The night passed in silence.
The next day, Uchiha Madara and Sage Govi arrived before a cave at the foot of Garden Hill.
Evan stared at the cave in astonishment and exclaimed, "Garden Hill is actually this tall? The mountain is so high I can't even see the top!"
Sage Govi sneered. "So there is a difference between having been somewhere and merely passing through, isn't there? If I hadn't brought you here, you would have had quite a trek ahead of you!"
Everyone laughed, and Evan lowered his head sheepishly.
Uchiha Madara smiled. "Evan, it's all right. Now that you've set foot on Garden Hill, you'll know how to get here when you need to protect this place in the future."
Evan nodded. "Yes! I'll remember that. In the future, I must personally walk every inch of the places I intend to protect!"
Sage Govi truly was extraordinary. He led them along a convenient route: all they had to do was take an elevator powered by pulleys, which carried them directly from the mountain's lowest level to its very summit! Sage Govi said, "If you had come on your own, you probably wouldn't have found this direct elevator. Climbing this mountain would have been much more troublesome—you would have needed to take six or seven elevators and go up six or seven levels of mountain paths."
Uchiha Madara thanked him. "If not for Senior Govi, we never would have known about this direct elevator. We truly have to thank you."
The group arrived at Garden Hill. As expected, the sun shone brightly here, with neither clouds nor rain in sight. When Uchiha Madara looked down the mountain, he saw mist and clouds swirling around the mountainside.
"It really is high." Uchiha Madara praised it, then said, "But it seems