"Hmm, great choice, but I can't promise anything. It would be up to the toads whether you get the chance or not, though I am pretty sure your chances are quite high," Jiraiya said, having his characteristic smile on his face.
"That would be great," Kaida said. After waiting for half an hour where Kaida's clones kept on dispersing themselves sequentially, Kaida and Jiraiya talked about the training Kaida was doing and what was going on in the world, and how Kirigakure was actively searching for Konoha's trace in Kimimaro's disappearance.
"So keep him hidden in your house for the time being, at least till Kiri stops being such a paranoid neighbor, though I am sure sensei will also order you something similar very soon," Jiraiya said.
"It would be easier for him to tell brother, since he is already working in the Root," Kaida said.
"Yeah, I sometimes forget about that. It is quite weird to think, an Uchiha and that too such a powerful one would work under a Sarutobi," Jiraiya said with a laugh.
"What do you mean, sensei?" Kaida asked, a little confused. The statement wouldn't have been confusing if the word Sarutobi was replaced by Senju since Uchiha and Senju were blood rivals from the warring era, but Sarutobi—that was something Kaida was not expecting.
"Nothing, just forget about that. Anyway, are you done?" Jiraiya asked, pointing toward the empty field.
Kaida waited for a second, but getting no other response from Jiraiya, he sighed and said, "I am ready, sensei."
Jiraiya nodded his head. With the time arrived, he bit his thumb and, making a single seal with his hand, slammed his hand on the ground. Poof A scroll appeared in his hand, and the scroll on the ground was gone. After a minute, the toad from Mount Myoboku reverse summoned him there.
And since Jiraiya was holding Kaida's hand at that time, he was transferred there as well.
...
Poof
Jiraiya and Kaida appeared at the peak of Mount Myoboku. Standing in front of them were Fukasaku and Shima.
"What took you so long, Jiraiya boy?"
"It is nice to meet you too, Ma, Pa."
"Hello, Fukasaku-san, Shima-san," Kaida bowed in front of the frogs, as both of them were probably older than Konoha itself.
"I am sorry, it was because of me that we were late. I was busy with training, and it took some time to round things up," Kaida explained.
"Oh, just call us Ma and Pa, like your sensei. No need for all those formalities," Shima said with a grandmotherly smile on her face.
"Okay, all of this can wait. First, let's go and meet the Toad Sage before he goes back to sleep once again," Fukasaku said.
"Good idea, Pa," Jiraiya said and started going toward the house at the top of the mountain. Ma and Pa jumped on his shoulders, while Kaida followed them from behind.
While on their way, Kaida decided to directly ask Fukasaku and Shima if he could be a toad summoner as well. Since Gamabunta could finalize about Naruto in the anime, Fukasaku and Shima, who were clearly much more respected in the... community, must also have such power.
"Umm, Ma, Pa, I wanted to ask you something."
"What is it, boy?" Fukasaku asked.
"Umm, I recently have been thinking about... you know, getting a partner, and who could be a better choice than toads, or so I was thinking," Kaida said, as asking them to be his summon was somehow not sounding good in his brain, like a lighter version of asking someone to be your slave.
"Kaida, we don't sugar coat our words here, so don't do that from now on," Jiraiya said.
"Also, Pa, he had recently fought Orochimaru and Manda, and was thinking of getting a summon. So do you think he is capable enough to be a toad summoner?"
"Oh my, this little boy fought that snake? Who was careless enough to take such a young boy to fight him?"
"Hahaha, this boy was on some escort mission and was almost the leader of the group, but found out about a boy who needed help... since he didn't want to put his team in danger, he thought it would be a nice idea to fight someone like Orochimaru alone," Jiraiya said.
"I was not planning on fighting him, sensei," Kaida muttered. Somehow he was being portrayed as an impulsive child here, though his voice was ignored like a religious book seller at a bar.
"Sudden powerups do make people feel like they are at the top of the world and no one will be able to touch them anymore. SIGH Youth," Ma said.
"At least he is alive," Pa said, looking toward Kaida, clearly thinking something deep. After a few seconds of looking toward Kaida:
"I don't see a reason to deny your request, boy. After the meeting with the Toad Sage, we will discuss more about this," Pa said, as they were now standing in front of the Toad Sage's room.
A smile came to Kaida's face as they entered the Sage's room.
"LORD SAGE,... LORD SAGE, Jiraiya is here!" Pa shouted his lungs out. Being a frog, and that too such a powerful one, that sound was enough to tear the ear canal of any normal person, even causing a sting in Jiraiya's ear, who was standing just next to them.
And all that was just able to barely cause a small flutter in the Toad Sage's eyes.
"Hmm, Jiraiya?... Oh, Kaida, I see that you have made the right choice. Good, good." The Toad Sage's eyes went half open, which was equivalent to wide eyes from any normal person, before going back.
"I don't know whether the choice I have made is right or not, but yes, I have made a choice, Lord Sage, and thank you for your previous help. Without you, I may have lost my mind from what would have happened."
"Hohoho, that would have been the least of the world's worries if that would have happened, boy, least of the worries," the Toad Sage said, looking towards the ceiling, but his eyes were seeing something much farther away than that.
"You know, Kaida, when I see the visions... they don't tell me anything for sure, but the ones I saw that time were something very close to certainty, something that shouldn't happen, and now that future has been changed."
"You saw something else this time?" Kaida asked. The conversation was only happening between the Toad Sage and Kaida; the rest three were just standing there, not saying anything at all.
The only reason they were still present there was because the Toad Sage had not asked them to leave... yet, and who doesn't want to know what is going to happen in the future, especially when every day could be your last in this world?
"Kaida... even this time I have seen visions that stir even these old bones. You, child, stand at the heart of two futures. In one, you are revered—not as a hero, but as a messenger of peace, one who binds nations not through fear, but through understanding. In the other... you are feared, not hated, but worshipped in chains—an emperor cloaked in fire, whose grip brings silence, not serenity. You hold the strength to break the world. Or to heal it. The line between a savior and a tyrant is thin... and even thinner for those born with power like yours. Beware the day you believe only you know what's right. For that... is where the world begins to kneel."
The Toad Sage said this before his eyes closed once again, once again saying something vague, but this time it was not vague enough to not understand, especially for Jiraiya who knew something others in the room didn't.
'A promise, huh!' Jiraiya thought, looking toward Kaida.
"Lord Sage, the boy wants to be our summoner. Should we allow it?" Fukasaku asked, just before the Toad Sage could go back to sleep.
"The fate of being successor of Jiraiya belongs to someone else. He has already tied himself in way too many strings to play with anymore. Also, his fate is tied to someone else... someone else," the Toad Sage said, this time really asleep. And since he had just predicted the future once again, the sleep was once again going to be a long one.
"Let's go to our room then. I have cooked a hearty lunch for you young fellows," Ma said, after confirming that the Toad Sage was really asleep and was not going to say anything else, also because Kaida was having difficulty thinking things through.