Chapter 285: Detective Masked Man
Ōtsutsuki Toneri continued swimming upward and finally broke through the surface.
Even as a descendant of Ōtsutsuki Hamura with a highly concentrated bloodline, spending several days immersed in that sea of filth left Toneri dizzy and lightheaded.
The moment he emerged above the surface, the pressure lessened sharply.
Toneri suddenly realized that the upper layer was different from the lower one.
It carried a more pungent odor, a more corrosive quality that harmed the body, yet it could no longer block his perception.
If it could not block his perception, then these substances were not left behind by his predecessors.
So where had they come from?
Once his mind cleared, Toneri's thoughts raced, and he quickly arrived at a possibility.
He extended his perception downward. Sure enough, at the very bottom of the palace, at the teleportation gate that should have been usable only by the Ōtsutsuki clan or those authorized by him to travel to the ninja world, there was continuous activity.
This was strange.
The teleportation array was a form of space–time ninjutsu, so there was a barrier in between.
Otherwise, the first thing to pour through should have been the hot spring water from the other side.
Unless the person on the other end also possessed space–time ninjutsu and had bypassed that barrier.
Toneri hesitated.
He did not know whether he should go and investigate.
He had not yet obtained the Tenseigan. If powerful figures from the ninja world were causing trouble on the other side, he might die.
He did not want to die, nor could he die.
He was the sole surviving Ōtsutsuki and bore the heavy responsibility of destroying the ninja world.
Uh…
In the end, Toneri decided to go.
He had to see what the other side was doing and stop them.
After all, people in the ninja world did not know that his goal was to destroy their world. There should not be too much danger.
If this continued, he truly would not be able to endure it.
The teleportation gate was located at the very bottom of the palace.
If it had been out on the open moon surface, it would have been manageable.
Anything emerging would naturally disperse.
But now the entire palace and castle had become a container.
At the hot spring entrance, Kakashi had finally finished releasing everything stored in the Kamui space. He collapsed onto the ground in exhaustion.
Although Rin had replenished his chakra, and when that was not enough Uchiha Hikari had added a bit more, and although the Hashirama cells prevented any decline in his eyesight, exhaustion was still exhaustion.
It was like making Senju Hashirama suffer from diarrhea for an entire day. Even he would feel terrible.
And what Kakashi had just done was essentially no different from having diarrhea all day.
Both required the use of the eyes. Both involved a massive amount of output. Both were utterly draining.
On the other side, the masked man hesitated for a long time. After confirming that Kakashi was not actually using the Kamui space as a storage room for dog food, he decided to clean up some of the contents.
He had barely cleared a small portion when he noticed that the contents were rapidly disappearing.
In order to avoid alerting Kakashi to anything unusual, he endured the discomfort and sucked back in what he had just transferred out.
"Damn Kakashi. Are you using my Sharingan to treat hemorrhoids?"
The masked man angrily punched the wall of the cave.
"No, wait. Where is Kakashi getting that much chakra? Did the Hashirama cells mutate?"
After calming down, the masked man sensed something was wrong.
Even he, with half his body composed of White Zetsu and Hashirama cells, did not possess enough chakra to continuously release such an enormous volume of material all at once.
Although he had not personally seen the inside situation, he knew roughly how much was there.
He had discovered it midway through. After that, he did not dare enter, so he grabbed a White Zetsu, transferred it in and then out again, using it to report what was inside.
"Chakra… chakra… could it be?!"
The masked man's pupils shrank suddenly. He picked up a book from the corner of the cave.
As someone who constantly kept an eye on Kakashi, he had naturally read the books Kakashi authored, including the latest release.
He did not find it strange that Kakashi could write such bizarre material.
Because when they were young, he had already recognized Kakashi as a repressed pervert hiding behind a mask.
The masked man now took out the book because he had suddenly recalled its contents.
"Could it be that Kakashi, that beast, laid hands on his own subordinate, the Nine-Tails jinchūriki, and swallowed part of the Nine-Tails' flesh and blood essence?"
Looking at the various depictions of relationships between humans and Tailed Beasts in "Kakashi's Work," the masked man felt he had uncovered the truth.
Moreover, there was precedent for this in the real ninja world.
The Gold and Silver Brothers of Kumogakure had obtained Tailed Beast chakra in precisely that way.
"No. I can't just slander Kakashi like this."
The masked man suddenly performed a complete mental turnabout. He tossed the book back and walked out of the cave.
He decided to go to Konoha once more and search for evidence.
Before long, he arrived at Kakashi's residence in Konoha.
"As expected, no one here."
He wandered through Kakashi's home and eventually entered the bedroom.
Suddenly, the sharp-nosed masked man snapped his gaze toward the windowsill.
There was a strange smell there!
"…Oh. It's just flowers."
The masked man let out a small breath of relief.
He had thought it was something else. It turned out to be several pots of photinia flowers that Kakashi had planted.
Wait.
Just as he was about to leave empty-handed, he suddenly became alert.
Was that smell really just from the photinia flowers?
The masked man walked to the windowsill and pushed the flowerpots aside.
Thunk thunk.
As expected!
Behind the flowerpots were neat rows of small jars, each filled to the brim with milk!
These bottles of milk were an extra byproduct from Naruto's training in Sage Mode at Mount Myōboku. He had asked Shima to deliver them to Kakashi, who was supposed to pass them along to Sasuke.
Since Kakashi had been away these past few days, Shima had temporarily placed the daily milk deliveries on the balcony.
But in the masked man's eyes, these were irrefutable proof of Kakashi's crimes.
"Kakashi, you absolute bastard."
The bastard masked man could not help but call someone else a bastard.
Smash!
With a sweep of his hand, he shattered all the bottles and jars, along with the flowerpots, sending them flying.
Just as Kakashi would place flowers at the Memorial Stone and the masked man would later come and knock them away, scattering them.
Downstairs.
Kurenai Yūhi's team of three, who had taken on routine village patrol duty, happened to pass by.
The truly sharp-nosed Inuzuka Kiba and Akamaru heard the commotion upstairs. The moment they caught the scent, they immediately realized something was wrong.
That chakra scent was one they would never forget in their lifetimes.
It was Uzumaki Naruto's scent!
What was up there?
Was something about to rain down on them again?
Kiba suddenly recalled the Chūnin Exam period, when Naruto had taken out that balloon, the "Feces Release Rasengan."
"Hinata, Shino, run!!!"
"Damn it!"
Seeing that his two teammates had not yet reacted, Kiba gritted his teeth and formed hand seals with both hands.
"Fang Over Fang!"
Two high-speed spinning whirlwinds shot toward his two teammates.
(End of this chapter)