Later that night/
The moon hung full and bright in the night sky, casting a pale silver glow over the sleeping village.
Most of Konoha was quiet, the streets empty, the windows dark, but in one house near the Heaven's Feel district, the lights were still on, and the sounds of BamBambing from within were clear to hear.
.
Some hundreds of meters away, someone cautiously looked at that specific house on a rooftop.
Smaller form because of transformation jutsu hidden in the shadows. His red, froggy skin was slick with sweat, and his heart pounded in his chest!
'Damn! Should I really risk it and just do it?!' The Toad Sage thought, his eyes fixed on the house.
Because of fear, the Toad Sage had made every toad retreat to Mount Myōboku. In this mission, he was the only one allowed to participate, in fear the supposed God becomes aware of what they are going to do and sense them.
The Toad Sage couldn't have a second of sleep since the visions of future and seeing that nightmare.
The small toad spy had returned to Mount Myōboku with confirmation the other day.
The changes in Konoha, the economic shifts, the political upheavals, the rise of Heaven's Feel... all of these nonsense traced back to one individual... Hatake Garou.
Years of manipulating the whole world got ruined by that damned monster!
And now, here he was, watching the house where that anomaly lived. The sounds coming from inside made the Toad Sage's skin crawl. Garou was in there with Tsunade, the granddaughter of Mito, doing... things that the Toad Sage did not want to think about.
For a moment, his eyes were filled with rage because he was planning to get Tsunade enslaved for his own entertainment for sometime and maybe erase the memory so it wouldn't impact the future development of this world.
And now that monster was defiling HIS entertainment subject!
'Damn you!' The Toad Sage cursed in his mind.
But...
Maybe, maybe the prophecy hasn't fully come to pass yet; the Toad Sage thought. Maybe he hasn't reached his full power, so if I strike now, while he's weakened and unaware, I could end this before it begins.
He knew it was a risk. The vision had shown him as a being of immense and unparalleled power, but visions could be misleading.
The future was not set in stone, and the Toad Sage had lived long enough to know that even gods could be killed if you caught them at the right moment.
Kaguya was such an example.
'That alien bitch also got away from me! I was very close to make her my slave! But that dumbass Hagoromo sealed her instead of doing what I told him to do with the distorted version of the sun and moon seal.' The Toad Sage thought again with a click of his tongue.
Anyways, he will have Black Zetsu release that bitch again. This time, she won't get away from him and his Modified seal that will be given to the reincarnations of Asura and Indra, which will seal her in a moon again and be sent to Mount Myōboku where he can do whatever he want to her from then on.
But will that future even happen after this anomaly appeared?
He took a deep breath and prepared to move.
But at that moment...
"So you're the one who's been lurking around."
The voice came from behind him, soft and calm, but it froze the Toad Sage in place. He spun around and found himself staring at a woman.
'How?!' He thought in alarm as it was nearly impossible to sneak up on him without him knowing.
She was sitting on the edge of the rooftop, her legs dangling over the side, her face turned toward the moon. Her hair was white, cut in a short bob that framed a face of impossible beauty. A beauty mark sat below the left side of her lips, and she wore a black maid outfit.
"Who?" The Toad Sage did not recognize her at first. He saw a woman, beautiful and serene, and his mind raced to identify her.
*chuckle.*
"Who else young man? It should be obvious." Katsuyu chuckled as she looked at his cautious expression.
The Toad Sage already had his senses lock onto her, then he felt it an ancient, deep, and fundamentally different from anything human that it made his breath catch in his throat.
No... it can't be, that gentle voice.
"Katsuyu?" he whispered, his voice trembling with doubt. "Is that... is that really you?"
The woman turned her head and smiled gently. "How are you young man? It has been centuries since I last saw you."
The Toad Sage's blood ran cold.
He had known Katsuyu for millennias, ever since the days of the Sage of Six Paths and even before it when he was barely a teen in human years.
She had always been a slug... massive, slow, and gentle. She had never possessed a human form and she had never looked this... sharp.
'Not a transformation jutsu?! What's happening?!' Gamamaru thought alarmingly.
"What... what happened to you? How come you are this... different?" he asked while looking at her up and down, his voice barely above a whisper.
Katsuyu tilted her head. "Ara~ already after my body? You were always a naughty boy Gamamaru. You don't need to think much about it, things happened and now I possess something this precious." Katsuyu said gently while looking between her fingers.
The Toad Sage's eyes roamed across her body as he cautiously asked, "Did... did that 'man' do this to you?"
"Hmm, you mean Garou? Well yes, he did. Imagine my surprise. Though it hurt a lot, but for a humanoid body like this after many millennias, it was worth everything. I finally achieved my long life dream."
"How did he do it?!" Gamamaru was really interested now because that meant he could also get a fully compatible humanoid body.
Gamamaru was really jealous of humans because of how convenient everything was for them unlike various animal bodies, and he has researched on how to get a humanoid and biological body that was 100% his with genetics and everything good included, but he only partially succeeded.
Even after many years of research, he couldn't get rid of the flaws of mortality and tiny lifespans the humanoid bodies had and he didn't want to risk turning himself into something that would die after only 60 years or something similar.
And now, he could clearly feel that Katsuyu's genetics has been changed sooo perfectly, that everything she had previously like her immortality has been transfered without a single problem.
As a matter of fact, she is now even stronger than her previous self.
"Why are you here Katsuyu?" Gamamaru asked cautiously. For now, he needed to suppress his jealousy and greed. As a matter of fact, he was already thinking of how to enslave Katsuyu, but that thought lasted only a millisecond because he couldn't afford it.
"Ara~ you used to talk with more respect to me young man. But anyways, Garou is my Sage, I am here to protect him from... whatever you are here for." Katsuyu said, her gentle smile still on.
Gamamaru's face twisted with anger and fear, "Protect him? Katsuyu, do you not understand what he is or what he will become?! Are you insane?! Can't you feel that demonic aura from miles away?!"
"Hmmm, yes I feel it, but I can also feel your dark and disgusting soul, young man. Do you want me to do something about that?" Katsuyu said, her eyes becoming a little dangerous.
"You do not understand!" Gamamaru cried, "I have seen it! I have seen the future! the destruction, the death, and the end of everything! That demon will kill us all don't you get it?!" He paused, his small body trembling with emotion.
Then Gamamaru began to describe what he had witnessed, his voice low and haunted. "I saw a battlefield, the sky was pitch black with rain not made of water, but something so thick and dark that melted my body. The ground was covered in corpses, and not corpses of just humans, but creatures of all kinds. Monstrous fugures that didn't make sense and which I haven't seen before at all in this world, Snakes, Toads, everything! Mountains of bodies stretching as far as the eye could see."
Katsuyu's expression remained neutral, but her eyes sharpened.
"And at the center of it all, there were two figures. One was a massive white man with blue veins pulsing across his body, he had no ears, no mouth, but two eyes, one on his chest, one on his face. He radiated a destructive power unlike anything I have ever felt that made the Sage of Six Paths, you, and Kaguya look like ants in comparison! The other being was a being of stars, his body shifting and flowing like the night sky itself, his aura even larger than the first figure! They were fighting, and their battle was destroying everything around them! Do you get it now?!"
Gamamaru looked at Katsuyu with desperate eyes. "I felt it, Katsuyu! I felt the insanity, the death and the destruction. It was the end of all things! That is the future that awaits us if we do nothing. That monster you are protecting will become our doom!"
Katsuyu was silent for a long moment, processing his words. She did not doubt that he had seen something, the toads had always possessed a 'gift' for prophecy and constant visions, even if their interpretations were sometimes flawed.
But she also knew Gamamaru...
She had known him for thousands of years. He was shrewd, calculating, and not above manipulating events to suit his purposes. He had guided the Sage of Six Paths, shaped the destiny of nations, and played games with the lives of mortals for millennia.
He was not a fool, and he was not naive. He didn't care about anything else except for his own vanity and pleasures he took from being the mastermind behind tragedies.
She was aware of that. How couldn't she when even Gamamaru's ancestors barely lived a quarter of her long lifespan. She was too old to be manipulated by some simple overgrown toad.
"If what you say is true," Katsuyu said slowly, "then the future is indeed dark. But I have a question for you, young man. In this vision of yours, did you see who started the fight?"
Gamamaru blinked, "What?"
"The fight." Katsuyu repeated, "Did you see who attacked first? Was it Garou, or was it the other being? Were they fighting because Garou wanted to destroy the world, or were they fighting because one was defending it?"
The Toad Sage opened his mouth, then closed it.
He had not seen that.
The vision had shown him the battle, but not the cause. He had assumed, but he had not seen clearly and he didn't know the exact context in that vision, which was weird because his visions worked like an advanced jutsu that could see most things that were relevant, that was how he was able to manipulate even Black Zetsu all this time.
But that particular vision, he only saw a tiny part of itx unlike his other visions. Even now, no matter how much he tried, he couldn't see the future anymore except for very tiny and blurry parts where sometimes he saw an encompassing golden light behind a veil or when in others he saw parts of different creatures causing chaos everywhere.
"See? You do not know. You saw a battle and assumed it was destruction for its own sake, But what if Garou is the one protecting the world? What if the other being is the true threat, and Garou is the one who stands against it?"
"That's–" Gamamaru started, but Katsuyu cut him off.
"I have known you for a very long time little toad. You are clever and patient, and you are not above shaping events to fit your vision of how things should be, so how do I know you are not doing that now?"
Gamamaru's face twisted with anger, "You think I would lie about something like this?!"
"I think you believe what you saw, but I also think you are capable of acting rashly when you are afraid. And now, you are afraid, little toad. I can see it in your eyes."
Gamamaru stood there, his toad fists clenched, and his mind racing.
She was right, he was afraid... he had been afraid ever since the vision, but that didn't mean he was wrong.
"Even if I don't know who started the fight, the destruction and the death is real! If there is even a chance that Garou is responsible, don't we have a duty to stop him?"
Katsuyu shook her head. "First, you are asking me to kill an innocent man based on a vision that might not even come to pass. And you are also asking me to betray someone who has given me hope after tens of thousands of years in loneliness and self rejection."
"..."
"Let me ask you something else, little toad. In all your thousands of years, have you ever seen a prophecy that came true exactly as you interpreted it without you interfering?"
Gamamaru was silent.
"I thought not. So, that means your prophecies are actually revolves around yourself. Basically, all of your visions of future are based on what you currently do. Maybe what you will do from now on is actually what's causing the end of the world, don't you think?" Katsuyu said.
"Then what would you have me do?! Sit back and do nothing while the world burns?" Gamamaru demanded.
"No. I would have you to think twice, and I would have you consider the possibility that you are wrong, or I would have you look at the man himself, not the vision, not the prophecy, but the man, and judge him by his actions, not by your fears, which is actually the reason that maybe Gods will be fighting in the future. So, maybe tone it down." Katsuyu replied.
"And if his actions lead to destruction anyways?" Gamamaru asked with narrowed eyes.
"Then we deal with it when it happens, but we do not preemptively kill someone who has done nothing wrong." Katsuyu, her gentle eyes looking at the agitated toad.
Gamamaru was silent for a long moment as he looked at Katsuyu's beautiful and calm eyes.
Then he spoke, his voice quieter now, "You aren't deceiving me Katsuyu. I recognise those eyes. You are biased because you love him."
Katsuyu's smile became wider and did not deny it. "Yes, I do."
"Why?"
"Ara~ I guess that's none of your business little toad. For now, just know that you can't hurt someone I have my eyes and heart on." Katsuyu's smile became sharp as her aura became dangerous with it that sent a chill down Gamamaru's spine.
'This is a disaster,' Gamamaru thought.
If Katsuyu is protecting him, then there is no way to stop that monster from growing.
As strong as he was with a long list of sealing and mind techniques, Gamamaru at his core wasn't a combatant, but a scientist and a researcher that almost always made other people do his bidding.
But Katsuyu was different. Even if she was a creature that focused on healing and the medical field, her sheer age and experience made up for it in other areas. Her past wasn't clean and actually full of blood.
He wasn't even alive yet when Katsuyu was already older than his great great great ancestors. Even older than Mount Myōboku itself.
He had once tried to enslave Katsuyu back when he was a foolish kid who only recently became The Great Sage of Mount Myōboku after killing the previous Great Sage, but that ended in a disaster and he swore to himself from that moment on that he won't get close to her again.
It wasn't nice fighting for your life, getting close to death, and be spared, then only to realise that you were just fighting one of her clones. He could taste his own despair that he felt back in the day.
So he with the Snake Sage cowardly didn't ever try to provoke her and just left her alone doing what she pleased. Since Katsuyu wasn't a warmongering creature like them, they sighed in relief and left her alone.
He was barely a very low level six path. But Katsuyu was a genuine peak Six Paths.
The Toad Sage stood there for a long moment, his fists clenched.
"Tch!" Then he clicked his tongue in annoyance.
"This is not over, I will find another way!"
"You can try. But know this, next time, I won't be this forgiving, toad." Katsuyu said as she released a tiny bit of killing intent that made the whole world in Gamamaru's eyes turn red.
The Toad Sage stared at her for another moment with sweat running down his skin, then disappeared in a puff of smoke, reverse-summoning himself back to Mount Myōboku.
Katsuyu stood alone on the rooftop, looking out at the moon.
She could still feel Garou's presence in the house behind her, blissfully unaware of how close he had come to being attacked.
She had known the toads would eventually find him, but she had not expected them to act so quickly.
"That toad... will definitely do something stupid."
Katsuyu turned and looked at the house one more time, then jumped off the rooftop and disappeared into the night.
The End.
[Pull some power stones and next chap will come out earlier.]