Usually, when the younger generation causes serious trouble, most parents' first reaction is to give them a disciplinary beating—not necessarily to reverse the situation, but to calm their own hearts. Maybe, in some strange way, this too is a form of filial piety. Touching, in its own right.
Immortal Fukasaku and Immortal Shima looked at the bruised, half-unconscious Toad Bunta and—despite their instincts—could only sigh and let it go for now. There were more urgent concerns, such as summoning Jiraiya back to Mount Myōboku before their spokesperson died in a ditch.
"Hm? Reverse summoning?" Jiraiya muttered, sensing the familiar pull of the jutsu.
He glanced at the grass-cutting blade—Kusanagi—resting lightly in his hand. He promptly returned it to Uchiha Itachi. "Itachi, take them back. I have to go to the Land of Toads."
"Sensei?" Itachi tilted his head in confusion, but Jiraiya had already disappeared in a wisp of chakra, drawn to the heart of Mount Myōboku.
Left alone, the young boy looked down at the still-sleepy crow, then turned to gather the children. With Beiyuan in tow and a trail of rescued kids, Uchiha Itachi began the overnight journey back to the town they had saved.
It turned out that rescuing the village children had made Itachi quite the hero in town. Every day, a different family invited him for meals. It was a fresh and somewhat embarrassing experience for him. But the peace didn't last.
One morning, a small toad hopped up to him, a scroll strapped to its back. It delivered a message from Jiraiya. The very next day, Uchiha Itachi prepared to leave the town behind.
The same guards who had once yelled at him to move aside now saluted him enthusiastically. "Good morning, Itachi-sama! Out to train again?"
"…Not… well, yes." He hesitated, then added, "I'm leaving today. If you ever need anything, you can find me in Konoha."
"Gah…" Beiyuan grumbled beside him, still half-asleep and irritable. He hadn't had a proper nap in days, haunted by strange dreams about someone saying crow soup tasted bad.
Horrifying.
Today, they would be heading to the Land of Wind. Jiraiya had said he'd be waiting there.
The problem, of course, was that the Land of Wind meant crossing borders. Not exactly something you could do without catching the attention of Sand shinobi. If they wanted to avoid trouble, they'd need to sneak in.
"I thought we were going back to Konoha…" Itachi sighed.
"Gah…" Beiyuan side-eyed him with disdain. Clearly, he was thinking about his precious younger brother again.
Itachi nodded without shame. "Sasuke… and my parents too. Don't you want to go back and see them?"
"…Gah."
Beiyuan looked away. Of course he missed them. But every time he saw Sasuke, something about that brat made him feel… too old. Like his job was to be a stepping stone for some future hero.
This whole sibling dynamic thing was ridiculous. Madara and Izuna nearly tore the world apart, and Hashirama practically built Konoha on the altar of brotherly love. Maybe Indra got tired of weak siblings and kept reincarnating into strong families, hoping to finally get a decent brother…
But fate was a persistent jailer. You couldn't run from your script—not even if you were a crow with secrets.
When they arrived at the Wind Country border, Jiraiya was waiting, whole and hearty again, with two small toads perched on his shoulders.
The old man's smile widened when he saw them. "Itachi! Finally—"
Whap!
Immortal Fukasaku smacked Jiraiya in the head before he could finish. Both he and Immortal Shima leapt down, landing in front of Beiyuan and bowing deeply.
"Lord Beiyuan, we are Fukasaku and Shima, attendants of the Great Toad Sage of Mount Myōboku. It is our greatest honor to meet you here."
Uchiha Itachi: "…I…"
Jiraiya: "…It…"
Beiyuan: "…Gah…"
Why were they acting like this? Beiyuan blinked, confused. Did… did the Great Toad Sage know about the mysterious golden finger that had sent him to this world?
But fine, raising a cub was interesting. He wouldn't mind staying longer—as long as he could isolate Sasuke while he was at it.
The two toads wasted no time.
"The Great Toad Sage foresaw a being whose chakra possesses both absolute yin and absolute yang," Fukasaku said solemnly. "We are here to confirm whether you truly possess such attributes."
"…Gah?" Beiyuan tilted his head.
"I told the Great Toad Sage about Beiyuan," Jiraiya said, rubbing his temple. "He thinks the crow may be the Fourth Great Sage of the Ninja World."
"…Gah…"
Shima nodded. "The moment we saw you, we believed it. The prophecy was true."
Beiyuan stiffened. Fourth Sage? Him? That can't be right. He just wanted to survive, raise Itachi into a decent adult, and maybe nudge Sasuke into not becoming a maniac. Now they were calling him a sage?
Not that the bar was high.
The Great Toad Sage was half-asleep most of the time and might ascend to the heavens any day now. The White Snake Sage was either missing or just didn't care. The Slug Sage… Well, rumors said there was just one giant slug in the whole forest.
If these were the sages of the world, maybe he could be one.
"The Great Toad Sage has never been wrong," Fukasaku said gravely. "It believes you hold all the secrets of the ninja world."
"…Gah…"
Beiyuan felt a cold sweat down his back. So the old frog had seen through him! Yes, yes, he did know the secrets of the ninja world. All of them. Except for anything unrelated to Naruto and Sasuke.
"Still," Jiraiya muttered, squinting, "it doesn't seem like it. The crow can't even speak human language…"
"Idiot!" Shima snapped. "Do you think true sages just blabber everything? Secrets are meant to be kept!"
Beiyuan blinked again. So that's why he couldn't talk. Because he knew too much. Suddenly, his muteness felt noble.
But deep inside, he knew the real problem—he couldn't reveal the future, not even to Itachi. He hadn't even meant to alter history at first. He just wanted to protect the boy and maybe soften the harshness of fate.
Was this… fatalism? Or freedom?
Fukasaku and Shima had other goals too. They wanted to test his chakra—to confirm the dual affinity of yin and yang. But… the moment they stepped close, they flinched.
It wasn't necessary.
Beiyuan's chakra was a bottomless abyss. That alone confirmed what they needed.
"Absolute yin and yang attributes… capable of perfectly harmonizing with nature energy…" Fukasaku murmured.
And for the first time, Beiyuan felt it too—the ability to absorb nature energy. His body shivered, his feathers rippling, and his spiritual pressure began to expand wildly.
The path to Sage Mode was opening. The secrets of the ninja world were his burden now.
And his greatest weapon.