The moonlight poured down.
If it were nighttime, it would just be beautiful—but right now, it was dawn.
And that made it terrifying.
However—
Kitahara Kaede noticed the little ninja rabbit's front paws were dumbly held together, and its body seemed frozen, yet trembling slightly.
Was this because… it sensed the moon was approaching? Something felt off? Did it suspect that only the Ōtsutsuki clan could do such a thing?
The Ōtsutsuki clan was cold, aloof, and regarded themselves as superior.
They considered all other life forms to be inferior and lowly.
Yet their way of life wasn't all that different from lower beings—they were parasites.
They planted the Ten Tails on other planets, and once rooted, the Ten Tails would transform into a tree that began absorbing the planet's natural energy continuously.
After a millennium, this gradual process would result in qualitative change, producing a Chakra Fruit.
The Ōtsutsuki clan gained absolute power by consuming these Chakra Fruits.
In the original story, Ōtsutsuki Kaguya was part of this clan and took part in planting the God Tree.
But she grew tired of that life. After attacking her partner Ōtsutsuki Isshiki—who had planted the tree with her—she decided to consume the fruit herself.
Such an act was considered betrayal to the Ōtsutsuki clan.
So she was likely to be hunted down.
The harvesting cycle of the God Tree was measured in millennia.
And poor Black Zetsu, even after a thousand years, still hadn't undone her seal.
But what could it do now?
It was just a weak, helpless little white bunny.
"…You go hide in Ame-no-Minaka first," Kitahara Kaede said.
"..." The little ninja rabbit didn't respond.
"Go hide in Ame-no-Minaka first,"
"I'll confirm whether an Ōtsutsuki clan member has arrived." Kitahara Kaede patted its furry head.
The little ninja rabbit finally reacted, as if waking from a dream.
It turned its tiny head, grabbed Kaede's finger with its front paws, and after seemingly making up its mind, its paw slid—creating a rift in space.
And the little white rabbit leapt inside.
The rift closed on its own.
Kitahara Kaede stared silently at the little rabbit's movements.
Because—
What he had just meant to say was for it to hide in his Ame-no-Minaka.
But it ran into its own space.
In other words… the ninja rabbit had been regaining its power this whole time?
Then Black Zetsu going to the moon to see if Kaguya was still sealed there was meaningless.
Because the real body of Ōtsutsuki Kaguya… was this little white bunny.
So the one sealed on the moon was just an empty husk.
Kitahara Kaede thought silently.
But this sort of thing… he wasn't about to tell Black Zetsu.
[Descendant Chat Group (^_-)]
[Cowardly - Ōnoki]: Wait… can Tailed Beasts really do something like that?
[Cowardly - Ōnoki]: Tearing open space and going inside?
[One Tail - Shukaku]: …
Shukaku said nothing—but it understood.
What kind of Tailed Beast was this? This was more like the mother of the Sage of Six Paths.
It's just temporarily in the form of a ninja rabbit.
[Big Dumb - Hashirama]: But Tobirama, pay attention.
[Senju Tobirama]: Hm?
[Big Dumb - Hashirama]: Little Kitahara Kaede is heading toward the Hokage Office.
[Big Dumb - Hashirama]: He's probably going to see you.
[Big Dumb - Hashirama]: Hurry and share the information about Madara.
[Senju Tobirama]: …
[Senju Tobirama]: Understood.
[Senju Tobirama]: I'll go meet him.
Tobirama immediately accepted the task.
From the group's messages, it was clear: even though Uchiha Madara had been resurrected via Edo Tensei, the Ten Tails and Eight Tails were in his hands.
And Madara also possessed the Rinnegan.
Earlier, Shukaku's pitiful reaction had been due to trauma from the Rinnegan.
And Tobirama, being in the group, also knew—Kitahara Kaede had used the Rinnegan.
So—
He didn't believe he could handle Uchiha Madara on his own, which meant Kaede had to step in.
What he could do now… was provide intel.
However—
What Tobirama couldn't understand no matter how hard he tried, was that after he met with Kaede and shared all the intel about the Cloud Village, the Raikage, the Ten Tails, and how both the Raikage and Killer Bee were fed to the Ten Tails…
Kitahara Kaede's stern face actually looked relieved.
And when Tobirama mentioned that Uchiha Madara had also been Edo Tensei summoned—
Kaede even looked like he just wanted to go home and nap.
Just like that:
"Oh, I see," Kaede said.
Then he yawned.
"Well, I'll go sleep now."
"I slept late last night and want to catch up a bit."
"...?????"
Tobirama was completely dumbfounded.
Why wasn't this guy even a little bit nervous?
Didn't he know that Uchiha Madara was Konoha's #1 rogue ninja? And this wasn't the first time he tried to destroy the village either.
Shouldn't he at least be worried?
Of course… no need to worry.
At first, Kaede was anxious seeing how scared the little rabbit had been.
But the intel from Tobirama said it all: Ten Tails, Uchiha Madara, and the Eight Tails being fed to the Ten Tails, along with the Raikage and Killer Bee.
This whole setup… wasn't it just another of Black Zetsu's schemes?
So…
Was the whole Infinite Tsukuyomi plan just because Black Zetsu couldn't go to the moon?
"…."
Kaede was speechless. It was supposed to be a simple matter—so how did Black Zetsu always manage to make it so convoluted?
Sasuke and Naruto had both collapsed from reading reports all night.
So Kaede let them rest.
Meanwhile, Might Guy—who becomes a total beast when opening the Eight Gates—was assigned to stand guard.
Kitahara Kaede, Senju Tobirama, and Kakashi Hatake then rushed off toward the Cloud Village.
The reason was Tobirama's unease about Uchiha Madara's appearance.
Worried Madara might pose a threat to Konoha, he insisted on investigating.
And since Kaede was the cause of all this, he certainly wasn't going to expose himself—so things turned out like this.
The three formed a squad and headed to the Cloud Village.
The distance between Konoha and the Cloud Village was quite far.
But if they used shinobi travel techniques, ignoring Kakashi for a moment—both Tobirama and Kaede were extremely fast, so the journey would only take about 7 hours.
Still, Tobirama offered his technique:
"Let's use Flying Thunder God," Senju Tobirama said.
"Flying Thunder God is a space-time ninjutsu I developed."
"As long as I leave a mark in a designated place, I can teleport there instantly."
"Very convenient."
"I have a mark placed a few hundred kilometers away from the Cloud Village. Though decades have passed, it should still work," said Tobirama.
In other words… if you left a Flying Thunder God mark near, say, the Sand Village, you could teleport there, nap, then be back in your own bed by morning?
So…
Wasn't this basically a teleportation circle?
"Oh," Kaede seemed interested in the technique. "Then about the Sealing Scroll you mentioned yesterday…"
"You can study it," Tobirama agreed.
As long as you acknowledged that the Forbidden Techniques were his inventions, he had no problem.
Tobirama was a generous Hokage. As long as a younger ninja had real ability, he gave full support. His bottom line was simple: Flying Thunder God is his creation.
[Descendant Chat Group (^_-)]
[Minato Namikaze]: So Flying Thunder God can be used like this too?
[Future Mizukage - Mei Terumi]: …
[Cowardly - Ōnoki]: …
[Cowardly - Ōnoki]: I want to know… did the Second Hokage leave any marks near my Iwagakure?
[Big Dumb - Hashirama]: Uh… well…
[Big Dumb - Hashirama]: Wait a second. I think I finally understand why, after the Five Kage Summit, Tobirama insisted on sending the other Kage back to their villages.
[Big Dumb - Hashirama]: So… yeah, probably.
[Cowardly - Ōnoki]: …!
Ōnoki gasped.
---
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