I'm not coming out…
The Sage of Six Paths' voice, filled with age and helplessness, appeared out of thin air beside Momoshiki's ear, like an empty void.
He didn't know how to face his mother, and of course, he didn't want to.
Kaguya's attention was now entirely on Naruto, but her strength had clearly recovered to its peak, even showing subtle signs of surpassing it.
With this level of power, it was only a matter of time before she discovered his lingering soul.
As the Sage of Six Paths, he had noticed Momoshiki the first time he came to this world.
He therefore understood that Momoshiki actually had no ill will. With his strength, he didn't even need subordinates. All his actions seemed to be purely for fun.
He didn't understand, but he respected it.
And precisely because Momoshiki had no intention of destroying the Ninja World, there was naturally nothing to fear from him.
"Are you really not going to say anything more to your mother? Once this village is gone, there won't be another shop like it."
Momoshiki crossed his arms, his expression showing a hint of playfulness.
He wasn't interested in the scene of mother and son meeting. It would just be shock, then bewilderment, then a lot of chattering, then an inevitable fight, a brief scuffle, then crying hysterically, and finally a show of motherly love and filial piety.
It was an old, melodramatic plot; he was tired of it.
He just didn't expect the Sage of Six Paths' first choice to be avoidance.
But this was also normal. Putting himself in his shoes, avoidance was indeed a good choice. Some things, once they had happened, were best left unaddressed.
This also provided a convenient way for everything to be resolved.
"No."
These two short words seemed to have drained all the Sage of Six Paths' strength.
He slowly closed his eyes in space, two clear tears tracing down his aged face.
"You..."
His lips moved slightly, as if he had thought of something, and he made a difficult decision.
"I know everything that has happened. Take her away. This planet is fine as it is now. Fate no longer needs a leader like her."
"You're just dumping your mom on me like that?"
"Mm..."
The Sage of Six Paths nodded like a dutiful son.
"Although I don't know who you truly are, nor why you became Momoshiki, taking over all of fate, nor why your future timeline is blurry."
Saying this, the Sage of Six Paths moved his finger, and a powerful surge of chakra condensed, floating before him.
"But at least I can be sure that the worlds you travel to in the future will all become peaceful and beautiful worlds, so I trust you."
"Oh?"
Hearing him say this, Momoshiki was suddenly surprised. His eyes instantly turned into yellow Rinnegan, emitting a faint red glow.
"How did you find out?"
As his voice fell, the space where the Sage of Six Paths was located twisted, and Momoshiki appeared there out of thin air.
As for his original position, Kinshiki and Toneri and the others had no idea about the conversation between the two. They just thought Momoshiki had something to deal with.
So one continued to watch the drama, and the other continued to toy with the little pest.
...
"It's simple. Momoshiki Otsutsuki shouldn't be like this," the Sage of Six Paths said slowly, still injecting chakra before him, not stopping his actions.
"Is it because I'm not acting like him?"
Momoshiki raised an eyebrow, resting his hand on his chin, thinking.
Using the power of Elation to isolate everything about Momoshiki Otsutsuki, it was indeed possible for someone who was also an Otsutsuki to notice something was off.
After all, there were too many Otsutsuki involved in causality and fate, it was like a game.
Not to mention the Sage of Six Paths, his two sons alone could make fate intertwine, fighting for generations.
As for why Kinshiki and the others didn't notice, it was probably still due to the system.
"It's not that you're not acting like him," the Sage of Six Paths slowly shook his head, "I don't know what an outsider looks like. I only know that you possess power that doesn't belong to this world."
"I see. Since you've been observing me from the beginning, you must have heard my conversation with Kinshiki back then."
Momoshiki pondered.
He had only said he obtained the power to deny worlds from outside this world to show off, he didn't expect the old man to overhear it.
He just couldn't quite understand. The Sage of Six Paths' stealth ability was indeed very strong, but he couldn't hide from him at all, so why hadn't he sensed him back then?
"What conversation?"
The Sage of Six Paths looked at Momoshiki with a puzzled expression, clearly having no idea about this matter.
"Naturally, when I traveled to the past."
Momoshiki reminded him, then looked at the Sage of Six Paths with a scrutinizing gaze, frowning slightly.
Something was wrong! Very, very wrong!
Logically, this old man shouldn't have missed any of his actions in this Ninja World, so why did he have no memory of it?
Senile dementia? Clearly impossible.
It could only be that he truly didn't know, but that also didn't quite make sense.
"Are you talking about time travel? Then I truly don't know."
The Sage of Six Paths said, fiddling with the chakra in his hand, his expression still that of an old man who had seen everything.
"What do you mean?"
It seemed he had missed some important information. Momoshiki crossed his arms and carefully recalled in his mind.
Time travel...
The Sage of Six Paths already existed. It was impossible for him to miss that timeline, and even more impossible for him to ignore a threat like himself.
It had only been a few years from Kimimaro's timeline to now. For the Sage of Six Paths, it was just a blink of an eye. It was impossible for him to forget.
The turtle...
That's right! The Ryuugu!
Involving time was not difficult for an Otsutsuki. Logically, having mastered the power to know everything, the Sage of Six Paths could clearly change everything. He didn't need to wait for Naruto, did he?
But why was he acting like a scared turtle now?
"It seems you've understood a little."
The Sage of Six Paths chuckled softly, but it was tinged with a clearly discernible unwillingness and sadness.
"So what exactly is the answer?" Momoshiki frowned again.
Involving time was undoubtedly the most troublesome thing. After all, just a single movement could bring countless changes, unless there was causality or fate.
"The answer is naturally fate."
The Sage of Six Paths confirmed Momoshiki's thoughts in his heart, and spoke calmly.
"Fate is a very magical thing. It cannot be seen or touched, but it is everywhere. Even our meeting is arranged by fate."
"Anything, any probability, any possibility, these will eventually happen. Nothing is non-existent. Humans cannot imagine non-existent things, and fate cannot bring about non-existent changes."
Saying this, the Sage of Six Paths waved his hand, and two stones floated in front of them out of thin air.
"I will randomly drop one stone. As for which one, I do not know now."
Saying this, the Sage of Six Paths moved his finger, and the right stone fell.
Momoshiki's expression became solemn. He gradually understood what the Sage of Six Paths was trying to convey.
"Are you saying that the fate of dropping the left stone still exists, and this probability won't disappear, right?"
"That's right."
The Sage of Six Paths smiled faintly.
"It seems you understand. Just as you thought, the probabilities that haven't happened become parallel universes. All choices are constantly alternating, deriving from each other, endlessly."
"Although I don't understand why you changed the fate of this universe, it's good that the timeline I exist in has undergone the changes I desired."
"To travel to the past and interfere with the future, one must first achieve extremely high mastery in either time, causality, or fate, or have something to assist them. Otherwise, even if the past is changed, it will only branch into a parallel universe."
"The future still remains unchanged."
"This is the world's self-protection derived to prevent time from collapsing. I cannot break through this protection now, so I can only place my hope in fate."
Saying this, the Sage of Six Paths looked at Momoshiki with deep eyes.
"Perhaps something helped you influence fate, which is why you came to the main timeline, but these are not important."
"Originally, I didn't plan to come out and find you. After all, even if I wasn't here, most of the future's fate would still lead to a beautiful world."
"But..."
At this point, the Sage of Six Paths slowly closed his eyes and let out a soft sigh.
"But you still can't bear to let go, can you?"
Momoshiki, having finished a lesson, roughly understood everything the Sage of Six Paths wanted to convey.
"Hmm..."
The Sage of Six Paths didn't deny it.
It was impossible for him to have no feelings for his mother. For a thousand years, he had regretted, been confused, or felt lost, but in the end, it all transformed into firm conviction.
Until Momoshiki first came to this world, fate actually changed with time, which allowed him to see hope beyond fate for the first time.
But he didn't expect this so-called change to want to take Kaguya away again.
Indeed, taking Kaguya away could bring great peace to the Ninja World, and the Sage of Six Paths supported this approach.
He came here just to see his mother one last time. This was the last thought of his wisp of chakra soul.
He didn't expect his mother to be right in front of him, yet he chose to avoid her, unwilling to acknowledge her, and not wanting to be discovered in his heart.
Momoshiki also fell into brief thought.
The so-called time influencing fate was too easy to understand. Besides the system, no one else could do such a thing.
He just never expected that time theory would involve such complex matters.
He should have asked Kimimaro earlier if he felt Haku was familiar, otherwise he wouldn't have discovered it until now.
Thinking this, the Sage of Six Paths' chakra was finally finished with its transformation. He gently waved his hand, and it flew in front of Momoshiki.
"This is my thank-you gift to you. Consider it a gift from the Ninja World."
The Sage of Six Paths said slowly, his eyes closed. His face was also a little off, looking very drained.
Momoshiki reached out and took it, carefully feeling it with chakra.
It was a very strange pair of eyes. To be precise, it was the energy state of eyes. They looked like Rinnegan, but the internal energy was a bit off.
Their operation was also the same as Rinnegan, but the power involved was too strange, and it only had one ability.
Momoshiki brought the energy orb close to his eyes. These energy orbs immediately seeped in like water sprinkled on dirt.
There was no pain, only a gentle sensation, and it was exceptionally smooth. The fusion was completed in a few moments.
A light purple Rinnegan slowly appeared. For a moment, several light orbs appeared before the Sage of Six Paths.
These light orbs were like they were connected to his inner heart, and he could easily read their meaning.
It was causality!
One event as the cause, all changes as the effect.
This energy orb was undoubtedly the causality brought about by sealing Kaguya.
"Your talent far exceeds my imagination. You can already see causality so quickly."
The Sage of Six Paths' tone carried a hint of admiration. He slowly opened his eyes and explained it to him.
"The power of these eyes can allow you to redefine causality, but my strength is not great, and has been weakened too much, so I can only define simple things, at most fixing the relationship between life and death."
"I see."
Momoshiki inadvertently reached out and touched it.
A power that could involve causality. It seemed he had greatly underestimated the Sage of Six Paths.
Right. Using fate as a weapon against the future, how could the Sage of Six Paths be like the seemingly incompetent old man on the surface?
"Very powerful." Momoshiki didn't stint on his praise.
"As long as you're satisfied."
The Sage of Six Paths let out a long breath, and his body began to become slightly illusory.
Clearly, the chakra maintaining this remnant soul was gone, and condensing this eye had consumed too much. The Sage of Six Paths was about to completely die.
"Being able to see a beautiful future, I have no regrets left."
The Sage of Six Paths said calmly, as if he was celebrating something, completely without any fear of death.
How could a person who should have died a thousand years ago be afraid of death?
"Chakra is gone, and the soul is dissipating. You are indeed going to die completely," Momoshiki mused.
He put his right hand on his hip, extended his left hand, and a powerful stellar force reappeared. Sculpted by Master Momo's exquisite craftsmanship, a lifelike four-dimensional superposition body appeared before him.
"You have given me such a great gift, so I might as well change the outcome of your death, and let you see the world you desire with your own eyes."
Momoshiki crossed his arms, "I don't like being used as someone else's tool, and naturally, I won't act as your eyes to see for you."
Tsundere Momoshiki said this.
The Sage of Six Paths, waiting for death, froze slightly. He opened his now blurry eyes, looking at the body that perfectly fit his soul with some surprise.
Then he turned to look at Momoshiki, who had already adopted a disdainful expression.
"Heh heh~"
The Sage of Six Paths grinned. He now completely understood why Momoshiki, who by all appearances was not a savior, would turn an unstable fate into something beautiful.
A sharp tongue but a soft heart, huh? Very much like someone he knew.
...
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