The Pure Land. A world shaped entirely by the Sage of Six Paths, using the power inherited from his mother, Kaguya Ōtsutsuki.
After constructing this realm, Hagoromo connected it to the chakra of all living beings, turning it into the final resting place for shinobi souls after death. Yet within this tranquil dimension, the souls did not retain free will. That control belonged to the god of death native to this realm, Biraisaka. Though Hagoromo was nearly omnipotent, he was still bound by limitations.
In essence, the majority of souls residing in the Pure Land existed as empty vessels, their identities erased, functioning as extensions of Hagoromo's control. However, exceptions existed.
Aside from the Sage of Six Paths himself, there was one other who maintained consciousness and autonomy, his twin brother, Ōtsutsuki Hamura, the inheritor of their mother's bloodline and the bearer of the Tenseigan.
In terms of chakra, the twins stood nearly equal. Whether in dōjutsu, Yin-Yang Release, or hand-to-hand combat, their strength was evenly matched. Yet there was a subtle, deliberate difference, Hamura had never practiced Senjutsu, the art of channeling natural energy from the world itself.
With his innate power, Hamura could have mastered it easily. But he refrained, partly due to his calm and reserved nature, and partly because he had witnessed the division among Hagoromo's descendants. He chose instead to distance himself from any path that could lead to a similar fracture between him and his brother. And indeed, this decision proved wise.
After Hamura's death, his soul was welcomed into the Pure Land by Hagoromo, and for over a millennium, the two brothers co-governed this peaceful dimension without conflict. That quiet balance remained undisturbed for a thousand years, until one day, a soul unlike any other arrived.
Rasa, the Fourth Kazekage of Sunagakure.
Not only had Rasa escaped the influence of Edo Tensei, but he had done something even more astonishing, he had achieved a true resurrection. This immediately drew the attention of Hamura. He was no stranger to the technique known as Edo Tensei.
His brother possessed the Rinnegan, and with it, dominion over life and death. But in truth, neither Hagoromo nor the Second Hokage had created that technique.
The real inventor was their mother, Kaguya Ōtsutsuki.
Yes, Edo Tensei had been Kaguya's creation from the very beginning. She developed it with a singular purpose: to prepare for the day the Ōtsutsuki clan would inevitably arrive on this planet. It was also why she nurtured an army of White Zetsu.
Their true function had never been as mere foot soldiers, but as sacrifices for the Edo Tensei technique.
Only through White Zetsu could the technique summon shinobi at full power, a hundred percent strength, no dilution.
From the moment she descended to Earth, Kaguya anticipated the day her kin would come. She understood she could not face the Ōtsutsuki alone. White Zetsu alone would never suffice. So she laid the groundwork for a thousand years, breeding power, cultivating loyal subordinates, and raising her two sons as her ultimate weapons.
But being an Ōtsutsuki by nature, she could never truly trust anyone.
So she took drastic action, stealing a portion of divine power from the original god of this world, the Shinigami. She fused it with the Ōtsutsuki clan's reincarnative force, "Karma," and forged a death-defying summoning art, what would eventually be called Edo Tensei.
At the time, it had no name.
Kaguya never foresaw her own children turning against her, sealing her away before her preparations were complete. Her tools and designs were left behind, and in time, became the foundation of Hagoromo's Pure Land. As a result, no soul in the Pure Land should have been able to escape. No one should have slipped free of Hamura's gaze.
But someone had.
In all of Hamura's memory, only two individuals had ever shown the potential to defy the Pure Land: Indra and Asura, Hagoromo's own children, who carried his divine legacy. Yet this soul, Rasa, bore no connection to either of them.
And so, from the moment of his arrival, both Hamura and Hagoromo turned their attention fully upon this anomaly.
However, even though Hagoromo and Hamura were the highest-level beings in the Pure Land, they were far from omniscient. And the strange force radiating from Rasa's soul, something entirely foreign to chakra, made direct observation impossible. They couldn't look at him through their own eyes, only through borrowed perspectives, relying on indirect glimpses and residual impressions.
Initially, their plan was to remain watchful, cautious. Rasa might have been unusual, but the brothers still believed this world remained under their control. Any hasty interference might provoke unintended consequences, including something far worse. It could alert the hidden agents of the Ōtsutsuki clan who still lingered in this dimension, watching, waiting. That was the last thing the brothers wanted. Exposure would be disastrous.
But this time, Rasa's actions pierced their calm.
Because his target had shifted, he was preparing to claim the chakra of the Eight-Tails and the Nine-Tails.
Even if it wasn't the full Beasts, even if he only sought fragments of their chakra, that alone was enough to provoke deep unease in both brothers. The Eight-Tails they could tolerate. Its chakra was powerful, but not critical. The Nine-Tails, however, was a different matter entirely.
It was ironic. Among the nine Tailed Beasts, the Nine-Tails was the only one that lacked any distinctive ability. It had no special release style, no exotic powers unique to it. And that, paradoxically, made it the most important. Its true value lay in something else, something planted there intentionally.
Hagoromo had imbued the Nine-Tails with an extraordinary life force.
It was this power that he had reserved for the descendants of Asura, the key to awakening the Sage's Body.
Although Hagoromo's two sons had inherited incredible powers, Indra receiving his dōjutsu and Asura his body, it was exceedingly rare for descendants to inherit those gifts in their complete form. Just as Hagoromo himself once lamented, even his sons had failed to fully replicate his own abilities.
Indra's Rinnegan had never reached its father's heights.
Asura's physique fell short of Hagoromo's divine endurance and vitality.
In truth, two shinobi born many centuries later came closer to embodying Hagoromo's power than either of his sons, Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju.
Especially Hashirama.
Hashirama had never relied on the Nine-Tails. He walked an entirely different path. Yet through sheer natural power, he awakened abilities nearly equal to a complete Sage's Body. He was a true anomaly, a being that tilted the balance.
For over a thousand years, the cycle of conflict between the descendants of Indra and Asura had never ceased. The side of the Eye always held the upper hand, the Uchiha lineage crushing opposition through their overwhelming visual prowess, until the rise of the Senju. Until the birth of a single boy: Hashirama Senju.
For the first time, Asura's lineage gained the advantage.
So now, watching Rasa target the Nine-Tails, the very anchor of the Sage's Body, both brothers found it nearly impossible to stay their hands. They were on the verge of intervening directly. How dare this mortal Kazekage reach for such a critical power?
But just before they could act, Rasa did something that made them hesitate.
He revealed knowledge that, to the brothers' understanding, only they should have known.
Secrets not passed down, not recorded, truths buried in time, lost to all but those who had shaped the shinobi world itself. And yet, Rasa spoke of them with accuracy.
That stopped them cold.
Because they knew beyond doubt: what Rasa said was true.
And more importantly, it revealed something deeper, that despite their differences, despite the vast divide between the living and the dead, between mortals and gods, there remained a common ground.
They shared a single, undeniable enemy.
The Ōtsutsuki clan.
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(AN: Unfortunately, the OG author ended this work here. I was disappointed and wanted to continue, but I neither had the time nor the imagination for how to proceed. So, that's it, I guess. God bless you all and thanks for supporting me till now.)