Chapter 251
After Senju Yukika's address, the five great village leaders returned from the Void Night Palace with complicated expressions.
They now fully understood that the ruler of this planet was about to leave—but no one dared to stir up trouble. Yukika had made it crystal clear: if anyone dared act out of line, they would face merciless punishment upon her return.
No one doubted that Yukika would come back. Everyone had heard the legends surrounding her. Elders within their clans had once witnessed her power firsthand—abilities that far surpassed the so-called "God of Shinobi." She was regarded as a being who had truly approached the realm of divinity.
These stories had spread far and wide, ensuring that no one dared defy her orders.
After finishing her instructions, Senju Yukika began preparations for her departure.
This journey was momentous—marking the first true step of this native planet into the vast expanse of the universe!
If Yukika succeeded, she could one day transport all life on this planet into space, launching an entirely new chapter in their civilization's history.
Such a future stirred great excitement. The Five Great Nations secretly began mobilizing their people, preparing for the possibility. Perhaps, in the days to come, their world would no longer be limited to this small planet. Their eyes would turn to the stars.
The thought alone filled everyone with anticipation.
At that moment, Yukika arrived in the underground world. The Valley of the End was as quiet as ever, unnoticed by most, with its concealed entrance shrouded in secrecy.
She passed through a barrier and stepped into the pitch-black underground realm. The once-majestic castle had long since crumbled, but within its ruins, a small flame still flickered—eternal and undying, like a relic of the ages.
Gazing into the flame, Yukika's eyes reflected deep emotion.
She had lived on this planet for so many years, and now that she was finally about to leave, her heart overflowed with sentiment.
Suddenly, the flame began to quiver violently. Its trembling dance stirred an unease deep within her.
Yukika murmured to herself, "Has something gone wrong with the interstellar teleportation array? Is it collapsing?"
Her suspicion wasn't unfounded. That flame was directly connected to the ancestors of the Ōtsutsuki clan. Now that the Ōtsutsuki on Earth had returned to their homeworld, this teleportation array no longer served any purpose.
Perhaps the Ōtsutsuki wanted to destroy it—to sever the path between this planet and their ancestral home.
Realizing the urgency, Yukika knew she couldn't wait any longer.
She stepped forward and, in an instant, her entire being transformed into a streak of blue-black light, vanishing into the flame!
After passing through the flame, her vision was swallowed by darkness. She entered a world of absolute blackness—empty, silent, a place where even her spiritual pressure ceased to function. She could no longer sense her surroundings.
Here, time and space had ceased to exist. Even the very concept of time had dissolved.
Summoning all her strength, Yukika looked forward and finally sensed the faint stirrings of a shift—space and time slowly beginning to move. Some strange universal law was silently descending.
She closed her eyes and stopped thinking, choosing instead to quietly attune herself to the laws of this new world.
No one knew how much time passed.
Eventually, she opened her eyes again and found the darkness lifting. A sky full of twinkling stars slowly appeared before her.
Brilliant starlight, like countless beautiful gems, streaked past behind her.
Yukika had no idea where she was in the universe. She soon realized her body was no longer under her control—some mysterious force was propelling her forward at incredible speed.
Time slipped by, and her speed gradually decreased. The force controlling her began to wane.
Forming a hand seal, Yukika found she had regained control of her body. She redirected her spiritual pressure inward and brought herself to a halt.
Now she stood alone in the blackness of space, gazing at the stars spinning all around her.
Some stars were enormous, easily tens of millions of times the size of Earth. Others were as small as grains of dust, floating aimlessly through the cosmos.
As Yukika slowly flew past them, she began to notice something else—some of these stars radiated signs of life.
They were traces—clues—that countless races existed throughout the universe. However, Yukika, having only just entered this vast space, didn't yet understand them. She dared not recklessly set foot on any of these planets.
Her goal remained the ancestral star of the Ōtsutsuki clan. Judging from the direction of the flame's transmission, she knew her destination was not far ahead.
As the energy of the flame's guiding laws weakened, Yukika could sense that she was drawing ever closer.
Finally, after several hours, she saw it—a colossal star drifting in a corner of the universe.
It moved slowly, surrounded by a dense, glowing atmosphere. Even from afar, Yukika could feel the immense chakra aura permeating the planet.
What surprised her most was that—despite being so far from Earth—this planet's inhabitants also cultivated chakra?
She couldn't help but wonder: In this vast universe, were there other cultivation systems besides chakra?
Were there countless other powers that coexisted with her own?
But she couldn't answer these questions yet. Only by truly integrating into the universe could she begin to unravel these complex mysteries.
Staring at the star before her, Yukika knew this was it—the home base of the Ōtsutsuki clan. The ancestral land of their race.
On this planet dwelled countless powerful beings, the strongest of whom were the Three Grand Ancestors—true gods, beings who stood on the same level as herself.
As she pondered, Yukika found herself already nearing the atmosphere.
What she didn't know was that her arrival had not gone unnoticed—the Ōtsutsuki clan on the planet below had sensed her presence. One by one, they raised their heads, their eyes wide with astonishment as they looked toward the sky…