The long night stretched on as Kaguya and Hiroki engaged in a deep conversation.
After their intimate moment, they silently dressed themselves in spare clothing.
Before dawn, they arrived near the God Tree.
After discussion, they decided to eliminate those so-called "wild gods" to remove any future threats.
Besides, no one knew just how long those wild gods had been around—they were far more valuable than regular humans as living specimens. They could be captured and used as energy sources for the God Tree—or even absorbed for power.
Under Kaguya's control, branches of the tree spread outward, dropping one after another human body onto the ground. Pale-faced and without a single visible wound, they looked like they'd simply drifted off to sleep.
Hiroki glanced at them but couldn't count how many there were. "Moon, how many are there total? Are they all dead?"
Kaguya nodded. "They died the moment the God Tree drained their life force, but with energy input, they can become puppets loyal to me. There are nearly a hundred thousand."
A hundred thousand White Zetsu... That's how they come into being, Hiroki thought inwardly.
Since they didn't know where God's Abode was, they would have to rely on manpower to locate it—and these people were the perfect tools.
Suddenly, countless root-like tendrils sprouted from the God Tree, piercing into the corpses lying on the ground.
Kaguya intended to use the God Tree to transform them, granting enhanced detection capabilities and extended activity duration while implanting absolute loyalty within their minds.
The God Tree could absorb chakra—and pass it on to others. That was one of its most basic abilities.
Their ability to mimic any person stemmed from the Transformation Jutsu Hiroki had shared with her.
And their power to blend seamlessly with earth and vegetation for rapid movement originated from Kaguya's own affinity with nature.
Hold on a second…
Soon, the bodies lying on the ground started changing.
Their skin turned pale white, grass grew from their heads, and sharp spines covered their bodies.
Every detail made them increasingly resemble the White Zetsu clones Hiroki remembered.
Then, thousands of White Zetsu suddenly shot their eyes open, stood up, tilted their heads, and stared blankly ahead.
The remaining ones continued to lie in slumber.
"Your mission is..." Kaguya described the Spatial Formation she had previously seen and ordered them to search for similar traces.
The White Zetsu nodded, burrowed into the ground, and vanished instantly before the two of them.
"Moon, will they understand?"
"I've already transmitted the information directly into their minds."
"Honestly speaking, with only this number, it might take quite some time before we get any results. Moon, is it because they consume too much chakra?"
"Mm, I suppose so," Kaguya replied bluntly. "Harvesting energy from those humans isn't very efficient."
"Actually, we could stop maintaining the Moon's Eye. It doesn't serve much purpose anymore... The gains from an entire night might not even match the chakra consumed." Hiroki suggested thoughtfully.
For a moment, Kaguya said nothing—her silence heavy with unspoken thoughts.
"Hikaru..." Hiroki suddenly spoke softly.
Kaguya raised her gaze toward him, displeased by his use of that name.
"After all these years of drawing a prison for yourself... who truly has been the most trapped?"
He looked up at the sky and murmured softly with obvious intent.
The voice reached her ears, and Kaguya couldn't help but stiffen slightly.
"It's dawn. Let's go back."
"Okay."
"I wonder what Hayato and Hamura are up to now," Kaguya said, as though trying to hide something.
"Who knows? Those two never seem to worry about anything," Kaguya replied.
Hiroki just smiled.
After a whole night of intense discussion, Hayato had finalized his thoughts. Excitedly dragging Hamura along, he went in search of Hiroki and Kaguya.
"Mother, even though you've been cultivating the God Tree all along, it's still an uncertain outcome. I believe humans hold much greater potential..."
Kaguya narrowed her eyes. Actually, Hiroki had already told her about Gamamaru before, so she already knew where Hayato and Hamura stood. But she didn't expose her knowledge, merely indicating for him to continue.
"In everyone's heart, you are the supreme existence. Truthfully, they're more than willing to do everything for you and offer their all. And indeed, that's exactly how they've been acting over the years."
Hiroki couldn't help laughing out loud. Hayato was actually starting to flatter her now, Dan added.
Kaguya remained expressionless.
Seeing that she wasn't moved in the slightest—completely impervious to persuasion—Hayato began feeling somewhat awkward himself.
"If you have too much free time, double your training load," Kaguya said flatly.
Even at this age, their eyes hadn't evolved at all.
This kid clearly has had it too easy—clearly needs some harsh discipline.
Who knows when they'd finally grow up?
Kaguya couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
"Brother... get to the point," Hamura couldn't help tugging Hayato's clothes, urging him to quickly get to the main topic.
Once Mother's patience wore thin, she wouldn't want to chat with them about anything anymore.
"Mother..." Hayato coughed, his face turning serious again as he continued,
"My point is, human value lies in growing from nothing. Rather than offering them to the God Tree, we should treat them as fighting forces. Teach them chakra cultivation, spread Ninjutsu among them, let everyone become a warrior capable of defending this planet against future threats."
Hearing this, Kaguya couldn't help but scoff.
What potential could humans possibly have? Their greatest strength lay solely in their powerful reproductive ability.
Hiroki felt a bit speechless.
"What? Spread Ninjutsu? Hayato, Hayato… Is founding the Ninja Arts really necessary?"
By doing this, won't he become the founder of all ninja techniques?
In another world, people were trying to stop chakra dissemination, while here, everything started from scratch—it just didn't make any sense at all.
"This is all you came up with after staying up all night? Go home and sleep well. It seems like you're still dreaming and haven't fully woken up yet," Kaguya said lightly.
Hayato started to sound anxious:
"Mother, I know not everyone can become strong. Perhaps only one hundred out of ten thousand people can learn to use chakra, and among those hundred, only one or two might master actual Ninjutsu. Yet, even for that one or two individuals, we still should..."
Kaguya interrupted somewhat impatiently: "Hayato, do you know what humans will do once they gain power?"
"Mother, are you worried they will resist you?" Hamura interjected.
Kaguya let out a light laugh. "Hayato, Hamura, the people in these villages respect you only because you hold higher status and greater power than them."
"Worrying about them this much really isn't worth it," she said meaningfully.
"You might think me cruel, but once those people achieve even a fraction of my power—or even just your level of strength—they'll inevitably start doing far worse things."
Although she never intended to become a ruler, her actions had indeed placed her in that position.
She kept humans penned up like livestock, treating everyone with cold indifference—which, in a way, became an impartial fairness.
In the end, every single one of them shared the same fate: becoming nourishment for the God Tree. Even more so, anyone disrupting the breeding environment would be offered to the God Tree ahead of time.
Hayato and Hamura exchanged glances, both frowning as they tried to understand Kaguya's words.
Hiroki couldn't help sighing inwardly.
Hayato and Hamura were simply too naïve—they had never actually faced real hardship, so they couldn't possibly understand such things.
"Mother… but…" Hamura spoke softly.
Kaguya felt even more displeased. "Let me just tell you straight—they aren't worth saving. There's no need to waste effort on their behalf."
She turned her back on Hayato and Hamura with a soft sigh:
"I've seen everyone's dreams. Ninety percent of them dream of climbing the ladder just to sit at the top and lord over others like kings of the jungle. If you give them strength, their first thought won't be confronting outside threats—it'll be killing each other to satisfy selfish desires. The human population will drop drastically."
As a keeper, she didn't care whether the humans under her stayed healthy—but numbers were essential.
As for Hayato's suggestion about cultivating powerful human warriors, Kaguya scoffed even more. On this planet alone, creatures like Frogs had the longest cultivation timespans, yet were they strong?
If they were, they wouldn't have been hiding in other realms all this time.
"What about this world then?" Hayato and Hamura still refused to give up, kneeling down with their heads pressed low.
"Mother, please—make the God Tree stop and restore everything back to normal. This is our home—it holds so many precious memories for us. Do you really want all that destroyed?"
"So, you want me captured by the Otsutsuki Clan then?" Kaguya suddenly sneered, her gaze growing colder as she turned toward them.
"Just for their sake, you'd dare defy my will? Hayato, Hamura—everything you have was given by me. And I can take it back anytime I wish."
Having said that, she released a direct pressure, weighing heavily upon Hayato and Hamura.
This was the first time they faced such overwhelming might, causing them to break into cold sweats.
Hiroki stepped forward slightly, positioning himself in front of the two.
Instantly, Hayato and Hamura felt the pressure ease from their shoulders.
"Moon, what they said makes some sense actually," Hiroki spoke up.
Kaguya's lips moved slightly, her eyes filled with doubt and a hint of accusation, as if asking, "Why are you still siding with them?"
Hiroki cleared his throat and pulled her aside before finally speaking.
"Otsutsuki, have you forgotten? There are those so-called gods in this world."
Doubt deepened in Kaguya's eyes.
"I suspect they possess abilities similar to Gamamaru's that allow them to monitor the outside world. That's why they've remained hidden all these years. If we do as Hayato and Hamura suggested—restoring everything to normal—we might draw them out, making them believe you've already left."
"Then, we just..." He paused, raised his eyebrow suggestively, and made a slashing motion across his throat.
Kaguya hesitated, pondering the feasibility of his plan.
"Besides, allowing humans to learn how to extract chakra would just give us another source of chakra, right?"
At this, Kaguya shot him an irritated look.
"No matter whether they possess chakra or not, it's all the same. According to your theory, isn't chakra simply transformed from human energy anyway? You're turning a simple issue into something complicated again."
"Well then," Hiroki whispered as he leaned closer to her ear, "how about we do it like this…"
Down the corridor, Hayato and Hamura knelt silently on the floor, occasionally glancing nervously toward other corners of the hallway.
They waited anxiously for quite some time before Hiroki and Kaguya finally approached with calm expressions.
"Hayato, Hamura, rise," Hiroki said steadily.
Upon hearing his words, the two exchanged glances, both showing clear signs of surprise and excitement before quickly standing up.
"I'll give you some time. Eventually, you'll understand what I meant—that it's all futile in the end," Kaguya said calmly.
Once they realized their efforts were in vain, they would no longer act so naively and would obediently follow her will.
"Mother, does this mean…" Hayato asked eagerly.
"Distribution of chakra is acceptable, but only if they extract it themselves. You are not allowed to share your own chakra with others, understand?" Hiroki replied. "Starting tomorrow, the night will return to normal. Also, offerings to the God Tree (the sacred tree that birthed Kaguya) will cease."
Hayato and Hamura nodded slowly, unable to hide the joy spreading across their faces.
After a moment of thought, Hayato added, "I think we should destroy the God Tree..."
He hadn't even finished before Kaguya instantly frowned, clearly annoyed. "Hayato, don't push too hard."
Come on, she didn't even have a seed from the God Tree. If the existing tree was destroyed now, what would she do later?
Hayato opened his mouth to argue, but Hamura held him back, advising gently, "Brother, let's take one step at a time."
Hayato swallowed his objection and instead led Hiroki and Hamura to organize the teachings on chakra extraction, basics of ninjutsu, seals, and the pathways of the human body...
They worked until evening fell, with a red glow lighting the horizon.
"This will be the final day," Hayato said. "She will restore everyone's memories to normal. Without [Infinite Tsukuyomi] controlling them, all they'll remember is life after the war—a life of wandering and hardship. They won't remember Kaguya anymore, and you and Hamura will simply be traveling wanderers seeking experience."
"It's a slow process," Hayato murmured.
Hayato nodded, stayed quiet for a moment, then asked, "Father, what do you think is the best way to introduce Chakra to people?"
"How about we just call it Ninja Arts?" Hiroki said casually.
Everything had been set. Now all that remained was to deal with the God Tree.
The four of them stood before the God Tree.
Though Kaguya had already promised not to worship it anymore, Hayato still felt that leaving the God Tree intact was dangerous.
What's worse, it kept drawing Natural Energy from the land even without being worshipped.
He naturally thought the best move was to rip it out by the root.
Kaguya clearly disagreed. "The God Tree is also a lifeform. If it goes too long without the energy it needs, to make up for that emptiness, it will transform into the Ten-Tails and actively seek to steal energy... Understand?"
"The Ten-Tails... Is it a monster?" Hayato frowned, feeling even more troubled now.
"Kero!" "Kero!"...
As the group remained in their own thoughts, croaking sounds rang out, and Gamamaru suddenly hopped into their view.
Hiroki cast a cold glance at him. "Gamamaru, you bastard, have you been watching us for long?"
Kaguya's gaze was even colder.
Facing their glares, Gamamaru felt extremely pressured. "Perhaps... I can solve your problem..."
<><><><><><><><>
Thank you for reading! Your support will keep me updating!
~ Every 50 Powerstones = **4 Bonus Chapters** this weekend!
<><><><><><><><>
~ 100+ Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon!
~ More *Free* Chapters and Books Available on Patreon!
patreon.com/Tansnovel
<><><><><><><><>