"You've seen Kousei?"
After setting down the several children who had largely regained human form, Naruto immediately turned to ask the Sage of Six Paths.
To be honest, he had never dreamed of hearing about Kousei from the other party's mouth.
"Otherwise, why do you think I didn't intervene when you all dealt with my mother back then?"
"What exactly happened?"
Concerning his own daughter, Naruto also became somewhat nervous.
But the Sage of Six Paths looked at the still lively and energetic Naruto and finally just said a few meaningful words softly.
"Her choice was different from yours."
"But she did indeed succeed."
Just these two sentences were enough to make Naruto associate to many things.
Don't forget how Kousei first appeared before him… it was by crossing time and space.
If a five-year-old Kousei could cross, then a fifteen-year-old Kousei, a twenty-five-year-old Kousei…
Naruto dared not think deeply.
He didn't know what had happened to the Naruto of another timeline, nor what price his daughter had paid to meet him.
At this moment, the Sage of Six Paths' palm gently rested on his shoulder. Although it had no physical form, it still carried a trace of 'touch'.
"The tragic future has been changed. Like I said, she succeeded."
The Sage of Six Paths said softly, then asked.
"Calculating by time, she should be 'born' soon, right?"
"This time, you need to spend more time with your daughter and be a good father."
Perhaps remembering his own two sons, the Sage of Six Paths, not exactly a qualified father himself, also sighed deeply.
The two fathers maintained a long silence… oh wait, counting the already cooling Amado, there were three silent fathers here.
This low-pressure atmosphere continued until the first child awoke from unconsciousness.
…
A total of seven people were rescued, one older and six younger.
The oldest among them was only about fifteen or sixteen, a boy, while the youngest was around seven or eight.
Adults older than that seemed unable to withstand Isshiki's Kama, and upon failure, they had all lost their lives due to physical deformities.
These children were saved by Naruto, and their bodies were reshaped with a large amount of Yang Release Chakra, barely allowing them to look human again.
But even so, their bodies more or less carried some 'abnormalities'.
For example, small horns similar to Naruto's, or an extra tail on their backs.
Of course, these weren't the key.
What really gave Naruto a headache was that these little ones seemed to have lost their memories.
Isshiki's Kama itself was about pouring massive amounts of information into their immature minds… their selves had likely been shattered by it long ago.
And during the process of reshaping their bodies, Naruto also used his own Kama, in a more gentle manner, to cover Isshiki's Kama, minimizing its impact on the children.
Those newly formed Kama marks also changed from black to white.
These [White Kama] were just pure energy, not carrying Naruto's 'personal information', so they wouldn't affect their minds.
But… even so, these children's minds were now a 'blank slate'.
He needed to find someone to take good care of them… or simply bring them all to the One Piece World.
Naruto looked at the seven pairs of big eyes staring at him so innocently, and knew he couldn't just leave these people behind in the Ninja World.
Firstly, their memories and selves no longer existed… Naruto would have a hard time finding their parents.
Secondly, their appearances were indeed different from ordinary people.
And such abnormalities in the Ninja World, a place full of 'twistedness', would only bring them all kinds of ostracism.
This point was far too common.
Even letting them stay in Uzushiogakure, Naruto wouldn't feel at ease.
Moreover, since they had already gained a new life, they might as well move to another place.
Raising one child was the same as raising a group… consider it giving Adam and Kousei a few more older brothers and sisters.
Thinking this in his heart, Naruto said to those children.
"You all wait here for me. I'll go down and deal with something, then I'll take you away."
But whether they didn't understand the meaning of Naruto's words or not, the children's hands clutching his clothes didn't let go.
Naruto was thus surrounded by them, unable to move an inch.
"…Alright, alright, you all come with me."
Helplessly waving his hand, Naruto gave up on the idea of reasoning with this group of children.
Anyway, it wouldn't take too much time.
So Naruto walked in front, and the children silently followed closely behind him, together heading underground in this laboratory.
When passing by the bleeding corpse lying on the ground, the children's eyes showed little fluctuation, as if they didn't even know this person was the 'enemy' who had caused them such suffering.
Like Naruto said, these children had gained new life.
…
Going down to a deeper level, the Sage of Six Paths' figure appeared again.
"It's down below, the 'reward' I promised you."
In fact, there was no need for the Sage of Six Paths to say anything.
After descending here, Naruto could already sense what was hidden by the soil layer.
Gravity, like a giant hand, lifted all the flooring in front of Naruto, then the earth, then rock.
Until 'digging' down about ten more meters, suddenly a larger cavity was exposed.
It was a secret room dug out in advance… or rather, a 'tomb chamber'?
"Be careful, everyone."
After applying the Ultra-Lightweight Rock Technique to each child, Naruto took the lead and jumped down, and those children, as if incapable of fear, followed one by one.
Due to their special physiques, Naruto didn't need to worry about the children having breathing problems caused by poor air circulation in the secret room.
To some extent, these children could be considered 'half' Otsutsuki…
Arriving below, Naruto immediately saw a stone platform, and the object upon it.
That was exactly what the Sage of Six Paths called the 'reward' and what Naruto called 'compensation'.
A corpse.
An Otsutsuki's corpse.
This corpse was very similar to Naruto's complete form, similarly having three eyes, corresponding to Rinnegan, Byakugan, and Kokugan.
The horns on his head were U-shaped, like a crown.
His chin had short stubble, and long hair was casually scattered behind him.
Strong.
Very powerful!
The moment he saw him, Naruto could detect the almost suffocating great power.
Even without witnessing it firsthand, Naruto could still assert that this guy was even stronger than his current self.
On the contrary, the children beside him seemed unaffected.
No wonder.
Just as ants don't feel fear towards giants, because their world is just a simple plane… they simply cannot perceive that terrifying figure.
Conversely, humans who can easily crush ants would feel fear and madness when staring directly at a giant.
This was a gap in perception.
A corpse with no presence in the eyes of others appeared to Naruto like a burning star.
Yes, burning.
Naruto didn't even think this was a corpse.
"This guy… is actually also from the Otsutsuki Clan?"
Perhaps even Naruto himself didn't notice, his speaking voice was somewhat hoarse.
Even without a trace of hostility being shown, Naruto's Observation Haki was still frantically alarming.
At this moment, the Sage of Six Paths timely appeared nearby and began to narrate to Naruto the origin of this corpse as far as he knew.