Chapter 4: The Sound of the World.
The silence of the valley was a living thing. It was the hush of the wind passing through ten-thousand bamboo leaves, the soft padding of a deer on moss, the distant rush of the river. It was a silence built from a million tiny, natural sounds.
The train station at the edge of their valley was a part of that silence.
It was a simple, sun-bleached wooden platform, its roof held up by old, untreated posts. The air smelled of cut grass and old cedar. A single, elderly man swept the platform with a bamboo broom, his movements slow and rhythmic. The station was, as always, almost completely empty.
The six of them stood in a silent cluster, their small travel bundles stark against the pastoral background.
The first intrusion of the new world was the ticket machine. It was a single, gleaming metal pylon, its screen bright and artificial. Jay poked it. "So... this is the 'ticket vendor'? Where's the person?"
"It is automated, Jay," Zane supplied, tilting his head. "Logically, it increases efficiency."
"It's cold," Cole grumbled, shifting his pack.
Nya sighed and stepped forward, her experience from years ago taking over. She navigated the digital menus, and the machine spat out six paper tickets with a mechanical zzzt.
The train arrived not with a roar, but a whoosh of pressurized air. It was a sleek, white Shinkansen, a "bullet train," that looked completely alien as it slid to a halt against the quaint wooden platform. The doors hissed open.
They found their seats. The car was clean, sterile, and smelled faintly of ozone and recycled air. With another hiss, the doors closed, sealing them in.
The train moved.
At first, the view was familiar. The deep, ancient greens of their forest, the sharp peaks of the mountains. But the train was fast. In minutes, the familiar peaks were behind them. The forest thinned, replaced by neatly ordered rice paddies, then small farming villages with traditional tiled roofs.
Then the villages became towns. The tiled roofs were joined by concrete buildings. The concrete buildings became taller. The roads widened, filling with cars that looked like colorful, metallic beetles.
After two hours, the sky itself seemed to disappear, replaced by a forest of glass and steel that rose to pierce the clouds.
Jay, Cole, and Zane had their faces pressed to the window, their reflections staring back at them.
"So..." Jay whispered, his voice full of awe. "Many... buildings."
"They are structurally inefficient," Zane murmured, though his eyes were wide, processing the impossible geometry. "The leverage ratios during seismic activity would be..."
"They're huge," Cole finished, his voice a low rumble.
Kai watched, his arms crossed. He remembered the city, but it was a child's memory—a blur of noise and fear. Seeing it now... it was a fortress. A monument to human ambition.
The train plunged into darkness, entering a subterranean tunnel, and then burst back into the light of a massive, cavernous station.
The hiss of the doors opening was the last moment of quiet.
It was not a sound that hit them. It was a force. It was the roar of ten-thousand conversations, the constant ding-ding-ding of platform announcements, the synthesized jingles of advertisements, the rumble of other trains, and the shuffling, tapping, clicking sound of a sea of people.
The air was thick, smelling of perfume, hot food from a dozen stalls, and the metallic tang of the tracks.
The team stepped off the train and froze.
It was a river of humanity. People in suits, people in school uniforms, people in strange and colorful outfits. Everyone was moving, flowing around the six of' time. Everyone was talking—into phones, into the air at unseen devices, to each other.
They stood in a small, silent island in the middle of this rushing, deafening current.
Even Wu, his hand gripping his staff, looked unsettled. His brow was furrowed, the lines around his eyes tight. The sheer, chaotic noise was a physical assault compared to the focused silence of the dojo.
"Sensei?" Nya asked, raising her voice to be heard.
Wu took a breath, grounding himself. "We move," he commanded, his voice cutting through the din. "There is no time to waste."
He led them, his staff tapping a firm, steady beat on the polished concrete floor. The ninja followed in a tight diamond formation, their training taking over, using each other as an anchor in the disorienting flood.
They emerged from the station onto the street, and the sensory assault intensified.
The world was vertical. Buildings stretched upward until they vanished into the afternoon glare. The air thundered with the sound of engines, elevated trains, and the distant, constant wail of sirens. Heroes were visible—a man with wooden arms swung between buildings, landing on a rooftop to cheers from pedestrians. A different hero, dressed in a bright costume, was giving an interview to a floating camera drone, his smile wide and practiced.
The ninja and Nya were silent, their heads on a swivel.
Towering over it all were the screens. Gigantic, moving pictures plastered on the sides of buildings, broadcasting commercials for energy drinks, hero agencies, and new support gear.
One advertisement, however, was on every screen. It showed a massive stadium, exploding with light.
Zane, ever analytical, pointed. "Sensei. That phrase, 'The U.A. Sports Festival,' is repeated on 82% of the active displays. It appears to be an event of major significance. What is it?"
They had paused at a crosswalk, surrounded by the impatient crowd. Wu stroked his beard, his eyes on the screen.
"A good question, Zane," Wu said, his staff tapping. "It is the single largest sporting and cultural event in the country. A place where young, aspiring heroes demonstrate their abilities to the world... and to potential employers."
He turned to them. "It is also the event my friend has given you access to. It is the location of your mission."
Kai's eyes lit up, a familiar, competitive fire in them. "A festival? A competition? Alright! Sounds like a chance to show these city heroes what real training looks like!"
"I don't think so, Kai," Nya said, her eyes fixed on a news drone hovering nearby. "The whole country will be watching. That means every eye, every camera, will be on that stadium. It's the worst possible place for us to be 'showing off.'"
"Nya is correct," Wu said, his tone firm. "You are not there to compete. You are not there to win. You are not there to draw attention." He looked at Kai pointedly. "You are there to blend in. You will observe. You will be the gray figures in the background. You will find this threat."
"Speaking of," Jay piped up, "who is the target, exactly? You were a little vague on the 'who-we-are-looking-for' part."
Cole nodded. "He's right. We haven't received an accurate description."
"None was provided," Wu said as the light changed and the crowd surged forward, carrying them with it. "My friend only knows a dark influence is at play. We were only told... 'we will know them when they move.' This person is a threat to the students and the spectators. Your job is to be in place before they act."
They boarded a city bus, a cramped, hot metal box. The four ninja, used to boundless forests, were squeezed shoulder-to-shoulder with strangers. They overheard snippets of conversation from two men in front of them:
"Man, I can't wait! Today's the day!"
"Who're you watching? The first-years, right?"
"Obviously! But hey, the third-years are always more polished. Better pros."
"Yeah, but Endeavor's son is in this new batch. They say he's the real deal."
"Seriously? Endeavor's kid? Wonder if he's worth the hype... rumors say he might even be stronger than his old man."
"Ooh, really? Okay, okay. Let's give 'em a chance."
The bus hissed to a stop. They got off. The noise was different here—a dull roar. The air smelled of popcorn, grilled yakisoba, and nervous sweat. They had arrived.
The U.A. Stadium was not a building; it was a mountain. A sprawling complex of concrete and steel, its gates were like the mouth of a giant. Thousands of people were streaming toward it. Booths selling hero merchandise and festival food lined the entire plaza.
Wu stopped them, a hundred yards from the main gate. He pointed with his staff.
"There. That is where the festival will be held."
The four ninja and Nya just stared. The scale of it, the sheer number of people, was unlike anything they had ever comprehended.
"That," Wu said, his voice grim, "is your mission."
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