"That's right, the shinobi world is the 'seedbed' you speak of. Now, since you were sealed by Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo and Ōtsutsuki Hamura, over a thousand years have passed."
Imu gave a rough outline of the shinobi world's past and present.
"A thousand years… it seems they are almost here," Ōtsutsuki Kaguya murmured.
Their clan's lifespan is generally around a thousand years.
But if they take elixirs, their lifespan gets a certain boost.
And if they manage to eat an entire God Tree Fruit, their lifespan becomes infinite.
Or rather, they have never seen an upper limit to lifespan.
In addition, the time for the God Tree to drain a planet's energy and bear fruit is also around a thousand years.
So the Ōtsutsuki clan is accustomed to using "a thousand years" as a unit of time.
Normally speaking.
She and Isshiki came to the shinobi world a thousand years ago and planted the God Tree in the land of the shinobi world.
Then the Chakra Fruit should, a thousand years later—namely now, just as this man named Imu before her says—bear its first fruit.
But the strange thing was, the God Tree actually bore fruit in less than a hundred years.
Granting her unimaginable power and an infinite lifespan.
And this world had not yet been drained dry; apart from the land around the God Tree where not a blade of grass grew, the overall ecology remained fairly intact.
At that time she realized how wondrous this world was—it was definitely a "top-grade seedbed" never heard of before.
If she could rely on it to bear a few more fruits.
Then the power accumulated would absolutely be enough to resist those "people of the heavens" who would come to inspect the situation a thousand years later because they had not returned in time to hand over the fruit.
Who could have known she would suffer the betrayal of her two sons!
For a moment, this "woman" who could only be counted as Ōtsutsuki Kaguya's mental fluctuation fell into her memories.
"You must be referring to the main family of the Ōtsutsuki clan."
Imu, unruffled, spoke words that shocked Ōtsutsuki Kaguya.
"That's right. Thirty-six years from now, they will send three people to the shinobi world, and they will regard you as a traitor."
"How do you know that?!"
"Foreseeing the future. And of course, your past—I also have it down cold, including things about you and Ōtsutsuki Isshiki."
Imu met Kaguya's astonished gaze and smiled slightly.
Hearing the name "Ōtsutsuki Isshiki," Kaguya's Byakugan instantly sharpened.
At the same time, she realized that the man before her was not lying.
"Time-type ability, is it?"
"Then you've come to awaken me?" Ōtsutsuki Kaguya asked coldly.
"If you are willing to sign a Truth Contract with me, I can consider it."
Imu made no attempt to conceal his aim, then briefly explained the effect of the Truth Contract.
"Truth… a True God from another universe?"
Ōtsutsuki Kaguya was torn between shock and doubt.
In fact, she did not much believe in the World Government that Imu spoke of, which ruled planets across multiple different universes.
If one were to say it ruled multiple planets within a universe, that would be nothing special.
She had, after all, heard on and off of civilizations capable of opening up to other planets.
Of course, the end result was that they were one by one wiped out by the Ōtsutsuki.
But to speak of different universes—that was a bit outrageous.
However, as for the Truth Contract, Ōtsutsuki Kaguya understood.
"You actually want me to submit to you?!"
The woman's voice carried obvious anger.
However, Imu nodded calmly and said, "Otherwise, why would I let you regain freedom?"
Ōtsutsuki Kaguya was at a loss for words.
The key was that she had no power now; she could not even rely on force to threaten Imu.
She didn't even know how long she could continue to exist.
Suddenly, she began to grow nervous.
If she were simply to disappear, that would actually be fine—just continue sleeping, with no sensation at all.
But what if she did not disappear?
Wouldn't that mean she had to remain here the whole time, and stay fully conscious throughout?
That would absolutely be a terrifying torment!
She knew she was merely a product of mental fluctuation, yet she still possessed normal feelings and awareness.
At least for now it seemed that way, so she was somewhat afraid that Imu would leave.
Just then, Imu continued, "However, I suspect that signing a Truth Contract with you would be useless."
Does this Ōtsutsuki Kaguya before me truly represent Ōtsutsuki Kaguya?
Still, communicating with her should not be entirely meaningless.
When the main body's consciousness awakens, everything said now might be remembered; at that time there will be no need to waste more words.
Then the problem arises.
He first had to find a way to awaken Ōtsutsuki Kaguya's main body consciousness before he could sign a Truth Contract with her.
As he thought, Imu hesitated, and across from him Kaguya's face also showed a conflicted look.
The two of them stood facing each other in the white, boundless space, silent and speechless.
The longer it went on, the worse Kaguya felt, thinking, Why haven't I disappeared yet?
"Truth, if I sign a Truth Contract with her, after she disappears, can the contract's effect bind to the main body?"
Imu raised his left hand and addressed the glowing "Kabbalah Tree of Life" pattern that had begun to shine on the back of his hand.
"According to the principle of equivalent exchange, you also need to answer a question for me."
Truth's voice sounded from the back of his hand, which drew Ōtsutsuki Kaguya's gaze.
Imu of course knew that Truth would not give him a free handout.
"Fine, answer my question first."
"No. She is a product of mental power, at most an avatar. Even if a Truth Contract is signed, when the avatar disappears, the contract will disappear along with it."
Imu had not held any expectations to begin with, so he was not particularly disappointed now.
Opposite him, Ōtsutsuki Kaguya remained expressionless; she knew full well what she was.
Truth: "Then it's my turn to ask."
Imu nodded. "Ask."
Truth: "In your understanding, does a True God exist in this universe?"
Imu was rendered speechless, yet according to the principle of equivalent exchange, he could not lie.
"I only know of one Ōtsutsuki said to be close to a god, named Ōtsutsuki Shibai; as for whether he is truly a True God, I'm not sure."
"You even know about Ōtsutsuki Shibai!"
Ōtsutsuki Kaguya could no longer keep a calm facade and cried out in shock.
However, Imu merely cast the woman a faint glance and gave no answer.
This made Kaguya feel he was all the more unfathomable.
"Close?"
At that moment, the voice of Truth once again sounded from the back of Imu's left hand.
"No. I can faintly sense the aura of True God power in this universe. The Ōtsutsuki Shibai you speak of should already have reached the divine realm, however—"
Imu's mood sank.
There was no need to spell out how great a threat a true Ōtsutsuki god would pose to him and the World Government.
"However, he seems no longer to be in this universe."
This line from Truth made Imu pause—what did that mean?
Not in this universe—does that mean he left this universe?
"He's going to other universes!"
Imu voiced his guess, and then heard Truth say, "Yes, very likely."
Imu thought as he continued speaking.
"The way the Ōtsutsuki clan increase their power is by using the God Tree to draw out the natural energy of one planet after another."
"In the long ages before this, he must have drained who knows how many planets, and they must be planets with natural ecologies—let alone the fact that there are other Ōtsutsuki as well—"
Imu's voice paused here, and Truth smoothly picked up the thread to continue the speculation.
"This has likely led to the natural planets in this universe being almost exhausted; even if many remain, for Ōtsutsuki Shibai, who has achieved True God, they are far too few. Therefore—"
Imu said in a deep voice, "Therefore, Ōtsutsuki Shibai set his sights beyond the universe."
"He intends to head to other universes in search of more natural planets, even if the journey might take tens of millions of years!"
The more he spoke, the more sense it made to him.
If Ōtsutsuki Shibai stayed here, it would be hard to keep improving his strength—tantamount to cooping himself up in this shinobi-world universe.
For a True God who likes stability, that might be a decent choice.
But the Ōtsutsuki are, by nature, a race endlessly greedy for energy.
However, Ōtsutsuki Shibai does not have the aid of a Dimensional Gate.
So he can only choose to risk venturing into the vast, boundless, and perilous Sea of Chaos, attempting to find a new universe with a great many natural planets.
"It should be like this. All in all, it's a good thing. It's just that the civilizations in this universe have been ravaged too grievously by the Ōtsutsuki; countless knowledge must have vanished along with the civilizations that were destroyed—what a pity, what a pity—"
Imu could hear how deeply Truth regretted this, which made him, without thinking, look toward Ōtsutsuki Kaguya before him.
"Hmph. The strong devour the weak is the law of the universe!"
"If we want to become strong, we need natural energy. If they won't give it, then of course we will seize it. If blame must be laid, blame the civilizations on those planets for being too weak!"
Ōtsutsuki Kaguya gave an unhappy cold snort.
Although she was a very young clanswoman, with very low status among the Ōtsutsuki, and the shinobi world was the first planet where she had planted a tree.
Still, she fully approved of the Ōtsutsuki clan's thinking and actions.
Imu did not argue back when he heard this.
After all, he and the World Government were not much different, both believing in the supremacy of the strong.
It was just that their methods were not as extreme as the Ōtsutsuki's, who had to utterly destroy an entire world.
Of course, without doing that, they could not obtain the God Tree Fruit.
It could only be said that the Ōtsutsuki clan's goal was not destruction, but the God Tree Fruit.
But to bear fruit, the planet's energy had to be drained.
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