Lily sized up Naruto, who was barely tall enough to reach her knees, raised an eyebrow, and asked,
"Who's this little brat?"
Carl chuckled and replied,
"You could say he was my vessel back when I was sealed. I lived inside his body for a while."
As he spoke, Carl noticed the photograph in Naruto's hand. He bent down and gently ruffled Naruto's hedgehog-like hair, saying,
"Thinking about your parents?"
Naruto nodded silently. He tucked the photo into his clothes and said in a low voice,
"Before this, I didn't even know what my mother looked like. She had long red hair…"
When he mentioned his mother, Naruto's eyes were already brimming with tears. He murmured,
"Carl… my mother must have been very gentle, right…?"
Hearing that, Carl blinked and said,
"Maybe. Anyway, she was definitely gentler than the one next to me…"
Lily shot Carl a glare, then turned and walked into the house on her own. Only after she left did Naruto dare to ask,
"Carl, is that woman your girlfriend?"
"Yeah. Otherwise, why would I go all the way to the Moon just to free her?"
"Eh?? Carl, you really went to the Moon?! What's it like there? Can you tell me?"
"What else could it be like—barren and deserted. But the harvest was pretty good."
...
Inside the sealing space, the Nine-Tails stared at Carl's pair of golden Tenseigan, its eyes bulging as it exclaimed in shock,
"Th-this is that old man's brother's eyes—no, this chakra is even stronger! He awakened these eyes on the Moon?!"
Outside, Carl merely smiled faintly and said,
"That's right. These eyes are my reward from the Moon."
The Nine-Tails was startled once again. Only then did it realize that although Carl was outside, his gaze seemed to pierce through the barrier of the sealing space, seeing it crouching inside with perfect clarity.
This was the terrifying power of the Tenseigan. As the ultimate evolution of the Byakugan—which already possessed penetrating vision—it held power that could almost see through everything.
This time, the Nine-Tails was completely convinced. It no longer dared to meet Carl's eyes, obediently lying flat on the ground, its once-upright ears drooping down.
It was now certain of one thing: even if the Sage of Six Paths were to be resurrected, he still wouldn't be a match for Carl.
...
Naruto had no idea what the Nine-Tails inside him looked like at the moment, but he could guess that Carl had just been talking to it, so he asked,
"Carl, can you communicate with Kurama even from outside?"
"You're already calling him Kurama? Looks like you two get along pretty well. Did you use Talk no Jutsu?"
"Uh… Carl, what kind of ninjutsu is Talk no Jutsu?"
"Your personal, exclusive technique."
"?"
After saying that, Carl left the completely bewildered Naruto behind and went inside to find Lily.
...
Before long, the sound of their conversation came from inside the house.
"What do you think of the environment here?"
"It's too small. The architecture in this world looks a lot like the style of Wano. And there are ninjas—are there samurai too?"
"There are, but compared to ninjas, the samurai here are much weaker, and there aren't many of them. They're concentrated in a place called the Land of Iron."
"Weaker than ninjas? That's really pathetic. I hate samurai. Why don't we just wipe out that so-called Land of Iron? If it's called a country, it's probably only the size of a village anyway."
Outside, Naruto immediately broke out in a cold sweat. He recalled what Carl had just said—that this woman named Lily seemed to have a bad temper. At the time, he hadn't really understood what that meant. Now he did.
This wasn't just "bad temper." Disliking something and wanting to destroy an entire country because of it—she was practically a nation-destroying witch.
Naruto didn't think Lily was exaggerating at all. He had some understanding of Carl's strength, and someone who stayed by Carl's side certainly wouldn't be weak either. In short, they were both ridiculously powerful.
...
Inside the house, Carl helplessly pinched Lily's cheek and said,
"Even if I don't like samurai either, that doesn't mean we should just wipe out a country for no reason. Don't forget—we have important business to take care of."
Lily snorted softly and replied,
"You mean finding the Moon people who came here back then?"
"More or less. But first, we need to find that guy called Isshiki. I'm very interested in the Ten-Tails he has. Maybe we can get even more chakra fruits. Those things are a huge boost."
Lily nodded thoughtfully and said,
"Judging from Kaguya's case, the effects of those fruits seem even better than Devil Fruits. There's no limit on how many you can eat, and there are hardly any side effects. They really are good stuff."
"Heh. I'm starting to think that the so-called Ōtsutsuki clan were originally Moon people who came here from our world, and that chakra fruits are just their improved version of Devil Fruits."
Lily wasn't surprised by Carl's speculation. She had vaguely felt the same way herself.
She examined Carl's Tenseigan and said,
"These eyes should be the proof. You came from another world, yet you can still awaken the special eyes of the Ōtsutsuki clan. That can't be a coincidence."
"That's right. Maybe you could awaken the same eyes too—just eat a chakra fruit."
"Speaking of which, these eyes are quite beautiful. If I awakened them, would mine look the same as yours?"
"Uh… not necessarily. It might be another kind—the Rinnegan. Appearance-wise… it's similar to the eyes you had during your so-called Imu period, with concentric black ripple patterns."
Lily frowned slightly and said,
"Is that so? Then they probably wouldn't look too bad."
Carl nodded perfunctorily. In truth, by his aesthetic standards, the Rinnegan looked pretty good—very imposing, full of pressure.
But if those eyes were on a woman's face, they might be a bit… off. At least, they wouldn't look as good as the Tenseigan.
...
Lily suddenly spoke again,
"Those ninjas are coming this way again. There aren't many of them this time."
Carl nodded slightly. With a sweep of his gaze, he clearly saw the Third Hokage and the others rushing over in haste.
He withdrew his gaze, took Lily's hand, and led her to sit down on the sofa, saying,
"They're still a bit slow. I have tasks to assign to them."
Lily lazily leaned against Carl's shoulder and said,
"You mean sending them to look for Isshiki?"
"Yeah. Ōtsutsuki Isshiki is currently residing in the body of a man named Jigen. Konoha is the number one ninja village in the world, after all. Finding a monk shouldn't be too difficult for them."
-----------
+90 chapters on p@treon/tambeerg