Moonlight lay like a ribbon of silk, quietly spilling across the courtyard of the Cherry Blossom Bathhouse.
Steam curled above the outdoor hot spring. The lingering intimacy and tenderness had yet to fade completely, but deeper thoughts quietly spread through Shinichi's heart.
Tsunade had put on a yukata and reclined in a lounge chair beside the pool, the droplets at the tips of her hair catching glimmers of moonlight.
She did not hurry him. She simply watched Shinichi as he remained in the water, his usually half-lidded eyes staring into empty space, as though piercing the darkness to glimpse something unknown.
"Still thinking about that 'uninvited guest' from earlier?"
Tsunade's gentle voice broke the silence, carrying a hint of understanding.
After their earlier, unspoken exchange, she had become even more sensitive to the subtle shifts in Shinichi's mood.
Shinichi murmured an assent and sat a little straighter in the water, droplets sliding down his well-defined chest.
He wiped his face with one hand. His languid air seemed to return, but a trace of gravity lingered deep in his eyes.
"It just feels... a little too easy."
Shinichi smacked his lips, as though tasting something strange. "Someone on Ōtsutsuki Isshiki's level shouldn't have just been snuffed out that easily, even if he was only an incomplete 'vessel.'"
He made a sharp, decisive gesture, but the doubt in his voice only deepened.
Tsunade frowned slightly. "You mean he might not be completely dead?"
"He should be thoroughly dead. My 'Space-Time Annihilation' destroys both the soul and the space around it, unless he had some way to save himself beyond what this dimension can comprehend." Shinichi shook his head, then added, "But 'thoroughly dead' doesn't mean everything's fine. Those Ōtsutsuki Clan bastards have some seriously bizarre tricks."
He recalled the instant he had