Chapter 251: The Toad Sage and the Slug Sage
Mei Terumī was deeply conflicted.
Rationality told her she absolutely could not easily trust a powerful foreign enemy who had just slain the Kage of her village.
Ikeizumi Uchiha's doctrine of "Absolute Justice" sounded noble, but who could guarantee it wasn't a lavish facade concealing ambitions of invasion?
What if he was merely using this rhetoric to lower the Hidden Mist's guard?
And was actually harboring malicious intent to invade the Mist Village?
However, as soon as this doubt flashed through her mind, she forcibly dismissed it.
The subtle internal struggle vanished as well.
The reason was simple.
If Ikeizumi Uchiha truly harbored ill intent, he could have easily used Jūzō Biwa, who was much more familiar with the Hidden Mist Village's terrain, to lead the way directly.
But he didn't. Instead, he gave her and Ao this opportunity to "choose."
This was a signal in itself.
Cooperation might secure a slim chance of survival; resistance would likely lead to the same fate as the Fourth Mizukage.
Although this was largely Mei Terumī's own over-analyzed interpretation, she couldn't be certain of its correctness.
But she dared not take the risk.
'I cannot die here yet '
Mei Terumī silently vowed.
The future of the Hidden Mist Village still needed someone to change it. If she were to die senselessly at the hands of this person now, all her hopes and efforts would be for naught.
Under Ao's startled and even slightly disapproving gaze, Mei Terumī nodded with a solemn expression, as if having made a profound decision.
She met Ikeizumi Uchiha's calm gaze and spoke: "...Alright. I will take you to the Hidden Mist Village."
She paused, adding a sentence that sounded somewhat incredible even to herself: "But Ikeizumi Uchiha, if your actions are inconsistent with your words, if you truly intend harm to the Hidden Mist Village I will stop you, even at the cost of my life!"
After uttering this sentence, even she wondered where this courage came from.
Perhaps it was precisely because something deep inside her heart was more important than her own life or death.
"You can rest assured."
At this moment, Izumi, standing behind Ikeizumi Uchiha, spoke up, her tone serious: "Ikeizumi-senpai harbors no ambition to invade your Hidden Mist Village, and he is definitely not the kind of person who would proactively incite war between two nations. His goal remains the cleansing of sin in the ninja world."
Ao looked left and right, his lips twitching, seemingly wanting to voice words of dissuasion or doubt.
But he was met with a glance from Mei Terumī that was discreet yet exceptionally severe, silencing him.
Ao could only swallow his words back down.
But the worry on his face did not diminish in the slightest.
"Cough... Cough, cough "
Meanwhile, in a devastated forest a few kilometers away from the battlefield.
Zabuza Momochi strained with his still-intact arm, heavily shoving aside a giant segment of wood pressing down on him.
The tearing pain that radiated from his entire body made every breath feel like a knife cutting him.
He turned his head with difficulty to look beside him.
He saw a fellow Hidden Mist Anbu ninja whose body was half crushed under a massive rock. Blood was continuously seeping out from the edge of the rock, staining the scorched earth.
The person was long gone.
Zabuza Momochi slowly exhaled a breath tainted with the smell of blood.
Relying on sheer willpower, he struggled and staggered to his feet.
Every movement pulled at countless bone fractures and internal injuries.
He raised his head, looking toward the desolate, scorched landscape ahead, which looked as if it had been baptized by divine wrath.
The two enormous craters formed by the Tailed Beast Ball explosions were like scars on the earth.
Further away was a massive mountain that had collapsed toward both sides.
He could vaguely see dark red lava slowly flowing in some of the ravines.
The pungent smell of sulfur drifted over with the wind.
Irritating his already dizzy brain.
"Who won? And who lost?"
The two most crucial questions involuntarily surfaced in his exhausted mind.
Blood flowing from the wound on his head blurred his vision on one side, but he still frowned intensely.
Compared to the "minor matter" of his own miraculous survival from that world-destroying explosion, he was more concerned with one thing had the Fourth Mizukage, that nightmare of the Bloody Mist Policy for the Hidden Mist Village and the Land of Water, been killed by the enemy?
Zabuza Momochi gritted his teeth, forcing himself to endure the bone-breaking pain. He dragged a leg that barely obeyed his commands, staggering and crawling, step by step, toward the center of that zone of destruction.
At his tortoise-like pace, by the time he finally reached the core scorched earth, utterly exhausted
The sky had already completely darkened.
Under the night sky, only the dark red glow emanating from the lava ravines faintly illuminated this land of deathly silence.
Zabuza Momochi looked utterly exhausted, his face pale as paper, panting heavily.
As if he would collapse at any moment.
He looked around he didn't find the figure of the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura Karatachi, nor the traces of that Konoha Lava Release monster.
Only the shocking marks left by the battle remained.
A deathly silence enveloped Zabuza Momochi. This situation already gave him the clearest answer.
Mizukage-sama was killed!
Because logically, if the Mizukage-sama had won, he would surely have remained at the scene, gathered his surviving subordinates, and regrouped.
"Hoo... "
A string that had been tightly stretched in his heart suddenly seemed to snap.
Zabuza Momochi completely lost all strength and fell heavily backward, collapsing onto the still-warm scorched earth.
His gaze rested upon the night sky, obscured by dust, where neither stars nor moon were visible.
"Today "
"Is utterly absurd "
"Like a dream."
He murmured weakly.
In a corner of an inconspicuous small tavern in the Konoha Village.
Jiraiya sat gloomily on a chair, pouring himself one cup of sake after another.
The alcohol vapor spread, bringing a slight tipsiness, making him look utterly dejected.
Gone was the passion and vitality he usually exhibited when seeking the "Child of Prophecy."
"There's absolutely no way for me to get close to Naruto with Tsunade around."
He complained drunkenly to the two Toad Sages on the table, his voice slightly slurred: "The Old Man (Hiruzen Sarutobi) also seems not to fully understand the prophecy of the Great Toad Sage of Mount Myōboku."
Jiraiya heavily sighed, continuing: "Plus, there's another Sage supporting Tsunade from behind, explicitly opposing us taking Naruto away. The resistance is too great."
He rubbed his throbbing temples.
"And after that previous confrontation, the people in the Konoha Military Police Force are watching me like a thief!"
A bitter expression appeared on Jiraiya's face: "If I deliberately try to approach Naruto Uzumaki, those Uchiha ninjas will surely step in immediately to stop me. If I insist on taking Naruto away, they'll surely see me as an enemy of justice, and by then, I'll be forced to fight them."
He tilted his head back and downed another cup of sake, his tone filled with powerlessness: "Hoo... And there's absolutely no way I'd engage in an armed conflict with my comrades in the village. I'm completely out of options."
Fukasaku Sage and Shima Sage exchanged glances, both seeing deep helplessness in the other's toad eyes.
They also hadn't anticipated that finding the Child of Prophecy would be easy, but attempting to bring him back to Mount Myōboku for training would be this difficult!
Infinitely more difficult than finding the Child of Prophecy itself!
The entire Konoha Village, from top to bottom, seemed to be subconsciously opposing Mount Myōboku's plan.
"Have you reached the Great Toad Sage?" Jiraiya put down his sake cup, asking with a final sliver of hope: "Has the Great Toad Sage given any new instructions or response yet?"
Fukasaku Sage shook his head, his voice low: "Not yet. However the Old Master seems to have left Mount Myōboku."
"What?" Jiraiya was startled, the intoxication lifting somewhat.
In his impression, the Great Toad Sage, who had lived for over a thousand years, had almost never left the Holy Land of Mount Myōboku.
Shima Sage interjected, her tone uncertain: "We don't know exactly where the Old Master went. He didn't inform us. But I suspect the Old Master went to find the Slug Sage."
Jiraiya dimly realized something: "He intends to personally negotiate with the Slug Sage?"
Shima Sage nodded: "Probably that's the case."
As the words fell, silence once again descended upon the person and the two toads.
The three pairs of eyes looked at each other, unsure what the next step should be.
On the other side, in Shikkotsu Forest one of the Three Great Holy Lands, on par with Mount Myōboku.
Just as Shima Sage had guessed, the Great Toad Sage's colossal figure now stood in this place, which was full of vitality yet imbued with an ancient aura.
Opposite it was a giant clone of the Slug Sage, similar in size to the Great Toad Sage.
The Great Toad Sage sat down authoritatively on the ground.
It produced two sake bowls, larger than a human, and a bottle of specialized shochu that emitted a mellow fragrance, from who knows where.
It skillfully filled both bowls with sake.
The liquid shimmered.
The Great Toad Sage lifted its heavy eyelids, gazed at the gently-spirited Slug Sage clone, grabbed a sake bowl first, and tilted its head back to drink half of it.
Afterward, it finally spoke, its voice ancient and heavy: "Slug Sage, you should know that this old man's prophecies are not baseless speculation. You and I both personally experienced that disaster a thousand years ago that nearly toppled the ninja world. The world we live in has always been coveted by certain entities."
Its tone carried a sense of historical weight: "Everything Mount Myōboku does is to allow the ninja world to avoid that inevitable doomsday future. The Child of Prophecy, Naruto Uzumaki, is the only hope who can bring about change and liberation for the ninja world at a critical moment in the future."
"Without his proper guidance, even this old man cannot foresee what dark abyss the ninja world will eventually slide into."
The Great Toad Sage's gaze became incredibly serious: "Perhaps the complete destruction of the entire ninja world is not impossible."
The Slug Sage's clone lowered its head, glanced at the sake bowl in front of it, which looked somewhat out of place for a slug, and slowly shook its head. Its voice was as gentle and calm as ever: "I do not drink."
Then, it responded to the Great Toad Sage: "If Naruto Uzumaki is truly the 'Savior' of the prophecy, then his path to growth is not necessarily limited to Mount Myōboku."
"I believe that the ideals and power of 'Absolute Justice' also hold the potential to cultivate him into a qualified protector of the ninja world."
"Since even your Great Toad Sage's prophecy cannot clearly foresee the specific changes 'Absolute Justice' will bring to the ninja world, then why not choose to quietly observe for a while?"
The Slug Sage continued slowly: "Perhaps you might see a path to a better future, entirely different from your past prophecies, emerging from the practice of 'Absolute Justice.' That is always a possibility."
The Great Toad Sage remained silent for a long while. No expression could be discerned on its huge toad face: "The uncertainty of 'Absolute Justice' is too great. Mount Myōboku and indeed the entire ninja world cannot afford this risk."
It emphasized: "In the past, Mount Myōboku, through the Child of Prophecy, brought relative peace to the ninja world for a thousand years. This proves that the path this old man chose is effective."
It paused, then said: "And 'Absolute Justice' is an unprecedented, brand-new path. The road ahead is shrouded in mist, making it impossible for this old man to clearly see the future."
"Slug Sage, in this old man's memory, you are not the type of personality willing to take risks so easily. Can you tell this old man the true reason for your insistence?"
The Slug Sage seemed unsurprised by the question. It answered frankly: "You glimpse fragments of the future in your sleep. And I have seen another possibility through my observation."
The Great Toad Sage was slightly taken aback: "Observation "
The Slug Sage nodded, continuing: "Mount Myōboku does not necessarily need to hold such great prejudice against 'Absolute Justice.' You haven't even tried to devote some effort to understand it in depth, so how can you definitively conclude that it cannot bring about a future more beautiful than the one in your prophecy?"
"Therefore, I suggest you observe the developments for the time being. For existences such as you and me, time is not a scarce commodity."
"Perhaps, in the time it takes for you to simply sleep, the changes in the ninja world will become apparent."
Hearing this, the Great Toad Sage took a deep breath.
It slowly rose from its authoritative seated posture, gazed deeply at the Slug Sage clone, and finally said: "The risk remains immense."
"However, since you, Slug Sage, insist so strongly then this old man can temporarily suppress his impatience and watch patiently."
The Slug Sage clone offered a gentle response: "Thank you for your understanding."
After watching the Great Toad Sage's colossal figure disappear into the deep mist of Shikkotsu Forest.
The clone seemed to deflate instantly, its entire body slumping down.
It complained weakly, in a voice only it could hear: "I'm only a small clone! This level of negotiation with the Sage of Mount Myōboku why do I have to be given such an important task? I nearly thought the atmosphere was off and I was about to be eaten in one gulp by the toad."
The moment its complaint ended, the ground beneath its feet seemed to tremble slightly.
A vague yet gentle wave of thought was transmitted.
Seeming to respond to something.
Immediately after
The clone's body began to rapidly fuse with the "earth" beneath its feet, like a drop of water dissolving into the sea.
The next moment
RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE
The entire ground of Shikkotsu Forest began to tremble violently!
A head, too colossal to be described with words, slowly rose from the depths of the earth!
It was impossible to visually estimate the size of its body.
It was as if it was the Holy Land itself!
The true main body of the Slug Sage quietly gazed into the distance.
Utterly silent.