Chapter 164: Zetsu: Madara, You Can Stop Laughing Now!

"Clan Head Raizo, in your opinion, what should we do after we arrive in Kyoto?" the head of the Yuki clan asked humbly. Before this, he would never have believed that the head of the Kaguya clan could possess such wisdom and was not the brainless brute of the rumors. Indeed, hearing about someone is not as good as meeting them in person! "This..." Kaguya Raizo was at a loss for words for a moment. If it were up to him, he would definitely settle the women and children, then lead his men to attack Kirigakure and let them know that their two clans were not to be trifled with. However, that was not what Kyohiko and Hizashi meant. He thought back for a moment and said, "In my view, from now on we are Daimyo-sama’s ninjas, so we should follow Daimyo-sama’s arrangements." "Very well." --- In a certain underground space in the shinobi world, hearty yet weak laughter echoed. Black Zetsu shrank back in the shadows. "Madara-sama, are you not angry?" "Hmph." On the throne, the old man with multiple tubes connected to his back chuckled lightly. "Angry?" He stood up. The Gedo Statue behind him swayed, its chakra unprecedentedly powerful. Uchiha Madara was getting excited. His voice was deep. "The world is too small for me, so small that there isn’t a single person worthy of being my enemy. And now, such an opponent has appeared." "Tell me, isn’t this something to be happy about?" At this moment, Uchiha Madara was old, yet he seemed to have regained the heroic spirit of his prime. But... he looked at his hands with regret. "A pity, my body no longer supports me in battle with him. And he is not yet strong enough, not enough to bring me greater joy!" Uchiha Madara looked at Black Zetsu. "How are those eyes coming along?" "They are being nurtured well, but they have not yet reached the level required to perform Rinne Tensei," Black Zetsu replied. Madara sighed with regret. "What a pity!" With his decrepit body, if he went out, he could at most manage one difficult battle. Although the opponent had not fully matured either, making the fight seem fair, it wouldn’t allow him to fight to his heart’s content. "By the way, that kid seems to know Wood Style. And unlike the previously mentioned test subjects, he seems to have mastered Sage Mode and can achieve a state similar to Senju Hashirama’s Sage Mode," Black Zetsu suddenly brought up a piece of intelligence. Kyohiko had once used Deep Forest Emergence, and its scale and power were not insignificant. This made Madara even more excited. He turned his head. "Why didn’t you say so before?" "Well, I was worried that you..." Black Zetsu naturally continued Madara’s train of thought. Madara chuckled lowly. "I am indeed not suited to appear now, but the Uchiha... hehe, this clan has no shortage of people who pursue power." "Yes, I understand what to do." Black Zetsu was about to leave when another matter suddenly came to mind. "By the way, regarding the Land of Water, do we need to take action against the Daimyo and the others?" "Let the children handle children’s affairs. You just do your own thing." "Yes!" --- At a seaside pier, a boat was moored. The boatman inside was chatting with the fishermen on the side in the Land of Water’s accent. After a moment, his tone suddenly paused. This presence is... "What’s wrong?" "Ah, nothing, just got distracted." The boatman smiled, then continued to chat. After a while, in the distance, Hyuga Hizashi slowly approached, and he immediately perked up. "Can’t talk anymore, I’ve got a customer!" he said, and began to hawk his services. Hizashi walked towards him. A fisherman on the side looked on with envy. "This one looks like a rich noble, sigh!" "Nobles are hard to serve, it’s not necessarily a good thing." The boatman chuckled, then, as Hizashi got closer, he scurried over to greet him. The business deal was naturally made. He went to the cockpit, and the boat set sail. Not long after. "Busaku, your Land of Water accent has gotten quite good. You’ve even figured out the boatman profession thoroughly." "It’s all thanks to your excellent teaching, Kyohiko-sama. If not for your painstaking efforts, how would we know any of this?" Iburi Busaku chuckled. He wasn’t being humble; his words came from the heart. Before actually doing this work, he didn’t quite understand why Kyohiko had so many requirements. But after doing it for a while, he finally understood... everything Yakushi Nono had said was true. The many requirements were to give them a greater chance of coming back alive. In other villages, which high-ranking figure was like this? Kyohiko said, "I’m also learning as I go. The main thing is to get you started. In the future, you’ll have to research and summarize on your own." "Yes, your subordinate understands," Iburi Busaku’s face was serious. Kyohiko asked, "How is the situation here?" Currently, the Anbu intelligence squad’s sub-captain was Moonlight Shusaku, but in the Land of Water, the main person in charge of the undercover intelligence personnel was Iburi Busaku. His progress was very fast. In less than two months, he had completely adapted to this identity and work, doing very well in the Land of Water thanks to his Kekkei Genkai. Therefore, he was basically in charge here in the Land of Water. "On the Kirigakure side, it was originally confirmed that they were going to move against the Yuki and Kaguya clans. According to our intelligence, they were supposed to deal with the Kaguya clan first. But according to reports, they have all withdrawn today," Iburi Busaku said. Kyohiko was contemplative. It seemed... Kirigakure had temporarily decided not to fight. However, considering that Yagura might be controlled by Uchiha Madara, he couldn’t arbitrarily conclude that they had given up. For someone like Uchiha Madara, changing the minds of the Daimyo and nobles would be incredibly simple. As for being discovered, that had nothing to do with Madara. Uchiha Madara didn’t care about the Land of Water at all; it was more like he was playing a game with the world, seeing himself as a god controlling heaven and earth. "Kyohiko-sama?" Iburi Busaku cautiously probed. Seeing Kyohiko look over, he then asked, "Do we still need to continue gathering information here?" "Scale back our people. Aside from essential personnel, everyone else is to lay low and maintain silence." "Yes!" Iburi Busaku replied in a low voice. Kyohiko nodded, then quietly left without attracting the attention of the sailors in the cabin. Inside the cabin. Seven pregnant women, along with one sick and one crippled person, sat inside. The windows here were open, so the air was decent. The sickly man sat with one of the pregnant women, looking quite intimate. Kyohiko walked towards him. "May I ask your name?" "Kaguya Eisuke," the sickly man replied weakly. He didn’t recognize the man before him, but his clan head had told them to follow, so he did. He hadn’t expected the other party to know space-time ninjutsu, directly teleporting them onto the boat and avoiding a lot of trouble. Kyohiko said, "I know some medical ninjutsu and am also very curious about your condition, so I wanted to chat with you and see what’s going on." "Of course, you can." Before the man could reply, the pregnant woman beside him spoke first. Then, she blushed and explained, "My name is Kaguya Ayako, I am Eisuke’s wife." "As I thought." Kyohiko wasn’t surprised. Their relationship was so obvious it needed no guessing. He even made a bold conjecture—could these two be Kimimaro’s parents? It wasn’t impossible. However, he looked curiously at Kaguya Eisuke, seeking his opinion. Kaguya Eisuke hesitated for a moment, then nodded lightly and held out his hand. "How do you want to check?" The others all looked over. Being Kaguya themselves, they naturally knew what Kaguya Eisuke’s illness was. It was their clan’s Kekkei Genkai disease. In the Land of Water, there was no cure at all. "Don’t worry." As Kyohiko spoke, he suddenly extended a finger and tapped a point corresponding to the "Gate of Wonder." This was an important chakra hub. As long as he controlled it carefully, it wouldn’t activate the gate’s power, while allowing him to sense Kaguya Eisuke’s internal condition through its chakra circulation. One second, two seconds... After half a minute, even Hyuga Hizashi came over. He had seen Kyohiko using pressure point strikes through his Byakugan and came to check on the situation. As a result, he saw Kyohiko’s finger placed on Kaguya Eisuke’s "Gate of Wonder" chakra point, his expression quite solemn. After another two minutes, Kyohiko withdrew his finger. "How is it?" Ayako couldn’t help but ask, her face filled with anxiety. Kyohiko asked, "Is this your clan’s bloodline disease?" "Yes." Kaguya Eisuke nodded, but without much excitement. He didn’t hold out much hope. Kaguya Ayako, however, was very happy. The other party had determined it was a bloodline disease just by examining him... "Did you discover something?" "The disease is very rare. It looks like a blood disorder, but I feel the root cause may not be the blood. I can’t be certain yet," Kyohiko said. Kaguya Eisuke smiled calmly. "It is indeed a bloodline disease. In our clan, those who get it basically have no chance of survival. The fast ones last a few months, the slow ones a few years..." He sighed softly. "I heard the current Hokage of Konoha is the legendary Tsunade-sama? Perhaps the clan head hoped that by going to Konoha, I might be saved by Tsunade-sama, but..." He shook his head, clearly not optimistic. Moreover, he would rather die in battle than on a sickbed, but he couldn’t say such things in front of his wife. However, through his emotions, Kyohiko understood some of his inner state. He shook his head gently. "That’s not it. At least, to me, you are very important." "What do you mean?" Ayako, who was initially disappointed, couldn’t help but feel her spirits lift. Could it be... my husband can be saved? Kyohiko said, "Kekkei Genkai diseases are very complex and are by no means problems that can be solved in a short time. One more case means one more piece of research material." The Kaguya members were all bewildered. Hizashi, however, somewhat understood Kyohiko’s meaning, and couldn’t help but feel a little shocked. So that’s what Kyohiko was thinking? He then stepped forward to explain. "Kekkei Genkai diseases require long-term research. If a breakthrough can be made with him, then in the future, if your children or descendants get a similar disease, there will be a way to treat it." Speaking to this point, the way Hizashi looked at Kyohiko was now tinged with admiration and respect. He had thought... the other party had unhesitatingly taken in such a sick person only for the sake of the pregnant women. At least, that’s what he had thought. Compared to Kyohiko, he himself was far too pragmatic. Hizashi was deeply ashamed. The nine Kaguya members looked at each other, then all looked at Kyohiko. "Kekkei Genkai diseases themselves have high research value," Kyohiko stated. Everyone was silent. At this moment, they could feel Konoha’s respect for them. Perhaps Konoha was doing this to make them more loyal, but in the past, no one in Kirigakure had ever mentioned this, and mostly treated them as tools. The comparison made the difference clear. Several pregnant women touched their bellies, suddenly feeling very lucky. By going to Konoha, they and their descendants might live a life different from those in the clan. However, what about the other clan members? They looked towards their homeland, a trace of worry flashing in their eyes. They didn’t know if they could ever return. Kyohiko took out a pen and paper, roughly jotting down the results of his examination, then put them away. The specific situation would definitely require consultation with more skilled experts back in Konoha—Tsunade would certainly be very happy. Without an important surgery, she couldn’t find an excuse to skip work these days. However, what Kyohiko cared about more was... why hadn’t the reward for the Kaguya clan arrived yet? It shouldn’t be like this! Kyohiko glanced at Hizashi, a thought forming in his mind. It seemed the problem lay with the Hyuga clan. He had used the Hyuga clan’s name to bring over the Kaguya clan, but that also created a problem with the Kaguya’s "ownership." For them, who had the final say, Konoha or the Hyuga? The difference between the two was huge and could affect the final reward he received. This matter required some maneuvering. He couldn’t have worked so hard to bring in talent just to make a wedding dress for the Hyuga clan. What did Hyuga Hiashi understand? He would only hide people away like a hamster. Kyohiko smiled lightly, then chatted with everyone for a while. As they got to know each other, they were no longer as fearful as before. Several pregnant women dared to approach him and ask him to help check their bodies. Before long, Kyohiko had become very familiar with the nine members of the Kaguya clan. Hyuga Hizashi stood on the side and did not interfere. Instead, he felt that Kyohiko’s ability to chat with everyone at such a young age was truly a great skill. In comparison, he couldn’t do it.