterrence. It is reflected in the Kaguya clan through a significant enhancement of the Shikotsumyaku's ability, making the Kaguya's bodies stronger and allowing them to easily use the Ash Bones Technique, which ordinary clan members can only use by burning their bloodline and life force. But unfortunately, despite so many years, the so-called ultimate power has never appeared." Kiyoshi gradually accepted this guess of complementarity because he knew more information. Cross-referencing it, he could clearly see that this guess was correct.
As the source of the bloodline even further up from Hamura Otsutsuki, Kaguya Otsutsuki possessed both the Byakugan and the ability of All-Killing Ash Bones. And the so-called ultimate power very likely referred to the complete bloodline of Kaguya Otsutsuki.
As for why no one had achieved it over so many years, it was very likely because their bloodline was not pure enough. But these were not problems for Kiyoshi. After all, he already possessed a preliminary Otsutsuki bloodline, and the bloodline within his body was still constantly evolving. In fact, Kiyoshi's initial bloodline reversion was thanks to his mother's side. Few people knew that the mother of the Sixth Elder was from the Hyuga clan's main family.
Having obtained this secret information, Kiyoshi saw a brand new path to improve his bloodline. Although he wouldn't go so far as to crazily go to Konoha to "borrow" a few people or pairs of Byakugan from the Hyuga main family for experimentation, Kiyoshi firmly believed that there must be something in the Hyuga clan's bloodline that would have a positive effect on his current state, and might even accelerate the evolution of his bloodline.
"Our clan and the Hyuga clan have been on good terms for generations. Even after our clan moved to the Land of Water, we did not break contact with the Hyuga clan. Although we no longer intermarry, we still correspond with each other." Seeing this, Kiyoshi's eyes lit up. It turned out that the current Kaguya and Hyuga still had contact, but the channels for this communication might currently be limited to high-level figures or even only in the hands of the clan heads.
"After the Heavenly Ninja passed away, the Hyuga have experienced several turmoils and have lost this relevant information. Although they have not broken contact with each other, the two clans in different ninja villages are destined to no longer be able to continue bloodline-related experiments. Descendant, whether to inform the Hyuga of the secret of their bloodline is up to you to decide. This old man, a relic of the old era, will not interfere." Seeing the end, Kiyoshi let out a long breath.
Kiyoshi had truly received too many secrets today that he had not known before.
Although he couldn't get in touch with the Hyuga clan right now, this didn't prevent Kiyoshi from making plans early.
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(Adding a patch note, explaining a personal guess as the setting for this book.)
What the Kaguya clan inherits should be the "All-Killing Ash Bones" bloodline of Kaguya Otsutsuki, but "All-Killing Ash Bones" is a Bloodline Limit Kekkei Mōra-level ability. After developing the "Shikotsumyaku" to its limit, some characteristics of "All-Killing Ash Bones," such as instant death upon touch, will slowly appear. Clan members with insufficient bloodline concentration cannot keep up with the speed of erosion with their own self-healing ability, leading to the collapse of the body. This is the so-called bloodline disease of the Kaguya clan and the reason why the Ash Bones Technique requires burning bloodline and life force.
However, if the bloodline is very pure and close to the initial bloodline, or if a higher-level Otsutsuki bloodline is awakened, then there will be no problems or so-called bloodline disease.