"The origin of the Nine-Tails is unknown, but it has at least a thousand years of history. Perhaps he knows some information that we don't."
The Nine-Tails is one of the nine portions of chakra that the Sage of Six Paths separated from the Ten-Tails. He stayed by the Sage's side during his infancy, so he is naturally very familiar with the Rinnegan.[2][5][7]
However, this matter is a secret among secrets, and Kyuushin naturally couldn't speak of it openly. Otherwise, he would have no way to explain where he got such sensitive information.
Some secrets about himself could be shared with Mito. He believed Mito wouldn't harm him, but information of unknown origin like this was better left unsaid.
Mito glanced at Kyuushin, not objecting, but in her opinion, even if the Nine-Tails knew any relevant information, it was highly unlikely he would share it with them.
However, sharing senses was a minor matter, very simple for her. She immediately formed a few hand seals, connecting the Nine-Tails' senses with her own.
"What's wrong, old woman? You've been making more and more moves lately. Don't tell me you're afraid of dying?"
As soon as her senses were opened, the Nine-Tails immediately noticed and couldn't help but mock her with a sneer.
For the past few decades, Mito had essentially not communicated with the Nine-Tails, but it was indeed as the Nine-Tails said; recently, because of Kyuushin, their interactions had suddenly increased significantly.
Mito didn't speak, but instead looked directly into Nagato's eyes, and the Nine-Tails also saw the scene through Mito's eyes.
As the Nine-Tails, who had accompanied the Sage of Six Paths since infancy, he naturally knew what the Rinnegan meant.
With the Rinnegan, one could summon the Gedo Statue sealed inside the moon, and then seal all nine Tailed Beasts into the Gedo Statue one by one, and the Ten-Tails would be reborn.[2]
And they, the nine Tailed Beasts, as chakra consciousnesses that had survived for a thousand years, would completely dissipate within the Ten-Tails.
The Tailed Beasts, as immortal beings, would revive directly somewhere a few years after being killed. It could be said that the Rinnegan was their ultimate counter, a true threat to their existence.
Upon realizing this, the Nine-Tails' killing intent surged, and even the sealed chakra gradually became violent.
Outside, upon seeing the Nine-Tails' various reactions, Mito immediately realized that the Nine-Tails indeed had knowledge of the Rinnegan. She immediately asked:
"Nine-Tails, don't waste your energy. You should tell us about this Rinnegan."
The Nine-Tails' killing intent immediately paused. In his current situation, let alone killing people, he couldn't even move freely. However, after hearing Mito's words, he fell silent, not intending to respond to her.
Mito saw the Nine-Tails fall silent and shook her head at Kyuushin. Kyuushin was not surprised; the current Nine-Tails was naturally not as easy to talk to as he would be later, but he was not without a solution.
He was heard saying: "The Rinnegan, as one of the Three Great Dojutsu, is on par with the Sharingan and Byakugan. Logically, it also belongs to one of the kekkei genkai.
Since it's a kekkei genkai, it's naturally inherited through bloodline. Could it be that our Uzumaki Clan is also a descendant of the Sage of Six Paths?"
Mito heard this and said: "I'm indeed not clear about that. Although our Uzumaki Clan also has a history of several hundred years, there are no explicit records in any ancient texts stating that we are descendants of the Sage of Six Paths.
Moreover, the Sage of Six Paths is too far removed from our present time. Records about him are mainly based on legends, and documented texts are vague. Even in today's shinobi world, it's not clear whether the Sage of Six Paths truly existed."
The Nine-Tails, upon hearing their discussion, scoffed. He knew better than anyone whether the Sage of Six Paths existed, and the Sage indeed had direct bloodline descendants.
Those were the Uchiha Clan and the Senju Clan. As for whether the Uzumaki Clan was a descendant of the Sage of Six Paths, he wasn't very clear.
But even if they were, they must be distant relatives. Even the Sage's two sons, Asura and Indra, couldn't inherit the Rinnegan. By what right could the Uzumaki Clan, as distant relatives, awaken it?[7]
The Nine-Tails seemed to suddenly realize something. That's right, as the Sage's son, Indra only inherited the Sharingan, while Asura only inherited the Sage's physique.[7]
Logically, even if the Rinnegan were to be born, it would be more reasonable for it to appear within the Uchiha Clan. So, by what right does this Uzumaki Clan member in front of him have it? Is it really a major genetic inheritance across generations?
However, he remembered the Sage's appearance very clearly: white hair, and two horns on his forehead. This child in front of him didn't look like him at all.
Although the Nine-Tails lacked common sense, he knew that if the Rinnegan could be inherited, there was no reason for this child in front of him to lack any other features of the Sage.
The Nine-Tails wasn't brainless. Thinking this, he immediately felt that there was something wrong with this child in front of him. These Rinnegan appeared a bit too abruptly.
So he no longer remained silent and said in a deep voice: "The Sage of Six Paths is real, and the Rinnegan is indeed his dojutsu. However, whether your Uzumaki Clan is of the Sage's bloodline or not, awakening the Rinnegan is almost impossible."
Hearing the Nine-Tails suddenly speak at length, Mito was initially quite surprised, but after hearing the Nine-Tails' words, she couldn't help but retort: "Why is it impossible?"
"Hmph! The strongest thing about your Uzumaki Clan is your vitality, so even if you are descendants of the Sage of Six Paths, you should be of the Asura lineage.
Asura inherited the Sage's body. As for dojutsu, he didn't inherit any of it."
Since it had come to this, the Nine-Tails no longer concealed anything and continued:
"And I'll give you another piece of information: the Sage of Six Paths had two sons. One of them was Asura, whom I just mentioned. He inherited the Sage's body. Asura's descendants are the Senju Clan, whom you are very familiar with.
As for the other son, Indra, he inherited the Sage's eyes, but it was a weakened version of the Sage's eyes. As for Indra's descendants, you are also very familiar with them: the Uchiha Clan.
So, if anyone could awaken the Rinnegan, the greatest possibility would be from Indra's bloodline. Now do you understand why I say this?"
This secret revealed by the Nine-Tails was astonishing. Even Mito was stunned into silence upon hearing it, unable to react for a long time.
"Grandma, Grandma, Grandma Mito!"
Kyuushin called out several times, until the last loud shout finally woke Mito up. The moment she reacted, she quickly looked at her surroundings, and only when she saw she was within the barrier jutsu did she breathe a sigh of relief.
The secret she learned from the Nine-Tails today was truly too significant. She even felt a bit afraid to let this secret spread.
The fact that the Sage of Six Paths was real was one thing, but the critical point was that the Senju Clan and the Uchiha Clan actually originated from the same source. So why did these two clans fight a war for over a thousand years?
If this news were to get out, putting aside other things, the Uchiha Clan is now undoubtedly the largest clan in Konoha. Although the Senju Clan abandoned their surname, they are not without clan members.
If they knew that their thousand years of mutual struggle were all a joke, wouldn't they go crazy? Not to mention other chain reactions.
So Mito made up her mind that she would pretend not to have heard this secret and absolutely not spread a single word of it.
From Mito's reaction, Kyuushin knew that the Nine-Tails had indeed revealed some secrets, though he didn't know what they were. But it didn't matter; as long as everything was within his plan, it was fine.
The reason Kyuushin wanted to steer the conversation towards bloodline was to remind the Nine-Tails that these Rinnegan in front of him had an abnormal origin. Since it concerned the Rinnegan and the Sage of Six Paths, whom the Nine-Tails respected the most, prying open the Nine-Tails' mouth wouldn't be difficult.
"Grandma, what did the Nine-Tails say?" Kyuushin asked, feigning curiosity.
"Nothing much, just that it's almost impossible for our Uzumaki Clan to awaken the Rinnegan."
Although Mito didn't elaborate on the intermediate process, she still stated the final conclusion.
Kyuushin nodded. This was roughly what he had expected. As for the secret the Nine-Tails revealed, he didn't care about it at all. Having read the original work, there was no secret concerning the Sage of Six Paths that he didn't know.
However, reaching this conclusion wasn't enough. Kyuushin thought for a moment and said:
"Since it's impossible for the Uzumaki Clan to awaken the Rinnegan, the greatest possibility is that someone deliberately placed these eyes on Nagato?"
Mito was stunned by the secret she had just learned and didn't react immediately. But she thought about it: Yes, if Nagato's eyes weren't awakened by himself, then someone must have intentionally placed them on Nagato.
Who is this person? What is his purpose?
If Uchiha Madara were here, he would probably be cursing. The secret that was almost hidden until the very end in the original work was almost completely exposed by Kyuushin, with the Nine-Tails' cooperation, in just a few words.
But a secret is a secret precisely because information is not transparent. Why didn't anyone in the original work think about this issue? The primary reason was that Nagato almost always stayed in the Land of Rain, and very few people knew he had the Rinnegan.
Jiraiya knew, but he was convinced that Nagato was the Child of Prophecy, so he naturally wouldn't speak. Hanzo knew, but by then, his ambition had been crushed, and moreover, he died not long after, so he had no chance to speak.
As for Orochimaru and some rogue shinobi from other countries who joined later, there's even less to say. And Uchiha Itachi was even a joke; he claimed to be a spy infiltrating the Akatsuki Organization.
But for such a long time, he didn't seem to have found out anything. Even something as major as the Rinnegan, he didn't report to Konoha. He was probably thinking about Sasuke all day long.
But now, Nagato had been brought back to Konoha Village by him, and then brought to Mito. And the most crucial factor was the Nine-Tails.
The Nine-Tails had survived from the era of the Sage of Six Paths until now. Even if he hadn't actively sought out any information, some of the ancient information he possessed was unknown to most people in the current shinobi world.
With the support of this information, it was not surprising to logically deduce the truth of the Rinnegan.