Chapter 95
<span style="font-weight:400">The scorching sun hung high in the sky, making people irritable. If someone had just been utterly defeated moments earlier, that irritation only worsened.
<span style="font-weight:400">Jiraiya was in exactly that mood—frustrated and restless. He couldn''t find a way to vent his frustration, so it just festered inside him.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Damn it, the gap between Hui and me is only growing wider,” he muttered, feeling ufortable.
<span style="font-weight:400">“I need to find a way to get stronger!” he said, desperately thinking of a method to bridge the widening gap.
<span style="font-weight:400">But no matter how much he thought, he couldn''te up with anything substantial. Hui was simply too strong, and this recent sparring match made Jiraiya feelpletely overwhelmed.
<span style="font-weight:400">Before, he had always heard Sarutobi-sensei speak highly of Hui, but the actual extent of Hui''s strength was always a bit abstract to him. There had never been a clearparison or demonstration.
<span style="font-weight:400">This time, however, Jiraiya felt the gap firsthand. It was like an insurmountable chasm between them.
<span style="font-weight:400">And it wasn’t just Hui. In that battle, Jiraiya also realized how powerful Orochimaru had be.
<span style="font-weight:400">Even though they had been teammates and hadpleted many missions together, most of those missionscked any real danger, so Jiraiya hadn’t truly felt how strong Orochimaru had be.
<span style="font-weight:400">Not to mention Tsunade. Jiraiya had experienced her monstrous strength firsthand, and it terrified him.
<span style="font-weight:400">As a result, Jiraiya was the only one in the Sarutobi team whose power had fallen far behind the others.
<span style="font-weight:400">In other words, if they ever faced a real crisis, he might once again be the "burden."
<span style="font-weight:400">This was something Jiraiya simply could not ept. He didn’t want to feel helpless and desperate again, like he did in the past.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Wait, maybe I can use that technique!”
<span style="font-weight:400">Suddenly, Jiraiya’s eyes lit up, and he jumped to his feet, filled with excitement.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Although Sarutobi-sensei said I need to form a contract with another creature to use it, it shouldn’t be a problem.
<span style="font-weight:400">Maybe I’ll be able to summon a powerful toad! If that happens, my strength will soar, and even if I can’t surpass Hui, I can at least catch up to Orochimaru.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Talking to himself, Jiraiya quickly formed hand seals.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Boar, Dog, Bird, Monkey, Ram! Summoning Jutsu!”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Jiraiya, stop!!”
<span style="font-weight:400">Sarutobi Hiruzen’s panicked voice rang out.
<span style="font-weight:400">He had originally nned tofort Jiraiya and reignite his determination, but instead, he saw Jiraiya recklessly performing the Summoning Jutsu!
<span style="font-weight:400">This was bad. The Summoning Jutsu required a contract with a creature to work properly. Who knew what could happen without one?
<span style="font-weight:400">But it was toote. As Jiraiyapleted the hand seals, a powerful force grabbed hold of him, pulling him into another dimension.
<span style="font-weight:400">All that was left behind was his fading scream.
<span style="font-weight:400">Sarutobi stared at the spot where Jiraiya had disappeared, his heart pounding with anxiety.
<span style="font-weight:400">Meanwhile, Jiraiya, who had been sucked into the other dimension, felt as if the world around him was spinning. The next moment, he found himself high up in the sky, rapidly falling.<span style="font-weight:400">
<span style="font-weight:400">Luckily, he wasn’t too high up, and with his reflexes, he managed tond safely.
<span style="font-weight:400">“That was close! What is this ce? Whoa, that’s a giant toad… and a huge snake!!”
<span style="font-weight:400">Jiraiya barely had time to catch his breath before his attention was drawn to the massive creatures in front of him—a huge toad and an enormous snake were facing off.
<span style="font-weight:400">Without thinking, Jiraiya rushed over, grabbed the snake’s tail, and flung it aside with all his might.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Phew, that was scary!” Jiraiya sighed in relief, though he wasn’t quite sure why he had a sudden distaste for snakes.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Human child.”
<span style="font-weight:400">A voice suddenly spoke from behind Jiraiya, startling him.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Who’s there? Who’s talking?” He spun around but saw no one, just the giant toad staring at him.
<span style="font-weight:400">“The toad… the toad can talk?!” Jiraiya eximed, staring at therge, reddish-brown toad, who was none other than Gamabunta.
<span style="font-weight:400">“You’re just a puny human, yet you somehow made it to Mount Myoboku!” Gamabunta replied, equally surprised but not entirely shocked. He had been expecting this.
<span style="font-weight:400">“What do you mean by that?” Jiraiya asked, sensing there was something deeper behind the toad’s words. It was almost as if they had been expecting him.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Follow me,” Gamabunta said, not offering any further exnation just yet.
<span style="font-weight:400">Though confused, Jiraiya obediently followed Gamabunta, taking in the strange and foreign surroundings as they walked.
<span style="font-weight:400">Everything here seemed familiar yet different—trees, mushrooms, grass, and even insects were all gigantic.
<span style="font-weight:400">Jiraiya couldn’t tell if he had shrunk or if he was in and of giants. The air here felt particrly fresh, and he found himself feeling strangely at ease. Even his breathing seemed smoother.
<span style="font-weight:400">As they walked, Jiraiya also noticed numerous stone statues, most of them resembling toads, all frozen in meditative poses as if practicing some kind of jutsu.
<span style="font-weight:400">Everything in this ce was so new and fascinating to Jiraiya that he couldn’t help but get lost in the wonder of it all.
<span style="font-weight:400">After a while, Gamabunta brought Jiraiya to a massive toad statue, from which a strange liquid flowed out of its mouth. To be honest, it looked a bit disgusting.
<span style="font-weight:400">Perched on top of the stone toad was an old green toad with white hair and eyebrows. The elderly toad wore a robe and looked remarkably like a human elder.
<span style="font-weight:400">“Great Lord Fukasaku, here is the human child,” Gamabunta said, addressing the elder toad with deep respect.
<span style="font-weight:400">Fukasaku nced at Jiraiya and nodded. “So, he has finally arrived.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Jiraiya, still bewildered, spoke up, “It’s almost like you knew I wasing.”
<span style="font-weight:400">“Yes, we knew,” Fukasaku replied with certainty. “It was foretold by the Great Toad Sage.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Apparently, the arrival of Jiraiya had long been predicted by the Great Toad Sage, Gamamaru. In one of his dreams, he had seen a vision and spoken these words:
<span style="font-weight:400">“One day, a human child will find his way to Mount Myoboku. When that timees, impart to him the power of the sages and the prophecy. That is the dream I had for myself—a prophecy.”
<span style="font-weight:400">Since no human had formed a contract with Mount Myoboku for a long time, and even longer since anyone had stumbled upon it by ident, when Jiraiya appeared, they immediately knew he was the child of prophecy.
<span style="font-weight:400">There was no doubt about it.
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