Chương 137

The Great Toad Sage did not respond immediately after Rei's greeting. Instead, the ancient toad remained perfectly still, his cloudy eyes slowly widening as they settled upon the young shinobi. The gentle breeze carrying the mountain's abundant natural energy seemed to pause, as though Mount Myōboku itself was waiting for the oldest being upon it to speak. Fukasaku and Shima had witnessed Gamamaru observe some visitors throughout the time they had been around, yet never had they seen him remain silent for so long.

Several long moments passed before the Great Toad Sage finally inhaled a slow breath. His ancient gaze never once drifted away from Rei, almost as though he were looking beyond flesh and bone and into something far deeper. Wrinkles across his face tightened ever so slightly before his aged voice echoed softly throughout the chamber.

"... Strange..." The single word carried neither fear nor hostility. Instead, it sounded genuinely puzzled, as though something before him contradicted everything his prophetic dreams had shown him throughout countless generations. Fukasaku immediately sensed that something unusual had occurred. The elder toad stepped forward respectfully before lowering his head toward the Great Toad Sage.

"Gamamaru-sama... what do you see?" he asked cautiously. Even Shima appeared concerned, for never in her memory had the ancient sage stared at someone with such prolonged uncertainty. Jiraiya also became serious, abandoning his usual carefree demeanor. If Gamamaru reacted like this, then whatever he perceived regarding Rei could not possibly be ordinary. The Great Toad Sage remained silent for several more seconds before finally answering in his frail, weathered voice.

"I... cannot see this child's future." Fukasaku's eyes widened considerably, while Shima stared at Rei in complete disbelief. Jiraiya instinctively turned toward his student before looking back at the ancient sage. Every living creature possessed a current of destiny. Every person who had ever stood before Gamamaru had possessed a future, no matter how uncertain. Yet the oldest prophet in the shinobi world had just claimed that Rei possessed none.

"It is not merely hidden from me.. There is... nothing for me to follow." His cloudy eyes remained fixed upon Rei.

"This child... is not a true person." Once again silence consumed the chamber. The sentence itself made almost no sense, yet hearing it spoken by the Great Toad Sage gave it a weight that none present could simply dismiss as confusion or old age.

"Not... a true person?" Jiraya asked, as was not able to make head or tail of it. Fukasaku and Shima were equally confused. Rei stood before them. They couldn't understand either. He was as normal as it could be, and even had inherited senjutsu chakra like a kekkei genkai, and truthfully they were looking forward to teaching his senjutsu. Everything about him clearly proved he was alive. Yet Gamamaru had spoken with complete certainty.

The contradiction left every listener struggling to reconcile what they knew with what they had just heard. Rei himself remained outwardly composed, though his thoughts immediately raced toward the only explanation that made sense to him. The only explanation that could satisfy his words was that he was a transmigrator. Gamamaru was not reading chakra alone. His prophetic dreams reached toward destiny itself. If those dreams followed souls as well as lives, then Rei's existence would naturally appear impossible.

The soul standing inside this body had not originated within this world. Perhaps, from the perspective of prophecy, the person Gamamaru searched for had already died before ever being born into this timeline. The ancient sage was not seeing an empty future because Rei lacked one. He was searching for a destiny that had never belonged to this soul in the first place. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. Even with that realization, Rei forced himself to remain calm.

Revealing the slightest flicker of panic would only invite questions he could never answer truthfully. Instead, he simply lowered his head respectfully and waited in silence, allowing the others to continue the conversation. Whatever Gamamaru had perceived, the ancient sage had not openly accused him of deception or danger. That alone was enough reason for Rei to keep his composure and observe where the discussion naturally led.

"Gamamaru-sama... forgive me for asking, but... is there any possibility your vision simply failed to reach him?" The Sannin hesitated before continuing.

"Could Rei's future perhaps be clouded because his destiny hasn't settled yet? Even prophecies speak of possibilities. Is it possible this is merely one you cannot fully perceive?" Although Jiraiya had immense faith in the Great Toad Sage, he found it difficult to accept that someone standing before him possessed no visible future whatsoever. The Great Toad Sage slowly shook his head, his expression remaining peaceful.

"No.. My dreams... have never mistaken one future for another." His voice weakened momentarily before regaining its rhythm.

"I did not witness the wrong destiny. I simply witnessed... none." To Gamamaru, this was not a failed prophecy. It was an unprecedented absence of one. For the first time in countless centuries, someone had stepped before him whose existence could not be traced along the river of fate. His mind was too clouded now, or else even he himself would be perplexed by what he was speaking.

Maybe the young Gamamaru would have been quite intrigued by Rei and follow him, just like he did before, but now he was too old to do anything. After allowing those words to settle, Gamamaru's attention slowly shifted away from Rei and toward Jiraiya. His expression softened, almost becoming nostalgic.

"However..." he murmured quietly, "... your future has changed, young man."

"Young?" Rei's eye brow raised for a bit hearing Jiraya being called young. Naruto would like to have a word with you. The white-haired Sannin instinctively straightened. Both Fukasaku and Shima immediately looked toward him as well. Gamamaru had spoken years earlier of Jiraiya's destiny involving a student who would determine the fate of the shinobi world. Hearing that prophecy mentioned again caused every person present to focus entirely upon the ancient sage.

"The dream I once saw... is no longer the same dream." His ancient eyes rested upon Jiraiya with unmistakable certainty.

"Once, the path before you led toward guiding one child whose choices would shape the future of this world. That path has divided. Now... you shall guide two students. Their journeys will intertwine, and together they shall influence the future of the shinobi world in ways greater than the single path I once witnessed." Jiraiya remained completely silent for several long moments. Ever since he had first heard the prophecy years ago, he had unconsciously carried its burden upon his shoulders.

He had accepted the students before and every decision he took was under possibility that one day he would encounter the child destined to either save or destroy the shinobi world. Now, hearing that the prophecy itself had changed left him more shocked than he cared to admit.

"... Two students..." Jiraiya repeated quietly, lowering his head in thought. His mind instinctively wandered toward two familiar faces. Naruto immediately came to mind. The boy possessed Minato's spirit, Kushina's determination, and carried the Nine-Tails within him. The second face that appeared was Sasuke's. The last loyal Uchiha possessed talent unlike anything Jiraiya had witnessed in decades, and recent events had only convinced him that the young prodigy would one day stand among the strongest shinobi alive.

Naruto would be a great shinobi but he feared a bit for Sasuke because he was a bit unstable because of his past and burdens. He really hoped to help Sasuke find his peace, because if he didn't, the future of Sasuke might be filled with only violence and only listening to that God. For a brief moment, Rei's face also crossed his thoughts. However, Jiraiya dismissed the possibility almost immediately.

Rei was undoubtedly extraordinary, perhaps even the most naturally gifted child he had ever encountered, but he had never truly been Jiraiya's disciple. Their relationship had always resembled two researchers exchanging ideas rather than a traditional master teaching his student. If anything, Jiraiya had learned as much from Rei regarding natural energy as Rei had learned from him. Though it was his kekkei genkai but Rei did help him in controlling his natural energy after he had received it.

Beyond battlefield instincts, leadership, and experience accumulated through decades of war and travel, Jiraiya honestly struggled to think of anything substantial he could still teach the young shinobi.

"I understand..." Jiraiya finally said with a respectful bow.

"If that is the path destiny has chosen, then I shall continue guiding those children to the best of my ability." The Great Toad Sage gave a slow, almost imperceptible nod before falling silent once again. Seeing no further reaction from the ancient sage, Fukasaku and Shima also assumed the audience had reached its conclusion. Rei quietly bowed once more, believing their meeting had ended as well.

Although the revelation about his nonexistent future lingered uneasily within his thoughts, he was relieved that Gamamaru had chosen not to question him further.