With the help of 'Lamp's' ability to teleport for free while eliminating intruders, Shinji and Shion returned to Konoha from the snow-covered Land of Iron in an instant.
Shion asked curiously, "That ability is amazing! Was what you just used the kind of 'Space-Time Ninjutsu' everyone talks about?"
"Something like that," Shinji replied dismissively. Then he said, "You went through a real battle today, so when you get back, think it over carefully and reflect on whether you have any shortcomings."
"Okay!"
As she nodded, Shion carefully put away the Red Cloud outfit and mask.
Though it was just a uniform, it held extraordinary significance for her.
Today's battle had also left her deeply shaken. In particular, Shinji's tactic of pretending to be weak and luring his opponent into a trap in the simplest way possible had fascinated her. Even now, she couldn't stop thinking about it.
After reminding Shion to keep everything that had happened today a secret, Shinji returned to his apartment alone.
Patter, patter.
As the shower ran, Shinji closed his eyes and thought about his next move.
The Type Three Aging Potion had performed adequately, at best. If the mysterious man's flesh-and-blood power was comparable to Upper Moon Two's, it would be enough. But as the Demon King, the mysterious man surely possessed considerably more flesh-and-blood power than Upper Moon Two. So whether the Type Three Aging Potion would work on him was a huge question mark.
Fortunately, after days of intensive study, Shinji's knowledge of pharmacology had improved dramatically. Even on his own, he was confident he could continue refining the Aging Agent. What's more, he had the ultimate cheat, 'Izanagi.'
He reviewed his fight with Upper Moon Two in his mind once more and thought, *I don't need to make a huge breakthrough. I