Toward the lower slopes of the mountain, a massive wall rose where metal fused with blue gemstone, the barrier climbing from the rock as though it had grown there rather than been built. The gate looked like an extension of the mountain itself, not something imposed upon it.
The Ryuganas had created something astonishing: a structure towering over fifty meters, its shadow stretching long across the vast forest that carpeted the slopes below.
The sun had set hours ago. Two moons hung in its place, pale and distant, their light barely cutting through the darkness. The real illumination came from the gate itself. Runic patterns carved into the metal and gem pulsed with faint blue light, casting their glow far into the night, reaching into the treeline below. The patterns were not decoration, they were purpose.
