As soon as Furina left, the pressure shifted to Kaguya.
Seeing Momoshiki's gaze fall upon her, Kaguya slightly lowered her head, gently bit her lip, her expression one of resignation.
"Otsutsuki Kaguya, you must understand the consequences of betraying the Otsutsuki clan, right?"
Momoshiki walked towards Kaguya expressionlessly, each step seeming to land on her heart, the oppressive feeling extremely strong.
"Mm... I understand..."
Kaguya couldn't even conjure a thought of resistance, slowly closing her eyes.
She had clearly died, yet he still revived her, and his consumption didn't seem to be great. Was death just a small punishment? Did he truly want to devour chakra?
If that were truly the case...
A chill rose from the soles of her feet straight to her crown. Kaguya couldn't help but shiver, but she was prepared for death.
Seeing Kaguya's appearance, clearly afraid yet facing death bravely, Momoshiki guessed she was probably overthinking things.
"Originally, you were indeed meant to die, but now, unlike before, I have spared you the price of death."
!!!
Suddenly receiving an unexpected answer, Kaguya instinctively widened her eyes.
"Spared the price of death..."
Kaguya was a little incredulous, her gaze fixed on Momoshiki, not understanding why he would say that.
At the same time, she constantly wondered if there would be an even more inhumane fate.
"I'm interested in your abilities. Now you have two choices: one is death, and the other is to become my subordinate."
Momoshiki slowly stated the purpose of his trip, still expressionless, just calmly looking at Kaguya.
He knew in his heart that she would make a satisfactory choice.
As expected, just like Toneri.
Kaguya was first bewildered by this sudden multiple-choice question, confirming it twice in her mind in disbelief.
She really didn't have to die?!
First, she blinked blankly, then a feeling of surviving a catastrophe immediately surged up, and the invisible pressure seemed to dissipate.
"Lord Momoshiki!"
...
Ninja World, Land of Fire, Konoha Village.
In a forest on the outskirts, two familiar figures were gathered, each holding a water balloon.
It was Naruto and Boruto.
Tsunade and her group, coming out of the ramen shop, happened to encounter the weakened duo wandering in the village. Just like in the original plot, they were considered suspicious, but not highly threatening.
So Tsunade simply handed them over to Jiraiya and Naruto, and went back to the Hokage's office.
Tsunade now had no interest in slacking off or gambling. She just felt a terrible headache.
Jiraiya, of course, couldn't honestly monitor Sasuke and Boruto. Any pretty lady passing by would immediately capture his attention, completely forgetting about Momoshiki.
He stuck to them like a leech, taking a few slaps but still grinning, which utterly baffled Boruto.
He never expected that one of the legendary Sannin, the master of the Fourth and Seventh Hokages, Jiraiya, would be such a person in private.
As for Sasuke, he began to investigate some matters concerning the Otsutsuki.
He just wanted to know Momoshiki's purpose in coming to this era. So he researched some ancient ruins in the village, but found nothing. He then simply left the village.
Boruto wanted to follow, but lost him. He could only stare blankly at Naruto. On their way back to the village, they encountered a few wolves. Boruto inadvertently used Rasengan, successfully startling Naruto.
The two big brains put their heads together and immediately began researching a combined ninjutsu: making Rasengan together.
Sure enough, they got a water balloon from who-knows-where and started practicing by the river.
And as usual, they kept failing.
"They're really carefree, aren't they?"
High in the sky, Momoshiki sat on Kinshiki's shoulder, looking at the two below training Rasengan, sighing and complaining.
He clearly knew he had arrived in this era, yet he acted as if nothing was wrong. Truly worthy of being Boruto.
Compared to Naruto's recklessness, Boruto, though he inherited some of it, fortunately retained some intelligence and normal human thinking.
As he practiced, he felt something was off. He looked left and right, but saw nothing. Because he was distracted, the water balloon exploded again, splashing water all over them.
"Hey, hey, hey! Don't get distracted! The Super Big Ball Rasengan almost came out just now!"
Naruto complained while wiping his face, using his sleeve to wipe away the water.
What a shame. The chakra vortex that was closest to condensing a Super Big Ball Rasengan was wasted just like that.
"Stop researching for now. I keep feeling like we're being watched," Boruto said, looking around with a vigilant expression.
"Being watched?"
Naruto scratched the back of his head, looking at the money in his pocket. Even eating a bowl of ramen was difficult.
Bandits wouldn't be stupid enough to rob two kids, would they?
He seemed to have discovered something. Boruto suddenly looked up at the sky.
And then instantly froze.
He saw Momoshiki Otsutsuki, Kinshiki Otsutsuki, and two other individuals he had only heard of, floating high in the sky. They looked like they could be Kaguya Otsutsuki and Toneri Otsutsuki, as recorded in ninja history.
Are you kidding me, dude?
How do you fight four Otsutsuki?
Boruto felt his vision go black, almost fainting on the spot.
Seeing Boruto look up, Momoshiki sneered. Kinshiki slowly descended from the sky, and the other two followed.
Naruto was about to continue making Rasengan. Noticing Boruto's grim expression staring at the sky, he also looked up curiously.
Hmm? Four strange-looking individuals in weird outfits.
But one of them looked familiar, perhaps from Ichiraku Ramen.
"Training, are we?"
Momoshiki left Kinshiki's shoulder, his eyes playfully circling the two.
"Tsk..."
Seeing the remaining three Otsutsuki also approach, Boruto felt immense pressure, a splitting headache. His hand had already quietly gripped the kunai in his clothes.
His expression was resolute, ready for battle.
At this moment, the four Otsutsuki were like delinquents surrounding elementary school students, but Naruto didn't seem to think so.
"Hi."
Naruto reached out and greeted Momoshiki, a cheerful smile on his face, completely unaware of what an Otsutsuki was.
In his eyes, the blue-clothed girl who gave him ramen was a good person, someone who could be a good friend.
And since Momoshiki was with that girl, he must also be a good person.
Could someone who liked Ichiraku Ramen be a bad guy? Impossible.
"Naruto! Be careful! These people aren't good people!" Boruto glared at Naruto, exasperated.
"Huh?"
Naruto scratched the back of his head in confusion, but then Momoshiki suddenly patted his shoulder twice.
This pat was no small matter. The Nine-Tails, who was sleeping inside, suddenly felt a powerful force and instantly sprang up in alarm.
Its fur bristled, its eyes vigilant and fierce, yet also filled with disbelief, as it continuously scrutinized the scene outside.
One Otsutsuki, two Otsutsuki, three Otsutsuki, four Otsutsuki!
At this moment, the Nine-Tails wasn't quite clear what the Otsutsuki, occasionally mentioned by the Sage of Six Paths, truly were. It only knew that they possessed that guy's bloodline, and were exceptionally powerful.
Now, he had encountered four of them at once. He felt like he had seen the female one somewhere, but at that time, she hadn't had consciousness, or hadn't fully been born, so he couldn't temporarily recognize her, only feeling a familiar bloodline.
At this moment, all of the Nine-Tails' fur stood on end, stimulated by the power. It hunched its back in the corner, all nine tails bristling, revealing sharp fangs and claws, its expression extremely tense.
Too terrifying. This level of chakra was far beyond even that old man from back then.
What kind of existence was this...?
Actually, Momoshiki was merely simply studying the chakra structure of a Tailed Beast. He had no other thoughts, just curious if he could also split off a Tailed Beast with his own power.
In reality, he could. Although a Tailed Beast's chakra was quite special and condensed, as long as his chakra precision was high enough, and his mastery of attributes was high, it would be very easy to sculpt it into this form.
Boruto saw Momoshiki reach out and touch Naruto. He immediately pulled out a kunai, intending to stab him, but it was directly deflected by a large hand.
Kinshiki stared at Boruto expressionlessly, reaching out and directly grabbing the back of his collar, instantly immobilizing him.
Naruto didn't notice Boruto's appearance behind him, still smiling cheerfully.
Just as he was about to ask something, Kaguya couldn't help but lean down and gently lift his chin with her hand.
"Hmm?"
The sudden scene made Naruto a little dazed, but Kaguya looked at him with some surprise and confusion.
So similar, too similar.
From Naruto, Kaguya seemed to see the shadow of her son, Hamura Otsutsuki.
She indeed felt a bloodline connection, which made Kaguya's eyes moist, and she couldn't help but shed tears.
Naruto: "???"
Toneri, beside them, rested his chin on his hand, looking thoughtful.
Was this the sentiment of kinship and longing that humans called it? How rare.
Unlike Toneri's emotions, Naruto's brain had short-circuited at this moment. It wasn't because of Kaguya's actions, nor because Kaguya suddenly cried.
It was because of this sudden surge of motherly love. What was going on? Why did he suddenly feel so warm and comfortable?
"You..."
Naruto blinked, and involuntarily reached out to wipe away Kaguya's tears.
"Hamura..."
Kaguya sobbed, muttering.
There was no hatred for her son betraying her and sealing her for a thousand years, only the longing for her two rebellious sons.
Looking at the scene in front of him, Boruto, who was struggling, also froze. Kinshiki, on the other hand, remained expressionless, holding Boruto as if pinching a grasshopper.
As for Momoshiki, he seemed to have discovered something, his lips curling slightly, looking like he had found some fun.
"Not coming out?"
Turning his head to a spot behind him, Momoshiki's abrupt voice rang out, attracting Kinshiki and Toneri's attention.
The two also turned their heads to look, only then noticing that the space in a certain spot was a little off.
There seemed to be a sense of distortion, which meant it was a hidden space.
"Alas..."
An old, soft sigh.
===
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