A difficult choice lies before you.
Will you give in to the thrill of vengeance—
Take the risk of losing the complete inheritance, kill the White Ape outright, and forever sever ties with Boss Black Cat, the partner who has been by your side since the very start of the simulations...
Or will you swallow your anger.
Trust the Slug Sage, secure the complete training method, and bring Boss Black Cat back to life?
You knew full well you couldn't defeat the Slug Sage.
Besides, in one of your past simulations, the Slug Sage had once aided you—giving you a chance to snatch the fruit of the Divine Tree.
After a fierce internal struggle, you decided to believe in the Slug Sage's word.
After all, the Slug Sage had always remained absolutely neutral in the shinobi world. Aside from the Dragon Vein, only the survival of powerful summoning beasts could even slightly concern her...
You agreed to her request.
You chose to spare the old monkey's life.
But before the White Ape could express a word of gratitude, you coldly demanded that he hand over all his training methods—no exceptions!
The half-crippled White Ape Sage glared at you in fury.
Just as you were about to crush his skull with a punch, a gentle force from the Slug Sage intervened and placed itself between the two of you.
Seeing this, the White Ape had no choice but to confess—the training methods he obtained came from an ancient Buddhist sect.
The scriptures and techniques were hidden deep within the Water Curtain Cave, and among them were means of making grand vows.
As for the Buddhist weapons, apart from the Adamantine Staff you'd already snapped in half, the Demon-Suppressing Vajra that had been sucked away by Kamui, and the robe.
There was also a talisman he had used to ambush and kill the Whale Sage. The Arhat Blood, but it had just been burned away by your Flame of the Infested...
The White Ape had already exhausted the last of his Arhat Blood.
"Is that really all?"
"That's all!"
The old ape still dared to lie at death's door. You were just about to start torturing him—
But the Slug Sage acted faster than you. A green light shot into the White Ape's body, and he spilled the rest of his secrets.
He revealed the "Battle Saint Scripture" he had used to increase his strength.
Then came two Buddhist divine arts—"Divine Foot Power" and "Heavenly Ear Power," both rivaling god techniques.
He didn't speak these aloud. The Slug Sage directly extracted them from his legs and ears, transforming them into two golden scrolls that landed in your hands.
Having lost these, the White Ape fell into total despair.
You honored your word and released his soul. The Slug Sage said she would take him to Shikkotsu Forest and personally discipline him to curb his violent nature.
...
However, once in her hands, the White Ape began pleading—asking the Slug Sage to retrieve his body from you.
You had already gathered his corpse fragments and extracted the undigested Arhat Blood within, reducing the broken body to a pile of shattered bones.
Only five drops remained. You were slightly disappointed and prepared to leave.
Despite the White Ape being so weak, he had still managed to withstand your attacks thanks to the Arhat Blood. Who knew how far you could go by cultivating with these five drops?
But then, the Slug Sage asked you—on account of them both being summoning beasts—to leave behind one drop to help reconstruct the White Ape's body.
You thought for a moment. Out of respect for her, if not him, you agreed—but only if she gave you a Life Rule and the Arts of Shikkotsu Forest in exchange for rebuilding the White Ape's body.
The Slug Sage agreed without hesitation and handed over a Life Rule on the spot.
But as for Shikkotsu Forest's Arts, she refused.
She warned you: the three Arts could not be combined. Doing so would result in unpredictable consequences.
Moreover, the one you already practiced from Ryūchi Cave was the most compatible with you. No other could match it.
Still, as compensation—
The Slug Sage shared a revelation: if you could fuse two completely opposing rules, your Authority would gain the ability to grow, continuously absorbing related rules to strengthen itself—
Allowing you to leap from True God to Celestial God.
She said she looked forward to the day you stood alongside her as equals—guardians of the shinobi world.
You nodded in agreement.
But you had no intention of fully walking the path of the divine.
After bidding farewell to the Slug Sage, you stored the newly obtained training methods in the prototype Divine Realm...
And returned to the shinobi world.
Boss Black Cat had already been revived, safe and sound, lounging atop an island.
The three orcas that had been deceived and ambushed by the White Ape were also revived by the Slug Sage. Terrified of you, they had retreated to hide in their home Dragon Vein.
You didn't bother to hunt them down.
First, you had Boss Black Cat return to the Ninja Cats to check if the clansfolk killed by the White Ape's clones had also been revived. Once confirmed, you went to the White Ape Sage's old domain.
Upon your arrival, the monkeys who had hoped for the White Ape Sage's triumphant return—and were ready to feast on dragon meat—immediately scattered like leaves in a storm.
Even the strongest among them, Enma, had no will to fight.
You activated your Sharingan and gave it a slight spin—
The entire troop of monkeys burst into a mist of blood, perishing instantly.
...
After freeing the Shark Sage and Eel Sage from their restraints and tossing them back into the sea, you discovered a hidden monkey cub in a cave.
You activated your Tenseigan and inserted a Spirit Orb into its brain.
He was Enma's grandson, a prodigy among the White Ape tribe, personally taught and favored by the White Ape Sage, seen as the future of their kind...
Well then—
You're it.
You took out a purple seed and planted it in Enma's grandson's body.
It was the Seed of Indra's Will.
It could only thrive on hatred.
You took Enma's grandson to witness the brutal carnage and gave him the White Ape Sage's tail as a weapon—then slapped him into the distance with a single strike.
Let him fend for himself.
You entered the Water Curtain Cave and, as expected, found the Buddhist scriptures and training techniques the White Ape Sage had mentioned.
You returned to human form, leaving only a pair of horns exposed to absorb natural energy, while your full consciousness delved into focused cultivation...
〖Second Year〗
Although the epic battle between you and the White Ape Sage had long since ended,
It had been recorded across the shinobi world. Those who witnessed the clash each had their own thoughts.
In the Land of Water, people erected monuments and statues in your honor—and his.
Meanwhile, high-ranking ninja from various villages decided to send forces overseas to capture and eliminate you both, hoping to remove a destabilizing factor.
Of course, many more ninja were eager to sign contracts with such powerful summoning beasts.
For a while, wild monkey and snake-type summoning beasts exploded in popularity on the market.
A few lucky ones even stumbled into Ryūchi Cave by accident and contracted summoning beasts from the Sacred Land.
...
At the same time, through your careful study, you mastered all the Buddhist artifacts the White Ape Sage had obtained.
First was the Adamantine Staff. It could grow or shrink at will and weighed tens of thousands of pounds—a core weapon of the White Ape, with durability rivaling Truth-Seeking Orbs.
But to you, it was useless.
After retrieving it from the ocean and understanding how to use it, you covered it with your claws imbued with the Ultimate Meaning of Swordsmanship and chopped it into small chunks.
You chewed on them like snacks during downtime.
You were still growing, and eating high-quality metal was good for bone development. The weapon was forged from a special metal comparable to Truth-Seeking Orbs—far better than the common chakra metals in the shinobi world, and particularly chewy...
Just as Black Cat had said.