In the shopkeeper's eyes, this middle-aged man with long hair and a beard looked somewhat disheveled. Though dressed in costly silk robes that spoke of wealth and refinement, he carried himself like an artist—the very type of customer the shopkeeper was hoping to attract.
When the shopkeeper noticed Heiyan showing particular interest in the shakuhachi flute, he took the opportunity to suggest, "Would you like to give it a try? It's the best way to judge its tone before making a decision. And perhaps you could treat me and the other customers here to a tune?"
"Sure."
Heiyan agreed with interest upon hearing this. Picking up the shakuhachi, he placed it at his lips. While he had some basic knowledge of musical theory and experience with similar instruments, what followed was awkwardly amusing—
"Wu… wu…"
Instead of flowing melodies, all that came out were broken, raspy noises.
"Uh..."
The shopkeeper froze at this sight, unsure what to say.
He never imagined this man, who looked every bit like an artist, could be such a total beginner.
A few young female customers nearby also overheard the attempt and began muffling their giggles, secretly laughing at his embarrassment.
But Heiyan seemed completely unfazed by the curious looks and quiet laughter around him.
Frowning slightly, he stopped playing, mentally reviewing the correct finger techniques, then resumed practicing with renewed focus.
For an Immortal sage like him, learning an instrument wasn't difficult. In Heiyan's view, principles governing everything in the universe were interconnected.
His learning speed was hundreds of times faster than ordinary people.
At his level, even the most advanced S-rank Kinjutsu could be mastered in half a day.
What difficulty could there be in merely learning an instrument?
Soon enough, the tones emerging from his flute became much clearer, forming discernible melodies.
The expressions of the shopkeeper and the girls gradually changed to shock, stunned at the transformation of the disheveled middle-aged man before them.
After sufficient practice, Heiyan decided to play a full piece.
He recalled a familiar composition, closed his eyes briefly to gather his emotions, then threw himself entirely into the performance.
A sorrowful, mournful melody filled the small shop, eventually seeping through windows and doors, spreading along the street outside.
What song is this?
The shopkeeper noticed immediately—it was unlike anything he'd ever heard. A music lover at heart, he listened intently, fearing to miss any single note.
As Heiyan continued playing, the melody grew deeper in sadness. Both the shopkeeper and the female customers unknowingly lost themselves in the atmosphere created by the music.
When the climax struck, a profound sense of solitude surged through their hearts like a tidal wave engulfing their very souls...
Yes, the name of this piece was indeed called "Loneliness." One of Heiyan's favorite insert songs from the *Naruto: Shippuden* series, which he held dear.
Not just inside the music shop.
Even on the surrounding streets, many pedestrians and tourists found themselves stopping in their tracks upon hearing the melody.
The once lively commercial street had grown unexpectedly quiet, now filled only with the tune of "Loneliness" drifting through the air with the wind.
Meanwhile, inside a three-story small house not far away.
Tsunade pushed open the grand floor-to-ceiling window of the living room and stepped onto the balcony, leaning forward against the railing as she admired the view of the hot spring riverside.
Heiyan, can you see this? My wish is about to come true. Once the shinobi world is unified, I will visit Penglai [a mythical island of immortals] as the Hokage and earn your recognition for my ideal.
Her eyes gazed into the distance as she thought to herself.
Tsunade knew that although Heiyan hadn't shown himself, he must have been watching her actions. That's why she wanted to prove to him that she was doing the right thing.
Then, she would invite Heiyan to join her cause, and together they'd create a world free from warfare and conflict.
"Tsunade-sama, it's time for the Five Kage Summit."
At that moment, a woman with long gray hair walked out and respectfully said to Tsunade.
She was Miroku, the shrine maiden of the Land of Demons.
Within the once peaceful Land of Demons, there was a monster named Moryo, formed from the concentrated evil thoughts of mankind. Fortunately, the shrine maidens possessed powerful Sealing abilities, keeping Moryo suppressed across generations and leaving it dormant.
But more than a month ago, a group of fanatical followers resurrected Moryo, who then swept through the entire Land of Demons with his stone golem army and declared war against both Wind and Earth nations.
To save her homeland, Miroku risked her life to perform Sealing on Moryo but suffered defeat and nearly lost her own life.
At a critical moment, Tsunade arrived in the nick of time, using Yang Release medical techniques to save Miroku's life and effortlessly wiping out Moryo's entire stone army.
Tsunade sealed the demon Moryo completely using Sage Art Wood Release, ensuring it could never cause chaos again.
Grateful for being saved, Miroku volunteered to become Tsunade's personal attendant.
Tsunade initially planned to refuse, yet was intrigued upon learning that Miroku possessed an ability to foresee the future—an ability that had never once failed. She reconsidered and accepted Miroku as her student, agreeing to teach her Medical Ninjutsu.
In return, Miroku would use her foresight to aid Tsunade in unifying the shinobi world.
"Mm, I understand."
Hearing Miroku's reminder, Tsunade snapped back to reality and prepared to change before heading toward the meeting room at Hokage Tower.
Suddenly, a melodious yet sorrowful tune drifted from the nearby street, catching the attention of both women.
Hmm?
Tsunade, already preparing to move, paused involuntarily upon hearing this sad yet beautiful piece, listening for a bit longer.
Back inside the music shop, the melody still hung in the air.
While playing "Loneliness," Heiyan suddenly got a new idea.
He recalled the Sound Trio from Orochimaru's side in the original timeline—ninja who wielded sound waves as weapons. Among them was Tayuya, who played flute notes laced with chakra to inflict Genjutsu on her enemies.
Inspired by what he had witnessed, Heiyan decided to follow suit and attempted to infuse his chakra into the melodies of the shakuhachi flute.
In an instant,
The melody "[Loneliness]" seemed to be amplified by some kind of enhancement device—not in volume, but in penetrating power.
Heiyan's original audience was limited to the commercial street by the hot springs, but now, boosted by his chakra, this piece spread across the entire Leaf Village at the speed of sound.
At that very moment, nearly a million people within and around Konoha heard this song titled "[Loneliness]."
On the streets, countless pedestrians paused unconsciously, becoming immersed in the atmosphere of the music, awakening the loneliest memories buried deep in their hearts.
At this moment, all the usual bustling sounds of Konoha vanished, leaving only this sorrowful melody drifting through the air above the streets.
Buildings, people, flowers, trees, cats, dogs, insects, and fish—all seemed frozen in time, as if trapped in eternal solitude.
This was the ultimate Genjutsu.
Heiyan realized he had gone too far. If this continued, the nearly a million people within Konoha would likely suffer permanent psychological trauma, plunging them into endless depression and loneliness.
Glancing toward the direction of the three-story small house, Heiyan put away his shakuhachi, left behind a stack of money for purchasing instruments, and quickly left the music shop.
Out on the balcony,
Tsunade, having let her guard down momentarily, was also caught in the melody. She felt like the whole world had turned its back on her.
Fortunately, her Sage Transformation granted strong resistance against illusions, allowing her to regain consciousness before anyone else.
"It's a Genjutsu!"
As soon as Tsunade snapped out of it, she instinctively injected a pulse of chakra into Miroku beside her, disrupting his chakra flow and pulling him free from the illusion.
Then, she sprang into action, leaping into the air and crossing Konoha River mid-flight, landing precisely at the entrance of the music shop.
Unfortunately, she arrived too late.
The one who had cast illusionary techniques through music had already vanished without a trace.
As the melody of "[Loneliness]" faded, the people affected by the Genjutsu across Konoha slowly began to regain consciousness. Each looked dazed, as if they'd been trapped in their own lonely worlds for too long, emotions still weighed down.
This incident triggered high alert among Konoha's high-ranking elders. As a piercing siren echoed through the skies above Konoha, the entire village entered a state of maximum alert.
Within just a few minutes, Konoha mobilized over a thousand ninjas who darted between buildings inside and outside the village, investigating the source of that strange melody while chasing after possible enemies.
On the streets, all villagers and travelers were ordered to return indoors and wait for investigation, forbidden from going anywhere.
Soon, Konoha's streets became completely empty, eerily silent like a ghost town.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Several Anbu ninjas and shrine maiden Miroku successively arrived at the music shop. Inside, Tsunade was questioning the confused shopkeeper.
"That's everything that happened."
The shopkeeper described everything about the middle-aged man who had come in.
After hearing the story, Tsunade's brow furrowed slightly.
According to the shopkeeper's description, the opponent seemed to have acted on impulse, using genjutsu while playing a musical instrument rather than planning it in advance.
After considering this, she turned to the arriving Anbu ninja and asked:
"What's the situation in the village? Has anyone been injured or gone missing?"
"Reporting, ma'am. Everyone within Konoha was affected by an unknown sound-based genjutsu, but so far there have been no casualties," one Anbu ninja stated.
"I haven't received any reports of valuables being stolen either," another Anbu ninja added.
Oh?
This seemed to confirm her suspicions. The opponent's actions weren't specifically targeting Konoha or someone particular—just done randomly.
Whoever could effortlessly use such terrifying genjutsu must be an opponent not to be underestimated.
"Miroku, stay here and get a detailed description from the shopkeeper to create a sketch of that man's face."
Tsunade issued instructions to the shrine maiden Miroku before making her way toward the Hokage Tower for the Five Kage Summit.
Despite this unexpected incident, Tsunade believed Konoha had sufficient capability to handle it, so there was no need to postpone the summit meeting.
Heiyan stepped out from around a corner.
Now he had changed his appearance again, taking the form of a young man in his early twenties with a buzz cut, and casually checked into a nearby inn.
Half an hour later, the blaring alarm that had filled Konoha finally fell silent, signaling the all-clear had sounded.
Facing the panicking civilians, Konoha officials issued an announcement claiming this event had been nothing more than an accidental incident during a musical performance that had already been properly resolved, urging everyone not to panic.
However, any reasonably skilled ninja could tell it was actually genjutsu.
Was someone trying to sabotage the upcoming Hokage inauguration ceremony?
Ninja representatives from various villages visiting Konoha began whispering among themselves, sensing tension begin to rise behind the scenes.
Ultimately, the Five Kage Summit was postponed by three hours and started in the evening.
As the host, following proper etiquette, Tsunade naturally arrived at the meeting room first.
During recent days, Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi had remained semi-retired, leaving major decision-making responsibilities in Tsunade's hands.
Therefore, it was Tsunade who represented Sarutobi at this summit to negotiate with other villages' Kage.
Inside the meeting room, Onoki, Rasa, and the Fourth Raikage arrived one by one.
Tsunade rose, greeted each Kage with a polite nod, and then sat back down, closing her eyes as if to rest.
Only when Sage Turtle arrived did she stand once more, smiling as she stepped forward to welcome him.
Upon seeing Sage Turtle, Fourth Raikage's expression changed, recalling some unpleasant memories. He had witnessed firsthand how the Sage attacked Raikage's village and slaughtered the twelve council members, which left deep psychological trauma.
Although both Onoki and Rasa were meeting Sage Turtle for the first time, they had heard of his legendary deeds long ago. Observing him closely now, both could sense a mysterious and enormous chakra emanating from within the Sage.
An ultimate powerhouse.
While Tsunade greeted the Immortal Sage, Onoki, Rasa, and the Fourth Raikage exchanged glances and silently nodded in understanding.
Shortly after, the Five Kages gathered around the negotiation table and began a rigorous and wide-ranging discussion centered on "unifying the world of shinobi."
During this process, Onoki and his allies noticed how much respect Tsunade showed the Immortal Sage, so they tried to win the sage over to their side, hoping to pressure Tsunade together.
In their eyes, if the Immortal Sage wished to fight for the interests of the Land of Water and the Mist Village, the wisest move would be to form an alliance with them.
Once the four of them stood united, they could shift the balance of power and create a force capable of challenging Tsunade.
However, much to their surprise, the immortal sage gave no sign of interest and barely reacted at all to their carefully placed suggestions.
As a result, the talks had broken down into three competing camps — Tsunade, the immortal sage, and Onoki's group of three — each pushing their own agenda.
After several hours of intense debate, little common ground was reached, and the meeting ended in frustration. Not even the planned dinner took place.
As Tsunade stepped out of the meeting room, shrine maiden Miroku, who had been patiently waiting by the door, approached her.
"Tsunade-sama," Miroku asked with a puzzled look, "why not stand up to them more firmly?"
"There's no need to rush. This was just the first round, and there are still two more to come. We shouldn't press them too hard — after all, a backed animal might lash out."
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