"Fukai, we've run this far—should be safe now, right? I never thought Kai Mitarashi would be so powerful. Even Lord Third Raikage couldn't stand against him."
The Two-Tails Jinchūriki, a dark-skinned middle-aged shinobi, panted heavily as he spoke to the Eight-Tails Jinchūriki Fukai beside him.
"Yeah, should be good now."
Fukai thought for a moment before responding. The Land of Lightning was mountainous terrain, unlike the endless expanses of the Land of Wind or Land of Earth. Both Fukai and the Two-Tails Jinchūriki were genuine elite jōnin, and as Jinchūriki, chakra was the last thing they lacked.
Just from this brief frantic escape, the two had already hidden themselves deep within the mountains of the Land of Lightning.
At that moment, a sudden voice rang out, instantly plunging both men into an icy abyss:
"So you only thought to flee after witnessing defeat? Seems this so-called Allied Shinobi Forces gave you some misplaced confidence. I wonder—seeing such a crushing defeat of your allied army, what are your thoughts now?"
"Kai Mitarashi! You—how are you here?!" Fukai swallowed hard, staring at Kai with terror written across his face.
Whatever was happening in Shikkotsu Forest, Kai had no time to waste on them. The tomoe in his eyes spun slightly, and both men immediately froze in place. Fukai's mouth hung open, but no words would come—only endless fear remained in his eyes.
Black tomoe-marked chakra threads emerged from Kai's hands, wrapping around the two Jinchūriki. With a sudden, forceful pull, he ripped both Tailed Beasts from their hosts' bodies.
He immediately used the Reverse Summoning Technique and vanished from the spot.
The moment he stepped into Shikkotsu Forest, Kai suddenly sensed two chakra signatures so massive they were shocking—each as strong as his own, if not stronger!
He was at Six Paths level, possessing a perfect Sage Body that surpassed even Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki. The chakra within him had long reached terrifying proportions!
Yet there were beings with even greater chakra reserves than his own! Who could they possibly be?
Kai quickly looked up, and upon seeing the newcomers clearly, understanding flashed in his eyes—but more than that was gravity!
The White Snake Sage!
And... the Great Toad Sage!
In the original story, both were mentioned, but their true strength was never directly shown, causing Kai to momentarily forget their existence.
But thinking carefully now, the existence of these two beings was quite intriguing—especially the Great Toad Sage, who had participated in virtually every major historical event in the shinobi world.
A thousand years ago, how did the Sage of Six Paths discover the secret of the God Tree? Others might not know, but Kai was crystal clear—it was precisely because of this toad's behind-the-scenes manipulation.
And now, it had even prophesied that Naruto would become the "Child of Prophecy" and save the entire shinobi world.
As for what other moves this toad had made during this period, Kai wasn't sure, but he certainly wouldn't believe that this old toad just slept all day.
Kai was more inclined to believe that whether it was events from a thousand years ago or current events, everything was under the Great Toad Sage's control!
Because nothing in the shinobi world had ever exceeded the Great Toad Sage's control, it had never needed to display its true power!
As for the White Snake Sage, while not as mysterious as the Great Toad Sage, it clearly knew quite a bit about Kaguya Ōtsutsuki's era and had obviously meddled in plenty of affairs.
Although Shikkotsu Forest, along with Ryūchi Cave and Mount Myōboku, was one of the Three Great Sage Lands, compared to the White Snake Sage and Great Toad Sage, the Slug Sage seemed to lack sufficient foundation.
The Slug Sage, currently battling the White Snake Sage, was already covered in wounds and showing signs of defeat, while the Great Toad Sage hadn't even made a move yet!
Seeing Kai's appearance, all three Sages turned their attention to him.
Looking at Kai, the Slug Sage said with slight apology, "Sorry, Kai. I'm really not very good at combat."
"You've worked hard, Slug Sage. Leave what comes next to me." Kai nodded slightly to the Slug Sage, then looked directly into the Great Toad Sage's eyes.
After scrutinizing Kai for a long while, the Great Toad Sage finally spoke: "Kai Mitarashi? Why have you never appeared in my dreams? Can you tell me your origins? And your purpose for collecting the Tailed Beasts?"
The Great Toad Sage sensed a terrifying aura from Kai. Unless absolutely necessary, it didn't want to fight Kai.
"Origins? You don't need to know. As for capturing the Tailed Beasts—such an obvious thing, don't tell me you can't figure it out?" Kai smiled and asked in return.
"Could it be... you really intend to revive the Ten-Tails?!"
The Great Toad Sage's expression finally turned ugly. In the Great Toad Sage's view, the shinobi world was its own backyard—it absolutely wouldn't allow any power beyond its control to exist.
Kaguya Ōtsutsuki was like this back then, and now Kai was naturally no exception!
Kai stared intently at the Great Toad Sage. After a long moment, he slowly spoke: "Yes... so what?"
"Kid, though I don't know your origins, if you think you can revive the Ten-Tails and throw the entire shinobi world into chaos, then die here!"
A sharp glint suddenly flashed in the Great Toad Sage's cloudy eyes. Even though it was somewhat wary of Kai's strength, the Great Toad Sage was even more confident in its own power!
Over the past thousand years, countless people and creatures had come to challenge the Great Toad Sage, yet it still lived so comfortably. One could imagine the fate of those challengers!
"White Snake!"
The Great Toad Sage called out to the White Snake Sage, then swung a palm directly at Kai!
There was nothing fancy about the attack—just a simple palm strike filled with chakra—yet it made Kai feel a bone-deep sense of crisis!
For no other reason than the Great Toad Sage's chakra was simply too massive!
If such a palm strike hit him, even with his perfect Sage Body constitution, he would be gravely injured if not killed!
Suddenly, Kai's pupils contracted sharply! His body—he couldn't move!
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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