The Sage of Six Paths Hagoromo was facing now naturally could not be compared to the Sage at his peak a thousand years ago, when he had been the Ten-Tails' jinchūriki.
After all, what remained of him was only leftover chakra.
As for calling him the "weakest" Six Paths, the "remnant of a remnant," there was also a reason for that.
If one were to compare them, then never mind comparing him to the Sage from a thousand years ago. The current Sage of Six Paths was actually even weaker than he had been when he granted Naruto and Sasuke the powers of yin and yang.
The main reason was that, for the past thousand years—or even several thousand years—the Sage of Six Paths had been carrying out a great mission.
Because his mother, Kaguya, was immortal, and to prevent her from breaking free of her seal, as well as to watch for any omen related to that possibility, the chakra-remnant Sage of Six Paths had been monitoring the entire shinobi world all along. For that reason, he needed to scatter a large portion of his chakra throughout the world.
And because Hagoromo had appeared without making an appointment, the Sage of Six Paths had not even had time to gather all of his chakra back together.
Even so, he was still terrifyingly powerful.
Dead for a thousand years, and the Sage of Six Paths could still beat the world bloody.
Hadn't he casually added a buff and made two genin absurdly powerful?
To put it bluntly, while other shinobi were still desperately stacking energy onto themselves and trying to create cheats, the Sage of Six Paths had already achieved the globalization of chakra.
The key point was that even with his power weakened to this degree, there still was not anyone he feared.
As for the Sage of Six Paths monitoring the world, his next words swiftly proved that point.
"Young shinobi, what exactly is your purpose in the things you did before, and in your current act of appearing before me?"
The Sage of Six Paths did not correct Hagoromo's claim that he was merely chakra, because he truly was merely chakra.
"The things I did before?"
However, Hagoromo heard something else in his words.
"The matter of you killing the Three-Tails and the Seven-Tails one after another…"
At this moment, the Sage of Six Paths seemed to be saying: no matter what you did, no matter how you courted death, I was watching.
The Sage of Six Paths had always been monitoring the shinobi world. Although it was impossible for him to cover every single detail, the tailed beasts were absolutely his highest-priority surveillance targets. After all, if anything happened to the tailed beasts, the entire world would be affected.
"Leaving the matter of the Three-Tails aside for now, although Isobu was killed, it has already entered the process of revival. The problem lies with the Seven-Tails… Although I do not know what method you used, it will be unable to revive in the short term."
As for the possibility that it might not revive for a very long time, or even never revive at all?
Even the Sage of Six Paths could not judge that. Whether during his life or after his death, he had never encountered the Seven-Tails' current state before. Everything within it was unknown.
What had happened to the Seven-Tails?
What was the principle behind its inability to revive?
Even the Sage of Six Paths, who was most familiar with the tailed beasts, could not understand it at all.
"The Seven-Tails is completely dead?" Hagoromo hurriedly asked.
It seemed that the "feeling" he had sensed during his earlier fight with the Seven-Tails had not been wrong.
He was a little excited, but his expression remained perfectly calm.
The Sage of Six Paths shook his head.
"The Seven-Tails being unable to revive does not mean it is already dead. It only means its chakra cannot gather together. Its vast chakra has been scattered throughout the world."
Wouldn't that mean it was mixed together with the Sage of Six Paths' chakra? You in me, me in you?
"Chakra is a compound of spiritual energy and physical energy. After chakra generated by an ordinary shinobi leaves the body, it rapidly disperses. But tailed beasts are different. Even after their chakra is scattered, it will not immediately disappear. On the contrary, it will remain preserved for a very long time."
After all, their level of power was different. The chakra of tailed beasts was more fundamental.
Of course, that was not to say it would never vanish naturally. Rather, if it did vanish, it would require an extremely long period of time.
Just like the Sage of Six Paths now.
Hadn't his chakra remained as well?
Half of chakra, as an energy, was formed from "spirit." This could, to a certain extent, explain why the Sage's chakra appeared in the form and will of the Sage of Six Paths.
For someone like him, the number one existence, due to certain reasons or self-processing, as long as a certain amount of chakra gathered together, the spirit contained within it would gather into thought and will.
In fact, aside from not having a body and not needing metabolism, the current Sage of Six Paths was, in a certain sense, not very different from when he had been alive.
It felt a little like a clone, yet it was also completely different. After all, no matter what kind of clone it was, it would vanish once struck.
"Your actions may have been based on the idea of completely eliminating the tailed beasts. However, if you only eliminate their will but cannot eliminate their chakra, it will likewise create tremendous instability," the Sage of Six Paths said.
Over all these years, there had been many people who had attempted to kill the tailed beasts. Even he himself had acted against the Ten-Tails at the beginning. But those attempts had only made him understand one thing:
Tailed beasts could not die. They could only be sealed.
Although Hagoromo's method had not yet triggered any disastrous event, the Sage of Six Paths was worried about whether tailed-beast chakra that had lost the integration of consciousness might autonomously return to the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, ultimately leading to his mother's resurrection.
He could not afford to be careless about this matter in the slightest.
"So, your purpose is to continue erasing the tailed beasts?"
If that were the case, then Hagoromo's position stood opposed to the Sage of Six Paths.
Hagoromo nodded.
"Not only that… I also came here with a corresponding purpose."
The Sage of Six Paths had once been a true savior, but that had all happened a thousand years ago. Why was he still so attached to the present world now?
The claim that someone was born to be a savior carried a thick religious flavor.
According to legend, the two brothers Kaguya bore came from "everyone's blessings," not from some man doing something indecent…
In any case, let us just believe that for now.
"What is this purpose?"
Hagoromo's expression grew serious.
"Whether the world is destroyed or continues to exist, those are matters that the living should worry about. They have long since had nothing to do with you, someone who lived a thousand years ago…"
Thinking about all sorts of things, it was hard not to be impressed by how the various incidents in the shinobi world were all caused by Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo's descendants.
In fact, whether before or after, the various collapses in the shinobi world had all been caused by Ōtsutsuki blood. The ones courting death were all his descendants.
This was quite infuriating.
How was anyone supposed to play when the game balance had already been broken?
And what Hagoromo wanted to do, in a certain sense, should be considered "official business."
Or rather, it was one of his life goals.
Even Hagoromo needed to have some grander goals in life. Even collecting a complete menu would count.
What Hagoromo wanted to do was erase the Sage of Six Paths' control and influence over the world, the influence left behind by the founder of Ninshū.
A world founded by one Hagoromo, brilliant yet unbalanced, would have its imbalance removed by another Hagoromo, leaving only the word "brilliant" behind.
Wasn't that very interesting?
Thinking of it this way, Hagoromo immediately felt that he had become much nobler.
He had really done more than enough for the Sage of Six Paths. They merely shared the same name, with no blood relation or personal connection, yet here he was helping clean up the Ōtsutsuki family's mess.
"Assume a person's maximum lifespan is one hundred years. Then no matter how powerful they are, at most, they should only be able to dominate this world for one hundred years. Perhaps their actions may influence the world for several thousand years afterward, and that is not a problem. But no matter what, there should not exist an abnormal situation where someone lives for one hundred years, dies, and can still control the world for several thousand years."
Hagoromo said this to the Sage of Six Paths.
Saying "control" might be a little excessive, but in truth, this world was the Ōtsutsuki family's entire rotten mess. Aside from them, every person and every event was merely a supporting role.
Was that normal?
Was that correct?
"This abnormality in the shinobi world was undoubtedly caused by the Ōtsutsuki who founded Ninshū…"
"So… you asked me why I appeared here today?"
"I came here to erase it."
Listening to Hagoromo's words, even the Sage of Six Paths was shocked at this moment. He could not quite understand Hagoromo's logic.
The look in his eyes seemed to express this meaning:
I, the Sage of Six Paths, created the entire Ninshū system. You are playing within this old man's system, yet you turn around and talk about getting rid of me in such a self-righteous manner. What kind of logic is this? Is this really all right?
Hagoromo blinked as well.
His meaning seemed to be:
What's wrong with that? Isn't it perfectly normal?
The Sage of Six Paths fell silent for a moment, then said, "Chakra is produced from the body and spirit. Its beginning determines its end. In a situation like mine, if you wish to erase me completely, you must eliminate me together with my body. Although I do not know what you did to the Seven-Tails, even if you possess some special ability, now that my body has long since ceased to exist, it means that completely eliminating my chakra is impossible."
That was bad news.
But because of these words, Hagoromo's eyes instantly lit up.
Hey, hey.
This was the kind of information you really could not tell this person!
"In other words, the most I can do is erase your consciousness, make your chakra unable to gather together like the Seven-Tails', and then… let it slowly disperse?" Hagoromo said.
With Hagoromo's Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, directly erasing the concept of chakra itself was far too difficult. However, based on the theory that things destroyed by the lines of death would not recover, breaking apart a gathered mass of chakra was not difficult.
Wasn't the Seven-Tails proof of that?
Previously, his feeling toward the entire Ōtsutsuki clan had been one of complete disgust. But after this brief exchange with the Sage of Six Paths, that disgust had disappeared.
The main reason was that this Sage was simply too honest. He completely said whatever there was to say and seemed disdainful of lying. This made Hagoromo, who had come looking for trouble, unable to feel any resentment toward him.
But he would still do what needed to be done.
His will would not waver because of this.
Because this had nothing to do with good or evil, nor with personal feelings. In the end, it was a matter of standpoint.
So…
Hagoromo chose to draw his blade.
"Unfortunately… at present, I cannot disappear," the Sage of Six Paths said.
Because in this world, it seemed that Kaguya's pawns were still active. And in order to continue protecting the shinobi world, the Sage of Six Paths had to keep existing.
Thus, Hagoromo still had one final thing to say:
"Leaving aside questions of values and universal morality, my actual motive can be explained in a single sentence…"
"If death does not exist, then life has no meaning. There is no place for the departed in the present world."
Was the Sage of Six Paths dead?
He was.
But in a certain sense, he was no different from someone who had not died.
So Hagoromo intended to try killing him one more time.
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