Chapter 630: How to Purify Genes
"Are you leaving?"
Hagoromo looked at Kenichi as he asked the question.
Kenichi shook his head.
For the time being, he had no intention of leaving.
After all, Kaguya's attitude toward him had become rather peculiar.
Thinking back to their conversation yesterday, Kenichi's expression became somewhat strange.
He truly had not expected Kaguya to make that choice.
Before speaking with her, Kenichi had thought the most likely outcome was that Kaguya would either try to kill him or simply ignore him and erase the memories he had implanted.
For someone like Kaguya, erasing memories should not have been particularly difficult.
In fact, even Kenichi himself could now accomplish something similar.
Yet Kaguya had chosen neither option.
Her position was simple.
The past was the past.
She would no longer hold Kenichi accountable for what he had done to her consciousness.
But in exchange, Kenichi needed to remain in this timeline for a while and help her research a way to deal with the future threat of the Otsutsuki Clan.
Kenichi had been delighted when he heard that.
Naturally, he was willing.
The Otsutsuki Clan was not merely Kaguya's problem.
They were also an enemy Kenichi himself would eventually have to face.
Now that he had confirmed the time machine could return him to his original timeline, there was no harm in staying here a little longer.
There was another reason as well.
As Kenichi's constitution gradually changed and became increasingly similar to that of the Otsutsuki Clan, he noticed that his metabolism had slowed dramatically.
So dramatically, in fact, that it could almost be considered negligible.
Kenichi understood that this was another characteristic of the Otsutsuki.
Strictly speaking, the Otsutsuki Clan could be considered a long-lived species.
However, that longevity depended on possessing complete Otsutsuki genetics.
Cases such as Hagoromo and Hamura were exceptions. They were not truly full-blooded Otsutsuki and therefore did not possess the same degree of natural longevity.
Kenichi's lifespan had already increased enormously.
At his current rate, he could probably live long enough to outlast even Naruto's great-grandchildren.
But if he wanted something approaching true immortality, he would need to purify his genes even further.
That was another reason Kenichi intended to remain here and continue his research.
Meanwhile, the entire Shinobi World had undergone tremendous changes.
The major crises that should have threatened the world had effectively disappeared.
The Akatsuki conspiracy that had yet to fully unfold was gone.
Obito and Madara's Infinite Tsukuyomi plan had been completely overturned after Kenichi smashed the entire board.
Kaguya had been released by Kenichi and Hagoromo, but she herself had also changed significantly.
At the very least, she no longer intended to gather all the chakra in the Shinobi World and transform humanity into White Zetsu.
Even the future events that should have taken place during the Boruto era had been drastically altered by Kenichi's intervention.
Isshiki was dead.
For the first time in a very long while, the Shinobi World could enter a period of rapid development without an immediate existential crisis looming overhead.
Still, Kenichi did not intend to interfere too deeply in the world's future.
Naruto and Sasuke had already grown up.
Originally, all of their accelerated growth had been intended to prepare them to deal with Isshiki.
Ironically, when the decisive battle finally came, Isshiki had been thoroughly suppressed by Kaguya.
That meant Naruto and Sasuke's growth now carried a different significance.
Both of them were already stronger than their counterparts from the original story.
Naruto even possessed the Rinnegan.
If neither Kenichi nor Hagoromo personally intervened, Naruto and Sasuke together could practically sweep across the entire Shinobi World.
Because of that, another extremely rare Five Kage Summit had been convened.
That meeting would determine the future direction of the Shinobi World.
But none of that had anything to do with Kenichi.
He had no intention of involving himself in the world's current political changes.
Whatever path the Shinobi World chose in the future was its own affair.
Besides, after spending years in this timeline and watching Naruto grow up, Kenichi believed Naruto was capable of handling the changes ahead.
Naruto had the potential to become an excellent Hokage.
Perhaps, in the future, he could even guide the entire Shinobi World onto a different path.
What Kenichi needed to do now was solve the threats that might appear beyond that future.
"According to Kaguya's request, I need to stay in this timeline for a while and help her research a way to deal with the Otsutsuki Clan if they arrive in the future."
Kenichi sat in a chair with a helpless expression.
Beside him rested the time machine.
He gently ran a hand across its surface.
Honestly, he had been rather eager to experience time travel again.
But it was difficult to refuse Kaguya's request.
Still, once Kenichi thought about the research he was about to begin, some motivation returned.
Hagoromo curled his lips.
Then he looked at Kenichi with an increasingly strange expression.
By now, he was genuinely beginning to suspect that Kenichi intended to develop some kind of relationship with his mother.
Kenichi, however, did not notice Hagoromo's expression.
He simply reached into his bag and removed two test tubes.
One contained Kaguya's blood.
The other contained tissue taken from Isshiki's body.
Although Isshiki was already dead, Kenichi had not wasted the corpse.
Instead, he had divided Isshiki's body into complete sections and preserved each piece individually to prevent decomposition.
While doing so, Kenichi had discovered several interesting things.
For example, Isshiki's body looked human on the surface.
But certain parts of it possessed characteristics that resembled plants.
That was extremely strange.
His genes were also noticeably different from those of ordinary humans.
Yet a portion of his genetic structure was completely identical to humanity.
Kenichi suspected this might be because Isshiki had still been integrating with and gradually modifying Jigen's genes.
That process could explain why the body Isshiki had left behind possessed such a strange combination of traits.
Because of that uncertainty, Kenichi had asked Kaguya for another blood sample.
He already possessed some of Kaguya's blood from earlier.
But that sample had been obtained after she consumed the chakra fruit and after everything else that had happened to her.
So Kenichi had tentatively asked whether she possessed any purer blood from before she had been affected by the chakra fruit.
Kaguya's expression had become extremely strange when he asked.
She hesitated for quite a while.
Then she produced an unusual piece of clothing.
According to Kaguya, she had worn it during a battle long ago, before consuming the chakra fruit.
It had been the first time she fought on behalf of the clan.
Because of that, she considered the clothing meaningful and had preserved it ever since.
Some of her blood still stained the fabric.
The blood had long since dried.
However, Kaguya had preserved the garment using special methods, allowing Kenichi to extract usable genetic material from the old stains.
His plan was to compare Kaguya's original genes with Isshiki's.
Then, through elimination and comparison, he could attempt to isolate the purer Otsutsuki genetic information inside Isshiki's body.
If successful, that could allow Kenichi to advance his own genetics further.
It would also make his later research into the chakra fruit much easier.
Still, Kenichi understood one thing clearly.
If he truly wanted to fight the Otsutsuki Clan in the future, simply learning from them would never be enough.
He could study them.
He could imitate certain useful methods.
But he could not blindly copy their entire path of evolution.
So Kenichi planned to further purify his own genes first.
After strengthening himself through that process, he would begin searching for a path that belonged specifically to him.
That would lay the foundation for eventually confronting the Otsutsuki Clan.
Hagoromo stood silently beside the window.
His gaze drifted toward the distant forest.
His thoughts were tangled.
For as long as he could remember, Hagoromo had possessed complicated feelings toward his mother.
On one hand, he was grateful to her.
Kaguya had brought him into this world.
She had given him life.
The sacrifices she had made and the things she had endured for her children had once seemed enormous in his eyes.
Yet another side of Kaguya had always troubled him.
Some of her choices had left Hagoromo confused and lost.
Eventually, those contradictions had driven him to seal his own mother away.
In a sense, Hagoromo had sealed not only Kaguya, but also the complicated emotions he carried toward her.
He had buried them somewhere deep within himself so he would no longer have to confront them.
But now...
The seal had been broken.
Kaguya had returned.
And the feelings Hagoromo had suppressed for so long were exposed once again.
His thoughts drifted back to yesterday.
He had seen Kenichi and Kaguya speaking privately.
That sight had left Hagoromo even more conflicted.
Eventually, he left the laboratory.
Kenichi needed the space to conduct his experiments anyway, and Hagoromo felt that remaining there would only make his mood worse.
He decided to go outside and clear his head.
Perhaps some fresh air would help him feel less conflicted.
Not long after leaving, a pleasant sound broke the silence.
Hagoromo slowly turned his head.
It was laughter.
His mother's soft laughter.
His emotions immediately became even more complicated.
His chest tightened as though an invisible hand had gripped his heart.
Hagoromo stared at Kaguya.
His eyes became slightly moist.
Memories of childhood resurfaced.
He remembered the happiness Kaguya had once given up for him.
The sacrifices she had made.
The love she had once shown him.
Those memories made it impossible to view her as merely an enemy.
Yet time had passed.
Could those sacrifices erase everything that came afterward?
Could Hagoromo forgive the choices his mother had made simply because she had once loved him?
His emotions churned violently beneath his calm exterior.
He felt increasingly lost.
Like a traveler wandering through heavy fog.
He did not know how to confront these contradictory feelings.
Nor did he know what path he should choose.
Kaguya's gaze fell upon him like warm sunlight.
Yet Hagoromo's heart continued wavering.
Was the road ahead broken beyond repair?
Or could something brighter still remain?
He did not know.
He needed time.
Time to confront everything.
Time to decide for himself.
Hagoromo lowered his head.
The conflict remained deeply rooted within him.
This was a journey nobody else could complete on his behalf.
Only he could find the answer hidden within his own heart.
Perhaps transforming those complicated emotions into strength was the only way he could move forward.
"Hagoromo."
Kaguya looked at him.
"What are you thinking about?"
Her gaze briefly shifted toward the laboratory behind him before returning to her son.
Hagoromo shook his head.
He did not know what he should say.
After all, he was already very old.
Kaguya herself felt somewhat helpless.
She really did not have any grand intentions toward Kenichi.
The memories he had implanted certainly made her both angry and embarrassed.
But right now, the Otsutsuki Clan was far more important.
As irritating as Isshiki had been, he had known a tremendous amount about the clan.
What he revealed before dying had left Kaguya deeply uneasy.
Still, the weapons Kenichi had used against Isshiki had shown her something new.
Perhaps there really was another path.
Perhaps transforming the entire Shinobi World into White Zetsu was not the only possible way to resist the Otsutsuki Clan.
That was why Kaguya had asked Kenichi to remain.
She wanted to see whether he could develop another method capable of resisting the Otsutsuki.
However...
Whenever Kaguya remembered being sealed by Hagoromo, she still felt uncomfortable.
So when she saw how conflicted Hagoromo looked, she chose not to explain herself.
She remained silent.
She would simply treat his discomfort as a small punishment.
Kaguya still had not completely forgiven Hagoromo for what he had done in the past.
Intellectually, she understood that his choice had been correct from the perspective of the Shinobi World.
Emotionally...
She was still unhappy about it.
Kenichi had no idea what Kaguya and Hagoromo were doing outside.
He was completely focused on analyzing the genetic differences between the samples before him.
Once he identified those differences, he could gradually begin studying and deciphering the unique changes within Kaguya's body.
Fortunately, Kenichi had already spent a great deal of time sequencing Kaguya's genes.
That made the current work considerably easier.
More importantly, comparing Kaguya's original genetic material with her current state would allow Kenichi to determine what new genes or genetic changes had appeared after she consumed the chakra fruit.
If he could identify those changes...
Perhaps he really could begin reverse-engineering certain aspects of the chakra fruit through Kaguya herself.
Kenichi knew that fully recreating the chakra fruit this way was extremely unlikely.
But even understanding what changes it had caused inside Kaguya's body would be enormously useful to his research.
"It's a pity."
Kenichi shook his head.
"Isshiki said he didn't bring much related to the Divine Tree with him."
"Otherwise, I would have liked to plant one myself and study it."
It really was unfortunate.
Then again, even if Kenichi possessed the necessary material, successfully planting a Divine Tree would probably not be simple.
According to Kaguya, a Divine Tree could not simply be planted anywhere.
The location had to satisfy specific requirements.
So even obtaining one would only be the beginning of the problem.
....
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