Main World, within a tranquil valley.
Shin slowly stepped into his bamboo house. Hyuga Tamamo, who was inside, looked up, and a trace of surprise flashed through her glass-like eyes.
"You fought someone?"
Shin had already returned to the appearance he had when he left. From the outside, there was no sign that he had fought anyone, but through Hyuga Tamamo's Tenseigan, she could still see something different.
After Uchiha Madara's death, she was now the second strongest among the living.
Shin nodded and sat across from her. "There was a minor complication when I took the source of Lightning Chakra. That old Sage of Six Paths caught my position and struck at me across worlds, but it wasn't a big problem. I also locked onto his target and counterattacked. All things considered, I shouldn't have come out worse for it."
Hyuga Tamamo lowered her gaze slightly and mused, "I never expected the Sage of Six Paths to react like that."
Shin smiled. "The more he acts like this, the more it proves that he's already unsettled inside. It also shows, from another angle, just how important what I'm doing now is."
Shin poured himself a cup of water and drained it in one gulp. "I'm going to the Ame-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi World. Time flows differently there, so while I'm gone, I'll leave the Akatsuki to you. Also, keep watching Konoha."
Hyuga Tamamo nodded lightly. "Leave it to me."
A faint ripple spread through space, and Shin's figure silently vanished before her.
She did not look up. Her expression remained calm, as if she had long grown used to such scenes. Holding a white chess piece in her hand, she frowned slightly.
There was no one across from her, yet the chessboard before her was covered in black and white pieces. She