Naruto: I Confronted the Five Kage Before the System Arrived

Chapter 270: Mount Myōboku is Gone; Naruto is Gone

"Mount Myōboku is reconnected!"

Jiraiya exhaled in relief.

Before Tsunade could relay the latest intel from the Hidden Cloud Village, Jiraiya hastily performed the summoning jutsu.

*Bang!*

A puff of white smoke.

From within the smoke appeared Toad Gamatora, his body long and covered in blue-green patterns, his lower half resembling a scroll.

"Toad Gamatora, it's you! How is Mount Myōboku now?" Jiraiya quickly greeted and inquired about the current situation.

"Jiraiya..."

Toad Gamatora raised his head, looking around at Jiraiya, Tsunade, and the other Konoha ninjas present. He shook his head slowly, his voice heavy,

"Mount Myōboku is gone!"

"What do you mean Mount Myōboku is gone?"

At first, Jiraiya didn't understand. After all, Mount Myōboku was vast and couldn't simply disappear like a person.

But in the blink of an eye, noticing Toad Gamatora's genuine sorrow, Jiraiya's expression froze.

Mount Myōboku...gone?

Suddenly, he began to grasp the true meaning of those words.

Tsunade, who was holding the latest intel, reacted even faster than Jiraiya.

Her pupils contracted, and she clenched her fists tightly as she realized something.

"Naruto..."

Jiraiya's joy disappeared instantly. Realizing the possible reality, he urgently and desperately asked,

"Toad Gamatora, what happened? What do you mean by 'Mount Myōboku is gone'?"

Toad Gamatora took a deep breath and answered solemnly, "Hagoromo Gengetsu completely destroyed Mount Myōboku. Many toads died. Gamaken died, Gamabunta died, Gamakichi died, even the Great Toad Sage died!"

"What?!!"

Despite his earlier speculations, Jiraiya couldn't believe his ears at this moment.

"Haha! This must be a joke, right? How could Hagoromo Gengetsu destroy Mount Myōboku? Gamaken, Gamakichi... Gamabunta... Right, Gamakichi is so big and strong! And the Great Toad Sage! He has lived for a thousand years! How could Hagoromo Gengetsu kill him? Impossible..."

Jiraiya struggled to accept reality, even laughing as he spoke.

He owed much of his success to the support from Mount Myōboku.

Apart from Konoha, Mount Myōboku was his second home.

He had deep feelings for Mount Myōboku and the toads living there.

How could he accept the current reality?

Moreover, he had spent his life striving for the Great Toad Sage's prophecy.

Now being told that the powerful sage who made the prophecy was killed by someone else, what did that make the prophecy? What did it make him?

Impossible!

Mount Myōboku, one of the three great sanctuaries, had existed for so long. It was impossible for Hagoromo Gengetsu alone to bring about such a downfall.

Maybe Toad Gamatora was under a genjutsu!

Jiraiya wanted to say more to stabilize his wavering heart.

Tsunade stepped forward, grabbed Jiraiya by his collar, threw him back, and approached Toad Gamatora.

Unlike Jiraiya, who had deep feelings for Mount Myōboku, she was most concerned about one thing.

"What about Naruto?"

Tsunade stared at Toad Gamatora and asked loudly.

Toad Gamatora gave the answer,

"Naruto...is also dead."

*Crack! Crack!*

The floor beneath Tsunade's feet cracked under the intense pressure, spreading in all directions.

In that instant, she had no other thoughts. Her mind kept repeating one sentence.

"Naruto is dead...Naruto is dead...Naruto is dead..."

The boy who aspired to become Hokage was dead.

Just like Dan and Nawaki back then.

They were all dead... all dead...

Entering the Hokage office, Yamato and others who hadn't had a chance to speak, sensed something wrong.

Those close to Naruto changed their expressions.

Sakura's voice trembled as she asked,

"Wait! Lady Tsunade, and you, Mr. Toad, what are you talking about?"

"Naruto... what happened to Naruto?"

Sakura had actually heard Toad Gamatora's words but dared not utter that word. She didn't believe it. There must be some misunderstanding!

Naruto couldn't be dead!

He should never be defeated!

Hearing this, Gamatora was about to explain.

Suddenly, the Hokage office became unstable.

Seeing the office and the entire Hokage building about to collapse under Tsunade's uncontrollable power, a hand pressed her shoulder, awakening her.

"Tsunade, calm down."

Jiraiya stepped forward again.

Originally more emotionally unstable than Tsunade, upon hearing Naruto's death, Jiraiya suddenly felt a chill in his heart.

From a certain perspective, he became extraordinarily calm, even colder than usual. He pressed the about-to-explode Tsunade and gestured to Sakura and the others to calm down.

With eyes red with emotion, he looked at Gamatora once more and said,

"Toad Gamatora, tell us what happened in detail."

Toad Gamatora nodded. Though he and the other toads couldn't witness everything, he was aware of the beginning and the end. He quickly shared what he knew.

In the end, he pulled out a familiar necklace from his mouth.

It was the First Hokage's necklace that Naruto always wore around his neck.

When Naruto was pierced through the chest by the toad's tongue, the necklace was knocked off and later found by other toads.

Tsunade took the necklace with trembling hands.

This was the third time.

*Crack!*

Unlike before, this time Tsunade crushed the priceless necklace with her strength.

After listening to Toad Gamatora's account and seeing the First Hokage's necklace, everyone present could no longer deceive themselves.

Naruto was truly dead.

"Impossible...Naruto!!!"

Sakura's eyes dimmed, as if she had lost her spirit, and she collapsed.

Feeling equally sorrowful, Yamato caught her in time.

"Is this sadness?" Sai clutched his heart as a strong, long-missed emotion surged within him.

Guy and Lee, full of passion, couldn't hold back their tears.

Tenten and Neji remained silent.

"Naruto..."

Neji sighed internally, recalling the Chūnin Exams from years ago.

Unknowingly, the boy who once had no friends had grown to be an important part of many people's lives.

Toad Gamatora, familiar with the current sorrow, finally pulled out a scroll and handed it to Jiraiya,

"This is what the Great Toad Sage asked me to give you, Jiraiya, before he died."

Jiraiya took the scroll absentmindedly.

Upon opening it,

"Jiraiya, by the time you see this scroll, I will already be dead. Also, Naruto is dead. I'm sorry, but I killed him. This was a necessary sacrifice to delay Hagoromo Gengetsu from merging with the Ten-Tails."

In an instant!

Jiraiya's expression changed dramatically.