The Konoha ANBU Headquarters.

Kohinata Mukai was handling the tasks assigned by Gekkō Hayate when a figure appeared without a sound. It took him quite a while to even realize someone was there.

"Sir? My apologies—this subordinate has failed in his duty. I didn't even notice—"

"Hey, no need to panic. I'm not blaming you," Kyoichi waved it off. "I was able to come in so easily not because of your negligence, but because I use the Flying Thunder God. There are also my formulas here in ANBU. You couldn't have stopped me anyway."

Kyoichi had previously given Gekkō Hayate and Mukai several requirements, one of which was that security around ANBU headquarters had to be airtight—any intruder must be detected immediately.

Otherwise…

What if an enemy stole vital intelligence?

Mukai had followed those instructions to the letter.

Yet when Kyoichi arrived, he noticed nothing at all.

"Yes. Thank you for your understanding, sir. Even so, I'll still work to find a way to compensate for this."

Mukai bowed lightly.

Kyoichi nodded. That was a good attitude.

He gestured for Mukai to sit and talk casually—there was no need to be so tense. After all…

The reason he'd come today was rather complicated.

Kohinata Mukai knelt at the desk, poured Kyoichi a cup of tea, and adopted a posture of attentive listening.

"I'm here today about a personal matter," Kyoichi said. "It has nothing to do with Konoha or ANBU. It concerns you—and the Kohinata clan. Let me be clear up front: this isn't an order. It's a discussion. The decision is yours."

"Please speak, sir."

Mukai's expression grew solemn.

He wasn't afraid of Kyoichi issuing an order. In his heart, Kyoichi ranked even higher than a teacher. If Kyoichi truly commanded him, he would obey without hesitation—

Even if it meant betraying the village.

But a discussion?

That was harder.

"I recently went to the moon," Kyoichi said calmly. "The Byakugan-wielding clan up there wiped itself out in an internal war due to ideological differences. Only one child remains. I'd like to entrust that child to the Kohinata clan."

He gave a concise overview, then explained the full sequence of events.

At first, Mukai was merely surprised. Then came shock. Then awe.

They were still preoccupied with the small patch of the shinobi world—while Kyoichi had already gone to the moon.

After a long pause, Mukai sighed in admiration.

"As expected of you, Kyoichi-sama."

"The child's background is… like that. Simple in one sense, complicated in another. Why I'm not sending him to the Hyūga—you don't need me to explain."

"Yes. The Hyūga clan… being too large is not necessarily a good thing."

Mukai nodded.

The Hyūga had yet to fully unify. The main family–branch family structure still existed.

And even if they did unify, the Hyūga would remain a massive clan. The will of Hyūga Hiashi and Hizashi might not be enough to dictate the direction of the entire family.

Especially since both men deeply loved their clan.

If the clan were to act collectively—like the Ōtsutsuki branch family once did—those two might well make decisions that stayed within Konoha's tolerance, yet were still deeply problematic.

After some thought, Mukai said, "Our family is small, but raising a child wouldn't be an issue. That part isn't difficult. It's just that I only know part of the Hyūga Gentle Fist system."

"That won't be a problem," Kyoichi replied. "As an Ōtsutsuki, he may not need the Hyūga's Gentle Fist at all. Let him explore his own path."

"Then I have no objections."

Mukai nodded.

At sixteen or seventeen, his strength was no longer what it had been when he first met Kyoichi.

Though not yet at 'Kage' level, years of dangerous ANBU missions—plus occasional guidance from Kyoichi—had firmly placed him among the top elite jōnin.

Teaching Toneri the basics in the early stages would be no issue at all.

…

Kyoichi left.

Entrusting Toneri to Mukai's family was, for now, the best possible choice.

A small clan was easier to manage.

As long as Mukai—the ferryman—didn't capsize the boat, nothing would go wrong. And if he did capsize it…

Kyoichi would simply deal with him himself.

To be blunt—

Even if Mukai somehow gained another Tenseigan, Kyoichi didn't believe he'd lose.

Toneri was settled.

As for Ōtsutsuki Kaguya—she now knew her last trump card had been exposed. At this moment, she was likely raging helplessly on the moon, trying every possible way to escape.

But unfortunately…

Even if the Six Paths: Chibaku Tensei arranged by Kyoichi and Nagato had flaws, the one set by the Sage of Six Paths and Hamura absolutely did not.

That seal was solid beyond doubt.

Night fell.

The moon hung high, the Chibaku Sphere shining in response. The night was beautiful.

Kyoichi and Tsunade sat on the rooftop, each holding a bottle of sake.

"So… we don't have to worry anymore, right?"

"Hard to say. In the future, there may still be wars. Conflicts. Even threats from beyond this world."

Kyoichi smiled faintly as he spoke.

Who could really know?

What he remembered from his previous life was only part of what came later.

The Ōtsutsuki clan, the God Tree, those outsiders—how powerful they truly were, how many of them existed, how far ninja technology could go…

He didn't know.

"So we'll just take it one step at a time. There's no such thing as solving everything once and for all. Each generation has its own battles. And peace often exists only as an ideal—making it real… that's hard."

Tsunade took a few swigs, her tone tinged with emotion.

War had taken far too much from her.

Yet she never expected that, in the end, fate would grant her a gift like this.

She turned her head and looked at Kyoichi gazing at the moon, her cheeks faintly red.

Her relationship with Kyoichi…

It still hadn't been formally defined. But between them, everything was already understood without words. They had traveled the shinobi world together; what should have happened, had happened.

Only the final fortress remained unconquered.

Tsunade leaned slightly closer to him.

"So what now? Keep traveling, or stay in Konoha for good?"

"We'll see."

Kyoichi thought seriously, then shook his head.

He was fairly free-spirited.

For now, they'd been everywhere—he'd even been to the moon. There wasn't really anywhere left he was eager to see.

"At this point, the real issue is probably just the two of us, isn't it?"

"What issue could there possibly be between us?"

Tsunade replied flatly, with no intention of admitting anything.

"Sure. That's not what you said when you were drunk."

"Pah! You drugged me! Otherwise how could I get drunk? I'm Tsunade—ten thousand bottles and still standing!"

She slapped her chest proudly, her figure heaving.

Kyoichi laughed.

Ten thousand bottles, huh?

Let's go with that.

He stood up and stretched lazily, then said, "We're close enough that we can skip all the formalities. Neither of us really cares about that sort of thing anyway. But what about the surname?"

"Surnames? What about them?" Tsunade propped her chin on one hand and drained her sake in one gulp. "The Senju have long since become history. My grandfather and second grandfather split the great tree into countless saplings. There's no need for us to gather them back into one again."

The true Senju was never about a single towering trunk—

But about a thousand trees growing into a forest.

And that…

Was exactly what she and Kyoichi were doing.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by lotustale.com