"Feeling comfortable, Isobu?" Kyojiro lightly asked from deep within the recesses of his mind.
Even though he couldn't see yet, he could feel the massive presence of the Three-Tailed Beast resting inside his body.
Isobu himself was in a far better position, for he could see everything around him clearly. A deep sigh rumbled out of him. "I am not sure what else to expect anymore, human."
His eyes looked glazed as they drifted over the vast, overstretching lake in front of him.
While it wasn't close to being a real lake, the feeling was still there — the water still felt like home. The waves and currents rose and fell in the natural rhythm of the world… or perhaps now, in the rhythm of Kyojiro's mental state.
The image of this wide, tranquil lake overlapped with the prison-like contract he had lived in before.
His eyes, which once bore great rage, now seemed calm. The anger hadn't disappeared — but the overwhelming flood of sensations he had experienced in the past hour had buried it deep beneath the surface.
"It's good, human," Isobu's deep voice echoed across the inner sea of Kyojiro's consciousness.
The fiery-haired ninja himself stood in a far better emotional place.
Kyojiro turned toward the figures of his sensei and the younger ninja. Both Minato and Kakashi had quieted down.
The shock must be too much, Kyojiro thought, shaking his head with a soft smile.
He clenched his fist as he addressed them, "Minato, Kakashi — I know the shock you must be feeling right now," his once saddened heart pounding like a war drum, "but trust me, I think you'll want to see this."
He stepped toward the silver-haired Hatake. "Kakashi, mind giving me my sword?" His voice was smooth — almost unnaturally so.
"Here," Kakashi muttered, still too overwhelmed by the revelations of the day to process anything properly.
Kyojiro couldn't see the sword, but the moment the katana's cold steel touched his palm, he felt the familiar sensation he had been missing for years.
His fingers slid down the blade, lightly tracing the sharp edge — feeling its lethal precision.
The touch continued until he reached the leather grip. His hands tightened, strength flowing into them as he raised the katana above his head.
Minato stared in shock. Despite every bone in his body insisting Kyojiro was weak and shriveled, the moment he held the sword… it's as if I'm standing before a demon.
Kyojiro muttered under his breath — yet all of them heard him.
"Minato… you must know — my specialty, my swordsmanship… it all comes from the natural energy I use."
His voice deepened; his figure grew more mysterious by the second. Winds coiled eagerly around him.
The sea behind him reacted like an excited child — waiting, watching.
"What you all saw before… was barely the first step. It was beyond incomplete."
Kyojiro's smirk stretched into a full smile. "But now… let me show you."
Kyojiro turned inward, his voice resonating through the sea of Isobu's chakra. 'Isobu… give me your chakra.'
Isobu smirked. 'You have even me curious about this change.'
His chakra flowed out of him, engulfing Kyojiro's body in a dense cloak.
Kyojiro's fiery hair whipped around wildly. His black blindfold strained at its seams. "Here it is," he whispered, feeling the wild chakra pulsing beneath his skin.
He could feel it now — the power that had always been his, waiting, eager to surface.
"Total Concentration Breathing."
SWISH.
He inhaled deeply — lungs expanding to their fullest. His body surged with strength, his muscles, tendons, and even bones sharpening like diamonds.
He lowered his stance as he turned toward the sea.
"Flame Breathing — Ninth Form."
His feet slid apart, grounding him. His chakra poured out, forming a burning barrier around him, almost like a bubble.
"Rengoku."
A single word.
Yet for both Minato and Kakashi, it felt as if heaven itself had declared their end.
Their hair rose. Their bodies trembled at the sight.
Even Minato, with all his perceptive skill, could only see a blur of fire. One moment Kyojiro stood beside them — the next, he was at the edge of the lake.
Fire coiled around him like an obedient servant. In an instant, the massive inferno — towering three blocks high — twisted into the shape of a dragon.
"ROAR!!!"
A thunderous roar shook the area as the flaming dragon launched forward.
"Is this… a fire jutsu?" Kakashi muttered, dazed beyond belief.
And who could blame him?
Before him, the entire lake had been carved cleanly into two halves by a burning valley.
The ground itself had been scorched black — as though centuries of fire had rested on it.
Everywhere the flames touched water, massive clouds of steam erupted, filling the air in a haunting fog.
And from within that fog, a laugh echoed — loud, bright, and terrifying.
"So this is power!"
Kyojiro's once simple laugh now carried the weight and grace of someone standing at the forefront of Kage-level might.
Turning back toward them, wearing the same blindfold and the same gentle smile, he asked, "Now, Minato… how did you like that?"
Minato swallowed hard.
The world didn't know it yet… but a new monster had been born.
The Son of Nature.
The Scion of Fire.
The Demonic Swordsman.
And finally —
The Saint.
Had just begun his journey.
.
.
.
Meanwhile… deep within a temple older than time, a simple, frail-looking toad opened its eyes.
The moment Kyojiro's power flared, an enormous surge of Natural Chakra burst around the toad like a storm.
Across all sage lands, similar waves erupted.
Ryūchi Cave fell into chaos.
The Shikkotsu Forest remained calm — unmoved, unshaken — as if it had long foreseen this day.
But one truth resonated everywhere.
One undeniable fact spread across the world.
A new Sage had taken his place.
.....
Finally back guys