The place called the Toad House was far more spacious than normal houses where humans lived.
The style of the furniture wasn't much different from human dwellings; the only unusual thing was the ingredients laid out in the kitchen. Apart from vegetables, things like snails, beetles, and locusts made up the bulk of the food.
Seeing these ingredients, Jiraiya's eyelid couldn't help twitching, as if he were recalling some not‑so‑pleasant memory.
If he remembered correctly, it was back when he was training Immortal Technique on Mount Myoboku, and the two Immortals of Mount Myoboku treated him with ingredients like these. In the end he of course didn't eat them, only finished the rice.
Even though after entering Sage Mode his outer appearance partially shifted to resemble a toad, that didn't mean he had any interest in what toads normally ate.
So Jiraiya planned to ask the Great Toad Sage his questions and then leave Mount Myoboku immediately to go look for Tsunade and persuade her to become Konoha's Fifth Hokage.
As soon as Jiraiya stepped through the door, Shima Sage, who was busy washing ingredients there, naturally noticed him.
"Just like that old geezer said, little Jiraiya, you really did come back safe and sound."
The "old geezer" in Shima Sage's mouth naturally referred to the Leader of Mount Myoboku, the Great Toad Sage.
The two Immortals of Mount Myoboku each had their own distinct personalities.
Compared to the steady‑tempered Fukasaku Sage, Shima Sage, as a housewife, tended to be irritable much of the time and often spoke rudely to the Leader, the Great Toad Sage. Thus on Mount Myoboku, Shima Sage's position belonged to the dominant side.
Seeing Jiraiya return safely, Shima Sage naturally took it as proof that the Great Toad Sage's prophecy had come true, and the taut string in her heart relaxed; she let out a long breath of relief.
"What old geezer? He's Lord Big Boss. And since Lord Big Boss already said Jiraiya would be fine, you don't need to worry all by yourself."
Fukasaku Sage, who had brought Jiraiya into the Toad House, spoke up, clearly displeased with Shima Sage's rudeness.
"Did I say anything wrong? Isn't he just an old toad with one foot in the coffin? Besides, who knows whether that was really a prophecy or just him daydreaming."
Shima Sage didn't distrust the Great Toad Sage's ability to prophesy; it was just that over these hundreds and thousands of years, the Great Toad Sage had more than once mixed up prophecy and dreams, leaving Shima unsure whether he was actually prophesying or had simply had a dream.
After all, having lived to such an age, poor eyesight and muddled senses were only to be expected.
"Come on, you two, don't start arguing over me here. I came uninvited this time mainly to ask the Great Toad Sage whether any new prophecy has appeared, and why my Sage Mode was dispelled that day. Speaking of which, Big Sis, what exactly happened to you that day?"
He remembered that Shima Sage had accidentally been scratched by that strange red spear that day, which had led to the problem with his Sage Mode.
At that time something clearly abnormal had happened to Shima Sage's body, otherwise it wouldn't have affected his Sage Mode.
Jiraiya wanted to ask Shima Sage what had caused Sage Mode to be dispelled that day.
Only then did Shima Sage withdraw the fierce glare she'd been aiming at Fukasaku Sage. She then hopped in front of Jiraiya, lifted her head to look up at him, and said, "It's not all that hard to understand, really. If I'm not mistaken, little Jiraiya, you can't enter Sage Mode by yourself, can you?"
"Right. I can sense Natural Energy, but my absorption and fusion of it aren't very good. Especially the fusion of Natural Energy and Chakra—that's the part I'm worst at."
As Jiraiya said this, he grew a bit dispirited.
This was also the biggest weakness of his Sage Mode: he needed the two Immortals to provide him with a platform to fuse Chakra and Natural Energy into Sage Art Chakra.
Without the two Immortals, he had no way to enter Sage Mode by himself. Moreover, once either of the two Immortals left his body for a certain amount of time, it would also cause Sage Mode to be dispelled.
In other words, his Sage Mode was highly dependent on outside help to refine Sage Art Chakra; he couldn't achieve self‑sufficiency.
"And that's where the problem lies."
Shima Sage gave Jiraiya a look and sighed helplessly.
"What do you mean?"
"Your Sage Mode requires me and the kid's dad to maintain it. If either I or the kid's dad has any problem, it will cause your Sage Mode to malfunction. So after I was wounded by that spear, your Sage Mode being dispelled was only natural."
That was how Shima Sage put it.
"Could you explain it in more detail, Big Sis? I still don't really get why being wounded by that spear makes it 'only natural' for Sage Mode to be dispelled."
Jiraiya looked at Shima Sage, puzzled.
Fukasaku Sage answered from the side, "Little Jiraiya, you've learned our Mount Myoboku Immortal Technique, so you should know what so‑called Immortal Technique is. It's the fusion of Natural Energy and Chakra. If you lose one part of that energy—for example, you can use Natural Energy but not Chakra, or you can use Chakra but not Natural Energy—then you can't use Immortal Technique."
Jiraiya seemed to be deep in thought. Suddenly he understood something, his eyes widening.
"Boss Fukasaku, you mean…?"
Fukasaku Sage and Shima Sage both had heavy expressions on their faces.