Hii Kao's figure, wearing a relieved and reserved smile, completely dissipated in a flash of light. Only the footsteps of distant guards bustling through the corridor remained in this hallway.
Hii Kōri stood quietly in place, his glass-like light gray eyes revealing no clear emotion.
Dust, stirred up, slowly in the light pillar streaming through the window. He bent down and picked up the damaged mechanical insect lying quietly in that patch of light.
Perhaps because it had experienced irreversible complete damage at this point in time, and was thus judged by this era as a "present thing," this object did not return to the "future" along with Hii Kao.
"Goodbye... huh..."
He rubbed the warm shell of the mechanical insect with his fingertips, chewing contemplatively on the word.
Call it goodbye, but this would probably be an eternal parting—never to meet again.
So-called time, in essence, does not exist. Or rather, the word itself It is merely a convenient indicator created by humans to describe their own cognition and measure the process of change.
Space and time are not independent phenomena, but a continuum spanning multiple dimensions.
Based on this, the so-called future naturally cannot be a single-line path destined to flow toward a fixed endpoint. It is more like a constantly branching, infinitely spreading tree diagram.
The subtle differences created by any seemingly insignificant choice can become a completely new node, extending into greater deviations, thereby creating different divergences, leading to drastically different endpoints.
With Hii Kao's arrival, Hii Kōri had intersected with his "future son"—this event itself had already become a huge and irreversible "divergence point."
His original plan was to wait until Tsunade had been active in Konoha for enough time—a year or two—before comprehensively receiving the knowledge and information she had recorded.
After all, casting Demonic Descent was essentially a one-time deal. Knowing that Hii Kōri's consciousness could sync to Konoha through her "illusion," Tsunade would be on guard anyway.
But now that he knew what would ultimately transpire if he acted according to his original plan—mainly by paying no attention to Tsunade—Hii Kōri could no longer regard his arrangements concerning Tsunade as an unimportant move.
The future he would travel from now on would never connect with the "future" from which Hii Kao came.
"Though I don't yet know how to handle this troublesome relationship with Tsunade, at the very least, I definitely won't let her give you a name like 'Kao.'"
Thus lamenting Tsunade's complete lack of talent in naming, Hii Kōri's gaze fell again on the damaged mechanical insect in his hand.
Even knowing it was the work of a future, more mature version of himself, when he examined this delicate mechanism, a strong astonishment still rose within him.
The perfect dynamic balance composed of wires, springs, gears, and other tiny parts, encased in extremely thin polished crystal sheets, had already collapsed.
Yet the exquisite design ideas conveyed by the core—filled with a mechanical beauty remarkably similar to a watch movement—and the craftsmanship capable of constructing such intricate and precise circuits on such a tiny substrate, remained clearly visible.
At this moment, Hii Kōri wished his vision were a bit lower.
Those who know nothing of the world often possess a kind of ignorant happiness. But those with a broad perspective yet insufficient ability—who can clearly perceive the gap—are truly pitiable.
As is well known, mutual flattery exists in every field. Pure admiration is rare; flattery or praise intended to lead to ruin—with ulterior motives—is the norm.
Oh, "killing with praise." What a contemptible term. What a vile act.
Lifting up those who have achieved results, attempting to cause the weak-willed to sink into false glory, trapped for life in their comfort zone, unable to advance an inch.
It's like someone who, upon seeing the beauty of a butterfly while watering flowers, cannot appreciate that beauty—only noticing their own insignificance and ugliness—and so madly splashes water on the butterfly, trying to make it fall into the mud, never to fly again.
The source of driving humans to become demons is, naturally, the Seven Deadly Sins that bind the human heart.
Hii Kōri did not consider himself a narrow-minded person. As for his future self, judging by Kao's description and the technique displayed in this mechanical insect, he could hardly be called a "promising youth" in need of being killed with praise. But as a jujutsu sorcerer, he possessed his share of negative emotions.
Pride: As expected of future me—truly skilled!
Envy: Damn, how did he make this?!
Wrath: Damn, why can't I make this now?!
Sloth: Help me build a production line!
Greed: Give me the blueprints too!
Unfortunately, that wouldn't do.
"Never mind, never mind. The Vatican revised the definition of the Seven Deadly Sins to a more modern version in 2008. Why am I still dwelling on this..."
Muttering thus, Hii Kōri suddenly remembered that by the updated standard, he seemed to stain more, and worse, than by the old one.
Drug abuse, genetic manipulation or modification, excessive wealth accumulation
on, conducting ethically controversial scientific experiments...
He'd done it all!
"Tch. What do you think, Rashōmon?"
Tilting his head to look at the shadow beneath his feet, Hii Kōri asked with interest as he stored the damaged mechanical insect in the scroll on his wrist.
Hearing this question, his shadow gradually surged, spreading onto the wall behind him, transforming into an outline resembling a fierce demon. Three pairs of red lines float now on the "head" of the shadow, opening like torn wounds to form its eyes.
"As expected of Kōri. Quite keen even now."
The demon formed from shadow slowly "spoke," yet its calm, rational voice was the polar opposite of its fierce appearance.
"After all, current Rashōmon is merely an extension of my shadow. The independent consciousness I envision hasn't yet been born. Even though you two share the same origin, there's still a difference."
Hii Kōri walked with light steps, slowly heading toward Akane's office. With his movement, the Rainbow Release deflection field centered on him gradually retreated from this corridor.
"So, you deliberately slipped into my shadow to remain at this point in time. Is there something you need to tell me?"
"Hmm—though there are indeed some things I need to remind you of, unfortunately, what I can reveal is only rather vague intelligence."
"For a researcher, the future is something to be explored, not a foundation. Blindly pursuing future 'experience' is easier to lead you astray—this is the idea held by future you."
There was a hint of apology in Rashōmon's explaining voice. But Hii Kōri was not surprised by this.
Knowledge is poisonous. Wasn't the Naruto world he now inhabited the best proof of this concept? Rather, if this Rashōmon had actually dumped a pile of future technology on him, he would have doubted its identity and stance.
"I thought as much. Then tell me, within this 'limited scope,' what can you tell me?"
"Hmm... how about a 'pitfall avoidance guide'?"
The pitch-black demon surged again, transforming into an ordinary shadow following Hii Kōri's footsteps. Only the blood-red marks at the eye positions proved its abnormality.
"Though my main body only awakened consciousness during your journey, I have recorded the sights along this path." As it transmitted a memory packet to Hii Kōri through the shadow, Rashōmon said this.
Upon slightly parsing, Hii Kōri realized what this memory was.
Back in the Country of Rain, he had already planned his subsequent travel itinerary, with this Great Sand Sea as his first stop. And this memory contained information about those regions originally on his plan to visit.
This information was roughly divided into three categories.
The first category: places where "there is indeed something worth seeing."
These locations often contained unique natural energy nodes, relics and artifacts from the time of the Sage of Six Paths over a thousand years ago, or other novel things. Whether for his ultimate project or simply to expand his horizons and deepen his collection, they were quite useful.
Among them was Hoshigakure in the Land of Bears—a place with a radioactive meteorite. Also, a small country called Retsuka on the western border of the Country of Wind had an artifact from the Sage of Six Paths era. The Paradise Box in the Land of Grass was also a genuinely good item.
As for the Three Sacred Lands—places anyone connected to the ninja world knew about—there was no need to elaborate. This information provided several different entrances to these three sacred lands.
The second category was marked as "no value, not worth wasting time."
The rumors about these places were either purely fabricated, or factual but had long been worn away by history. Or they were purely exaggerations, and the actual "hidden treasure" was of little use to Hii Kōri now.
The third category was places marked as "seems to have something interesting, but appears to have been visited in advance—might try going earlier."
In this partial record, there were particularly many treasure troves of various artifacts and heritage.
And excluding these goods, over sixty percent of this material's content was about food and accommodation, scenery, and the development prospects of towns and countries. For example, reviews of a certain hot spring inn in the Land of Hot Springs, the scenery of the Land of Snow, and such.
"Hmm... can I ask something?"
"Of course."
"What is all this latter stuff for? I can understand development prospects as a chamber of commerce's essential need, but food and lodging standards?"
Hii Kōri, who had never been particular about such materialistic desires, displayed a genuinely puzzled expression.
"Naturally, though you yourself don't care, your partners still need some worldly pleasures, don't they?"
Rashōmon's tone was quite confident. "In fact, this screening is also to help you avoid wasting unnecessary time and energy, freeing up more time to handle more complex and energy-consuming matters."
"...Like?"
Though he asked, Hii Kōri felt he already knew the answer.
"Hmm... like romantic relationships?"
"...You're right. This is exactly how future memories should be used."
Hii Kōri's mouth twitched slightly, but he didn't retort.
"Of course, there's also something more important that needs to be reminded of you."
After some gags, Rashōmon turned to face Hii Kōri directly, its tone becoming quite dignified.
It again transmitted another piece of information to Hii Kōri, and before the "former master" could examine it, it explained: "Please note: besides Ōtsutsuki Kaguya, sealed in the moon, another Ōtsutsuki is hidden on this planet."
"Only in recent years, at our point in time, did we learn of this Ōtsutsuki from captured Kaguya's memories. It is said he descended on this planet together with Kaguya, then was hit hard by Kaguya's surprise attack and went into hiding."
"He is most likely using a technique called 'Karma' to convert himself into data and parasitize within someone's body. But more detailed intelligence is not yet clear."
"We haven't yet exactly caught his tail. If possible, gather information related to him as early as possible, and prepare to deal with this potential threat."
"Heh... another Ōtsutsuki, huh..."
Hii Kōri crossed his arms with interest, tapping his chin with his index finger. He had considered the existence of the Ōtsutsuki clan, even pondered whether a branch of the Sage of Six Paths' bloodline was hidden somewhere in the world.
But is there another Ōtsutsuki lurking in this world, an enemy of Kaguya?
Wow, this intense?
Hii Kōri had already begun contemplating how to use this message to extract benefits from Black Zetsu—as forHow to deal with... naturally, by continuing to develop. Really.
The Chamber of Commerce had begun to exert force, rolling up like a snowball. The existence of the Dragon Pulse meant he would not lack energy to a certain extent. Combined with an assessment of various countries' development prospects... Eleven years had passed since coming to the Naruto world. Besides developing personal abilities, he could finally formally step into the field he was more skilled in.
After all, the greatest advantage of technology was its "reproducibility," wasn't it?
Many hands make light work—this was certainly true.
"Hmm... looks like you already have a plan, Kōri."
"Just a rough idea. I'll need to make a detailed plan later. What, you want to come?"
"Haha, I won't. Rather, it's time for me to say goodbye."
Having transmitted all the information he could disclose to Hii Kōri, the dark figure on the wall openly spread its hands, its tone filled with satisfaction.
"I think future you also stored the information about that Ōtsutsuki in the Hiruko Shadow Bright Deity that Kao-sama used. Remaining in this era is my own unilateral decision."
"Being able to see Kōri before the main body's consciousness was born has been a truly pleasant experience for me, a fragment. Out of selfishness, I don't want to share this happiness with the main body."
Rashōmon looked at Hii Kōri with its scar-like eyes, its voice gradually fading.
"So I don't plan to return to the future."
"However, to prevent my future perspective and knowledge from influencing your judgment too much, I've decided to completely clear this fragment's 'consciousness' and 'memory.'"
"The core structure of this fragment will be preserved, to serve as nourishment for Rashōmon at this point in time."
"Then, farewell, my master."
***
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