"Welcome to the extradimensional world!"
Izayoi's voice snapped the four women—Hinata, Hanabi, Karin, and Shion—fully back to their senses.
They hadn't even had time to recall what had just happened or feel the changes in their bodies before they were stunned by how the others looked.
"Onee-chan—Hinata—how did you two end up like this?"
Hanabi and Karin blurted out together.
The four traded looks, saw the shock on one another's faces, went quiet for a few seconds, and then all bolted for the bathroom.
Moments later, cries echoed from inside.
"My eyes and hair—why are they both white?"
"This is… the Byakugan? It activates—this is the real Byakugan! How is that possible? Shion and I aren't Hyūga—how could we awaken the Byakugan?"
"My sister and I both grew horns—just like Onii-chan. That fruit is amazing!"
…
Before long the girls rushed back out, crowding around Izayoi and firing off questions in a chirping chorus.
"Izayoi, why would that fruit give us the Hyūga clan's kekkei genkai?"
"Onii-chan, did your hair color change—and those horns—also come from eating that fruit?"
"Izayoi, can our eyes go back to how they were?"
…
Facing their questions, Izayoi didn't hide anything this time; he chose to tell them the truth about the world.
After all, they'd already stepped into the extradimensional realm—some with half a foot, some with a whole foot across the threshold. With lifespans no longer bound by human limits, they were entitled to know the secrets of the Ōtsutsuki.
So Izayoi told them everything: the Ōtsutsuki clan, the God Tree, and the origin of chakra.
Even with their strong mental fortitude, the four were left slack-jawed for a long while.
They had thought Izayoi was already the strongest in the world, that their worldview had hit its final form. Who'd have thought the Ōtsutsuki on Earth were only hybrids?
That the "Rabbit Goddess" was merely a lower-ranked pureblood Ōtsutsuki—a thief who backstabbed her betters?
That somewhere in the cosmos there was a planet full of Six Paths sages, and beings even stronger than the Sage and the Rabbit Goddess?
Being invincible on Earth… was only the beginning.
Still, those matters were far away and didn't weigh on them for long.
And according to Izayoi, the Rabbit Goddess and her superiors had come to Earth thousands of years ago, yet the main family hadn't sent anyone since; which meant a few millennia weren't even that long to them—or perhaps they simply couldn't find Earth.
Soon the four set those thoughts aside, eyes sparkling with joy.
"So you're saying we're all Ōtsutsuki now—and our lifespans can be as long as the Rabbit Goddess's?"
"No wonder there've been disasters everywhere these past six months and every time one of Onii-chan's Wood Clones handled it—so it was the God Tree draining the planet's energy."
"Izayoi, can our eyes change back to normal?"
…
Izayoi answered patiently.
"Your lifespans really have skyrocketed—I'm sure of that. But compared to the Rabbit Goddess, you're still short. Based on the surge of data in your bodies, you've probably added a few hundred years. Even without a Yin Seal, your appearances won't change for centuries."
"After you take a second elixir refined from a Chakra Fruit, you'll all be veterans of the extradimensional realm—your lifespans will break the thousand-year mark for sure."
"Shion and Karin don't have horns; your Byakugan may be able to revert. Once you've adapted, try feeling it out."
"And the white eyes, white hair, and horns are Ōtsutsuki traits. You'll end up like this sooner or later. Whether you can change back honestly doesn't matter."
"At our current status, no one would dare question you anyway."
…
With his reassurance, the faint worry in Shion and Karin vanished at once.
The four then began feeling out—and discussing—the changes in their bodies.
For a while after, they collectively skipped work and "mysteriously disappeared," retreating with Izayoi to their secret extradimensional home to train under his guidance and master their new abilities. With Izayoi overseeing things, their absence caused no stir.
Three months later, the four finished their seclusion and returned.
Look closely and you'd see they'd restored their appearances to what they were before their evolution.
Just like Izayoi had done, they didn't want their changes to bring him unnecessary trouble—even if he was already invincible in the shinobi world.
After all, having the priestess of the Land of Demons and an Uzumaki Heir suddenly show up with Hyūga Byakugan would be a little too explosive.
So the four kept a very low profile—tacitly, and in perfect sync.
Izayoi didn't argue with their choice.
With long lives, they would eventually outlive everyone they knew. When no familiar faces remained—or when Earth no longer had enough energy to unseal Chakra Fruits—they would leave the planet anyway.
Whether they hid their changes or not hardly mattered.
He respected their choice.
Having successfully planted the God Tree, extracted Ōtsutsuki Kaguya's God Tree chakra to refine the elixirs, and used them to rewrite the fates and extend the lives of the four, Izayoi—busy since Konoha Year 60—finally felt the burden lift.
He began to enjoy life.
People in Konoha noticed quickly.
Once a near-mythic figure who rarely appeared in the village—someone you'd only see at the Hokage building for matters of great importance, and even then you couldn't tell if it was really him or just a Wood Clone—he now seemed in excellent spirits, appearing often around the village and at the Hokage offices.
At last, they were enjoying the perks of a diligent Hokage.
Izayoi took over Isshiki Ōtsutsuki's tech team, shared inspirations from his previous life, and set them to work developing technology—lighting up this world's tech tree and bringing convenience to the shinobi world.
With ninjutsu and technology combined, Konoha became the first city that never sleeps in just a year.
Then a storm of technology swept across the Land of Fire and the entire shinobi world.
Time rolled on to Konoha Year 71.
Seven years had passed since the final battle.
And in those seven years, the shinobi world changed dramatically.
Most of Boruto-era tech had appeared early; other inventions that never existed in Boruto emerged thanks to Izayoi's ideas.
Now the whole shinobi world—even the once-backward Land of Demons—had embraced technology. Every household had electric lights and refrigerators. Parts of the Five Great Villages and the great nations had turned into cities that never sleep.
That, in turn, filled the world with night owls.
With peace and no wars, the boom wasn't just technological—everything was improving.
In these seven years, the shinobi world's greatest enemy wasn't former rival nations…
It was the natural disasters that kept striking here and there.
Droughts and sandstorms in the Land of Wind; earthquakes splitting mountains in the Land of Lightning; torrential rains and mudslides in the Land of Earth; tsunamis and volcanic eruptions in the Land of Water…
And these weren't ordinary disasters—each was a once-in-ten-years, even once-in-decades super-disaster, terrifying in both force and scope.
Some couldn't be handled even by shinobi.
Fortunately, whenever catastrophe was about to cause massive destruction and loss of life, Konoha's Sixth Hokage would cross borders, raise a hand to cast the Six Crimson Ray Formation, or use powerful space-time ninjutsu to make the disaster vanish—relocating it who-knows-where.
He never stayed to accept thanks—he simply left.
That kind of help without asking anything in return sent Izayoi's reputation soaring to unprecedented heights—far beyond even the beloved "Saint of Healing." (? Probably Shion right? I forgot the plot.)
With the power and prestige he had now, if he wanted to abolish the daimyo system and the Five Great Nations to found a vast empire, neither civilians nor shinobi would object.
Luckily, he had no such intention.
The daimyo all breathed easier.
They had feared he was preserving the status quo only to farm reputation and then overthrow them "with perfect legitimacy."
Fortunately, this "God of Shinobi of the new era"—though not as gentle as the last—was content with the current order, lacked ambition, and had no interest in power—a laid-back slacker at heart.
…
March 27.
To the shinobi world at large, it was an ordinary day—no major holiday.
Until recent years, it was ordinary for Konoha too.
But in Izayoi's era, after the Hyūga clan's second princess—Hyūga Hanabi, heir to the main family and the Sixth Hokage's sole student—rose to prominence, March 27 became a very grand day.
This year, it was a full-blown festival.
It was both her birthday and her coming-of-age ceremony.
Being five years younger than Izayoi and the others, Hanabi had no shortage of blessings. She'd grown up doted on.
She should have been branded with the Caged Bird seal as a child, but thanks to Izayoi, she became the clan's only exception.
Now, as the second daughter, she was the designated next clan head.
She was also the only student of the new era's God of Shinobi—already standing at the top of the shinobi world at a young age.
Thanks to the Grail Stone's "accelerant" effect, even before adulthood her striking looks and beyond-her-years figure earned her the title "No. 1 Goddess of the New Generation."
In looks, in strength, in family and background—Hanabi was top-tier.
Compared with Hinata, who had shifted to clerical work for years, Hanabi's popularity was higher and had spread to every corner of the shinobi world years ago.
And because Izayoi and the others never held coming-of-age rites, Hanabi's ceremony—cementing her as the main-family heir—held special meaning and was even more ceremonious.
By day, the big screens on Konoha's high-rises played Hanabi's highlight reels, letting visitors know that it was the second princess's birthday and coming-of-age—and announcing that from this day on, she would be the next clan head.
To celebrate, the Hokage offices distributed loads of discount coupons valid at any shop in Konoha.
Every cake shop handed out free cake so everyone could feel part of it.
At dusk, before night even fell, fireworks streaked into the sky and blossomed into multicolored halos.
Some even formed images of Hanabi, beaming—one as a child, one as an adult.
One look told you who the fireworks were for.
The fireworks show went on for hours—from dusk until midnight.
Jump to 9 p.m.
The banquet was over. At the Hyūga clan head's residence.
In the tearoom, Izayoi and Hiashi Hyūga knelt on cushions, sipping tea and chatting.
"Hard to believe Hanabi's an adult now."
"Yeah. The little girl who loved shoulder rides and sweet rice dumplings is now someone who can stand on her own."
"Heh, that's because you taught her well."
Hiashi held his cup, savoring tea brewed by his future son-in-law—the God of Shinobi himself. Through the white steam he studied Izayoi, who still looked like a teenager after all these years, and then asked the question he'd repeated a few times every year lately: "So… when are you going to marry Hinata and the others?"
Others—meaning more, not only Hinata.
Which meant Hiashi already knew about Karin and Shion and didn't object to Izayoi marrying all of them.
If Izayoi were only Hokage and not the God of Shinobi, the honor-bound Hiashi would never have yielded.
But for the God of Shinobi? Whatever he decided was right; no one would dare oppose it.
"I'm ready anytime—it's just that Hinata and the others still won't give a firm answer," Izayoi said with a helpless smile.
It wasn't a lie.
Even though the elixirs had made them long-lived and marriage was just a formality—they'd leave this planet someday—while their loved ones were still alive, he wanted to give them a proper status and receive their elders' and friends' blessings.
So when Hiashi first asked when he'd marry Hinata, Izayoi agreed on the spot.
He planned to marry Hinata first, then Karin and Shion—first come, first served.
Unexpectedly, Hinata brushed it off without agreeing.
He'd thought she just didn't want to "sneak ahead," but even after Hiashi relented and approved marrying all three at once, Hinata still deflected—dragging things out to now.
Izayoi didn't know why; he figured the girls had their reasons.
As someone with a long life ahead, he didn't stress over it.
After chatting a while longer, Izayoi rose to leave.
But when he stepped out, Hinata and Hanabi were nowhere to be seen; Shion and Karin seemed to have gone home as well.
So Izayoi headed home alone.
When he arrived, he found the house in total darkness—very unusual.
There was always someone at home unless they were all traveling.
Even so, thinking of Hinata's abilities and that it was Hanabi's birthday, he didn't worry.
He stepped into the living room of the traditional house and reached for the light—
When a pair of small hands suddenly covered his eyes from behind.
A playful voice breathed at his ear:
"Onii-chan, don't turn around. It's me—the older sister…"
"…All right."
In that instant, Izayoi seemed to understand.
The corners of his mouth lifted with a soft chuckle.
The mood shifted at once.
The coming-of-age celebration had reached its final act; with her elder sisters' help, the young woman completed her transformation.