Naruto felt a wave of disgust when he heard the Sage of Six Paths ask that question.
The old man's "You don't have some kind of feelings for me, do you?" sounded exactly like some narcissist asking, You don't secretly like me, do you?
"Go to hell, old man! I've had enough of you!"
Naruto had run out of ideas and finally decided to stop caring.
If Dark Naruto could throw away his own life just to force the original back outside and make him deal with this mess, then why couldn't Naruto deliberately seal himself away again and let Dark Naruto come back out to suffer instead?
He immediately tried to reach for the mental world inside his consciousness so he could swap places with Dark Naruto.
Then he noticed one rather serious problem.
Wasn't he already inside a mental world?
It simply wasn't the one modeled after the Falls of Truth.
A consciousness inside one mental space couldn't somehow dive deeper into itself and enter another mental space.
So the plan was impossible.
However, Naruto's furious outburst made Hagoromo suspicious.
"Naruto, why have you become like this?"
The Sage of Six Paths narrowed his eyes.
"Could some evil spirit have possessed you?"
He raised his staff.
"Evil entity, leave Naruto's body at once!"
"..."
Naruto's eyes immediately filled with tears.
"That's right! I am possessed by something evil!"
He pointed furiously at Hagoromo.
"You damn evil spirit, get out!"
"Me?"
Hagoromo stared at him.
"Naruto, are you misunderstanding something? I'm the Sage of Six Paths. How could I possibly be an evil spirit?"
He assumed Naruto meant that Hagoromo's spiritual manifestation should leave his consciousness.
"Besides, I entered your mind to give you the Six Paths Yang Power. I already explained that."
Naruto nearly broke down.
At least before, the old man had pretended there was some dignity to all this.
Now he wasn't even pretending anymore!
He had openly admitted everything!
Seeing Naruto's mental state deteriorating, Hagoromo thought for a moment and concluded that nearly dying must have traumatized him too badly.
Better not overwhelm him with any more information.
Getting Naruto revived came first.
"Naruto, I understand."
Hagoromo gave him a gentle look.
"What you experienced before arriving here was indeed extremely disturbing. You're probably having trouble processing it."
"So I won't pressure you any further."
"For now, just remember one thing: you must prevent my mother, Ōtsutsuki Kaguya, from being revived. Only then can the shinobi world have a future."
"You don't need to decide anything right now."
"Once you've revived and calmed down, you can think carefully about everything I've told you."
He extended one hand.
"Now, Naruto. Hold out the hand you use most often."
"..."
Naruto didn't move.
Did Hagoromo seriously think he was stupid enough to obediently hold out his hand now?
And what was that supposed to mean, the hand you use most often?
The hand he used for his Sage Mode shortcut?
This naturally suspicious old man really had a disturbing number of tricks.
Instead of extending his hand, Naruto clenched both fists tightly and hid them behind his back, glaring at Hagoromo in silent protest.
The Sage of Six Paths sighed.
At this point, he genuinely couldn't tell what was wrong with Naruto.
Was he simply too old-fashioned to communicate properly with modern teenagers?
Or was Naruto going through a rebellious phase?
Either way, the conclusion remained the same.
Revive Naruto first.
Let him calm down afterward.
As for Naruto refusing to accept the Yang Power?
Naive.
Did he really think the Six Paths Yang Power could only be transferred through the palm?
The hand was merely the most convenient location because it allowed the user to perform Six Paths: Chibaku Tensei easily.
If Naruto failed to prevent Kaguya's resurrection, the Yang Power and Yin Power could still be combined to seal her again.
So if Naruto refused to use his hand, Hagoromo simply needed another suitable location.
It had to be somewhere that could conveniently activate Six Paths: Chibaku Tensei.
That ruled out the stomach, feet, and similar places.
Anything covered by shoes or clothing would be inconvenient. Imagine needing to perform the sealing technique in an emergency and having to remove half your outfit first.
After eliminating one option after another, Hagoromo suddenly remembered something.
Naruto had just spent an absurd amount of effort targeting one particular weak point during their spar.
That suggested something rather important.
Perhaps Naruto had inherited more of Hagoromo's personality than expected, along with Asura's tendencies as a bond-type shinobi.
And Naruto was the Child of Prophecy.
One day, he was supposedly destined to laugh wildly while calling out the names of all nine Tailed Beasts.
In other words—
Naruto really might become a second Hagoromo, transcending the boundaries between bond-type and furry preferences entirely.
As the saying went, Mount Tai became great because it rejected no soil, and rivers and seas became deep because they refused no stream.
Only by accepting every possible preference could Naruto possess true universal love.
And only universal love could bring genuine peace to the shinobi world.
Naturally, "every preference" would include the Sage of Six Paths himself.
Seen from that perspective, Naruto having strange ideas about Hagoromo wasn't a problem at all.
Naruto kept accusing Hagoromo of being naturally questionable, but perhaps Naruto himself was the truly questionable one.
In that case...
Hagoromo made his decision.
The method was slightly risky, but he trusted Naruto to judge for himself afterward.
"Narto, I need to criticize you for something."
Hagoromo suddenly changed the subject.
"You're a good child. Why would you get a tongue piercing? Who taught you that?"
"A tongue piercing?"
Naruto blinked, completely thrown off by the sudden question.
"I don't have one—bleh."
After all, this body belonged to his Engraved Tsukuyomi avatar rather than his real-world body.
Naruto had never exactly inspected his own tongue.
So he instinctively stuck it out for a moment.
"Got you."
Hagoromo seized the tiny opening.
He raised his Six Paths staff and pointed it toward Naruto.
The staff extended in a flash, transferring the power before Naruto could pull away.
"MMMPH?!"
Naruto's eyes went wide.
A moment later, his gaze filled with absolute regret.
He never should have trusted a single word the Sage of Six Paths said.
He should never have let his guard down!
"All right, Naruto. Stop crying."
Hagoromo withdrew the staff with a deeply satisfied expression.
"The Six Paths Yang Power has been transferred successfully."
"You'll revive and wake up very soon."
"It's already... inside me?"
Naruto's speech came out slightly slurred.
He pointed at himself with a look of utter despair.
In the end—
he had failed to protect himself.
"Narto, once you revive, calm down and think carefully about everything that happened here today."
Hagoromo knew Naruto was about to awaken, so he gave one final warning.
"Don't forget a single thing I've told you."
Naruto ignored him completely.
He simply collapsed face-first onto the ground in despair.
...
Back inside the cavern—
Naruto's eyes snapped open.
The Sage of Six Paths' sacred relic was still draining chakra from him.
Naruto said nothing.
He simply wiped away his tears.
No matter what happened, he had to keep going.
His dream was still to become Hokage.
And nowhere did the rules say a bond-type shinobi couldn't become Hokage.
Quite the opposite.
Hadn't the First Hokage and Uchiha Madara both been bond-type shinobi?
The thought gave Naruto hope again.
And once that hope returned—
Naruto suddenly realized something.
He had found a way out.