Chapter 124: The Sage of Six Paths’ Strategy!

Chapter 124: The Sage of Six Paths' Strategy!

The Sage of Six Paths thought of someone instantly. Or rather, something—a frog. Toad Gamamaru. It was that very toad who had originally revealed the prophecy and the secrets concerning Kaguya to him.

But Toad Gamamaru was now old, and his memory was fading, coming and going in fragments. This was why the Sage of Six Paths had pursued immortality—Toad Gamamaru, an existence of such significance, was now on the brink of death. And his own time was running short as well. Unless, of course, he could transform into a Shinigami.

At this critical moment, he had no intention of abandoning his transformation into a Shinigami. Nor did he want anyone else sharing his power or his domain. Thus, he split off a fragment of his soul and directed it toward Mount Myoboku, where he would compel Toad Gamamaru to deliver a prophecy to send two powerful shinobi to target Ishihara's organization and locate him. The objective was to have them kill Ishihara's physical form.

Those two shinobi were none other than the living Indra and Asura—Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto.

Meanwhile, in the afterworld, Ishihara remained unaware of this plot, engrossed in his experiments to create a new form of energy he had named "spirit particles." Ishihara first tried absorbing the free-floating, mysterious spirit particles into his body, but every attempt ended in failure.

Undeterred, Ishihara tried various methods, surrounding the spirit particles with different types of energy in an attempt to integrate them. First, he used chakra, but that also failed. Then he tried natural energy and the power of Yin-Yang Release. Finally, with the aid of Yin-Yang Release, he managed to introduce a small cluster of spirit particles into his body.

Initially, he thought he had succeeded, but as soon as he relaxed, the spirit particles slipped out of his body and dispersed. The particles he had painstakingly absorbed had vanished in an instant.

Yet Ishihara did not give up. After all, how could a completely new cultivation path be easy to carve out? Who hadn't faced countless failures before achieving success? Besides, he'd already made significant progress by managing to transmit the spirit particles into his body.

With time, Ishihara noticed that the spirit particles would gradually linger within him, gathering into a small stream. As he absorbed more, this stream grew larger. When the particles reached a certain density, Ishihara finally succeeded.

Though he felt it had taken only a brief period, time held no meaning in the afterworld. What felt like mere moments to Ishihara was actually several days. And then, a notification echoed in his mind: [You have deciphered spirit particles and have unlocked spirit pressure!]

Spirit pressure! Although he didn't know if this was akin to the spirit pressure of the Shinigami realm, it marked the opening of a new path for him. His next step was to keep experimenting and strengthening himself by accumulating spirit particles to develop an even more potent spirit pressure.

As spirit particles accumulated within him, increasing his spirit power and pressure, he found that parts of his soul were beginning to transform into that of a Shinigami.

Meanwhile, in the Kamui Dimension, Ishihara's physical form began undergoing a gradual transformation into a sage-like state.

All of this did not escape the watchful eyes of the Sage of Six Paths, who observed Ishihara's progress with a rising sense of alarm. Ishihara's comprehension was astonishingly high; if the Sage of Six Paths didn't act now, this individual might surpass him, reaching the Shinigami state ahead of him!

It had taken the Sage thousands of years, yet Ishihara had made similar strides within mere days. The Sage of Six Paths sprang into action, using his control over the afterworld to gradually seal Ishihara's soul. This would prevent Ishihara from returning to his physical form anytime soon, creating an opportunity for others to find and destroy Ishihara's body. With Ishihara dead, no one would be left to contest the Sage's dominion over the afterworld.

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In the real world, Toad Gamamaru, upon receiving a hint from the Sage of Six Paths, summoned Jiraiya to Mount Myoboku.

"Toad Sage wants to see me? Does this mean there's a new jutsu he intends to teach me?" Jiraiya felt a surge of excitement, unaware of the events that had transpired. After all, this was the Toad Sage, who had once crossed paths with the Sage of Six Paths himself!

However, when he arrived and found the Toad Sage dozing on a chair, Jiraiya's fervor was doused in an instant. How could this frail Toad Sage, half a step into the grave, possibly teach him any powerful jutsu? In fact, it might be a struggle just to hold a conversation.

"Toad Sage, Jiraiya has arrived," called Shima the Toad, yet the Toad Sage continued to doze off in his chair.

Jiraiya grew even more disheartened. Perhaps he had been a bit too optimistic.

"Toad Sage…"

"Uh… Ahhh…" As Jiraiya prepared to speak, Fukasaku called out, finally stirring the Toad Sage awake.

"What is it?" The Toad Sage, still groggy, glanced at Jiraiya, his memories hazy. Seeing Jiraiya reminded him of his earlier conversation with the Sage of Six Paths, which sent a shiver down his spine. He certainly wanted no disturbances after his death, so if this was the Sage's instruction, he'd follow it—there was no harm in it.

Thus, the Toad Sage spoke slowly, "Young Jiraiya, the shinobi world is about to face great upheaval. When the time comes, a savior will rise along with his companions, saving the world by defeating its strongest enemy."

"Mmm… Mmm…" His voice trailed off as he drifted back to sleep.

Jiraiya's expression twitched involuntarily. How could someone fall asleep mid-sentence? Oh, right, he wasn't human—no offense. But still, who falls asleep mid-prophecy?

Could it be… he was the savior the Toad Sage had mentioned? Otherwise, why summon him? And the savior's companion—could that be Orochimaru? Perhaps he too held Jiraiya in high regard, willing to fight beside him to save the world. But who was the enemy that would rise against the entire shinobi world?

Lost in these musings, Jiraiya fell into a reverie.

Meanwhile, Fukasaku once again called out to the Toad Sage.

"Oh, ah, huh? Young Jiraiya, why are you still here?" The Toad Sage asked, his memories seemingly faltering once again.