Descending from Heaven's Gate Gorge into Ne no Kuni, Isshiki took out a compass glowing red.
Kaguya asked, "What is that?"
Isshiki said, "The Heavenly Compass, a treasure of our clan. It points toward planets with life."
Kaguya asked, "Aren't we going straight to Mitsuki Country? With its spatial coordinates, we should be able to go directly there."
Isshiki said, "You know quite a bit. Ryūshiki told you, didn't he? Our current map of Ashihara Country didn't come from nowhere. Our observers found those worlds one by one using the Heavenly Compass, but that may not be all of them."
"So our clan has a tradition of surveying the route before reaching our destination. If we discover new territory, or a planet where life is beginning to emerge, we must report it."
Isshiki put away the unresponsive compass. "They're all truly dead planets around here. That figures. After all this time, there couldn't be any we missed."
Just then, Kaguya spotted white creatures moving across the land of Ne no Kuni.
She had seen them when Kinshiki and Momoshiki brought her back, but at the time, she had been utterly despondent and paid them no attention.
Now, however, she was curious. "What are those?"
Isshiki said, "Those are White Zetsu. Ne no Kuni was the first territory our clan colonized. The humans left there were processed into White Zetsu using Infinite Tsukuyomi. White Zetsu never die, making them the ideal 'soldiers.' Some mutants born among them are even exceptionally powerful, on par with a 'Grass God.' In sufficient numbers, they make an extremely powerful fighting force."
"..." Kaguya quietly took note of what she heard.
"Now, let's go to Mitsuki Country."
Whoosh! A Space Gate opened beside Isshiki's hand.
Arriving in this new land, Kaguya raised her eyes toward the