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Geographically speaking, overlooking the entire world including land and sea, the Land of Fire can be considered the "center of the ninj
Geographically speaking, overlooking the entire world including land and sea, the Land of Fire can be considered the "center of the ninja world." However, if one were to find a central point solely on the continent, that place does not belong to a major country; perhaps it should be the Land of Rain.
The three great nations-the Land of Fire, Land of Wind, and Land of Earth-are arranged in a triangular pattern and do not border each other directly. Between them lie several smaller countries arranged in a "Y" shape, with the Land of Rain located at the intersection of the three branches of the Y.
However, the place Haori is searching for is actually slightly westward within the Land of Rain, but it is not part of the Land of Rain itself; it belongs to another small country, the Land of Birds.
The Land of Birds lies west of the Land of Rain, sandwiched between the Land of Wind and the Land of Earth. It is no longer within Konoha's sphere of influence but is controlled by Iwagakure.
During the previous Great Ninja War, this country was also a battleground between the two great nations.
Due to the influence of the Land of Wind and Land of Earth, the climate of this country should be relatively dry, and indeed, most of this small country experiences almost no rain year-round. However, some parts, especially near the Land of Rain, are easily affected by moisture coming from the neighboring country.
Thus, in the drizzle, Haori arrived at the coordinates.
"This should be the place, right?"
Haori questioned himself with slight uncertainty. Although he had obtained all the coordinates, he could not be sure of their accuracy. What if the coordinates had been corrupted during the long-term safekeeping by the three great summoning sites?
From the location's perspective, it was not far from the destroyed Loulan, so geographically, it made sense that the Ōtsutsuki would be here.
In any case, right or wrong, the next step was to try.
Since he had come this far, Haori had no reason to retreat. Yet he did not act immediately. First, he found shelter from the rain and rested to restore himself to optimal condition.
After several hours, Haori returned to the exact spot where he had stood before, then formed hand seals.
There was still no wind, but the rain had intensified.
However, after completing the seals, three minutes passed with no change. Haori scratched his head, doubting if something had gone wrong and prepared to try again. Suddenly, a semi-transparent dome-shaped barrier expanded rapidly outward from where he stood, covering a vast area.
Even the rain was held outside the barrier.
The barrier appeared, and Haori found himself inside it.
At this moment, the scenery before him changed completely. No longer a barren wasteland, the "presence" hidden within the barrier revealed itself.
It was a grand and magnificent building.
"The Ōtsutsuki shrine, the Sage of Six Paths... I'm kind of excited," Haori said, his tone less tense and more like a casual onlooker pretending to be a fan, with a hint of mischievous humor.
He then stepped forward, pushed open the door, and entered the shrine.
The first thing he saw was a stone statue directly facing the entrance. It was a stoic, slightly fierce figure with two horns on its head and three eyes. Its arms were extended with bent elbows, hands posed as if about to clasp together, but the palms tilted forward, showing the sun and moon symbol painted in the center of the palms.
"Want to shake hands? Say hello?"
Of course not. That symbol represented the yin and yang power of the Six Paths.
"Judging by the shrine's condition, it doesn't look like it's been sealed for over a thousand years. So... how is the dusting and cleaning done? What's the principle behind it?"
The shrine's wooden floor was so clean it looked freshly swept that morning. The spacious, dimly lit interior, combined with the solemn statue, would intimidate most visitors.
But Haori understood this cleanliness was likely due to a special sealing barrier, reflecting the chakra traits of the Ōtsutsuki clan: no preservatives, yet an exceptionally long shelf life.
After surveying the main hall, Haori began a thorough search, rummaging through everything. He wanted to see if he could find anything valuable, playing the part of a tomb raider who, despite his respect for the founder of the Shinobi religion, lacked professional expertise.
Unfortunately, after searching, he found nothing.
"So, this place has already been visited? But there's no sign of a robbery tunnel."
He was jokingly calling himself a tomb raider.
Either the Sage of Six Paths was extremely stingy and left nothing behind except a flashy statue, or...
Wait, the statue...
Haori returned to stand before it.
The statue was about five meters tall, sitting cross-legged but leaning slightly forward, with arms extended so its hands were within reach of an average person's height.
Haori stood beneath the palms, thought for a moment, then formed hand seals and, with a try-it-out attitude, placed his hands against the statue's palms in a gesture of surrender.
Was he really trying to shake hands? No. Haori had just used the Five Elements Release Seal. Upon touching the yin-yang symbol on the statue's palms, he immediately sensed something unusual.
It felt as if he had penetrated something and grasped something intangible.
And indeed, Haori had grasped something.
After lowering his arms, the sun and moon symbol on the statue's palms disappeared, replaced by two scrolls-one black, one white-appearing in Haori's hands.
Yin and yang power? As expected, the Sage would not leave nothing behind.
However, suddenly, something unexpected happened!
Before Haori could open the scrolls to examine them, he found himself instantly transported from the dark shrine interior to a sunlit sea surface.
Different place, different time, different weather.
A mental space? Most likely.
Haori had no time to look at the scrolls.
"No summoning ritual performed, yet it appeared on its own?"
He looked at the old man floating cross-legged, holding a black staff, muttering to himself but also seeming to ask the man a question.
Without waiting for an answer, Haori circled the man with curious eyes.
Then he noticed the pattern behind the man-nine magatama beads... yes, nine tomoe.
Looking at the eyes in front-ringed eyes-yes, no doubt.
"At this point, shouldn't you ask, 'Are you my mother... no, master?' since it's a summoned being?"
But the problem was Haori hadn't performed the summoning ritual, so the master-servant relationship didn't apply. Besides, the Sage of Six Paths didn't have a stray hair.
"Young ninja, why have you invaded my shrine?"
"Sage of Six Paths?" Haori asked, partly rhetorical, partly confirming.
"It is I."
"..." Haori fell silent, then said, "No, think again. You're not the Sage of Six Paths."
The other looked confused. Was there a problem with his identity?
Haori explained, "No, you're not the Sage of Six Paths. At best, you're the chakra remnant left behind by the Sage who lived N years ago."
"A god? A demon?"
Hearing Haori's words, the Sage's first reaction was disbelief-chakra remnant? He had never been described so precisely before.
In reality, Haori was facing the residual chakra left by the Sage of Six Paths-the weakest 'Six Paths' in history.
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