Chapter 104: The Impact of Sterilization on the Spirit World

While Jiraiya and Tsunade urgently promoted the policy of “Have more children, work less,” the Three Great Sacred Lands gradually discovered the issue of infertility.

Take Mount Myoboku, for instance.

Within this tranquil and harmonious mountain was the Lake of Toad Oil, known as the Lake of Life. All the stacked toads soaked themselves in the Lake of Life, laying their eggs within its waters. It was tradition.

At this moment, a group of mother toads surrounded the Lake of Toad Oil, croaking anxiously.

One mother toad croaked, “What’s going on? It’s been two months, and my children are still just eggs!”

Another mother toad echoed, “Mine are too!”

A third mother toad stroked the tadpoles in the lake, tears streaming down, “My child, you’ll never become a toad!”

The tadpole cried, “I want to become a toad, waaa!”

Eggs wouldn’t become tadpoles, tadpoles wouldn’t become toads. Only the young toads remained lucky, still growing healthy.

…

Similar chaos unfolded in the Ryuchi Cave, where all snake eggs had truly become lifeless, not a single one hatched. The snakes hissed in distress.

Some snakes recalled the egg incubation methods of chickens, ducks, and geese—gentle warmth for the eggs. So they summoned fire-breathing snakes, but in the end, not only did no snake hatch, the eggs were cooked.

In their despair, they suddenly noticed the eggs smelled quite delicious…

…

The Three Great Sacred Lands were merely representative; other summoning beasts faced the same problem. They began to suspect whether the killings of the past two years had incurred divine punishment.

Now, except for Mount Saru, the summoning world had achieved unity.

In truth, “summoning world” was just a colloquial term—they too lived on Earth, and so inevitably received the moon’s light.

This matter required the Three Great Sages to resolve, but none of them were home.

…

Above, beside the quietly spinning black hole in the sky, the Great Toad Sage, the White Snake Sage, and the Slug Sage—unaware their own worlds had fallen into chaos—finally made progress.

The Great Toad Sage’s mouth stretched into a wide arc, grinning, “I sense it!”

His pure white, nearly blind eyes narrowed with joy.

It was clear the Great Toad Sage was the strongest of the three; after he spoke, the White Snake Sage and Slug Sage took a moment before they sensed it as well.

“Withdraw!”

The sage energy within their bodies began to recede as the Great Toad Sage guided the trio to stop.

At this stage, their task was considered a success—no need to maintain the black hole any longer.

The Great Toad Sage declared, “We’ve left behind spatial fluctuations. As long as someone from the Otsutsuki clan possesses spatial power, they’ll be able to find Earth.”

The White Snake Sage nodded, “If they still can’t come, then it won’t matter; they won’t be a match for Orochimaru anyway.”

“Hurry, withdraw!”

With a thunderous shout, the Great Toad Sage immediately ceased channeling sage power; the White Snake Sage and Slug Sage stopped almost simultaneously.

Thus, their scheme to use the Otsutsuki clan against Orochimaru was half accomplished.

The three sages let out a gentle breath. The Great Toad Sage smiled, “Next, let’s go find him.”

At the mention of “him,” the White Snake Sage and Slug Sage grew solemn—they knew exactly who “he” was.

With a long flick of his tongue, the White Snake Sage squinted, “If he intervenes, he might be able to contend with Orochimaru—the world will only become more chaotic.”

Orochimaru was the creator of all three of them, and for “him” to be held in such high esteem by them spoke volumes of his power.

The Great Toad Sage said, “Let chaos reign; at least, we’ll be able to confront him.”

The White Snake Sage and Slug Sage fell silent. Indeed, if the opponent was only Orochimaru, defeat was certain, but with a third party, the outcome was unpredictable—three forces in check, who could say who would ultimately prevail?

After all, they were the millennium-old rulers of their secret realms.

Suddenly, the Great Toad Sage frowned, “I’ve received urgent news from my clan.”

The White Snake Sage said, “What a coincidence, I’ve received news from my clan as well.”

The Slug Sage timidly added, “Me too. Look quickly—it’s something very serious!”

Hearing this, the Great Toad Sage swiftly checked the message, and after reading it, his expression turned shocked and strange.

The White Snake Sage reacted similarly, with an added touch of anger—those greedy snakes!

The Great Toad Sage said, “There’s a problem with offspring production on my end.”

The White Snake Sage replied, “Same here.”

The Slug Sage supplemented, “Not just you two; other summoning beasts as well.”

The Great Toad Sage suggested, “Before we look for him, let’s return to our clans and see what’s going on. It might be Orochimaru’s scheme—we must be cautious.”

“Agreed,” said the White Snake Sage.

Just as the three were about to return home, the Great Toad Sage turned back, “Slug girl, nothing happened on your side?”

The White Snake Sage was surprised—indeed, the Slug Sage hadn’t mentioned trouble in her domain.

The Slug Sage smiled sheepishly, a bit shy, “I’m still a young female slug. The smaller slugs I split off are still parts of me—I’ve never reproduced…”

…

So, the Slug Sage had no offspring.

…

As panic swept the world, only Orochimaru remained at ease. Having collected the Dragon Vein, he and Kimimaro headed west.

Kimimaro, besides drawing geographical maps, was also responsible for finding the snake organization. He would transmit the mapping tools, mobilizing the world to chart its geography.

Such leisurely days lasted a week, until Madara Uchiha arrived out of nowhere.

Orochimaru and Madara floated above the forest, slowly advancing.

Madara asked, “What do you need me to do?”

The wind swept through, causing Madara’s hair to flutter.

Orochimaru suddenly looked up at the sun, completely unafraid of its brilliance.

Madara looked up as well.

The golden sun hung high, illuminating the earth. Its rays were blinding; though not at their peak, most people couldn’t bear staring at it for long.

It was extremely damaging to the eyes.

But for Orochimaru and Madara, it had no effect.

Orochimaru smiled, “What thoughts do you have about the sun?”

He pointed at the sun in the sky.

Madara gazed at the sun, expressionless—he had no thoughts.

Orochimaru continued, “Do you want to flatten the sun?”

“Flatten?” Madara wondered, but his face remained impassive.

Orochimaru said, “Let’s go flatten the sun—make it about as big as the moon.”

The sun is immensely distant from Earth, far larger than the moon. Its flames burn fiercely, and its surface is wracked with constant, catastrophic explosions. For most, approaching it would mean instant incineration, let alone flattening it.

Neither Orochimaru nor Madara alone could accomplish this. Shattering it was easy; flattening it was hard.

Madara asked, “What are you planning?”

Orochimaru replied, “I want a sun that orbits the Earth.”

Madara thought for a moment, then said, “Then let’s go flatten the sun.”