A gigantic mechanical shark‑shaped submarine rose from the pitch‑black abyssal zone into the sun‑lit layer, then burst through the surface and, just off the coast, opened a cavernous maw lined with dagger‑like teeth.
For a few seconds the wild hare in front of it merely stared, stunned; then terror flooded its face and it frantically bounded back toward the forest.
The huge shark instantly snapped its jaws shut and slipped beneath the waves again.
Watching the scene, Izayoi sighed in admiration. "As expected of a shinjutsu. If I couldn't still sense distortions in space–time, I'd never pick up his trail—even if he infiltrated Konoha itself."
The moment the great shark sank, the seabed illuminated by its lights revealed a lone silhouette.
Unlike users of ordinary space–time ninjutsu who appear without warning, this figure swelled like a balloon—only at such a dizzying speed that, to normal eyes or even most dōjutsu, it looked no different from instantaneous teleportation.
But in Izayoi's Rinne‑Tenseigan, the expansion was painfully slow.
With a single glance he saw through Ōtsutsuki Isshiki's shinjutsu Sukunahikona.
One had to admit: true shinjutsu—abilities that only pure‑blooded Ōtsutsuki can wield—really are extraordinary. Just as Izayoi can now cloak his own presence, a miniaturized Isshiki could skulk about under everyone's noses, utterly untraceable.
Had Tensonari not shown him the future, Izayoi would never have locked onto Isshiki's position.
When Sukunahikona is paired with the other shinjutsu, Daikokuten, it is no wonder Isshiki once survived inside Truth‑Seeking Balls and could slip through space in an instant.
But today Izayoi had no intention of letting him escape again.
…
Inside the mechanical shark
Apart from Amado Sanzu in the control seat, the other scientists bowed respectfully.
"Lord Jigen!"
Isshiki, wearing Jigen's vessel, ignored them. Scowling at Amado he said, "You make me appear in this manner? Your urgent summons had better be worth the risk."
"Rest assured, my lord—it is good news."
Amado smiled, unhurried. "Please, come with me. There is something you need to see."
He led the way to a high‑tech metal door. Isshiki followed, expectation gleaming in his eyes. The outer‑rank scientists stayed where they were; none dared intrude. Amado, after all, was an inner member of the organization and Jigen's most trusted asset.
Beyond the first door lay another that required a fingerprint. Its silvery surface hid a special substance that blocked sensory perception; even Izayoi and Uchiha Madara, at full Six Paths power before their final battle, would have sensed nothing.
Izayoi, however, now pierced the door's nature at a glance: both room and door were lined with the same black material as the cage Isshiki once used to seal the Ten‑Tails—a product akin to Yin–Yang Release and chakra receivers, part of the higher Ōtsutsuki technological arsenal. Izayoi could now forge such matter himself, and it offered immunity to Infinite Tsukuyomi; otherwise he would have located them long ago.
The inner chamber was a small laboratory containing little more than instruments and a single incubation tank.
Before that tank Isshiki's eyes shone with delight; his voice even trembled. "You… succeeded?"
Suspended in the fluid stood a young woman with curled blond hair, clad in a blue‑green outfit, eyes closed.
Isshiki knew her well: Akebi Sanzu, Amado's deceased daughter.
"No. She's still Delta," Amado said, shadows passing through his eyes. Though the girl looked identical to his daughter, her personality was the opposite. This is not my child.
Isshiki's expression soured. "If she's still Delta, why summon me in such haste?"
The only reason he tolerated the intrusion was Amado's importance and the fact that Delta's template was Amado's daughter. Any other scientist would already have been punished.
Seeing his displeasure, Amado explained calmly: "She is Delta's second body."
"What do you mean?" Isshiki asked, reining in his impatience.
"This is Delta's spare clone. Transfer her consciousness into this vessel and she is revived—body and mind exactly the same. In other words, so long as Delta's consciousness isn't destroyed, she can resurrect at will."
Isshiki's eyes lit up. "So this clone has never held a consciousness?"
"Precisely. And apart from that, she's identical to Akebi," Amado replied, voice low. Exactly the same…
Amado had lacked the means to preserve his daughter's mind back then; otherwise he could have brought her back.
Isshiki, unaware of Amado's thoughts, gazed at the clone with open admiration. "No need for a soul takeover—mere consciousness transfer is enough. You truly are a scientist ahead of your era, Amado!"
Excitement stirred within him. If Amado could craft such clones, then several bodies matching Jigen could also be made. Though Jigen was an imperfect vessel—after reincarnation it would collapse quickly—it could at least bear a Kāma. Until he located a perfect receptacle, having multiple Jigen clones would ease his mind. This vessel had already lasted two millennia; even under Isshiki's control it wielded only Kage‑level power unless boosted by Ten‑Tails chakra.
Isshiki opened his mouth to order Amado to the next phase—only to see terror in Amado's eyes. A black portal had silently appeared behind him. A hand shot out, seized Amado's collar, and dragged him inside.
Isshiki lunged instinctively, but a volley of gray bone arrows erupted from the portal.
Recognizing the technique at once, he shrank the arrows with Sukunahikona and dodged, yet when he landed a meter away the portal had vanished—and so had Amado.
Isshiki's face darkened. There was no time even to curse; he hurriedly generated a black‑and‑crimson portal of his own and slipped through. Losing Amado was a grievous blow to his resurrection plan, but his life was more important. Somewhere in the world he could still find other half‑suitable vessels like Jigen, maybe even a perfect one. Right now, if he reincarnated he had less than half a day to live; if he stayed in Jigen, he stood no chance against that descendant of Kaguya. Flight was his sole hope.
…
Inside the twisting corridor Isshiki miniaturized himself and emerged into a dim, cave‑like subspace, melding with the darkness like a mosquito. Only here did a hint of safety return.
He exhaled. "After all this time, that fellow still scours the entire shinobi world—even the offshore islands. Does he really intend to hunt me to extinction?"
Fear flickered in his eyes. Not even when Kaguya ate the chakra fruit or when her son became the Ten‑Tails jinchūriki had Isshiki felt fear—only annoyance. But Izayoi had located him within seconds and, instead of striking first, had captured Amado. That meant Izayoi had been monitoring not only the shinobi continent but every surrounding island, and could both see Isshiki and hear his conversation. Such power and intellect far eclipsed Kaguya and her sons.
To return to the real world, Isshiki had to open a space–time gate—something Sukunahikona could not shrink. If Izayoi detected it once, he could detect it again. Unless Izayoi died, Isshiki's escape route was sealed.
In the past Isshiki might have ignored such a blockade. Now, in Jigen's aging body, he doubted he could outlast Izayoi.
A beam of white light pierced the gloom, tearing open the void. Blinding brilliance flooded the cavern.
BOOM!
The blast shook the subspace. When the light faded, darkness returned—yet the cave had become a vast stone chamber, every surface sealed. Nothing remained… save one man: Isshiki, forced to cancel his miniaturization while blocking the explosion of a Truth‑Seeking Ball.
"How… how is this possible?!"
Floating before the stone wall, Isshiki's face was a mask of disbelief. Even after such a decisive retreat, how did he find me? For two thousand years no one—not even Kaguya—had ever tracked the Sukunahikona & portal combination. How had that descendant done it? Had Isshiki been marked somehow?
His shock cost him the chance to flee again. The darkness turned to a glaring day; crushing gravity slammed him to the ground.
"Not easy, but I finally caught this rat!"
Izayoi, straining under his own gravitational field, raised a hand. Black, needle‑sharp rods of Yin–Yang Release stabbed into Isshiki's body, scrambling his chakra and denying him any chance to use shinjutsu. These black receivers worked even on a pure‑blood Ōtsutsuki.
Next Izayoi invoked Yomotsu‑Hirasaka's upgraded Preta Path and drained all chakra from Jigen's body and the parasitic Isshiki within, preventing any last‑second reincarnation.
Only then did he use Ohirei to shift both of them into another subspace.
A treasure no less valuable than Kaguya herself—perhaps even more so—was finally in Izayoi's hands.
…
Finally, I remember that Ohirei exists… no wonder I felt lost whenever I translated the fight chapters. This is the key!