"Sage of Six Paths, I did not expect us to meet in this manner."
The instant the two spoke, the surrounding scenery shifted. Inside a courtyard, a pot of brewed tea was placed between them.
In this shinobi world, Shiraishi was the very first person to obtain this qualification to converse face-to-face with the Sage of Six Paths.
"Your Excellency the Kazekage, during your past growth period, you once received the inheritance of Asura and made an oath in the name of Ninshu to create a peaceful world for this planet. Have you forgotten that?"
The first words out of the Sage of Six Paths' mouth mentioned Shiraishi's connection with Asura. This caused a trace of reflection to appear in Shiraishi's eyes. Could it be that the Sage of Six Paths did not know the true origin of that Asura?
Shiraishi would not easily let himself be led into the trap of the Sage of Six Paths: "Heh, does the Asura you refer to mean Otsutsuki Asura or the son of the Sage of Six Paths, Asura?"
These words had a hidden meaning, but the Sage of Six Paths still answered the question seriously and directly: "From the moment you made that oath, there is no difference between the two."
The origin of that Otsutsuki Asura was strange, and the Sage of Six Paths was not entirely unaware of it, but he chose to look past the matter, which conversely made Shiraishi reveal a smile.
This old fellow knows how to adapt quite well, doesn't he?
Shiraishi spread his hands, showing a helpless look: "So, am I not precisely working hard for the unification of the shinobi world right now?"
"This... Your Excellency's methods are far too cruel."
Never having seen such a thick-skinned Kazekage, the Sage of Six Paths' face twitched, and his mood became very bad.
Not letting the Sage of Six Paths trap him in a circle, Shiraishi shook his head: "In times of chaos, it must be so. Does the Sage of Six Paths still not see clearly?
What is being carried out now is merely conventional warfare, not a plan of slaughter; otherwise you would not be sitting here calmly conversing with me."
The era the Sage of Six Paths lived in was a terrifying time of war where humans slaughtered one another. Coupled with the fact that his chakra had been observing the entire shinobi world for the past thousand years, he naturally understood the meaning in Shiraishi's words.
The Sage of Six Paths before him had two horns on his head and six red Tomoe on his body. Historically revered as the Ancestor of Shinobi, he naturally possessed immensely vast experience and understood Shiraishi's point.
"The war you have started may instead trigger an even greater disaster. Young man, have you ever thought that you might also become a chess piece in the hands of others?"
What the Sage of Six Paths referred to was naturally the sealing of Otsutsuki Kaguya and the issue of the celestial clan.
"In factual reality, I have long since made thorough preparations. Besides, for the person brought forth by the descent of the Infinite Tsukuyomi, the one who ultimately appears might not necessarily be Kaguya, right?"
These words left the Sage of Six Paths completely speechless...
How does this guy... know about that?
The Ten-Tails was the progenitor of chakra, and its true identity was a God Tree. Before chakra existed, wars were continuous. The princess from the moon, Otsutsuki Kaguya, ate the forbidden fruit of the God Tree, obtained chakra, and quieted the wars.
The two children born to this princess were the first humans to possess chakra, and one of those children was Otsutsuki Hagoromo, known as the Sage of Six Paths.
The God Tree, having its forbidden fruit stolen, transformed into the Ten-Tails to take violent action to reclaim its chakra, but it was stopped by the Sage of Six Paths.
The Sage of Six Paths saved the world from the hands of Otsutsuki Kaguya and used his own body as a vessel, becoming the Jinchuriki of the Ten-Tails.
Shiraishi was naturally clear about this series of events, but he was also very clear about the origin of this world. In factual reality, it belonged to a derivation of the Limited Tsukuyomi world; the real Kaguya was on the future timeline, not the current timeline.
Therefore, the Infinite Tsukuyomi released by Uchiha Madara might ultimately summon something else instead of Otsutsuki Kaguya.
This was also the genuine hidden card of the Sage of Six Paths.
Facing Shiraishi's gaze, the Sage of Six Paths awkwardly lowered his head to take a sip of tea, then pretended to say very leisurely: "Although Mother possesses powerful strength, her experience is too poor, and she is no match for you. Besides, I also do not hope for her to be summoned from another world."
Well then... Even the Sage of Six Paths felt Kaguya was purely an experience pack with no real combat capability.
But the more it was like this, the more vigilant Shiraishi became. However, he quickly smiled: "Then let us change the topic. Has the Pure Land of this world already begun to fail in maintaining its seal?"
Mentioning this matter, the face of the Sage of Six Paths suddenly turned solemn as well: "My chakra can no longer maintain it for much longer. Hell has already been out of order for many years, and powerful chakra is needed to continue maintaining the operation of the Pure Land."
At this, Shiraishi's expression changed, and he directly scolded the Sage of Six Paths: "Old fellow, do you want to trick me into maintaining the Pure Land?"
The disorder of Hell was a fact, but whether the chakra of the Sage of Six Paths truly could not maintain the Pure Land remained a question mark. He merely wanted to trick him into suppressing the Pure Land, thereby resolving the situation confronting Konoha.
Scratching his head, the Sage of Six Paths could only smile awkwardly after being exposed: "Haha, to be seen through, the Hegemon of the Shinobi World is indeed formidable.
Sigh... the reincarnations of my two children, Asura and Indra, the true moment for their destiny to arrive is in one year. Having the Shinobi World War launched ahead of time by you has made me too passive.
Reasonably speaking, Sunagakure in one year would be the absolute best time with genuine strength to unify the shinobi world!"
Shiraishi's development of Sunagakure had not reached a truly mature phase, just like how the hunters had barely managed to scrape together a quantity of 80,000. One must know that in another year, that number could double, reaching a level that could truly flatten the shinobi world.
Having endured silently for so many years, why did Shiraishi suddenly move things forward at the final moment? It left the Sage of Six Paths completely unable to understand, and simultaneously, his own plans were entirely disrupted.
He had clearly opened the so-called plot one year ahead of schedule on purpose!
Shiraishi knew very well that Naruto Uzumaki and Uchiha Sasuke in the 62nd year of Konoha would be at the time of their true destiny, when all kinds of endless destiny and fortune would be added to the two children of fate.
Although he was very conceited about his own strength, since he perceived the arrangements of the Sage of Six Paths, Shiraishi chose to disrupt the game, starting the plan one year early and catching the Sage of Six Paths completely unprepared.
Right now, the identities of the two were adversarial, but during their conversation, the tone remained peaceful. Perhaps the Sage of Six Paths had already viewed Shiraishi as an indispensable force in the current shinobi world.
The Sage of Six Paths looked at the Hegemon of the Shinobi World before him. Right now, he also felt his strength falling short of his wishes.
Setting up the layout a few times and upgrading the protagonists was already his limit. Inviting Shiraishi to his dream consciousness this time was inherently a peaceful testing of the waters.
After all, Shiraishi was also a member of the current shinobi world, and his power would still need to be borrowed in the future to confront the celestial Otsutsuki clan.
The exchange between both sides today was essentially a mutual probing. Ultimately, the Sage of Six Paths let out a sigh: "I only hope Your Excellency will not carry out excessive slaughter."
Regarding this somewhat boring concern of the Sage of Six Paths, Shiraishi directly rolled his eyes: "I am not that kind of boring, bloodthirsty person. If Konoha is willing to surrender obediently and go to Sunagakure for reformation, I will not intentionally kill them."
Reformation?
The Sage of Six Paths did not understand what this meant, but he could feel the slow malice within it: "Regrettably, I prefer the Will of Fire."
Giving a light chuckle, Shiraishi suddenly became lazy: "Then let us have a wager, using this final battle against Konoha as the stake."
The old fellow instantly gained interest: "And the content of the stake?"
"If my general offensive against Konoha fails this time, then the entire Suna army will withdraw from the Land of Fire, and within my lifetime, the Land of Wind and Sunagakure will abandon the plan to unify the shinobi world."
"Not bad. Then what if you win?"
Although Sunagakure was very strong now, as long as the remaining ninja villages were given enough time, there would inevitably be a chance to turn the tables in the future after Shiraishi died. Therefore, the Sage of Six Paths felt this wager was worth a try.
At this moment, Shiraishi looked at the Sage of Six Paths opposite him with a half-smile: "Then I will have to trouble you, old senior, to ensure that in the future shinobi world, your chakra will no longer be needed to maintain the so-called order of peace."
"Hahaha!"
Hearing Shiraishi's words, the Sage of Six Paths burst into loud laughter...
"Interesting, this old man accepts!"
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