Two faint, drifting strands of soul light slowly rose from Arisu's palm. They were the portions of Indra and Asura's souls that had remained with him back then.
Immediately after, Arisu extended his palm slightly forward.
Buzz!
The two strands of soul light seemed to be drawn by an invisible force, slowly flowing and taking shape.
Little by little, they outlined the familiar forms of Indra and Asura. A faint spiritual glow surrounded their soul bodies as they gradually solidified into tangible figures.
In the next moment, the two souls slowly opened their eyes and looked around at the completely unfamiliar surroundings in confusion.
Then their gazes locked firmly onto Arisu standing before them, and a storm of shock rose instantly.
"Master?"
"Ancestor!"
The two voices sounded at the same time, both filled with disbelief and shock.
The two of them subconsciously turned their heads and their eyes met, both freezing in place.
"Asura?"
"Brother!?"
Their calls to each other were full of unexpected surprise.
From their own perspectives, it felt as if they had simply closed their eyes and taken a short nap.
Asura could no longer suppress the questions surging in his heart. He stepped forward half a step and asked, "Ancestor, what exactly is going on? I clearly remember that I was no longer among the living."
"Yeah, Master, what happened exactly?"
Indra also suppressed the confusion in his eyes and looked steadily at Arisu, his tone carrying the same doubt.
Arisu looked at the two brothers and slowly shook his head. "For you, it was just the brief moment of closing and opening your eyes. But for me, this period of time has already stretched across nearly a thousand years..."
As soon as these words were spoken, both Indra and Asura trembled violently.
"Master, has it really been nearly a thousand years?"
"To me, everything felt like the blink of an eye. Just a moment ago, I was still lying in the snow, my consciousness completely fading, and the next moment, I saw you..."
Indra slowly looked around. His soul-body fingers moved slightly, his eyes filled with an unreal sense of illusion as he spoke softly.
Asura's expression, however, suddenly tightened.
"Ancestor, then that means… several hundred years have already passed… what about the Ninshu? What happened to the Ninshu that father left behind?"
Asura looked at Arisu anxiously.
From beginning to end, he had always cared about the legacy passed down by his father Hagoromo, cared about the future of the Ninshu and the countless people within it. After his death, what would happen to them?
Indra's gaze also dimmed slightly, concern for the state of the Ninshu rising in his heart as he silently waited for the answer.
Arisu's expression sank slightly when he heard this, a trace of memory passing through his eyes. "The Ninshu… has already been destroyed for eight hundred years."
"Sixty years after your deaths, after going through continuous conflicts, it completely came to an end."
The words entered his ears.
Asura's body suddenly trembled.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
He staggered back a few steps, his eyes instantly filling with uncontrollable daze and deep disappointment.
Even though he had long prepared himself for the worst in his heart, hearing the news of the Ninshu's destruction with his own ears was still unbearable.
After all, in his perception, just a moment ago he had carefully arranged everything for the Ninshu.
Yet in the blink of an eye, he heard that it had been destroyed. That gap and pain hit him hard.
Then, a sharp burst of laughter suddenly exploded.
"Hahaha, just as I thought! Just as I thought!"
"I already said long ago that such an organization couldn't last."
"The Ninshu was never a true nation. It had no complete bureaucratic system to maintain internal order, nor a mature commercial system to support its survival."
"From beginning to end, it was just a loose alliance where the clans produced and consumed everything themselves."
"If it weren't for Hagoromo's strength, using absolute power to forcibly maintain that fragile rule, the Ninshu wouldn't have lasted even sixty years from its founding. It would have fallen apart long ago!"
Indra understood the underlying logic of power structures and survival far better than the straightforward Asura.
"Asura, I told you before. If I had taken the position of leader of the Ninshu back then, I would have pushed for a complete transformation, used absolute strength to unify all sides, and established dominion over the world early on. How could it have ended in destruction!"
Indra spoke calmly, his tone full of certainty and arrogance from above.
Even though his words were filled with mockery, the light in his soul-body eyes dimmed slightly, and a trace of regret flashed deep inside.
The Ninshu was also something he had poured his effort into, teaching people ninjutsu and hand seals, building its foundation step by step.
Even if his ideals had always opposed Asura's, hearing that something he helped build had completely collapsed still left a faint sense of loss.
He paid no attention to Asura, who was still immersed in disappointment, and suddenly turned to Arisu, the urgency in his eyes no longer hidden.
"Master, that thousand-year agreement… what was the result?"
Hearing about the thousand-year agreement, Asura let out a soft sigh and also looked at Arisu.
"As for that… I'll show you."
Arisu slowly took out a stone tablet and let it float in front of them.
The two immediately stepped forward to look.
The score had become: four to three.
Indra's reincarnations had a slight advantage.
"Heh, I knew it. My descendants are better than Asura's. Though… letting Asura's side win three times, my descendants are quite disappointing too..."
"I thought the agreement would end with all victories on my side. It seems your descendants also have some capable ones."
Indra looked at the tablet and spoke calmly, "Sigh, brother… as long as you're happy…"
Seeing that his side was behind, Asura felt a slight sense of relief in his heart.
Let his brother win.
If his brother couldn't win against him, it felt like his brother might cause trouble again.
"There are still two generations left. These two will be the key to deciding the outcome. We can just wait and see.", Arisu said calmly.
"Master, where exactly are we now?", Indra couldn't help but ask.
"This is the Pure Land I created. The souls of the dead all come here, including your father and the people of the Ninshu.", Arisu replied.
Hearing this, Asura's eyes lit up. That meant he could see his wife, children, and family again. He also missed Hagoromo.
Indra, on the other hand, remained expressionless, as if he didn't care.
There were simply too few people he truly cared about.
He had many wives, but none of them were close to him.
"Master, are my reincarnations here as well? I'd like to meet them.", Indra suddenly asked.
Arisu raised an eyebrow.
"Ancestor, I'd like to see mine too," Asura said as well, wanting to meet his reincarnations and express both gratitude and guilt.
After all, if not for the thousand-year agreement they set, their reincarnations might have lived happier lives.
Arisu smiled. Originally, he had planned to release them after the thousand-year agreement ended.
Since both of them wanted to see them now, he would arrange it.
In truth, if the reincarnations met each other, Asura's reincarnations would probably get along peacefully, maybe even become friends.
But Indra's… that was uncertain. With how proud each of them was, they might not be able to stand each other at all...