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"Yes, destiny!" Sage Fukasaku leaped onto a nearby stone platform and looked toward Sasuke, who was getting acquainted with Gamabunta in the distance. Then he slowly said, "Sasuke was able to leave his name on the contract scroll and successfully summon Gamabunta. That is destiny's guidance. Destiny chose him to become this generation's summoner of Mount Myoboku!"

Jiraiya recalled his own experiences and nodded unconsciously. "Yeah, it was an accident that led me to Mount Myoboku by chance back then. That must have been destiny's arrangement too."

Neji asked dejectedly, "So no matter how hard I try, there won't be any results?"

Sage Fukasaku shook his head and hopped away.

Jiraiya patted Neji on the shoulder. "You're still young."

Hinata stepped forward to console him as well. "Brother Neji, even if we weren't fated to sign a summoning contract at Mount Myoboku, we still have the Byakugan and the Gentle Fist!"

As Neji watched Sasuke standing atop Gamabunta's head in the distance, he stroked the Caged Bird Seal on his forehead and murmured, "I understand. I understand it all. I... I'm just unwilling to accept it. Why is destiny always unwilling to look me in the eye?"

"Ah..."

Hearing Neji's quiet muttering, Jiraiya let out a soft sigh.

He felt sympathy for Neji's fate as a member of the Hyuga Branch Family, bound by the Caged Bird Seal for life, but he also had a headache over how to explain this to Hyuga Kagami.

This trip to Mount Myoboku had been proposed by Hyuga Kagami. Jiraiya had agreed only to repay Hyuga Kagami for driving off Akatsuki members and saving the village.

Yet he had never expected the Uchiha Clan to come knocking after learning of it.

Given Jiraiya's temperament, he naturally would not have agreed. However, in order to