Kai nodded, offering no denial. He possessed the purest Asura bloodline—a fact the Sage of Six Paths would surely sense—while the Tenseigan and Mangekyō Sharingan in his eyes were irrefutable proof.
There was no point in hiding it. Admitting the truth could only bring him closer to the Sage of Six Paths—why not take the opportunity?
Seeing Kai acknowledge it, the Sage of Six Paths smiled for the first time in a thousand years. Warmth flickered in his eyes. After an eternity of solitude, he finally met someone—and not just anyone, but his own descendant. How could he not feel joy?
The Sage's voice was gentle as he asked, "Descendant of Hamura and myself, what brings you to seek me out?"
Kai didn't waste words. He met the Sage's gaze and spoke plainly: "The Demonic Statue of the Outer Path has already been summoned from the moon. Ōtsutsuki Kaguya is on the verge of resurrection."
"Mother!?" The Sage of Six Paths stared at Kai in shock. "How do you know my mother's name?"
A thousand years ago, to prevent anyone from reviving Ōtsutsuki Kaguya after his death, the Sage and his brother, Ōtsutsuki Hamura, had erased all traces of her from the ninja world. Otherwise, with Kaguya's power, it would be impossible for there to be no record of her at all.
But Kai had already prepared for this question. He pointed to his own eyes. "Before awakening my Tenseigan, I once traveled to the Ōtsutsuki clan's original homeland. The chakra left behind by Elder Hamura told me everything."
Compared to the Sage, Hamura was ultimately a step below. Both were Six Paths-level beings, but the Sage could preserve his soul, while Hamura could only leave behind a trace of chakra. The difference was clear.
In any case, Hamura was long gone—his chakra had vanished from the world. Pinning the revelation on him, the Sage had no way to verify it.
"Hamura…" The Sage's expression dimmed with a touch of sorrow.
Still, the confusion in his eyes remained. He pressed further: "Even Hamura couldn't have known about Mother's resurrection. How did you learn of this?"
Kai met his gaze and answered slowly, "Besides you and Elder Hamura, Ōtsutsuki Kaguya had a third child."
That casual statement struck the Sage of Six Paths like a bolt of lightning.
"Impossible! How could Mother have a third child?!" the Sage cried, his eyes locked on Kai, demanding an explanation.
"Rather than a third child, it's more accurate to say she split off a fragment of her own consciousness," Kai explained. "When you and Elder Hamura sealed Kaguya, in the final moments, she severed a part of herself…"
Kai spun a tale, half-truth and half-lie, weaving together what he knew of Naruto's hidden history.
He didn't believe the Sage had truly watched over the ninja world for a thousand years. If he had, how could he have missed Black Zetsu's endless manipulations, pitting Indra's and Asura's reincarnations against each other time and again?
Though the Sage was reluctant to believe Kai's story, he couldn't refute it. He'd just sensed the moon's aura himself—the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path had indeed vanished.
"You… why have you come to find me?" the Sage asked, his tone calm but wary.
He wasn't a fool. For someone to go to such lengths to reach him—and to reveal so many secrets—there had to be an ulterior motive.
Kai didn't answer with words. Instead, the overwhelming presence of a peak Super Kage-level shinobi erupted from him, filling the space with a surging, vibrant life force.
"Yang Release?!" Surprise flashed in the Sage's eyes, but then understanding dawned. "You've come to seek the means to awaken Yin Release, haven't you?"
"Yes." Kai nodded, admitting it without hesitation.
He'd struggled through countless hardships to summon the Death God and reach this world of the dead—all for the Sage of Six Paths' Yin Release.
Yin Release—the ultimate expression of spiritual power!
If Yang Release could breathe life into form, then Yin Release was the art of conjuring form from nothingness!
Combined, they became Yin-Yang Release—the power to create all things from nothing and bestow them with life.
The Sage of Six Paths had once used this very technique to create everything in the ninja world.
Truth-Seeking Orbs were a high-level application of Yin-Yang Release. In Tenseigan chakra mode, Kai could wield them as weapons; both the Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion and the Silver Wheel Reincarnation Explosion were techniques born of the orbs.
But that was the limit of Kai's mastery—he couldn't alter the orbs' forms at all.
In other words, the Tenseigan granted him the right to use Truth-Seeking Orbs, but not to control them.
This was the final barrier between Kai and the true Six Paths level. Without mastery over Yin-Yang and the Five Elements, no matter how overwhelming his power—even if he could fight Six Paths-level beings—he would never truly be their equal.
The Sage's Rinnegan spun, the concentric rings tightening as if trying to pierce straight through Kai's mind.
At last, the Sage of Six Paths spoke, his voice slow and grave: "I can grant you the power of Yin Release. But how can you assure me that, once you've mastered Yin-Yang Release, you won't bring disaster to the ninja world?"
No one understood the might of the Tenseigan better than the Sage. And Kai also possessed the Mangekyō Sharingan, meaning he was capable of awakening the Rinnegan as well. Tenseigan plus Rinnegan—even the Sage himself, at full strength, couldn't guarantee victory. And now, he was only a lingering soul.
If Kai ever turned his power against the world, it would spell utter catastrophe.
"Ōtsutsuki Kaguya is about to be resurrected. You, more than anyone, should know what that means," Kai replied coolly, locking eyes with the Sage. "You don't have a choice."
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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