Naruto: The Legend of Red Haired Shanks

Try? Try my ass. 

Zabuza went back to his room and fell asleep instantly, completely at peace. 

Even though Shanks' Conqueror's Haki wasn't aimed at Zabuza, experiencing a power that ignored physical strength for the first time was overwhelming. He couldn't quite handle it and felt a bit off, like he wasn't used to this new environment. 

"Sigh, being this strong is kinda lonely." 

Shanks sighed. He had no intention of testing moves against Zabuza. 

"Zan, you should be considered really strong in this part of the world, but for someone like me who came back from the Grand Line, I'm basically overpowered here." 

"I didn't expect Armament Haki to be this hard." 

Aside from Armament Haki, Shanks was pretty satisfied with his training in other types of Haki. 

As for Conqueror's Haki, even he wasn't sure how he awakened it—it just happened when he felt his life was in danger. 

It was like some natural force was invading his body. In that critical moment, the only thing he could do was force himself to break free. 

But breaking free had a cost. For a split second, Shanks felt like all the strength had been drained from his body. He had nothing left, not even the ability to use Observation Haki. 

The invading energy only stopped for a moment before continuing to push into his body. Then, something in Shanks' mind seemed to snap—like a shackle breaking. At that instant, he used the last bit of his willpower to swing his sword. 

Terrifying Conqueror's Haki wrapped around his blade, and red-black lightning crackled along with his slash, cutting through the invading force in the air. 

Divine Departure! 

That was the sword technique Shanks unintentionally unlocked. In that moment, he understood why it was called "Divine Departure"—it felt like even a god could be slain by that attack. 

And he wasn't wrong. Being able to cut through Sage Chakra's influence was terrifying in its own right. 

It was also at that moment that Shanks' Conqueror's Haki was truly awakened. How did it happen? Even he had no clue. 

Meanwhile, at Mount Myoboku, one of the Three Great Sage Lands… 

"Did it fail?" 

Jiraiya saw the Toad Sage shake his head and asked. 

"Not exactly, but it wasn't a success either. He found a different, much stronger power." 

The Toad Sage spoke slowly. Then, a cloud of smoke appeared in front of Jiraiya, revealing a vision of Shanks. 

It was a scene from the Toad Sage's dream—the moment when Shanks was training in Sage Mode. 

"He failed. He didn't control the natural energy properly. Or rather… he didn't even try to control it, so of course, he failed." 

"Then…?" 

Jiraiya was confused. If Shanks failed, why was he fine? 

"If it were a normal person, at this stage, they would be affected by natural energy and feel like they just needed to take one more step to complete Sage Mode. But that usually leads to death. Even if they're careful, they'll end up as an incomplete Sage at best." 

The Toad Sage explained. 

"Shanks' perception is too sharp. His anti-perception ninjutsu lets him sense his body and mind clearly—even detecting malice from outside forces. That's an extremely advanced use of sensory ninjutsu." 

"On top of that, Shanks completely rejected Sage Chakra. That takes incredible willpower. And once you do it, it means fully giving up the path of a Sage. No one has ever done this before." 

At this point, Jiraiya started to understand. 

Shanks had failed, but not completely. In a way, it was a different kind of success. 

If he kept training in Sage Mode, he'd probably die. And even if he stopped in time, it would still be considered a failure.

But the crazy part was that even though Shanks had the chance to become a Sage when the Senjutsu chakra formed, he abruptly cut it off—forcefully. 

"So you're saying… at that moment, Shanks killed the version of himself that could have become a Sage?" 

Jiraiya frowned. That phrasing didn't sound quite right, but that was exactly what the Toad Sage meant. 

"That's right, Jiraiya. All living things instinctively fear that kind of power. Even Senjutsu chakra can be suppressed by it. And beyond that, Shanks also came into contact with the power of a Sage." 

As the image in front of Jiraiya froze, he noticed the deep black coating on Shanks' katana. 

"The Truth-Seeking Orbs can change shape at will. Maybe Shanks hasn't fully mastered them yet, but with Uzumaki blood in his veins, it's only a matter of time before he does." 

"So he really did fail." 

The Toad Sage's muttering echoed in Jiraiya's ears, leaving him completely stunned. 

What? You're calling this a failure? 

This guy just gained the legendary Truth-Seeking Orbs, something only the Sage of Six Paths was said to possess. On top of that, he has some strange power that can suppress everything. 

How is that a failure? If anything, Sage Mode is what looks like a failure now. 

Glancing at the Toad Sage, who had already dozed off, Jiraiya let out a long sigh. 

"Whatever. If the Toad Sage says there's nothing wrong with Shanks, then I won't worry about it." 

If it weren't for this unexpected situation, Jiraiya wouldn't have come to Mount Myoboku in the first place. 

Even he understood how ridiculous it was to train in Sage Mode alone. Naturally, he had to consult the Toad Sage about it. 

Thankfully, the Toad Sage had said there was nothing serious to worry about. 

But just as Jiraiya left, the moment he stepped out, the supposedly sleeping Toad Sage suddenly woke up. 

"Nothing serious, my ass. This is huge." 

"A person outside of fate has appeared. No wonder I couldn't foresee this at all before." 

Cold sweat dripped down the Toad Sage's huge forehead. 

Turns out, when you live long enough, you really do get to see everything. 

The Toad Sage understood his own abilities well—he could sometimes predict the future, which was actually a form of sensory ninjutsu. In a way, regular sensory ninjutsu was just a simplified version of his foresight. 

But what made Shanks ridiculous was that he had used sensory ninjutsu in reverse—tracing it all the way back to the source of chakra. 

And now, he had even gained the ability to cut off the Toad Sage's future visions. 

As someone who had lived for over a thousand years, the Toad Sage immediately figured out what was happening. 

Shanks had never appeared in his prophecies because his reverse-sensory ninjutsu was so absurd that it completely blocked the Toad Sage's perception. 

It was only because of Shanks' accident during Sage Mode training that the Toad Sage was finally able to sense him. 

"There's a high chance… that Shanks now has the ability to predict the future as well." 

Realizing this, the Toad Sage hurriedly dove back into a dream state. Before Shanks could fully recover, the Toad Sage forced him into the vision. 

This method of foresight was the fastest and most accurate. However, it had its drawbacks—only a limited amount of information could be seen. 

Still, with enough clues, the Toad Sage could piece together the truth. He could now reconstruct a future where Shanks existed. 

One month later… 

The Toad Sage finally woke up again. 

"Shanks… the youngest of the Four Emperors…"

"Devil Fruits… the Great Pirate Era… the end of the world… New World…" 

"So this is the future of the ninja world?"