Whenever Jiraiya ran into a problem, he went to Kizaru.
That was one of the lessons he had learned after spending four years with him.
Kizaru was not only strong. He was calm, clever, and surprisingly good at finding solutions that Jiraiya would never have considered on his own.
This time was no different.
After hearing the Great Toad Sage's new prophecy, Jiraiya had been unable to calm down. The moment he returned to Konoha, he went straight to Kizaru.
At seven that evening, the two of them sat across from each other inside a private room at an izakaya Jiraiya often visited.
Before saying anything, Jiraiya carefully checked the hallway and made sure no one was standing outside the room.
Once he was certain they were alone, he leaned across the table and lowered his voice.
"Kizaru, the Great Toad Sage gave me another prophecy."
Kizaru studied Jiraiya's unusually serious expression.
"What did he see?"
From the way Jiraiya was acting, it clearly was not an ordinary prophecy.
"The Great Toad Sage dreamed of a mysterious giant made of light," Jiraiya explained. "The giant continued to absorb natural energy. It knocked down a great tree and brought destruction to the world."
He paused briefly.
"But at the same time, it brought new life and peace. In the end, the giant created a single nation that united the entire world."
Jiraiya stopped speaking and watched Kizaru closely.
He had expected surprise, disbelief, or at least some visible reaction.
Instead, Kizaru merely frowned slightly, looking more interested than shocked.
"Is that all?"
Jiraiya was a little disappointed by the lack of a stronger reaction, but he continued.
"The Great Toad Sage said the giant would bring an end to the age of shinobi. I'm also supposed to meet this giant someday."
His expression became even more serious.
"When that happens, the Great Toad Sage wants me to bring the giant to Mount Myōboku. He wants to speak with it personally."
Jiraiya lowered his voice further.
"There was something else. The Great Toad Sage saw a doorway made of light. On the other side was an enormous ocean. According to the prophecy, that doorway will appear somewhere in Konoha in the future."
Kizaru remained calm on the outside, but the prophecy had surprised him far more than he allowed Jiraiya to see.
That old toad really is something.
He raised a hand and slowly rubbed his chin, falling into thought.
The giant of light that absorbed natural energy was most likely connected to the strongest form of Sage Mode Kizaru had imagined.
It was still only an idea in his mind.
He had not even mentioned it to Orochimaru.
Kizaru had merely considered the possibility and worked through the theory by himself. Yet somehow, the Great Toad Sage had already seen that form in a dream.
That meant the old toad truly possessed some ability to see the future, even if that ability was incomplete.
It appeared Kizaru would have to place the Great Toad Sage on the same level as the Sage of Six Paths when it came to beings that could not be underestimated.
He continued examining every part of the prophecy.
The part about knocking down a tree was easy enough to understand.
The tree was most likely the God Tree. In the future, Kizaru might use his strongest Sage form and destroy or uproot its trunk.
What came afterward was far less clear.
He would bring destruction and rebirth to the world, create a single united nation, and end the age of shinobi?
What kind of prediction was that?
Did that really sound like something he would do?
Kizaru had always preferred an easy life. He disliked unnecessary trouble and had no interest in carrying the entire world on his shoulders.
He was not quite lazy enough to ignore everything around him, but he certainly had no desire to conquer the world and establish some enormous new nation.
The prophecy was clearly slandering him.
After all, everyone knew that Kizaru was a kind and peaceful man.
The last part of the prophecy was what interested him most.
A doorway of light would appear in Konoha, and an enormous ocean existed beyond it.
If his guess was correct, that doorway was connected to the origin of his system.
The world of One Piece.
If that was true, then the situation had suddenly become much more interesting.
Perhaps the template system in his mind did more than allow him to fuse with character templates. It might possess other functions that he had not unlocked yet.
What would happen once his current template's fusion rate reached one hundred percent?
For the first time in a while, Kizaru found himself genuinely looking forward to the answer.
"Kizaru?"
Jiraiya waved a hand in front of his face.
"Kizaru!"
Pulled out of his thoughts, Kizaru looked up at him.
"Sorry. I was thinking."
Jiraiya stared at him for a moment before asking the question that had been bothering him ever since he heard the prophecy.
"Your kekkei genkai is Light Release. Do you think the giant of light has something to do with you?"
"I couldn't say," Kizaru replied calmly. "I've never seen any giant made of light."
Until he understood the Great Toad Sage's true intentions, Kizaru had no intention of admitting that the giant might be connected to him.
He still did not know what position Mount Myōboku would take or why the Great Toad Sage wanted to meet the giant.
It was better to remain cautious.
Jiraiya let out a long sigh and rubbed his head.
"Where am I supposed to find a giant made of light?"
"I would like to meet the Great Toad Sage," Kizaru said.
Jiraiya immediately looked at him.
"Why?"
"If this is about asking for another prophecy, forget it. The Great Toad Sage has already told me everything he saw."
He folded his arms.
"And I can't simply take anyone I want to Mount Myōboku. Normally, you need to sign the toad summoning contract and receive their approval before you're allowed to enter."
"I'm interested in senjutsu and natural energy," Kizaru replied. "I'd like to see whether I can learn Sage Mode."
It was a reasonable excuse.
However, Kizaru had another reason for wanting to visit Mount Myōboku.
After listening to the prophecy, he had begun to suspect that the Great Toad Sage had seen far more than it had revealed to Jiraiya.
Perhaps it had only shared those specific details because it wanted to draw Kizaru to Mount Myōboku.
The old toad might appear absent-minded and half-asleep, but Kizaru did not believe it was foolish.
It had survived for thousands of years and had continuously guided Mount Myōboku through every major change in the shinobi world.
An existence like that could never be simple.
"I can ask them," Jiraiya said. "If the toads agree, I'll take you there."
He did not try to hide anything from Kizaru and agreed without hesitation.
"Thank you, Jiraiya-san."
Jiraiya nodded, but his expression remained serious.
"Kizaru, you're the only person I've told about this prophecy. You can't let anyone else know."
"Don't worry," Kizaru assured him. "I won't tell anyone."
Jiraiya trusted him enough to accept that answer.
He reached for his cup but stopped before taking a drink.
"So, what do you think about the prophecy?"
Kizaru leaned back slightly.
"Don't act until something actually changes."
Jiraiya blinked.
"You're too shaken right now," Kizaru continued. "Calm down first. Once your head is clear, you can think about what to do next."
Jiraiya slowly nodded.
"You're right. But whenever I think about that prophecy, I can't help worrying."
His hand tightened around the cup.
"If it really happens, then a war powerful enough to engulf the entire shinobi world may break out."
Concern spread across Jiraiya's face.
War was the last thing he wanted to see.
Whenever nations fought, shinobi died, civilians lost their homes, and hatred gave birth to even more hatred. He had already seen far too many tragedies created by war.
"I can't see the future," Kizaru said. "All I can do is make sure that, if a war does begin, Konoha is the side that wins."
Kizaru did not like war either.
However, he would never sacrifice himself or Konoha's interests for the sake of empty promises of peace.
A great man had once said that peace gained through struggle could survive, while peace gained through surrender would only lead to destruction.
Kizaru agreed completely.
"Once war begins, people will die," Jiraiya said quietly. "Those deaths will create new hatred, and that hatred will eventually lead to another war."
He looked down at the table.
"I want to find a way to stop wars from happening at all."
"That's impossible," Kizaru replied without hesitation, crushing Jiraiya's faint hope before it could grow.
Jiraiya was silent for a moment.
Then he looked up again, determination returning to his eyes.
"Maybe it is. But I'm still going to try."
Kizaru did not argue with him.
There was nothing wrong with holding on to an ideal.
Everyone had their own beliefs and their own path to follow. As long as Jiraiya's ideals did not threaten Kizaru's principles or Konoha's fundamental interests, Kizaru had no intention of forcing his own way of thinking onto him.
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