Outside the village hidden in the leaves, the terrain was filled with forests and greenery. In the legends, it was said that the first Hokage used his wood release to create this terrain. But not many people in this day and age still believe those rumors.

After all, humans don't like imagining a person having such an unachievable level of strength that they could never attain… But the kid and the fox traveling believed those legends as they each experienced the power of that legendary ninja in their own ways…

"So brat, what do you want to find that toad sage for?" Asked Kurama as he followed behind Bakorio who was traveling toward the land of rivers, he gathered enough information from Jiraiya himself before he went back in time and he understood that Jiraiya was investigating the land of rivers because one of his spies spotted Orochimaru somewhere in hear wearing the Akatsuki uniform, so he went to investigate it to confirm this dangerous news...

However, he would never have expected that Orochimaru was building a whole hidden village in the land of sound that's to the north of the land of fire…

"I need him because I want to become a sage…" Replied Bakorio without stopping as he jumped from tree to tree at a very high speed, but Kurama kept up with him like a phantom in his miniature form and said "Kid, becoming a sage is no easy feat. How many people in history do you think can become sages?"

"I know it's hard… and believe me, what I'm attempting isn't to become a simple toad sage, I want to become something more, I want to achieve the same thing Hashirama achieved…" Replied Bakorio with determination in his eyes as he recalled the unique sage transformation Hashirama had…

There were no animal traits in his sage transformation like Naruto's eyes becoming that of a toad or Kabuto transforming into a pale piece of shit with a tail and horns… Hashirama only had markings covering his face and that's all…

Kurama was startled at this kid's knowledge of Hashirama but then he got intrigued at the high hopes of this kid and said "Where do you get the confidence of reaching that level?"

Bakorio shot Kurama a mysterious smile as he thought 'Of course I'm not going to tell you about Asura's chakra…' and this prompted a snort from Kurama as they continued on their way to the land of rivers, which is coincidently where the first Akatsuki hideout is located and Kurama couldn't wait to see the look on the Bakorio's face when he fails miserably…

But suddenly they found someone waiting ahead in front of them taking a long gulp from his drink as he said "Yo, where are you guys going without me?"

Bakorio's eyes widened a little before a slight smile appeared on his face as he gained a new companion for this trip… It was Mukai!

Meanwhile, back at Konoha, Fugaku invited Minato for a very secret meeting that only had 5 members attending it. This included the two of them along with Hiruzen, Shikaku, and Hiashi.

Fugaku's relationship with Hiashi grew closer thanks to Bakorio acting like a bridge to shorten the gap between the Hyuga and the Uchiha and during the past time, they grew even closer and some mutual trust was starting to form between them.

The details of this meeting never left this room, but the actions that were made after it were terrifying to say the least, because during that same day, all of the spies on the list that Bakorio gave them vanished into thin air which was a devastating loss to the hidden villages they belonged to…

But what was disappointing is that no traces of that last spy were ever found which left a dark cloud looming over Konoha…

And once the news of the disappearance of their spies reached the various hidden villages, the reactions were different… Shock, worry, anger, this was just a sample of what the various Kages were experiencing seeing the sudden aggressive move that Konoha made leaving them wondering if the good old days of the passive Konoha were over or not…

Meanwhile, as Bakorio was on his way to the land of rivers and with the addition of Mukai to his journey… inside a cave, a cloud of smoke suddenly exploded and from it came out Jiraiya with a very dark look and a face full of worry… If Bakorio was here, he would understand immediately that this was the effect of the reverse summoning Jutsu. So, Jiraiya had probably just come back from Mount Myoboku.

Mount Myoboku was the legendary habitat of toads, it was a holly land rich in nature energy and was the place of residence of the Great toad sage, a toad that, a thousand years ago witnessed Kaguya enslaving the population of the world with the infinite Tsukuyomi and then he relayed this information to her two sons Hagoromo and Hamura which begun their huge fight against their mother.

So, this toad played a huge role in the current situation of the world, but his role didn't stop there as he also has an innate ability to predict the future and his prophecies were rarely inaccurate… And the last prophecy known to be told from him was the one to Jiraiya that said 'Firstly, that he would go on to become both a talented ninja and a pervert without equal. Jiraiya would walk across the world as a sage, "observing all creation, watching as nature takes its course", and in doing so he would also write a book. Jiraiya was also told that he would one day have a student with the power to save or destroy the world and that it would be Jiraiya's actions that will determine which path this student takes…

But now, this usually laid-back great toad sage suddenly had a new prophecy and with an urgent tone in his voice that was never seen before, he quickly called for the two toad sages Fukasaku and his wife Shima "Fukasaku, Shima quickly inform that kid Jiraiya to visit me as soon as possible, the situation is urgent!"

"Great honorable geezer what's wrong?" asked Fukasaku nervously as in his 800 years of life, he never saw the great toad sage acting this scared!

"The world is going to witness big changes, call that brat Jiraiya quickly, I have a new prophecy" Said the great toad sage as he tried to calm himself down but it was to no avail…

Fukasaku shot his wife a look telling to comfort the sage before he quickly used the reverse summoning Jutsu to inform Jiraiya about this weird incident and Jiraiya quickly followed him back to Mount Myoboku with no hesitation!

'What could be happening…' said Jiraiya recalling the always calm and slightly senile great toad sage and couldn't help but start feeling worried…

He quickly arrived at the hall where the great toad sage sat on his huge chair, and Jiraiya quickly sensed the air of nervousness in the room 'Is the situation really that bad?' Thought Jiraiya before he said

"Great toad sage, you asked for my presence?" Asked Jiraiya and he quickly received a response

"Jiraiya, the future has been changed, and I have a new prediction… I will leave you the choice to act after you hear it…" Said the great toad sage and Jiraiya nodded calmly while his mind worked at full speed

"A darkness that has been peeking at our world from behind the curtain for ages is finally going to show itself, and a boy with the power to control death with his eyes is going to greet it… And the survival or destruction of this world would all lie in his hands… And this same boy you are going to encounter him soon accompanied by a man and a fox"

Jiraiya hearing this ominous prophecy finally couldn't hold back his curiosity and asked "What's this darkness you are talking about?"

But the great toad sage simply shook his head before he said "I have no answer for this question, but maybe the boy you are going to meat can clear your doubts…"

'Who's this boy?' wondered Jiraiya as he started leaving Mount Myoboku with more doubts than what he came in with…