Jiraiya seed unable to stand the heavy silence any longer—he shook his head with a smile.
“Alright, enough worrying. Why waste ti thinking about those terrifying guys? We’ve got decent luck—maybe we’ll actually beat him.”
“…Maybe.”
Kitagawa Gen snapped out of his thoughts, giving a dry laugh.
In his mind, though, he was picturing himself in the Totsuka Blade’s genjutsu, giving everyone in Konoha a thorough beating.
Of course, the odds of ‘Ōtsutsuki Genshiki’ crossing paths with them were probably slim.
“Alright, alright, I’ll head back to Mount Myōboku when I have the ti. The Great Toad Sage isn’t in a stable state right now. I’ll wait until he’s calr before asking again.”
Jiraiya spoke with that in mind, though just recalling the Great Toad Sage’s forgetful nature made it hard for him to keep a straight face, a trace of exasperation flickering in his eyes. Turning instead, he asked with a grin: “By the way, last ti you took a bunch of jutsu from the old man. How’s your training been going? Also, I hear you’re planning to work on a kekkei genkai?”
“That’s right. I’ve been putting the idea into practice these past days.”
Since Jiraiya had steered the conversation elsewhere, Kitagawa Gen followed along—he had no intention of discussing his “alt” any further.
“The Hokage gave a lot of materials, and I’ve chosen based on what I’m best at. Water Release is a very promising direction.”
“Water Release?”
Kakashi glanced over in puzzlent, rubbing his chin as he murmured.
“Your best is Lightning Release. If you’re adding Water Release… are you thinking of trying Storm Release?”
“Storm Release from the Hidden Cloud, huh?”
Guy blinked, but after a long mont of thought could only nod.
“Not a bad idea.”
“…”
Kakashi shot Guy a sidelong look, while Jiraiya thought for a mont before speaking.
“Water Release, huh… The Second Hokage was certainly skilled in Water Release, and you’re skilled in Lightning Release. The combination’s a solid direction to try—but isn’t this a bit arrogant?”
“?”
“You broke the Fourth Raikage’s arm, learned his Lightning Release: Chakra Mode, and now you want to develop their Storm Release? That’s a blood feud.”
“…”
Kitagawa Gen was montarily speechless. When had he ever said he was making Storm Release?
Though that jutsu was indeed part of his plans, for now he hadn’t seriously focused on it.
“What I want to make isn’t Storm Release, but sothing else—sothing more interesting, and actually simpler.”
“Oh?”
Jiraiya’s curiosity was piqued, and not just his—Kakashi and Guy also leaned in.
“What is it?”
“Rember when we went to the Land of Water and happened to run into those two?”
Kitagawa Gen spoke with a smile, extending his hand as a faint ripple of chakra spread across his palm.
“Zabuza, and that person nad Haku—you’re trying to make Ice Release?”
Kakashi was the first to put it together, and Jiraiya followed right after.
“Ice Release? You’re not using Lightning Release anymore?”
“It’s not that I’m abandoning Lightning Release. It’s just that when that Haku used Ice Release, I happened to gain a rather deep understanding of his chakra ratio.”
Kitagawa Gen smiled faintly, and the chakra in his hand began to grow noticeably cold.
“So I decided to start from the simplest point. That way, it’ll be easier for to sense and comprehend other things in the future."
“And it’s relatively easy. Even though fusion does consu quite a bit of chakra, I happen to have plenty to spare, so…”
As he spoke, that chakra—like a current of frigid air—condensed in his palm.
The chill was so intense that even Naruto, Sasuke, and the others in the distance couldn’t help but glance over, while Jiraiya’s group of three were already staring in open astonishnt.
“Ice Release…”
Kakashi murmured, unable to help himself. He had been to the Land of Snow and seen Ice Release created by exploiting environntal conditions.
But the chakra in Kitagawa Gen’s hand was nothing like that—this was the genuine result of fusing chakra together.
“This is incredible…”
Jiraiya couldn’t help but sigh. Kitagawa Gen really could pull it off.
“Besides that, I’ve got another idea.”
At that, Kitagawa Gen continued.
“I rember the Pervy Sage once told that the Rasengan has no inherent chakra nature and can be modified, so…”
Before he even finished speaking, the Ice Release chakra in his hand began to shift under his control.
The chakra spun rapidly, and under the wide-eyed gaze of Jiraiya, Kakashi, and even Guy, a perfectly ford Ice Release Rasengan quietly took shape in his palm.
“So, I tried integrating it into the Rasengan. I guess you could call this… Ice Release: Rasengan.”
Kitagawa Gen spoke with a cheerful smile, but Jiraiya and the other two had already fallen silent.
The Ice Release: Rasengan in Kitagawa Gen’s hand was so steady—and so terrifying.
For Jiraiya and Kakashi in particular, it instantly brought to mind Namikaze Minato.
The Fourth Hokage had died without ever completing his modifications to the Rasengan, yet Kitagawa Gen had not only fused chakra into it, but had created sothing even more fearso.
'So this… is what a true genius looks like?'
The two exchanged a glance, montarily wordless. Jiraiya, anwhile, found a thought surfacing in his mind:
Even if this kid isn’t the Child of Destiny, maybe in the future… he could still take on that ‘Ōtsutsuki Genshiki.’
...
Mount Myōboku.
The once-majestic great hall now looked sowhat battered, with a large gash torn open in its towering ceiling.
“That old fool… what happened?”
Shima was directing the smaller toads in cleaning and repairs, yet she couldn’t help but mutter under her breath.
Her voice, however, was much softer than usual—after what had happened earlier, even she had been left in disbelief.
It was her first ti witnessing the Great Toad Sage unleash such an awe-inspiring and terrifying might.
“Great Sage… are you alright?”
Fukasaku stood cautiously at the Great Toad Sage’s side, unable to stop himself from asking quietly.
“Fukasaku, I’m fine.”
The Great Toad Sage shook his head. At this mont, he wasn’t sleepy at all—in fact, his aged eyes were open wider than they had been in a long ti.
“I just didn’t expect Jiraiya-boy to bring news like this… It’s truly unbelievable.”
“It is…”
Fukasaku nodded, though the nature of his disbelief was not the sa as the Sage’s.
At the very least, right now the Great Toad Sage no longer looked like a doddering old fool.
“That Ōtsutsuki Genshiki… what exactly is he? Why would you—”
“They… are the sovereigns of all things, the creators and destroyers of this world.”
The Great Toad Sage murmured in a low voice, tilting his head back to gaze at the sky through the hole above.
“In a sense… they are gods.”
Gods.
The word was, in many ways, a broad one.
Yet in the eyes of the Great Toad Sage, the Ōtsutsuki clan could absolutely be considered gods—in the broadest sense.
“Gods, huh?”
Fukasaku didn’t quite understand the Great Toad Sage’s mindset, but he was well aware of the gravity of the situation.
“Is that Ōtsutsuki Genshiki really that terrifying?”
“It’s not Ōtsutsuki Genshiki that’s terrifying—it’s the entire clan.”
The Great Toad Sage shook his head, his mind now far clearer.
“You can’t comprehend what it ans for a race to have transcended the current plane of life, to wield infinite power, and still be driven by boundless ambition."
"To humans—and to most living beings—they are gods.”
“Then doesn’t that an the shinobi world is in danger this ti?”
Fukasaku’s expression also darkened. He couldn’t do anything about the Great Toad Sage’s cryptic way of speaking, but he knew one thing: if the situation weren’t dire, the Great Toad Sage wouldn’t be saying this.
“I don’t know.”
The Great Toad Sage’s answer was so perfectly useless that it nearly made Fukasaku freeze up. What do you an, you don’t know?
“Although my dreams have always been hazy, they at least pointed toward a direction.”
The Great Toad Sage’s tone was heavy, his words tinged with strangeness. He pondered for a mont before speaking again.
“But now… I’m lost. I’m not certain if my prophecies are being interfered with by so force. At the very least, I haven’t seen anything related to this.”
“…Great Sage, when was the last ti you had a prophetic dream?”
Fukasaku asked cautiously. The Great Toad Sage thought for a mont.
“Not too long ago, I think?”
“And… how long is ‘not too long’?”
“Maybe half a year… maybe a year.”
“…”
How is that helpful?
Unfortunately, Fukasaku’s headache didn’t change anything—the Great Toad Sage was still the sa as ever.
“No matter how long it’s been, it’s really the sa thing—only a matter of how clear it was."
"That’s why I truly suspect my prophecies have been tampered with.”
“Then… what should we do now?”
Fukasaku drew in a deep breath, his voice solemn.
“I don’t know either.”
The Great Toad Sage’s hazy eyes seed a little clearer now. In a calm tone, he said, “But a thousand years ago, I once did certain things… Perhaps now, I can still do sothing.”
With that, the Great Toad Sage said no more. He closed his eyes, as if drifting back into slumber.
“A calamity from my dreams… and the invading Ōtsutsuki…”
“Tis are changing far too quickly.”
“Mount Myōboku must remain ready at all tis. If necessary, even an old relic like …”
“…will have to take action!”
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I will post so extra Chapters in Patreon, you can check it out. >> /TitoVillar
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