In the end, Orochimaru gave up on the idea.
A peace forcibly suppressed by a single person not only lacked sustainability in itself, but would also inevitably bring severe backlash.
For example, after the First Hokage died, war erupted almost immediately.
And only thirty-three years had passed since then, yet three large-scale wars had already broken out one after another.
Even now, not a single shinobi village truly wanted to end the war.
Much less willingly pay a certain price to restore peace.
Everyone wanted the same thing—
Beat everyone else into submission.
Make others pay the price.
Then monopolize all the benefits peace had to offer.
When peace was not something everyone had worked together to obtain, the overwhelming majority of people would naturally have no desire to preserve it.
Nagato might have been neurotic, but there was one thing he had said correctly.
Only after experiencing the pain of war could people understand how terrifying war truly was.
Only then could they deeply comprehend the value of peace and create a lasting, spontaneous era of peace.
Of course, pain deliberately created by a single person like Nagato was useless.
Its effect would be exactly the same as peace suppressed by one or two overwhelmingly powerful people.
The moment the person died—
The policy died with them.
Although Uchiha Yoru was confident he could achieve longevity and live for an extremely long time, he had no intention of turning himself into the world's jinchūriki just for the sake of peace.
Even gods couldn't control the human heart.
He certainly had no interest in wasting his time on such pointless work.
Orochimaru had simply been exhausted enough to start desperately looking for shortcuts, which was why he made such a request.
Only a few minutes later, he returned to normal and never mentioned the matter again.
As Konoha's strongest combat force, Uchiha Yoru had voluntarily restricted his own influence to the Uchiha clan.
He was even willing to cooperate with Orochimaru in dismantling the monstrous institution that was the Police Force.
That already demonstrated enormous sincerity.
Orochimaru was very satisfied.
When it was finally time to leave, Orochimaru deliberately asked,
"I'll be taking on disciples soon."
"Is Uchiha Shisui prepared?"
Yoru replied,
"He's been ready for a long time."
"Shisui entered the Academy early half a year ago."
"I'll leave that child in your care from now on, Fourth Hokage."
Orochimaru shook his head.
"Heh."
"What a troublesome arrangement."
"The age gap among the students I'm taking this time is honestly quite large."
"Their team will definitely be the strangest one."
"Eight-year-old Anko Mitarashi."
"Eight-year-old Tenzō."
"And five-year-old Uchiha Shisui."
"What an awkward team."
Yoru smiled.
"I think it's fine."
"One Wood Release shinobi."
"One Uchiha."
"And one girl to balance out the atmosphere."
"That sounds like a perfectly standard elite team."
"Balance the atmosphere?"
Orochimaru raised an eyebrow.
"I think Anko's role will be to liven things up and drag Tenzō out of that gloomy personality Root gave him."
"Maybe."
Yoru neither agreed nor disagreed.
He nodded toward Orochimaru.
Then quietly disappeared.
Orochimaru remained standing there alone for several minutes.
He muttered,
"How enviable."
Then he too vanished from the Third Hokage's stone face.
…
The Pure Land.
At the very same time that the two people standing at the peak of Konoha's power were having their discussion—
The Sage of Six Paths, Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo, who regarded himself as master of the Pure Land, happened to be holding a discussion with his younger brother as well.
Ōtsutsuki Hamura raised a cup of tea and lightly inhaled its fragrance.
"Brother."
"How long did I sleep this time?"
Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo replied,
"Twenty-two years."
"Two years shorter than last time."
"How do you feel?"
Hamura remained silent for a while before answering.
"I feel all right."
"But the anchor provided by my bloodline has suddenly begun weakening much faster."
"It seems my descendants aren't doing well."
Hagoromo frowned.
"As far as I know, nothing has happened to Konoha's Hyūga clan."
"Kirigakure's Kaguya clan has suffered considerable losses recently."
Hamura shook his head.
"The Kaguya clan did not inherit my Byakugan."
"Even if they were completely wiped out, it wouldn't affect me this severely."
Hamura raised his head.
He looked toward the projection of the full moon illuminating the Pure Land.
Then he said with certainty,
"It seems the problem lies with the descendants on the moon who inherited my surname."
Hearing that the issue involved the clan on the moon, Hagoromo couldn't help frowning as well.
That was troublesome.
He could certainly manifest in the mortal world.
But the price would be enormous.
Unless it was during an enormous historical turning point, doing so would be an absolute loss.
And if Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo did not personally intervene, then the pieces he had arranged either lacked the ability to reach the moon—
Or were people who absolutely should not be allowed to know that there were inhabitants on the moon.
For example—
That child Uchiha Madara.
Madara was certainly simple enough.
But if he learned about the moon's existence, what exactly he might do afterward was genuinely difficult to predict.
And then there was Black Zetsu, that foolish younger brother of his.
He might have been sufficiently stupid, but his destructive ability was genuinely troublesome.
If Black Zetsu managed to reach the moon…
Hagoromo could say with certainty that within twenty years, Black Zetsu would find some method to make the entire moon fall toward the shinobi world, attempting to destroy it outright and release their mother.
In short—
At the moment, Hagoromo had no way to interfere with affairs on the moon.
Seeing his brother's troubled expression, Hamura reassured him.
"There's no need to worry."
"As long as Konoha still exists, and as long as the Hyūga clan still exists, I'll be fine."
"At worst, I'll simply sleep a little longer each time."
Hagoromo shook his head.
"Hamura."
"Sleeping too long isn't a good thing."
"If this continues, you'll eventually become even weaker than Asura's vessels."
"If the situation keeps deteriorating, one day the Pure Land itself will swallow you completely."
Hamura nodded.
Then shook his head again.
"You're right, Brother."
"But how could I possibly lose to Asura?"
After another period of silence—
He suddenly made a decision.
"Brother."
"Help me prepare."
"Activate my soul seed."
Hagoromo was shocked.
"Hamura!"
"Don't act impulsively!"
"You know perfectly well that a great change unseen in a thousand years is approaching."
"A new era is about to descend."
"Going into the mortal world at a time like this is far too dangerous!"
"I won't agree!"
Hamura appeared to have thought about this for a very long time.
He remained completely unmoved.
Instead, he patiently began persuading his elder brother.
"Brother, I don't want to take the risk either."
"But I have no other choice."
"You know perfectly well how much effort I have made over the past thousand years."
"But every attempt has proven the same thing."
"My ability is limited."
"I do not possess the power to create a great wave capable of sweeping across the shinobi world by myself."
"Reality has proven that if I want my name to be deeply engraved into history…"
"If I want to change my anchor from bloodline to history…"
"Then I can only borrow the power of a genuine historical tide."
Hagoromo became anxious.
His voice grew louder.
"Hamura!"
"You know exactly what happened to Asura and Indra!"
"Being someone who rides the crest of an era isn't so easy."
"One careless move and even you could perish!"
"Asura and Indra are my sons."
"The main portions of their souls are in my hands."
"No matter what disaster they encounter, I can retrieve them and bring them back to the Pure Land."
"Under my protection, they can slowly recover."
"Their lives will never truly be in danger."
"But you!"
"My dear younger brother!"
"Your existence is too vast."
"Your soul is far too complete and indivisible."
"If you encounter danger inside the tide of history…"
"I won't be able to pull you back out!"
Hamura's expression remained firm.
"Brother."
"I know."
"I know all of it."
"But I don't want to simply continue sleeping like this."
"Rather than slumbering in the Pure Land until I am eventually assimilated—or even digested—by it…"
"I would rather fight once."
His voice became incomparably resolute.
"I've already decided."
"I'm going to gamble once for my own future."
"Brother, you don't need to worry so much."
"I'm not going down empty-handed."
"Nor am I starting from nothing."
"I'll revive through one of my descendants."
"I won't need to experience the weakest infant stage."
"I'll rapidly regain most of my strength."
"Brother, I am your younger brother—the younger brother of the Sage of Six Paths."
"I was also one of the main combatants who sealed Mother."
"Is there really anyone in the mortal world capable of opposing me?"
"Forget humans."
"Even those gods don't have the ability to threaten me."
"If I encounter one, that would actually be a good thing."
"I can simply capture it, eat it, and replenish my strength."
Hagoromo helplessly shook his head.
"Hamura."
"That isn't how it works."
"The danger of a historical tide has never come from how powerful the mortals or gods within it are."
"It comes from the unpredictable nature of fate itself."
"Wasn't Mother the strongest being in the shinobi world?"
"Was there anyone who could directly challenge her?"
"And yet during the great historical tide a thousand years ago…"
"Didn't she still fall?"
Hamura fell silent.
Clearly, even he was deeply worried about that.
After thinking for a while—
He still made the same decision.
"I've decided."
"I'm going to take the risk."
"Hamura!"
"Brother!"
"I don't have many paths left!"
"If I miss this historical tide, my condition will definitely be even worse next time."
"My strength will weaken further."
"My descendants may disintegrate."
"My bloodline may even be severed entirely."
"At that point, I may be forced to descend directly into a newborn infant."
"Brother."
"That would be a newborn."
"A newborn incapable of protecting itself for at least ten years."
"I don't even have the courage to attempt that now."
"If the time comes and I become afraid…"
"If I retreat…"
"If I no longer dare to take the risk…"
"Then I'll truly be finished."
Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo was persuaded.
He nodded.
"All right."
"But this time, we must prepare thoroughly."
"Hamura, this historical tide gives me a very bad feeling."
"I keep feeling that something strange is lurking beneath the waves."
"Something is interfering with the future's direction."
"Hm?"
Hearing Hagoromo's words, Hamura immediately became suspicious.
"What happened in the mortal world?"
Hagoromo answered,
"I still haven't figured it out."
"But my feeling is very bad."
"Hamura…"
"Asura's strongest vessel has disappeared."
Hamura's expression changed drastically.
"Who?"
The Sage of Six Paths explained seriously,
"The one who stood at the beginning of the current historical tide."
"The founder of Konoha."
"Asura's strongest vessel."
"The First Hokage—Senju Hashirama."
"His soul disappeared from the Pure Land."
Hamura's eyes widened.
"How is that possible?"
Hagoromo nodded again in confirmation.
"He truly disappeared."
"And he wasn't the only one."
"Senju Hashirama's wife."
"His younger brother."
"His grandson."
"And several other remarkable souls from Konoha…"
"They're all gone."
By now, Hamura had digested the information.
He also immediately noticed the pattern.
"So many souls disappeared."
"And every one of them came from Konoha."
"Then this must have been caused deliberately."
"And the source of the problem must lie in Konoha."
Hagoromo nodded.
"That is my guess as well."
"The Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama, was a genius."
"He discovered the gap between life and death that I created through the Rinne Rebirth Technique."
"Using it, he developed Edo Tensei."
"This incident involving the missing souls must be connected to that forbidden technique."
"And it must also be connected to Konoha."
"The problem is that Edo Tensei has a time limit."
"It cannot keep souls in the mortal world indefinitely."
"So there is probably another god involved in this."
"Those beings who manipulate souls have many methods for preserving them."
"Some even consume souls as food."
Hamura sighed.
"If they were stolen and eaten, that would truly be a pity."
"The First and Second Hokage were both extraordinary individuals."
"The quality of their souls is something rarely seen even once in a thousand years."
Hagoromo nodded.
"If they were eaten, then yes."
"That would be unfortunate."
"But what worries me even more is the possibility that they were not eaten."
"If they weren't…"
"Then they can only have been imprisoned inside a divine realm."
"In other words, there may be a god whose condition and power are both fully intact."
"That would make it a genuine threat to you."
Hamura laughed.
His entire body radiated heroic confidence.
"That's even better."
"Then let me meet this unknown god."
"The stronger it is…"
"The more benefits I'll gain after defeating it."
"It's been several thousand years since Mother took us along to sweep away the gods."
"I haven't tasted the flavor of a god in far too long."
"How nostalgic."
Seeing his younger brother overflowing with confidence, Hagoromo's face filled with relief.
He couldn't help recalling their childhood.
Then the battles the two brothers had once fought side by side.
As those distant memories resurfaced—
His mentality subtly changed.
Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo suddenly realized that at some point, he had lost all his courage.
He no longer dared to take risks.
No longer wished to bear any danger.
That wasn't right.
During the process of establishing Ninshū and spreading chakra, Hagoromo had spread his own reputation far and wide.
The title of Sage of Six Paths became deeply rooted in people's hearts.
Only when his physical body decayed and he was forced to enter the Pure Land did he discover the true value of a name.
Because the name "Sage of Six Paths" continued to spread, Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo received an unimaginable amount of faith.
Using that power of faith—
He carved out a domain within the Pure Land that belonged solely to him.
And gradually, he gained faint control over the Pure Land as a whole.
When Ōtsutsuki Hamura eventually entered the Pure Land after his own body decayed, the Sage of Six Paths pulled his younger brother into that domain.
From then onward—
The brothers lived together in the Pure Land.
Because of this experience, Hagoromo also brought Asura and Indra into the Pure Land.
And because of their direct bloodline connection, they became his primary tools for observing the mortal world.
Over the long span of a thousand years—
Using his two sons as fishing hooks—
The Sage of Six Paths gained a certain degree of influence over the direction of the shinobi world.
At the same time, he discovered the reach of Gamamaru from Myōboku Mountain and the White Snake from Ryūchi Cave.
By observing them, he learned even more methods of moving pieces across the board.
He rapidly became the greatest player among them.
Naturally—
He also discovered Black Zetsu's existence.
In truth, Black Zetsu had essentially walked into his sight on his own.
Indra's vessels were always astonishingly talented Uchiha.
Influenced by Indra's personality, they tended to act aggressively while failing to consider every consequence.
That made them extremely easy for Black Zetsu to notice.
And equally easy for him to choose as pieces with which to manipulate the shinobi world.
Uchiha Madara was not the first vessel of Indra.
Nor was he the first person Black Zetsu had approached.
He was simply the final killing piece Black Zetsu selected after centuries of preparation.
What Black Zetsu didn't know was—
The reincarnation cycle of Indra and Asura did not depend solely on the power of their own souls.
Their repeated reincarnation among their respective bloodline descendants only happened because their father was secretly controlling it from behind the scenes.
Therefore—
Every time Black Zetsu came into contact with Indra, it ultimately entered the Sage of Six Paths' field of vision.
Black Zetsu's schemes were likewise observed by Hagoromo.
After watching them accumulate over and over again—
Who was Black Zetsu?
What did Black Zetsu want?
Naturally, Hagoromo understood everything.
In the Sage of Six Paths' eyes—
There were six players on the shinobi world's board.
Himself.
His younger brother Hamura.
His younger brother Black Zetsu.
Gamamaru of Myōboku Mountain.
The White Snake of Ryūchi Cave.
And the Slug of Shikkotsu Forest.
The god he had only just discovered—
The being that had stolen so many of his pieces—
Seemed to be yet another player hidden deep beneath the water.
And now, with the historical tide beginning to rise—
That hidden player had finally begun surfacing to cause trouble.
That made Ōtsutsuki Hamura's decision a good one.
Descending directly into the mortal world certainly carried the risk of genuine death.
But at the same time—
It was also the strongest and most forceful possible response.
With Hamura's strength, he would be more than capable of completely muddying the waters of the shinobi world.
He could raise towering waves and force whoever was hiding beneath the surface to reveal themselves.
After thinking through every aspect of the problem, the Sage of Six Paths asked,
"Hamura."
"Which seed do you plan to descend into?"
"The Ōtsutsuki clan?"
"Or the Hyūga clan?"
Hamura thought for a moment.
"I don't think either is suitable."
"The Ōtsutsuki clan is far away on the moon."
"Their separation from the shinobi world is too great."
"Moving around would be too inconvenient."
"As for the Hyūga clan…"
"They're inside Konoha."
"That is the very center of the whirlpool."
"I might directly encounter the one stealing Konoha's souls."
"That would be too dangerous."
"So I'll choose the Kaguya clan."
"They may not possess the Byakugan, which will impose some limitations…"
"But I have plenty of methods to solve that problem."
Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo nodded.
"That makes sense."
"Then it's settled."
Hamura said,
"Brother."
"Unlike your method of directly descending through your soul, I need to descend through a seed."
"That will require a considerable amount of time."
"We shouldn't delay."
"Let's begin now."
"All right."
"Let's begin."
…
Within Kirigakure's Kaguya clan—
A certain young clansman suddenly fell unconscious and developed a high fever.
Because he was an orphan who received little attention within the clan, no one even noticed his condition.
He could only lie alone on his bed, struggling in agony.
When the fever became so severe that he began muttering incoherently—
His kekkei genkai awakened.
Shikotsumyaku.
And in a single leap—
It reached the absolute limit attainable by the Kaguya clan.
At the same time, his bloodline began reverting toward its ancestor at an unimaginable speed.
His black hair rapidly lost its color.
It turned pale blue.
The sides of his forehead subtly bulged.
As though a pair of small horns were hidden beneath the skin.
And those were merely the visible changes.
Far greater transformations were occurring inside his body.
Bones.
Muscles.
Nerves.
Even the structure and pathways of his bloodline—
All underwent earth-shattering changes.
In a single night—
He regressed from an ordinary human—
Into half an Ōtsutsuki.
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