IW: Chapter 142 - Failed Prophecy, Six Paths Sage's Pawn Theory!
"Ninja Miss, we meet again."
Uchiha Bai Ye looked at Konan with interest. A few days ago, he noticed Konan had left, and he thought it was unlikely she would come back, at least not for a while.
But he didn't expect her to return so soon.
Had she decided to stay?
But why was she alone?
"My name is Konan."
Konan had originally intended to use an alias, but then she thought it wasn't necessary. Besides, she heard Jiraiya had also left the Village to continue his travels.
Although most people had now settled in Konoha, Jiraiya couldn't sit still. He wanted to find material for his books and see if the prophecy was truly accurate.
Another reason was that Jiraiya had stayed in the Village for too long, and with the Village's initial wild expansion, many facilities weren't complete.
Many people complained about a Konoha peeping tom, and most knew who it was. Tsunade, upon receiving the news, immediately took people to beat Jiraiya up. Then, she assured the women of the Village that if Jiraiya ever peeped again, they should find her, and she would beat him.
So, unable to peep anymore, Jiraiya simply chose to travel.
And after Jiraiya left, Konan's last bit of apprehension vanished. If Jiraiya had still been in the Village, Konan would have had to worry about him discovering her identity.
This would then implicate Nagato and Yahiko, which Konan did not want to see.
"So, Konan, are you planning to stay?"
Uchiha Bai Ye was curious about what exactly made Konan make this choice.
"Yes, I want to stay and see if what you said will come to pass. Do you have any job recommendations?"
After Konan finished speaking, she involuntarily recalled what Nagato had told her when he found her.
To climb to a higher position, so she could see more clearly.
But how could an outsider like herself possibly climb to a high position?
If they needed someone, they would surely prioritize Konoha natives or KirigakureNinja who had already pledged allegiance, not someone of unknown origin like herself.
"What can you do? You could also register as a Ninja and take on missions!"
Uchiha Bai Ye pondered for a moment. Since Konan had decided to stay, he naturally welcomed her.
Ultimately, Konan was the bridgehead between himself and Nagato. Konan's presence here was likely related to gathering intelligence.
Konan coming here actually counted as a hint of trust from Nagato. Given Konan's current importance to Nagato, under normal circumstances, Nagato would not allow Konan to risk coming here to gather intelligence.
Moreover, if she was to work here, it should be a long-term arrangement.
Uchiha Bai Ye also had an idea in his mind: during this time, he must also win Konan over.
"I don't want to be a Ninja anymore. I'm tired of the killing."
Even when she was in the Land of Rain, Konan actually didn't like killing very much. Although her hands were stained with a lot of blood, she herself was unwilling to kill.
In Amegakure, she was called an angel for a reason; Konan's own nature was kind.
Since she came to Konoha, she certainly didn't want to be a Ninja.
"Don't want to kill?"
Uchiha Bai Ye was startled for a moment and subconsciously asked, "Then what do you want to do?"
"Is there any clerical work or a job that keeps me in the Village?"
Konan thought for a moment and gave her range of choices.
Since she wanted to gather true intelligence, staying in the Village was naturally the best option.
"Then why don't you be my secretary? I happen to need a secretary by my side."
Recently, Shikaku was promoted and was no longer the Hokage's assistant. Currently, no one was helping him with documents.
Most of the documents given to him were related to civilian matters. As for major issues, Uchiha Bai Ye would hand them over to the five decision-makers and Shikaku for discussion. Once they had discussed them, they would report back to him verbally instead of leaving documents.
This also prevented intelligence leaks. It was perfect to have Konan help him with work, keep her by his side for supervision, and then use his Talk no Jutsu to change Konan's ideology.
"Are you sure?"
Konan's expression was strange, as if she was struggling to maintain her composure. She remembered Nagato telling her to climb higher and try to get involved in high-level matters before he came. At the time, Konan had said it wouldn't be that simple at all.
After all, no matter how she looked at it, the other party had no reason to do so. Why would they use her, an unknown person, instead of their own people? She thought her infiltration work would take at least a few years to even get close to the mid-level.
But he just offered her a secretary position?
Although it wasn't a high-level position, she would be able to interact with Uchiha Bai Ye every day, which seemed like even more access than a high-level position!
"Yes, it's just handling some documents, and the pay is good. I was originally planning to recruit externally. Oh, and it's not just you; there's a secretarial team."
Uchiha Bai Ye nodded and said. Due to the merger, one secretary definitely wouldn't be enough, so many people were needed.
Later, Shikaku also went to screen suitable candidates for him.
"Alright then."
Konan hesitated for a moment. Since the opportunity was in front of her, there was no reason not to cherish it.
And so, Konan agreed.
"Good, then come with me. The secretaries have all arrived today, let's go meet them."
Uchiha Bai Ye was still very curious about the secretaries Shikaku had chosen for him.
He led Konan to the original Hokage's office. This office building had now been expanded several times over.
Opening the office door, the first person was Samui. Hmm, good, Shikaku understood him well.
The second was Kurotsuchi. This woman was glaring at him, pouting. As someone forcibly sent by her grandfather, she was very displeased but couldn't resist.
The third was Shizune. Tsunade had arranged for her to come, stating that she no longer wanted to bring Shizune along.
The fourth was Chiyo.
"You look unwell, what a pity our Village doesn't have any young, beautiful girls."
Chiyo chuckled, seeing Uchiha Bai Ye's expression, and couldn't help but tease him. Uchiha Bai Ye repeatedly waved his hand and said, "How could that be? Older people are definitely more stable in handling problems. An old person at home is like a treasure."
The fifth was the Kirigakure Elder.
It seemed that all five Villages had sent one person, and with Konan behind him, the six people formed his secretarial team.
"Orochimaru, how much longer do you need?"
Zetsu and Obito handed the latest batch of materials to Orochimaru. He had been continuously experimenting with Edo Tensei recently.
Both Obito and Zetsu knew too much, filling in all the blanks in Orochimaru's previous knowledge.
"No, the Fourth Hokage seems impossible to revive."
Orochimaru shook his head. He had tried recently, but besides the Fourth Hokage, everyone else could be revived.
Is it because of the Reaper Death Seal?
His soul was eaten by the Shinigami, so he couldn't be revived.
"The Uzumaki Clan's secret technique requires finding that mask, then cutting open the Shinigami's stomach to release the soul."
Zetsu said indifferently.
He was an old monster who had lived for a thousand years; what didn't he know?
He just couldn't learn Ninjutsu.
If he had those Kekkei Genkai, he wouldn't have needed to rely on schemes and tricks for these past thousands of years; he could have executed the plan himself if he had learned these things.
"That's possible? Zetsu, you know a lot!"
Orochimaru's eyes gleamed with excitement. Listening to Zetsu, he felt even more that these two were definitely not simple. Through Obito's mask, Orochimaru seemed to see a red light. Sharingan?
Was this guy also from the Uchiha Clan?
"Orochimaru, I warn you, don't get any wrong ideas. Everything you know now is provided by us, and if you don't cooperate with us, you won't get what you want."
Zetsu said indifferently.
Trying to scheme against Obito?
Then he would be in for a treat.
"Heh heh, give me some time to research that Jutsu you mentioned, and then give me some White Zetsu samples for me to study. I'll probably know what to do later!"
Orochimaru was a genius in every sense of the word. All of Yakushi Kabuto's achievements were built upon Orochimaru's foundations.
Without Orochimaru, Yakushi Kabuto would not have been able to achieve anything.
As the originator, Orochimaru naturally knew very well what to do.
Moreover, this kind of research life made Orochimaru very satisfied. He was inherently extremely thirsty for knowledge.
Before he figured all of this out, Orochimaru had no intention of turning on them.
Besides, he truly needed to cooperate with them to get that thing.
"Great Toad Sage, it seems it's not as you prophesied. Uchiha Bai Ye has already unified the Ninja World."
After leaving Konoha, Jiraiya sought out the Great Toad Sage.
The Ninja World was already unified, completely different from what he had said, which also confused Jiraiya.
"Little Jiraiya, you said Konoha unified the Ninja World?!"
Fukasaku Sage's eyes widened in disbelief as he looked at Jiraiya. How long had it been? How could Konoha have unified the Ninja World?
This was something even Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara hadn't achieved.
"Yes, the Ninja World is already unified. I feel like the prophecy of the Child of Prophecy might have been wrong."
Jiraiya scratched his head, frustrated, feeling that his life's work had all gone wrong at this point.
Where was the promised Child of Prophecy?
"Did the prophecy fail?"
The Great Toad Sage opened his eyes, looking deeply at Jiraiya.
His prophecy should never fail, but from Jiraiya's words, it seemed it had indeed failed.
But why would this happen?
Previously, when Jiraiya used the Summoning Jutsu, he was directly reverse-summoned to Mount Myōboku.
Because in the Great Toad Sage's prophecy, the Child of Prophecy was Jiraiya's disciple and would change the world, bringing either peace or destruction to the Ninja World.
But now, the Ninja World was already peaceful, yet it wasn't Jiraiya's disciple. This indeed seemed to deviate from his prophecy.
"Yes, now I'm completely idle!"
Jiraiya had wandered the Ninja World for a long time, searching for the Child of Prophecy.
He initially thought Nagato would be the Child of Prophecy.
But later, Jiraiya discovered it wasn't the case. So many years had passed, and Nagato and the other two had disappeared without a trace.
"Impossible, how strange..."
The Great Toad Sage frowned. His prophecies had never failed, yet now it had failed on Jiraiya.
"Never mind, if it failed, it failed. Little Jiraiya, aren't you now able to enjoy your own life? There's really no need to keep searching for that illusory Child of Prophecy."
Since it failed, the Great Toad Sage simply chose to give up.
Although it was unexpected, he felt it was fine as long as it wasn't someone from the other two Sage Art Holy Lands, as the three great Holy Lands actually had a competitive relationship.
Back then, he chose the Six Paths Sage, and he succeeded. Mount Myōboku's status in the Ninja World reached its peak with the establishment of the Six Paths Sage's Ninshū.
Although the Shikkotsu Forest didn't care, those guys from Ryūchi Cave never wanted to give up.
"Then I'll be going now."
Jiraiya came here this time just to express his doubts to the Great Toad Sage.
Since he also told him not to dwell on it, he would leave first.
Perhaps the prophecy really did fail. Indeed, how could a dropout like himself teach a student who could change the world?
After Jiraiya left, the two Sages also departed. A figure floated into the Great Toad Sage's palace. The Great Toad Sage's cloudy eyes instantly widened as he looked at the person in front of him and said, "I truly never expected to see you after all these years."
The Six Paths Sage.
The Great Toad Sage was also surprised. He had originally thought he would never meet the Six Paths Sage again in his lifetime.
Although he could sense the other party was always there, the other party never seemed to have any intention of meeting.
Now, his sudden appearance inevitably made the Great Toad Sage have other thoughts. Had something unexpected happened?
"Your prophecy was not wrong. It was not supposed to be Uchiha Bai Ye who changed all of this!"
The Six Paths Sage directly and clearly explained the prophecy issue that Jiraiya and the Great Toad Sage had discussed earlier.
His prophecy was not wrong; it was indeed Jiraiya's disciple who was supposed to change everything.
"Oh? You arranged it?"
The Great Toad Sage was a little curious. Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo, this guy, had been dead for so many years and still wanted to control the Ninja World.
Speaking of which...
He seemed to be doing the same, didn't he?
The Great Toad Sage chuckled self-deprecatingly.
"The ones who were supposed to change all of this were Ashura and Indra. But now, the life trajectories of Ashura and Indra have also undergone immense changes. Originally, Jiraiya was supposed to take Ashura as his disciple, and then sign a contract with you, Mount Myōboku."
Ultimately, he wanted his children to change all of this.
This historical problem was actually meant to be resolved by the first Indra and Ashura.
However, he found that they continued to fight until his death, so he simply chose to remain in the Ninja World to observe and try to reconcile them.
When it came to the time of Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama, he thought this destiny was about to end, but he didn't expect Uchiha Madara to suddenly walk the path of Indra.
This also made the Six Paths Sage feel that his plan seemed to have a flaw.
And everything that happened next completely exceeded the Six Paths Sage's foresight. Uchiha Madara activated the Rinnegan and was planning the Eye of the Moon Plan.
That was to revive Ōtsutsuki Kaguya.
The Six Paths Sage also realized that there seemed to be a contingency left by his mother in the Ninja World. So, after Uchiha Madara's death, he soon arranged for the reincarnation of Indra and Ashura again.
He didn't know who was hidden in the Ninja World, but he knew very well that he couldn't stand by and do nothing. Once Ōtsutsuki Kaguya emerged from the seal, it would be a disaster for the Ninja World.
The Six Paths Sage had always believed that this world belonged to him, and he would not allow anyone to destroy it.
The Ninja World needed balance. There could be conflict, but if an existence similar to the Ōtsutsuki Clan appeared, it would be a disaster for the Ninja World.
And he had been managing the Pure Land all these years precisely so that if an accident ever occurred, he would be able to prevent such a thing from happening.
Moreover, the so-called prophecy was actually just an arrangement; others simply didn't know.