Chapter 212: Bearing Fruit, Finally Emerging!
"So energetic this early in the morning? I thought you'd go back to sleep."
By the time Izayoi had showered and came out wearing only his pajamas, he immediately heard a playful voice from a young woman.
Following the direction of the voice, he saw Shion wearing an apron, preparing breakfast in the kitchen.
As the various departments got on track, the Hokage's secretaries only needed to handle relatively important matters, and the workload for Hinata and the other two girls had significantly decreased.
Since a year ago, the three girls no longer had to be busy in the Hokage's office at the same time.
Even if Izayoi didn't go to the Hokage's office, they could handle all affairs by taking turns on duty each day; sometimes, they didn't even have to do anything.
If they wanted to, they could just leave a Shadow Clone there and act freely with their main body.
Today was Karin's shift, so Hinata and Shion were both very free.
Hinata had already gone back to the Hyūga clan to find Hanabi; the two had planned a long trip. Only Shion and Izayoi were left at home.
Seeing Shion teasing him, Izayoi instantly shunshined behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist from behind, resting his chin on her shoulder, and mischievously said, "So much jealousy this early in the morning? How about I take you along next time?"
"Hmph, you wish!"
Shion seemed to recall something, blushing and elbowing Izayoi, clearly indicating there was a story involved.
"Oh, are you tempted?"
"Stop it, where are your hands going? Go wash your hands and wait outside, I still need to make breakfast."
"Hehe, I'll help you!"
"Hehe... That tickles, if you're helping, then just help, don't be so handsy."
"I'm helping to make a mess!"
The atmosphere in the kitchen was so ambiguous and joyful.
From Izayoi and Shion's conversation, it was clear that in these two years, Izayoi had not only "borne fruit" with Hinata, but his relationship with Shion had also progressed rapidly.
Not just Shion, but Karin, who was even a step ahead of Shion, had also "borne fruit" with Izayoi.
More accurately, they had finally been accepted by Hinata.
The feelings of the two girls for Izayoi were obvious to anyone who wasn't blind.
Hinata allowing them to live in Izayoi's house was, in fact, an unspoken agreement.
However, Hinata was worried that someone might impulsively try to jump the gun and get ahead of her, the rightful partner, so she had never openly acknowledged it.
It wasn't until last year, after her birthday, when she officially became an adult and also received the best gift by "bearing fruit" with Izayoi, that Hinata formally acknowledged them, becoming true sisters with Shion and Karin.
In these two years, the various Konoha 12 had not only undergone changes in their status but also significant changes in their appearance.
As mentioned before, when they were fourteen or fifteen, males entered their true growth spurt, and both their strength and physical bodies underwent huge changes.
The most obvious example was Naruto Uzumaki, who, at graduation, was the shortest of the Konoha 12, even shorter than Sakura Haruno, but had now grown into a tall young man of 180 cm.
Uchiha Sasuke also grew to 182 cm.
In contrast, the early-maturing Izayoi and the three girls had not changed at all in these two years; their heights remained fixed at 188 cm and just over 170 cm, respectively.
Because they felt that these heights were already perfect, they specifically used the Yin Seal to lock in these figures, not wanting their height and physique to become disproportionate.
However, in these two years, the temperaments of Izayoi and the girls had undergone significant changes.
Izayoi appeared more mature, yet in front of the girls, he became more childish.
As for Hinata and the two other girls, perhaps due to their transition from maidens to women, their temperaments became even more mature and beautiful than in the original story. When standing with Ino Yamanaka and Sakura Haruno, it was very noticeable that they exuded an aura of a married woman that did not belong to young girls.
Especially when they tied their hair in a married woman's style, they looked even more like young wives.
Hinata's change in temperament filled the Hyūga clan with immense joy. Hiashi Hyūga even repeatedly probed, wanting to know when Izayoi intended to marry Hinata.
Izayoi had already made his decision on that.
.....
After finishing breakfast amidst playfulness, Izayoi, at Shion's request, accompanied her back to the Land of Demons to treat the citizens who worshipped the Miko.
As one of the most secluded nations in the shinobi world, only a small portion of the residents of the Land of Demons had heard of Izayoi, but none had seen his appearance.
The nation had no ninjas; only the Daimyō's guards possessed chakra. Even if they knew of the God of Shinobi, they couldn't comprehend what kind of being he was, and not even photographs of Izayoi circulated in this country.
The people of this nation still worshipped the Miko.
Especially since Shion "eliminated" Mōryō, ending the crisis of the Mōryō disaster in the Land of Demons, and because she now treated her citizens' bodies annually without constantly predicting their deaths, Shion gained even more followers.
Consequently, Izayoi, who accompanied Shion to the Land of Demons several times a year to assist, was eyed with hostility by countless people, both male and female.
However, since the Miko were passed down through generations, they couldn't prevent their Miko-sama from finding true love, so they could only watch as Izayoi "stole" their goddess.
But seeing Shion's increasing smiles, devoid of her former coldness and aloofness, everyone could see that her current life was very happy. Slowly, those followers began to accept Izayoi and developed a sense of gratitude towards him.
Because they gradually realized that their Miko-sama was also human; she also longed to live like an ordinary person and find her true love.
So, these followers also blessed their Miko-sama.
With the return of the Miko-sama, the Land of Demons quickly became lively.
Regardless of whether they felt unwell or not, people flocked to the shrine.
With just one Summoning Jutsu, Shion could summon a clone of the Slug Sage and cast Mass Medical Ninjutsu to perform health check-ups and treatments for the residents of the Land of Demons.
For those with severe ailments, Shion would personally operate, using her highly developed Medical Ninjutsu and Miko Power to drive out their illnesses.
Of course, if they encountered illnesses that Shion found inconvenient to treat, Izayoi would use Yin-Yang Release to heal them.
It must be said, the residents of the Land of Demons were truly fortunate.
Even the people of Konoha were not qualified for Shion and Izayoi to personally intervene, yet they could receive the free help of Shion, who inherited the power of the First Miko, and the God of Shinobi.
This time, Izayoi was also assisting Shion.
However, before the treatment was over, a sudden surge of unfamiliar information flooded Izayoi's mind.
Before he could fully digest this information, Izayoi suddenly turned his head to gaze in a certain direction, his eyes filled with pleasant surprise.
"Anata, what's wrong?"
Shion immediately noticed Izayoi's change and couldn't help but ask.
"Shion, I have something important to attend to. I'll be gone for a while. I'll send a Wood Clone to help you later."
Without waiting for Shion to speak, Izayoi's figure vanished without a trace, indicating his urgency.
When Izayoi reappeared, he was no longer on the ninja continent but on an uninhabited island.
Standing on a cliff, Izayoi gazed out at the boundless sea, but his eyes were not on the ocean. Instead, he stared at an island located across the ninja continent from his position.
More precisely, he stared at the black and red teleportation gate that had appeared on that island.
That was not the Dainichi Spirit of Uchiha Sasuke, nor the Kamui created by Hinata.
Because at this moment, Uchiha Sasuke was still training the ANBU members, preventing them from lowering their guard due to the era of peace.
And Hinata was out shopping with her sister-in-law in a city in the Land of Fire.
That black and red teleportation gate had nothing to do with them.
Other than them, only two individuals and one deceased person in this world could create such a teleportation gate.
The deceased was Ōtsutsuki Hamura. If his power allowed him to travel back and forth between the Pure Land and the real world like Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo, he wouldn't need to create a teleportation gate to appear out of thin air somewhere in the shinobi world.
However, Izayoi would detect his appearance immediately.
Because their souls could no longer escape Izayoi's perception.
The remaining two were Izayoi himself, and Ōtsutsuki Isshiki, who possessed Jigen's eye and Divine Abilities.
In these two years, in the eyes of his acquaintances, Izayoi was as lazy as a dried fish. When he went out with Hinata and the others, he either used Wood Clone Technique or genjutsu to clear a path, making him a mysterious existence in the eyes of ordinary people.
In reality, Izayoi had still been incredibly busy for these two years.
His main body often entered and exited alternate dimensions, providing assistance to Orochimaru and Kabuto Yakushi's experiments.
Additionally, he used the Multiple Wood Clone Technique to create hundreds of thousands of Wood Clones, spread throughout various parts of the shinobi world, and explored countless alternate dimensions, searching for traces of Ōtsutsuki Isshiki.
In these two years, Izayoi had still found nothing.
If he hadn't known about Boruto, and hadn't used Amenominaka to view the past, and hadn't known that for these two years, a scientific team had been secretly pushing the technological development of the shinobi world from behind the scenes, Izayoi would have even doubted whether a character like Ōtsutsuki Isshiki existed in this world.
Izayoi had repeatedly lamented that Ōtsutsuki Isshiki truly did not resemble a pure-blooded Ōtsutsuki.
After being deceived by Kaguya Ōtsutsuki, a subordinate, this pure-blooded Ōtsutsuki had become extremely cautious.
Even though Izayoi allowed the Daimyō to maintain the status quo and only managed Konoha, Ōtsutsuki Isshiki still showed no signs of emerging.
If he had been hiding in an alternate dimension since Izayoi learned Six Paths Sage Mode until now, then Izayoi would have to admire this superior of the Rabbit Goddess.
He truly had incredible patience!
However, given Ōtsutsuki Isshiki's patience, he certainly wouldn't return to the real world after just a few years. He should hide for decades until Izayoi died of old age, and only then would he reappear.
A millennium ago, Ōtsutsuki Isshiki dealt with Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo in the same way.
If he couldn't defeat this son of Kaguya, then he would hide in an alternate dimension until this son of Kaguya died.
As long as Jigen's body hadn't collapsed, Ōtsutsuki Isshiki, who had already consumed many chakra pills and evolved the Jigen's eye, even if he only had half a body remaining, his lifespan would still be much longer than Kaguya Ōtsutsuki and many other pure-blooded Ōtsutsuki.
Logically, he should hide in an alternate dimension until Izayoi died of old age before emerging.
His sudden appearance now must mean something important.
"Finally willing to show your face?" Izayoi muttered. "This time, you definitely won't have a chance to escape!"
Immediately, he and several hundred Wood Clones scattered throughout various parts of the shinobi world simultaneously used Yomotsu Hirasaka to enter the space-time tunnel. In a certain dark place, they tore open a tiny crack, and then the Rinne Tenseigan's long-range and X-ray vision surged forth from the crack, covering the entire shinobi world.
Izayoi's main body stared intently at the island where the black teleportation gate appeared.
The remaining Wood Clones, meanwhile, continuously scanned that island, then spread outwards in all directions, not missing a single spot, not even the euphotic zone of the seabed.
The scene returned to the island.
The black and red teleportation gate, shaped like a black hole, disappeared within five seconds of its appearance.
During this time, Jigen, who was possessed by Ōtsutsuki Isshiki and also branded with Karma, did not emerge from it.
At first glance, it seemed like a peculiar phenomenon.
Neither Izayoi's eyes nor those of his Wood Clones detected any chakra or life fluctuations.
Thus, Izayoi and his Wood Clones simultaneously used Amenominaka to view the future of various areas on this island.
Soon, Izayoi's gaze locked onto a particular area.
Under a certain tree in that area, a gray-furred wild rabbit was hopping around, searching for food.
Three minutes later, the rabbit's face suddenly showed a human-like look of stupor.
Immediately, it hopped towards the seaside.
At first, it was a normal wild rabbit's hop.
But a few minutes later, this wild rabbit was hopping several meters, even tens of meters, and quickly reached the coast.
Just as it was heading towards the sea, a gigantic shark suddenly appeared in the dark depths of the ocean, within the euphotic zone below the island, and rapidly swam towards the coast where the rabbit was located.
Seeing this scene, Izayoi instantly understood.
"What a brilliant idea, no wonder I only ever found their outer layer," Izayoi couldn't help but exclaim. "I thought he hadn't recruited his subordinates yet, or that he had taken them all to hide in an alternate dimension. It turns out they were hidden in the deep sea."
In Izayoi's eyes, that gigantic shark was not a real shark at all, but a machine fish.
That was a submarine that didn't belong in this era.
Inside this submarine, Izayoi saw a group of scientists and many high-tech products.
These scientists were all wearing white coats.
Only one person was wearing a black suit and orange sunglasses.
Although it was the first time he had seen him, by viewing the future and the past, Izayoi still knew his identity; it was none other than... Amado!
.......
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