The Architect.

(Kei POV)

I looked at the Toad standing calmly in front of me… and I didn't like it one bit. He was too calm, especially for someone who was dependent on my whim for his entire family's survival.

I could simply try and absorb him. One swift move is all it would take… at least with others… but I was certain that it wasn't going to be that easy. This Toad had a way to deny me such a crude and direct method of obtaining it. I was sure that was where his confidence stemmed from.

"No need for such caution. I will do nothing to hamper any plans you might have or try to pull anything over your head. I doubt it would fly anyway. You have proven to have a rather sharp mind. Almost the entire shinobi world is wrapped around your finger after all." – The Toad said as he smiled at me with eyes almost closed.

He knew something, something about the near future. Quite probably my plans… or what was going to go awry. AT least, that was what my experience was telling me… but it wasn't like it helped much when dealing with a living fossil. One that had a brain at that, and was capable of receiving visions of the future.

His efficiency at using Senjutsu was certainly impressive, at least from what I observed with Manda… yet it didn't come close to me, and was just too far away in just sheer power.

As I carefully observed the Toad, I started channeling Senjutsu through my body.

*BANG*

The floor around me exploded as I pointed a single finger at the Giant Toad Sage, sending his body tumbling backward as I carefully inspected him. The natural energy around the Toad flickered as it slowly became weaker and weaker.

"Keough!!!" – The Toad Sage grunted as blood spilled from his mouth. Yet he still looked at me smiling, with no hostility whatsoever. It was unnerving.

"You… are running out of time old man. Your body can no longer keep up with your abilities, so stop going in circles… and give me a reason to not annihilate all of you before you pass away."

"…A reason hmm? Before going to the main topic, how about this then… that cataclysmic event that slowly draws near, the one that this world is so unlikely to survive… you won't be there to see it." – The Toad said with a smile on his face.

I merely observed the Toad for any sign of deception… and I found none of it. Either it was telling some semblance of truth, enough that it didn't constitute a lie… or I simply didn't have the skills to see through him. Then again, 'I won't be there to see it.' – It was too open to interpretation.

"Will I survive?" – I asked the most important question. As long as I survived in the end, everything could be temporarily given up. The Sage himself, Madara, even Kaguya. As long as I survived, I would be coming back to regain whatever I had to give up in the meantime.

The Sage looked amused as if it was the funniest joke he had heard in quite a while.

"Yes… yes, you undoubtedly will. As for how easily, it is beyond my abilities to see."

He was too cooperative. Did I suspect every word from him? Yes. Did I still think he waslying to me? Surprisingly not. Even after I had shed the natural energy covering his body, I could feel nothing but the truth coming from him.

But could I even trust Sage mode when dealing with one of the first who ever used it? Could he somehow mask himself without me finding out even given our difference in strength? Perhaps, maybe… there were simply too many things I didn't know.

And when every living being is my enemy, I simply couldn't bring myself to blindly trust one. At least not one that didn't fear death like the one before me. Yet everything pointed towards him telling the truth.

'Haa…' – I sighed silently in my mind as I steered the conversation to a topic towards which I could hopefully discern truth from lies.

"And what about the main topic of this little meeting? About the one who created me?" – I asked him, my Sharingan carefully observing the Giant Toad Sage.

"Who created you, I do not know. However, as for who brought you here, I can tell you that they had help. From someone who has already settled in here and has a passable amount of influence… a god if you will. You might not know, but this god currently has his eye on you. While he cannot see or hear you clearly in here… he knows you are here already. He helped bring you in this world… and also made sure you encountered a certain someone on your arrival here… Someone… what was his name again… ah this old head. Ah yes, it was Kuro. . This god could care less for such details… but the foreign entity who wanted you to be here was very specific as to who you would encounter upon arriving. The god only agreed as he was promised that this would incite you to go on and kill an uncountable number of people. Guess he was right."

'Hmm, it is rather easy to discern, it must be Jashin. And for whatever reason, the Toad isn't mentioning this god's name. I guess the name must either draw attention or have a certain effect once spoken. Or maybe just a precaution on his part. Maybe for this god not to intervene and ruin his negotiations. Given the Toad Sage's prophecies and disposition, Jashin must be none too happy with the lack of carnage these prophecies cause.'

'But then again.. how did this overgrown amphibian learn so much. This is far above the level of a simple prophecy. Was it because it was a foreign existence. And one clearly restricted if it required the help of a domestic god. Then again I do not know much about this subject either.'

"And how do you know so much about dealings between gods?"

"He, our resident god, told me himself. He was rather hoping for me to interfere at any point during this process or even after it. His desire for death and destruction was so extreme that he hoped I would spike a war with the foreign being who wanted you to be here."

"And this foreign god, what was he called?" -I asked.

I had gained enough information to confirm my suspicions. I never believed that arriving near Konoha, at that opportune moment of chaos and destruction that the nine-tails was free, as well as running into the fleeing Kuro, was by no means a fortuitous coincidence. As he expected, it was planned by somebody in advance, and he was likely using the system to constantly observe him even at this moment.

"Ah yes, his name, our bloodthirsty god did laugh for a good while after he first heard it. I believed he called himself The Architect."