Kakashi froze for a moment, then grew excited.
"Lord Jiraiya!"
One of the legendary Sannin was standing right before him!
"This little fellow looks a bit like..." Jiraiya stroked his chin, a familiar face appearing in his mind.
"Kakashi is Mr. Sakumo's son. He's under my command now..."
Minato Namikaze immediately introduced him.
"Haha..." Jiraiya laughed. "Minato, impressive..."
Even Mr. Sakumo's son had become your student?
It seemed that you had improved tremendously over the past few years.
When Minato Namikaze told him how he had rescued Kushina, been granted one chance to read the Scroll of Seals, and ultimately learned the S-rank Flying Thunder God...
It was Jiraiya's turn to be shocked.
"The Second Hokage's technique... That's... incredible..."
Jiraiya had good reason to be so astonished.
Even the old man had failed to learn the Flying Thunder God.
Such talent was enough to prove that Minato was qualified to become Hokage.
"No wonder..."
Jiraiya shook his head repeatedly.
Before returning to the village, he had already heard about his disciple's Golden Flash nickname.
He had thought Minato was merely fast. He had never expected... it to be the Flying Thunder God.
"Since that's the case, Minato, there's no time to waste. You should head to Mount Myōboku and learn Senjutsu..."
He had already learned the Flying Thunder God.
Naturally, Senjutsu had to be added to the list.
Only then would he be qualified to compete with Mr. Sakumo for the position of Hokage.
Jiraiya, who knew that Minato had dreamed of becoming Hokage since childhood, had great faith in his disciple's dream.
The war had already ended. The next Hokage might be chosen at any time.
So... he needed to work harder.
"Leave Kakashi to me."
Jiraiya said that while Minato was at Mount Myōboku, he would be responsible for teaching Kakashi.
"That's great~!" Kakashi snorted through his nose, practically bursting with excitement.
A legendary Sannin was going to guide him. Wouldn't that make him unbelievably strong?
The lack of confidence caused by Akira Sarutobi's reprimand vanished completely.
Kakashi felt as though the Path of the Hokage was beckoning to him.
"If Teacher Minato is the Fourth Hokage, then I'll be the Fifth Hokage..."
Soon, Jiraiya left behind Mount Myōboku's summoning scroll and departed with Kakashi.
Minato Namikaze unrolled the scroll and took a deep breath. "Then... it's time to go to Mount Myōboku."
Not long afterward.
Minato Namikaze was summoned to Mount Myōboku through Reverse Summoning by Sage Fukasaku and Sage Shima, and began looking around.
Mount Myōboku, Shikkotsu Forest, and Ryūchi Cave... were collectively known as the Three Great Sage Regions.
Anyone with the right affinity could learn "Senjutsu."
"Teacher Jiraiya said it took him a month to learn Senjutsu back then..."
"Mm, little Minato, with your talent, about a week should be enough..."
Sage Fukasaku and Sage Shima nodded, fully certain of Minato Namikaze's talent.
"But before that, come with us first. The Great Master wishes to see you..."
Sage Fukasaku and Sage Shima led the way.
The Great Master referred to Mount Myōboku's true ruler... the ancient sage, the Great Toad Sage.
It was said that the Great Toad Sage was a being from the era of the Sage of Six Paths.
He was already over a thousand years old.
His overwhelming Chakra allowed him to foresee the future.
Minato Namikaze had also heard that the Great Toad Sage made prophecies, such as the "Child of Prophecy" that Teacher Jiraiya often spoke of.
Before long, Minato Namikaze arrived inside a palace.
There, he saw the enormous Great Toad Sage.
"Great Master, we've brought little Minato." Sage Fukasaku spoke.
Just as Sage Shima thought that the Great Master would fool around for a while before getting to the point as usual...
The Great Toad Sage's words caught them by surprise.
"Child of Prophecy... you have come..."
Sage Fukasaku and Sage Shima: "!"
The Child of Prophecy was the one who would bring peace to the ninja world.
Was little Jiraiya's disciple that person?
Previously, the Great Toad Sage had never made clear who the true Child of Prophecy was.
Little Jiraiya had even searched everywhere for him.
Now, he had stated it so plainly. Had some upheaval come to the ninja world?
Sage Fukasaku and Sage Shima had lived for eight hundred years and witnessed the changes of the ninja world, as well as the passage of countless events.
Their expressions visibly turned solemn.
Then, the Great Toad Sage slowly opened his eyes. "Minato Namikaze, your mission has arrived... I saw conflict, death, and rebirth... The ninja world will undergo tremendous upheaval..."
The Great Toad Sage spoke to himself, while Minato Namikaze could only listen with wide eyes.
"It all began not long ago."
Not long ago?
Minato Namikaze immediately recalled the destruction of Sky Hidden Village.
"That's right. At the moment Sky Hidden Village was destroyed, many things changed..."
The Great Toad Sage raised his head toward the heavens. White clouds drifted across the sky...
"The future that was once clear became blurred and fractured... I can only see intermittent images... Even I can no longer accurately judge everything that will happen in the future..."
The predetermined trajectory had been broken.
Many things might change.
"Great Master, can the future... be changed?" Minato Namikaze looked up and voiced his doubt.
The Great Toad Sage had originally prophesied the Child of Destiny.
Yet now he said the future was unclear.
The Great Toad Sage nodded. "Yes. Fate is made by oneself. When power that is excessively good or excessively evil appears, prophecy will no longer proceed in its predetermined direction..."
Fate could not restrain those of ultimate goodness or ultimate evil.
And because of their involvement, many things would be rewritten.
The Great Toad Sage said, "In the brand-new future I saw, you will fight that power..."
"That power... does it want to destroy the ninja world?" Minato Namikaze abruptly stood up and asked anxiously.
"It will bring destruction."
The Great Toad Sage's answer made Minato Namikaze, Sage Fukasaku, and Sage Shima's hearts sink.
"But it will also bring rebirth."
The three of them: "!"
The Great Toad Sage said, "The cycle of death and rebirth is how all things in this world exist..."
"Great Master, I don't understand."
Minato Namikaze was somewhat confused.
If he was the Child of Prophecy, then what was he supposed to do?
"Minato Namikaze, if you long for a new world, then you need not fight that power... But if you wish to preserve the Old World... then battle will be your destiny, and you will be that Child of Prophecy."
The Great Toad Sage raised a finger and pointed at Minato Namikaze.
"The choice... is mine?"
Minato Namikaze's eyes turned bewildered.
"If I don't fight, does that mean a new Child of Destiny will appear?"
"That's right." The Great Toad Sage lowered his finger and nodded. "The era will choose the destined person. If you stand by and watch everything happen, someone else will fight that power, and a new Child of Destiny will emerge."
After hearing those words, Minato Namikaze immediately fell into deep thought.
Sage Shima was the first to lose patience and could not help asking, "Great Master, according to your prophecy, that power will destroy the Old World and create a new world. Is that good or bad?"
"Good and evil are often determined by one's position."
The Great Toad Sage's tone grew increasingly profound.
"Humans eat animals, so to animals, humans are evil. Yet humans believe eating animals is only natural. Good and evil... are defined by one's position..."
Sage Shima furrowed her brow deeply. "Can't you explain it in a way little Minato can understand!"
"..."
The Great Toad Sage fell silent.
Then he spoke again.
"Very well. Minato Namikaze, I will tell you of the original predetermined future. Afterward, you may consider it before making your choice."
The Great Toad Sage's eyes suddenly widened.
An incomparably massive Chakra directly pulled Minato Namikaze into the future trajectory he had seen.
"This is the original trajectory..."
Names, people, and events flashed rapidly before Minato Namikaze's eyes, playing like a film.
Seeing these visions felt as though he had personally lived through the rest of his life.
"The original future... Fourth Hokage... marrying Kushina... having a child... Naruto Uzumaki..."
"The current future... fractured, blurred visions... the destruction of the Old World... the deviation of the trajectory..."
"Ugh!"
The world spun before Minato Namikaze's eyes. The overwhelming flood of information left him swaying on the verge of collapse.
Fortunately, the pain did not last long.
When the Great Toad Sage stopped, Minato Namikaze immediately dropped to one knee and gasped for breath.
Before you continue