Chapter 421: Waiting for the Sage of Six Paths to Disappear

“Don’t worry,” Gamamaru replied in a deep voice. His gaze once again turned toward the direction in which the Sage of Six Paths had vanished, as though he could already see the future that awaited him.

“You need only wait… and watch how the Sage of Six Paths completely disappears from this world.”

His voice was filled with confidence in his own scheme and a cold pronouncement of fate upon the man who had once been his ally.

The White Snake Sage and the slug said nothing further. One transformed into a streak of white light, the other into a shimmering green glow, and both silently vanished into the air just as they had appeared, as though they had never been there at all.

Once again, Gamamaru stood alone before the waterfall.

The cold, calculating expression on his face gradually faded, returning to his usual image of a calm and wise elder. Yet deep within his eyes lingered an inescapable chill—the depth of a master strategist.

He gave the endlessly surging waterfall one final glance and murmured decisively,

“We can’t remain here any longer.”

“Mount Myōboku should move to a… more secluded and secure location.”

With that, he leaped forward like a creature returning to its nest and plunged once more into the roaring curtain of water. His figure was instantly swallowed by the rushing torrent and swirling mist, disappearing without a trace.

The image on the Heavenly Curtain finally froze upon the empty waterfall. Only the eternal roar of the water remained, as though recounting the cold and secret transaction—and betrayal—that had just taken place there, one that would determine the future balance of the world.

Behind the Sage of Six Paths’ pursuit of immortality lay an earth-shattering trap jointly orchestrated by the Three Great Sacred Lands—a scheme intended to remove humanity’s most powerful being and clear the way for the summoning creatures to claim dominance over the future!

Trust had been utterly shattered. Allies had become hunters and prey.

The Sage of Six Paths believed he had grasped a lifeline, never realizing that he was stepping deeper and deeper into a prison carefully prepared to make him “disappear.”

And Gamamaru—the Sage Creature who had always appeared as a wise elder and selfless guide—had, at this moment, revealed the first truly chilling glimpse of his true nature and the ambition he had supposedly concealed for thousands of years.

Gamamaru’s conspiracy with the slug and the White Snake Sage, along with his cold and calculating monologue, was like ice water thrown into boiling oil. In an instant, the entire shinobi world erupted into uproar!

The shock, sighs, and speculation from before were swept away, replaced by something far more direct and visceral: horror at the sheer scale of the schemes unfolding before them.

“Good heavens… so this is what the real scheming monsters from a thousand years ago were like! Every one of them is more calculating than the last, and every one of them hides deeper than the last!”

A middle-aged shinobi slapped his thigh, his voice hoarse with excitement.

“The Sage of Six Paths plotted against his benefactor. The Sarutobi and Shimura Clans plotted against the Sage of Six Paths’ sons. And now even Gamamaru… no, the entire Three Great Sacred Lands are plotting against the Sage of Six Paths himself! Th-This is a conspiracy within a conspiracy! One scheme after another, all connected!”

“The Sage of Six Paths really has changed completely…” someone beside him sighed, shaking his head with mixed emotions.

“When we saw him repair the world, establish Ninshū, and spread Chakra, we truly thought he was a saint who cared for all living beings. But when faced with life and death, even a ‘sage’ is no different from ordinary people like us who fear death!”

“Just look at how desperate he was! Calling it ‘borrowing’ when he was clearly taking those things by force! Then, after stealing them, he shouted that he’d return them someday. How hypocritical!”

“Seriously! Just a moment ago, I thought the Sage of Six Paths had stormed into Mount Myōboku and, despite looking a little worse for wear, had at least gotten what he wanted. I thought he’d managed to come out ahead…”

Another person clicked his tongue, his face filled with belated horror.

“But after all that, it turns out Gamamaru had been waiting for him all along!”

“‘I have been waiting for you to come’… Just hearing that sends chills down my spine!”

“I’m really curious about what Gamamaru actually ‘gave’ him. What could possibly make him so confident that he could restrain someone on the level of the Sage of Six Paths and make him ‘completely disappear from this world’?”

“And what about that line: ‘When one’s power reaches the extreme, even if the body perishes, the soul will not be erased’…”

A more contemplative shinobi frowned deeply and muttered to himself.

“What kind of ‘immortality’ was he talking about? Existing in the Pure Land as a remnant of Chakra and a spiritual entity, like the Sage of Six Paths supposedly did later? Or… some other, even stranger state? Could Gamamaru and the others have even plotted out the fate of the Sage of Six Paths’ soul after his death?!”

The more they thought about it, the more terrifying it became!

The deeper they considered it, the more they realized that the conspiracy from a thousand years ago was far more intricate and frightening than they had ever imagined!

Konohagakure — Hokage’s Office

Tsunade and Jiraiya stood frozen in place like two statues caught in a paralysis technique. Their faces bore identical expressions of blank disbelief, a mixture of absurdity, shock, and utter incomprehension.

One was a descendant of the Senju Clan and had a contract with Shikkotsu Forest.

The other was a contractor of Mount Myōboku and regarded the Great Toad Sage as a respected elder and mentor.

Deep down, both had always held a special reverence for the Three Great Sacred Lands.

But what had the Heavenly Curtain revealed?

That a thousand years ago, Gamamaru of Mount Myōboku had joined forces with the slug of Shikkotsu Forest and the White Snake Sage of Ryūchi Cave to create a trap. They had supposedly exploited humanity’s strongest being—the Sage of Six Paths—and his desire for immortality, intending to remove him from the board and secure future dominance for the summoning creatures!

It was no different from taking some of the foundations of everything they had believed and smashing them to pieces!

The two slowly turned their heads and looked at each other.

In one another’s eyes, they saw emotions like a raging storm, along with a trace of bewilderment born from the feeling that a deeply held trust had somehow been betrayed.

After her lips moved soundlessly for a long moment, Tsunade finally forced out a sentence in a dry voice.

“Gamamaru of… Mount Myōboku…” She paused, seemingly unable to find the right words. “He actually… hid it all that deeply?”

Jiraiya looked even more dazed.

“The Great Toad Sage… Did he know all along? He told me to search for the Child of Prophecy and guide the course of fate… Could all of that have been some kind of scheme too?”

Once the seeds of doubt were planted, they began to grow wildly.

Mount Myōboku

The Great Toad Sage, who usually appeared perpetually drowsy and immersed in an eternal dream, now sat completely frozen upon his enormous throne, his mouth slightly open as though he had been turned to stone.

The calculating and coldly strategic image of “Gamamaru” displayed on the Heavenly Curtain was simply too different from… himself!

So different that, for the moment, he couldn’t connect the two at all. His mind had gone completely blank.

However, after recovering from their initial shock, the many toad sages standing below—including Fukasaku and Shima—quickly shifted their gazes toward the Great Toad Sage. Their astonishment transformed into an almost fanatical reverence!

“Did you see that, Fukasaku?!” Shima exclaimed excitedly, nudging her husband with her elbow. Her voice trembled.

“This is the ancestor of our Mount Myōboku! True wisdom! He even managed to scheme against the Sage of Six Paths so thoroughly! That’s… that’s incredible!”