At Mount Myoboku, Jiraiya had just Reverse Summoned himself here and was now standing before the Great Toad Sage.
Gamamaru sat on the high platform, looking as if he had just woken up. He asked groggily, "You are...?"
The old toad beside him, Fukasaku, quickly replied, "This is Jiraiya, little Jiraiya. Grandpa, you've forgotten again."
Gamamaru pondered for a long while, and just as he was about to fall asleep again,
the toad matriarch Shima beside him called out, "We saw him just a month ago! You senile old man, don't fall asleep again!"
Fukasaku hurriedly said, "Dear, how can you talk to Grandpa like that?"
Shima replied crossly, "Am I wrong? If you forget things every day, what else are you but a senile old man?"
The shouting woke Gamamaru. He reached for a bottle and gulped down a whole bottle of sake. "All right, all right, don't argue. Toad couples should get along harmoniously, too."
After that, Gamamaru squinted at Jiraiya again. "By the way, who are you...?"
After Fukasaku reminded him again and Jiraiya rolled his eyes, Gamamaru finally sighed, "So you've grown up, little Jiraiya."
"About the person you came here to ask about before, in the past month, I seem to have occasionally seen a different future in my dreams."
A different future?
Jiraiya froze. Had the prophecy changed? What about the future of the Child of Prophecy?
Gamamaru didn't give Jiraiya time to think. Instead, he continued, "I saw... so many... so many shinobi... farming."
"Farming?!"
The bewildered exclamations rang out in unison.
Neither Fukasaku and Shima, the two toads, nor Jiraiya could understand what that meant. If he meant it literally, shinobi farming? How could that be possible?
Gamamaru continued, "After a great war, the vast majority of shinobi were farming. Earth Release to till the soil, Water Release to irrigate the fields, Fire Release and Taijutsu to forge iron, Lightning Release to provide electricity, Wind Release to fell trees and cut steel and boulders. So many things, with every shinobi doing their part..."
The sudden revelation left Jiraiya stunned. Have shinobi take up production? How could that be possible?
Just as he was about to ask something else, Gamamaru said, "The future has become unpredictable. Even a toad's dreams have been disrupted. Little Jiraiya, that's all I can tell you."
Having downed another bottle of sake, Gamamaru fell asleep.
But the information he'd left behind kept Jiraiya unsettled for a long time. The future had become unpredictable? Then what of the Child of Prophecy who would guide the world toward peace?
A great war?
Large numbers of shinobi farming?
A great war was certainly possible. The several Shinobi World Wars had already proven as much. But large numbers of shinobi farming? Just imagining it seemed utterly impossible. Where would you ever find most shinobi farming?
"Little Jiraiya, Grandpa's been rather senile lately. Don't take it too seriously."
After reassuring him, Shima added, "And if all the shinobi really do end up farming in the future, that'll be a good thing. At least you humans won't keep fighting each other."
Shima's words made Jiraiya see things differently. Sage Shima was right. If the shinobi all went farming, then the wars would naturally end.
Seen that way, it wasn't a bad future.
Fukasaku leaped onto Jiraiya's shoulder. "It's already noon. Little Jiraiya, if you're not busy, stay and have a meal with us."
Jiraiya nearly jumped out of his skin. Eat at Mount Myoboku? The table would be covered in bugs!
He had to get out of there.
In the Land of Rain.
When Sora saw the flamboyantly dressed man up ahead, he paused. Jiraiya? What was he doing in the Land of Rain at a time like this?
As far as Sora remembered, this old lecher hadn't known about the changes in Amegakure or his three disciples until the battle just before his death.
So why would he come back to the Land of Rain now to gather information?
After arriving in the Land of Rain, Jiraiya first went to the little hut from before. But aside from a pile of rubble, there was nothing useful there.
Then his old habit kicked in, and he went to the town, hoping to "gather" information at a brothel.
Uzumaki Sora used Body Flicker to slip into the shadows. He wanted to see what would happen next.
The butterfly's wings had already set too many things in motion. It wouldn't be bad if Jiraiya got into a fight with the Six Paths of Pain. At least then, there'd be a much better chance of getting an arm to borrow.
Night fell, and Jiraiya, full of food and drink, began his nighttime "research."
Outside the women's bath, a lecherous old man with spiky white hair hunched down to peep, his raised... buttocks wiggling lasciviously.
Sora pressed a hand to his forehead in the shadows. He shouldn't have expected this old man to do anything decent. Maybe he'd only come to the Land of Rain to do some "research" while passing through.
What an idiot!
After thinking for a moment, Sora smiled and clasped his hands together to form the Snake Seal.
Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence!
At Sora's command, a sharp-tipped branch emerged from the soil.
Then he aimed its tip at the center of his target. Damn it, would he stop moving?!
Whoosh!
The enormous branch shot out.
"Pfft."
In an instant, a chrysanthemum bloomed.
"Ah!!!"
Amid a scream, Jiraiya lunged forward, smashed through the wooden door, and tumbled straight into the hot spring.
"Ah...!"
"There's a man! A pervert!"
"Get him!"
"Where's my towel?"
"Why are you looking for a towel? To cover your face?"
Amid the screams, a cloud of smoke rose inside the wooden building.
A man appeared behind Uzumaki Sora, clutching his butt. He had spiky white hair and face paint beneath his eyes.
"Kid, do you know that when a Shadow Clone disperses, all its experiences return to the original? I..."
Jiraiya, still clutching his butt, was about to say more when he froze. He asked in confusion, "Uzumaki Sora?"
Sora looked at him, unimpressed by his awkward posture. "Did the branch make a sound when it came out of the ground? You were quick to use a Shadow Clone. I didn't even notice. But if I hadn't needed to aim, I could've skewered you like a kebab on the spot."
Jiraiya tensed in alarm. That feeling just now had been...
"What are you doing in the Land of Rain?"
They asked at the same time.
Jiraiya smiled. "I heard from Minato that you seem to know everything. Wouldn't you know why I came to the Land of Rain?"
Sora replied, "No one can truly know everything. Every variable causes countless things to branch off, and I've only seen one possible ending."
An ending?
Jiraiya thought for a moment, then asked, "What kind of ending have you seen?"
Yun looked Jiraiya up and down, his eyes full of disdain. "You couldn't afford the price of that answer. Or, to put it another way, you don't have anything I'd consider a worthwhile bargaining chip."
"If you've been back to Konoha, you should know that information from me comes at a price. Unfortunately, you're worthless."
Before you continue