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Hello everyone, Since it's the start of a new week, I've decided to run a small event.
As usual, we'll have 1 bonus chapter for every 100 Power Stones. But for this event, there's an extra reward: every 500PS milestone will give 2 additional bonus chapters.
So for example: 500 Power Stones = 3 bonus chapters total
The same applies to 1,000 / 1,500 / 2,000, and so on.
Thank you all so much for the support!
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"Gamamaru—see Hamura out."
Manji gave a subtle nod.
"On it!"
Gamamaru hopped forward, waving his stubby front legs as he led Hamura through the Grand Hall, past Mount Myōboku's clouds and dense forests, and finally through the water passage back to the outside world.
"Hamura, you're passing up the opportunity of a lifetime here!"
"My Master's abilities are beyond anything you can imagine! If you don't learn now, you'll regret it later."
Gamamaru grumbled the entire way.
"I know. Let me think about it."
But Hamura had no appetite for power right now.
All he wanted was to talk to his mother. To convince her to stop.
He walked the return journey alone, heart heavy as lead—caught between the words he hadn't yet spoken and Manji's warning echoing in his mind: "She's been consumed by fear."
His thoughts churned. His pace quickened unconsciously.
By the time he reached Kaguya's estate, the entire compound was engulfed in an oppressive, deathly silence. The servants and attendants who normally bustled about had gone still as statues—heads bowed, barely breathing.
A suffocating pressure hung in the air, the kind that preceded storms. The moment Hamura stepped through the gates, a chill shot through his entire body.
He strode quickly into the main hall—
And found Kaguya seated on her throne.
Silver-white hair cascading over her shoulders. Chakra compressed to a razor's edge around her body, turning the very air in the chamber brittle and cold.
Her expression was dark as spilled ink. Not a trace of warmth in her eyes. Her fingers were clamped around the armrests of her throne with white-knuckled force—she'd clearly been waiting like this for some time.
"M-Mother."
Hamura's voice carried an almost imperceptible tremble.
He'd barely gotten the word out before Kaguya's ice-cold interrogation cut him off.
"Hamura—where is Hagoromo? Did you go see the Divine Tree?"
Her voice betrayed no emotion whatsoever—flat to the point of being unsettling. But the crushing weight of authority compressed into those words made Hamura's lungs seize.
He understood immediately. She already knew. Beneath that placid surface—volcanic fury was about to erupt.
Hamura steeled himself, forced down the rising panic, and stepped forward. "Mother, I know everything now. The truth about the Divine Tree. The people being sacrificed. I came because I want to tell you—it's not too late to turn back..."
His words were obliterated by a thunderous roar.
"SILENCE!!!"
Kaguya slammed her palm against the throne and surged to her feet. Her chakra detonated outward—a freezing shockwave that tore through the entire hall.
Her eyes blazed open—the Byakugan unleashing its full, terrible radiance. The force of her Dōjutsu crashed down on Hamura like invisible chains, absolute and inescapable.
Hamura felt a crushing power invade his body. Every muscle locked rigid. He couldn't even raise a finger. Chakra raged through his meridians—and was instantly, brutally suppressed. He had no means to resist.
His own Byakugan activated on instinct, attempting to deflect—but against Kaguya's eyes, it was a candle held up to the sun. Utterly overwhelmed.
"Don't bother trying to counter with your Byakugan. Mine is leagues beyond yours!!"
Kaguya's voice was a low, seething growl.
Hamura's body stood frozen in place—jaw locked, tongue paralyzed—his eyes swirling with disbelief and anguish.
His mother hadn't even given him a chance to explain. She'd used her Dōjutsu to seize control of him without a moment's hesitation.
.....
Meanwhile—
Manji personally instructed Hagoromo in the Sage Arts of Mount Myōboku.
Hagoromo's talent was extraordinary—he absorbed and mastered the techniques at a remarkable pace.
Manji was mildly surprised, but satisfied overall.
Not quite as fast as himself—but then, Hagoromo's ceiling was incomparably higher. Hagoromo's potential reached Six Paths tier.
Manji's was permanently capped.
The silver lining? Manji was immortal. Hagoromo would eventually grow old and die.
After living as long as he had, Manji's perspective on many things had shifted.
But one conviction had never wavered: survival is victory.
No matter how powerful someone was, once they were dead, they were done. Only the living got to decide what happened next.
And Manji, he was the one who would always be alive.
Over the following days, Hagoromo trained relentlessly on Longevity Peak, and by the end, he had fully mastered Sage Arts and learned to wield them with precision.
At that point, Manji calculated the timing—and knew that Hamura had likely already been subdued by Kaguya.
"Time to prepare for the confrontation with Kaguya…"
The thought settled in his mind like cold steel.
"Hagoromo!"
Manji called out.
Hagoromo leaped down from the mountain peak in an instant.
"Master—you called?"
He spoke with deep respect.
These past days, Manji hadn't only taught him Sage Arts—he'd imparted philosophy, perspective, and wisdom that had broadened Hagoromo's understanding of the world enormously.
On top of that, Hagoromo had always carried a certain awe toward Manji. After all, he'd grown up hearing his mother's tales of the "hero Manji"—the stories that lulled him to sleep as a child. He'd visited Manji's temple every year.
Now, meeting the man in the flesh—that childhood reverence had only intensified.
"The time has come."
"You need to head back. And I suspect Hamura has already been captured by your mother. Be careful."
Manji's voice was measured and deliberate.
"What?? Hamura's been..."
"Master—what do we do??"
Hagoromo's face went taut with alarm, worry surging through him.
Manji waved him calm, his tone firm. "Adults keep their composure. Your mother won't kill Hamura—she'll control him, at worst."
"Take this."
From inside his robes, Manji produced a single talisman.
"This is a Toad Sage Talisman—it has the power to bring someone back from the brink of death."
Hagoromo's eyes went wide with recognition.
This... He knew about this from the stories. His mother had always said Manji possessed two legendary artifacts—a white monkey that could transform into a staff, and a talisman capable of resurrection.
"Thank you, Master!"
Hagoromo received the talisman like it was the most precious thing in the world, tucking it carefully into his robes.
Gamamaru grinned from the side.
"Lucky break, kid! This thing is seriously powerful. In all of Mount Myōboku, only Lord White-Brow and my Master possess these!"
"Put it this way—if the God of Death himself decreed you'd die at midnight, slap this talisman on and you'd come back to life just to punch Death in the face!"
Gamamaru cackled at his own joke.
Manji said nothing—but the toad wasn't wrong.
He couldn't guarantee it would work against an All-Killing Ash Bone.
But for standard lethal injuries? Absolutely effective.
In the original story, Hagoromo had punched straight through Hamura's heart—and the Toad Sage Talisman had dragged him back from certain death without breaking a sweat.
"I'm heading out!"
Hagoromo bowed, then departed through the nearest water passage into the outside world.
.....
"Master—what's our next move?"
Gamamaru asked curiously. It seemed odd that his teacher wasn't planning to join the battle personally.
"Patience. Your next task—go warn the civilians on the surface. Get them to evacuate. When gods go to war, it's the mortals who suffer."
Manji spoke with his hands clasped behind his back, calm as ever.
"Master's compassion knows no bounds! Truly virtuous!"
Gamamaru declared with exaggerated solemnity.
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