Inside the main hall, the atmosphere was tense.
Hagoromo suddenly stood up. His three-tomoe Sharingan glowed a glaring crimson.
"Hamura... No, you're not my younger brother at all!"
"Since when did you take over my brother's body? You unknown transmigrator!"
Hagoromo laid everything out.
The moment those words were spoken, the hall fell into dead silence.
Kaguya narrowed her white eyes slightly, and the chill around her deepened.
A transmigrator? She had not heard that word in a long time. The last time she had heard it was from Isshiki and that Reki.
The word "transmigrator" couldn't help but remind Kaguya of what had happened several years ago.
Back then, Isshiki and that Reki had also called each other transmigrators.
Even now, Kaguya still did not understand what it meant.
And now she was hearing it from Hagoromo...
A trace of shock flashed across Hamura's face, and his heart lurched.
'My identity as a transmigrator has been exposed!?'
He quickly switched to a wronged expression and spoke to Kaguya.
"Big Brother, what are you talking about? How could I not be myself... Mother, look, Big Brother has completely lost his mind!"
Hagoromo ignored the act and turned to look directly at Kaguya.
"Mother, the God Tree is darkness! Those cocoons are all wrapped around people. Hatori... Hatori has already died inside one of them!"
"You want to harvest the entire world with the God Tree and turn everyone's chakra into fruit, don't you? That's your real goal, isn't it?"
Since Arisu had not told Hagoromo that Kaguya intended to create White Zetsu weapons, Hagoromo believed she simply wanted to gather power.
Kaguya sat in the seat of honor.
"Who told you?", Kaguya asked coldly.
"Hagoromo, you know too much. There are some things that you have no business asking about.", Kaguya said.
Hamura hurriedly spoke up, "Mother, Big Brother no longer trusts you! He cried at the God Tree and even said he wanted to destroy it... He's completely betrayed us!"
Hagoromo looked at the face of his "younger brother," both familiar and unfamiliar.
"I won't stay here any longer. The God Tree must be destroyed. As for that bastard who took over my brother's body, I'll kill him with my own hands and take back the peace my brother deserves.", Hagoromo took a deep breath. His gaze swept over his mother and Hamura as he spoke coldly.
With that, he said nothing more. His body suddenly shot backward, smashing through the paper door on the side of the main hall as he fled toward the palace grounds.
"Stop!"
Kaguya's voice rang out like ice. She suddenly stood up, her Byakugan fully opened, and an immense wave of chakra pressure instantly enveloped the entire main hall.
Countless strands of white hair surged out behind her, tearing through the air as they chased after the fleeing Hagoromo.
A cold light flashed through Hamura's eyes. He immediately activated his Tenseigan and followed Kaguya without hesitation, chasing after Hagoromo.
Hagoromo neither looked back nor fought.
He knew very well that with his current strength, facing both his mother and the Hamura possessed by that transmigrator left him with no chance of winning. He could not even hold them off for a moment.
With his current strength, even fighting Tenseigan Hamura would be a battle for his life.
He could only run with everything he had.
Outside the main hall, in the mountain forest.
Hagoromo escaped the main hall with all his strength and sprinted through the forest. The sounds of pursuit behind him drew closer and closer.
He was in a sorry state. Several times he almost got hit by Hamura's Tenseigan power. Fine wounds already covered his body, and blood continued to seep out.
As he rounded a dense bend in the forest, the space ahead silently split apart.
A black spatial portal suddenly appeared.
Hagoromo had no time to think. In his panic, he rushed straight into it.
The instant his figure disappeared inside, the portal quietly closed and vanished without a trace.
Almost the moment the portal disappeared, Hamura arrived.
He abruptly stopped at the bend. Seeing nothing ahead of him, his face instantly filled with shock and disbelief.
"Where did he go?!"
Hamura's eyes widened. He immediately activated his Tenseigan, sweeping every inch of the surrounding space with its powerful vision, yet he could not find a single trace of Hagoromo.
"Impossible... He was just here. How could he suddenly disappear?!"
Hamura stood frozen in place, his brows tightly furrowed.
At that moment, he began to panic, because Hagoromo had just exposed his identity as a transmigrator.
No transmigrator could tolerate that kind of offense.
A moment later, an immense pressure descended from the sky.
Kaguya slowly landed from above, her long white hair and robes fluttering gently in the night wind.
Her white eyes swept across the surroundings before finally settling on Hamura.
"Where is Hagoromo?", Kaguya asked coldly.
Hamura came back to his senses and quickly shook his head, his face still filled with shock.
"Mother, I couldn't find him... Big Brother got away."
"He had just turned this corner. I caught up right after him, but then he suddenly disappeared."
Kaguya did not speak immediately after hearing that. She simply looked at Hamura in silence.
Seeing his mother looking at him like that, Hamura grew nervous. Although he now possessed the Tenseigan, he was still no match for his mother.
If Mother became suspicious of him, he still wouldn't be able to defeat her.
The air grew even heavier.
After a long while, Kaguya finally spoke, "Hamura, why did Hagoromo say you're a transmigrator? And what does 'transmigrator' mean?"
Hamura's body stiffened slightly, and the expression on his face instantly became unnatural.
"Mother... Big Brother must have misunderstood something, which is why he said such nonsense. How could I possibly be a transmigrator? I am your son, Hamura...", As he spoke, Hamura secretly observed Kaguya's expression.
Kaguya continued looking at him calmly, while the light in her Byakugan gradually faded.
"Let's go back. Focus on training your Tenseigan. I'll deal with Hagoromo."
She looked at Hamura for a moment before speaking calmly.
Hearing that, Hamura immediately felt a huge weight lift from his heart, though he dared not show too much joy.
He lowered his head and respectfully bowed.
"Yes, Mother. As for Big Brother... please show mercy."
Hamura deliberately pretended to be concerned for his older brother, putting on a display of brotherly affection for Kaguya to see.
After saying that, he did not linger any longer. He turned and flew back toward the main hall.
Only after he had completely left Kaguya's range of perception did his expression gradually darken.
Hamura slowly clenched his fist, and a shadow flashed through his eyes.
"Damn it... That guy really knew I was a transmigrator. This is going to be troublesome..."
Although Mother had shown no sign of suspicion on the surface, he still felt uneasy.
Still, to avoid making Kaguya suspicious, he had acted as naturally as possible just now.
Hamura took a deep breath, suppressed the irritation in his heart, and quickened his pace toward the main hall.
———
[Meanwhile...]
Space twisted, and Hagoromo's figure fell out of the portal, crashing heavily onto the soft ground of the bamboo forest.
He panted heavily. The wounds on his body still throbbed faintly. He cautiously looked up and saw a familiar immortal-like figure standing not far away.
It was Arisu.
Hagoromo immediately understood that the mysterious senior had saved his life.
Forcing himself to stand, he bowed deeply to Arisu.
"Thank you... You saved me. If that portal hadn't appeared in time, I probably would have..."
Arisu waved his hand slightly.
"It's nothing."