Mount Myōboku — Deep Palace
At this moment, seated atop a towering throne was a gigantic toad that had lived for over a thousand years—the being revered by Jiraiya and all of Mount Myōboku as the Great Toad Sage.
The cultivation of senjutsu chakra was unfathomably profound, and the Sage's strength even more so.
Around his neck hung a string of red prayer beads. At the front of the necklace, resting against his chest, was an emblem almost identical to the forehead protector Jiraiya would wear in his later years—bearing the single character:
(Oil).
"Little Jiraiya, you've arrived. Did your mission go smoothly?"
The small, green-skinned elderly toad—Fukasaku Sage—stood to the side of the hall and greeted Jiraiya.
Through the toads Jiraiya had summoned before, Fukasaku already knew quite a bit about his recent situation.
"Not so great, I'm afraid, Fukasaku-sama," Jiraiya scratched his head.
"You know how it is. The ninja world's in the middle of war—I'm just doing what I can."
Fukasaku nodded slightly, about to speak again, when a faint sound came from the enormous throne above, interrupting him. Turning toward the Great Toad Sage, Fukasaku announced:
"Great Toad Sage-sama, Little Jiraiya has arrived."
After a long pause, the Great Toad Sage once again looked as though he was about to fall asleep. A large vein-popping symbol appeared on Fukasaku's forehead as he raised his voice:
"Great Toad Sage-sama!"
"Little Jiraiya is here! If there's a prophecy, please tell him already!!"
"Huh? Little Jiraiya? Oh~"
The Great Toad Sage rubbed his wrinkled head and looked down at the white-haired young man below, who was so nervous he was about to break into a sweat. Tilting his head, he asked:
"Who's Little Jiraiya?"
Bang! ×2
"It's me! Jiraiya! Jiraiya of Konoha!" Jiraiya cried out.
"Didn't you tell me about the Child of Prophecy before, Great Sage?!"
Somehow producing a handkerchief from nowhere, Jiraiya wiped the sweat from his brow, silently screaming inside: Why is it always like this every time?!
"Ohhh~! Now I remember. Little Jiraiya."
The Great Toad Sage seemed to struggle to pry open his drooping eyelids. After a moment, his tone grew solemn.
"Little Jiraiya… this time, there is one piece of good news and one piece of bad news I must tell you."
"Which would you like to hear fir—snore… huff…"
"..." ×2
"Ahem! Great Toad Sage!"
Fukasaku shouted again, finally jolting the Sage awake mid-sentence.
"Oh! My apologies, my apologies~"
The Great Toad Sage rubbed his head again.
"Now then, where was I?"
Jiraiya sighed helplessly.
"Great Sage, please… just tell me the good news first."
"Oh, oh! The good news, the good news."
Sitting upright on his throne, the Great Toad Sage suddenly became calm and solemn, gazing straight at Jiraiya.
"Previously, among the Children of Prophecy, there existed the possibility that one might destroy the world."
"Now… that possibility is gone."
"Gone?!" Jiraiya blurted out excitedly.
"Then doesn't that mean—?!"
"Not quite, Little Jiraiya~"
The Great Toad Sage raised a hand to calm him, letting out a long sigh.
"You see…
This is actually the result of the bad news."
"In the future, there will appear someone with golden hair."
"This person will possess the absolute power to destroy the world."
"However—"
"He is not your disciple."
"The only distinguishing traits…"
"Are that overwhelming, explosive power—"
"And that head of radiant golden hair…"
Jiraiya: "..."
Suddenly, he thought of a student he'd taken a liking to at the Ninja Academy. One who fit that description a little too well…
"Hiss—!"
"So Minato actually has the power to destroy the world?!" Jiraiya sucked in a sharp breath.
"Oh~ it seems you already have someone in mind," the Great Toad Sage said curiously.
"Care to tell me who that is?"
Jiraiya puffed out his chest proudly, pointing his thumb at himself.
"Of course! It's going to be one of my future disciples—my pride and joy!"
"..." ×2
Fukasaku covered his face. The Great Toad Sage's prophecies were never wrong—meaning Jiraiya's guess was definitely wrong.
"Eh? Did I just say something…? I've forgotten again."
The Great Toad Sage scratched his head.
"Old age does that to you."
Seeing this, Fukasaku stepped in.
"Little Jiraiya, the Great Toad Sage just said—
The golden-haired person with the power to destroy the world—
Is not your disciple."
Not your disciple.
Not yours.
Not you.
Not.
"N—Nooo—!"
In Jiraiya's imagination, he saw a powerful disciple flying out of his grasp. He reached desperately to pull them back.
In reality, his dramatic reaching gesture made the atmosphere extremely awkward.
He coughed lightly and forced himself to sound serious.
"I see.
If it's not Minato, then perhaps it's Minato's future child… or someone else somewhere in the ninja world.
Golden hair is rare, but not that rare."
"I'll try my best to find him."
"But—are there any more clues? Gender, maybe?
And what about the original Child of Prophecy?"
"The original one…"
The Great Toad Sage sighed softly.
"Compared to this new golden-haired individual, his strength is far weaker."
"As for distinguishing features—this is all my prophecy reveals."
"So, Little Jiraiya…"
"Even if he is not your disciple—"
"Please guide him toward the path of peace in the ninja world…"
huff… snore…
Fukasaku wiped the sweat from his brow and looked from the Great Toad Sage to the deeply worried Jiraiya.
"That's the prophecy, Little Jiraiya.
We're counting on you."
Jiraiya pushed aside, for now, the unease brought by the words 'power to destroy the world' and nodded solemnly.
"Leave it to me!"
Poof!
Jiraiya departed from the deep palace of Mount Myōboku.
Just as Fukasaku was about to leave quietly so as not to disturb the Great Toad Sage's sleep, the ancient toad suddenly continued speaking.
"If you fail to guide him…"
"He will become a terrifying ruler of the ninja world."
"Whether the ninja realm or the summoning realms—
None will escape his grasp…"
huff… snore…
At that instant, Fukasaku's scalp went numb.
He turned back urgently.
"Great Toad Sage-sama! Please, explain that more clearly!"
This time, however, the Great Toad Sage did not respond.
Only Fukasaku's worried figure remained as he slowly departed the hall.
"Hah—hah—achoo!"
In a courtyard back in Konoha, Baixing rubbed his nose. He felt like someone was talking about him again, but didn't think much of it, turning his gaze toward Nawaki, who was practicing summoning.
The brown-haired boy wore a look of intense concentration. In a way that even made Baixing flinch, Nawaki bit his finger and slammed his palm onto the ground.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
Poof!
White smoke burst forth.
Judging by the height of the smoke—and how quickly it sank—Baixing couldn't help but think: With this talent… you can sit at the same table as Naruto, buddy.
When the smoke cleared, a jade-green snake lay on the ground, flicking out a small, pink tongue as its curious little eyes surveyed the surroundings.
"Hehe~ Qingqing! Long time no see~"
Nawaki hugged the snake and rubbed it against his cheek.
Qingqing looked disgusted and turned its head away, its gaze instead locking onto Baixing, who was sitting gracefully nearby.
As for the side where Might Guy was doing upside-down push-ups?
Completely ignored.
—This snake hadn't grown yet. For now, it was a weak venomous snake with only non-lethal paralytic poison.
Back then, after seeing Nawaki's summoning aptitude, Orochimaru had decisively instructed him to focus primarily on developing his three chakra nature affinities, with taijutsu and shuriken skills as supplements.
"Hiss~?"
"Oh! He's my teammate," Nawaki scratched his head.
"You haven't really been useful lately, so I didn't summon you before."
Instantly, countless anger veins popped up above Qingqing's head. It coiled around Nawaki's neck—not affectionately, but furiously.
"There's a handsome guy here and you didn't summon me?!!"
"..."
"S-sumimasen~!"
/(ㄒoㄒ)/
From Baixing's perspective, Qingqing and Nawaki actually seemed to get along pretty well.
Unfortunately, Baixing didn't have a Ryūchi Cave contract scroll, nor any summoning contract with Qingqing—
So he couldn't understand a single word of what the snake was saying.
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