The question seemed like a sudden leap, but people like Minato Namikaze and the adult Kakashi immediately understood. Although the Second Hokage had asked only two questions, Kaguya Ōtsutsuki would have to explain the entire system behind the Ōtsutsuki Clan's arrival on Earth to plant the God Tree before she could answer them clearly.
Sure enough...
After a long silence, Kaguya Ōtsutsuki chose to reveal the truth for the sake of the two unborn children in her womb.
She could tell that these descendants of Hagoromo and Hamura possessed incredible power.
Power capable of changing fate and helping her protect Hagoromo and Hamura.
Perhaps they could even help her fulfill her dream of achieving true peace.
"Only one person was ordered to plant the God Tree. That person was Isshiki Ōtsutsuki."
As soon as Kaguya spoke, Hashirama, Tobirama, Madara, Izuna, Team Minato, and Team Kakashi exchanged glances. None of them seemed to understand what she meant.
Hashirama spread his hands in confusion. "Only one person was assigned the mission? Then why did you come here too? Does carrying out the mission require a two-person team?"
They were thinking in terms of how ninjas usually handled missions. The assignment might be given to one person, but in practice, an entire team would carry it out together.
"A two-person team?" Kaguya repeated Hashirama Senju's words, then rejected the idea. "The Ōtsutsuki Clan always operates in teams of four."
"Four?!"
Even Madara Uchiha furrowed his brow. Were there actually four people like Kaguya Ōtsutsuki?
But they quickly realized they had misunderstood her.
"I, Isshiki Ōtsutsuki, and the tree seeds that Isshiki and I each brought with us."
Tree seeds...
It took the Konoha ninjas a moment to understand.
The "tree seeds" Kaguya was referring to were...
The Ten-Tails!!
A four-member team consisting of two Ōtsutsuki and two Ten-Tails!
They imagined the scene.
Two sinister members of the Ōtsutsuki Clan floating in the sky, ready to cast Infinite Tsukuyomi at any moment, while two Ten-Tails thundered across the ground, scattering flowers everywhere.
It was quite the spectacle.
Even Madara Uchiha refused to picture it any further.
Naruto asked, "But if you only need to plant one God Tree, why bring two seeds? Is the second one supposed to be a backup in case the first one dies, dattebayo?"
"The God Tree does not die so easily, and a single seed is enough."
Kaguya continued, "Two God Trees cannot coexist on the same planet. Otherwise..."
"Otherwise?"
"The two God Trees would fight until one of them devoured the other."
Hashirama looked startled. He could vividly picture one tree devouring another.
He simply could not tell whether that was because his imagination was too active or because of an instinct hidden within his Wood Release genes.
Kaguya said, "However, that is also why the other God Tree and Ōtsutsuki are necessary."
Her explanation was profound and cryptic, and only a few people understood what she meant.
Minato Namikaze was one of them. He glanced at Hamura Ōtsutsuki, who still seemed confused, and explained it to him and the others.
"If I understand her correctly, she means..."
"Both she and the current God Tree were intended to provide ample nourishment for the God Tree that Isshiki Ōtsutsuki was sent to plant."
"!!!"
Naruto was the first to freeze in shock. "Seriously?! Dad! Goddess Kaguya is..."
Nourishment?!
In other words...
Food for Isshiki Ōtsutsuki and his God Tree?!
The more Naruto considered the possibility, the less he could comprehend the Ōtsutsuki Clan.
Hamura Ōtsutsuki, Indra, Ashura, and the others had never imagined anything like this either!
And it was not only the three of them. Even Madara Uchiha and Obito Uchiha, who had once been determined to cast Infinite Tsukuyomi and return the nine tailed beasts to their original state, had never considered it!
Kaguya was actually...
A sacrifice?!
At a time like this, the only person who remained unusually calm was Tobirama Senju.
He asked Kaguya, "In that case, Isshiki Ōtsutsuki is stronger than you? Regardless of how you tried to kill him, he did not actually die. Instead, he is hiding somewhere in this world. Is my understanding correct?"
Kaguya nodded.
"Isshiki Ōtsutsuki was sent here to plant the God Tree. I was supposed to kill him..."
Kaguya Ōtsutsuki recalled what had happened. Rather than killing him herself, she had first allowed her seed to develop into the Ten-Tails, then fed Isshiki to it. That nourishment allowed it to grow into the God Tree it was today.
She had personally watched the Ten-Tails devour him. It was precisely because it had obtained that power that the God Tree had been born.
So how had Isshiki survived?
Kaguya frowned. No matter how she thought about it, she could not understand how Isshiki could still be alive.
...
"Apart from the news that Isshiki is still alive, do you have any other intelligence?"
Minato Namikaze shook his head. "That is the only lead we have so far."
"And it came so suddenly. Before this, we had no idea that an enemy even more troublesome than Akatsuki would appear in the future and threaten the hard-won peace of the Ninja World."
Kakashi analyzed the situation. "Even in our parallel world, the one that was altered by the mission scroll, Isshiki is still alive. He is hiding somewhere beyond anyone's sight, waiting for an opportunity to take control of the Ten-Tails, turn it into the God Tree, and endanger the entire Ninja World."
Hashirama Senju let out a long sigh and turned to Madara Uchiha. "See, Madara? Even if you eliminate every enemy you can find at a particular point in time, you still can't stop new enemies from emerging from a much broader world to attack us, right?"
Madara Uchiha was no fool. Ever since arriving in this world and learning that Kaguya Ōtsutsuki was an alien from beyond Earth, he had realized how narrow his perspective had been.
Simply unifying the Ninja World would not be enough to guarantee complete peace and prosperity.
But Hashirama kept bringing up his failure again and again, grinding directly against Madara's most sensitive nerve.
"Shut up! You're so annoying! I don't need you to tell me any of this!!"
Thud.
Madara's outburst sent Hashirama Senju sinking into dejection, with dark clouds and gloomy lines gathering behind him.
"Fine. I won't say any more..."
The First Hokage wore a pitiful, aggrieved expression as he muttered, "But Madara, you absolutely cannot entertain such dangerous ideas again. As your younger brother in terms of chakra, Izuna and I have a duty to stop you."
As your younger brother in terms of chakra.
As your younger brother.
Madara Uchiha's face instantly turned bright red, like a kettle coming to a boil.
Izuna slapped a hand against his forehead. He could not shake the feeling that his older brother was completely helpless against Hashirama Senju.
Tobirama Senju also felt an inexplicable surge of anger. He scolded his older brother and told him to behave, listen to Kaguya, and stop dragging the conversation toward irrelevant matters.
After being scolded by his "older brother" and then by his younger brother, Hashirama Senju became twice as dejected and finally fell silent.
Tobirama Senju snorted coldly. Madara Uchiha, however, could hardly stand watching Hashirama look so miserable and downcast.
When Indra noticed Madara's reaction, he silently turned his face away. He could not bear to watch...
He would never admit that he was overprotective of Ashura.
Aino, the maidservant who had remained beside Kaguya the entire time, could not understand what the people from the future were discussing. However, she understood that a powerful enemy was threatening the lives of Kaguya-sama and her unborn children.
Worse still, the enemy was hidden while they were exposed, placing Kaguya-sama at a severe disadvantage.
"Is there any way to find Isshiki Ōtsutsuki and eliminate this threat to Kaguya-sama?!"
She had overheard the earlier conversation between Minato Namikaze and His Majesty the Emperor. These people called themselves ninjas and claimed they could accept any commissioned mission.
"P-please..." Aino stepped forward, determination in her eyes. "Could we hire you ninjas to kill Isshiki Ōtsutsuki?!"
"Aino..."
Kaguya looked at the maidservant who had accompanied her longer than anyone else. She had not expected Aino to make such a request on her behalf.
Minato and the others had not expected it either.
After all, Kannabi Bridge Minato was not yet the Hokage. He could not command more than half of the people around him, so he found it difficult to give her an answer.
As the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju stepped forward to address the young girl named Aino.
"If we had more information, we would be happy to accept the mission," he said with a troubled expression. "But right now, we do not even know where Isshiki Ōtsutsuki is. That makes things difficult."
Tobirama Senju stood just behind Hashirama with his arms crossed and told Aino matter-of-factly, "Besides, you cannot afford the fee required to hire us."
"Huh? We're charging them?" Hashirama turned to his younger brother with astonishment written across his face.
"Shut up!"
Hashirama was about to instinctively sink into dejection after being scolded by his younger brother when he realized something was wrong...
That was not Tobirama's voice.
Hashirama Senju, Tobirama Senju, and Madara Uchiha all turned to stare at Izuna Uchiha in disbelief.
Had Izuna really been the one who said that?
Hashirama: Status -1, -1, -1...