Beneath the sunlight, two figures moved so fast they seemed like afterimages, streaking through forests and mountains toward the Research Institute.
After a long while, they stopped at the battlefield where Orochimaru had fought Yamada Juichi.
One of them asked curiously, "Huh? What happened here?"
The other paused and looked around. "The soil turned up from the ground is still fresh. These mountains must have collapsed only recently!"
The one who had asked scratched his head. "How could such a huge stretch of mountains suddenly collapse for no reason? Was there an earthquake here?"
His companion said impatiently, "Naruto, you really are an idiot! If there had been an earthquake here, those buildings in the distance wouldn't have come through it so intact!"
There was no doubt about it: the ones racing toward the Research Institute were Naruto and Sasuke, whom Shinji had entrusted to the Sage of Six Paths.
After more than half a year of training, they had finally completed the Sage of Six Paths' assigned tasks and returned to the Shinobi World.
Following Sasuke's gaze, Naruto looked at the buildings in the distance. "You're right! Those buildings are completely intact. Looks like it wasn't an earthquake!"
"Of course it wasn't an earthquake!" Sasuke paused, then scoffed. "If I'm not mistaken, these mountains collapsed because of a battle."
Naruto was startled. "A battle?!"
"That's right. A battle between people as strong as us!"
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Just then, with two sharp sounds as they cut through the air, Yakumo and Haku descended from the sky and landed in front of Sasuke and Naruto.
Yakumo asked, "Sasuke, Naruto? Weren't you training with the Sage of Six Paths?"
Naruto looked smug. "We've completed the training Grandpa Six Paths assigned us!"
Haku asked excitedly, "Does that mean you've both successfully reached Six