Chapter 283   - Ch283. A Meeting 1

Rei stood in the throne room of the moon castle he privatized from the recently deceased Toneri, admiring the architecture while his clones were trying to research the two devices they stole from the castle during the fight.

The device to start the moon-crumbling was not really complicated, to be honest. All it did was make use of the pent-up Kaguya's chakra residue and pushed it into the weak crevices under the planet's surface. Sure, it was an ingenious use of a dumb concept to cause mass destruction, and really, that's what Rei thought being a ninja should have been about.

Nobody knew about it, yet it could have been used to wipe out an entire planet. Any idiot could use it too. From a scientific point of view, when Rei looked at it from the perspective of what the scientists of the Elemental Nations knew right now, it was a very simple device. In any other situation, Rei wouldn't be interested in it at all but when he found a peculiar set of seals drawn in a hidden compartment...

Rei found out many surprising things..

Apparently, Hamura Otsutsuki did regret sealing his mother on the moon. After all, why else would he build a device that would let him talk to her in her seal?

What he previously thought was some kind of weapon, was just a primitive walkie-talkie that used Kaguya's residue chakra to connect to her in the seal. The use of her chakra for the moon-destructing Jutsu was added only later.

What really made Rei a bit sad, however, was the fact Hamura never actually used the device for its real purpose after building it.

'He must have realized what potential it had.' Rei mused.

"Quite the sight, this building." Konan suddenly appeared behind him, causing him to turn towards her.

"Only you?" Rei asked, a bit surprised.

"Yes. Tsunade is playing with the Tenseigan device... did you know it is made of a massive number of Byakugan eyes? Kinda gross but apparently, it would have been quite a good Christmas present for a medic ninja." Konan amusedly hummed.

"Well, Tsunade did want to play with Byakugan eyes for a long time now yet she had no opportunity so far." Rei shrugged.

"Pakura is entertaining herself with the puppets, preparing them for transport and stuff." Konan continued.

"Already? She is quite impatient about that." Rei tinkered with the seal on the device while reacting.

"Well, she really likes her new assistant Shun Riku and these puppets are the best gift she could ever imagine giving to that woman." Konan said, "Plus, you know her. She is always so serious about developing her village." She wistfully said.

Konan might not show it, but she was quite jealous of Pakura. Pakura might not see herself as Suna kunoichi anymore but she did see Sunagakure as her home. Konan missed that feeling. She knew her home should probably be the Land of Rain but she simply could not see it in the light Pakura saw Sunagakure. Konan found Pakura's sense of belonging quite enviable.

"As for Ringo... she found the armory so I don't think we will be seeing her anytime soon." Konan chuckled, causing Rei to grin too. "And Mei decided to explore the castle."

"Which leaves the two of us." Rei nodded, painting new seals on the walkie-talkie device with his chakra alone. "You are not gonna explore? I thought that was why you made sure it wasn't you who stayed behind in our base."

There were only six of them on the moon and Yuriko was the poor lass who drew the short stick and had to guard their base. Needless to say, all five of Rei's women cheated in their own way in that particular draw. Not that Yuriko would ever know...

"I already do." Konan spoke, "I just don't see the point of doing it myself. My paper clones are enough when it comes to looking through useless trinkets. I'd much rather spend my time with you." She sat down behind him and put her hands around his neck, quietly observing him work while enjoying their closeness. "Somebody gotta make sure you don't do something crazily life-threatening."

Rei would never admit it but hearing her say that, his smile widened a bit. This was how it always was and he was fine with it.

"Whatever would I do without you." He snorted.

"You would probably blow yourself up in your first week dabbling with seals." She offhandedly replied without any real heat behind her words.

"I did blow myself up in my first week dabbling with seals." Rei quipped.

"See what I mean? You are incorrigible." Konan said and Rei could feel her gently kiss the back of his neck.

They were together long enough to know what the other thought most of the time and Konan was sure Rei needed a bit of her support right about now.

"Am I that transparent?" Rei sighed, enjoying how Konan tightened her hug.

"You saw yourself in the kid?" She asked.

"Well... to be honest, I could have ended that way too if I didn't meet you." Rei acknowledged. "Toneri was strong, not as much as we are and he was indeed touched a bit in his head but he was also in a league of his own. This fight... it really made me think about why exactly I am trying so hard to create a better place out of Elemental Nations. Why did I even make my own village... In the end, I just want a safe haven for us." He shook his head.

"That's what we always did. Watch out for ourselves." Konan put her chin on Rei's shoulder. "Are you sure contacting this Kaguya is a good idea?" She worriedly asked. "Maybe we just could let her stay sealed inside of the moon and forget about her?"

Konan didn't like Rei's decision of meeting up with this apparent 'goddess'. First, she didn't believe in gods, and second, from what Rei told her about the woman, she was, like Toneri, a bit touched in her head. Unlike the kid, though, Kaguya was a lot stronger, which Konan thought would mean a lot tougher to negotiate with.

Konan also had no idea what kind of seal was used to seal Kaguya and if it would be dangerous for Rei to pay her a visit with his consciousness. For her, it was simply far too dangerous to even attempt it but Rei was already decided and she knew there was no moving him once he got going. She could only slightly redirect him and make sure he made no foolish mistakes.

Rei sighed, "We could make sure she never gets out but I do want to talk to her. I am prepared for arrogance and haughtiness but I would like to believe a thousand years in a seal would mellow her down a bit. She could be really useful." He said as he finished a final stroke of a seal.

"And just like that, your communication device is done." Konan muttered, more to herself.

"Well, then... guard my body, will you?" Rei exclaimed, taking in a deep breath to give himself a bit of a push of courage. He made sure to add many safeguarding seals on the device so his being would not be endangered but... one simply never knew about these kinds of things. Then again, with how much effort he put into it, he would at worst get injured.

Just like that, Rei's body slumped in Konan's embrace, his consciousness venturing deep into the sealing space in the moon where the mad Rabbit Goddess supposedly resided.