XX-level Hokage

"You are... a member of the clan?" Momoshiki asked, looking at Mashiro with some confusion. "I am Otsutsuki Goshiki," Mashiro replied calmly.

"Wu Shiki, I've heard of your name. Why didn't you show up to help me just now?" Momoshiki asked.

“I have my reasons. This world is very special. Its chakra energy is incredibly powerful, and its natives are also very troublesome. Therefore, we cannot deal with them like we deal with other planets. We must proceed slowly,” Mashiro said.

Momoshiki remained silent. Being defeated by an inferior race from a planet was an incredibly humiliating thing for him.

Chapter 248: The Smugglers

"Besides, you're not going to die, are you?" Mashiro continued.

"Hmph, can't they die? That's true. With the presence of Karma, it's difficult for any Otsutsuki to kill them. However, without proper preparation, successfully releasing the pressure sphere is not an easy task," Momoshiki said irritably.

Wedge? I've used this word before in my memories of Otsutsuki Goshiki.

Mashiro's statement, "Anyway, you won't die," actually refers to Momoshiki's ability to stop time.

Momoshiki's statement that "all Otsutsuki are difficult to kill" refers to the unique ability of the Otsutsuki clan's wedge.

Realizing this, Mashiro chuckled lightly and said calmly, "Then that's none of my business." "How cold-hearted," Momoshiki said calmly, unconcerned.

Almost all Otsutsuki are cold and ruthless like this; it's already quite kind of him that his clansman is even listening to him finish speaking. "Is there anything else?" Mashiro asked.

She could tell that Momoshiki had specifically sought her out not out of surprise.

It's important to understand that even if time were to stop now, it wouldn't change the fact that Momoshiki is already dead.

"There's something I need to ask of you," Momoshiki said, looking at Mashiro with utmost seriousness. "To help you revive through the Karma?" Mashiro countered.

"That's only one aspect. With or without your help, my resurrection is already a foregone conclusion. The thing I need to ask of you is to find someone who has illegally crossed the border," Momoshiki said.

"People who cross the border illegally?" Mashiro asked, seemingly puzzled.

"At the start of the battle, I used my Byakugan to observe the fox son's Pure Eye, and at the moment before my death, I simultaneously activated the powers of stillness and observation. Through my observation, I saw the future; that eye would bring disaster to this world."

But just when everything seemed set in stone, a new production surged in, and from then on, the future of this world began to blur, to the point that nothing could be seen. "Momoshiki explained."

"You mean a guy who smuggled himself in changed the future of this world?" Mashiro seemed to understand Momoshiki's meaning and chuckled.

That's right, that guy smuggled himself from another time to this time. I sensed an ominous aura emanating from him, and my Otsutsuki intuition told me...

"Tell me, he/she must be destroyed," Momo said somewhat uneasily.

“I understand, but in return, give me that thing.” With that, Mashiro pointed to the red ring floating not far away. (The image is of) Ōtsutsuki Kinshiki's Poijin.

"Kinshiki's power? It doesn't matter. In any case, if no other Otsutsuki takes over, this power will disappear with my death," Momoshiki said.

He planted a wedge in Boruto, and once the pressure is released, all his abilities will reappear in Boruto. But Kinshiki is different; without the wedge planted, his death is truly death.

Momoshiki beckoned, and Povey floated into his hand. He glanced at it and then tossed it to Mashiro.

"Infuse your power into it, and as Otsutsuki, we Sekiro will be able to accept the power of our own kind," Momoshiki said softly. Hearing this, Mashiro nodded and silently put away the Povey God.

Momoshiki agreed to give Bowei to Mashiro for two reasons: firstly, to gain Mashiro's trust, and secondly, because he probably didn't want Kinshiki, who had followed him for so long, to disappear without a trace of power.

"Alright, time's almost up. You can go find Otsutsuki Fumashiki; he can help you." With that, Momoshiki vanished into thin air. Immediately following was a massive explosion; Momoshiki's body dissipated into nothingness in the Rasengan's explosion.

"That kid succeeded." Darui's brow relaxed, and he said softly. "Beautiful!" Gaara said with a smile.

"I succeeded?" Boruto seemed to have no recollection of what happened when time stood still.

“Just as you said, the essence of a ninja will not change, no matter how times change.” Sasuke walked to Naruto’s side and said softly. “Yes,” Naruto replied with a smile.

"He's exactly like you." Sasuke looked at Boruto and said softly. "Is that so?" Naruto seemed quite pleased.

"That's why I said, you big idiot, you're really mean." Sasuke looked at Naruto and said with a smile. "You're the same." Naruto said unconvinced.

“I’m better than you. I can still stand on my own.” Sasuke smiled and helped Naruto up.

"Oh dear, looks like I haven't been of any help at all." Suddenly, Mashiro appeared behind them, chuckling lightly. Naruto turned around, then exclaimed in surprise, "Mashiro? You're here too?"

Naruto was still in shock when Sasuke instantly stepped in front of him, drawing his Kusanagi sword and preparing for battle. "Sasuke, this..." After the initial shock, Naruto was puzzled by Sasuke's sudden action.

"Naruto, get ready, she's an Otsutsuki," Sasuke said seriously. Seeing Sasuke's serious expression, Naruto instantly assumed a fighting stance.

"Although I don't know exactly what happened, since you've said so, Sasuke," Naruto said, his expression turning serious.

"You still don't believe me, as expected. This really hurts me," Mashiro said, looking at Sasuke with a hint of sadness. Sasuke remained silent, gazing at Mashiro.

"Don't worry, I mean no harm. If you don't believe me, look around you." Mashiro waved his hand and said.

They glanced at Mashiro with some skepticism, then looked around. There, they saw that Darui, Chojuro, Gaara, Kurotsuchi, and Boruto were all standing there, their eyes glazed over, as if they were under a spell.

"When?" Sasuke asked, looking at Mashiro, who hadn't even noticed his Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan and Rinnegan. "When? I forgot too," Mashiro said with a smile.

Since arriving in this space from Konoha, Mashiro has had countless opportunities to use "Sura: Bewitching God" in advance. Not only the four Kage and Boruto, but even Sasuke and Naruto, now that their chakra is almost depleted, could be instantly activated by Mashiro.

"Can you see my sincerity? If I wanted to, you would all become like that. If I were to kill you all now, right here in this space, I think if another Otsutsuki were to descend upon it, the ninja world would be unable to stop it." Mashiro said calmly.

Upon hearing this, Sasuke gripped the Kusanagi sword tighter, while Naruto patted Sasuke, signaling him to relax.

“Mashiro, I believe you. Like you said, as an Otsutsuki, you should just kill us now. So, perhaps we can become allies, friends.” Naruto extended his hand to Mashiro and said with a smile.

Upon seeing Naruto at this moment, Sasuke smiled, sheathed his Kusanagi sword, and revealed the true Naruto Uzumaki.

"Don't worry, I have no ill intentions towards the ninja world. I'm just a traveler passing through, and I'll be leaving your world soon. So, I hope I can have a pleasant stay during this time," Mashiro said softly, taking Naruto's outstretched hand.

"I understand. Don't worry, I'll make the arrangements." Naruto breathed a slight sigh of relief and said with a smile.

"Also, if you can make me happy, I don't mind revealing some information about the Otsutsuki clan to you, so, Kano~" After saying that, Mashiro disappeared from the spot.

Chapter 249: Black Soil's Curiosity

After Mashiro disappeared, the four Kage and Boruto returned to normal.

“Alright, let’s go back.” Sasuke and Naruto exchanged a glance and said. They didn’t plan to tell anyone else about this for the time being.

Back in the ninja world, Hinata and Himawari, Sakura and Sarada were already waiting at the portal. Seeing everyone return safely, Hinata and Sakura were relieved.

Hinata rushed over and hugged Naruto tightly. "It's back to normal," Hinata said.

"Don't worry, I'm fine," Naruto said softly, patting Hinata on the back.

Himawari found Boruto and, looking at him with concern, asked, "Are you alright, brother?" "I'm fine," Boruto replied with a smile.

"By the way, brother, where's Mashiro-neechan?" Himawari looked around and asked.

"By the way, where is Mashiro? Dad, Master, have you seen Mashiro?" Upon hearing Himawari's words, Boruto hurriedly turned to Sasuke and Naruto and asked.

"By the way, where did that brat suddenly go?" Kurotsuchi asked, puzzled.

Naruto glanced at Sasuke, who nodded slightly and said, "To prevent any unforeseen circumstances, I sent her away early."

"Is that so?" Darui nodded, seemingly unconcerned. Gaara and Chojuro were the same.

Only Kurotsuchi frowned naturally. She remembered that Sasuke had waited specifically for Mashiro's arrival, but now there were rumors that he had sent Mashiro away early for fear of something going wrong.

Something felt off about that girl.

"Alright, Hinata, you take Boruto and Himawari back first. I have some things to discuss with Sasuke," Naruto said with a smile.

Hinata nodded and left with Himawari and a reluctant Boruto. "Sakura, you should take Sarada back first," Sasuke said.

Seeing this, Darui said, "Then Hokage, the four of us will go back first. We'll probably stay in Konoha for the next couple of days. Let us know if anything happens."

He could naturally see that Naruto and Sasuke wanted to get rid of them.

"Okay, thank you so much for today," Naruto said gratefully. "It's nothing."

Immediately afterwards, the four shadows also left.

Everyone left, and Naruto and Sasuke went to the Hokage's office.

“It’s not just them; it seems I’ve fallen for her technique beforehand as well,” Sasuke said seriously.

"When did she do this? Didn't even you notice?" Naruto, realizing the seriousness of the situation, frowned as he spoke.

"After you were captured by Momoshiki, she revealed her identity to me and suggested that we go together to rescue you. Although I didn't intend to agree at first, I thought that it would be better to come to another dimension together than to leave her in Konoha. So she joined our team to rescue you. I guess it was during that time that she used genjutsu on the other people in the team."

Furthermore, the illusions she casts are imperceptible even to my eyes, and can hinder our memories and cognition to a certain extent.

It's like she was with us to rescue you, but throughout the whole process, we completely forgot she was there, as if she hadn't come with us at all.

This level of genjutsu is practically like the Uchiha clan's strongest genjutsu, Kotoamatsukami.

Therefore, her genjutsu did not forcibly alter memories and cognition. With your daughter's reminder, I and several others were still able to recall them. "Sasuke said with utmost solemnity, as this was also the first time he had ever seen such a genjutsu.

"If what you say is true, then we're in trouble. Since she can deceive your senses, then I guess no one in the entire ninja world can stop her genjutsu."

"The only fortunate thing is that, unlike Momoshiki, she doesn't mean us any harm." Naruto said. "Do you really believe what she said?" Sasuke asked after a moment of silence.

From Kaguya Otsutsuki to the recently appeared Momoshiki Amezuki and Kinshiki Otsutsuki, Sasuke has no goodwill towards the Amezuki clan, let alone trust them.

It gave me the ability to sense malice, but I didn't sense any malice in her. Instead, I could see the hidden goodwill in her, regardless of the family.

"Among the clan, there are good people and bad people. I'm willing to believe her." Naruto glanced at Konoha outside the window and said firmly.

"You're still the same as ever, as naive as ever." Sasuke chuckled softly. Naruto has always been like this; he believed me in the past too.

“If something really happens to her, then you’re still here, aren’t you?” Naruto turned to Sasuke and said with a light laugh.

"I'm telling you," Sasuke said with a hint of helplessness. Oh well, he was already used to it anyway.

On the way back to the Konoha guesthouse, Kurotsuchi was still thinking about Shinji.

She always felt that Naruto and Sasuke were hiding something from them about that girl. Just as Sasuke had guessed.

Mashiro had planted "Sura: Mystic God" in them beforehand, then temporarily altered their memories and perceptions through thought implantation. This caused them to completely ignore Mashiro's presence throughout the rescue operation, and Mashiro further erased these memories by fabricating new ones during the thought implantation process.

Their incomprehension.

This meant that even after learning about the issue of ignoring Mashiro, they wouldn't suspect anything. There were two exceptions, however: Sasuke and Kurotsuchi.

Because of the Rinnegan with its tomoe, Sasuke's implantation was weakened to some extent, making him the first to discover the problem. As for Kurotsuchi, it was Mashiro's deliberate act; Mashiro did not choose to dispel Kurotsuchi's suspicions but instead deliberately intensified them.

Suspicion breeds curiosity, curiosity leads to contact, and contact is the beginning of succumbing. Just as Kuroto was pondering this, a familiar, clear voice reached her ears. "Boss, a large takoyaki, no toppings, plain."

Kurotsuchi turned her head and saw Mashiro buying takoyaki at a stall not far away. After hesitating for a moment, curiosity finally overcame her composure, and Kurotsuchi walked towards Mashiro.

"They're here." Noticing Kurotsuchi's approaching footsteps, Mashiro smiled. Everything was going according to her plan.

Mashiro used "Sura: Mystic God" not just to intimidate, but also to pique Kurotsuchi's curiosity.

At this point, under normal circumstances, Mashiro would have a very difficult time finding an opportunity to win over Kurotsuchi, unless she were to walk right into her trap.

"Who are you? Lord Tsuchikage! What can I do for you?" Kurotsuchi smiled as she took the original-flavor takoyaki from the vendor and spoke softly. "Um, weren't you supposed to go with us to rescue the Hokage today? Why didn't we see you inside?" Kurotsuchi asked.

"Well, didn't Sasuke-sama tell you that?" Mashiro said with a smile. Kurotsuchi shook her head; she didn't think Sasuke was telling the truth.