Amaterasu's residence was not in the exact center of any of the palaces in Takamagahara.
It is hidden in the brightest light, yet it is hard to find. From the altar, go up the long steps and pass through nine white archways, each guarded by a celestial being.
The further you go, the stronger the light becomes, and the quieter the sounds become. Eventually, even the sound of your own footsteps disappears.
Ninigi-no-Mikoto walked for a long time. When he passed through the last archway, the sun was no longer visible, either rising in the sky or hiding on the ground.
The entire Amaterasu Palace was enveloped in that intensely white light, as if it were floating in the light, or as if the light itself was a wall.
Amaterasu sat in the deepest part of the light, a golden veil hanging down, making her figure appear and disappear. Behind the veil, there was only the faintest breathing, like a wisp of wind swirling under the lamplight.
A woman knelt beside him, her white hair extremely long, stretching from her shoulders to the ground like snow falling on white stones.
Her eyes were closed, as if she were asleep, or perhaps listening to something.
"Grandmother, I have something to ask you." Ninigi-no-Mikoto and knelt down to pay his respects. He dared not raise his head, and could only stare at the small white brick in front of his knees on the ground.
"Ask." Amaterasu's voice came from behind the gauze curtain, not loud, but it made the air in the entire space seem to sink.
" Shinsei wreaked havoc at the altar and insulted my Takamagahara, why didn't you intervene?" Ninigi-no-Mikoto. "With just a single ray of your divine light, he would never dare to be so presumptuous again. But when your grandson called out to you, you did not respond."
Amaterasu did not answer immediately. Her breathing behind the gauze curtain remained steady. Ninigi-no-Mikoto for a while, and a layer of sweat had already appeared on her forehead.
After a soft sigh, the sun goddess Amaterasu finally spoke.
" Ninigi-no-Mikoto, do you know why we are allowed to live here and call ourselves gods?"
Ninigi-no-Mikoto taken aback. "Naturally, it's because Grandmother created light and opened up Takamagahara, and we—"
That's not true.
Ninigi-no-Mikoto up sharply, then quickly looked down again. He only saw Amaterasu's hand emerge slightly from behind the gauze curtain and slowly rest on the armrest. Her fingertips were so white they were almost transparent.
"Long ago, before Takamagahara, humans and other living beings gradually appeared in the world. The world was filled with enormous Natural Energy."
Among the earliest group of people, some discovered this Natural Energy and absorbed it into their bodies.
Gradually, these people who absorbed Natural Energy became different from ordinary people. They gained great power, so they called themselves immortals to distinguish themselves from ordinary people.
Among these immortals, some grew increasingly powerful, even developing unique abilities.
Those who awaken their unique abilities gradually discover that they can live forever.
Therefore, these people called themselves gods. Your grandmother was one of them.
This is the origin of immortals and gods.
She paused, as if waiting for Ninigi-no-Mikoto to take her words to heart.
" Takamagahara only came into existence later. We used magic and stones to lift them up from the ground, one by one, and up into the clouds."
We didn't create this place. We just moved in. Then we lived here for so long that we forgot we were originally human beings too.
Ninigi-no-Mikoto pale and his voice became dry. What his grandmother said was completely different from the education he had received since childhood.
The experience was no less than that of a powerful earthquake.
So, immortals and gods weren't born from nothing, nor were they the creators of all things in the world?
Ninigi-no-Mikoto did not doubt what his grandmother said. After a long while, he finally asked.
"If that's the case, why did Grandmother tell me this truth?"
Amaterasu stood up and, with gentle steps, walked down the steps one by one.
"Let Kukurihime-no-Kami tell you about this."
After Amaterasu finished speaking, she turned and slowly walked back behind the gauze curtain. Her steps were extremely light, like light gently moving on the steps.
Ninigi-no-Mikoto remained kneeling in place, not daring to raise her head, and could only hear the soft sound of the white-haired woman's clothes rubbing against the ground.
A young goddess dressed in white emerged from a side hall.
Her eyes had no pupils; her entire eyeballs resembled two grayish-white old moons. When she opened them, the ever-burning lamps in the hall dimmed by half an inch.
She nodded slightly at Ninigi-no-Mikoto.
Ninigi-no-Mikoto recognized her; she was the exclusive advisor of her grandmother, the goddess who controlled prophecy and destiny.
Kukurihime-no-Kami.
"Then let me now answer your questions, Ninigi-no-Mikoto."
Ninigi-no-Mikoto felt a faint Natural Energy emanating from her, like the morning mist on a river, coolly touching his face and the back of his hands.
"Look up," Kukurihime said.
Ninigi-no-Mikoto slowly raised her head. Kukurihime raised a finger, and a drop of silvery-white light condensed at the tip. The light did not fall to the ground, but hung in mid-air, gradually dissipating, like a drop of ink falling into clear water.
Then, the air inside the entire Amaterasu Palace turned a pale silver color.
He saw an unfamiliar sky.
That wasn't the white sky of Takamagahara. It was an extremely deep and dark void, without clouds or light, only countless fragments of stone suspended within it.
The stars were so distant they appeared almost white, like countless cold eyes half-open and half-closed in the far distance. A woman stood in that void.
Ninigi-no-Mikoto couldn't see her face clearly, only feeling that she was familiar yet extremely strange. Her white hair was extremely long, like moonlight slowly drifting in the deep sea. Her robes were whiter Takamagahara, yet they were so white that they lacked any human warmth.
Then, she moved.
She didn't fall to the ground, nor did she fly into the sky. She simply raised one hand, her fingertips pointing gently towards Takamagahara.
One after another, tiny white specks of light flew out from her palm, initially as small as Fire Fly. But in a moment, those specks of light swelled into huge spheres of light, each one resembling a miniature moon.
They flew silently across the sky and landed above Takamagahara, forming concentric rings. Ninigi-no-Mikoto saw the immortals of Takamagahara flying out from all directions, like a flock of startled birds.
They brandished their weapons, unleashed their Senjutsu, and charged towards the sky. The leader was tall and imposing, his body enveloped in golden flames, like Amaterasu descending. He charged with incredible speed, as if to shield the divine kingdom from all of this.
But the woman simply pressed her hand down lightly.
Dozens of orbs of light descended simultaneously. Before the person covered in golden flames could even touch the hem of her clothes, he shattered in mid-air, like Shien crumpled by the wind.
The immortals behind him were even more vulnerable; some of them couldn't even get close before being torn to shreds by the shockwaves emanating from the ball of light.
Ninigi-no-Mikoto was trembling all over when she saw this.
He tried to get up, but realized it was just an illusion. He couldn't move; he could only watch.
More gods rushed forward. Not dozens, but hundreds.
Emerging from behind every palace and archway in Takamagahara, they shot into the sky like pillars of light. But suddenly, the woman's white hair spread out, each strand transforming into a silver-white arrow, so thin it was almost invisible, yet so fast that even light could not catch it.
The silver arrows pierced through the immortals' bodies; some were pinned in mid-air, while others fell before they could even react.
The defenses at Takamagahara were torn apart like paper.
Finally, she opened her arms.
A much larger black sphere appeared above her head. It wasn't Senjutsu, nor was it Natural Energy. It was some kind of ancient and immense power.
The black sphere slowly expanded, swallowing the surrounding starlight, swallowing the immortals who couldn't escape, and swallowing half of Takamagahara.
Ninigi-no-Mikoto felt a sudden darkness before her eyes, and the entire divine kingdom began to collapse. Stone steps, palaces, archways, eternal lamps—everything was collapsing into the black sphere, like a river being sucked into a bottomless sea eye.
The scene suddenly disappears here.
The hall lit up again. Kukurihime withdrew her finger, her face even paler than before.
Ninigi-no-Mikoto collapsed to the ground, soaked to the bone. He tried to speak, but his lips trembled uncontrollably. After a long while, he finally managed to squeeze out a sentence.
"Who... who is that?"
" Otsutsuki Kaguya," Kukurihime said.
"The woman next to Shinsei?" Ninigi-no-Mikoto almost hoarse.
Kukurihime nodded and rubbed her tired eyes.
" Takamagahara destroyed by her own hand. This was her original fate. No matter what we do, we cannot stop her."
That's why Amaterasu didn't respond to you. It's not that she didn't want to help you, but even if she did, the outcome would be the same.