Naruto's figure flickered, and he instantly returned to the Hokage Office once more.
He tapped his fingertips lightly against the desk, murmuring to himself with interest.
"What exactly caused that tremor?"
A possibility flashed through Naruto's mind, and an excited smile instantly spread across his face.
Unable to contain himself any longer, he let out a low laugh.
"Hahaha!"
"Could it be... those Celestial Dragons finally can't sit still anymore?!"
Sai stood where he was. Hearing Naruto's words, he looked utterly bewildered and instinctively asked a question.
"Celestial Dragons? What are they?"
Naruto chuckled at his reaction. Without hiding anything, he gave Sai a rough account of the Celestial Dragons' history.
It was Sai's first time hearing such a secret, buried for a thousand years, and he froze on the spot.
"I always thought the daimyō and nobles were simply rulers who inherited power from generation to generation. I never imagined they had a history like that behind them."
A moment later, Sai's expression tightened abruptly, and he hurriedly asked, "Then does that mean the world shook just now because too many nobles died, and the Celestial Dragons finally lost patience and are preparing to appear?"
Naruto was just about to respond when a dark figure landed in a flash. Sasuke Uchiha had appeared inside the room.
"That should be right. The Celestial Dragons will emerge very soon."
A barely perceptible hint of delight colored Sasuke's voice as he turned toward Naruto.
"The Otherworldly Microcosm hiding them will soon open its gates to us."
"Exactly. I've been longing to visit that Otherworldly Land for a very long time." Naruto's eyes brimmed with eager anticipation.
But in the next instant, all anticipation vanished from Naruto's face. His expression turned cold, and his voice carried a bone-chilling edge.
"I don't know what