Landing on the Moon.
No ninja in history had ever seriously considered such a thing—Orochimaru included.
For all his madness and obsession with probing the secrets of the shinobi world, he had never once thought about going to the Moon to take a look at that celestial body created by the Sage of Six Paths himself—
Even later, when so many mysteries were revealed to be hidden within the Moon, Orochimaru still never entertained the idea of an artificial lunar landing.
Because at first glance, it was simply impossible.
And yet…
Kyoichi was going to the Moon—and he had even produced a near-perfect plan.
Paper Transformation Technique, Light-Weight Rock Technique, and on top of that, the Rinnegan.
For once, Orochimaru stepped out of his laboratory and looked up at the crescent moon hanging in the sky, along with another celestial body that was noticeably smaller.
That was the second Moon—created jointly by Kyoichi and Nagato.
As he stared at the sky, a thought flashed through his mind.
"Could this guy actually make it to the Moon?"
If he truly succeeded, then after the Sage of Six Paths and his brother, Kyoichi would be the only person capable of leaving the shinobi world and reaching the Moon itself—
Another achievement destined to be written into history.
Damn it.
Orochimaru smacked his lips. Every time he felt he had accomplished something earth-shaking, that brat would show up and splash cold water all over him.
After a few seconds, he let out a sigh.
Without that brat, his own research wouldn't have progressed so smoothly either. He might still be stuck at the very first step of figuring out how to obtain Sage Mode, instead of having essentially completed it by now.
Next came the exploration of even deeper mysteries.
Everyone walked their own path.
Hopefully, that kid wouldn't come looking for him again anytime soon.
Orochimaru grumbled inwardly.
To be honest, he had once considered quietly leaving Konoha.
It wasn't that being constrained in the research institute felt unbearable—after several years, he had adapted, and it was actually quite tolerable.
The real issue was—
Kyoichi would show up every so often and dump more work on him, treating him like a pure tool. What annoyed him most was that after squeezing him dry, the brat would toss him a little "sweet reward" to keep him hooked.
"Forget it. Back to research."
He turned around silently and returned to the lab.
Leaving Konoha to build his own laboratory would certainly offer freedom, but it also came with countless inconveniences—such as lacking complete facilities and systems, or readily available subordinates who could be deployed without much thought—
That was one of the newer policies.
Researchers with potential could be selected by mentors and brought along for a period of training.
Those ninjas were, frankly speaking, very useful tools—far more efficient than scouring the streets for test subjects.
So…
Reality cooled his head.
---
Kyoichi went to find Nagato and Jiraiya.
Both of them carried Flying Thunder God marks, so time wasn't an issue. As long as he had enough chakra, he could reach them in an instant.
Before leaving, however, Kyoichi specifically spoke with Tsunade.
In fact, on the way back to Konoha, he had already discussed his general plan with her. Repeatedly researching the Light-Weight Rock Technique couldn't possibly escape Tsunade's notice.
She understood as well.
Whatever was happening on the Moon was strange. For the safety of the shinobi world—and of Konoha—it was something that had to be investigated sooner or later. Without clarity, no one could truly rest easy.
As for Jiraiya—
His first reaction was, of course, opposition.
"I don't think going up there right now is a good idea. If the people on the Moon attack you, going alone would be far too dangerous."
Jiraiya shook his head.
If war broke out in the shinobi world, they could at least help. Even if they lost, they could fight with numbers. But on the Moon, there wouldn't even be a chance to do that.
Summoning techniques…
He couldn't even guarantee they would work there, and bringing tailed beasts along was out of the question.
It was a dead zone.
Nagato thought for a moment and said, "I still have some Ten-Tails chakra left. If we pool our resources, it should be enough to use."
"The main issue is that Hyūga Hiashi sensed disturbances recently. We suspect something has gone wrong with the Ōtsutsuki clan on the Moon. No matter how we look at it, we have to go check."
Kyoichi explained.
Following the original course of events, only a single Ōtsutsuki—Toneri—should have remained on the Moon, living alone. But now, the situation was clearly no longer the same.
After a long pause, Jiraiya clenched his teeth.
"Alright… then do it."
"This needs to happen."
Nagato glanced around.
They were drifting at sea on a small boat, having just reached a tiny island. It would likely take a long time to reach the Land of Water, and the surgical conditions here were far from ideal.
"Doesn't matter. We'll do it here."
Kyoichi waved his hand, signaling them to step back.
The two of them moved aside.
At the same time, Kyoichi began forming hand seals.
Then—
He slammed his palm to the ground.
Trees erupted from the earth, wood growing and intertwining with remarkable agility until a complete wooden cabin took shape.
"Done."
"What a convenient technique. Too bad I can't use Wood Release."
Jiraiya couldn't help feeling envious.
Out in the wild, having Wood Release meant never worrying about shelter.
Nagato considered it and said, "I could try learning it."
"Cough—no need. I was just joking. Your teacher here has traveled through half the shinobi world. A bit of rough living isn't going to scare me."
Jiraiya waved his hands quickly.
"Let's begin the surgery. During this time, you'll temporarily use this pair of eyes. They're not Rinnegan, but they're far from weak."
Kyoichi took out a Sharingan.
This three-tomoe Sharingan had been given to him by Shisui, yet he had never used it.
Nagato smiled faintly. "Seems like you don't intend to keep the Rinnegan for long. Honestly, I think the Sharingan is pretty good too. Otherwise… why not leave the Rinnegan with you?"
"We'll see later."
Kyoichi didn't agree.
He understood Nagato's thinking, but this wasn't the time to discuss it.
He anesthetized Nagato with ninjutsu, sealed off the blood vessels, carefully removed the eyes, and then transplanted the three-tomoe Sharingan.
Nagato couldn't deactivate the Sharingan, but even left constantly active, its chakra consumption was far lower than that of the Rinnegan—practically negligible for him.
As for Kyoichi himself, Jiraiya wanted to help, but his medical ninjutsu was frankly abysmal—barely existent.
An operation as delicate as eye transplantation was far beyond him.
Fortunately, Kyoichi didn't ask for his help.
He performed the operation on himself.
Sealing the blood vessels, dulling pain, then—
Kinjutsu: Yin Healing Wound Destruction.
The eyes were replaced. Not long after, the blood vessels reconnected.
Eye swap—successful.
Kyoichi adjusted to the power of the Rinnegan.
The eyes of a Sage…
Terrifying.
He looked up at the sky, swallowed a soldier pill, then glanced at Jiraiya—but instead of waiting for his chakra to recover naturally, he spoke:
"Lend me some chakra."
"…Huh?"
Jiraiya's mouth twitched.
I'm one of the Three Legendary Sannin, and my role is just to be a battery?
Fine.
He gestured for Kyoichi to hurry up.
After replenishing his chakra and storing some Sage chakra, Kyoichi began forming seals once more.
Whoosh—
Paper fluttered and assembled into wings.
With another set of seals, the Light-Weight Rock Technique was cast upon himself.
Kyoichi rose into the air.