In a small village far from the great nations' Shinobi Villages, a black-haired man with a long braid, dressed as a monk, sat with his eyes closed.
Ordinary people surrounded him in ring after ring, kneeling before him with devout expressions.
"Master Jigen, deliver us from suffering!"
"Master Jigen, your mercy knows no bounds!"
"Jigen..."
All manner of praise rang out without pause, but Jigen, the center of their adoration, was seething inside.
His condition was growing worse by the day.
Jigen was the name of this body's original owner. His true name was Ōtsutsuki Isshiki, and he was the one the Ōtsutsuki Clan had sent to Earth to cultivate the Ten-Tails and produce a God Tree Fruit.
The Ōtsutsuki Clan always operated in pairs, and his partner had been Kaguya Ōtsutsuki.
The thought of that damned bitch made Isshiki grind his teeth in hatred.
Within the Ōtsutsuki Clan, his standing was higher than Kaguya's, and he had been the leader of their two-person mission.
After arriving on Earth, they had planted the God Tree's seed without encountering any obstacles. He had thought this mission would be easy.
The life on this planet was far too fragile, nothing more than uncivilized monkeys akin to primitive humans.
Even Kaguya, whose combat abilities were unimpressive, could sweep across the entire Earth single-handedly.
Thus, after arriving on this planet, Isshiki had regarded nothing here as worthy of his attention.
As the days passed, Isshiki, who kept watch beside the God Tree, began to relax. All he thought about was cultivating the God Tree until it absorbed this planet's energy and all its life, produced a fruit, and completed their mission.
Yet as the fruit gradually ripened, Isshiki unexpectedly discovered that this planet possessed an astonishing amount of energy.
Even during its cultivation, the