Something must have gone wrong.
The Great Toad Sage began to question his very existence. He lay there, his hand frozen mid-gesture. After a pause of several seconds, he took a sip of sake to "sober up," but the more he ruminated, the more incorrect everything felt.
He had been dreaming for hundreds of years, and in the end, the Child of Prophecy turned out to be... a cat?
'Hmph.'
Strange. Truly strange.
The knot in the Great Toad Sage's heart refused to unravel. He pondered for a while, unable to overcome this mental hurdle. Finally, sounding rather distressed, he asked, "This cat... could he be... Well, why did he come to Mount Myoboku? To train?"
"No, Great Sage, he did not come to train. In fact, he possesses his own heritage and has mastered powerful, advanced Sage Art techniques. Even Gamabunta and Manda are no match for him. The vision you saw of Gamabunta carrying him to Mount Myoboku happened because Gamabunta couldn't resist."
"So, he came to Mount Myoboku to...?"
"To inform us that he intends to establish his own territory as a new Holy Land. That is all," Fukasaku explained.
The Great Toad Sage fell silent.
The prophecy deviated far too much from reality. And he had only had a dream, how was it that half of it consisted of events that had already transpired? Absurd. Simply absurd.
'Indeed.'
Prophetic images are not necessarily literal interpretations. Everything has multiple facets. Perhaps these images were merely indicating that this black cat is a power to be borrowed? A reliable ally in the pursuit of peace?
Therefore, that cat is definitely not the Child of Prophecy.
'Yes. That must be it.' The Great Toad Sage comforted himself. Originally, he had decided to summon Jiraiya to discuss this, but now it seemed unnecessary. It must have been a deviation in his interpretation of the fragmented visions.
How could a cat possibly be the Child of Prophecy, right?
However, the Great Toad Sage felt a lingering unease. He had a eerie intuition, that he might dream of that cat again.
Although Fukasaku and Shima found the situation peculiar, the Great Toad Sage said nothing more. Unable to ask further or act on their own, they could only secretly speculate about the dream the Great Toad Sage had mentioned.
The more they speculated, the more they felt something was amiss.
'It couldn't be, right? That black cat... surely he isn't the Child of Prophecy!'
--**--**
"Meow~ What's with this sudden surge of ten thousand points? Did Gamabunta advertise my actions?"
Takeshi was baffled.
He had already left Mount Myoboku, so why did his points suddenly jump by ten thousand? His first reaction was that Gamabunta had been exposed, leading the residents of Mount Myoboku to mock him, which yielded points. But thinking it over carefully, that possibility seemed low.
Who was Gamabunta?
He was a yakuza-style toad, the lesser Mount Myoboku Toads beneath him wouldn't dare gossip. So, it most likely had nothing to do with him. The only one among the Mount Myoboku Toads capable of granting so many points at once was the boss of the mountain, the Great Toad Sage.
Takeshi couldn't figure it out, so he decided to stop thinking about it.
There were so many strange occurrences in the world, if he had to analyze every single one, would he ever get any sleep? Traveling between Mount Myoboku and the Land of Snow consumed far too much chakra.
Even though his reserves were vast, they couldn't withstand such abuse. A single round trip had evaporated a solid fifty percent of his chakra.
Black Zetsu and Madara might appear at any moment, so Takeshi needed to maintain peak condition. He quickly ate some cat food and prepared for a well-deserved nap.
Once things were settled with Mount Myoboku, he would return to Konohagakure and ask Tsunade to summon a clone of Katsuyu for a chat. Then, his Kuraokami Holy Land would be considered a legitimate territory, certified by all three parties.
Of course, certification alone didn't make it a true "Holy Land."
"Holy Land" wasn't just a rank.
The Three Great Holy Lands had built their reputations slowly over many years. Getting the leaders of the Three Great Holy Lands to verbally acknowledge him was one thing, but the rest required fighting to build fame.
However, most ninja beast clans weren't particularly strong.
Clans like Danzo's Baku and Hiruzen's Enma were among the stronger summoned beast families, while most others were relatively ordinary or consisted of individual mutations.
But if Takeshi wasn't even afraid of the Three Great Holy Lands, why would he worry about those minor clans?
He slept for a full day.
Early the next morning, he woke to the dull thud of Nagato landing. Nagato had become a certified workaholic, rising early and working late. Unless he fainted from exhaustion, he refused to rest. He was even becoming stricter with himself regarding meal times.
Sometimes, Takeshi felt like Nagato had fused with Guy.
But seeing that unchanging, stoic face, he realized again that Nagato was still Nagato, very different from Guy.
After Takeshi rested a while longer, Kanna arrived to report on the situation.
Some time ago, Takeshi had ordered the Ninja Cat Fortress to send some of their dimmest cats to a location he had tracked, instructing them to dig around and investigate. Today, there was news, intense seismic activity had occurred in the area recently, and a swarm of strange creatures seemed to be active.
According to the intelligence, it was likely the White Zetsu.
But...
'Very active?' Was Madara moving house? It wouldn't be that easy for Madara to relocate. His life was tethered to the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path: Gedo Mazo. Since he currently lacked the Rinnegan, he would have to haul the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path: Gedo Mazo with him if he wanted to move.
Additionally, to ensure they remained undetected during the migration, they would use underground tunnels. Considering that, for those foolish cats to discover the White Zetsu activity, they had been remarkably diligent.
By rights, they should be given a reward for completing the mission.
But recently, Takeshi was very cash-strapped. He needed to save money to purchase Six Paths Mode or an ability to counter genjutsu. He couldn't bear to spend on the lottery or exchange for cat food for the time being. He could only hold the reward in arrears until he had more spare points.
"Meow~ Keep a close watch on the fortress side. Once the Heating Equipment is set up here, we'll migrate a portion of the clan over. This will be our base from now on."
"Yes." Kanna bowed slightly.
Takeshi thought for a moment, then sought out Konan to inquire about Yukigakure and Sosetsu Kazahana. This king wasn't professional at all, how could he still fail to find a landmark as massive as Kuraokami? It was absurd.
However, this really wasn't Sosetsu Kazahana's fault. According to Konan, Sosetsu Kazahana had indeed dispatched quite a few people to search. But those men weren't ninja. After setting out, they encountered heavy snow. Coupled with the fact that the Land of Snow was currently facing a severe food shortage, the Daimyo had no choice but to recall his manpower to address the famine first.
From a civilian perspective, Sosetsu was undoubtedly a good Daimyo.
Takeshi could only sigh. After thinking it over, he decided he would have to organize a "Deity" to guide them later.
Otherwise, if left to find it themselves, they would likely die in the Ice Forest. After his recent efforts, the scale of the Ice Forest had become massive, the original plain had been forcibly transformed into a landscape of glacial hills.
Ordinary people entering would likely get lost before long.
Even if a ninja attempted to cross the Ice Forest, it wouldn't be easy. These glaciers were Ice Release creations shaped by Sage Chakra, each one contained immense energy. If they entered rashly, they would be assimilated by the glaciers before they knew it.
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