Chapter 101: Ōtsutsuki and the God Tree

"Yami-nii, please tell me! Please!"

Naruto was so excited his whiskers were trembling, his eyes sparkling with hope.

Ever since he became somewhat self-aware, Naruto had always wanted to know who his parents were. Why did they abandon him? Why did the villagers call him a demon fox and treat him with such hatred?

But every time he asked the Third Hokage, the old man would simply smile and say, "It's not time yet. One day, you'll know, once everyone acknowledges you."

Now that Yami had said he knew, Naruto's excitement reached its peak. He was desperate for an answer.

"I can't tell you yet. You're still too weak," Yami shook his head. "When you become a real ninja, with the strength to protect yourself, I'll tell you."

"They were heroes of the village. That's why I have high hopes for you."

Namikaze Minato was indeed a hero of Konoha. It could be said that everyone in the village owed him their lives.

But that didn't necessarily mean anything to a child.

Yami could tell Naruto now, but his mindset hadn't matured yet. If he knew the truth now, it could stir up emotions he wouldn't be able to process.

So, Yami decided to treat the truth as a reward—something Naruto would earn after graduation. By then, his mentality would be more stable.

Whether he forgave easily like in the original timeline, or had a different reaction, would depend on how much Yami influenced him over the next few years.

"Heroes…"

Naruto slumped back down in disappointment, but quickly rallied again. "Brother Yami, I'll definitely graduate and become a great ninja!"

"You should at least memorize the twelve basic hand seals before saying that."

"C'mon! Can't there be a jutsu that only needs one seal or no seals?!"

After coaxing Naruto back into good spirits, Yami quickly took Karin and left.

Outside, he patted her head gently. "Karin, go home for now. I've got something to take care of."

"Okay, I understand, Yami-sama." Karin nodded obediently and waved goodbye.

Once she was gone, Yami said coldly, "You can come out now."

Swish! Swish!

Two Anbu in full gear appeared before him. Judging by their masks, they weren't from Yami's Third Division.

"Shimura, do not reveal too much information to the Jinchūriki. This is an—"

Before the Anbu could finish, Yami vanished in a blur. The next moment, the two felt searing pain in their chests as they were launched backwards, crashing into a street wall and leaving two large craters behind.

Yami reappeared in front of them. One of them was still trying to form a hand seal, so Yami kicked him viciously.

Crack—

"Ah!"

One Anbu's arm bent at an unnatural angle. The other was stepped on and pinned in place.

Yami looked down at them coldly. "Do I need you two to teach me anything?"

"Sh–Shimura… are you defying the Hokage?"

The Anbu with the broken arm was sweating profusely but still gritted his teeth and said, "The identity of a Jinchūriki is a top-secret matter. You had no right to tell him."

Yami sneered. "If it's so top-secret, then why do trash like you know about it?"

"Remember, your job is to protect, not to spy. And don't even think about controlling how I think. Not even the Third Hokage is qualified to do that."

"There's a lot you should forget. So forget this too, before you bring more trouble on yourselves."

He ignored the bond notification in his mind and left to visit another medical-nin on the street.

The two Anbu struggled to get up, fury hidden beneath their masks.

It was one thing to be looked down on—but he had insulted the Hokage!

"Too arrogant! Kishida, go get medical attention. I'll report everything to the Third Hokage!"

An hour later, Hiruzen heard the report and frowned deeply.

"I see. Bring Yami to me."

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

The Anbu thought Hiruzen would punish Yami. Feeling smug, he delivered the message with an arrogant attitude…

And ended up being carried back unconscious.

Thud!

Looking at the unconscious Anbu dumped in front of him, Hiruzen's eyelid twitched violently.

"Yami, what is the meaning of this? Isn't it enough to injure an Anbu? You had to knock out the messenger too?!"

"Not my fault."

Yami blinked innocently, wiping his hands with a clean handkerchief. "This guy tried to enter my house without permission. If I don't teach him a lesson, what happens when others try?"

"Y-You…"

Hiruzen pointed at him, hands trembling.

He'd heard of Yami's peculiar household rule, that only familiar people could enter, and they were all women. Not even Danzō had ever been invited.

He thought it was just a joke.

But seeing Yami's attitude now… it was clearly real.

"I'll tell Anbu to be more careful in the future."

In the end, Hiruzen didn't press the matter. A man's home was his most private space. He could make whatever rules he liked. If Hiruzen pushed too hard, things might backfire.

"Now, let's talk about Naruto."

Hiruzen took a deep breath from his pipe and composed himself.

"What's there to talk about?"

Yami sat lazily on the sofa. "Isn't his father Namikaze Minato? Even the whole village knows the rumor about him being the Nine-Tails. It's no big deal to tell him who his parents are."

"It's not the right time."

Hiruzen's expression darkened under the shadow of his hat. "Naruto's still too young. If he learns too much now, others could take advantage of it. That's why I've kept it from him."

"You've already promised to tell him after graduation, so keep that promise. Don't give in just because he begs."

"Relax. I've got a tight mouth."

That odd metaphor made Hiruzen's eye twitch, but he waved Yami off and called for someone to come clean up the unconscious Anbu.

As for revealing Naruto's parentage, Hiruzen had his own plan—one that surprisingly mirrored Yami's.

They both wanted to influence Naruto during this formative time, to teach him the true meaning of the Will of Fire.

Then, when Naruto was old enough, they would reveal the truth to forge a sense of legacy.

Hiruzen hoped Naruto would grow up like his father—a ninja who would protect everyone.

Unfortunately, Hiruzen could never have predicted that Yami was secretly competing with him.

Let's see whose teachings take root first, Hiruzen's Will of Fire, or Yami's manipulation.

…

Outside of Konoha, in a dense forest dozens of kilometers from the village.

Training in the village made too much noise, so Yami preferred secluded locations now. Pakura and Samui were nearby, monitoring the perimeter to make sure no one disturbed him.

Yami was contemplating his future path. In simple terms—it was time to assign bond points.

The problem was… where?

In the past two and a half years, Yami hadn't used any bond points on himself.

After the Snow Ninja Village incident, he avoided mingling with too many people. He only formed deep connections with mission targets or allies in battle.

Bit by bit, he'd accumulated over 30,000 bond points.

But there were many places he could invest them:

Senju bloodline.

Uchiha bloodline.

Sage Mode affinity.

And… the Ōtsutsuki bloodline.

This world valued origin above all else. The only external powers besides bloodlines were Sage techniques.

"Forget Sage Mode for now."

Yami made a decision—he'd keep evolving his bloodline first.

He hadn't accessed any of the three Sage lands yet. He didn't have a training method for Sage Mode, so it wasn't useful right now.

Researching it himself was risky and inefficient.

Still, his efforts hadn't been in vain. Yami had made significant progress studying the Ōtsutsuki bloodline. He now understood why increasing its strength didn't interfere with his Uchiha or Senju bloodlines.

Ōtsutsuki was Ōtsutsuki. The God Tree was the God Tree.

The two weren't the same.

If broken down, the source of power for the woman sealed on the moon could be split into two parts.

The first was the Ōtsutsuki bloodline itself. These were high-tier lifeforms capable of space travel. They planted God Trees on planets and harvested Chakra fruits to grow stronger.

Even without consuming the fruits, they had incredible innate power.

For example: Byakugan, Shikotsumyaku, and superior physical strength.

Most importantly, they had unmatched adaptability to Chakra.

Normal people couldn't handle the power of the Chakra fruit. Even Obito nearly died trying to become Ten-Tails' Jinchūriki with only one Rinnegan.

But Ōtsutsuki could handle it without issue.

The second source of power came from Chakra itself—best described as the abilities derived from the God Tree.

Wood Release, Sharingan, and countless kekkei genkai were all gifts of the Chakra fruit, not the Ōtsutsuki genes.

It might seem like God Tree power was greater than the bloodline, but the latter was the container, and the former was the water inside.

Your bloodline determined how much Chakra you could carry—and how effectively you could wield it.

With a thought, Yami consumed 10,000 bond points.

Ōtsutsuki Bloodline — Advanced!

The moment he used the points, his body trembled. Every cell began to transform. His genes were being rewritten.

His dark pupils turned white. The world faded into black and white, but his vision expanded exponentially. He could now see Pakura and Samui, kilometers away.

This… is bad. He didn't want the Byakugan.

Yami cursed internally.

The Byakugan was too distinctive. If his eyes stayed like this, even a fool would notice something was off.

But the evolution had triggered a change.

Fine. He went all in and fused all his stored Byakugan-related traits.

His vision grew clearer, and an oppressive aura emerged, scaring nearby animals into a frenzy.

After a long time, the transformation was complete. Yami let out a slow breath and stretched.

His biggest gains were raw strength, speed, and reaction time.

He couldn't quantify the improvements yet, but the Chakra increase was visible on the [Status Panel]. Stronger cells meant greater Chakra output.

More good news—Yami could now deactivate his Byakugan at will. His pupils returned to normal, or he could switch to Three Tomoe Sharingan. The two didn't interfere with each other.

But they couldn't be used simultaneously.

Then…

Yami raised his palm. A sharp bone blade sprouted, growing 20 centimeters before stopping.

He had also gained Shikotsumyaku.

The Kaguya clan, were powerful physical fighters with deep ties to the Hyūga.

Though Shikotsumyaku was strong, it wasn't without flaws. Constant bone extension could bring impurities into the body, causing deterioration, just like Mangekyō Sharingan.

Yami didn't plan to fight using bones. That felt... unsettling.

Still, curious about their strength, he grabbed a kunai and struck.

Clang—

With a sharp snap, the kunai split in two.

"So hard…"

It felt like striking Susanoo with a kunai.

Ahem… Old man, that's not a dig at you.

He drew his Kusanagi Sword, infused it with Ultimate-level Wind Release, and cut off the bone blade. He decided not to use this ability again. The risk of infection was too weird.

Wouldn't want to mutate into some co-killing ash skeleton.

Checking his [Status Panel], Yami spent 20,000 bond points on the Senju bloodline.

Uchiha upgrades were still possible through other means. But pure Senju blood was rare in this era, and the only way to improve it was with bond points.

It took 5,000 points to reach Ultimate. Breaking the limit cost a full 20,000.

Boom!

A surge of Chakra erupted from Yami, sending gales whipping across the forest.

Even Pakura and Samui, kilometers away, felt it. They exchanged glances and rushed toward him.

(To be continued.)

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