The "future" should be heading toward a predetermined end.
"…An ending written by countless heroes and villains. But—"
The Great Toad Sage let out a long, weary yawn.
"Ever since you appeared, it's like someone poured a bottle of strong liquor into a pot of sukiyaki. No one knows what the end result will taste like. All the original flavors have been completely drowned out… by the presence of Logan."
That rich, intoxicating "aroma of wine" lingered in the Great Toad Sage's dreamscape. Just a whiff made him even drowsier than usual.
Logan sat cross-legged opposite the ancient sage, his expression calm and observant.
"What kind of future have you seen in the past?" Logan asked, voice low.
He was hoping to gain something important—some insight into the plot of the original Naruto timeline. If the Great Toad Sage could recall some of it, Logan might be able to piece together parts of the original story.
The Sage, however, just slowly shook his large head.
"I can't explain the 'future' to you. Not because I'm trying to hide it, but…"
The Great Toad Sage scratched his wrinkled scalp and tried to clarify. "It's like this. Sometimes when people dream, they get a brilliant idea. They might even wake up in the middle of the night and scribble it down in a notebook, thinking it'll make them a fortune when they read it again in the morning.
"But when morning comes, they open the notebook and find nonsense written inside, like—'Take off your pants before sleeping and sell bananas to monkeys.'"
Logan paused for a moment, processing the bizarre analogy. "So, in other words… the future you perceive in dreams—after a timeline shift and return to the present—ends up distorted? The observation and its interpretation no longer match reality?"
The Great Toad Sage blinked, then slowly pulled out a notebook and began to write something down, stroke by stroke.
"What are you doing?" Logan asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Your explanation sounds much better than mine. Next time someone asks me, I'll just repeat that."
Closing the notebook with a satisfied nod, the Sage continued.
"I've spent hundreds of years observing the future of the shinobi world. I knew exactly where to 'nudge' things so they would lead to peace—moments where just the right push would resolve conflict and guide the world forward."
He sighed deeply. "But now… everything's been overwritten. What I see before me is a chaotic, disordered mess. And being affected by this new, unstable future… I've become…"
The Sage yawned again, and the two wooden stakes propping up his eyelids finally gave way with a loud snap, bits of wood falling to the ground.
"That's why I wanted to meet you."
His voice became softer, almost drifting away like a whisper in the wind. He lowered his eyelids, as if drifting into a deeper slumber, though his presence filled the space with gravity.
"Logan... where do you want to push the world?"
The room fell completely silent.
Time itself seemed to pause. It wasn't just the Great Toad Sage waiting—the entire world seemed to hold its breath, awaiting Logan's answer.
Logan bowed his head, eyes closed, deep in thought. After a long pause, he slowly shook his head.
"I could give you a long speech, like I might for others. But you have the power to glimpse the future, don't you?"
He smiled faintly.
"Go look for yourself."
Then he added, almost in a whisper, "I want to see how far I can go. If, one day, I fail—even in the future you dream of—"
He chuckled.
"Then help me see if there's someone else out there… someone willing to walk the path I leave behind and keep moving forward."
The Great Toad Sage slowly opened his sleepy eyes. A faint glint of compassion flickered in them—brief, fleeting. He raised a teacup to cover most of his face, and by the time he set it down, his usual drowsy expression had returned.
"Let's get back to the White Snake Immortal."
He clapped his hands, unleashing Sage Art to form a sealing barrier around the space.
Logan immediately felt a strange, air-tight pressure settle around him—like the scent-sealing freshness of a vacuum-packed bag.
"You can take out its Dragon Pill now," the Sage said.
Logan nodded, and with steady precision, reached into the head of the White Snake Immortal. Bit by bit, he extracted the coveted Dragon Pill.
He opened his palm.
Held under the Great Toad Sage's powerful Sage Art, the life force within the pill remained perfectly intact—completely locked in and preserved.
Logan had sensed it before through ripples, but this was his first time seeing it with his own eyes.
Just as he had perceived, the Dragon Pill was a flawless sphere—half pure white, half radiant gold.
The moment his gaze locked onto it, a sudden, intense desire surged through him—
Devour it! Consume it!
Transform!
Shed your human form and become a dragon!
But it wasn't just desire. Every part of him—his bones, his blood, his soul—was crying out for it.
The Great Toad Sage blinked in alarm.
Even in death, the White Snake Immortal's Dragon Pill retained such overwhelming allure. Since Logan had rewritten the future, such unpredictable phenomena had been appearing more frequently.
The Great Toad Sage quickly prepared another Sage Art to seal the Dragon Pill further, warning Logan as he chanted:
"Be careful! Don't let it bewitch you—!"
But he stopped mid-sentence.
Logan's expression was serene and cold. His ripples shimmered around him, and golden lightning flickered violently across his form.
"Settle down," he murmured.
He looked down at the Dragon Pill in his hand.
"Be honest."
Whoosh—!
A gust of wind swept through the room.
The Dragon Pill in Logan's palm immediately fell silent. All seduction, all temptation—vanished. It now lay in his hand like an ordinary stone, devoid of will or resistance.
"…Is it really that quiet now?"
This was the White Snake Immortal's life essence—cultivated over thousands of years, and the culmination of its method of transformation into a dragon.
Considering its earlier temptation, Logan knew there was likely a trap or backup plan embedded inside.
No way would it surrender that easily.
He glanced at the astonished Great Toad Sage and shook his head slightly.
He had already killed the White Snake Immortal. Was it really surprising that he could suppress a mere stone that had grown inside its head?
Holding the Dragon Pill up to the light, Logan asked calmly, "So how do I absorb the life force inside? Should I eat it directly?"
"NO! Absolutely not!"
The last trace of sleepiness vanished from the Great Toad Sage's eyes. His slow, drawling tone vanished. He spoke with rare urgency:
"That's a Dragon Pill! Its temptation is irresistible to any living being—well, anyone except you, apparently. If you swallow it whole, the life force inside will explode within your body!
"Your cells won't be able to control it. One of two things will happen:
"You'll either mutate into an enormous, formless ball of flesh, growing endlessly and without consciousness…
"Or you'll be genetically rewritten by the White Snake Immortal's essence and become a new White Snake Immortal!
"Either outcome would be disastrous—for you, for everyone who trusts you, and for the future you're trying to change."
Logan nodded quietly.
"That's all?"
"…What?"
The Great Toad Sage stared at him, dumbfounded. "What do you mean, 'That's all?' Aren't those reasons enough?!"
Of course not.
Not for Logan.
His body, ripples, and genetic control had long surpassed the limits of humanity. Even if something went wrong—
Killer Queen would appear.
With a light touch, she tapped the Dragon Pill and deployed the first bomb.
If worst came to worst, Killer Queen could blow it up instantly and eliminate the threat at its source.
Logan had already made up his mind.
He would take the Dragon Pill now, while the Sage Art barrier still held. He turned to the Great Toad Sage, whose bloodshot eyes were heavy with exhaustion.
"It might take me some time to absorb this. You look dead tired. Want to take a nap while I handle it?"
The Sage glanced at Logan, then at the silent Dragon Pill.
He sighed—long and deep.
Then, with a rare solemnity, he said something he hadn't said in centuries.
"…I can't sleep."
Logan smiled faintly.
Then, without hesitation, he popped the Dragon Pill into his mouth—like it was nothing more than a candy bean.
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