519 Naruto the Flame-Flame Fruit

About a month passed. Kiyosuke had spent these days buried in research with Orochimaru, living on ration pills, barely resting. If not for his strong body, he might not have lasted.

Through their analysis, they discovered that the Kāma left behind by Momoshiki contained a tremendous power—one that could gradually alter Kiyosuke's body toward that of the Ōtsutsuki clan and even grant him the Byakugan, a powerful kekkei genkai.

The data was still being deciphered by Orochimaru.

"If this works, we'll have a way for ordinary people to use the Byakugan. The Hyūga clan's kekkei genkai will no longer be a secret." Orochimaru said with excitement.

His eyes were bloodshot. He had been staying up late with Kiyosuke these days, and even he looked exhausted.

"I don't really care about that. What matters is—I've learned to control a bit of the Ōtsutsuki energy." As he spoke, the Kāma on his palm lit up at a thought. Blue markings spread across his arm and reached his face.

"Heh… this power… truly worthy of the Ōtsutsuki."

Feeling his chakra swell again, Kiyosuke grinned.

"This power is indeed overwhelming. And…"

Under the effect of the energy, his right eye successfully transformed into a Byakugan. Normally, only those with direct Ōtsutsuki blood could possess it.

The Hyūga and the Ōtsutsuki on the moon possessed it only because they were descendants of Kaguya. Their bloodline originated from the Ōtsutsuki. But Kiyosuke had no connection to the clan at all, yet he could still manifest the Byakugan. That meant the Kāma contained all necessary information for the Byakugan. As long as it was fully decoded, even ordinary people could acquire it.

Once he and Orochimaru unlocked the full power stored within, the Byakugan would become commonplace.

"Damn it! Impossible! How could you?! You worthless lower creature! How?!" Momoshiki's voice rang in his mind. A horn-like wooden protrusion began forming on Kiyosuke's forehead, but he forcefully suppressed it.

"Shut up, you idiot. This power belongs to me now."

"Stop spouting nonsense! I am Ōtsutsuki Momoshiki! You could never—!"

Momoshiki roared inside Kiyosuke's mind. He wasn't Momoshiki's actual soul, but a leftover data imprint—a backup. It attempted to invade the vessel's body and spirit, reshaping it until it could host the Ōtsutsuki soul.

At that point, Momoshiki would have revived fully. Unfortunately for him, he ran into Kiyosuke. Worse yet, Kiyosuke and Orochimaru had broken part of the Kāma's code and taken control of its power.

"Hahaha! The age of fancy pupils is over—tattoos are in now. But if my kid's mom sees me like this, she's gonna scold me again." Kiyosuke dismissed the Kāma markings. "So this thing is called a Kāma, and I'm the vessel? Well… feels more like I just got buffed in every direction."

With the Kāma, he could use some of its abilities—such as absorbing chakra and releasing it—without needing to transplant a Rinnegan. There also seemed to be some space-time abilities, though he couldn't use those yet.

"That guy's backup has its own awareness, but I've suppressed it. Next, I need to find a way to remove that consciousness entirely and keep the power for myself."

"No need to rush." Orochimaru said. "A large portion of the data still isn't decoded. It will take time. Even what we've already extracted will require a long period to decipher. In the meantime, your body seems to be aligning with the Ōtsutsuki from a biological standpoint. Not necessarily a bad thing."

If Momoshiki couldn't take over Kiyosuke's body, then every enhancement only strengthened Kiyosuke further.

And the stronger Kiyosuke became, the less chance Momoshiki ever had.

A perfect deadlock.

"If he wants my body, he'd need me to die first. And now with the Kāma, I've got self-regeneration even without using Creation Rebirth." Kiyosuke laughed. "Pretty sure the only ending left for me now is old age."

"Or switching to a new body," Orochimaru said lightly. "If you want, I can teach you Edo Tensei—hm, no, not that one. I can teach you the Living Corpse Reincarnation technique and clone you a new body using your DNA. Wouldn't affect you at all."

"No thanks. Leaving this world with Mei by my side is enough. I'm not like you, endlessly chasing truth. I haven't been home in a while anyway—I'll head back. Call me when you decode the next part."

Waving a hand, Kiyosuke headed home.

Orochimaru watched his disciple's back and shook his head.

"Someone like you… dying someday might be just right."

Then he returned to his research.

When Kiyosuke got home, Mei Terumi frowned.

"Go take a bath. How long have you been wearing those clothes?"

Researchers, after long sessions… well, the smell was indescribable.

After a good scrubbing, he walked out refreshed, hair dripping. He smiled.

"Wife, miss me?"

"No."

Mei rolled her eyes. "We've been married over ten years and you're still like this. I can't stand you. Shinichi just got recommended for the Chūnin Exam."

"Is that so?"

The Iwagakure incident had ended not long ago. The Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, had passed away.

It was said the turmoil was caused by artificial humans created by Ōnoki and a certain doctor. The situation had even caught Orochimaru's attention—since creating human replicas was supposed to be his specialty. The fact that someone else could do it was… interesting.

Because of Shinichi's outstanding performance—and his strength—he and Shikadai were both promoted to Chūnin ahead of schedule.

"Kind of a shame though. I didn't get to see the kid wearing a flak jacket." Kiyosuke scratched his head helplessly.

"When he got his jacket, he spent half the day admiring himself in the mirror." Mei laughed.

"I see. How's Yuka doing lately?" Kiyosuke asked, taking a sip of water.

"Oh, she got a boyfriend."

Crunch.

The cup shattered in his hand. He smiled far too calmly.

"It's not Sora, is it?"

"It is."

"…"

Silently sweeping glass shards into the trash, he said,

"Mei, no need to cook tonight. We're going to a banquet."

"Whose?"

"Sora's."

"I'm home!" Yuka walked in—dragging behind her Obito's dumb son, who looked absolutely terrified. He had clearly heard the earlier sentence.

"I'm doomed…"

Kiyosuke was a total daughter-con. He treated him kindly, sure, but… now that he was dating Yuka, he was definitely going to kill him.

Definitely.

Farewell… father.