Chapter 127 – Borrow Another Five Hundred Years from Heaven
Tianming?
Sasuke found the name faintly familiar.
He quickly recalled that Zabuza and Haku—the first S-rank targets Team 7 had ever faced—had come from Tianming.
So you're with them.
Which means I'll be fighting myself?
"What does Tianming do?"
Sasuke asked.
His impression of Naruto: strong, self-directed, occasionally a little black-bellied.
He'd assumed the Hokage seat was Naruto's goal.
Now it didn't look that way.
He'd never heard of a Kage joining another organization.
Curiosity and doubt surfaced in him.
The question wasn't easy to answer.
Yet Sasuke had actually used his head for once.
Naruto pondered a moment. "Create a new world."
Sasuke blinked.
The answer was more than his brain could process.
Someone whose days revolved around reclaiming his brother's body couldn't grasp Tianming's objective.
But admitting he didn't understand would be too humiliating.
"So how do we do it?"
Sasuke asked coolly, as though ready to draw his blade and charge.
"Break the old world."
Naruto smiled. "Don't you find the current one unsatisfactory?"
"Indeed."
Sasuke crossed his arms, pretending he understood. "If the whole world is the enemy, count me in. I'll join Tianming."
"..."
A textbook chuunibyou kid.
Naruto suddenly remembered the original ending: Sasuke had picked a similar path.
"Fine. From today you're a member. Pick a code name."
He showed him the tarot faces.
"Wheel of Fortune."
Sasuke felt it matched his Magical Girl Mode.
"Right now we have The Fool, The Hermit, Death, and The Chariot—four in total."
Naruto introduced them. "The Fool is leader; he'll assign your missions. I'm The Hermit, Death is Zabuza, The Chariot is Haku, and you're Wheel of Fortune."
"Hold on, isn't The Fool with Akatsuki Organization?" Sasuke spotted the loophole.
"He's undercover."
"Undercover?" Sasuke's eyes lit up. "Does he know where Uchiha Itachi is?"
"Unfortunately he already left Akatsuki."
Naruto handed him a Kunai. "This bears a Flying Thunder God Mark—keep it so I can find you."
Sasuke nodded, then frowned. "If I go to Otogakure, what about Konoha's missions?"
"Easy. Tomorrow at the mission desk there'll be one designated for you."
Naruto clapped his shoulder. "Watch out for Orochimaru."
He wasn't really worried; Sasuke had backup—the strongest man alive right now.
Yep, the Six Paths geezer.
The next day.
Following Naruto's instructions, Sasuke found the mission at the desk.
The client: Hana Rin.
The terms: serve as her bodyguard for three years.
Sasuke fell into thought.
Could Hana Rin be Tianming too?
At Konoha's gate Naruto waited for Jiraiya.
He suspected the pervert was still curled up with some girl.
Half an hour later Jiraiya finally showed.
Naruto sniffed.
Her perfume clung to him.
He said nothing.
"Morning, Naruto."
Jiraiya greeted him, unbothered by his lateness.
He'd been warming a poor lonely girl—how could that count as late?
"Where first?"
Naruto asked casually.
Left to himself, he'd head east to Wudi City—to check how the Shadow Clones were doing.
"Mount Myōboku."
Jiraiya's answer made him pause.
He'd already mastered Sage Mode; why visit the toads again?
Chat and raise affection with the frogs?
No thanks.
They weren't cute Summoned Beasts like cats or foxes.
"The Great Toad Sage wants to see you,"
Jiraiya went on. "It's about your prophecy."
Prophecy?
Naruto raised an eyebrow.
The Great Toad Sage's visions had threaded the original plot.
Jiraiya roamed the Ninja World searching for the child of prophecy.
Had his arrival altered it?
Via reverse Summoning Jutsu he arrived at Mount Myōboku.
Though contracted, he'd never summoned a toad; probably none knew another contractor existed.
"You must be little Naruto."
A green toad with purple hair addressed him.
"This is Shima."
Jiraiya introduced her.
"Follow me."
Shima led them deep into the mountains.
On a stone slab sat a huge, ancient toad—orange, wearing a scholar's cap, dozing with a serene smile.
"Old fool!"
Shima bellowed.
The Great Toad Sage jolted awake and slowly lifted his head. "Who goes there?"
He was famously forgetful.
Jiraiya, used to it, pointed at Naruto. "He's Naruto."
"Ah."
The sage's half-open eyes fixed on him.
"I've seen your prophecy—two parts. Want the good or the bad first?"
His pace reminded Naruto of a certain sloth named 'Flash'—one word per second, auto-tuned.
It made him want to burst into song: Borrow Another Five Hundred Years.
The sage had lived so long he'd been buddies with the Six Paths Sage—perfect anthem.
"Good one first."
Naruto swore he'd heard that line before.
"You will bring peace to the world."
That sounded like the old prophecy.
Was the sage recycling?
"And the bad?"
"You will become the enemy of the world."
Naruto started, almost thinking the sage had eavesdropped on his chat with Sasuke.
"Great Toad Sage,"
Jiraiya cut in. "That's no different from before. You told me one of my pupils would change the Ninja World—either saving or destroying it."
"Not the same."
The sage shook his head. "The former was an either-or; now the two are one. Understand?"
"Sounds contradictory,"
Jiraiya blurted. "If he's the one who brings peace, why would the world see him as its enemy?"
"That's your task to figure out."
The sage himself didn't get it, so he dumped it on Jiraiya.
Naruto understood, though.
World peace?
No—world 'nuclear' peace.
What he planned would indeed give the world true peace—and flip the old one on its head.