"Hagoromo, this letter is for you. Open it in a couple of days."
Natsume handed him the letter he'd prepared.
"Teacher, what's this for?"
Hagoromo asked, puzzled.
Normally, since they were together every day, he could just say whatever he wanted. Writing a letter seemed redundant.
"Hagoromo, you're the elder brother, steadier by nature. You'll need to shoulder a lot."
Natsume thought, this'll scare you plenty.
A bad feeling suddenly rose in Hagoromo's chest.
He looked up at Natsume's serious face and quickly asked, "Teacher, what happened?"
His tone betrayed unhidden panic.
No matter how mature he tried to be, he was still just a kid.
And his confidence actually came from his invincible mother, Kaguya.
He couldn't imagine what they'd do if something happened to her.
"Nothing major."
Natsume smiled, finding it amusing to tease the Sage of Six Paths.
"Then what's the letter for?"
Hagoromo still couldn't relax.
Natsume was acting too strangely today.
And he was about to go out with Kaguya.
That had never happened before.
"It's some suggestions about this world's future development."
Natsume patted his shoulder. "They're bits of inspiration I've gathered over time. I'm giving them to you—hope they help."
"But… I'm still young."
Hagoromo clearly wasn't so easily fooled.
This sounded like final arrangements.
No matter how you looked at it, something was off.
"Hagoromo, the future is yours."
Natsume said earnestly, "I'm just an ordinary human. I won't live that long. But you and Hamura are different—you'll have long lifespans."
Hagoromo froze, panic stirring inside.
He'd grown used to his teacher's presence.
If one day he disappeared, he'd be devastated.
"Alright, your mother's waiting for me."
Natsume waved, leaving him only a solid, heavy back.
"Dad…"
Watching him go, Hagoromo took a few steps forward and opened his mouth, but couldn't call out in the end.
Compared to Hamura, he couldn't quite bring himself to say it.
He lowered his head to the envelope, falling silent.
"Let's go."
Natsume reached the palace gates.
Kaguya, waiting, turned to look at him and then took his hand.
The world blurred—and Natsume was in Amenominaka's Starting Sphere Space.
He looked around—bleak and barren, with little to see.
Farther off, a faintly different aura bled through.
They were connection points to the other five spaces:
The Lava Prison, Icy Peaks, Sea of Acid, Endless Desert, and Super-Gravity Space.
The names alone told you their function.
The Starting Sphere Space was the hub, the only one directly linked to all five others.
Here, one could absorb chakra from those trapped in Infinite Tsukuyomi, bolstering oneself—a kind of supply station.
After confirming Natsume was in the Starting Sphere Space, Kaguya's face went completely cold.
In an instant, she appeared in the capital of the Land of Demons.
If Isshiki were at his peak, he could have seen through her suppressed power.
But he was wounded now.
Truth be told, after eating the God Tree fruit, Kaguya already surpassed him by half a step.
Hers rose as his fell.
She drew near to Isshiki with ease—or rather, to Jigen.
…
Isshiki was eating.
Partly his nature—he liked enjoying himself.
Partly to save chakra.
If Jigen didn't eat, Isshiki would have to supply chakra.
With the Toad Sage's help, he'd recovered to seventy percent strength.
But it still wasn't enough to safely face Kaguya.
So he flatly refused the Toad Sage's invitation.
And in the face of his refusal, the three Great Holy Lands didn't dare do anything; they could only pray he'd keep his promise soon.
Isshiki sneered.
He'd seen right through the Toad Sage's scheme. No way would he play along.
Defeating Kaguya was something he urgently wanted.
But he demanded to do it without injury.
Because next, he'd be planting a God Tree.
The three Holy Lands' lives had nothing to do with him.
All one could say was that the Toad Sage was too foolish.
"Your sake."
While Isshiki was mulling things over, an ordinary human girl approached and spoke.
He paid her no mind and kept eating.
In the next instant, a vast sense of danger erupted in his gut.
He looked up instinctively—and saw a scarlet, glowing eye.
Rinne Sharingan.
"Kaguya?!"
Isshiki's face was incredulous.
What the hell?
How had she gotten this close without him sensing it?
There was something very wrong with this Kaguya!
But it was too late to think.
When he opened his eyes again, he was in a field of ice.
Isshiki's expression went dark. He raised his hands; black and red energy shimmered before him but refused to coalesce.
No space-time transfer?
His heart skipped, but he didn't lose his composure.
He lowered his hands. "Is this the ability you stole like a thief?"
Though he tried to keep his pride, anger still leaked into his last words.
Because it was supposed to be his!
Carelessness had gotten him ambushed, and he'd lost the God Tree fruit.
Now the thief was using the fruit's power against him. How could he endure it?
Kaguya ignored his reaction. Expressionless, she said, "Today, you won't escape."
Amenominaka belonged to the Rinne Sharingan's ocular arts.
In the original story, only the Tomoe Rinnegan could come and go freely.
And each use consumed enormous chakra and ocular power, even erasing tomoe.
Isshiki did not have a Tomoe Rinnegan.
"Escape?"
He grew angry. "If you hadn't ambushed me, the one running would be you, Kaguya!"
Kaguya didn't respond.
She raised her hand.
The glacier trembled, blazing white.
With a roar, the ice cracked. Countless mountain-like pillars of ice rose from the ground like an icy rain, crashing down.
Isshiki shuddered, black markings spreading over his face.
His aura became terrifying.
In his golden right eye, eight triangular sigils flashed.
From his ocular space, a mass of giant black cubes poured forth.
His right eye, like Obito's Kamui in some sense, possessed a pocket dimension to store and release objects.
Space shuddered.
Black cubes and ice pillars smashed into one another, then exploded into fragments.
Kaguya's eyes narrowed.
Isshiki's recovery was far faster than she'd expected.
Because of what?
She quickly thought of the Three Great Holy Lands.
But he still wasn't at his peak.
Within a single second, the ice pillars won out, relentless as they continued falling.
Isshiki's face was ugly.
He had his reasons, but losing to Kaguya, whose status was beneath his, was galling.
His golden right eye flashed again.
Ocular art: Sukunahikona!
The huge ice pillars shrank instantly to the size of ants, looking adorably tiny.
Isshiki clapped his hands, stirring a violent wind.
All the ice pillars rebounded in front of Kaguya—and immediately returned to their original size.
In an instant, she was completely submerged.
But Isshiki knew this wouldn't harm her.
He formed black rods with Yin–Yang Release, and they appeared in his hands.
His body flickered; with the Byakugan he locked onto Kaguya's position and lunged with the two rods.
The black rods could absorb and disrupt an opponent's chakra.
As long as he touched Kaguya, they'd work.
Wounded as he was, chakra was what he needed most.
As long as he had enough, he'd return to his peak—then he could defeat Kaguya.
He chose close combat because he knew she lacked real fighting experience.
But in the next moment, Kaguya's fists came down like a storm.
He couldn't react in time and took a punch to the face. Blood sprayed.
In a daze—another four or five punches.
Each blow made him feel like his body would come apart.
This was absolutely not the old Kaguya!
In a single turn, Isshiki had to endure a full Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms.
He flew backward and crashed to the ground, his white clothes dyed crimson.
Kaguya's lips curled slightly.
She knew Isshiki wasn't dead.
Jigen's prone body erupted with an indescribably powerful aura.
He stood up again.
Black stripes covered him from head to toe, like wet ink dripping downward.
Most different of all was the massive, curved horn that now completely covered the top of his head.
He no longer looked human.
"You seem to have changed a lot."
Isshiki wiped the blood from his mouth.
In this new state, he'd completely shed the identity of Jigen.
In other words, this was his true self.
"From sneaking up on me without a sound to that fist technique—those aren't things you should be capable of."
Isshiki chuckled and asked, "Kaguya, can you tell me why?"
"Because I have someone I like—and you don't."
Kaguya thought for a moment and answered.
"…?"
Isshiki's smile froze.
It wasn't that he felt stung as a single man; it was that Kaguya could like someone at all.
Seconds later, he burst out laughing.
"Kaguya, you're a disgrace to the Otsutsuki!"
Isshiki's voice rose, dripping with contempt. "Even if I can't kill you, one day the clan's elites will avenge me and kill you and the one you love."
The Otsutsuki were born strong, thus arrogant and heartless.
They pursued only their goals; anyone in the way must die.
Emotions were burdens.
Why did Kaguya have so little concept of emotion?
Because there was no need.
After eating the God Tree fruit, she was fated to be undying and immortal.
Things like liking, love, mates, or children—none were necessary.
Kaguya frowned, a sudden anger rising unbidden.
She agreed with Isshiki's words, but she would not allow anyone to kill Natsume—except her.
Eighty Gods Vacuum Attack!
In an instant, extreme chakra surged forth; countless fists, brimming with killing intent, filled the entire space.