Chapter 461: The Airheaded Beauty
At this moment, perhaps some might say: Doesn't Naruto also have the Bloodline of the Six Paths Sage, a descendant of the Otsutsuki Clan, flowing through his body? From the root, he also possesses the Otsutsuki Bloodline.
But, it has been localized!
Kaguya gave birth to two sons alone, but her two sons both had descendants with ordinary women of the Ninja World.
Then, generation after generation, they all married and had children with people of the Ninja World.
The Bloodline has been passed down for a thousand years and has long since been diluted beyond recognition.
The immense life force of the Uzumaki Clan, the robust physique of the Senju Clan, the Sharingan of the Uchiha Clan, the Byakugan of the Hyuga Clan...
These can all be seen as the "flowers," varied in form yet equally brilliant, that bloomed after the Otsutsuki Bloodline combined with local factors in the soil of the Ninja World.
In Naruto's view, the ability system of the Ninja World is a hundred flowers blooming and a hundred schools of thought contending.
Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, Genjutsu, Senjutsu, Kekkei Genkai, Kekkei Tōta, and even various secret techniques and Forbidden Jutsu...
While they might be traced back to the Otsutsuki at their root, their development, evolution, refinement, and myriad applications have long since surpassed the initial scope of "Divine Techniques" or "Dōjutsu." Although their power might not be as great as Divine Techniques, Ninjutsu is more comprehensive.
Naruto even believes that those seemingly high-and-mighty "Divine Techniques" and "Dōjutsu" of the Otsutsuki Clan are not necessarily better to use than the "Ninjutsu" tempered by the wisdom and actual combat of countless Ninjas.
The power system of the Otsutsuki often appears simple, crude, and reliant on talent and lineage, while the Ninjutsu system focuses more on technique, study, combination, and innovation.
Furthermore, in Naruto's eyes, the Otsutsuki Clan has another fatal flaw: they are extremely conservative, relying on Bloodline and heritage, and lacking a true spirit of "learning" and "evolution."
Take, for example, their critical resurrection method— "Karma."
Theoretically, as the "subordinate" fed to the Ten-Tails, Kaguya should have known about the existence of "Karma."
Because the Otsutsuki, being few in number and precious as individuals, rely heavily on "Karma"—a "safety" measure that digitizes their own data and implants it into others' bodies to resurrect in the future—to cope with long voyages through the Universe and potential dangers.
This is one of the core technologies for the continuation of their clan.
However, according to the information Naruto knows from the original work, Kaguya seems... unaware of the existence of "Karma"?
At the very least, before she was sealed by her two sons, the only contingency plan she could think of was merely creating a construct of will, "Black Zetsu," using Yin-Yang Release, rather than leaving a "Karma" on her own sons.
Judging by the behavior of Momoshiki and others who appeared later, if Kaguya had known about the existence of "Karma," she would have most likely placed a "Karma" on her two gifted and powerful sons to serve as the perfect "vessels" for her future resurrection.
This is the survival instinct of the Otsutsuki.
Urashiki couldn't place a Karma when he fought Naruto because Naruto only got close when he gouged out his eyes, and he used a Wood Clone.
So, why didn't Kaguya do that?
Naruto has a bold guess in his heart, and this guess also partially explains his understanding of the contradictions in the "original work's" setting:
Such behavior is very likely because the setting of "Karma" was a "patch" added only during the period of boruto: naruto next generations.
In the era when the main story of Naruto Shippuden took place, the "Karma" resurrection mechanism of the Otsutsuki was most likely something that hadn't been clearly established yet.
Therefore, it makes sense that Kaguya didn't know about Karma.
Following this line of thought, Naruto has a more logical speculation regarding Kaguya's actions back then:
Based on the setting, it is highly likely that Kaguya ambushed Isshiki simply because she did not know about the existence of Karma.
She could have resurrected on someone else via "Karma."
In her view, killing Isshiki and feeding him to the Ten-Tails was the only way to avoid ending up as fertilizer for the Ten-Tails.
After killing Isshiki, Kaguya felt deep fear; she was afraid of retaliation from the main family of the Otsutsuki Clan.
A companion had died here; the main family would eventually know and would send people to investigate and settle the score. In order to deal with the potentially stronger Otsutsuki pursuers to come, she chose to convert a large number of humans at that time into "White Zetsu," who were stronger than ordinary people and absolutely loyal, attempting to build a massive army to protect herself and fight against the coming enemies.
And coincidentally, among the people she converted was the beloved of her eldest son, Hagoromo.
This caused the two children to accidentally discover the cruel truth behind the "God Tree Ceremony," which conflicted violently with the image of their mother in their minds—a mother who, though strict, was at least kind.
In the end, the conflict intensified, leading to the mother and sons turning against each other, and the subsequent battle of sealing.
Looking at Hamura before him, who still bore confusion and heartache over his mother's actions, yet clearly did not know the true reason behind her actions back then, Naruto understood.
Earlier, Naruto had already refuted some of Kaguya's extreme viewpoints.
At this moment, Naruto decided to briefly inform Hamura about Kaguya's plan back then and some of the relevant information he knew.
"That is roughly how things happened."
Naruto summarized concisely.
After listening, Hamura fell into a long silence.
His Soul form seemed to fluctuate slightly due to the impact of the information.
Finally, he let out a long, immensely heavy sigh.
"Even so..."
Hamura's voice was filled with complex emotions, "But Mother should not have done that back then."
He understood that his mother was trying to survive, trying to protect herself under the threat of an unknown and powerful enemy.
"She should not have tried to resist a powerful enemy at the cost of sacrificing the lives, freedom, and will of countless ordinary people."
Hamura's tone carried deep regret and disapproval, "When... my brother and I had already grown up and become stronger.
With a great enemy outside, Mother... should have told us brothers.
We could have figured out a way together and faced it together. Instead of... driving herself and the entire world into that situation."
Hamura did not understand why his mother would rather choose such a cruel and lonely path than trust and rely on her own sons.
Just after Hamura expressed these thoughts.
"..."
Under the gaze of the four people outside the Seal, Kaguya lowered her head.
Her lips moved a few times, and she stammered:
"I... I forgot."
Hamura: "..."
The Soul form of Hamura seemed to petrify instantly.
The complex expression on his face, mixed with grief, regret, and confusion, was instantly replaced by astonishment and bewilderment.
Forgot?
Forgot what?
Forgot she could rely on her sons?
Forgot she could trust them?
Looking at his mother's face, which still had no expression but appeared somewhat "dazed" because of saying that, an unbelievable thought that made even Hamura's Soul tremble uncontrollably popped up:
Was the ice-cold, aloof, indifferent "ice queen" mother actually an airheaded beauty on the inside?
In other words, was Mother's usual aloof demeanor, as if she were contemplating the truths of the Universe, actually because her brain couldn't process things quickly, so she was just thinking very hard and very slowly, right?
This realization was no less shocking to Hamura than learning back then that his mother wanted to destroy the world.
He had spent a thousand years trying to understand his mother's "hidden meaning" and "hidden hardships," only to find out in the end that it might just be because his mother...
Wasn't very bright... and her way of thinking was too simple?
Hamura's Soul form began to tremble uncontrollably, not knowing if it was because of this overly subversive realization, or because of some...
...laughable, absurd emotion.
Inside the Sealing Space, a different kind of eerie silence fell for a moment.
Naruto raised an eyebrow, seemingly a bit surprised by this answer as well, but then immediately showed a look of "as expected" realization.
Hinata and Hanabi looked at each other, completely unable to understand the dramatic scene before them.
Kaguya seemed to have exhausted all her strength after saying that sentence, slowly lowered her head again, and returned to that seated "sculpture" state.
Leaving only the Soul form of Hamura in disarray.
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