In truth, when the Fifth Hokage, Uchiha Ren, had first risen to power, Hamura had wanted to kill him before he could grow.
Unfortunately, Hagoromo had refused.
And now?
As Ren continued to grow stronger, by the time they wanted to eliminate him, they realized he was no longer someone they could kill.
Because of that, no matter how furious Hamura felt, he could only suppress it again and again.
A moment later, Hagoromo seemed to think of something.
"The era has changed," he said quietly. "It is time for the Great Toad Sage to make a choice as well."
"Mm."
Hamura's lips curved slightly.
"I'll contact the Great Toad Sage first. He should still have hidden methods. Mount Myōboku's treasure, the Sage Talisman, is no ordinary thing."
"The Sage Talisman is indeed valuable."
Hagoromo nodded.
Back in Kaguya's era, the Great Toad Sage had already chosen to side with them. He had taught Hagoromo senjutsu and given him Mount Myōboku's treasure, the Sage Talisman, which was filled with senjutsu chakra.
Using that talisman, Hagoromo had revived his younger brother, Hamura.
Then, with senjutsu, the two brothers had betrayed and sealed their mother, Kaguya.
Now it was time for the Great Toad Sage to prove his value again.
After all, the enemy they faced now—the Fifth Hokage, Uchiha Ren—was even harder to deal with than Kaguya had been.
At the same time, in the shinobi world—
Mount Myōboku.
One of the Three Great Sage Lands.
A sacred land equal to Ryūchi Cave and Shikkotsu Forest.
Countless toads lived here, many of them capable of using senjutsu. The Great Toad Sage resided deep within Mount Myōboku.
As for how powerful the Great Toad Sage was, there was no need to explain.
He was the founder of Mount Myōboku, a toad who had lived for more than a thousand years since Kaguya's era, and was revered as the Great Toad Sage.
He possessed extremely accurate prophetic abilities.
He also ruled Mount Myōboku, one of the three legendary sage lands, and held a vast amount of senjutsu chakra within his body. Rumor had it that his strength was no weaker than the Sage of Six Paths himself.
At this moment, inside a temple deep within Mount Myōboku—
"Pfft!"
Without warning, the Great Toad Sage, who had been sleeping, suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood.
His face turned deathly pale.
"Great Toad Sage, what happened?"
"Backlash again? Didn't we agree you wouldn't try to predict the future anymore?"
Fukasaku and Shima's expressions changed as they cried out in panic.
There was no helping it.
Recently, they had often seen the Great Toad Sage vomiting blood.
The reason was simple.
Facing the current chaos in the shinobi world, the Great Toad Sage kept trying to see the future through his dreams.
But almost every attempt ended in backlash.
"Haah…"
Hearing Fukasaku and Shima, the Great Toad Sage sighed. A defeated look appeared on his face.
For a long time, he had believed everything remained within his grasp.
But after the Fifth Hokage, Uchiha Ren, appeared, everything had changed.
He could no longer see the shinobi world's future.
Even in his dreams, he saw only endless darkness.
And vomiting blood was the price of trying to peer into that future.
"Great Toad Sage, why force yourself?"
Shima hesitated before saying bitterly, "No matter how the shinobi world changes, as long as we do not provoke the Fifth Hokage, everything should still be fine."
"That's right," Fukasaku agreed. "Uchiha Ren is not completely unreasonable. With our relationship with Jiraiya, there should still be room to talk."
"You are still too young."
The Great Toad Sage shook his head.
"Our conflict with Konoha can no longer be resolved unless I sever my ties with the Sage of Six Paths."
At that point, even he felt helpless.
Especially when he thought about Ryūchi Cave, one of the Three Great Sage Lands, being beaten into submission by Uchiha Ren.
That made his heart ache.
Because Mount Myōboku now walked on thin ice.
If Uchiha Ren became displeased, Mount Myōboku might suffer the same fate as Ryūchi Cave.
Just thinking about that gave the Great Toad Sage a deep sense of crisis.
But cutting ties with Hagoromo and siding with Uchiha Ren was even more impossible.
Since Kaguya's era, the Great Toad Sage had been laying plans.
He had believed that after helping Hagoromo betray his mother and seize control of the shinobi world, Mount Myōboku's status would become unshakable.
Reality had slapped him hard.
The rise of the Fifth Hokage, Uchiha Ren, had completely shattered the old order of the shinobi world.
Even the Sage of Six Paths no longer dared to show himself.
It was painful.
Truly painful.
"Great Toad Sage…"
"We…"
Fukasaku and Shima lowered their heads.
They understood what he feared.
In the current shinobi world, Mount Myōboku's status was no longer important.
More importantly, on certain matters, Mount Myōboku and Konoha had already drifted too far apart.
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