Having dealt with Gaara, Hansen walked out of the interrogation building in a good mood.
The sunlight outside was a bit dazzling, making him squint comfortably.
"Mr. Han Sen, what next...?" Hiruzen Sarutobi carefully followed beside him, asking tentatively.
He was truly afraid now, terrified that if this lord became displeased, he would cause another major commotion in the village.
"Next, the Nine-Tails," Hansen said concisely.
Hearing the words "Nine-Tails," both Hiruzen Sarutobi and Orochimaru, who was nearby, subtly changed their expressions.
Uzumaki Naruto, the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki, was not only the Fourth Hokage's orphan but also the village's most important strategic deterrent. His importance far surpassed that of Gaara.
"This... Mr. Han Sen, Naruto... is not in the village right now," Hiruzen Sarutobi said, steeling himself.
"Oh? Where did he go?" Hansen raised an eyebrow.
"When the Konoha Crush Plan began, to protect his safety, his summoned beast... took him to Mount Myōboku," Hiruzen Sarutobi explained.
Although he had been with Hansen the whole time, the Anbu were constantly relaying intelligence.
Therefore, Hiruzen Sarutobi was not perfectly clear on the post-war situation in Konoha, but he knew most of it.
He was indeed worthy of being the longest-serving Hokage; his control over the village and its ninja was arguably the strongest.
(Hiruzen Sarutobi: Just say whether it's the strongest or not!)
Mount Myōboku, the sacred land of the toad clan.
It was an isolated dimension, inaccessible to ordinary people.
"Mount Myōboku, huh?" Hansen thought for a moment, then showed understanding. "Alright, I'll go there myself then."
"Ah, this... no problem. I'll call my disciple back immediately. He trained on Mount Myōboku for a long time and can take you directly into Mount Myōboku," Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded, then ordered an Anbu nearby, "Go immediately and inform Jiraiya, tell him to return to the village at once!"
The Anbu ninja wearing a tanuki mask nodded in assent and vanished in a Shunshin.
However, Hansen waved his hand: "No need for such trouble."
He looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi and said, "I can go by myself."
Hiruzen Sarutobi was stunned. He was about to say that without a summoning contract with the toad clan of Mount Myōboku, or being the fated person in the prophecy connected to the toad sacred land, one couldn't find its entrance.
However, before he could speak, a faint golden ripple of divine power spread out, sweeping across the entire surface of the planet in the blink of an eye.
Light flickered in Hansen's platinum-gold pupils: "Found it."
As his voice fell, he raised his hand like a blade and cut open a colorful, black-like dimensional rift, calmly walking into it before the wide-eyed Konoha ninja.
The dimensional rift closed. The next moment, a wild and unrestrained figure appeared in the Hokage's Office amidst a puff of white smoke.
"Oho, old man, why did you call me back in such a hurry?!"
With his signature messy white hair and red oil paint like tear streaks on his face, it was none other than Konoha's Toad Sage, Jiraiya.
However, the Hokage's Office was quiet, and no one answered him.
"Uh..."
The usually carefree Jiraiya couldn't help but close his mouth, scratching his head instinctively, unsure what had happened.
"What's going on? You suddenly called me here, I thought it was some urgent matter, but no one's even talking..."
Hearing his unreliable disciple's soft grumbling, Hiruzen Sarutobi snapped back to reality.
The Third Hokage took a deep breath, pressed his throbbing temple, and waved his hand: "Alright, you're not needed here anymore."
Jiraiya:???
Are you messing with me?!
He looked speechlessly as the old man quickly walked towards the only female ninja in the Hokage's Office, saying with a solemn expression: "Kurenai Yūhi Jōnin, I need you to provide all information about Mr. Han Sen, as well as your observations and judgments during your interactions with him."
"For Konoha, I beg you!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi's attitude was very formal. Kurenai Yūhi pursed her lips, knowing this was due to her relationship with that man.
"You don't have to be like this, Hokage-sama," she nodded, her gaze calm, "Mr. Han Sen, he wouldn't mind these things."
"I will tell you everything I know, exactly as it is."
Hiruzen Sarutobi breathed a sigh of relief: "That's good. I thank you on behalf of the village."
...Space twisted.
When Hansen opened his eyes again, he was in a completely different world.
The sky here was a soft orange-yellow, giant plants were everywhere, and the air was filled with such dense natural energy that even a single breath made one feel refreshed.
"Who are you?"
Swish—
Amidst a strong gust of wind, a small-sized green toad, wearing a gray trench coat and looking quite intelligent, abruptly appeared in front of Hansen, blocking his path with a grave expression.
"You are... Fukasaku, the Toad Sage, right?"
Hansen felt a bit face-blind at this moment, as to ordinary people, toads generally looked the same.
If it weren't for the fact that toads in the Hokage world could all speak and generally had different body sizes and colors, it wouldn't be easy to distinguish them.
"Oh, you know me?" Fukasaku, the Toad Sage, was startled. "But I don't sense a blood contract with the toad clan on you. How did you reverse summon yourself in?"
"Ah, I don't need that kind of thing."
Hansen walked forward with a smile. As he raised his hand, Fukasaku, the Toad Sage, was horrified to find himself floating uncontrollably, landing in the newcomer's palm.
"You can call me Hansen. Don't worry, I'm a friend of the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi. To put it another way, I'm Jiraiya's elder, not a bad person."
(Jiraiya in the Hokage's Office: Achoo—!!)
"Uh..."
Fukasaku, the Toad Sage, was about to say, "Are you kidding?" when he saw Hansen already striding forward, and he himself couldn't even muster any thought of resistance.
—This man is very strong!!
"I'm here for that boy; I won't do anything to harm Mount Myōboku."
"Okay, okay..."
Hearing this, the already sagely Fukasaku, the Toad Sage, immediately dropped any extreme thoughts.
Because it realized that this terrifyingly strong man in front of it could easily crush it.
So there was no need to seek death.
Not far away, a blond boy was sitting cross-legged on top of a towering stone statue, trying hard to sense something.
It was Uzumaki Naruto.
When Gamabunta brought him back to Mount Myōboku, the Toad Sage sensed his specialness.
With the thought of'since he's already here,' he arranged for Fukasaku and Shima to begin training this legendary Child of Prophecy.
"Fukasaku-sama, you're back? Oh, who is this person with you...?" Naruto saw Fukasaku and was about to greet him when he belatedly realized that Fukasaku was standing in the palm of a man.
Meanwhile, the Toad Sage Shima, who was guiding Naruto's training, immediately became vigilant the moment she saw this scene.
"Old man! What are you...?!!"
Hearing this, Fukasaku, the Toad Sage's mouth twitched: "Uh... this lord is here for this kid. Old woman, just leave it alone."
Just then, an ancient and distant sigh came from the deepest part of Mount Myōboku.
Following that, from the mouth of an enormous toad stone statue, an old toad with wrinkled skin, wearing a scholar's cap and prayer beads, looking like it could pass away at any moment, tottered out, leaning on a cane.
It was the Great Toad Sage of Mount Myōboku, Gamamaru.
However, at this moment, it showed no sign of its usual confusion and laziness. Its seemingly dim eyes were filled with unprecedented clarity and... awe.
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