Inside the dilapidated shrine, a brilliant white light suddenly erupted from the Nine-Tomoe Rinnegan pattern on the floor, illuminating the entire dark hall. A massive surge of dōjutsu power flooded the space, and at that moment, a dark figure shot out of the light before landing on the ground.
"Damn it! I got pulled out before I could even ask who those two really were. How annoying!" Isamu brushed the dust off his clothes, grumbling as he mentally cursed the two mysterious men.
"But those two gave me a very strange feeling. They must have some connection to me… but who exactly are they?" Isamu rubbed his chin as he pondered their identities.
Just then, the system's voice rang out.
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for completing the time-travel journey. Distributing the Ultimate Yin Power and Ultimate Yang Power.]
As the notification ended, two streams of Yin and Yang power surged into Isamu's body.
A crescent moon mark representing the Ultimate Yin Power appeared on his left palm, while a sun-like sphere representing the Ultimate Yang Power appeared on his right.
"So this is the Ultimate Yin-Yang Power? Heh… interesting."
Feeling the overwhelming Yin-Yang energy flowing through his body, Isamu smiled. His strength had truly reached its peak. In the entire Ninja World, no one could rival him anymore. If he ranked second, no one would dare claim first.
"Still… those two guys from earlier felt completely unfathomable, like bottomless abysses. Even with my current strength, I couldn't gauge them at all. It seems there's still a long road ahead."
He paused before adding with a grin,
"I should keep a low profile… while acting as high-profile as I want."
"Since they said they aren't enemies, I'll stop worrying about them for now."
Setting those thoughts aside, Isamu looked around the shrine. When his gaze fell upon the footprints on the floor, however, his brows immediately knitted together.
They were his own footprints.
Yet they were buried beneath a thick layer of dust, so weathered that they were nearly impossible to distinguish.
"What…?"
"I was only gone for about a month. How could they have become like this? Unless… time flows differently between my departure and return?"
The more he thought about it, the more convinced he became.
Judging by the amount of dust, the footprints had been there for well over a decade.
"If that's really the case… then I'm in trouble."
A bitter smile spread across Isamu's face.
He was now almost certain that more than ten years had passed.
The warning he had given Tsunade before leaving had actually come true. This journey had indeed taken far longer than expected.
"I guess Tsunade and Senba are going to be furious this time…"
Shaking his head helplessly, Isamu pushed those thoughts aside and walked toward the sword embedded in the shrine.
This was the blade Indra had personally driven into the ground.
Even after a thousand years, it had not rusted in the slightest. Instead, it still radiated an icy, razor-sharp aura.
"It's survived a thousand years without deteriorating… This really is a divine weapon."
Grasping the hilt, Isamu slowly drew the blade.
The instant it left the stone, a mysterious energy surged through his body, while information regarding the weapon's identity and abilities flowed directly into his mind.
"Oh?"
"It's actually the legendary Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi… the foremost of all divine blades, the supreme offensive divine weapon."
"I really hit the jackpot this time!"
Looking at the weapon in his hand—neither quite a sword nor quite a blade—Isamu couldn't help but grin.
He knew this legendary weapon well.
The Ame-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi, also known as the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi or Tsumugari-no-Tachi, surpassed even the Totsuka Blade. Among all divine weapons, it stood at the very pinnacle.
"Indra's Nine-Tomoe Rinnegan should be right beneath this."
With a smile, Isamu gripped the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi and slashed downward.
Boom!
After a thousand years, the barrier created by Indra had long since weakened.
Even at full strength, it wouldn't have been enough to stop the current Isamu.
With a single slash, the stone floor split apart, revealing the Nine-Tomoe Rinnegan hidden beneath.
An overwhelming wave of dōjutsu power immediately burst forth.
"To still possess this much power after a thousand years… impressive."
"But this level of power can't affect me."
Ignoring the surge entirely, Isamu reached down and picked up the Rinnegan.
Or rather, what had once been the Rinnegan.
After a millennium, it had completely petrified.
To restore it, it simply needed to be stimulated by another Rinnegan of equal caliber—a trivial task for Isamu.
"Come… return to your true form."
As he poured his own dōjutsu power into the stone eye, the petrification gradually receded.
Slowly, the Nine-Tomoe Rinnegan regained its original appearance.
"So this is the Nine-Tomoe Rinnegan."
"Now I possess another pair of eyes with limitless dōjutsu power."
Isamu had no intention of using them himself.
He planned to save them for Senba.
If his son failed to awaken the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan on his own, these eyes could restore his vision and grant him even greater power.
After all, Senba had no siblings whose eyes he could transplant.
Even if he did, Isamu would never allow such a thing.
"That can wait."
"I should head home first."
"I've been gone for so long… Senba must have missed me."
After storing away the Nine-Tomoe Rinnegan, Isamu left the island.
Before departing, however, he erected an immensely powerful barrier around it, ensuring that no outsiders would ever set foot upon this sacred place again.
As he flew back, thoughts of Garuda filled his mind.
She had likely spent her entire life waiting for him to fulfill his promise.
For Isamu, traveling from the past back to the present had taken only a matter of minutes.
For Garuda, however…
It had been an entire thousand years.
The weight of that span of time was almost impossible to comprehend.
"I don't know if Garuda is still waiting for me…"
"No."
"As soon as I return, I have to gather sacrifices and perform the Edo Tensei."
Clenching his fists, Isamu silently renewed his resolve.
Whether Garuda was still waiting or not, he had made her a promise.
He intended to keep it.
Thinking of Garuda, Senba, and everyone else, Isamu became even more eager to return home.
He abandoned ordinary flight and instead activated his space-time dōjutsu.
The journey that had originally taken him more than ten days now lasted only a little over ten minutes.
Soon, he arrived in the Land of Fire.
Stepping onto its familiar soil, Isamu did not immediately seek out Tsunade.
There were still a few things he needed to do in Konohagakure first.
More importantly, returning there would allow him to see Senba and determine exactly how many years had passed.
Activating his space-time technique once again, Isamu headed straight for Konohagakure.
Moments later, a swirling space-time vortex appeared atop one of the village's buildings.
Stepping out of it, Isamu had finally returned home.