Seeing that Madara had fallen silent, Kaito didn't press him further. With a flicker, he disappeared.
He returned home and found Kaguya sitting quietly on the sofa, watching TV.
Speaking of which, the technology in the shinobi world had always been a mystery. You could see power poles along the streets, televisions inside the homes of ordinary residents, and yet warfare was still fought as though it were stuck in the cold weapon era.
That point was slightly improved in Boruto, but it always felt a bit mismatched.
When Kaguya saw Kaito, she quickly stood up, bowed slightly, and said respectfully,
"Master, you've returned."
After all, she had lived in ancient times. She had learned the mannerisms of a servant well enough to resemble a palace maid, making Kaito feel as if he were some ancient king.
Kaito walked over to her and pulled her gently back onto the sofa.
...
Suddenly, a crackling sound came from the kitchen. Kaito froze for a moment, then casually asked,
"Who's in the kitchen?"
Kaguya answered,
"It's Black Zetsu. I had him try his hand at cooking."
"..."
A short while later, Black Zetsu came out of the kitchen, carrying plates of dishes that looked surprisingly decent.
Black tendrils stretched from his body, which made carrying food rather convenient.
He placed the dishes one by one on the table, then stood before Kaito and Kaguya, speaking very respectfully,
"Kaito-sama, Mother, the meal is ready. You may begin!"
Kaito looked at him in surprise and couldn't help but ask,
"I didn't expect you to know how to cook?"
Black Zetsu lowered his head and said,
"I didn't before, but I can learn!"
Good grief. Kaito thought Black Zetsu was truly a talent—capable of scheming a thousand-year plan to rescue his mother, and yet also able to roll up his sleeves and cook. Unfortunately, he lacked the kind of power that Hagoromo or Hamura possessed.
Kaito sighed inwardly, then led Kaguya to the dining table, and they sat down to eat.
He picked up a rib Black Zetsu had made and put it into his mouth. Raising his eyebrows, he found the taste surprisingly good. Looking toward Black Zetsu standing across from him, he said,
"Your cooking's pretty good. Why don't you have some too?"
Black Zetsu froze, then quickly waved his hand,
"No, Kaito-sama. I don't need to eat."
Kaito glanced at Black Zetsu's matchstick-like body and said,
"You should at least try some. After all, you made it."
Kaguya also chimed in,
"Black Zetsu, since Master said so, come and join us."
Black Zetsu hesitated for a moment, but finally sat down opposite Kaito and Kaguya. He lowered his head and took a bite of the food he had prepared.
It was the first time in thousands of years that he had eaten anything—only to realize in that instant that he had no sense of taste at all...
But so as not to spoil the mood, he pretended to eat. Across from him, Kaito and Kaguya quietly watched.
To an outsider, this scene would look exactly like a warm little family of three having dinner together.
After the meal, Black Zetsu stood up without being asked and went to wash the dishes. He really had no choice—though he was Kaguya's creation, he couldn't even perform the most basic Water Release.
Kaito had heard that Minato had recently come up with a Water Release: Dishwashing Technique. Maybe he'd find time to observe it later.
When Black Zetsu left, only Kaito and Kaguya remained at the table.
Kaito suddenly turned to her and asked,
"Do you know roughly how many people are in the Ōtsutsuki clan?"
Kaguya was stunned. She had thought Kaito was a full-blooded Ōtsutsuki as well, so the question struck her as odd.
But she still answered,
"Master, I don't know the exact number. Aside from the few Elders who stay in the clan, most have gone off to other planets to plant God Trees."
"Then does the Ōtsutsuki clan still have a clan leader?"
Kaguya shook her head and said,
"The clan leader disappeared long ago. The one with the highest prestige now is the Grand Elder, but he lives deep within the clan's forbidden grounds. Aside from a few elites, no one has ever seen his true face."
"I see. You should still have the spatial coordinates for returning there, right?"
"I do, but..."
Kaguya trailed off, then couldn't help but ask,
"Master, have you never lived among the clan?"
Kaito spread his hands casually and said,
"I'm not really of the Ōtsutsuki clan, so how could I have the coordinates?"
"Nani?!"
Kaguya shot up from her chair in shock, staring at Kaito in disbelief.
Kaito looked up at her and said,
"To be precise, I can be considered Ōtsutsuki—but my bloodline isn't as pure as yours."
Kaguya stiffly nodded, more or less understanding his situation.
Kaito was probably similar to Uchiha Madara: starting with the Sharingan, step by step evolving to what he was now.
But Kaito's talent was outrageous. Not only had he awakened a pair of Twelve-Tomoe Rinnegan, but he had also somehow obtained an exceptionally terrifying Ten-Tails and sealed it within himself.
Even among the strongest elites she knew of in the clan, that was extraordinary.
And Kaito's age? Among the thousand-year-old monsters of the Ōtsutsuki, he was practically a "child."
It was truly difficult for her to imagine how Kaito had reached this level.
Kaito gently took her hand and had her sit back down.
Her expression was dazed. Kaito waved a hand in front of her face, and she finally snapped out of it, quickly saying,
"I'm terribly sorry, Master. My mind wandered for a moment."
"It's fine. You don't need to be so tense. Before long, I'll need you to accompany me to the Ōtsutsuki's homeworld."
Kaguya's eyes went wide. Her voice trembled as she asked,
"Master, why would you want to go there?"
Seeing her nervous expression, Kaito chuckled, patted her shoulder, and said,
"Of course, to find my Ten-Tails some proper food. How could just one Ōtsutsuki Isshiki be enough?"
"Even Isshiki can't satisfy your Ten-Tails enough to produce a fruit?"
In Kaguya's mind, Isshiki was already one of the elite within the Ōtsutsuki. The God Tree fruit she had eaten had been born with Isshiki as its sacrifice, and the quality of that fruit was indisputably high.
But in Kaito's eyes, even Isshiki wasn't enough to feed his Ten-Tails? Just how immense must the energy requirement be for that beast to bear fruit?
And where on earth had Kaito obtained such a Ten-Tails? Why was it so different?
One question after another piled up in her heart, but as a servant, she knew her place. She could only wait for those answers to reveal themselves in time.