"How did this happen?"
The Sage of Six Paths was genuinely delighted.
With both Indra's and Asura's chakra having already returned to the Pure Land, the shinobi world had still begun to change...
That meant the wisdom of later generations had finally started to bear fruit.
That was the very reason he had protected the shinobi world all those years ago.
A thousand years had passed, and by now, the Sage of Six Paths had long since given up expecting his two sons to change the world.
He never said it aloud, but after watching dozens of reincarnation cycles play out, each one following almost exactly the same script, who could still stay interested?
As their father, he practically had the whole thing memorized by now.
'I have to see this. I have to see it...'
His spirits visibly lifted.
With a light tap of his shakujō, a massive sphere materialized before him.
At first glance, it looked remarkably similar to Sarutobi Hiruzen's Crystal Ball Technique...
Only this was the Six Paths version.
'Wait... could it be the Box of Bliss?'
A bad feeling suddenly crossed the Sage of Six Paths' mind.
Something similar had happened once before.
Back then, he had also believed the shinobi world had undergone some tremendous change.
Instead, it turned out that a shinobi had obtained the Box of Bliss and used it to endlessly absorb negative emotions. Within a small region, he created a twisted version of the Infinite Tsukuyomi born from the Box of Bliss, turning everyone into grinning idiots who could do nothing but laugh.
Even the Sage of Six Paths had been completely dumbfounded.
His original intention had been for the Box of Bliss to serve as a kind of buffer.
He certainly hadn't intended for someone to use it the way Kaguya had, churning out White Zetsu one after another.
'So there really is a Box of Bliss in this village... but it hasn't been activated.'
After locating the Box of Bliss, delight flashed across the Sage of Six Paths' eyes.
Possessing the Box of Bliss without abusing it, while still managing to build a village like this...
That was good news on top of good news.
The Sage of Six Paths was fully awake now.
At last, someone in the shinobi world was truly moving things forward.
He hadn't paid much attention to the shinobi world over the past few decades.
The last time he had taken a close look was during the era of Hashirama and Madara.
That was the first time in a thousand years of conflict that the reincarnations of Indra and Asura had actually worked together.
Objectively speaking, they had ended the Warring States Era and established the One Country, One Village system.
It had been genuine progress.
But only a few years later, everything had fallen apart.
Their cooperation lasted only a handful of years before they were fighting again.
Madara, Indra's reincarnation, had even absorbed part of Hashirama's power and awakened the Rinnegan.
Although the One Country, One Village system had reduced the scale of warfare compared to the Warring States Era...
The shinobi world as a whole still remained locked in constant conflict.
Even the villages themselves endlessly exhausted one another through internal struggles.
The Sage of Six Paths simply couldn't see any hopeful future in it.
When the villages had first been founded, if positive emotions represented a hope index of ten...
That number had steadily declined as time went on.
Only Konohagakure had done the opposite.
After climbing out of rock bottom, its hope index had soared all the way to the top, leaving the rest of the shinobi world far behind.
'First, let me see what the shinobi world looks like now...'
With a wave of his hand, information flowed into his mind through a mysterious process.
Although he came from an ancient era...
The Sage of Six Paths constantly learned from the world, allowing him to understand everything happening throughout the shinobi world, from new ninjutsu to changing language and terminology.
Time passed.
After absorbing enough information, he slowly digested it, broke it apart, and organized it into his own body of knowledge.
Honestly, the shinobi world's obsession with gathering intelligence probably wasn't just because combat demanded it.
It seemed to run in the family.
'It seems all these changes began during the Second Great Shinobi World War...'
'Everything before that followed the usual course.'
'That's right... after Indra's and Asura's chakra returned to the Pure Land in separate waves, I even checked on Madara, Indra's reincarnation.'
'And after that... Konohagakure began to change.'
Suddenly, the Sage of Six Paths' eyes lit up.
Looking at the "Shinobi World Emotions and Hope Heat Map," he noticed that Amegakure, the small hidden village neighboring Konohagakure, had also seen its hope index rise dramatically under Konoha's influence.
That was almost unheard of.
Throughout history, whenever a great hidden village—or any major shinobi settlement—rose to prominence, the smaller shinobi communities surrounding it invariably lived in constant fear.
But here...
The two sides were cooperating and exchanging resources with one another.
It was the first time he had ever witnessed such a thing.
Wasn't this exactly what Ninshū had always stood for?
"Konohagakure..."
The Sage of Six Paths slowly repeated the village's name.
Ignoring the other hidden villages entirely, he focused all of his attention on Konohagakure.
The moment he did...
His mouth slowly fell open in astonishment.
At the Valley of the End, he saw the colossal statues of Madara and Hashirama—the reincarnations of Indra and Asura.
But instead of facing one another with the Seal of Opposition...
The two statues now stood side by side, smiling as they formed the Seal of Reconciliation.
According to the memories he had just acquired, they were supposed to have been making the Seal of Opposition.
The Sage of Six Paths gazed at the enormous stone statues of Madara and Hashirama.
For a brief moment, he was dazed, as though he were looking at his two sons standing there at last, finally putting aside their differences and reconciling.
"Didn't Madara help found Konohagakure... only to leave it later?"
"And yet he's held in such high regard here..."
The Sage of Six Paths grew even more intrigued.
Using a unique method, he gently and invisibly drew information from the minds of Konoha's shinobi.
"Who could have accomplished this?"
A moment later, he found a name.
The Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen.
"He's neither a Senju, an Uzumaki, nor an Uchiha..."
"He's not even from the Kaguya or Hyūga clans..."
"And yet he managed to build the village into what it is today?"
His curiosity deepened.
He first observed life throughout Konohagakure, seeing the Ninja Academy students enjoying hearty meals, kind and approachable teachers, and parents who actively supported their children.
He then saw the village's elderly receiving proper care, with younger shinobi sent by the village to regularly visit retired veterans who could no longer accept missions.
"These stronger shinobi... some of them are called 'Konoha Council Members'?"
"And yet they genuinely listen to the opinions of weaker shinobi and carefully record their concerns..."
The scene he was currently watching showed the elderly woman whom Uchiha Yashiro had rescued talking nonstop to Isshin about Yashiro's heroics, insisting that he be properly recognized for his deeds.
Even though the old woman had been telling the same story for months...
Isshin still listened patiently every single time, allowing this walking advertisement for the Uchiha Clan to enthusiastically sing its praises.
Nor was Isshin the only one fulfilling such responsibilities.
Maruboshi Kōsuke, Nara Shikayama, Sakumo, and other Konoha Council Members were chatting with the village's chūnin and genin, learning about their thoughts, concerns, and needs.
"The strong make an effort to understand the weak?"
"And this isn't an isolated case—it has become a structured, institutionalized system..."
The Sage of Six Paths awkwardly pronounced these modern terms from the shinobi world.
Every time he awakened, the world had changed dramatically.
Over the years, simply to communicate with Asura's reincarnations whenever necessary, he had developed the ability to quickly adapt to each new era's culture.
"This is wonderful."
"Isn't this exactly the 'mutual understanding' that Ninshū once advocated?"
"This village... Konohagakure..."
"It isn't only that Madara's and Hashirama's wills have been reconciled."
"The Senju, Uzumaki, and Uchiha now stand together as comrades."
"And the descendants of Indra... carry so much love in their hearts."
"Oh? So this is what they call village policy?"
"This place where it's posted is called a bulletin board..."
Like every visiting shinobi entering Konohagakure for the first time, the Sage of Six Paths found himself drawn to the Uchiha Clan's model bulletin board and carefully read through its posted policies.
Pensions.
Subsidies.
Public disclosures of the village's revenue.
Commendations honoring shinobi who had rendered distinguished service.
This month's featured shinobi was Tomie.
After joining Root, Tomie had never asked to keep her identity secret.
So Konoha's Administrative Department had simply gone with the flow and made sure she enjoyed her moment in the spotlight throughout the village.
"A descendant of Indra..."
"Has become a hero of the Hidden Village protected by Asura's reincarnation?"
"And that Yashiro is another descendant of Indra..."
The more the Sage of Six Paths observed, the more astonished he became.
The Senju and Uchiha Clans had fought one another for nearly a thousand years.
Even after Hashirama and Madara founded Konohagakure together, the two clans had never truly reconciled.
The root of the conflict had remained unresolved.
"It seems I was too hasty in my judgment."
"The relentless pursuit of power is a trait shared by all shinobi."
"It isn't only Indra and his descendants who lose themselves in it..."
"Even Asura's descendants can do the same."
"In fact, some of them have gone even further."
"They've even stolen souls from the Pure Land..."
The Sage of Six Paths let out a sigh.
He still remembered one occasion when he had awakened after discovering that a shinobi had found a way to connect to the Pure Land, using the sacrifice of the living to bring back the souls of the dead.
At the time, he had been utterly shocked.
'What kind of person even comes up with something like that?'
But that wasn't the end of it.
As he continued watching, he discovered that the same person had exploited the unique properties of the Impure World Reincarnation.
He would first lull his opponents into lowering their guard...
Then bombard them with the Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags Technique.
Sometimes he even used it to threaten them.
The Sage of Six Paths had been completely dumbfounded.
His first instinct had been to assume it was an Uchiha.
But when he looked more closely...
It was a Senju.
The younger brother of Asura's reincarnation, no less.
That incident had forced the Sage of Six Paths to reflect for a very long time.
He came to realize that crudely dividing the descendants of Asura and Indra into two simple categories had been a deeply unwise way of viewing the world.
There were Uchiha who sincerely desired peace.
And there were Senju who were simply born twisted.
"What was that man's name again...?"
"Oh, that's right."
"Senju Tobirama..."
The Sage of Six Paths recalled the face of a certain white-haired man and grimaced.
Not even Tobirama himself could have imagined...
That without realizing it, he had become one of the Pure Land's biggest celebrities.
Even the Sage of Six Paths remembered him.
"This, too, is part of the shinobi world's development."
"If I were to interfere, how would I be any different from Indra... or Mother?"
"What I truly wish to see is for the shinobi of this world to stand together, pursue peace through the ideals of Ninshū..."
"And, if possible, grow even stronger along the way."
The Sage of Six Paths shook his head.
If Madara had been here at this moment, he would have realized that his own beliefs and the Sage of Six Paths' were actually quite similar.
Both believed that, before something could endure, it first had to prove its own worth.
If it survived only because others constantly sheltered it, or simply through sheer luck, then it lacked the vitality needed to last.
The only difference was that the Sage of Six Paths was thinking about the shinobi world as a whole...
While Madara was thinking about the Will of Fire.
Different paths, same destination.
The underlying logic was identical.
That was also why, after discovering that Tobirama had developed the Impure World Reincarnation, the Sage of Six Paths never sealed off the connection to the Pure Land.
He simply pretended not to notice.
The same was true when Madara summoned the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, or when traces of Black Zetsu began to appear.
The Sage of Six Paths chose not to interfere for the very same reason.
The shinobi world could not remain a delicate flower, forever protected.
Sooner or later, it had to prove its own vitality.
Otherwise, wouldn't the ideals of Ninshū amount to nothing more than him forcing others to accept them through his own power?
That would make him no different, at heart, from Kaguya or Indra.
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