Behind her, Otsutsuki Yuya also declared with swaggering bravado.
"Let the world know fear!"
Seeing this, Princess Kaguya lightly tapped Yuya on the head.
"Children shouldn't be so violent!"
"Ow~" Yuya clutched his head in pain, only for a goofy, cheerful grin to spread across his delicate, adorable face.
Leaving the bustle of Ancestor City behind, Princess Kaguya followed the stirring deep within her bloodline. Carrying Yuya, she walked toward a heavily guarded forbidden area outside the city, her steps light yet laden with an indescribable gravity.
The closer she drew, the more clearly she could sense the formless, intangible, yet irresistible pulses of energy in the air. This was no natural rhythm, but a source of power from a higher dimension, brimming with hunger and predatory greed.
After they passed through the final stretch of ancient, dense forest that served as a barrier, the view abruptly opened up, making Yuya's pupils contract slightly.
Rather than the clearing or fertile soil he had imagined, an expanse covered in eerie, dark red patterns lay before them.
The earth resembled a torn wound. Within its cracks lay not soil, but tangled, writhing roots of dark red!
Those roots gave off a cold glow, greedily sucking the life from the earth beneath them.
At the center of the area, a young God Tree rose from the ground. Though it was still far from blotting out the sky, it already radiated an aura that made souls tremble.
Its trunk was slender yet as tough as black iron, its dark color almost an inky green. Its branches were sparse, and the newly formed buds at its crown remained tightly closed. Yet the chakra fluctuations spilling from it were already as vast as an abyss or an ocean, pressing heavily on the heart of every living being capable of sensing them.
It stood there like something alien to this world, an anchor forcibly driven into the depths of the earth.
"So it was here..." Princess Kaguya's voice was low, carrying the chill of confirmation and a trace of mockery at fate.
The God Tree had not been planted by Princess Kaguya. Isshiki had planted it long ago.
Now, following the God Tree's guidance, Princess Kaguya had finally found this place.
"Yuya... this God Tree holds your power..."
Gazing at the enormous, towering tree, Princess Kaguya spoke softly.
Yuya, too, stared at the great tree in awe.
Different Chakra Fruits, when combined with primordial planets teeming with life, would possess different kinds of energy.
The Chakra Fruit in the Shinobi World was undoubtedly the most unusual of them all. Yet Princess Kaguya had described it as "holding Yuya's power..."
That was because Princess Kaguya had sensed that the chakra Yuya had previously possessed was closer to the essence being nurtured within this God Tree, including those eyes...
"Maybe."
Yuya spoke softly.
"This God Tree has already reached a certain stage of growth. If left unchecked, it will drain this living planet dry sooner or later."
"I need to remain here and do what I can to stop it from growing, making it bear fruit directly instead. From now on, I'll leave this country in your hands."
Kaguya Otsutsuki spoke simply.
Her matter-of-fact tone made it sound like the most ordinary thing in the world.
Beside her, Yuya was stunned.
She wanted to stop the God Tree from growing, rather than let it plunder endlessly.
She wanted to protect and prevent, rather than slaughter and invade.
Was this the real Kaguya...?
"Huh? Sis, shouldn't we speed up the God Tree's development and growth so it can devour this living planet as quickly as possible, and we can get a powerful Chakra Fruit?!"
Yuya asked, feigning innocent curiosity.
Princess Kaguya froze for a moment, then knitted her lovely brows in distress.
She reached out with her small fist and gave Yuya another knock.
"You're just a child. Who taught you to be so vicious?"
"Why plunder anything when there's no need?"
Princess Kaguya spoke bluntly.
She felt a little guilty, thinking she had failed to teach Yuya properly.
That left Yuya at a loss.
Wait, which of us was supposed to be the big villain here, for heaven's sake?!
Was that something a proper villain should say?!
Despite those thoughts, the corners of Yuya's mouth curved upward.
After spending these five years with her, how could Yuya not know?
He had long since come to understand Princess Kaguya's nature... or perhaps, under Yuya's influence...
She had begun to love this world...
Thinking it over carefully, even in the original story, Isshiki had planted the God Tree, not Kaguya. She really had just taken the blame.
All she wanted was to stop the God Tree, to slow its growth...
As for destroying the God Tree, even Princess Kaguya had never considered it. This was the Ten-Tails' true form. Who had the power to destroy it?
Especially Kaguya, who had never eaten even a single Chakra Fruit.
Yuya did not think he could destroy this colossal thing, either.
"Mm~ Got it, Sis."
Yuya rubbed his head, putting on an innocent look.
Princess Kaguya smiled, both fond and helpless.
Soon, Princess Kaguya stepped inside the God Tree.
Yuya, however, was not truly a member of the Ōtsutsuki clan. As he approached, he felt as though his own energy was about to be drawn out of him.
Frightened, he hurried away.
Now, it seemed all he could do was wait for the God Tree to bear fruit?!
"Yuya... govern this country well."
Princess Kaguya's quiet blessing drifted over from afar.
"You got it!"
Yuya lifted his chin and puffed out his chest.
Still, he was troubled. Governing the country was one thing.
But how was he supposed to gain even greater power?
If they halted the God Tree's development early, there would clearly be only one Chakra Fruit.
Who would that be enough to feed?!
Even if Princess Kaguya gave him half the Chakra Fruit to eat—and Yuya really wasn't flattering himself here, given how much Princess Kaguya doted on him now, even with her instinctive craving for chakra—
She might genuinely share a portion of the Chakra Fruit with him.
But that... would still be nowhere near enough!
Whenever he thought of those monstrous Ōtsutsuki who would come knocking sooner or later, five-year-old Yuya felt an indescribable weight bearing down on him.
"I just hope this system turns out to be reliable."
In the end, Yuya could only pin his hopes on the system.
Before you continue