Orochimaru knelt directly on the ground, pressing his head against the floor: "I beseech the Ancestor to bestow the method upon me."
The White Snake Sage continued: "To obtain the power of the old man, the first way is to fuse with the Ten-Tails, becoming the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki, which will automatically awaken the Six Paths Power and Six Paths Senjutsu."
"Or, have him personally impart the power of Yin-Yang to you, and obtain the chakra of the Nine Tailed Beasts to activate Six Paths Sage Mode."
Orochimaru lifted his head, completely bewildered. He couldn't understand a word of the gibberish the White Snake Sage was spouting.
But he managed to summarize it: Six Paths Senjutsu was a divine ability, not something a mortal could pursue.
"Ancestor, Ancestor, what you said is still too difficult. Is there a simpler method?"
"..."
The White Snake Sage took a silent puff of smoke, suddenly feeling exhausted. Relying on these misfits to deal with the reincarnation of Indra...
The Shinobi World is doomed!
The White Snake Sage said briefly: "The essence of Six Paths Senjutsu is the Truth-Seeking Orb. As long as you master the Truth-Seeking Orb, it is equivalent to possessing the power of the Sage of Six Paths."
"Truth-Seeking Orb? What is that?"
Orochimaru felt he had touched the ultimate mystery of Ninjutsu.
The White Snake Sage added: "The Truth-Seeking Orb is the power of Yin-Yang and the Five Elements. After mastering the Yin-Yang Release, and becoming proficient in the nature transformation of the five types of chakra, fusing the power of Yin-Yang and the Five Elements together can form a Truth-Seeking Orb."
The description of the Truth-Seeking Orb states that it appears automatically after mastering Six Paths Senjutsu or awakening Six Paths Sage Mode.
Conversely, if one masters the Truth-Seeking Orb, it is equivalent to possessing the power of the Sage of Six Paths.
"..."
Orochimaru fell into deep silence. To master seven types of chakra nature transformation, one must first possess seven chakra attributes.
Orochimaru was a user of all attributes; he knew the nature transformation of all seven types of chakra.
The Yin attribute and Yang attribute were the most mysterious of the seven attributes. All Secret Techniques, Genjutsu, and techniques related to body structure could not exist without Yin Release or Yang Release.
Having mastered so many Ninjutsu and Secret Techniques, Orochimaru naturally knew them too.
But Yin-Yang Release was not just the combination of Yin attribute chakra nature transformation and Yang attribute chakra nature transformation.
It was the fusion of these two attributes, a fusion akin to a Kekkei Genkai. Yin-Yang Release was the Six Paths Power, the Kekkei Genkai of the Sage of Six Paths.
Yin-Yang Release was the technique of creation and change, capable of creating all things, granting life, and annihilating matter.
This was not a realm that a Shinobi could touch; it belonged to the realm of gods or immortals.
Merely having Yin-Yang Release was not enough; one needed to use Yin-Yang Release to fuse the five types of chakra together. This was the fusion of seven types of chakra.
This had already surpassed Kekkei Genkai and Kekkei Tota, touching upon the legendary Kekkei Mora.
Compared to that, becoming the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki seemed simpler.
The White Snake Sage shook its head, looking at Orochimaru's expression as if he were listening to a fairy tale: "Forget it. Even Yin-Yang Release alone is a pipe dream for you; you do not possess the aptitude for it."
Orochimaru pressed the White Snake Sage: "Then who in the current Shinobi World has this qualification?"
The White Snake Sage said: "One is Uchiha Madara; he automatically awakened Yin-Yang Release upon activating his Rinnegan. The other is Uchiha Ryou; he has already begun to come into contact with Yin-Yang Release."
Orochimaru's expression turned ugly: "Ancestor, both of them are my enemies."
The White Snake Sage shook its head: "Then there is nothing to be done."
Just as Orochimaru fell into despair, the White Snake Sage changed the subject: "Orochimaru, Hashirama was summoned by you from the Pure Land, right?"
Orochimaru nodded. Could it be—
The White Snake Sage pointed out a path for Orochimaru: "Summon Hashirama, and have him go to Shikkotsu Forest to find that slug to learn Yin-Yang Release and master the Truth-Seeking Orb."
"This is the only way you can deal with Uchiha Madara's Rinnegan."
Orochimaru was somewhat puzzled: "Ancestor, can you not teach Hashirama the Truth-Seeking Orb?"
The White Snake Sage took a puff of smoke: "Why should I teach him? Besides, given his personality, if he appeared in Ryūchi Cave, he would probably start a fight with me."
"Let him go find that slug."
"Among us Three Sages, the toad from Mount Myōboku represents the future; it can see things that will happen in the future."
"I represent the present; as long as it happens on the earth, it will reach my ears."
"And that slug represents the past; its era is even more ancient than mine and the toad's. It records the past of this world."
"No one knows the Old Man's techniques better than that slug."
Orochimaru was astonished. He hadn't expected the Three Sages of the Shinobi World to be so miraculous: one representing the past, one the present, and one the future.
This reminded Orochimaru of the Buddhas of the Three Times in Buddhism, referring to the Buddhas who attained enlightenment in the past, present, and future.
Dipankara Buddha of the past, the Buddha Shakyamuni, the master of the Saha world, and Maitreya Buddha who will descend in the future.
Orochimaru hesitated no longer. The Shinobi World is doomed; he could not continue to suppress the two Hokage.
He had to let them out to figure out a way to deal with Madara.
...
The next day.
Hidden Rain Village.
Tsunade woke up groggily, rubbed her eyes, and patted the man beside her.
But what Tsunade touched was smooth skin.
This was not the skin of Ryou.
Tsunade's eyes slowly focused on the person beside her, and what she saw was a patch of short blue hair.
It was Konan!
"Uchiha Ryou—"
Early morning.
Tsunade chased Ryou for two streets with a kitchen knife.
"You filthy bastard, stop right there! Today, I'm going to hack you to death, you animal!"
Ryou was shirtless, his whole body covered in wounds inflicted by Tsunade's chopping.
He shouted in terror at Tsunade behind him: "Tsunade, stop chasing! We didn't do anything?!"
Tsunade brandished the kitchen knife and slashed angrily: "Konan's clothes were all stripped off, and you say you didn't do anything?"
Ryou hurriedly explained: "It's true, Tsunade, you have to believe me!"
"I believe your grandmother!"
Ryou ran towards the direction of the Great Tree of Takigakure. At this moment, the Seven-Tails had already flown out from the hollow of the Great Tree of Takigakure.
It was parked in the square, waiting for Ryou's group to head to Hozuki Castle.
Ryou turned a few corners to shake off Tsunade, then ran rather disheveled to the square where the Seven-Tails was docked.
Fish Ball was lying on the square, not wanting to move at all, with a pile of metal materials stacked next to it.
Fish Ball had been exhausted from collecting these metal materials all night.
Candy was using a scroll to seal these metal materials inside.
The Kusagakure Shinobi had also woken up early and were waiting for Ryou to arrive to set off for Hozuki Castle.
Ryou appeared beside Candy and looked at the Kusagakure Shinobi: "Are you all ready?"
The Kusagakure Shinobi were all somewhat puzzled as to why Ryou was shirtless. Judging by the look of things, it seemed like he had just stolen someone's wife and was being chased out.
They dared not ask, and all nodded that they were ready.
Candy sealed the last piece of metal material into the scroll and also nodded: "Done! We can set off."
"Then let's set off for Hozuki Castle."