"Uh... how many points did I say there were again?"
"There are three, and one's already been covered. There's still two left... Seriously? I know you're bad at math, but surely subtraction and addition within ten is something you've mastered, right?
Or do you want to revise your statement again?"
Sarcasm? Was that sarcasm? Tsunade's question came out as naturally as ever.
The two sat across from each other at a round table on the treehouse platform. A gentle breeze and the soft afternoon light made the conversation feel refreshingly relaxed.
Haseo placed the Shinigami Mask belonging to the Uzumaki clan in the center of the table.
"Of course not. If I say there are three points, then there are definitely only three. It won't be two or four."
Haseo always kept his word—saying exactly what he meant and nothing more.
"The next point is the most crucial—the Dead Demon Consuming Seal, and the 'Shinigami' behind it… Because I learned about these facts, I specifically studied the Spirit Transformation Technique from someone.
Originally, it was just meant as an emergency precaution for unexpected situations. I didn't expect I would decide to use it so soon.
Setting aside the Dead Demon Consuming Seal's technique formula and the summoning ritual for the 'Shinigami,' let's just talk about this jutsu's power and the 'Shinigami' used to seal everything away. Don't you think its effects seem surprisingly effective?
The Dead Demon Consuming Seal truly is the ultimate sealing technique.
Therefore, as the vessel bearing the seal, what exactly is the 'Shinigami'? That alone deserves serious consideration.
Is the 'Shinigami' really a god? If we simply attribute all of this to that explanation, then everything else becomes easier to explain. After all, if it's a god, then sealing anything makes sense.
However... such reasoning doesn't hold up well—it's too idealistic. We should stick to the correct worldview."
"Speak in plain terms."
"If gods exist merely as a valid religious belief, or as symbols, then of course I would accept that. However...
There are no gods in this world—not real ones. Compared to some divine being watching over humanity from Takamagahara, I'd rather believe humans themselves are the masters of their own destinies—itself the truth.
Tsunade, do you believe there are gods in this world?
All fundamental truths originate from chakra—even the Sage of Six Paths is nothing more than an extremely powerful ninja... Sages are also living beings, whose physiological structures haven't transcended human categories."
Haseo didn't require Tsunade to answer this question because he was stating the truth. If gods truly existed in this world, he'd like to see them face-to-face.
Power alone isn't enough to make someone a god. Ironically, if gods really existed, they wouldn't truly be gods anymore—that's a paradox.
Tsunade felt something amiss in Haseo's words. She couldn't fully agree with him, yet for now, she could find no grounds for rebuttal.
"So, if the Shinigami is some kind of 'existence,' some kind of 'something,' then what exactly is it? What kind of thing could achieve such sealing power?"
You must understand, the "Shinigami" can easily seal away even a Tailed Beast. Tsunade, think about how difficult it is for a Jinchuriki to control a Tailed Beast. Even the Uzumaki clan, who are most suited for it, could never achieve what the 'Shinigami' does.
No, actually, it's not about control at all. What the 'Shinigami' truly does is merely preservation. The problem is this 'containment vessel' is just too solid—what's placed inside isn't impossible to retrieve, but there's only one specific method that allows extraction.
So, think about this: What do you believe is the strongest 'containment vessel' in existence?"
"Do I really have to be your straight man in this act...?"
Tsunade inwardly thought that if he wanted to make a point, why did he insist on interaction? Still, she was somewhat curious, so she reluctantly continued, "Could it be referring to those legendary ninja tools left behind by the Sage of Six Paths, such as those rumored to be hidden in Kumo?"
Haseo felt her performance wasn't up to par—her opening question immediately broke character.
"No, wrong. If we're talking about the strongest containment vessel in existence...
It would definitely be none other than the Sage himself—that is, the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki."
Besides Kaguya herself—who is essentially the Ten-Tails incarnate—the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki in this world... if counting even what Haseo knew about "future circumstances"... certainly aren't limited to just one. However, among them, the Sage of Six Paths' case was the most unique.
Strictly speaking, only the Sage of Six Paths can truly be considered the genuine Ten-Tails Jinchuriki who completely mastered its power. Later reincarnations of the Ten-Tails were nothing more than makeshift and incomplete products—they lacked the most powerful part since the essence of the Ten-Tails lies within the Nine-Tails.
Even the Eight-Tails couldn't compare.
And those sages couldn't even fully control these incomplete versions of the Ten-Tails.
Just think again—how many years exactly did the Sage of Six Paths serve as the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki?
"You're talking about the legend where the Sage sealed the Ten-Tails and split its chakra into nine beasts? Leaving aside whether something like the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki even exists—Haseo, you previously said 'no god,' yet now you seem to accept these mythological stories… Isn't that contradictory?"
"The thing is, this part is actually fact... Should I start from the beginning and tell you the entire story again?"
Haseo sighed helplessly—it's simply how this world's mythology is set up; what else could he do?
"No need. If all that's actually true… then what happens next?"
"What comes next? Isn't it obvious?
The Sage of Six Paths served as the containment vessel containing the sealed Ten-Tails. The 'Shinigami' is a container capable of sealing anything inside its belly. Therefore, the Sage of Six Paths...
Is the 'Shinigami.'"
Tsunade: "..."
"Isn't that interesting? I think it's pretty fascinating myself. But strictly speaking, the proper way to put it is—the 'Shinigami' is actually a 'physical remnant' left behind by the Sage of Six Paths."
"Assuming everything you say is true, I don't think describing such information as 'interesting' is appropriate."
Haseo just found it intriguing that he could still uncover more secrets about the world—he said "Interesting" because he actually meant it.
"Naturally, this is true, both according to the data obtained from the Uzumaki clan and logically.
The Uzumaki were descendants of the Sage of Six Paths. After the Sage's death, they were responsible for handling his remains—the so-called 'Sage's Body.'
Obviously, back then, the Uzumaki clan was extremely research-oriented—maybe like a bunch of 'Orochimaru' gathered together. So their way of dealing with the Sage's remains couldn't possibly be as simple as burning them like I did with The Second's corpse; that would've been too wasteful… Uh, sorry, I didn't mean any disrespect toward The Second.
Why not use The Third as an example instead?"
It wasn't hard to grasp—if that weren't the case, how could the Uzumaki clan have come up with so many revolutionary sealing techniques?
"Just go on," Tsunade muttered, feeling like Haseo either liked to speak in riddles or was deliberately trying to provoke her.
"So the Uzumakis wasted no time in dissecting their ancestor's remains. They spent countless years studying it and eventually succeeded… I get it now. It must've been similar to how grain gets fermented into alcohol—although the form changes, certain essential qualities remain.
So the Sage's Body was somehow preserved in another form, and the Uzumakis took it further, studying and applying it—which eventually gave birth to [Dead Demon Consuming Seal] and even Shinigami itself—
After all, the stomach of the Sage of Six Paths could swallow anything, even digesting it completely.
Therefore, the 'Sage's Body' has always been there, and surprisingly, it's still in usable condition even now. It's just that nobody thought about it that way.
Interestingly, since Shinigami has always exhibited a strange state of 'spiritual manifestation,' those who knew this technique often regarded it as something spiritual.
Undoubtedly, this was a misunderstanding.
In reality, just as I mentioned earlier, Shinigami is actually the Sage's physical body, symbolizing life force and representing the Yang aspect in the division between Yin and Yang.
Another point: although the Sage's Body was powerful, ultimately it was just an unconscious dead object. Hence, referring to the 'dead Sage' as Shinigami truly reflects reality—interpreting it purely based on its literal meaning causes no ambiguity at all.
Being an unconscious object, activating it requires spiritual energy. What appears as the caster's soul being extracted and sealed together is actually the extraction of spiritual energy from every single cell of the user's body—and fully drained, beyond recovery.
Consequently, performing this technique results in death. It's like inserting a one-time-use command card into a control panel. Once used, it self-destructs completely…
Using the Sage of Six Paths' body costs your life. To be honest, isn't that only right? Fair trade, wouldn't you say?"
At this point, Haseo finally couldn't help bursting into laughter.
So the secret behind Ninjutsu comes down to one thing — the boundless imagination and creativity of the ninja. If a ninja's got that investigative drive, you can bet they'll always cook up something downright shocking and terrifying.
(End of this chapter)
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