A "Child of Prophecy" is the kind of person who falls off a cliff only to find a secret manual and a treasure, who gets gravely injured by an enemy only to be rescued by a beautiful woman.
And when faced with a crisis, they are the ones who get a sudden power-up and go on a rampage. Sasuke, clearly, did not fit this description. Naruto, however, did.
Sensing that the shinobi world, or perhaps Konoha specifically, was about to face an unprecedented crisis, the heavens began to give Naruto power-ups.
But to say that the old man of Six Paths was secretly helping him didn't quite add up. The Sage had long since grown indifferent to the endless cycle of reincarnation of his two sons. As long as no one was trying to do something like Orochimaru and devour Indra's soul and chakra, he couldn't be bothered to intervene, even if the two transmigrants died. They would just be reincarnated again in a dozen or so years anyway.
Whether it was a coincidence or a power-up, in the end, the Nine-Tails, not wanting to be captured and eaten, temporarily accepted Naruto, this wet-behind-the-ears genin. And so, with the help of the Nine-Tails' massive chakra, Naruto's strength began to soar.
A twelve-year-old genin with more chakra than the entire village combined—it was terrifying. So, bringing his skills up to match his power was put on the fast track. Jiraiya taught him various ninjutsu and taijutsu, but unfortunately, Naruto's talent was... hard to describe.
Aside from rubbing Rasengans and making shadow clones, he had no third ninjutsu.
If it were an ordinary person, that might be enough to defeat an opponent. Ahem, like a certain old man who only knew the Reaper Death Seal. Naruto could have just drowned him in a literal ton of chakra from half the Nine-Tails. But against certain special opponents, it wasn't enough.
[Konoha will be reduced to rubble...]
"And that is the prophecy the Great Toad Sage gave me. That's why I'm so worried."
In the Hokage's office, Jiraiya was holding a meeting with Konoha's core members, his face grim.
Seated in the center was the Fifth Hokage, Tsunade. To her side were the two Konoha advisors who had survived the Chunin Exam invasion. Next to them were the heads of the various great and small clans.
A murmur went through the room. The prophecy Jiraiya had brought back from Mount Myoboku was becoming a reality. The Land of Earth and the Land of Lightning... their villages had already been destroyed, or rather, they had broken up their forces, dispersing the ninja to various villages throughout their countries.
Under normal circumstances, during a great shinobi war, this would be a death sentence; the enemy could just send a large army to attack. But now was not a normal time. In this situation, dispersing was actually safer.
But what they worried about was, after dispersing, would it be easy to gather again? Would the Village Hidden by the Leaves cease to exist?
"Currently, only the Land of Wind and the Land of Water have not been attacked. The Land of Wind's Shukaku was already taken during the Chunin Exams, so the village itself was not attacked. And the Land of Water was spared because they sent their Tailed Beast to the Land of Iron for protection early on," Tsunade said with a sigh.
"There's also news that a mysterious organization has made a move, capturing several other Tailed Beasts. And that organization is very likely in the Land of Rain. Now, only our Konoha's Nine-Tails is left," Tsunade said, her face full of worry.
"The biggest problem right now is that if the enemy comes, we have no way to fight back. Konoha has almost no powerful individuals who can fly."
"..."
At these words, everyone fell silent.
A village... it's easy to disband, but difficult to bring back together. Especially now, after Konoha had just gone through a major upheaval. Many of the mid- to high-ranking clans had been involved in the Chunin Exam battle that had led to the Third Hokage's demise.
But as Tsunade said, their opponent not only possessed the legendary Rinnegan of the Sage of Six Paths but also had the ability to fly. And in all of Konoha, very few could fly, and those who could were not strong enough. Even the "God of Shinobi," Hashirama, couldn't fly. This put them in a difficult position. If that enemy really did attack, how could they fight?
The prophecy Jiraiya had brought from Mount Myoboku, so chillingly real, had turned a potential disaster into an imminent one. And that was the reason for today's meeting.
"There's no need for discussion. Konoha is our home. We will not leave. We will defend the village to the death!"
Yamanaka Inoichi was the first to state his position. The other smaller clans quickly followed suit. Whether the new Hokage, Tsunade, was bluffing or not, their sincerity was clear.
"I understand everyone's love for the village. But even the Land of Earth and the Land of Lightning have dispersed their villages and gone into hiding. What chance do we have?" Tsunade waved a hand and continued.
"I have spoken with the envoys from the other nations. We all agree that under the current circumstances, temporarily disbanding the village is the best course of action. And we are only dispersing to hide within the Land of Fire, not completely disbanding the village. With a ninja's speed, we can return to the village in a day, can't we?"
"But if we do that, the economy that the village has painstakingly built up over the past decade will be..." Nara Shikaku hesitated before speaking up. "Konoha's prosperity is largely due to its unique geographical location and the constant flow of trade. If the village disperses and goes into hiding, that trade will be gone. It won't be so easy to rebuild."
Tsunade slammed her hand down. "That's enough. I will take responsibility for any problems. Since we have no way to deal with the enemy, we can only avoid them for now. Pass down my orders. The Ninja Academy will be suspended as of today. All children under the age of 12 are to be dispersed to various towns and villages throughout the Land of Fire to hide."
"Second, the same goes for all the clans. The old, the weak, the women, and the children will begin to evacuate the village in stages."
Nara Shikaku opened his mouth, but in the end, he only sighed and agreed. This was not a simple evacuation. Konoha's resident population was in the hundreds of thousands, and including the surrounding areas, it was close to a million. To evacuate so many people at once... food alone would be a massive headache.
And what about all the other necessities of life? Not to mention if the elderly, weak, or children got sick, they would need all sorts of medical treatment.
But thankfully, they were all ninja. As long as they didn't lose their heads, they could always find a solution.
After receiving their orders, the clan heads went to make arrangements and start packing...
Naruto had just finished his training with Kakashi and returned to the village to find a scene of tense chaos. People were running around like headless chickens. Some were scrambling to buy food, others were fighting over ox- and horse-drawn carts to haul goods, and still others were snatching up whatever medicine they could find.
Some ninja were buying weapons and paper bombs. Naruto curiously grabbed an uncle's arm. It was, of all people, Ichiraku. "Uncle Ichiraku! What are you all doing?"
Ichiraku turned and saw it was Naruto. He sighed. "Ah, Naruto. We're planning to buy a bit more flour. Before we leave Konoha, we want to give some of our old customers one last discount..."
"Huh? Leave Konoha? Uncle, why are you leaving Konoha? What happened?" Naruto was shocked. If he couldn't get his favorite Ichiraku Ramen, it would be a living hell.
"Ah, you don't know, Naruto?" Uncle Ichiraku sighed and explained. "The Hokage has given an order. Because of what happened in the Land of Lightning and the Land of Earth, to protect everyone, she's having the villagers evacuate temporarily. We'll come back after the war is over..."
"No way! How can that be?! Konoha is everyone's home! How can you make everyone leave?! I'm going to go ask Granny Tsunade!" Hearing this, Naruto's hair stood on end. He immediately charged towards the Hokage's office.
"Naruto!" Sakura tried to call out to him, but Kakashi held her back.
"Let him go. If he wants to become Hokage, he needs to understand the importance of strength and some other things." Kakashi shook his head. This was something that all the jonin had more or less figured out.
The Land of Lightning was the first to have half its village wiped out by a Tailed Beast Bomb. That nuclear weapon had, for the first time, shown the ninja of this world its true power. It also showed them why, in the several great shinobi wars, even when the fighting was at its most brutal, the great nations had tacitly agreed not to use the Tailed Beast Bomb.
Even when the Land of Lightning had deployed the Eight-Tails and A in the last war, and after fighting Namikaze Minato to a draw, they had still not considered using the Tailed Beast Bomb. Because that thing was a taboo. Once you used it, your opponent would use it too, and the great shinobi war would become a joke. There would be no point in fighting.
Before every battle, just have the Tailed Beast fully transform and let loose a few shots at the enemy ninja formation, and an army of thousands or tens of thousands would be instantly wiped out. What was the point of fighting then?
And if you had a flying summoning animal, you could carry a jinchuriki over the enemy's defensive lines, sneak near their village, and let loose a few Tailed Beast Bombs. Tsk, tsk, no need to fight at all.
Flying summoning animals... every village had a few. They weren't that rare.
And this time, Otsutsuki Urashiki, with no sense of honor, had just flown up into the sky and started dropping Tailed Beast Bombs. It had shown jonin like Kakashi, who hadn't experienced the battles of the First Hokage's generation, the true terror of a nuclear weapon for the first time.
A one-man army. When faced with an enemy you can't solve, just drop a Rasengan on them. There's no village a single Rasengan can't solve. If there is, just drop two. Even Onoki, with his Kekkei Tōta, had been cowed. What chance did Konoha have?
Naruto barged into the Hokage's office. The Anbu saw him but didn't stop him. The First Hokage's necklace was hanging around Naruto's neck; of course the Anbu wouldn't dare to stop him. Besides, Naruto seemed to have a very good relationship with Jiraiya and Tsunade.
Not to mention he was Jiraiya's grand-student...
"Granny Tsunade! Why did you order everyone to leave the village?! Shouldn't we be protecting them?!" Naruto kicked open the door and stormed up to Tsunade.
[Granny Tsunade!]
A vein bulged on Tsunade's forehead. Although she was indeed old enough to be a grandmother, she still looked like a young woman. This blind brat, Naruto...
If it had been anyone else, Tsunade would have probably sent a little fist right into their chest. But seeing it was Naruto, she gritted her teeth and held back.
"What do you want, you little brat? Spit it out and then get lost!" Being called "Granny" had already put Tsunade, who was in a bad mood, at rock bottom. If Naruto didn't give her a good reason, he was in for a world of hurt.
Crack.
Tsunade cracked her knuckles, glaring at Naruto.
"Granny Tsunade! Why are you making everyone evacuate Konoha?! Aren't we supposed to protect them?! Isn't the Hokage the strongest person in the village?! Can't you protect them?! Do you really have to disband the village?"
"Naruto." Jiraiya hadn't left yet. He was still discussing with Tsunade what to do if Urashiki attacked Konoha again.
"Let me talk to him. If he really wants to become Hokage..." Tsunade sighed.
"Naruto, if you really plan to become Hokage, you should know that the villagers are the foundation. A village can be rebuilt, but if the people are gone, Konoha is truly gone."
"The problem now is that the villages of the Land of Lightning and the Land of Earth have both been destroyed by that enemy with the Rinnegan. And he can fly. Very few people can defeat him."
"Regrettably, we are the same. In all of Konoha, there are very few who have flying summoning animals. And even if we did, their agility and speed in the air can't compare to his. Jiraiya's strength might be enough to fight him, but he can't fly..."
Jiraiya scratched his head awkwardly off to the side. None of the three Sannin could fly. What could he do?
"Is that enemy... even stronger than Pervy Sage?" Naruto asked doubtfully.
In his mind, though Pervy Sage was a pervert and unreliable, he had always given him a profound sense of security. It was a sixth sense that didn't even waver when Itachi had shown up.
After Tsunade's explanation, Naruto finally understood. With Konoha's current strength, they really had no way to protect the village.
"So... as long as we're strong enough to defeat the enemy and protect the village, everyone won't have to move, right?"
After hearing how powerful the enemy was, Naruto, far from being discouraged, looked up, his eyes shining with determination as he looked at Tsunade.
"Uh, your thinking is certainly simple. Indeed, if we could defeat the enemy, no one would have to move," Tsunade said, speechless.
"Alright!" Naruto clenched his fists and turned to Jiraiya. "Pervy Sage, take me for special training! I'm going to get stronger! Strong enough to protect everyone! That way, no one will have to move!"
"..."
After a moment of silence, Jiraiya smiled. In Naruto, he seemed to see his student, Namikaze Minato, the man who had sacrificed himself without regret to protect the village.
"Alright, I understand. But I have to tell you, my special training is very tough. Don't you dare learn for a bit and then give up halfway."
"I will never give up! I'm the man who's going to become Hokage! Not only will I protect the village and everyone, but I'll also... I'll also bring Sasuke back to the village!" The thought of Sasuke's departure made Naruto's heart ache.
Jiraiya felt a pang of empathy, remembering the day Orochimaru had left the village. He patted Naruto on the shoulder.
"Let's go, Naruto. I'll take you to train."
"Alright!"
"Then let's go! Time's a-wastin'! We have to train quickly! We have to get stronger than the enemy before he comes to the village!"
Naruto, in a great hurry, grabbed Jiraiya by the hair and started dragging him outside.
"Ah! Naruto, let go! Don't pull my hair!"
"You're too slow, Pervy Sage!"