Chapter 498
Waiting until the sea dries up and the rocks crumble, waiting until the world changes, w
Chapter 498 Waiting until the sea dries up and the rocks crumble, until the world changes, until two thousand years later
"I……"
Upon seeing this, Gamamaru's expression changed, but he quickly suppressed his fear and, instead of blindly fleeing like the other toads, squatted on the largest leaf.
It was intelligent, more intelligent than Grell, and more adept at assessing situations than most creatures that had just awakened their intelligence.
Therefore, it is very clear that if this "deity"...
No, this "immortal" could easily do anything to it with just a flick of his finger if he really wanted to.
Escape? Resist?
Given such a vast disparity in power, it's meaningless.
And that's exactly what it thought.
Yunshi did not attack it.
Rumble!
With the continuous output and manipulation of chakra, the originally open and flat wasteland and hills surrounding the valley began to undergo earth-shattering changes.
With a deafening roar, the ground was torn apart and lifted by an invisible force, and countless steep cliffs, jagged peaks, and bottomless ravines rose from the ground.
They are not naturally formed in a well-ordered manner, but rather they are wildly intertwined and piled up in a way that seems chaotic but is actually confusing to the senses.
In a short period of time, the once open valley was surrounded and cut by countless strangely shaped, intertwined rock walls and peaks, forming a maze-like area.
In the instant this rugged maze began to take shape, a thick fog silently arose from nowhere, quickly spreading and filling every narrow passage and corner.
The fog was enough to interfere with perception and sense of distance, and the sunlight was blocked by the towering rock walls and thick fog, making it dark, damp, and difficult to discern directions.
A moment later, Yun Shi withdrew his hand, and the tremors of the earth gradually subsided. The valley, which was originally passable, was now completely hidden by a huge, complex, and misty natural labyrinth.
"From then on, this place was called Mount Myōboku, and the outside was called Mount Labyrinth."
He looked down at Gamamaru, who was trying to remain calm but whose eyes betrayed his shock, and said indifferently, "Anyone who trespasses without knowing the specific route will only get lost outside."
"In the end, they can only go around in circles until they die, and there is absolutely no chance of reaching this place."
Upon hearing this, Gamamaru was stunned, but a thought gradually became clear.
"Is there anything you need me to do?" it asked tentatively.
"There's no point in trying to guess my thoughts; it's pointless." Yun's tone remained indifferent. "Since you were reborn because of my power, you should understand..."
"Whether you are aware of it or not, even if you are just doing what you want to do and following your heart, you are just walking on a predetermined path."
Having said that, Yun Shi flicked his hand lightly, and two pieces of paper and a crystal ball flew to Gamamaru's front.
The two talismans were decorated with strange characters, and inside the crystal ball, which was crystal clear, there seemed to be a wisp of mist slowly flowing.
Upon seeing the two talismans, Chuan Shi, who had been silently observing, paused for a moment, a look of astonishment flashing in his eyes.
"senior……"
His lips twitched as if he wanted to say something, but seeing Yun Shi's indifferent and calm profile, he swallowed back the words that were about to come out.
Gamamaru's attention was completely drawn to what was in front of him.
"What is this?" Gamamaru sensed a shared aura from the two talismans.
"Call them whatever you like," Yun said calmly. "These two talismans can keep a dying person alive, pulling them back from the brink of death."
"As long as there is a sliver of hope, one can temporarily preserve their life."
"And this crystal ball can record everything that happens on this land, and can also observe the scene at any location to a certain extent, as long as there is a flow of natural energy there."
Upon hearing this, Gamamaru's eyes widened as he stared intently at the two talismans and the crystal ball in front of him.
But it forcibly suppressed the urge to immediately embrace the treasure; lingering caution made it raise its head again and ask:
"Immortal, may I ask why you entrusted these to me?"
It doesn't believe in free lunches, especially not from someone like that.
Such a precious gift must come with a heavy price or purpose.
"In the near future, my kind will also descend upon this planet."
Looking down at it from the clouds, with rain and mist swirling around it, the figure and voice seemed increasingly hazy and distant: "Their character is not as kind and benevolent as mine."
Upon hearing this, Gamamaru's expression immediately changed.
Aren't the same kind of people as "immortals" also "immortals"?
Moreover, it's a "fairy" with malicious intent?
Gamamaru opened his mouth, wanting to ask something more, but the rain and mist that had been pushed away by the invisible power of the Cloud Style and unable to get close closed in again, swallowing and obscuring the figures of the Cloud Style and the River Style.
"By then..."
The suffocating pressure dissipated, leaving only indifferent words echoing in his ears, lingering for a long time: "You will naturally understand what you should do."
The sound faded, but the rain and mist continued to fall softly, leaving only the croaking of toads still shaken in the valley.
The toad-shaped creature squatted on the leaf, gazing into the depths of the rain and mist for a long time without moving.
It only when the two talismans and the crystal ball in front of it slowly floated down as if they had lost their support that it carefully caught them with its forelimbs.
It looked down at the object in its palm, a human-like solemnity appearing on its face.
"...Is he a fairy?"
After a long silence, it sighed softly, "I'm just a toad."
After saying that, it shook its head helplessly, refocused its attention on the object in its hand, and pondered, "If it doesn't have a name, let's call it Immortal Talisman and Memory Stone."
As soon as he finished speaking, the two talismans suddenly lit up with a faint light at the same time. In the center of the talismans, in the blank space surrounded by those strange patterns, two characters for "immortal" appeared.
Upon seeing this, Gamamaru was taken aback. He subconsciously looked around, then quickly opened his mouth and swallowed the two talismans, storing them in his stomach.
This is a little trick it learned after it gained intelligence, based on the physiological structure of a toad.
In fact, it didn't feel any aversion or resistance to what Yun said, that it was just following a predetermined path. On the contrary, it actually agreed with it.
Because, ever since it gained intelligence, it has occasionally seen fragmented and blurry images of the future in its dreams.
If the future can be easily changed and is completely uncertain, then wouldn't its hard-won "foresight" ability be meaningless?
It is precisely because the future has an "inevitable" trajectory that its ability to glimpse even a small part of it has value and room for utilization.
Although it could not see its own future, it saw that Mount Myoboku was renowned.
Therefore, all we need to do is follow the "revelation" of the prophecy.
------
Meanwhile, in the distant open sea, on the back of that giant tortoise-like island, the figures of Otsutsuki Kumoshiki and Kawashiki silently appeared.
"senior."
Chuan Shi, who had been suppressing his doubts, finally couldn't hold back any longer and asked, looking at Yun Shi's retreating figure, "Those two talismans, could they be...?"
"Ah."
Yun Shi didn't even turn around to look at him, but said calmly, "It's a stone tablet that copied our genes, but I changed its shape and made it look like that."
"I also added a trace of my blood, giving it a good affinity with natural energy."
That crystal ball was a strange object that he and Chuan Shi had found casually while searching for the 'plow' at the bottom of the sea. It could store and reflect the flow of natural energy, and they had only made slight modifications to it.
Those two talismans, in essence, are the same as the identity markings on the rock wall where they discovered the Shibai remains; they are data backups they created after arriving on this planet.
The Otsutsuki clan has a very special physical structure that allows them to compress and store data; this ability is actually what is known as a "Karma".
In other words, the person who obtains those two talismans might have their "wedges" carved into them, becoming their "vessels"... "Senior, do you want that toad to help us find suitable 'vessels'?"
Kawakami frowned, his tone worried, "Can it work? Although it's somewhat special because it has your power, it's still just a toad after all."
It's important to know that since they arrived on this planet, for hundreds of years, they have never stopped searching for a suitable "vessel" that can withstand their power.
However, the requirements of the "wedge" for the "vessel" are extremely demanding. It not only requires strong vitality and potential, but also a certain degree of compatibility at the genetic level.
If the body of the "vessel" has any defects or rejection, the "vessel" will be unable to withstand the chakra and soul of the Otsutsuki clan during the reincarnation process.
As a result, Otsutsuki himself could not be successfully resurrected, and the "vessel" would completely collapse and die within a few days due to rejection.
This is why they have never found the "tool".
Moreover, even for the Otsutsuki clan, the backup and bestowal of the "Karma" is by no means a trivial matter. Creating a complete "Karma" that can be used for reincarnation requires a great deal of time and effort.
The Yun style might be alright, but the Chuan style, after hundreds of years of exhausting all its efforts, has only managed to create this one complete backup of its own data, which is then engraved on that stone slab.
This was his backup plan.
If the divine tree is still to be planted in the end, he, as a member of a branch family, will need to "sacrifice" himself to the Ten-Tails' young form. If the "Warp" remains, he can still be reincarnated.
However, he can only control the wedge from being used for reincarnation while he is alive. Once he dies, the wedge will automatically begin to thaw, and no one can control or reverse this process.
Furthermore, if the "vessel" found does not meet the requirements, the wedge cannot contain his soul, and the "black wedge" will only become a "white wedge".
It can only reside within the vessel as pure power and cannot be used for reincarnation. Once it dies, it is truly dead.
Entrusting something so important to a toad that has just gained intelligence seems, in Chuanshi's view, to be far too hasty and risky.
Faced with Chuan's unease, Yun simply extended his right hand, palm facing upward.
A bird, drawn by his peaceful and natural aura, landed lightly on his fingertips, nuzzled his fingers with its little head, and made a "coo-coo" sound.
“My ‘wedge’ is there too, what else do you have to worry about?” Yun Shi said. “Don’t worry, Chuan Shi, I left some backdoors on those two talismans…”
"Neither you nor I will die."
"We can all reach the end of everything."
Upon hearing this, Chuan opened his mouth, but looking at Yun's calm and almost indifferent face, all the turmoil of doubt and unease was forcibly suppressed.
Yes.
Even the senior's "wedge" was passed on to that toad...
Chuan Shi could only turn all his emotions into a silent sigh, lower his head and say, "I understand, senior."
Yun Shi remained silent, only lowering his eyes to look at the tiny creature on his fingertips, his eyes seeming to hold a bottomless vortex.
He thought of how he had transformed Otsutsuki Toneri using "greed" before he traveled to this point in time, and he thought of the Great Toad Sage who was born because of him...
Should we use the dragon vein to forcibly travel back in time?
No.
no need.
So what if we can't find a "plow"?
It's nothing more than waiting.
Waiting until the sea dries up and the rocks crumble, until the world changes, until two thousand years later...
"I will wait," Yun Shi murmured to herself, her voice so soft it seemed to be carried away by the sea breeze. "I will wait until that day."
You can't stop me.
Nothing can stop me.
Regardless of time.
It's still that so-called fate.
Yun Shi withdrew his hand, and the bird perched on his finger fluttered its wings and took flight, merging into the distant blue sky and wind, quickly becoming a tiny dot and disappearing from sight.
Yun Shi turned and walked towards the distant waterfall, raised her right hand, spread her five fingers slightly, and gently drew a line across the empty space above the waterfall.
scoff!
As the fingertip moved, a crack appeared in the space, from which countless objects poured out.
First were the ores, all kinds of ores, emitting different fluctuations, including Grell's Stone, colorful and piled up into small mountains.
Then there are the materials. Over the centuries, the Yun and Chuan families have traversed this planet, collecting all sorts of materials from various places, many of which are completely unnameable.
and also……
Looking at the remains of the Shibai, Ōtsutsuki Unshiki knew what he should do now.
If you were the one sitting in that seat.
Then I'll kill you completely.
------
Konoha 65th year.
The outside world has been completely swallowed up by the shadow and flames of the Fourth Shinobi World War.
However, in a corner of this land, there is a place that remains far from the hustle and bustle of the world, seemingly independent of the ninja realm.
The sounds of insects and birds filled the air, and as far as the eye could see, there was a vibrant green in varying shades. Giant plants of all shapes and sizes stretched out their thick leaves, and exotic flowers and rare herbs were everywhere.
Birds sing and flowers bloom, teeming with life. A rich, almost tangible natural energy flows quietly, nourishing every blade of grass, every tree, every insect, and every animal here.
Even Konoha, the most prosperous and wealthy ninja village, pales in comparison to this place. Compared to the chaotic and bloody battlefield of today, it is more like a paradise, peaceful and beautiful.
This is Mount Myoboku, one of the three legendary sacred sites.
Unlike the eccentric and infamous Ryūchi-dō, and the most low-key Shikkotsu-ryū, Mt. Myōboku is the most famous and well-known of the three sacred sites.
Deep within Mount Myoboku lies a grand stone temple-style building.
Inside the main hall, on a stone throne engraved with the character "仙" (immortal), a huge toad sat with its eyes closed.
A slightly comical doctoral cap sits on his head, a string of Buddhist prayer beads hangs around his neck, his breathing is long and slow, emitting soft snores, and the years have left deep marks on him.
Even though the outside world was in complete chaos, it remained immersed in its dream, as if the turmoil outside had nothing to do with it.
However, this tranquility is destined to be shattered today.
"Little Jiraiya! Wait a moment, the master is still resting. Let me go and inform him first!"
"It's too late! Let me go see the Great Toad Sage directly!"
The sounds of arguing, accompanied by hurried footsteps, grew louder as they approached, shattering the tranquility and peace within the stone hall.
Ignoring Fukasaku and Shima's attempts to dissuade him, Jiraiya, his face covered in blood and filled with anxiety, rushed in carrying a figure shrouded in a cloak, its life hanging in the balance.
"The Great Toad Sage!"
Jiraiya rushed into the main hall, his gaze instantly locking onto the figure on the stone throne. Without hesitation, he knelt on the ground and cried out, "Please save this child!"
"He is the child of prophecy, the hope of the ninja world, he cannot die!"
(End of this chapter)