---Konoha - The Kenway Compound - Backyard---
Alaric and Jiraiya were now left by themselves in the expansive backyard of the main house. The cherry blossoms continued to drift down, ignoring the tension that was beginning to coil between the two men.
Haku had guided Naruto inside the house, ostensibly to show him the "cool bedrooms and designs of the house," but in reality to give the adults space. Haku was perceptive like that.
Jiraiya watched them go, waiting until the sliding door clicked shut. Then, his demeanor shifted. The goofy, perverted sage vanished, replaced by the veteran Sannin who had survived wars.
"So," Jiraiya started, sitting down heavily on a newly grown wooden chair across from Alaric. He crossed his arms, his eyes sharp. "What is it you want? You fixed the seal. You impressed the kid. Now, the price."
Seeing Jiraiya's seriousness, Alaric didn't rush. He reached into his coat, pulled out another cigar, and lit it with a snap of his fingers. He took a long, contemplative drag, letting the smoke fill his lungs before exhaling slowly.
"Before that," Alaric said, his voice low. "You and Naruto will be heading to Tanzaku Gai to convince Tsunade Senju to become the Godaime Hokage, right?"
"Huh?" Jiraiya blinked, his guard faltering for a second. "Did the old man tell you?"
"No," Alaric shook his head, tapping the ash into a small tray he materialized from his inventory. "It's quite obvious. The old man has had enough. He's tired, Jiraiya. You, on the other hand, wouldn't want to become Hokage because you hate the desk and love the road. Danzo is... well, dead or missing, and untrustworthy besides. The only option left is the Slug Princess."
He leaned back. "And my intel says she's currently gambling away her savings… or well, her debt, in Tanzaku Gai."
Half of what Alaric said was a smooth lie… he knew because of the plot, not intel… but Jiraiya didn't need to know that.
"Hmm..." Jiraiya scanned Alaric for a moment, searching for deceit. He found none. "Yeah. That'd be correct. The Council and old man wants her back."
Alaric nodded back, humming thoughtfully. "Alright... now for what I want..."
He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, his blue eyes locking onto Jiraiya's.
"What I want is for the last Namikaze to be given his right to know the truth."
It was like a bomb went off in the garden.
Jiraiya's eyes widened to the size of saucers. His mouth opened slightly, but no sound came out. "W-What?"
The Toad Sage was shocked. Visibly, violently shocked. Did the Old Man tell Alaric? No, that was impossible. Hiruzen guarded that secret like a dragon guarded gold. Alaric wasn't someone with a direct relation to Minato or Kushina.
Jiraiya's mind raced. He looked at Alaric's platinum blonde hair. Could there be a possibility that Minato had a distant relative? A cousin from a civilian branch? No, the Namikaze line was practically nonexistent before Minato.
"How?" Jiraiya finally recovered his composure, his voice dropping an octave. His eyes narrowed dangerously, his chakra spiking. He was ready to summon Gamabunta right here if needed.
Sensing Jiraiya's hostility, Alaric didn't flinch. He just took another drag from his cigar and chuckled softly, waving a hand dismissively through the smoke.
"Calm down, Sage. I have my ways."
Alaric's expression sobered.
"Anyways... you guys did great in keeping Naruto's heritage a secret, like how Minato wanted. I mean, yes, it had its ups and downs," Alaric stared at the Toad Sannin, his gaze critical. "I get the logic. Iwa would have sent an army of assassins to eliminate another potential Yellow Flash if news got out. Kumo would have tried to kidnap him as well."
Alaric leaned back, crossing his legs.
"However... you failed at protecting Naruto from the village itself."
Jiraiya winced.
"I pity the kid, you know," Alaric continued, his voice devoid of mockery. "Hated and persecuted for being a container. Becoming a pariah at such an early age. Drinking spoiled milk because store owners wouldn't sell to him. Growing up thinking he was a monster because no one told him his father died to save them by making his own child a living sacrifice."
"..." Jiraiya couldn't reply. He stared at the ground, a tint of deep, old guilt painted in his eyes. He had been away. Spying. Writing. Running from his own failures.
The blonde exhaled smoke, watching the petals fall. "Jiraiya, I'm not here to play a saint nor am I here to play a hero. I just pity young Naruto. After all, he's just a kid who wants to know who he is. He deserves to know that he isn't just the Fox."
"..."
"..."
"I... can't," Jiraiya finally said, shaking his head slightly. He sighed, massaging his temples. "Naruto's still too young. He's impulsive. If he knows he's the Fourth's son... the pressure... the target on his back... he-"
"-He will handle it," Alaric cut off Jiraiya's worries firmly. "I'm not saying you tell him right here, right now. Take him out of Konoha. Train him. Properly. Not just chakra control, but mindset."
Alaric gestured with his cigar. "Take him for at least three years. Transform him. Bring him to Mount Myōboku and have the toads teach him Sage Mode. Let him master his own power. Then... when he's strong enough to carry the name... tell him."
"..." Once again, Jiraiya's eyes widened. "Sage Mode? H-How do you know about that!?"
"Oh, I know a lotta things, Jiraiya-san," Alaric smirked, tapping his temple. "I know that you regret lots of things regarding the Yondaime Hokage and his family. I know about the prophecy you received from Gamamaru. And I know that Naruto may be loud and acts like a brat, but he's a genius... in an unorthodox way. He's calculative when it counts. He sees people, not ranks. He's not stupid, just loyal and hopeful."
"..."
"..."
Silence passed by again, heavy and thoughtful. Alaric calmly smoked, letting the Sannin process the intrusion into his most private secrets.
"I'll... try," Jiraiya finally gave in with a long, resigned sigh. He looked older in that moment. "I'll need to inform the Old Man about this though... it's not a decision I can make willy-nilly. But... you're right. He deserves to know."
"That's good to hear," Hearing the positive response, Alaric smiled and got up from his wooden chair. "I wish you luck, Jiraiya-san. Convincing Tsunade is harder than fighting Orochimaru."
Jiraiya stared at Alaric for a moment before chuckling. He stood up, stretching his back. "You're probably right about that too. She hits harder than him."
He nodded his head at Alaric in defeat. "Well then, if there's nothing else... I'm out. Me and Naruto have a hot-tempered lady to find."
As Jiraiya turned to walk back to the house to retrieve his godson, Alaric called out one last time.
"Oh... and one more thing."
"Hm?" Jiraiya turned around with a raised brow. "What is it?"
"Here."
Alaric tossed a small, rectangular sealing tag toward Jiraiya. The Sannin caught it effortlessly.
It wasn't paper. It felt like a thin sheet of metal, warm to the touch, inscribed with a formula Jiraiya didn't recognize.
"It's something tied to me," Alaric explained.
"If you ever want to train the kid in accessing the Nine-Tails' chakra and things go south... or if the Akatsuki show up and you're outnumbered... pump chakra into that."
Alaric smiled, a confident, dangerous expression. "I'll arrive in a flash."
Hearing this, Jiraiya widened his eyes once more. 'Akatsuki? In a flash!? That means he can use Space-Time Ninjutsu? Like Minato? What the hell is going on!?'
Jiraiya stared at the tag, then at Alaric, before shaking his head and chuckling. He pocketed the tag carefully.
"Wow... this day has been a lot to take in. You really are full of surprises, Alaric. Interesting!"
With that, Jiraiya waved and walked away.
Alaric stood alone in the garden, finishing his cigar. He looked up at the sky.
"I wonder how much butterfly effect will change the course of this world from the original story," he muttered. 'Well, it don't matter… me being here already disrupted everything.'
"Interesting indeed…"
---Mount Myōboku---
Mount Myōboku, the Land of Toads, was usually a place of noisy vibrancy. Flies buzzed, smaller toads croaked, and the waterfalls roared.
But today, it was unusually peaceful. Almost silent.
Steam curled lazily from a large iron pot as Shima, the Ma of the Toad Elders, hummed to herself. Her tail flicked rhythmically while she stirred a rich broth thick with herbs and questionable purple mushrooms gathered from the mountain's shaded cliffs.
"Oi, don't fall asleep again," she called over her shoulder, her voice shrill but fond.
Fukasaku, the Pa, lay sprawled on his back atop a smooth, sun-warmed stone. His hands were folded over his belly, eyes half-lidded.
"Hmph. I'm resting," he muttered grumpily. "At my age, that counts as work. Thinking is hard work."
"Hard work? Ha!" Shima snorted. "You rest more than you train."
Before Fukasaku could reply with a witty retort about efficient energy usage, the air shifted.
It was subtle... no explosion, no tremor... but both elder toads felt it immediately. The natural energy of the mountain seemed to inhale… and hold its breath.
Shima's stirring slowed to a halt. The ladle clinked against the pot.
"…Pa."
Fukasaku was already sitting up, his expression grave. His sensory abilities, honed over centuries, were screaming. "Yeah. I felt it too. A disturbance in the flow."
A low, resonant croak echoed across Mount Myōboku. It was ancient, heavy, and rolling through stone and moss alike.
A summons.
Not one of urgency... but of weight.
---The Great Hall of the Sage---
They arrived at the great hall where Gamamaru resided. The path was lined with toads of all sizes, all sitting still, sensing something wrong but daring not to speak.
High-ranking toads gathered one by one. Gamabunta towered near the entrance, his massive pipe unlit in his hand, his scars looking stark in the dim light. Gamahiro and Gamaken stood beside him, silent sentinels.
Shima and Fukasaku hopped to the front, standing together before the dais.
At the center, upon his massive cushion of stone and ancient roots, sat the Great Toad Sage, Gamamaru.
His eyes were open.
That alone sent a ripple of unease through the hall. Gamamaru rarely opened his eyes unless a vision was actively seizing him.
Gamamaru's ancient, cataract-clouded gaze drifted slowly over those assembled. The usual distant calm was… altered. Not panicked. Not alarmed.
Uncertain.
Gamabunta broke the silence first, his deep voice rumbling like an earthquake. "Oi, Great Sage. You don't call us all like this for nothing. What's going on? Is it the Akatsuki?"
Gamamaru inhaled deeply, the sound like wind passing through an old, hollow cavern.
"…The flow has changed."
Shima stiffened. "Changed? You mean… the prophecy?"
Gamamaru nodded just slightly. A movement that creaked with age.
"For as long as I have dreamed," he said, his voice slow and resonant, "the visions came to me as rivers. Sometimes branching, sometimes violent… but always flowing. Always moving forward toward a destination."
"And?" Fukasaku swallowed, stepping forward. "What about now?"
Gamamaru's eyes narrowed, not in focus on the room, but searching something beyond sight.
"Now… the river is still."
A murmur rippled through the gathered toads.
Gamabunta frowned deeply. "Still? You mean it's ended? The world is over?"
"No," Gamamaru replied. "Not ended."
He paused. For the first time in memory, the Great Sage hesitated. He looked confused.
"…Obscured."
The hall grew colder.
"I see fragments," Gamamaru continued, his voice slower now, heavier. "Echoes of futures that blur together like ink in water. I do not see hope… nor destruction. I do not see the blonde boy fighting the eyes of god."
The gathered toads remained motionless.
"All I see is… someone who does not belong here... yet is here. Present within the flow. A rock in the river that forces the water to move around it."
Fukasaku's breath caught. "An outsider?"
Gamamaru's massive eyelids lowered, as though the memory itself weighed physically upon him.
"When I nearly perceived who or what it was," he said quietly, "it looked at me."
A chill ran through the hall.
"Not as a vision," Gamamaru continued, "but as something aware. As though it could see through the dream… no—"
His eyes opened fully, wide and stark.
"As though it could see through the very fabric of prophecy and fate. It winked."
Silence followed... it was thick and suffocating.
Gamabunta shifted uneasily, clutching his pipe. "You're saying… this thing isn't bound by the prophecy at all?"
Gamamaru did not answer immediately.
"…I am saying," he finally replied, "that this is the first presence I have ever seen that does not flow within the future... but stands apart from it."
Shima's voice trembled. "But the Child of Prophecy... Jiraiya-chan's student..."
"I cannot see where they stand," Gamamaru admitted, his voice sounding incredibly old. "I am no longer confident in the Child of Prophecy's fate. The destination is no longer written."
The words landed like stone tablets shattering.
Fukasaku clenched his fists. "You've never been wrong before."
Gamamaru's gaze lowered.
"And that is what troubles me most."
He lifted his head again, eyes heavy with age and something closer to doubt.
"This is the first time… since I first dreamed… that I do not know what comes next."
Silence swallowed the hall. The certainty of the Toad Sage… the bedrock of their wisdom… had cracked.
Gamabunta exhaled slowly, putting his pipe away. "So what do we do?"
Gamamaru closed his eyes, settling back onto his cushion.
"…We watch. We prepare. And we understand that the world is stepping beyond what was foretold."
The ancient toad leaned back slightly, his voice barely above a whisper.
"Prophecies guide those who listen… but even they can be left behind by those who write their own stories."
Above Mount Myōboku, the wind shifted direction, blowing from a place that wasn't on any map.
And for the first time, the future did not answer.
.
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