A jolt of alarm shot through Senju Tobirama's heart as he instinctively shifted into combat readiness—only to find himself at a loss.
Was there really such a thing as the Sage of Six Paths?
But if this old man was the Sage of Six Paths, then who was the woman inside Kazuki…?
Could it be… that the claims made by that sinister Uchiha boy from the alternate dinsion were actually true?
The Sage of Six Paths shook his head with a sigh and spoke: "Descendant of Asura… you hold a deep misunderstanding of . I am not the source of calamity you believe to be. Quite the opposite—I am one who protects this world."
"I have co here because I sensed the intrusion of my mother, Kaguya, upon Uchiha Kazuki. I must reveal the truth to all of you."
The shinobi of the world exhaled softly upon seeing the Sage appear, but no one looked particularly shocked.
There had been far too many absurdly overpowered figures erging in this battle. Even the descent of a legendary sage had beco… almost routine.
"Everyone, if that young friend from the alternate dinsion was interrupted, then allow to continue where he left off…"
The Sage of Six Paths lowered the staff in his hands horizontally in front of him, signaling that he ant no harm, and spoke slowly: "The woman within Uchiha Kazuki's body is none other than my mother. Her na is Kaguya. In ancient tis, she was known as the Rabbit Goddess."
"And I am her eldest son. After sealing her away, I founded the Shinobi Sect, and thus ca to be known as the Sage of Six Paths."
He sighed again.
"Regrettably, I was unable to completely seal my mother… Perhaps it was due to the reincarnation of Indra awakening the Rinnegan and summoning the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path to this world. Maybe it was then that a fragnt of her chakra returned… and took the opportunity to attach itself to Kazuki."
"After the God Tree bore its fruit, my mother gained the power of the Ten-Tails by consuming the Chakra Fruit. The Demonic Statue is the outer shell of the Ten-Tails. Though I attempted to neutralize it, it appears so of her chakra still remained."
Uchiha Madara frowned, narrowing his eyes.
"You knew I summoned the Demonic Statue? Then tell —if that's true, why didn't you stop ?"
The Sage let out a quiet breath, his gaze drifting toward a far corner of the space: "You'll have to ask my younger brother about that…"
And in that direction, the figure of Toneri—now bearing the appearance of Ōtsutsuki Hamura—slowly deactivated his concealnt technique and revealed himself.
"Everyone, I am Ōtsutsuki Hamura, younger son of Kaguya, charged with overseeing the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path."
After briefly introducing himself to the group, Hamura turned a complex gaze toward his older brother and said in a heavy voice: "I didn't intervene… because the world you created, brother, has been plagued by endless wars for a thousand years. There's been no true peace."
"Even the clans I brought to the Moon, after witnessing how broken the shinobi world had beco, fell into conflict with each other over the very aning of peace. In the end, they destroyed themselves—only one person survived…"
"It made wonder… Brother, did you truly make the right choice?"
"Allowing Asura and Indra to keep reincarnating, dragging the shinobi world through one endless cycle of war after another—how can I accept that as the right path forward? I couldn't bear to see the world go on like this. I wanted change."
"That's why I didn't stop Indra's reincarnation from summoning the Demonic Statue. I wanted to see whether the new wind he brought could stir the stagnant waters of this world that's rotted for a millennium."
The Sage of Six Paths took a long breath. His eyes burned faintly with suppressed anger.
Was his vision of the shinobi world… being questioned?
But then, reflecting on the past thousand years, the Sage gave a weary shake of his head.
Kaguya had escaped. A Kazuki who might destroy the world had appeared. At this point, arguing over right and wrong felt aningless…
On the sidelines, Hiruzen and Tsunade both twitched their ears.
They narrowed their eyes and exchanged a glance while watching Ōtsutsuki Hamura—this so-called younger brother of the Sage of Six Paths—blink slowly.
Heh.
Why did that speech sound so familiar...?
Wasn't that the sa rhetoric Orochimaru always liked to spout...?
Why was this Sage saying the exact sa thing?
Could it be that his disciple, Orochimaru, truly possessed the qualities of a sage?
Tsunade and Hiruzen, in perfect unspoken agreent, ntally tagged Hamura—
'Ōtsutsuki Orochimaru.'
And just then—
The man who had remained uninvolved in the battle this whole ti, almost like he was invisible—Orochimaru—suddenly had a look in his eyes. A glint of resonance, like he had found a kindred spirit. Quietly, without drawing attention, he slipped over from the Reanimation Corps' side.
"Fine... let's not bring up past rights and wrongs for now," he said softly. "What I want to say is—
you can't give up on proving to Kazuki that the shinobi world can unite!"
The Sage of Six Paths spoke gravely: "Quite the opposite. You must find a way to unite. When Kazuki cos to test you—find a way to defeat him, or at the very least, rekindle his faith in all of you."
"I've been residing inside this reincarnation of Asura for so ti now. I've heard your stories about Kazuki during your daily conversations. From that, I've co to understand—he is a shinobi with a heart full of love for this world."
"So why has he beco this extre now?"
He grew even more solemn.
"Part of it may co from the inherent extremism in Indra's bloodline…"
"But more importantly—Kaguya, my mother, is corrupting him from within!"
"Even though her combat ability is weak—and by all appearances, she's even been devoured in reverse by Kazuki—
his mind is already drawing closer to hers. If you give up on Kazuki now—if you abandon the last hope he holds for you—then you'll give Kaguya the perfect opening to consu him completely!"
And just as the Sage of Six Paths was speaking earnestly—
A woman suddenly appeared on the battlefield.
It was Pakura, who had rushed to the scene after receiving the news.
Pointing directly at the Sage's face, she shouted angrily: "Don't be fooled by him, everyone! I ca with Kazuki's ssage!"
"The Sage of Six Paths is the villain here!"
Pakura's sudden appearance drew a wave of sideward glances.
Wait a second—who even are you?
When Shisui had suddenly popped up earlier and shouted a few things, everyone had listened patiently—because he was Kazuki's younger brother.
But you? Where the hell did this monkey co from?
You don't even carry a drop of Uchiha blood. You're not even a shinobi from Konohagakure. And you think you're qualified to say you carry Kazuki's will?
And at that mont, the Sage of Six Paths—who was under verbal fire—despite having grown gentler in temper with age, couldn't quite endure this new wave of defamation born from mistaken history…
The Sage of Six Paths turned his Rinnegan toward Pakura, and imdiately he was t with Hamura's Byakugan, Madara's Rinnegan, several pairs of Mangekyō Sharingan, and the collective gazes of nurous powerful figures...
While on this battlefield, kage-levels were treated as little more than bottom-tier grunts—
In truth, each of these individuals could end Pakura's life with ease.
Under the stares of so many terrifyingly strong people, even soone like Pakura—who had seen a fair bit of the world—couldn't keep it together. Cold sweat soaked the fabric down her beautiful back in an instant.
The reason she hadn't shown up until now… was because she truly had no other choice!
According to the plan she and Kazuki had agreed upon, the original scenario was supposed to be: the Sage of Six Paths clashing with Isshiki in a brutal fight over the right to devour Kaguya and Kazuki—and at that critical mont, she would appear like a surprise trump card, awakening the Edo Tensei beings summoned from the Pure Land—bodies that might have been under the Sage's control—and then reveal the truth to everyone...
Kazuki had once told her—
"If we want people to believe in , and believe in Kaguya, then the mont the Rabbit Goddess gains their trust, she'll unlock even greater power. That might be the only way to break the deadlock in the shinobi world."
But the problem was...
Before Isshiki even made an entrance, a trio that Kazuki had never ntioned—Madara, Izuna, and Obito—had arrived first, leading an army of Edo Tensei to assault Senju Tobirama.
The mont Pakura saw Uchiha Madara, she nearly blacked out.
If she had jumped in back then—considering the battlefield's intensity at the ti—even soone like Ōnoki or Sarutobi Hiruzen would've barely managed to survive the aftermath.
Had she tried bursting onto the scene back then, shouting—
"Everyone! Eyes on ! I've got sothing to announce—!"
It wouldn't have ended with a simple collective stare like now. More likely, she'd have been mistaken for so barking mutt and imdiately reduced to ashes by a full-body Susanoo slash...
And after Uchiha Madara arrived, the situation only escalated with the appearances of Isshiki, Might Duy, Urashiki, Momoshiki, and Kinshiki. The battlefield's intensity kept ramping up, reaching its peak only with Kazuki's arrival.
There was never a window for her to step in.
And when Kazuki shed his usual gentleness and began radiating a suffocating, extre aura—sothing like a purgatory's chill—and even looked at Senju Tobirama with killing intent...
Pakura lost all nerve to co out.
She knew sothing had changed.
But what exactly had gone wrong? With her brain—the sa brain that in her original tiline got her sent off to Kirigakure by Rasa, only to be assassinated by her own people—under the pressure and chaos of the battlefield, her mind had gone completely blank. She couldn't think at all.
It wasn't until the fighting stopped, and the Sage of Six Paths showed himself, that Pakura finally saw a chance to erge.
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