Chapter 463: Six Paths Power
"The Pure Land is a 'resting place' I created for all departed souls in this world through my understanding of Yin-Yang Release power."
The Sage of Six Paths narrated calmly. "It was constructed in the crevice between life and death, isolated from the disputes, suffering, and erosion of time in the living world. My original intention was to allow weary souls to temporarily escape the endless suffering of reincarnation and obtain eternal tranquility."
However, his tone immediately took on a hint of guilt.
"But these words are, after all, only superficially pleasant to hear. Although I created the Pure Land and gave it the name of 'rest,' in reality, the souls who arrive there can only experience falling into eternal, unknowing, unfeeling slumber."
"No perception, no memory, no communication, not even a true sense of 'existence.' I failed to give it the warmth and meaning that true 'rest' should possess. I merely provided a 'stagnant' space that would not be disturbed. This was not the form I originally idealized."
"And you, Uzumaki Naruto, you possess the Universal Manifestation, such great power that can touch and modify the fundamental laws of reality itself. You possess power far exceeding my peak period."
"More importantly, you harbor a pure heart willing to protect everything, embrace everything, and eager to bring true peace and happiness to all existences."
"You are the most suitable, perhaps even the only existence in this world capable of establishing a more complete, more humane new order between the two most fundamental dimensions of 'life' and 'death.'"
"Of course, please understand," Hagoromo immediately added, fearing misunderstanding. "When I say 'take over the Pure Land,' I am not asking you to permanently reside in the realm of the dead, nor do I expect you to crudely interfere with the natural laws of life and death's cycle in heaven and earth."
"Rather, I hope you can become the guardian of this special dimension, using your power that transcends laws to stabilize its existence. When necessary, use your wisdom and benevolent heart to adjust and optimize its internal rules, ensuring it is no longer merely a cold slumbering place, but can truly fulfill its role as a 'resting place for souls.'"
His words pointed toward an even more expansive future. "And in the distant future, perhaps through your power, a more beneficial and meaningful interactive channel can be established between the living world and the Pure Land of the dead, allowing longing to be conveyed, regrets to be comforted, and the transition between life and death to no longer be so absolute and cold."
"This is a regret I could not complete in my lifetime. And I believe that only you, having reached your current realm, have both the possibility and the will to realize it."
"Of course, this is not an unpaid entrustment." Hagoromo's tone suddenly carried self-deprecating emotion. "The 'compensation' I can give you is my remaining power—the complete 'Yang Power,' which symbolizes ultimate life creation and healing. However..."
He paused, his "gaze" penetrating Naruto's body to see within it that energy source as brilliant as a nebula, containing the great power of universal origin.
"For you, this power is probably already negligible, isn't it."
The divine arts bestowed by the cosmic stars, the authority of creation and destruction, made the traditional "Six Paths power" pale in comparison.
Hagoromo's gaze then turned to Uchiha Satsuki standing beside them. This generation's Indra chakra vessel, though currently only having awakened the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, possessed in those eyes bizarre ocular techniques involving "time stopping" and "concept modification" that even as the Sage of Six Paths, he couldn't help but feel a chill.
The power of Indra's lineage had always been closely related to the intensity of emotions... This woman before him, with her obsessive devotion to Naruto that had become the core of her life, her fervent love, had undoubtedly cultivated these eyes' potential to an unimaginable degree.
"...Mm, I accept."
Contrary to Hagoromo's expectations, Naruto did not hesitate much. After only brief contemplation, he gave an affirmative answer. His thinking was actually quite straightforward.
As it happened, he had originally planned, once everything settled down, to attempt to "visit" or even "summon" certain people from the Pure Land.
Now that the Sage of Six Paths had proactively packaged up the entire "Pure Land's" authority and management responsibility and offered it to him, this was like a pillow arriving right when he was sleepy. He really had no reason to refuse.
This would not only allow him to fulfill some personal wishes, but more fundamentally improve this world's order of life and death. Why wouldn't he do it?
Hearing Naruto's straightforward agreement, the Sage of Six Paths' chakra manifestation radiated a relieved, gratified light at this moment.
He had waited too long. Now, his final concerns had finally found their place.
At least millennium-level peace was now assured, the threat of his mother's resurrection had been eradicated, future external crises had a reliable guardian, and even the "Pure Land" he had worried about most had found its most ideal successor...
Finally... he could rest a little.
"Then, come." Hagoromo's light-shadow manifestation floated forward slightly, extending his somewhat illusory palms toward Naruto and Satsuki. "Touch my palms. I will transmit to you my final power and all the authority and knowledge regarding the Pure Land."
Satsuki frowned slightly, still holding instinctive resistance toward this direct "contact." She hesitated, ultimately only extending one finger, her fingertip touching the light-shadow of the Sage of Six Paths' outstretched palm extremely lightly, with obvious distance.
This undisguised disdain left Hagoromo rather speechless, but it was enough.
Naruto frankly placed his palm over it. However, the expected massive power infusion did not occur.
Perhaps because his body had already thoroughly accepted and fused Otsutsuki power, then been baptized and reshaped by the stellar might of the solar system and Regulus, his life level and energy essence had long leaped to an entirely new dimension.
Traditional "Six Paths power" was to him like a drop of water merging into the ocean. Aside from bringing some clear information flow about the Pure Land's structure, rules, and authority, on the power level there was almost no feeling of "growth" or anything "special."
But Satsuki's situation was completely different.
The moment her fingertip touched the halo of Hagoromo's palm, an extremely pure chakra torrent containing the most fundamental Yin Release attributes and massive life force, as if finding its most compatible vessel, surged gently yet powerfully into her body, directly flowing toward those Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan!
Ultimate Yin Release chakra was originally the best catalyst for Sharingan evolution. This power from the Sage of Six Paths, worthy of being called a "key" and "primer," began intensely nourishing Satsuki's eyes.
However, the Sage of Six Paths' perception caught a bizarre mutation.
Satsuki's eyes' evolution process directly skipped the conventional Sharingan stages. Her ocular power and structure were leaping toward the next legendary endpoint at an incredible speed!
This was... characteristics of the Rinnegan that were already gestating?
The Sage of Six Paths' heart shook, feeling particularly astonished. According to common sense, awakening the Rinnegan required the combination of Indra's and Ashura's chakra. Satsuki was certainly Indra's vessel, but when had she obtained Ashura's power...
This question had just risen in Hagoromo's consciousness when he immediately cut it off himself.
He glanced at Naruto and Satsuki standing side by side, especially the almost substantive, perfectly blended chakra and emotional connection between them.
Married relationship... the most intimate union... complete fusion of soul and body...
Yes. In such ultimate intimacy and unreserved mutual acceptance, the power within Naruto that had long surpassed ordinary Ashura chakra, fusing Otsutsuki essence and stellar divine power.
Had already produced the deepest level of blending and complementation with the Indra chakra within Satsuki's body through the most essential life connection.
The required "conditions" had already been quietly fulfilled in love.
It was just that this evolution needed time and opportunity to manifest. And now, the Sage of Six Paths, using his own most fundamental Six Paths power as the "key," forcibly accelerated and officially initiated this process!