Kaguya's cool gaze slowly swept over the tailed beasts behind Arisu, then she looked at him beside her.
"Arisu, could they be the tailed beasts that Hagoromo split out from the Ten-Tails?"
She was extremely sensitive to the aura of her own chakra.
Although Kaguya no longer had her former power, she could still sense those familiar traces from the past, after all, they had once been one whole.
Even after such a long time, that connection rooted in the origin of chakra could still be easily detected by her.
"Yes.", Arisu nodded lightly.
Then he turned slightly toward the nine tailed beasts beside him, who all wore confused and curious expressions.
He raised his hand and pointed at Kaguya, introducing her, "Let me formally introduce you. This is Kaguya."
"In theory, you all count as her children. The source of the chakra inside your bodies all came from her."
As soon as Arisu said this, the tailed beasts were slightly startled.
The ones who had been whispering among themselves instantly fell silent, all looking at Kaguya with shock.
That strange sense of familiarity and pressure from before suddenly had an explanation, and they all showed expressions of sudden realization.
No wonder when they saw this woman earlier, something had felt off. They had felt both close to her and faintly wary at the same time. So this was the reason.
The source of their chakra was actually this seemingly gentle woman before them.
"Mm, you've all become much cuter."
Kaguya smiled faintly when she heard this, a bit more softness appearing in her brows and eyes. She walked slowly to Matatabi, bent down, and gently picked up the still-dazed little Matatabi.
"What a cute little cat. I remember they were originally enormous, covering the sky. How did they become so small now? Did you shrink them?"
Her fingers lightly brushed through the soft fur as she turned to look at Arisu, her smile deepening.
Arisu nodded again, his tone calm. "They've stayed in the human world for too long. Their large bodies were inconvenient, so I taught them a shrinking technique. They can now control their size at will."
Matatabi, held in Kaguya's arms, instantly stiffened. Her eyes showed slight displeasure as she awkwardly turned her little head away, looking unwilling.
Kaguya looked at the obedient yet awkward little Matatabi in her arms, and the more she looked, the more she liked her.
She simply turned toward Arisu while holding her and directly suggested, "She's really too cute. Why not leave her with me to keep me company? I have nothing to do most days, so I can play with her to pass the time."
Arisu was slightly stunned when he heard this.
Before he could even respond...
the Matatabi in his arms instantly bristled.
"Ah!? You woman, are you really treating me like a pet!?"
Matatabi suddenly struggled free from Kaguya's arms. With a leap, she quickly jumped back into Arisu's embrace.
"Teacher! You absolutely cannot agree to this woman!"
"I am the dignified Two-Tails, not some toy for others to play with. I don't want to be kept in a cage and raised like a pet for my entire life!"
Matatabi looked at Arisu and spoke urgently.
Arisu smiled and shook his head, raising his hand to gently soothe the bristling Matatabi in his arms. He then looked at Kaguya and said, "That won't do, Kaguya."
"They may be tailed beasts, but they all have independent free will. They have their own thoughts and choices. They have never been objects that can be casually given away."
"Oh?"
Kaguya crossed her arms, and a trace of clear dissatisfaction flashed through her eyes.
This was simply her nature, and it wasn't strange.
In her long-held understanding, everything in the world could be controlled by her. When she ruled the human world in the past, all humans under heaven were seen by her as weapons, tools, or even expendable materials.
Things like life and free will had always been as insignificant as dust in her eyes, not worth mentioning at all.
In her view, tailed beasts were merely manifestations of her own chakra. Keeping one to relieve boredom was perfectly natural.
"That's right! We are free and equal. That's something teacher taught us long ago!"
Matatabi poked her head out from Arisu's arms and glared fiercely at Kaguya. "Don't think that just because you've taken human form, you're somehow more noble than us tailed beasts."
"Hmph!"
Kaguya let out a cold laugh. A faint but powerful aura spread from her body as her gaze swept over Matatabi, her tone carrying a sense of superiority. "Arisu, is this what you've taught your student?"
"Back when I was the Ten-Tails' jinchuriki and ruled over everything, you tailed beasts hadn't even formed complete consciousness yet. You were nothing more than fragments of my chakra."
"A group of chakra aggregates talking about free will?"
"You!"
Matatabi shrank slightly under the pressure of her aura, but still unwilling to give in, opened her mouth to retort again.
Arisu raised his hand lightly to stop her, his tone steady as he mediated, "Enough. Since you are all in Mount Myoboku, you are family. There's no need to argue over who is superior."
"Kaguya, I cannot leave the tailed beasts with you. Where they go should be decided by themselves."
Seeing Arisu's firm attitude, Kaguya no longer insisted.
Everyone knew Arisu was someone who valued family greatly.
Whether it was the tailed beasts, Gamamaru, Fukasaku, Black Zetsu, or Indra, he would try his best to satisfy their requests.
She was different. Kaguya knew clearly in her heart that she didn't mean much in Arisu's eyes.
Her status was even lower than that of a tailed beast.
Kaguya turned her head slightly and spoke slowly, "Then can you help me find someone to keep me company?"
"I want a girl, not those dull White Zetsu, and not the toads in the mountain. Too boring."
Arisu paused slightly when he heard this. After thinking for a moment, he shook his head lightly and said directly, "No."
But Kaguya seemed to have already thought of someone and immediately said, "I remember when you were pacifying the chaotic era, wasn't there a nameless tool girl from the Uchiha clan?"
"That child looked quite pitiful. Did you kill her back then? Bring her to Mount Myoboku and let her keep me company."
"From the Uchiha clan?"
Arisu's brows instantly furrowed slightly. A thin figure flashed through his mind... it was Uchiha Hikaru.
Arisu let out a quiet sigh in his heart. Back in the chaotic era, he had taken action to quell the turmoil and killed her along with everything else in an instant.
Now, that child's soul had long been sent by him to the Pure Land.
Thinking about it carefully, Uchiha Hikaru had indeed suffered an undeserved disaster.
If you think about it, she had only just been used by the Uchiha clan. She was still very young, and the killing on her hands was minimal.
Yet he had wiped her out along with the allied forces.
Uchiha Hikaru truly had a miserable fate.
From birth, she hadn't received much parental love. Then she happened to grow up during the Uchiha clan's decline.
After Uchiha Yui died, the Senju clan, under the buildup of Syura and Black Zetsu, crushed the Uchiha to the brink, and Uchiha Hikaru was born during that period.
Later, as a child, she awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan and was targeted by the Uchiha higher-ups. Before she could enjoy much of life, she had various powers implanted into her and was taken to capture tailed beasts.
In a thousand years, Arisu had only made large-scale moves twice.
Once was against Hagoromo, and the other was during the demon-cleansing.
And Uchiha Hikaru had happened to run into it.
After dying, she was even sent to the Pure Land to work.
Not even twelve years old, yet she encountered so many unfortunate things. She was truly unlucky.