Returning to Konoha, Jiraiya did not explain the strange dream foretold by the Great Toad Sage to his teacher, Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Whether or not the Hokage believes in prophecies is uncertain, but even if he does, wanting to investigate a clean-background ninja without reason could easily cause internal chaos in Konoha.
Often, even as Hokage, one cannot casually pry into a ninja's secrets, and Jiraiya understands the importance of prioritizing things.
Therefore, this matter must be handled personally by himself.
After all, the Great Toad Sage said this prophetic dream could directly lead to the disappearance of ninjas from the Ninja Realm, including Konoha.
As a staunch supporter of the Will of Fire, Jiraiya couldn't tolerate such an event happening.
Thus, Jiraiya has two plans: one is to find the person mentioned by the Great Toad Sage in Konoha and deal with them directly, which is the first method and the most straightforward and effective.
However, this isn't in line with his style, so the second method is to find the prophesied person and provide them with the correct ideological education. This way, he not only avoids the problem of Konoha disappearing but also cultivates an excellent ninja for the village.
Choosing between the two methods depends on finding the prophesied person, as without finding them, it would all be wishful thinking.
However, Jiraiya is slightly worried.
Because the Great Toad Sage, in handling the prophetic dream, did not conclude that the prophesied person could be guided correctly and turn from darkness to light but directly foresaw the disappearance of ninja forces led by Konoha, accompanied by an unprecedented war sweeping across the Ninja Realm.
Therefore, Jiraiya worries that the prophesied person cannot be steered right in thought through any means or words and is walking deeper into the path of destruction.
With ninjas disappearing, the Ninja Realm will inevitably face destruction as well.
This is what worries Jiraiya.
◎
At the end of July, the scorching sun blazed.
Under the big, shady tree in the courtyard, Hakushi and Ruri were meditating together, engaging in training to extract Natural Energy from the natural world.
Unlike Physical Energy and Spiritual Energy formed within the human body, the source of Natural Energy is more widespread, found in the air, water, flowers, and trees, an omnipresent and endless Life Energy.
Absorbing Natural Energy can greatly enhance physical and mental activity, essentially increasing overall strength.
And after absorbing Natural Energy, it can greatly improve the body, strengthening one's Life Force.
In simple terms, if all humans in the Ninja Realm mastered the method to absorb Natural Energy, human natural lifespan could increase by at least several decades, and in old age, the body's condition wouldn't decline significantly, and appearances wouldn't seem too elderly, instead maintaining vibrant energy.
Of course, this is an ideal scenario.
Theory often requires logic, and reality is often absurd.
Attempting to promote such a training method in the current era, to benefit all humans, is nothing but a fool's dream.
Without a complete system and order, embarking recklessly would not only make one's situation extremely dangerous but also brew an unprecedented storm of war.
War would no longer be limited to ninjas but would involve the entire human level.
So, continuing to preserve oneself is the best way.
Precisely because one has mastered the method of extracting Natural Energy, it should be hidden even deeper, not exposing oneself unless necessary.
As Hakushi concentrated on extracting Natural Energy, Ruri had already opened her eyes.
A fluffy orange cat suddenly landed on her shoulder; this cat was slightly fatter than a regular house cat, appearing harmless but approaching Ruri silently, indicating that its speed and agility were completely disproportionate to its chubby size.
"Lady Ruri."
A voice resembling a human's, leaning towards neutrality, unable to distinguish male from female, came from its open mouth.
"Ubi, is there something?"
Ubi was the most capable among the ninja cats with whom Ruri had signed a Summoning Contract, usually managing hundreds of cats in Konoha Village for intelligence gathering.
Currently, it wasn't the fixed time for reporting intelligence, indicating that Ubi came to report something important.
"I'm not sure why, but these past few days in Konoha, the number of toads has increased significantly compared to before."
Ubi jumped off Ruri's shoulder, looking directly at her.
"Toads?"
Ruri frowned.
"Yes. I found this a bit odd, so I specially came to report it."
"What do you think is the reason?"
Initially, it took nearly half a year through various official channels to send those hundreds of cats into Konoha, so no outsiders noticed Ruri's use of cats for gathering intelligence.
Even the identities of these cats naturally blended into Konoha without any discordance.
Because of past experiences, Ruri is vigilant toward any anomaly happening around.
"Not really sure. Lady Ruri, what should we do next?"
"In the future, have your cats deliver information from high buildings where there are no toads. If there's anything unusual about those toads, come and inform me immediately."
No matter the reason for the sudden increase in the number of frogs in Konoha, whether it's a natural formation or someone controlling things from behind the scenes, Ruri must remain extremely alert.
At all times, no suspicious details should be overlooked.
"Understood!"
After Ubi finished reporting, he vanished from in front of Ruri with a swoosh.
Shortly after Ubi disappeared, Hakushi over there had already opened his eyes and stood up from the shady spot where he had been meditating.
"How is it? Did you finish?"
Ruri was concerned about this matter.
"Very smoothly. Right now, I have endless strength in my body, and my mental state is much better than usual. It feels like I could go several days and nights without sleep and not feel tired at all."
After Hakushi stretched his muscles, a satisfied smile appeared on his face.
Just as he had thought, Natural Energy has unimaginable benefits for living organisms.
If this method were spread among humanity, it could indeed refresh both the body and spirit, preventing illnesses from afflicting the body, and minor ailments could be cured through one's strong immunity without medication.
Now, Hakushi's body appeared unchanged, but inside, apart from Chakra, there was also Natural Energy absorbed from nature.
Through experimentation, Hakushi hadn't realized until now that after extracting Natural Energy, he felt even without Chakra, Natural Energy could be a complete energy system.
This was very similar to his expected outcome. Even without Chakra as support, Natural Energy could be an essential energy supplement during combat.
Especially in the enhancement of Taijutsu.
This was already proven in past experiments.
As for whether Natural Energy alone can be used to cast Ninja Techniques and Illusion Techniques, further research is needed.
If it is possible to release Ninja Techniques and Illusion Techniques using Natural Energy, then undoubtedly, Natural Energy is a superior substitute for Chakra.
However, the two are indeed complementary.
Sage Art Chakra produced by the fusion of Natural Energy and Chakra has great strength and supplies the powerful Life Force to the body, albeit undergoing further qualitative change.
Chakra, Natural Energy, and Sage Art Chakra progress in-depth in this order.
In theory, since Natural Energy alone can enhance the physical and mental activeness, thus strengthening Taijutsu, logically, it should not be a problem to use Natural Energy alone for Ninja Techniques and Illusion Techniques.
However, this is merely not a problem theoretically.
Even so, Hakushi was already satisfied, as his combat techniques mostly originate from Taijutsu, with Ninja Techniques focusing mainly on Medical Ninjutsu.
Now he has a better substitute for Chakra to augment his Taijutsu—Natural Energy. He can save the limited Chakra in his body and use Natural Energy to enhance his physical and mental activeness, achieving a better overall effect than Chakra, with more prominent endurance.
Therefore, calling Natural Energy an inexhaustible energy isn't excessive.
"By the way, I think I just heard Ubi's voice earlier. What happened?"
While extracting Natural Energy earlier, Hakushi vaguely heard the voice of the Ninja Cat Ubi, hence this question.
Ruri didn't hide anything and directly said, "He came to report to me that recently there are a lot of toads appearing in Konoha, and asked me to be careful."
"Toads?"
Hakushi tilted his head.
To be honest, the appearance of many toads in Konoha Village might not be noticeable unless someone paid special attention to it, especially considering toads are small and often hide in dark, damp sewers. Who would particularly notice such a thing?
"Mount Myoboku, one of the Three Great Sacred Lands, is the home of toads. And the Jonin among the Sannin, Jiraiya, has a deep connection with Mount Myoboku."
"Are you worried about the toads from Mount Myoboku?"
Hakushi suddenly felt this was a bit far-fetched.
"According to the Uchiha clan's records, the Three Great Sacred Lands have a long heritage and possess incredible magical powers. Whether or not one of the Sannin is up to something, we must remain vigilant."
"Is that so? Then just be mindful of it."
Hakushi didn't oppose it, as Ruri had a complete intelligence system at her disposal, so this kind of thing wasn't necessary for him to handle.
However... indeed, the sudden increase of toads in Konoha is a bit strange.
Forget it, I just need to avoid attracting attention; there's no need to do these unnecessary things, Hakushi thought to himself.
To date, he had hidden well, and with Ruri handling many of the aftermath issues, he could be considered a pure-hearted and average-ability Konoha Genin at the moment.
He should just continue along this ordinary path.