“Indeed,” Fukasaku said, stroking his beard. Though he was deeply shocked as well, what he felt more strongly was pride in his ancestor.
“Our forefather possessed such foresight, laying plans across a thousand years for the sake of Mount Myōboku and the future of the summon creatures…”
“We descendants truly cannot compare to such courage and wisdom!”
The younger toads were even more excited, whispering among themselves. Their ancestor seemed to possess peerless strategic brilliance—even the legendary Sage of Six Paths had become nothing more than a piece upon his board.
Ryūchi Cave
Deep within the dark, winding caverns, hushed discussions spread through the snakes as their forked tongues flickered.
“Hiss… The White Snake Sage actually took part in it…”
“Plotting against the Sage of Six Paths… What a bold and ingenious plan…”
“It seems Ryūchi Cave had already formed such a deep alliance with Mount Myōboku and Shikkotsu Forest a thousand years ago…”
The cold and calculating nature of snakes gave them an unusual appreciation and excitement for a conspiracy of this scale. They found the millennium-spanning scheme even more thrilling than they had imagined—and perfectly in keeping with their own values.
The Pure Land
The real Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki, the Sage of Six Paths, silently “watched” the Heavenly Curtain’s latest performance about himself.
He felt stifled.
Helpless.
And there was also a faint sense of absurdity at being so thoroughly misrepresented without any way to defend himself.
He and Gamamaru had indeed fought side by side. They had been both teacher and friend, and their relationship had been close.
Perhaps he had once sought Gamamaru’s guidance regarding the mysteries of Natural Energy or discussed the philosophy of longevity and existence with him.
But when had he ever behaved so disgracefully as to forcibly rob him?
When had he ever been subjected to such a cold calculation?
“This Heavenly Curtain… is complete nonsense!” A frustrated thought rippled through his consciousness.
Yet the “history” shown by the Heavenly Curtain was internally consistent and rich in detail. It even portrayed his possible state of mind at the time with astonishing vividness, making uninformed viewers believe every word.
He felt like a puppet forcibly shoved onto a stage and made to perform an absurd script while the audience below watched with fascination, completely convinced that it was real.
Explain himself? To whom? And how?
Whatever existed behind the Heavenly Curtain seemed not to care about the truth at all. It cared only about weaving a story shocking enough to overturn expectations and captivating enough to enthrall its “audience.”
All he could do was remain silent and watch in frustration as this version of himself—”corrupted” and “outmaneuvered”—took root in the minds of countless people throughout the shinobi world.
The light and shadows of the Heavenly Curtain shifted from the cold calculations before the waterfall of Mount Myōboku to a remote mountain valley shrouded in clouds and mist.
The Sage of Six Paths had not returned to the Ninshū, where undercurrents continued to swirl. Instead, he had chosen this place of absolute solitude.
He sat cross-legged atop a weathered blue-gray stone. A babbling stream and birdsong surrounded him, yet neither could dispel the desperate, almost obsessive aura emanating from him.
He opened his tightly clenched right hand.
Several objects obtained from Mount Myōboku lay quietly in his palm.
A short sword of ancient design, neither metal nor wood, its edge dull yet emanating a faint, sharp chill.
A gourd covered in strange, naturally formed patterns that seemed to contain some kind of law, heavy in his hand.
A translucent jade-like bottle, tightly sealed, within which a faint radiance seemed to swirl through some unknown liquid.
And finally, a smooth pearl about the size of a pigeon’s egg, a soft milky-white glow flowing quietly across its surface.
The Sage of Six Paths’ gaze was immediately drawn to the pearl as though by a magnet.
With a casual flick, he pushed the sword, gourd, and bottle aside onto the nearby stone, his movements carrying a trace of impatience, as though they were nothing more than insignificant extras.
Carefully, he pinched the pearl between his fingers and raised it before his eyes.
It felt warm and smooth, yet he could faintly sense a tiny vortex within it, emitting a strange and subtle force of attraction—as though it could draw in everything around it.
“Gamamaru…” he murmured. His voice was nearly lost in the valley breeze, but his eyes burned with intense desire and a hint of triumph.
“The thing he cared about most… the thing that made him most anxious, the very thing he tried to stop me from taking at the last moment… was this pearl.”
“When I seized it, that expression on his face… It was as though I hadn’t taken a pearl at all, but had torn out his backbone and taken his life.”
Rather than making him feel guilty, the memory only further convinced him of the object’s value and extraordinary nature, allowing the desire in his heart to spread like wildfire.
He examined it repeatedly, attempting to use the insight of his Rinnegan to see through its true nature and probing its interior with his spiritual power.
Yet all he encountered was a hazy obscurity, as though an impenetrable mist stood between him and the truth.
He could wait no longer!
A flash of determination appeared in the Sage of Six Paths’ eyes.
Taking a deep breath, he placed the pearl flat in his palm. Then, without holding anything back, he poured his vast spiritual power and pure, overwhelming chakra into it like floodwaters bursting through a dam!
At first, the pearl merely brightened slightly as it silently absorbed the energy.
Then—
Buzz!
A faint resonance, as though originating from the depths of his soul, suddenly rang out!
The Sage of Six Paths’ pupils contracted to pinpoints!
Every trace of urgency and obsession on his face was instantly replaced by an unprecedented ecstasy so intense it nearly stole his breath!
The joy was so overwhelming that it seemed ready to shatter his usual mask of composure!
“This… inside this pearl…”
The Sage of Six Paths’ voice trembled violently with excitement, and he could barely form coherent words.
“There is… an entire world hidden within it! A complete space… existing independently from the present world!”
This was no simple storage vessel. It was a miniature world with its own laws, capable of sustaining life and perhaps even giving rise to all things!
It was the embodiment of the ultimate possibility he had dreamed of—a possibility beyond the shackles of life and death!
After the shock came an even more frenzied obsession and desire to possess it.
“Refine it! I must refine it immediately—completely!”
The thought roared through his mind.
He held nothing back. Chakra and spiritual power surged around him as though they were burning, pouring entirely into the pearl in his palm!
The pale white glow surrounding it began to spin rapidly, producing a low hum as its resonance with his soul grew increasingly powerful.
The process did not seem to last long, but it was extraordinarily dangerous.
Fine beads of sweat formed on his forehead, and his body trembled slightly under immense pressure.
Yet the fanaticism in his eyes never diminished.
Finally—
Sssh!
A faint sound rang out, as though something had been completely pierced and permanently imprinted.
The rapidly spinning pearl suddenly stopped. All its light withdrew inward, transforming into an almost imperceptible yet incredibly solid streak of milky-white radiance.
Whoosh!
Like a bird returning to its nest, it shot directly into the Sage of Six Paths’ forehead!