The Sage of Six Paths disappeared, and Yako's consciousness returned to his body.
He raised both hands and stared at them.
Chakra had been brought to this world by Ōtsutsuki Kaguya.
It had been spread by the Sage of Six Paths.
Most of the power in his body—
Was still, in some way, under the influence of the Ōtsutsuki line.
The thought that traces of the Sage's soul still remained within chakra and bloodline cells…
It left a terrible taste in his mouth.
He slowly lowered his hands and looked up at the moon in the night sky.
For the sake of giving this world some peace…
You all need to disappear.
Yako began checking his current condition.
Chakra: 1.0x Super-Kage level.
With his sudden enlightenment of the Wrathful King, his chakra reserves had broken through the limit of shinobi and entered the Super-Kage realm.
More importantly—
The quality of his chakra had also risen dramatically along with the growth of his spiritual energy.
Judging from the gap between his Wrathful Thousand Hands and Hashirama's True Several Thousand Hands—
His chakra reserves were probably around half of Senju Hashirama's.
At the Super-Kage stage, chakra wasn't really something that ran out easily anymore.
The real issue was finding powerful secret arts suited to oneself.
Yako raised one hand.
A thin mist appeared in his palm.
At first glance, it looked like ordinary water vapor—
But in reality, it was ultra-refined microscopic Water Release chakra.
After Absolute Defense: Copper Light, he had now gained another refined chakra secret technique.
He named it:
Absolute Defense: Crystal Mist
Its effect was simple.
Once any attack entered the mist—
Its resistance would instantly become infinitely large.
Yako formed a shadow clone and had it throw a kunai at him.
At his current level, a thrown kunai was practically a shell fired from artillery.
Yet as Yako waved his hand—
A shallow layer of pale crystal mist appeared in front of him.
The kunai entered the mist—
Immediately began slowing—
Advanced only a few centimeters—
Then stopped completely, suspended in the air.
Not bad.
The interception effect of Absolute Defense: Crystal Mist was excellent.
With two refined chakra systems now established—
Water refinement to slow physical attacks and sap ninjutsu energy,
And Earth refinement to outright block physical force—
His defense had climbed yet another level.
That left him feeling… a little melancholic.
Oops.
I may have invested a little too hard into defense.
At this rate, I might never find a worthy opponent again.
It was almost lonely at the top.
Aside from Wood Release and chakra refinement—
All of his other abilities had also improved to varying degrees.
Yako used the Body Flicker Technique and sped toward the Fire Temple.
Now that his strength had surged, his speed had become terrifying.
He arrived beneath the temple gate three nights earlier than in his previous life.
Sarutobi Shinnosuke's mission—
Had to be completed.
This was also for Konoha's sake.
Konoha would never allow the Fire Daimyō to waver.
Whether the Daimyō was safe or not was secondary.
What mattered was that his safety had to remain under Konoha's control.
To put it bluntly—
The Daimyō's balls had to stay firmly in Konoha's hands.
Inside the meditation quarters, candlelight danced across the statue of the Thousand-Armed Avalokiteśvara.
Its many arms cast layered shadows across the room.
The white-bearded old monk sat hunched over his desk, studying a scroll.
He was trying to find a way to negotiate with Konoha—
By drawing on the connection between Senju Hashirama and the Fire Temple.
Then suddenly—
Abbot Jie looked up.
There was now a figure standing in the doorway.
His old eyes were failing him.
He stared for several seconds before finally confirming—
There really was someone there.
At that moment—
A certain understanding surfaced in his heart.
So tonight is the night I die.
For him, life and death were matters of utmost gravity.
To attain liberation.
To embrace death and life freely.
That was what true nirvana meant.
Strangely—
Jie felt no fear.
Instead, he felt a kind of release.
He wondered to himself:
Will tonight's release count as freedom?
Will tonight's death count as liberation?
Yako walked to the low table and sat down cross-legged opposite Jie.
Jie looked at him.
His white beard seemed to lose its remaining color in an instant, turning deathly pale.
"Traveler," the old monk said, "I see an overwhelming weight of slaughter between your brows.
And yet…
Why do you carry the radiance of a Buddha-form?"
Yako answered honestly:
"Abbot, I don't understand Buddhism.
I simply happened to comprehend the decree of Wrathful King through repeated deaths.
To conquer past, present, and future.
To transcend life, death, samsara, and nirvana.
To subdue the three times and the three realms—
That is freedom.
Master…
I understood it."
Jie nodded faintly in realization.
"I see.
What you obtained was not cultivation—
But providence."
"Yes.
A great providence."
"Then why have you come to see me?"
Yako stared at Jie.
For a moment, he felt as though he were looking at a certain old monk from his previous life.
The tone.
The demeanor.
The bearing.
It was all uncannily similar.
The inheritance of Master Duhai…
Was truly exceptional.
Yako said:
"You sought to secure the Daimyō's guardian-shinobi position for the Fire Temple.
I am here on behalf of Konoha to stop you.
You and I both act for the sake of our believes.
There is no nobility or vileness in that.
I came here to ask you to withdraw.
In the most complete way possible—
So that Konoha will have no lingering worries."
"I understand…" Jie said softly.
Konoha having "no lingering worries" meant only one thing.
He had to die.
The abbot asked quietly:
"Before I die…
May I see the Dharma Avatar you obtained through this providence?"
"You may."
Yako raised one hand and formed a wrathful mudra often used in the iconography of the Myōō.
Just like shinobi had hand seals—
Buddhist statues had mudras.
The Teaching Mudra.
The Fearlessness Mudra.
The Wish-Granting Mudra.
And among them—
The Threatening Mudra, representing intimidation toward evil.
When Jie saw it, a bitter smile flickered through his heart.
At this point—
Who exactly needed to intimidate evil?
The shinobi had come to kill him.
Shouldn't he be the one invoking wrath against evil?
A crimson Wrathful KingAvatar rose around Yako.
Its expression was hideous and furious.
Its gaze was fixed on Jie.
At that moment, Jie's final trace of hope vanished.
This masked shinobi truly had attained enlightenment under extraordinary providence.
Wrathful King Avatar…
In the history of the Fire Temple—
Only a single great monk had ever awakened it.
And that too only after returning from death.
Jie lowered his eyes to the scroll in front of him and said:
"Traveler…
The First Hokage, Lord Hashirama, attained enlightenment beneath the Thousand-Armed Avalokiteśvara and gained the power of compassion.
From that came his True Several Thousand Hands.
And you—
Somewhere unknown—
Attained enlightenment and gained the power of the Three-World Wrathful King.
To die beneath such a Dharma Avatar…
Would not make my decades of Buddhist cultivation meaningless.
Before I die…
I have only one wish."
"Say it."
"Do not destroy the Fire Temple."
Yako replied calmly:
"Master, you worry too much.
As long as you enter nirvana, there is no reason for me to destroy the Fire Temple.
The Fire Temple is one of the shinobi world's important inheritances.
The ninjutsu of the Five Great Villages may be powerful—
But they are not the only path.
The enlightenment power represented by the Fire Temple is equally important.
I am killing you because your interests and Konoha's have come into fundamental conflict.
But outside of that conflict—
I hold the Fire Temple's inheritance in genuine respect.
I will not destroy the Fire Temple.
And I will not allow anyone else to destroy it either.
In fact—
I share a certain affinity with this place.
Not only will I refrain from destroying it—
I will protect it."
Ōtsutsuki Kaguya.
The Sage of Six Paths.
Asura.
Indra.
Black Zetsu.
All of those things needed to be thoroughly erased.
But the Fire Temple.
The Three Great Sacred Lands.
The Shinigami.
The Evil God.
All these systems of power that stood apart from the Ōtsutsuki lineage—
Those were things Yako intended to preserve and develop.
Jie looked at him for a long moment before saying:
"Traveler…
There is genuine sincerity in your words.
There is no deception in that promise.
Tell me—
If you have never truly cultivated Buddhism, but instead devoted yourself to slaughter like a shinobi…
How did you awaken a Dharma Avatar?"
Yako answered:
"I may never have cultivated Buddhist teachings properly…
But I've heard a few sutras before.
The Buddha said that one may become enlightened directly.
That every person can become a Buddha.
That every path can lead there.
My path may be a little crooked—
But why should that prevent me from manifesting a Dharma Avatar?"
Jie nodded slowly.
"If that is so…
Then please, traveler.
Strike.
Let me see just how great the gap is between my Welcoming Approach: Thousand-Armed Murder…
And your Wrathful King."
The Wrathful King moved first.
A crimson fist slammed toward Jie.
At once, Welcoming Approach: Thousand-Armed Murder manifested around the abbot.
Yet—
It took only a single punch.
The crimson fist shattered the Thousand-Armed Murder instantly.
Then stopped—
Suspended just in front of Jie's face.
His Dharma Avatar broken—
The last trace of hope in Jie's eyes disappeared.
The old monk seemed to deflate all at once.
He had poured all of his life's effort into the Thousand-Armed Murder.
Now that it had been broken—
His spirit itself had cracked.
Yako dispersed the Wrathful King avatar.
He did not damage Jie's corpse.
The old monk died with blood flowing from all seven orifices.
Yako had killed many people for Konoha.
This time too—
It was simply a conflict of interests.
He felt very little.
Still—
Seeing Jie's manner of death stirred something faint in him.
No external wounds.
Blood from the eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.
By the time the other monks found him tomorrow morning—
They would probably assume he had suffered a cultivation deviation and died suddenly.
Yako worked with style.
Jie had died in a way that almost resembled nirvana.
His figure sank into the earth and vanished—
Moving north toward the Land of Hot Water.
Several days later—
He encountered the retreating Konoha survivors.
The moment Nara Kyoichi saw Fox, he rushed forward in a frenzy.
"Lord Fox! Adviser Shinnosuke has been killed!"
Yako's face filled with disbelief.
"What?
What did you just say?"