After staring up and down at Kaguya Reiichi for quite a while, Hoshiyomi finally accepted the fact that this kid in front of him was really only twelve years old.
Reiichi, for his part, was surprisingly outgoing. After introducing himself and realizing Hoshiyomi hadn't said anything yet, he jumped right in again:
"Hey, Uncle, why don't you tell me about yourself too? That's not fair, you know! I already told you everything about me, but you haven't said a word about yourself.
Come on, tell me about your time and world — I'm super, super curious!"
Watching the boy bounce around with so much energy, Hoshiyomi couldn't help but sigh inwardly. Yeah… definitely twelve.
By now, he'd already recovered from his earlier shock. After confirming the boy meant no harm, Hoshiyomi decided to introduce himself as well — though he left out anything about parallel worlds, only saying that he had traveled from Konoha Year 47.
Being twelve, Reiichi still had that childish excitement. Hearing that Hoshiyomi came from the past, he immediately became fascinated, not even thinking about the major contradiction — that someone this powerful had supposedly existed in the past without leaving a single trace in the history of the ninja world.
Watching Reiichi hop around in excitement, Hoshiyomi sighed again. Guess I'll have to be the one to bring it up myself.
Clearing his throat, he asked casually:
"Hey, Reiichi — if I'm not mistaken, your father should be Kaguya Kimimaro, right? Is he still living in Konoha? I'd like to meet him."
"Of course he's in Konoha! Uncle Hoshiyomi, you wanna meet my dad?"
"Yeah, there are some things I need to confirm with him. And if I want to return to my original timeline, I'm guessing I'll probably need his help."
Reiichi misunderstood, thinking Hoshiyomi missed his family back in his own time. He reached up on tiptoe and patted Hoshiyomi's shoulder.
"Don't worry, Uncle Hoshiyomi! Even if you didn't say anything, I'd still take you to meet my dad. That's actually my mission — to escort you to Konoha for a temporary stay.
And as for helping you go home, just leave that to me! My dad's really strong. With him around, he'll definitely find a way to send you back to your own timeline so you can be with your family again."
Looking at the cheerful, optimistic Reiichi beside him, Hoshiyomi couldn't help but feel a little better himself. As for Reiichi's mention that he would've taken him to meet Kimimaro anyway — Hoshiyomi didn't mind.
After all, as someone who'd essentially crossed space and time, it made sense for Konoha's top shinobi to keep an eye on him for safety reasons. If their roles were reversed, he would've done the same.
So, Hoshiyomi decided to follow Reiichi back toward the Ryūmyaku research team's base camp.
On the way, he remembered how he'd mistaken Reiichi for a member of the Ōtsutsuki clan earlier. His curiosity got the better of him, and he tried to subtly ask about them.
Reiichi replied without hesitation:
"Konoha having enemies nowadays? Well, there were some a couple years back. I remember when I'd just entered the Ninja Academy — Dad mentioned running into some guys who called themselves Ōtsutsuki.
There were four of them, I think. But Dad, Uncle Naruto, and Uncle Sasuke took care of them all. After that, I never heard anything about the Ōtsutsuki again."
Hoshiyomi swallowed hard.
Four Ōtsutsuki… all defeated by Kimimaro, Naruto, and Sasuke?
Just how powerful is this world's Kimimaro?! Has the Shikotsumyaku bloodline evolved to such a terrifying extent — strong enough to surpass even Asura and Indra?
He looked again at the boy walking beside him. If Kimimaro could have a son this monstrously strong, that says it all about his power.
Reiichi, completely unaware of Hoshiyomi's thoughts, suddenly grinned as something came to mind.
"Hey, Uncle! You should tell me more about yourself too! Judging from your forehead protector, you're a Konoha shinobi, right? Then you must have a family there as well!
Did you have a wife and kids before you time-traveled here?
Who knows — maybe you'll even get to meet their future selves here!"
"Let me think… Uncle, your surname is Gekko, right? Gekko, Gekko…"
As Reiichi muttered this, he didn't even wait for Hoshiyomi to respond — he was already deep in thought, trying to figure out who in Konoha could possibly be Hoshiyomi's child.
But no matter how hard he thought, he just couldn't recall any family in Konoha with the Gekko surname.
That realization made his face go pale. There wasn't a single shinobi in Konoha now with that name… Could it be that Uncle Hoshiyomi and his child… had both died long ago?
His mind started spinning faster, recalling the many stories his mother had told him about Konoha's past — the Nine-Tails' attack, the destruction of the village, the Fourth Great Ninja War…
The more he thought about it, the paler he became. Could it be… Uncle Hoshiyomi and his child died in one of those tragic events?
Then suddenly, something clicked in Reiichi's memory — his mother had once mentioned a shinobi with the surname Gekko.
She said that when she was just a genin taking her first Chūnin Exams, there was a man named Gekko Hayate — a shinobi who had died at the hands of Suna shinobi while trying to deliver critical intelligence back to Konoha.
The moment that memory surfaced, Reiichi's eyes went wide. He clapped a hand over his mouth, terrified of blurting anything out.
Oh no… if Uncle Hoshiyomi finds out his own child died so young… that would destroy him!
While Reiichi's thoughts spiraled into a mess of panic and pity, Hoshiyomi was off in his own head — thinking about how he'd soon be meeting Kimimaro. He didn't really pay much attention to Reiichi's rambling, and casually replied:
"I don't have any children, but I am married. My wife, you actually know her — she's Tsuna—… uh, nothing, forget it, it's not important."
…
WHAT?!
Reiichi's brain nearly exploded.
Did he just hear what he thought he heard?!
Uncle Hoshiyomi's wife's name starts with "Tsuna"… and he said I know her?!
That could only mean one person — Grandma Tsunade!
Oh my god! GrandmaTsunade and Uncle Hoshiyomi are married?! And their child was Gekko Hayate — who died serving the village?!
No wonder Grandma Tsunade never talked about it! It must have been too painful!
The more Reiichi thought about it, the more heartbroken he became.
Uncle Hoshiyomi lost both his wife and child in his youth… and GrandmaTsunade never mentioned him again because the pain was too deep. He was forgotten by everyone — what a tragic life!
Then something else struck him, and his face froze mid-thought.
Wait a second… if his dad, Kimimaro, is kind of like Grandma Tsunade's adopted son…
And if Uncle Hoshiyomi is Tsunade's husband…
Then doesn't that make Uncle Hoshiyomi…
his god-grandpa?!
...
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