"So strong…"
Shion's violet eyes sparkled as she watched Naruto finish the fight with absolute ease and overwhelming flair.
Up above, Naruto looked down from the air at the dying Isshiki, who had been slammed into the ground by a single kick.
He lifted his foot again—this time, a blood-red fox-shaped chakra construct appeared in the air.
Seeing Naruto's eyes and feeling the threat of death looming, Isshiki finally tried bargaining.
"Wait!"
"You can't kill me! If you do, the clan will definitely come for revenge!"
Naruto let out a cold chuckle.
"Oh? Is that a threat?"
The fox aura under his foot became denser and more menacing.
Isshiki gritted his teeth. This guy clearly wasn't the type to be cowed into submission.
And with his current state, one more clean hit from Naruto… he really would die.
So Isshiki had no choice but to yield.
"If you let me live… I'll give you information! Valuable intelligence!"
That actually reminded Naruto of something.
He didn't ask what it was—because at a time like this, there was a 90% chance it was either nonsense or bait to stay alive.
Instead, he activated Flying Thunder God and teleported right next to Isshiki.
He raised a hand—and slapped it down hard on Isshiki's bald head.
"Human Realm."
The Human Realm ability could rip the soul and memories straight from a person.
Much more efficient than interrogations.
Not only would this confirm if Isshiki had any real secrets, it could also help Naruto understand the Ōtsutsuki clan better.
"Y-You… What are you doing?!"
Isshiki roared in rage, eyes contorting.
As expected of the Ōtsutsuki clan—even mortally wounded, he managed to stay conscious through the soul extraction.
Which meant he also felt the complete despair of it.
More than when Kaguya betrayed him and offered his body to the Divine Tree…
This was the ultimate humiliation.
Eyes wide, Isshiki threw his head back and howled.
"If I'm going down, I'm taking you with me!!"
His body began glowing violently.
His veins lit up with golden light, brighter and brighter.
"…A self-detonation?"
Naruto immediately realized what Isshiki was about to do.
He tried to teleport out with Flying Thunder God—
—but it didn't work.
For the first time ever, Flying Thunder God failed.
He didn't move an inch.
Bathed in golden light, Isshiki laughed maniacally.
"Hahaha! My self-detonation seals off space itself!"
"Die with me, brat!!"
Naruto frowned.
He had grown too reliant on Flying Thunder God as a failsafe.
But fine—if he couldn't dodge…
Then he wouldn't.
He reached out quickly—cleanly plucked both of Isshiki's eyes from his skull.
Then unleashed his full chakra, layering dozens of Truth-Seeking Balls around Isshiki's glowing body.
He raised the entire thing into the sky.
Within seconds, a massive black orb, a kilometer wide, formed around Isshiki.
Creating so many Six Paths–level spheres drained even Naruto's enormous chakra pool.
By the time the orb was sealed tight, Naruto had used up almost half his reserves.
Then he cast Time Rewind, resetting his chakra to full.
The explosion that followed was massive.
It peeled away the outer layer of the black orb like an eggshell.
The orb slowly fell from the sky and rumbled as it landed.
Naruto touched it.
It cracked open.
Inside was a crater—and no trace of Isshiki remained.
Naruto scanned the area thoroughly, even underground.
Nothing.
Isshiki was truly gone—not even dust remained.
"…Shame," Naruto muttered.
But he had gotten one important piece of intel from Isshiki's memories:
Before Isshiki and Kaguya came to plant the Divine Tree on Earth,
they passed by a planet full of immense latent energy.
At the time, the planet hadn't fully matured.
Isshiki had planned to return later and harvest it…
But then came Kaguya's betrayal.
At that moment, Shion ran over, eyes glowing with awe.
To her, Naruto was the savior of the world.
The Mōryō—the ancient terror that had haunted the Shrine Maidens for generations—was now completely eradicated.
There would be no more Shrine Maidens after her.
"I don't know how to repay you," she said softly.
"If you don't mind… I'd like to marry you."
Shion's cheeks flushed. She lowered her head shyly.
"…Marry?"
That one caught Naruto off guard.
He vaguely remembered that in the original timeline, Shion had confessed the same way.
Must be some kind of Shrine Maiden tradition.
Still, Naruto wasn't really interested in marriage at the moment.
He gently turned her down.
Shion looked a bit disappointed.
But Naruto was still curious about one thing.
"…So, uh, when you use your Shrine Maiden powers… you transform, right?"
"Of course!" Shion nodded eagerly.
She glanced around, then grabbed Naruto's hand and led him away.
Back at the temple, Shion gave him a full demonstration of her transformation sequence.
Naruto nodded seriously.
Yep. That transformation definitely had some value.
He spent the night at the temple, then left the next morning.
Back in Konoha.
Naruto returned home.
Kaguya was lying on the sofa in nothing but his oversized white T-shirt, hair tied in white twin tails, legs propped up as she watched TV.
Her pale skin practically glowed under the light.
Barefoot, relaxed, snacking.
The final boss of Shippuden…
Now acting like a total homebody, binging dramas on the couch.
Naruto couldn't help but laugh.
Ever since being rescued, Kaguya had become obsessed with television.
In her own words:
"If I had known dramas were this good,
why would I bother casting Infinite Tsukuyomi?
Who'd film shows for me to watch if everyone's stuck in genjutsu?!"
When she saw Naruto return, she jumped up and ran over.
Kneeling down, she began removing his shoes for him.
Quite the proper little housewife.
"Master, did you find Isshiki?" she asked gently, full of anticipation.
Naruto flipped his palm and produced one golden and one white eyeball.
Kaguya stared at them.
Then smiled.
"Master, you really are the strongest."
Isshiki being dead meant no more threats from the Ōtsutsuki clan.
That, more than anything, was what truly made her happy:
Nobody would ever disturb her drama time again.
At that moment, the scene on the television changed.
Two neighbors who had just been chatting in the street…
…suddenly started groping each other.
Naruto's mouth twitched.
"…Kaguya's really into this kind of thing, huh?"