"Come on, let me take you downstairs for a look around and show you what real ' Shinobi World life' is like." Tian Yu pulled Kaguya's hand, pressed a button on her bracelet, and a pale blue portal suddenly appeared in front of them. "This is a 'private mini teleportation array,' Tsubasa just popularized last year. No need to go to public teleportation points, you can use it from home— from Immortal Venerable Mountain to Konoha, it used to take half a day, now it's over in a second."
The moment I stepped through the portal, a cacophony of sounds hit me. The "Technology Pedestrian Street" downstairs was already packed with people. On the left, a shop was selling " Chakra- sensing headphones," which allowed you to hear birdsong in the distance. On the right, a stall was making "culinary sushi," with rice made from " Spiritual Qi cultivated rice," each grain crystal clear. Children were also running by on "hovering drones," which were printed with "mysterious armor mechs" and floated in mid-air without falling down.
"Try this!" Tian Yu pulled Kaguya to a stall, bought a skewer of "bursting beef balls," and handed it to Princess Kaguya.
Kaguya took a bite, and the filling inside the dumpling burst open instantly, carrying a faint honey flavor and a subtle fluctuation of Spiritual Qi — the Chakra of a ninja. She recognized it; ninjas these days were actually willing to use Ninjutsu to make food?
The Tian Yu took Princess Kaguya to the Tailed Beast ecosystem again. Princess Kaguya was somewhat surprised; this was actually a split form of the Ten-Tails' energy. She remembered it used to have a violent personality, but now it was so gentle and adorable.
"Don't be surprised, the Tailed Beast and the Shinobi World get along really well now," Tian Yu said while eating. "Ten years ago, Tsubasa signed a ' Chakra Sharing Agreement' with the Tailed Beast. The Shinobi World built a ' Tailed Beast Ecological Park ' for them, so they don't have to be sealed and can play around freely; the Tailed Beast provide some Chakra for energy experiments. Last time, the Eight-Tails even held a 'Rap Concert' at the 'Virtual Entertainment Center,' and all the tickets were sold out."
Kaguya continued her tour of Konoha with Tian Yu, her eyes darting around, unable to take it all in. She saw someone wearing "holographic glasses" playing chess with someone in the distance, the chess pieces three-dimensional; she saw someone riding a "hover motorcycle" weaving through low-altitude airspace, leaving colorful trails of light behind; she saw "vending machines" by the roadside, dispensing hot food with a simple swipe of a wristband—a thousand years ago, she could have anything she wanted from the God Tree, but those things always came with a taste of plunder. How could it be like now, where everyone can enjoy these conveniences with a smile?
"That's the ' Shinobi World Technology Museum ' up ahead. I'll take you to see the earliest things Tsubasa made." Tian Yu pulled her into a small alley, at the end of which stood a glass-walled building. On the holographic billboard at the entrance, an interview with Tsubasa was playing on a loop. "The progress of the Shinobi World doesn't depend on any one person, but on everyone wanting to live a good life—we used to be afraid of war, now we're afraid of falling behind the pace of technological development."
The museum wasn't crowded. The first floor displayed Tsubasa's early inventions: a rusty " Chakra Purification Rune Device" with Wood Release; a rudimentary "Hoverboard Prototype" with wooden wheels; and a yellowed notebook filled with messy drawings, with a caption saying, " Tsubasa's first draft of a 'Space Jump Engine' when he was 28, which Orochimaru laughed at as 'outlandish'."
"Look at this." Tian Yu pointed to a metal bracelet in a glass case, very similar to the one Kaguya wore, but more rudimentary. "This is the first-generation ' Chakra Sensing Bracelet,' which could only display Chakra levels. The current one can connect to the internet, provide navigation, and even be used as a payment tool—last time we bought something, we used the bracelet to swipe 'universal currency of the Shinobi World.'"
Kaguya leaned closer to the glass case, looking at the bracelets inside, and suddenly felt a lump in her throat. A thousand years ago, she pursued the " Infinite Tsukuyomi " so that the Shinobi World could live in a dream, free from suffering while helping her fight off enemies. But now, the Shinobi World world had turned all sorts of beautiful dreams into reality with their own hands—they no longer had to live in an illusion to eat delicious food, fly in the sky, and touch distant Xingchen.
"Upstairs there's a model of ' Firmament One,' a hundred times smaller than the real thing, but you can see the internal structure." Tian Yu pulled her towards the elevator. The elevator doors were transparent, and as it ascended, you could see the entire Konoha: the morning mist had dissipated, and sunlight shone on the glass curtain walls of the high-rise buildings, reflecting a dazzling light; the maglev trains in the air corridor were lined up like a string of moving pearls; Star Gate in the distance was still rotating, its pale purple runes shimmering in the sunlight.
The elevator doors opened, Kaguya immediately spotted the " Firmament One " model displayed in the center of the exhibition hall. The silver-white warship's hull was covered in pale blue runes, and the "Space Jump Engine" at the bow resembled a giant sapphire. A screen beside it displayed the engine's operating principle. "Using Chakra to drive the 'Space Folding Runes,' compressing the space between two points to achieve faster-than-light jumps—three tests have been completed so far, with the longest jump distance being 1.2 light-years."
"Impressive, right?" Tian Yu leaned closer to the model, pointing to the cannon barrel on the side of the hull. "This is the ' Thunder Roar Railgun,' which uses the 'Charging Rune' developed by Raikage 'Jiraiya team. One shot can shatter a small asteroid with a diameter of 100 kilometers. Last time we tested it, it blew a crater into Mercury, and I got a long lecture from Immortal Venerable Tsubasa. It scared Jiraiya so much that he never dared to test it on planets again."
Kaguya reached out and touched the model ship's hull. The cool touch warmed her heart. She thought of the Ōtsutsuki Clan Planet, who drained life from planet after planet. Those Ōtsutsuki squads were used for plunder, but " Firmament One " was used to explore and develop lifeless planets— the Shinobi World didn't want to conquer stars, but to develop with them in the long term.
"Oh right, there's also the 'interplanetary teleportation array'." Tian Yu suddenly remembered something and pulled Kaguya towards another exhibition hall. "Now there are Shinobi World outposts on Mars, Venus, and Saturn, connected by Star Gate and teleportation arrays. Last time I went to the ' Red Sand Ecological Station ' on Mars and ate their ' Mars mashed potatoes,' which were even sweeter than Earth's—they were grown in Mars soil. Tsubasa's 'bio-rune improvement' allows plants to grow in harsh alien environments."
The holographic projection in the exhibition hall is playing footage of Mars outpost: on the red earth, domed buildings rise up, filled with green plants; ninjas wearing "ecological protective suits" are watering the fields, the runes on the suits regulating temperature and oxygen; in the distance, a teleportation array flashes blue light, and supplies that have just arrived from Earth are being transported out.
"A thousand years ago, would you have imagined that the Shinobi World would become like this today?" Tian Yu suddenly asked.
Kaguya shook her head, tears falling unexpectedly. A thousand years ago, when she was sealed away by the children, she thought the Shinobi World would be destroyed by the Ōtsutsuki Clan, and that humanity would never learn peace. But now, they are not only at peace, but have also gone so far—far enough to touch the Xingchen, far enough to grow crops on other dead planets.
"Let's go, it's time to head back." Tian Yu handed her a tissue. "We're having lunch at Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix Tower, so you can experience the true impact of gourmet food."
Kaguya followed Tian Yu towards the elevator. As they passed the screen at the entrance of the exhibition hall, they saw Tsubasa's interview begin again. "Some people ask me why I do so many things? It's actually very simple. I grew up listening to my teacher talk about the Will of Fire. The Will of Fire is about burning oneself so that more people can live a better life. A thousand years ago, there was a ' Princess Kaguya ' who, in order to fight against the Ōtsutsuki Hoshito, allowed people to live a better life in an illusion. In the end, she was sealed away by the Sage of Six Paths for a thousand years. I want her to wake up and see a better Shinobi World —a Shinobi World where people can be happy without relying on illusions, a Shinobi World where humanity can resist the Ōtsutsuki Clan through its own efforts."
Kaguya abruptly stopped, staring at the man on the screen, her tears falling even more fiercely. So, someone had always remembered her, someone was working hard for what she hadn't been able to do.
As the elevator descended, she looked out at Konoha and suddenly smiled. The God Tree from a thousand years ago was gone, but the people of the Shinobi World had cultivated an even more abundant "hope" with their own hands—those skyscrapers, those spaceships, those delicious foods, and those laughing people were all more precious than the God Tree.
" Tian Yu," she said, her voice a little hoarse, "Wasabi barbecue at noon, was it really spicy?"
Tian Yu paused for a moment, then burst into laughter. "Spicy! But you'll definitely like it—just like the wonderful life in the Shinobi World right now, a bit exciting and challenging, but very interesting."
The elevator doors opened, and sunlight shone on Kaguya's face. She looked up at the rotating Star Gate in the distance, the maglev train flying in the sky, and the people laughing happily by the roadside. Suddenly, she felt that the thousand-year seal and wait had been worth it.
The Shinobi World wasn't an illusion; it had truly improved. And she could finally see this world, created by the people of the Shinobi World themselves, a world more beautiful than any dream.
Just then, a pale purple light flashed across the distant Star Gate, and Ame-no- Tian Yu's bracelet beeped. A line of text appeared on the screen. " Star Gate energy fluctuations are normal, space is stable." Kaguya looked up at the Star Gate, her smile deepening—she could almost picture herself traveling to Mars in " Firmament One," imagining herself instantly transported to various cities in the Shinobi World via teleportation arrays, and enjoying barbecues with Tsubasa -Tian Yu and the others.
The story of the Shinobi World continues. And she, this "guest" from a thousand years ago, is finally about to begin her own new journey.