KAGE

The night passed, and the sun now hung high in the sky.

All of us were kneeling before a gravestone, dressed in black.

Despite the blazing sun overhead, no one had the spirit to complain about the heat.

Every single one of us was crying.

Even I, who had arrived in this world only yesterday, couldn't hold back my tears.

My mother held a stick of incense in her hands as she offered a Kitō—a prayer of supplication.

Because of our circumstances, we had no time to hold a proper traditional funeral and were forced to skip several important rites:

- Tsūya — the wake, held on the night before the funeral.

- Sōshiki — the main funeral ceremony. There was no monk, no guests, and no time for a formal service.

- Kokubetsushiki — the public farewell ceremony, where friends and relatives pay their final respects.

- Kasō — the cremation. It couldn't be performed because we were hiding in the mountains, so we buried the body directly.

- Kotsuage — the ritual of collecting the bones after cremation. Naturally, this could not take place either.

In the end, all we could do was offer an Inori (prayer) and observe Mokutō, a moment of silent prayer in honor of the deceased.

As his son, I found it deeply humiliating.

My grandparents had died without proper funerals—or at least, I assumed they had, since they perished during the war.

And now...

My father too?

How much must a person endure?

Because of our limited resources, all we could do was dig a grave, bury the body, cover it with earth, and place flowers on top.

The gravestone itself was crudely carved by hand.

I carved it myself.

«Here rests Tsukishiro Masaroni, the last head of the Tsukishiro Clan.

He lived with honor, fought with courage, and died protecting his family.

His legacy shall never be forgotten.

His body returns to the earth, but his will endures.

Warrior, father, and leader.

May his sword continue to guide his descendants.

Even after the clan was destroyed, he never abandoned his duty.

His courage will live forever in the hearts of those he saved.

A man may fall... but his legacy never will.»

Everyone wept openly.

The grief was unmistakable.

Our group now consisted of one adult and six children.

Although we were still young, at least the three eldest among us had already grown up mentally.

Years of being hunted had forced us to mature far earlier than we should have.

Unlike the younger children, we understood the danger surrounding us.

The twins, for example, had been born after we fled the war.

Even Emiri had still been an infant back then. She had only survived because my mother was pregnant and able to nurse her.

In her mind...

She had always been my parents' daughter.

Watching the funeral, I couldn't help wondering...

Would it be possible to bury my father inside my Pocket Space?

After discovering it yesterday, I had run several experiments.

I even tried bringing my younger brother inside while he was asleep.

Nothing happened.

From that, I concluded that either only I could enter the space...

Or anyone else would have to willingly accept entering it.

Objects, however, could be stored and retrieved without any difficulty.

There was another pleasant surprise as well.

The Tsukishiro Clan's two ancestral swords—

Hakutsuki (White Moon)

and

Kokutsuki (Black Moon)—

began slowly absorbing spiritual energy the moment I placed them inside the Pocket Space.

I didn't know where the swords originally came from.

My father had only told me they had belonged to our family since the clan's founding.

Even my grandfather hadn't known their true origin.

The only thing our family knew...

Was that both swords possessed an extraordinary history.

They had apparently been forged from some special kind of ore.

They could absorb blood.

They could cut through virtually anything.

And despite existing for centuries...

They had never rusted.

The kanji engraved on each blade—

白月 (Hakutsuki)

and

黒月 (Kokutsuki)—

emitted an almost imperceptible glow.

That confirmed they really were absorbing the surrounding spiritual energy.

So I planted both swords beside the Spiritual Spring inside my Pocket Space.

As the current head of the Tsukishiro Clan, they now belonged to me.

If they wished to feed...

Then let them feed.

---

HAKUTSUKI (Sealed)

Level: 1

Abilities

- Indestructible

- Life Drain

- ???

- ???

- ???

---

KOKUTSUKI (Sealed)

Level: 1

Abilities

- Indestructible

- Life Drain

- ???

- ???

- ???

---

Looking at their status screens, I realized these swords were far more extraordinary than they appeared.

There was a very good chance they were divine weapons whose true potential had remained buried in the hands of my ancestors.

But now that they had fallen into my hands...

Their legends would one day be known throughout the world.

One of the greatest advantages of the Pocket Space was that it functioned as my own personal storage.

Although storage scrolls already existed, my Pocket Space could even store those scrolls themselves, eliminating the need to carry countless items around.

During the funeral, I also tested my new ability—

Eye of Insight.

I used it on my family members.

What I discovered shocked me.

---

My Mother

Name: Uzumaki Aoi

Rank: Beginner Jonin

Bloodline:

- Spiritual Seal

Talent: ????

---

My Younger Brother (Twin)

Name: Tsukishiro Haruto

Rank: None

Bloodlines:

- Spiritual Seal

- Gravitational Field

Talent: Very High

---

My Younger Sister (Twin)

Name: Tsukishiro Miyo

Rank: None

Bloodlines:

- Spiritual Seal

- Gravitational Field

Talent: Very High

---

My Fiancée

Name: Uzumaki Hikari

Rank: Intermediate Chunin

Bloodline:

- Spiritual Seal

Talent: Very High

---

My Cousin and Brother-in-Law

Name: Uzumaki Daichi

Rank: Intermediate Chunin

Bloodline:

- Spiritual Seal

Talent: Unparalleled

---

My Youngest Sister-in-Law

Name: Uzumaki Emiri

Rank: None

Bloodline:

- Spiritual Seal

Talent: High

---

From what I could tell...

I was the only loser in the family.

One of the biggest reasons I had trained like a madman was because of that brat, Daichi.

Now, looking at him through the eyes of someone who had reincarnated...

Everything about him screamed Child of Destiny.

Hand seals that ordinary people took weeks or even months to master...

He learned in a single day.

Sometimes...

On his very first attempt.

He memorized everything instantly.

His perception far surpassed that of anyone his age.

And worst of all...

Unlike me, whose mind was filled with thoughts of revenge...

His dream was to find a way to end the hatred that plagued the ninja world.

As for why my father chose me to become the head of the clan...

I honestly didn't know.

Perhaps it was simply because I was older.

After all, Daichi was only nine years old.

Then again...

I didn't really believe that.

His wisdom rivaled that of most adults.

That left me with only one other explanation.

Nepotism.

After all...

I was my father's son.

He wasn't.

Unfair as it might have been...

Had this world ever been fair?

Justice without power is nothing more than an opinion.

And the opinions of the weak are nothing but background noise to the strong.

It's a pity he'll die someday.

After all, in the original canon, no one named Uzumaki Daichi ever appeared.

Besides Naruto, Kushina, Karin...

And Mito Uzumaki—who, as it turns out, is my great-aunt—

there were no other surviving Uzumaki.

Speaking of Aunt Mito...

I learned that my paternal grandfather had been in love with her when they were young.

Unfortunately for him...

There happened to be a protagonist named Senju Hashirama.

Still...

If it was any consolation, Hashirama died young, leaving Mito a widow early in life.

Thinking about it in a petty way...

Perhaps that was karma.