Chapter 83: Meeting idol

Riku and Jiraiya tree hopped at a very fast speed. Along the way, the toad sage was filled in on the current situation of the war. He was glad to learn that a few undead had chosen to stay and fight once they were free from Orochimaru’s control seal. In his words, that gave him hope that shinobi, no matter their provenance, want peace if not for themselves then at least their people. Riku didn’t have the courage and thought it unwise to shoot down that idea by sharing that the one who did mainly wanted revenge for being brought back from the dead or simply be done with their unfinished business.

Iwa was still a sore point for the old shinobi. He wasn’t ranting but the tone he talked about it told everything.

“I’m not pleased by it either.”

That was all Riku said in bitterness. His lips pressed together in a thin line. While seeing his daughters lifted his mood greatly and lightened a bit the burden of killing thousands of innocent people, it was still weighing heavily on his shoulders. Jiraiya noticed and swallowed the next words he was about to say. Instead he chose others, changing the flow of the conversation.

“The Elder toad made a prophecy, you know.”

Riku gave a nod, jumping to the branch of another tree. “I’m aware. Mom told me.”

“I was supposed to train the child that would one day bring peace to the shinobi world.”

There was doubt in Jiraiya’s voice and a hint of lamentation. To Riku, it seemed like the man was having a faith crisis. Not really surprising when he had spent the last three, perhaps four decades believing in that prophecy.

“Or destroy it.” Riku remarked, pointing at a spot on the ground ahead of them. It was time for a break as they could see the sea.

“Yeah…”

The subdued tone of the Toad Sage, prompted Riku to think carefully about what he needed to say. He stayed silent a few more seconds after they landed on the ground to catch their breath. Once ready he spoke up.

“I’m a firm believer that there is no fate but what we make ourselves. We’re not predestined to do something. Perhaps encountering a point that had been predicted yes, but in the end how we approach it then deal with it is our own choice. Although if you think that the current situation is representative of the fact that the prophecy is bullshit then you’re wrong.”

Jiraiya was very much interested in Riku’s words. Most people he talked to about the prophecy just dismissed it as the rambling from a centuries old toad who smokes drugs too much and has long lost his mind. Worst of all, he couldn’t really dismiss the latter. Even he thought the Elder Toad was completely senile albeit with bouts of lucidity.

“How so?”

Riku sighed. “For starters you’re still… relatively young. While being in your early fifties can be considered very old in the Shinobi world, it’s just in the Shinobi world. You have on average thirty good years left in you. Whose to say you’ve even met the child of the prophecy yet and in fact won’t in your twilight years? You’re good at surviving despite being reckless. I’d say you have the time.” Sitting down he brought out his book of seals and summoned some food for the both of them.

“That’s… true.” Jiraiya sat cross-legged next to Riku and took the water bottle handed to him to take a few sips.

“Next. We don’t know what ‘saving or destroying the Shinobi world’ means. It can be literal or it might be something more abstract. Let’s say tomorrow every shinobi, for some reason, can’t use offensive jutsu anymore. The only thing they can do is use their chakra for non-lethal or non-hurtful purposes. Like building a house made of stone, light camp fires.”

“There wouldn’t be ninja anymore.” Jiraiya understood Riku’s line of thoughts. “There will be no more conflict.”

“Well, not with chakra. People would just find a way to fight each other without it but… You get what I mean. This brings up the fact that destruction could possibly be something good while saving it be something bad.”

“You’re talking about Iwa.” Jiraiya stated, thinking Riku was defending himself on the subject.

“I wasn’t.” Riku shook his head in denial. “I was speaking without anything specific in mind but I supposed it could fit. It certainly does regarding the plans I have for the future of the Shinobi World.”

“Subjugetting everyone for peace?” The Toad sage raised his hand in defense when he saw Riku’s flat side way glance. “I’m kidding! But you have to admit, you sound very much like that old codger Danzo.”

“Yeah.” A sigh escaped Riku’s lips. “That’s what I told myself seconds before I razed Iwa.” He cracked his neck. “If there is one thing I understood deeply when I trained to fix my body and become a sage… It’s that everything needs balance. Physical energy and spiritual energy. Yin and Yang. Love and Hatred.”

Jiraiya got straight to the point. “Understanding and Strength.”

“Yes.” Riku nodded. “Hashi-ji got it right. He used understanding when strength wasn’t working only… He kept using it. As a result, when he died, the other villages thought Konoha was weakened.”

“And the first Shinobi war started.” The old man picked an onigiri from the box Riku had summoned and laid it open on the ground.

“He should have made a more serious overture with other villages. Take a feel of who we could ally ourselves with and who we couldn’t. For the latter, he should have subjugated them. You know… Take control and provide good conditions of life while respecting the people’s culture, just like he did when he built Konoha with Madara. He shouldn’t have just stopped there. But then again, he was a pioneer.”

“Can’t really blame the man when he was trailblazing without much of an idea of what would happen.” Jiraiya chuckled.

“Iwa was an unfortunate necessity. They had multiple chances and I wasn’t about to give them one more. Perhaps you would have. Perhaps the old monkey too. Perhaps even mom would have.”

“No.” Jiraiya’s denial was swift. “Tsunade wouldn’t have. She would have hesitated and tried to find another solution but in the end, she would have gone with it. You’re both the same in that regard. The apple sure didn’t fall far from the tree.” He joked.

It surprised Riku. “Really? When we talked about it after the assault during the Hokage summit, mom forbade me to wipe out Iwa.”

“That was for you.” Jiraiya replied. “I don’t know for sure but it’s Tsunade’s style to spare the difficulties for the people she loves. Killing thousands of Shinobi is one thing but innocent people? I’m sure she didn’t want that for you.”

“This is correct.”

Both men turned to look at the small Katsuyu on Riku’s shoulder. She was so small and quiet that they forgot she was there to begin with.

“Tsunade-sama didn’t want you to shoulder that burden. She told Sarutobi-sama and the elders that it was because Konoha should not rely on you for every single battle which would make the shinobi lazy and drop their guards in the long term. In truth she was thinking mostly of you.”

In silence Riku reached for the little slug with one hand and petted it.

“A bit late for that now.” He sighed again. “I guess, I’ll get a good scolding when she’s back.”

Jiraiya immediately reacted. “Kid…” Follow current ɴᴏᴠᴇʟs on n0velfire.net

“It’s Hokage-sama to you, pervert.” Riku replied non-chalantly as he stood up and dusted himself.

“Deads should stay dead.”

“It will be her choice. I’m not so selfish to take that away from her. But that’s my business. Yours is Naruto.”

The Toad sage ate the last onigiri and handed the empty box back to Riku before standing up. “What about him?”

“He’s the key to peace and the future.”

It couldn’t be about the prophecy, Jiraiya was sure of that. The short conversation they just had was proof that Riku didn’t put much stock on it.

“Nothing nefarious.” The Hokage gave a knowing smile to the old man. “Let’s go.”

Understanding that the conversation was over and that he wouldn’t get any answer, Jiraiya followed Riku’s lead. Still, the questions remained in his head.

Around half an hour later, the pair arrived at a cliff overlooking the sea. Taking a moment to observe the view, Riku communicated with the Headquarters through Katsuyu. Giving his approximative position through landmarks he waited a bit for a response. When he did, he gave a look at Jiraiya who nodded and summoned a toad big enough to be ridden by two people.

Once settled on the summon's back, it jumped off the cliff and landed on the water, his powerful legs cushioning the fall. From there it hopped forward to the other side of the bay. They could have ran across the sea but sparing the use of their chakra was smarter. The sun was beginning to set and they didn’t want to cross the water when they couldn’t see much. An attack from below would have been disastrous. Furthermore the distance was quite big and they wouldn’t have been at the top of their strength on the other side. Quite a disadvantage if they were attacked when they landed. They couldn’t even use Riku’s botib to rest as it was enemy territory, hence too dangerous.

Riku had to give it to the toad, he was moving fast. It only took a bit more than one hour to reach the other side. Setting their feet on the cliff, Jiraiya thanked his summons and they walked up a hundred meters up the top. They quickly left the ground to get onto the trees, high up in the air. Riku opened his book of seals and turned to a particular page. Out of the specific storage seal he chose, ten shadow clones made with little chakra popped into existence.

“We’re in enemy territory. Scatter for scouting. In pairs.” he ordered them.

Immediately, the clones divided themselves into five groups and left in different directions.

“It’s been a while since I saw someone actually using a shadow clone for recon.” commented Jiraiya.

That got Riku’s attention. “Really?”

The toad sage nodded. “Yes. I personally use small toads, less chakra consuming. As a whole, the shadow clone is not a very spread jutsu because of the chakra requirement. Many don’t bother learning it.”

“A shame but understandable.”

They waited on their guard for half an hour. It was then that one of the clones dispelled himself.

Riku immediately spoke up. “I got something.” He leaned away from the tree he was resting his back on. “West, North-West. There are giant bones of a beast and what look like some caves.”

“Let’s check this out.”

Wasting no time, the shinobis went in the aforementioned direction. Going faster than the clones had, they arrived in less time. Jiraiya had a few words about the size of the beast which could have left the bones the height of buildings behind. Clearly it was before the warring clan era as there hadn’t been any records of it. Not even legends or myths.

Riku entered sage mode for reconnaissance and what he found astonished him.

“There is only one person inside those ruins. An undead.”

“That is? One undead?” Jiraiya was perplexed. If this palace was the headquarters of the enemy it should be well guarded. It wasn’t the case, yet.

“Difficult to say. There is so much chakra everywhere and so strong… It’s impairing my senses. The undead have immense chakra reserves but it’s dwarfed by… I don't know what it is but the only comparison that I can make is the Kyubi.

“Maybe that’s the statue Nagato talked to me about. The one he sealed the bijus inside of.”

Riku’s eyes widened at the revelation. “If it is, we need to deal with it. Either destroy it or snatch it away.”

“I agree but how? From what I know, its proportions are gigantic. Using a storage seal would be impossible.”

Riku hummed in thought, for a moment. “Perhaps I can teleport it away with a hiraishin seal? I need to have a look and will probably have to modify the formula to use the chakra in the statue.”

“Then there is no time like the present to do it.”

Being more experienced in infiltration than he was, Riku let Jiraiya take the lead. The white haired man dropped through a hole in one of the bones and opened the way, Riku following closely.

Katsuyu shared some information when they landed on the ground. “The enemy had launched a wide scale attack.”

“How wide?” Riku inquired for more information.

“All along the border of the Land of Iron and Sound. It’s a massive assault at strategic points. They came from underground. Dozens of thousands of White Zetsu but also plenty of undead. Terumi-sama is coordinating the defense well but their numbers are superior to ours.”

“There is no time to waste.”

Agreeing with Jiraiya, Riku accelerated his movement. They went deeper inside. The infiltration took an abrupt stop when Riku grabbed his partner by the back of his coat just in time. A step further and Jiraiya would have met a terrible end by activating an invisible barrier.

“Thanks, kid.”

Riku waved the thanks away while looking at the barrier. The Toad sage had been fortunate that Riku was still in sage mode. It allowed him to see the barrier and its seals. Unfortunately, because of the high density of chakra around, he was only able to see it at the last moment.

“That’s Uzumaki fuinjutsu.” Riku studied the seals on the walls. “Very complex. It’s…”

“Beautiful.” Jiraiya understood what his teammate was feeling. It took a moment for him to discern the seals and observe them.

“I know who is inside the base.”

Surprised by the sudden information, Jiraiya turned away from the seals to look at Riku.

“You do?”

Riku nodded with barely controlled fury on his face. “Mito-oba. I would recognize her way of writing seals anywhere. I spent years reading her scrolls and learning.”

The Toad sage’s facial expression turned into a grimace. It wasn’t good news, far from it. “Then we’re in deep shit. That woman could be quite nasty.”

Taking the words at face value, Riku threw a wooden shurifuin at the barrier to test it. It went through without being damaged, hitting the ground a few feet away and gliding on it a few more. He created a shadow clone, who immediately disappeared in a dark green flash to reappear at the shurifuin’s location.

“It seems the barrier only deals with organic matter. We should be good.”

Riku grabbed Jiraiya and teleported to his projectile and his clones. The moment they reappeared they felt some kind of pressure on them. A heavy malevolent chakra making them feel suffocating.

“It’s the Bijus’ chakra. I’d recognize the fourth and fifth tails’ anywhere.” Jiraiya’s face was nothing but serious with a hint of worry. “I think I recognize the Ichibi too.”

“Then the statue is probably here. Let’s hurry up.”

Still in sage mode, Riku took the lead. Jiraiya followed closely behind him. They went through one single corridor which went deep inside the earth. It wasn’t straight, however and had many many turns. That gave them both a rough idea of where they were on a map. They were just going down around the area of the giant bones and not traveling away.

A few more barriers were on their way and blocked their descent. They crossed them the same way they did the first one. Right until they were almost close to their goal. Riku stopped in front of a reddish transparent wall. Jiraiya didn’t need to be told that throwing a shurifuin through it wouldn’t work.

“How good is your water nature?” Riku asked his teammate.

Jiraiya’s answer was swift and curt. “Pants.”

“No water armor then.” Riku replied, sighing. “Didn’t think it would work anyway.”

“You mean coating yourself in chakra of water nature?” The Toad sage understood the idea and gave it some credit. The problem was that from what he could tell from the look of the barrier and a bit from the seals written, the fire was way too hot for it to be effective.

“Yeah. I guess I’ll have to improvise but Mito-oba will know we’re here.” Riku replied.

Jiraiya shook his head “If she doesn’t already which, knowing the woman, she probably does.”

Riku wanted to ask questions about his great-grandmother. Tsunade rarely spoke of her. When she did it was to say things like she was the one who made the previous Konoha barrier. In the end he refrained from doing so. Now wasn’t the time. Sighing again, he tossed a wood shurifuin at Jiraiya who caught it effortlessly.

“Be ready. I’m not sure how long the wood will last, that is if it does at all.”

Leaving Jiraiya curious, Riku began to mold chakra and make hand signs. Finishing in a ram seal, wood began to sprout through the stone on the ground. It formed a wide and thick trunk that rose diagonally upward. It went through the barrier and burst into flames, disintegrating on the spot. However it cut off for a fraction of a second the space under it. It was more than enough for Jiraiya to throw the shurifuin through the overture before it closed.

Riku grabbed him and flashed to the other side where the ninja tool landed. They didn’t stop for a moment to take a break, they immediately began running again. It didn’t take long to arrive at a giant hall. Not so much wide that it was long.

At the end of it was the demonic statue of the Outer Path. Immense and carved from petrified wood or stone, shaped like a humanoid being seated in deep meditation. Its body was rough and bark-like, ridged with natural-looking cracks and layered textures that gave it the appearance of an ancient tree given monstrous life.

It sat cross-legged atop a giant pink lotus, hands pressed together in a prayer-like seal. Jagged protrusions jutted from its back and shoulders, forming spiked, root-like extensions that reached upward like twisted branches. Its face was long and mask-like, with a wide, grim mouth stretched into a hollow grin and a row of circular eyes along the brow, each one pale and unseeing.

The statue’s posture exuded stillness, yet its form radiated latent menace as though it were a restrained deity or imprisoned beast, channeling power even in silence. The lotus beneath added a paradoxical air of sanctity, contrasting with the statue’s grotesque and demonic presence.

In front of it was a silhouette sitting facing it. The red hair and the talisman hanging from the small bun on each side of the person’s head was pretty telling of who it was for both men. Jiraiya remembered the old woman well while Riku recognized the haircut from a very old photo back in Senju manor.

They ran forward while being cautious. The woman in front of them was a fuinjutsu mistress and those were perhaps the most dangerous people in the world. Case in point exhibit A: the Hiraishin.

“I commend you for coming this far, passing through my seals.” The woman said with a clear but old voice. She stood up and turned around, showing the distinct signs of having been brought back to life by the Edo Tensei. “You should not have come here. Only death awa-” She stopped mid speech, but her hands began tracing seals into the air. “Jiraiya-kun?” Surprise was in her voice.

“Lady Mito.” The toad sage gave a short bow of the head but also took a stance, ready to react to whatever the woman was doing.

Riku acted fast. He did multiple hand seals and wood sprouted around the woman, trapping her and restraining her movements. It wasn’t enough as her finger kept drawing. The short seal she created shone and a blast of wind more powerful than a great breakthrough hit the men.

Jiraiya hit the deck immediately, protecting his head with his arms. Riku on the other hand stomped his feet on the ground and surrounded himself with wind going faster than the attack.

“Mokuton?” The woman said with a smile. “Would you be one of my and Hashi-kun’s descendants?”

Riku didn’t answer immediately however. Mito was almost done writing the seal with her other hand and he was sure it would be something very bad. Swapping his hand on the underside of his vambraces, he summoned kunais with tags on them. He shot them around her and suddenly her writing slowed down to almost being still.

Jiraiya raised his head to look at what was happening and saw Mito frozen and Riku pulling sealing tags from his Book of seals.

“The hell you did?”

Riku walked cautiously to his great-grandmother and began applying the seals on the wood. On her limbs and her torso. “SM tags.”

“Say what now?!” The toad sage was taken out for a spin. “She’s your geriatric great grandmother! And I’m called a pervert!"

Riku rolled his eyes. “SM stands for Slow Motion.”

“Oh.” was exclaimed with a sheepish look.

“Be on your guard. I wouldn’t be surprised if she could break free of them.”

“ Me neither, ” was what Riku thought he heard from the man’s grumbling. He wasn’t sure what had happened between the two of them but he was ready to bet his money, Jiraiya deserved it for being a pervert. Leaning down, he picked up one of the kunai and deactivated the small fragile barrier.

“I am, Mito-ba-sama. I’m Tsunade’s son.” He answered her question as she blinked in confusion.

Her eyes focused on him and she moved the only part of her body that could. Her head tilted to the side.

“Time control?”

Only his shinobi training allowed Riku’s jaw to not go slack on the ground. The woman had immediately understood what had happened to her. Not even him would have been able to determine that. Not with how slow the world had been for her.

“Yes. I’m a space-time fuinjutsu master.” Riku replied, picking up his fuinjutsu tool to undo the controlling seal on Mito. Writing on her, she continued talking.

“I’m glad to hear Tsunade finally settled down.” A smile was on her lips.

Jiraiya cut in then. “Haven’t you met her?”

“No, why… She’s dead?”

“Mom, was killed a few days ago. As the Godaime, she did her duty to allow our forces to retreat. She still took down Onoki with her.”

Mito couldn’t believe her ears and it was written all over her face. “Tsunade, Hokage?”

“It’s a long story grand-mother. One for later.”

Mito nodded and waited for Riku to finish as she could see the seal to give her back her freedom of action. Silently she observed how good her descendant was in fuinjutsu. From the looks of it, she could tell he was a master. She had many questions about many things.