Mount Myoboku.
Temple.
"Little Jiraiya."
"Throughout my life, I have had countless dreams."
"Most of them were vague and indistinct."
"I could only glimpse a few scattered fragments of fate, like reflections in water."
An aged voice echoed through the empty hall.
The Great Toad Sage looked down at the white-haired man below, his voice remarkably steady.
Jiraiya swallowed.
He did not even dare breathe too hard, afraid of interrupting the one before him.
"But not long ago."
"I had a dream."
"A dream so clear that every detail was visible."
The Great Toad Sage leaned forward slightly.
The Everlasting Lamps in the temple swayed with him, their dim blue flames stretching the shadows of the surrounding plants.
"What... did you see?"
Jiraiya asked softly, his throat painfully dry.
The Great Toad Sage fell silent for several seconds.
He seemed to be recalling the scenes from that dream.
"I saw a tree."
"A towering tree beyond description."
"Its roots pierced through every inch of the Ninja World."
"Its branches and leaves blotted out the sun, moon, and stars."
"The entire Ninja World was shrouded beneath that tree."
"No one could defy that tree's will."
"Absolute hegemony."
"Absolute rule."
The Great Toad Sage's voice was low, carrying an inexplicable emotion.
At those words.
Jiraiya's heart clenched sharply, and his hands unconsciously curled into fists.
Hegemony?
Dictatorship?
It sounded like nothing less than a disaster!
"Was that destruction?"
"Did the Ninja World fall into misery under that monster's rule?"
Jiraiya's voice trembled slightly.
He stared nervously at the Great Toad Sage, trying to make out his expression.
However.
The Great Toad Sage shook his head.
Deep confusion appeared in his all-seeing eyes.
"No."
"Quite the opposite."
"Under that absolute hegemony, there was no more war in the Ninja World."
"No killing, no