As the Blue Horn Squad followed the squadron led by the Ōtsutsuki Sō's captain towards the Western Continent, Ōtsutsuki Agin's Byakugan remained open. The continent below resembled a crumpled green cloth, with clusters of castles embedded in the plains, their spires emitting wisps of smoke, and knights in iron armor riding horned beasts galloping through the forest—this was exactly like the "lower civilization" described in the clan's records, even the energy fluctuations were as weak as withered leaves falling from the God Tree.
"Spread out into squads after landing," the Ōtsutsuki Sō captain said, landing in a desolate forest. His Chakra pressure bent the surrounding trees. The horn on his forehead was thinner than that of Commander Ōtsutsuki Retsu, but the lines were denser. "At most three months. We must find out the whereabouts of the Ōshiki Squad. Remember, don't make too much noise. If we get entangled with these natives, we'll waste time rescuing the God Tree."
The eighty-one tribesmen were divided into 27 groups, disappearing like Kageko into the various kingdoms of the Western Continent. The Blue Horn Squad's target was the " Silver Shield Kingdom " in the north. As soon as Ōtsutsuki Yu opened her Byakugan, she couldn't help but gasp. "The energy here is really strange. Some people have hot auras all over their bodies, and some are surrounded by points of light—according to the natives' records, this is called 'battle aura' and 'magic'?"
"Whatever it's called," Ōtsutsuki Tōru toyed with the short sword in his hand, his Rinnegan across the distant city walls. "It's all low-grade energy. Our mission is to find the Ōshiki Squad and the Little God Tree, not to play around with these natives. Let's go, transform and infiltrate the city to gather information."
The walls of the Silver Shield Kingdom looked sturdy, likely prepared for large-scale human wave battles, but they were utterly useless against the Ōtsutsuki Clan; such walls couldn't even withstand repulsive impacts. The three, transformed into people from the Western Continent, swaggered into the city just as the market was bustling—vendors in coarse cloth were shouting "Fresh bread!", nobles in silk were accompanied by low-ranking mages carrying staffs, and knights' armor gleamed in the sun, yet no one noticed the three figures passing by.
"We'll split up and look for clues separately, then meet up at the tower in the city center in an hour." After saying this, Ōtsutsuki Atsu vanished from the rooftop in a flash. Ōtsutsuki Agin and Ōtsutsuki Ayu exchanged a glance and then went their separate ways— Ōtsutsuki Agin disappeared into an alley, her Byakugan scanning the energy fluctuations of every building; Ōtsutsuki Ayu landed on the church steeple, using the height to overlook the entire city, but after looking for a long time, she couldn't find even a trace of the Ōtsutsuki Clan Chakra fluctuations, only fluctuations of fighting spirit and magic.
When the three met up in the tower, their faces were all equally grave. "Do you have any over there?" Ōtsutsuki Agin asked first, her fingers unconsciously gripping the wedge container. Ōtsutsuki Ayu shook her head, her tone puzzled. "Strange, the Ōshiki Squad is supposed to be Star Level Third Stage team of powerhouses, their Chakra fluctuations shouldn't be this weak... Could it be that they haven't arrived here yet?"
Ōtsutsuki Atsu's Rinnegan darkened, and he suddenly pointed to the city lord's mansion not far away. "Go ask the one in the gold-trimmed clothes. He has the strongest energy; he might know something."
A banquet was being held in the banquet hall of the city lord's mansion. The city lord, a fat man with a round belly, was raising a wine glass and chatting with a magician. Ōtsutsuki Atsu burst in through the window, and the pressure of his Chakra instantly enveloped the entire hall. The nobles screamed and hid under the tables. The magician hurriedly raised his staff, but Ōtsutsuki Atsu swept his hand and drained all his magical energy, causing him to collapse to the ground.
" The Ōtsutsuki Ōshiki Squad," Ōtsutsuki Atsu, his voice devoid of warmth as he pressed his sword against the castle lord's neck, "Where are they?"
The city lord trembled with fear, his teeth chattering. "Your Majesty... what squad? I... I've never heard of it! My lord, spare me! I really don't know!"
Ōtsutsuki Atsu's Rinnegan scanned the lord's mind, finding no trace of a lie. He then directly extracted memories, but still found nothing. He frowned, then they took control of the lord and mobilized the natives to help find the whereabouts of the Ōshiki Squad and the God Tree. Two months passed in the blink of an eye, and one day an explosion suddenly came from afar—from the direction of the other squads. The three exchanged a glance, immediately jumped out of the lord's mansion, and flew towards the direction of the explosion.
Upon arrival, they found Captain Ōtsutsuki Shō's squad surrounding a group of knights and mages. Captain Ōtsutsuki Shō was covered in blood, and his wooden staff was still dripping with blood. "After asking around for so long, these natives haven't even heard of the ' God Tree,' let alone the Ōtsutsuki. What a waste of time."
"It's the same on our side," came the voice of the Ōtsutsuki Sō captain from the side. He had just arrived from another town, and his Chakra still bore the marks of battle. "Three towns, millions of natives, and not a single one knows a single thing about the Ōshiki Squad."
Commander Ōtsutsuki Retsu arrived at that moment. Looking at the terrified natives below, the scar on his forehead twitched slightly. "It seems the Ōshiki Squad is either not in the Western Continent, or... something has happened to them. But in any case, the essence of the God Tree cannot be lost." He raised his wooden sword, the golden blade gleaming once more. "Since we can't get any information out of them, there's no need to keep these natives alive. Pass down the order: the extermination plan officially begins."
The first target of the cleanup plan was the Silver Shield Kingdom. When Commander Retsu Lie swung his wooden sword, a golden Chakra blade cleaved the city wall in two. The knights rushed forward, but they didn't even have a chance to get close— the Chakra of the Ōtsutsuki Clan rained down like raindrops. Fighting spirit and magic were like paper in front of their attacks, shattering at the slightest touch.
When Ōtsutsuki Agin killed someone for the first time, her hand trembled slightly. A little girl ran towards her holding a flower, calling out "Sister," but was blown to pieces by a Chakra bullet thrown by a member of her clan. She gritted her teeth and forced herself to turn her head away—the elders said that the lives of inferior beings were not worth mentioning; their existence was merely to provide nourishment for the God Tree.
The deafening roar of the Chakra bomb still echoed over the Silver Shield Kingdom. Commander Ōtsutsuki Retsu's wooden sword was embedded in the broken bricks of the city wall, and golden Chakra flowed down the cracks like molten lava. Agin stood atop the ruins, his Byakugan vision filled with shattered aura points and dissipated magical embers. The vendors who once shouted "fresh bread" in the market and the low-level mages holding staffs were now just blurry patches of color scattered on the streets.
"What are you daydreaming about?" Ōtsutsuki Tōru's voice came from behind. The short sword in his hand grazed a bloodstain splattered on his clothes, his Rinnegan showing no emotion whatsoever. "They were just lowly creatures. They're dead, so be it."
Agin snapped back to reality, gripping the wedge-shaped container at her waist until her knuckles turned white. The image of the little girl holding the flower rushing towards her was still vivid in her mind—her hair was light golden, like the pollen of the God Tree recorded in the tribe's records, but now not a trace remained. She opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but saw Ōtsutsuki Yu not far away leaping down from the knight's armor, her boot soles grinding over the other's still twitching hand, her tone relaxed. "These natives are quite resilient. Just now, one of the knights' battle auras actually managed to cut open my Forehead Protector, although it was only a mark."
As soon as he finished speaking, the ground suddenly trembled violently. Agin's Byakugan opened instantly, his vision penetrating through layers of buildings, and he saw a silver-white sword aura rushing towards them on the horizon in the south of the city. The sword aura carried a sharp sound that Sky Splitter, and wherever it passed, it cleaved a deep trench in the ground. The trees and rocks along the way were as if they had been sliced in two by an invisible knife.
"What is that?" Ōtsutsuki Tōru's Rinnegan suddenly contracted. He could sense that the energy contained within that sword aura, though mixed, possessed an unprecedented sharpness. "It's not Chakra, nor is it the fighting spirit of those natives..."
"There's more than one!" Ayu suddenly pointed eastward, "Look over there! There's also one to the south!"
Agin's Byakugan swept across the eastern and southern borders of the entire Western Continent, and her heart sank. At least five sword energies of different colors were converging towards the Silver Shield Kingdom, some shimmering with azure, others crimson, each carrying energy fluctuations powerful enough to sting her Byakugan. In the distant forest, countless emerald green lights were moving, entwined with thick vines, surging towards them like a rushing green river; in the sky, the once clear clouds began to churn rapidly, purple lightning occasionally flashing from the dark clouds, and below the clouds, hundreds upon hundreds of figures in robes could be vaguely seen chanting around several huge magic circles, the flames and ice spikes rising from within the magic circles exuding a heat and cold that even Chakra could feel.