Inside Gin's mental space.
"Hah? Take the stool—sit and start talking!"
Gin, who had been half-asleep, instantly snapped awake upon hearing Hamura's shocking revelation. He pulled out a stool from behind him like a magician performing a trick, courteously offering it to the stunned old man.
Then, he conjured a vibrant green watermelon, slicing it open to reveal its sweet, juicy interior.
Nice—perfectly ripe.
Grabbing a plump slice, Gin squatted down on the ground and looked eagerly at the still-dumbstruck Hamura. "Come on, Great-Uncle, say something already! I've got my melon ready~"
"You insolent brat!"
Hamura clutched his chest in frustration. Gin's antics were enough to send his blood pressure skyrocketing—thankfully, he was only a spirit now, or he might have coughed up three liters of blood.
"Alright, alright, I went too far."
Realizing he might've overdone it, Gin stood up with an apologetic look and offered Hamura the half-eaten watermelon. "Here, try some?"
"Get lost! Don't you know I have diabetes?"
...Wait, so it's hereditary?
Gin suddenly understood. That would explain his rising blood sugar lately. Tearfully, he dismissed the mental illusion of the watermelon—it suddenly didn't taste so sweet anymore.
The space returned to its usual void, and Hamura regained his solemn expression. His pale Byakugan eyes locked onto Gin as he spoke in a low voice, "Just now, I sensed Mother's chakra."
"Stop! Before you say anything else—who exactly is 'Mother'?"
Gin crossed his arms in an 'X' and looked genuinely puzzled. The title meant nothing to him.
"Didn't Hagoromo tell you?"
Now it was Hamura's turn to be confused. Such a promising youth, and his brother didn't explain? That guy really had gone senile.
"Well, for us down here, the only way to meet an ancestor is, uh... to die."
Gin shrugged helplessly. He hadn't died yet, so meeting the Sage of Six Paths was out of the question.
"Fine. Hand me that stool again—I'll tell you the story of the Rabbit Goddess."
Hamura sighed, resigned to the fact he'd have to do some explaining. He gestured for a seat, saying his legs were tired from standing.
"On it~"
Gin, ever the showman, pulled out not a stool but a full-on massage chair, motioning for Hamura to lie down. As the chair began its work—complete with payment confirmation sound—its motors whirred to life.
"Bzzzz bzzz bzzz."
"Eh? Eh! Ahhh~"
The perfectly targeted massage worked wonders. Hamura, who had never experienced anything like it in his life (or afterlife), let out an unrestrained moan as the chair's rollers worked their magic, even brushing suspiciously near sensitive areas.
"Powerful, right, Great-Uncle?" Gin asked, holding a survey form with a grin.
"Fantastic! Even better than when my 36 concubines gave me massages!"
Hamura, clearly lost in bliss, accidentally let slip some incriminating details. But then he coughed awkwardly and jumped off the chair, face flushed.
"Ahem! Let's get back to serious matters."
He pointed a finger at Gin, who was smirking knowingly.
"We Ōtsutsuki pride ourselves on frugality! Labor is honorable, and laziness is shameful!"
"Heh."
"I wasn't born like a normal person. Hagoromo and I were both born from the legendary Rabbit Goddess."
Hamura's face softened with nostalgia. "Back then, Hagoromo was eighteen—just a punk..."
(The rest of that story is widely known, so I'll skip the retelling—no need to waste word count.)
"So anyway, that guy Hagoromo—under my wise command—executed a pincer attack. Using my brilliant strategies and mastery of Yin-Yang Release, we sealed our mother, who had gone completely mad. The place we sealed her became the moon. And I, for the sake of world peace, chose to remain here and guard her for eternity."
As Hamura dramatically cast himself as the main hero, Gin rolled his eyes. Anyone who knew the actual story could tell this guy was blowing smoke.
"That's the true, official version. If Hagoromo ever tells you something different, don't fall for it!"
Say no to piracy—start with the Ōtsutsuki!
"Clap clap clap~"
Gin stood and applauded fervently, gazing up at Hamura like a devout fan. "Such noble deeds, Great-Uncle! When I return, I'll spread your legend far and wide. The world shall know the truth: the so-called Sage of Six Paths was just a fraud!"
"Ack—no need for that! I, Ōtsutsuki Hamura, am a humble man! Fame means nothing to me!"
Beads of sweat rolled down Hamura's face. He quickly backtracked, putting on a noble facade again.
"Such humility... it's inspiring. If I ever meet the Sage of Six Paths, I'll call him out right then and there—make him hang his head in shame!"
Gin clenched his fists, eyes gleaming with righteous fire. The guilt in Hamura's face made him look away and change the subject.
"Let's move on. What's important now is the crisis at hand."
"Please, go on."
"Yesterday, I sensed a faint, dark energy. It wasn't strong, so I ignored it..."
Hamura's eyes shimmered with thought, while Gin glanced around awkwardly and even whistled to hide his guilt.
"But after that dark energy emerged, I noticed something else—Mother's chakra signature changed."
"What changed?"
Gin was baffled. When he used the Mangekyō earlier, he didn't notice anything strange.
"There's a trace of it missing."
Hamura frowned deeply, clearly disturbed. His chakra sense had always been accurate, and for a thousand years, Kaguya's energy had remained stable—until now.
"This never happened before?"
Gin was surprised. Kaguya could pull that off from within the seal?
"Well... probably not?"
Hamura's face twitched as he tried to recall. His blank expression made Gin's heart sink.
"Don't tell me... you slacked off?"
Gin was already done with the lechery and the lies—but dereliction of duty? Unforgivable.
"Cough... Back when the branch family rebelled, I was a little busy, so I... uh, neglected the seal a bit."
At least he owned up to it.
Busy? Filming a movie or something?
"Well, I suppose it's possible the Tenseigan's awakening shook the earth enough to crack the seal slightly, giving her chakra a way to leak out."
Hamura tried hard to excuse himself, but Gin could see through the deflection.
"What now? How do we fix it?"
Rather than continuing to scold him, Gin took a deep breath and asked the real question.
After all, he might've been the cause. If Kaguya escaped early, wouldn't that be game over? Everyone would get turned into white goo trees, and his dream of seeing Konoha would vanish.
"The top priority is to locate that stray chakra strand—either retrieve it or destroy it."
"How do we find it?"
Gin was stumped. This wasn't covered in canon!
"Don't worry. I'll teach you a jutsu that can lock onto her chakra within a certain range."
Having lived with his mother for many years, Hamura naturally had his ways. He passed the technique on to Gin, trusting him with the task.
"While you're at it, you might as well teach me how to control the Tenseigan too!"
After learning the tracking jutsu, Gin remembered his main quest. If he found the Tenseigan but couldn't control it, that would be a waste.
"Fine, I'll teach you the Tenseigan summoning jutsu as well."
It was going to be Gin's sooner or later anyway, so Hamura taught him that too.
"Wait! If I have the summoning jutsu, can't I just summon the Tenseigan right now and skip the whole search?"
Feeling clever, Gin proposed what he thought was a brilliant idea.
"Pfft—are you dumb?"
Hamura didn't even sugarcoat it.
"First, you haven't signed a contract with the Tenseigan. Second, the branch family has layered it with so many curses over the years, it'd blow you to pieces."
"Fair enough... I guess I was thinking too simply."
Gin wasn't discouraged. He knew the Tenseigan was destined to be his eventually. Still, this surprise side quest involving Kaguya was seriously messing with him.
What, was he supposed to solo the Rabbit Goddess? That was like being told, "Go take out Sun Wukong and the gang."
"Oh, and one more thing."
Hamura, about to vanish, suddenly turned back with a weird glint in his eye. A mix of schadenfreude and hidden envy flickered in his gaze.
"Just now, the last few male Ōtsutsuki from the moon reported to me."
"???"
What did that mean?
No more men? Then where the hell did Toneri come from? Were they reproducing like Orochimaru now?
"Wait, what do you mean by that?!"
Gin shouted after him, but all that replied was the void.
The next day.
Knock~ Knock~~ Knock~~~
Still groggy and sporting dark circles under his eyes, Gin was awoken by rhythmic knocking. He sat up, rubbing his sore eyes and yawning.
"Ugh... Who is it?"
"Gin-sama, it's time for breakfast."
A black puppet spoke from outside, and the smell of food seeped through the door.
"Come in~"
Creak~
The door opened and a few short figures walked in, carrying steaming dishes straight to his bedside.
"Please enjoy your meal, Gin-sama~"
"In bed?"
Gin raised a brow.
"Yes."
The black puppet waved a hand, and a small table rose from the bed frame. The child-like puppets deftly arranged the dishes.
Tsk. The Ōtsutsuki clan really lived in luxury. Time for some good ol' countryside reform.
"Well, thanks for the meal~"
Gin had suffered his whole life. He deserved a little indulgence now and then.
After wolfing it down, he wandered the palace halls. Watching the puppet workers, he asked, "You guys don't have any living servants?"
"No. Every Ōtsutsuki member is a noble being. Menial work would be beneath them."
The puppet's dull yellow eyes gave no emotion.
"Can I go for a walk today?"
Having already memorized every corner of the place, Gin was getting bored and wanted to stir up a little mischief.
"One moment. I will request permission from my master."
A flash of blue light flickered in the puppet's eyes—it was processing something.
Soon, it returned.
"The master says yes. But Gin-sama, please do not stray too far from me."
"Yay!"
"Please enjoy your final moments of freedom."
...???
(End of Chapter)
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