Chapter 471: The Disciple Dies, Not the Master
Jiraiya kept emphasizing that the situation was urgent. Sage Shima had no choice but to bring Jiraiya into the main hall of Mount Myoboku. Then she hopped to the side of the Great Toad Sage's ear and woke the sleeping giant frog.
"Great Toad Sage, Naruto is critically injured and on the verge of death. Hurry up and give me—"
Jiraiya had just started speaking, before he could finish, when he saw that the Great Toad Sage, who had just opened his eyes, had already started snoring again.
Sage Shima had no choice but to wake him up once more.
"Great Toad Sage, Naruto—"
"Zzzzz—"
"..."
"Sage Shima, how about you try this."
Jiraiya pulled out a handful of senbon from behind his back.
"How dare you, Jiraiya boy! You want to harm the Great Toad Sage?! You're the one rambling without getting to the point, and now you're blaming the Great Toad Sage for only staying awake a short time?"
Sage Shima immediately flew into a rage upon hearing this.
Until now, no one knew why the Great Toad Sage loved sleeping so much.
But after the advent of shinobi world (wild) history, Sage Shima finally understood.
The Great Toad Sage had made a grand prophecy and suffered backlash from it, which forced him into constant sleep.
This was a great sacrifice.
Even if the other toads of Mount Myoboku had to take care of him for hundreds or thousands of years, it would still be worth it.
"Alright, Sage Shima. Then please help me wake the Great Toad Sage one last time."
Jiraiya had no choice but to compromise.
Since there was no way to extend the Great Toad Sage's awake time, he could only do as Sage Shima said and shorten his own words.
"Naruto is about to die. Give me the talisman already!"
The moment he saw the Great Toad Sage open his eyes again, Jiraiya shouted at the top of his lungs in the fastest possible speed.
After shouting, he stared nervously at the Great Toad Sage, afraid it would yawn and fall asleep again.
This time, however, the Great Toad Sage seemed to have been disturbed by Jiraiya's voice and didn't immediately fall back asleep.
Instead, he turned his gaze toward Jiraiya below.
Just when Jiraiya thought he had succeeded, the Great Toad Sage slowly said, "What did you just say?"
Thud!
Jiraiya collapsed forward in despair.
"The talisman, the talisman! Jiraiya boy somehow heard that you have a talisman that can bring the dead back to life. He wants one to save Naruto—by the way, what exactly happened to Naruto?"
Sage Shima repeated it for Jiraiya.
"Oh… Naruto, the child of prophecy, the boy destined to laugh wildly and be inevitably tied to the Nine-Tailed Beasts…"
The Great Toad Sage rolled his eyes back, mumbling incoherently.
"Huh?"
Sage Shima picked at her ear, wondering if she had heard wrong.
It sounded a bit different from before.
"Great Toad Sage, the talisman, the talisman!" Jiraiya, hearing that the Great Toad Sage was responding, immediately sprang back up like a carp.
"The talisman…"
"Yes!"
"What is that?"
"...A piece of paper! A paper infused with senjutsu chakra!"
"Oh, that thing."
As if he finally understood, the Great Toad Sage reached his hand behind him, pulled out a piece of paper, and tossed it toward Jiraiya.
"Great! The Great Toad Sage hasn't completely lost his senile memory yet."
Jiraiya excitedly jumped up, caught the "talisman", and carefully tucked it into his pocket.
When he landed and looked up again, the Great Toad Sage had already fallen back asleep.
"Sleeping that much… come to think of it, when Orochimaru and Tsunade mentioned it before, the White Snake Sage and the Slug Sage don't sleep this much either. Could it be really like what those novels say?"
Jiraiya muttered to himself.
In those novels, it was said that the Great Toad Sage had an unspeakable relationship with the Sage of Six Paths. Later, the Sage of Six Paths abandoned him and became obsessed with the Tailed Beasts instead.
To take revenge on the man who abandoned him, the Great Toad Sage made a prophecy that the reincarnation of the Sage of Six Paths' son would take away his beloved Tailed Beasts.
Jiraiya had never believed it before. After all, as Mount Myoboku's contract holder, even though he acted carefree, he still respected the Great Toad Sage in his heart.
But now… it was starting to feel more and more real.
Not only because of the changes in the Great Toad Sage, but also because of the changes in the shinobi world itself.
"Forget it. No point overthinking. I need to go back and save Naruto first."
Jiraiya shook his head and used a reverse summoning technique to return to Konoha.
The moment he arrived, he heard a familiar Shout, "Uzumaki Naruto, YOU'RE ASKING FOR DEATH!!!!"
A chill ran down Jiraiya's spine, nearly scaring the life out of him.
Only after coming to his senses did he realize Tsunade wasn't shouting at him.
Shakily, Jiraiya pulled out the talisman from his chest.
Originally, he had planned to go save Naruto himself. But now it seemed… if he went, Naruto's death wasn't guaranteed, but he definitely would die.
Tsunade would absolutely assume he was the one who encouraged Naruto.
Even though that was indeed the case.
But he really didn't tell Naruto to go buy extra items!
Time was running out. What should he do?
Jiraiya's eyes scanned the surroundings and landed on Team 8, who were regrouping with their teammates. His eyes lit up.
"That's it."
Jiraiya descended from the sky and landed right in the middle of the group, startling all three of them.
"Jiraiya-sama?"
Shino instantly recognized him.
"That's right, it's me. I have an urgent mission for you. I hope you will put aside whatever you are doing right now."
"This concerns Naruto's life and death."
"Take this."
Jiraiya pulled out the talisman.
The three looked at each other.
In the end, the most outspoken one, Inuzuka Kiba, accepted it.
"Jiraiya-sama, why don't you go save Naruto yourself? And what exactly happened to Naruto? How is he suddenly about to die?"
Kiba asked in confusion.
It was also the question of Shino and Hinata.
"I still have to go save ninjas from other villages. I can't show favoritism just because Naruto is my student."
Jiraiya lifted his chin, putting on a selfless, righteous expression.
Then, without even waiting to enjoy the admiring gazes of his juniors, he turned and left without looking back.
This time, Jiraiya really ran.
Because he understood clearly: even if Team 8 saved Naruto, Tsunade would definitely ask where they got the talisman.
Once they answered, they would inevitably expose him.
And then Tsunade would still suspect him.
If he didn't run, she would use Hinata's Byakugan, Shino's insects, and Kiba's Akamaru to track him down, he would be exposed instantly.
To save his own life, Jiraiya had no choice but to flee Konoha.
As for the spread of sage mode… that could only be left entirely to Naruto now.
He just hoped Naruto could survive the first wave of severe damage and be reborn from the flames.
(End of this chapter)