Above the Yan Emperor Mountain Range.
Tsubasa hovered in mid-air, his dark robes billowing in the gale, revealing the crimson fire dragon pattern embroidered beneath. He gazed at the desolate mountains stretching for eight hundred miles below, and his fingertips, which were forming hand seals, suddenly stopped—the pulsation emanating from the depths of the earth's veins was like the heartbeat of a sleeping behemoth, mixed with Spiritual Qi bubbling out from the cracks in the rock layers.
"This saves a lot of trouble," he chuckled.
The border between the Land of Iron and the Land of Fire is now nothing but broken halberds and ruins. Beneath the land soaked in blood and hatred, the Tsubasa Divine Sense suddenly trembled the moment it swept across, and crimson-gold Dragon Vein energy surged out of the ground like snakes, condensing into streaks of light in front of him.
"Rise."
The Setsuna the word was uttered, the entire Yan Emperor Mountain Range seemed to be gripped by an invisible giant hand. Black Wind Cliff in the east groaned under the unbearable weight, and millions of tons of rocks were ripped from the mountain and slid westward along with the invisible force. The vegetation along the way was crushed into dust, but before it hit the ground, it suddenly sprouted and grew into ancient pines as thick as a person's embrace.
"Is this... the divine power of Golden Core Sage?" Tian Flying Swallow bobbed as she watched from afar. She had thought that her husband's "moving mountains and filling seas" was just an exaggeration, until she saw a river channel forcibly carved out of the mountain range, with the lake water flowing upstream and gathering into a lake in the heart of the mountain range. The rising water vapor met the energy of the Dragon Vein and turned into a sky full of spiritual rain.
Tsubasa had no time to pay attention to the shock of others. He Hand Seals faster and faster, and billions of light points appeared in the void, arranged in an array according to some mysterious law. Every time a node was completed, the ground would crack open into a bottomless ravine, and what would gush out was not magma, but a vein of spirit stone shimmering with seven-colored light.
" The Spirit Gathering Array base is complete," he flicked his finger, and a crystal core the size of a pigeon egg fell to the bottom of the lake. "Next is the barrier."
As soon as the words were spoken, the entire mountain range was suddenly enveloped in a pale golden light curtain. The moment the light curtain touched the air, the surrounding space began to distort—the ninjas of the Yan Emperor City in the distant Land of Fire, holding up their binoculars, only saw the Yan Emperor Mountain Range turn into flowing light spots in their field of vision, and when they looked again, even its location became blurry.
Seven days later, the first teleportation array lit up with a bluish light at the teleportation plaza by the lake at the foot of the mountain.
The researchers, transferred from Konoha by Tsubasa, were overwhelmed with sweat and staring intently at the array's core. When the spatial ripples stabilized into a ten-zhang-diameter portal of light, their legs nearly gave way, and they almost knelt. "Your Excellency, the teleportation array connecting to Konoha... is complete!"
Tsubasa was standing on the newly completed white jade square, with jade tiles under his feet, each tile engraved with spirit-gathering runes. He looked up at the mountaintop, where the Immortal Venerable Hall had already taken shape—seventy-two dragon-coiled pillars grew directly from the mountain, and the dome supported by the pillars was automatically absorbing the clouds, making it look like a palace complex floating in mid-air from a distance.
"Too slow," he said calmly, pointing a finger at the empty space above the mountaintop.
In Setsuna, countless points of light burst forth from the ground, combining in the air to form flying eaves, brackets, carved beams, and painted rafters. Details that would normally require craftsmen to spend years carving took shape on their own under the infusion of celestial energy. Even the glazed tiles on the roof automatically arranged themselves into a swastika pattern. When sunlight shone on them, it refracted not a halo, but a flowing celestial charm.
A white light shone again on the teleportation plaza at the foot of the mountain. Several ninjas dressed in ninja outfits walked out of the portal, and when they saw the scene before them, the ninja tools in their hands clattered to the ground.
"This... this is the Shinobi World?" Jiraiya muttered to himself. He had just been in Konoha, but now he was standing in the plaza of the Yan Emperor Mountain Range. The Spiritual Qi in the air was so dense that it made him tremble.
The Tsubasa Shadow Clone walked over and patted Jiraiya on the shoulder. "From today onwards, this is the heart of the Shinobi World." He pointed to the Immortal Venerable Hall above Yan Emperor Mountain, "When the Immortal Venerable Hall is officially completed, you'll be amazed."
On the day the Immortal Venerable Hall was completed, all the Kage Level powerhouses in the Shinobi World came.
They stood beneath the seventy-two dragon-carved pillars, gazing up at the plaque atop the hall, inscribed with the three seal characters " Immortal Venerable Hall." The plaque was carved from a single piece of blood jade, and when the sunlight shone upon it, it seemed as if blood was flowing between the lines of the characters. Tsubasa sat on the jade throne in front of the hall, the fire dragon on his black Daoist robe seemingly coming to life, swirling and coiling across the fabric.
"Do you all know why this place was chosen to build the palace?" Tsubasa's voice was not loud, but it clearly reached everyone's ears, even the ninjas in the square outside the palace could hear it clearly.
Nara Shikanei frowned. " The Yan Emperor Mountain Range... aren't they the border between the Tekka Kingdoms, the battlefield where we fight against the Hell Oni Clan?"
"Indeed." Tsubasa raised his hand, and three water mirrors appeared in the void, reflecting the hazy sky of the Ghost World Realm, the deep sea trenches of the Aquatic World, and the churning lava of the Hell World. "The ley lines here are dragon Dragon Vein nurtured by the evil energy of countless corpses. They are most suitable for establishing a teleportation array to connect these three other worlds, for tempering the strong."
Three towering structures stood in the plaza, shrouded in smoke. Each was distinct in shape, and as the ninjas approached, the towers revealed themselves before them.
The lower-tier tower was entirely black, riddled with holes. When the wind passed through it, it emitted a wailing sound, like the howling of countless undead. Chain-like runes were carved into the base, and a faint gray mist seeped from the cracks in the stone, instantly withering any wild grass it touched. A dark blue crystal hung at the top of the tower, sealing a distorted space within which, upon closer inspection, one could see shadowy figures of the undead wandering.
The intermediate tower is the color of deep-sea coral, its body covered in a layer of wet slime. Occasionally, transparent fish and shrimp swim through the crevices, turning into Utakata upon contact with the air. Countless seashells are embedded in the tower, each containing a luminous pearl that illuminates the wave runes carved around it. The crystal at the top of the tower is a deep blue, and through the portal, one can see the Yin Shadow a huge sea monster swimming inside, its scales occasionally flashing by, larger than a ship.
The highest tower was the most terrifying. The entire tower seemed to be cast from congealed blood, its surface covered with red, vein-like patterns that pulsated every few moments, dripping dark red droplets that sizzled and corroded upon landing. A ghostly face was carved at the tower's entrance, its eyes burning with an inextinguishable black flame. The crystal space teleportation array at the top of the tower was pure black, filled with the malevolent energy of the Oni Clan race, and the figures of the Oni Clan could be vaguely seen floating within it.
"These three towers are trial grounds leading to three different worlds." Tsubasa's voice carried an undeniable authority. "The low-level trial tower connects to the Ghost World, accessible to Kage Level experts; the mid-level trial tower leads to the Undersea Abyss Aquatic Otherworld, accessible to Immortal Level experts; the high-level trial tower leads to the Hell World, venturing only to the High Immortal Realm."
He paused, his gaze sweeping over all the powerful figures present. "There are life-or-death crises inside the tower, but those who survive have a chance to obtain the treasures and opportunities within—"
Before the words were finished, the door of the lower-level tower suddenly opened a crack, and a gust of cold wind carried out a grayish-white crystal, which landed at Tsubasa's feet. The crystal contained a wisp of pure energy, causing the surrounding Spiritual Qi to stir.
"The necromancer crystals can be used to refine pills that Soul Formation," Tsubasa pointed to the crystal, "while the Inner Core of the Water Clan sea monsters can be used to refine pills that strengthen the physical body, and the ores from Hell can be used to forge divine weapons. More importantly—"
He pointed towards the upper tower.
"There lie all the secrets of the Shinobi World that you seek to know. All the Shinobi World ancestors are in Hell, among them are your deceased relatives and friends, and they too possess many secrets and opportunities."