"Gamamaru, send Hamura away." Arisu gave a slight nod.
"Okay!"
Gamamaru responded and jumped forward, swinging his chubby front limbs as he led Hamura out of the Toad Hall.
They passed through the clouds and dense forest of Mount Myoboku, until they jumped into a pool and reappeared outside.
"Hamura, you've missed a great opportunity!"
"My master is incredibly powerful! If you don't learn now, you'll regret it later." Gamamaru complained.
"I know. I'll think about it." At this moment, Otsutsuki Hamura had no mood to pursue power.
He wanted more to talk to his mother, to make her stop those actions.
Hamura walked back alone, his heart heavy. On one side were the words of persuasion he had yet to say, on the other was Arisu's reminder that "she has already been swallowed by fear."
As his thoughts churned, his steps unconsciously quickened.
———
When he arrived at Kaguya's residence, the entire courtyard was frighteningly silent. The maids and servants who usually came and went all held their breath and did not even dare to raise their heads.
The air was filled with a heavy pressure like a storm about to break. The moment Hamura stepped into the courtyard gate, his heart trembled.
Hamura quickly walked into the main hall.
At a glance, he saw Kaguya sitting upright on the jade chair in the main seat.
Her silver white hair fell over her shoulders. The chakra around her was restrained but ready, freezing the air in the hall stiff.
Kaguya's face was dark as ink, without the slightest warmth in her eyes. Her fingers tightly gripped the armrest of the jade chair. It was clear she had been waiting in this state for a long time.
"Mo… Mother." Hamura's voice carried a faint tremble.
As soon as he called out, he was interrupted by Kaguya's cold questioning, "Hamura, where did Hagoromo go? Did you go to see the God Tree?"
There was no emotion in Kaguya's voice. It was calm to the point of being strange, yet the pressure hidden in her words made Hamura's breathing stop.
He immediately realized that Mother had already noticed. Beneath that seemingly calm surface was anger about to erupt.
Hamura gritted his teeth, suppressing the panic in his heart. He stepped forward, wanting to explain. "Mother, I already know everything. The truth about the God Tree, those sacrificed people… I want to tell you, it's not too late to turn back…"
Before he could finish, a thunderous shout cut him off.
"Shut up!!!"
Kaguya slammed her hand down and stood up. The chakra around her suddenly exploded, and a fierce wave of energy instantly swept through the entire hall.
Her eyes suddenly opened wide. The iconic Byakugan shone with a sharp light. Her eye power was like invisible shackles, carrying irresistible pressure, pressing straight toward Hamura.
Hamura felt a powerful force suddenly invade his body. His body froze instantly. He did not even have the strength to lift a hand. Chakra surged wildly through his meridians but was firmly suppressed, leaving him no way to resist.
His Byakugan opened instinctively, trying to push back, but in front of Kaguya's eye power it was like a firefly before the bright moon, completely suppressed.
"It's useless. Don't think of using your Byakugan to counter me. My Byakugan is far above yours!!!!"
Otsutsuki Kaguya shouted in a low, angry voice.
Her face was still quite beautiful.
Hamura's body was stiff and out of control where he stood. He could not even move his tongue. His eyes were filled with disbelief and pain.
Kaguya did not even give him a chance to explain and directly used her eye technique to forcefully control him.
———
Arisu personally taught Hagoromo the sage arts of Mount Myoboku.
Hagoromo was also extremely talented. He quickly learned and mastered the sage arts.
Arisu was slightly surprised, but still satisfied.
Although he was not as fast as himself, Otsutsuki Hagoromo's upper limit was much higher than his.
Hagoromo's upper limit was Six Paths level.
He himself was capped.
However, the advantage was that he was immortal, while Hagoromo would eventually grow old and die.
After living so long, many things in Arisu's heart had changed.
But the one thing that never changed was the belief that living is victory.
No matter how strong a person is, once dead, they are dead. Only the living have the right to decide what happens next.
And Arisu was exactly that kind of person.
For several days in a row, Hagoromo trained on the peak of Mount Myoboku. In the end, he mastered sage arts and learned how to use them properly.
At this time, Arisu calculated the timing and knew that Hamura should have been controlled by Kaguya by now.
'It's time to prepare to deal with Kaguya…' Arisu thought deeply to himself.
"Hagoromo!" Arisu called out.
Hagoromo immediately jumped down from the mountain peak when he heard him.
"Master, you called me?" Hagoromo asked respectfully.
Over these past few days, Arisu had not only taught him sage arts, but also taught him much philosophy, which made Hagoromo feel greatly enlightened.
On top of that, Hagoromo had a filter toward Arisu.
After all, when he was little, Mother often told him heroic stories about Arisu to lull him to sleep, and he often went to Arisu's temple to offer incense.
Now that he had met the real person, he naturally had an idol filter.
"The time is about right…"
"You should go back. Also, I estimate that Hamura may have already been taken down by your mother. You must be careful." Arisu said slowly.
"What! Hamura has already…"
"What should we do, Master!?"
Otsutsuki Hagoromo was shaken. His face showed anxiety, and worry rose in his heart.
Arisu waved his hand and said in a deep voice, "An adult must remain calm! Your mother will not do anything to Hamura. At most, she will control him."
"I have a treasure here. Take it!"
"This is the Toad Immortal Talisman. It has the power to bring the dead back to life!"
Arisu took out a Toad Immortal Talisman from his robe and handed it to Hagoromo.
Hagoromo's spirit was greatly stirred.
He knew about this from the stories. Mother had said that Arisu possessed two great treasures.
One was a white monkey that could turn into a golden staff, and the other was the Toad Immortal Talisman that could bring people back to life.
"Thank you, Master!"
Hagoromo carefully placed the Toad Immortal Talisman into his robe as if it were a priceless treasure.
Gamamaru at the side spoke with a smile.
"Hagoromo, you're really lucky. This thing is very powerful. In Mount Myoboku right now, I'm afraid only the Great Toad Sage White Brows and my master have it!"
"Let me put it this way. If there were a god of death in this world, and the god of death said you must die at midnight, after using the Toad Immortal Talisman you could come back to life and slap the god of death in the face!" Gamamaru joked.
Arisu did not speak, but it was indeed like that.
Although he was not sure whether it would work against the All Killing Ash Bones, it was effective against ordinary fatal injuries.
In the original story, Hagoromo punched straight through Hamura's heart, and in the end the Toad Talisman forcibly saved him.
"Master, then I'm leaving!"
Hagoromo bowed. After speaking, he left through a nearby pool and headed to the outside world.
"Teacher, what should we do next?" Gamamaru asked. It was curious. In such a battle, would Teacher not personally join?
"Do not rush. Next, go notify the ordinary people on the ground and have them evacuate quickly. After all, when gods fight, mortals suffer." Arisu put his hands behind his back and said calmly.
"Teacher is merciful!" Gamamaru said seriously.