Naruto: Child of Chakra - Chapter 182

[You can read the complete story and Marvel fic at -patreon.com/misterimmortal.]

“Tenji was the Emperor of the ‘Land of Ancestors’. A small country that existed over a millennium ago. The country itself was comprised of numerous farming villages, that were surrounded by small forests.”

“At the time of his first encounter with me, his land was at war with the ‘Land of That’ over disputed land ownership. Unlike his followers and the residents of the ‘Land of That’, Tenji desired peace and tried to avoid direct confrontation with his opponents in order to avoid a war being waged, and wanted peaceful negotiations and alliances with them.”

“I too desired peace and didn’t want to die. Maybe he felt a connection with me and was infatuated. He allowed me to continue living on his land and soon we fell in love. He visited me every day, and rumours of our relationship reached the ‘Land of That’. His belief in peace after meeting me was so much that he started to threaten his own followers with death if they dared to threaten the peace with the Land of That.”

“Then, a foolish mortal from the rival country, a minister of sorts, tried to kidnap me. I killed many of his soldiers in self-defence. Tenji was horrified by my god-like powers and decided to betray me in order to prevent a war from breaking out. He showed his true colour, his real courage. What did he want me to do? Let myself be captured, r*ped?”

“When both the countries tried to capture me, to kill me, I saw the God Tree and ate the Chakra fruit. My powers then manifested and I cast the Infinite Tsukuyomi. Tenji, that rotten human, called me a monster as he fell to the genjutsu. Me, a monster? I was pregnant with his sons.”

“After that, I became numb to the humans, to me, they were nothing but tools, fools who would change,” She revealed her story to him.

Shiroken felt her pain to that extent, if he were to ignore what she did later, her acts were justified. He sighed, “Indeed, Tenji was a weak man, most kings and Daimyos are like this. They grow pampered in a protected environment, and never face any hardship, but then they are suddenly made kings or Daimyos, with the power to rule over countless people.”

“Of course, such incompetent men are going to be weak-minded fools. Tenji was a fool, as no man can desire peace until he is ready to protect it with his own life. Peace does not mean non-violence.”

“Like how you are going to fight the entire clan of gods?” She asked him.

He nodded, “Yes, like how I’m going to fight them. And no, they are not gods, you are not a god. You are just a powerful alien. You have no idea what a god even is.”

“You do?” She mockingly asked.

He nodded, “I do. Hagoromo does as well. A god is a being who rules the Universe like it’s a small marble in his hand, the same universe that exists in a Multiverse, which exists in an Omniverse, and even that Omniverse is just a small ball in God’s hand. That’s a god. You cannot comprehend his powers because it’s unimaginable what that power can be. For me, I simply believe that this means he can remove and create a universe with a wave of a hand.”

Kaguya fell silent after knowing this. It was a real existential shock, to realise that in the ocean in which you thought you were a whale shark, you turn out to be nothing but a small strand of grass at the bottom.

“Then why does he not just destroy the Otsutsuki clan?” She asked him.

“Why don’t I just feed all the humans instead of making them work for it?” He answered her with a question.

Well, that was the answer, she realised.

…

They continued their journey, with Kaguya being his pathfinder to the Otsutsuki outpost. They moved so fast across the space, yet it felt slow. The Universe was big, in front of it, Shiroken felt like a hairpin lost in the Ocean.

“We’re about to arrive there.” She notified him.

He quickly prepared himself for a showdown and widened his senses to the max. “How many can you fight at a time?”

“I don’t know, I lost to two of my sons, and I was powerful then.” She replied.

“Fine, try killing one, I will handle the rest.” He instructed her. Soon, before they knew it, they came out of the portal and saw a castle appear in front of them.

“Amazing, a castle in space? They even seem to have trees.” Shiroken muttered at the sight.

“Yes, we Otsutsuki don’t like to live in impoverished conditions. Wherever we go, we make sure we are comfortable. This castle is just one of the billions of outposts out there, some Outposts are made out of planets even.” Kaguya summarised her knowledge.

“Hmm, that’s fine, I will take care of it all one way or another. But first, we need to kill them in a way that they do not alert their sect, they are an outpost after all.” Shiroken thought about a plan.

“How will you do it? They can sense us if we reach closer to them,” she inquired.

Shiroken chuckled, “Well, their own lavish lifestyle will bring their doom. What did I tell you? I am nature itself and look, these folks have erected a tree for me. I will head in first, wait for my signal.”

He quickly moved closer to the castle from below. He was made of natural energy, it was everywhere around them, so it was impossible for them to quickly realise what was approaching. Even fewer chances if they were low ranking Otsutsuki.

As soon as he reached the castle, he entered the thick trunk of the tree and stayed there. At the same time, he used his nature vision to look at every single location inside the castle.

What Shiroken saw left him in conflict, a thousand questions rushed into his mind. Right on the top floor of the castle sat three figures. All were Otsutsuki, but, what they were doing, he didn’t like.

“Dad… I will become as strong as you one day.”

“Haha, of course you will, and maybe even stronger than me. I and your mother are working so hard so we can get you lots of Chakra fruit.”

“REALLY? Then we will go and live in the capital?”

“Yes, son, we will live in the capital then. Right where the great patriarch lives.”

Shiroken saw this entire exchange happening, there were only three Otsutsuki in the building, one woman, one man and one child, about as big as Shirajin. His plan, which was to go and just kill them, was immediately halted now.

~They… It’s not just a matter of power for them. Chakra fruits are a part of their culture. They don’t see killing other species as something wrong. That kid… he doesn’t even know what he’s doing is wrong. This is as if… people are just microscopic beings for them, whom they don’t even see when living their lives and stepping on them.~ Shiroken realised this and watched the small family live their daily life.

They ate together, the man taught his son how to train, the mother taught him how to cook, they slept together at night. They did all that a normal family does, ignorant of everything else.

This was not just a watchtower, this was a home for these three Otsutsuki. For a whole day, Shiroken watched and tried to find just one reason to kill them, something they’d say that would indicate how bad they were. But, nothing other than normal family things occurred.

Tired, he went back to Kaguya, “What happened? Did you kill them?”

He shook his head, “They are just a family. A man, a woman and their son. They are just living their lives there.”

“But they are Otsutsuki, and their life’s purpose is to get Chakra fruits, you know where those come from?” She said.

He nodded silently, “If I kill them all, I will be nothing but like the Otsutsuki. A genocidal maniac. The only difference will be the turned tables.”

“If you don’t do this then say goodbye to your family, your planet, and your love. Killing them is the only way out. Or… you somehow rule over them with an iron fist.” She gave her suggestion.

And he took her suggestion seriously. “Hmm… Kaguya, are all Patriarchs equally powerful?”

“I don’t know, but that should be the case, otherwise there would have been one winner already, with the attained Otsutsuki God form. They are all like a safety net towards each other.” She answered.

“Hmm, your clan has been living like this for tens of thousands of years, your culture has been developed in a way that it disregards all other species. And if I must change that without becoming a genocidal maniac, I will have to kill all the Patriarchs, the militarists and other men with this crazed ideology. Kaguya, I want you to take me to the nearest military planet, wherever your forces live.” He ordered her.

This was the right way to do things. He was not a monster, all Otsutsuki were not crazy, they were brought up this way. And as long as he can kill and absorb one patriarch, he will automatically become too strong for any of the other ones to stop him.

Kaguya looked at his face, it was strange to her how he can go easy on the enemies, how he can have compassion for beings he never even met. But in reality, Shiroken was just pro-life. Destroying the entire species should be the last option according to him.

“Fine, follow me.” she moved.