"Oh Bakorio-kun, you are back!" Said Guy who stopped his sparring with Kakashi with a smile and they approached him together...

"It has been a while Guy" said Bakorio with a smile and Guy suddenly said "How did you grow so tall?"

Bakorio simply responded with "It's the power of youth" which made Guy chuckle slightly and send him his signature thumb's up while Kakashi was shocked slightly since he didn't expect the usually cold Bakorio to joke around…

'When did they become so close?' He thought as he saw the close interaction between the two of them before Bakorio suddenly asked "By the way Guy, I already approached Kakashi for a similar reason, can you allow me to talk to your summon, I need to ask it about something"

Guy didn't mind at all and immediately used the summoning Jutsu without even asking for the reason why which surprised Bakorio as well... but he didn't know that Mukai had been spending some time with Guy and training him which caused the latter to feel grateful to Bakorio for introducing the two of them...

After the smoke dissipated, a huge turtle appeared in front of them… his shell was red with a yellow underside and swirls on the top with markings around his eyes which are also yellow, and he was wearing a standard Konoha forehead protector around his neck, and an orange bandage on his right front leg.

'He definitely looks like a sage beast' thought Bakorio with a smile…

"This is my summon Ningame" Said Guy with a smirk as Kakashi begin contemplating 'Could it be… is Guy's summon also from a sacred ground?'

"Guy, what did you call me for?" Said Ningame with a stern voice and Bakorio quickly explained to him his intentions…

"Well kid, You will have to pass through our trial before you could learn our sage arts, although I suggest you do not try them" Said Ningame with a stern look on his face, and Guy couldn't help but ask curiously

"What's the trial? Does he have to fight someone?"

"No, we only test the heart before we teach our sage arts…" Said Ningame and Kakashi couldn't help but mutter "Isn't that simple?"

Ningame shook his head and said "For our test, you will have to enter the eternal chamber, a day in the outside world is equivalent to 1 year inside the eternal chamber, and you can only leave it after you finish the test, otherwise you will end up stuck there forever…"

"This… This test is crazy, you shouldn't do it Bakorio" Said Kakashi as he imagined what kind of loneliness a person would go through inside that magical place that could actually affect time…

"Loneliness huh…" muttered Bakorio absentmindedly before he said " I would like to take this test please"

'I can't miss this opportunity… there's actually something that could affect time in this world other than my system's ability, I can't miss this chance to see if something can affect my ability or not' Thought Bakorio before he heard Ningame say "Before that, you will have to gain the approval of our sage"

Kakashi was about to tell Bakorio to reconsider it again but Guy who was silent all this time suddenly held him back "Guy what are you doing…" Asked Kakashi but he noticed how Guy was gritting his teeth and clenching his other hand tightly to the point that his muscles trembled while staring at Bakorio's eyes that didn't flinch at all at the difficulty of the trial "We need to grow stronger, or we will end up wilting and wasting our youth" said Guy before he left after seeing his summon Ningame reverse summoned Bakorio with him.

As for Kakashi, he couldn't help but recall that his dogs were connected to sage beasts and he couldn't help but mutter "Father… did you know about this?" before he also left with a heavy feeling in his heart and a new desire…

Meanwhile, somewhere else in the ninja world, Bakorio suddenly opened his eyes and he found himself in front of a huge palace made of gold!

There were different types of trees on each side of the palace, on the east was a forest made of Sakura trees. A snow-covered ground to the north with leafless trees. Huge oak trees to the south and multicolored maple leaves to the west…

It felt like the four seasons were surrounding that golden palace, reminding the viewer of the passage of time and Bakorio also noticed that this place was encapsulated inside a transparent bubble, and they were far far underwater, and he couldn't even begin to understand how this place had light!

"Amazing…" Muttered Bakorio and Ningame who saw how moved he was by the beauty of this place, couldn't help but smile widely at him and said "Welcome to the dragon palace, follow me…"

Ningame led him to the huge entrance of the palace which was a huge gate, and Bakorio felt like it was similar to the shrines he saw during the illusions of the trials at Ryuchi cave, although he was sure what he was experiencing now was no mere illusion…

After approaching the golden gate, it suddenly opened on its own and a beautiful woman appeared from it, She had pale skin with long black hair that was tied into a loose ponytail by a white ribbon with bangs hanging above her forehead and blue eyes…

She was wearing an ocean blue Kasode that was belted with a white Obi (sash) and over them, she wore a loose and unbelted robe that had 5 black tomoe inscribed near its collar.

"Otohime, this visitor is Bakorio Uchiha and he wants to learn our sage arts" Said Ningame respectfully as Bakorio contemplated 'Is she the hostess of the trials here?'

However, he quickly got his answer as Otohime replied with a soothing voice "Welcome to our dragon's palace, the Black tortoise sage already predicted your arrival and he wishes to see you…"

"Hmm sure why not" replied Bakorio who was extremely curious to see this creature whom he had no previous knowledge of and it excited him…

After walking through the great palace, they finally arrived inside a huge hall where a single black tortoise was lying peacefully over a huge lotus leaf inside a pool of yellow water…

After they entered, the Black tortoise sage opened its eyes and Bakorio felt a chill like he never felt before as he stared at the yellow eyes of the sage that seemed to look through his past and future easily 'This is the strongest being I have ever encountered so far... even stronger than Kurama!' thought Bakorio whose heart was beating crazily

"Welcome to my dragon palace" echoed the sage's ancient voice despite Bakorio not seeing it open its mouth at all 'How old is this being for it to have such an ancient voice' thought Bakorio before he replied "Thanks, I'm sure you already know of my intentions for coming here"

"I do know your purpose today, as well as your future and past…" said the ancient voice which made Bakorio narrow his eyes slightly…

"I know you don't like someone spying on you, but your pride means nothing compared to the safety of this world" said the ancient voice again in a provoking manner...

"Oh, what a coincidence, your world means nothing to me as well" Bakorio had a cold and empty look In his eyes as he stared back at the black tortoise sage right in the eyes and his three tomoe begin revolving dangerously, and Otohime beside him couldn't help but feel a chill before the sage said "Kid, don't lie to me to test my powers, I know you care about this world"

Hearing the sage say this, Bakorio's expression suddenly returned to normal, although Otohime felt like it wasn't a complete lie… 'That look couldn't be faked…' she thought as she stared at Bakorio warily and heard him say "So, can I go through the trial now?"

The black tortoise sage shook his giant head before he said "I first want to ask you a question"

Bakorio smirked slightly and responded "Why? Can't you already see my future and get your answer?"

The sage's yellow eyes lit up slightly as he said "There's no future in which you answer me honestly unless I reply to the doubts you have about my power…"

Bakorio gave him a thumbs up and said "Oh, I'm proud of my future self" while Otohime glared at him silently…

"I can see the future, but I can't understand the reasoning behind your actions if you don't say it… so kid, my question is, what do you think will happen if you meet an immortal?" Bakorio suddenly felt a huge pressure landing on him that almost took his breath away…

'This sage is finally acting seriously…' thought Bakorio with a serious look as he faced this giant monstrosity…