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Jiraiya's sudden disappearance from the Hokage's office—with a loud poof of white smoke—left the four individuals in the room staring blankly at the spot where he had vanished.
It was obvious to everyone that this method of disappearance was akin to a reverse summoning technique. Those present, familiar with Jiraiya's abilities, immediately deduced that he had been forcibly summoned away by the toads.
Their guess was correct—Jiraiya had indeed been reverse-summoned to Mount Myōboku.
After a dizzying whirlwind of motion and Jiraiya's yelps of protest, he landed headfirst in front of two elderly toads. His head was buried deep in the ground, his legs twitching painfully in the air—an undeniably painful landing.
There was no mistaking it. These two small, elderly toads—one male, one female, both draped in robes—were none other than the two great sages of Mount Myōboku: Shima and Fukasaku.
Fukasaku, the gray-bearded and gray-browed elder toad, wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead and turned to his wife:
"Dear, did you mess up the positioning of the summoning technique? Why did Jiraiya fall headfirst from the sky?"
Shima, the wrinkled and wart-covered elder toad, shot back irritably:
"Husband, you're the one who told me the positioning for the summoning!"
"Did I really? Is that true, dear?"
"Yes, it is, dear!"
Clearly, these two old toads were natural-born comedians.
Meanwhile, Jiraiya, whose head was still embedded in the ground, could no longer endure their bickering. With veins bulging on his forehead, he leaped up, his mouth agape like a hippopotamus, and shouted furiously at Fukasaku and Shima:
"Fukasaku-sama! Shima-sama! Was this really necessary?! You nearly broke my neck!"
The two elder toads paid no heed to Jiraiya's storm of complaints and exasperated breaths. Instead, Fukasaku chuckled and waved his tiny hand (or paw?), saying:
"Now, now, little Jiraiya, don't be upset. It was just an accident!"
This only fueled Jiraiya's anger further, his eyes turning red:
"Fukasaku-sama! How can you say that so lightly?! My neck almost snapped just now!"
Shima chimed in supportively:
"Come now, little Jiraiya, don't be angry. If anything, I'll make you some delicious food as an apology! How does that sound?"
Jiraiya froze mid-rant, his mind instantly recalling the horrifying memories of Shima's infamous culinary experiments—particularly her bug-based dishes, which were far worse than any dark cuisine imaginable.
At the mere thought of those bug-infused horrors, Jiraiya visibly paled and quickly waved his hands in refusal:
"No, thank you! No need, Shima-sama! I appreciate the offer, but… uh… speaking of which!" He hurriedly changed the subject. "Fukasaku-sama! Shima-sama! Why did you summon me here so urgently?"
Finally, they got down to business. Fukasaku and Shima abandoned their comedic banter and adopted serious expressions:
"The Great Toad Sage has had a new prophecy," Fukasaku explained. "We need you to hear it."
"A new prophecy? Didn't you already prophesy that I would take on a disciple who would bring revolution to the shinobi world? What's this new prophecy about?" Jiraiya asked, puzzled.
Fukasaku shook his head:
"We're not sure. It seems the prophecy has changed. We don't know much about it…"
Shima interjected with her own opinion:
"Who knows? That old toad is always half-asleep. Maybe he's getting senile and summoned you here for nothing!"
"Dear! How can you speak about the Great Toad Sage like that?"
"Husband, I'm just stating the truth…"
This wasn't the first time Jiraiya had witnessed the couple's endless bickering. To prevent them from dragging the conversation out for hours over trivial matters, he hastily intervened:
"Alright, alright! Fukasaku-sama! Shima-sama! Time is of the essence. Let's hurry and see the Great Toad Sage!"
The two elder toads readily agreed.
Under Fukasaku and Shima's guidance, Jiraiya navigated through the winding paths of Mount Myōboku until they entered a dimly lit cave. Deep inside the cave stood a grand stone platform, upon which sat an enormous, humanoid-sized orange toad. Its yellow eyes gleamed faintly, and it wore a string of prayer beads around its neck, a doctoral cap on its head, and a pipe clenched between its lips. Its skin was dry and wrinkled, its eyes squinted shut, and it looked ancient enough to have seen centuries pass.
There was no doubt—this eccentric old toad was none other than the Great Toad Sage.
However, at this moment, the Great Toad Sage was leaning back in his stone seat, fast asleep and snoring softly…
Shima hopped onto the platform and began shouting into the sage's ear:
"Old man! Wake up! Little Jiraiya is here!"
After repeating this five or six times, the Great Toad Sage finally stirred from his slumber, his voice groggy:
"Hmm… Is it morning already?"
Jiraiya facepalmed, black lines forming on his forehead.
Even Fukasaku seemed exasperated. He hopped forward and called out loudly:
"Great Toad Sage! Little Jiraiya is here!"
It took the ancient toad a few seconds to process this information. Finally, he cracked a toothless smile unique to the elderly:
"Oh… yes… yes… Little Jiraiya is here… Hmm, what did you come here for again?"
Thud! Everyone present—including Jiraiya and the other toads—faceplanted onto the ground.
Unable to tolerate the situation any longer, Shima yelled directly into the Great Toad Sage's ear:
"Didn't you call Little Jiraiya here?! Didn't you say the prophecy had changed?!"
The Great Toad Sage finally seemed to remember:
"Oh, right… I did summon Little Jiraiya… Yes… the prophecy has changed…"
Wiping cold sweat from his brow, Jiraiya climbed to his feet, his lips twitching as he asked:
"Great Toad Sage… what exactly is going on with this prophecy?"
At last, the Great Toad Sage adopted a rare expression of seriousness:
"Little Jiraiya… in my dream, I saw that the prophecy… has completely changed…"