Tian Yu suddenly flew down from the sky and headed towards the base entrance. "Ancestor Princess Kaguya is back!"
Tsubasa looked up and, sure enough, saw Princess Kaguya's figure appear at the end of the red soil. She was wearing a white robe, her long silver hair shimmering in the sunlight, and she held a pale blue stone in her hand—the stone's surface had faint energy fluctuations, like the energy nodes of Mars.
"Where did you go?" Tsubasa walked over and took the stone from her hand. The stone was cold to the touch, and the energy fluctuations on its surface were very weak. "This is..."
"An energy node beneath the Arctic ice cap." Princess Kaguya's face was pale, clearly exhausted from the journey. "I searched for three days and only found this one. Mars has too few energy nodes, and they're all too weak to support the awakening of a planet's will."
Tsubasa held the stone in his hand, feeling the faint planetary energy within—it was indeed very weak, more than a hundred times weaker than the energy nodes of Blue Star. He looked up at the Ironwood Forest in the distance; the forest had spread beyond the canyon, streams had formed lakes, and moss grew around the lakes. There were even a few cold-resistant ninja beasts brought from Blue Star walking on the moss, but the entire Mars still seemed very dull and lifeless.
"Without a planet's will, even if you plant trees all over it and build a base, Mars will just be an empty shell." Tsubasa sighed and handed the stone to the researcher next to him. "Let's mark the location of this energy node on the map first, then we'll look for others."
Princess Kaguya nodded and rested on the shoulder of the Tian Yu. The Tian Yu held her hand and nuzzled her head against hers. "Grandma Princess Kaguya, don't overwork yourself. It breaks my heart to see you like this."
Princess Kaguya couldn't help but laugh, reaching out to pat the Tian Yu's head. "I'm fine, just a little tired from mining energy stones. By the way, is there still any food at the base? I've been really craving the food from the Shinobi World these past few days."
"That's enough. The teleportation array is built, so there will be plenty of food from now on." Tian Yu helped her walk into the base. "Tonight we're having stewed meat with tomatoes and potatoes grown in the greenhouse. Professor Uzumaki said they're ripe and much sweeter than tomatoes from Blue Star. They're delicious."
Time flies faster than I imagined. Before I knew it, more than half a year had passed.
Mars has completely changed its appearance. The ironwood forest of Mercury Valley has spread thousands of kilometers away, forming a huge forest. The streams in the forest have converged into rune-heated rivers. The rivers flow through the plains and form a huge rune-heated lake next to the military base. There are even ninja beasts brought from Blue Star - they were hatched using Ninjutsu and can now swim freely in the lake.
More than a dozen military bases were built on Mars, each resembling a small city. They were surrounded by walls made of Earth Release and alloys to protect against sandstorms. These walls were covered with runes and fortifications. Inside, there were dormitories, canteens, training grounds, and even small greenhouses growing various vegetables and fruits. Each base housed five hundred ninjas, who took turns patrolling and building, and occasionally trained in the forests—the low gravity on Mars made training much more efficient, allowing them to perform actions impossible in the Shinobi World.
The teleportation array was finally ready. On the circular platform with a diameter of 500 meters, the golden spatial runes were all completed. The lines between the runes connected to form a complex array. Eight alloy pillars stood around the platform, covered with energy runes, and the rune crystals at the top stored enough spatial energy.
"Prepare for the first ultra-long-distance teleportation test!" Tsubasa stood beside the teleportation array, holding a communicator, and shouted into it, "Is Blue Star ready?"
A voice from the Shinobi World Headquarters came through the communicator. "Ready, Immortal Venerable Tsubasa. The teleportation pod contains one hundred kilograms of supplies, all plant seeds and equipment needed on Mars."
"Okay, start the test." Tsubasa put down the communicator and nodded to the ninja next to him.
The ninja immediately activated the three energy machines. Pale blue Chakra flowed along the wires into the base of the teleportation array, and the golden runes instantly lit up. A faint blue light appeared on the platform, which grew stronger and stronger until it formed a huge spatial Uzumaki. Inside the Uzumaki, one could see the scene of Blue Star —the teleportation pod of the Shinobi World headquarters, filled with supplies.
"The spatial portal is stable!" shouted a ninja from the Sealing Squad, continuously casting Sealing Jutsu on the teleportation array to maintain its stability.
The supplies in the Uzumaki slowly floated out and landed on the open ground next to the teleportation array, piling up into a small mountain. When the last piece of supplies arrived, the spatial Uzumaki slowly disappeared, and the blue light on the teleportation array gradually dimmed.
"Test successful!" Everyone cheered. Professor Uzumaki Hyōmei was so excited that tears streamed down his face. He ran over and touched the plant seeds, muttering, "With these new seeds, we can grow more plants... Mars has hope, there's finally something to look forward to."
Tsubasa breathed a sigh of relief. The success of the ultra-long-distance teleportation array meant that the terraforming of Mars was finally on the right track. He looked up at the distant forest. The ironwood trees in the forest had grown to hundreds of meters tall, their leaves blocking out the sun. Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, creating dappled shadows on the ground. But he could still sense that Mars was missing something—there were no birdsong and fragrant flowers, no calls of birds and beasts, and even the sound of flowing rivers seemed monotonous. The entire planet was like a still painting, devoid of any life.
"Still can't activate the planet's will?" Princess Kaguya walked to his side, holding a map marked with dozens of pale blue dots—all the energy nodes they had found over the past six months. "The energy in these nodes is too weak; even if they were all activated, they wouldn't be enough to support a complete planetary will."
Tsubasa took the map, looked at the energy nodes on it, and suddenly an idea came to him. He turned to look at the base's warehouse, where a special item was stored—the remains of Ōtsutsuki Ōshiki. Princess Kaguya had retrieved it from under the ice cap, originally intending to use it to study the Ōtsutsuki's power and weaknesses, but now it might come in handy for other purposes.
"Ancestor Kaguya, do you think that if we sacrifice Ōshiki's remains to the energy node on Mars, it might activate the planet's will?" Tsubasa's voice was hesitant. It was a risky idea, and he didn't know if it would succeed, or even if there would be any danger.
Princess Kaguya paused for a moment, then understood what he meant. The Ōtsutsuki's remains contained immense Power of All Creation and planetary energy. Although Ōshiki was dead, the power of the Ōtsutsuki Clan still remained in his remains. If this power were offered as a sacrifice to the energy node of Mars, it might truly be able to completely activate the planet's will.
"We can give it a try." Princess Kaguya nodded, her eyes hesitating for a moment before becoming resolute. " Mars cannot exist without a planetary will. Otherwise, even if we transform it into an environment similar to Blue Star, it will just be an empty shell without a soul. Ōshiki Wang becoming the will of Mars might be the best arrangement."
Tsubasa took a deep breath, turned to the ninja beside him, and said, "Go and bring over Ōtsutsuki Ōshiki's body, be careful."
The ninjas quickly brought over the body. It was a body sealed in crystal. The Ōshiki inside the crystal was wearing the robes of the Ōtsutsuki Clan, his face was pale, and there were still faint fluctuations of the Power of All Creation. Tsubasa and Princess Kaguya carried the body toward the nearest energy node—that node was in the center of the lake, and it was the strongest energy node they had found.
The lake water was crystal clear, revealing the red sand at the bottom and the small fish swimming around. Tsubasa and Princess Kaguya stood by the lake. Princess Kaguya formed hand Hand Seals, " Water Release: Water Mirror Technique!" The lake surface suddenly calmed down, forming a huge mirror. The mirror reflected the energy node at the bottom of the lake—a pale blue energy stone whose surface energy fluctuations were much stronger than those of other nodes.
"Let's begin." Tsubasa released the seal on the crystal and took out Ōshiki's body. He Hand Seals, and his Immortal Power surged out, enveloping the body, and he slowly placed it into the lake. As soon as the body touched the lake water, it floated towards the energy node at the bottom of the lake. The moment the body touched the node, the node suddenly lit up, and a pale blue light spread along the lake water, making the entire lake glow with blue light.
" Senjutsu: Life Sacrifice!" Tsubasa and Princess Kaguya simultaneously Hand Seals, continuously pouring their Chakra and Immortal Power power into the lake to help the energy node absorb the myriad powers within Ōshiki's remains. Ōshiki's remains slowly became transparent, and the Chakra and planetary energy within were absorbed by the node. The node's light grew brighter and brighter, eventually transforming into a dazzling white dragon light.
A white light enveloped the entire lake, even spreading to the distant forests and military base. The ninjas and researchers stopped what they were doing, looked up at the white light, their faces filled with astonishment.
The white light continued to expand for a full three hours before slowly subsiding. When Tsubasa and Princess Kaguya opened their eyes, the energy nodes in the lake had transformed into pale golden dragon Dragon Vein. The energy fluctuations on the surface were hundreds of times stronger than before, and they could sense a gentle will—the will of the new Mars, which, though still weak, had truly taken shape.
"Did it succeed...?" Princess Kaguya's voice trembled slightly. She could feel the planetary will of Mars conveying goodwill to her, as if thanking her and Tsubasa for their help.
Tsubasa smiled too. He could feel that the surrounding air had become fresher, the leaves in the forest had begun to rustle, the sound of the flowing river had become crisp, and he could even hear the vitality emerging from all things—the life force brought by the planet's will. Mars had finally gained its own soul. In the future, as the Dragon Vein slowly connected the energy nodes in various places, the entire Mars would slowly come to life.
The energy node in the center of the lake suddenly floated up and landed in Tsubasa's hand, turning into a pale golden stone. The stone's surface had faint patterns, like a map of Mars, and it could be sensed that other energy nodes were also transmitting signals here, forming a huge energy network.
"It has completely accepted us." Tsubasa handed the Dragon Vein Stone to Princess Kaguya. The Dragon Vein Stone felt warm to the touch, and one could sense the benevolence of the planet's will. "From now on, we are the guardians of Mars."
Princess Kaguya took the stone, leaned on the Tian Yu's shoulder, and smiled as she looked at the distant forest and military base. The Tian Yu stuck out its little tongue and licked the Dragon Vein stone. "So sweet! This Dragon Vein stone must taste delicious!"
Both Tsubasa and Princess Kaguya were amused by Tian Yu's innocent and naive appearance. They knew that the road to transforming Mars was still long, but now they had hope—with the help of the planet's will, Mars would eventually become a Mars planet like Blue Star, capable of supporting more Shinobi World, growing more magical plants, and ultimately full of life and vitality.
In the distance, at the military base, Tenmei was happily munching on a tomato when he saw Tsubasa, Princess Kaguya, and Tian Yu return. He called out with a smile, "Hey! Where have you been? Come and eat this tomato, it's freshly picked from the greenhouse, it's really sweet!"
Tian Yu and Princess Kaguya exchanged a glance, then smiled and headed towards the Earth Flow. Sunlight streamed down their bodies, casting long Kageko on the red earth. From the distant forest came the cries of ninja beasts— Ninja Hawk brought from Blue Star, now able to fly freely in the Mars sky.
Mars ' rebirth is only just beginning.