Dark clouds lood overhead.
In Konoha's comrcial district, the once-bustling shops were all closed, and few pedestrians walked the streets. Everything seed to foretell sothing ominous.
"Everyone seems really anxious…"
Little Naruto glanced around as he wandered the streets. After getting a few unfriendly glares from passing villagers, he eventually, out of boredom, decided to enter Ichiraku Ran.
The familiar aroma of ran greeted him instantly.
Naruto's eyes lit up with excitent. "Uncle Ichiraku, one tonkotsu ran, please—"
Before he could finish, he noticed sothing odd. Teuchi was packing up, with Aya helping. They looked like they were closing down the shop, even though it was still early in the day.
"Oh, Naruto."
Teuchi relaxed upon seeing it was Naruto. Without hesitation, he put his chef's hat back on and sighed. "Naruto, the ran shop will be closed for a while."
"Why?" Naruto asked, confused.
Teuchi paused for a mont. As he began preparing ingredients and boiling the noodles, he lowered his voice: "There's been word from the border… the Iwa-nin have initiated war."
"War…"
Naruto lowered his head, the light fading from his eyes.
Just a week ago, Sasuke had taken a leave from the academy. Shikamaru seed constantly troubled. Hinata had also been acting strange lately. All his classmates' odd behavior now made sense—sothing was happening in the ninja village.
So, war… was really coming.
Clink—
Teuchi placed a steaming hot bowl of tonkotsu ran in front of Naruto, along with a pair of chopsticks.
With a sigh, he said:
"This bowl's on the house. You can have seconds if you're still hungry. Naruto, listen to —stay close to the academy these next few days. Don't go wandering around."
The sll of the ran instantly lifted Naruto's gloom. He grinned.
"Haha, then I won't hold back! But don't worry, Uncle! With Grandpa Third—the strongest Hokage—around, Konoha will definitely get through this!"
"…" Teuchi remained silent.
Looking at Naruto's innocent, hopeful face, he didn't know what to say.
---
Mount Myōboku.
Clear waters and high mountains, lush and serene—like a paradise on earth.
A pale green toad, cloaked in black with a purplish crown of skin on its head, rushed past a massive brown mushroom, holding a basket of groceries.
This was Shima—one of Mount Myōboku's senior toads, responsible for screening and guiding humans who ca to train in Sage Mode.
A few days ago, Shima had noticed that contact with both Jiraiya and Gamabunta had been lost.
During a trip to Konoha to purchase supplies, she tried to gather information—but there was no news of them at all.
"Why would they suddenly vanish…"
Shima's face was troubled as she looked up at the pure blue sky of Mount Myōboku, lost in thought.
She had tried every possible summoning thod, but still couldn't sense Jiraiya or Gamabunta.
Today, after returning from Konoha, she had learned sothing big—Iwa-nin had officially declared war on Konoha, and they had already reached Kikyo Castle!
Now, Konoha was redeploying other border defense units to resist the invasion. The situation was extrely dire.
"Could it be… that Jiraiya and Gamabunta's disappearance is related to this war?"
Shima's mind raced as she hurried her steps.
She walked past fields of strange and colorful plants, returned ho, and kicked open the door.
Bang—
Inside, Fukasaku, who had been napping in a rocking chair, jolted awake and grumbled, "What's got you all worked up?"
Shima placed the grocery basket on the table, grabbed a cup of water, and blurted out, "Dear, sothing serious has happened!"
"You got news about little Jiraiya and the others?"
Fukasaku's toad pupils trembled slightly as he sat up and jumped down from the rocking chair, curiosity lighting his face.
"We haven't gotten any word about those two yet," Shima explained anxiously, "but I t with a ninja from Konoha's intelligence division this ti."
"They told that Iwa has declared war on Konoha. The balance of the ninja world is shifting!"
Fukasaku stroked his graying beard, his voice deep. "That doesn't match the prophecy that old geezer made!"
"Exactly," Shima agreed. "According to him, the ninja world wasn't supposed to see another war for at least ten more years!"
"I suspect that Jiraiya and Bunta's disappearance is connected to the war. Let's go wake that old fart up and ask him ourselves!"
"Yeah!"
---
Deep within Mount Myōboku stood an ancient temple. At its center, on a throne carved with the kanji for "sage" (仙), sat an aged and massive toad.
"You've… finally co…"
The Great Toad Sage slowly opened his sagging eyes, his parched lips barely moving.
He was eager, but the thousand-year-old body he inhabited no longer allowed him to express much emotion.
"You senile old geezer, what did you dream about this ti?" Shima called up, tilting her head to look at the massive sage.
Sigh…
Fukasaku glanced at her with exasperation, clearly frustrated that his mate had no sense of respect for elders.
But the Great Toad Sage wasn't offended. He spoke slowly, deliberately:
"On the contrary… I haven't had any dreams at all recently. The future of the ninja world is covered in a dense fog… all paths have been severed… by him."
Fukasaku and Shima said in unison,
"Who is he?!"
The Great Toad Sage let out a long sigh.
"The one who killed Jiraiya… and Gamabunta."
Fukasaku and Shima froze in horror, their faces turning pale and then purple, their bodies trembling.
"Impossible! There's no one in the ninja world who could kill little Jiraiya in an instant!"
Fukasaku's scalp tingled as he tried to deny it.
Shima said with a low voice,
"Are you joking, old man? Jiraiya was our disciple. And he had Bunta with him!"
Cough, cough—
The Great Toad Sage let out two dry coughs and pulled a crystal ball from beneath his throne, placing it on the table.
Without responding to their protests, he raised his two wrinkled toad hands and hovered them over the crystal.
Clairvoyance Technique!
Hummm—
As chakra was infused into it, the crystal ball's image shifted rapidly. It showed a road in the eastern part of the ninja world, leading toward the Land of Water.
Fukasaku and Shima widened their eyes and stared at the image.
A massive brown summoning snake was coiled on the ground. Standing atop its head was a young man in white robes, calm and composed, gazing toward the distant horizon.
Suddenly—
As if sensing sothing, the white-robed youth slowly looked up at the sky, revealing a clean and flawless face that looked as if it had been sculpted by the heavens themselves.
Then—
His pupils flashed red, his Mangekyō Sharingan spinning like a pair of glowing blades. An ominous chakra surged from his body.
Crack—
A faint sound echoed as a jagged crack split the crystal ball. Scarlet light flashed inside, as if it had turned into a blood-red gemstone.
"…"
Fukasaku, Shima, and even the Great Toad Sage saw that flawless face clearly—and the unmistakable Mangekyō Sharingan.
"Uchiha!"
The two elder toads gasped in unison.
Even separated by the crystal ball, all three could feel the sinister chakra radiating from the image.
The Great Toad Sage cut the connection with the crystal. The red light faded, and everything returned to normal—until crack!—the crystal ball split cleanly in two.
"He is the one who has severed the future. He lies outside the bounds of prophecy. He is the Devil's Child—born evil by nature. Jiraiya's death marks the beginning of the collapse of the ninja world's order."
The Great Toad Sage whispered weakly:
"Only by finding the Child of Prophecy… might the ninja world still be saved."
°°°
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