Now that Jiraiya had reached the level of a top-tier sage, there was no way he didn't understand what the daimyos were really saying.
To put it simply, these people were using Shanks' power to break their agreement with the Sage of the Six Paths.
It wasn't that they didn't have power themselves—they were just too scared to use it. Only Shanks had the guts to step up.
To Jiraiya, these nobles were nothing but shameless opportunists. They wanted the benefits but refused to take responsibility.
"We may be daimyos, but we don't truly represent the will of the real nobility. Call us shameless if you want—it doesn't matter.
After all, from the very beginning, we were just as expendable as anyone else."
"Surviving in this era isn't easy, Jiraiya. If you have a problem with us, then go deal with the real powers behind the nobles of each nation.
We're just their messengers in the mortal world."
The five daimyos didn't care about Jiraiya's mockery. His status was no longer the same as theirs.
"The Ninja Sect created by the Sage of the Six Paths gave us a certain level of security, but do you really think that over thousands of years, no ninja ever tried to overthrow this system?
It's not that no one tried—it's that no one could."
"Jiraiya, as one of the strongest in the ninja world, you should be well aware of your own limits. But do you have any idea how many sages exist among the noble families of the ninja world?"
The daimyo of the Land of Fire poured himself a drink, speaking casually.
These 'sages' were the reason this system endured.
The ninja world had many strong fighters, but true top-tier ones were rare. And at the very top, it was still the sages who reigned supreme.
How could ordinary ninjas even think about rebelling against them?
Think about it—across all five great nations and their five ninja villages, out of so many ninjas, only Jiraiya had mastered Sage Mode.
And in the past? It was even worse.
Powerhouses like Madara and Hashirama were once-in-a-thousand-years exceptions. But among the world's noble families, hidden sages were far more common.
Hearing this, Jiraiya calmed down.
"Just how many sages are there in the five great nations?"
Jiraiya asked.
Sages were the peak of power in the ninja world. No matter how strong he became, even at his absolute best, he would never surpass that level.
Those who could be called sages were strong enough to be a threat to Shanks.
And only those strong enough to threaten Shanks could truly be considered powerful.
"I have no idea. How would we even know something like that?"
The daimyo of the Land of Fire shrugged. He was just an ordinary person—how would he know?
"..."
"But this information can be looked up. Take this genealogy record with you. Everyone listed in it is either dead or has become a sage.
There are also some records about the Uzumaki clan. You might find them useful."
The daimyos looked frustrated. They had no idea how to keep up with Jiraiya in this conversation.
It was pointless. Jiraiya's status had already set him apart.
As ordinary people, they had no choice but to focus on the power of Devil Fruits. The more power they could control, the better—especially for people like them.
Devil Fruits could greatly strengthen their mid-level forces, which helped fill the gaps in the power structure of the world's nobility.
Speaking of which, the situation with the world's nobles was quite strange. They were either sages or ordinary people—there was no in-between.
Perhaps ninjas could be considered the transition between the two. Ninjas existed as a middle ground between sages and regular people. But for the world's nobles, an ordinary person was just an ordinary person.
That was why the world's nobles were so eager to gain the power of Devil Fruits and strengthen their military. While it seemed like they were just making up for their own weaknesses, there were deeper plans at play.
For example, separating themselves from the ninjas.
If the "understanding" between ninjas and nobles were ever broken, the nobles would replace the ninjas with their own military forces.
In that case, the structure of the world's nobles would remain intact.
As for the "mid-level forces" that the nobles were now trying to build, Nara Shikaku had figured out their meaning long ago. He had already made preparations for it.
If the nobles cut ties with the ninjas, civilian military forces would fill the gap. But could these civilian forces really be on the same side as the world's nobles?
The world's nobles couldn't stand the ninjas, so there was no way they would share their power with commoners.
In the end, Jiraiya left with the genealogy records he had obtained from the Daimyos of the Five Great Nations.
Meanwhile, Jiraiya's real body followed the sage to a small house next to the Daimyo's residence. It looked quite ordinary from the outside.
"This is the Fire Country's archive. The records here are highly classified—these are what Shanks referred to as the Poneglyphs."
"As for me, I am the sage who has guarded this place for the past ten years. My name is Ichidai Kiyomu."
Ichidai Kiyomu pushed open the door, revealing a room filled with all kinds of scrolls.
Jiraiya looked at the sage before him, who walked straight inside. Jiraiya followed behind.
"What you're looking for can mostly be found in this place."
As Ichidai Kiyomu spoke, Jiraiya noticed an open scroll on the table—it seemed to have been written on recently.
"Shanks?"
Jiraiya immediately noticed Shanks' name on the scroll.
"If you want to read it, go ahead. I recorded it myself, and it also includes some information about the Uzumaki clan.
But that's not important—the real focus here is Shanks himself."
Ichidai Kiyomu sat down to the side, while Jiraiya picked up the scroll without hesitation.
"Shanks is a direct descendant of the Uzumaki clan. If we're being precise, he has the full right to inherit the title of ruler of the Land of Whirlpools."
"Of course, under normal circumstances, a small country like that wouldn't have the right to such a position."
"But Shanks is different."
Jiraiya kept his eyes on the scroll as he responded.
The information recorded here matched what he had learned outside, confirming that Ichidai Kiyomu had never left the Fire Capital. The sage had gathered all his intel through other sources.
However, what stood out was that, from Ichidai Kiyomu's perspective, Shanks was an unbelievably powerful figure—someone capable of changing the entire ninja world.
Even with just a few scattered notes, Shanks was given extremely high praise.
Aside from that, Jiraiya also noticed another name in the records— the Otsutsuki clan.
"I don't know exactly how strong Shanks is, but that guy definitely has the power and ambition to reshape the ninja world.
For thousands of years, the ninja world has grown weak in spirit."
"Shanks might not be the strongest right now, but he has the highest potential to become the strongest—because he has carved out his own path."
As Ichidai Kiyomu spoke, he stretched out his hand, and a massive scroll floated down from above.
"You're the same. You've found your own path. But you should take a look at these—they might help answer some of your questions."
"Sage?"
Jiraiya unrolled the scroll. It recorded the power of countless sages throughout the ninja world, with the most prominent name, of course, being the Sage of Six Paths.
"The inheritance of sages isn't limited to the Three Great Sacred Lands. The sage modes of those three places are just one way the power is passed down.
There's another type of inheritance, similar to the Kekkei Genkai of the ninja clans."
Hearing this, Jiraiya nodded. He already understood that much.
"Some abilities within ninja clans, like the Mangekyou Sharingan of the Uchiha, tend to appear repeatedly. This kind of power is also a form of Kekkei Genkai inheritance.
Even if the person changes, the power itself doesn't vary too much."
Jiraiya suddenly thought of something.
"So you're saying that sage inheritance also carries this kind of repeating power?"
"That's right. A naturally inherited sage body is one way for sage power to be passed down through generations.
But aside from power, there's another form of inheritance—memory."
The First Sage expected Jiraiya to be shocked, but there wasn't even a hint of surprise on his face.
Because his own ability, 'Divine Descent,' was based on something similar. While it wasn't exactly memories, it carried a similar concept of passing down beliefs, which wasn't too different from passing down memories.
"What about the Sage of Six Paths?"
"The Sage of Six Paths knew everything. He was the most well-rounded and powerful sage in the ninja world. Just like you, he carved his own path."
That was the difference between the Sage of Six Paths and Jiraiya—it was also the difference between different types of sage inheritances.
Both had trained at Mount Myoboku, but their power systems were completely different.
"What about Shanks?"
Jiraiya was actually more interested in learning about Shanks than the Sage of Six Paths.
At the mention of Shanks, the First Sage fell silent.
"Shanks… he's an anomaly in the history of the ninja world.
To this day, none of us sages can figure out how his mind works."
The First Sage went quiet again. That man was bizarre beyond belief. Even now, none of the sages in the ninja world could understand Shanks' thought process or what was going on in his head.
How could someone go against all logic and instinct and come up with something as absurd as 'Reverse Sage Mode'?"
"This is a scroll specifically about Shanks, but the information is incomplete. We've already sent someone to investigate further."
The First Sage opened another scroll labeled 'Reverse Sage.' Inside, there was only one thing—a giant, full-color photograph of Shanks.
The image had been cut directly from a wanted poster.
At the bottom of the scroll, a name was written: 'Investigator: Fukuda Kiyomu.'
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