Time flows like water, and cultivation does not measure years.
"To master a supreme martial art, one must endure pain that ordinary people cannot bear. Master Kael loves to drink oolong tea, and he favors robes of deep red."
"Good morning, Master!"
Early in the morning, Gamamaru sat perched on a large rock, singing cheerfully. The moment he saw Kael step out of the house, he bounced forward, full of excitement.
"Gamamaru, what are you singing so early in the morning?"
Kael frowned, his expression darkening at Gamamaru's noisy greeting.
Gamamaru had been living with Kael for about three or four years now. Over that time, they had become inseparable, and Gamamaru had formally taken Kael as his master.
At first, Gamamaru had been cautious and respectful, but as the years passed, he had grown bolder and more talkative.
"Hehe, Master, isn't this the song you like to sing? You used to sing it while practicing and bathing. By the way, Master, what exactly is 'deep red'?" Gamamaru chattered, hopping to Kael's side.
"All right, all right. Enough questions. Sometimes knowing too much can be a burden. Come, Gamamaru."
Kael donned his red-and-black training robes and led Gamamaru to the mountaintop to begin their day of cultivation.
Kael's training consisted of integrating the powers of Myomoku Mountain, Dragon Cavern, the Mistbone Forest, and the Ape Demon techniques into one unified cultivation system a method that drew the strengths of countless styles.
The process was slow, painstaking, but Kael did not mind. Time was his ally.
Years carved heroes from the weak, and he trained his arts as if challenging time itself.
"How fast it goes…"
Standing atop the peak in his red-and-black robes, Kael surveyed the land. Over the past years, he had slowly merged the various cultivation arts. Progress was slow, but he was patient.
"Master, why do you train so hard every day?"
Gamamaru asked, resting on Kael's shoulder and gazing at the morning sun over Myomoku Mountain.
Kael smiled faintly. "Because out there is a powerful madwoman."
"Oh? Stronger than you and Grandmaster Whitebrow?" Gamamaru exclaimed in surprise.
Kael nodded. "She has consumed a unique substance that made her extraordinarily powerful. She possesses immortality, and I alone could not defeat her."
"However, I might be able to make use of her two sons…" Kael mused.
He thought of Ōtsutsuki Yui and Ōtsutsuki Yumu. Kael had not seen them in years, having carefully avoided the human world except to gather necessary supplies like meat, vegetables, and fruits. Myomoku Mountain's 'celestial delicacies' did not suit his taste.
"By now, they should be three or four years old."
"Now, with my skill in concealing my presence, I no longer need the invisibility robes."
Kael whispered to himself, and in an instant, he became invisible, undetectable even to those attuned to chakra. This ability was inspired by the legendary powers of the three great serpent princesses of the future.
"Master? Master? Where did you go?"
Gamamaru called out, looking around the empty forest.
Kael reappeared, grabbing Gamamaru. "Come, I'll show you the woman's children."
With that, Kael carried Gamamaru and left Myomoku Mountain.
Ōtsutsuki Kaguya gazed at the sky, her thoughts heavy. She worried about her clan discovering her betrayal. In the coming decades, she would remain undetected, but centuries later, her actions would be exposed. Before that, she would prepare the White Zetsu army.
"I wonder how my sons will grow over the centuries… will they be able to withstand them?"
Kaguya's gaze drifted to the distant lakeshore, where Yui and Yumu played safely. The Infinite Tsukuyomi covered the world, eliminating any immediate danger.
She planned to gradually release a portion of humanity later, as leaving the world empty was not ideal. She aimed to be a goddess of the world, not of a wasteland.
At the lakeshore, the two children played on the grass.
"Yumu, come catch me!"
"Yui, don't run! Mother said not to go too far!"
The two three-year-olds had fair skin and tiny horns sprouting from their heads. They were Ōtsutsuki Yui and Ōtsutsuki Yumu.
Kael and Gamamaru watched quietly from beneath a tree.
"Master, I have a plan! This is the perfect chance to take them and use them to threaten that woman!"
Gamamaru suggested eagerly.
"Don't bother with plans," Kael said, unmoved. He understood why Gamamaru had been so easily manipulated in the original tale still too naïve.
In the original story, Gamamaru had glimpsed the future and tried to manipulate the Six Paths Sage to oppose Kaguya, only to be outwitted.
Kaguya approached Yui and Yumu.
"Yui, Yumu, it's time to come home."
"Mother!"
The children clung tightly to her neck, nuzzling her shoulder.
"Mom, last night you said Master Kael can summon talking frogs and a monkey that can turn into a staff is that true?" Yui asked, eyes wide with admiration, the small horns wobbling as she moved.
Yumu nodded, gripping Kaguya's sleeve. "And the paper that can bring people back to life… is Master Kael really that powerful?"
Kaguya paused, gently brushing their hair. Her expression was soft, like moonlight reflecting on water, but a trace of unspeakable melancholy lingered beneath.
"Yes, Master Kael is the bravest and most powerful person in the world. He fought terrifying monsters to protect the land, helped many in need, and even aided me. He is my greatest benefactor."
She omitted the tale of betrayal in the bamboo forest, the struggle over the chakra fruit, and the ruthless resolve when she struck down Graybone. She painted Kael as an omnipotent hero a legend preserved in time, perhaps to ease the weight of her guilt.
Gamamaru leaped from Kael's shoulder, chattering excitedly. "Master, she really knows your name! And she's calling you a hero!"
Kael stood silently, his red-and-black robes fluttering in the evening breeze. His gaze followed Kaguya and the children, deep and contemplative.
He knew why Kaguya told this story the hidden guilt within her gentle voice was like a needle pressing lightly on his heart.
Not pain, but a subtle, cutting irony.
Once, they had fought in the bamboo forest, life and death in every strike. Now, she spun him into a heroic figure for her children.
"A hero, huh? She's quite the storyteller."
Kael murmured, the sound almost lost in the wind. A faint, ambiguous smile curved his lips.
Gamamaru tilted his head, puzzled. "Master, aren't you happy? She made you sound amazing!"
Kael finally looked down at the hopping frog. His deep gaze softened, replaced by a glint of calculated resolve.
"Happy? No. I just think… this game might be even more favorable than I imagined."
He thought of Yui and Yumu's awe at 'Master Kael' and Kaguya's deliberately gentle storytelling. Her guilt was a weakness, and their admiration a wedge he could exploit.
Dividing mother and children required no sword or blood. Sometimes, a beautified legend and a name preserved in memory were enough to plant the seed of doubt.
When the harsh truth eventually surfaced, beneath the beautiful story lay a feast of betrayal Kaguya betraying the Ōtsutsuki clan, the emperor betraying Kaguya, Kaguya betraying Kael. Betrayal for betrayal.
"Let's go, Gamamaru."
Kael melted into the shadows of the forest, the secret technique of concealment flowing naturally, as if he had never been there.
Gamamaru bounded after him, chattering: "Master, what do we do next? Should we secretly listen to her story?"
"No need. We wait. Wait for the children to grow, and for their admiration of 'Master Kael' to turn into doubt toward their mother's lies. That will be our moment."
The evening wind rippled across the lake, scattering the distant lights of the mansion across the water.
Kael disappeared into the forest, leaving only Gamamaru's footsteps and questions behind, gradually swallowed by the night.
Inside the mansion, Kaguya sat at the bedside, gently patting her children as she began to recount the story she had polished of the hero known as Master Kael.