In the blink of an eye, it was already the next day.
Although only a single day had passed, Satsuki had already used the Tenseigan to gain a general understanding of the entire structure of Hōraijima. She had even located the so-called Cauldron of Resonance.
After all, such a massive source of energy was hardly something that could be ignored within the vision of the Tenseigan.
The village atmosphere was relaxed on the surface but tense underneath. At the very least, Satsuki had seen quite a few yōkai privately practicing with their weapons. It seemed they were well aware that Hōraijima would not remain peaceful for long.
Kaguya appeared greatly interested in the sight of humans and yōkai living together in harmony on the island. Early in the morning, she had already gone out to mingle among them.
Outside, the streets were bustling from dawn. The entire small village was filled with laughter and cheerful voices.
However, within the shrine where Shrine Maiden Kanade resided, the atmosphere was far less relaxed.
Looking at Kanade standing quietly before the statue of the deity, Satsuki spoke softly. "The flow of time here differs from the outside world—is that because of the barrier?"
Kanade nodded, then shook her head. "It is a Time Barrier. It can indeed make the flow of time inside and outside Hōraijima differ. I requested Lady Kaguyayo to establish it in order to protect the residents who live here."
"It was merely a small effort," Kaguyayo replied from the side, holding the Mirror of Life. "With the Cauldron of Resonance and the Method of Clear Mirror, Still Water, setting up a constant barrier is not a problem for me."
"However, it seems this Time Barrier is not functioning stably."
Through the Tenseigan, everything Satsuki perceived had long since surpassed what human eyes could see.
In her current vision, any object—whether magnified to encompass the entire world, or even the world itself—revealed a non-material aspect. At its core, it was nothing more than energy and will intertwined, wrapped in layers of outward appearances.
By using the Method of Clear Mirror, Still Water to peel away the outer shell of space-time, casting Hōraijima into an entirely new temporal dimension, and then weaving a fresh outer layer of temporal flow around it—
That was the true nature of the dense mist that perpetually shrouded Hōraijima from the outside world: a phenomenon born from the collision of different temporal frames.
Such power was incomprehensible to mortals and even to great yōkai. Their understanding of the world was too limited, far inferior to that of a celestial maiden—an existence that transcended the ordinary.
"However, it seems this barrier is imperfect..." Satsuki said calmly. "Otherwise, it would not reappear every fifty years."
"That is precisely where I hope to seek your help..." Kanade turned around and spoke in a low voice. "Although the Cauldron of Resonance is a divine artifact of immense power, its essence is merely a gigantic energy generator. The Time Barrier relies on the energy it produces to remain active. For an effect as close to perpetual as this, there must be a continuous external force sustaining it. Otherwise, the world's own corrective mechanisms will inevitably repair the abnormality in this region's time frame."
Satsuki nodded. This much, she understood.
"So what kind of assistance do you require?"
Kanade did not answer immediately. Instead, she looked toward Kaguyayo, who stepped forward and spoke gently.
"Unless Kanade can relocate the entirety of Hōraijima into a separate, independent space, then even without the operation of the Cauldron of Resonance, the island would still retain its unique flow of time. There would also be no need to worry about being discovered by the outside world."
"Relocate it into another space—how do you intend to accomplish that?"
The idea itself was not unfeasible. Different worlds could indeed possess different flows of time, and spatial separation would be absolute. As long as the humans and yōkai living on Hōraijima did not mind that their entire world would consist solely of this isolated patch of land, they could live in peace and stability.
However, relocating such a massive island would never be an easy task. Satsuki was curious how they intended to achieve it.
"I require five treasures imbued with the power of the Five Elements of heaven and earth. With those five treasures, I can connect to another space sealed within my mirror and transfer Hōraijima into that realm. Then, using the formation I have established within my castle to anchor time, the island will no longer need the Cauldron of Resonance."
Hearing this, Satsuki fell into brief contemplation, then gently shook her head.
"It is only a matter of spatial transfer. There is no need to make it so complicated."
For an ordinary person, they would likely have no choice but to follow Kaguyayo's proposal—spending time gathering the five treasures before relocating Hōraijima and obtaining the Cauldron of Resonance.
But for someone of Satsuki's abilities, it was a trivial matter.
After all—she had just acquired a scroll capable of spatial transfer.
Heavenly Hand Power—True Scroll.
Within this scroll, in addition to recording the Vajra Divine Strength, there was another divine ability known as [Amenotejikara].
At Satsuki's level, once she understood the method behind matters concerning space and time, she already knew how to execute them.
The effect of this divine ability allowed the caster to swap positions with any person or object within a specific range and direction relative to herself. She could also exchange her own chakra with surrounding objects, or forcibly transfer nearby people or objects directly before her.
Its advantage lay in the fact that it required no marking to perform the transfer, and it could be used consecutively multiple times. Even if the target possessed spatial abilities of their own, they could not evade the effect once Amenotejikara had been activated. It was an extremely high-priority, compulsory spatial displacement.
With this technique in hand, space-time ninjutsu such as Flying Thunder God or Kamui would be rendered almost entirely ineffective before Satsuki.
The scroll also mentioned its weakness: it was limited by the caster's spatial line of sight and could not perform ultra-long-distance transfers.
However, for Satsuki—who possessed both the Tenseigan and the Giant Tenseigan—this was hardly a limitation at all. Not to mention the Three Thousand Eyes of Wisdom available in her Buddha-Demon Aspect, even the perspective provided by the Giant Tenseigan alone was sufficient to compensate for this shortcoming.
Without the constraint of distance, the power of this technique was nothing short of heaven-defying. It meant that before Satsuki, even spatial masters such as Kaguya Ōtsutsuki—who possessed Kekkei Mōra abilities like Yomotsu Hirasaka and Amenominaka—would have no possibility of escape as long as they appeared within her field of observation.
With such confidence, even if she were to face masters within the main Ōtsutsuki clan who had reached the level of Kekkei Mōra, she was certain she could kill them.
"Lady Satsuki, could it be that you have an even better method?" Kanade's eyes brightened as she asked.
"Yes," Satsuki replied slowly. "However, once Hōraijima is transferred into another space, the yōkai who live here will exist in complete isolation from the world. Do they have no objections to that?"
"This question cannot be considered unimportant. After all, a life cut off from the world is not something every being can endure. Many of the yōkai or humans born here may have spent most of their lives without ever experiencing the dangers of the outside world. Inevitably, curiosity about that world will arise. If such curiosity is suppressed blindly, then one day it will inevitably rebound against Hōraijima itself."
That was how Satsuki explained it.
Though curiosity may kill the cat, it is also the cornerstone of social progress—of course, if Kanade or Kaguyayo had no intention of allowing society to progress and simply wished to maintain things as they were, that was also an option. After all, without any external competitors, they truly could choose such a path.
The celestial maiden Kaguyayo did not care much about this issue. In her eyes, humans, yōkai, and half-yōkai were little different from other creatures in the world. As long as they lived their lives peacefully and steadily until the end, that was enough.
Kanade, however, being human herself, considered far more. "This matter... I truly must ask for their opinions."
Not long after, everyone gathered in the square outside the village. Three representatives of differing appearances were selected—one yōkai, one human, and one half-yōkai.
The yōkai was a wolf demon covered in yellow fur. Compared to the ferocious wolf tribes outside, this wolf seemed closer to the type of wild wolf spirits—far gentler in temperament.
Its head was disproportionately large, making its body seem somewhat small in comparison. Its broad wolf snout would normally give it a fearsome look, but with those enormous eyes occupying nearly a third of its face, it appeared not fierce at all—rather, it looked somewhat adorably foolish.
The wolf demon seemed especially popular among the village's human children. A few little ones were always clinging to its fluffy fur, and it stood perfectly still, afraid of accidentally hurting them.
The human and half-yōkai representatives were more typical. The human was a tall, middle-aged man wearing short work clothes and carrying a hoe over his shoulder. His sturdy build made it obvious he was accustomed to hard labor.
The half-yōkai was a blue-haired woman. Behind her ears were structures resembling fish fins, and faintly gleaming fish scales could be seen among the strands of hair on her forehead. Clearly, she was the descendant of a human and some kind of aquatic yōkai.
Although humans, yōkai, and half-yōkai were relatively equal on Hōraijima, Kanade herself was human, and thus among the three groups, humans held slightly greater influence.
Therefore, the middle-aged man representing the humans stepped forward despite the confusion on his face. After bowing respectfully, he asked, "Lady Kanade, Lady Kaguyayo, may I ask why we have been summoned?"
The half-yōkai and yōkai representatives also looked on curiously.
"I simply wish to ask you one question." Kanade glanced at the villagers gathering around before speaking. "Are you willing for me to permanently isolate this island from the outside world?"
The moment those words left her mouth, the surrounding villagers erupted into an uproar.
They looked at one another, unsure what emotions they should attach to such news.
"Is this your decision, Lady Kanade?" the half-yōkai woman immediately asked.
"No. It is only an idea for now." Kanade surveyed the villagers' reactions. Their emotions were complex—many nodded in agreement, yet some younger yōkai and humans wore hesitant expressions.
Only then did she fully realize that what Satsuki had said earlier was indeed correct. The village truly was divided on this matter.
She began to explain, "You all know that every fifty years, the Time Barrier that protects Hōraijima weakens. Because of that, yōkai from the outside world invade the island. If not for the assistance of these honored guests, I alone would have been unable to repel the attack of the [Four War Gods]. Hōraijima might well have fallen..."
At the mention of the [Four War Gods], the tall wolf demon visibly shuddered. "The Four War Gods... We've been targeted by beings that terrifying?"
As a long-lived yōkai, the wolf clearly understood how dreadful the Four War Gods were.
Four beings each possessing unique powers and demonic energy close to the level of a Great Yōkai—such a group held tremendous notoriety within the demon realm.
Of course, if they were merely four quasi–Great Yōkai acting separately, they would not be such an immense threat, nor would they deserve the title of War Gods.
The key was that the four could fuse together through the War God Demon Jewel. After fusing, the [Four War Gods] would become a single being comparable to a true Great Yōkai. Even Tōga had once regarded them as a national-level threat—though naturally, that threat was to his subjects, not to himself.
"For everyone's safety," Kanade continued, "that is why I have considered completely sealing off Hōraijima."
After a brief pause, she added, "However, from your reactions just now, I understand that many among you are unwilling to spend your entire lives confined to this island. So I ask that you consider this carefully and make your own decisions."
Hearing this, the human representative spoke up. "Lady Kanade, this is a matter of great importance. I must return and consult everyone before giving you our answer."
The other two representatives nodded as well. They too needed to seek the opinions of their people.
...
After the discussion concluded, Kanade, Kaguyayo, Satsuki, and Kaguya returned to the shrine once more.
"I did not expect so many within the village to oppose the proposal."
Kanade seemed unable to understand. In truth, the island was already effectively closed off, and its residents had lived peacefully here for a long time. Why, then, were there still so many who objected when she proposed sealing Hōraijima completely?
"It is not always better to know more."
Kaguya rarely spoke of her own accord, yet this time she did.
"If everyone exists in a precarious situation that cannot be changed, and only you know that truth, then rather than letting them know, it may be better for them to die in ignorance."
Sometimes people's anger does not stem from ignorance, but from awareness.
The more one knows does not necessarily bring happiness—it may instead bring suffering.
Though somewhat extreme, that perspective was not entirely wrong. When a situation truly cannot be changed, despair often leads people to numb themselves rather than struggle futilely.
However, since Satsuki had deliberately asked Kanade to bring the matter into the open, it was clear that in her view, the issue was not difficult to resolve. Kanade's hesitation stemmed from her desire to protect everyone.
So when Kanade asked for Satsuki's opinion, Satsuki merely replied calmly, "Those who wish to remain may stay. Those who wish to venture outward should take this opportunity to leave. Life belongs to oneself. One must bear responsibility for one's own choices."