At that moment, Jigen's true spirit awakened.
His spiritual power wasn't particularly strong—at least, compared to Isshiki, it wasn't anything remarkable.
But even Isshiki never truly underestimated Jigen. After all, Jigen's spirit had been suppressed for over a thousand years, yet it never wavered.
Of course, this was also because Isshiki never went out of his way to completely destroy Jigen. Part of it was because Isshiki didn't see Jigen as a real threat. He had his own pride—using the power of the Otsutsuki Clan against Jigen wouldn't have felt like a true victory.
The other reason? Jigen had outplayed him.
And Isshiki knew it.
Isshiki was too proud—Jigen understood that well. That was why, thousands of years ago, Jigen had made a deal with Isshiki—an agreement that shaped the fate of this world.
"Looks like I never lost, Isshiki.
Now, even the shinobi world has produced someone remarkable—someone who's caught even your attention."
In the endless darkness of the spiritual world, Jigen's face was calm. But beneath that calm, there were other emotions.
After a thousand years of waiting, he wasn't disappointed.
At the same time, Jigen was also grateful to Isshiki for letting him live this long. Without that, he wouldn't have been able to witness a man like Shanks with his own eyes.
"Attention?"
Isshiki still carried his usual arrogance, as if he wasn't the one who had summoned Jigen just moments ago.
"You don't understand at all. It's not just attention—it's admiration."
"You mortals can't even begin to comprehend the strength and wisdom hidden within Shanks."
"As someone who carries the legacy of the ancient Otsutsuki Clan, I can clearly see the depth of Shanks' wisdom. I know the sheer presence that man possesses."
"If this era has a name, it can only be Shanks. Even if I were to defeat him, I could never feel proud of it."
Isshiki spoke with absolute arrogance.
Who else could sound so proud while praising someone else?
Honestly, Isshiki was the kind of warrior who stood on the shoulders of giants.
The Otsutsuki Clan had an overwhelming heritage. Because of that, Isshiki could see far beyond what others could.
Who in the shinobi world could compare to him? Even Jigen couldn't fully understand Isshiki.
Isshiki was simply too far ahead of everyone else. That was why he was so proud—why he never even saw the people of the shinobi world as equals.
Would you feel empathy for a monkey? Of course not. Forget empathy—just being able to understand what a monkey was saying would be impressive.
That was the gap between them.
One was human.
The other was a monkey.
But then, Shanks showed up and completely shattered the power ceiling of the ninja world.
How did a group of monkeys end up with a "Monkey King" among them?
Even calling Shanks the "Monkey King" wouldn't be enough—he straight-up broke the ninja world's limits.
If you want to know what Isshiki thought about this, just look at his younger self. Watching Journey to the West, surrounded by so many beautiful female demons, and yet, all his eyes could focus on was the monkey.
And now, Isshiki was the same. In his eyes, there was only Shanks.
The key thing was, Isshiki could interact with Shanks up close. That made his feelings toward Shanks even more complicated.
Sure, Shanks was also just a "monkey," but you had to admit—if there was a "Monkey King," he'd have to be good-looking, way better than the others.
Shanks was the same. He was still a person from the ninja world, but Isshiki just liked him.
And the fact that someone like Shanks, a native of the ninja world, could become this powerful? That was terrifying even to Isshiki. Shanks' growth wasn't just about strength—it was also about intelligence.
He was ahead of this era by who knows how much. Isshiki couldn't even fully grasp Shanks' wisdom and strategies.
"You really are something else…"
Jigen shook his head, watching this "Shanks fanboy" in front of him.
"I might not understand what's going on in your head, but I do know one thing—I haven't lost this bet.
Before the rest of your Otsutsuki clan arrives in the ninja world, someone different has finally appeared here."
"Hah, even if they come, they won't be a match for me."
Isshiki sneered. The Otsutsuki clan? He never thought much of them. Most of them were arrogant fools who didn't even deserve the name "Otsutsuki."
They had no real understanding of their own position or power. But Isshiki did—and that was exactly why he looked down on them.
"The Otsutsuki clan has built up an unimaginable foundation. Even if I defeat Shanks, it's only because I can rely on that. That's a fact.
But those other guys? They don't even know their own limits, let alone how to handle the current ninja world."
"There are plenty of weaklings in the Otsutsuki clan who are completely different from me. The problem is, they don't even realize how weak they are."
"They have no real ability, yet they act so high and mighty."
"Looks like you're ready to deal with them."
Jigen's tone was calm. He really couldn't figure out what Isshiki was thinking.
"According to the Otsutsuki clan's rules, the ninja world is my territory. If they try to enter my domain without permission, that's not going to fly.
And even if I kill them, it won't matter. You already know—we can always come back to life."
Isshiki said it like it was the most natural thing in the world. Of course, he didn't mean actual killing, but if someone did come, he wouldn't mind beating them down.
Coming into the ninja world without his approval? That was breaking the rules.
That was one of the reasons why the Otsutsuki clan only sent people to the ninja world so late in history, not until the Boruto era.
Normally, if Isshiki hadn't responded for so long, they should have sent someone much earlier. But the Otsutsuki clan had their own set of rules.
That's why it took over a thousand years before they finally sent "Otsutsuki Momoshiki" and "Otsutsuki Kinshiki"—and those two were ridiculously weak.
How should I put this? The power they were supposed to have and the power they could actually use were two completely different things.
This kind of thing happened a lot in the ninja world. Someone might look crazy strong on paper, but when they actually died, they barely put up a fight.
Take the Third Kazekage, for example. Or the Uchiha clan leader, "Uchiha Fugaku."
On the surface, they looked absurdly strong, but in reality, they were pitifully weak when it really mattered.
And Isshiki… well, he had to admit—this wasn't just their problem. It had always been a problem with the Otsutsuki clan as a whole.
Even though he had terrifying power, he could probably only use less than one percent of it.
At first, Isshiki might have been proud of being an Otsutsuki, believing he had unmatched strength.
But after seeing someone as ridiculously strong as Shanks, his perspective changed completely.
Jiraiya had already said that Shanks was the type who could push himself endlessly, as if borrowing power from the future.
But in Isshiki's eyes, it was even more than that. Shanks wasn't just pushing his limits—his power far exceeded what his body should be able to handle.
That was just insane.
If a normal person's critical hit damage was 200%, Shanks' was 500%.
That kind of strength was beyond ridiculous.
"The Otsutsuki clan's business isn't something I need to worry about. What really interests me is how you plan to deal with Shanks.
Defeating that man isn't so simple, even with the power of the Otsutsuki behind you."
Jigen smiled, curious about what Isshiki would do next.
After a thousand years of waiting, he finally had the chance to see Isshiki struggle. There was no way Jigen wasn't enjoying this.
Besides, he hadn't really lost this gamble.
A thousand years ago, Jigen had been a monk, following a path similar to the Sage of Six Paths—more specifically, the teachings of Ninshu.
He had always believed that ordinary people in the ninja world could create a new era on their own.
Jigen was a true idealist, but he also had wisdom far beyond his time.
Just as Jiraiya, through his travels, could see the way Shanks operated, Jigen could see it too. Shanks was a man capable of shattering the power balance that had existed in the ninja world for a thousand years.
A real force of change.
What Isshiki didn't know was that after all these centuries, Jigen's mind had begun to fall apart. He had even started doubting his own beliefs.
Because he hadn't seen any hope for the ninja world.
According to history, in another ten or twenty years, Jigen would have been finished.
In the real history of the ninja world, the Fourth Great Ninja War ended when Naruto and Sasuke sealed Kaguya once again. But that wasn't the start of a so-called new era.
The power of the Sage of Six Paths had simply returned to the world. To Isshiki, that wasn't true ninja power.
And to Jigen, it was nothing more than the Sage of Six Paths maintaining control over the ninja world.
As for real change? It never happened.
Even after the Fourth Great Ninja War, the ninja world didn't find peace. The conflicts between nations continued as fiercely as ever.
The so-called "child of destiny" never existed. Jiraiya spent his whole life trying to change things, but in the end, nothing really changed.
And by the time of Boruto's era, Jigen's mind had completely collapsed. That was when Isshiki finally took full control of Jigen's body.
But Isshiki didn't want things to turn out that way.
Even though he was proud, he was also patient. For thousands of years, he honored his bet with Jigen, never interfering with the affairs of the ninja world.
After Jigen's death, Isshiki finally stepped out and revealed himself to the entire ninja world.
And he understood something—by then, his own spirit was already broken. The thousand-year bet between him and Jigen had ended, and Jigen had lost.
But Isshiki had lost too.
Jigen had forced Isshiki to wander the ninja world for a thousand years. And for all that time, Isshiki had ignored it, never once seeing its people as anything more than insects.
But he had never realized that the one person he had truly acknowledged all along had been Jigen.
And Jigen hadn't realized it either.
So after Jigen's death, Isshiki appeared. His arrival and his actions in the ninja world carried a sense of hatred—hatred born from Jigen's death.
Because of that, when Jigen lost, Isshiki lost as well.
But in this era, things were different.
Shanks' appearance reignited Jigen's will, and at the same time, Isshiki's power also grew stronger.
They had no idea what their true fate was. If Isshiki could see it, he would understand—at this very moment, he had truly evolved.
Outside, the five great nations soon received news that the pirates had been taken away. This instantly shifted the political landscape.
Before this, the five great nations had been arguing with the smaller nations' daimyos. The great nations didn't care about the wealth of the smaller ones—wealth didn't mean much to their nobles and rulers.
What mattered most was power. And power had to be maintained through strength.
That was their real priority.
But now, with the pirates escaping, the daimyos of the smaller nations were furious.
After all this talk, the great nations had promised to protect them. And this was the result? The pirates had just run off—what kind of protection was that?
When Jiraiya returned to Konoha, Nara Shikaku looked embarrassed, and Jiraiya himself stood there, equally awkward.
"You idiot… What are you embarrassed for? I was the one who got chewed out. That old man actually had the nerve to scold me.
If he hadn't paid up, I wouldn't have let it slide so easily."
Tsunade slammed her fist on the table. Because of this mess, she had been called in as well.
Of course, she was called in to receive the money. But during that process, those old geezers had taken the chance to mock her again, throwing all kinds of sarcastic remarks her way.
"It couldn't be helped. That guy was too strong. If he hadn't fought me, he could've easily rescued those pirates without any trouble."
"There was no way to stop him."
Jiraiya forced a grin, still looking awkward.
It wasn't like he was weak—his techniques were just designed specifically to deal with Shanks.
Even the long revival time of his "Divine Descent" technique was because of Shanks. Jiraiya's whole strategy was to stall. He knew that even if he revived, he'd still die again, but he was determined to drag things out.
But then a problem came up—if the enemy simply left while he was reviving, what could he do?
What else could Jiraiya do? He was left standing there awkwardly.
He had designed this technique to deal with Shanks, not anyone else.
"Forget it. The daimyos of the five great nations want to see you. Since you were in charge of this mission, Jiraiya, you should go meet them."
"Even though they probably won't be happy to see you, you should still show them some respect."
Tsunade waved her hand and sighed.
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