When Namikawa Yū reached Kaguya's location, he too was shocked by the sight before him.
The flat stretch of land was awash in blood. What had once been intact was now covered in mangled flesh and remains, leaving no trace of its original appearance.
Even from a distance, the hellish sight was enough to turn one's stomach.
"Where is Kaguya?"
Namikawa Yū strode forward, about to continue on, only to be stopped.
"Your Highness, you must not go."
Several senior retainers blocked his path, earnestly pleading with him. "Your wife has been possessed by an evil spirit and has now become a demon. Your Highness, you cannot go over there!"
"Out of my way!"
Namikawa Yū could not be bothered to waste words on them. He shoved them aside, forcing a path through.
He strode forward, stepping over flesh and remains to reach the center, where he saw Kaguya.
Once there, he understood what the senior retainers had meant.
Kaguya stood quietly ahead, seemingly still lost in a daze.
Even so, the bloody smell clinging to her would not disperse. That terrifying sense of pressure was easy to feel without even drawing very close.
Although Kaguya had possessed an inhuman quality before, she had never made people feel this way.
Now, however, things were very different.
With the two horns that had grown on her head and the Rinne Sharingan that had appeared between her brows, it was no wonder people thought she had been possessed by an evil spirit.
Namikawa Yū paid none of it any mind.
Under the horrified gazes of everyone around him, he strode forward.
"Kaguya!"
When the familiar voice sounded in her ears again, Otsutsuki Kaguya instinctively looked up.
The figure of a young man came into view. It was none other than the person on her mind.
The next moment, someone embraced her, gathering her into his arms.
Without the slightest aversion to the bloodstains or savage aura on Kaguya, Namikawa Yū pulled her straight into his arms and held her tight.
"Yū..."
Feeling her lover's familiar presence, Otsutsuki Kaguya gradually relaxed, her eyes beginning to mist over. "You're all right."
"I'm sorry I worried you."
Holding Kaguya, Namikawa Yū spoke earnestly. "Come back with me."
Kaguya said nothing, only nodding gently.
The crisis thus dissolved without a trace.
But this incident also served as a serious warning to Namikawa Yū.
The Land of Them's influence was still far too strong.
Despite Namikawa Yū's years of effort, the Land of Them still wielded enormous influence within the Land of Ancestors.
This time, while he was away from Daimyo City, someone had actually managed to assemble a force within the city to attack Kaguya.
Without cooperation from people within the Land of Ancestors, this would have been utterly impossible.
Ultimately, many people within the Land of Ancestors held the Land of Them in awe. Some even secretly served it, maintaining close ties with it.
Namikawa Yū had known this before. The only reason he had left those people untouched was that he wanted to keep misleading the Lord of the Country of Pi and buy himself time.
But now, it seemed it was about time to act.
Having made his decision, Namikawa Yū did not hesitate and immediately took action.
He launched a sweeping purge throughout the Land of Ancestors.
The senior retainers and ministers who had favored the Land of Them were all suppressed and condemned as criminals.
Despite Namikawa Yū exercising restraint, the purge still implicated over a thousand people, and there was no telling how many were affected.
Not long afterward, the Daimyo of the Land of Them finally reacted.
An envoy from the Land of Them arrived in the Land of Ancestors, demanding that it hand over the culprit who had killed their warriors.
Otherwise, they would send troops and destroy the Land of Ancestors.
The news caused an uproar in very little time.
"You mean... you want me to hand over Kaguya?"
Inside the Daimyo's Residence, Namikawa Yū looked at the retainer before him, his expression seemingly calm.
"Yes, Your Highness."
The old man before him spoke respectfully. "Warriors from the Land of Them died within our borders. If we do not give the Lord of the Country of Pi an explanation, I fear war will break out immediately."
"That is something we should do our utmost to avoid."
"They were the ones who attacked Kaguya first."
Chen Ziming stared at the old man before him, his expression betraying neither sorrow nor joy.
"But it is also a fact that warriors from the Land of Them died here."
The old man before him earnestly tried to persuade him. "Neglecting affairs of state for the sake of a single woman is hardly proper conduct."
"Besides, Lady Kaguya has indeed become far too abnormal. In this old man's opinion, it would be best to send her away."
Not only did he advise Namikawa Yū to bow to the Land of Them, but he also had strong objections to Kaguya.
In the past, although Kaguya had looked different from ordinary people, she had still been within the bounds of what they could accept.
After that night, however, Kaguya's appearance had undergone a drastic change.
Namikawa Yū had no objection to this, but the others felt differently.
Rumors that Lady Kaguya had been possessed by an evil spirit lingered throughout the Land of Ancestors.
"You mean you want me to send Kaguya away?"
At that moment, Namikawa Yū smiled.
Before the attendants around him, he rose to his feet, then abruptly drew his sword.
The next moment, the sword swept out, slashing forward.
Empowered by chakra, the sword pierced the old man before him in an instant.
Meeting Namikawa Yū's icy gaze, he looked somewhat incredulous before his body collapsed helplessly.
"Affairs of state have not yet reached the point where others must be sacrificed."
Namikawa Yū spoke flatly. "Sacrifice one person to benefit the world-what if the person being sacrificed were you?"
"How laughable."
Even if they had demanded an ordinary person at his side rather than Kaguya, he could never have agreed, much less when the person they wanted was Kaguya.
Namikawa Yū knew full well that, after consuming the Chakra Fruit, Kaguya's current strength was enough to subdue the entire world even on her own.
By daring to make such a demand, the Lord of the Country of Pi was merely courting death.
It's about time to break with them, anyway.
Standing where he was, he gazed at the distant lights and murmured to himself inwardly.
Before this, he had had no intention of breaking with the Land of Them, and had planned to keep his head down and develop for a few more years.
But since the other side was actively seeking death, there was nothing wrong with granting its wish.
The following month, the army of the Land of Ancestors launched a swift assault on the Land of Them.
A border city of the Land of Them fell, and the two countries officially went to war.
For a time, shock rippled in every direction.
The Land of Ancestors had always been deeply respectful toward the Land of Them, and relations between the two countries had been excellent in the past.
No one had expected the Lord of the Country of Zu to break with the Land of Them over a mere woman.
Even more unexpected was that the Land of Them actually found itself at a disadvantage in the war.