Chapter 34 — The Language of the Ancients
Weeks blurred into months. Under Jiraiya's relentless training, the days grew harsher. Sweat, blood, and exhaustion were constant companions, but Naruto and Sasuke never faltered. Their bodies broke, healed, and grew stronger. Their minds sharpened.
But not all lessons came from training.
One evening, as the sun bled into the horizon, the three travelers came across an old ruin deep in the mountains. The air was thick with an oppressive stillness, the kind that clung to the skin. At the center stood a massive stone wall, blackened with age, carved with strange inscriptions.
Jiraiya frowned, running his hand along the surface. "Never seen anything like this… what the hell is this place?"
Naruto and Sasuke stepped closer. Their eyes moved over the words, and something stirred deep within them. To Jiraiya, the markings were nothing but scratches. But to the boys—each symbol sang like a whisper from long ago.
Sasuke's voice broke the silence first. "It says… the Sage of Six Paths sealed a demon here. A creature that brought nothing but suffering to the people."
Naruto squinted, tracing the lines with his fingers. "…Yeah. Says the Sage fought it right here… and sealed it away. He warned the people never to open it again, no matter what."
Jiraiya froze. "Wait. You two can read this?"
Both nodded without hesitation.
The sannin's brows knitted, suspicion and unease creeping into his tone. "Don't mess with me. That's not just some old script—it's… it's something older. No one alive can read this kind of writing. Not even me."
Naruto gave him a sheepish smile. "…Guess we're the exception."
"Don't play dumb." Jiraiya's voice sharpened, his usual humor gone. "How? How the hell can you understand something no one's read for centuries?"
The boys exchanged a look. A silent conversation passed between them, a flicker of decision in their eyes.
Then—without warning—Jiraiya felt the tug. His mind blurred, the world around him folding away. In the blink of an eye, he was pulled into that strange shared space again—the silent, endless expanse where Naruto and Sasuke spoke freely without fear of eavesdropping.
He staggered slightly, eyes wide. "…You dragged me here again."
Sasuke stood before him, arms crossed. Naruto beside him, uncharacteristically serious.
"Didn't we already tell you, Ero-Sennin?" Naruto asked.
"Tell me what?" Jiraiya demanded, though part of him dreaded the answer.
Sasuke's dark eyes locked onto his. "Why do you think the Sage of Six Paths chose to change the destiny of mankind… through only two people? Why not hundreds? Thousands?"
Jiraiya's breath caught. "…Because…"
Naruto finished the thought, his voice quiet but firm. "Because we're his sons. The ones who inherited everything. That's why we can read his words, why we understand his language. It's not just history to us… it's blood."
The weight of their declaration sank into the space like a stone dropped into still water.
Jiraiya's lips parted, his chest tight with disbelief. "…His… sons?"
Sasuke didn't flinch. "Not in the simple sense. But in lineage, in spirit, in burden—we are the ones who carry his will."
Naruto's expression softened, but his words were no less heavy. "That's the truth, Pervy Sage. And it's why… this war, this future we told you about… it's our fight more than anyone else's."
Jiraiya's throat tightened. His heart told him to laugh, to call it nonsense. But standing before them in that strange, boundless space—he saw no lie in their eyes. Only an unshakable truth that chilled him to the bone.
The Sage's sons…
And he, a wandering fool of a sannin, was their teacher.
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