Kakashi and Obito—what had transpired between them—Zaraki Kita understood clearly. But what would happen next? That, Kita did not fully know.
To be honest, Kita's impression of Kakashi wasn't particularly good. They had only met three times. The first time, Kakashi pierced her chest with a Chidori. The second time, he beat her mercilessly. In terms of sheer ninja talent, Kakashi was undeniably strong. From another perspective, he was just as formidable in ways that had nothing to do with combat.
For instance, when it came to a large serving of sweet red bean treats.
Obito had abandoned his mask and lived under the name Uchiha Obito, active in the ninja world. The name of a former war hero was suddenly exposed. As the so-called missing Uchiha from Konoha, the name Obito carried some weight. It wasn't surprising that word of this reached Konoha. How Kakashi must have felt upon learning his old comrade was alive—overcome with tears and gratitude—was unknown to both Obito and Kita. Well… maybe Obito knew, sneaking back to check on his second Sharingan, as he always found a way to justify his actions.
Still, when Kita learned that Kakashi had sent letters through various inter-nation post stations just to see Obito, she couldn't help but be moved. Kakashi really had gone all out to track Obito's whereabouts. Whether they reconciled? Kita didn't know. But she did know one thing: Kakashi's red bean treats were genuinely delicious.
With these thoughts, she pinched a piece of red bean cake and popped it into her mouth, pairing it with the excellent tea here at Orochimaru's lab—a pricey, high-quality brew. Even though Kita wasn't much of an eater, she indulged in several more pieces, feeling pleasantly full rather than overstuffed.
"How is it? Tasty, right? Silly Kakashi could always cook from a young age," Obito said proudly. Kita sipped the hot tea and recalled the third encounter, thinking of the tomato sauce in Kakashi's fridge—it was surprisingly good, far better than any restaurant version.
"V-very good… give… some… to… the Shirei," she stammered.
Even though the Moon had abundant resources, these local specialties from below were unavailable there. Orochimaru, intrigued, set down his tea and asked, "The Shirei you mean?"
Kita and Obito only knew one Shirei between them. Kita nodded in response.
"Interesting. I didn't expect someone to still live on the Moon."
"The descendant of the Yomura Village… he's… the only one left," Kita said with difficulty. She recalled the war the Shirei mentioned and sighed, No matter where you go, war always follows.
The topic weighed slightly heavy, but Orochimaru simply shrugged. He had little interest in war or peace. "Human nature," he said briefly, skipping the subject, then asked, "So, what's the situation? I haven't had much desire to conduct experiments recently."
Regarding the Ōtsutsuki clan, Orochimaru had little interest. Even if he'd heard of them before, he had his own priorities. Without hands or the ability to perform Hundred Strength Techniques, research had stalled. Changing tasks might inspire new ideas—hence his question.
Kita didn't feel the need to hide much. Since eliminating Zetsu, Orochimaru had known everything about the Ōtsutsuki. She organized her thoughts and said, "N-not optimistic… no… leads whatsoever."
"How much have you learned about space itself? Minato's the only one with deep understanding. If all else fails, Edo Tensei him to ask." It was a reasonable suggestion, but Obito's expression darkened. Reviving his own teacher? He couldn't accept that. After all, he had caused his teacher's death.
"No need yet. My understanding of space isn't bad," Obito replied.
"You still have a distance to Minato," Orochimaru said simply. He didn't deny Obito's abilities, but this statement was already tactful. Moving on, he continued, "You only truly understand once you see it. Take me there."
Kita's eyes widened in disbelief. "Y-you… you're not… interested in this?"
"No inspiration for experiments. Changing my mindset," Orochimaru said casually. Obito pursed his lips, wary but not overly cautious. He's got ulterior motives, isn't he?
"Ah, you guessed right again," Orochimaru said, popping one of Kakashi's red bean dumplings into his mouth. He admitted, Kakashi's talents weren't limited to ninjutsu alone.
"Th-thank you," Kita said sincerely. Orochimaru waved it off, "No need." It wasn't that he wished to help her—it was simply pastime, curiosity about what the Moon was like.
…
The bizarre architecture and decorations were strangely captivating. The Byakugan boy's mind was clear and pure, untouched by dust. Orochimaru had never realized the Byakugan of Konoha could evolve to this degree. After seeing the Shirei, he genuinely felt the clan had wasted their eyes.
"This… is the Tenseigan?"
The enormous golden spheres, the pupil-like flower patterns resembling six petals, gleamed brilliantly. From these massive golden Tenseigan eyes, Orochimaru felt an infinite, overwhelming power—utterly beyond his comprehension. The thought of controlling such force? Almost unthinkable. Orochimaru had limits to his desire for power; he never recklessly crushed himself in pursuit of it.
"This is the evolved Tenseigan of the Otsutsuki fusion clan," the Shirei said proudly, not lamenting the countless sacrifices made for this power. Part of the reason: only his father survived when he was born.
"If you hadn't seen it, you'd never believe such power existed," Orochimaru said. Kita nodded and added, "Essentially… this isn't our world."
Indeed. Neither the Byakugan nor chakra should exist in their known world. This belonged to the Ōtsutsuki—or more precisely, to the world of the Ōtsutsuki.
"From the sensation, the Tenseigan has been continuously releasing chakra into the spatial rift," Orochimaru said, frowning slightly in curiosity. "But why at this frequency?"
"Maintaining spatial curvature," Obito replied, activating his Mangekyō Sharingan and gazing at the vast rift. "Spaces are normally separated and unconnected. Dimensional movement differs from spatial movement. The former locks time-space via curvature differences; the latter requires coordinates." He explained patiently, granting Orochimaru this insight as a courtesy. Orochimaru responded lightly, "I've done my homework."
Simple enough: he wasn't illiterate in such matters.
In short, the Tenseigan was releasing chakra at varying frequencies to match the spatial frequency of the Ōtsutsuki's dimension. This prevented them from detecting this space via dimensional differences. After all, countless other spaces exist beyond the known one, including Obito's unique time-space. This created a condition: if the Ōtsutsuki attempted to reach this place, they'd need to detect a Tailed Beast's chakra first. The Shirei's role? To suppress the Tailed Beast's chakra fluctuations, effectively severing their link before the Ōtsutsuki could detect them.
Two fortunate factors existed.
First, the Ōtsutsuki were not constantly monitoring this nursery. Likely, they didn't even know this "Earth nursery" had turned against them.
Second, the Yomura had discovered this earlier. Early detection and prevention are always better than reacting to surprises.
"Methods that don't provide permanent solutions are merely struggles. Instead of hiding, sever the rift entirely. This gap likely existed since Kaguya Ōtsutsuki first came here. War and Tailed Beast chakra have continuously torn it apart. If the Tailed Beasts vanish, the gap might disappear, though I can't be certain. But one thing's for sure: they would lose spatial coordinates here. Maintaining curvature could hide it—it's theoretically feasible."
Obito responded cautiously to Orochimaru's theory:
"But the Tailed Beasts can't be killed. Even if the Jinchūriki die, the Beasts will recover in time. The Fourth Mizukage is a prime example. The former Three-Tails Jinchūriki committed suicide; now the Three-Tails lives in his freshwater lake, carefree and thriving."
"Then exile them," Orochimaru said. "What lies beyond the spatial rift is unknown. If the Tailed Beasts are exiled there, the Ōtsutsuki won't find this nursery."
Theoretically feasible, but…
"No. It won't work."
The problem: the Tailed Beasts belong to Akatsuki. Their current scattered presence is temporary in the Jinchūriki.
Orochimaru shrugged and accepted Kita's view. "Just a concept. Not guaranteed to succeed."
"Even if the link is severed, if the rift isn't repaired, they can still find it," the Shirei said. He didn't question Kita's refusal, knowing it wasn't a good method. The Ōtsutsuki could track residual traces in the Tailed Beasts. As he spoke, he crushed a tiny rift that had appeared during their discussion.
━━━━ ❖ ━━━
If you're enjoying the journey so far and want to read ahead, you can check out 50+ advance chapters on Patreon: Patreon.com/Crimson_Lore
Every 100 Power Stones = 1 Extra Chapter
Add to Library!