"You mentioned before that you wished to unify this entire world. It seems now... there is indeed no one left who can stop you. But if that is the case... will the future of the shinobi world lead toward paradise, or toward destruction..."
His tone heavy and profound, the Sage's voice grew fainter, simply stating the undeniable truth before him as he waited for Kaoru's answer. "Everything... ultimately rests in your hands..."
"And so... Kaoru Uchiha..."
Whether it was merely their imagination or not, Naruto and Sasuke, standing behind Kaoru, felt the Sage's figure growing thinner and more ethereal, as if it could dissolve and vanish at any moment.
"What is your answer?!"
As the Sage uttered his final question, the air around them fell into absolute silence. Everyone present could hear the sound of their own breathing.
Naruto and Sasuke also held their breath, pricking up their ears to wait for Kaoru's reply. They too desperately wanted to know his answer, and what shape the shinobi world would take from here.
Kaoru now held absolute control. Would what awaited them be destruction, or...?
At this stage, with Kaoru's power surpassing absolutely everything else, they knew clearly that no one in this world remained capable of stopping or hindering him from doing whatever he desired.
This concerned the fate of the entire shinobi world...
And the destiny of every single one of them...
"My decision, you say..."
Seeing the eyes fixed upon him, and sensing the anxiety and hesitation within every heart, Kaoru felt a strange, indescribable surge of emotion deep within himself—this feeling of holding the fate of everyone in his grasp.
"Heh... Let me put it this way... My views differ greatly from those of Madara Uchiha and others who fanatically pursued what they called 'peace'..."
"To become the ultimate power in this world... to gather every form of power in this world unto myself alone... so that the words I speak become the laws of this world..."
His profound, scarlet gaze passed over the hope and anxiety in everyone's eyes as Kaoru spoke calmly and steadily, revealing his true thoughts. "That... is my goal."
"Perhaps... the true peace that all of you have longed for for so long..."
Kaoru spoke with deep composure, his tone level and unwavering. His scarlet eyes looked straight through the Sage of Six Paths, as if gazing into the distant, far-off future. "...might just be realized through my hands."
When it came down to it... Kaoru was a traveler from another world, standing above and beyond the framework of this reality...
He was not a native of the Naruto world with extreme ideologies like Madara Uchiha or Obito Uchiha...
Since the Third Hokage yearned for true peace...
Since Tsunade hoped never to see war again...
Since Wan'er also wished for an end to chaos and strife...
Then he would simply create a peaceful world without war, and give it to them as a gift...
After all, wasn't this something he could accomplish effortlessly now, merely by thinking it...?
"Hmm..."
Hearing Kaoru's reply, the Sage floating in the void fell into quiet contemplation. A smile of relief spread across his aged face. "It seems matters are not as dire as I feared..."
After all... watching the shinobi world he had personally built crumble and perish...
Was something even the Sage of Six Paths was unwilling to witness...
"However... a person's convictions can always change with the passage of time. Even if you are willing to bring peace to the world now... it is far too dangerous to entrust the safety of an entire world to the will of a single person. If one day your heart changes, and you suddenly decide to destroy everything... what would become of us then...?"
"It has been so long since the time of your death... yet your chakra and lingering attachments still remain in this world, refusing to let go..."
Instead of answering the Sage's question directly, Kaoru spoke these words. A penetrating light shimmered within his deep, scarlet eyes.
As a traveler from another world, his perspective on things and on this reality was entirely different from anyone else's.
"Being too attached to anything will only bring you endless suffering and distress..." Kaoru's voice was soft, yet his words rang inside the Sage's heart like the toll of a great bronze bell.
"If one day my heart truly does change... what could you possibly do to alter it? You are nothing more than a lingering spirit now. Even if you were not here watching over this shinobi world... this world would still follow its own course and develop naturally..."
"Sage of Six Paths... since you have already seen through the truth of this world and chosen to detach yourself from mortal affairs... why do you still cling to such attachments..."
Light swirled within Kaoru's eyes. Naruto and Sasuke behind him might not understand the deeper meaning of his words, but he was certain the Sage standing before him would grasp it completely.
"Tangled up in the affairs of the mortal world... when will you ever be able to achieve true transcendence like this...?"
"Release oneself from mortal ties... and let nature take its course...?" As Kaoru's words faded, the Sage's eyes widened slightly.
He murmured the phrases repeatedly, gradually comprehending the profound yet simple truth governing all creation.
A radiance of true understanding burst forth from his Rinnegan eyes. "Put that way... you are right. It is I who was clinging too tightly..."
"You truly are a remarkable person... Kaoru Uchiha..."
"Perhaps... I should have let go long ago..."
As he spoke, the Sage's face was filled with a smile of complete release. A faint radiance began to emanate from his entire body, and before the astonished eyes of Naruto and Sasuke, his form slowly began to fade away.
"I shall linger no longer in this world... The future is now entrusted to you, the next generation..."
When the Sage's ethereal voice finally drifted away on the wind, Kaoru could feel that his presence had truly vanished completely from this world, having crossed over entirely to the unknown shore beyond.
"Grandpa Sage... he... disappeared..."
Naruto muttered to himself, staring blankly at the spot where the Sage had dissolved.
His simple mind could not fully grasp the deeper meaning of Kaoru's words just now, nor why they had moved the Sage so deeply.
"It seems I helped him resolve his inner conflict..." Kaoru whispered to himself as he watched the Sage vanish. I never thought... that I too would one day master the art of persuasive speech...
"Ugh..."
Just as the Sage completely faded from existence, a faint groan was heard.
Some distance away, Madara Uchiha—who had been left on the brink of death after his battle with Kaguya Ōtsutsuki—suddenly stirred back into consciousness.
"He's awake... Is this the last flicker of a dying flame...?"
Seeing Madara quietly regain consciousness, Kaoru's tone held not a trace of surprise.
Truth be told, having reached his current level of power, nothing in this world could still surprise him anymore.
"Kaoru Uchiha... is it..."
Barely managing to open his eyes and recognize the figure standing before him, a bitter smile touched the corner of Madara's mouth. At this moment, speaking seemed incredibly difficult for him.
"It seems... you are the final victor... But perhaps that is for the best... At least the one who tried to use me as a tool... did not achieve their goal..."
"I believed I had the entire world firmly within my grasp... I never imagined that in the end... I myself was nothing more than a pawn being used by others..."
Lying powerless on the ground, Madara's features and expression were hard to discern. Yet his tone was filled with a complexity of emotions—defeat, the end of an era, and utter helplessness...
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