"Didn't you say you didn't care? Then come to the Valley of the End and see whether I'm qualified to bring about a revolution."
Sasuke's back disappeared beyond the hill, while Naruto remained frozen in place, his blond hair blown into a mess by the wind, his expression as though someone had just stuffed a raw lemon into his mouth.
"Is he serious?" Naruto turned to Shengu Xuan, who was still lying on the grassy slope.
"He looks pretty serious." Shengu Xuan put another grass stem between his lips and chewed it. "That's how people in the Uchiha Clan think. They go straight to a duel."
"Are you going?"
Shengu Xuan didn't answer immediately. He chewed the grass stem and gazed at the sky, so blue it was almost white, looking as though he were considering what to eat for dinner rather than going to beat someone up.
"Sure." He finally spat out the grass stem, sat up, and brushed the grass clippings off his pants. "I've got nothing else to do anyway. Call it an after-dinner workout."
Naruto opened his mouth, wanting to say he was coming too, but Shengu Xuan had already vanished, before even the wind could fill the space he had left behind.
"Hey! Wait for me!" Naruto's golden cloak lit up instantly, his Nine-Tails chakra pouring out at full power as he chased toward the Valley of the End.
The Valley of the End.
Two enormous stone statues faced each other across the waterfall. After so many years of erosion by wind and rain, the statues of the First Hokage and Madara Uchiha still stood firm. Water plunged between them with an eternal roar.
Sasuke was already standing atop Madara's stone head, his short black hair slightly damp from the spray. His Sharingan slowly spun,