Chapter 591: Kaguya Otsutsuki's Consciousness?
"How did you suddenly make up your mind?"
Kenichi looked at Hagoromo with great interest, curiosity flickering in his eyes.
Only moments ago, he had been preparing to travel to another timeline.
Then Hagoromo suddenly arrived and told him something completely unexpected.
The Sage of Six Paths was willing to let Kenichi obtain Kaguya's blood for his scientific experiments.
Naturally, Kenichi was surprised.
Hagoromo glanced at him.
Originally, he had absolutely no intention of letting Kenichi obtain Kaguya's blood.
After all, Hagoromo had no idea what this scientific madman might do with his mother's genetic material.
But when he arrived and saw Kenichi preparing to activate the time machine, Hagoromo had hesitated.
If Kenichi simply left this timeline...
Then their chances of successfully dealing with Isshiki would become even lower.
"You've become stronger."
Hagoromo looked at Kenichi.
"That means you can help me."
"And when you eventually return to your own world, you can help the version of me who exists there as well."
The fact that Kenichi had traveled here from another timeline had given Hagoromo several new ideas.
However, this was not the time to discuss them.
Besides, no matter which alternate timeline Kenichi traveled to, it made little difference to Hagoromo personally.
Hagoromo's feelings were rooted in this world.
This was the Shinobi World he had watched over for centuries.
And more importantly, traveling to another timeline where another version of himself already existed...
That thought did not feel particularly pleasant.
Kenichi shrugged.
What Hagoromo said was true.
The stronger Kenichi became, the more people he could help.
Still, he had the distinct feeling that Hagoromo was not telling him everything.
But Kenichi did not care very much.
Right now, there was only one thing he wanted.
Kaguya's blood.
Once he obtained it, he could extract Kaguya's genetic information and determine exactly how her body had changed after consuming the chakra fruit produced by the Divine Tree.
"But isn't your mother still sealed?"
Kenichi looked toward Hagoromo as they traveled.
"How exactly are you planning to let me get her blood?"
"And if you unseal her, aren't you worried it'll backfire?"
They were currently heading toward the Moon.
Even so, Kenichi remained somewhat cautious about Hagoromo's plan.
Kaguya possessed overwhelming strength.
But her raw combat power was not even the part Kenichi found most troublesome.
Her space-time abilities were.
If Kaguya suddenly transported him into some desert dimension and then simply abandoned him there, returning would become extremely troublesome.
Kenichi's current Rinnegan and Mangekyo abilities did not give him the ability to freely tear open dimensional passages and move between Kaguya's different worlds.
Suppose Hagoromo released her.
Then before Hagoromo even had the chance to mention Isshiki's name, Kaguya waved her hand and dumped Kenichi into some distant desert dimension.
Wouldn't Kenichi be suffering for nothing?
"I don't intend to completely release her right now."
Hagoromo explained calmly.
"I can open a small gap in the seal."
"You can use that opportunity to extract a drop of blood."
Hagoromo led Kenichi through the passage and onto the Moon.
Kenichi finally understood.
So Hagoromo was not planning to release Kaguya at all.
He merely wanted Kenichi to secretly take a tiny sample of her blood through a temporary opening in the seal.
If that was all...
Then the success rate was indeed extremely high.
Still, thinking about Kaguya gave Kenichi another strange thought.
Kaguya had been sealed inside the Moon for an incredibly long time.
Space itself was a vacuum.
Sound could not propagate through it.
So had Kaguya simply remained motionless all these years, completely unable to perceive anything happening outside?
Kenichi suddenly stopped.
"Wait."
He scratched his head.
"Isn't Kaguya's chakra supposed to have been extracted and divided into the nine Tailed Beasts?"
A problem had suddenly occurred to him.
If Kaguya had been drained of her chakra and that chakra had become the nine Tailed Beasts...
Then what exactly was he supposed to draw blood from?
Wasn't what remained of Kaguya essentially just the Gedo Statue?
An empty husk?
"That is merely the husk."
Hagoromo spoke calmly.
"When Hamura and I sealed Mother, we also sealed several drops of her blood with her."
"They should still be preserved inside."
That was precisely why Hagoromo had been willing to propose this method.
Kenichi only needed genetic material.
A few preserved drops of blood were enough.
Kenichi's mouth twitched.
So Hagoromo literally meant taking a drop of blood.
Kenichi had assumed they were going to draw fresh blood directly from Kaguya's body.
Still...
Ancient blood preserved from that era was perfectly acceptable.
Under ordinary circumstances, blood could never remain intact for such an absurd length of time.
Forget thousands of years.
Leave a drop of blood sitting in a bowl overnight and most of the red blood cells would already be dead.
At that point, calling it fresh blood would be generous.
It would basically be coagulated blood jelly.
Kenichi suddenly thought of something else.
"I have a question."
He looked toward Hagoromo.
"Can Kaguya's consciousness perceive what's happening outside the seal?"
A bold idea was beginning to form in Kenichi's mind.
Kaguya had been sealed for an extremely long time.
If her consciousness had remained awake throughout that period and could still perceive outside stimuli...
Then Kenichi might be able to perform some very interesting experiments.
And even if Kaguya became furious enough to hunt him down afterward...
So what?
Kenichi planned to leave this timeline eventually.
He also doubted Kaguya could casually chase him into his original world.
Traveling across timelines required a time machine.
And as far as Kenichi knew, he currently possessed the only usable ones.
There should not be another time machine conveniently lying around for Kaguya to use.
"That..."
Hagoromo paused.
"I don't know."
For once, the Sage of Six Paths looked genuinely caught off guard.
He had never expected Kenichi to ask something like that.
The question fell completely outside the areas Hagoromo had previously considered.
Kenichi was not discouraged.
If his idea was actually possible...
Then perhaps he could accomplish some rather unusual things.
For instance, if he could gradually alter Kaguya's mentality until she willingly cooperated with him...
Wouldn't that be even better?
Of course, one prerequisite had to be confirmed first.
Did Kaguya's consciousness still exist independently?
And if it did, could it perceive external events?
Only after confirming those two points could Kenichi attempt anything further.
"Then how exactly was her consciousness sealed?"
Kenichi immediately followed up.
"Was it sealed separately, or...?"
The blood was not going anywhere.
Kenichi could collect it sooner or later.
But opportunities to experiment with Kaguya's consciousness were rare.
And Kenichi was extremely interested.
Kaguya's chakra had been extracted and eventually divided into the nine Tailed Beasts.
Her body, after losing that chakra, became the Gedo Statue.
To resurrect Kaguya normally required an annoyingly complicated sequence of events.
First, all nine Tailed Beasts had to be gathered.
Then their chakra had to be sealed into the Gedo Statue one after another, resurrecting the Ten-Tails.
After that, someone still had to cast the Infinite Tsukuyomi.
Only after all those conditions had been fulfilled would Kaguya's resurrection reach its final step.
But even then, Kaguya herself apparently could not complete that last step.
That was why Black Zetsu had needed to intervene and perform what Kenichi jokingly thought of as a classic Black Tiger Steals Heart maneuver on Madara.
Only after all those complicated requirements had been fulfilled could Kaguya finally return.
The exact mechanics behind the process had never been explained particularly clearly in the original story.
Most of it had been pieced together afterward.
That was also one of the reasons Kaguya's sudden appearance had been criticized so heavily.
Her introduction had felt abrupt.
If Kishimoto had planted more obvious foreshadowing earlier, the audience probably would have accepted her appearance much more easily.
"After Mother's chakra was extracted and her husk was sealed..."
Hagoromo glanced at Kenichi.
"Her consciousness was also sealed separately inside the Moon."
Kenichi's eyes immediately lit up.
So his idea really might be possible.
"However."
Hagoromo's tone became serious.
"Mother's consciousness alone is extremely dangerous."
"I don't believe you can withstand direct contact with it."
Kenichi smiled.
That was not necessarily true.
Danger was nothing new to him.
Scientific research had already brought him dangerously close to disaster countless times.
At this point, Kenichi was practically accustomed to working beside danger.
If an experiment had absolutely no risk involved, he might actually find it unusual.
Of course, that did not mean he enjoyed courting death.
Danger simply meant he had to prepare more carefully and conduct the experiment with greater caution.
Seeing Kenichi's smile, Hagoromo frowned slightly.
There was not the slightest trace of fear on his face.
Hagoromo immediately understood.
This lunatic really intended to experiment on Kaguya's consciousness.
He pursed his lips.
Then he thought about it again.
Perhaps letting Kenichi investigate would not necessarily be a bad thing.
Who knew?
Maybe Kenichi could even alter his mother's thinking.
From Hagoromo's perspective, transforming the population of the Shinobi World into White Zetsu was completely unacceptable.
Those dull biological weapons possessed little real value.
The Shinobi World should follow a different path.
A safer path.
A more stable path.
That was what Hagoromo considered the proper future of this world.
Not turning everyone alive into raw material for a White Zetsu army.
"Fine."
Hagoromo finally spoke.
"I'll separate a fragment of Mother's consciousness for you."
"But you need to be extremely careful."
"No matter what happens, you must preserve your sense of self."
Kenichi immediately nodded.
If Hagoromo was willing to cooperate, that naturally made everything easier.
Kenichi rubbed his hands together in anticipation.
Hagoromo stepped forward.
Then he placed both hands against the surface of the Moon.
Kenichi did not see him form any seals or make any obvious movements.
Yet a moment later...
A faint white substance slowly emerged.
It floated through the air like a pale feather.
Hagoromo glanced toward Kenichi.
It was his turn now.
Kenichi stared at the white feather floating before him and pursed his lips.
Despite his confidence, he still felt a little nervous.
He raised his chakra, intending to wrap the fragment and isolate it.
"Don't."
Hagoromo immediately stopped him.
Kenichi looked over.
"Do not touch it with chakra."
Hagoromo pointed toward Kenichi's Rinnegan.
"Use your ocular power."
Kenichi looked back at the feather in surprise.
Did the thing absorb chakra?
If so, that would be ridiculous.
Still, Kenichi believed in listening to useful advice.
Rather than argue, he used the Rinnegan's attractive force to slowly pull the feather toward himself.
As it drew closer...
Kenichi began hearing something.
Whispers.
Fast, continuous murmuring.
The sound was extremely faint.
Yet the feather was still some distance away from him.
Kenichi glanced at Hagoromo.
"After Mother consumed the chakra fruit from the Divine Tree, she became the Progenitor of Chakra."
Hagoromo watched the fragment carefully.
"Her strength was never limited to her body or ninjutsu."
"Her mind also became extraordinarily powerful."
"Furthermore..."
Hagoromo's eyes narrowed.
His expression became slightly awkward.
Because he could already hear Kaguya.
She was cursing him.
Then Hamura.
Then she began demanding to know why Hamura was not there.
Hagoromo said nothing.
Kaguya continued muttering anyway.
Kenichi's mouth twitched slightly.
Then he decided to cut directly to the important part.
"Kaguya."
"Do you remember Isshiki?"
"He isn't dead."
Silence.
Instantly, every whisper in Kenichi's mind vanished.
Hagoromo shook his head.
Without saying anything more, he moved aside and began searching inside the Moon for the drops of Kaguya's blood he had sealed long ago.
A moment later...
A voice sounded directly within Kenichi's mind.
"...Isshiki?"
Kaguya's voice carried obvious shock.
"Not dead?"
Kenichi could clearly hear the disbelief in her tone.
"He's not dead."
Kenichi smiled.
"He's still alive and well."
So communication was possible.
Excellent.
That was extremely useful.
As for influencing Kaguya further...
Kenichi glanced toward Hagoromo.
No.
That kind of experiment was not suitable to conduct here.
He would wait until he returned to the laboratory.
Once he had Kaguya's consciousness safely contained there, he could slowly investigate it however he wanted.
...
"Tsunade, please take a look at Itachi."
Inside Konoha, Fugaku looked visibly anxious.
"He doesn't seem well."
Tsunade glanced at Fugaku, then lowered her gaze toward the medical report in her hands.
Her brows drew tightly together.
Tsunade did not allow personal opinions to affect how she treated patients.
Whatever she thought about Itachi's past actions, that had nothing to do with diagnosing him.
But after reading the report and then looking toward Itachi himself...
Tsunade could not stop herself from shaking her head and sighing.
Fugaku's heart immediately sank.
There were few things more terrifying during a hospital examination than watching a doctor stare at the test results and sigh.
It was enough to make someone's heart nearly stop.
"Itachi."
Tsunade looked directly at him.
"Are you already aware of your condition?"
Itachi's expression was unusually calm.
There was almost no visible emotional reaction.
That alone gave Tsunade an idea of the answer.
"Yes."
Itachi nodded.
"I know."
"It's terminal."
Of course he knew.
He had known for some time.
He also understood that he did not have much longer left.
That was one of the reasons he had returned to Konoha previously to observe Sasuke.
He had wanted to see how much his younger brother had grown before his own time ran out.
As for the illness itself...
Itachi had little emotional reaction to it.
Death was not something he feared.
Everyone died eventually.
Mikoto's hand trembled.
Tears immediately spilled from her eyes.
She gripped her son's shoulders tightly, her eyes rapidly turning red.
"...I'm sorry."
Tsunade slowly shook her head.
"There's nothing I can do."
For an illness like this, she had no effective treatment left.
If they had discovered it during the early stages, things might have been different.
But now...
The disease had already reached its terminal stage.
It was beyond saving.
Nearby, Sasuke leaned silently against the wall.
His gaze was unfocused.
He stared blankly at the ceiling.
....
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