Akaruhime into wild laughter.
"Hahahaha, of course we hope that Amaterasu will stop him!"
Amaterasu was somewhat puzzled.
Why do you want me to stop him? Don't you want to help Omoikane?
Akaruhime laughter subsided. She smoothed her hair, regained her composure, and wore a hint of sorrow on her face.
"Of course I hope to be able to help Omoikane-no-Kami."
But the thought of her having someone else's child makes my heart ache.
Amaterasu, you are a woman too, you should understand what I'm thinking, right?"
Amaterasu's face darkened; she really didn't want to be compared to this crazed woman before her.
"To be honest, I'm quite conflicted. I want Lady Omoikane to succeed, but I don't want her to have someone else's child."
So please, you must stop him, please."
Akaruhime walked lightly into the shed and lay down on the wooden bed next to Kushinadahime.
She gazed intently at Kushinadahime's face, gently stroking it with her slender fingers.
"Now that I have betrayed Omoikane-no-Kami, I have no desire to live anymore."
Amaterasu, it is said that your black eyes can transform anything, making them the strongest ability in Takamagahara.
So, could you give me a ride home?
"If I can't die with Omoikane Omoikane, then dying in the arms of someone who looks just like him wouldn't be so bad, would it?"
Amaterasu turned around and strode into the distance.
By this point, she had fully realized what a grand scheme Omoikane was orchestrating!
Using the threat of the God Tree to sow discord among the Takamagahara.
She indirectly controlled two outsiders, then transformed into a woman to bear Madara Uchiha's child.
Then they would take the eyes of their newborn children.
Using the eyes of outsiders, they stole the power of the gods of Takamagahara.
In this way, he could combine the special abilities of all the gods and become the strongest god.
What a Omoikane-no-Kami! He truly deserves the name of wisdom.
He practically had all the gods under his thumb.
Including two outsiders.
Black flames roared from the wooden shed behind them.
Akaruhime, holding Kushinadahime's body, slowly melted away in the black flames.
There were no screams of agony from being burned, nor any painful struggles.
The raging black flames resembled a silent funeral.
Ryūchi Cave.
Within endless stone caves.
Madara Uchiha woke up from his sleep as usual.
He habitually reached out to his right.
Since moving into Ryūchi Cave, he has gotten used to Kushinadahime being by his side all the time.
As Kushinadahime's belly grew bigger and bigger, the two children slowly took shape inside Kushinadahime.
A feeling of being intertwined with blood always lingered in Madara Uchiha.
He has now temporarily forgotten about the God Tree, the Ōtsutsuki Clan, and returning home to unify the Shinobi World.
Having lived for so long, this was Madara Uchiha's first time becoming a father, and his heart was filled with anticipation.
Even if they just continue Tenten like this, watching their children be born, grow up, and propagate the Uchiha Clan in this world.
Perhaps that's a good option.
Madara Uchiha's smile froze. The warm body he could feel every morning was no longer there.
He frowned and sat up.
Did Kushinadahime go out?
Madara Uchiha pressed his hand on the empty straw mat.
That warmth, that I could feel every morning, that belonged to another person, is gone.
He sat up and looked around.
The stone chamber in Ryūchi Cave is not large, with gray-white rock walls on all four sides and a stone lamp hanging from the ceiling, emitting a faint light.
He was the only one in the stone chamber.
Kushinadahime's straw mat is empty.
Her usual coarse cloth coat was neatly folded and placed next to the straw mat.
Those mud-caked straw sandals were also gone.
Ban frowned.
Kushinadahime gets up early every day to go to the cave entrance for some fresh air and to look at the mountains; she's long been used to it.
But every time he woke up, she was already back.
She wouldn't go far; her belly grew bigger every day, and her movements became increasingly difficult. She wouldn't leave alone for so long in the early morning.
Ban stood up, put on his coat, and walked out of the stone chamber.
The passageway in Ryūchi Cave is very long, winding its way deep into the mountainside.
He walked out along the passage, calling out Kushinadahime's name all the way.
There was only his own echo in the passage; there was no response. He walked faster and faster, more and more hurriedly.
As he stepped out of the cave, the morning light shone on his face. Outside the mountain where Ryūchi Cave was located was a desolate ridge, littered with pebbles and overgrown with weeds. Ban stood at the cave entrance, looking around.
There was no sign of Kushinadahime. He crouched down and examined the ground.
There were some marks on the gravel, but they were too messy to tell whether they were the footprints of Kushinadahime's straw sandals or the tracks of some other animal.
Ban returned to the cave.
His expression changed. He found the White Snake closest to the cave entrance, grabbed it by the neck, and lifted it up.
Where is Kushinadahime?
The White Snake was pinched so hard that its tongue flicked wildly.
"Lord Madara, I don't know..."
Where did she go?
"I really don't know! I was here all night and didn't see her leave..."
Ban threw it to the ground.
He strode into the depths of Ryūchi Cave and questioned every snake he saw.
One, two, three. He asked more than a dozen snakes, some big, some small, some strong, some weak, but not a single one could tell him where Kushinadahime had gone.
All they knew was that Kushinadahime had been resting in the cave and never left on her own.
They didn't even know when she left.
Ban stood in a passage at the deepest part of Ryūchi Cave.
The snakes all around him hid in the crevices of the rocks, too afraid to come out. His breathing grew heavier and heavier.
He closed his eyes and tried to sense Kushinadahime's Chakra.
No!
There was no trace of her in the entire mountain, as if she had never been there at all.
Madara opened his eyes, and the purple patterns in his Rinnegan began to spin wildly.
" Kushinadahime!"
He roared, his voice echoing through the cave, causing pebbles to fall from above.
Several small snakes were shaken and fell out of the cracks in the rocks, crashed to the ground, and then desperately tried to burrow back in.
Ban emerged from Ryūchi Cave and stood on the ridge, his hands Hand Seals.
Blue Chakra surged from his body like a flood bursting its banks.
The Chakra within him was different from before.
Previously, when he used Susanoo, his Chakra was pure blue.
But now, that blue is mixed with other colors.
Brown Wood Release, gray Earth Release, blue Water Release, and red Fire Style.
The colors surged and intertwined around him, eventually coalescing into a completely different Susanoo.
This Susanoo not have the earth-shattering height of the past.
It is shorter than any of the statues that Ban had previously created, standing only a dozen meters tall.
Yet it is exceptionally flexible and exceptionally sturdy.
Its body is constructed from a skeleton of Wood Release and Earth Release, covered by a flowing armor formed by Water Release, with Fire Style burning at the joints to propel every movement.
The patterns of the Rinnegan in its eyes.
Madara stood in the forehead of Susanoo, overlooking the entire mountain.
"I'll ask you one more time." His voice came from Susanoo, heavy and cold, "Where is Kushinadahime?"
No snake answered.
Ban raised his right hand.
The Amenonuhoko appeared in his palm.
The jet-black spear spun in his hand, its tip aimed at the mountain below.
He hurled it downwards with all his might. The Amenonuhoko flew from his hand like a black lightning bolt, piercing straight into the mountaintop where Ryūchi Cave was located.
boom--!
The first sound was a muffled thud as a spearhead pierced through the rock; the second sound was a deafening roar as the entire mountain exploded from within.
The mountain split open from the middle, and huge rocks were thrown into the air by the shock wave, with debris and dust shooting into the sky like a volcanic eruption.
The passageway of Ryūchi Cave collapsed in the explosion, and countless snakes were thrown out of the cracks by the shockwave. Some were hit by falling rocks, while others were thrown into the air by the blast wave.
Madara's Susanoo not stop.
It lifted its foot and stepped on the shattered mountainside, crushing chunks of rock into powder.
It swung its arm, Wood Release vines grew wildly from the ground, binding the fleeing snakes one by one.
The snakes struggled and begged for mercy among the vines, but Ban did not listen.
" Lord Madara! Lord Madara! We really didn't know!"
A gray snake, entangled in vines, hissed.
"You don't know?" Madara's voice came from Susanoo, like a wind blowing up from the ground. "You follow her around all day, how could you not know?"
"She really didn't tell us! We just did what she asked, bringing her water and food, and we didn't know anything else!"
Madara's Susanoo crushed another giant rock.
Pebbles flew everywhere, hitting the snakes and smashing several of them to pieces.
Madara's Chakra was burning, the color of Susanoo became more and more mixed, and the flames of Fire Style spewed out from its shoulder armor, burning the surrounding rocks into glass.
Earth Release: Rock spikes erupted from the ground, forcing the snakes into a corner with nowhere to escape.
The waves of Water Release surged beneath Susanoo's feet, washing the snakes that were trying to burrow underground back to the surface.
The Wood Release vines, like countless arms, tightly gripped the remaining parts of the mountain, tightening their grip with each passing moment.
Ryūchi Cave is collapsing.
This sacred place, which had existed for countless years, crumbled little by little amidst Ban's madness.
The screams of snakes echoed from the cracks in the mountain, and rocks tumbled down from above, crashing onto the already split mountainside before bouncing into even deeper ravines.
Madara stood on Susanoo's forehead, watching all this with an expressionless face.
His Rinnegan was like two cold purple lamps, without even the slightest hesitation.
" Lord Madara!" a voice called from deep within the collapsed mountainside, "Please stop!"
Ban paused for a moment.
He looked down. A White Snake emerged from the pile of rubble. It was larger and older than the other snakes. Its scales gleamed with a grayish-white light, and its body was coiled on a rock that was not yet completely broken.
That was the oldest White Snake in Ryūchi Cave.
It raised its head, facing the Susanoo, its voice trembling, yet clearer than the other snakes.
" Lord Madara, please stop. If this continues, Ryūchi Cave will truly be gone."
Where is Kushinadahime?
"I don't know, but I can go find her. As long as she's alive, as long as she's still in this world, we can find her."
Madara's Susanoo did not move. It stood on the shattered mountain, like a silent giant.
"Can you really find it?"
"It's true! I swear on my life. If you can't find Kushinadahime, you can destroy Ryūchi Cave completely, taking me with you."
Ban remained silent for a long time. The wind blew up from the collapsed valley, making his hedgehog-like hair fall backward.
His Susanoo slowly dissipated. The Chakra mixed with various colors receded back into his body like a receding tide.
He landed back on the ground, stood on the pile of rubble, and looked at the White Snake.
"Lead the way!"