Chapter 43: Crow Sage… What the Heck Is That!
Usually, when a family's cub makes a major mistake, the parents mostly gift them a "toxic beating" package. The outcome of the matter might be irreversible, but the parents' moods become much more pleasant.
Perhaps this is also a part of parenting... It's touching.
Fukasaku and Shima looked at Gamabunta lying there, covered in wounds, and could only let it off for now. They had more important matters... such as summoning Jiraiya back, lest that spokesperson die!
"Hmm? Reverse Summoning Jutsu?"
Jiraiya lowered his head and handed the Kusanagi sword in his hand back to Uchiha Itachi, "Itachi, you take them back. I need to make a trip to the Sage's land!"
"Teacher?"
The little boy tilted his head, watching wide-eyed as Jiraiya suddenly disappeared... He could only pick up his crow, drag along a string of kids, and rush back to the small town overnight.
Rescuing the children of the small town actually made Uchiha Itachi very popular there. It seemed like every day someone invited him over for a meal... a very new experience... Until one day, a small toad found him.
And it gave Itachi a scroll, claiming it was sent by Jiraiya... Early the next morning, Uchiha Itachi had to leave this enthusiastic small town.
The kind-hearted man who had told them to scram when they first met was on duty at the town gate. Seeing Uchiha Itachi going out with his crow, he greeted him loudly, "Good morning, Itachi-kun! Are you going out to train again today?"
"...Don't... Alright, yes." Uchiha Itachi thought for a moment, then suddenly said, "I'm leaving today! If you have any matters, you can come find me in Konoha!"
"Caw..." Kitahara called out listlessly. It hadn't slept well these past few days, always dreaming about someone saying that soup stewed with crow doesn't taste good or something...
Hiss, just hearing it sounded quite scary.
The two of them were going to a new place today, the Land of Wind. Jiraiya had said in his letter that he would be waiting for them there.
The problem lay with the Land of Wind. Strictly speaking, that was crossing the national border, and they would almost inevitably be questioned by Hidden Sand ninjas, right? If they didn't want that, they had to find a way to enter secretly...
"I thought we could go back to Konoha!"
"Caw..." Kitahara gave him a sidelong glance, its meaning clear. Are you thinking about that ill-mannered little brat at home again?
Uchiha Itachi nodded without evasion, "Besides Sasuke, there's also Mom and Dad... Look, doesn't Kitahara want to go back and see them?"
"Caw..."
Sorry, missing them is one thing, but seeing that little brat Sasuke will dispel any mood for returning... The purpose of a younger brother's existence, is it to turn the older brother into a doting puppet?
It really seemed to be the case.
Brotherly affection in the ninja world was, frankly, outrageous. The relationship between Uchiha Madara and Uchiha Izuna almost destroyed his relationship with Hashirama Senju... Hashirama Senju also went to great lengths for his own younger brother.
It always felt strange somewhere... Kitahara had reason to suspect there was something a bit off with Indra's reincarnations. Did he think his younger brother Asura was too terrible, so he tried every means to be reborn into a family with a good brother...
As a result... no matter how he tried to escape fate, he could never get away.
When Uchiha Itachi and Kitahara arrived at the border of the Land of Wind, they saw Jiraiya waiting to welcome them.
The old man's injuries had improved, and he was smiling very proudly, chatting with two elderly toads sitting on his shoulders. Upon seeing Uchiha Itachi, Jiraiya rushed up in pleasant surprise, "Itachi! Finally..."
Thump!
Fukasaku, on his shoulder, punched Jiraiya on the head, interrupting him... Then he and Shima both landed on the ground and bowed humbly:
"Lord Kitahara, we are Fukasaku (and Shima), attendants under the Great Toad Sage of Mount Myoboku. It is a great honor to meet you here..."
Uchiha Itachi: "...I..."
Jiraiya: "...It..."
Kitahara: "...Caw..."
How did it not know it had any connection... with Mount Myoboku? Could it be... the Great Toad Sage knew the mastermind behind sending it to the ninja world!
But honestly, raising a cub is a very interesting thing...
If it could go back, that would naturally be great. But before going back, it had to clean up the cub's future crises in advance, and incidentally find a way to isolate Sasuke...
Kitahara was being a bit presumptuous. The two sages from Mount Myoboku had come for only one purpose, "The Great Toad Sage sent us here to verify if the chakra within your body belongs only to Yin and Yang attributes..."
Kitahara looked over doubtfully, "Caw?"
"I told the Great Toad Sage about Kitahara, and the Great Sage once foresaw fragments of the future..." Jiraiya rubbed his forehead and stood up, explaining, "He believed the crow might be the fourth Sage to appear... though it doesn't quite seem like that..."
"You could say that, little Jiraiya." Shima nodded, "The moment we saw you, we believed the Great Toad Sage's vision of the future was accurate..."
"Caw..."
Kitahara suddenly became a bit confused. How did it suddenly become a Sage? If it were the kind that could command wind and rain and ascend on the spot, that would be acceptable... But the style of the three Sages in the ninja world was truly hard to describe!
The Great Toad Sage was drowsy every day, no one knew when it would wake up, but knowing it slept most of the time, one really worried it might suddenly ascend...
The White Snake Sage, no one knew what abilities it had, nor what it actually did... If not for the genius pharmacist Kabuto, it would purely be a background character... Even with Kabuto, it was still background character material.
The Slug Sage, it was said only one creature lived in the Shikkotsu Forest. Such a large slug should qualify as a ninja-world-level protected animal...
"The Great Toad Sage's prophecies have never been wrong..." Fukasaku suddenly spoke, "It believes you might be the Great Sage who will master all the secrets of the ninja world in the future... What you know is the truth of the ninja world."
Kitahara: "...Caw..."
That thousand-year-old toad is not simple! It actually got discovered?
That's right, I indeed master all the secrets of the ninja world, but don't ask me about anything other than Naruto Uzumaki and Uchiha Sasuke; I don't know anything else...
Jiraiya said curiously, "...No matter how I look at it, it doesn't quite seem like it! This crow can't even speak our human language..."
"Jiraiya! What do you think a true Sage is? Can all the secrets of the ninja world be casually spoken out loud!" Fukasaku reprimanded Jiraiya, which made Kitahara quite happy.
No wonder I can't speak... So it's because I know too much... So what the heck is there to be happy about!
Isn't humanity's greatest interest sharing the little secrets they know with others?
And, in fact, there was indeed a problem.
Kitahara couldn't tell Uchiha Itachi anything about the future. Strictly speaking, it didn't even have the intention to leak secrets; it just wanted to change things with its own power... Had its thinking changed?
Or was it... fatalism?
The two Toad Sages had come for many purposes. One of them was to check the amount of Yin and Yang attribute chakra in the crow to determine if the crow was truly a Sage...
Just a slight perception... and it seemed confirmation was unnecessary? That feeling it gave others, like a bottomless abyss... also very much resembled a Sage who could keep secrets!
As for Yin and Yang attributes...
"Absolute Yin and Yang attributes can neutralize natural energy to the greatest extent, which means the infinite sustenance of sage art chakra..."
The crow realized for the first time that it could absorb natural energy, as if the sage art chakra part had been unlocked... Kitahara's body suddenly began to expand!
(End of this chapter)