"But for that we will have to wait until the next world, right? For now I will focus on rebuilding the Shinomiya family", said Kaguya.
"But before that, let me explain what happened to me over 40 years.
And even though it is quite long, I think it can be summarized in one sentence". As she said that, Kaguya stood up and struck a formal pose, holding her dark dress elegantly and lifting it off the ground while slightly bowing forward.
"For granting me freedom. Thank you very much".
Kaito, surprised at first by her actions, reacted quickly to her words.
"It's fine, you could have broken the bond when you evolved, right? But you still stayed, that is enough for me to trust you", said Kaito, downplaying it.
But to his surprise, Kaguya, after sitting back behind her desk, shook her head.
"No, that is not what I mean".
"Then?"
"Kaito, do you know what my goal always was?"
"To escape your family's influence", Kaito replied confidently.
"Yes, that always was", Kaguya sighed.
"Then why do I feel like I got it wrong?" Kaito joked when he saw her reaction.
"It's simple. Throughout my entire childhood I knew it, to my family I was nothing more than a political tool that would someday be used for an arranged marriage, that is why my family always wanted to turn me into the best version of myself.
But I always despised my family and how they treated me, that is why, trying to escape from them, I did nothing but try to surpass my relatives in everything, eventually turning myself..."
"Into the best version of yourself". Kaito finished.
"Exactly", Kaguya sighed as if recalling a sad story where she is not the protagonist, "and in that kind of family, there is no way that was a coincidence. In the end, even my goal was nothing more than something planned by my family for their own purposes.
It was only after twenty years had already passed away from them that I realized it.
At that moment I was very angry, I truly wanted to kill them, every single one of them, make them suffer miserably until they begged me for forgiveness.
But those feelings disappeared a long time ago, forty years passed and that family I grew up in and all the memories of it were replaced by other, better memories.
Those better memories are my current life, at first I thought I only had Hayasaka by my side, but after some time I realized there were many more people I could trust from now on.
For allowing me to be part of this family, thank you very much".
'Trust, huh?' Kaito thought. 'Well, with my prior knowledge about them plus my abilities, if there was someone untrustworthy here it would be my own fault.
But I guess for someone who never trusted anyone, being surrounded by this kind of people really does them good'.
"That is why, after returning from the tower world, my plan was simply to leave the Shinomiya family and move forward on my own here.
Although of course, the fact that they kidnapped Hayasaka made me want to go back to killing them, and doing it was definitely satisfying", said Kaguya with a smile that did not match the calm way she spoke.
"Anyway, thank you very much, once I told you that you should stop taking everything like a game. In the end, I am the one who should have stopped taking everything so seriously and enjoyed things a bit more.
From now on, I will try to change my controlling personality and let myself go a bit while enjoying the journey as well".
"That is..." Kaito was about to say it was fine when he realized something.
'From now on'. Kaito paid special attention to that point.
"Kaguya, if I disappeared right now forever, what would you do?"
"...What?" Kaguya said, not understanding why he would say that out of nowhere.
"What would you do?"
"Well, I do not know".
"With Kaguya's personality, she would definitely not only return to her previous personality, but it would be even worse".
Before Kaguya could respond, her own shadow twisted, surpassing the limits of 2D and turning into a 3D figure that revealed itself as Ai.
"Hayasaka? How long have you been there?" said Kaguya, surprised.
"Do not worry, Kaguya, I was just making sure you did not mess it up", said Ai with a smile.
"I would not mess it up!" Kaguya snapped angrily before realizing. "Wait, I was not even going to do anything that could be messed up".
"Kaguya, even though I would love to make fun of your terrible romance skills, it seems Kaito's question is serious", Ai interrupted her.
"That is right. Do you remember what you did last time? Do you think that if I disappeared, you would go back to justifying hurting someone as long as the end is good?" Kaito asked.
"I..."
"She definitely would", Ai interrupted.
And Kaito knew that Ai understood Kaguya better than Kaguya herself, so he trusted her.
"I have to go, let us continue this later", said Kaito, leaving and leaving Kaguya and Ai alone in the former's office.
"Wait, not yet... never mind", Kaguya finally said as she saw Kaito had already left.
"Not yet what?" Ai asked with a smile.
Kaguya, seeing her annoying smile, threw one of the many papers on the desk at her face before leaving and ignoring her.
...
Konoha.
In the Hokage's office, Kushina appeared calm as she signed some papers that she no longer really cared what they were for.
"Is being Hokage just about signing papers?" she complained.
However, despite her jokes and normal attitude, beneath them there was a deep sadness.
The origin of her sadness was simple.
Anko Mitarashi.
Among the general population of the ninja world it is common to have ninja idols, but it is even more common among ninjas themselves.
It can be said that 90 percent of Konoha's current population has Kushina as their idol, but that does not stop them from idolizing other ninjas, and the other three greatest idols of Konoha are the three Sannin.
Orochimaru, Jiraiya and Tsunade.
The heroes who managed to oppose Hanzo of the Salamander, the demigod of the ninja world, during the previous ninja war.
Anko Mitarashi was a fervent fan of Orochimaru and, just two years away from finally becoming a genin, she had hoped that he would become her teacher.
But all her hopes disappeared when Orochimaru was labeled a traitor and eventually killed by Kushina, without even a body to bury.
Even worse, Kushina used such a level of attack that it destroyed all of Orochimaru's illegal laboratories and with them all the evidence of his crimes.
At least, that is the official story, something Anko, as a fan of Orochimaru, did not believe.
And today, during one of Kushina's routine walks through the village, she confronted her in public, accusing her of being a liar and of having killed a hero of Konoha.
Although the guards immediately stopped her and took her home, and even Kushina was defended by everyone around her, this still deeply saddened Kushina.
'Does it not matter what I do, will I never be loved by Konoha?' she wondered. 'No, what am I saying? All of Konoha defended me, it was just one girl.
But did I not destroy an entire village? I bet they hate me too, right?
No, but... I knew it from the beginning, that I would become the enemy of the world, in the end will everyone hate me?'
"Damn it, Kaito, this is when you should comfort me!" she complained out loud.
[I'm here. Do not worry.]
"Kaito, you are back!"
[Yes, I have been busy lately, sorry. But I am here now. I am by your side, forever].
"Yes, Kaito is by my side, as long as he is by my side, nothing matters", Kushina murmured.
...
"Lord Kaito, you are back!" Hinata exclaimed, surprised.
[Yes, I need to talk to you].
"I know, right now it should be about the energy source, right? It is true that powering all the technology with chakra is foolish, given that our enemies have the ability to control it. Even if they cannot right now, they can learn.
Fortunately, Lord Kaito is wise and already prepared Ark reactors to replace the current source".
[...yes, you are amazing].
Kaito said, surprised, realizing how useful a time traveler is.
With a satisfied smile from being praised by Kaito, Hinata took a piece of grass and handed it to the floating blue screen in front of her.
A notification appeared on Kaito's side, along with the option to give her something in return.
That was how the exchange system worked.
As for the exchange, Kaito handed over several Ark reactors.
With his entire territory running on them, built by Lala, he had more than enough in his inventory.
Of course, he would not use the Ark reactors themselves in the ninja world as batteries, instead they would basically become a battery charger. Replacing the chakra previously used, originating from the dragon vein, with electrical energy coming from the Ark reactor.
It was only after finishing the exchange that Kaito realized he had gotten carried away.
[Wait, that is not it].
"Isn't it? What is wrong?" Hinata asked, confused.
[Even though I was not there at that moment, Kushina told me what happened with Orochimaru. How you lost control of your emotions and ended up destroying almost the entire Forest of Death, along with all the evidence of Orochimaru's guilt.]
[Was that... really an accident?]
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+15 chapters in advance on Patreon.
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(just delete the hyphen)
80 power stones = 1 extra chapter (cumulative)