Chapter 304: The End of the Third War!

Chapter 304: The End of the Third War!

"That Yellow Flash?"

The Five-Tails, Kokuō, clearly had a deep impression of Minato Namikaze. After all, the two had fought side-by-side in the Land of Hot Water for a time.

"He seems like a capable shinobi, but isn't there still a vast distance between him and a 'savior'?"

The Five-Tails, Kokuō, wasn't some "country beast" that had seen nothing of the world.

Originating from the Ten-Tails and created by the Sage of Six Paths, Kokuō had personally experienced and witnessed the power that symbolized the absolute pinnacle of the shinobi world!

And to become a so-called "savior," while other abilities might be secondary, strength was something that could not be watered down in the slightest.

Although Minato Namikaze's personal characteristics fit the Great Toad Sage's prophecy—the "blue-eyed boy," "Jiraiya's disciple"—in Kokuō's eyes, his power level was clearly not up to par.

"I don't need to look far. Just compare him to Nara Keisuke right here."

Minato's strength was really insufficient!

"Keisuke," Kokuō said seriously. "I still think you are stronger."

"Ha, thanks for the compliment, Kokuō."

Nara Keisuke smiled, casually stroking Kokuō's white fur.

"But Minato is indeed very impressive. And many people do see him as the 'Child of Prophecy'."

Nara Keisuke's words were not baseless.

He didn't know how Jiraiya and Mount Myōboku handled their intelligence, but long ago, Jiraiya had been proclaiming in Konoha that Minato Namikaze was the legendary "Child of Prophecy."

Even now, shinobi from other villages had heard similar rumors, things like "the Yellow Flash is the savior of the shinobi world."

Perhaps this was a propaganda tactic intentionally released by Konoha to strike at the enemy's morale?

But based on his performance in the early stages of the Third Great Shinobi War, the Yellow Flash truly did match the title of "Child of Prophecy."

He had almost single-handedly reversed Konoha's situation in the war. Virtually no shinobi could stop "Master Minato's" reaping, to the point that Iwagakure even issued a deployment order to "immediately abandon the mission and flee if you encounter the Yellow Flash."

Of course, Nara Keisuke also knew that Minato was not the real "Child of Prophecy."

The two interconnected prophecies made by the Great Toad Sage had only three core points: "blue-eyed boy," "nine tailed beasts," and "Jiraiya's disciple."

Minato Namikaze fit two of them. (At Minato's age, he was still just a "boy" in the Great Toad Sage's eyes.)

But Minato had no real connection to the "nine tailed beasts"; he only had an... intimate... relationship with the current Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.

The real "Child of Prophecy" was actually Minato Namikaze's son—Naruto Uzumaki.

'But then again, with Naruto's personal configuration: Asura's reincarnate, a Nine-Tails cheat, Uzumaki Clan bloodline... If he isn't the Child of Prophecy, who is?'

Look at Deidara from the neighboring village.

Also blond and blue-eyed, also had some... special body structures... also used his "mouth" as his most important offensive organ, and also had an all-consuming desire and craving for... Uchiha.

But the former was the Child of Prophecy, while the latter just played himself into a final, star-shaped explosion.

What a twisted and tragic fate.

"What 'Child of Prophecy'... hmph! That little blond kid is still far too lacking!"

The Five-Tails, Kokuō, swished its tails.

It had a decent impression of Minato Namikaze, but he really didn't meet the standard of "Child of Prophecy" in its eyes.

According to what the old Sage (of Six Paths) had said, the Child of Prophecy had to gain the recognition of all nine Tailed Beasts.

The Five-Tails, Kokuō, would not recognize Minato Namikaze.

A shinobi who could not surpass it in strength would never earn its true recognition!

"Then let's stop talking about these mystical prophecies."

Nara Keisuke pulled the wildly off-track topic back.

"Kokuō, what's your relationship with the Six-Tails?"

"It's alright, I guess? Though we haven't seen each other for a few hundred years..."

The Five-Tails, Kokuō, replied.

"Keisuke, you keep asking about Saiken... Are you planning to take him from Kirigakure, like you did with Isobu?"

"I don't have that in mind for now."

Nara Keisuke denied it.

"It's because I just signed a summoning contract with Shikkotsu Forest, and the Katsuyu Sage of Shikkotsu Forest is a genuine giant slug. So I wanted to understand the relationship between Saiken and Katsuyu."

"Hmm??"

The Five-Tails, Kokuō, blinked, its tone suddenly jumping an octave.

"Those two... have a relationship? But then again, Katsuyu is a slug, Saiken is a slug! Everyone's a slug, it's inevitable that..."

You're a good one, Kokuō. You see the Three-Tails as a turtle, the Six-Tails as a slug, but you're not a big white steed, are you?

It seems gossip isn't just a girl's nature, but something no female creature can escape...

Speaking of which, Kokuō is female, right?

Listening to Kokuō's clearly excited tone, several thoughts flashed through Nara Keisuke's mind.

'But judging from Kokuō's words, it doesn't know much about the relationship between Katsuyu Sage and the Six-Tails, Saiken, either…'

'I was careless. After the Sage of Six Paths died, the Tailed Beasts were scattered to the corners of the shinobi world, with almost no way to contact each other. Occasional friction would just lead to fights.'

'So, whether Katsuyu is the Six-Tails' 'mother' in an imagistic sense is really hard to judge…'

'Next time I go to Shikkotsu Forest, I'll prepare a backup plan. If the acid version of [Corrosion Release] doesn't work, I'll try the 'boiling water' version of [Corrosion Release]. If that still doesn't work…'

'When I submit the [Corrosion Release Chakra Production Method] next time, I'll share the S-Rank [Secret Ninja Scroll] reward with Katsuyu?'

'I somehow feel like Katsuyu will look down on this stuff... Should I approach from another angle? Facing an immortal Sage slug, it's hard to find her 'interests'…'

'Damn it, do I really have to just shamelessly rely on Katsuyu's goodwill?'

Nara Keisuke felt a deep sense of melancholy.

In a flash, another period of time passed.

During these days, Nara Keisuke shuttled between the Land of Hot Water and Kikyo Castle, handling the trivial matters in both places.

His own research projects, Tsunade's training in [Wood Release], Samui's contact with the Two-Tails, Matatabi…

The seemingly peaceful and relaxed days were filled with one task after another.

Nara Keisuke felt that life was good and peaceful, but in reality, it was all his Shadow Doppelgangers and Shadow Clones bearing the burden for him.

The Third Great Shinobi War slowly entered its final stage.

The Land of Hot Water was no longer attacked by any foreign enemies.

One by one, shinobi were transferred out by the village's High Council. Uchiha Shisui, Hyūga Retsu, Shizune, and even Nara Shikaku were all transferred out of the Land of Hot Water under village orders.

But as the "Shadow of Darkness," Konoha's signature power, he was kept pinned down in the Land of Hot Water camp.

Nara Keisuke hadn't realized this problem before.

It wasn't until even his Chief of Staff was transferred, while he was still held back, that he belatedly realized:

Konoha doesn't want the Shadow of Darkness to gain any more glory on the battlefield!

Although Nara Keisuke was very unhappy about it, he didn't force the issue.

Besides…

Now that the Third War was at its end, it was time to deal with that enemy hidden in the darkness!