The next day.
Ryun controlled Ōtsutsuki Shingetsu and arrived near the World Creation Divine Tree, where many powerful Ōtsutsuki were stationed, but in order to gather intelligence, he still ventured to this area.
As soon as he approached this place, he attracted the attention of several Ōtsutsuki, and some even came forward to question him...
Fortunately, Ryun was highly skilled and bold, and coupled with possessing part of Ōtsutsuki Shingetsu's memories, he was able to calmly handle each unexpected situation as it arose.
The World Creation Divine Tree was enormous, so enormous that even people without megalophobia would feel fear and unease in its presence, and adjectives like 'mountainous' were insufficient to describe its towering height!
"A Chakra Divine Tree from the realm of the gods... Takamagahara... once it descends upon the mortal world, it becomes a calamity for all living beings..."
Ryun looked up at the World Creation Divine Tree, feeling somewhat emotional in his heart.
The planet beneath his feet was actually larger, better, and more abundant in natural energy than the Ninja World, but even the best life-bearing planet could not withstand the roots of the World Creation Divine Tree taking hold.
Moreover, the Ōtsutsuki clan now intended to plant another divine tree on this planet and sacrifice all living beings on the Divine Wood Star in one go to produce a supreme divine fruit; one could say this planet was about to be finished!
Of course, even if the Ōtsutsuki clan did not sacrifice the Divine Wood Star, once the expeditionary force from the Ninja World launched their war in a few days, this planet would likely still be difficult to preserve.
Just as Ryun was observing the World Creation Divine Tree, a gaze from high up on the distant tree abruptly fell upon him, watching Ōtsutsuki Shingetsu for quite some time.
Sensing the gaze, Ryun remained impassive, maintaining his calm and composed posture for a moment, until the gaze upon him shifted away, and only then did he leisurely turn and leave.
"It seems it really is difficult to get up to the treetop to kill her, but this High Priestess does seem to be paying attention to the situation below the tree; perhaps there's a way to lure her down and ambush her..." This thought flashed secretly through Ryun's mind.
Ōtsutsuki Third Elder's Office.
"Reporting, Elder-sama, after a full round of patrols by the clan soldiers, no abnormal situations were observed within the clan territory, but as clan members who were out in the field have been returning to the family one after another, some have brought back their own offspring from other planets, so quite a few unfamiliar faces have appeared in the clan..."
A minor clan soldier commander reported his investigation work to the Third Elder.
"Unfamiliar faces... Did you verify the identities of those people? And was there anything suspicious about them?" The Third Elder asked with a frown.
"No... Because the Clan Leader has instructed us to treat returning clan members favorably, when we encountered those people, we generally just asked a few simple questions and let them pass..." The clan soldier commander reported truthfully.
In his view, those possessing the Byakugan were essentially all clan members; if these individuals were Six Paths level powerhouses, they were all well-known figures, and most were recognized... As for the remaining minor figures who were not Six Paths level, there seemed to be no need for interrogation...
The daily patrols of the Ōtsutsuki clan soldiers were very lax; they generally relied on their eyes to distinguish friend from foe. If they saw the Byakugan, then it was one of their own; if the other party lacked the Byakugan, then they were strangers and worth questioning...
To summarize in one sentence: as long as you have the Byakgan, and as long as you behave obediently and peacefully within the clan without causing trouble, then even if the clan soldiers don't recognize you, they are too lazy to pay attention to your words and actions.
After all, everyone was accustomed to peace and comfort; no clan soldier would believe that any enemy would dare infiltrate their Ōtsutsuki clan to cause destruction.
The Third Elder was quite dissatisfied with the clan soldier commander's explanation, but she did not dare to rashly issue orders to interrogate each and every returning clan member, fearing it would cause dissatisfaction from the Clan Leader and the returning members.
"Forget it, I'll go take a look myself..."
The Third Elder sighed softly; she intended to follow the feeling in her heart, go outside for a walk, and see if she could discover any abnormal situations.
The unease in her heart was growing stronger and stronger, even reaching the point where she couldn't sleep at night; she had to find the source of this unease and eliminate it!
The Third Elder's residence and office were both in the southern area of the clan territory, but as she walked, she ended up arriving in the eastern area.
While the Third Elder, following the sensation in her heart, wandered around the eastern area, as she passed through a section of road with relatively high foot traffic, a sapling planted in a pile of rotten mud, meant for greenery, caught her attention.
To be precise, what drew her attention was not the sapling itself, but the large lump of rotten mud in which it was planted!
This lump of mud actually made her sense danger, as if her unease was triggered by this very mud!
On the surface, this lump of mud was no different from ordinary rotten mud in terms of color or nature, but when the Third Elder activated her Byakugan to examine this lump of mud, she saw an abnormally powerful concentration of chakra within it!
"How can such dense chakra be contained within rotten mud? And it's mixed with very powerful natural energy too..."
The Third Elder dug out a piece of mud and examined it carefully, the confusion in her eyes deepening.
However, as she kneaded the soft, squishy mud, she suddenly smelled a strange odor; when she brought the mud close to her nose to sniff, she could clearly detect a foul, disgusting stench of saliva...
The next second, she immediately tossed away the mud in her hand with disgust and even used chakra to conjure a flow of water to continuously rinse her palm...
"Just which idiot is using mud containing powerful chakra to plant trees???"
Because this sapling was growing well, the rotten mud was rich in 'nutrients,' and this thing was planted openly in a crowded area, with the mud not even hidden...
All these factors were telling the Third Elder that this thing was not dangerous; in fact, the person doing this landscaping was quite knowledgeable about planting trees... it was almost a waste of talent not to send them to other planets to plant divine trees...
Using foul, stinking mud containing powerful chakra to plant trees—who besides their professional tree-planting Ōtsutsuki clan could come up with such an idea?
The feeling in her heart warned her that this thing was dangerous, but what her eyes saw told her that while this thing was somewhat abnormal, it was still reasonable... she couldn't discern the reason for the danger at all...
Deidara's clay bombs, in terms of concealment alone, were ten times more hidden than that type of clay explosive called 'C4'; ordinary people simply couldn't understand the danger of this thing, and even with her Byakugan activated, the Third Elder couldn't see the peril within this lump of mud at all.
It was like a block of C4 high-explosive placed at your doorstep or thrown on the road; unless you were a very specialized bomb expert, ordinary people seeing this C4 would only think of dough, butter, mud, or even a large piece of chewing gum... could you imagine it was a powerful explosive that could send you to the heavens in a second?
"Someone... dig up a piece of this mud and take it back for research..."
Although she couldn't see the harm of the mud for the time being, the Third Elder ultimately trusted the feeling in her heart and decided to have some mud taken back for research.
After giving these instructions, she continued her aimless inspection of the clan's eastern district, because that feeling of unease had not disappeared, and after entering the eastern district, the feeling grew even stronger, as if the entire eastern district was unsafe...
"Damnit, what exactly is the reason... it seems like the mud, yet it seems like more than just the mud..."
The Third Elder swept her fierce Byakugan gaze over the entire eastern district but did not discover any obvious abnormalities, which left her feeling bewildered.
Only a very small portion of the hidden mines Deidara buried were discarded by the roadside like this; most of the clay bombs were well-hidden by the steady Akasuna no Sasori, making it nearly impossible to detect anomalies at a glance with the Byakugan.