Chapter 14: The Growing Brothers
"Counting the days, it's finally time for you two."
Minamikawa Yuu looked at the brothers in front of him, a smile inevitably spreading across his face.
Years had passed in the blink of an eye, yet his appearance had not changed at all. Under the influence of Kaguya's chakra, he remained fixed in the image of the young man he once was.
But his two sons were different.
The brothers had already grown into young men, standing on the verge of adulthood.
As the children of Yuu and Kaguya, Hagoromo and Hamura inherited the pure bloodline of the Ōtsutsuki Clan. Their talent was astonishing from birth.
And after receiving Yuu's full guidance and training for more than a decade, their growth had been rapid.
Now, it was indeed time for them to step out into the world and temper themselves.
"If you want to leave, then go," Yuu said. "You have long lives ahead of you. Going out while you're still young, seeing more, experiencing more, that's not a bad thing."
"Father, you agree?"
The moment they heard his answer, the brothers were overjoyed.
The desire to travel had been building in their hearts for a long time. They had applied more than once, but every time, Yuu refused on the grounds that they were still too young.
This time, they had come again, fully expecting the result to be the same.
Instead, they received a pleasant surprise.
"I didn't let you go out in the past because you really were still young, and it wasn't time yet," Yuu said with a smile. "But now, the situation is different."
"In another year, you'll be adults. If we count properly, it really is time for you to go out and see the world."
"Father…"
The brothers were moved, excitement surging through them.
In truth, by the standards of the Ninja World, they could have been considered adults long ago.
Some people their age were already married, already had children.
But Yuu was their father.
As a father, he wanted them to stay at his side a little longer, until they had the clarity to distinguish right from wrong before stepping away from him.
And now, that moment had clearly arrived.
The brothers took their leave and returned to prepare.
In the days before departure, they visited many places, bidding farewell to teachers and friends.
But when they reached a certain palace, hesitation and caution appeared in their eyes.
It was Kaguya Palace, the residence of Ōtsutsuki Kaguya.
As the palace of Ōtsutsuki Kaguya, it was built with breathtaking extravagance, filled with an aura of luxury and nobility from end to end.
Everything within had been embellished with the finest things in the world.
The brothers walked through the corridors, and as their eyes swept across the decorations, they could not help frowning.
Mother is still too extravagant…
The thought surfaced almost instinctively.
Even though they were husband and wife, Yuu and Kaguya lived in completely different ways.
Yuu's life was simple. As long as the essentials were met, he had little interest in excessive comforts.
Kaguya was the opposite.
As a member of the extraterrestrial Ōtsutsuki Clan, she naturally carried a lofty presence.
To speak bluntly, in the entire Ninja World, apart from a handful of people like Yuu and the brothers themselves, everyone else was nothing more than an ant in Kaguya's eyes.
Even as the years beside Yuu grew longer, that perspective did not truly change.
With that kind of view, everything she used was naturally the best.
In her eyes, everything in this world was hers to take.
Originally, if not for Yuu, her temperament would have caused a massive disaster.
With Kaguya's personality, if she wanted something, she would simply take it, without caring about consequences.
As for how many people beneath her died because of it, that would have been even more irrelevant.
Fortunately, because Yuu existed, those tendencies did not spread into the outside world in any catastrophic way.
Even when extracting resources, methods determined outcomes.
In that regard, Yuu was clearly far more capable than Kaguya.
Just like the God Tree.
Kaguya's first thought had been to sacrifice the Ninja World.
But Yuu found another route. He used methods that made the people of the Ninja World willingly contribute chakra, creating a sustainable form of exploitation and harvesting.
As long as the method was good enough, one could harvest while minimizing harm to ordinary people, and even push the world toward positive development at the same time.
That was also one of the reasons the brothers revered Yuu so deeply.
In contrast, their feelings toward Kaguya were far more complicated.
As their mother, they naturally cared for her.
But beneath that care were grievances they could not easily ignore.
"Just for decoration, so many chakra crystals have to be consumed…"
Hagoromo's gaze swept across the lavish ornaments and then toward the garden of blooming flowers outside, and his brows furrowed.
If it were simply normal luxury, no one would criticize her given her status.
After all, Kaguya was the Queen of the Land of Ancestors. Her position was noble, and using the best things in the world could be considered natural.
But in all things, excess became its own kind of problem.
As an Ōtsutsuki, what Kaguya valued most was not mortal jewelry or gold.
It was pure chakra.
So within her palace, there were creations made of pure chakra crystals everywhere.
Inside, there was even a statue of Kaguya carved entirely from chakra crystals.
The chakra crystals used for that single statue alone were equal to what a million people could provide in a year.
Behind the palace, there was also an enormous Chakra Garden, where various Chakra Plants that fed by absorbing chakra were cultivated. No one knew how many chakra crystals were consumed there each year.
Add in how much chakra Kaguya herself absorbed, and just supporting Kaguya alone consumed an unknown number of people's yearly chakra output.
And if those resources had been used in the right places, who knew how much could have been achieved.
Walking deeper into the palace grounds, the brothers found Kaguya in the garden.
She learned of their intention to travel, yet she said little, still wearing that indifferent expression, as if her emotions never rippled at all.
To her, the entire Land of Ancestors was like the territory of her own family.
Traveling within it was nothing more than an inspection.
There was naturally nothing special to say.
As for danger, it was not worth mentioning.
With the brothers' current strength, there was no one within the Land of Ancestors who could harm them.
"When you've had enough fun, remember to come back early," she said calmly, her eyes resting on the flowers in bloom.
From beginning to end, her tone and expression remained indifferent and composed, a sharp contrast to Yuu's obvious concern.
The brothers looked at her, as if they wanted to say something, but the words stuck in their throats.
In the end, they said nothing.
They simply withdrew in silence.
.....
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