Konohagakure.
Jiraiya forced himself to temporarily forget about Sarutobi Hiruzen's failure to understand his search for the Child of Prophecy.
Once again—yet another time—he had gone to find Uzumaki Naruto.
Striking a comically exaggerated pose, he appeared in front of Naruto, blocking his path.
"Ching! Ching! Ching! Son of Mount Myōboku! One of the Legendary Sannin! The freest hero in the shinobi world—Jiraiya the Sage has arrived in all his glory!"
Jiraiya bared his teeth in a grin at Naruto. "Uzumaki Naruto, you've rejected me again and again—surely it's because you don't know how amazing I am. I could train you to become the finest Hokage of Konohagakure!"
"I can even teach you many powerful ninjutsu. You should already know there's a terrifying being sealed inside you, right? I can teach you how to control it—how to wield its power!"
"Hey, you weird old man." The cold, childish voice did not come from Naruto's mouth but from the boy beside him—Sasuke. "This is the fifth time already. If you come out and keep harassing us again, we'll report you to the Police Force."
Naruto also frowned, his small face showing deep displeasure. "I already told you—I'm not interested in your training."
"I already have Iruka-sensei, Keizumi-sensei, Izumi-senpai, and Tachibana Jirō-senpai teaching me. Even Hokage-ojiisan occasionally gives me lessons."
"I don't need some weird, perverted sage like you!"
Jiraiya froze. "Perverted Sage?!"
Sasuke crossed his arms, his small face cold. "Don't think we haven't investigated you, you creepy old man. We already know some of the novels you've written are really indecent. We even heard rumors in the village that you used to peek at women's bathhouses."
"You'd better not let us catch you in the act, old man! Otherwise, we'll definitely throw you into Konohagakure Prison and have you locked up for a few years!"
Sweat trickled down Jiraiya's forehead. He hadn't expected that these two little brats had actually read his published novels.
In the eyes of these kids, the art of manhood depicted in his books—well, admittedly—did seem a bit improper.
But Icha-Icha Paradise wasn't just some smutty book!
Its true essence lay in the shinobi way he had distilled within it!
"Phew!" Jiraiya took a deep breath. It seemed he would have to reveal something in order to make Uzumaki Naruto realize the heavy burden he bore.
Straightening his back, Jiraiya's expression grew serious. "Naruto. Since you believe in Absolute Justice, then you should already know that this shinobi world is terminally ill, shouldn't you?"
Naruto nodded.
He had witnessed much evil alongside Keizumi and Izumi.
The sins within Konohagakure alone were enough to leave him shocked to the core.
Such sights had dealt an enormous psychological blow to someone his age.
"The shinobi world needs reform. Only through a proper transformation can it recover from this terminal sickness. And the one who can bring about that change…"
"…is the Child of Prophecy, as foretold by the Great Toad Sage of Mount Myōboku."
Jiraiya's words left Naruto and Sasuke staring at each other in surprise.
Jiraiya sighed and went on. "I've wandered the shinobi world for countless years in search of the Child of Prophecy. Yet I never imagined that the true Child of Prophecy… would be right here in Konohagakure!"
Sasuke seemed to catch onto something. "Hey, old man, the Child of Prophecy you're talking about—don't tell me it's this dead-last Naruto?"
"Yes."
Jiraiya nodded frankly. "Naruto is the Child of Prophecy. He's the savior who will bring change to the shinobi world. But that's on one condition… he must first undergo my careful instruction. I have to teach him to understand what this world truly is. Only then… can Naruto become the savior foretold in prophecy."
Jiraiya's expression was solemn, his tone heavy with meaning. "That's precisely why I've been so persistent. Naruto, what you bear on your shoulders isn't merely justice—you carry the entire shinobi world."
Hearing Jiraiya's words, the two Toad Sages perched on his shoulders—Fukasaku and Shima—finally let out a sigh of relief.
It seemed that little Jiraiya had at last cast aside all hesitation in his heart.
Since he had revealed everything to Uzumaki Naruto, that meant Jiraiya had already made up his mind—he was prepared for the duty of teaching the Child of Prophecy.
Sarutobi Hiruzen's disapproval hadn't affected Jiraiya much at all.
It had only left him, for the briefest of moments…
A little distracted, that was all.
"To place the 'great mountain' of the shinobi world's future upon the shoulders of a single child—it's an irresponsible and selfish act. At least, that's how it seems to me… As for what my true self thinks, I'm not sure. Perhaps he feels the same."
Just then, a clear and pleasant female voice suddenly rang out from nowhere, startlingly out of place in this moment.
Jiraiya froze.
The two Toad Sages on his shoulders abruptly narrowed their pupils.
Fukasaku and Shima instantly locked their gazes on Naruto's golden hair.
There—
From within Naruto's hair, a tiny slug emerged!
"This is…" murmured Fukasaku, "a split body of the Slug Sage? I've heard that each of the Slug Sage's split bodies possesses its own distinct personality and thoughts. But at times, the mind of the Slug Sage's main body can also descend upon one of them."
Shima said solemnly, "Dear, isn't the most important question right now why the Slug Sage would appear here? Even if this is only a split body, still… hm?"
Suddenly, Shima's gaze shifted in shock toward Sasuke on the other side.
There—on Sasuke's shoulder—was also a split body of the Slug Sage!
This split body spoke in exactly the same voice as the one on Naruto's head. It, too, began to speak: "This child has already refused you several times. There's no need for you to keep forcing him, is there? You ought to respect his wishes—even if he's only a child."
Shima sensed that something was off. "Why does this Uchiha brat also have a split body of the Slug Sage on him?"
"Because the Shikkotsu Forest has already reached an agreement with Uchiha Keizumi—strictly speaking, an alliance." Another voice sounded, also belonging to the Slug Sage.
Now even Jiraiya began to sweat.
He immediately looked down, squinting hard, and finally spotted a split body smaller than an ant at his feet—the very one that had just been speaking.
From the rooftop of the building to his left came yet another voice of a Slug Sage split body: "To repeatedly stalk a child like this seems a bit excessive, doesn't it, Jiraiya-sama?"
And perched somewhere in Jiraiya's hair, a split body about the size of a flea also spoke: "If this boy Naruto truly will bring transformation to the shinobi world, why must Mount Myōboku be the one to train him? Is it truly the Great Toad Sage's prophecy—or merely the Great Toad Sage's personal desire?"
A chill ran through Jiraiya's entire body. He hadn't even noticed when that split body had dropped onto his head.
So this… was the power of the "Sages" from the Three Great Sage Regions?
"Moreover…" another voice of the Slug Sage came from behind Jiraiya. "Prophecies are not immutable. If the future can be foretold, then it can also be changed. How can the Great Toad Sage be so sure that the course of the future has not already shifted?"
In the air, several Slug Sage split bodies—lighter than feathers—were carried away by the wind, their faint voices echoing: "If the future has already changed, then how can the Great Toad Sage be certain that by following the original prophecy's path, the outcome will still be as he foresaw?"
A split body of the Slug Sage larger than a person appeared openly behind Naruto and Sasuke, speaking slowly: "Mount Myōboku has interfered in the shinobi world for far too long. Isn't it time to let the world follow its natural course for once?"
The gentle voices of countless split bodies of the Slug Sage overlapped and echoed softly from all directions. "Do we make sense?"
The Slug Sage's voice was tender and smooth, yet to Jiraiya and the two Toad Sages, Fukasaku and Shima, it was utterly terrifying.
Without realizing it, they had already been surrounded by the Slug Sage!
They could no longer even count how many split bodies were lurking throughout Konohagakure.
There were already some split bodies that had somehow crawled into Jiraiya's hair unnoticed.
Could it be that some had already slipped into his body through his nostrils, ears—or worse—other openings?
—This was unmistakably a warning from the Slug Sage to Mount Myōboku!
The Shikkotsu Forest had actually stepped in to interfere with the affairs of the shinobi world!
And given that the Shikkotsu Forest consisted solely of the Slug Sage, its intervention was equivalent to the Slug Sage herself descending into the conflict!
That was a Sage who had lived for over a thousand years!
"Little Jiraiya, this isn't looking good," Fukasaku said gravely in a low voice. "Perhaps the Slug Sage won't completely fall out with Mount Myōboku over this matter, but if a real conflict breaks out, the civilians around Konohagakure could be in danger."
Shima said uneasily, "Dear, why be so polite about it? The truth is, we have no idea how long the Slug Sage has been setting this up nearby. We don't have a single piece of intelligence."
"If she really strikes… with the three of us completely unprepared, she could seriously wound us in an instant. Unless… we activate Sage Mode immediately."
"But if we take such a stance in front of the Slug Sage, that would practically mean open hostility."
Jiraiya didn't even dare to take a deep breath, fearing he might inhale some invisible split body floating in the air.
"I've never seen Tsunade summon the Slug Sage using this kind of technique before," Jiraiya muttered. "It seems… the Slug Sage is serious about stopping Mount Myōboku from contacting the Child of Prophecy. Her alliance with Uchiha Keizumi is real."