An invisible ripple of energy spread gently outward.
It was the aura of the Chakra Fruit.
Princess Kaguya did not sense the fluctuation.
Most of her power had been divided among Yuya, Hagoromo, and Hamura.
Even the Rinne Sharingan on her forehead had now closed.
At this point, her perception was inferior even to Hagoromo's and Hamura's.
Yuya betrayed nothing. After coaxing her to sleep,
he used Space-Time Ninjutsu and went to the God Tree.
When he arrived,
Yuya unexpectedly found some familiar faces.
One was the former Saintess of the Heavenly Sage Empire, the remnant soul of the Branch Family's last Onmyōji.
Beside her stood Abe Kiyuki.
The Saintess was as breathtakingly graceful as ever.
Yet her figure seemed faintly dimmer than before.
The Land of Ancestors had achieved unification so quickly largely because, while it was still weak,
the Heavenly Sage Dynasty had never intervened.
And after the Land of Ancestors had absorbed every neighboring power,
it had never attacked the Heavenly Sage Dynasty either.
Yet of the six great nations, the Heavenly Sage Dynasty itself
had been the first to surrender voluntarily.
In the end, Yuya had granted that nation the greatest degree of autonomy.
After leaving the Wind-Snow Realm, Abe Kiyuki had gone to the Heavenly Sage Dynasty
to stay with the girl who existed as a remnant soul.
Now they had come here together.
At the same time, Abe Seimei drifted out of the notebook.
His eyes were weathered and decaying as he looked at Yuya with a complicated expression,
as though he had come to witness something.
"Have you thought this through? You intend to merge with the God Tree? It could cost you your own will."
Abe Seimei asked.
"Does my decision even matter? The first time you met me, you already knew