Next Bonus, 100PS!!
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Mount Myōboku, Longevity Peak.
A few days had passed, and Kaguya no longer wore the broad, formal robes she once did.
She now wore a simple white dress that looked both comfortable and elegant. Her silver-white hair was loosely pinned up, with a few strands falling by her cheeks. The powerful presence she once had as a goddess was gone, replaced by a warr look.
"Mm. This face mask really is useful..." Kaguya murmured, touching her cheek.
Then she picked up a carved tube of lipstick and applied it carefully in front of the mirror. The deep red color made her already stunning face even more arresting.
"The lipstick is excellent too. Tomorrow, I'll ask Manji for a few more shades..."
"Why does Manji have so many wonderful things?" She looked at her reflection, feeling a real fondness for these unusual new luxuries.
Even after living for so many years, she was surprised to find out there were so many nice things in the world.
[Note: Honestly, the Kaguya in the ani TV version doesn't feel like she lived that many years. She was such a hopeless romantic there. A man draped a cloak over her shoulders and said a few words, and she fell in love. That adaptation never felt very reasonable to .]
A mont later, Kaguya rubbed her cheeks and frowned at herself in the mirror, trying to look serious. "Wait. Kaguya, have you fallen this quickly?"
"Where is your willpower?"
"Manji is being good to you because he wants to use you. He wants to turn you into his subordinate."
"Into one of his pieces..."
But as soon as she said it, her eyes dropped and her voice grew softer, showing a hint of acceptance, almost as if she was ready to give in.
"But he really is treating well..."
"In the end, I wronged him first. I was the one who stabbed him in the back. Of course he resents ."
"Even if I know he's using , I don't mind being used by him... And as long as I behave, he won't really do anything to ..."
Kaguya reasoned with herself, going over each thought one by one.
Manji hadn't really done much, but Kaguya had already talked herself into it.
Just then, Manji appeared.
"Are you getting used to living here, Kaguya?" Manji asked lightly, his hands clasped behind his back.
Kaguya turned around at once. A faint flush of annoyance touched her cheeks, and she frowned at him in dissatisfaction. "Could you knock before coming in?"
Manji paused for a mont. He looked at how different and delicate she seed now, almost like a new person. After a short silence, he nodded. "Mm."
"I ca to ask you about the Ōtsutsuki Clan and Isshiki," Manji said as he sat down nearby, making his reason for visiting clear.
"..." Kaguya's face grew serious, and her eyes turned grave. "Their clan might co to the Shinobi world soti in the next thousand years. I'll tell you their nas and abilities. You need to be careful."
"The Ōtsutsuki Clan has always operated in two-person teams..."
Before she could finish, Manji interrupted her directly. "I know that."
His tone was calm. His fingertip tapped the table as he slowly nad three people. "There are three Ōtsutsuki who have yet to arrive: Momoshiki, Kinshiki, and Urashiki."
"How do you know all of that?" Kaguya's red lips parted slightly. Her pale eyes widened as she stared at Manji in disbelief.
As an Ōtsutsuki ancestor, it was normal for her to know about the clan's secrets. But Manji was from the Shinobi world, so it shocked her that he could na Momoshiki and the others so easily.
"Small thods. You don't need to know the details."
"What I want to ask is this: where are those three Ōtsutsuki now?" Manji's gaze deepened.
Inside, Manji was already thinking. If he could find those three, he could study their bodies and bloodline abilities.
Kaguya shook her head, sounding helpless. "I really don't know. All three of them use space-ti techniques and move around unpredictably."
"If I still had full control over Anominaka, I might be able to search for their spatial coordinates. But with my current strength gone, I have no way to find them."
Manji fell silent, his eyes narrowing a bit. After a mont, he asked sothing that surprised Kaguya even more.
"Do you know Ōtsutsuki Shibai?"
"You even know about him??"
This ti, Kaguya really lost her composure. Her serious look broke, and she stared at Manji like she had seen a ghost.
Knowing about Momoshiki, Kinshiki, and Urashiki was already extraordinary.
But Manji even knew about Ōtsutsuki Shibai, the legendary God of the Ōtsutsuki.
It felt like Manji was definitely cheating.
Seeing her shock, Manji chuckled under his breath. "Then do you know where his body is now?"
Kaguya looked puzzled. "He died?"
"..." Manji's expression stiffened. He realized he had nearly forgotten the main point.
Kaguya had been hiding for years. Her knowledge of the Ōtsutsuki Clan's internal intelligence was far inferior to Momoshiki's.
Manji ignored her previous question and moved on. "You should know about Isshiki, at least. He also controls space, and do you know that he has a juvenile Ten-Tails hidden away?"
Kaguya looked blank and shook her head.
Manji went quiet. After a long pause, he spoke again. "Fine. You should at least know Yin-Yang Release, right?"
Only then did Kaguya nod. Her tone beca certain. "Of course I know that. It was the power Hagoromo controlled. At my peak, I could use it with ease."
"You want to study that technique? With your strength, researching Yin-Yang Release should be simple."
Manji's face darkened, if not for the system's layers of suppression hanging over his head, he would have mastered Yin-Yang Release completely when he was only at the Super Kage level, or perhaps even back at the Kage level.
But now, with all those limits, he couldn't even form Truth-Seeking Orbs. The only thing he had that ca close was the Six Paths Sword.
"Wait." Manji suddenly slapped his forehead as the Six Paths Sword ca to mind.
That was right.
The Six Paths Sword was made using the power of Yin-Yang Release. The blade itself held so of that original power. Maybe he could use a bit of it.
As soon as the idea ca to him, Manji wanted to go back and study it right away. "I'm leaving now."
He turned to go.
"Manji, wait!" Kaguya called out in a hurry.
Manji stopped and looked back at her in confusion. "Mm?"
A slight blush appeared on Kaguya's cheeks as she made her request, sounding a bit awkward. "Um... could you give more costics? They're really useful. And maybe a few more outfits, if you can?"
Manji raised an eyebrow. "I thought you cared only about pursuing ultimate power and never bothered with appearance or decoration."
There was a trace of surprise in his voice.
It turned out Kaguya wasn't so different from other won after all.
"Chasing power was sothing my clan and survival forced on . But wanting to look nice is just natural for a woman." Kaguya pressed her lips together and glanced at him curiously. "Besides, don't you have lots of strange clothes in your closet?"
"..." Manji's face stiffened.
He had forgotten about that.
When Manji was still a young man, he had asked Mount Myōboku's clothing workshop to make him a big collection of different cosplay outfits.
He did it just to pass the endless years.
Even though the Transformation Technique could change how you looked, actually wearing sothing yourself still felt different.
You could say it was one of Manji's small personal hobbies.
"Cough, cough. Fine." Manji coughed twice to hide his embarrassnt and forced himself to nod, agreeing to Kaguya's request.
When he agreed, Kaguya's eyes lit up. Then, looking serious, she said, "I can help you with work to repay you."
"I noticed Mount Myōboku is getting more involved in the human world. I can help Mount Myōboku earn money. If we sell things like costics, record players, and caras in the mortal world, we could make a lot."
"You want to go into business?" Manji frowned slightly, surprised by the idea.
"If you let , I'll do my best. Think of it as my way of making up for what I did to you." Kaguya looked up at him.
Manji thought it over and remained quiet for a long ti. After a while, he finally spoke. "I need to think about this."
Manji didn't say anything else. He disappeared from the room in a flash.
Once he was gone, Kaguya lowered her eyes. She felt a faint sense of loss and whispered, "In the end... he still doesn't trust ."
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