Afterward, Orochimaru quietly left the area. From beginning to end, he did not make the slightest commotion, terrified that Uchiha Yue would notice him and simply capture and kill him. Clearly, he had worried too much. Uchiha Yue had never cared about them in the first place.
At that moment...
"The efficiency of energy absorption is getting higher and higher. I can even absorb sound waves now."
Uchiha Yue raised his head. The next moment, a ray of light surged forth, passed through the Susanoo, landed in his hand, and was absorbed by him.
His energy absorption ability would continuously evolve as he accumulated more energy and as his body and spirit continued to evolve.
At first, Uchiha Yue could only absorb light energy and Chakra. His absorption efficiency for other forms of energy was extremely low, practically no different from being unable to absorb them at all. Even when absorbing Chakra, he had to kill someone first for it to be fast.
However, as he continued slaughtering, devouring, and evolving, his efficiency at absorbing energy became increasingly powerful, increasingly terrifying, and utterly unreasonable. After killing a large number of Konoha ninja, his absorption efficiency greatly increased, directly expanding into a so-called domain that began indiscriminately absorbing all energy within it.
In truth, what kind of domain was that? If he had to describe it, it was like someone taking a deep breath. The range of air they could draw in while breathing was the true nature of Uchiha Yue's so-called domain.
What domain? He was merely breathing.
Uchiha Yue had a feeling that as he continued evolving, the amount of energy he could absorb would only grow greater. Did they see the deathly silent space before him?
There appeared to be no energy left in this space, but the molecules and atoms composing those substances still contained incomparably vast energy. That was energy on a deeper level. As he continued evolving, Uchiha Yue would sooner or later be able to absorb energy on an even deeper level, draining and emptying everything before him, devouring it completely.
"Heh heh, come, world. We shall eventually become one. All things shall return to me; I am one! Hahahaha! Come, insects, struggle! Resist! If you can truly kill me, hahahaha!"
Uchiha Yue opened his eyes and grinned, then closed them again, sinking once more into slumber—or rather, calculation.
He did not even have the desire to move. Was there anything more terrifying than watching oneself draw closer to death day by day, yet being powerless to do anything about it?
This was not the invisible death of a lifespan running out. It was death one could truly see, death given tangible form.
Mount Myōboku.
"Croak! Konoha! Shimura Danzō!"
Within a temple deep in Mount Myōboku, the Great Toad Sage opened his eyes, furious beyond measure. Over the past few days, he had entered dreams several times, yet he had not seen even a trace of that hopeful future. What was happening now was just like when Kaguya Ōtsutsuki descended upon this world.
At the beginning, he had also been unable to foresee that hopeful future. It was only after the birth of the Ōtsutsuki brothers that the Great Toad Sage saw that future filled with hope.
Previously, he had prophesied that the Ninja World would face a great crisis, one that only the Child of Destiny could save it from. Thus, he had sent Jiraiya to seek out the Child of Destiny, hoping to save the Ninja World of the future.
But now, the Child of Destiny had not been found, while a new crisis had erupted instead. The Great Toad Sage knew that Uchiha Yue's appearance absolutely was not the future crisis he had foreseen. Rather, it was a world-ending crisis born from fate being altered.
After learning what that fool Shimura Danzō had done, the Great Toad Sage was truly stunned. As the saying went, when Danzo exterminated a clan, fate changed; how could a piece of shit become Hokage? Shimura Danzō had single-handedly changed the fate of the Ninja World, forcing the birth of a monster that, in the Great Toad Sage's eyes, posed a threat comparable to when Kaguya Ōtsutsuki had descended upon the world.
This monster should never have existed. In the original fate, there had been no such monster, yet it had appeared anyway. Damn Shimura Danzō!
Clearly, as long as things proceeded according to his plan and the Child of Destiny was found, the world could have been saved in the future. But what now?
Even now, the Great Toad Sage had not figured out how to deal with a monster like Uchiha Yue. He could only take things one step at a time and have Jiraiya continue searching for the Child of Destiny. Yet Jiraiya was also unwilling to listen. He had told him not to get close, to take one look and run, one look and leave, but Jiraiya refused to listen. He insisted on going in to court death, nearly getting himself killed and almost dragging Fukasaku and Shiken down with him as well.
The Great Toad Sage was speechless, but he could not say much. After all, what had happened then had indeed dealt Jiraiya a tremendous blow. He had been wandering around the Ninja World perfectly well—oh, no, gathering material in the Ninja World—no, searching for the Child of Destiny. Then he was suddenly told that his home was gone and his teacher was gone too. Who could remain calm after that?
Moreover, as one of the Legendary Sannin, Jiraiya was considered a powerful man with ideas of his own. He had successfully relied on those ideas of his to turn himself into a cripple.
The Great Toad Sage sighed, his face full of helplessness. Now, he could only wait. Time would give him the answer. Just as when Kaguya Ōtsutsuki had descended, he had seen no hope at all, only endless despair. Yet in the end, bitterness had turned to sweetness, and the Ōtsutsuki brothers had arrived, setting the two brothers upon the path of uproarious laughter and successfully sealing away their birth mother.
Now, he could only pray that in the near future, just as before, he would wait for an opportunity to resolve the threat of Uchiha Yue.
"If only Uchiha Yue were a woman, then..."
The Great Toad Sage pondered this, then shook his head. He had no intention of personally going out to inspect the situation. He was old, and his body was no longer up to it. What if he caught Uchiha Yue's attention and was beaten to death?
He could be said to be the Ninja World's current hope. If he died, then even if an opportunity appeared later, it might silently vanish because no one could discover it.
Sometimes, fate needed to be actively guided. Only then could it develop in the direction one needed. When the Great Toad Sage had discovered the Ōtsutsuki brothers, those two opportunities, he had felt that he had to act and could not allow fate to develop naturally. If he had not stepped in to guide things back then, the Ninja World might have become something entirely different.
In truth...
Before you continue