The Land of Ancestors had changed greatly by now.
With productivity having developed by leaps and bounds, the number of criminals had also greatly decreased.
These days, there weren't many criminals, and they were generally sent to the appropriate prisons.
So seeing so many prisoner wagons in this place was undoubtedly surprising.
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"So many prisoner wagons. Are they holding serious offenders?"
Hagoromo furrowed his brow. His gaze fixed on the road ahead as he fell into thought. "But why are they here?"
This place before them was where the God Tree stood.
It was one of the sacred sites of the Land of Ancestors. In theory, ordinary people couldn't enter.
Even the lofty nobles needed to submit numerous applications to enter. It wasn't something easily done, much less for these prisoners.
The Hagoromo Brothers exchanged glances, both sensing that something was amiss.
But they had years of understanding between them. One look was enough for them to wordlessly follow the others.
They continued onward until they reached the heart of the sacred site.
Then they discovered that a vast temple complex stood within the sacred grounds.
Several mysterious statues were enshrined inside the Temple, along with a massive chakra presence.
"The prisoners have arrived."
Once they reached the Temple, the samurai in charge of escorting the prisoners spoke coldly. "Send these sacrifices up."
At his words, the sacrifices before them were unloaded one by one.
Once they arrived, the prisoners seemed to realize the fate that awaited them. Fear showed on every face.
"Help! Don't kill me!"
"Please, let me go..."
They looked at the samurai before them, pleading.
On closer inspection, none of them seemed very old. Many were young men, and some were even boys.
"Brother..."
Hamura looked at the scene before them, a trace of pity in his eyes. He seemed unable to bear watching what was about to happen.
Hagoromo shook his head. "They're all criminals."
"They're being executed. It's the punishment they deserve. There's nothing more to say."
Those transported in prisoner wagons were mostly serious offenders.
They had broken the law, so whatever was done to them was what they deserved.
Even the Hagoromo Brothers only felt a little pity for them.
They said nothing more, and simply watched.
But it wasn't long before the scene before them left them astonished.
The samurai at the front raised his hand and formed a hand seal.
At his gesture, chakra was drawn out, and the God Tree before him began to change.
A vine extended from the God Tree and wrapped around several prisoners.
In an instant, amid their wails, every one of them became a withered corpse. The life force in their bodies had been completely drained, leaving only husks.
"How could this happen..."
At that moment, the Hagoromo Brothers, who had been watching from hiding, both stood up.
They stared at the scene before them, shock written across their faces.
Before seeing this, they had already expected what might happen. Whether the prisoners were beheaded or executed in some other way, they wouldn't have been too surprised.
But to have their lives forcibly drained by the God Tree and die like this... It was simply too horrifying.
This was far beyond anything they had expected or imagined.
"How could this happen?"
Hagoromo looked stunned, disbelief on his face. "Isn't the God Tree a divine object? Why would it..."
The God Tree was a divine object of the Land of Ancestors. That was what they had been taught since childhood.
They had always believed it.
But now, the God Tree's actions had overturned everything they thought they knew.
Could something that drained people's lives and took them away really be considered divine?
The thought crossed their minds, and doubts began to surface.
Seeing that the samurai were about to continue the sacrifices, they rushed forward without hesitation.
"Who's there?"
The samurai in charge was highly vigilant. Almost the moment the Hagoromo Brothers charged at him, he sensed their arrival and instinctively counterattacked.
But the instant he saw them, astonishment flashed across his face. He immediately abandoned any thought of resisting. "Lord Hagoromo?"
The samurai leading a group into the God Tree's inner sanctum was naturally one of Namikawa Yū's trusted confidants, and one of the people he trusted most.
Someone like him would naturally recognize the Hagoromo Brothers, so he immediately gave up resisting and stood obediently in place.
"What are you doing?"
Hagoromo stepped forward first and demanded, "These people are all citizens of the Land of Ancestors. What did they do to deserve being sacrificed to the God Tree?"
"They're guilty subjects," the samurai replied. "They've all committed grave crimes, so they were sentenced to be brought here."
"Being sacrificed to the God Tree is a great honor for them."
"What about those children, then?" Hagoromo demanded. "Are even underage children guilty of serious crimes?"
He pointed to a nearby prisoner wagon.
Two children, clearly just over ten years old, were locked inside.
If the other criminals had been sentenced to come here and be sacrificed to the God Tree, perhaps they had gotten what they deserved. But these two children clearly shouldn't have been here.
"They didn't commit crimes themselves. They were implicated by others."
The samurai glanced at them, then replied, "Their families committed serious crimes in the past, so the entire family was condemned as sacrifices."
As if afraid the Hagoromo Brothers wouldn't believe him, he picked up the records and handed them to Hagoromo.
The Hagoromo Brothers took the records and immediately furrowed their brows.
What the samurai had told them was indeed true.
The Land of Ancestors hadn't been unified for very long. In truth, it had only been about ten or twenty years.
There had been no shortage of rebellions during those years.
It couldn't be helped.
No matter how prosperous an era was, there would always be people who opposed it.
Besides, the Land of Ancestors hadn't been unified peacefully. It had been accomplished through the sword.
The nobles and daimyo families of other countries, along with those defeated in power struggles, were all potential dissenters.
Over the past several decades, these people had repeatedly stirred up rebellions and caused no small amount of trouble.
And Namikawa Yū's punishment for these families was simple.
He sentenced the entire family to death, making them all sacrifices to the God Tree.
So, in theory, there was nothing wrong with this.
Even underage children were descendants of rebels and sentenced prisoners all the same.
The Hagoromo Brothers knew this.
But when they met the eyes of the two children before them, they couldn't help feeling pity.