Hanekawa studied Kaguya Ōtsutsuki with careful attention.
Her features were striking—pale skin like fresh snow, long blue-white hair cascading past her shoulders, and Byakugan that held an unsettling emptiness. Two horns crowned her head, and an expression of absolute detachment defined her face. Normally, a Rinnegan would mark her forehead, but not now. That meant she hadn't yet consumed the chakra fruit of the sacred tree.
He couldn't determine if this was the anime or manga version of history.
In the manga, Kaguya and Isshiki had come together, planted the sacred tree, and waited a thousand years for it to mature. But the Ōtsutsuki clan's tradition demanded a sacrifice—the lower-ranked member would be offered to the tree. When Isshiki underwent the ritual, Kaguya attacked him instead. Though Isshiki escaped with grievous injuries, his sacrifice bore fruit. Kaguya consumed it, gained the Rinnegan, and eventually bore Hagoromo and Hamura.
The anime told a different story. Kaguya had arrived in the Land of Ancestors, met the daimyo Tenji, fallen in love, and given birth to her sons. But when the daimyo betrayed her under pressure from rival nations, despair drove her to consume the fruit and activate the Infinite Tsukuyomi.
Either way, the outcome was similar. Hagoromo and Hamura eventually sealed her away.
Kaguya's Byakugan opened, and her gaze fixed on him. Her eyes widened slightly as she sensed his chakra—vast, almost incomprehensible in its magnitude.
She licked her lips.
"I'm just a ninja passing through," Hanekawa said, raising an eyebrow. Her hunger was palpable, almost predatory.
"What is a ninja?" Kaguya's voice was cold, clinical.
"A human who can use chakra." He'd forgotten—the concept of ninja didn't exist yet.
"Such a thing cannot exist," she stated flatly.
The Ōtsutsuki were ascetics, incapable of understanding love or connection. Immortal, they had no need for offspring. Their purpose was singular: plant trees, consume fruit, ascend toward godhood. Nothing else mattered.
"I'm the proof," Hanekawa smiled.
Kaguya fell silent, her expression unreadable. He was neither pure Ōtsutsuki nor fully human—a hybrid, something outside her comprehension.
Then her hand moved.
Hanekawa twisted through space, his body phasing out of existence just as her fingers closed on empty air. Her eyes narrowed, tracking the Rinnegan symbol that briefly flashed in his gaze.
"Rinnegan?" she murmured, momentarily distracted.
The air cracked. Hanekawa reappeared, fist driving toward her face.
"Out of control," Kaguya said simply, turning to meet him.
She didn't know ninjutsu. The Ōtsutsuki had no need for it. Only basic taijutsu and their dōjutsu mattered. Ninjutsu was beneath them.
Her punch met his.
The world twisted. Air screamed. Kaguya stumbled backward, her eyes widening in genuine shock.
"Impossible," she breathed.
A half-blood shouldn't possess such strength. Unless—
"Did you consume the sacred fruit?" she demanded.
"If I had, you'd be doing more than taking steps backward." Hanekawa's tone was conversational, but his mind was racing. The Ōtsutsuki were genuinely broken. Even in Sage Mode, he'd barely gained the upper hand against someone without the fruit's enhancement.
"My name is Ōtsutsuki Hanekawa," he continued smoothly. "My father consumed the sacred fruit and passed his Rinnegan to me."
Kaguya's frown deepened. "There shouldn't be a third Ōtsutsuki in this region."
"My father is from another planet. That world was exhausted by the sacred tree." The lie came easily. "He and my mother left after I was born."
She studied him for a long moment, then asked the question that had clearly haunted her: "How did your father unite with your mother?"
Hanekawa considered this. "Perhaps because she was beautiful."
Kaguya's gaze flickered across him twice, and something almost like acceptance crossed her features. By her aesthetic standards, he was indeed beautiful. His mother must have been remarkable.
"You will leave now," she said coldly.
The brief fight had taught her something crucial: she couldn't defeat him quickly. And if they fought, Isshiki would notice. Her plans couldn't afford complications.
"We could work together," Hanekawa offered.
"There is nothing to cooperate on."
But he heard the hesitation beneath her words. She wanted to believe it. Against Isshiki, his help would be invaluable. Yet his father held the same protected status as Isshiki. If Hanekawa learned the truth, he'd likely turn against her. And she couldn't guarantee his motives—a half-blood who consumed the sacred fruit would become a true Ōtsutsuki, a rival for power.
No. Better to refuse.
"Trust is difficult to earn," Hanekawa said, stepping back. "If you won't grant it, there's no point continuing."
He twisted space around himself.
"His eye ability is indeed spatial," Kaguya observed as he vanished.
She looked up at the sacred tree. No matter how strong Hanekawa was, once she consumed the fruit, he would be nothing. Space itself would bow to her will.
---
Space fractured. Hanekawa reappeared, still within sight of the tree. He closed his eyes and examined his newest entry.
[S-Rank Talent Entry: Time Master]
[Trigger Condition: Travel to the ancient era of the Ninja World]
[Effect: Return target's current state to three seconds prior]
[Cost: Massive chakra consumption. Cooldown: 12 hours. Maximum uses: 2 per day]
Absolutely broken, Hanekawa thought.
Three seconds didn't sound like much. But in combat, it was everything. If Kaguya activated the Infinite Tsukuyomi, he could rewind to before she cast it. In any battle, he could undo fatal mistakes. The applications were staggering.
The trigger condition nagged at him though. Travel to the ancient era. Was this implying he wasn't in a parallel world? That this was his actual past?
He planted a Flying Thunder God seal nearby. He'd return—but first, he needed to understand the full situation.
Under normal circumstances, Kaguya would kill Isshiki and consume the fruit. Theoretically, his intervention wouldn't matter. But Isshiki wouldn't die easily. Kaguya would pay a price. Timely assistance would earn her trust, making everything afterward simpler.
He knew her weakness. With that knowledge, he could gather more entries without fundamentally altering the future's trajectory.
But approaching Kaguya was dangerous. He needed an escape route.
The dragon vein. He'd arrived through it. He could leave the same way.
Hanekawa glanced at the sacred tree, then turned away.
Sage Mode: Eye of the Heart
His perception expanded, revealing everything within miles. The sacred trees were impossibly remote, but he could navigate.
Using Flying Thunder God and Kamui, Hanekawa crossed the ninja world in half an hour, planting seals as he went.
Two days later, he'd mapped the entire continent.
The ninja world was smaller than he remembered, with two-thirds fewer people and far fewer nations. The Land of Ancestors dominated, followed by the Land of the Opposing Force. No wonder Kaguya had chosen there.
He stopped at a cliff overlooking a vast sea.
Clear skies. Gentle clouds. Seabirds wheeling overhead.
But Hanekawa's chest felt heavy.
This sea would become a desert. The ancient Kingdom of Rōran would rise from sand that didn't yet exist. And somewhere in this water flowed the dragon vein—the key to his escape.
Where is it?
The original texts described dragon veins vaguely: massive energy flowing through the earth. But if the earth didn't contain it yet, when would it form?
Damn.
Footsteps interrupted his thoughts.
A procession of ancient humans approached the beach, carrying offerings. Their leader was a young woman in shrine maiden garments. She stood on the sand, dancing and singing while others threw gifts into the sea.
A sacrifice. To the sea god.
The water churned. A massive shadow rose beneath the surface.
A dragon's head emerged, swallowing water and offerings alike.
Hanekawa's breath caught. That's...
The aura matched what he'd sensed in the future—a dragon vein. But this one radiated pure natural energy, not chakra. In this era, the dragon vein was still a living god.
The dragon vein is the dragon god. And later, after Kaguya arrives and adds chakra to the world, it becomes what I know.
The priestess noticed him. "Who are you?"
"And who are you?" Hanekawa asked absently, already planning.
"I am Rōran," she said politely. "We offer sacrifices to the Dragon God. Please don't approach."
Hanekawa's eyes widened slightly. The original Queen of Rōran?
"Why worship the Dragon God?" he asked, watching the dragon prepare to submerge.
"Once sated, it won't harm our fishermen," she replied.
"I see." Hanekawa smiled. "Would you like to keep the Dragon God forever?"
"What are you—"
He was already moving, leaping toward the descending dragon.
"What are you doing?!" Rōran's voice rose in panic.
Senjutsu: Wood Style: Birth of the Tree World
Hanekawa clapped his hands mid-air.
The sea erupted. Countless trees burst from the water, their vines and branches ensnaring the dragon. It screamed, thrashing with overwhelming force. Wood splintered. Shockwaves turned the sea into mountains of water.
"Run!" Rōran shouted, though everyone was already fleeing.
Hanekawa fell from the sky like a meteor, slamming into the dragon with a punch that sent it deep underwater.
Senjutsu: Super Strength
The dragon shrieked in agony.
Senjutsu: Super Strength Kick
His stomp created a shockwave that rippled across the entire bay.
The dragon's tail whipped toward him—a desperate counterattack.
Senjutsu: Water Style: Water Formation Wall
The sea itself rose, forming a rotating barrier. The tail crashed against it uselessly while Hanekawa's kick connected with the dragon's body.
It understood then. It was outmatched.
The dragon dove, trying to escape into the depths.
Wood Style: Wooden Arhat Technique
A massive wooden statue rose from the sea, its hands closing around the fleeing dragon. The sea rushed outward as the Arhat lifted its prey high, then brought both hands together in a crushing clap.
The dragon went limp.
Rōran watched from the shore, trembling. A god. He's a god in human form.
Hanekawa returned to the beach and clapped his hands. The Arhat dissolved.
Three lines of text appeared before him:
[S-Rank Talent Entry: I Am a Myth (Unobtained)]
[Trigger Condition: Witness and create the myths of the Ninja World]
[Current Progress: 5%]
So it's true. I'm becoming part of history itself.
Now he needed to seal the dragon vein into the earth.
He noticed Rōran and casually pulled the dagger from her belt using telekinesis.
Senjutsu: Earth Release: Falling Sky
The ground opened. The dragon vein sank into a deep pit.
Hanekawa formed seals, inserting the dagger and a Flying Thunder God kunai into the earth above it.
Dragon Vein Seal
Countless sealing formulas spread outward, anchoring the dragon vein deep underground. It vanished from sight, leaving only a small hill of clay.
Hanekawa retrieved his dagger.
Rōran scrambled to her feet, kneeling before him. "Lord God!"
"Establish a nation here," he said, handing back the dagger. "Call it Rōran."
"Eh?" She stared at him blankly.
"See you soon."
He disappeared.
The dragon vein was sealed. When the time came, he could return and unlock it, using its power to travel through time once more.
Now, he would wait for Kaguya to make her move.