"Kiba, don't get too excited yet. What's that saying again? The bigger the something, the bigger the something..."
Naruto tried to sound cultured, but because his knowledge base was tragically narrow, he got stuck halfway.
The bigger what? How embarrassing!
"With great power comes great responsibility?" Kiba filled in, feeling like he read that line in a novel somewhere.
"Yeah! That's it!" Naruto's eyes lit up, and he nodded fast. "Kiba, enemies that can only be defeated with senjutsu and taijutsu are about to appear in the shinobi world. Pervy Sage entrusted me with spreading Sage Mode, and you're the first.
As the first person to master Sage Mode from me, you have to shoulder your responsibility too. Help me spread it, so everyone can have the power to protect themselves..."
Naruto patted Kiba on the shoulder, mimicking Jiraiya's exact gesture and tone.
Just as Naruto was about to carry out his master plan, a voice interrupted from outside the crowd.
"Move aside, move aside."
Shima hopped through the spectators. Seeing only Naruto standing there, she froze.
"Where is Jiraiya-chan?"
"Pervy Sage went to Amegakure. Granny Shima, what are you doing here?" Naruto answered.
"He went to Amegakure? In such a rush?" Shima scratched her butt, muttered to herself, and brushed it off.
"Since Jiraiya isn't here, I'll tell you instead. Naruto, Jiraiya came to Mount Myōboku earlier to ask the Great Toad Sage for a prophecy about you. But the Great Toad Sage's prophecies are rare and can't be forced. Jiraiya didn't get one. He only took a yellowed piece of paper and left.
"Not long after Jiraiya left, the Great Toad Sage woke up and gave a prophecy about you."
"A prophecy about me? What is it?" Naruto tensed up.
"The Great Toad Sage said that in the future, Naruto, you will meet an enemy comparable to the Sage of Six Paths. To protect your comrades, you will divide your power among others.
Alright, I've delivered the prophecy. Figure it out yourself. I should head back too."
After dropping the message, Shima hopped away.
"..."
If this prophecy appeared in the original timeline, it would refer to Naruto facing the Ten-Tails and Six Paths Obito, then distributing Nine-Tails chakra to the Allied Shinobi Forces.
But right now, Naruto did not think in that direction at all.
Another interpretation fit the prophecy perfectly.
To fight the Ōtsutsuki, he had to pass Sage Mode—his unique Sage Mode shortcut—to everyone!
Originally, after taking a beating from Tsunade and her two disciples, Naruto's enthusiasm faded a little, even though the girls hadn't known his noble goal at the time.
But now, this prophecy filled Naruto with renewed energy.
"Kiba! Did you hear that? Did you hear that?!" Naruto spun around, grabbed Kiba's shoulders, and shook him hard.
"I heard, I heard it." Kiba stared back, slightly dazed.
Of course, Kiba knew the status of the Great Toad Sage from Mount Myōboku, one of the Three Great Sage Regions.
He also knew the weight of a Great Toad Sage prophecy.
Actually, the Great Toad Sage's prophecies were kind of a scam.
Their track record was terrible.
For example, the classic prophecy given to Jiraiya stated his student could bring either peace or destruction to the shinobi world.
Then Naruto was confirmed as the Child of Prophecy, the savior meant to end the chaotic era and bring true peace.
And the result?
He brought around fifteen years of peace.
Counted from the time Naruto became Hokage, it was even more ridiculous.
Only a few years.
How amazing!
He ended thousands of years of chaos and produced fifteen years of peace.
Ignoring Naruto restricting technological development, the short peace wasn't entirely his fault.
After all, enemies from outer space showed up.
Some die-hard fans would stubbornly defend the Great Toad Sage, claiming the "Jiraiya" in the prophecy was actually Kashin Koji, and the student was Boruto.
Some even claimed when the Sage prophesied Naruto would fight a boy with powerful dōjutsu, he wasn't talking about Sasuke, but Kawaki.
Because after fighting Kawaki, Naruto got sealed in Daikokuten.
If people wanted to force mental gymnastics like that, there would be no end to it.
Judging from how often the Great Toad Sage's prophecies actually panned out, his ability functioned more like "reading sticky notes from the will of heaven."
He could see a result, but he lacked the process and had zero clue how long that result would last.
So he could prophesy Naruto would bring peace, but completely missed that the peace would barely last a decade and a half.
What level was fifteen years of peace?
Senju Hashirama ended the Warring States Period, founded the ninja village system, and achieved twelve years of peace.
During Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen's rule, if you only counted continuous peaceful periods and ignored small border skirmishes, Hiruzen maintained one twenty-year peaceful period and one eight-year peaceful period.
By that calculation, Sarutobi Hiruzen was the true Child of Prophecy.
Was the Great Toad Sage discriminating against Hiruzen just because he used the Monkey King—wait, Enma—instead of toads, and refused to give him the title?
In short, under Makoto's influence, everyone in Amegakure, including Jiraiya's former students Nagato and Konan, treated the Great Toad Sage's prophecies like absolute garbage.
But Konoha was different.
Inuzuka Kiba was even more excited than Naruto.
He felt entrusted with the sacred mission of reviving his bloodline.
He would make the Inuzuka clan great again!
"Kiba, I'm going to spread Sage Mode throughout the shinobi world. This mission is difficult, so thank you for helping me share the burden. Your assignment is to start spreading it to the people around you. I believe in you," Naruto declared.
"The people around me? How do I do that?" Kiba wasn't even under the Infinite Tsukuyomi, yet he already started fantasizing about commanding heroes from all over the world.
Hearing Naruto's order, he asked eagerly.
"Come on, come on. I'll take you somewhere and explain on the way." Naruto hooked an arm around Kiba's shoulder, leapt onto a roof, and the two dashed off.
"That's it? The demon fox and the dog demon aren't going to fight?"
The bloodthirsty villagers of Konoha felt deeply disappointed and gradually dispersed.
Tsunade and the others stayed behind, waiting for the crowd to clear before heading out.
Right at that moment, Naruto and Kiba returned.
Kiba's expression was a complicated mix of confusion, shock, fear, and anticipation.
The full five-flavor buffet.
"Go on, Kiba. Don't be afraid! This is for the shinobi world!" Naruto pushed Kiba from behind.
Kiba carried a bag of freshly bought "gifts" and walked up to his mother and older sister.
Without saying a word, he forced himself to present the bag with both hands.
"Mom. Sis. These are for you. I hope you can use them to master Sage Mode and help me make the Inuzuka clan great again." Kiba pushed the words out through sheer force of will.
He had to explain it.
If he explained, there was still a slim chance of his survival.
If he did not explain, Naruto's fate of being blasted through the Hokage Building window would become his fate too!
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