"In other words, in your world, there is no such person as Rei Kaguya. Is that right, Kakashi?"
"There is. But the Rei Kaguya on our side seems to have died young because of bloodline disease."
Listening to Kakashi's emotionless answer, Jiraiya closed his eyes and let out a long breath.
"I see…"
So this was what it meant to clarify and anchor the possibilities of fate and the future?
Remove the source of divergence. Bury the changes and differences brought by that person together with him deep inside history. Then, under fate's convergence, the future would merge back into the path that had already been proven capable of leading to peace…
Aside from the fact that they temporarily had no idea how to kill Rei Kaguya after he had already grown into a monster, it was indeed a good choice for anyone who wanted to lie flat and stop struggling.
But Jiraiya was not someone who could completely lie flat and stop struggling.
Even if this plan had been proposed by the Great Toad Sage, who could predict the future, and even if the existence of the middle-aged Kakashi Hatake had proven its feasibility, Jiraiya still held trust and expectations toward his two disciples in his heart.
Perhaps Nagato could bring out the full power of the Rinnegan, break free from the mental trap Rei Kaguya had set for him, and successfully bring peace and change to the shinobi world according to his own will and dreams.
Perhaps after Minato became Hokage, he could further master senjutsu and the various forbidden techniques passed down in Konoha, growing to a level where he could fight Rei Kaguya.
Perhaps because of the immense ambition Rei Kaguya displayed, all the nations of the shinobi world would be forced to form an alliance under his pressure, and in the end, truly unite as one.
The chances of these developments might not be high, but they were real possibilities built upon this era.
They were proof of all the effort and accumulation left behind by those who came before.
They were true powers that could change the world.
Compared to borrowing unfamiliar power from the future, Jiraiya was more willing to believe in the possibilities of the people striving to live in this era.
Even if Konoha truly lost in the end, even if Rei Kaguya and his Kirigakure ruled the entire world, that would still be the final result reached after the people living in this era had fought their own struggle.
If they were inferior, they would accept defeat.
There would not be too many lingering problems left behind.
So when Jiraiya opened his eyes again, he gave an answer that made Kakashi Hatake quietly let out a breath of relief.
"What a waste of excitement. I thought after that kid Minato became the Fourth Hokage, he would eventually surpass Rei Kaguya in every aspect…"
"I have no way to answer that question." Kakashi Hatake wiped the sweat from the corner of his forehead and looked at Jiraiya with a faint trace of gratitude in his eyes. "But honestly, before you spoke, Lord Jiraiya, I was seriously troubled over whether I should agree to your request."
"It is enough for seniors to leave their indomitable will to the juniors. We cannot even ask juniors from the future to come and help us solve the problems we must face in the present, can we? If I did that, I would not know how I could face the seniors who once sheltered us from the storm after I died…"
Jiraiya stepped forward and patted Kakashi on the shoulder, giving him a reassuring smile.
Hanabi Hyuga looked at the two middle-aged uncles, both wearing expressions that practically said, "Everything goes without saying," and carefully raised her hand.
"Um, Lord Sixth, Lord Jiraiya…"
"Hm? Do you have something to say, Hanabi?" Kakashi Hatake turned back and asked Hanabi Hyuga in confusion.
"Sixth Lord!? Kakashi, you became Hokage too!?"
Jiraiya first slapped Kakashi Hatake on the shoulder in pleasant surprise, feeling extremely happy that his disciple's disciple had become so promising.
But very soon, his expression became heavy because of the information hidden behind that news.
Minato was twenty-three this year. Kakashi was thirteen.
If Minato normally became the Fourth Hokage, then Kakashi, who possessed outstanding talent and was of a suitable age, would undoubtedly be one of the candidates for the Fifth Hokage.
Even if Minato served as Hokage for thirty years in one breath like Hiruzen Sarutobi before passing the position down to the younger generation, Kakashi would only be in his early forties at that time, right at the prime of a shinobi's life.
There was no reason for Minato to ignore such an excellent disciple like Kakashi and hand the Hokage position to someone else instead.
Unless Minato Namikaze encountered some accident and died before Kakashi had grown enough to convince the masses.
Otherwise, no matter how one looked at it, Kakashi should have been the Fifth Hokage, not the Sixth.
Then, combined with Kakashi's previous mention of the Uchiha clan being inexplicably exterminated, an extremely bad premonition suddenly emerged in Jiraiya's heart.
Could it be that even without Rei Kaguya's existence, Minato would still sacrifice himself in the near future because of some incident?
Looking at Jiraiya's face rapidly switching between joy, anger, sorrow, fear, and shock like a performance, Hanabi Hyuga hesitated for a moment before deciding to speak.
"Lord Sixth, from what you mean, you don't plan to provide Lord Jiraiya and the others with any help at all?"
"Hm? Hanabi, why are you asking that?" Kakashi Hatake raised his brows in some surprise. "The person who was so worried about accidentally changing history that she rushed around everywhere confirming things before—was that not you? Why are you the one taking the initiative to change something now?"
"B-Because Lord Sixth, you said this is a world that is similar yet different from ours, and it will not affect our world…" Hanabi Hyuga lowered her head in embarrassment, looking at the pattern on her chest as she whispered, "S-Since changing the past will not affect the future we come from, then providing Lord Jiraiya and the others with some intelligence and information so they can avoid some foreseeable tragedies should be allowed, right?"
When she spoke of this topic, what Hanabi Hyuga thought of was her cousin, Neji Hyuga, who had died such a meaningless death during the Fourth Shinobi World War.
But to Kakashi Hatake, a man with far richer life experience, there were far too many tragedies he could remember and hope to change.
Obito Uchiha, who had gradually grown extreme under Madara Uchiha's guidance and finally committed an irreparable mistake.
Minato and his wife, who had died during the Nine-Tails' attack.
The Uchiha clan, whose relationship with the village had worsened because of the Nine-Tails' attack and who were eventually exterminated.
The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, who had spared Orochimaru because of softheartedness, only to eventually die at his hands.
Jiraiya, who had gone alone to Amegakure to obtain intelligence on Pain and ultimately died in battle…
On the road toward the new era Kakashi knew, there had been far too many sacrifices and tragedies.
But in a certain sense, it was precisely because of those sacrifices and tragedies that Naruto and Sasuke, the two miracle boys capable of sealing the resurrected Rabbit Goddess once again, had finally been created.
If those sacrifices were changed, would anyone still be able to stand up and stop the Infinite Tsukuyomi plan, as well as the Otsutsuki enemies who followed one after another?
Kakashi did not know.
So he did not want to gamble.
Even if this was only a past that had developed differently from his own world and would not affect the original history, he still did not want this world to lose its possibility of fighting the Otsutsuki clan because of a moment of impulse from him.
"But carrying the wills of sacrificed comrades and continuing forward is itself the fate of us shinobi, little girl of the Hyuga clan."
Seeing Kakashi reveal a hesitant expression, Jiraiya, who was more open-minded by nature, took the initiative to step forward and answer.
"Whether it is a shinobi or a village, only after experiencing pain and reflection can they truly mature. If we always think about relying on intelligence from juniors to change the present, we will only become overly dependent on you and grow negligent."
"If some change even you do not know about suddenly appears at that time, we will definitely be caught completely off guard. We might even suffer sacrifices far heavier than the losses we had already recovered."
"I appreciate your goodwill, but the intelligence you have already revealed is more than enough for me. If you say any more, I might have to seal away all my memories of today…"
After Jiraiya finished, Kakashi also joined the conversation and gave an example that even Hanabi Hyuga did not know how to refute.
"Speaking of knowing the future and sealing memories, back when I was still a chunin, I once followed the Fourth Hokage on a classified mission to the Land of Loulan, which had not yet disappeared at the time.
Although I remember that the mission was indeed completed, I cannot remember the process of how it was completed no matter what.
Later, when the mission ended, I heard from Loulan's natives that there was a power called the Dragon Vein underground. Legend said that as long as one could control its power, one could become omnipotent. It could even allow one to travel through time and space… I think that may have been the reason the Fourth sealed away all of our memories related to the mission details."
After being lectured in turn by two veteran Konoha shinobi, Hanabi Hyuga also became somewhat unsure whether her thoughts were right or wrong.
Holding the turtle-shaped treasure in her arms, she muttered unhappily to herself.
"But I still feel that if we do not try to change something, it would be too much of a waste of this chance to travel through time and space…"
"Indeed. I also think changing something is definitely much better than doing nothing."
"Eh?"
A young voice, unfamiliar yet somewhat familiar, expressed agreement with Hanabi Hyuga from behind her.
But Hanabi Hyuga did not feel happy because a supporter had appeared among them.
Because that supporter was exuding a terrifying aura that made her not dare move at all while reaching out and taking the turtle-shaped treasure capable of allowing those with Otsutsuki blood to travel through time and space from her arms.
"I'll keep this thing for now. Otherwise, if we get halfway through our chat later, you might use some method I do not know about and run back to your own era without any mental burden."
Rei Kaguya casually shoved Karasuki into the mouth of a giant snake he had summoned, then sent it back to Ryuchi Cave.
Then, toward Hanabi Hyuga, Kakashi Hatake, and Jiraiya, whose expressions had all changed greatly, he revealed a very gentle smile.