In the crisp autumn season, the entire Fire Country has begun to suffer from the cold rain, especially at night, it is even more chilly.
Even so, Miaomu Mountain, which is like spring all year round, is still lush and colorful.
Jiraiya, who had not been here for a while, accepted the hospitality of Shima Sennin and Fukasaku Sennin with mixed emotions, and was brought to Toadamaru, the great Toad Sage.
It seems that he did not expect to meet Jiraiya at this time. The elderly Gamamaru obviously has a bad memory, and he often confuses the difference between the reality of "prophetic dreams", so that he always makes trouble in his words. Lots of jokes.
Of course, none of the people present including Shima Sennin, Fukasaku Sennin and Jiraiya dared to laugh.
After being reminded by Fukasaku Sennin to cough repeatedly, Gamamaru finally woke up and opened his eyes to see the person coming.
"It's little Jiraiya. I haven't seen you for a while. You are much older!"
"Human lifespan is not very long. At my age, my life is almost halfway over!"
"That's right! It always feels like it just changed in an instant."
Gamamaru, who slept most of the time, did not have a keen sense of time. Fortunately, this time he still remembered why he called Jiraiya over.
"I called you here this time because I want to ask what is happening in the ninja world now. Why is it that my dreams are always foggy and filled with many bizarre scenes, which makes me very uneasy."
"Uneasy? Is... the child of destiny in danger? During this period, I have indeed neglected to search..."
"It's not about this aspect, but..."
As he spoke, Gamamaru seemed to remember something from the past, he couldn't help but reminisce about it, and for a moment he even forgot about Jiraiya.
After several minutes, Gamamaru came back to his senses and continued:
"The more key figures are connected to the general trend of the ninja world, the clearer they are. The more closely they are connected to me and Mt. Miaomu, the more Mo Lake. The trajectory of the child of destiny is still clear, but other things are a little unclear. You Do you know what this means?"
"Please advise!"
"Konoha Village will be in great danger, and we at Myoboku Mountain will also be forced to get involved."
Predictions about things like this, which are related to oneself, are always unclear.
Under normal circumstances, Gamamaru's prophetic dreams rarely make mistakes. In addition to his own influence, there is another situation where someone deliberately conceals it, and his strength is far stronger than Gamamaru.
Either way, it's not good news for Jiraiya.
"Has the future changed?"
Jiraiya asked tentatively, and Gamamaru remained silent for a long time before answering:
"The future depends on the choice of the child of destiny. It doesn't matter whether it changes or not. If the hero who is destined to save this world finally decides to destroy this world that he is not satisfied with, then... it will be a catastrophe."
"This...will the ninja world choose such a child of destiny? Isn't this not good..."
"Little Jiraiya, you made a mistake. The interests of the ninja world, humans, and our Miaomu Mountain may not be exactly the same. It's like a crop field that has always been planted with rice. Now I'm tired of it and want to shovel it all. , plant wheat. It doesn’t really matter to the crop land, but to the rice, it’s a disaster.”
"this……"
Jiraiya, who had never thought in this direction before, was stunned for a moment.
In fact, Jiraiya was not good at this kind of direction. After pondering the meaning of the words of the Toad Sage for a long time, Jiraiya suddenly realized,
"Ninja is rice, where is Mt. Myoki?"
"It can barely be regarded as a crucian carp in the rice fields..."
Tomamaru said casually,
"They are all natives raised by the ninja world. If we replace them with wheat, it will be bad for everyone!"
However, to the ninja world, it does not make much difference whether the primate of all things is a human, a wild boar, or an insect.
For the Otsutsuki clan, it doesn't matter, as long as it can provide more natural energy.
Of course, if you can extract rich chakra like a human, have physiological characteristics that are close to those of the Otsutsuki clan, can withstand the implantation of "Wedge", and can be transformed into a biological weapon like "White Zetsu", then what's more? Couldn't be more perfect.
To a certain extent, it is also luck that humans can eventually become the overlord of the ninja world.
Otsutsuki Kaguya chose human beings as the main product of the "farm and ranch" of the ninja world. Other stronger and more advantageous races can only compete for the remaining auxiliary ecological niches.
Although now there is no Otsutsuki clan that is aloof and manages everything in the ninja world, even Gamamaru hopes that day will never come back.
But is that possible?
In the final analysis, ninjas are not real rice, and the toads of Mt. Myoboku are not rice field crucian carp, but potentially intelligent species.
Although he was not smart enough to understand all the connotations of Gamamaru's words, Jiraiya asked unconsciously:
"Who does the ninja world belong to? Which existence has the ability to treat this world like a farm?"
"who knows!"
It's been a long time, and Gamamaru feels a little strange. Whether it's the goddess of Ura or the Sage of Six Paths, they all seem like people they've met in a previous life.
"Let's put these aside for now, little Jiraiya, tell me, is there anything special happening in the ninja world right now?"
"Big deal? No. The Third Ninja World War has ended many years ago, and it has been more than three years since the Uchiha family was annihilated. Occasionally, extremely vicious rebellious ninjas will be annihilated, or conflicts will break out between small countries..."
Jiraiya, who was talking to himself, seemed to suddenly remember something,
"By the way, some time ago, Yun Ninja had a big fight with the Gushan family, and many people died. Yun Ninja seemed to have suffered a lot, and then gave up."
"There are so many conflicts between humans."
Not hearing anything special, Tomamaru made a few casual comments. Then he realized something and asked,
"Gushan family? Which Gushan?"
"Except for the second deputy of the Fire Nation, there is no other ancient cedar in the ninja world who can compete head-on with one of the five major ninja villages, right?"
"He is actually a descendant of them...! Is the Ping family, which is entrenched in Haidong and occupies the sacred land, now called the Gushan family?"
"should be!"
Jiraiya, who didn't take much history class when he was in ninja school, was really not very familiar with ancient history, so he could only answer reluctantly based on hearsay.
"Now, is there anything special about the Gushan family?"
"Nothing unusual was found! The heirs of this generation of the Gushan family are particularly outstanding, with strong business capabilities and strong personal strength! Although most secular nobles are not good at martial arts, with the foundation of the Gushan family, they can cultivate one or two super masters. It’s also normal. What’s more, this generation of young masters has received the orthodox ninja education of Konoha Village.”
"That's it!"
Gamamaru, who didn't hear anything unusual, was relieved. The descendants of "Momotaro" back then were all Kaguya Otsutsuki's personal attendants, and they were close confidants. If it weren't for the special status of Otsutsuki Hagoromo and Otsutsuki Hamura, they would be " The biological sons of the "Goddess of Uzumaki", they are the rulers of the ninja world under one person and above tens of thousands of people.
Kaguya Otsutsuki has been sealed for more than a thousand years. Will those people still dream of rescuing the "Goddess of Uma", restoring the order of that era, and continuing to maintain their position as a master?
Probably not!
With the Uno Goddess, there is still a being above them pressing down on them. Now, they are actually the most powerful people in the ninja world, and there is no need to find a god to worship them.
What's more, those people don't have the ability to break the ultimate seal of the birth of the God Tree Realm.
Toad Maru can confirm this.
If not the descendants of "Momotaro", who is making trouble secretly?
"Wait a minute, you just said that the Uchiha were exterminated. What happened to the Senju and Uzumaki?"
Gamamaru, who was a little slow to react, finally discovered the key to Jiraiya's words.
"The Uchiha family? Apparently there are only two brothers left. One of them stayed in Konoha Village, and the other defected. There are rumors that there are survivors alive, but there is no evidence. The Senju is still good, for many years Although there were many casualties in the war, most of the clan members integrated into the village and lived a low-key life. The Uzumaki family suffered a catastrophe decades ago. Many clan members were captured and killed, and the country was destroyed and the family was destroyed. In the past few years, with the support of the Fusagi family, they recovered country. Their conflict with Yun Ren is to fight for the control of the Kingdom of Whirlpool..."
"Tell me carefully about the Uchiha family..."
Next, Jiraiya described in detail what he knew about the night when the Uchiha clan was exterminated, and also mentioned the causes and consequences.
As Jiraiya said, Gamamaru just closed his eyes and listened silently. If he didn't make a snorting sound from time to time, he might be thought to be asleep.
Ten minutes later, Jiraiya stopped after finishing his explanation. Gamamaru also opened his eyes and stared blankly upward, not knowing what he was thinking.
"You are still in contact with that Uchiha Itachi, right? Has he got any news back?"
"Not yet!"
"Contact him more and ask about that mysterious organization! Also, hurry up and find the Child of Destiny. I... have an ominous premonition."
"Dare I ask...where does the danger come from?"
"I don't know, but the Child of Destiny can defeat all evil spirits."
"Understood!"
This time he came in a hurry and discussed with the Great Toad Immortal for so long, which made Jiraiya feel a lot heavier.
The promise of finding Orochimaru and bringing him back to Konoha Village has not yet been fulfilled, and now there are more troublesome things to deal with urgently.
"Go back to the village and discuss with the old man. There are some things that must be prepared in advance. 』
------------------
More than a month later, the chill of early winter began to spread across most of the shinobi continent. Yuqi Island on the east coast was still warm and the climate was pleasant.
The only thing is that in the winter ocean climate, there will often be light rain at night, which is very annoying.
On an uninhabited island more than thirty kilometers away from the main island, Gu Shanbu Shui, who had been back for a while, was sitting on a cliff overlooking the sea. The raindrops around him were avoiding contact with him at all. Wet his clothes.
Below the cliff is the residence of a very large mermaid tribe.
Calling it a residence is actually a bit inappropriate. It should be called an undersea fortress or castle.
This is one of the important nodes of the undersea defense line protecting Yuqi Island.
In the drizzle, Yuqi Island, where you could originally see a shadow or a mirage in the lake, was completely invisible.
However, in Gu Shan Bu Shui's eyes, where the sea and the sky meet, the shadow of a huge tree trunk towering up to the sky is looming.
The tree trunks are thick and the crown is lush, swaying in the strong wind that comes from nowhere.
At the bottom of the tree trunk, strands of roots penetrated into the ground. In Gusugi Bosui's sight, they penetrated into the body of faith of Umibozu, who symbolized the god of rivers, and then branched and spread towards the void.
At the end of the roots are individuals who have direct power connections with Gu Shan Bu Shui.
Fuma Arashi, Ringo Yuri, Fangtu, Terumi Mei, Kaguya Kimimaro and others are relatively strong, as well as Mizuki, Shiro, Yuhuo, Ranmaru, Kurama Yakumo and other relatively weak ones.
After all these years of training and support, today, it’s finally time to give back the benefits.
The power provided by an individual is not much, but when mixed together in a large group, it is considerable.
At the same time, the believers of the River God all over the Fire Country, with every devout prayer, will contribute strands of tenacity and become nourishment for the seeds of the sacred tree.
The power network that has been built over so many years will become part of the development and growth of the sacred tree planted in Gushan Bushui.
The vast majority of people who are affected are unaware, because it has no impact on them. Only a few individuals with particularly keen perceptions are slightly aware of it.
Kurama Yakumo was looking at the huge shadow in the distance somewhere unknown, while Lin Yuri looked to the east, sneered a few times and stopped paying attention. Terumi Mei, who was relatively weak, was also a little irritated, but not Knowing the reason, I had to give up.
The natural energy of the entire ninja world gathered nearby as the influence of the sacred tree seed spread.
It was not a big storm at first, but suddenly it became a real wave.
In a luxurious mansion on Yuqi Island, Xiao Jing and Xiao Si were sleeping, while Hongye was holding Xiao Hiiragi's hand and playing games. Suddenly, both of them involuntarily cast their eyes out the floor-to-ceiling window.
The rapid raindrops hit the window pane, making both of them startled.
Not only that, the familiar chakra in the distance also exudes strange fluctuations.
"It's my father. He's doing nothing but not taking me to play."
The little Hiiragi, who was making a milky sound, pointed outside and acted coquettishly towards his mother.
"That's not playing, but practicing hard. When Xiaozhi grows up, he must work hard like his father and sister..."
"I won't even come back if it rains! My sisters can't wait to fall asleep..."
While the two were chattering, in the void beyond their sight, tiny buds sank into Hongye and the three children around him, and then disappeared into a place where no one knew.
Jiraiya, thousands of kilometers away, quickly noticed the restlessness of natural energy and turned his attention to the east.
