The party lasted until the early hours of the morning.
Sasuke, Momo, and Naruto—three half-grown children—were already extremely sleepy, sprawled out with arms and legs flung in every direction.
The izakaya was warm, and given their sturdy physiques, they shouldn't have felt cold. Still, Logan habitually grabbed a blanket and tucked them in.
"At least cover your belly buttons," he muttered.
The others offered quiet goodbyes and filtered out one by one. Left alone, Logan sat on the tatami, letting the quiet of the night settle around him like a second skin.
This trip to the Cloud Shinobi Village had been fruitful.
The soul fragments alone made the journey worthwhile.
After defeating Raikage A, Killer Bee, and numerous Cloud Shinobi ninjas, Logan had collected 3,400 soul fragments. Adding in what remained from previous draws and minor gains, his total now stood at 3,889.
He considered for a moment, then allocated 2,000 fragments to upgrade the White Snake from Level Three to Level Four.
The moment the transformation took hold, the White Snake placed her hands on her hips and laughed.
"Oh, look at this. I'm so sorry you had to spend your precious fragments on me," she said with theatrical sarcasm.
At Level Four, the White Snake unlocked a new ability:
> Mandatory Order: For animals or humans with weak willpower, force them to carry out commands that go against their desires—even if it leads to their death.
This ability had once been demonstrated in Stone Ocean. The priest had captured a poison dart frog, written the word explode on it, and hurled it like a grenade. It had detonated on command, a terrifying manifestation of absolute control.
"The strong depriving and dominating the weak… what a beautifully malicious ability," the White Snake remarked, shrugging.
Logan, noting that the White Snake was inching toward Level Five, turned thoughtful. Once he obtained the Dimensional Star Core, he could consider evolving her. But…
"If you evolve into Xin Yue, will the White Snake still exist?" Logan asked.
The White Snake smacked her lips, clearly uncertain. She lowered her gaze to her toes, pondered silently, then finally answered:
"I have no idea."
Then, a sly grin returned to her face. "Why? Don't tell me… you'll miss me, little brother?"
Logan answered calmly, "Xin Yue is powerful—she can manipulate gravity on a massive scale—but in terms of utility, you're more… versatile."
"Oh ho? Is that so?"
The White Snake chuckled softly, and then Logan added:
"Also… I like the way you slap people in the face."
He mimicked her characteristic hand wave and exaggerated gestures, though it lacked her flair.
"You think that's easy? I practiced that," she said proudly.
A beat passed. Then she looked down at her hands again and muttered, "As for whether I'll still exist after evolving… I really don't know. At least not right now."
Logan gave a small nod.
Sensing his mood shift, the White Snake dispersed quietly, not pressing the topic further.
Once alone, Logan pulled out a notebook. It contained his records of the discussions with Cloud Shinobi Village—notes scribbled in fast strokes and cross-hatched diagrams.
This was the second major gain from the trip.
Unlike Orochimaru's biotech-based enhancements, the Cloud Village focused more on military engineering. Logan was particularly interested in technologies that could be repurposed for civilian use—ones that could boost productivity and infrastructure.
> "Orochimaru's research benefits agriculture and medicine," Logan murmured, flipping a page. "The Cloud's tech leans toward industry and construction."
He paused, noting down his thoughts.
> "And the cultural customs I've studied over the last few weeks... all of them could be valuable later."
As the candle burned low, casting golden shadows on the tatami, Logan continued to write—capturing ideas while the night held stillness.
---
More than two weeks passed.
The Konoha delegation's studies in Kirigakure had concluded. It was time to return home. Tsunade and Kakashi would be escorting Naruto, Sakura, and the others back to Konoha.
"Next time we meet, I'll be calling you Fifth Hokage," Logan said with a smile.
Tsunade held up a finger and wagged it. "Don't be so sure. I haven't agreed yet."
But Logan already knew how it would play out.
If she had stayed away, perhaps she could have remained neutral. But once she stepped back into the chaos of the village, her sense of duty wouldn't allow her to turn away.
Logan extended a hand. "Goodbye."
His calm, knowing gaze made Tsunade feel oddly seen—like this boy had peeked right into her heart.
"What's with the formal farewell?" she asked, taking his hand. Then, without warning, she pulled him into a strong hug.
"We've fought side by side. Don't forget to visit us, alright?"
She laughed and walked off without looking back.
Logan stood still, watching them disappear into the mist.
"Feeling sentimental?" came a teasing voice.
It was Terumi Mei. She walked up with a mischievous grin and spread her arms wide. "Want me to give you a goodbye hug too?"
Logan raised a hand, gently pressing a finger to her forehead to push her back.
"I was just thinking," he said softly, "Konoha, the Cloud, Mist—all of them are about to face new changes. It feels like…"
He looked up at the sky.
"…time is speeding up."
Terumi Mei tilted her head. "You always say strange things."
But she didn't question it further. She had learned by now—Logan often saw things others couldn't.
She didn't need to understand. She just had to trust him.
---
Logan was just about to resume his training on the Golden Spin when he heard someone shouting from across the rooftops.
"Lord Logan!"
A Mist Shinobi ninja sprinted toward him, a red toad in hand, wearing swim goggles around his neck and carrying a scroll on his back.
Logan immediately recognized the toad—Gama Kousuke, the liaison between Mount Myōboku and the villages.
A few days ago, Logan had asked him to send word to Jiraiya. After his confrontation with the White Snake Sage, Logan wanted to visit Mount Myōboku peacefully—not provoke misunderstandings.
"Has the Great Toad Sage awakened?" Logan asked.
As one of the oldest living beings capable of seeing into the future, the Great Toad Sage often fell into deep slumbers. Logan had been waiting for him to wake since he expressed interest in learning about the mysterious Dragon Pill.
Kousuke jumped down and gave a tired nod. "He woke up just an hour ago. I held my eyelids open with firewood sticks so I wouldn't fall asleep again. Come quickly!"
Logan could see the exhaustion in the toad's posture—its limbs trembling, breath short.
He placed a hand on Kousuke's shoulder, sending a calming pulse of energy. Kousuke let out a long breath, relaxed, and then unrolled the scroll from his back.
"If you put a drop of blood here, Mount Myōboku will temporarily grant you Summoning privileges and reverse summon you there," Kousuke explained.
Logan nodded, flicked a drop of blood onto the intricate formation drawn on the scroll.
Immediately, he felt a distant resonance—a deep, surreal kind of breathing from far away.
And then he heard it.
"Quack!"
"Ready?" asked Kousuke, eyes twitching nervously as Logan summoned Hermit Purple, who dragged out the severed snake head of the White Snake Immortal from storage and dropped it with a loud thud beside them.
Kousuke flinched but said nothing.
Logan stepped forward. "Let's go."
The toad clasped its hands and slapped the scroll.
"Ninjutsu: Reverse Summoning Technique!"
The world flipped inside out.
Logan felt like his body was pulled through a vortex—compressed, stretched, spinning inside a massive pipe—and just when it felt unbearable, he was suddenly spat out into the world again.
Thunk.
Logan landed squarely on his feet.
The moment he stood upright, a heavy, ancient gaze settled on him.
He looked up and met the eyes of an immense old toad.
Its body was orange, its pupils yellow and calm. Around its neck hung a necklace of Buddhist beads, with a lavender cat's eye at the center marked with the word "oil." A doctoral cap rested atop its wrinkled head.
The room smelled strongly of tea—bitter and over-steeped. Two sticks held the Sage's eyelids open, while he cradled a massive teacup in both hands.
Kousuke gave a deep bow and left.
No other toads were present.
Logan stood silently, observing the Great Toad Sage.
He had the same immense natural energy as the White Snake Immortal. But unlike her—the Sage felt… almost dead.
"Your feeling is correct," the Great Toad Sage said, voice like a whisper drifting from a dream.
"I live in the future… most of the time."
"Is that why you're always sleeping?" Logan asked..
"Yes… I try to balance the future in my dreams with the present in my waking hours…"
One of the sticks holding up his eyes cracked under pressure, and he startled awake again.
"But since you arrived," he murmured, "the future I've watched for hundreds of years…"
He sighed, a long, tired exhale.
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