A crackling sound accompanied by flashes of light illuminated the room.
A boy stood in the room, holding a bolt of lightning the size of a human head in his hand, illuminating the entire room.
"God... God..."
Upon seeing this, the two guards were so frightened that they dropped their long swords to the ground with a clang.
The other two men sat down heavily on the ground, heads bowed, not daring to look at Shinsei's face, for fear of blaspheming the gods.
"What god! I refuse to believe it! It must be fake!"
A man raised a long sword high with both hands, his face contorted in a ferocious expression, and charged towards Shinsei.
A loud cracking sound.
The lightning in Shinsei's hand transformed into a long spear, piercing through the oncoming man.
Feeling the sharp pain in his chest and his rapidly draining strength, the man's knees buckled, and he knelt down.
So it really was true.
Upon seeing this, the remaining guards immediately knelt down without hesitation and kowtowed repeatedly to Shinsei.
"Please forgive us, Your Majesty! We were blind!"
"I deserve to die! I have blasphemed the gods!"
The crackling electric light struck the oil lamp, igniting the wick and making the light shine brightly.
Shinsei stood in the center of the room, holding a constantly flickering bolt of lightning in his right hand.
The lightning, like a living snake, illuminated half of his face, turning it bluish-white.
His shadow was cast on the wall, huge and clear. The air was filled with the smell of burning, mixed with the stench of blood, making one's nose sting.
The first man to rush forward was already lying in a pool of blood.
A lightning spear pierced his chest, the edges of the wound charred black. He wasn't quite dead yet; his fingers twitched on the floor, as if grasping at something he could no longer hold onto.
The remaining guards knelt on the ground, their foreheads pounding against the ground, repeating the same few phrases over and over again.
"My lord, have mercy! I was blind and ignorant!"
Shinsei didn't speak. He flipped his hand, and lightning burst from between his fingers, splitting into dozens of tiny electric snakes that slithered along the floor and spread outwards, crawling all over the room like a spider web.
The electric snake bypassed the guards, not touching them, but only burning charred lines on the ground. Some people were so frightened that they wet their pants, but didn't even dare to dodge.
"Stop kowtowing." Shinsei looked at the guards' disheveled appearance and immediately felt bored.
But as the price they paid for offending us, it wouldn't be right not to punish them.
The guards dared not stop, and another burst of electricity flashed in Shinsei's hand.
Just then, a very soft sound came from the doorway.
" Shinsei."
It was Kaguya. She stood outside the door wrapped in an extremely thin robe, her face illuminated by the lightning.
Her long hair hung down on both sides, with a few strands blowing in front of her in the night breeze. She didn't come in, but stood outside the threshold, looking at the people kneeling in the room and the people on the ground who were dying but not quite.
There was no fear or blame in her eyes, she simply spoke softly.
"Let them go. They already know they were wrong."
Shinsei glanced back at her. He hadn't originally intended to kill these ordinary guards.
What's the point of killing them? They're just following orders.
He extinguished the lightning, and the room darkened again, leaving only a faint, half-lit gray-white light through the window paper. He walked up to Kaguya.
"You don't like killing?"
"I don't like it." Kaguya gently shook her head.
Shinsei looked at her. Her eyes were as clear and pure as ever, like a pool of water that had never been stirred.
He suddenly remembered the Rabbit Goddess who later turned humans into White Zetsu and ruled the world with Infinite Tsukuyomi Kaguya.
How could the person before him be the same as the cold, icy deity who later appeared? He had no idea what had happened in between.
"Let's go," Shinsei said, "Let's go to the God Tree."
"How did you know I was willing to take you?" Kaguya's eyes held a hint of doubt, as if she were wondering how Shinsei could see through her intentions.
Are you still willing to stay here?
Kaguya gently shook her head.
"We are not welcome here."
"It seems you know everything," Shinsei said. "But before I leave, I have something to take care of."
Kaguya didn't ask any questions, and simply followed silently behind him.
Shinsei walked through the corridor and all the way to the entrance of the emperor's bedchamber. The two guards on night duty saw him from afar, their legs went weak, and they knelt down on the ground.
Shinsei pushed open the door and entered. The Emperor was huddled in the corner of the bed, clutching a short knife in his arms, trembling all over. When he saw Shinsei enter, the short knife instantly slipped from his hand and fell to the ground.
"You... you stay away..." The emperor's voice trembled.
Shinsei stepped forward, grabbed him by the back of his collar, lifted him off the bed, and threw him to the ground.
The emperor lay limp on the ground, too weak to even get up. Shinsei bent down, his fingers together, and a slender ray of lightning shot from his fingertips, tracing a path across the top of the emperor's head.
The hair broke, and a strong smell of burning filled the air. The emperor's head was bald in the middle, with only long hair remaining on the sides.
Shinsei released his grip, took a step back, and looked at his masterpiece with a calm expression.
"Remember to wear a hat next time you go out," Shinsei said.
The emperor collapsed to the ground, trembling as he touched his bald head, his body stiff and unable to utter a single word.
Kaguya stood at the door, tilting her head slightly, looking at the Emperor's strange appearance—half bald and half shaved—completely baffled by the irony.
Shinsei felt all the anger in his chest dissipate. He didn't linger, turned around and walked out of the bedroom, with Kaguya following closely behind.
The two stepped out of the palace gates and headed towards the dense forest outside the city.
It was already broad daylight.
Shinsei walked ahead, his steps light and quick. Kaguya followed behind him, occasionally glancing back at the gradually shrinking capital of the Land of Ancestors. By the time the two had ventured deep into the forest, there was no longer any sign of human habitation behind them.
After Shinsei and Kaguya left, the emperor of the Land of Ancestors stumbled and fell in front of the bronze mirror.
The person in the mirror had a smooth head like a pebble, but two long tufts of hair stood out abruptly on either side. The emperor's face turned from deathly pale to ashen, and he gripped the bronze mirror tightly, his whole body trembling violently. The chill did not come from outside himself, but from the bone-chilling humiliation.
"Guards!" he roared hoarsely.
A group of ministers and warriors rushed over and knelt outside the hall, none daring to look up.
"From this day forth, everyone in the court shall wear my hairstyle!" The Emperor smashed a bronze mirror, his voice shrill and piercing. "Anyone who disobeys will be executed!"
The crowd exchanged bewildered glances, but no one dared to utter a word of rebuttal.
That afternoon, all the officials and attendants in the Land of Ancestors's court had a glaring bald patch on their heads.
Ordinary people, seeing the adults' new hairstyles, thought they were somewhat ugly, but dared not say anything.
When their waiter wanted to get the same hairstyle, he was told it wasn't possible.
This is a hairstyle exclusive to the nobility.
Gradually, these ordinary people began to find the strange hairstyle attractive. They even gave it a special name.
chonmage hairstyle!
Shinsei, who had wandered far into the forest, was completely unaware of this. He followed Kaguya, step by step, toward the God Tree.
That God Tree, which traverses the destiny of the Shinobi World, lies just ahead.
He knew that place was the true starting point of all the stories.