Dan slowly opened his eyes, and an expression of surprise and curiosity appeared on his face at the same time. He had sensed that someone was using a technique targeting him, that someone was attempting to read his future.
A slow smile formed on his face as he sat upon his stone throne within his inner world, and he said in a tone carrying a hint of light sarcasm.
"It seems you're still unsettled."
He quickly deduced who the only person in this world was that both knew of him and possessed the desire to understand him, uncover his secrets, and peer into his future. It did not take him long; the possibilities were extremely limited. And because of his extraordinary mind, he also understood that this person had sought the help of the Toad Sage of Mount Myōboku for his prophecy and fate reading techniques.
What Hagoromo did not know, however, and had failed to account for, was that Dan had reached an extremely advanced level in his understanding of space-time. Any attempt to peer into his future was something he could sense instantly. The moment the toad attempted to use his prophecy technique to observe Dan's future, Dan felt it immediately, as though someone had violently knocked on his door in the middle of the night.
Smiling to himself, Dan murmured calmly,
"It seems I should teach you a small lesson so you won't dare disturb me again."
At that exact moment on Mount Myōboku, the sacred land of the toads, the Sage of Six Paths, Hagoromo, sat within the great hall watching the Great Toad Sage before him, his eyes closed as he concentrated on his attempt to foresee the future.
As for the sage himself, he was exerting all his effort, yet he was experiencing something strange unlike anything he had encountered before with this technique. He felt as though the fate of the person whose future he was trying to spy upon was sealed behind a massive blue gate, dense and firmly shut, as if its owner knew perfectly well that someone would one day attempt to intrude.
Then, after a few moments, the toad heard a voice coming from beyond the sealed gate, carrying a mocking tone.
"Since you want to see me this badly, then go ahead."
The gate slowly began to open from within. At the same time, a sharp and dangerous feeling overwhelmed the toad, warning him that he absolutely should not be here and that whatever was about to appear far exceeded anything he could endure or comprehend.
The instant even a small crack appeared in the gate, he saw through that narrow opening a figure seated upon a simple stone throne atop a massive mountain, a smile resting upon his face.
In a calm tone, Dan said as he released a portion of the presence he had been struggling to control,
"Then take a good look."
At that very moment, the toad froze completely in place as every part of his consciousness screamed from within.
Don't look. Don't look. Don't look.
Gathering every ounce of strength he possessed, he desperately and frantically tried to break free from this state and sever the dangerous connection immediately, crying out in terror.
"Gwoooooak! Gwoooooak! My eyes! My eyes!"
The great toad collapsed onto the ground, rolling about wildly and desperately as he struggled to escape the condition he had fallen into. At the same time, within the hall where Hagoromo sat with the toad, a violent and chaotic aura erupted from the Great Toad Sage. He began screaming loudly while clutching his head with both hands as though he were trying to prevent it from exploding. Whispers and incomprehensible murmurs spread throughout the hall, filling it completely with disturbed voices that seemed to come from nowhere.
Hagoromo immediately rose from his seat and rushed toward him. Placing a hand upon the toad, he attempted to use his spiritual power to help him regain control of his unstable state.
But that action also connected him directly to whatever the toad was experiencing. Before he could even raise his gaze to look directly at Dan, his instincts warned him with extreme urgency not to do so. He felt an overwhelmingly dangerous atmosphere filling the entire hall around them and a colossal spiritual force surrounding them from every direction, attempting to influence them and drag them into a state of profound corruption that would destroy them from within.
Keeping his gaze lowered, Hagoromo quickly spoke, and there was a note of surrender in his voice.
"I'm sorry. Please don't harm the Toad Sage."
Several long and heavy moments passed without any response. The whispers grew louder, and the surrounding spiritual pressure increased steadily and noticeably, making it even more difficult for Hagoromo to maintain control over both himself and the Toad Sage so that neither of them would become victims of the immense power pressing upon them from all directions. The situation worsened with every passing second that went unanswered.
Then, at last, Hagoromo heard a calm voice cutting clearly through the sea of whispers surrounding them.
"This will be the last time I tolerate you. Do not test my patience."
Fwoooosh.
Instantly, the two of them were expelled from that place and regained their senses outside of the dangerous state they had entered. Yet their escape had not come without a genuine price.
The Toad Sage had paid dearly for his direct exposure to that immense spiritual power, which had affected him in a permanent and irreversible manner. Had the Sage of Six Paths not intervened quickly to help him, he would have lost his mind completely or perhaps suffered something even worse.
He had not escaped unscathed. His body had become slightly deformed from the influence of that strange and overwhelming spiritual force, and upon his forehead appeared a third eye glowing with brilliant blue light . an eye opened in the center of the Great Toad Sage's brow, the eye of one who had witnessed something he was never meant to see.
Hagoromo looked at the blue eye upon the Great Toad Sage's forehead with silent shock and guilt. He was the one who had come seeking help, and he was the one who had placed the old sage in this dangerous situation, leaving permanent marks upon his body.
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