"How dare you..."
Ashura could no longer contain himself, his father being directly insulted. He was about to lash out in anger.
However, just as he was about to speak furiously, he was stopped by the Sage of Six Paths.
"Kurozetsu, sealing Mother was a choice I was forced to make."
"Back then, Mother was resolute in her intention to overturn the entire ninja world. The lives of countless people hung in the balance of Mother's whim."
"The ninja world was in peril, and naturally, I could not stand idly by. Therefore..."
"Nonsense!"
Kurozetsu's eyes reddened, and he furiously interrupted the Sage of Six Paths' explanation.
"Mother merely wished to reclaim her chakra. Don't forget, she is the progenitor of chakra in the ninja world!"
"All chakra in the ninja world originates from Mother, including you!"
"And also..."
"If you were truly so benevolent, why did you allow your two sons to cycle through reincarnation in the ninja world for a thousand years?"
"The strife between your two 'good' sons in the ninja world over these millennia has likely killed countless more humans than the one hundred thousand transformed into White Zetsu."
"Hypocritical villain, spit!"
Kurozetsu's sophistry struck at the core, and the Sage of Six Paths' gaze flickered. He opened his mouth to speak, but ultimately fell silent.
He knew the role Kurozetsu had played in the conflict between his two sons, but Kurozetsu was not wrong. His own heart was not as pure and noble as it seemed.
What was the initial reason he resisted his mother?
It was that girl sacrificed to the God Tree due to her status, wasn't it?
Hagoromo...
That gentle girl he grew up with, the sacrifice that caused him to awaken the Sharingan...
And then?
After his unanswered inquiries to his mother about her actions, he attempted to join forces with Hamura to demand an explanation.
Then, his brother's mind was controlled by Mother using the Byakugan, and he turned against him.
Following that, he killed his brother, thereby awakening the Rinnegan...
And Indra, why was he so insistent on confronting Ashura?
Even with Kurozetsu's instigation, wasn't the fundamental reason because he himself was so stubborn and decided that Ashura would be the heir to Ninshu?
Indeed, it had continued from a thousand years ago until now.
Upon reflection, he, the Sage of Six Paths revered by the ninja world, had actually been causing harm to others all along.
...
The Sage of Six Paths fell silent. By projecting his own feelings, he could faintly understand his mother's actions back then.
Attempting to control the thoughts and futures of one's children yielded similarly unfavorable results.
His own fate seemed better, but who could say it wasn't because the combined power of Indra and Ashura was not as great as his and Hamura's power back then?
He dared not delve deeper.
Uchiha Madara fell silent. He had witnessed a being who could truly be called a god. Yet Kurozetsu dared to curse him to his face, and he did not retort.
His worldview shattered into pieces once more.
He couldn't understand how a mere battle with Orochimaru had led to this situation that he couldn't comprehend.
...
Orochimaru, looking at the silent family before him, felt he could no longer remain silent.
"Senior Madara, forgive me!"
He reached into his robes and produced the corpse of the Chakra Converter - Hiruzen.
"Hmm?"
Madara was still somewhat dazed. Just as he was about to ask what offense had been committed, Orochimaru struck him on the forehead with a sealing jutsu.
"Sage Art - Nether Release..."
"Alas..."
The Sage of Six Paths sighed and waved his hand, dispelling the seal on Uchiha Madara.
"There's no need for such trouble!"
"With your crude methods, this child's body will likely not endure before he can fully absorb Indra's chakra."
The Sage of Six Paths held some guilt towards Indra, and by extension, he couldn't bear to see Uchiha Madara, his son's reincarnation, die from chakra depletion.
Orochimaru was happy to have a ready-made solution and nodded casually.
"Whatever pleases you, Senior!"
"This junior merely thought it was time for Senior Madara, who has toiled his entire life, to rest in the Pure Land."
Uchiha Madara finally regained his senses and stared in shock at this shameless junior.
Killing someone while feigning concern for their well-being, was that something a human could do?
The Sage of Six Paths smiled wryly and shook his head. He reached towards Uchiha Madara's chest and pulled out a figure resembling Ashura from Madara's body.
"Brother!"
Seeing the silhouette appear, Ashura, standing beside the Sage of Six Paths, called out with a complex expression.
"Ashura?"
"Father?"
Indra was clearly confused.
In a reincarnation purely of chakra, the soul was dormant within the chakra. Indra did not share the same consciousness as his reincarnated body, Uchiha Madara, and was thus unaware of everything that had transpired externally.
The Sage of Six Paths sighed and casually stripped away the portion of chakra Indra had used for reincarnation from his soul, tossing it lightly to Orochimaru.
"Indra, it is time to end this meaningless fratricide."
"Return to the Pure Land with me!"
"No!"
Indra's confused expression vanished, replaced by a sharp gaze directed at Ashura's soul.
"It is far from over!"
"I have yet to prove to Father that my path is the correct one."
"Will Father once again stop me, just as he asked me to withdraw from the succession of Ninshu last time?"
The Sage of Six Paths' expression dimmed, unsure how to explain the thousand-year mistake to his eldest son.
Indra's expression was stubborn, and he was about to continue arguing with his father about how wrong his decision had been.
Suddenly...
"Buzz!"
A terrifying chakra fluctuation erupted from Orochimaru, who stood behind Indra's soul.
The air hummed and trembled, and natural energy surged madly.
Indra suddenly turned and witnessed the entire process of Orochimaru's power transforming within him.
His loose robes fluttered without wind, and his gray and white kimono gradually transformed into the pure white of the Otsutsuki clan.
Six black tomoe appeared sequentially from his collar, three on each side, arranged neatly.
Just as everyone expected Orochimaru to achieve Six Paths power directly, Orochimaru stopped condensing the Six Paths energy onto himself.
Orochimaru, who stood with his eyes closed, was enveloped in a soft blue light, seemingly in a state of deliberation.
After a long while, a high-pitched dragon's roar suddenly echoed through the void.
A white dragon's body flickered in and out of existence within the blue light. A majestic dragon head forcefully emerged from the blue light behind Orochimaru and opened its maw, spitting out a perfectly round dragon pearl.
Streams of powerful natural energy descended from the dragon pearl, dyeing Orochimaru's body a blue-white hue.
In the next moment, Orochimaru's Six Paths body shattered within the blue light, transforming into pure Yin-Yang Release energy that flowed along the descending natural energy into the dragon pearl above.
The white dragon let out a low hum, and opened its mouth, swallowing the dragon pearl back into its belly.
Its scales parted, and a torrent of immense Sage Mode energy emanated from it. The dragon was immediately bathed in divine radiance.
When the light dissipated, a majestic divine dragon with deer-like antlers, bell-like eyes, a beard at its lips, and surrounded by nine black Truth-Seeking Orbs, appeared before everyone.
With a flick of its tail, the nine Truth-Seeking Orbs spun and eagerly entered the white dragon's gaping maw.
The white dragon's body flashed, and it transformed back into the ordinary Orochimaru.
"With Sage Mode as the core, and Yin-Yang Release as the auxiliary, it transforms at will, no longer bound by the limitations of Yin-Yang Release abilities..."
"Orochimaru, you have indeed forged a path different from mine."
The Sage of Six Paths sighed with emotion.
"Thank you for your guidance, Senior!"
Orochimaru bowed lightly with a smile, his expression carefree and natural.