"My lord, how can you agree to a condition like that?"
Fukasaku could not hold back anymore.
"My lord, how can you agree to a condition like that?"
Shima was even more direct. "Old fool, have you slept so long your brain stopped working?"
Jie looked at Gamamaru with a little more interest.
As expected of a toad that had lived for over a thousand years. Even faced with such harsh terms, Gamamaru had accepted without hesitation. Since Jie had been the one to propose them, he naturally could not take them back now.
"Then Mount Myōboku will prepare a new contract scroll," Jie said. "Jiraiya's scroll can remain with him as a keepsake."
With that, he disappeared from the temple.
The conditions had already been set. How Mount Myōboku carried them out would depend on their own judgment, but since Gamamaru had accepted, Jie believed the old toad knew what choice he needed to make.
Only after Jie vanished did the temple finally quiet down.
Gamamaru turned to Jiraiya.
"Little Jiraiya, you saw what happened. Mount Myōboku has many things to handle next, so you should return to Konoha for now. When the new contract scroll is ready, I will have Fukasaku inform you."
Jiraiya understood that Gamamaru was asking him to leave.
"Understood, Great Toad Sage. Then I'll return to the ninja world first."
He formed seals, and with a puff of white smoke, released the Reverse Summoning and disappeared from the temple.
Only after Jiraiya was gone did Gamamaru look back at Fukasaku and Shima.
"You want to know why I accepted his conditions."
The two elder toads did not deny it.
To them, Jie's demand was almost humiliating. If Mount Myōboku handed over land and allowed Konoha ninja to sign the contract without becoming inheritors, then the toads would become little more than Konoha's summoned fighters. No disciples, no influence, and no right to guide those contractors.
Yet Gamamaru had accepted without hesitation.
"I can't see through him," Gamamaru said. "And when I can't see through someone, I don't gamble Mount Myōboku's future on pride."
Fukasaku's voice tightened. "Great Toad Sage... are you saying even you cannot defeat him?"
Shima's expression changed as well. "Has he already reached the Sage of Six Paths' level?"
Gamamaru shook his head.
"I can't see his full strength clearly, so I won't pretend I know where his limit is," Gamamaru said. "His body and chakra are far beyond what a normal human should possess. Even Hagoromo, before he reached his peak, was not like this."
Fukasaku and Shima fell silent.
"But he is still not at that woman's level," Gamamaru continued. "As long as he has not crossed that line, he is still human."
And humans had limits.
"No matter how strong he becomes, his lifespan cannot compare to ours. A hundred years may be long to humans, but to summoning beasts, it passes quickly."
Gamamaru looked toward the temple doors where Jie had disappeared.
"For the next hundred years, Mount Myōboku may have to lower its head. We may lose face, land, and some freedom. But after Jie Uchiha is gone, what will remain?"
Fukasaku and Shima listened without interrupting.
"Konoha ninja will remember that Mount Myōboku helped them. Our name will spread through the ninja world through the contract scroll. By then, how many people will still remember Ryūchi Cave or Shikkotsu Forest?"
Only then did Fukasaku and Shima understand.
Gamamaru had not truly surrendered. He was only waiting.
For humans, a hundred years was a lifetime. For Mount Myōboku, it was only a short period of humiliation. If they endured it, then after Jie was gone, the influence left behind through Konoha's contract scroll would belong to them.
Temporary patience was for the sake of a longer future.
Fukasaku and Shima finally lowered their heads.
"We understand."
Meanwhile, Jie returned to Konoha through the Flying Thunder God Technique.
Reaching Mount Myōboku had required Gamabunta's Reverse Summoning, but leaving was much easier. With the marks he had left across the ninja world, a few uses of Flying Thunder God were enough to bring him back to the Hokage's office.
Jie appeared in the Hokage's office to find Izumi and the three children waiting for him. Only after seeing that he was unharmed did the tension on their faces finally ease.
The matter with Mount Myōboku was settled for now. The three children had already learned the Summoning Technique, Konoha's internal affairs were stable, and no major enemy was pressing at the gates.
For once, he had a little room to breathe.
He and Izumi had known each other for years, but between war, politics, training, and village affairs, they had never really had time to go anywhere together. Since things were quiet for the moment, leaving Konoha for a while did not sound bad.
Not for a mission.
Not as Hokage.
Just the two of them, traveling through the ninja world.
Thinking of that, Jie smiled and looked at Izumi.
"Izumi, let's leave the village for a while."
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