"The one who planted hope… yet may also have harvested despair."
"The gardener."
Naruto's gaze returned to Sasuke and Neji. There was no mockery left in his eyes—only the heavy understanding of shared suffering, and a resolute invitation.
"Stand with me."
"Smash this tree that may have rotted from its very roots."
"Burn down this garden filled with twisted fruit."
"And then…"
"On ruins that truly belong to us…"
"We rebuild everything."
"Or…"
He paused.
The air around him surged violently. His Rinnegan gleamed with a frigid brilliance.
"…we are buried alongside this false old world."
The final path lay clearly before Sasuke and Neji.
Would they believe Naruto's world-shattering accusation—one that pointed directly at the Sage of Six Paths—and join his extreme "purification"?
Or would they cling to their own convictions, even if it meant dying together with the man who claimed to have uncovered the "truth"?
Naruto paused, as if selecting the most irrefutable example.
"If you still don't believe me… then think about Impure World Reincarnation."
The name alone made both Sasuke and Neji tense.
"Impure World Reincarnation summons the souls of the dead from the so-called 'Pure Land,' binds them to a living sacrifice, and grants them nearly limitless chakra along with the abilities they possessed in life."
"Now here's the question."
He raised a single finger.
"First question: throughout history, how many people have died in this world? Shinobi. Civilians. Nobles. Slaves. A thousand years of war—countless lives lost."
"That so-called 'Pure Land'… does it truly have the capacity to contain them all?"
"Or is it really the peaceful resting place it claims to be?"
Sasuke and Neji frowned deeply.
They had never seriously questioned it.
The Pure Land had always been treated as doctrine—an unquestioned explanation for the source of Impure World Reincarnation.
But once one began to consider its "capacity"… or its operational mechanism…
Doubts emerged.
Naruto raised a second finger.
"And the second question—the more critical one."
"The reincarnated dead possess nearly inexhaustible chakra."
"Where does that chakra come from?"
"It can't simply appear out of nothing."
Sasuke and Neji's pupils contracted violently.
Infinite chakra… its source?
That was right.
An Edo Tensei body's chakra did not come from the sacrifice itself. Nor did it originate from the deceased soul alone.
Then where did the energy come from—the power that allowed them to fight without depletion?
A horrifying possibility began to take shape.
Neji's voice was dry, trembling.
"You're not suggesting… that the Sage of Six Paths… is collecting chakra?"
Naruto shot back immediately, his tone absolute.
"What else could it be?"
"Think about it. When has this world ever known real peace?"
His voice rose, carrying the accumulated fury of a thousand years.
"For over a millennium, it's been war without end! Ever since the Sage of Six Paths spread chakra and founded Ninshū—conflict, hatred, slaughter—has it ever truly stopped?"
"Clan against clan. Village against village. Nation against nation."
"For missions. For resources. For vengeance. For so-called 'peace'—that only births more war!"
"The Warring States Period! The First Great Ninja War! The Second! The Third! And now—the Fourth Great Ninja War!"
Naruto pointed at the scorched earth beneath them—at the distant ruins still smoldering.
"Look at this land. Look at the dead."
"Has this world grown stronger under the chakra system?"
"No!"
"It has only become more proficient at destruction. More broken. More ruined."
He turned sharply, eyes locking onto Sasuke and Neji.
"The Sage of Six Paths—he exists. We know that."
"He founded Ninshū. He awakened the Rinnegan and the Tenseigan. He possesses power beyond imagination. He has endured for over a thousand years."
"Then tell me—"
"Why has he never truly manifested to end this chaos once and for all?"
"Why has he allowed this world—nourished by his so-called 'Chakra Seed'—to slaughter itself for a millennium?"
"With his power, could he not have done it?"
"Or… does he simply not wish to see true peace?"
The barrage of questions struck like relentless blows.
Sasuke and Neji stood speechless, shaken to their core.
They searched for justification—any explanation.
But against the blood-soaked history of endless war, and the overwhelming power the Sage had displayed, every excuse felt hollow.
Naruto watched their faith falter.
The last trace of warmth left his eyes, replaced by cold resolve.
Slowly, deliberately, he delivered his conclusion:
"There is only one possibility."
"That is—"
"The world's decay. Endless war. Constant death. The violent consumption and regeneration of chakra…"
"Benefits him."
Benefits him?
How?
By collecting chakra? Sustaining his existence? Harvesting… nourishment?
The implications were chilling.
If the Sage of Six Paths was truly the origin and ultimate overseer of the Chakra-Based System, then a thousand years of war meant violent fluctuations of chakra through life and death—constant refinement, expenditure, and reaccumulation.
The living trained, fought, and died.
Chakra circulated within this vast, brutal system.
And the one standing at the summit… might be drawing from it—sustaining his millennial existence, perhaps even growing stronger.
The shinobi world had become a colossal, ever-turning chakra millstone—grinding down generation after generation.
And the one who controlled the millstone?
He appeared not as tyrant, but as ancestor. As benefactor.
The thought was so dark, so utterly subversive, that Sasuke and Neji felt a cold nausea crawl up their spines.
The power they wielded.
The ideals they fought for.
The progenitor they revered.
Could all of it conceal something so monstrous?
"Now… do you understand?" Naruto's voice pulled them back from the abyss.
There was no more fury in it.
Only a quiet finality.
And the resolve of someone who had already chosen to burn everything down.
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