Ninja Ice House

Chapter 603 The Value of Substance

Jiraiya's biggest problem right now is not his lack of potential and strength, but his lack of lifespan.

The lifespan of mortals, which is only a few decades or a few hundred years, is completely insignificant in the face of competition between extraordinary beings whose lifespan is measured in millennia.

No matter how powerful he is, if you tolerate him for decades, he will die of old age; or even less, his peak period is only about thirty years, plus more than twenty years of growth period, after which he will fall into old age and physical decline.

The inability to maintain peak physical and mental strength for extended periods is why the gap between mortals and gods always seems so vast.

After Jiraiya became a ninja, he grew up almost entirely in a cycle of ninja wars, licking his wounds, and then continuing to fight. Meanwhile, Kaguya Otsutsuki and the Sage of Six Paths spent far more time preparing for the "big event" than actually doing their jobs.

Time is too short, and many things may not be accomplished, so the ninjas' decisions always seem rather hasty and short-sighted; but the contest between gods always ends with "survival of the fittest" and "winner takes all".

No matter how much Jiraiya achieves in the future, or how outstanding his successors are, once he is gone, the "legacy" he leaves behind will naturally be divided up by the survivors.

In a world where there was no extraordinary power in my previous life, having a long lifespan wasn't necessarily an advantage; but in the ninja world, living long enough certainly has many benefits.

The reason why the "World Tree Seed" was given to Jiraiya was that it appeared and sprouted in his body, or rather, in the dream space he created. Also, through the investigation of Fukusugi Bokusui and the explanation of Otsutsuki Kaguya, it was learned that this thing was not such a peaceful thing, and its evil nature was not much different from that of the Divine Tree.

Perhaps the power of the World Tree is far less than that of the Divine Tree, but the changes it brings to the ninja world are very likely to be greater than the birth of the transmigrator, Kosugi Bokusui.

"The Tree Guardian, the Undying, the Realm of Mutation, Spores—this is a method of actively cultivating and harvesting high-quality life force and information, far more precise than the Divine Tree directly absorbing chakra and natural energy!"

The Divine Tree is like raising fish in a pond, letting them reproduce naturally. When the time comes, it harvests all the fish, leaving the fry and seedlings to grow for the next year's harvest. The World Tree, on the other hand, precisely selects the best fish—large, high-value, nutritious, and tender—marks and tracks them closely, allowing them to grow and enjoy the benefits. It also grants them near-infinite lifespans, creating "immortals," giving them as much time as possible to grow and patiently awaiting the moment when the spores return to the mother plant.

One is open to all kinds of raw and cold foods, while the other is picky about food and only chooses the finest. There is a big difference in their quality and methods, but they are essentially the same thing.

On the way back, Kaguya Otsutsuki answered quite naturally:

"Of course they're different. One type is robbing others, so naturally they take whatever they can get. After all that hard work, if they don't loot everything, they'll lose out big time. It would be a waste to have traveled thousands of miles, crossed the stars, and toiled so much. They need to get their money's worth and make sure they get enough benefits to keep them motivated. The other type is 'cherry-picking,' even selecting the ones with the strongest growth potential, maximizing their value, and only taking everything when they die. The former makes too much noise, while the latter hardly has any impact on the secular world. At most, it can suppress overly crazy destroyers at the supernatural level..."

"Is the Divine Tree a mutated subspecies of the 'World Tree,' a product of your... our Otsutsuki bloodline ancestors' improved symbiotic relationship?"

Faced with this question, Kaguya Otsutsuki remained silent for a moment, and only after the two had crossed the spatial barrier did she calmly answer:

"The elders of the clan have this speculation. Some even believe that the 'World Tree' itself is a remnant product of the souls of the guardians or symbiotes of the divine tree after their destruction, a species that has undergone degradation and natural adaptation..."

Is there a disagreement about who is the father and who is the son?

It's normal to have such different opinions. In our past lives, we've argued for hundreds of years about the origins of humankind—whether it's Europe, Africa, Asia, or a multi-origin competition and fusion. These arguments aren't just scientific and biological; they also involve conflicts of interest in religion, politics, and culture.

The elders in the ancestral land of the Otsutsuki clan are not necessarily saints who are detached from worldly affairs; they also have their own interests and stances.

"These things aren't important. I feel that 'world tree species' or sapling is like bait for fishing. It's hard to say what traps are inside, or maybe Jiraiya just had incredible luck and happened to encounter a once-in-a-millennium stroke of good fortune..."

"There's something I must remind you of; there's a blind spot you've overlooked..."

"Blind spot?"

"That little girl named Yakumo! The Kurama clan was famous in ancient times for serving gods or demons, or even being strange hybrids. What is passed down in their bloodline is not an ordinary bloodline limit. Otherwise, how could they have given birth to a bloodline secret technique that can rival the Sharingan and even surpass it in the field of genjutsu?"

"Kurama Yakumo?"

This strange family is indeed unusual. The difficulty in awakening their bloodline limit is one aspect, but their excessive power is also an undeniable fact. If it weren't for the fact that most of the descendants of this clan are short-lived and weak, they probably wouldn't have allowed the descendants of Kaguya Otsutsuki like the Senju, Uchiha, Hyuga, and Uzumaki to play out some kind of "family drama." Kurama would definitely occupy an important position.

"The ability to create illusions is indeed a bit unreasonable. It's so realistic that it's indistinguishable from reality. This isn't an illusion... it's not a power that should exist at the level of ninjutsu. Even now, even if I can cast Infinite Tsukuyomi and create a near-realistic illusionary world, once it's dispelled, what should dissipate will dissipate, and what should return will return. In essence, it doesn't make the false real, and it doesn't even have the power to actually interfere with reality..."

If we think about the problem from this perspective, we will be surprised to find out what is hidden inside this seemingly weak little girl. After her power was amplified by the "Great Dream Realm", she was able to shape Jiraiya's dream space into this way.

"Your experiment was basically successful, but the results were unexpectedly excessive!"

"Ok!"

Gu Shanbu Shui did not deny it, and responded with great emotion,

"Elevate her importance and change the intensity of her training."

According to the value of chess pieces, the "Bishop," which used to be equivalent to three points, is now valued at five points as a Rook. In fact, depending on the current situation, the Queen may be valued at nine points, on par with Jiraiya, Sasuke Uchiha, and Naruto Uzumaki.