After parting ways with Indra, Hayato summoned Gamamaru, the frog he had formed a contract with.
Except for that one time on Mount Myoboku, Gamamaru had always remained at his original, normal size.
"Gamamaru, did you glimpse the destinies of those two disciples?" he asked.
"No," Gamamaru replied, shaking his head.
"What about the future of this world then?" Hayato continued.
"Hayato, you're making it sound like I'm some sort of legend. These days, you're the stronger one," Gamamaru sighed helplessly.
Footsteps approached. Hamura slowly walked over.
Hayato glanced at him and asked, "Hamura, what do you think?"
Though the question was vague, thanks to their deep bond, Hamura already understood exactly what his brother meant.
It was about the next leader of the Ninja Arts.
"Brother, when you ask that question, you probably already know the answer yourself, don't you?" Hamura said.
Hayato let out a quiet sigh. "Eventually, someone will need to watch over the Pure Land, or something dangerous may escape. I can't stay here forever."
"Hamura, will you be able to assist them?"
After a pause, Hamura suggested, "Brother, since things have come to this, perhaps we should arrange a trial for them."
Hayato rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
The next day, he gathered all the disciples of the Ninja Arts together.
Before everyone's eyes, he handed two scrolls to Ashura and Indra.
Both opened theirs at the same time and studied them carefully.
Drawn on each scroll was a map.
Then Hayato spoke seriously to the group, "Next, I will decide the successor to our Ninja Arts."
"Father, what is this?" Ashura asked, clearly puzzled.
"Indra, Ashura—both of you brothers are to go resolve the issues in these two villages," Hayato explained.
"I will determine who becomes the successor based on how you handle this task."
Indra and Ashura exchanged glances.
Indra slightly furrowed his brow but remained silent.
Ashura, however, looked shocked. "Father, why would you do this?"
"You must know I'm not gifted enough to inherit the Ninja Arts."
"No, I don't even want to inherit the Ninja Arts at all. Helping my older brother is more than enough."
Hayato stood calmly. "That's my decision to make. I'll announce the result upon your return."
With matters settled, Ashura didn't feel he could say anything further.
Ashura and Indra departed on their separate ways.
As he traveled, Ashura muttered to himself:
"Big brother will definitely complete this mission easily. If I just delay my return, Father will choose him as the successor."
"Right, I've decided. I'll take my time and help those in need along the way."
Outside the village gates, Hayato stood silently watching as the two figures faded into the horizon.
From behind, Hamura appeared beside him, gazing in the direction they had gone. "Brother, where exactly did you send them?"
"The land of echoes and memory."
"What?"
"Just two villages no longer suitable for living. Yet the people there refuse to leave. I wanted to see how they'd handle it."
The Otsutsuki homeworld knows no day or night, remaining forever bathed in the same unchanging brightness.
The planets that once orbited it had their essence siphoned dry, leaving only lifeless husks—immobile and unable to reflect any light.
Mineo couldn't be sure how many days had passed since he'd been here.
On this day,
Otsutsuki Yoro, along with two Supervisors, gathered all the Protected remaining on the homeworld, distributing one Chakra Pill to each person.
"These were granted to you by the Great One. Accept them with gratitude."
At these words, the Protected members of the Otsutsuki Clan's expressions brightened noticeably.
Mineo casually glanced at the others.
None of them seemed especially surprised.
It seemed distributing such things was actually quite common.
Still, Kaguya and her faction either received none at all, or got theirs at a later time, if at all.
But that made sense—if there were only punishment and no rewards, who knew how many clansmen would develop rebellious thoughts.
Still unknown was how often these distributions occurred.
"The Otsutsuki God gets the lion's share while the rest get the scraps."
Still deep in thought, Mineo quietly reached forward and claimed the Chakra Pill that was rightfully his.
Most Otsutsuki clan members had innate space-time jutsu, letting them travel freely between dimensions when they knew the coordinates.
Some of those spaces were self-created alternate dimensions; others were worlds already stripped of vitality and repurposed.
After parting from the others and avoiding all observation, Mineo pulled open a spatial portal and stepped into his personal Alternate Dimension.
"Should I save this Chakra Pill for them, or use it myself?"
Staring at the pill in his palm, he fell into deep contemplation.
In Kaguya's Origin World,
When Hiroki saw someone materialize right in front of him, he flinched slightly, then frowned deeply.
"Why have you come back?"
"Take this Chakra Pill and handle it properly." Mineo placed the pill he obtained from the Otsutsuki into Hiroki's hand.
Hiroki sighed softly. "Don't come here again. If someone saw you performing the technique, it would cause serious trouble."
"Don't worry, everything's fine this time." Mineo nodded reassuringly before vanishing from sight in the next instant.
Rather than consuming the Chakra Pill immediately, Hiroki remained deep in thought over what to do with it.
After a while, Kaguya emerged into view.
Although the God Tree had been sealed, the White Zetsu created by Kaguya in the past had not been destroyed.
Over these years, however, with Kaguya's disappearance, they had remained hidden throughout the world, some even falling into hibernation.
Realizing she hadn't left the original world, Kaguya reactivated the White Zetsu to gather information.
She spoke slowly: "We didn't leave—we came to the future instead. Hayato is almost thirty now, married with children around fourteen or fifteen years old. Hamura governs the Ninja Arts together with him..."
"There have also been some abominations emerging over these years, but they've all been sealed away by them."
His thoughts clearly elsewhere, he asked seriously, "Moon, do the Otsutsuki clan members know your spatial coordinates?"
Kaguya shook her head. "The Amenominaka is an ability that awakens after obtaining the Rinne Sharingan. They couldn't possibly know about it."
"Are you sure?" Hiroki still looked worried.
Asked that way, Kaguya hesitated for a moment but then nodded.
"Let's go outside and see how Hayato's descendants are doing."
As they passed through the central plaza of the Otsutsuki homeworld, Mineo glanced toward the altar.
When exactly did the Otsutsuki God start collecting Chakra Fruits?
How many God Tree's fruits had she eaten?
Kaguya had only consumed one God Tree's fruit, yet achieved a strength surpassing most Otsutsuki clan members. How powerful would she become then?
On the upper floor, Yoro watched this scene from afar, frowning slightly as he murmured, "He's been unusually restless lately..."
"What's wrong?"
A voice from behind reached his ears.
"Mineo has been acting strange since getting injured. Instead of focusing on recovery, he keeps wandering around aimlessly," Yoro replied with a calm expression.
"If anyone proves truly unmanageable, just deal with them. We can always create more children."
The voice that had just spoken fell silent for a moment before saying offhandedly,
"I heard from villagers that Lord Hayato is choosing an heir for the Ninja Arts."
In a wooden house outside Tree Village, Kaguya and Hiroki were listening as White Zetsu reported,
"Indra returned first. The disciples assumed everything had already been decided, but Lord Hayato insisted on waiting for Ashura's return before announcing the outcome..."
"What about Hamura? Isn't he here? We haven't heard anything about him." Hiroki interrupted.
"Compared to Hayato, Lord Hamura maintains a much lower profile and rarely involves himself in matters directly. He should be secretly observing Indra and Ashura's trial process."
"Doesn't he have any children either?"
"None at all," White Zetsu shook his head repeatedly.
Several months passed, and finally, Ashura returned to the village.
His close Ninja Arts disciples were delighted and came out to greet him.
"Lord Ashura, welcome back."
"Come on, Lord Ashura, let's go see Lord Hayato."
Ashura was taken aback. "Isn't my older brother supposed to inherit? Why hasn't Father..."
In his imagination, by now Indra should have already become the leader of the Ninja Arts sect, and he, as an ordinary disciple, would be going to pay homage to him.
He really didn't want things to get tense between him and Indra because of the succession.
"He has been waiting specifically for Lord Ashura's return."
"I understand." With a heavy heart, Ashura sighed and followed the welcoming disciples into the assembly hall.
Inside the hall, Hayato was already seated on the highest position in the center, with Indra sitting cross-legged on a slightly lower level beneath him, others arranged on both sides.
Hearing Ashura's footsteps as he entered, Indra turned his head. "We've been waiting for you for a long time."
Hayato also opened his eyes.
After asking Ashura to sit down, he began recounting what had happened during his journey.
"That village built in the mountainous region would be easily destroyed if there were earthquakes or landslides."
"Originally, I wanted to convince the villagers to abandon the village, but they refused—going as far as trying to drive me out. After everything that happened…"
"I had no choice but to work with everyone to rebuild the village—reinforcing it against earthquakes, setting up emergency escape routes, installing anti-slip structures, and teaching them how to harness chakra and perform ninjutsu. Because my abilities were limited, it took an incredibly long time to finish… But it was worth every struggle."
As he spoke, Ashura smiled and scratched the back of his head.
"I see," Hayato nodded, then his expression turned solemn. "Then now, I will announce the future successor of the Ninja Arts."
Everyone held their breath in suspense.
Indra wore a confident smile on his face.
Hayato glanced at the crowd before continuing, "The future successor of the Ninja Arts shall be Ashura."
Indra's expression immediately froze.
Ashura's face went blank.
Others reacted with shock as well.
"How can this be?"
"Lord Hayato..."
"Why is this?" Ashura questioned, voicing his objection. "I clearly don't have the talent my older brother possesses."
Sitting beside him, Indra remained expressionless, yet turmoil brewed within.
Do I still need you to stand for justice on my behalf, Ashura!
"I've already decided this matter," Hayato stated firmly.
At that moment, Indra couldn't help but speak up. "Father, please tell me what exactly displeases you about me."
"The village under your responsibility nearly collapsed into ruin."
A figure slowly walked in.
Hearing the voice, everyone looked up and spoke in unison.
"Lord Hamura!"
"Uncle!"
After exchanging a glance with Hayato, Hamura continued, "Indra, you did improve that village, but after you left, the villagers began fighting over the best positions."
"What I did was exactly the same as Ashura's—the only difference is that I accomplished everything by myself."
Indra defended himself discontentedly, his voice rising steadily.
"It was precisely this difference that led to different outcomes," Hayato calmly explained. "Happiness attained too easily does not endure."
"Ashura chose to share both hardships and joys with the villagers. Happiness achieved after enduring suffering won't easily collapse."
"Indra, you possess the power of the Sharingan. Although Ashura has grown, he still lacks strength. To carry the legacy of the Ninja Arts forward, you must lend him your support."
No matter what Hayato said, Indra shut his ears to it all. He clenched his teeth, consumed by humiliation.
Even if he never wanted the role of inheriting the Ninja Arts, it should have been his choice to reject—not for someone else to decide he wasn't worthy.
He always strived to be number one; there was never an option of settling for second best.
With a gloomy expression, Indra got up without another word, disregarding anyone else's reaction, and simply walked away.
Ashura watched helplessly as his brother's figure receded into the distance.
"Brother..."
Exuding a frigid aura, Indra strode forward, vanishing beyond the village's borders. Even when several disciples of the Ninja Arts attempted to follow, he shook them off effortlessly.
An elongated figure appeared in his field of vision, and a sharp female voice came to him. "Are you Hayato's kid?"
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