"This chakra…"
In some distant place of the ninja world, while searching for the ruins of the 'Land of Ancestors,' Uchiha Madara turned his head toward a certain direction. His eyes brimmed with shock and disbelief as he muttered, "What a joke? That kid's chakra suddenly surpassed mine and that of the Otsutsuki fellow… even Hashirama's… What's going on there? What happened?!"
A flood of doubts filled his mind. Madara was just about to use his Complete Body Susanoo to head toward Izayoi's location. But the next second, he abandoned that plan.
Considering Izayoi's current chakra strength, if his real body went over, there might be a major battle—and it could even attract an intervention by the Otsutsuki figure. Not knowing whether those two might form an alliance, Madara felt unsure if he could defeat them both together.
It wasn't yet the time for a direct clash of kings. Hence, Madara ordered the wood clone who was monitoring Black Zetsu to take Black Zetsu there and investigate.
…
"What a terrifying chakra—this is… Izayoi's chakra!"
In Amegakure, Nagato—who had transplanted new eyes and regained his sight—looked in the direction of the Land of Demons, murmuring, "Not only is there intensely powerful natural energy, there's also some special energy… What is that energy? It can reach us even from so far away, as if it were right next to us!"
"That chakra is more shocking than even the Tailed Beasts," Konan also said, looking astonished.
If Nagato and Konan were that shaken, the other members of Akatsuki need hardly be mentioned.
"So this is the true power of the rightful Wood Style user? Could the First Hokage's strength have been just as terrifying?" Sasori sighed. "First the moon was severed, now the Wood-Style ninja rises. I assumed this era would revolve around Nagato and Otsutsuki, yet it's evolved into this sort of scenario."
"H-holy—what scary chakra. It's like seeing Lord Jashin descend in person!" Even the dopey Hidan felt frightened by that worldwide shockwave of chakra. Staring at Kakuzu with wavering eyes, he demanded, "Kakuzu, you seriously fought the First Hokage once? How'd you survive that? Are you hiding your real power?"
"I really did fight Senju Hashirama, but his chakra wasn't anywhere near this terrifying," Kakuzu replied gravely, staring in the direction of the Land of Demons. "Such a chakra surpasses even a Tailed Beast. If that kid from Konoha only graduated from the academy two years ago, yet already wields a power overshadowing Uchiha Madara, Otsutsuki, and even our leader… What secret is he hiding?"
…
"Hoho… Everyone in the ninja world sure underestimated you, Izayoi."
In the Land of Fields, Orochimaru's face showed shock and excitement as he muttered, "Able to remain unruffled before Uchiha Obito and the Akatsuki leader—someone so young who already wields super-spec battle strength… indeed you must know the world's truths and conceal unimaginable secrets!"
"Now that you've finally gained what you wanted, have you decided to join those two on their stage?"
…
"You've gotta be kidding me?!"
In Kirigakure of the Land of Water, Mizukage Mei Terumi stood atop the Mizukage Building, trembling as she eyed the Land of Demons in the distance. Her voice quavered, "We're so far from the ninja continent, yet that chakra wave actually reached us this intensely? If it were on the mainland, how terrifying must it be?"
She then murmured anxiously, "Izayoi… what's happened to you?"
Her reaction spread to Kirigakure's other ninjas as well. Everyone was astir.
At this point, even though Izayoi hadn't shown his face nor engaged in some dramatic fight, he was once again the center of the world's attention—its focal point.
Meanwhile, somewhere else, a figure named Otsutsuki Isshiki—who usually remained far from the ninja continent behind powerful barriers—lost his calm, gazing toward the Land of Demons with a murmur, "Such potent natural energy… akin to that woman Kaguya's child, but somewhat different. That chakra aura isn't the Rinnegan wielder Uchiha Madara, nor the one on the moon… so is there yet another unknown powerhouse in the ninja world?"
As though recalling something, Isshiki's expression darkened. "So after a thousand years, this sort of power has resurfaced. Seems I must go back into hiding. Damn it all!"
…
"This… This is Hagoromo's power?!"
Black Zetsu—merged with Uchiha Madara's wood clone—also stared in the direction of the Land of Demons, mind roiling like a storm.
If not for fear of Madara noticing, Black Zetsu's face would be openly warped in shock and disbelief.
Impossible. The Six Paths Sage Mode shouldn't be obtainable without the Sage's body. Besides Hagoromo himself, only Asura's reincarnation might manage it.
And for a thousand years, only Asura's lineage had fleetingly gained that power. Even the far more gifted Senju Hashirama never managed it.
Given how Asura and Indra's chakra reincarnated each generation, Black Zetsu would sense it if Izayoi were Asura's incarnation. But he was absolutely certain: Izayoi carried none of Asura's chakra. The same went for Nagato. No doubt this era's Asura Reincarnation was that Nine-Tails Jinchūriki kid, not some third party.
Therefore, for a non-Asura host to achieve the Six Paths Sage Mode was unthinkable. That set Black Zetsu trembling.
He had dreaded a scenario like this: Rinnegan, Tenseigan, and now a Six Paths Sage Mode all at once, each in different hosts. That overshadowed even Hashirama and Madara's generation.
If the three were to clash in earnest, they could break the entire continent apart.
At that moment, something occurred that nearly turned Black Zetsu's face pale: Madara's wood clone suddenly formed Complete Body Susanoo, shooting into the sky and heading straight for Izayoi's location in the Land of Demons.
"Lord Madara, you're going to fight Konoha's Wood-Style user?" Black Zetsu hastily tried to dissuade him. "We're just a wood clone plus my manifested will. We can't match Izayoi; better to send White Zetsu for recon."
"No worries. I simply want a closer look at that brat," Madara said with a faint grin. "You're immortal, right? Even if you get sealed, my real body can recreate you with Yin–Yang Release. So what's there to fear?"
"Haha… right, of course." Black Zetsu forced a laugh, inwardly cursing.
You arrogant fool. Once you're killed, you won't get a second chance to watch me.
…
Completely unaware that his entry into Six Paths Sage Mode had shaken the world, Izayoi was in a subtle mental state at that very moment.
He stared down at the violently roiling magma below, about to erupt. Izayoi merely pressed a foot upon the ground, sending Yin–Yang chakra into the depths. Immediately, the raging volcano calmed like a lion soothed by a gentle hand.
Even the cracks in the rock sealed themselves, returning to how they had been.
Neither Hinata—her Byakugan active—nor the exhausted Shion, still conscious in Hinata's arms, perceived this. Only Izayoi, though no longer in Tenseigan mode, clearly saw such phenomena.
If merging his Sage chakra with priestess powers had set off a wave that startled the entire world, then now that he fully integrated with nature, he gave off the sense of a normal person.
Those lacking next-level sensory or dojutsu couldn't possibly detect his strength.
"Is this… Six Paths Sage Mode?"
Izayoi lifted his hands, murmuring internally, "It's completely different from Tenseigan Chakra Mode. The gap is enormous!"
The Tenseigan Chakra Mode so far offered just one ability: effectively controlling the Chakra Orbs. Without that mode, he could still create them, only far less numerous. Meanwhile, the Tenseigan Chakra Mode constantly drained chakra, yielding just that single power.
But the gains from Six Paths Sage Mode were enormous.
In the original story, Naruto's Six Paths Sage Mode was described as "the divine realm bequeathed by the progenitor of ninjas, bestowing a union with all existence, controlling all creation," a direct leap to a six-path level.
Even a super-Kage-level Obito or Madara could easily be outmatched by a newcomer to that level. The difference was an entire dimension in scale.
This was the power of a god, in a realm known as the six-path tier. Why was Izayoi so sure? Because upon achieving it, he heard the system's prompt.
He summoned the personal status panel, seeing his [Sage Body (Red)] had changed in a mysterious way.
[Sage Body (Red)(Color)]
He had seen such dual-color text once before and understood what it meant.
"I have an idea I want to test," Izayoi whispered.
Suddenly, brilliant aqua-blue chakra flared around him, forming Tenseigan Chakra Mode.
A pair of dragon horns sprouted from his forehead, surprising Shion to no end. Even more incredibly, Izayoi's Tenseigan had shifted from pale-blue-and-white to gold. He himself didn't notice yet.
Layering Tenseigan's far-sight upon his newly mastered Six Paths Sage Mode, Izayoi's "god's view" enveloped the entire ninja world and even beyond. Then, combining advanced chakra x-ray, he saw far more detail than ever.
Until now, he saw mainly the strengths and distributions of chakra. Now, he saw all manner of energy currents: life energy, chakra flux, and animal signatures… It was as though the entire world's composition lay open to him.
Except for Black Zetsu, everything else—White Zetsu's slugs, for instance—was exposed.
He felt no particular delight in "countering" the slug technique. He felt like a deity overlooking creation.
After scanning the entire world, his attention was fixed on one specific island.
Izayoi lightly patted Hinata's shoulder to share chakra, forging a mental link to pass instructions within that shared spiritual space.
Physically, his Tenseigan Chakra Mode teleported Hinata and Shion back to Konoha's house.
The next moment, Izayoi exited Tenseigan Chakra Mode and returned his eyes to normal, vanishing from the volcanic chamber.
Losing Six Paths Sage Mode, he would rely on Tenseigan if Otsutsuki Isshiki was around. He didn't want to be outmaneuvered.
Yet Izayoi did not realize that after he left, a disembodied spirit emerged, silently watching him vanish.
The spirit wore white robes, a pair of horns on his forehead, short coffee-brown hair unlike his mother's or brother's white. He had nine swirling black orbs behind him, sporting six black tomoe across the chest and a swirl crest on his back.
This was Kaguya's elder son, founder of ninshū, revered by every ninja as a "god among them," the Sage of Six Paths: Otsutsuki Hagoromo.
Unlike Otsutsuki Hamura, who had marveled with praise, Hagoromo's quiet form remained expressionless. In the Rinnegan's reflection, there was no sign of shock or hostility, only a placid calm like a still lake.
No one knew the true thoughts of the genuine "god of ninjas."
If Izayoi had been able to see him, he'd be more thrilled than alarmed. If Hagoromo only appeared after Izayoi's Six Paths Mode ended, that implied even the Six Paths Sage himself couldn't hide before another being at that same level.
With his mystery undone—like a boss monster revealing its health bar—a god was no longer intangible. If the player had a kill-anything cheat, even a deity could be one-shot.
~~~
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