Chapter 346: The Unknown Era Tree; Even Those Living Comfortably on the Moon Are No Match for the Brutes of the Hidden Cloud Village [HN]

Inside the Hokage’s office in Konoha.

Chiya’s gaze fell upon the top secret report personally delivered by Orochimaru and supplemented with Nara Shikaku’s analysis.

A heavy atmosphere hung in the room, as if a storm were about to break.

“The Time Tree, or perhaps the Era Tree… A legendary natural energy aggregation point that can connect the past and present…”

Chiya murmured quietly.

“Yes, Lord Hokage.”

Shikaku spoke in a deep voice, his tone more serious than ever.

“Based on our reverse analysis of the energy model, the extraterrestrial energy obtained by Sasori and the natural energy absorbed by the Sky Ninja Village are like the two poles of yin and yang. The existence of the Era Tree is like the axis that stabilizes them.

“If we can control or understand it, we may not only resolve the current energy crisis, but perhaps even glimpse the true source of these abnormal energies.”

Chiya stood up and walked to the window, looking down at Konoha, where cooking smoke rose gently in the afterglow of the setting sun.

There were actually still unknown existences in the ninja world.

Chiya’s gaze became solemn.

‘Could it be a contingency left behind by the Otsutsuki Clan?’

‘Just like that Kāma causing trouble?’

Chiya vaguely remembered that the Otsutsuki Clan’s unique Kāma could implant their consciousness into a person’s body.

This technique could convert an Otsutsuki member into data and implant it into a host known as a vessel. A black diamond shaped mark would also appear on the host’s palm as its symbol.

Everything seemed to have become uncertain.

After all, he had traveled through time and space and returned to Kaguya’s era, where he had helped her.

That had inevitably created a butterfly effect.

If these changes had been caused by him, perhaps they could be connected to the affairs of the Otsutsuki Clan.

It seemed that unsealing Kaguya should be his most urgent task.

A flicker of light passed through Chiya’s eyes.

“Orochimaru, do you suspect that this is not a power that originally belonged to our world?”

Chiya did not turn around. His voice was calm, yet sharp enough to pierce through the fog.

Orochimaru’s golden snake eyes flashed with excitement and curiosity as he licked his lips.

“Heh heh heh… Chiya-kun, conventional natural energy is gentle and neutral. It is the foundation of the world.

“But these two energies are different. One carries the characteristics of ‘bestowal’ and ‘corrosion’ from something above us, while the other is like ‘pus and blood’ flowing from a wound in the world, filled with destruction and madness.

“Their ‘quality’ is completely incompatible with this world.

“I have reason to believe that they have seeped into this world from… another world through some kind of ‘passage’ that we do not yet understand.”

“Another world…”

A sharp light flashed through Chiya’s eyes.

‘Could it really not be the Otsutsuki Clan’s Kāma?’

He thought again about his identity as a time traveler, the System, and the countless possibilities.

He turned around and swept his gaze across Shikaku and Orochimaru.

“If that is the case, we must go to this Era Tree.

“It may not only be a key, but also… a loophole.”

He quickly made his decision.

“I will personally go on this exploration mission.”

“The personnel responsible for mobility and support will be Minato Namikaze, Uchiha Shisui, and… Kakashi.”

“Orochimaru, provide technical support remotely. Establish real time energy monitoring and a communications link between the village and the mission team.”

“Shikaku, you will temporarily handle the village’s daily affairs. Raise the alert level to the highest.”

“Yes!”

Everyone accepted the orders in unison.

The next morning, four people quietly left Konoha and hurried toward an ancient forest west of the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Hot Springs.

Chiya led the way, his figure flashing through the forest at such incredible speed that only afterimages remained on the retina.

Minato followed closely behind, while Uchiha Shisui and Kakashi moved on his left and right, vigilantly observing their surroundings.

Shisui’s Sharingan constantly captured even the slightest abnormal chakra or energy fluctuation in the environment.

The closer they came to the target coordinates, the more ancient and tranquil the surrounding environment became.

Towering trees blocked out the sky, and the air was extremely humid.

They could feel the moisture against their faces.

Mixed within it was an indescribable sense of desolation and distance, as though it had come from an era beyond the ancient past.

“Stop.”

Chiya suddenly raised his hand, and everyone immediately stopped.

The forest ahead suddenly opened up.

At the center of a huge clearing stood a massive tree whose grandeur and strangeness could not be described in words.

Its trunk was as thick as a mountain, and its bark had a bronze colored texture that seemed to have carried countless years.

Its leaves were not green.

Instead, they were translucent, crystal like substances that shimmered with a faint silver glow.

The crown of the tree reached straight into the clouds, as though connecting heaven and earth.

Most shocking of all, the space surrounding the giant tree seemed to be subtly distorted.

Even the light appeared to bend around it.

“This is… the Era Tree?”

Kakashi narrowed his eyes.

“It feels… really strange.”

Shisui’s Sharingan stared fixedly at the giant tree.

He could see countless bands of energy invisible to the naked eye pulsing around the tree like breathing.

But the way these energies flowed was completely different from any natural energy he knew.

Chiya said nothing.

His Sharingan had already transformed into the pattern of the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, and its greater insight allowed him to see much more.

At the roots of the giant tree, space was not stable.

Instead, countless tiny folds, like ripples, existed within it.

Some extremely faint strands of foreign energy, originating from the same source as Sasori’s and the Zero Tails’ energy but purer and more fundamental, were slowly seeping through those folds in space.

They were being absorbed, transformed, or… suppressed by the Era Tree.

“Looks like we’ve found the right place.”

Chiya slowly spoke, his voice carrying a trace of realization.

“This tree is not only balancing the natural energy of this world. It is also filtering, or rather, sealing away the power leaking here from another world.

“It is both a bridge and a gate.”

He stepped forward and approached the Era Tree.

As he drew closer, the Era Tree seemed to sense something.

Its branches and leaves moved without any wind, producing a soft rustling sound, while its silver light flickered faintly.

Just as Chiya’s hand was about to touch the trunk, a sudden change occurred!

The space in front of the Era Tree violently twisted, rippling like water.

Immediately afterward, a pure white figure stepped out of the distorted space without warning and blocked the path between Chiya and the Era Tree.

The newcomer wore an ancient white robe.

He had pale skin and long blue white hair that reached his waist.

His features were handsome, yet cold and devoid of the slightest trace of human emotion.

Most striking were his eyes.

They were pure white like jade, without pupils, yet they radiated an oppressive and indifferent presence that made the heart tremble.

It was Ōtsutsuki Qingyu, who had been monitoring the situation from the Moon and had been ordered to come and assess Chiya!

“Uchiha Chiya.”

Ōtsutsuki Qingyu’s voice was calm and emotionless, yet carried an authority that seemed to descend from the heavens, echoing directly in the depths of everyone’s mind.

His pure white eyes swept across the four people before him, lingering on Chiya’s Sharingan for a moment.

A trace of extremely faint surprise flashed through them.

“Mangekyō Sharingan?”

A powerful aura instantly enveloped the entire area, and the air seemed to freeze.

Shisui and Kakashi immediately felt their breathing tighten, their bodies instinctively entering a state of maximum alert.

Shisui’s Sharingan spun rapidly as he tried to see through his opponent, yet the man seemed like an unfathomably deep pool.

His chakra reaction was completely different from that of an ordinary person.

It was as though he had merged with nature itself while simultaneously standing above it.

Minato’s expression became solemn as he gripped a specially made kunai.

He could sense that the threat posed by this sudden enemy far exceeded that of any opponent he had ever encountered.

He was even more frightening than a fully transformed Tailed Beast Jinchūriki.

Chiya’s gaze met Ōtsutsuki Qingyu’s pure white eyes.

There was no surprise or fear on his face.

Instead, there was a trace of understanding and… interest.

‘With that appearance and clothing, is he one of the Otsutsuki from the Moon?’

“Otsutsuki…”

Chiya slowly spoke, his tone calm yet filled with absolute certainty.

“You’ve been hiding on the Moon and spying on us for a thousand years. Have you finally decided to come down?”

The surprise in Qingyu’s eyes grew even stronger.

He had not expected his opponent to identify his origins with a single sentence.

This further confirmed the clan leader’s assessment of this man.

A huge variable.

“Since you know the name of our clan, you should also know respect.”

Qingyu’s tone remained calm, but a faint white chakra aura began to radiate from his body.

“Uchiha Chiya, come with me to the Moon. Do not interfere in the affairs of the ninja world anymore.”

Chiya laughed.

It was a smile filled with absolute confidence and even a trace of disdain.

“Respect? Just because you are a bunch of self important ‘descendants’ hiding beneath your ancestors’ wings?”

He took one step forward.

With that single step, an aura no weaker than Ōtsutsuki Qingyu’s, and even more domineering and fierce, erupted violently!

Chakra rose from his body like tangible flames.

The pattern of the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan slowly rotated within the chakra like a burning star.

It gradually transformed into the appearance of the Rinnegan.

When Ōtsutsuki Qingyu saw those soul stealing eyes, he froze in place for a moment.

‘Those eyes…’

Chiya’s voice became cold and forceful.

“You… either move aside, or… I will personally make you move.”

The instant his words fell, Chiya’s figure suddenly blurred.

It was neither the Body Flicker Technique nor the Flying Thunder God Technique.

It was simply speed pushed to the absolute limit!

As though he had broken through the restrictions of space, Chiya appeared before Ōtsutsuki Qingyu like teleportation, his chakra wrapped fist striking directly toward Qingyu’s face without any unnecessary movement!

“Arrogant!”

A trace of anger finally appeared in Ōtsutsuki Qingyu’s pure white eyes.

He had never expected this ‘mortal’ to dare attack him first, much less move so quickly!

He raised his hand.

A crystal clear diamond shaped shield, seemingly formed from pure chakra, instantly condensed before his palm.

“Boom!”

The fist and shield collided.

The resulting sound was not like metal striking metal, but an explosive roar of energy like thunder!

A violent shockwave suddenly spread outward in a ring around the two, tearing away three feet of earth from the surrounding ground.

Shisui, Kakashi, and Minato were all forced backward by the shockwave, their faces filled with shock.

As the smoke gradually dispersed, Chiya remained in his punching stance.

The diamond shaped shield before Ōtsutsuki Qingyu’s palm was already covered in spiderweb like cracks!

For the first time, disbelief appeared in Qingyu’s pure white eyes.

His chakra shield had almost been shattered by a single punch from a ‘mortal’?!

“Is that all?”

Chiya withdrew his fist and shook his wrist, his tone carrying a trace of disappointment.

“Looks like living on the Moon really has made you weaker. You’re not even as tough as those brutes from the Hidden Cloud Village!”

“You… want to die!”

Ōtsutsuki Qingyu was completely enraged.

As a genius of the Ōtsutsuki main family, when had he ever suffered such humiliation?

He formed a strange hand seal with both hands, and his pure white chakra instantly boiled.

An incomparably heavy pressure suddenly descended, as though the weight of the entire space had been pressed down upon Chiya!

This was the power of the Tenseigan on the Moon that he could draw upon as a member of the main family.

It was enough to crush an ordinary Kage level expert into meat paste instantly!

Yet Chiya merely sank slightly.

The terrifying pressure that was powerful enough to crush mountains was forcibly withstood by him.

His knees did not even bend.

“Child’s play.”

Chiya raised his head, a trace of mockery flashing through his Rinnegan.

“Let me show you what true… power looks like!”

Chiya raised his hand to his chest and aimed it at him.

“Universal Pull!”