Chapter 114: Hiruzen's Recovery, Jiraiya's Warning, Toad Sage Prophecy, and Iwagakure/Sunagakure Armistice Proposal
Sarutobi Hiruzen closed his eyes and sensed his body. He discovered that while he had aged, he had also become stronger.
More terrifying was that some of the energy from the previous transformation remained in his body, slowly remodeling it—causing strange fuzz to grow on his skin.
...
Naraku ran to a small grove and spoke to the air: "Come out, Lord Orochimaru!"
"Hehe, as expected of Naraku-kun. Your perception is truly sharp!" Orochimaru emerged from a shadowy corner.
"Lord Orochimaru, what do you need from me? My time is quite valuable," Naraku said calmly.
"Naraku-kun, you seem to be hiding many things the village doesn't know. But that's not important—I want to cooperate with you on some matters." Before being knocked out by Hanzo's Water Dragon Bullet, Orochimaru had already begun research because he felt the human body was too fragile.
Unfortunately, research progress was slow. Then he saw the power of "Infinite." So he wanted to cooperate with Naraku. Additionally, Orochimaru had accidentally learned a bit of Naraku's "dark secrets."
At this time, Orochimaru—who still somewhat identified with the village—wanted to use this to gauge Naraku's thoughts.
However, Naraku still had some appreciation for Orochimaru. Unfortunately, Orochimaru hadn't yet undergone various trials—his purity was still a bit low. He hadn't lost faith in Konoha or the Third yet.
His desire to conduct research wasn't intense enough either.
Naraku had no interest in playing roundabout games with Orochimaru. He said directly: "Do you want immortality?"
Orochimaru's pupils instantly dilated. He stared fixedly at Naraku, trying to read something from his eyes.
Unfortunately, all he saw was Naraku's confident face.
Orochimaru asked in a trembling voice: "Then what is the price? What is the price of immortality?"
Naraku smiled and said: "Work for me for 30 years. The price of immortality is that you will no longer be human! You will never be able to face the sun directly—even ultraviolet light may harm you. At the same time, damage from other things will be greatly reduced—even if only your brain remains, you can recover by absorbing blood. Your personal will may be eroded—this I believe you can overcome. Blood will become your favorite food! As for the advantages—there are many!"
Orochimaru closed his eyes. He wanted to refuse, but even the current not-fully-darkened Orochimaru had a strong desire for longevity.
In the end, after consulting Naraku about the advantages of not being human, Orochimaru still refused. Seeming afraid of Naraku's temptation, Orochimaru quickly left.
Naraku watched Orochimaru depart and felt the current Uncle Snake's purity was still too low—he needed more tempering.
...
On the other side, Jiraiya was summoned to Mount Myōboku.
Jiraiya was brought before the Great Toad Sage by Fukasaku and Shima.
The Great Toad Sage sat on his enshrined throne as always—orange body, prayer beads around his neck with a pale purple cat's eye stone engraved with the character for "Oil," and a scholar's cap on his head.
The Great Toad Sage said to Jiraiya: "Who are you?"
One sentence instantly stunned Jiraiya and the two toads.
It took one man and two toads half a day of explanation before this seemingly senile old toad finally remembered who the person before him was.
"So it's little Jiraiya. The reason I called you this time is because the future has changed," the Great Toad Sage said.
"What change? Has something happened to the Child of Prophecy?" Jiraiya asked anxiously.
Mainly because he hadn't even properly started his work yet, and now he received this so-called prophecy of future change—he was going a bit crazy.
The Great Toad Sage spoke in a frail, aged voice: "I don't know. Lately my prophecies about the future have become increasingly blurry. The only thing I saw was the ninja world filled with all kinds of powerful weapons, bringing endless war! Many people will die because of this, and all the ninja villages will disappear. In this situation, I can no longer see the figure of the Child of Prophecy. This may be my last prophecy."
Jiraiya rarely understood clearly who the Great Toad Sage's prophecy referred to—powerful weapons in the ninja world. It was practically spelling out Uchiha Naraku's ID. But the outcome of this prophecy was terrifyingly extreme.
In Jiraiya's shallow understanding, the disappearance of ninja villages equaled the destruction of the ninja world.
Yet just as Jiraiya prepared to ask more questions of the Great Toad Sage, he discovered the old toad had already fallen asleep.
Fukasaku and Shima also anxiously urged Jiraiya to take this prophecy seriously.
...
Jiraiya returned to Konoha full of worry. At this time he learned Sarutobi Hiruzen had awakened.
Jiraiya struggled over whether to tell Sarutobi Hiruzen and Tsunade. He repeatedly recalled what kind of person Naraku really was.
The more he thought carefully, the more mysterious Naraku seemed. Yet everything Naraku did on the surface benefited Konoha, and Naraku truly liked Tsunade.
So even if Naraku had some issues, logically he would restrain himself a lot for Tsunade's sake. But according to the Great Toad's prophecy, Naraku would bring destruction to the ninja world.
Unable to think of a solution, Jiraiya could only tell Sarutobi Hiruzen.
Sarutobi Hiruzen, smoking his pipe, naturally knew Naraku seemed to be hiding many things. But Naraku had given far too much. He couldn't treat Naraku like an ordinary person.
Sometimes it was like this—especially in certain organizations: as long as your value was high enough, even if the leader wanted to sell you out, they had to consider many factors. Even knowing you had many unreasonable aspects, they couldn't suppress you casually.
Moreover, the project concerning Konoha's future was currently underway. Even if he wanted to discard the tool after using it, the millstone hadn't even finished grinding yet—it really wasn't appropriate.
So Sarutobi Hiruzen could only comfort Jiraiya and say he would have Tsunade properly guide Naraku.
Jiraiya could only accept it. Afterward he went to the front lines with Orochimaru.
But the two stayed on the front lines for a long time without any major combat missions.
Later, Iwagakure and Sunagakure submitted an armistice proposal to Konoha.
The two villages stated they were willing to cease hostilities with Konoha but demanded some war reparations.
Otherwise they would continue harassing—or even jointly invade—Konoha's borders.
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