The two traversed through an endless, towering forest.
Kaguya walked ahead, her steps light, as if treading on mist. She seemed curious about everything, her expression cheerful, like an innocent young girl.
Shinsei followed behind, at a leisurely pace. Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the tree canopy, dappling his clothes.
They walked slowly. Kaguya would occasionally stop, reach out and touch a tree, or squat by the stream to look at her reflection in the water.
Shinsei didn't urge him. He knew that Xiaobai hadn't fully recovered yet, and his own Chakra was unstable. The most important thing now was to conserve his strength.
Moreover, this speed has its advantages; it allows him to talk to Kaguya more.
"You still haven't answered me," Shinsei said. "How do you know I'm not here to kill you?"
Kaguya didn't turn around; her voice drifted from ahead. "I can sense it. There's no killing intent in you."
"Just because of this?"
"And another thing," Kaguya stopped and turned to look at him, "When you look at me, your eyes are so clear. Unlike those people."
Who are they?
"The people in my clan, and that emperor," Kaguya said, "They look at me either because they want something from me, or because they're afraid of me. You're different."
Shinsei paused for a moment. He hadn't come to kill her, at least not after seeing her being stoned by the villagers.
But he wasn't without desires. He wanted to go back and learn about the God Tree and the spatial rift from her. Strictly speaking, he also wanted something from her, only he hid it better than the Emperor.
You're too trusting.
"No, that won't happen." Kaguya shook her head and continued walking forward. "I can sense the malice in other people's hearts."
Shinsei raised an eyebrow, Shinsei remained silent. Otsutsuki Kaguya's ability resembled the Nine-Tails ' Malice Perception.
I just don't know if there's any connection between the two.
After walking for half a day, Shinsei felt it was too slow. He released his Chakra, and a pair of white wings condensed on his back. Kaguya looked back, her expression unchanged.
Shinsei looked at Otsutsuki Kaguya and extended his right hand.
"I'll take you flying; that way it'll be faster."
Kaguya carefully examined Shinsei's Chakra wings, her eyes filled with curiosity, but she resolutely shook her head.
"I can fly by myself."
Shinsei was taken aback. Kaguya lightly touched the ground with her toes, and her whole body floated up, several feet off the ground, her long hair and robes slowly spreading out in the air.
She flew very steadily, as if the wind itself was supporting her.
Shinsei understood that although Kaguya had not yet eaten the God Tree Fruit, in terms of strength, she was probably already close to the Six Paths, or even the Six Paths level.
However, she didn't know how to use it and didn't think she was strong, which led Shinsei to misjudge Kaguya's strength.
The fact that Shinsei misjudged Kaguya suggests that Otsutsuki Kaguya might possess some unique quality.
It's unclear whether this stems from her special ability or is an exquisite disguise.
Shinsei shook his head inwardly, dismissing the idea that Kaguya was disguising herself.
The Kaguya before my eyes is indeed genuinely kind and innocent, both inside and out.
"Then you lead the way," Shinsei said.
Kaguya nodded, turned, and flew forward.
Shinsei spread his wings and followed. The two swept across the sea of trees, with an endless expanse of green beneath their feet, like a vast, surging pool.
A breeze blew in, carrying the scent of resin and damp earth. Shinsei, standing slightly behind Kaguya, watched her long hair being blown by the wind and suddenly felt that this scene was not real.
He was flying with Otsutsuki Kaguya. It wasn't a battle, nor a chase, they were just traveling.
"Why would you be willing to take me to the God Tree?" Shinsei asked.
Kaguya took a while to answer.
" The God Tree has indeed sealed off the spacetime of this world. You won't be satisfied if I don't take you there. Also, the God Tree is dangerous; it will devour your Chakra."
"Trees eat people?"
"Yes," Kaguya said. "The roots of the God Tree will absorb a person's Chakra and life force. Anyone who gets close to it, if they don't have the aura of the Ōtsutsuki, will have their Chakra absorbed."
You are special, and I don't want you to get hurt.
Shinsei listened, a slight smile playing on his lips. He didn't think a God Tree could pose any threat to him, but he didn't refuse Otsutsuki Kaguya's offer either.
After flying for an unknown amount of time, a tall tree appeared in the distance on the ground.
After flying over the last stretch of forest, the ground suddenly collapsed, revealing a vast, empty wasteland.
In the center of the wasteland, the God Tree resembles a black mountain range growing from the earth.
The trunk was so thick it seemed to stretch to the horizon, its bark a dark bluish-black, its surface riddled with deep furrows. The canopy was hidden in the clouds, as if it were holding up the entire sky.
Tree roots arched out of the ground, forming undulating black hills. There were no birds, no wind, no insect chirps. Even the sunlight that shone near them seemed to be sucked away by something.
They landed on the edge of the wasteland. Kaguya gazed at the God Tree with a complex expression, as if looking at her homeland, yet also as if looking at a monster that might awaken at any moment.
Shinsei was watching too. He knew that this tree would one day become Ten-Tails, draining the world's Natural Energy and becoming the beginning of everything.
"Let's go," Kaguya said, taking the lead towards the God Tree.
Shinsei followed. The wasteland was barren, the ground was cracked, and walking on it felt like walking on charcoal ash.
The closer they got to the God Tree, the colder the air became, and the heavier their breathing became. Shinsei noticed that Xiaobai's pulse had completely stopped, as if it were hiding from something.
Kaguya seemed normal, except that her face was paler than before.
The two stopped a hundred paces from the God Tree at the same time.
Two men were standing under the tree.
A very tall man, dressed in old gray clothes that dragged on his ankles, with a half-covered wooden mask on his face, the exposed half of his face as withered as a tree root.
The other one was slightly shorter, wearing a dark red short coat, with an unsheathed knife hanging at his waist. He stood very straight, like a flag planted in the ground.
Before Shinsei could speak, the tall man spoke first.
"We've been waiting for so long, but it wasn't people from heaven. It was two little ones."
The short man didn't speak, but simply placed his hand on the hilt of the knife.
Shinsei stared at them. Xiaobai trembled slightly inside his body, as if issuing a warning.
Kaguya tugged at his sleeve and whispered.
"They harbored great malice."
The tall man chuckled, his laughter like a pebble rolling into a dry well. " Ame no Uzume, look at that little girl, she smells of trees. She's from heaven."
The short Ame no Uzume finally spoke, her voice like a blade rubbing against stone.
"Forget about heaven or earth, capture them and bring them back to Takamagahara for thorough interrogation."
Shinsei's heart sank. He knew that there were immortals, demons, and the progenitors of the Three Great Sage Lands in this world.
However, these two people did not possess any demonic aura, nor did they have any presence in Ryūchi Cave or Shikkotsu Forest.
"Who are you?" Shinsei asked.
The tall man slowly turned his head, revealing a single, cloudy eye beneath the wooden mask.
He said, "My name is Sarutahiko."
" Ame no Uzume no Mikoto."
The short man said, "The knife is already three inches from its sheath, its cold light like frost."
Shinsei's head buzzed. He had seen those two names before. In Konoha's library, in the Hyuga Clan's records, and in the pile of fragments Orochimaru had collected.
This is an ancient deity of this world, something that truly existed when the Dōjutsu deep within the Sharingan were still called "gods."