"Oyassama! It's Jiraiya-boy! Jiraiya-boy!" Fukasaku's voice echoed in the deep, solemn hall of the Great Toad Sage.
Seated upon his throne, the immense, ancient toad blinked slowly. "Oooh… So it's Jiraiya-boy! Has it been… years already?"
Shima cut in, impatient. "Oyassama! Hurry up and tell your prophecy!"
The Great Toad Sage blinked his heavy, wrinkled eyelids a few more times, his gaze drifting over the white-haired man below with profound confusion. "Now… who are you again…?"
Jiraiya was used to this routine.
After a few rounds of circular questions and patient reminders, the Great Toad Sage's mind finally cleared, the haze of age lifting from his ancient eyes.
"This dream… I have been dreaming it for eight months," he rumbled, his voice heavy with the weight of ages. "For a toad, the longer the dream, the more grave the future it reveals!"
Jiraiya's posture straightened. "What did you see in your dream, Great Toad Sage?"
The Sage gazed past the pillars of the hall, out at the eternal, drifting clouds outside. "Two years, nine months, and four days from now… the Supreme Deity, slumbering in the vast void, will awaken. With its awakening, all things of this world will face the calamity of annihilation."
He paused, letting the terrible pronouncement hang in the air.
"When that time comes, two guardian ninja gods, one clad in white and purple, the other in a cloak of dark gold, will lead the Ten Heavenly Ninjas to challenge the deity. That battle… will decide the final fate of this world."
His distant gaze snapped back, focusing sharply on Jiraiya's face.
Jiraiya's expression was grave, carved from stone, but he did not falter.
"Jiraiya-boy," the Great Toad Sage observed. "You are not as shaken as I expected you to be upon hearing my prophecy."
Jiraiya's voice was low, steady. "I believe… I have some idea who this 'Supreme Deity' you speak of might be. And I may even know the identity of one of those two guardian ninja gods."
The Great Toad Sage hummed. "So… you have met the Child of Prophecy, and learned of the reason…"
Fukasaku and Shima gasped, their eyes wide. "So Jiraiya-boy was telling the truth! We thought he'd been fooled by that Uchiha Sasuke!"
"Ah, Uchiha Sasuke," the Sage murmured, a hint of amusement in his ancient voice. "So the Child of Prophecy is him this time. Indra's reincarnation, not Asura's. How the tides have turned. Hagoromo will be most surprised…"
Jiraiya's mind raced. Who could stand beside Sasuke as the other guardian? Could it be Naruto? Or perhaps…
Whoever it was, the fact that someone else could even approach Sasuke's level was, in itself, a blessing for the shinobi world.
"These two guardians will lead the Ten Heavenly Ninjas to face the deity," Jiraiya pressed. "Great Toad Sage, what is a 'Celestial Shinobi'?"
"Those who have obtained a power from the heavens and have successfully mastered it," the Sage explained, his tone solemn. "Without such power, they wouldn't even survive long enough to stand before that deity. That is what my dream showed…"
"I see," Jiraiya said. "And like all prophecies before, the specific outcome… cannot be seen, correct?"
"Jiraiya-boy," the Sage chided gently. "The question itself is flawed."
"If the world were destined to be destroyed, or destined for peace, it would not appear in my dreams. Only a future that is not yet completely determined necessitates a prophecy. To point the way. To focus all effort on steering the situation toward the outcome we desire…"
He leaned forward slightly, his presence filling the hall.
"That… is the meaning of prophecy!"
Jiraiya's eyes gleamed with understanding. "Ah! So, if it can be prophesied, it means human effort can interfere, can work to shape the result!"
"That is the gist of it, yes," the Sage affirmed. "But one thing I must declare. Regardless of whether the final result is victory or defeat… people on our side will die. And not just one."
Jiraiya's expression became one of solemn duty. "Then… Great Toad Sage. Please tell me. What can I do? You summoned me specifically to hear this prophecy. There must be some mission that only I can undertake."
The Great Toad Sage's eyes, which had been nearly closed in lethargy, opened a fraction. The lazy aura vanished, replaced by a piercing, ancient light. "Jiraiya. In the future, you will face a crucial choice. The specifics, even I do not know. But… if you choose correctly, our chances of victory will increase by ten percent."
His voice was like stone grinding on stone.
"Whether or not you can make that choice correctly… that is the mission and the challenge entrusted to you."
Jiraiya bowed his head deeply, his white hair falling around his face. "I… understand."
…
Half a month passed in the blink of an eye.
Orochimaru, having returned from the gates of Ryūchi Cave, mobilized a massive network of resources. The target: the man who had betrayed Danzō, stolen the eyes of Uchiha Kagami, and vanished—Senju Kashō, the son of the First Hokage.
Finally, the trail led to a coastal region of the Land of Rivers, a tiny, utterly unremarkable village nestled between the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind.
Accompanied by Karin and Yamato, Orochimaru stood on a hill overlooking the village.
It was the picture of rural peace. You could see from the village entrance straight through to the small graveyard at the back. Smoke curled from chimneys. Men worked in fields, fished, hunted, herded. Women washed clothes by the river. Children ran and laughed.
Karin squinted. "A man of that stature… really lives in a backwater place like this?"
She immediately reached out with her sensory abilities to confirm.
Orochimaru stopped her with a raised hand. "Kashō inherited his mother Uzumaki Mito's bloodline. His sensory abilities are not beneath yours, Karin."
Karin looked skeptical. "Stronger sensory abilities than mine? Seriously?"
Orochimaru smirked. "Let's put it this way. He can maintain his Mind's Eye of the Kagura even in his sleep. That is how he has survived Root's pursuit all these years. It's not that Root couldn't find him. He always detected them first and slipped away. In the end, even Danzō, with his obsession for Izanagi, was forced to give up the search."
Karin frowned. "If sensing is out, do we infiltrate?"
"No," Orochimaru said smoothly. "Infiltration is not a concept that applies here. No matter how cleverly one hides their chakra, the moment they step into that village, he will know. So, you will use your sensory abilities. But the timing is key. We must reach his side in the instant he tries to flee."
Karin's eyes widened. "That would require the Flying Thunder God Technique… but we need a marker for that."
"Not the Flying Thunder God. Another ability."
Orochimaru raised two fingers.
Fwoom!
A cloak of golden, flickering chakra erupted around his body!
Yamato gasped. "This is…!!!"
"The other half of the Nine-Tails, from within the Reaper Death Seal's stomach, from within Minato Namikaze," Orochimaru stated, his eyes sharp. "Now, Karin!"
Karin's senses exploded outward!
!!
At the same instant, an old man fishing by the river jerked his head up, his expression sharpening into alarm.
This chakra…
He abandoned his fishing rod, hands flying into the seals for the Body Flicker Technique.
BOOM—!!!
A streak of golden light—a shockwave that surpassed all ordinary senses—blasted across the distance and slammed onto the water's surface where the old man had been, sending a violent spray into the air!
The golden chakra dissipated. Orochimaru stood calmly on the rippling water, a faint, familiar smile on his lips.
"Lord Kashō. It has been a long time. If not a century, then at least eighty years, wouldn't you say?"
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