Naruto withdrew his gaze, his body transforming into a streak of golden light as he flew toward the area where Jiraiya and Zetsu were battling.
When he arrived, Black and White Zetsu were sinking underground, leaving not even a trace of Chakra fluctuation behind, as if they had never appeared here from the very beginning.
Naruto activated both Mind's Eye of the Kagura and Negative Emotions Sensing to their maximum ranges simultaneously, scanning back and forth across the entire forest several times, yet he still could not capture any signal of them.
He furrowed his brows slightly. 'This should be Black Zetsu's ability. After all, as the incarnation of Kaguya's will, its concealment methods can even deceive the Sage of Six Paths.'
At this moment, Jiraiya was squatting on the ground with one hand pressed against the surface of the soil, attempting to use sensory ninjutsu to track the lingering aura of the Black and White Zetsu.
Seeing Naruto come over, Jiraiya straightened up. "How is the battle situation on your side, Naruto?"
"The masked man was beaten away."
Jiraiya nodded.
Although he had many doubts in his heart, such as who the masked man was, the top priority right now was to leave this area that might be targeted by the Akatsuki at any moment.
He bit his finger and slammed his palm onto the ground, summoning a messenger toad from Mount Myōboku. Jiraiya told it to have Fukasaku immediately perform Reverse Summoning Technique to pull both of them over.
The messenger toad acknowledged, transforming into a puff of white smoke and disappearing on the spot.
Soon, two forces of summons coming from the direction of Mount Myōboku enveloped both of them simultaneously. Their bodies turned into white smoke and disappeared amidst this ravaged forest.
Mount Myōboku.
The white smoke dissipated, and Naruto opened his eyes. He found himself in a place with a beautiful environment.
The sky was crystal clear, a few fluffy white clouds drifted leisurely by, and the air was filled with the faint fragrance of an unknown flower.
The roaring of a distant waterfall echoed in his ears, and a few palm-sized tadpoles swam between the crevices of the stone slabs. Surrounding them were towering rock pillars and giant toad statues reaching into the clouds.
This was Mount Myōboku, one of the three Sage Regions.
"Welcome to Mount Myōboku, Naruto."
Jiraiya opened his arms wide, taking a deep breath of the fresh air of Mount Myōboku, a relaxed expression appearing on his face.
Before Naruto could respond, two short figures leaped over. Although they were small in stature, their gazes revealed a sharpness refined through the passage of time.
"Sage Fukasaku, Sage Shima, long time no see." Jiraiya bowed to the two old toads.
"Jiraiya, you brat have gotten fatter again."
Shima looked Jiraiya up and down, then her gaze fell onto Naruto, slowly sweeping from top to bottom, and finally resting on his dark brown eyes, her expression slightly stunned.
Fukasaku raised his head to look at Naruto. "This child... he must be Minato's son, right? Although the colors of his hair and eyes are different from his father's, this face..."
"Look at his brow ridge and chin, they are practically carved from the same mold as Minato."
"That's right, you can recognize him without any introduction."
"Back when Minato was learning Sage Mode on Mount Myōboku..."
"In the blink of an eye, more than a decade has passed, and Minato's child has already grown this tall. Time really flies."
"My name is Uzumaki Naruto. Sage Fukasaku, Sage Shima, nice to meet you, please treat me well." Naruto bowed slightly.
Fukasaku nodded and turned to look at Jiraiya. "Jiraiya, bringing Naruto to Mount Myōboku this time, is there something special?"
Jiraiya replied, "I came here this time to ask both of you to teach Naruto Sage Mode. Kumogakure has already spread Naruto's intelligence across the entire Ninja World, and the Akatsuki has also begun frequent activities. Just before coming here, we even encountered members of the Akatsuki on the road."
"Although Naruto is already very strong now, to face the upcoming situation, the power of Sage Mode is indispensable."
Fukasaku and Shima exchanged glances.
After a brief silence, Fukasaku nodded. "Since that's the case, leave this child to us. Naruto is Minato's son, which also means he is Mount Myōboku's own child."
"However, learning Sage Mode is extremely perilous. A slight mishap will result in being backlashed by natural energy and turning into stone. Naruto, have you mentally prepared yourself?"
"I am ready." Naruto nodded.
"As long as you have the determination, that's good."
Fukasaku stroked his chin, then as if remembering something, turned to Shima. "The Great Toad Sage mentioned something earlier. If Minato's child came to Mount Myōboku, we should take him to meet him."
"Right. Naruto, come with us to see the Great Toad Sage first." Shima clapped her hands.
Naruto was certainly not unfamiliar with the Great Toad Sage, an ancient creature that had lived all the way from the era of the Sage of Six Paths to the present.
The two toads led Naruto and Jiraiya through overlapping stone steps and giant toad statues, arriving at the deepest main hall of Mount Myōboku.
On the high platform right in the center, a huge elderly toad was lying on its side on a soft couch. Its dark brown skin was covered with the wrinkles of time, its eyes were tightly closed and a trace of faint saliva hung at the corner of its mouth, as if it had been sleeping for a very long time.
"Great Toad Sage, Jiraiya has brought Minato's child."
Fukasaku jumped to the edge of the high platform, leaned close to the Great Toad Sage's ear, and raised his volume.
The Great Toad Sage showed no reaction at all, his snoring remaining steady.
Shima shook her head and stepped forward. "Great Toad Sage, wake up, guests have arrived!"
Still no reaction.
Fukasaku and Shima took a deep breath simultaneously and roared directly into the Great Toad Sage's ear canal.
"Great Toad Sage!"
"Mmm..."
The Great Toad Sage finally opened one eye. His cloudy eyes first looked blankly at the ceiling, then slowly turned toward the lower part of the high platform.
He stared at Jiraiya for a moment, then asked a question that made the entire scene fall silent, "Who... were you again?"
The smile that had just piled up on Jiraiya's face instantly froze.
Fukasaku hurriedly leaned close to the Great Toad Sage's ear to explain. "Great Toad Sage, this is Jiraiya."
"Jiraiya..."
"The white-haired brat who trained here before, who later became one of the Sannin renowned across the Ninja World, do you remember?"
Shima added, "The one next to him is Minato's child, Naruto."
"Minato..."
The Great Toad Sage repeated the name, his eyes turning toward Naruto.
"I remember. Minato... that blonde-haired child, who was very fast and smiled very nicely. His child has already grown this big now."
"Naruto, come closer."
Naruto walked to the front of the high platform.
The Great Toad Sage lowered his head slightly to look at Naruto, feeling a very familiar sensation wash over him.
After pondering for a moment, he said, "I recently had a dream about the Ninja World. In the dream, a youth stood at the very front of everyone, with the ninjas of the Five Great Nations behind him. He gathered all the divided powers together and led the Ninja World toward true peace."
"His eyes are brown, just like yours. His hair is black as well."
Fukasaku's pupils constricted slightly as his voice trembled a little. "Great Toad Sage, did you have another prophetic dream? How many years has it been since your last prophetic dream? The last time was when Jiraiya first came to Mount Myōboku, when you dreamed that he would take on a student who could save the Ninja World."
"The Child of Prophecy."
Shima turned her gaze to Naruto and shock appeared on her face.
Jiraiya felt as though his head had been struck by a belated bolt of lightning.
He stared blankly at Naruto—his student, the son of the Fourth Hokage, the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki who could crush the fully Tailed Beast Transformed Eight-Tails Jinchuriki head-on, the inheritor of the Flying Thunder God Technique, and the owner of Light Release.
He had searched for the Child of Prophecy for so many years, from Amegakure to Konoha, from Nagato to Minato, and then to Naruto.
He had always thought that the person capable of changing the Ninja World was hiding in some corner of the world waiting for him to discover. He never expected that the youth in the prophecy had already become his student three months ago.
Jiraiya suddenly felt as if the entire Ninja World had played a colossal joke on him.
"What a coincidence." Naruto's voice broke the silence in the hall.
He looked up at the Great Toad Sage, "Achieving peace in the Ninja World happens to be my goal as well."
Just then, the Great Toad Sage's snoring sounded. His newly opened eyes had closed again, and a hint of a satisfied smile still hung on the corner of his mouth, as if that earth-shattering prophecy just now was merely sleep-talking.
"Let's go, don't disturb the Great Toad Sage." Shima lowered her voice.
The group tiptoed out of the main hall.
***
40 Advanced Chapters on
[email protected]/alex_1000