In the ninja world, there were three great holy lands for summoning beasts... Mount Myoboku, Ryuchi Cave, and Shikkotsu Forest.
The Great Toad Sage of Mount Myoboku, the White Snake Sage of Ryuchi Cave, and Katsuyu of Shikkotsu Forest were all ancient monsters who had lived for thousands of years.
But there was a glaring difference between them.
The White Snake Sage and Katsuyu stayed peacefully in their own territories. They never interfered with the outside world.
So why was the Great Toad Sage always spouting cryptic prophecies? Why did he constantly manipulate Mount Myoboku's inheritors, making them run all over the ninja world just to fulfill his so-called predictions?
Obviously, the Great Toad Sage harbored his own selfish motives. He wanted to steer the ninja world's future in the exact direction he desired.
Jie being a hardcore Naruto fan in his past life, hadn't forgotten the hidden lore scattered throughout the original story.
Take Kaguya Otsutsuki, for example. Why did her own sons, Hagoromo and Hamura, seal her away?
Supposedly to protect herself and her children, Kaguya had turned the human population into living chakra batteries for the Divine Tree. And among those victims was Haori—Hagoromo's lover.
But how did the two brothers discover that dark truth in the first place?
To answer that, you had to look back a thousand years. You had to look at Gamamaru—the Great Toad Sage.
It was Gamamaru who revealed the truth to the brothers. It was Gamamaru who taught Senjutsu to Hagoromo, giving them the exact power they needed to overthrow their mother.
And look at who benefited after Kaguya was sealed.
The Divine Tree disappeared. Mount Myoboku was elevated to become one of the three great holy lands. And Gamamaru? He became a legendary, wise sage, deeply revered by the Sage of Six Paths himself.
Thinking of this, Jie sneered internally.
Was the "truth" Gamamaru told Hagoromo really the whole picture?
Jie highly doubted it.
He strongly suspected it was all a calculated trap laid by the toad. Gamamaru had used the tragedy of the Divine Tree to manipulate a grieving young man, weaponizing his lost love to spark a rebellion against his own mother.
According to Gamamaru, natural energy had freely permeated the ninja world before Kaguya and the Divine Tree arrived. The tree's sole purpose was to drain that natural energy and convert it into a Chakra Fruit.
Because of that, once the Divine Tree took root, the world's natural energy slowly began to die out.
Gamamaru hadn't wanted to see his world drained. So, he bided his time.
He leaked just enough of the "truth" to pique Hagoromo's curiosity. Then, he pulled a few strings behind the scenes, ensuring Hagoromo's beloved became a tragic sacrifice to the Divine Tree.
From that moment on, every step Hagoromo took fell perfectly into the toad's grand design.
Learning Senjutsu. Fighting his mother. Finally sealing her away on the moon.
With the Divine Tree toppled, natural energy flooded back into the ninja world, cementing Mount Myoboku's place as one of the elite holy lands.
Looking at who benefited the most, Jie had every reason to suspect Gamamaru was the true mastermind behind everything.
And it didn't stop there. Centuries later, the toad's vague, incomprehensible prophecies had driven Jiraiya to wander the ninja world aimlessly for decades.
Honestly, those so-called prophecies were completely useless. Yet, Jiraiya had treated them as his life's ultimate mission. He had even dragged the true Child of Prophecy, Naruto, straight into Gamamaru's camp.
Because of all this, concrete evidence or not, Jie absolutely refused to believe a single word that came out of the toad.
Watching Jie stay silent, Jiraiya couldn't help but speak up.
"Jie, I know you probably don't believe you're the boy in the prophecy. But I want to ask you to take a trip to Mount Myoboku. Let the Great Toad Sage get a closer look at you. Maybe he'll have a new prophecy."
Hearing Jiraiya's plea, Jie just shook his head.
He had absolutely zero desire to visit Mount Myoboku. At least, not anytime soon.
Compared to an unpredictable variable—one that was quite possibly the thousand-year mastermind of the entire ninja world—Jie trusted Ryuchi Cave much more.
At least Ryuchi Cave was straightforward. It was all out in the open.
If you had the strength, you passed the trials and learned Senjutsu. If you lacked strength? You simply became a snack for the three snake princesses and the White Snake Sage.
Moreover, when comparing the Senjutsu of the three holy lands, Ryuchi Cave's was arguably the most deadly.
Mount Myoboku's Senjutsu focused heavily on boosting physical attributes and coordinating with toad summons.
Meanwhile, Shikkotsu Forest's Senjutsu—the same kind used by Hashirama Senju—was famous for its instant activation and its massive boost to the body's regenerative capabilities.
Ryuchi Cave's Senjutsu, on the other hand, was an entirely different beast. Beyond just enhancing physical strength, it offered an incredibly potent technique...Inorganic Reanimation.
Similar to how the Tenseigan could puppet the giant stone statue of Hamura, Inorganic Reanimation used senjutsu chakra to breathe temporary life into lifeless matter. It allowed the surrounding environment to move and strike like a living creature.
As long as Jie's chakra reserves held out, the more inorganic matter he controlled, the greater the destructive power. Think of the Hamura statue—a construct so powerful it wouldn't lose ground even against the Nine-Tails. Inorganic Reanimation held that same terrifying potential.
With capabilities like that, Jie firmly believed Ryuchi Cave's Senjutsu was the absolute pinnacle. Therefore, until he mastered it, he completely refused to set foot in Mount Myoboku.
Seeing Jie's firm rejection about the visit, Jiraiya shook his head in mock disappointment. But inwardly? He breathed a massive sigh of relief.
Honestly, if Jie had actually agreed to go, Jiraiya would have been sweating bullets. After all, whether Jie was the Child of Prophecy or not, Jiraiya had absolutely zero control over him.
If the boy wasn't the one from the prophecy, great. Jiraiya could finally relax. But what if he was? What then? Would he have to attack Jie and forcibly trap him at Mount Myoboku?
Jiraiya scoffed at the very thought.
He knew his own limits. Even if he entered Sage Mode with the help of Fukasaku and Shima, he still might not be a match for Jie Uchiha. And even if he miraculously won, then what?
A battle between them would be apocalyptic. Mount Myoboku itself might be reduced to rubble in the crossfire.
Furthermore, if Jie died in the toad realm, Konoha would instantly brand Jiraiya a rogue ninja. Everyone knew Jie had left with him. All that would await Jiraiya was the relentless, bloody pursuit of the Uchiha clan and the unyielding wrath of the village he loved so deeply.
So, yeah. Jie's rejection actually did him a massive favor.
Prophecies were far too vague anyway, and Jiraiya had no desire to dig into this one right now. Besides, he was rather curious about his new job. Jie had arranged for him to be the head of the advisory department, and Jiraiya wanted to see exactly what that entailed.
Without pressing the issue, Jiraiya promptly took his leave to check out his new duties.
Once the door clicked shut, Jie sat alone in the Hokage's office for a long time, deep in thought.
'The Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, Senjutsu, and the Perfect Sage Body', Jie thought to himself, his eyes narrowing. 'They all need to be put on the agenda immediately.'
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