For the next few days, Konoha remained as peaceful as ever on the surface.
At the training ground, a black-and-red Space-Time Portal appeared again and again, only to collapse and dissipate each time.
Naruto Uzumaki stood behind Sasuke Uchiha, his palm pressed against Sasuke's back as he supplied a steady stream of nine-tails chakra.
"Again."
Sasuke raised his right hand, and his Rinnegan lit up.
The portal in the air took shape instantly, deep darkness swirling silently behind it.
Naruto held his breath, staring at the portal.
Five seconds later, Sasuke turned his wrist slightly and reined in his eye power.
The portal did not collapse. Instead, it contracted inward from its edges, closing steadily until it finally became a wisp of black-and-red light that dissipated into the air.
"Five seconds."
Naruto withdrew his hand and flexed his slightly sore wrist. "Not only is it more stable than before, but it's lasting longer too."
Sasuke lowered his arm, fine beads of sweat seeping from his temples.
He shook his head and took a breath before saying, "It's still not stable enough. The edges fluctuated just as I closed it."
"I saw."
Naruto nodded. "But it didn't collapse. You held it together yourself."
"Yeah."
Sasuke opened his eyes, his gaze settling on his right hand. "My control is improving, but the chakra consumption is still too high. If I force it to stay open for more than ten seconds, my eye power won't keep up."
"If you force it to stay open for more than ten seconds, not only will your eye power fail to keep up, but you'll run out of chakra too."
"This won't work."
They both knew that opening a Space-Time Portal and entering the Alternate Space was not the end, but the beginning.
Neither of them knew