"Jie! Where are you?!"
"Mommy… sob…"
"Everyone, stay calm! I'm a Chunin, gather around me!"
"No, don't move! Nobody move—let's avoid a stampede!"
"Yeah, yeah! No stampeding!"
Endless rays of gray light filled the air, and the clamor of voices roared like crashing waves. Konoha's bustling streets descended into chaos in an instant.
Even as the top ninja village in the world, Konoha's citizens weren't much better at handling sudden disasters than anyone else.
Many of them were survivors of the Nine-Tails' attack twelve years ago. The memory of lost loved ones fueled their fear, making the panic worse.
Fortunately, Konoha had a high ninja population. After several strong-willed ninja shouted in unison for everyone to stay still, the frantic crowd quickly quieted down.
Afraid of crouching and being trampled in the chaos, and unable to see through the blinding light, everyone froze in place like eerie wooden statues.
The gray light wasn't truly endless. After blanketing Konoha for about three minutes, it finally began to fade.
A flash of white light passed, and people shielded their eyes. When the glow vanished, they cautiously surveyed their surroundings.
The massive Hokage Rock still loomed with its gentle smiles, the setting sun casting shadows across the faces of past Hokages. Streetlights flickered with faint light, and the crowd stood rooted like nails in the ground, some women and children with tear-streaked faces.
"Jie!"
A burly man pulled his girlfriend into a tight embrace. A lost little girl was reunited with her mother with the crowd's help. Men and women, just off work, dropped everything to rush home. The gray light didn't seem to have changed Konoha at all.
"Or did it?"
From a window overlooking the slowly calming streets, Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes glinted with golden light, like a lion was hidden within them.
Protecting Konoha's peace was the only thing he cared about in his life. Someone was testing his limits, and while this incident caused no major harm, that didn't mean future ones wouldn't. With the lives of Konoha's hundreds of thousands on his shoulders, he couldn't afford to take chances.
He had to investigate the source and effects of the gray light!
"It's… really light—" Jiraiya muttered.
Though not his first time witnessing the Great Toad Sage's prophetic abilities, Jiraiya was still shaken. To him, this power was practically divine.
Shock aside, he hadn't forgotten the eerie gray light. Hearing Hiruzen's question, he closed his eyes, clasped his hands, and slowed his breathing, clearly preparing to enter Sage Mode.
Beyond boosting physical and ninjutsu power, Sage Mode granted sensory abilities. With the gray light's effects unknown, Jiraiya decided to use natural energy to sense what had happened to Konoha.
After a long moment, he snapped his eyes open, pupils filled with shock. "The natural energy in the air—it's gone!"
Hands behind his back, Hiruzen gazed down at the noisy crowd, his brows furrowed, the lines on his face deepening.
Natural energy was a secret to most ninja, but as Hokage, he was all too familiar with it.
The Sarutobi clan, Hashirama, the Nine-Tails, the Uzumaki sealing techniques, the three holy lands, the Fire Temple's sage talents—there were many ways to harness or manipulate natural energy in the ninja world. The Sage Mode of the three holy lands was just one of them.
For the gray light to completely drain Konoha's natural energy—could it be some kind of sage technique?
Oddly, Hiruzen felt a flicker of relief.
Besides himself and Jiraiya, his most powerful student was the strongest in Konoha.
She was notorious for stirring trouble, loved experimenting with Yin-Yang Release, and he'd seen her eerie gray bones five years ago.
The moment he saw the gray light, he suspected it might be Hikari working on some Yin-Yang Release technique. The chakra within the light indeed carried traces of Yin and Yang.
But if it was a sage technique, that changed things.
Hikari hadn't inherited the Sarutobi clan's teachings and knew nothing of natural energy, nor did she have access to sage technique knowledge.
If the gray light was proven to be a sage technique, it would largely clear her of suspicion.
Having learned a painful lesson from Orochimaru, Hiruzen dreaded repeating his mistakes.
"Can you locate where the natural energy disappeared?" Hiruzen asked, unable to sense it himself, pinning his hopes on Jiraiya, who was focusing again.
"I'll try!"
Also finding the gray light unnervingly strange, Jiraiya sat cross-legged, his expression serious. He relaxed his mind, merging with the world around him.
To enter Sage Mode, one first had to achieve a tranquil, empty state of mind. From there, they could reach unity with the heavens and earth, sensing natural energy.
It sounded simple, but this step alone stumped ninety-nine percent of ninja.
Those with complex thoughts, strong desires, or impatience struggled to reach that calm state, let alone achieve unity with the world.
"I… I can't get in!" Jiraiya opened his eyes after less than thirty seconds, his face filled with horror.
"Still no natural energy?" Hiruzen asked, puffing on his pipe, pondering possible sources of the gray light, missing Jiraiya's point.
"Old man, it's not about natural energy—I can't achieve unity with the heavens!" Jiraiya snapped.
He tried again, refusing to believe it, but no matter how he emptied his mind, he couldn't reach that state or connect with the world. It was as if the heavens had abandoned him.
This was a sensation he'd never experienced, and it shook his normally steady mind.
Losing Sage Mode, which he'd spent years mastering, was like working decades to earn a fortune only to lose it all overnight—and having the skills to earn it back taken away too.
"What's the difference?" Hiruzen asked, puffing on his pipe, confused by the mechanics of Sage Mode.
Jiraiya's mind was too rattled to stay calm. He stood up, frustrated, and explained in terms Hiruzen could understand:
"Normally, Sage Mode requires me to align my mind with the natural environment to feel natural energy. Now, I can't connect with nature at all. It's like… your lover suddenly dumps you, and no matter how you try to talk, they ignore you! I've been rejected by the world itself!"
The vivid analogy hit Hiruzen instantly, his forehead creasing deeply enough to trap a fly.
"…The world has changed. Is this the source of the ninja world's transformation the Toad Sage spoke of?"
Jiraiya's messy white hair hung over his shoulders, his eyes dazed, muttering like a lovesick fool rejected by his crush. He'd always thought the ninja world's transformation meant changes in relationships between nations, villages, or ninja. But now, it seemed the natural environment itself had changed.
Did that light only affect Konoha, or had it drained natural energy across the entire ninja world?
With the prophecy hitting its mark, natural energy erased, and the world rejecting him, Jiraiya's mental balance crumbled.
The Child of Prophecy, the transformation of the ninja world, the potential for a doomed fate—these burdens had weighed on him for years. Beneath his carefree, heroic persona was a heart heavy with responsibility.
Tasked with guiding the Child of Prophecy, he couldn't settle down in Konoha or confess his feelings to the one he loved. He could only wander the ninja world alone to fulfill the Great Toad Sage's prophecy.
Now, as the prophecy unfolded in a way he hadn't anticipated, he didn't know how to face the long-awaited destiny. The office fell silent.
Unable to enter Sage Mode, Jiraiya had no hope of pinpointing the gray light's source.
Maybe they should ask Hikari. Her mastery of Yin-Yang Release was profound; she might trace the light. Please don't let it be you…
After a moment's thought, Hiruzen's eyes sharpened, ready to summon Suzaku from outside.
Tap, tap, tap…
"I have urgent news for Lord Hokage!"
Footsteps and a voice came from outside, followed by rapid knocking on the office door.
Could it be about the gray light's source? Hiruzen's face lit up, and he quickly called the ninja in.
Click!
The door opened, and a ninja in standard Chunin attire sighed in relief upon seeing the Hokage. "Lord Asuma's first perimeter has spotted ninja from the other four great nations. They've been intercepted."
"Ninja from the four nations… during the Chunin Exam, of all times!"
Even the usually composed Hiruzen couldn't help but feel agitated.
The gray light was like a ticking bomb in the village, and now foreign ninja were adding to the chaos. Everything seemed to pile up at once!
Letting them in would cause trouble, but keeping them out would make Konoha look like it was in serious trouble.
Compared to showing weakness to the ninja world, letting them in would only waste some resources.
"Let Asuma allow them in—"
Clank, clank…
The distinct sound of steel heels echoed on the steps.
The reporting ninja, in his haste, forgot to close the office door, making the footsteps from the corridor unusually clear.
"Who's there?" Suzaku's voice cut off abruptly, followed by a puzzled, "Miss Hikari?"
Tap, tap!
The crisp sound of black heels hitting the floor rang out. Dressed in a black Anbu windbreaker, the tall Hikari strode through the corridor, heading straight for the office door.
Her signature silver-gray hair cascaded to her waist, her figure slightly more mature. Her flawless skin, free of pores or blemishes, shimmered faintly like a gem. Her porcelain-like features had fully developed, radiant yet sharp.
"Call me by my title during work hours. It's Yato," she said.
"Yes, Lord Yato!" Suzaku replied.
Hikari's dazzling gray eyes were hidden behind a blindfold. She nodded at Suzaku, donned Root's crow mask, and stepped into the Hokage's office.
Clank!
The door shut. Suzaku glanced at the floor Hikari had walked over—no signs of Earth Release corrosion this time.
Ignoring the messenger Chunin, Hikari's gaze swept over Jiraiya, who looked curious, before settling on Hiruzen, whose expression was complex.
"You, leave," Hiruzen said, gesturing for the Chunin to go. Once the ninja exited, he turned to his drastically changed student. "Is this… a Transformation Technique?"
"Something like that," Hikari replied.
Her height had surged as she entered maturity early. She looked down at the hunched Hiruzen with a calm expression.
Her cells had fully regenerated, all flaws corrected, reaching a state of perfection. Though not yet at Six Paths level, her Sage Body and gray bones had intertwined, granting her body partial immortality akin to Kaguya's. Her eye technique had also taken a new path.
This was her perfect state!
She wasn't lying, either.
The Transformation Technique wasn't just the E-rank jutsu taught at the Academy. Like sealing, body flicker, or clone techniques, it was a broad category. Any jutsu that altered appearance could be called a Transformation Technique.
Since the original Transformation Technique was so effective, few bothered developing new ones, leaving its subcategories limited. The only notable ones were the "Seduction Technique" and the "Reverse Harem Technique."
In a way, Naruto was a genius!
Her cool, melodious voice made Jiraiya raise an eyebrow. Just from her voice, he could tell this masked, silver-haired woman was stunning.
"The gray light earlier—" Hiruzen began, his eyes hopeful, wanting her to deny involvement.
"My bloodline limits evolved, but it's handled," Hikari said, choosing honesty. She had no need to hide anymore.
Hearing it was indeed her doing, Hiruzen's face darkened. He wanted to scold his student, but knowing her bloodline condition, and that the gray light likely wasn't intentional, he couldn't bring himself to be too harsh.
"Your… condition is cured?" he asked.
"Better than ever," Hikari replied, a radiant smile hidden from view, her mood soaring.
Five years of accumulated bloodline limits had evolved, her strength leaping to super-Kage level. She'd even found a path to surpass Kaguya Otsutsuki.
Her eyes opened slightly.
Her gray pupils reflected a miniature Konoha, the sunset-streaked sky, the deep black earth, the bustling streets, and even the ninja held back at the perimeter dozens of kilometers away.
Danzo, Orochimaru, the One-Tail, the Five-Tails… and—Qing!
Seeing the gray-blue-haired Byakugan ninja staring at Orochimaru in fear, Hikari's smile grew even more dazzling.
"Teacher, let me bring those foreign ninja back!"