The damp pebbles beneath Yongye's feet gave way to smooth, gray-white stone slabs. There was no sky overhead, only an endless gray-white void, as though time itself had bleached it countless times.
He stood on a broad stone path lined on both sides with countless translucent figures.
Some wore armor from the Warring States era. Others wore standard vests from Konoha's early days. Some were old, while others were as young as children who had just learned to walk.
Their gazes settled on him, curiosity and confusion stirring at his arrival like a flock of sleeping birds startled awake.
Yongye ignored them and walked along the stone path. His pace was unhurried, as if he were strolling through his own backyard.
About a hundred paces ahead, an immense surge of Chakra rose and fell, as though the entire sky of the Pure Land were breathing around it.
Three distinct auras intertwined: life force as deep and solid as the earth, resilience as unyielding as rock, and corrosive power as cold as an abyss.
Yongye stopped.
He raised his head and looked at the three figures standing side by side. The corner of his mouth lifted slightly.
"You're all here."
"Good. Saves me the trouble of hunting you down one by one."
The Sage of Six Paths stood at the front, wearing a plain white robe edged in dark gold at the collar and cuffs. In his hand, he held a staff formed from a Truth-Seeking Orb.
His face was calm, but the light in his eyes was heavier and colder than it had been at the edge of the River of Time.
The Great Toad Sage crouched to his right, his massive body casting a deep shadow across the gray-white void.
The weight of ages churned in his golden-red pupils.