Boruto, who had long been fighting on the front lines, was no longer the pampered son of the Hokage he once was. The brutal, endless combat had tempered him.
And after each battle, he would fall into a dream—where he received the power and inheritance of the Sage of Six Paths.
Yes, the Sage of Six Paths had also reawakened after absorbing the fruits of the Fourth Great Ninja War. Since Boruto had not only been the main force in that war but also bore his bloodline, the Sage naturally chose to bestow his power upon him.
The Six Paths Sage Mode was a brand-new power that Boruto gradually came to comprehend within his dreams.
As a type of Sage Mode, not only could it be activated instantly, but it was also fused with the power of the Breathing Art of the Sage Path, allowing Boruto to freely draw upon natural energy from the world around him to attack, or to condense it into complex techniques without needing to pre-absorb it into his body.
In addition, it also granted him enhancements from other Sage Modes, including powerful taijutsu and ninjutsu support, as well as dual-perception abilities—visual and bodily awareness!
This time, the Sage of Six Paths didn't forcibly inject pure Yin or Yang Power into Boruto to make him grow unnaturally.
Instead, he used dreams to gradually help Boruto absorb and learn, so that Boruto could wield both powers as effortlessly as moving his own limbs.
Eventually, Boruto even learned to evolve both forces independently—such that even without the Yin-Yang Power of the Six Paths, his combat ability would remain completely unaffected!
It could be said that the current Boruto, once he entered Six Paths Mode, was even stronger than the combined might of Naruto and Sasuke when they fought against Six Paths Madara!
And he still had room to grow. As he continued to explore this mode, he would surely draw closer to the Sage of Six Paths himself…
The reasons for this were twofold: first, the Sage of Six Paths had regained a physical body and greatly enhanced his own strength, allowing him to break through previous limitations and pass on his evolved training methods to Boruto.
Second, the current situation Boruto faced was not as dire as what Naruto and Sasuke once faced with Six Paths Madara.
After all, Boruto was only up against a group of servants who had received fragments of Ōtsutsuki power—not someone like Madara, who had fully inherited the Ōtsutsuki might.
That's why helping Boruto grow steadily, solidify his foundation, and eventually step into the divine realm to unlock the true potential of his Jogan was far more critical.
Perhaps in the not-so-distant future, when the prophesied Ōtsutsuki god arrives—foretold by the Great Toad Sage—and during the even more terrifying event known as the "Great Cataclysm," Boruto might be the one to win a sliver of hope for both himself and the shinobi world.
...
The so-called "Great Cataclysm" was a recent prophecy from the Great Toad Sage.
He exhausted all his strength to divine the shinobi world's future—and saw a god of the Ōtsutsuki Clan leading a fleet toward their world.
That deity, named Ōtsutsuki Ryūshiki, was unimaginably powerful, like a gigantic mechanical star enshrined at the heart of the fleet.
Even worse—Ryūshiki noticed the Great Toad Sage's attempt to spy on him. As a result, he developed even more interest in the shinobi world… and the desire to destroy it.
And that wasn't even the most terrifying part.
The Great Toad Sage foresaw that, though Ryūshiki was powerful, if the shinobi world united all its strength, it might still have a chance to resist him.
What truly drove him to despair was the vision that came next: the descent of even more Ōtsutsuki deities.
The prophecy ended there.
A formless, invisible hand cut off all futures of the shinobi world!
Unknowable. Unfathomable. Unthinkable.
Every Sage in the shinobi world, including Uchiha Kirin, sent Limbo clones to attend the meeting where this dire prophecy was shared.
What awaited the future of the shinobi world—what awaited their future—no one could say.
Only Uchiha Kirin recalled the time during his space-time cultivation journey when he had seen that rotting giant eagle... Could it be the same entity as the colossal hand witnessed by the Great Toad Sage?
That creature had nearly shattered his system, a horrifying presence that made him afraid to ever return to the Dragon Vein's space-time realm...
So what was that thing?
Uchiha Kirin had some speculation in his heart, but even now—after mastering the flow of space-time through his breathing—he still lacked the confidence to peek again, let alone fight back against it.
All he could do was continue building strength, leveraging the system to accumulate power beyond this world...
Then escape this inexplicable place once and for all, and free himself from the fate the system had thrown him into.
...
Unfortunately, it seemed the Great Toad Sage saw something he was never meant to see.
Shortly after delivering his prophecy, his life force expired, and he passed away completely.
Even the Sage of Six Paths could not find any trace of him in the Pure Land. No one knew where he had gone.
But no one could criticize the Great Toad Sage's choice.
Perhaps, choosing to pass away naturally before the arrival of the Great Cataclysm—rather than fight on—was a blessing in disguise...
The Sage of Six Paths offered only vague countermeasures against the Cataclysm. Apart from the White Snake Sage and the Slug Sage vowing to fight for the shinobi world until the bitter end, even Uchiha Kirin didn't know what to say.
He expressed no opinion.
And so, the rare gathering ended hastily.
Past grudges and hatreds were all swept away with the passing of the Great Toad Sage.
The gods were dejected.
...
But the outer world—the shinobi world—never gives up. Just like insects squirming blindly along a set path, unable to see ahead but constantly moving forward.
They don't care whether a path exists. What they call "will" is merely the result of their interaction with the environment—pushing them toward the only direction they can move.
Such are mortals: blind and ignorant, yet brilliant in their own way.
Compared to the gods, who flinch at the sight of an uncertain road, these mortals will bash their heads against walls at the end of the path until they break through and forge a new one...
Uchiha Kirin pondered, conflicted.
He looked down upon the shinobi world. He gazed into the stars. He stared into the blazing sun—where his transcendent self sat above all things, untouched by worldly matters.
When had it begun?
When had he changed from someone who fought desperately for the survival of the Uchiha Clan—for his own life—giving everything, even his last drop of blood, clawing through the mud to carve a path forward...
Only to hand it to another version of himself?
One who had long since abandoned the struggle for ideals and faith, and now looked upon the shinobi world—the planet that birthed him—with aloof detachment?
He had grown accustomed to accepting the sweet nectar offered by those former versions of himself, those who had perished opening paths forward...
And taking it all for granted.
He had changed.
He was a god now—not a shinobi, and certainly no longer a mortal. Was it simply because he believed his strength had reached some ultimate threshold?
Or... was there a part of him that resented the system for bringing him into this perilous world?
Uchiha Kirin couldn't tell.
But he did know one thing—he needed to stop.
He needed to suffer a true, devastating defeat... to transform once again into the person he used to be!