Tsunade turned her head and stared blankly at the scene in the sky, raising her hand to point at the place where the dimensional gateway had just disappeared.
"He has transcended to a higher plane, moving toward a greater realm," Kei said.
"You said before that your strength is comparable to the Sage of the Six Paths..." Tsunade's eyes flickered with a trace of surprise, but she quickly suppressed it.
Transcendence!
The word held an irresistible allure for anyone in pursuit of ultimate power.
Looking at the nearby figures of the Third Raikage, Ōnoki, and Izuna, who were so excited that they didn't even know what to say, it was clear how much of a shock it was for them to witness the Sage of the Six Paths transcend before their very eyes.
Kei had previously claimed to possess power on par with the Sage of the Six Paths. So, in the future... Would he also leave them like this?
"Let me tell you all a story." Kei glanced at Tsunade and Hikari, who were both watching him intently.
After ruffling Hikari's hair, he told the story. It was not complicated.
It was about a legendary mage who abandoned emotions and love, devoting centuries to arcane study. After countless trials and mystical encounters, he ultimately achieved ascension and reached the celestial realm.
However, the moment he presented himself to the gatekeepers of this "higher plane," he realized the truth, this realm governed countless mortal worlds.
And so-called master mages like him? There were thousands of them!
Even to become the lowest-ranked guardian and gain access to the most basic arcane knowledge, he had to defeat the trials of the Seven Archdukes, each one wielding power that dwarfed his own.
And above those Archdukes were even greater beings... Elemental Lords, Ancient Titans, Celestial Wardens, Keepers of Time, Masters of Fate, the Twelve Immortal Kings, the Nine Divine Arbiters, the Four Horsemen, the Three Fates...
"So what you're saying is... you want to wait until your power surpasses even the lowest-ranked guardians before ascending?" Tsunade frowned in thought before raising her head to look at Kei.
"No! What I mean is... imagine spending centuries mastering magic to finally ascend, only to find out you have to start all over again in the next realm. That's just cruel!" As soon as he finished speaking, Tsunade punched him in the chest.
"Can you be serious for once?!"
"Hahaha~"
"Stop laughing!" Tsunade kept hitting him in frustration, but deep down, she felt a surge of warmth. This scoundrel never spoke seriously, but his words carried an unmistakable meaning, even if he were to transcend, he would bring her along.
Hikari, after hearing the story, also broke into a radiant smile.
Kei had promised, wherever he went, he would take her with him.
No problem! Of course, everyone understood the story in their own way.
For the Third Raikage, Ōnoki, and Izuna, it struck a different chord. They had all once been considered prodigies in their respective villages and clans. But true greatness was knowing one's limits.
Compared to a true one-in-a-million genius like Kei, they were mere flickering candles next to a blazing sun. The gap between them and him was even greater than the gap between an ordinary person and themselves.
Even Kei described himself as just a mere soldier. Then what were they?
Ōnoki let out a bitter laugh and glanced at the equally disheartened Third Raikage.
They were both old now. They knew their limits better than anyone.
Transcendence? That was nothing more than a dream, one that was laughable even to think about.
As for Izuna... "As expected, only my brother can achieve something like this..."
Just like how his older brother had helped him awaken greater power in his Sharingan after he was revived, if his brother reached transcendence, he would surely take him along, right?
Yes! The more he thought about it, the more sense it made.
As Kei and Tsunade bantered, his gaze shifted toward the place where the dimensional gateway had once stood. Then, he glanced at the system interface, where two traits were waiting.
There was something he desperately needed to confirm.
"Wait here for a moment, I need to check out what the Sage of the Six Paths left behind in the Pure Land." Kei turned to the others and spoke.
Although everyone was puzzled as to why he didn't wait until they had completely dealt with Kaguya before going, they still nodded and didn't object.
He closed his eyes and used the spatial perception ability granted by [Multiversal Voyager] to locate the Pure Land. By utilizing the spatial coordinate marking and transfer technique he had learned from Isshiki, he locked onto the exact spatial position of the Pure Land.
Before him, a massive spatial gate slowly opened, exuding an aura of decay and stillness. He stepped forward into the spatial gate.
Circulating the spiritual energy within his body, he released a faint divine glow that shielded him from the corrosive forces of the Pure Land.
After locking onto the deeper core of the Pure Land, with a single step, he arrived in a unique space filled with the Six Paths Yin-Yang Cycle of Reincarnation.
As soon as he arrived, beneath his feet, the extremely dense Six Paths chakra had already solidified into a chakra lake, its surface rippling like water.
"This chakra… He really glorified his own image, huh?" Kei glanced at the vast, unfathomable lake of Six Paths chakra and couldn't help but roll his eyes.
Where did all this chakra even come from when he only ever focused on the power of the soul? Even without thinking too hard, Kei could guess, back when the Sage of the Six Paths failed in his Shinobi Religion Plan, known as Ninshū, and chose to enter the Pure Land, he must have gone through a period of madness.
He must have continuously harnessed chakra from the souls that entered the Pure Land. Until one day, he discovered a better path, and stopped this crazy practice. Or rather, he didn't completely stop, but instead harnessed smaller portions from each soul, keeping them as a backup resource!
Otherwise, why had the Pure Land still not begun its reincarnation cycle even now?
Shaking his head to push aside his scattered thoughts, he turned his gaze toward one corner of the space, toward an ancient-looking structure.
His Byakugan activated, his sight piercing through the layers of space. His gaze locked onto a head, heavily sealed within countless layers of sealing techniques.
Shibai's severed head!
"So powerful…" The moment Kei saw the head, he could already make a judgment, Shibai's physical strength was far beyond his own, even with the powerful physique granted by [Heavenly Spirit Sovereign].
His body's durability was perfectly matched with the strength of his soul. And right now, with all his enhancements, Kei's soul strength was roughly equal to the Sage of the Six Paths at the moment of his transcendence. The only difference was that the Sage had thousands of years of accumulation, making his soul much denser.
If both soul and body needed to reach the same level of power to transcend, then with Shibai's physical strength, he should have long since ascended with his body intact.
So… Does this mean achieving transcendence through pure physical strength is nearly impossible?
Or is it that the Naruto world simply doesn't allow physical transcendence?
"Well… that works in my favor too." Kei waved his hand, sealing the entire building into his Infinite Domain.
Turning around, he activated his spatial abilities and left the Pure Land.
As for the vast amount of Six Paths chakra, and the core of the Pure Land's reincarnation cycle, which was sealed at the edges of this space by countless layers of Six Paths Yin-Yang Seals,
He chose not to touch them for now. He had come here for one reason only, to confirm whether merging the two newly copied golden abilities would immediately trigger his own ascension.
Based on what he had observed from Isshiki and Kaguya,
He was fairly certain that an Ōtsutsuki's soul strength was usually slightly stronger than their physical body strength, mainly because their bloodline abilities made them naturally inclined to Yin Release techniques.
For Shibai, his body had reached such an overwhelming level of power that it wasn't until he abandoned his body that his soul was finally able to transcend.
Which meant, even if his own soul reached the same level as the Sage of the Six Paths during transcendence, as long as he didn't sever the connection to his physical body, it shouldn't trigger the arrival of a dimensional gateway.
Kei wasn't afraid of entering a higher realm. He still had one Trait Duplication left and four Trait Removal.
No matter what kind of higher world was waiting beyond, he had enough resources to establish himself quickly.
But what really concerned him was, the higher realm connected to the Naruto world was apparently called Takama-ga-hara.