The way she looked now was completely different from the shy little Hinata in the real world, who had been too embarrassed to even raise her head. Yet, deep down, that unmistakable sense of dependence that she could never quite hide remained exactly the same.
"I went to take care of a few things."
Kiyohara reached out and gently rubbed the top of her head.
"It wasn't anything dangerous, so you don't need to worry."
Big Sister Hinata seemed as though she wanted to say something more. Her lips moved slightly, but the weight of Kiyohara's palm resting on her head immediately caused the imposing aura she had been putting on to soften.
She lowered her eyelashes and gave a vague, muffled "Mm" through her nose, reluctantly accepting this perfunctory explanation for the time being.
"You go back first."
Kiyohara withdrew his hand and tilted his head slightly toward the direction of Konoha's main street.
"I'm going to buy some ingredients. I'll come over later and make you something delicious."
Big Sister Hinata's eyes immediately lit up.
It was as if two tiny stars had suddenly been ignited within those pure white eyes. The annoyed expression she had been wearing just moments ago was instantly swept away by unconcealed joy.
The corners of her lips curved upward, and she nodded.
"Then I'll go back and get the table ready!"
After saying that, she turned around and ran off. She had already gone several steps when she suddenly looked back at Kiyohara once more before continuing toward the Hyuga clan compound.
Kiyohara watched her figure disappear around the corner before turning around and heading toward the rear mountains of Konoha.
He passed through several small alleyways, avoiding the bustling crowds along the main street. Eventually, he stopped in an empty clearing surrounded by several old camphor trees.
The clearing was located beneath a cliff near the upper reaches of the Naka River, and the ground was covered with a thick layer of fallen leaves.
After confirming that there were no chakra fluctuations belonging to sensory-type shinobi nearby, Kiyohara sank his consciousness into his mind.
Uzumaki Kiyohara's spiritual body had already been staying within his mental space for a very long time. It had followed him from the real world into the Limited Tsukuyomi world, and then followed him back from the Limited Tsukuyomi world into the real world.
"Come out."
A translucent spiritual body slowly floated out of Kiyohara's body.
Uzumaki Kiyohara's spiritual form was much more faded than when it had appeared the last time. The outline around its edges had already become so indistinct that it was almost impossible to see clearly. Through his translucent body, the rough bark of the old camphor tree behind him could be seen with perfect clarity.
The spiritual body's color had also faded from the pale golden hue that had once carried a trace of vitality into an almost transparent, deathly white. Only two faint points of light remained within his eye sockets.
"You're about to disappear."
Kiyohara looked at him, observing the way his body seemed as though it could be scattered by the slightest breeze.
"Yes. I should have disappeared a long time ago."
Uzumaki Kiyohara sat cross-legged in midair and propped his chin on his hand.
"Being able to hold on until now has already lasted much longer than I expected. Although I couldn't see the outside world from inside the urn, it really was a good place. Staying inside was much more comfortable than floating around outside. But my final will has been fulfilled, so it's about time for me to leave."
Kiyohara remained silent for a moment before asking a question that he had been thinking about for a long time.
"What exactly is the relationship between you and this world? What is the relationship between the Limited Tsukuyomi world you came from and the world I'm currently living in?"
"My world is not this world."
Uzumaki Kiyohara's voice became serious.
"Actually, the Kiyohara of this world does not exist. It's simply because you are the caster that this world never produced another Kiyohara. The technique called 'Limited Tsukuyomi' is similar to searching through countless parallel worlds and finding one of them."
"In other words, what it opens is not an isolated illusion. It is a crack leading to a parallel world. The world you entered and my world are both real parallel timelines."
He paused, then raised his translucent hand and gestured as he explained.
"To put it in terms you can understand, imagine two branches growing from the same tree. Although they both split from the same main trunk, their directions of growth are completely different. Your world grows toward the left, while my world grows toward the right. The Limited Tsukuyomi technique is like a vine that temporarily pulls two branches that would normally never intersect together."
The edges of his spiritual body began to release tiny points of light once again.
Uzumaki Kiyohara lowered his head and looked at his palm as it slowly transformed into scattered points of light, yet his expression remained unusually calm.
"You fulfilled my final last will and awakened the Rinnegan. According to the rules of the Last Will system, my time remaining in this world has also reached its end."
He raised his head and smiled at Kiyohara, although the edges of his face had already begun to blur.
"I was originally a part of you. Or rather, you are another possibility of me. Therefore, my power and my bloodline should have belonged to you from the beginning."
He slowly rose from his cross-legged position.
As he stood, the disintegration of his body accelerated.
"The shinobi world is in your hands now. Don't disappoint the countless versions of ourselves."
After the final word was spoken, Uzumaki Kiyohara's entire body completely transformed into countless points of light.
They were like a swarm of fireflies that had finally found their destination, all of them surging into Kiyohara's body.
Kiyohara closed his eyes.
A warm and immense amount of chakra surged through his meridians.
The first thing he sensed was the complete bloodline of the Uzumaki clan.
Kiyohara already possessed a portion of Uzumaki blood within his body. It was something he had inherited from Uzumaki Kiyohara's urn, but that version had not been complete. It had only retained the enhancements to chakra reserves and sealing techniques.
Now, as all the points of light merged into him, the missing portions of that bloodline were gradually restored one by one.
He could feel the capacity of his entire chakra network expanding once again. His chakra recovery speed had increased several times compared to before, and with every heartbeat, a greater supply of blood was being pumped throughout his entire body.
Even if his heart were pierced or his head were severed, as long as his soul was not completely destroyed, Kiyohara's extraordinary vitality would allow him to regenerate within an extremely short period of time.
His ocular power also grew stronger alongside the increase in his total chakra reserves.
Deep within the circular patterns of his Nine-Tomoe Rinnegan, there was now an extremely faint layer of golden color.
Kiyohara opened his eyes and lowered his head to look at his palm.
He could clearly feel that the power flowing through this body had already reached an entirely new level.
Now that he was inheriting these different futures, what mattered more to Kiyohara was completing the portions of himself that had been missing and making himself even stronger.
He stood quietly on the fallen leaves for a while, slowly suppressing the surging power within his body.
The newly fused chakra within his meridians gradually settled down and merged seamlessly with his existing power system.
Then he turned around and began walking toward Konoha.
Konoha's main street.
The afternoon sunlight illuminated the shop signs along both sides of the street, making them shine brightly. Thin smoke drifted from the chimney of a yakiniku restaurant, while several children stood in line outside a dango shop.
Kiyohara crossed the main street and stopped at a fruit and vegetable stall, where he picked out several fresh tomatoes and a round cabbage. He then went to a butcher shop and bought a piece of pork belly with an even balance of fat and lean meat.
When he passed a general goods store, he casually picked up a bottle of soy sauce and a small bag of white sugar.
The vendors recognized him as Hinata's master and greeted him with smiles. Kiyohara responded to each of them with a nod.
By the time he pushed open the gate of the Hyuga clan compound, Big Sister Hinata had already cleaned the table until it was spotless.
She was kneeling properly on a cushion, both hands resting neatly on her knees. Her long dark-blue hair cascaded over her shoulders.
The moment she saw Kiyohara carrying the ingredients inside, she immediately jumped off the cushion and ran over to him.
"I'll help you wash the vegetables!"
She reached out to take the bags from Kiyohara's hands.
Kiyohara busied himself in the small kitchen of the Hyuga compound for approximately half an hour.
The aroma of braised pork with potatoes slowly drifted from the clay pot. The savory and slightly sweet fragrance of soy sauce and caramelized sugar filled the air and traveled along the corridor all the way into the living room.
Big Sister Hinata had been peeking into the kitchen from the doorway the entire time. Several times, she tried to come inside and help, but Kiyohara repeatedly chased her back out.
She paced around outside the kitchen in dissatisfaction, her slippers making a steady thumping sound against the wooden floor.
In the end, she had no choice but to obediently sit at the dining table and wait.
She rested her chin in both hands, her pure white eyes fixed on the kitchen door without blinking.
When the clay pot was finally brought to the table, her eyes practically went straight.
The moment the lid was lifted, a rich cloud of steam carrying the intense fragrance of soy sauce rushed toward her.
"I'm digging in!"
She broke apart her chopsticks, placed her hands together, and then picked up a piece of meat and put it into her mouth.
She chewed for a moment before raising her head to look at Kiyohara.
"It's so delicious, Master."
Kiyohara smiled.
Big Sister Hinata then picked up another piece of potato and stuffed it into her mouth, her cheeks puffing out as she chewed.
As she continued eating, she suddenly put down her chopsticks. Her entire body bounced up from the cushion, and she threw herself toward Kiyohara.
Her arms wrapped tightly around Kiyohara's neck, and her entire body hung onto him.
Her long dark-blue hair slipped from her shoulders and brushed against Kiyohara's cheek.
She rose onto her toes and gave him a quick kiss at the corner of his mouth.
Her entire face had already turned bright red.
"That's your reward!"
Her voice was unusually loud, as if she were trying to use volume to hide her embarrassment.
Kiyohara instinctively wrapped an arm around her waist.
Big Sister Hinata's waist was slender yet strong. Even through her thin white short-sleeved shirt, he could clearly feel the firm lines of muscle around her waist and the warmth of her body.
The curve beneath her collarbone was full and shapely. When she pressed against Kiyohara's chest, he could feel the softness of her body against him. Below her waist, her figure narrowed sharply before becoming fuller again around her hips.
Mm. Very curvy.
That was the only evaluation Kiyohara could come up with.
"Eat first."
Kiyohara released his arm and placed the chopsticks back into her hands.
Big Sister Hinata took the chopsticks, her face still flushed red, and sat back down on the cushion.
She lowered her head and shoveled several mouthfuls of rice into her mouth. Then she secretly glanced up at Kiyohara.
When she discovered that he was looking at her, she immediately shifted her gaze back toward the clay pot.
Her chopsticks poked repeatedly at the food in her bowl until she accidentally split a piece of potato in half.
Just then, an extremely faint chakra fluctuation came from outside the window.
The fluctuation was so weak that an ordinary sensory-type shinobi would never have noticed it, but Kiyohara immediately detected it.
A translucent, pale-white figure floated in through the window.
The spirit of Benevolent Kaguya hovered above the dining table. Her white robes drifted gently in the air, while her long hair cascaded down behind her like a waterfall.
Her bare feet remained suspended approximately half a meter above the ground, while tiny pale-blue chakra particles continuously escaped from the edges of her spiritual body.
Her Byakugan reflected the braised pork bubbling inside the clay pot.
Her gaze then shifted repeatedly between the braised pork and Kiyohara.
Her expression remained as indifferent as ever, but she seemed to be hesitating over whether she should say something.
Big Sister Hinata was just stuffing a third piece of meat into her mouth when the corner of her eye caught sight of a translucent, white-haired woman suddenly floating above the dining table.
Her movements instantly froze.
The piece of meat held between her chopsticks fell back into her bowl, splashing sauce over the white rice.
"A ghost!"
She shot behind Kiyohara like a spring being released.
Both hands clutched tightly onto Kiyohara's shoulders, and she hid herself completely behind his back, revealing only half of her face and one pure white eye.
Her fingers were trembling slightly. The force with which she gripped Kiyohara's shoulders was so great that her knuckles had turned white.
Her long dark-blue hair slipped over her shoulders, and several loose strands brushed against the back of Kiyohara's neck.
Her body was pressed tightly against Kiyohara's back, and he could feel the rapid beating of her heart through him.
"It's nothing."
Kiyohara turned his head slightly.
"She's simply alive in a special state. She's not a ghost, so you don't need to be afraid."
Benevolent Kaguya looked at Big Sister Hinata, who was hiding behind Kiyohara with only half her face exposed.
Her normally indifferent expression slowly formed into a smile.
"I will not harm you."
Benevolent Kaguya spoke calmly.
She pointed toward Hinata's pure white eyes, which were identical to her own.
"You are a descendant of Hamura, aren't you? I cannot mistake those eyes. By calculation, you are one of my descendants."
Big Sister Hinata slowly poked half of her head out from behind Kiyohara's shoulder.
Her pure white eyes blinked.
Hamura?
Descendant?
She looked at Benevolent Kaguya's eyes, which were so similar to her own.
That white color was almost exactly the same as the Byakugan possessed by the Hyuga clan.
She then looked at Kiyohara's calm face.
The fingers gripping his shoulder slowly loosened, but she still refused to let go of his collar.
"She really is a person, right? She's not one of those things that crawls out of books?"
"Strictly speaking, she's a spiritual body. It's the state of a living person's soul after separating from their physical body."
Kiyohara reached out and gently patted the back of the hand Hinata had placed on his shoulder.
"Aren't you supposed to be the fearless Big Sister who isn't afraid of anything? How did you end up being this terrified of ghosts?"
Big Sister Hinata's cheeks immediately flushed crimson.
The pallor caused by her fright was instantly replaced by a bright red blush of embarrassment and irritation.
She released Kiyohara's collar and stepped out from behind him. She put both hands on her hips and tried her best to look completely justified.
However, her knees were still trembling slightly.
"I-I wasn't scared! I just, I just haven't seen a transparent person who can float around like this before. Master, you're so mean! You keep bullying me!"
"Let's eat first."
Kiyohara gestured for Benevolent Kaguya to come over and sit down.
Benevolent Kaguya floated toward the dining table and lowered her head to look at the steaming braised pork inside the clay pot.
The sauce-red pieces of meat glistened beneath the light, while several star anise rested at the bottom of the pot. Steam carrying the rich fragrance of soy sauce slowly rose into the air.
She then looked down at her own translucent hands.
Those hands could pass through any physical substance. She could not even pick up a single leaf of vegetable.
"How am I supposed to eat?"
Kiyohara thought for a moment before taking a palm-sized container from his tool pouch.
It was a miniature sealing artifact shaped like a human doll.
Its outer shell was made from a high-purity energy crystal refined from Gelel Stone. The entire object was a translucent pale green, and its surface was covered with miniature sealing formulas.
This container was an experimental product Kiyohara had casually created earlier while researching the circulation system of the Impure World Reincarnation.
Its principle was similar to the container used by jinchuriki to seal tailed beasts, but it was smaller and more intricately constructed.
It could provide a temporary vessel for a spiritual body even without a physical body.
The sealing formulas inside could transform the chakra of a spiritual body into a physical form while simultaneously preserving the consciousness of the soul itself.
"You can try attaching yourself to this. This body will gradually grow larger as you inject chakra into it. Eventually, it should reach a normal size."
(End of Chapter)
TN: Dang, author ended the story unexpectedly here guys. I thought he was atleast gonna tie it properly.