“Yes, yes. Thank you for welcoming me to your grand clan." he said sarcastically. "Anyways, I came to ask for a favor. ” Hakai looked annoyingly at the old man. He didn’t look pleased to meet him.

“Impatient like always. You’re still remain the same. Were you successful in your journey?” The old man chuckled lightly at Hakai’s haste.

Hakai looked at the man stoically for a moment. “No.”

“I thought so. It isn’t so easy to find peace after a life like yours but it looks like you have made some progress at least.” The old man looked at me and smiled as if he had learned something.

Hakai frowned clearly indicating he hadn’t come here to chit-chat and pointed at me. “Anyways I have come this time to stop his horns from growing out. You said you could do it while examining mine back in the day.”

I was confused by all of this. Weren’t we going to some safe place? What was all this talk about my horns? “Wait, wait, wait. What is going on right now?”

“Hmmm… looks like the little one doesn’t know what is about to happen. Leave us alone for a few minutes.”

Hakai contemplated for a minute. “Fine. Don’t forget you still owe me.” Hakai gritted and spoke between his teeth before lashing the thatched mat aside harshly and going outside.

The old man still let out a chuckle and looked at me for a while.

What was I supposed to do here? I felt a bit awkward so I introduced myself. “I’m Kenji…. Hagoromo….”  It felt a bit unnatural to say my full name so I probably should just say my first name from next time.

“My name is Hiraku Chinoike.” His eyes that were almost shut close suddenly stretched open. The white part of his eyes had turned scarlet red, his iris was pitch black and his pupil had also turned red.

‘Dojutsu!’ My eyes opened wide with shock. What was this? How could there be a dojutsu in such an obscure place? I had no clue about it. Did the anime have a sequel or something, What the fuck.

He pointed to his left eye. “This one sees the past.” then to his right eye. “This one sees the future.”

He analyzed me with his eyes. “HuHu, very interesting…you have experienced quite a lot.”

Shit! Did he know I had reincarnated? I thought about my options right now. Could I run away or something? I didn’t want my past looked into by some creepy old man.

“Your existence is quite interesting. I can’t see memories of a person’s past life. Is it because you remember them? Where are you even from and what are you doing here? The universe truly works in mysterious ways.”

I got more tense as he spoke. I needed to escape now!

“Don’t be so scared. I don’t wish to do you any harm. Those were merely an old man’s fleeting thoughts.” He started brooding over and stroking his beard again.

Just because you say so I can’t calm down!

“I understand that I need to earn your trust but your father is right outside and he is the strongest shinobi in this village. He also trusts me enough to leave you alone with me.”

It’s true, Hakai had spent a lot of effort getting me here and had saved my life on multiple occasions now. He wouldn’t suddenly abandon me… right?

“You are old enough so I will speak plainly. You are member of the Hagoromo clan. Most of them are just pacifists training and meditating all the time. Not much is known about their history besides when they have taken action publicly like during the warring states period. Other than that, they just hide and separate themselves from worldly matters.” He paused and groomed his beard again. It was getting kind of annoying….

“However, there are some anomalies among them. Like your father and more importantly your great grandfather, Ginkaku. They are direct descendants of Sage Hagoromo….. or at least that is what I believe. The horns that you have inherited were seen first on the Ginkaku and Kinkaku brothers are extremely important for you and your growth as a shinobi. They are a complex structure that stabilize and grant an unbelievable amount of control over your chakra and the rest of the body. But they apparently have a drawback that your father won’t disclose to me. So, many years ago he asked me to seal them only allowing them to come out whenever he wished for it. With my eyes that can control blood I was able to help him do so.”

I hadn’t expected it to be actually true when Hakai said that my chakra control could only get better when my horns grew out. If what this old man said was true then wouldn’t that mean I would be basically crippled if my horns never grew?

“But I want to be a strong ninja! I don’t want my horns not to grow. I’m getting out of here if that is all you had to say.” The more I stayed here the more creeped out I got. I turned away intending to walk out.

“Impatient just like your father. Do you think your father brought you all the way here so you could say no to me?”

I stopped when I heard that. What would happen if I said no? Hakai had spent a long time to bring me here. I had flashbacks of that night when the nine-tailed beast attacked the village. That day I was still in an infant’s body. I wasn’t able to breathe that day. I really thought that I would’ve died. I touched my throat in an attempt to calm down.

“Like I said I don’t wish you any harm. I can give you another way out. This way not only will you retain your horns, you will also gain a strong ability. If strength is truly what you want there is no better way to obtain it in our world than through dojutsu.”

I got a little excited when I heard him and looked back at the old man. He had managed to catch my attention with that. However, his smile still weirded me out. He had a smug smile on if he had completed what he had set out to accomplish.

TMBTL

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