Within the territory of the Otsutsuki Clan.
"Two days have passed since Zeroshiki last sent a message. Should we check on his situation?" The Otsutsuki Clan's First Elder looked up at Otsutsuki Yagara seated above and asked.
"Wait one more day. Zeroshiki will contact us if he finishes dealing with the trouble over there."
Otsutsuki Yagara spoke calmly, his confidence in Zeroshiki, the clan's third strongest member, quite firm.
"Hmm..."
The First Elder nodded, saying nothing more.
Just half a day later, 'Otsutsuki Zeroshiki', far away in the ninja world, indeed sent a message.
Inside the Otsutsuki Clan's main hall, Otsutsuki Yagara and the three elders gathered.
"Clan Leader..."
The figure and voice of Otsutsuki Zeroshiki came from the communication mirror.
"How have you aged so much? Did you use the Karma Incineration secret art?" Otsutsuki Yagara's pair of Byakugan were full of shock.
"Yes. The enemy was too powerful. Without the forbidden secret art, I would have died..." Otsutsuki Zeroshiki replied expressionlessly.
"You have worked hard... So, is the mission completed?" Otsutsuki Yagara offered a comforting phrase first, then directly asked about the main matter.
"Completed!"
Hearing this affirmative answer, Otsutsuki Yagara nodded in satisfaction. The other three elders also revealed relaxed smiles. "Very good. What about the traitor? Was it Isshiki or Kaguya?"
"Neither. The one who consumed the divine fruit is a human native. He killed both Isshiki and Kaguya, offered them to the divine tree, and thus obtained the supreme-grade divine fruit!" Otsutsuki Zeroshiki said with a serious expression.
Upon hearing this, everyone in the main hall showed astonished expressions.
"Where is he?" Otsutsuki Yagara asked coldly.
Hearing this, Otsutsuki Zeroshiki did not speak. He simply rotated the mirror's lens. The four people in the main hall instantly saw five pieces of a body pinned to the ground by black rods.
Looking at the disassembled body parts, the veins around Otsutsuki Yagara's eyes instantly bulged. He actually activated his Byakugan to examine the body parts on the ground!
In Otsutsuki Yagara's Byakugan, each piece of the corpse contained powerful chakra, and that chakra was actually golden!
"He was actually an immortal cultivator?"
Otsutsuki Yagara could not help but exclaim in surprise. He now understood why Zeroshiki had been forced to use the forbidden secret art.
The universe was vast and boundless. Life-bearing planets with natural energy were not few. Among cultivators, following the chakra cultivation system was actually a minority. The truly widespread practice was instead the immortal cultivation system, like Ryun's, which fused one's own power with natural energy. This was the mainstream cultivation method in the universe!
If these two cultivation systems were truly compared, the immortal arts system was undoubtedly better. The reason this universe was still suppressed by the Otsutsuki Clan was mainly because they had the Ten-Tails Divine Tree that plundered everything and nourished themselves, along with robust physiques and supreme ocular techniques that far surpassed others even without cultivation.
The Divine Tree, physique, eyes, and 'Karma'—these were more than enough to make up for the weakness in their cultivation method!
Even if Senjutsu Chakra was stronger than ordinary chakra, the Otsutsuki Clan could still dominate this universe!
"Yes! This guy followed the path of immortal cultivation, and also consumed the supreme-grade chakra divine fruit. Fortunately, Meishiki used the God-Slaying ocular technique on him immediately upon meeting. Otherwise, even if I used the forbidden secret art in the end, I probably could not have subdued him..."
As Otsutsuki Zeroshiki said this, a look of lingering fear involuntarily appeared on his face.
"You and your son have accomplished a great feat! You have eliminated a terrifying enemy for the Otsutsuki Clan!" Otsutsuki Yagara praised in an exceptionally serious tone.
An immortal cultivator consuming a supreme-grade chakra divine fruit—this was not simply a matter of strength added to strength... This human truly possessed the qualification to become a god!
A Six Paths peak practitioner consuming a high-grade divine fruit gained the qualification to break through to the divine realm. But a supreme-grade divine fruit possessed the mysterious, great power to allow one to break through beyond the divine realm. If the other party was also an immortal cultivator, then the possibility of them breaking through beyond the divine realm would increase infinitely...
The Otsutsuki Clan knew the power of immortal cultivators. Whenever they encountered such cultivators in the starry expanse, they would trace them to their origin and exterminate them. Many years ago, they had suffered great losses at the hands of those immortal cultivators. If not for the power of the Genesis Divine Tree in the end, the Otsutsuki Clan would likely have been wiped out by those immortal cultivators!
"It was merely luck. It's just that the guy hadn't truly grown up yet..." Otsutsuki Zeroshiki said with a smile.
Upon hearing this, Otsutsuki Yagara's expression finally relaxed somewhat. However, he suddenly seemed to notice something abnormal. He couldn't help but look at Otsutsuki Zeroshiki and ask with a frown:
"Why do you have that guy's (Ryun's) chakra on you?"
In Otsutsuki Yagara's Byakugan, a powerful golden chakra was enveloping Zeroshiki's chakra. It looked as if Zeroshiki's chakra was being suppressed. This abnormality also struck Otsutsuki Yagara as strange.
As soon as Otsutsuki Yagara asked this question, the two people hiding behind the communication mirror in the ninja world immediately became tense.
"I absorbed his chakra to replenish my consumption. I also wanted to feel the difference between his power and our chakra..." Otsutsuki Zeroshiki explained with a calm expression.
Hearing this, Otsutsuki Yagara showed a trace of a surprised expression, but did not ponder deeply or pursue it further. Instead, he asked the second question that concerned him most:
"Where is the Divine Tree?"
The Divine Tree capable of bearing a supreme-grade chakra divine fruit was the truly strategic, treasure-level asset worthy of Otsutsuki Yagara's attention!
Such Divine Trees were rare and hard to come by. Each one was more precious than a divine realm supreme expert!
Hearing this, Otsutsuki Zeroshiki fell silent for a moment. Then he shifted the mirror's lens again, switching the view to a desolate, empty battlefield.
It was the Black Iron Plains of the ninja world, the main battlefield of the Fourth Great Ninja War!
At this moment, a Divine Tree ten thousand zhang tall was rooted in the Black Iron Plains. Its enormous tree body could not help but fill Otsutsuki Yagara and the others with awe.
"It's actually so large. Clearly, it has reached the limit for a sapling!"
(The Genesis Divine Tree is the mother tree. All other Ten-Tails and Divine Trees are saplings.)
The Otsutsuki First Elder could not help but exclaim in surprise. This was definitely the largest Divine Tree he had ever seen, aside from the Genesis Divine Tree!
"Zeroshiki, bring this Divine Tree, along with that human, back here!" Otsutsuki Yagara ordered decisively.
"Wait..." The Otsutsuki Second Elder suddenly spoke up to stop him.
"Hmm???" Otsutsuki Yagara's gaze toward him instantly turned unfriendly.
"Clan Leader, hear me out first... The place capable of nurturing this Divine Tree must be a rare, excellent treasure land. Even if you bring the Divine Tree back, it will not bear fruit for now. Wouldn't it be better to let it remain rooted there, wait another thousand years, and then harvest another supreme-grade divine fruit?"
The Otsutsuki Second Elder braced himself and proposed.
As soon as he said this, Otsutsuki Yagara calmed down instantly. The pressure facing the Second Elder also vanished in an instant.