The bamboo leaves rustled. Chiya looked at the silver-haired, white-eyed girl before him, and his pupils instantly trembled.
'This person is Ōtsutsuki Kaguya!'
Kaguya (Early Period)
Known as the Rabbit Goddess, the Ancestor of Chakra.
'She is the final boss of the entire Naruto world!'
Kaguya (Early Period)
'What a pity. After she came to this world, her fortune was not kind to her at all.'
'Betrayed by her husband, and in the end sealed away on the moon by her dutiful sons.'
'And when it was all said and done, the one who had most faithfully laid plans to save his mother turned out to be the little black blob she had flicked from her sleeve just before being sealed.'
Chiya looked at the girl before him.
A flicker of pity passed through his eyes.
'A poor soul who never met the right person.'
'She should have just arrived in this world right now. Nothing has started yet.'
'Should I...'
[Task Triggered: Intercept Ōtsutsuki Kaguya.]
[Task Reward: One random Divine Technique.]
'An intercept task?!'
Chiya was taken aback.
'Has the system become a mind reader?'
'Whatever I think about, it delivers.'
'But speaking of which, if I intercept Kaguya, doesn't that mean I'd essentially be the ancestor of chakra?!'
'When I run into the little black blob who laid all those plans to save his mother, should I just have him call me dad?'
But then he thought about this task's reward from the system.
A Divine Technique?
"System, what is a Divine Technique!"
Chiya recited inwardly.
[A technique possessing special abilities above the level of All-Encompassing Bloodline, collectively classified by the System as a Divine Technique. Examples include: Rabbit Hair Needles, Eighty Gods Vacuum Attack, Yomotsu Hirasaka, and so on.]
Chiya could not help but feel enlightened.
'So that is what it means!'
'Roughly understood as techniques that can only be used by those at or above the All-Encompassing Bloodline level!'
Chiya's mind turned, and he returned his attention to the present.
He silently extended a hand toward Kaguya, chakra condensing in his palm.
A bright blue Rasengan appeared before him in the blink of an eye, its tiny points of light reflecting off her puzzled expression.
"Is the familiar thing you sense my chakra?"
Kaguya did not respond. Her attention had been drawn to the Rasengan in his hand.
Looking at the Rasengan in Chiya's hand, she slowly extended her slender fingers and stopped them an inch from the chakra sphere.
"This does not seem to be an Ōtsutsuki technique."
Her voice was ethereal and pure. She turned to look at Uchiha Chiya.
'Ōtsutsuki?'
Chiya laughed slightly.
'Since when did the Ōtsutsuki develop ninjutsu?'
'This is inspired by the Icicle Jutsu from Jiraiya's Spinning Whirlwind Double-Form! It's a product of the ninja world!'
Chiya deliberately let the airflow stirred by the dispersing Rasengan brush across Kaguya's fingertips.
The girl quickly pulled her hand back. Her white eyes opened slightly wider.
"This is called the Rasengan."
Chiya did not answer her earlier question.
"Would you like to learn it?"
Kaguya blinked. Her silver-white hair flowed like water in the moonlight.
She slowly extended her hand, as though recalling Chiya's movements just now.
"Concentrate chakra into the palm of your hand and form a stable chakra sphere. The most crucial step is controlling the flow of chakra so it does not scatter."
After three attempts in a row, and with Chiya's guidance, a blue orb of light barely the size of a cherry finally appeared in Kaguya's palm.
"I have succeeded."
Kaguya stared at that faint glow of condensed chakra. The corner of her mouth curved upward without her realizing it.
That clumsy smile made Chiya's breath catch for a moment.
'The Rabbit Goddess of legend, said to be capable of consuming the world, was now rejoicing over a tiny application of chakra.'
"What is your name, and where do you come from?"
Chiya's words made the girl's face hesitate.
She seemed to have some reservations.
"My name is Kaguya. I am the guardian of the God Tree!"
"I come from..."
Kaguya said this and then pointed upward at the sky.
'This honest?'
Chiya was a little surprised. He had not expected Kaguya to speak so plainly.
"My name is Chiya!"
"I come from..."
Chiya imitated her and also pointed upward at the sky.
Kaguya froze.
'Is the person in front of me also not from this world?'
"Come on. I'll take you to see the beauty of this world."
Chiya stepped forward, took her arm, and walked with her out of the bamboo grove toward a hilltop.
Kaguya did not resist. She was pulled along, staring at him in a daze.
'He carries something familiar, and he also comes from beyond this world.'
'Is he also one of the Ōtsutsuki Clan?'
But looking at Chiya, who did not appear to have any of the Ōtsutsuki Clan's characteristics, she dismissed the thought.
The two walked for roughly ten minutes before stopping.
Chiya had brought Kaguya to a quiet hilltop.
A gentle night breeze carried a faint fragrance of flowers. The distant forest shimmered with a silver glow in the moonlight.
Kaguya in her white robe, with silver hair like a waterfall, looked especially cool and distinguished under the starlight.
She raised her head to look at the brilliant night sky, and a trace of curiosity flickered through her eyes.
"The stars here are even brighter than the moon."
Chiya untied the Uchiha robe he was wearing and spread it on the ground. He pulled Kaguya down to sit beside him.
"Look over there."
He pointed up at the sky.
Kaguya tilted her head back the same way, and her silver hair fell across his leg, carrying a cool, crisp fragrance.
"Those two bright stars over there. Do you see them?"
Following the direction of Chiya's finger, Kaguya found two bright stars.
"I see them."
Kaguya looked where he pointed, her gaze resting on those two stars.
"Why are they so special?"
The surrounding stars were dim, but these two shone distinctly brighter.
"Those two stars, in my homeland, are called Altair and Vega."
Chiya made it up on the spot and began to explain.
"Because behind them is a beautiful story. A legend about love and waiting."
Kaguya tilted her head slightly, and a trace of interest surfaced in her eyes.
"A story?"
Chiya nodded.
"A very long time ago, there was a celestial weaver named Zhinü. She was the daughter of the Heavenly Emperor and was skilled at weaving. One day, she secretly descended to the mortal world. While bathing by a river, she met a mortal man named Niulang. The two fell in love at first sight, quickly became devoted to each other, married, and lived a happy life."
Kaguya's gaze gradually softened. She was clearly drawn into the story.
"What happened after?"
Chiya continued.
"However, when the Heavenly Emperor learned of this, he flew into a rage, declaring that the divine and mortal were not meant to mix. He forcibly took Zhinü back to the heavens. Niulang, having lost his beloved wife, was heartbroken, but he did not give up. He put on the hide of the divine ox and flew into the sky with his two children, wanting to bring Zhinü back."
Kaguya's brow furrowed slightly.
"Did they succeed?"
Chiya let out a quiet sigh.
"Unfortunately, the Heavenly Emperor used the Milky Way to separate them. From then on, Niulang and Zhinü could only look at each other from across the river, unable to ever meet."
A trace of sorrow passed through Kaguya's eyes.
"Were they forever separated like that?"
Chiya shook his head, the corner of his mouth lifting in a faint smile.
"No. Their true feelings moved the magpies. Every year on the seventh day of the seventh month, tens of thousands of magpies form a bridge, and Niulang and Zhinü are able to meet on it. Though it is only for one day, that waiting and perseverance makes their love all the more precious."
The story finished, and a brief silence followed.
Kaguya gazed up at those two stars, and a ripple stirred in her eyes.
She murmured softly.
"Waiting an entire year, just for one day together. Does a feeling like that truly exist?"
Chiya looked at the side of her face and said gently.
"Perhaps the most precious feelings in this world are exactly this kind. An attachment that transcends time and distance."
Kaguya turned her head, and their eyes met.
Under the moonlight, a warmth appeared in her eyes that had never been there before.
And a trace of something human as well.
"Chiya, why did you tell me this story?"
Chiya smiled slightly, his gaze sincere.
"Because I wanted you to know that even the loftiest of divine beings can be moved by the true feelings of a mortal. And you, since you have come to this world, you naturally deserve to have all of its beauty."
Kaguya's heart trembled faintly.
The long-closed door of her heart seemed to have been gently pushed open just a crack.
She lowered her head, her voice barely audible.
"Perhaps, you are right."
The night breeze blew past again, carrying away the silence between the two of them.
Chiya extended his hand, and a vivid flower appeared in it.
"Just like this flower. It looks delicate, yet it blooms in the steepest of places."
Kaguya accepted the flower. The moment her fingertip touched it, the chakra inside her surged, and fragrance filled the air. The petals began to dance, swirling around her.
She watched the dreamlike scene before her, and the corner of her mouth curved upward into a faint smile without her realizing it.
Chiya looked at Kaguya with that gentle smile on her face, and could not help but feel a certain wonder.
"Kaguya, when you smile, you are more beautiful than the stars."
Kaguya's cheeks flushed faintly pink. She turned her head away but did not refute him.
At that moment, it was as though a seed had quietly taken root in her heart. It was a feeling she had never experienced before.
The two of them sat side by side, gazing at the sky full of stars, and fell into silence for a moment.
Not long after, Chiya spoke again, and a look of seriousness had entered his eyes.
"Kaguya, is there a purpose for which you came to this world?"
Hearing this question, the gentleness in Kaguya's eyes and the faint smile at the corner of her mouth gradually faded.
After a moment.
She let out a quiet sigh, turned her head, and looked directly at Chiya.
She said without any emotion at all.
"I came to this world to be buried along with it."
---
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