Chapter 439: The Power of Six Paths?
The Sage continued, "Due to certain events… that boy named Naruto will surely die. His death will cause… well, in your modern terms, a chain reaction. The future of the ninja world will be fraught with numerous additional calamities."
Ino asked tentatively, "Are you trying to point me to a crucial point, Great Sage, so that I can save Naruto?"
"You cannot save him. This tribulation is his destiny."
"Huh?" Ino was completely bewildered. This old man spoke in riddles, revealing one half and hiding the other, leaving her to guess the rest.
"I wish for you to go to a past era and retrieve a treasure. That treasure can save Naruto and allow his future to proceed more smoothly."
"…More smoothly?" Ino felt she had grasped the key point. So that's the real issue, isn't it? Whether Naruto lives or dies isn't important; what's important is using this as an opportunity to give him a power-up? This time, she didn't focus on the treasure itself—it wouldn't end up in her hands anyway. She was more concerned about this talk of "returning to the past."
"When you say return to the past, Great Sage, you mean…?"
"You've heard some of my story from Ashura, correct?"
"Yes, Lord Ashura has mentioned some of it." In Ino's presence, she ultimately didn't dare call Ashura "big brother."
"For the peace of the ninja world, my younger brother and I rebelled against our mother. Before the battle, Mount Myōboku gave me a Sage Talisman with the power to bring the dead back to life. To save Naruto, you must use this talisman. However, the talisman was originally meant for my brother. At that time, it was by killing him with my own hands that I awakened these eyes."
The Sage of Six Paths turned his head slightly, glancing at Ino.
The purple Rinnegan glowed with a mesmerizing light. Ino's three-tomoe Sharingan activated automatically. Over the past six months, Ginkaku's corpse had provided her with several boosts of ocular power, and after absorbing them, the power in her eyes had already surpassed a certain limit. Now, under the intense stimulation of the Rinnegan, her three tomoe showed a tendency to slowly warp and change.
One of the conditions for upgrading from the three-tomoe to the Mangekyō was immense mental stimulation. The shock of life and death was actually even more intense than the Uchiha's traditional method of killing a loved one or a friend.
The stimulating effect of the Rinnegan on the Sharingan was colossal.
Ino's whole body trembled. Even though she knew this fear stemmed more from her bloodline than from any real power gap between them, she still couldn't control her own cells, couldn't control the chaotic thoughts racing through her mind.
The ocular power in her eyes was intensely stimulated, boiling and burning at an exaggerated rate.
No! I absolutely cannot awaken my eyes now!
Ino bit her lip, using her own willpower to suppress the ocular power.
My body is mine, and my cells will obey my control!
The abilities of the Mangekyō Sharingan are bestowed based on the user's state of mind at the moment of awakening. If she awakened her eyes now, what kind of ability would she get? Eternal submission to this old fossil?
The Sage gave her a seemingly casual glance. When he turned back, Ino quickly reined in the nearly boiling power in her eyes, forcefully suppressing the transformation.
She was drenched in sweat, panting heavily, and it took her a long time to recover.
The Rinnegan was simply too terrifying!
For a moment, Ino even had the thought of gouging his Rinnegan out, but she also knew that was just a fantasy.
The love of the Sage of Six Paths was even greater than that of the Uchiha clan; he loved the entire ninja world. Therefore, he could tolerate many things, including but not limited to Danzo's annihilation of the Uchiha clan and Ino's use of Kimimaro's and Ginkaku's corpses to cultivate her Mangekyō's power. These were all things that happened within the ninja world, and he could tolerate them. But to dig out his eyes? That was absolutely out of the question.
Ino didn't really have much dirt on her record; it was just that her methods for cultivating ocular power were slightly over the line. After being seen by the Sage today, she had an epiphany. Those past deeds were now history. She was now also a descendant acknowledged by the Sage.
The matters of swindling Sharingan and treasured Sage tools couldn't be discussed in detail. She needed to bring the conversation back on track.
She coughed once. "Truly powerful eyes… Great Sage, do you mean for me to snatch the Sage Talisman and bring it back to the present to save Naruto? But if I do that…?"
If the Sage didn't kill his brother with his own hands, he wouldn't have enough mental stimulation to awaken the Rinnegan! And if he didn't have the Rinnegan, how would he fight Kaguya Ōtsutsuki? If Kaguya wasn't defeated, it was questionable whether Ino would even be born; her ancestors eighteen generations back might have been wiped out.
It was a dead-end loop. The Sage Talisman couldn't be brought back.
She voiced her thoughts, and the Sage nodded gently, gesturing to her. "Hold out your hand."
Ino's heart thumped wildly in her chest. Overjoyed, she held out both hands. The Sage ignored her. She quickly retracted her left hand, leaving only her right.
The Sage pointed at the center of her palm, and a magnificent and vast chakra flowed into her chakra pathways. It was a mass of golden chakra.
The energy gathered within the chakra was so immense that even with her current knowledge of ninjutsu, she couldn't comprehend its mysteries. She could only see traces.
It was the power to touch the principles of all creation, to control all things in the universe, the Power of Six Paths that merged the two ultimate opposing forces of Yin and Yang!
Ino's perception was keen. She couldn't make out the details, but she could "see" the very essence of this chakra. It was an enlightenment, a form of wisdom.
With this power, one could feel the flow of life, gain an ultimate understanding of the world's composition, and a step further from that was mastery.
The sky, the rivers, the mountains, and the earth—everything revealed a new and different kind of mystery. Ino used this power to observe the world of the dead, and in an instant, she read the lingering regrets of countless deceased souls. Yet, this influx of information placed no burden on her mind.
On one hand, her entire being had been elevated; her skin and muscles could think like neurons. On the other hand, it was because everything was simple and clear. What was so hard to understand about one plus one? That was the mindset she now had when looking at all things.
Ino hadn't collected all the Tailed Beast chakra and didn't have the Yin-Kurama inside her, so even with the Power of Six Paths, she couldn't use Naruto's Six Paths Sage Mode. However, under the stimulation of this immense chakra, her Sharingan once again showed signs of going berserk and upgrading.
Again?!
First time's a lesson, second time's a habit. She once again suppressed the agitation in her eyes, though it was a bit of a struggle this time.
She knew the answer in her heart, and the Sage's words confirmed it: "With this chakra of mine, even without mental stimulation, my past self would have been able to awaken the Rinnegan. It will not affect the present in any way. I need you to help me deliver it back."
Ino felt a pang of regret. So much Power of Six Paths! If only it were for her!
Unfortunately, she was still just a bridge in this affair—a bridge between the past and the present.
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