"No..."
Sage Fukasaku shook his head.
"The Great Sage only confirmed the identities of the children of prophecy. The Great Sage said... the powers of the two children of prophecy have already begun to awaken... They will play extremely important roles in the future... But before that, other people will still be needed..."
"Hmm."
Jiraiya thought for a moment.
"Did the Great Sage say what the disaster in the future will be?"
"The Great Sage said that this prophetic disaster is different from the previous one. Last time, Hyuga Sho reversed the future, and the outcome where the world was destined to be destroyed no longer exists... But although its 'certainty' of destruction is gone, there's still a fifty percent chance that it will be destroyed. Jiraiya, you understand, right..."
"It's like a fortune-teller saying that a child will live a life of great wealth and honor and live to ninety. Then, starting that very day, the child lies there without moving, opening his mouth for food and holding out his hands for clothes. One day, the child's parents have to travel far away, so they hang a flatbread around the child's neck. The bread is enough to last until they return, but the child still starves to death because... he only eats the part in front of him and refuses even to raise his hand and turn the bread..."
The story Jiraiya told was extremely dark.
But it also clearly illustrated one thing.
The fact that the world was no longer destined to be destroyed did not mean they could let down their guard and assume that peace had arrived.
The outcome had merely changed from being one hundred percent certain to being uncertain.
Uncertain still meant there was a chance the world would face doomsday.
"What exactly... could