The army of Ka was in an uproar. Both of the Ministers had been killed, and therefore the entire structure fell apart. During these times, the political hierarchy of each country was relatively simple. At the top stood the rulers of each land, who were officially emperors. Then came the ministers who held a lot of authority. They could broker trade deals, select other officials for higher-ranking jobs, and even draft minor laws in the countries. All the power theoretically lay with the Emperor. Still, because most of them held status without a genuine interest in ruling the country, the Ministers were 'unofficially' the ones who called the shots. Naturally, that was only as long as what they did benefited the land.
That's where the actual difference between the Land of Ancestors and all others came to light. Tenji changed how the land was governed through his sheer talent and ingenuity. He took control from the Ministers and removed them completely, seeing no use for intermediaries. He had commanders who were capable of following his strategies and were skilled at fighting, and the merchants who did as he said. Other than that, there was not much else. In terms of progression and having people adapt to Tenji's way of thinking, it wasn't ideal. Tenji wanted what was best for the land, but understood that to fight ancient culture, he had to be the spearhead that broke the old ways and introduced new ones. Combined with his immeasurable talent in all fields, it made him rather lonely.
Using the Achilles heel of this ancient command structure, Tenji effectively paralysed the Ka military by killing the two Ministers. Of course, the same thing could be said should he die, but he knew his own strengths and what he was capable of.
Moving through the forest on the mountain, Kaguya and Aino were making their way towards the Divine Tree. At first, the direction was random, and Aino only wanted to get her mistress to safety, but after a while, Kaguya took control and chose the Divine Tree as their destination. They had been walking for almost a full day, making a few stops for Aino to rest. Kaguya, under normal circumstances, didn't really need to rest as much due to her powers, but things weren't as they used to be for her either.
She had felt the change a few days ago. Her hand reached for her stomach, and a very faint smile appeared on her face, despite the situation. She hadn't been aware of it and couldn't say for sure, but the fight against the Ka soldiers more or less confirmed it. Her chakra was in disarray. It was also because of this that she started to fear for her life and the lives she now carried. She was afraid of the powerlessness she might experience and therefore wanted to reach the Divine Tree.
Aino stopped for a moment and looked back down the mountain. There at the foot, she saw troop movements.
"Are they... pursuers?" she asked.
"Let us hurry. My fate is with the Divine Tree," Kaguya said, not bothering to think about the implications.
They continued up the mountain when several flaming arrows shot through the air. Reacting right away, Kaguya swung her arm through the air and used a burst of chakra to stop their path, making them fall uselessly on the ground. The arrows hold the sigil of the Land of Ka, telling them that a group of soldiers was in pursuit.
Their theory was confirmed when several men rushed out of the forest and surrounded Kaguya and Aino. Aino looked very worried, because she was useless in the fight. Several archers aimed at Kaguya, while the soldiers moved forward with their swords ready.
"That's the woman. Minister Suzaku told us about her. What should we do?"
"Kill her! She slaughtered my friends. She's a monster!"
"I agree, kill her."
"Fire!"
The arrows were released and shot through the air. Kaguya repeated what she had done before and unleashed a burst of chakra to unleash a wave of wind to stop the arrows. But just as she did, she experienced pain in her lower abdomen.
"Lady Kaguya!" Aino yelled in worry.
"My strength..."
"Lady Kaguya, could you be..."
"Now! She's weak, kill her!" the soldiers shouted.
The archers notched new arrows on their bows and pulled back the strings. Before they let go, though, a whistling sound was heard faintly, and a moment later, several knives zoomed through the air, cutting through the bowstrings and impaling the archers' thoraxes.
"ARGH!"
"Kakk...!"
"What is this?! Who's there?!"
From the direction of the Divine Tree, the exact direction Kaguya and Aino were travelling towards, someone approached.
"Lord Tenji!" Aino exclaimed in delight and relief.
Tenji came to a stop a distance away and looked at Kaguya. He understood what was going on, but was relieved to see that she wasn't injured.
"Are you alright, Kaguya?" he asked.
She nodded her head, relieved to see him. The pain in her abdomen reduced slightly. He nodded as well and then focused on the soldiers. His gaze moved over each one.
"What proud warriors you are, soldiers of Ka. Attacking two women. If you have a shred of pride, you will move away from them and deal with me first," he said.
Then, to everyone's utter confusion, Tenji did something strange. He crouched. He took a formal kneeling position, also called seiza. He held one of his hands on the sheathed sword at his waist. His shoulders were relaxed, not tense, yet something about this 'stance' felt off.
"What's with that stance?" a soldier asked mockingly.
"Not even going to draw your sword?"
"If I am to show my sword to you, you will need to step into my domain," Tenji revealed.
Tenji then closed his eyes, shocking everyone further. However, as he closed his eyes, Tenji's presence changed drastically. In this very moment, the combined rage at the Lands of Ka and these soldiers who dared to threaten and attack Kaguya caused his aura to manifest.
"Wha... what... is that?" a soldier asked.
A giant, shadowy Kamaitachi appeared behind Tenji and towered over him. Tenji's pressure, honed like a blade, manifested itself.
"rrRRRAAAAHHHHH!!!!"
The soldiers, who were almost drowning in fear, shouted to knock themselves out of it. All of the soldiers unsheathed their swords and rushed forward. They thrust and slashed at Tenji wildly, trying to hit and kill him as fast as possible. Fear had turned their skills to nothingness. The strikes and pierces, however, didn't seem to have any effect. After a moment, five soldiers had their blades knocked out of their hands and were lying on the ground, without anyone being the wiser of what had happened.
Only one person saw it clearly. Kaguya.
'He deflected every swing and pierce with the handle of his katana... without moving a single step.'
"My turn."
Tenji's voice rang out across the area like that of a king ordering the execution of criminals - low and final.
The over 900 bones and muscles within Tenji began to move efficiently and perfectly.
'Time Cutter...'
Time appeared to stand still. This was the result of Tenji's extraordinary talent in swordsmanship at such a young age. The moments that slipped by, unseen by the human eye, were what Tenji's sword sliced through. He drew his sword with such incredible speed that no human could perceive it.
But once again, Kaguya saw things happen. She saw Tenji unsheath his sword, his rage expressed through his attack. She saw how fast he unsheathed his sword and cut the soldiers apart before they could even sense it. She doubted that any human could sense or comprehend what he just did and all of this without a shred of chakra in his system. he was truly the most outrageously talented man in existence. A moment later, the soldiers all dropped to the ground dead.
Tenji stood up and walked forward, looking at Kaguya for a moment. The two looked into each other's eyes, conversing without words. And then, they embraced one another.
"You came."
"Of course. But don't you think it is finally time to tell me the truth about yourself and what you did the moment we met?" Tenji asked.
Kaguya fell into thought. She had erased Tenji's memories of their first meeting and her using chakra to knock the men out, to get accepted. She had tried to hide her powers for as long as possible, but that was now no longer possible. Not only that, she understood that her attempts to erase Tenji's memories hadn't worked fully.
Understanding that she could no longer hide from her lover, who had stood up for her and saved her, Kaguya finally started to tell Tenji the truth. The full truth. She told him about her origin, about the race she was from, the Otsutsuki Clan. She told him about why she had been initially sent to Earth, what the Divine Tree was, what she and her people were capable of and why she was constantly looking into the sky. She told him who she was waiting for and what she needed to worry about their arrival. Kaguya let it all out and told him all there was to tell. But her greatest secret and the most delicate one, she kept for last.
"I'm... pregnant."
A huge and bright smile appeared on Tenji's face, threatening to split his face apart. He was filled with immense affection for Kaguya, even more than he had felt previously, if that was even possible. He pulled her closer to him and kissed her.
"Say, Kaguya... will you marry me?"
"... What?"
Kaguya's brain seemed to short-circuit. She had expected all kinds of reactions to her tale. Fear, rejection, hate, betrayal and more. But all of them were negative. In no way had she expected Tenji to propose to her right then and there. An emperor didn't need to marry his concubine. In fact, it was frowned upon. Yet here he was, asking her to marry him. Nevertheless, the worries Kaguya carried with her constantly seemed to leave her shoulders for a moment, and she felt warm and appreciated.
"Will you marry me?" Tenji repeated.
"Yes," she smiled.
"Ehhhh!" Aino, who had been standing apart this entire time, could no longer contain herself and squealed like a maiden.
She was so happy to hear Lord Tenji asking Kaguya to marry him. These were the two most important people in her life, and she couldn't possibly be happier about this arrangement.
.
The Land of Ka was thrown into disarray, just like Tenji knew it would. Removing the two ministers had cut off the snake's head and temporarily immobilised it. Now, it was up to the emperor of the Land of Ka to take control or elect new ministers. But that would take time, time which the Land of Ancestors used well.
So, despite the larger army not being able to coordinate, there were several small-scale attacks launched. But this was a great mistake, since Tenji had commanded Commander Hanzo to prepare. The different strongholds were ready for the Ka soldiers and took them out, with better equipment and tactics. All of this had been prepared beforehand, expecting an invasion from their neighbours.
After Tenji made it back to the capital settlement, he announced his intention to marry Kaguya as soon as the fighting was mostly over.
This news wasn't well-received by everyone. Those few who still didn't agree with Tenji's way of ruling were against this. A lot of people saw Tenji's act of killing the two ministers as an act of war and therefore Tenji as a hypocrite. They were afraid of the Land of Ka and what its larger army would do once they attacked. So, hearing Tenji marry a 'concubine' was disliked. They wanted Tenji to marry the daughter of the emperor of the Land of Ka.
But Tenji didn't want to hear any of it. He didn't care about the old and stiff culture at all.
He took control of the military and developed strategies to both gather information and strike at Ka troops who moved into the Land of Ancestors. The question was now whether the Ka army would fully invade or pull back, and once again stop pursuing the Land of Ancestors.