"Uchiha Hikari has already stirred the winds of reality. Next on the Heavenly Screen's stage—Black Zetsu."
"Perfect. Through Black Zetsu, I'll talk about a 'revised' version of shinobi history. Let you natives be thoroughly shaken.."
"Sage of Six Paths… my apologies."
"There's too much blame here. Even Danzō can't shoulder all of it. I'll have to trouble you instead."
"I'm sure you don't mind. Otherwise, you would've come to me already."
Yin An chuckled, then shifted his attention back to his fishing rod.
Within the Pure Land, the spiritual form of the Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki, known to the world as the Sage of Six Paths, sat cross-legged. His white beard stirred without wind, and within his Rinnegan, a rare gravity and contemplation flickered.
Someone was targeting him.
That much was beyond doubt.
The Heavenly Screen's accusations—"Chakra Invasion," "Chakra Seeds"—left even him momentarily unsure how to refute them.
"Just who is deliberately targeting this old man…"
His voice echoed softly through the silent Pure Land.
"To portray the spread of the chakra system as a calculated conspiracy."
"To completely twist my original intent."
From the very beginning, his goal in spreading chakra had been simple: to connect hearts through its power, so that humanity might truly understand one another.
But what exactly was this Heavenly Screen?
Anger?
Perhaps a trace.
Yet stronger still was vigilance—and confusion—at the interference of a higher power.
He had lived for over a thousand years, witnessed the storms of the shinobi world rise and fall. He believed he understood every hidden current of this world.
The so-called "God's Knights," "Seven Warlords," "Devil Fruits," "Demon Gods," "Pond Owners"…
If such beings truly existed—and possessed the influence shown on the Heavenly Screen—how could they have left no trace across history? Not even one that he, Hagoromo, could perceive?
"Unless…" The light within his Rinnegan shifted subtly. "They truly come from 'outside.' Rarely walking within this world. As Sakura suggested—beings from other 'ponds.'"
"And they may even evade the perception of the chakra system itself."
The thought weighed heavily upon him.
If true, then the shinobi world faced more than internal strife or historical misunderstanding. It would be confronting interference from beyond the world itself—an unknown, higher-dimensional intrusion.
Yet another thought soon followed—cool, analytical.
"The Heavenly Screen has revealed so many astonishing 'futures' and 'truths.' Many of them directly contradict what I know."
"And thus far, only Karin has appeared as a true anomaly. As for the so-called serpent monster and world tree… fabrications are not impossible."
"What if these 'futures' never occur? What if the 'God's Knights' never manifest on a large scale?"
"If so… would the authority of this Heavenly Screen not collapse on its own?"
Hagoromo had lived too long. He had witnessed countless prophecies, illusions, and deceptions.
No matter how mysterious an omen appeared, if its core revelations were disproven, its influence would inevitably weaken.
Perhaps the Heavenly Screen itself was an elaborate and precise… deception.
Or a spectacle orchestrated by an unknown existence for its own purpose.
"More importantly, the appearance of this Heavenly Screen—and the content it reveals—has already changed the present state of the shinobi world."
Even within the Pure Land, he sensed unrest among powerful departed souls. In the living world, he could faintly perceive faith collapsing, hearts shaken by confusion, and beneath it all, surging greed and madness.
Regardless of truth or falsehood, the impact was real.
"The mastermind's purpose…"
His Rinnegan gazed into the void, as if seeking to pierce the boundary of the Pure Land and glimpse the "hand" behind it all.
"Only by finding the one behind the curtain can this end. Otherwise, any action would be futile."
"If I intervene forcefully now—attempt to stabilize the situation…"
He shook his head.
"Leaving aside whether I could even oppose such a 'mastermind,' my actions alone might confirm the Heavenly Screen's accusations—that I manipulate souls—complicating matters further."
"And perhaps that is precisely what the other party desires: to drag me from behind history's curtain to the forefront of conflict."
A millennium of wisdom guided him toward the most cautious—and passive—strategy: observe.
"Since the opponent has laid such a grand scheme, baiting so many hooks, they must seek something. And they will act again."
Hagoromo slowly closed his eyes, yet his vast perception expanded like the faintest ripple across water, quietly observing every change in the living world.
"I would very much like to see what you intend to fish from this 'pond' called the shinobi world."
"A specific 'fruit'? Experimental data on some power? Or… merely the spectacle of chaos, a vortex engulfing all beings, stirred for your amusement?"
He no longer sought to "correct" the Heavenly Screen's revelations, nor to defend himself.
Instead, he positioned himself as a detached observer—armed with a thousand years of wisdom and a faint spark of curiosity—prepared to watch this peculiar chess game unfold. A game using the entire shinobi world as its board, and the hearts of all beings as its pieces.
Sometimes, doing nothing is the deepest—and most unpredictable—response of all.
Just as he had refrained from interfering in the thousand-year struggle between Asura and Indra… just as he had turned a blind eye to centuries of war.
Elsewhere, Neji Hyuga clenched his fists so tightly his knuckles turned white.
On the Heavenly Screen, he had been turned into a puppet. Forgotten. In the end, even trampled beneath Hikari's foot.
"So that's it… I was crushed to death? My corpse turned into a toy?"
His voice trembled with resentment and fury.
"So no matter what I do, I'm destined to die—and even in death, I won't find peace?"
He could not accept such a "fate."
He was Neji Hyūga—the genius who broke free from the Branch Family's curse. The prophesied child who awakened the legendary Tenseigan.
How could his life end in such absurd humiliation—his existence erased without meaning?
Especially Hikari's final mockery:
"The Hyūga Clan… still producing geniuses?"
A rebellion unlike any before ignited within him.
"If the Heavenly Screen has revealed these so-called futures…"
Neji lifted his head. His Byakugan activated instinctively.
"Then I will find a way to prevent all of it. I will shatter this damned destiny!"
Yet Neji did not know one cruel truth.
The future shown on the Heavenly Screen was already his best possible outcome.
By the original trajectory, he would never have awakened the Tenseigan—never have reached that level of battle.
He likely would not have even survived that long.
Instead, he would have become a sacrificial shield—his body pierced like a hedgehog—falling in tragic obscurity.
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