Hagoromo had never considered such a question.
To him, the God Tree had always been like a mountain or an ocean—a vast, terrifying part of the natural world whose existence seemed completely self-evident.
Gamamaru gave him little time to dwell on the revelation before posing another question, one even deeper than the last.
It struck like a second crushing blow.
"An ordinary tree draws scarce nutrients from the soil through its roots. Its leaves absorb the faint energy of sunlight, allowing it to grow slowly in accordance with nature."
"But what about the God Tree?"
A trace of cold irony entered Gamamaru's voice.
"It towers into the sky , so immense that it seems capable of piercing the sky itself."
"The amount of power it contains was enough to grant your mother strength approaching that of a deity."
"It even bore a fruit capable of changing the very laws of the world."
He looked steadily at Hagoromo.
"Do you truly believe such a thing could be sustained merely by the meager nutrients beneath your feet... and the scattered rays of sunlight overhead?"
"Does that sound reasonable to you?"
Hagoromo instinctively shook his head.
The color drained completely from his face.
No.
It wasn't reasonable at all.
If the previous question had merely shocked him...
This one completely shattered his vague perception of the God Tree as simply another magnificent wonder of nature.
A far colder...
Far more ominous possibility began to slither into his mind.
If the God Tree did not grow through natural means...
Then where did the nourishment required to sustain its colossal body and terrifying power...
Actually come from?
His voice grew heavy with urgency and dread.
Summoning every ounce of strength, he forced the words through his dry throat.
"Gamamaru!"
"Please..."
"Tell me the whole truth."
"About the God Tree..."
"My mother..."
"And this world."
"What is it that's been hidden from us?"
Gamamaru wasn't surprised by Hagoromo's reaction.
He slowly nodded.
"I have waited here in accordance with fate's guidance."
"I always intended to tell you everything."
"As the one chosen by fate, you have both the right—and the obligation—to know the truth."
He paused, as though organizing memories that stretched back countless ages—memories concerning the very nature of the world itself.
Then he spoke.
His very first sentence crashed into Hagoromo's heart like heavenly thunder, sending devastating shockwaves throughout the entire shinobi world.
"I told you earlier..."
"Everything in existence—whether living or inanimate—has a lifespan."
"Nothing lasts forever."
"And that truth applies to far more than people, beasts, flowers, and trees."
Gamamaru's deep gaze seemed to pass through the waterfall's mist, reaching beyond the endless sky and into the earth itself.
His voice echoed clearly in Hagoromo's ears—
And in the hearts of everyone watching the Heavenly Curtain.
"This world..."
"...is no exception."
"What?!"
Hagoromo felt as though he had been struck by a bolt of lightning.
His entire body trembled violently.
Every trace of color vanished from his face.
Even the tomoe within his scarlet Sharingan seemed to stop turning in his overwhelming shock.
He staggered back a step, staring at Gamamaru in disbelief.
"G-Gamamaru..."
"Are you saying..."
"That this world..."
"The world we live in..."
"Will also... perish?"
"...Just like every living thing eventually dies?"
"How can that be?!"
Outside the Heavenly Curtain, the entire shinobi world was shaken by an unprecedented wave of terror.
Whether they were shinobi of the Five Great Nations...
Ordinary civilians...
Reclusive masters...
Or even souls residing within the Pure Land...
Everyone felt as though an invisible hammer had struck them squarely in the chest.
The streets of Konoha.
The Kazekage's Office in Sunagakure.
The plaza before the Raikage's headquarters in Kumogakure.
The council chamber of Iwagakure.
The Mizukage's Tower in Kirigakure.
Even the rain-soaked tower of Amegakure...
The underground chambers of Otogakure...
And the samurai dōjō of the Land of Iron...
Every person watching the Heavenly Curtain stood frozen in place.
Their faces were filled with disbelief.
"I-I could barely accept the idea that the God Tree grows by consuming lives..." a Konoha Chūnin muttered, his voice trembling.
"I mean... that thing already looked unnatural enough..."
"But the world itself dying?"
"Does he mean... complete destruction?"
"The end of everything?"
"That's exactly what Gamamaru seems to be saying," an older Jōnin replied, his face deathly pale as cold sweat formed on his brow.
"He compared the world to living beings."
"He said neither is eternal..."
"This is..."
He couldn't even finish the sentence.
"If even the world can die..."
"Then what are we?"
"What meaning is there in surviving..."
"In fighting..."
"In pursuing our dreams?"
A young shinobi apprentice was on the verge of tears, his entire worldview collapsing around him.
"What else could happen?"
An old veteran who had survived countless wars spoke in a hoarse voice.
Even someone who had witnessed endless death now wore an expression of profound confusion and fear.
"We'll simply..."
"Die alongside it."
"It'll become our grave as well."
"This..."
"This is the end of the world..."
Fearful whispers spread everywhere.
They had believed the Heavenly Curtain was revealing ancient history...
The truth behind Kaguya...
The origin of power...
Yet the discussion had suddenly turned toward something infinitely greater.
The end of the world itself.
A fear unlike anything the shinobi world had ever known washed over every land like an icy tide.
Everyone stared upward at the tiny toad and the stunned Hagoromo upon the Heavenly Curtain.
It was as though they were witnessing an unavoidable future.
Compared to the fate of the entire world...
Questions about the God Tree...
About Kaguya...
About ancient conspiracies...
All seemed insignificant.
Within the Heavenly Curtain, Gamamaru calmly accepted Hagoromo's shock and fear.
He continued speaking, as though merely describing an immutable law of nature.
"That is correct."
"The world also has a lifespan."
"It is born..."
"And one day, it will reach its end."
"And the God Tree you have seen..."
"What it devours..."
"What it absorbs..."
"Is far more than the lives of a handful of mortals."
"The God Tree's food."
"Its nourishment."
"The source of its power..."
"Is the world's own life force..."
"And its primordial energy."
"Kaguya planted the God Tree and waited for it to bear fruit."
"The ripening of the Chakra Fruit is the process by which the God Tree relentlessly drains the world's very essence."
"She consumed the Chakra Fruit..."
"And gained power approaching eternity, along with the authority to rule the world."
"But the price..."
He paused.
"...Was accelerating this world's exhaustion."
"And its inevitable decline."
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