Omoikane-no-Kami gently touched the sleeping face of the child in her arms.
She handed the child behind her back. Ame no Uzume no Mikoto stretched out her arms and gently took the little boy into her arms.
"Master, what happened?"
"Something unexpected happened; Amaterasu is ahead."
Omoikane-no-Kami smiled nonchalantly and gently straightened her clothes.
"I will acquire Amaterasu Tamanaka's abilities. You wait here."
The Ame no Uzume no Mikoto Nods.
"I understand, Master. I will take good care of the little master."
Omoikane-no-Kami turned around, looked at the empty space beside him, and said with a hint of regret.
" Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto, I'm sorry. Your contribution is needed now."
A boy dressed in black suddenly appeared from the open space.
His eyes were empty and docile, like a shell from which his soul had been removed.
He stood in front of Kushinadahime and bowed his head.
"Owner."
Kushinadahime looked at him.
She reached out and touched his forehead with her fingertips. She was already extremely skilled at using Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto's Genjutsu abilities.
But Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto itself is no longer of much use.
She can directly seize his abilities through Kotoamatsukami; there's no need to keep him any longer.
A faint purple light emanated from her fingertips and entered the space between Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto's brows.
Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto's body froze for a moment. Then his outline rippled like water, blurring from the edges.
He transformed into a streak of silvery-white light and was absorbed into Kushinadahime's palm.
"I'm sorry," Kushinadahime said, "You're a useful tool."
She withdrew her hand, and a very faint silver light appeared in her palm.
The power to Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto now belongs to her.
She turned around and looked at the boy in Ame no Uzume no Mikoto's arms.
The boy was still asleep. His little face glowed faintly in the mist.
"Take him away, head east, don't stop, don't look back."
The Ame no Uzume no Mikoto hugged her child tightly and nodded.
She turned around, the silver bells on her feet jingling softly, and her figure quickly disappeared into the thick fog.
Kushinadahime stood at the mouth of the rift valley and took a deep breath.
Her Mangekyō lit up again.
The bright red patterns swirled in her pupils. She walked deeper into the rift valley.
Amaterasu was already waiting for her.
Deep within the rift valley, the purple light had vanished.
Amaterasu stood where the seal had originally been, holding a tiny ball of light in her palm.
The light danced in her palm, like a freshly picked fruit.
She saw Kushinadahime enter, without surprise or astonishment.
As long as the power within the Amaterasu Tamanaka remains, Omoikane will come looking for him again.
For Omoikane to fulfill her wish, the power within the Amaterasu Tamanaka is indispensable.
She tucked the light in her palm into her sleeve, then raised her right hand.
Black flames erupted from her palms, more intense than ever before.
The flames had no shape, no boundaries, and resembled a black river gushing from the earth, sweeping towards Kushinadahime.
Kushinadahime's Mangekyō is spinning wildly.
She saw the trajectory of the flames. She dodged to the side.
Flames brushed past her ear and burned through the stone wall behind her.
The stone wall turned to ash the moment it came into contact with the black flames, without even a moment of shattering.
Kushinadahime stepped back several paces, the spot where she landed already charred black.
But the black flames did not stop.
Amaterasu flipped her right hand, and the flames, like a living snake, twisted in the air, chasing straight after Kushinadahime's back.
Kushinadahime uses illusions.
She created a clone that ran to the left, while her real body dodged to the right.
Amaterasu didn't look at her. Amaterasu simply raised her left hand as well.
A second burst of black flame erupted from her left palm, burning towards the right. Kushinadahime's true form was forced out. She had no choice but to dodge again.
Black flames burned the spot where she had just stood, as if a layer of the ground had been sheared away.
"You can't hide for long," Amaterasu. "My fire doesn't need to hit you; it only needs to burn."
She spread her arms wide, and black flames poured down from her palms like a waterfall, spreading in all directions. The stone walls of the rift valley were burning.
The rocks on the ground are burning.
Even the air was burning, Kushinadahime's illusions vanished one by one in the flames, like candles being blown out.
Her true form was forced into a corner of the rift valley.
The black flames approached from three sides, leaving only the stone wall behind them untouched by the fire.
Kushinadahime gritted her teeth as her Mangekyō spun wildly, its patterns shattering and reforming.
She created more illusions.
Ten, twenty, thirty, each running in a different direction.
Amaterasu didn't chase after her; she simply stood there, black flames spreading outwards from beneath her feet like ripples.
Wherever the flames reached, the illusions vanished.
But Kushinadahime's true form is no longer in the same place.
Taking advantage of the moment she rushed out of the illusion, she clung to a groove on the upper part of the stone wall and climbed to the top of the rift.
The groove was extremely narrow, just enough for one person to turn sideways. The black flames burned past from below without touching her.
Kushinadahime lay panting in the groove, her Natural Energy dimming with each illusory clone she created.
She looked down at Amaterasu, Amaterasu was still standing at the bottom of the rift valley.
Kushinadahime naturally understood that Amaterasu intended to crush her with her immense Natural Energy.
Amaterasu, as the ruler of Takamagahara, possesses unquestionable abilities.
Over the years, many have coveted her position, but in the end, Amaterasu remained firmly seated as the ruler.
It seems like an inexhaustible reserve of Natural Energy, yet it's only a fraction of Amaterasu's power.
Her black flames had already burned the entire valley floor into a glazed hue.
But she didn't stop. She looked up at the groove at the top of the rift. Kushinadahime knew she had seen it.
Amaterasu raised her hand.
Black flames surged upwards, like a waterfall of fire flowing backwards.
Kushinadahime leaped out of the groove and landed on the other side of the stone wall.
The black flames chased after her, burning through the stone walls, burning through the rock layers, burning through the entire rift valley.
Kushinadahime moved through the flames, her Mangekyō granting her unparalleled insight, allowing her to always find a crack in the flickering black flames.
Amaterasu's black flames will pause briefly during their eruption.
Each time she adjusted her direction, the black flames would momentarily extinguish.
That instant was so brief, almost invisible, yet Kushinadahime's Mangekyō could see it.
She got what she was waiting for.
Amaterasu raised her hand again, preparing for another surge, Kushinadahime swooped down from above.
The distance is enough!
Kushinadahime's Mangekyō stared into Amaterasu's eyes.
Amaterasu's gaze flickered for a moment.
In an instant, Amaterasu felt the world tilt.
She was separated from her original world and appeared in an unfamiliar space.
Tsukuyomi!
Amaterasu stood in a gray-white void. Mist was beneath her feet and above her head.
Fog surrounded her from all sides. She couldn't see Kushinadahime.
But she could sense Kushinadahime's presence.
"Welcome to my space," Kushinadahime's voice came from the mist. "There is no fire here. No black flames. You can't burn anything."
Amaterasu stood still, not moving. She raised her right hand. Black flames ignited in her palm, but they dissipated as soon as they left her hand.
This is not reality.
This is the Tsukuyomi Space.
Here, Kushinadahime's will is the rule, and Amaterasu's black flames are suppressed.
"You dragged me into this, hoping to beat me here?"
There is no Natural Energy here, no black flames, no seal.
Only you and me, only our will.
Her figure emerged from the mist; Kushinadahime stood ten steps away from Amaterasu.
Amaterasu did not act out of character as expected; instead, he calmly looked at Kushinadahime.
" Omoikane, do you know why Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto obeys my commands?"
Do you really believe that this kind of willpower can determine the outcome of our battle?
Or are you underestimating a god who has ruled Takamagahara for a thousand years?