In a courtyard somewhere in the Imperial Palace.
With the central Main Hall at its heart, several flowerpots hung beneath buildings such as the Side Buildings on either side of the corridors, filled with brightly blooming flowers of every color.
In the southeastern corner of the courtyard lawn, Isobu, who resembled a turtle with spikes covering his entire body, lay quietly in the middle of the Pond.
Opposite him, the Falling Moon Maple, its colors interwoven with gold, grew ever more brilliant with autumn's arrival.
Three ribbon-wrapped swings hung in a row beneath the not particularly tall tree.
The sight was especially cozy.
Xuandou pushed the door open and entered. Before the maid could announce him, a figure had already run out of the house and thrown herself into his arms.
She wore a green kimono embroidered with the Nine Tailed Beasts along its lapels, her hair tied in a bun with a green ribbon.
Her most distinctive feature was her eyes, large and lively, so captivating they seemed capable of speech.
Though she was still young, one could already glimpse the peerless beauty she would become.
She was Xuandou's second daughter, born to him and Yugito Nii, Kumogakure's former Two-Tails Jinchūriki.
Uchiha Hiiragi.
"Hiiragi, did you come out just to welcome me?"
Xuandou smiled and stroked his daughter's beige-brown hair, his resolve to protect all of this from the Ōtsutsuki growing ever firmer.
Even if only for his daughter's sake, he could not let the Ōtsutsuki hurt everything he had.
Shinjutsu: Divine Concealment duration countdown: 170 days.
A dark gleam flashed through Xuandou's eyes.
He had already decided to go make trouble for the Ōtsutsuki Main Family before long.
He had just consumed the Divine Marrow and now needed a large quantity of God Tree Fruits. Those