Chapter 23: Meeting Again
"Rest assured, we are not enemies."
Kaguya turned her head and saw a few familiar figures standing not far away.
"Shikamaru, Choji, Ino?" Kaguya said in surprise.
"We saw you faint, so we saved you." Shikamaru had his hands behind his head, "What a bother."
"Why did we have to save her? Seriously." Ino looked impatient.
"Got any food?" Choji grabbed a handful of chips and shoved them into his mouth.
"Thank you all," Kaguya said with a soft smile, "If it weren't for you, I might have been done for."
"Hmph, I must have been out of my mind to save you." Ino huffed.
"By the way, where's my mask?" Kaguya suddenly remembered her fox mask, "Did you see it?"
"Is this it?" Shikamaru reached into his bag and pulled out a fox mask, handing it to Kaguya, "Is this the one?"
"Yes, that's it. Thank you." Kaguya put the fox mask back on her face, then reached into her cloak and pulled out a scroll. "Here, to thank you for saving me, this Heaven Scroll is for you."
The Heaven Scroll she had thrown during her fight with Orochimaru was actually a fake, an empty scroll.
"Really?" Ino's impatience vanished, and she looked at Kaguya with delight. They had drawn an Earth Scroll and now needed a Heaven Scroll.
"Yes." Kaguya placed the scroll in Ino's hand, "Now I don't owe you anything. I'm leaving." She waved and prepared to leave.
"Do you want to come with us?" Shikamaru suddenly called out to Kaguya, "We can escort you to the finish line."
"Why bring her along?" Ino glared at Kaguya.
Kaguya's mouth twitched. This girl, after getting the scroll, immediately reverted to her true nature. What a greedy person.
"No need," Kaguya smiled, "I'm used to being alone. Goodbye." She waved and walked away.
"Hmph," Ino snorted, watching Kaguya's receding figure, "She's just a little prettier, what's the big deal?"
Kaguya naturally couldn't hear Ino's envious words. She was now heading to the place she had started from, where she had discarded the Heaven Scroll. She wanted to retrieve it.
As for Orochimaru, he probably wouldn't bother her for a while. After all, she now possessed the Tenseigan's power. Speaking of which, the Tenseigan's power was indeed formidable, with abilities similar to the Rinnegan's Shinra Tensei and Bansho Ten'in, and the ability to absorb others' chakra.
The power to manipulate gravity and repulsion is indeed formidable, but extracting others' chakra requires immense mental strength. With her current mental strength, Kaguya could barely use it once before fainting, as she did in the battle with Orochimaru yesterday.
Since awakening the Tenseigan, these abilities and their usage methods have appeared in her mind as if they were instinctive. As for other abilities, Kaguya vaguely knows how to use them, but due to the limited chakra in her body, she cannot use them yet.
Returning to the previous location, Kaguya activated her Byakugan—no, now it should be called the Tenseigan—and found the Heaven Scroll hidden in the bushes.
Kaguya let out a sigh of relief. Fortunately, she found it; otherwise, it would have been quite troublesome. With the Tenseigan activated, she no longer needed to make her blood vessels bulge when using her eyes.
Now, she just needed an Earth Scroll. Once she obtained it, she could head to the central tower.
Because she was delayed by Orochimaru for a day and then came back to retrieve the Heaven Scroll, the remaining time was running out.
However, with the Tenseigan's ability to manipulate gravity and repulsion, she could float in the air and move at great speed, ensuring she wouldn't be disqualified for exceeding the time limit.
The downside was the significant chakra consumption. With her current chakra capacity, she couldn't fly for too long. Moreover, she had to reserve enough chakra for combat.
Kaguya had been traveling for most of the day and felt that her chakra was more than half depleted. She quickly stopped, landed on the ground, wiped the sweat from her forehead, and panted slightly. It seemed best to use this ability sparingly due to the rapid chakra consumption.
At that moment, she heard the sounds of battle in the distance.
"Just in time," Kaguya smiled slightly, thinking it was a perfect opportunity to swoop in and reap the benefits.
However, when she used her clairvoyance to see what was happening, she raised an eyebrow. "I didn't expect to run into them."
"Sand Waterfall Funeral"
With a low shout, a dull sound echoed, and blood splattered in Kaguya's direction.
Kaguya waved her hand.
"Boom"
The blood was immediately deflected by an invisible force, and not only that, but the trees in front of her were also destroyed, creating a large trench several meters deep that extended into the distance.
The area before her suddenly opened up, revealing the figures of a few people.
The short-statured boy with short hair, smoky eyes, and a gourd on his back was Gaara. The blonde girl with a fan on her back was Temari, and the one in black robes with a puppet on his back was Kankuro.
"Sorry," Kaguya said, facing them and gently waving her hand. "We meet again."