Terumī Mei and Rasa wore equally grim expressions. The outcome had far exceeded their expectations—and introduced an even greater layer of uncertainty.
"A Toy Kingdom? Wasn't that supposed to be built by her?"
Tsunade's face was filled with disbelief, her voice thick with confusion—and a trace of irritation at feeling played.
"According to the Heavenly Curtain, the 'Toy Kingdom' should only exist in the future, after Hikari obtained her ability!"
"She hasn't even eaten the Devil Fruit yet! How could it possibly appear now—and even take her away?!"
The others exchanged baffled looks.
The logic presented by the Heavenly Curtain had been clear:
Hikari obtains a Devil Fruit → builds the Toy Kingdom → becomes the "Toy Queen."
But now? There hadn't even been a shadow of a Devil Fruit—and the "kingdom" had already gone live.
With an emergency extraction function.
"What exactly went wrong?" Ōnoki stroked his beard, his aged face etched with rare bewilderment and frustration.
He prided himself on his cunning, yet this development—utterly defying expectations—left him feeling intellectually steamrolled.
"She hasn't eaten the Devil Fruit. Without an ability, where would a 'kingdom' even come from?"
They all stared at the now-empty rock wall. No trace of spatial disturbance remained.
Uchiha Hikari's escape was clean.
Too clean.
That so-called entrance to the Toy Kingdom had appeared strangely—and vanished completely.
Then Jiraiya, who had been silent until now, spoke in a hoarse voice.
"Is there… another possibility?"
All eyes snapped toward him.
"What do you mean?" A demanded sharply. "You figured something out?"
Jiraiya nodded slowly, his expression tangled with regret, unease, and deeper concern.
"This is only speculation."
"What if… the 'Toy Kingdom' doesn't exist yet? At least—not now."
"It would require the future Hikari, after gaining her power, to build it herself."
"Then what was that just now?" Tsunade pressed, pointing toward where the portal had appeared. "The cheering of 'la-la-la '… the scenery inside… it matched the Heavenly Curtain's depiction of the Toy Kingdom almost perfectly!"
Jiraiya inhaled deeply, as if bracing himself.
"I should have been firmer about stopping the unsealing from the start. That was my mistake."
He paused before continuing gravely:
"In the Heavenly Curtain, Sakura once mentioned something… Some Devil Fruits will actively seek out a suitable host."
The words hit like a stone thrown into still water.
Tsunade's eyes widened. "So you're saying… what just happened was caused by the Devil Fruit itself?"
"That the 'Toy Fruit'—or something similar—manifested on its own to rescue the host it selected? Uchiha Hikari?"
The implication was staggering.
A fruit—with awareness?
One capable of generating a spatial gateway for precision rescue?
The gathered Kage and elite shinobi all wore expressions of shock.
Devil Fruits were already a paradigm-breaking concept.
Now they might be… intelligent?
"I know it sounds absurd," Jiraiya said heavily.
"But if Devil Fruits truly carry laws and powers from beyond our world—as the Heavenly Curtain suggests—if they possess some degree of awareness or inclination…"
"Then when their chosen host faces mortal danger, it's not entirely illogical that they would deploy their own power to extract them."
He glanced around.
"Didn't you notice? The timing of the portal. The presentation. The interior imagery."
"It perfectly aligned with themes of toys, dolls, and childlike whimsy."
"That could very well be an external manifestation of the Toy Fruit's power."
"But aren't Devil Fruits supposed to grant abilities only after being eaten?" Terumī Mei asked.
"Under normal circumstances, yes," Jiraiya replied. "But the very fact that they 'seek hosts' already proves they are not normal."
"Perhaps under extreme compatibility—and extreme danger—they can manifest partial power in advance."
"We know far too little about objects from outside our 'pond.'"
Silence fell.
Jiraiya's theory was bold—borderline fantastical.
But compared to the even less plausible idea that a fully formed kingdom had preemptively materialized?
It was the only explanation that barely held together.
"And," Rasa added quietly, "none of us have ever seen a Devil Fruit in person. Our knowledge comes entirely from fragments shown by the Heavenly Curtain and Sakura's limited explanation."
That sobering reminder grounded them.
These objects came from beyond their world.
Their rules might be fundamentally alien.
"So…" Tsunade's voice grew dry as she stared at the empty rock wall.
"Not only did Uchiha Hikari escape… she may have already formed a deeper bond with the Toy Fruit."
"Perhaps… it has already recognized her as its master."
The conclusion weighed heavily on them all.
They hadn't merely released an ancient weapon bearing the Mangekyō Sharingan and deep resentment toward the Uchiha.
They might have just facilitated the rise of a future "Toy Queen."
What they thought was resolving a historical leftover could instead have created something far worse.
"Treat this hypothesis as top-class confidential intelligence," Tsunade ordered sharply.
"Distribute it immediately to all major nations."
"And deploy teams to investigate any leads related to Devil Fruits, anomalous spatial phenomena, or unusual 'doll' incidents."
No one objected.
Because for the first time—
They might be facing an enemy empowered by laws beyond their world.
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