Traveling through space and returning to the Green Planet, Itachi was entering the grand council hall.
In his mind, Itachi was impressed by the architecture of this place. The hall was vast, built with a floor of many small stones in different shades of blue and green, which looked like they had been set in epoxy resin to make them shine. The walls were something he had never seen before; they were made entirely of thin, uncut trunks. While it seemed rustic if one analyzed it, as a whole, it was majestic. Each branch and every trunk were perfectly placed to highlight each small space with a unique and unrepeatable signature.
At the back of the hall was a staircase leading to a grand throne, with twelve seats on either side where the elders were ascending one by one to sit.
In my mind, I was anticipating the arrival of a great king with a crown of branches and a grand suit, but contrary to my expectations, what I saw surprised me greatly.
Many sky-blue butterflies fluttered in through the window, swirling like the wind. Slowly, a human figure appeared on the throne.
A silence fell over the hall for a few seconds, which made my heart pound...
"Welcome," a voice said, seemingly coming from the air itself. It was like a soft breath that came from all directions.
"I am Queen Etheria... I regret that I cannot be present here. Tch... Tch..." She coughed, causing the faces of several elders to tense.
"I also cannot remain in this state for long, but I wanted to welcome you and thank you if you decide to help us," said the sweet voice of the wind.
"Agata, I understand you brought them here. It is your destiny to stay by their side." After she said this, the butterflies lost their form, and each one fluttered on its own throughout the hall.
At that moment, one of the elders stood up and said, "Esteemed visitors from the stars, I apologize if we have caused you any offense. Please allow me to explain the Queen's words."
"This world is called Etoria, and it has always been our home. Our tribe is named the Elven, and we have always been peaceful, coexisting with nature."
"About 50 years ago, a meteorite fell on our land, but we didn't pay it any mind. A group of people emerged from that meteorite, and they slowly began to reproduce. We did not maintain contact with them as they isolated themselves on the other side of the planet."
"A few years after they arrived, one of our elders had a prophecy that this people, the Firebloods, would set this planet on fire, but that hope lay with the people from the stars."
"The elder gave his life for that future, but nothing happened all these years, and we remained peaceful. Two years ago, the spirit of this world, who rested in its core, was attacked and imprisoned by another spirit. As a result, we Elven slowly began to lose our connection to the wind."
"The Firebloods began to burn the planet's forests and hunt our children. For a moment, we were defenseless until our Queen Etheria established a channel with the spirit so we could reconnect with our strength and defend ourselves. Since then, we have been at war, but our Queen is weakening little by little. We believe she will not be able to hold out for more than two months in this state."
Itachi sympathized greatly with this group of people and looked at Shisui and Renji, who were waiting for his response.
Itachi looked at the grand elder and asked, "We don't know if we are the people you are looking for, but in case we are, what would you need us to do?"
"We can prove if you are the people we are waiting for, and the way to save us would be to break the prison that holds our spirit captive. They took advantage of our spirit being asleep to do that. There's just one problem..." The elder looked hesitant about what he was going to say next.
"Only a powerful spirit can break the cage that holds a spirit prisoner."
Itachi looked at him with suspicion. "You want to kill me?" He didn't put his hand on his sword, but his guard was raised to the maximum.
"No, no, esteemed visitor, I apologize. Please allow me to explain." He moved his hands with embarrassment as he searched for words.
"We all have the potential to behave like a spirit, or what we call manifesting our spirit... Generally, the spirit is an intangible part of us, different from the soul and the body. It is a living part of us that allows us to create and develop powers of our own."
"It can be explained this way: if the body and soul can control and modify energy, the spirit can create its own energy. In most people, the spirit is in a non-latent state, one might say asleep or inert, but the spirit can be awakened or enter a state of conscious manifestation, and this is only through knowledge and a truth. Every spirit feeds on emotions, true knowledge, and the practice of one's consciousness, and the spirit develops and grows little by little, just as the human body does."
The elder's words sounded like pure spiritualism, and Itachi's scientific mind wanted to run away. Nevertheless, he was in another world, and strange things happening no longer surprised him.
"Let's do the test you're talking about first. I'll be honest with you, I find it very hard to believe everything you've said, and I am a person who does not sell his soul to the Devil, so let's proceed step by step," Itachi said.
The elder's face, in turn, changed to one of happiness, although he had not understood the part about selling one's soul to the devil.
"Very well. To perform the test, an elder woman will use the eyes of the wind to see if your destiny is connected to our world and to the salvation of our village."
A white-haired elder with a face free of wrinkles approached them. Her eyes were white, similar to those of the Hyuga family, but deep within, one could see green sparks.
"Please, come with me," said the elder woman with a kind smile. "My name is Hilena, and I am going to take you to a calmer place."
We followed at a slow pace as we climbed a spiral staircase that wrapped around a large tree trunk. When we reached our destination, we found ourselves at the top of a cut-off trunk that had several runes carved into it.
Hilena had us sit in the lotus position, while she did the same, and elegantly took out a kind of flute. At that moment, a melody resonated from all directions, and the wind seemed to dance to the rhythm of the sweet melody she was playing.
From the tree, an emerald sap began to ooze, filling all the patterns that were drawn on the trunk. After a while of Hilena playing, all the symbols shone green. She gracefully put the flute away, but the sound continued to repeat the song as if hypnotized.
After that, Hilena made some sounds that did not seem to be any language but somehow sounded like a song. Wind, not words, came from her mouth. Little by little, green threads came from the wind and began to wrap around us, but it was not uncomfortable; it was like a soft breeze, and these threads ran through our bodies.
The most ecstatic was Renji. His eyes and mouth were wide open. He saw figures he had never seen before, and a greenish glow that was accumulating little by little sparkled in his eyes.
Then Hilena focused on Shisui and remained focused on him for a while. Then she directed her gaze to Renji, and suddenly her breathing became unstable, and her eyes shone green, but even so, she did not lose control. With a surprised face, she calmed down again as she directed her gaze to Itachi. As soon as she focused on Itachi, her breathing, the wind, and even her heart seemed to stop.
From Hilena's mouth came a sound that did not correspond with everything that had gone before, as if she were out of breath. We tried to help her, but she pushed me away with her hand, and took a green pearl from her pouch and crushed it. Immediately, a green smoke came out of the sphere and entered through her mouth, ears, nose, and eyes, which left us shocked.
After that, she recovered her breathing slightly, but in her eyes, there was a look of accumulated fatigue. Once this passed, the rest of the elders all appeared instantly with expectant looks. The eldest elder looked at Hilena worriedly but said, "Well, Hilena, what did you see?"
Hilena looked at him with annoyance but then nodded with respect.
"First, I want to confirm that they are not hostile." Then she pointed to Shisui and said, "An honest man of truth. Your path has been defined by those qualities. You have the potential to master your spirit and create your own laws."
Everyone was surprised by Shisui's great talent.
Then she pointed to Renji. "You have no limits. You were born to be a great architect and master many laws. Your eyes will not only allow you to see destiny as you did today, but you must be careful not to be deceived, as you are very innocent. Many will want to control you."
Then she pointed to Itachi and said, "He is definitely connected to the salvation of our village and has the potential to manifest his spirit soon." Then she made a pained face and said, "I cannot see your destiny. I saw it as a black spot that absorbed everything in you. On one hand, it means you can fight against destiny itself, but I could not see any further, or one life would not be enough, and I believe ten would not either..."
With this declaration, everyone was impacted. Without a doubt, the three people who came from space had something extraordinary about them, but someone who hid from destiny and absorbed everything was something they had never heard of before.