Indra furrowed his brows. He hadn't expected Ashura to catch up so quickly. It seemed Ashura already knew about his plan to visit the mausoleum. He had anticipated Ashura would come, but not this soon.
"Isamu, I'm counting on you to hold Ashura back this time. I must obtain that item from the mausoleum first!" Indra said as he looked at Isamu.
This was the first time he had ever asked someone for help, and it would likely be the last.
"Understood. Leave Ashura to me. Go retrieve the item without worry!" Isamu nodded.
Although he didn't know exactly what item Indra was after, it was time for him to contribute to his ancestor.
"I'll stay behind with you!" Garuda volunteered as well, though no one knew her true reason.
"Very well. I'll leave it to the two of you. Isamu, thank you!"
After thanking Isamu, Indra led his people onward.
He knew Isamu was the only person capable of stalling Ashura right now, so he had no choice but to entrust the task to him.
Watching Indra and the others leave, Isamu turned toward Garuda.
"Why did you stay? Don't tell me it's to keep an eye on me?"
"Keep an eye on you? You're overthinking it. I stayed to help you out, just in case my second brother and Mandala beat you to death!"
Garuda rolled her eyes at him.
She genuinely wasn't here to monitor him this time.
"Beat me to death? With my strength, I'm not bragging, but there truly isn't anyone in this world who can take my life."
Isamu spoke confidently.
With Kamui, the Ten-Tails, and everything else at his disposal, no one could truly threaten him.
"The entire world? Pfft, what a braggart!"
Garuda looked at him with open disdain.
Even her father, Ōtsutsuki Hamura, and her uncle, Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo, wouldn't dare make such a claim. For Isamu to say it so casually made him sound like a complete blowhard.
Seeing that Garuda didn't believe him, Isamu couldn't be bothered to explain. At his level of strength, explanations were unnecessary.
He stared at Garuda for a moment.
After hesitating several times, he finally asked the question that had been on his mind.
"Garuda… do you like me?"
"What?!"
It was as though she had heard something impossible.
Garuda's eyes widened in shock.
She hadn't expected Isamu to bring it up so suddenly.
For a moment, she tightly gripped the hem of her clothes and twisted it repeatedly, revealing her feminine side once more.
Seeing her reaction, Isamu immediately knew the answer.
He let out a long sigh.
"Sigh, Garuda. If you really have feelings like that, I advise you to give up early. It's impossible for us."
"Why?"
Garuda looked at him in confusion.
"I am a person without a past or a future. My life is full of variables. And once I finish accompanying Indra through this trip to the mausoleum, I'll have to leave. Once I leave, I probably won't be coming back."
Isamu spoke slowly.
Now that Ashura had come as well, the two destined rivals would likely decide everything within the next couple of days.
Isamu estimated that the space-time tunnel would appear around the same time a victor was determined.
Sooner or later, he would have to leave.
He didn't want to leave behind any emotional debts in this era a thousand years in the past.
"That's fine. At worst, I can just leave with you. It would be the perfect opportunity to travel the world!"
Garuda replied as though it were no big deal.
She didn't understand what Isamu meant by "leave." She assumed he simply meant leaving Indra's Clan Grounds and going somewhere else.
Seeing that Garuda completely misunderstood him, Isamu felt helpless.
Traveling through time to the Ninja World a thousand years later was not exactly easy to explain.
"Garuda, let me be blunt. Don't let my youthful appearance fool you. I'm actually forty years old. At twenty-seven or twenty-eight, there's really no need for you to waste your time on me."
Isamu smiled bitterly, trying to use his age to discourage her.
However, he had underestimated his own appeal.
"That's only twelve years older than me. I'm not like ordinary people. It's fine. I can accept that."
Garuda responded indifferently.
The corner of Isamu's mouth twitched.
This Byakugan princess of the Ōtsutsuki Clan was twenty-eight years old, yet she behaved like a fifteen-year-old girl.
Couldn't she tell he was rejecting her?
In truth, it wasn't entirely her fault.
Among the strongest clan in the world, she was the only woman. The other three were all men.
They could find weaker women they liked and marry them.
Garuda's situation was different.
As a woman, she couldn't exactly marry a man weaker than herself.
Perhaps she could have settled, but after meeting someone as outstanding as Isamu, she simply couldn't be interested in anyone else.
"Alright, then I'll tell you the truth."
Isamu spread his hands.
"I'm already married, and my son is old enough to start talking about marriage himself. So it's impossible for us, Garuda. You should just give up. I don't want to hurt you."
This was his trump card.
"This…!"
Garuda was speechless.
She hadn't expected the youthful-looking Isamu to already have a wife and child, let alone a child old enough to be discussing marriage.
For a moment, she felt as though fate had played a cruel joke on her.
It had sent an outstanding man into her life only to tell her he was already taken.
It was simply ridiculous.
Seeing Garuda fall silent, Isamu knew his trump card had worked.
Faced with a goddess who looked so much like Hinata, it would be a lie to say he felt nothing.
However, when he thought about Tsunade waiting for him back home, and the fact that Garuda was a woman from a thousand years ago—technically over a thousand years older than him—he rationally chose to reject her.
After all, he was a man devoted to the woman he loved.
How could he betray Tsunade?
The two stood in silence for nearly ten minutes.
Then Ashura and Mandala arrived, breaking the awkward atmosphere.
On an open stretch of ground, the four stood facing one another from five meters apart.
Ashura glared at Isamu with murderous intent burning in his eyes.
Mandala looked much the same.
Seeing this, Isamu frowned slightly.
He couldn't understand it.
Looking at Ashura, he asked,
"Ashura, if you want to fight, then fight. What's with that look?"
This was the first time Isamu had seen such intense killing intent from Ashura.
It felt strange.
Ashura was a man who believed in love, tolerance, and companionship.
Such overwhelming killing intent shouldn't exist within him.
Moreover, it was clearly directed at Isamu, as though he had committed some unforgivable crime.
Had he offended Ashura somewhere?
"Uchiha Tensei, you bastard! How dare you show your face in front of me again? I see you're truly tired of living!"
Ashura's voice was ice-cold.
The calm and gentle demeanor of the Ninja Sect's leader had completely vanished.
"Second Brother, what are you doing? Isamu hasn't provoked you. There's no reason to take your anger toward Eldest Brother out on him!"
Even though Isamu had rejected her, Garuda still stepped forward to defend him.
"Garuda, this is none of your business. Step aside and stop interfering!"
Mandala said with a dark expression.
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