The smile on Rikudou Sennin's face didn't fade at all. This era was, after all, different. It was nothing like what he had first imagined, but…
It had changed, and the change was for the better.
"The ninja world really is something else."
Rikudou Sennin sighed in admiration.
Although he hadn't had much contact with Shanks, he had already seen clearly everything Shanks had done.
Shanks was strong enough to become the one and only ruler of the ninja world.
But reality is often not like that. True masters, once they reach that height, only find it boring and dull.
It's like beating a game completely—once you've cleared it, the fun is gone.
And there's another, even more important reason: people who only aim to become strong for the sake of being strong can never truly be the strongest.
That's what "virtue not matching one's position" really means.
In Rikudou Sennin's eyes, Shanks' spirit was unquestionable. From top to bottom, he treated everyone in the ninja world the same way.
That's what a true master would do.
His strength didn't need anyone else to prove it, and as for showing off or humiliating others—completely unnecessary.
Not just Shanks—even the sages wouldn't waste their time on that.
I've trained in secret, studied forbidden arts for hundreds of years, and finally become a top sage, seeking the ultimate truth of life—only for you to ask me to play some silly "show-off and slap-face" drama?
You'd have to be brainless to do something like that. And if you really were brainless, you'd never have such great power in the first place.
In the environment of the ninja world, luck alone can't save you. If you don't have the brains for it, the only path ahead is death.
That's why Shanks could stand quietly in the background—because he was strong enough.
Just like Rikudou Sennin himself, who had once been the same way.
No matter what genius shows up in the ninja world, I am already the ceiling. No matter how strong you get, you won't surpass me.
Once you reach that level, naturally, your ambitions become much greater.
"In that sense, Shanks' spirit is far above mine.
At first, he probably didn't see what was wrong with the ninja world, but even then, he managed to find his own path."
Rikudou Sennin praised him as he looked at Shanks' picture on the bounty poster, growing more and more satisfied the longer he looked.
As for himself, Rikudou Sennin could only admit that in some areas, he was far inferior to Shanks.
The reason he left behind hidden measures for the ninja world in the first place was that he had already reached the "sage" level of the Otsutsuki and had gained the recognition of the Otsutsuki's will.
But who was Rikudou Sennin? The greatest genius in the ninja world. And what were they to him?
So Rikudou Sennin simply ignored that will. He didn't dare to provoke it either—if it brought trouble, that would be bad.
Still, it was at that time that he realized there were threats beyond the ninja world, and he began making plans that would last for thousands of years.
It was under this kind of huge "conflict" that the Sage of Six Paths broke through once again.
But Shanks was completely different.
Looking at Shanks, he didn't even have chakra, let alone the ability to see the threat of the Otsutsuki clan.
And yet, without being able to see any outside threat, Shanks somehow still managed to choose the best path.
From the looks of it now, Shanks didn't get on this path just by luck. The fact that he could walk it so smoothly meant his own wisdom was also incredibly strong.
But it was his way of doing things…
"How in the world did this guy train? The path of the ninja world is nothing like this. Did you just force your way into creating your own messed-up style?"
The Sage of Six Paths tucked the wanted poster into his robe, his face shifting between approval and doubt.
He understood the ninja world too well, to the point that he just couldn't figure out how Shanks had trained.
Forget ordinary people — even if it were him, the Sage of Six Paths himself, he wouldn't have been able to carve out such a path.
From that point of view, Shanks was indeed strong… but he really looked like a madman.
If the way Shanks had entered the depths of the Dragon Vein before had already seemed absurd to the Sage of Six Paths — like someone breaking the door off to get in — then now, it felt just as absurd.
Shanks' situation was like this:
He's already in the exam room, the test paper gets handed out, and when he looks at it, he realizes he doesn't know a single question.
So, right there on the spot, Shanks takes out another test paper of his own and starts writing. And when he turns it in… nobody even notices something's wrong.
That was what the Sage of Six Paths found absurd.
But thinking about it, that really was what Shanks had done at the start.
He hadn't even realized he'd walked into the wrong exam room. And what's more, he'd brought his own test paper — one from the classroom next door — and just started scribbling away.
And those answers? Were they right or wrong?
Does it even matter? Just because I'm in the liberal arts class, does that mean I can't do the science class test paper?
No problem at all — as long as the answers were correct.
"And then there's the heir of Ryuchi Cave… Orochimaru, huh? People from Ryuchi Cave are always a bit troublesome. If you can find the door I left behind, it's only a matter of time before you figure out how to open it.
What a shame…"
Looking at Orochimaru's wanted poster, the Sage of Six Paths shook his head again.
Orochimaru's talent and potential were clear to him at a glance.
Even without any inherited bloodline, top-level fighters don't really care about that sort of thing.
So-called "powerful bloodlines" aren't strong because of the bloodline itself, but because… the people carrying them were strong to begin with.
The bloodlines of the Uchiha and Senju clans can all be traced back to him, the Sage of Six Paths.
But can you say that a monster like Shanks was strong because of the Sage of Six Paths' blood? Not at all.
For normal strong fighters, bloodlines might be an advantage, but for world-class fighters, bloodlines don't really matter.
The Otsutsuki clan has so many members — how many of them are like the Sage of Six Paths?
In the Sage of Six Paths' own line over thousands of years, how many have been like Shanks?
That's why Orochimaru had truly caught his attention.
"What a shame he got led astray by that Shanks.
He'd already found the door… and then went and ripped it right off."
Rikudou Sennin shook his head. Shanks really was causing a lot of trouble.
Ever since waking up, Rikudou Sennin had been full of curiosity about this world.
Of course, the one outside now was only one of Rikudou Sennin's clones. His real body was still hidden deep within the world.
With the world's will in such an irritable state right now, if Rikudou Sennin went out himself, he would only get attacked. Besides, after seeing Shanks' presence, Rikudou Sennin had no choice but to tidy up some of his earlier arrangements.
Otherwise, with the way Shanks did things, much of what he had built before would probably collapse.
At night, Rikudou Sennin, still reading a newspaper from the ninja world, lifted his head and looked toward the sea.
He stretched out his finger toward the water, and in the direction he pointed, the waves calmed. A layer of senjutsu chakra covered the seawater, and under its effect, a "corpse" drifted toward Rikudou Sennin with the tide.
As the water receded, Rikudou Sennin saw the person in front of him still clinging to life.
"Hm? The aura of Ashura and Indra? Why does it feel… a bit strange?"
He injected the rest of his senjutsu chakra into the person's body, then continued reading the newspaper under the light.
That "light" was actually made from chakra as well.
At Rikudou Sennin's level, chakra was infinite. It might look like he was using a lot, but in truth, it was all borrowed from the world itself.
And here too, it was only one of his clones.
Of course, when it came to Ashura and Indra, Rikudou Sennin kept the matter in mind.
He wasn't overly concerned, but he did want to see what was going on.
As for the ninjutsu of the ninja world today, Rikudou Sennin was also curious.
Many of the ninja world's jutsu were things he had created through senjutsu research.
The clearest example was the clone technique, which had completely separated itself from senjutsu.
Sages often used clones to study things—one person could think about many things at once, and the same applied to training.
Of course, using clones for training only increased the speed of progress. It couldn't raise one's limits.
From this point of view, when Naruto used clones to train, it could be said that he wasn't just training ninjutsu—he was essentially training as a sage.
Walking the path of a ninja but using a true cultivation method.
Even if this technique appeared in a traditional cultivation story, it would still fit perfectly—it was a real external incarnation.
And Rikudou Sennin's clones had no realm restrictions. The only difference was that they were more fragile than his real body and could handle less power.
There was no gap in realm—only in the level of strength they could bring out.
"It's a pity that, so far, no one in Ninshū has managed to walk that path.
It seems the restrictions placed on Ninshū by the ninja clans are indeed very heavy."
After looking through everything, Rikudou Sennin didn't find anything related to Ninshū.
But that couldn't be helped. When he made his arrangements back then, he had already considered that the key to keeping such a legacy alive in the ninja world was bloodline and lineage.
Not just ninjas—sages were the same.
That kind of stability was extremely strong, but being too stable wasn't always a good thing.
Ninshū was built on "bonds," or in modern words, a response of wills.
Through that method, more power could be gathered together, forming an even greater force—sometimes even creating an environment shaped like a "small world."
But the ninja clans' rigid traditions had put a shell around that "response of wills," making it very hard to achieve.
"However… in that regard, Shanks should have already managed it."
"Too bad. Just having his will answered isn't enough. Still, this guy's already strong enough. If he had also gone to the very peak of the Ninja Clan's path, I might as well be dead," Rikudou Sennin muttered to himself again. Shanks' will was outrageous.
What was even more outrageous was that Shanks' terrifying will could actually be answered.
Normally, something like this would never happen because the gap between the two sides was too huge.
But for someone abnormal, Rikudou Sennin chose to accept it. It might look abnormal, but if it was Shanks, then it was just how things were.
The pity was, Shanks no longer had the ability to use chakra. This guy didn't just carve out a new path in the ninja world—he cut off his way back completely.
Right now, the ninja who have eaten Devil Fruits in the ninja world all still have some "chakra" left in their bodies, but they can't use it.
That's because no one can fully refine chakra and feed it back into their own body.
Only someone like Shanks, who would dare punch a hole straight into the will of the world, could pull something like that off.
What? I'm not allowed to do that? I did something wrong? Impossible. By One Piece logic, I didn't do anything wrong.
Then it must not be my fault!
After hitting the will of the world like that, Shanks also hit his own chakra while he was at it.
Even so, Shanks can now walk on water.
The crazy thing about his Conqueror's Haki is that it can cause physical damage.
Under that kind of Conqueror's Haki, Shanks can squeeze seawater into something solid, and in theory, he could even turn it into ice.
But Shanks didn't do that—it was too hard.
This is also why people still suspect he ate a Devil Fruit. The sages are too sensitive to chakra, and Shanks having none at all is abnormal.
After all, he's from the Uzumaki clan, so he should have been born with chakra. How could he not have any? Even if it was reabsorbed, it shouldn't be to this extent.
In the end, a bunch of normal people ran into a total madman—and Rikudou Sennin was no exception.
If they learned the truth, it would probably break them a little.
Luckily, Shanks still cared about his reputation, so he'd never tell anyone about it in his whole life.
…
The night slowly passed. Rikudou Sennin watched the sun rise and put away the things in his hands.
The person next to him had now recovered.
That person was Sandai Tsuchikata, who had fallen into the sea after being beaten half to death by Itachi and eventually drifted here.
If he hadn't run into Rikudou Sennin, he would have been dead for sure. Aside from Rikudou Sennin and the Slug Sage, no one could have saved him.
It was hard to say whether Sandai Tsuchikata was lucky or unlucky. For the past few months, he'd either been getting beaten or recovering from wounds. Before he even healed, he'd be beaten half to death again…
But now, as his life force slowly steadied, Sandai Tsuchikata opened his eyes.
He reached out his hand, and his nearly broken arms were now fully healed.
"You're awake?"
Hearing the voice, Sandai Tsuchikata moved his hand aside to show his face.
The moment he saw Rikudou Sennin—
He quietly closed his eyes again, and tears ran down the sides of his face.
It's over. I must really be dead. What a bitter way to go…
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