Starting with the usurpation of Akatsuki, the ninja world was overthrown.

Chapter 222 The Buried Truth

Before the actual battle, Shiba Kiyokawa showed this big boss a great deal of respect.

He brought out half of the six battalions of the Akatsuki organization, a total of more than two hundred ninjas.

Compared to the mere few squads of Konoha's resistance force in the original movie, Shiba Kiyokawa gave them a lot of face.

Even when the priestess repeatedly emphasized the severity of the disaster, due to insufficient information, Shiba Kiyokawa never refuted her, and even cautiously instructed Nagato to send Pain to the front to scout.

However, when the enormous crisis that the shrine maiden had described, enough to overturn the entire ninja world, actually materialized before his eyes, Shiba Kiyokawa could only say that his previous respect had been somewhat wasted.

The rescued priestess was completely dumbfounded.

"you·--"

She meant to tell you to be careful.

But watching Nagato repeatedly smash the undead, tentacles, and all sorts of monsters to pieces on the ground with his instantaneous Shinra Tensei;

Look how easily Shiba Kiyokawa's blade severed the possessed person's limbs, turning them into a human stick.

The shrine maiden suddenly found herself unable to utter the rest of her words.

Driven to the brink, he roared in a hoarse voice.

"Why won't you accept me? We were meant to be one!!"

The priestess instinctively retorted, "No! Absolutely not! Your power is too great, you should be—"

But halfway through her speech, she suddenly couldn't continue.

A series of sharp explosions erupted from ahead.

Although I didn't quite understand it, I imagine it was a very vulgar swearing.

The power is too great? Look at my battered and bruised body and say that again?!

At this moment, Nagato was already making a move to end the mission objective.

"Let me do it. I'll just test out the sealing technique I've been practicing lately."

The sealing technique Nagato mentioned was Chibaku Tensei.

He had only recently mastered this technique and was planning to find an opportunity to practice it in real combat.

But then, something unexpected happened!

A wisp of black energy emerged from the possessed man in front of him and then quickly rushed into Shiba Kiyokawa's body.

At that moment, the priestess, who was being protected by the Akatsuki trio, screamed in terror.

"No! Damn it! He's possessed! Control him!" Before she could finish speaking, Xiao Nan sharply interrupted her, "Shut up!"

Nagato landed from the sky at that moment and comforted him, "Don't worry, Kiyokawa probably has his own plans."

The priestess continued her tirade, "What are you all hesitating for? If you don't stop it, the entire ninja world will be destroyed!"

But Nagato simply stopped her with a cold look, "We trust our leader more than your unreliable prophecies."

Meanwhile, in a desolate mental space, a mist-like entity is confronting Shiba Kiyokawa.

However, no fierce battle broke out between the two sides; on the contrary, the atmosphere was strangely harmonious for a moment.

She spoke first, saying, "You're not afraid at all? I can't sense any fear in you. Why is that?"

Shiba Kiyokawa shrugged with a smile.

Because his sealing technique was already ready to be unleashed; because even now in this spiritual world he still held the initiative; and also because just a moment ago, he had the ability to dodge the invasion, but Kagura's Mind's Eye perception gave him some information that piqued his curiosity: the force rushing towards him at that instant was not malicious.

So he chose not to hide, letting it enter his body, which also meant entering a cage completely under his control.

Instead of immediately answering the question, Shiba Kiyokawa asked, "You don't seem to intend to devour me, so what exactly do you want by coming to me alone like this?"

He suddenly laughed, the laughter gradually growing louder from a low murmur.

"Hahaha, how ironic! A thousand years have passed, and finally a stranger is willing to ask me what I really want to do! Yet those priestesses who are of one mind with me only ever think of sealing me away with their own suicides!"

"Huh?" Shiba Kiyokawa couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

"I was right to come to you! You're much more rational than those crazy women!"

Nearly a thousand years have passed, and those insane witches still cling to their foolish theories passed down through generations. Every time I try to communicate with them, they only superficially agree with me, tricking me into entering their bodies, and then turning around and sealing me away again with suicide! I've had enough!

For a fleeting moment, Shiba Kiyokawa detected a deep, lingering resentment and grievance in that frantic voice.

So, is this how a thousand years of resentment was accumulated?

Shiba Kiyokawa inexplicably felt like laughing.

The truth has a touch of dark humor to it.

"So you can actually communicate, right? Then what exactly do you want to do by summoning the undead? And why did the first priestess seal you away?"

At this moment, Shiba Kiyokawa's curiosity was also aroused.

He was also curious to know what this somewhat stereotypical, world-ending boss in the original theatrical version actually wanted to do.

"I want to destroy the Ninja Clan! To sever the lineage of ninjas!" he said through gritted teeth.

"Oh." Shiba Kiyokawa nodded calmly.

Then she added, "Now I understand why the first priestess insisted on sealing you away."

Then he calmly asked again, "And what's the reason? What's your reason for doing this?"

Perhaps because he was too calm, this time it was his turn to feel a little uncomfortable.

"You—you actually accepted it so easily? You're a ninja too, aren't you going to do everything in your power to stop me?"

Shiba Kiyokawa replied calmly, "You can decide how to handle it after you hear your reasons. Since you feel that those shrine maidens cannot understand you, I can now give you a chance to explain yourself."

Of course, the most crucial factor is the confidence that comes from strength.

If he wanted to deal with it, Shiba Kiyokawa could do so at any time, which is the core reason why he and the shrine maiden had different attitudes towards this threat.

Even now that it has entered his body, he, being proficient in sealing techniques, is still confident that he can suppress this vengeful spirit at any time.

All the fear stems from the difference in firepower.

Just as Madara and Hashirama never saw the Tailed Beasts as embodiments of disaster, Shiba Kiyokawa doesn't see the idea of ​​destroying the Ninja Clan as some terrible natural calamity.

The next moment, he even summoned a small table, a chair with a backrest, and a tea set in this consciousness space that he was manipulating.

Shiba Kiyokawa poured himself a cup of tea, took a leisurely sip, put down the teacup, elegantly crossed his legs, placed one hand on his knee, and raised the other hand in a gesture.

"You can start explaining now, go ahead."

Now it's a bit of a scramble.

"Isn't this a bit disrespectful to me?" A surge of resentment welled up within me, but then I reluctantly fell silent again.

There's nothing we can do; it seems like he chose it himself.

"This involves the truth of this world, which may overturn your understanding. I hope you are prepared. First of all, do you know the Sage of Six Paths? The Sage of Six Paths, the founder of Ninja Sect, was not actually from this world!"

After saying this, he paused expectantly, as if waiting for Shiba Kiyokawa to express surprise or doubt.

This left Shiba Kiyokawa somewhat amused and exasperated—he noticed that this cloud of black smoke was strangely childish, as if it was trying to save face and prove itself.

Unfortunately, Shiba Kiyokawa only wanted to speed up the conversation.

"I know that the Sage of Six Paths' real name is Hagoromo Otsutsuki. He belongs to the Otsutsuki clan, and this clan is considered outsiders to the world. So what? Your purpose in destroying the Ninja Clan is simply because you cannot accept a system established by outsiders?"

The black smoke in front of me suddenly trembled violently.

Despite the lack of concrete evidence and the inability to discern any expression from the shadows, Shiba Kiyokazu had a gut feeling that Kiyokazu seemed to be on the verge of a breakdown.

The information advantage they thought they had actually didn't exist at all; instead, they were overwhelmed by others' knowledge and experience.

This is the first time I've experienced this feeling in nearly a thousand years.

"Who...who exactly are you?" The voice was trembling slightly.

But Shiba Kiyokawa still didn't answer him. "Don't ask questions back. Continue explaining your problem. Is that all you have to say about destroying the Ninja Clan?"

Shiba Kiyokawa's tone gradually turned cold.

Perhaps sensing the murderous intent spreading through this space of consciousness, the trembling black smoke quickly calmed down.

"Of course it's not just that!"

It then rose higher, spreading black smoke, and seemed somewhat excited.

"Since you know about the Otsutsuki clan, you should know that they came to this world with malice, right? Their purpose in coming here is actually to reap everything! They want to plant a tree here, a giant tree!"

He was interrupted again halfway through his sentence.

"I know that too, we've covered that part, let's get to the main point."

I felt a bit stuck again.

He suddenly felt a pang of nostalgia for those foolish witches who feared his power...

"The Otsutsuki clan harbored malice towards this world, and the Sage of Six Paths stopped them. But after that, the Sage of Six Paths did something foolish!"

Seeing that they had finally gotten to the point, Shiba Kiyokawa sat up a little straighter, leaned forward, and picked up his teacup again. "The foolish thing you mentioned, are you referring to founding the Ninja Clan?"

"How did you know? I haven't said anything yet."

"Because you stated from the beginning that your goal was to destroy the Ninja Cult and sever the lineage of ninjas."

"Oh, I think so."

Shiba Kiyokawa shook his head and put down his teacup.

This boss doesn't seem very smart.

This posture seemed to enrage him; his black smoke spread further, and his tone became agitated.

"But what I'm about to tell you is something you absolutely don't know! That's why that foolish woman, the first priestess, never believed me!"

"you say."

"Actually, the Otsutsuki clan didn't only have that one woman who came to the ninja world back then! However, the Sage of Six Paths didn't know this truth at the time!"

He thought he had done a good deed by founding the Ninja Clan and distributing the power of chakra to everyone around him, giving countless people a power they never dared to imagine before.

But he forgot that chakra is the power of the Otsutsuki clan, and by doing this, he has actually locked down the power ceiling of this world forever!

Even he himself later realized the serious consequences of his actions, so after his death he lingered in the Pure Land, unwilling to completely dissipate, fearing that the world would once again be invaded by the Otsutsuki after his death!

This time, I finally got to see the expression on the man sitting at the tea table in front of me, his pupils dilated in shock.

A suppressed, triumphant hum came from within the black smoke.

At this moment, Shiba Kiyokawa had no intention of criticizing the other party's childishness and competitive spirit.

This information was indeed somewhat beyond his expectations.

Is this the secret that the Sage of Six Paths is unwilling to let go of to this day?

Although it seems absurd, upon closer examination, it contains a reasonable and self-consistent logic—because if the original historical trajectory is followed, this world has indeed never exceeded the power limit set by the Sage of Six Paths.

In the original ending, Naruto and Sasuke have become the two strongest ninjas in the entire ninja world, and are very likely the two most outstanding ninjas in a thousand years.

But have they surpassed the Sage of Six Paths? Probably not.

Even their ultimate advantage in defeating Kaguya was given to them by the Sage of Six Paths.

However, Naruto and Sasuke are already the only two irreplaceable and strongest legends in the ninja world in the past thousand years!

After they both die, the limits of this world will only regress even more severely.

Seeing that Shiba Kiyokawa had fallen silent, he excitedly continued reading.

To this day, none of us know exactly how many members the Ōtsutsuki clan had, but what is certain is that...

Their power has no limit.

They can improve themselves by constantly planting trees and plundering, but this world, this ninja world...

However, due to a single act of kindness from the Sage of Six Paths, his potential was forever limited.

Therefore, if the lineage of the Ninja Clan is not severed, this world will be destroyed sooner or later!

He couldn't help but feel a little proud as he said this, as if he had finally proven himself right.

It's justifiable for him to destroy the ninja world!

He had explained it to the first priestess in the same way, but unfortunately she wouldn't listen at all. She then pulled him out of her body, said "You're too dangerous," and sealed him away. This seal has lasted for a thousand years.

However, now that he knows more about the future, Shiba Kiyokawa no longer sees him as a purely world-destroying madman.

He carefully recalled the plot he knew and the many changes he witnessed after his time travel, and finally couldn't help but look up and say.

"You didn't come up with these ideas yourself, did you? Who told you?"

Still trying to argue, "Why can't these be my own ideas?"

"Because you don't have the brains."

Enraged, she shouted, "What gives you the right to say that?!"

"For the past thousand years, you have never been able to persuade even a single priestess."

At that moment, the black smoke twisted and constricted rapidly, and an exasperated voice emanated from it, "They're insane! They've got something wrong with their brains!"

Shiba Kiyokawa just watched quietly without saying a word.

After a while, he gave up.

"Okay, you're right, these are indeed what my mother's prophecies told me."

Who is the mother?

"You don't know your mother? That's impossible, you clearly have her mark on you."

In that instant, it was as if a bolt of lightning had struck the back of Shiba Kiyokazu's head.

Because of his excellent memory, at this moment, he suddenly recalled his past in Loulan.

There, the dragon vein had also told him: It was your mother who chose you and brought you here.

The answer was revealed the next moment.

"Mothers are the will of this world."