Chapter 190: Returning from the Pure Land
Unexpectedly, Indra shook his head.
His attitude toward Sasuke was far more patient, perhaps because Sasuke was his descendant, or perhaps because of the loneliness brought about by rarely waking up over the long passage of time.
"I have no grandfather."
Indra's voice carried no emotion; he was simply stating a fact.
"Grandmother pacified the chaotic world and was revered as the 'Rabbit Goddess'.
According to the legends passed down, amidst the blessings and prayers of the people of the world, she sensed heaven and earth and conceived asexually, giving birth to two offspring.
Those were my father, Otsutsuki Hagoromo, and my uncle, Otsutsuki Hamura."
He paused, seemingly organizing those distant fragments of memory pieced together across countless Reincarnations:
"Regarding more matters about Grandmother, such as why she was later sealed by the joint efforts of Father and Uncle... these more ancient and hidden truths are things I have only slowly pieced together and come to know in part through the experiences, sights, and fleeting memories glimpsed from successive Reincarnations throughout this millennium-long cycle of Chakra Reincarnation."
His words unveiled a more mysterious and cruel corner behind the creation myths of the Ninja World.
Gods were not born perfect; behind power lay sacrifice and betrayal, and the truth of history was often buried beneath layers of Reincarnation and the long river of time.
Sasuke silently digested this information.
Ōtsutsuki, Kaguya, asexual conception, Seal... every term struck at his existing worldview.
And this man before him calling himself Indra, this ancient Soul who possessed the same eyes as himself but bore a thousand-year-old grudge—where would his appearance lead him?
"If you have any more questions, ask them quickly."
Indra's eyes, with their spinning three-tomoe, stared unblinkingly at Sasuke's face, his tone carrying a hint of an indisputable command and a certain urgency to get to the main point.
"Lest you interrupt me again when I am speaking later."
He added, seemingly having a clear plan for the upcoming 'main topic' and not wishing to be disturbed by trivial doubts.
Facing this near-staring gaze, Sasuke did not back down.
He fell into a brief moment of thought. Regarding the Ōtsutsuki, Kaguya, Reincarnation, Asura... the amount of information was massive, and the doubts were many.
But intuition told him that perhaps he should first ask a question closer to the current situation, one that could better help him understand the mechanism of 'Reincarnation' itself.
He looked up, meeting Indra's gaze, and asked in a low voice:
"Did you... meet with your hosts like this before?"
He was referring to how Indra's consciousness had actively awakened and manifested a clear form within the mental space to communicate with the Reincarnation.
Whether it was the Indra inside him or the Asura inside Naruto, this behavior seemed to exceed the scope of'subtle influence'.
Hearing this question, a very slight ripple appeared in the cold expression on Indra's face, as if he were remembering something, or perhaps feeling a certain... absurdity regarding the answer itself?
He was silent for a moment, seemingly organizing his words, and finally answered with a helpless tone:
"No."
He gave a clear negative.
"Under normal circumstances, we do not manifest in such a clear, active manner to communicate directly with the Reincarnation.
Chakra Reincarnation is more of an inheritance and resonance of ideals, talent, and destined inclinations.
The host will naturally incline toward our path, possess certain traits of ours, and even unconsciously use our power, but they are usually unaware of our specific existence, let alone this kind of 'face-to-face' dialogue."
Indra's gaze became somewhat deep, as if piercing through time to look at a specific point:
"Originally... Asura and I had both returned to the Pure Land not long ago."
"The Pure Land?"
Sasuke's brow furrowed slightly.
"It is the resting place of the dead; you can understand it as the final destination for the Soul."
"I know that, but what I'm curious about is why you were able to come back."
Indra did not respond to Sasuke but continued: "The reason we went back was that we thought this generation's 'duel' had already reached a conclusion and come to an end."
It was clear that Indra hated being interrupted.
"Reached a conclusion?"
Sasuke's heart stirred, faintly grasping something.
Indra nodded, a hint of indescribable complexity in his tone, containing both reminiscence of the past and a sense of absurdity regarding a certain 'blunder':
"Because after your battle at the Ninja Academy, you formed the Seal of Reconciliation."
His words instantly reminded Sasuke of that humiliating defeat; the two of them had indeed formed the Seal of Reconciliation under the witness of Might Guy and their classmates.
Indra continued.
"In our view, being able to form the Seal of Reconciliation meant that one side must have acknowledged the other, or rather, both sides acknowledged each other and reached a reconciliation.
Since it ended in 'reconciliation', to some extent, it could be seen as a staged result of this round of the Reincarnation 'duel', or rather, a draw or mutual recognition.
Since there was a 'result', we chose to return to the Pure Land and remain temporarily dormant."
However, his tone shifted, becoming somewhat cold and... annoyed?
"But later we heard that the battle was actually just a 'playful fight'.
And..."
Indra's gaze swept over Sasuke with a sense of 'resenting that the iron didn't become steel':
"You even lost?"
Sasuke: "..."
Indra seemed to have suffered some kind of 'insult': "The dispute of ideals between us brothers has lasted for a millennium, and the 'duel' entrusted to the most talented Reincarnations of this generation was actually treated so 'frivolously' by you, and ended temporarily in such an 'undignified' manner?
How could this allow us to rest in peace in the Pure Land?"
Indra took a deep breath and concluded:
"So, Asura and I came back from the Pure Land again."
"Carrying the dissatisfaction of being 'trifled with', the refusal to accept the result of this 'anti-climactic' duel, and the intent to 'correct' this 'destiny' that has deviated from its track."
His gaze locked onto Sasuke again, his eyes sharp:
"Now, do you understand? Why we would 'awaken' at this moment, and why we would appear before you in such a direct manner."
"Because we are very dissatisfied with your last round of confrontation.
This round, we intend to... personally supervise, and even participate."
Sasuke's heart sank.
As expected, things were far more complicated than he had imagined.
Ancient spirits were 'angered' back because of a battle that 'wasn't serious enough' and intended to intervene more deeply in the living world.
And as one of the parties involved, he feared he could no longer simply view Naruto as a 'companion' or 'rival' as before.
He had to find a way to get rid of this guy and his younger brother.
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