Turning his head toward the source of the sound, a pitch-black figure stood not far away, having appeared in his mental world at some unknown moment.
His Sharingan fixed its gaze on the figure he had seen before. Memories of the recent attack flashed through his mind.
The frantic reactions of the others, Obito suddenly battling empty air, and the invisible strikes that he and Naruto had inexplicably suffered...
Seeing the Shinigami here now left no room for doubt—this was all his doing.
Sasuke's clear voice rang out, laced with a hint of chill.
"So it really is you, Shinigami?"
"Why did you suddenly attack Naruto and me just now?"
The person appearing in this mental world was none other than Ren.
Facing Sasuke's interrogation, Ren's expression remained unchanged. He acted as if he hadn't even seen the boy, his gaze falling instead on the figure suspended in the center of the space.
"I searched through the Pure Land and the ninja world, wondering where you could possibly be hiding."
"To think you were actually inside the mental worlds of these two children."
Ren took a few steps forward toward the Sage of the Six Paths, a triumphant glint appearing in his eyes.
"Shinigami, don't ignore me!"
Sasuke stepped forward, blocking Ren's path.
Shifting his eyes slightly to look at the Sage behind him, his voice grew cold.
"Everything you did... was just to find this old man?"
Ren finally looked directly at the handsome youth before him and gave a slight nod.
"Sasuke, my apologies for the sudden strike earlier."
"However, it went exactly as I expected. The result is quite satisfying."
He patted Sasuke on the shoulder. Sasuke was instantly frozen in place, the light fading from his Mangekyo Sharingan as darkness consumed his pupils. He couldn't move an inch.
Ren bypassed him and approached the Sage of the Six Paths.
He looked the old man up and down, a faint smile playing on his lips.
"Hagoromo Otsutsuki. I believe this is the first time we've met face-to-face."
Deep Rinnegan eyes swept over the rigid Sasuke before settling on the black figure that had suddenly appeared. The Sage's weathered face gradually tightened.
Stroking his beard, a look of contemplation crossed his features.
"So that's how it is. Those Uchiha souls that contacted Sasuke and Naruto... I was wondering why their spirits suddenly vanished. It seems you were the one responsible."
"It appears you truly aren't from this world. Why have you come here?"
"Furthermore, how do you know my name?"
Only the title 'Sage of the Six Paths' had been passed down through the ages; his true name was virtually unknown in the ninja world.
Even among his direct descendants with family legacies, very few knew it.
Let alone a visitor from another world who had only just arrived.
There was a faint sense of distance and wariness in the Sage's tone. Ren waved it off, his voice calm. "No need to be so tense. I come with no ill intent. I simply wish to speak with you."
"No ill intent?"
The Sage's voice was airy, clearly unconvinced.
"If you truly harbored no hostility, why did you come with such aggression, even going as far as to harm these two children just to force me to appear?"
"So you did know I was looking for you?" Ren narrowed his eyes. "Were you avoiding me?"
He shook his head as various thoughts flashed through his mind, his voice carrying a note of certainty.
"You've been aware of my existence for a long time?"
"Was it when I took the Uchiha clan? Or when I stationed people in the ninja world? Or perhaps when the main Uchiha force arrived?"
"Something like that," the Sage replied vaguely.
Long ago, when the Uchiha souls failed to return to the Pure Land, he had sensed something was off.
Over the past decade, as Ren sent people to investigate the ninja world, the Sage had watched from afar. He had concluded then that a mysterious entity was observing the world from the shadows.
Recently, when those Uchiha souls suddenly returned and began acting so brazenly, he realized this day was inevitable.
"I heard Sasuke call you... a Shinigami?"
"Shinigami from another world, you still haven't answered me. Why have you come to this world? And why were you so desperate to find me?"
Ren said solemnly, "Since we are now face-to-face, I won't hide it from you. I have my sights set on the Pure Land. I intend to take it as a base to stabilize this region and recruit talent."
"That is why I sought you out, the manager of the Pure Land, to discuss the terms of this arrangement."
The Sage's expression shifted, his tone suddenly hardening as a chill entered his purple eyes.
"You speak pleasant words, but your actions are undeniably an invasion, Shinigami."
A god from beyond this world had cast his gaze downward, filled with greed for the ninja world.
First, he recruited locals to serve as his pawns, then sent subordinates to scout the path, slowly expanding the scale of his incursion until finally appearing in person, exposing his true nature.
It didn't take much thought for anyone to reach that conclusion.
Ren was neither ashamed nor angered by the words. He simply sighed inwardly.
The Pure Land was different from the Underworld of the One Piece world. The Underworld had no manager, operating only on natural laws, so his seizure of sovereignty there met no opposition.
But the Pure Land was watched over by a local like the Sage of the Six Paths.
Though blunt, the Sage's words weren't wrong; they struck at the heart of the matter.
Ren would not avoid the stain of his actions.
Ultimately, it was born of his own ambition.
To people like the Sage, the acquisition of the Pure Land was indeed an invasion by an outsider.
"That is why I planned to speak with you, Sage of the Six Paths."
"If you agree to this, coexist with me peacefully, and enter my service, I will treat you as a friend."
The Sage's tone turned frigid as he flatly refused. "That is absolutely impossible!"
Ever since his mother was sealed, he had considered himself the guardian of the ninja world, protecting all its living beings.
Now, a god from another world comes along and spouts such nonsense—how could he possibly agree?
He had previously thought to avoid startling the enemy, prioritizing the potential revival of his mother.
He had planned to reseal his mother first, then use the Uchiha spirits to gradually uncover the identity of the person behind the scenes.
He hadn't expected the opponent to move so quickly, descending in person so soon.
And in such a situation... it was a lapse in his judgment.
Because of this invasion, Ren felt a slight sense of guilt and didn't want to push things to the extreme.
He made one final concession.
"The terms are negotiable. You can name your price."
"Shut up!" the Sage barked.
"I knew it would end like this."
Ren shook his head, a trace of regret in his eyes as he looked at the Sage.
"Honestly, I don't want to kill you."
"You say that as if you could kill me at any moment!"
"That is exactly what I mean."
Seeing the blatant hostility from the Sage, Ren knew further persuasion was useless. He stopped trying and turned to walk out.
"It's a pity. Negotiations have broken down, Hagoromo Otsutsuki."
"I'll wait for you outside. We shall decide the fate of the ninja world and the Pure Land in this battle."
As he passed Sasuke, he patted the boy's shoulder.
"Ha... ha..."
Sasuke gradually regained sensation in his body, and color returned to his eyes.
The first thing he saw was the retreating back of the Shinigami, dissolving like smoke within his mental space.
The gloom and wariness on his handsome face slowly faded as Sasuke finally exhaled in relief.
What exactly had the Shinigami done to him just now?
He only felt that his spirit and consciousness had been ripped from his body in an instant.
It was as if he had fallen into a boundless darkness where he couldn't scream, couldn't open his eyes, couldn't do anything, and couldn't sense anything at all.
The Sage looked at Sasuke, a trace of weary helplessness on his face at the prospect of facing such an external god. He sighed deeply.
Worst of all, he knew nothing about this outsider.
Meanwhile, the opponent was clearly well-prepared.
"Sasuke, it seems we've been targeted by a formidable entity."
"What? Sage of the Six Paths, you don't think you can beat him?"
Sasuke turned, his sharp gaze falling on the legendary Sage, his voice still trembling slightly from the lingering shock.
Inside the mental space, the Sage was giving instructions to Naruto and Sasuke.
In the real world, Ren slowly opened his eyes and looked at the fallen Sasuke and Naruto.
Minato Namikaze was currently hunched over Naruto, his face grief-stricken. He stroked his son's lifeless cheek, lost in the pain of losing his child.
Right then, the bowl-sized wound on Naruto's chest began to heal at a speed visible to the naked eye.
His previously lifeless face gradually regained color, and a faint breath began to emerge.
As time passed, the breathing grew stronger.
"He's alive!"
"Naruto's come back to life!"
Watching Naruto recover and approach revival, Minato wept with joy, unable to suppress his surprise.
"It's not just Naruto. Even Sasuke's body is regaining vitality."
Hearing Minato's exclamation, Hashirama Senju turned to look at Sasuke on the ground. Sasuke's body was indeed reviving, just like Naruto's.
It wouldn't be long before he was fully revived.
Beside him, Tobirama Senju watched this miracle, a hint of confusion appearing on his stoic face.
"What exactly happened?"
"The wounds those two suffered were fatal. Even Big Brother looked troubled... so why have they suddenly recovered?"
Could it be that the Shinigami saved them?
But if that were the case, why had he killed them in the first place?
Tobirama stared at the empty patch of ground ahead, his gaze piercing as if trying to cross the divide between life and death to see the black figure.
Just as everyone was filled with shock and suspicion, Naruto and Sasuke suddenly coughed and slowly opened their eyes.
"Naruto! Naruto, are you okay?"
The first thing Naruto saw was his father's anxious and joyous face. He sat up, touched his fully healed chest, and shook his head.
"I'm fine, Father."
"I just met an old man in my mental space. I heard some things from him."
Beside him, Sasuke also slowly sat up. He shook his head and covered his left eye while Hashirama's deep voice reached his ears.
"Uchiha youth, it's a relief you're alright."
Mid-sentence, Hashirama's tone shifted to one of blatant astonishment.
"Young man, your left eye!"
Sasuke slowly lowered his hand, exposing his evolved left eye to the crowd.
The complex pattern of the Mangekyo Sharingan was gone. In its place was a cold purple eye with ripples radiating outward, and six tomoe encircling the pupil.
This strange appearance was undoubtedly the supreme eye among the three great dōjutsu: the Rinnegan.
"The Rinnegan!"
"It's similar to Obito's eye, but there are some differences."
"What on earth happened to you in that moment of death?"
Seeing Sasuke's eye, the surrounding crowd grew solemn, their expressions full of disbelief.
Sasuke ignored their shock and slowly stood up, looking ahead.
Under the moonlight, the pitch-black figure of the Shinigami came into view.
"Naruto."
"Yeah, Sasuke."
Naruto also stood up, looking toward the seemingly empty space ahead.
Though he couldn't see anything, he could sense an entity standing there, watching them.
It had to be the Shinigami from another world the old man had mentioned.
Before the two could say anything, a massive surge of chakra suddenly erupted from the ground in front of them.
This chakra gathered and solidified, taking the form of the Sage of the Six Paths they had just seen.
Dressed in grey robes with two horns on his head, Truth-Seeking Balls hovered behind him. He held a black shakujō, and his robes billowed upward.
He slowly opened his eyes, revealing the Rinnegan as he looked forward.
The moment this figure appeared, he immediately drew everyone's attention.
Seeing such a unique appearance, the crowd was filled with doubt, yet the same name surfaced in everyone's mind.
"Old man Sage!"
"How are you here?"
Naruto cried out in surprise.
This exclamation confirmed the old man's true identity.
"The legendary... Sage of the Six Paths."
"Was it the Sage who just saved Naruto and Sasuke?"
"Then the Shinigami's actions were all to force the Sage to appear!"
The crowd's gaze shifted between the Sage, Naruto, and Sasuke, their faces showing various emotions.
Especially the four Reanimated Hokage; seeing the Sage now, and remembering their previous conversation with the Shinigami, everything became clear.
"Naruto, Sasuke. It seems you've successfully returned to life."
The Sage glanced behind him. Seeing that Naruto and Sasuke were alive and well, he gave a nearly imperceptible nod.
He then fixed his gaze on the Shinigami ahead.
"Step back. I am the one he is looking for."
"Shinigami, I am here!"
Ren watched the Sage finally appear, his expression serene.
"Sage of the Six Paths, there is something I must tell you first."
"While your attention was drawn to this war—focused on Naruto, Sasuke, and the Ten-Tails, worrying whether your mother would revive—I successfully took over the Pure Land."
"The souls of all who have ever lived in the ninja world are now mine."
"That Pure Land is no longer the world you once knew!"
"What!"
The Sage's eyes widened in disbelief as he stared at the Shinigami.
"Shinigami, you—"
BOOM!
Just as the Sage was about to speak, a greyish-white figure fell from the sky, slamming into the ground between them and kicking up debris and dust.
The massive roar immediately cut off the Sage's shock, drowning out his voice.
Shing.
A massive figure appeared instantly in front of Ren.
Through the settling dust, a scaled figure with a mouth full of fangs was reflected in the Sage's purple eyes, causing his shock to deepen once more.
What was this now?
A human? Or some kind of wraith?
The moment the massive monster appeared, it shielded Ren behind it. It opened its cavernous maw, but the voice that emerged was surprisingly gentle.
"My lord, I apologize for the interruption."
"It's alright, Shisui."
Ren patted Shisui on the back, gesturing for him to move aside as he kept his eyes on the Sage.
"I was just finishing our conversation."
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]