"Nine years..."
The Hagoromo brothers exchanged a glance, each seeing the same emotion in the other's eyes.
They had both changed greatly over those nine years.
Their once-childish faces had grown more mature, and both looked more like young men than the boys they had once been.
Even more astounding was the power within them. Their mastery of both chakra and natural energy had reached entirely new heights.
"I heard the world's cries of anguish."
Hagoromo's expression was grave. "After years of extraction, the world is nearing the limit of what it can bear."
"If this continues, the world may face a calamity that destroys it before this fruit even ripens."
"We must go back."
Beside him, Hamura looked equally grave. "Even if we cannot persuade Mother to stop, we must at least get her to slow down for a while."
"If we don't give the world time to recover, the consequences will be devastating."
With this world's reserves, a balance was entirely possible, as long as the God Tree's absorption of natural energy was slowed to an appropriate proportion of the rate at which the world produced it.
But Kaguya was too impatient.
From the beginning until now, she had never intended to give this world time to recover, always having the God Tree extract natural energy at the fastest possible rate.
Such reckless extraction would clearly have catastrophic consequences.
If this continued, the world itself would be destroyed before the Chakra Fruit on the God Tree ripened.
The Hagoromo brothers had witnessed all of this, so they resolved to return and try to persuade her.
Having made up their minds, they returned to the capital of the Land of Ancestors.
Nine years had passed, and the city looked more prosperous than ever.
As it continued to expand, the city grew ever larger. Many towering buildings had already appeared, and with the new materials that had emerged recently, all kinds of new structures had sprung up.
With an energy source like chakra, many new devices had also appeared everywhere. Things seemed to change by the day, with something new emerging every so often.
Most people living here enjoyed decent living conditions. Although they were not necessarily satisfied with their current lives, they could easily provide for their entire families simply by working regular jobs.
There was no hunger, no threat to their survival, and no assorted troubles plaguing them. Their standard of living was already excellent.
Thanks to surplus productivity, quite a few stray dogs had even appeared on the city streets. They could live quite well just by searching through people's household rubbish.
Standing to one side and watching these scenes of everyday life, the Hagoromo brothers could not help falling into a daze.
"After these past few years, everyone's lives have become even better."
Hagoromo spoke, unable to help feeling moved. "Having Father rule the Land of Ancestors really was the right decision."
"Yes."
Beside him, Hamura nodded in agreement.
After the age of turmoil had ended, the people of the Land of Ancestors were already living very peaceful lives.
To the Hagoromo brothers, that had already been quite an achievement.
But Namikawa Yū had not been satisfied with that.
Under his rule, production throughout the Land of Ancestors continued to develop, and people's lives improved a little more with each passing stretch of time.
This was something others could not accomplish.
To the Hagoromo brothers, perhaps this was the art of governing.
At any rate, if the two of them had been in his place, they could never have accomplished it.
"Let's go home."
After strolling around the capital, Hagoromo spoke.
A short while later, the wandering princes returned home.
They had not returned alone.
During their years away, both had started families and now had wives of their own.
Hagoromo even had two children of his own, Indra and Asura.
So this time, they had brought their families back with them.
"Is this the capital?"
Following behind Hagoromo, Indra looked around, curiosity in his eyes. "The place where Father grew up..."
"Is Grandfather the king here?"
Indra was still very young, only a few years old, but he was already quite mature.
Compared with those of ordinary people, his eyes were unusual and profoundly deep. Three tomoe lay within them-they were unmistakably a pair of Sharingan.
His mind was mature, filled with weighty thoughts.
By comparison, his younger brother Asura was much simpler and more direct.
"Hahaha, what a beautiful garden!"
Asura wandered about, looking at the exquisite decorations throughout the palace. Every so often, he went closer to look and touch, displaying boundless energy all along the way.
Compared with his elder brother Indra, he seemed much more ordinary, looking no different overall from an average person.
The only difference was the vigorous vitality he possessed, like a newly sprouted sapling that was always growing strong. That energy was vivid.
Neither child was very old yet, but both had already displayed their own distinctive traits, each different from the other.
A short while later, deep within the palace, they met Namikawa Yū.
Nine years had passed, and Namikawa Yū's appearance had also changed somewhat.
Because of the Karma Otsutsuki Kaguya had implanted in him, his body was also unlike an ordinary person's, possessing far greater vitality.
A mere nine years had not changed him much. He simply looked a little more mature on the surface.
"You're back."
Looking at Hagoromo and the others who had returned before him, he rose with a smile to welcome them, gathering his two children into his arms.
"Are these your children, Hagoromo?"
After briefly catching up with Hagoromo and Hamura, he turned his gaze to Indra and Asura before him.
There was curiosity in his eyes.
Compared with the Sage of Six Paths from the distant past, Indra and Asura had actually had a more profound influence.
Of these two, one was the progenitor of the Uchiha, and the other the progenitor of the Senju.
In a sense, the existence of Konoha in later generations was also a product of the struggle between these brothers, which had left a significant mark on history.
Of course, both were still very young now. Even the older Indra had only just turned five and was still growing.
As he looked at Indra, Namikawa Yū could not help turning his gaze to the boy's eyes.
Within those black Sharingan, the three tomoe were so clear.
These were the Sharingan of Indra, progenitor of the Uchiha Clan.
During his time in Konoha, Namikawa Yū had seen the Uchiha Clan's Sharingan, including some with three tomoe.
But those people's Sharingan had all felt somewhat abnormal to Namikawa Yū, carrying a cold, sinister chakra within them.
The chakra of the Indra before him, however, seemed very pure.
Clearly, although Indra had inherited the yin release aspect of the Sage of Six Paths' chakra, he did not have the problems that afflicted the Uchiha Clan of later generations.