All the Dharmas are consciousness-only; was that merely a doctrine?
Or was it… the power possessed by the mysterious young monk before him?
Isshiki lowered his head slightly, as though sinking into thought. The words, all Dharmas are consciousness-only, sounded light and airy, yet the magnitude and weight contained within them were simply too great.
When he raised his head again, he sighed in admiration. "Excellent! All Dharmas are consciousness-only; the three realms are mind-only. What Junior Brother has realized is far beyond what I can attain."
"However, what the Junior Brother says reminds me of what the World-Honored One said when he attained enlightenment beneath the Bodhi Tree: all sentient beings possess the wisdom and virtuous marks of the Tathagata. According to the school, Junior Brother follows, these virtuous marks also do not lie outside, but within the mind-consciousness of sentient beings. May I ask whether my understanding is in any way wrong?"
Genjo nodded slightly. "What Senior Brother cites is most appropriate. All sentient beings possess the virtuous marks of the Tathagata, yet because of deluded thoughts and attachments, they cannot realize them. If one departs from all delusive attachments and recognizes consciousness as the original mind, then that is the Tathagata."
"So this so-called all Dharmas are consciousness-only, of yours, what exactly can it do? What kind of abilities does it have?"
At this moment, Madara Uchiha, who had been listening from the side for quite a while, wearing a thoroughly bewildered expression and never once finding a chance to cut into the conversation, finally could not hold back any longer and spoke up.
These two fellows, one singing and the other echoing, had been going back and forth with talk of all Dharmas are consciousness-only and the virtuous marks of the Tathagata, one saying, excellent, the other answering, what Senior Brother says is absolutely right, as if the only two people in this ruined temple were the two of them acting out a rehearsed exchange scene.
And he, Madara Uchiha, the mighty Indra of the Shinobi World, the man who had once stood at the pinnacle of the Shinobi World alongside Hashirama Senju, had actually been reduced to a mere backdrop for this conversation.
Clearly, it was a stage for three people, yet from beginning to end, he had been like an outsider.
For someone who prided himself on being the king of the dance floor, this was extremely hard to accept.
He did not understand any of that mystical Buddhist scripture babble, nor did he want to, so he simply spoke directly.
Genjo turned his head and looked at this Madara, who had finally broken his silence, then smiled faintly. "What Senior Brother wishes to ask is whether this method of mine is actually powerful, correct?"
"You can understand it that way." Madara Uchiha crossed his arms, slightly raised his chin, and recovered a bit of the rhythm that belonged to him.
Genjo lightly rolled one prayer bead between his fingers and spoke unhurriedly, "The Buddha Dharma has eight thousand paths, and all may lead to enlightenment. The consciousness-only path does not lie in subduing external enemies, but in observing one's own heart."
Madara Uchiha gave a cold snort. "Just glib words."
"Would the Senior Brother like to witness it with his own eyes?" Genjo asked with a smile, not in the least annoyed.
"Then show me." Madara Uchiha folded his arms and looked at him coldly.
He wanted to see whether this mysterious young monk had merely been pretending to be mysterious the whole time, or whether he truly possessed some ability.
At that moment, Isshiki also fell silent and waited quietly.
He, too, wanted to see just what else this young monk, who had seen through his thousand-year disguise at a single glance, was hiding.
For a time, the ruined temple fell silent just like that, and both men's gazes settled at the same time on the young monk.
Just then, a violent gust of wind rose outside the temple, and a golden petal that had been knocked down by the torrential rain was swept by the wind into the ruined temple, drifting right before the young monk's eyes.
"Well then, since both Senior Ichisun and Nitai wish to see it, this junior shall make a fool of himself."
Genjo smiled faintly, raised his right hand, gently caught the petal, and held it between his fingertips.
Facing the two of them, he gave a flower-twirling smile, as though all things in heaven and earth lay within this single flower, this single smile, this single thought.
The next moment, under the uncertain and startled gazes of the two men, the golden petal at the young monk's fingertips glowed with a soft golden light.
As the light flowed, a figure slowly took shape.
A monk who resembled Genjo by 90% appeared in the temple, yet, compared to Genjo, he possessed several more degrees of transcendence and detachment.
Unlike Genjo, who, though also beautiful to an almost unearthly degree, still retained some of the vivid vitality unique to youth, he could smile, joke, and occasionally reveal a trace of cunning, the monk before them seemed truly unrelated to the mortal world.
Not a trace of worldly smoke clung to him, and he simply stood there quietly, and between his brows there coexisted both compassion and solemn majesty, like an awakened one upon a lotus pedestal, lowering his eyes to look upon all sentient beings.
Dark and Light Style!?
The same thought rose simultaneously in both their minds.
In Madara Uchiha's view, this monk who had appeared before him was no different from an entirely new life, and creating life was something only Dark and Light Style could accomplish.
In his current state, he was far from capable of such a thing. He could create a chakra construct that carried his will, but there was no way he could create a being of flesh and blood, one whose features and bearing were so perfectly complete.
This could not help but remind Madara Uchiha of the legendary moment when the Sage of Six Paths created the tailed beasts.
The nine-tailed beasts were chakra constructs, yet they also possessed corresponding flesh-and-blood bodies.
As for Isshiki Otsutsuki, he thought one layer deeper.
At first glance, he, too, had mistaken it for Dark and Light Style, but immediately afterward, he felt something was wrong.
The Otsutsuki clan was simply too familiar with Dark and Light Style.
Yet when this Genjo had made his move just now, he had been unable to detect the slightest trace of Dark and Light Style.
Was it the conversion between Genjutsu and the reality of Dark Style?
No! That was not it either!
Then what exactly was it?
For a moment, Isshiki Otsutsuki was shaken to the core.
The white-robed monk who had appeared out of thin air seemed not to have been created through the path of chakra at all.
While feeling fortunate that he had not made a move just now, he also felt increasingly horrified.
This young monk was even more unfathomable than he had imagined.
While the two men's thoughts diverged, the white-robed monk who had just appeared brought his palms together and bowed to them. "Greetings, two Senior Brothers. This humble monk is Genjo Sanzo."
The two men came back to their senses.
Isshiki barely suppressed his shock and returned the bow, saying with a calm expression, "Greetings, Junior Brother."
Madara Uchiha frowned, his gaze sweeping back and forth between the two Genjo, and in the end, he could not help asking, "How did you do that? This Genjo Sanzo, is he what you call all Dharmas are consciousness-only?"