No matter what, Sandai Tsuchikata was a true sage, and he knew the Sage of Six Paths better than anyone.
And now, opening his eyes to see the Sage of Six Paths standing right in front of him—who wouldn't be stunned?
"..."
"So… it's real?"
Sandai Tsuchikata stared at the old man before him. The Sage of Six Paths looked completely different from normal people, the difference was too obvious.
After all, the Otsutsuki clan already looked different from the people of the ninja world, so the Sage's appearance made sense.
"It's fake. This is just one of my clones."
The Sage of Six Paths smiled as he spoke, finding it amusing to scare the younger generation a little.
"So that means… you're not dead?"
There was a serious look on Sandai Tsuchikata's face. Although the person in front of him was the Sage of Six Paths, his status among sages was not the same as his status among ninjas.
For ninjas, the Sage of Six Paths was a respected founder. But for sages, he was simply the strongest among them, and some of the things he had done weren't exactly viewed well.
Of course, sages also had different opinions among themselves. If every sage truly opposed him, the contract between them and the Sage would have been broken long ago.
Even so, in this situation, Sandai Tsuchikata didn't feel much respect for him.
"How could I die? I'm still the strongest sage in the ninja world. If I can make sure your bloodline is passed down safely, how could my own power possibly weaken?"
The Sage of Six Paths found it strange—wasn't it normal for him to be alive?
And not just because he was the strongest sage.
Even with just half the Otsutsuki bloodline in his body, as long as nothing went terribly wrong, he would be fine.
The Otsutsuki clan's long lifespan allowed him to live on. The only reason he aged was because his Otsutsuki blood wasn't pure enough.
Another reason was that he no longer had the blessing of the Otsutsuki will, which made him age faster.
But the Sage of Six Paths was never as extreme as Jigen. Jigen had crushed the Otsutsuki will along with the wills of several Otsutsuki elders, which basically meant denying his original path from the root.
He awakened Conqueror's Haki because of it, but his body also lost all traits of the Otsutsuki clan.
Before that, the "Otsutsuki Isshiki" inside Jigen had an absurdly long life. Aside from Otsutsuki Isshiki, another example was Kaguya.
Looking at their lifespans compared to his own, it was obvious.
The Sage of Six Paths die? Impossible.
This man created the entire reincarnation cycle of the ninja world. As long as that system didn't collapse, dying would be difficult for him.
Things like "lifespan" simply couldn't bind him.
His younger brother, Otsutsuki Hamura, truly died, but that was more of an accident.
"I see… so you really are on a completely different level from us normal sages, hahaha."
Hearing the Sage's words, Sandai Tsuchikata scratched his head with an awkward laugh.
In front of the Sage of Six Paths, sages like them lost that air of superiority and became much more down-to-earth.
"But right now, the sages of the Earthly Sage Kingdom are getting ready to break the contract. You're not here because of that, are you?"
Sandai Tsuchikata asked curiously. He wasn't from the Earthly Sage Kingdom, but he knew well what they were up to.
"That's not it…"
As he said this, a hint of embarrassment appeared on the Sage's face.
He couldn't exactly say it was because someone had wrecked his house and he was still hiding around, packing his things.
"The cycle of reincarnation in the ninja world is already on the verge of collapsing.
The original cycle relied on the power of the Dragon Vein. The will of the ninja world would constantly record everything in this world, and even after a person died, the Dragon Vein deep within the world still kept records of everything that had happened."
"As long as you draw out the power from the Dragon Vein, you can create this kind of reincarnation."
Rikudou Sennin explained.
At that point, the Third Tsuchikage understood. So it was because the Dragon Vein had erupted, causing changes in the original rules of the ninja world?
Hmm… so the principle of reincarnation was actually this simple?
Well, even if it sounds simple, probably only Rikudou Sennin could actually pull it off.
Others might be able to make contact with the will of the world, but either they didn't have the skill, or they could only make contact without being able to use it properly.
The principle of the ninja world's reincarnation was that the Dragon Vein deep in the world was the true data storage, constantly recording everything happening on the surface.
As long as something had happened, it would be recorded. Rikudou Sennin used this as the base to build the reincarnation system.
If the surface data was erased, he would copy a version from the inside and paste it back to the surface.
But Rikudou Sennin didn't dare to mess around too much, so he didn't just do a full copy-paste. He only brought back the most important parts.
Otherwise, doing it directly would come with a price.
Well, in fact, Tobirama's "Edo Tensei" was about the same—except the price was paid by someone else.
As for what happened to those sacrificed? Who would care?
"You don't care about what the Earthly Sage Kingdom is doing?"
"To me, it's nothing worth worrying about, hahaha!"
"Besides, seeing them actually succeed is a good thing. The price might be high, but no matter what you do, there's always a price to pay."
When Rikudou Sennin said this, his tone carried no hesitation in praising the Earthly Sage Kingdom.
You could say Genichi really used his own wits to create power far beyond what he could control.
And he even succeeded.
Though in Rikudou Sennin's eyes, there were still some flaws.
Genichi's method was to have more people share the cost, and everyone bore the same price.
But the sages got more benefits out of it.
You couldn't say the method was outright wrong, since the Earthly Sage Kingdom did leave a path for ordinary people to rise. But could you say it was right?
Look at the sages of the Earthly Sage Kingdom now—not a single one came from ordinary folk.
Even the new sages after the start of the new era were all born into noble families.
Yet the final price was borne by everyone. The risk tolerance of a sage and that of an ordinary person were on completely different levels.
If Rikudou Sennin were to do something like this, he would definitely shift the cost onto the world itself.
Rikudou Sennin's method was like "bank savings." I take the world's power and use it—after all, if it's just sitting there, I might as well put it to use for you. Isn't that the same?
His way directly pushed the risk onto the world itself. If trouble came later, it would be the world's own problem.
It's like many economic models: those running the economy never bear the risk themselves—otherwise, how would they make money?
They not only take your money to make a profit, but in the end, you're still the one who carries the risk.
That's why many such systems collapse easily—because if everyone plays the same game, once trust breaks down, everyone is doomed.
That's why there's an even stronger system in place to keep this model stable. You can play around with it, but if you mess it up, you'll die.
If you don't die, it could end up affecting me, and then we'll all die together.
This system hits right at one of the cores of human civilization, and it's extremely unstable. Every now and then it collapses, and other means have to be used to keep it steady.
As for Rikudou Sennin, he played it even harder.
You could say that guy was too smart for his own good, using the same tricks as an economic cycle to mess with this kind of thing.
In this world, he really was the strongest without a doubt.
But Rikudou Sennin had already broken the system long ago.
The reason is, he took the world's power for himself and didn't even pay any "interest."
A normal bank will at least give some interest if it's going to take everyone's money.
Even lying to people isn't supposed to be done like that!
But that's exactly what Rikudou Sennin did—he didn't give a single bit of interest.
Before the will of the world caught on, he kept doing it, until finally he was found out and the will of the world wanted to settle accounts with him.
By that time, Rikudou Sennin had already found a way out. He just closed up shop, ran away, and pretended to be dead.
"If you're so capable, go settle with yourself!"
As for a solution? Rikudou Sennin could only say—there isn't one at all.
The only way out was to wait for the Otsutsuki invasion. At that time, the cost would be pushed onto them, and he could come back out alive and kicking.
If Shanks ever found out about Rikudou Sennin's way of doing things, he might suspect the guy was a time traveler.
Because it really was a bit absurd.
"The cost, huh? If all it takes is paying a price to get power, that would be nice."
Sandai Tsuchikata looked at the scars on his body. They still seemed to ache faintly, and the memory of that fight with Nagato and Itachi came rushing back to him.
His strength still wasn't enough.
If he had been at his peak, he might have been able to stop one of them, but only stop them, nothing more.
Thinking of this, Sandai Tsuchikata glanced deliberately at Rikudou Sennin. Did Rikudou Sennin really have no ill will toward the Earthly Sage Kingdom?
"I'm just curious about how Ashura and Indra are doing now.
And this so-called Revolutionary Army… looks like they've found their own path too."
"Looks like those two kids have caused you quite a bit of trouble."
Rikudou Sennin, seeing Nagato and Itachi's achievements, still felt a trace of satisfaction.
"Actually, it's not that bad. They're not that much trouble."
Sandai Tsuchikata didn't want to say too much in front of the old man, but truth be told, Nagato and Itachi weren't that big of a problem.
In the past, if those two had shown up, they really would have been a world-level problem.
But in this era, there are plenty of threats even bigger than Ashura and Indra.
"That's true. Shanks is from the Uzumaki clan, yet he's so strong."
"It's not just Shanks…"
"Yeah, Orochimaru's strength isn't bad either…"
"There are actually quite a few people stronger than them…"
Sandai Tsuchikata spoke bluntly.
"..."
"In the Uzumaki clan and the Uchiha clan, there aren't any left, right?"
"Uchiha Shisui was even stronger…"
But Sandai Tsuchikata kept pressing.
At this moment, veins almost popped on the Sage of Six Paths' forehead, but years of self-control kept him from getting angry.
He honestly didn't know—could someone this straightforward really avoid being used by others?
Then again, Sandai Tsuchikata had always been used by others. The only reason he was still alive was sheer luck.
"You really don't know how to adapt, kid."
"Enough. Let's drop it."
"Anyway, I've got nothing to do for a while. Just tag along and wander the ninja world with me. East Blue is actually a nice place."
The Sage waved his hand as he spoke. He said they were going to wander East Blue, but what he really wanted was to check on his two "sons."
Besides Ashura and Indra, he also needed to check on the tailed beasts.
Most of them were fine, but he always felt something was off about the Eight-Tails.
As for Sandai Tsuchikata, after hearing what the Sage said, he had no choice but to follow quietly.
There was nothing else he could do—the guy did save his life after all.
Meanwhile, at the Revolutionary Army headquarters.
Konan stared coldly at the White Zetsu in front of her, her killing intent completely unhidden.
The White Zetsu, left with only half a body, showed no fear. He was none other than the other half of Black Zetsu.
By now, Black Zetsu and Obito had already disappeared, successfully escaped. And the one to blame for everything was this White Zetsu.
"Tell me… why?"
Konan's voice was icy, her gaze like frost.
"Why? I guess… for freedom."
A twisted yet sorrowful smile appeared on White Zetsu's face.
"That guy knew from the start what would happen if we failed. He just didn't expect you to find out."
"The God Tree has devoured countless humans for thousands of years. The method he gave you wasn't to create real White Zetsu puppets, but ones… with self-awareness."
"Once the technique activates, every White Zetsu in the world will go out of control. That's the parting gift Black Zetsu left for you."
"And that… is exactly what I wanted too. From the moment I was born, my soul was trapped in this body.
I don't look like you, but… we don't want to become sacrifices for your devil fruit experiments."
White Zetsu spoke, and at that moment, it marked the birth of a new kind of life in the ninja world.
From now on, White Zetsu was beyond anyone's control.
"Black Zetsu knew he couldn't fight this world. So he set us free, made us something no one can control.
And that's what we wanted all along. White Zetsu will never be anyone's sacrifice."
He didn't care for Black Zetsu, and he didn't care for the Revolutionary Army either. This was just a deal—a deal between Black Zetsu and the White Zetsu.
"Damn it!!"
At this moment, Konan was truly angry.
Right now in the ninja world, how many White Zetsu are there?
You have to know, the method to make them is very simple. Pirates, the Revolutionary Army, and the Marines all have it.
Is it hundreds of thousands of White Zetsu, or millions… maybe even more?
This war is starting to look completely different.
White Zetsu… is about to start a revolution!!
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