Time passed, second by second, and Kaguya's patience gradually wore thin.
"Let go!"
Seeing that Hiroki Hyuga showed no intention of leaving, Kaguya shot him a cold glance, pried his fingers off, and pushed him away.
In an instant, Hiroki felt himself expelled from Kaguya's spiritual realm.
Hiroki felt down in the dumps.
Back in his room, he opened his eyes, stepped outside, and headed downstairs.
At the dining table in the lobby below, Itachi Uchiha, Hana Inuzuka, and Hidekazu Ueno were already waiting for him.
"Why did you sleep in so long today?"
"Sorry, sorry. I had a nightmare." He sat down, looked over the dishes on the table, and said with a smile, "Wow, the breakfast spread is amazing today."
"Everyone else has already left. We can eat better while spending less money," Hidekazu said with a smile.
Hiroki ate silently but kept thinking—he needed to think about his own matters.
Once Kaguya leaves, his current strength would be completely inadequate.
He must find a way to integrate bloodlines—Senju, Uchiha, Uzumaki, Hyuga, Kaguya Clan, and even the Otsutsuki from the Moon...
Meanwhile.
"Tsunade-sama, what's wrong?" A black-haired woman with a short bob, holding a pink piglet, asked, noticing Tsunade's serious expression.
"It's nothing," Tsunade replied, shaking her head.
Just as she was about to do something, suddenly she felt as if her soul had left her body—her body felt completely weightless.
Immediately, the scene before her changed.
She suddenly found herself inside an eerie, ancient palace.
A white-eyed woman whom she'd just met earlier was sitting upright at the front.
"Where am I?" Tsunade wondered aloud.
Kaguya didn't speak. Instead, she stared at Tsunade coldly, appraising her like some object, which made Tsunade feel deeply annoyed.
[Heavenly Defending Foot]
Tsunade raised her leg high and leaped forward.
However, it was as if an invisible barrier blocked her path, stopping her in her tracks.
Then, her body seemed restrained, unable to move.
Without warning, a thick whip suddenly appeared and lashed against her, sending her crashing to the ground.
Only then did Kaguya, standing above, finally look down at Tsunade and speak.
"You're Hashirama Senju's descendant—Tsunade. Though you appear young now, you're already in your forties. By human standards, you're well into your twilight years, and your strength is already fading away."
Unable to rise, Tsunade glared coldly at her, saying nothing.
"You...shall serve me now."
After repeating a brief summary of Tsunade's background, Kaguya continued, her flat tone carrying unmistakable authority.
Hearing this, Tsunade was astonished, then laughed bitterly in anger.
"So you went through all this trouble just to get me to work for you?"
"Alright, I'll admit—you're a little stronger than me. But what makes you think I'd ever listen to you or take orders from you?"
Tsunade sneered.
This woman was indeed powerful—stronger than Tsunade herself.
But she had never heard of her existence before. That could only mean two possibilities: either she had been hiding somewhere, afraid to show herself in the Ninja World, or she comes from another realm entirely.
Tsunade suspected that Kaguya was trying to interfere with the Ninja World by using her body.
Kaguya naturally didn't react emotionally to Tsunade's tone.
"You have no choice. Also, I gave you a gift."
Just as Tsunade felt puzzled, the scene before her changed again.
On a familiar street, she looked ahead in confusion. Beside her, Shizune stared with an odd expression.
Shaking her head slightly, Tsunade continued onward with Shizune.
After walking for a while, she suddenly sensed something was off—her neck felt lighter than usual.
She frantically checked herself all over and turned to ask Shizune anxiously, "Shizune, where is my necklace?"
"Tsunade-sama, weren't you the one who crushed it and threw it away just now?"
"Huh? What are you talking about, Shizune? When exactly did I do that?"
"Just now."
Tsunade froze.
A moment ago, her consciousness had left her body; to others, she would have appeared unconscious. How could this happen...
She raised her hand and stared blankly at her palm.
The only unusual thing she sensed now was that her body felt a bit livelier than usual.
That necklace had been left behind by her grandfather, Hashirama, containing his chakra sealed within.
Could it possibly have been absorbed by her?
Could it truly be that simple?
After a brief silence, Tsunade abruptly changed direction, her eyes determined. "Shizune, let's go back to the village."
"Eh? So suddenly?" Shizune asked, confused.
After breakfast, Hidekazu Ueno went out to gather intel and ordered Hiroki Hyuga and others to stay at the inn for now.
Returning to his room, Hiroki Hyuga once again separated his consciousness, arriving at Kaguya's Palace.
"What is it now?"
"I just want to know how spiritual energy can improve."
"..."
"If I train my spiritual form, is that equivalent to forging my spirit?"
"...You could understand it that way."
"Then how should I train?"
"Let's begin." Kaguya snapped her fingers.
Instantly, two muscular men materialized out of thin air inside the vast palace hall. Created by her, they were directly under her control.
"What does this mean?"
"This is my world. In this place, all your abilities become useless. You must rely solely on your current 'body.' Combat is the simplest method of training."
As Kaguya finished speaking, these faceless strongmen charged forward toward Hiroki Hyuga with heavy breathing.
Hiroki took them down quickly.
After falling down, these two figures transformed into hazy mist, flowing into Kaguya's body seated on the Throne.
Without another word, Kaguya immediately generated two more faceless strongmen rushing toward Hiroki Hyuga.
After the first round, Hiroki realized these two were slightly stronger than the last pair.
Only when his movements became sluggish did Kaguya stop creating enemies.
"That's enough. Go rest. Come back tomorrow."
...
At the heart of the battlefield, waves of troops clashed in the heat of battle.
[Summoning Jutsu!] Jiraiya slammed his palm onto the ground, causing dark ink symbols to spread outward.
With a loud *peng*, a giant purplish-red toad appeared before everyone's eyes. He carried a shield shaped like a wok lid on his back, and held in hand a trident covered with spiky fishhooks.
Because of Gamaken's enormous size, he not only blocked the attacks from the Kumogakure ninja's ninjutsu and shuriken, but also accidentally crushed some ninja beneath his weight—both from Konoha and Kumogakure, without discrimination.
Realizing what he'd done, he quickly apologized, "Sorry, guess I'm just not built for grace."
His voice boomed like thunder as he tried shifting his weight with careful steps.
"Don't move—please!" a ninja cried out in pain.
"Don't move! Don't move!"
At first, just getting pinned wasn't too bad. But now? Getting flattened? No one can handle that!
"Sorry," Gamaken apologized repeatedly, then remained still without making any further moves.
Jiraiya stood atop the toad's head, looking down at the chaos below before fixing his gaze on the Kumogakure ninja.
"How about we finally have a little chat?"
<><><><><><><><>
Thank you for reading! Your support will keep me updating!
~ Every 50 Powerstones = **4 Bonus Chapters** this weekend!
<><><><><><><><>
~ 100+ Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon!
~ More *Free* Chapters and Books Available on Patreon!
patreon.com/Tansnovel
<><><><><><><><>