A Fate Spanning a Century

Mount Myōboku is currently divided into the martial and the scholarly.

The martial toads are similar to Gamabunta, Hiro-san, and Gamaken of later generations, relying on taijutsu and blade techniques to attack.

Although there are those who cultivate techniques, they rely on toad sound, toad oil, or toad fire for their attacks.

If I create hand seals, I can elevate the strength of Mount Myōboku to a new level.

Manji made up his mind, recalling the hand seals from his past life.

He was quite familiar with them.

Zi, Chou, Yin, Mao, Chen, Si, Wu, Wei, Shen, You, Xu, and Hai, also known as the Nine Character Seal.

Nearly another hundred years passed.

Manji created the hand seals and promoted them within Mount Myōboku, but he did not spread them to the human world, keeping them restricted to a small circle within Mount Myōboku.

"Great Sage, we have finished recording the events of these past hundred years. It is truly a work of immeasurable merit for you to compile history for the world."

The toad responsible for recording world history exclaimed in admiration, then respectfully handed over a scroll.

Manji took the scroll, examined it carefully, and nodded. "Well done. Are you new?"

"Reporting to the Great Sage, I took over this mission from my grandfather. My grandfather was the first toad to help the Great Sage record history."

The toad nodded repeatedly as he spoke.

Manji felt a slight surprise in his heart, remembering the little toad who had once recorded history for him so reverently.

"So fast... then, where is your grandfather now?"

Manji was surprised, not expecting that so many years had passed again.

"Reporting to the Great Sage, my grandfather has already passed away."

The toad revealed a look of sorrow.

"I see..."

A flash of emotion crossed Manji's eyes. Holding the scroll in his hand, he couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

"You've worked hard. You may go."

Manji waved his hand slightly.

He couldn't help but lament that time is like a blade.

He looked at the scroll in his hand, which only recorded a mere hundred years of history in the Ninja World.

In his eyes, it was indeed just a short hundred years.

But in the eyes of most mortals, that was the entire lifetime of countless people.

After Manji sat alone in the Sage Hall for a while, his figure flashed and he vanished.

It is time to go and see how Hagoromo is doing...

After a century, he stepped onto this land once again.

It was the exact spot where he had asked a young child for directions back then.

Nothing had changed, save for the generations of people who had come and gone.

Manji paused, just as he was about to use Sage Art: Sage Mist Body Flicker to depart, when an aged yet trembling voice filled with excitement came from behind him.

"Sage... is it really you?"

Manji turned his head slowly, his gaze falling toward the source of the sound.

He saw an old man with white hair and beard, his back hunched, leaning on a polished wooden staff. Every step he took was shaky, and his cloudy eyes looked at him, surging with unbelievable ecstasy and excitement.

Manji sighed helplessly in his heart.

His face, which had weathered the ages without changing, had long since been etched into the blood and bones of the human world. No matter where he went, it was hard to hide his tracks; truly, who in the world did not know him?

It was all Hagoromo's fault for painting him so accurately back then.

If he had only painted him to look like Taishang Laojun from his past life, not everyone would recognize him.

"Sage! It really is you!"

The old man finally stumbled closer, his staff thumping heavily against the ground to support his swaying body, his voice trembling uncontrollably from excitement.

"Do you still remember me? I am that little child from back then! The one playing in the mud at the village entrance, the one you asked for directions!"

Upon hearing this, Manji's pupils constricted sharply.

He had actually met him before?

Manji clearly remembered that when he first stepped onto this land a hundred years ago, it was indeed this child, covered in mud spots, squatting on the dirt mound at the village entrance playing with mud.

Manji: "Child, where is the Manji Temple nearby?"

Child: "Wow, you look just like the Sage of Six Paths!"

Who could have imagined that the bright-eyed, nimble child of yesteryear would now be a withered, decrepit old man on the verge of death.

Manji curled his lips into a smile and sighed softly, "The little toddler who used to squat at the village entrance playing with mud has actually turned into this."

The old man hurriedly bowed, his body trembling.

"Ever since my grandfather took me to see the Sage back then, I have prayed day and night to meet the Sage once more."

"For these past hundred years, I have guarded this village entrance before dawn every single day, through wind and rain, just hoping the Sage would step foot on this land again."

"I never expected... never expected that I would live to be one hundred and eight and finally see my wish fulfilled."

The old man's voice was choked with sobs, and murky tears slid down his wrinkled cheeks.

Hearing this, Manji felt a surge of emotion.

A hundred years was but a fleeting moment in his pursuit of the immortal path, yet for a mortal, it was an entire lifetime, from a young child with tufted hair to a centenarian.

"You are already one hundred and eight; that is truly a rare longevity in this world."

Manji smiled slightly.

"It is all thanks to the Sage's great blessing!"

The old man bowed again, his tone filled with piety, "Because I saw the Sage's divine countenance in my childhood and was touched by a sliver of immortal grace, this old man has been able to live safely until today."

"A hundred years have passed, and the Sage still possesses such an outstanding demeanor!"

"It is as if we just met, yet I am already an old man with Kitsuchi buried up to my neck."

Manji nodded with a smile, looking at the old man who had waited for him for a century, his heart stirred.

He spoke, "Our meeting again after a hundred years is a rare stroke of fate. Tell me, is there anything you desire?"

With Manji's abilities, changing someone's destiny in Naruto was an incredibly simple task.

As soon as he finished speaking, the old man fell to his knees with a thud.

His aged forehead pressed tightly against the cold ground, his voice firm and respectful: "The Sage already granted me a hundred years of life; that is already a supreme gift, and this old man has no further greed. To see the Sage one more time in my remaining years is the greatest fortune of this life. It is enough, it is enough!"

Manji couldn't help but laugh; having lived for one hundred and eight years, the old man had long since seen through the greed, anger, and ignorance of the world, shedding all worldly desires. He had truly lived with clarity.

"Grandpa! Grandpa! It's bad! Our big yellow ox was eaten by a monster from the back mountain!"

Just then, hurried footsteps came from the end of the village path. A child with his hair tied up ran over, crying, his small face covered in tear tracks, his voice filled with sobs.

Hearing this, the old man quickly rose from the ground, ignoring his heartache over the ox, and grabbed the child!

"Child, forget about the ox, come here quickly and pay your respects to the Sage!"

The old man pulled his grandson along as he spoke.

The child was dragged before Manji by his grandfather. He blinked his innocent, wide eyes and stared at Manji for a moment.

The child suddenly tilted his head and said with the bluntness of youth: "Eh? Aren't you that big brother Sage of Six Paths from the portrait in the ancestral hall? How did you run out of the painting?"

"Presumptuous!"

The old man was anxious and angry; he raised his hand and lightly patted the child's bottom, scolding sternly: "You are not allowed to be disrespectful to the Sage of Six Paths! Apologize at once!"

"It is fine. Children are innocent; their words are without malice."

Manji waved his hand with a faint smile.

"Is this your grandson? He looks just like you did back then—ignorant and straightforward, just like when your father used to carry a hoe and scold you in the fields."

Manji said warmly.

Hearing this, a look of deep nostalgia flashed through the old man's eyes.

Back then, he had been just as outspoken and was scolded by his father returning from the fields. Now that he thought about it, it was a matter from a hundred years ago, feeling like a lifetime away.

"Alright, tell me what exactly happened."

"How could the ox be eaten by a monster? What kind of monster was it?"

Manji withdrew his gaze and looked at the child who was still wiping away tears, asking in a calm tone.

Since the old man asked for nothing in return, he would take action to remove this scourge for the village, which could be considered settling this century-old bond.

The child sniffled, wiped his tears, and spoke timidly: "It was a big fox monster, a really big one, with lots of tails! It snatched the big yellow ox away in one bite!"

"The child is ignorant and his words are confused. Let me report it to the Sage."

The old man hurriedly stepped forward, bowed deeply to Manji, and spoke slowly.

"This disaster began seven years ago. A great demon suddenly appeared in the back mountain of the village. It was a beast in the shape of a fox with nine fluffy tails behind it; its appearance was terrifying."

"This creature doesn't eat people, but it often comes down the mountain to snatch the village's cattle and sheep. The villagers fear its power, and now they don't even dare to go up the mountain to graze or cut wood. Life has become increasingly difficult."

The old man finished speaking.

Manji frowned. Nine-Tails?

Upon hearing "nine-tailed fox demon," Manji's brow arched ever so slightly.

His first thought went to the Nine-Tails he had released years ago, but this place was thousands of miles away from where the seal had been broken and the creature set free. The regions were worlds apart; how could it be the same one?

With doubt lingering in his heart, Manji slowly closed his eyes. Immortal energy surged outward like a tide, instantly blanketing the entire back mountain and the land for a hundred miles in every direction.

The next instant, a familiar chakra flowed clearly into his perception from the depths of the back mountain.

Manji opened his eyes, a flicker of realization crossing his gaze as he muttered to himself, "It really is you, kid. Nine-Tails."