Inside that mysterious hidden space, Yin An lounged comfortably in his so-called director's chair, one leg slung over the other, looking every bit like a man about to enjoy the premiere of a film he had personally financed.
Before him floated the system interface, a control panel fashioned like some absurd fusion of cinema console and divine mechanism. On it was the footage about to be broadcast across the Sky Curtain.
A sly smile tugged at the corner of his mouth, and anticipation gleamed openly in his eyes.
"The film passed final review, the audience has already taken their seats, and now the first major event—'Battle of Fate'—is finally ready for its world premiere."
With theatrical leisure, Yin An lifted a finger and pressed the virtual play button.
In that instant, the entire ninja world—whether in bustling villages, remote mountain paths, border strongholds, or hidden criminal dens—had its attention locked on the changing Sky Curtain overhead.
The image sharpened.
Konoha, Year 66.
Four enormous characters appeared across the curtain of heaven, bold and unmistakable, as if someone had carved the future directly into the sky. The sight alone sent a shock through every person who raised their head to look.
Then the view shifted.
What appeared next was an aerial shot of Konoha.
The Hokage Rock stood proud beneath a clear sky. The streets were broader, the buildings newer, and people flowed through them in lively crowds. Everywhere the eye landed, there was order, prosperity, and peace.
"The future... that's Konoha's future?"
After a heartbeat of stunned silence, the ninja world exploded into uproar more violently than it had even on the night the Uchiha massacre was confirmed.
If the destruction of the Uchiha clan had been a terrifying revelation of the present, then this—this glimpse of what was yet to come—was enough to shake the foundation of the entire world.
The great villages reacted almost instantly.
"Record everything!" the Fourth Raikage roared inside Kumogakure. "Every frame, every angle, every building, every detail! Analyze the layout, the defenses, the clothing, the roads—everything!"
In Sunagakure, Iwagakure, Kirigakure, and every other major power, intelligence departments sprang into motion at full capacity.
This was no longer mere spectacle.
It was intelligence warfare on a scale no one had ever imagined.
If the Sky Curtain could reveal the future, then every fragment of information it exposed might be worth more than a thousand spies. Through that single window, they might grasp Konoha's development years in advance—or worse, discover weaknesses before Konoha itself even realized they existed.
***
Inside the Hokage's office, Hiruzen Sarutobi's face had gone gray.
His fingers tightened around his pipe so hard that the knuckles beneath his old skin turned pale. The shock in his chest far exceeded anything the other villages were feeling.
Why was the Sky Curtain showing the future?
And if it could reveal the future... then what else could it reveal?
Could it expose the truth of the Uchiha clan's extermination?
Could it drag his dealings with Danzo into the open before the entire world?
The thought sent a chill straight through him, and for a brief moment, a rare and genuine panic seized his heart.
But Hiruzen forcibly suppressed it.
He fixed his gaze on the prosperous Konoha displayed in the sky, as though looking hard enough might let him wrest control of the situation back with his will alone.
"Under my leadership... will Konoha truly become this peaceful in the future?"
A sliver of pride rose in him, fragile but real, and for a moment it managed to smother part of his fear.
He wanted to believe it.
He wanted the Sky Curtain to prove that everything he had endured, everything he had compromised, everything he had done for the village, had ultimately been correct.
So he watched with breath held, desperate to see more.
***
Outside Akatsuki's base, under the unending rain of the Land of Rain, Uchiha Itachi tilted his head back and stared up at the future Konoha reflected in the heavens.
His Mangekyo Sharingan remained fixed on that familiar village, and for the first time in days, the stillness in his heart rippled.
One thought surfaced above all others.
Sasuke.
In that future... where are you?
Are you safe?
Have you grown stronger?
Have you restored the pride of the Uchiha with your own hands?
This was the only hope he had left.
The only thing he had protected at the cost of everything else.
Even surrounded by monsters and buried beneath the name of traitor, that single wish still endured.
***
At the Ninja Academy, Naruto Uzumaki was practically bouncing where he stood.
"What is that?" he shouted, pointing at the sky with wide eyes. "Isn't that a village? It looks kind of familiar!"
To him, the scene in the Sky Curtain looked a lot like Konoha and yet not quite like the Konoha he knew. Something about it was grander, brighter, fuller.
But no one had the spare attention to humor him.
Every student, every teacher, every adult nearby was utterly absorbed by the impossible miracle hanging over their heads. Awe, anxiety, greed, fear, hope—the entire world had been thrown into emotional chaos by a few brief images.
Not far away, Sasuke stood rigid.
His fists were clenched so tightly that his nails nearly bit into his palms. Reflected in his dark eyes was the shifting light of the Sky Curtain—and behind that light, hatred burned hotter than ever.
In the future... did I kill him?
Uchiha Sasuke stared upward without blinking, his whole being seized by obsession.
"Uchiha Itachi," he thought, the name almost a curse in his heart, "did you see this? This is the Konoha you chose over your clan. The village you protected by betraying us. And one day, I will make you die in despair."
***
Above the world, the scene continued to unfold.
The interior of the Hokage's office appeared in perfect clarity on the Sky Curtain, and then a figure stepped into view.
The effect was immediate.
The entire ninja world went still for an instant.
The woman had an overwhelming presence, and not merely because of the title she seemed to carry. Her tall, shapely figure was enough to make many civilians and even more than a few young shinobi blush outright as they stared in dumbstruck fascination.
"Lady Tsunade!"
"She became Hokage?"
Shouts broke out all over Konoha.
Outside a hot spring inn in the Land of Fire, Jiraiya stared up at the heavens, stunned at first—and then slapped his thigh and burst into laughter.
"Hahaha! Tsunade, you really became Hokage? And that figure of yours is still outrageous after all these years!"
He laughed so hard his face turned red, and a stream of blood suddenly poured from his nose.
Passersby turned at once, some in shock, some in disgust, but Jiraiya barely noticed.
He was too busy gawking at the Sky Curtain like the shameless fool he had always been.
Yet while ordinary people reacted with surprise, excitement, or simple admiration, the leaders of the great villages darkened almost as one.
"Tsunade..." the Fourth Raikage said, his brows drawing together deeply. "Princess of the Senju. One of the Legendary Sannin. If she becomes the Fifth Hokage, then compared to Hiruzen Sarutobi, Konoha's next era may be far more difficult to deal with."
In Iwagakure, Onoki hovered in the air with a grave expression.
"A medical genius, monstrous physical strength, noble status, and a temperament decisive enough to move when others hesitate... if that woman rules Konoha, then their recovery in the future may be much faster than anyone predicted."
The Kage of every village understood the implication.
If Tsunade stood at the head of future Konoha, then the village's decline after the Uchiha massacre might not last long at all. Worse, that future peace everyone had just witnessed might not be some hollow illusion, but the result of a village that had regained its footing under a formidable leader.
To Konoha, that was good news.
To everyone else, it was not.
***
Meanwhile, on a noisy gambling street somewhere in the Land of Fire, the real Tsunade sat frozen in place.
She had been holding a handful of dice when she saw herself appear on the Sky Curtain, and the bones slipped from her fingers at once, clattering across the table.
"I... became Hokage?"
She stared up at the heavens, golden-brown eyes narrowed in disbelief. There was no joy on her face, no pride, not even anger.
Only unease.
A deep, instinctive unease.
No one knew herself better than Tsunade did.
Unless Konoha had been pushed so close to destruction that there was no one else left to bear the burden, she would never willingly return and take over that mess.
The thought struck her like a hand around the throat.
The recent extermination of the Uchiha clan. The appearance of the Sky Curtain. This glimpse of herself as Hokage.
The more those pieces lined up, the colder her body felt.
Something had gone horribly wrong in the future.
"Shizune!" Tsunade snapped.
She rose so abruptly that nearby gamblers flinched. Ignoring the startled and reverent looks thrown her way, she grabbed Shizune—who was still holding Tonton in her arms—and strode off at once, vanishing around the corner of the street.
Whatever had happened in that future, she needed answers.
And fast.
***
The story displayed across the heavens moved on.
The future Tsunade seated in the Hokage's office no longer carried the carefree air she had once worn in her youth. Instead, there was exhaustion on her face, and a heaviness in her eyes that even distance could not conceal.
She lifted a hand to her forehead and spoke slowly.
Her voice, amplified by the Sky Curtain itself, rolled across the entire ninja world.
"War... is now inevitable."
The words struck like thunder.
For a moment, no one spoke.
No one even breathed.
Then a wave of shock rippled across every country, every village, every hidden den, every place where people had stopped to stare at the sky.
War?
In ten years?
The Fourth Great Ninja War?
Once that possibility entered their minds, panic and calculation surged at the same time.
The leaders of the major villages reacted almost simultaneously, issuing nearly identical orders as if driven by the same invisible hand.
Strengthen border defenses.
Expand intelligence gathering.
Reevaluate alliances.
Prepare for the future shown in the heavens.
And above them all, the Sky Curtain continued to shine, as though savoring the chaos it had just seeded across the world, ready to unveil the next part of its merciless play.