NOVEL WEB Chapter 160: Chapter 170
Among the two brothers, Hagoromo was difficult to deal with, but Ōtsutsuki Hamura placed great trust in it.
So it was it—the Great Toad Sage—who revealed Kaguya's [atrocities] to both of her sons, guiding Hagoromo and Hamura to stand on its side, and for the sake of protecting the Earth, to seal away Ōtsutsuki Kaguya.
To Hagoromo and Hamura, that was essentially… going against their own mother.
Which meant—an act of filial betrayal.
But this was for the sake of all life. So, in the end, the Sage of Six Paths and his younger brother sealed away their mother, the mighty Ōtsutsuki Kaguya.
Time passed. Hagoromo went to the moon, while Hamura remained, distributing chakra to other humans, and eventually founded Ninshū.
That was the origin of the ninja world.
However, Hamura's life was not peaceful—his two sons were at odds. Asura was filial and obedient, while Indra was rebellious and defiant.
Indra even clashed with them more than once.
Thus, Indra inherited the unfilial gene, formed his own faction, and eventually evolved into the Uchiha clan.
And now, Uchiha Madara of the Uchiha clan had arrived at Mount Myōboku, demanding the Sage Art Talisman with a threat no one could refuse.
This made the Great Toad Sage feel—this must have been the same anger Kaguya felt when being sealed by her unfilial sons!
Because… Madara, you bastard, do you even know who I am!?
I'm the Great Toad Sage! I was the one who befriended the Sage of Six Paths, called him brother—and I'm the elder of your ancestor Indra!
And now… you come to my door, bullying me with threats of slicing Mount Myōboku in half if I don't hand over our most sacred treasure!?
"You damned brat…"
The Great Toad Sage quickly tried to speak.
Uchiha Madara's pressure was overwhelming, instantly making the Sage feel like he was reliving the hopelessness from a thousand years ago—when Kaguya appeared as an unbeatable final boss.
But luckily, he had managed to talk Hagoromo and Hamura into action back then—so now…
Yes, he admitted it.
Madara's 200-meter Susanoo brought him tremendous pressure.
He was absolutely capable of splitting Mount Myōboku with a single slash.
But—
It was fine.
He had once persuaded the Sage of Six Paths—surely, he could talk Madara into standing down too.
Madara wasn't as powerful as Hagoromo.
So there was still time—this was still negotiable…
"You do realize…" the Great Toad Sage began.
"Shut it!"
"Don't you dare try to talk your way out of this!"
"You say one more word of nonsense and I'll slice Mount Myōboku in half!"
Madara's voice struck the Great Toad Sage like a hammer to the head.
"All I want is a simple answer: yes or no," said Uchiha Madara.
"My time is limited. I'm not here for idle chatter—and I don't need your babbling."
"…" The Great Toad Sage.
"…" The Great Toad Sage.
His greatest strength wasn't a thousand years of cultivation—it was talk-no-jutsu! And now he wasn't even being allowed to speak!?
How was he supposed to turn the tide!?
"…"
"…Give it to him."
The Great Toad Sage turned to Shima and ordered.
"Eh!?"
Shima was stunned.
"I said—hand him the treasure. Let him leave!" the Great Toad Sage barked.
"...!?"
Shima was completely stunned.
Just earlier, hadn't the elder said that as long as they stalled Madara long enough for dialogue, everything would be fine?
And now he just… handed over the treasure!?
"You didn't hear me!?" The Great Toad Sage glared at Shima.
"…" Shima.
At this point, Shima was totally frozen.
Was the elder venting his frustration on her now?
But she had no choice—so she went to the sacred inner temple, to the treasured chest where the Sage Art Talisman was kept, and reluctantly retrieved the talisman for Uchiha Madara.
····
Half an hour later—
Having obtained the Sage Art Talisman, the Edo Tensei version of Uchiha Madara left.
His 200-meter tall Tengu-style Susanoo vanished along with him.
Shima, Fukasaku, and the rest of the Mount Myōboku toads finally gathered around the now-roofless temple.
"Elder! Was the Sage Art Talisman we gave to Madara real or fake?" Fukasaku quickly asked.
"I mean… I assumed it was fake. Otherwise you wouldn't have given it to him so quickly, right?"
"But now that Madara's this powerful… maybe we should have Jiraiya head to Konoha for help?"
The toads began to exchange nervous glances, clearly shaken.
Fukasaku was sure the elder had handed over a fake Sage Art Talisman to Madara. If Madara realized it and came back… Mount Myōboku would be doomed.
They had to call in reinforcements.
The toads… probably wouldn't be able to handle it on their own.
And although Jiraiya had been trained in Sage Mode personally by Fukasaku—and was certainly stronger than most ordinary ninja—sadly… that wasn't nearly enough.
So now…
Mount Myōboku was facing catastrophe.
It had to be dealt with—quickly.
But—
"He got what he wanted. He won't be coming back," the Great Toad Sage said.
"...It was real."
"The Sage Art Talisman is Mount Myōboku's greatest treasure—and I did give it to Madara," the Great Toad Sage admitted.
"..." Fukasaku.
"..." Shima.
"..." All the toads.
Huh!?
Was the elder really this cowardly!?
But honestly, it was hard to blame him.
Madara's presence had been overwhelmingly terrifying.
Many of the Mount Myōboku toads had formed summoning contracts with Jiraiya and had traveled outside into the ninja world, gaining all sorts of combat experience and worldly knowledge.
But…
They had never felt the kind of crushing pressure they had just experienced—from a 200-meter tall Susanoo.
So when facing a threat like that—maybe a little cowardice wasn't shameful at all.
Still…
"I'm so pissed off!"
"This time…"
"I didn't even get a chance to open my mouth…"
The Great Toad Sage fumed.
Because if Madara had let him speak—he definitely could have started his famous persuasion tactics.
But Madara just shut him down immediately!
Unbelievable!
"..."
Meanwhile, on the other side—
"..." Jiraiya.
Technically, this had nothing to do with him. After all, Madara was from the First Hokage's era.
And he himself definitely couldn't do anything about it.
But…
Jiraiya felt this was something that had to be reported.
[Ding!]
[Jiraiya has come online]
[Descendant Chat Group (^_-)]
[Big Dumb - Hashirama]: Hmm…
[Big Dumb - Hashirama]: Ōtsutsuki Toneri, huh…
[Big Dumb - Hashirama]: ...??
[Big Dumb - Hashirama]: Oh, Jiraiya's online now.
[Senju Tobirama]: Hmm… that name.
[Senju Tobirama] immediately noticed Jiraiya logging in.
But—
He suddenly fell silent.
And the group's atmosphere instantly froze.
Jiraiya still hadn't realized what was going on.
[Loyal Hound of Mount Myōboku]: First Lord, Second Lord, something terrible's happened!
[Loyal Hound of Mount Myōboku]: I'm at Mount Myōboku!
[Loyal Hound of Mount Myōboku]: Uchiha Madara appeared here!
[Loyal Hound of Mount Myōboku]: He threatened the Great Toad Sage and took the sacred Sage Art Talisman from us!
[Big Dumb - Hashirama]: …
[Senju Tobirama]: …
[Minato Namikaze]: Wait—Jiraiya-sensei, are you saying Uchiha Madara went to Mount Myōboku?
[Loyal Hound of Mount Myōboku]: That's right, Minato.
[Loyal Hound of Mount Myōboku]: Just 30 minutes ago, he arrived and brought a 200-meter Susanoo, threatening the Great Toad Sage.
[Loyal Hound of Mount Myōboku]: And now, our greatest treasure has been taken.
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