Amaterasu slowly walked down the steps from here.
The steps were high, and her steps were light, as if she were treading on the breath of the gods.
The many gods and immortals who had been shouting just moments before fell silent upon seeing Amaterasu.
Some people in the crowd even swallowed hard, and cold sweat kept seeping from her forehead.
Amaterasu parted her red lips slightly, her beautiful eyes sweeping over the gods.
"Weren't you shouting so loudly just now? Why are you silent now?"
The immortals near the steps instinctively stepped back, as if their necks were bent by some invisible force.
The leading martial gods exchanged glances. One of them, a burly god with hair and beard as black as needles, stepped forward.
He is Ōyamatsumi-no-Kami, one of the oldest war gods in Takamagahara, who governs the mountains and the earth.
He said in a deep voice, " Amaterasu Takemikazuchi-no-Kami, we don't want to rebel against you. But in Takamagahara today, Susanoo is dead too."
You haven't lifted a finger the entire time. The God Tree is still absorbing the Natural Energy of heaven and earth, and the Heavenly Gate remains closed. We just want to know, are you still protecting Takamagahara?"
Amaterasu sighed softly, yet her words, like a morning bell, resonated in the hearts of the gods.
"Sigh... By not intervening, I'm already protecting Takamagahara."
"Bullshit!" A voice exploded from behind the crowd.
Futsunushi-no-Kami pushed through the crowd and stepped out, her silver hair tied back, and the slender sword on her back already unsheathed.
He Ōyamatsumi, pointing his sword directly at Amaterasu.
" Takemikazuchi-no-Kami died in battle, Susanoo was crushed to ashes, and you won't even open the Heavenly Gate!"
In your eyes, are we just like those ordinary people, only fit to be sacrifices?
Amaterasu stopped in her tracks, slowly turning her head to gaze at the Futsunushi-no-Kami. That single glance, though brief, caused the Futsunushi-no-Kami's sword-wielding hand to stiffen slightly.
"So, even so, what do you want? You want to take action?"
Have you forgotten? I, Amaterasu, rule over Takamagahara, not because you chose me, but because I fought my way to the top.
" Amaterasu!"
The Futsunushi-no-Kami shouted loudly.
"You have incurred the wrath of the gods! If you do not give us an explanation today, you may not leave this temple alive!"
Amaterasu slightly raised her chin, her eyes narrowed, her expression couldn't be clearer.
If you're so capable, then try to resist.
Futsunushi-no-Kami could no longer restrain himself and transformed into a streak of silver light, rushing towards her.
He was incredibly fast; before the sword even arrived, its energy had already sliced cracks into the stone pillars on either side of Amaterasu.
Amaterasu didn't dodge; she simply raised a finger.
Black flames silently welled up from her fingertips, unlike fire, like a drop of ink falling into water.
The black flames met the sword's edge. There was no sound of collision, no explosion.
The moment the sword tip touched the black flames, it melted silently, like ice being plunged into charcoal.
Futsunushi-no-Kami tried to draw his sword, he found that the entire sword was gone, leaving only a charred hilt in his hand.
Before he could react, the black flames had already climbed up his right arm along the hilt of the sword. It felt like being gently coiled by a black snake, yet he couldn't move.
All the strength in my body seemed to have been drained away in one breath by the black flames.
"Ah--!"
The Futsunushi-no-Kami cried out. It wasn't a scream of pain, but a roar of extreme rage.
The roar only lasted for a moment. The black flames, as if alive, surged upwards, enveloping his entire right arm.
Amaterasu a gentle wave of her hand, Amaterasu sent the Futsunushi-no-Kami flying, crashing into the midst of the other gods.
The black flames stopped entangling his body, but they didn't disappear either.
Everyone watched in disbelief as the black flames, as if alive, Rotation Amaterasu's sleeve.
The Futsunushi-no-Kami lay on the ground, half of his arm already turned to ashes.
Blood continued to flow from the broken wound, staining the stone slabs outside the temple red.
He didn't die; Amaterasu didn't kill him. But this act, even more so than killing him, filled the gods with despair.
Amaterasu remains the same Amaterasu who reigns Takamagahara.
"Who else wants to try?"
The surroundings were completely silent.
Amaterasu's expression grew even more contemptuous. This silent mockery made the gods feel suffocated.
Suddenly, Ōyamatsumi roared and slammed his palms to the ground.
The ground churned up like ocean waves, and stone pillars shot up from the ground, hurtling towards the Amaterasu.
Amaterasu did not move. Black flames rose from her feet, like a ring of black water.
Before the stone pillar even touched her, it turned to white ash like wax.
Behind the stone pillar, more rocks converged from all directions, as if to bury her alive.
Amaterasu merely raised her sleeve slightly. The black flames rolled outwards.
Everything on the ground—stones, soil, dust—that the black flames touched evaporated like Utakata.
The black flames neither burned nor chased people.
Its mere existence is enough to make one afraid to breathe.
Ōyamatsumi knelt on the ground. His proud ability couldn't even leave an ember in the face of that ring of black flames.
He looked up and realized for the first time that Amaterasu had never attacked them before, not because she couldn't, but because she disdained to.
Amaterasu withdrew the black flames. A large section of the ground in front of the temple was missing, as if something had dug it out of the world.
The gods stood there, and some had already knelt down.
Those who had been shouting " Amaterasu abdicate" were now speechless. Amaterasu didn't look at them and turned to walk towards the temple.
"From this day forward, I am no longer the lord of Takamagahara," she said. "You may choose to fight, surrender, die, or live."
After she finished speaking, the area in front of the palace became so quiet that not even the wind dared to blow.
The Futsunushi-no-Kami was still lying on the ground, one of his hands was useless.
Ōyamatsumi knelt down, his fists on the ground. They no longer had the strength to stop him.
Just then, Hall Master Shūma, stepped out from the crowd. He was wearing an extremely old Hagoromo and was as thin as a dried-out branch.
He didn't look at Amaterasu's back, but raised his head and spoke in a voice that everyone could hear.
"I'm different from them; I'm not here to ask you to step down. I'm here to ask you one question: what exactly do you take us for?"
Amaterasu did not turn back.
Hall Master Shūma continued.
" The God Tree drained our land, Ōtsutsuki killed our lord god. You took over Takamagahara, and then made us eat people, eat demons, and eat our own people."
Takemikazuchi-no-Kami and Susanoo were ultimately locked outside by you, left to die.
You are no longer Amaterasu, no longer that same Amaterasu, our Goddess of All Gods!
From today onwards, I will no longer take your orders.
Since Takamagahara is destined to perish, and Amaterasu, you can't do anything about it, then we can only choose our own path.
Amaterasu stopped. After a long while, she softly said, "You're right."
Then she left. The temple doors slowly closed behind her.
No one shouted anymore, and no one dared to chase after them.
Hall Master Shūma, slowly raised his head and glanced at the closed door.
He turned around and walked out of the crowd.
No god stopped him, nor did any god follow him.
Only a group of gods remained standing outside the temple gate, looking at each other, at a loss for what to do.