The task of searching for the Child of Prophecy was something Mount Myōboku had entrusted to Jiraiya.
Though calling it a "task" wasn't entirely accurate.
The Great Toad Sage had spoken of fragments of the future he saw in his dreams, while Jiraiya hoped to find a path toward peace for the shinobi world. Their goals aligned perfectly.
One wanted to give, the other wanted to receive.
Hearing Makoto bring up the matter, Jiraiya let out a somewhat emotional sigh.
"The Child of Prophecy, huh… haah."
"What's wrong? Don't tell me after all these years you've finally grown tired of searching and decided to give up?"
"Not that. Let's talk tonight instead. I came back this time together with an old friend."
Makoto instantly understood.
Jiraiya was a full-blown stalking fanatic. If he wasn't tailing his best bro somewhere, then he was probably sniffing along the trail left behind by the goddess of his dreams.
That so-called "old friend" could only be Tsunade. The strange part was why she had suddenly returned to Konoha.
In this world, because of Kushina, Tsunade would occasionally come back to Konoha during the New Year holidays. But she usually disappeared again right after the celebrations ended, much less return during ordinary times.
...
Night fell.
Inside the dōjō, Tsunade leisurely took a sip of alcohol, glanced at the now-grown Karin and Naruto, then looked toward the distant lights of Konoha flickering beyond the forest.
Naruto in particular reminded her a little too much of her long-deceased younger brother, Nawaki.
If the brat were a little more hot-blooded and idiotic, and got rid of that Minato-style hairstyle, he'd resemble him even more.
"Time really flies. In the blink of an eye, Kushina's son has already graduated from the Ninja Academy. Jiraiya… we really are getting old."
Jiraiya replied, "You're not old if you've never been married. Besides, just look at your face. How can you even say something like that? Feels like I'm the only one aging here."
Back then, their teammate Orochimaru had probably already become some kind of monster, while Tsunade used the Strength of a Hundred Seal to keep herself looking forever young. Only he had turned into an old man, letting time carve the hardships of life across his face.
Kushina nodded repeatedly. "Exactly, exactly. Tsunade-nee-san doesn't look old at all. She looks about the same age as me. It's seriously unfair."
Tsunade's gaze swept across her forehead.
Quite a few of the women here were using the same technique she did — modified versions of the Strength of a Hundred Seal.
"There's nothing to envy. You'll all end up the same eventually."
Makoto asked, "Tsunade-sama, what made you suddenly decide to return to Konoha?"
"Brat, are you saying I'm not welcome here?"
"Of course not." Makoto pointed at his own face. "Besides, I'm already an adult now. Isn't it a bit inappropriate to keep calling me a brat?"
"So what? You're still a brat in front of me. A little pervert too. Back then, the first time you saw me, your eyes were already wandering all over the place — just like that bastard Jiraiya."
"And sure enough, you grew up into a full-blown old lecher. Just look at the things you've done. Seriously, impressive work. Can you even handle your nights anymore? Want me to prescribe you some medicine to help?"
Makoto sighed. "Fine. You win. Call me whatever you want."
A victorious smile spread across Tsunade's face.
"The first joint Chūnin Exams in the history of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, huh? I heard there are even betting pools running around the event. There's no way I'd miss something this lively."
"That's the only reason?"
"Of course not. The biggest reason is that if I stayed away any longer, someone would end up unable to get married and resent me for the rest of her life for turning her into an old maid."
Shizune lowered her head with a flushed face and softly denied it.
"I wouldn't, Tsunade-sama…"
"But I can't keep wasting your youth forever either." Tsunade shot a glare at Makoto. "Brat, maybe I should just hand her over to you. You already have two wives anyway. One more would make things even livelier."
Of course, judging from the look in Tsunade's eyes, she was speaking sarcastically, mocking a certain someone for living surrounded by beauties.
Even so, Makoto could still feel two killing intents locking onto him.
"Please don't joke about things like that."
He immediately declared his stance and rapidly changed the subject.
"Anyway, Jiraiya-sama, let's talk about what you mentioned during the day."
The old lecher reluctantly tore his gaze away from the abyss.
"Huh? What thing?"
"The Child of Prophecy."
"Oh, that." Jiraiya downed a cup of alcohol, sadness surfacing on his face. "It's gone. The Great Toad Sage said that for some unknown reason, the shinobi world has changed. The future he once saw in his dreams has become completely chaotic now. He can't see anything anymore."
He, Jiraiya, had spent so many years searching. More than half his life pursuing this thing.
And in the end, the client suddenly informed him the entire project had been canceled.
Was there anything more ridiculous in life than that?
Makoto and Minato exchanged looks, both finding the situation increasingly interesting.
Minato asked, "Jiraiya-sensei, is that all the Great Toad Sage said? Did he mention why things became like this?"
"No. Nobody knows. But what Mount Myōboku can confirm is that the natural energy of the shinobi world has undergone enormous changes compared to before. And those changes are still accelerating."
Tsunade added, "The Slug Sage sensed it too. She doesn't know whether these changes are good or bad, but she's certain of one thing — the changes started from Konoha."
"That's probably one of the reasons I came back as well." She narrowed her eyes at Makoto. "Brat, tell me honestly. Is this related to the Senjutsu training system you developed?"
Of course it was related.
The giant tree in the dōjō courtyard only affected Konoha and the surrounding regions.
But ever since Makoto's natural energy training entered Naturalization Mode, the thing being affected had become the entire world. It was a very strange kind of connection, one completely unrelated to where he himself was physically located.
This transformation ignored spatial distance altogether. It was a change born from a far deeper level of connection.
If the Slug Sage could sense that the source of the changes was in Konoha, then naturally Gamamaru could as well. He probably just found it difficult to explain directly to Jiraiya.
Of course, Tsunade and Jiraiya had occasionally returned over the years, so they knew some things about Makoto's Senjutsu already, though they had never told the Sage Regions about it explicitly.
Makoto said, "It is related. You could even say that everything was caused by me. So? The two of you planning to report this to the summoning Sage Regions?"
He had the confidence to say that now.
The Slug Sage was extremely laid-back and probably wouldn't care. And if Mount Myōboku had objections, then dragging Gamamaru out and beating him up once would probably make them behave.
Tsunade drained her cup in one gulp.
"What does it have to do with me? I can't even learn Sage Mode anyway."
Makoto replied, "You just can't learn Shikkotsu Forest's Sage Mode. But my Sage Mode system is far more universal, and especially suitable for humans. Tsunade-sama, want to give it a try?"
Tsunade was visibly tempted.
As a ninja, her strength had already reached its limit. If she wanted to go any further, then the path of natural energy was her only option.
The problem was that Shikkotsu Forest's path simply didn't suit her. Maybe Makoto's proposal really was a good alternative.
Jiraiya suddenly said, "I'm too lazy to meddle in all this… but Minato, honestly speaking, you already gave up on Mount Myōboku's Sage training a long time ago, didn't you?"
Minato admitted it readily.
"Yes, sensei. I'm sorry."
"No need to apologize. If this suits you better, then your choice was the right one. I'm just curious… have you succeeded yet?"
"You could say I've entered the beginner stage. I'll show you."
After speaking, Minato did not sit down in meditation, nor did he clap his hands together.
A silver Sage Mode pattern naturally appeared across his forehead, somewhat similar to the one Makoto once had.
Tsunade fell briefly into a daze.
That pattern reminded her of her grandfather.
Jiraiya looked stunned. "Being able to instantly enter Sage Mode is only considered beginner level?"
Minato smiled.
"Of course. According to Makoto's classification, I'm currently in the second stage — Standard Sage Mode. If the sage markings could remain permanently active, then that would be the third stage: Constant Sage Mode."
Jiraiya: "…"
Why was it that he called himself a sage, yet couldn't understand a single word these people were saying?
Tsunade glanced at Makoto's forehead.
"Brat, why don't you have any sage markings? Don't tell me the system you developed yourself ended up worse than Minato's?"
Makoto replied calmly, "Because I'm in the fourth stage — Naturalization Mode. Otherwise, how do you think I'm able to influence the natural energy of the entire shinobi world?"
Tsunade: "…"
Great. Now she couldn't understand anything either.
But regardless of whether the two of them understood it or not, they both realized one thing.
Aside from the Three Great Sage Regions, the shinobi world now possessed another sacred land where Sage Mode could be practiced.
And this one was far more suited to human physiology.
At last, they finally understood why Makoto called this place the True Sage Dōjō.
This was a sacred land that belonged exclusively to Konoha.
Or rather, all of Konoha itself had already become a sacred land for natural energy training.
As Konoha shinobi, the two of them naturally decided to learn it.
Jiraiya thought silently:
Sorry, Great Toad Sage. It's not that I dislike Mount Myōboku's Sage Mode… it's just that Konoha's own Sage Mode is way too damn tempting.
At the very least, it won't turn people into frogs.
...
When three people walk together, one of them is bound to suffer.
The two killing intents Makoto sensed earlier that night finally transformed into tangible revenge deep into the night.
Yūgao and Honoka joined forces to subject the unfortunate man beneath them to utterly merciless exploitation.
If they didn't make their stance clear now, who knew whether this place would eventually turn into a full-blown harem.
The fact that they could tolerate each other's existence was already the absolute limit. There was no way they would allow anyone else to join midway.
Not even the slightest sign of it.
This was something the two of them had decided from the very beginning.
Love was greedy and selfish.
Yūgao softly said, "Makoto-nii, Shizune-onee-san is really pretty too, you know? I actually think Tsunade-sama's suggestion was pretty good. Want to consider it?"
"How is that even possible? Shizune is our senpai. She's several years older than me. There's no way I'd agree."
"Wouldn't that just make it more exciting?"
"My life is already exciting enough as it is. Besides, excitement without any emotional foundation isn't any different from animals going into heat."
"Feelings can always be developed later."
"Sorry, but I only have two brains to think with, and both of them are already occupied. There's no room left."
Honoka suddenly asked, "Does that Kumogakure woman, Samui, have a good figure?"
"Not as good as my Honoka's."
"But I heard certain parts of her are shockingly huge."
"Once she gets older, they'll sag all the way down to her belly button."
"Kurenai-onee-san said that woman always keeps an ice-cold expression, yet she smiled only at you. The two of you seemed to have pretty good chemistry too."
"That's slander. Absolute slander! She's slandering me!"
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