Konan returned to her room and pulled the journal from inside her clothes to read it—something she had made a habit of doing every time she came back.
Over the past two years, the journal's contents updated from time to time, though most entries were mundane daily trivia. Even so, she could see that the Land of Rain in the future was slowly getting better.
The more she read, the more she couldn't help thinking: If only I could bring the current Hyuga Kiyonari to the Land of Rain, raise him carefully, and have him work for Akatsuki… With him, whether it was the Land of Rain or Akatsuki, things would surely develop far better than they were now.
But it was far too difficult. They didn't even know each other, and she couldn't imagine how she could possibly convince him.
She opened the journal, her eyes brightening. "New content again?"
[Today a girl showed up at the door. Kiyonari tried to slip away, but got caught red-handed, so he could only stand there obediently and call her "Lady Hinata."]
[I wanted to help him out, but after listening for a bit I realized—this guy's "debts" he ran from Konoha aren't money debts, they're romance debts! Well then, I can't help him. Take your medicine, hahaha.]
[That night, while teasing him, I suddenly remembered something and asked: "I heard the Hyuga clan is divided into main house and branch house. Only branch members call someone 'young lady,' right? You're branch?"]
[He answered: "Yeah, I'm branch."]
[I asked: "But I also heard the Hyuga branch family all have a curse seal on their forehead. Yours is clean. I always thought you were main house."]
[He answered: "When I was little—my forehead actually did have the Caged Bird seal."]
Konan's eyes flashed. "So there's a way to remove the Caged Bird?!"
She'd been worrying about how to approach Hyuga Kiyonari—only to find a breakthrough in the next instant.
[After that, he told me a story from the past—perhaps "legend" is a better word.]
[About a thousand years ago, before shinobi even existed, a goddess descended upon the earth. With overwhelming power, she ended the wars on the land, and people called her the "Rabbit Goddess."]
[With the people's blessings and prayers, the Rabbit Goddess bore two children. The eldest later became known as the Sage of Six Paths, and the younger became the Hyuga clan's ancestor.]
[Later, another "evil god" descended and fought the Rabbit Goddess. After that battle, the Rabbit Goddess vanished—fate unknown. The evil god was gravely injured and began devouring humans to recover its strength.]
[The Sage of Six Paths and his younger brother fought the evil god again. Though they gained the upper hand, they lacked the power to kill it completely, so they split the evil god into three parts.]
[First, the Sage extracted the evil god's power and created the nine tailed beasts. Next, he created the moon and sealed the evil god's husk within it, far from the earth. But the evil god's soul escaped during the process—perhaps it still parasitizes some place in the ninja world, unseen to this day.]
[At this, I couldn't help saying: "A thousand years have passed. That evil god must be dead already, right?"]
[Kiyonari hesitated, then only sighed and said: "Maybe."]
[I knew there were things he couldn't say, and I wouldn't ask. After all—Nagato once tried to collect the nine tailed beasts, and the Fourth Great Ninja War began because of that.]
[Kiyonari seemed to see through my thoughts—whether to comfort me or because it truly was the case, he said: "If you gather the nine tailed beasts from the husk alone, as long as the soul is missing, the evil god won't revive."]
Konan sprang up from her chair, the journal slipping from her hand—she barely caught it with her other hand before it hit the floor.
"So that's the masked man's goal!"
She gritted her teeth, forcing her voice down and her emotions under control.
He wants to revive the evil god!
And as for proof—hah! Zetsu was the best proof! A non-human existence like that had to be a creature created by the evil god's power!
The masked man wanted to use Akatsuki as a tool, but after all his plotting, he still failed in the end.
"Serves you right!"
Konan spat the curse and kept reading.
[I pulled the topic back on track and asked: "Then what does this have to do with the Caged Bird?"]
[Kiyonari continued.]
[After the Sage created the moon, his younger brother led part of his descendants to live there, guarding the evil god's husk—also known as the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. But later, Nagato used the Rinnegan to bring the Demonic Statue back to the ninja world.]
[And things on the moon weren't peaceful either. Even as the same bloodline, they erupted into a brutal civil war. In the end, the more extreme side won. They believed the ninja world had been consumed by war for a thousand years, and now people even sought to revive the evil god—so the world was beyond saving.]
[So they began collecting Byakugan in massive quantities, planning to create an ultimate weapon—pushing the moon into the ninja world to complete an extinction event. After that, they would awaken "seeds" preserved in advance, letting them repopulate the earth.]
[Because the Byakugan needed for this weapon was enormous, they turned their eyes to the Hyuga clan on the ground, and specifically developed a method to remove the Caged Bird seal.]
[The story ends, of course, with their defeat.]
That was all the new content. Konan immediately flipped back and found the line she needed.
"When Kiyonari was little, the Caged Bird seal was still there…"
Meaning: the ones on the moon came down during that period—very likely right now.
Konan put the journal away and paced restlessly in the cramped room, thinking about what to do next.
Even if she did nothing, those people from the moon would still fail—but she wanted to use this chance to make contact with Hyuga Kiyonari and leave a good impression in his heart. Ideally, she'd obtain the method to remove the Caged Bird and lure him to the Land of Rain.
But the most urgent thing was confirming whether those people had actually come down or not.
She could only ask Zetsu to verify—and she could also use it to probe his reaction.
The next day.
The moment Zetsu appeared, Konan went straight to it. "Zetsu, I have intelligence I need you to confirm."
"What is it?"
"I heard people live on the moon, watching the ninja world. Recently… they may be intending to descend."
Black Zetsu froze for a split second, then forced calm. "Where did this information come from?"
"Konoha."
"I understand."
Black Zetsu, of course, knew there were people on the moon.
Back then, Hamura had taken a group up there to guard Mother and the Demonic Statue. And because Hamura's line existed on the moon, Black Zetsu's thousand-year scheme had always been a second-best path.
As he sank underground, White Zetsu couldn't hold back. "Oho, that's a problem. They must be coming down to find the Demonic Statue. What are you going to do?"
"Let's go to Konoha first."
Black Zetsu moved through the shadows, thinking as he traveled.
First: those on the moon were Hamura's descendants, sharing the same origin as the Hyuga. If anything stirred on the moon, the Hyuga should be the first to react.
Second: he hadn't expected Konan to obtain intelligence at this level.
In the past two years she'd been building her own information network for the Land of Rain—separate from Akatsuki's operations. But reaching Konoha… was most likely because of Orochimaru.
Black Zetsu accelerated. He had to verify the situation to judge how much it would impact his plan.
This wasn't his first infiltration of Konoha. The detection barrier wasn't a huge issue, but he still had to be careful of the Hyuga's Byakugan.
Soon, Black Zetsu uncovered the entire chain of events.
But instead of resolving his doubts, it made them heavier.
What do you mean there's an "evil god" on the moon?
What do you mean Hamura's descendants started a civil war?
What do you mean they intend to forcibly break the seal?
Black Zetsu knew better than anyone: what was sealed on the moon was his Mother, Kaguya. What "evil god" was this? And Hamura's descendants had guarded the seal for generations—how could they suddenly decide to destroy it?
But the warning Hiashi received truly came from Hamura's chakra left behind!
Could it be… Mother has awakened?
Once that thought took root, it grew like wild grass after rain.
Black Zetsu began filling in the blanks himself, searching for "evidence" that Kaguya might already be stirring.
Hagoromo's seal was powerful—but after a thousand years, it wasn't absolutely impossible for Mother to regain a sliver of consciousness inside the seal and exert influence.
As for the "evil god" terminology—perhaps Hamura's chakra had been worn down by time, leaving only fragments, so it used a simplified label like "evil god" to avoid complicated explanations?
Worse: could the upheaval on the moon be because Mother was dissatisfied with Black Zetsu's slow progress over the last thousand years?
With thoughts in knots, Black Zetsu decided to stay in Konoha a bit longer.
…
Inside the Hokage Tower, several high-ranking Konoha officials sat around a round table.
At the head, Hiruzen spoke with faint nostalgia. "It's been a long time since we gathered like this. Last time… was probably during the Third Great Ninja War."
Danzo narrowed his eyes. "Hiruzen, what is so important you've made such a production? Is the border in danger?"
"No. Not that." Hiruzen shook his head. "This concerns the moon."
"The moon?" Koharu frowned. "What about it?"
Hiruzen exhaled smoke and summarized the matter from beginning to end.
Before he finished, Danzo gave a cold snort. "Hiruzen, you don't actually believe Hyuga Hiashi's story, do you? The Sage of Six Paths is legend—truth uncertain. And people living on the moon? Absurd!"
"I considered that possibility too," Hiruzen admitted. "But Lady Mito mentioned similar legends. Don't forget the Uzumaki clan's Reaper Death Seal— that technique can summon a god of death."
Homura nodded. "If there's a death god, then an evil god doesn't seem impossible."
Danzo still doubted. "Even if Lady Mito said it, it may not be fact. Ancient legends get embellished. I think it's a con. There's no need to waste precious manpower investigating the Hyuga's old clan origins."
Hiruzen's voice turned firm. "But if it's real, and we do nothing out of doubt, and disaster strikes— that would be an irreparable mistake."
Koharu added, "I agree with Hiruzen. Better to assume it might be true than dismiss it. Even if it turns out to be a false alarm, we only waste time and effort verifying. Checking brings peace of mind—and you don't have to go yourself."
Seeing everyone support Hiruzen, Danzo stopped pressing, only saying coldly, "Don't say I didn't warn you. Don't ignore the very real crises in front of you because of some vague, intangible threat."
"Of course," Hiruzen replied, exhaling smoke. "I've already had Tsunade return to the Senju compound to search past records."
"And I suggest all of you search your own clans' histories as well—Sarutobi, Shimura… our families are old. Perhaps we'll find something related. Even if it's only legends, if too many details overlap, that itself becomes evidence."
"And there are other old families too—Ino–Shika–Chō, and… the Uchiha. We can visit them as well."
"But remember one thing." Hiruzen's tone sharpened; he tapped the table with his pipe. "This investigation must be absolutely secret. Do not alarm the villagers, and do not let foreigners catch even a hint. If word leaks, it may cause unnecessary unrest—or be exploited. When asking the clans, keep proper boundaries and avoid drawing excessive attention."
…
Deep underground.
"Everything that could be found… I erased long ago. This is destined to be a wasted effort."
Black Zetsu snorted, but his unease only grew.
If they truly found a way to reach the moon, many buried secrets would be exposed—an enormous threat to his plan.
More importantly, Black Zetsu still couldn't determine whether this was Kaguya's will—or Hamura's chakra acting on its own.
If it was the latter, then what was the purpose? To sabotage his plan to revive Mother?
Seeing no further value in staying, Black Zetsu decided to withdraw. But before leaving, he planned to visit the Hyuga's underground secret chamber once more and examine Hamura's lingering chakra.
When he arrived, he happened to encounter someone else—
Hyuga Hinata.
Black Zetsu hid deeper, waiting patiently for her to leave. But at the instant she activated her Byakugan, he sensed a presence he'd yearned for across a thousand years.
"Mother!"
At the same time, Hyuga Kiyonari heard the system notification of correction points being deducted. He swept his surroundings rapidly, confirmed there was no one in sight, and finally couldn't hold it in anymore—
"Pwahahaha!!!"
Konan actually sent Black Zetsu over to check!
~~~
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