"You're back?"
That was the first thing Aoba heard after returning to the sealed space.
Combined with the slight happiness and relief mixed into Otsutsuki Kaguya's cold expression, it gave him the feeling of coming home after a day of work and being welcomed by his wife.
So he simply went along with it and replied, "Yeah, I'm back."
Then he sat down again where he had been sitting before.
But right after sitting down, he immediately felt the overly heated gaze from the girl beside him due to nervousness.
"You want to ask about Otsutsuki Hagoromo and the others?"
"Mm!"
Otsutsuki Kaguya nodded seriously.
Aoba stayed silent for a moment, then answered honestly, "They said you're a very dangerous existence who almost destroyed the ninja world before, and they don't want me coming into contact with you anymore."
Otsutsuki Kaguya wasn't surprised by this result. But in those deer-like eyes of hers, there was still some uneasiness and panic, "Then… then will you still come see me in the future?"
She had already spent long enough alone in this empty world.
If he had never appeared, then maybe she could still endure another thousand years.
But now, just thinking about him never coming again in the future made her feel panic in her heart.
"So what Otsutsuki Hagoromo and the others said was true?"
Aoba's expression became a bit more serious. Even though he already knew what Otsutsuki Kaguya had done in the past, he still wanted her to say it herself.
"…"
Otsutsuki Kaguya pressed her lips together. A conflicted look clearly flashed across her face, but in the end she still nodded.
"So much time has passed outside. Do you know about the Otsutsuki Clan?"
"Otsutsuki? I heard one branch of Otsutsuki Hamura's descendants became the Otsutsuki Clan, though they're basically extinct already."
"No. If that's the case, then they can't be considered the real Otsutsuki Clan."
Otsutsuki Kaguya shook her head, "The Otsutsuki Clan is a race from beyond this planet. They are immortal. Even if they die, they still have ways to revive."
"So powerful?"
Aoba said with fake surprise.
"Mm!"
Otsutsuki Kaguya's expression gradually became serious as well. She didn't argue about anything and simply told the truth.
"Back then, another clan member and I came to this planet with a mission. Our mission was to plant the Divine Tree and wait until it bore fruit."
"And the growth of the Divine Tree devours a huge amount of life from the planet, so saying it would destroy the ninja world is also correct."
After saying that, she looked at Aoba nervously.
This was the first time she had trusted someone this much, so she told him everything honestly. She was a little worried that he would dislike her after learning the truth.
Aoba froze for a moment, then couldn't help laughing helplessly as he continued asking, "What happened after that? Didn't you say there was another clan member?"
'If you only say this much, then doesn't that completely confirm your role as the big villain?'
Seeing that Aoba didn't seem to dislike her because of this, Otsutsuki Kaguya relaxed a lot and continued speaking.
"The growth of the Divine Tree doesn't only require the life of the planet. It also requires an Otsutsuki clan member to be sacrificed. Then the other person waits for the fruit to mature and brings it back to hand over to the main family."
"So he was sacrificed?"
"According to the rules, the lower-ranked one in the pair is like a puppet and is brought along as a sacrifice for the Divine Tree. The one who was originally supposed to be sacrificed was me. But I didn't want to keep living like a puppet forever, so in the end I ambushed him, sacrificed him instead, and ate the fruit myself…"
For once, Otsutsuki Kaguya's eyes lost some of their previous innocence and showed a bit of determination.
Aoba blinked, "You didn't bring the fruit back and ate it yourself instead. Doesn't that mean you betrayed the Otsutsuki Clan?"
"Mm."
Otsutsuki Kaguya lightly bit her lip, "Because I didn't want to keep living as a sacrifice anymore. If I brought the fruit back, or let the other person bring it back, then I would still remain the low-ranked sacrifice in the future. As long as we prepare in advance, even after being sacrificed we won't die. Next time we can still be sacrificed again."
"I understand now."
Aoba showed a look of realization, then smiled and said, "Looking at it this way, we're actually on the same side, right?"
"Eh?", Otsutsuki Kaguya froze after hearing that.
Aoba continued asking, "In the future, will you still destroy the ninja world to plant the Divine Tree?"
"The Divine Tree fruit already matured long ago, and I already ate it. It's just that when I was sealed, Hagoromo and Hamura separated the fruit from my body."
Otsutsuki Kaguya shook her head, then seriously reminded him again.
"It's just that I betrayed the Otsutsuki Clan. Since I haven't gone back for so long, other clan members will definitely come to this planet to look for me eventually, and continue harvesting this planet. Since you unified the ninja world, you should prepare in advance."
Aoba continued asking, "So that means if members of the Otsutsuki Clan descend in the future, you'll fight them together with me, right?"
In the original storyline, the reason Otsutsuki Kaguya created the White Zetsu seemed to be for fighting against the Otsutsuki Clan that would descend in the future.
But now it was clearly unnecessary already.
No matter how many cannon fodder there were, they weren't very useful in front of real Otsutsuki.
"Mm," Otsutsuki Kaguya nodded.
Seeing this, Aoba smiled too.
"In that case, there's no problem. After some time, I'll help remove your seal."
"Really?"
"Of course. Since our positions are the same, then there's no conflict anymore."
Aoba smiled. Mainly because he had enough strength as a foundation, so there was no need to worry about her becoming like she was in the original storyline.
"And honestly, if you had explained all this clearly to Otsutsuki Hagoromo and Hamura a thousand years ago, you probably wouldn't have been sealed for so long."
"Eh?"
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