Chapter 157: The Great Toad Sage

Mount Myōboku smelled of water, moss, and oil. Jiraiya stood before the Great Toad Sage while Fukasaku and Shima waited below the raised seat. Gamarumaru had summoned him after another prophetic dream, sooner than any pattern Jiraiya recognized.

"A variable has entered the path of the Child of Prophecy," the ancient toad said. "It does not close the path. It clears dangers that would otherwise consume the child too soon."

Jiraiya asked whether the dream concerned one child or several candidates. Gamarumaru had once spoken of a student who would bring preservation or destruction through choices shaped by Jiraiya. The uncertainty had influenced Nagato, Minato, and every orphan with unusual conviction whom Jiraiya later encountered.

"The child remains one path among lives," Gamarumaru said. "Do not mistake importance for solitude."

Fukasaku reminded Jiraiya that prophecy had never excused neglecting people outside it. A teacher searching for the future could still fail students already present.

"Who is the variable?"

"The dream did not give me a name."

"Then how do I avoid interfering with someone I cannot identify?"

Gamarumaru blinked slowly. "Continue your search. Do not force the child toward a person merely because you fear change."

Jiraiya had built decades around prophecy and knew how easily ambiguous instruction could become permission for whatever he already wanted. He asked whether the variable came from a village, bloodline, or time. The sage remembered wind, branching lines, an eye reflected in water, and several possible futures crossing without one replacing the others.

"Useful," Jiraiya said.

"Dreams are rarely reports."

Jiraiya recorded the exact phrases before memory could improve them. He listed possible interpretations and evidence that would challenge each. Years of intelligence work had taught him a discipline prophecy encouraged him to forget: vague sources required more verification, not less.

He also asked why the Great Toad Sage wanted no interference if the variable helped. Gamarumaru answered that a forced meeting might turn assistance into dependence or draw enemies toward the child before either was ready. The warning contained no order to ignore danger. It opposed arranging lives merely to satisfy a dream.

He left Myōboku with more questions than answers and decided to return to Konoha. Hiruzen's intelligence network might reveal unusual changes Jiraiya's wandering had treated separately. In a hidden laboratory, a blue snake delivered news of Jiraiya's movement to Orochimaru.

Orochimaru's body-transfer method had reached operational form. The living subject in the next chamber remained sedated beneath seals that reduced movement without pretending consent existed. Research success had not improved its morality.

Akatsuki's interest in him had also changed. Pain wanted loyalty Orochimaru had never promised. Itachi's Sharingan made remaining close more dangerous than useful. Orochimaru abandoned the robe and shifted laboratories before Zetsu could establish a reliable trail.

He destroyed no notes and freed no subject. Defection changed his exposure, not his ethics. Kabuto moved identities, supplies, and test records through separate routes while false laboratories retained enough evidence to waste pursuers' time.

Orochimaru kept one report about Tonbo. Sensory techniques, weather manipulation, and a refusal to trade Rinnegan intelligence suggested a research path developing without his materials. The thought irritated him more than Konoha's pursuit orders. Pain convened Akatsuki through projected forms.

"Find Orochimaru," he ordered. "He knows our personnel, routes, funding, and objectives."

Konan asked whether retrieval or death held priority. Pain wanted capture if possible and confirmed death if not. An unverified disappearance would allow Orochimaru to reappear through another body. Akatsuki teams received descriptions of known snake methods but not every Rinnegan capability; compartmentalization remained even inside the hunt.

Sasori considered him a future specimen. Kakuzu evaluated the bounty. Biwa Jūzō reported no trace along Itachi's last mission route. Zetsu admitted that Orochimaru had prepared exits before defecting.

Itachi remained expressionless. He had expected the Sannin to leave once observation stopped producing enough value. Revealing that judgment would invite questions about what else he inferred.

Zetsu watched him. Itachi had joined recently and already understood Orochimaru's incentives better than older members admitted. That made his loyalty useful and suspect. Pain paired him with Jūzō, ensuring neither operated without another witness.

In Konoha, Ichiraku remained crowded months after Tonbo's public campaign began.

The first wave had come from curiosity. Repeat customers came for food, quick service, and the fact that Ayame refused to turn the counter into a shrine to her husband. Teuchi expanded preparation hours with paid staff rather than expecting family members to absorb endless demand.

Tenyu and Maki still received short household shifts appropriate to their age. Ten minutes of washing unbreakable bowls, sorting wrapped chopsticks, or wiping low tables counted as contribution and education. The work ended on schedule even during a rush. The twins disliked it.

Their shift chart used pictures and large numbers. Each task had a start, stop, and adult responsible for safety. Broken bowls, boiling stock, knives, and heavy deliveries remained outside their work. Payment took the form of a small allowance plus family contribution recorded separately, so the lesson did not pretend unpaid child labor was ordinary employment.

Maki noticed that Tōsei became sympathetic when they discussed how slowly childhood passed. Tenyu added that older children could use chakra constructs to clean. Both sighed within hearing range and made their movements increasingly weary. Tōsei offered to finish early.

Ayame stopped him. "They have three minutes left." The twins straightened at once.

"Information gathering," Ayame said, "is not permission to manipulate someone who loves you."

Maki argued that they had only stated true facts. Ayame agreed and explained that selective truth arranged to produce an unspoken result could still be deceptive. The repair was simple: complete three minutes, tell Tōsei what they had intended, and ask directly next time.

Tenyu asked whether merchants did the same thing in advertisements. Ayame said yes, which was why intelligence readers checked what a claim omitted. Ethical persuasion stated the request and relevant costs. Manipulation tried to control a choice while hiding that a choice was being influenced.

The twins added a note to the manual in their own words: *True information can still make a dishonest plan.*

Tōsei laughed after they confessed. He had been planning to help because his injured hand made him aware of repetitive work, not because they had fooled him completely.

"Maybe I should learn one-handed seals," he said. "Then I can use a cleaning construct without asking either hand to do what it cannot."

Tōsei's old injury had ended his shinobi career before Tonbo's childhood. He had adapted to kitchen work through tools, grip changes, and help. Wanting one-handed seals contained practical need, nostalgia, and the desire to impress grandchildren. Each motive deserved acknowledgement; none proved the body could tolerate retraining.

Tonbo arrived in time to hear the plan.

"You want to begin retraining now?"

"You teach children. You can teach your father."

Tenyu and Maki immediately supported their grandfather. If Tōsei learned quickly, his construct might still replace their future shifts.

Ayame saw the calculation and assigned them another lesson: helping someone learn did not transfer that person's responsibilities or theirs. Tōsei asked Tonbo for an assessment anyway.

The request connected Sensory Lattice, Guided Insight, motor memory, and a practical need. Tonbo agreed to evaluate before promising a technique.

"If the assessment says no?" Tōsei asked.

"We design a tool or assign the work differently. Ninjutsu is one option."

Tenyu objected that tools were less exciting. Tōsei told him excitement was not the hand performing the seal.