The old man's gaze shifted from Sasuke to Neji.
He studied him carefully for a long moment before a faint, satisfied smile appeared on his face.
"As expected of my younger brother's bloodline descendant… These eyes. This purity of chakra… excellent."
"Younger brother?" Neji's brows drew tightly together. His caution only deepened. "Who exactly are you? What do you want?"
Meeting their sharp, guarded stares, the old man spoke calmly—yet his voice seemed to carry the weight of heaven and earth.
"You may call me… the Sage of Six Paths."
"The Sage of Six Paths?!"
Neji blurted out involuntarily, disbelief written across his face.
"That's impossible! The Sage of Six Paths founded Ninshū! He's a legendary figure—long gone from history!"
Unlike Neji's outright shock, Sasuke's expression changed only briefly before settling into something far more complex.
His Rinnegan locked onto the floating elder.
Suspicion.
Recognition.
Wariness.
Clearly, Sasuke understood far more about his bloodline than Neji did.
"And how do you intend to help us?" Sasuke asked coldly, his tone distant and skeptical. He did not welcome this so-called Sage without reservation.
The Sage of Six Paths seemed unbothered. His gaze, ancient and knowing, appeared to peer directly into Sasuke's soul.
"I know the doubts in your heart," he said gently. "Then let us begin there."
He tapped his black staff lightly against the air. Invisible ripples spread outward.
"The names you know—Indra and Asura—were my sons."
Sasuke's body stiffened almost imperceptibly. His face betrayed little, but the tightening of his gaze confirmed something within him had just been validated.
Beside him, Neji looked utterly lost.
Beyond the Heavenly Projection — The Shinobi World Erupts
"Th-the Sage of Six Paths?! He's real?!"
"Is this a dream? A myth walking in the flesh?"
"So Indra and Asura were his sons?! No wonder they were so powerful!"
"My god… then the Uchiha Clan are descendants of Indra?! That explains the Sharingan—and even the Rinnegan!"
"Wait! Didn't he say the Hyūga Clan descends from his younger brother?! The Hyūga?!"
"So Konoha's two great dōjutsu clans both trace back to that era?! One from the Sage's son, one from his brother?!"
"Then what about the Uzumaki Clan? Naruto's mother's clan! If Naruto carries Asura's chakra, doesn't that make the Uzumaki linked to Asura too? But the Uzumaki were known for sealing techniques, not overwhelming combat power…"
"It's chaos! All of shinobi history traces back to this one figure!"
Shock rippled across every village.
The Sage's appearance did more than confirm legend—
It unlocked the sealed origin of the shinobi world itself.
What began as a viewing of a grim future had transformed into the revelation of the world's deepest secrets.
Konoha — Shock Beyond Measure
"The Sage of Six Paths?! Naruto and Sasuke are his reincarnated descendants?!"
"Indra… Asura… so the 'Child of Prophecy' meant this?!"
"Unbelievable! Konoha was hiding two god-tier bloodlines!"
Countless eyes turned toward Naruto and Sasuke in the present.
Awe.
Confusion.
Reverence.
Disbelief.
Naruto scratched the back of his blond head awkwardly, wearing his usual bewildered expression.
"Reincarnation of Asura? Me?" he muttered. "That's… a lot to process."
Frankly, he just felt embarrassed.
Sasuke's reaction was colder.
Standing apart from the crowd, arms folded, he watched the projection silently.
"Descendant of the Sage…" he murmured.
"So what?"
"In the end, only power matters."
Bloodline. Ancestors. Fate.
He trusted none of it.
If such noble blood had truly meant anything—
why had the Uchiha Clan fallen?
Strength alone was real.
Everything else was illusion.
The Hyūga Clan Compound
The Hyūga estate was in uproar.
"Our progenitor… was the Sage's younger brother?!"
"Our Byakugan… has such origins?!"
"But then—" a younger branch family member blurted out, pride and frustration mingling, "If that's true, why does it feel like our Byakugan isn't as powerful as the Sharingan? Let alone the Rinnegan?!"
The question hung in the air.
It was one few had dared to voice.
The Hyūga prided themselves on possessing Konoha's strongest dōjutsu.
Yet the Sharingan's evolutions—especially the Mangekyō Sharingan—and the legendary Rinnegan had always cast a shadow.
Now, knowing their lineage traced back to such exalted origins—
the disparity felt even sharper.
"Silence!" an elder barked reflexively.
But doubt flickered even in his eyes.
"No," another Hyūga said thoughtfully. "There must be truths we have yet to uncover. The Sage's younger brother would not have been ordinary."
"Our Byakugan must hold potential far beyond what we currently understand."
The revelation did not diminish them.
It ignited something.
A hunger.
Back in the Cavern
The Sage of Six Paths hovered serenely.
"You both carry fragments of my sons' chakra," he said.
"Their conflict has echoed through generations."
"Indra inherited my eyes and spiritual power."
"Asura inherited my body and life force."
"Their clash became a cycle of reincarnation."
His gaze settled on Sasuke.
"You are Indra's successor."
Then on Neji.
"And you, descendant of my brother's line, possess eyes once meant to perceive truth itself."
The cavern seemed to grow heavier.
The weight of millennia pressed down upon them.
The Sage continued softly:
"And Uzumaki Naruto… is Asura's current reincarnation."
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