"Up and this lively first thing in the morning? I thought you'd crawl back into bed for a second round of sleep."
Just as the remark drifted over, Izayoi stepped out of the bathroom wearing nothing but his pajamas.
He followed the voice to the kitchen, where Shion—apron tied neatly around her waist—was making breakfast.
Now that every department at headquarters is running smoothly, the Hokage's secretaries only handle genuinely important matters; the everyday workload for Hinata, Shion, and Karin has fallen sharply.
For the past year the three of them no longer need to show up in the Hokage's office at the same time. Even when Izayoi skips the office altogether, one of the three takes the duty shift each day, and often there's nothing to do at all. If they feel like it, they simply leave a shadow clone there while the real body does something else.
Today is Karin's turn on duty, so Hinata and Shion are both free.
Hinata has gone back to the Hyūga compound to see Hanabi—the two of them plan to leave the village for a short trip—so only Shion and Izayoi remain at home.
Hearing Shion tease him, Izayoi flickered behind her in an instant, wrapped his arms around her waist, rested his chin on her fragrant shoulder, and grinned wickedly.
"Such bold talk first thing in the morning. How about I bring you along next time?"
"Hmph, keep dreaming!"
Whatever memory flashed through Shion's head turned her cheeks bright red; she gave Izayoi a sharp elbow—there was clearly a story there.
"Did my idea tempt you?"
"Cut it out! Where do you think you're touching? Go wash your hands and wait outside—I still have breakfast to finish."
"He‑he, I'll help you!"
"Eek—t‑that tickles! If you're helping, then help—stop groping!"
"I'm being counterproductive on purpose!"
The atmosphere in the kitchen was warm, playful, and just a little suggestive.
From their banter it was easy to see that over the past two years Izayoi's relationship hasn't stopped at simply winning Hinata's heart; things with Shion have progressed by leaps and bounds as well.
And not just Shion—Karin, who was actually ahead of Shion, has also formally become Izayoi's partner. To be precise, Hinata finally accepted the two of them.
Anyone with eyes could see how Shion and Karin felt about Izayoi.
Hinata allowing them to move into Izayoi's house was already tacit approval, but she worried one of them might "jump the gun" and steal a march on the official wife, so she kept silent for a long time.
Not until her last birthday—when she came of age, received the best present of all, and consummated her own relationship with Izayoi—did Hinata publicly acknowledge Shion and Karin as true sisters.
In these two years not only have the girls' official statuses changed; their looks have evolved too.
As noted before, around fourteen or fifteen male shinobi hit a true growth spurt—both body and strength change dramatically. The clearest example is Naruto Uzumaki: at graduation he was the shortest of all the rookies, even shorter than Sakura, yet now he stands a full 180 cm. Sasuke Uchiha has likewise hit 182 cm.
Izayoi and the three girls, who matured early, have not changed at all these two years—Izayoi remains 188 cm, the girls a shade over 170 cm. They feel those heights are ideal and used the Yin Seal to lock their measurements so their figures won't become distorted.
What has changed is their aura.
Izayoi looks even more composed in public, yet in front of the girls he's more childish than ever.
Hinata, Shion, and Karin, having crossed the line from girls to women, possess a mature beauty beyond anything in the original timeline; when they stand with Ino Yamanaka or Sakura Haruno, the difference is stark—the three carry a subtle air of married women. Tie their hair up in a classic "wife's knot" and they look every inch young wives already wed.
The Hyūga clan is overjoyed by Hinata's new aura; Hiashi has probed Izayoi many times, trying to learn when the wedding will be held.
Izayoi has long since decided on that.
…
After finishing breakfast amid lighthearted "wedding talk," Izayoi accompanied Shion back to the Land of Demons at her request to heal the people who revere the shrine maidens.
As one of the most isolated nations in the shinobi world, barely anyone in the Land of Demons has actually seen Izayoi's face even if they have heard the name "God of Shinobi."
The country has no ninja—only the daimyō's guards possess chakra—so they cannot even imagine what such a being is like; not a single photograph of Izayoi circulates there. The populace still places its faith in the shrine maiden.
Ever since Shion destroyed Mōryō, eliminating that ancient threat, and since she now gives the people free check‑ups each year and no longer blurts out death prophecies, her followers have only grown.
Consequently, Izayoi, who accompanies her eight times a year to lend a hand, is revered by countless citizens, men and women alike.
Because the role of maiden passes by lineage, no one can stop their priestess from seeking true love, so the faithful can only watch as Izayoi "steals" their goddess away.
Yet seeing how happy Shion is—her cold aloofness gone, her smile appearing more and more—everyone recognizes how blessed her life has become and gradually accepts Izayoi, even feeling grateful to him.
They have come to realize that their priestess is human too, yearning to live like ordinary people and to find her own love.
Thus they offer their blessings.
With their priestess home, the Land of Demons soon bustles with life.
Whether ill or not, people flock to the shrine.
Shion needs only one summoning to call a division of Katsuyu and can perform a mass‑healing technique that doubles as a medical checkup.
Those with serious conditions she treats personally, combining her now‑superb medical ninjutsu and maiden's power to drive out disease.
When Shion finds a case unsuited to her, Izayoi steps in with Yin–Yang Release.
Residents of the Land of Demons are truly fortunate: even natives of Konoha rarely receive direct treatment from Shion and Izayoi, yet here these two serve free of charge.
Izayoi and his wood‑clone stayed three days this time.
The healing was not yet complete when a strange burst of information suddenly flooded Izayoi's mind.
Before he could digest it, he whipped his head toward a certain direction, delight flashing in his eyes.
"Anata—is something wrong?"
"Shion, something important has come up. I'll be away for a while. I'll send a wood‑clone to help you in a moment."
Before she could reply, Izayoi vanished—proof of his urgency.
…
When he reappeared he was already far from the shinobi continent, standing on a sheer cliff of an uninhabited island.
He gazed across the open ocean—not at the sea itself but at another island beyond the continent … and at the black portal that had opened there.
It was unlike Sasuke's Amenotejikara gate or Hinata's Kamui.
Sasuke right now is drilling the Anbu to prevent peacetime complacency, while Hinata is shopping with her little sister in a city of the Land of Fire. So the gate has nothing to do with them.
Other than those two, only three beings—well, two living, one dead—could create such a portal.
The dead one is Hamura Ōtsutsuki; if he had that level of power he could simply appear in the world without conjuring a gate.
And Izayoi would sense his soul instantly.
The two living possibilities are Izayoi himself … and Isshiki Ōtsutsuki, master of the "black eye" and its divine techniques.
For two years, Izayoi has seemed like a lazy layabout to his friends, always shapeshifting or cloaking himself in illusion when he travels with the girls, making him a mystery to ordinary eyes.
In truth he has been busier than ever: the real body slips into pocket dimensions to assist Orochimaru and Kabuto with experiments, while hundreds of wood‑clones spread across the world and scour innumerable other spaces, searching for Isshiki's trail.
After two years he has found nothing.
Were it not for knowledge of the Boruto era—plus his Tensonari vision of the past—and the fact that a covert science team has been quietly pushing technology forward, Izayoi would doubt Isshiki even exists in this world.
He has more than once marveled that Isshiki thoroughly merits the title of pureblood Ōtsutsuki: after being parasitized by upper‑rank Kaguya, he became caution incarnate.
Even after Izayoi ordered the great daimyō to maintain the status quo and concern himself only with ruling Konoha, Isshiki never showed.
If he has hidden in a pocket dimension ever since Izayoi achieved Six Paths Sage Mode, Izayoi must admit the "honorable daughter of the pliable deity" created a perfect coward.
Isshiki could easily wait decades—until Izayoi dies of old age—before resurfacing, just as he once hid from Kaguya's child for a thousand years.
As long as Jigen's body holds out—stuffed with chakra pills and boosted to manifest the black eye—Isshiki's remaining half‑body can out‑last even Kaguya and most full‑blooded Ōtsutsuki.
So if he suddenly emerges now, something significant must be forcing his hand.
"Finally willing to show yourself, are you? This time you're not escaping."
Izayoi sneered.
He and the hundreds of wood‑clones simultaneously cast Yomotsu Hirasaka, punching tiny tears in darkness; the Rinne‑Sharingan's farsight and x‑ray vision seeped through every rift, blanketing the entire shinobi world.
Izayoi's true body kept eyes fixed on the island with the black portal; the clones swept the island, then fanned out for tens of thousands of leagues, leaving no place, not even the photic zone beneath the sea, unchecked.
…
On the island, the portal—black as a singularity—vanished after less than five seconds; Jigen, cursed with a Kāma and hosting Isshiki, did not step through.
At first glance it looked like a mere anomaly: neither Izayoi nor his clones detected chakra or life‑force.
They then invoked Heaven‑in‑Standing to view that island's near future. Very soon Izayoi locked onto one spot.
Beneath a certain tree a gray wild rabbit hopped about looking for food.
Three minutes later the rabbit's face displayed an oddly human daze, and it bounded toward the sea.
At first it moved like any rabbit, but within minutes it was covering ten meters per leap and soon reached the shore.
As it did, a massive shark silhouette emerged from the deep below the island's photic layer and streaked toward the same beach.
Izayoi immediately understood.
"What a brilliant idea. No wonder I've only found their outer shell."
He sighed. "I thought he had no subordinates or kept them hidden in pocket dimensions, but they've been in the deep sea all along."
What looked like a shark was in fact a mechanical fish—an anachronistic submarine.
Inside Izayoi saw a group of scientists and a trove of high‑tech gear.
Every scientist wore a white coat except one man in a black suit and orange sunglasses.
Though Izayoi had never seen him before, past‑ and future‑sight identified him instantly:
Amado Sanzu.