As the white mist dissipated, the Shikkotsu Forest appeared before Shinsei's eyes.
The massive, greyish-white tree trunks, like solidified bone pillars, intertwined and supported a thick fog that blotted out the sky.
The ground was covered with a thick layer of moss, so soft that it made one feel uneasy underfoot.
The air was so humid you could wring water out of it, and it smelled faintly sour, like herbs that had been repeatedly steamed and boiled. The sound of water was everywhere, coming from the mist, sometimes near, sometimes far, but no stream could be seen.
The little Katsuyu hopped Earth Flow ahead, occasionally looking back to make sure they were still there.
" The Katsuyu Sage is just ahead. If you gentlemen need, we can form an even larger Katsuyu to carry you across."
Shinsei smiled and declined.
"Thank you, but no need."
Shinsei held Hinata in his arms, feeling the rich Natural Energy around him, and his body unconsciously felt lighter.
Xiaobai stirred inside Shinsei's body, poked its head out, and took a deep breath of the surrounding Natural Energy.
After walking for about half an incense stick's time, the mist suddenly parted to both sides. A huge figure appeared before them.
Katsuyu Sage!
She was too big. Shinsei had to crane his neck to see her in full. Her grayish-white body was half-buried in the mist, like a mountain rising from the ground.
Its two antennae swayed slowly, each movement sending up tiny water droplets.
Beneath her lay a vast expanse of white bones, thicker than tree trunks, piled up in a stepped fashion, cascading around her body. Tiny Katsuyu clung to the joints, densely packed, as if guarding her.
Every time Shinsei sees the enormous body of the Katsuyu Sage, he can't help but marvel at the wonder of the world's creatures.
Perhaps there's no way in the world left to kill this Katsuyu Sage?
"You've arrived." The Katsuyu Sage's voice was soft and slow, echoing throughout the entire Shikkotsu Forest. It was indistinguishable whether it came from his mouth or seeped from the mist. " Lord Hokage, Tsunade, and the Hyuga Clan children. Please make yourselves at home."
"You can just call me Shinsei- chan." Shinsei was a little embarrassed by the title " Katsuyu Sage."
"Okay, Shinsei, I thought you'd be happy to be called Lord Hokage."
There was no chair. A patch of soft moss rose from the ground, as if formed from the breath she exhaled.
Shinsei carefully put Hinata down and sat down himself. Tsunade relaxed and lay sprawled on the soft moss.
" Great Sage, what brings you here?"
"Are we getting to the point so soon? I'd like to be a little more polite, like humans are."
Would you like some moss? I recently cultivated a new variety, and it tastes quite good.
Shinsei looked at the emerald green moss that a small Katsuyu had brought over and quickly waved his hand.
"You're too kind. I don't have an appetite, but my master might like it."
"Would Tsunade-chan like some?"
Tsunade rolled her eyes and glared fiercely at Shinsei.
"I don't need it either."
"What a pity. Being human is terrible; they don't even like such delicious moss."
Oh right, what was I going to say again?
Tsunade's face darkened, and she couldn't help but complain.
" Katsuyu Sage, you're the one who sent us! Don't become as senile as the Toad Sage!"
"Oh, just kidding, I remember now." The Katsuyu Sage twitched its antennae, as if smiling, "Ever since the moon shattered, I've been waiting for you, Shinsei."
Shinsei didn't interrupt. The Katsuyu Sage continued...?
"We Great Sage are all different. The Great Toad Sage can make prophetic dreams, the Snake Sage can Hole-Divining Technique, but I don't have those skills."
I only have a premonition that when the disaster is severe enough to shake the earth, my body will know before my mind does.
Her body suddenly trembled slightly, and even the fog seemed to shudder.
"When Otsutsuki Kaguya descended into this world, I had a premonition."
After that, I hid in the Shikkotsu Forest. I was afraid. I knew that if I went out, I might die. For a long time, I didn't have any more premonitions. But now, I have a new premonition, and it's about you, Shinsei."
"What did you foresee?" Shinsei asked.
The Katsuyu Sage did not answer immediately. Her antennae twitched slightly, as if stirring something unseen in the air.
" The Shinobi World is about to face a choice. That choice is yours." Her voice came from the mist. "If you remain in Konoha and continue doing what you've chosen, this world will come to an end in three years."
Shinsei didn't move, but Tsunade sat up. She had looked impatient when she lay on the moss, but now her eyes had darkened.
"What kind of ending?" Tsunade asked.
"I can't describe it. I only know that there was no turning back after that. Like a tree broken at the root, not just a single branch or leaf." The Katsuyu Sage paused. "And the other path is to the Land of Wind."
"Where is the Land of Wind?" Shinsei asked.
" Rōran," said the Katsuyu Sage, "My clones are all over the Shinobi World, able to sense every forest, every river, and every place where people live."
But in Rōran, I felt nothing at all. It was as if a piece of the earth had been ripped out of the place.
Shinsei's brow twitched.
"Although I've always stayed in the Shikkotsu Forest, most things in the outside world can't be hidden from me. There's only one power that can block my senses."
The Katsuyu Sage slowly lowered its antennae. " The Senjutsu of Ryūchi Cave... the Snake Sage himself has taken action."
Tsunade's face darkened. "What does that old snake want to do? Isn't it afraid of making things worse?"
"Of course it's afraid. That's why it came in person." The Katsuyu Sage's tone remained gentle, but with a hint of coldness. " The Snake Sage's greatest skill is hiding. If it makes a move, it must have already planned its escape route."
The Dragon Vein of Rōran was its best escape route. It connected the rift between time and space.
If it opens something there, I can only feel the earth aching, but I can't see where the pain comes from.
"So, on the Dragon Vein Platform, there are not only Madara and Obito," Shinsei said.
"Not only that," said the Katsuyu Sage, " The Snake Sage will definitely be involved. Like me, it has lived too long. The longer one lives, the more afraid of death one becomes. It won't easily stake its life on someone else. It must have left a way out for itself."
Shinsei remained silent for a moment, then Xiaobai's head peeked out from his shoulder and inhaled a breath of Natural Energy in the direction of the Katsuyu Sage.
Shinsei raised his hand, pressed down on its head, and gently pushed it back.
" Great Sage, do you wish me to go to Rōran?"
"No," the Katsuyu Sage said softly, "I'm just giving you the choice. If you go, I won't be able to see the future either."
Whether you'll be swallowed by the rift or emerge from it, I don't know. But I do know that if you don't go, you won't even have a choice three years from now."
Her body shifted in the mist, like a mountain changing its posture. The ground trembled, and tiny Katsuyu scattered in all directions.
"I've lived long enough. Long enough that I can't remember the last time the sky was blue or gray. But I still remember the feeling of the earth being pierced by the Dragon Vein, and the groans coming from the ground when the God Tree first took root."
Now, in Rōran, it's like a nail being driven into an old wound. The Snake Sage is pushing the nail in, and Spot is tapping on it.
If you don't go, this nail will keep going down until it pierces the entire earth.
Tsunade up straight and looked at Shinsei. Shinsei didn't look at her; he was only looking at the Katsuyu Sage.
"Then I'll go," he said.
The Katsuyu Sage remained silent for a long time. Mist swirled around her, as if it were pondering for her.
"Forgive my cowardice, then I'll leave it to you, Shinsei."