novelden Chapter 474 A Life of Deception
Chapter 474 A Life of Deception
Above, the 100-meter-tall Susanoo and the equally enormous wooden golem engage in a fierce battle like giant gods from mythology.
Each collision caused the earth to shake violently, and the shockwaves of chakra spread in all directions like a tsunami, turning this peaceful grassland upside down.
Below, the battle between Tobirama Senju and Izuna Uchiha has begun.
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!"
Facing Izuna's powerful fireball, Tobirama Senju swiftly completed hand seals. A torrent of water converged into a ferocious, roaring giant water dragon, baring its fangs and claws as it crashed headlong into the fireball!
"boom--!!!"
Water and fire collided with a deafening roar! A large cloud of white, high-temperature steam instantly billowed out, carrying within it the sharp clang of kunai clashing and the muffled thuds of ninjutsu exploding together.
"Stop it, all of you!"
Finally, a voice filled with helplessness and authority forcefully pierced through the roar of the behemoth above and the explosions of ninjutsu below, clearly reaching the ears of everyone present.
In the center of the battlefield, a figure suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
He wore a simple white robe, had horns on his forehead, and an aged face. Most striking of all were his open eyes—those were the Rinnegan!
The Sage of Six Paths never expected that his slight dozing off would cause such a commotion.
Looking at the chaotic scene before him, he felt as if he were seeing his two troublesome sons from a thousand years ago causing trouble again.
"Even if you fight now, you won't be able to kill each other! This world wasn't created to provide you with a battlefield for wanton destruction!"
However, he seemed to have spoken a little too late.
"boom--!!!!"
Almost simultaneously, the battle above was raging. The wooden golem's giant fist and Susanoo's chakra katana were crashing down on each other! And the Sage of Six Paths appeared precisely at the very center of this impending clash of devastating attacks!
"Huh?! Madara! Stop! We accidentally hurt some innocent people!"
Hashirama reacted the fastest, catching a glimpse of the old man who suddenly appeared in the center of the battlefield. Startled, he instinctively tried to withdraw his power while shouting at Madara.
Madara naturally noticed this strange old man who had recklessly barged into the battlefield. He sneered inwardly, thinking that daring to run into the center of his and Hashirama's battle at a time like this meant he deserved to be accidentally killed.
However, because of Hashirama's shout, he still managed to barely control Susanoo to slightly deflect the trajectory of the slashing katana, thus dissipating most of the force.
However, these two forces were simply too immense, and even if they were to withdraw, the residual impact would be far beyond what an ordinary soul could withstand.
Just as the wooden puppet's giant fist and Susanoo's katana were about to strike the Sage of Six Paths at almost the same moment—
Suddenly, several jet-black spheres appeared in front of Yu Yi without warning. These spheres instantly formed a black shield in front of him.
"Bang--!!!"
The wooden golem's fist and Susanoo's katana slammed solidly into the black shield!
The anticipated shield shattering and death did not occur. There wasn't even a particularly earth-shattering sound. The black shield easily absorbed the two remaining forces that were enough to destroy mountains, without even causing a ripple.
"Wow...what an amazing defensive ninjutsu!" Hashirama breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing this, then his eyes widened as he exclaimed sincerely, "That's wonderful, old man! Are you alright? That was too dangerous!"
The Sage of Six Paths dispersed the black sphere in front of him, his gaze falling on Hashirama's face, which was full of sunshine and concern.
"...You're still the same as ever, Ashura's predecessor."
Then, ignoring Hashirama's reaction, he casually waved his hand towards the area below where a fierce battle was still raging in the steam.
"Sizzle—!!!"
Several beams of lightning chakra shot precisely into the billowing steam.
At the crucial moment of their battle, Tobirama Senju and Izuna Uchiha simultaneously felt an irresistible force precisely strike their ninja tools or chakra nodes, instantly disrupting their offensive rhythm and subsequent combos. They were forced to leap backward, looking in astonishment and uncertainty towards the direction from which the lightning had come—the mysterious old man who had suddenly appeared in the center of the battlefield.
In an instant, everyone's eyes, whether it was Hashirama and Madara above, or Tobirama and Izuna below, were focused on this mysterious old man who had appeared out of nowhere.
In the brief silence, Madara Uchiha finally got a clear look at the newcomer's face and eyes.
"Those eyes...you are...?!"
For the first time, Ban's voice lost its absolute sense of control and arrogance, replaced by extreme shock.
"Yes, that's right. My name is Hagoromo, the founder of the Ninja Clan, and I am commonly known as the Sage of Six Paths."
An aged yet peaceful voice clearly reached everyone's ears. His gaze fell upon Hashirama Senju, "Former Ashura... I'll still call you Hashirama Senju. Your brother was right, this is indeed the afterlife."
Madara Uchiha's heart felt as if it were being clenched by an invisible hand. The Sage's Eye... the Rinnegan... that legendary origin, the pinnacle of ninjutsu, the existence recorded on the Uchiha Stone Tablet: it was now vividly appearing before his very eyes!
"You're the Sage of Six Paths?! The one... the one who left his words of wisdom on the stone tablet enshrined for generations at the Uchiha clan's shrine, guiding the pursuit of the one true path to peace... the Sage of Six Paths?!"
Madara Uchiha confirmed it once again.
Hagoromo turned his gaze to Madara and nodded. "That's right, Uchiha Madara... We can finally speak directly here. In fact, I have manifested here because I have important matters to explain to you—and everyone else."
Upon hearing this, Ban forcibly suppressed the turmoil surging within him, and the sharp edge of a ruthless hero quickly returned. He raised his hand, interrupting Yui's words.
"Wait! Before I hear your important matters, I have more important questions that must be answered!" He locked his gaze tightly on the feathered robe. "Your appearance at this moment... is it related to that plan? In the future, following the revelation of the stone tablet you left behind, I saw the true path—the Infinite Tsukuyomi, creating a dream world without strife. That is the only way to save this ninja world filled with pain and strife! Does your appearance mean... the time has come?"
"A 'plan'? Infinite Tsukuyomi?"
Hashirama Senju, standing to the side, frowned deeply, his face filled with confusion and a hint of unease. Madara's plan? Was he plotting this all those years he disappeared from sight? Was this the reason he later wanted to destroy Konoha?
"...Regarding this matter," Hagoromo's expression suddenly became extremely serious, "I must clarify a lie that has been altered for a thousand years."
He slowly shook his head, his eyes filled with deep pity and a trace of guilt, staring directly at Uchiha Madara's suddenly widened Rinnegan.
"The so-called 'Infinite Tsukuyomi is the only way to achieve lasting peace'—such nonsense! I have never left a single word of this in any of my lineages."
"...What?"
The expression on Ban's face froze instantly, as if he hadn't understood the simple sentence.
"That was a deception." Every word Hagoromo said struck Madara's heart like a heavy hammer. "What I left behind was the truth about chakra, the concept of understanding and coexistence. However, these contents were completely tampered with and distorted by a sinister being lurking in the darkness long ago."
"The content it contains, from beginning to end, is designed to guide the reincarnation of Indra's chakra towards fanaticism and destruction, ultimately achieving the sinister goal of world annihilation…."
"Stop joking!!!"
Suddenly, Madara Uchiha unleashed a furious roar that startled even Hashirama Senju, causing him to instinctively take a half-step back.
Because the Sage of Six Paths' few casual words negated more than just the "Infinite Tsukuyomi" technique—they negated Madara's lifelong beliefs, decades of forbearance, planning, sacrifice, and decisions, instantly shattering the foundation of all the ideals he had built by abandoning his family, breaking with his best friends, and walking alone in the darkness!
"Absolutely absurd!!"
Madara's Susanoo surged with blue flames due to his intense emotional fluctuations, and a terrifying pressure of chakra swept out. "What exactly are you?! How dare you impersonate the Sage of Six Paths, spouting nonsense and defiling the highest ideals of the Uchiha clan?!"
Anger and an instinctive fear of "collapse of beliefs" made him unwilling and afraid to delve into the possibilities in Yu Yi's words.
He chose the most direct and violent response—to silence this "imposter" with force!
"Calm down, young man... I knew you would react this way. Never mind." The Sage of Six Paths sighed softly as he watched the Perfect Susanoo katana slash down again with destructive force.
He didn't move an inch, but slowly raised his eyelids.
"boom--!!!"
In the next instant, a vast and boundless power of vision, as powerful as a starry sea, burst forth from Yu Yi's twin eyes of reincarnation!
In the mortal world, his will is constrained by rules, and even prolonged manifestation and conversation consume a great deal of energy. But here, in this "Pure Land" that he personally created and that Naruto modified—Otsutsuki Hagoromo can unleash power close to his prime!
"This...this is...?!" Hashirama Senju stood frozen in place, looking up at the scene before him, his usually composed face filled with disbelief and shock.
Just as Madara Uchiha's hundred-meter-tall Perfect Susanoo blade was about to strike—
A colossal figure, whose magnificence defies description, rose from the ground and stood tall between heaven and earth!
That belongs to Susanoo, the Sage of Six Paths.
Its height is far more than a thousand meters. Its majestic form disappears directly into the clouds. Just by standing there quietly, it exudes a sense of oppression that makes the soul tremble, originating from the very source of the world.
Madara Uchiha's complete Susanoo was so small in comparison to this giant god that it was only the height of his calf.
This is a Susanoo that once fought against the Ten-Tails a thousand years ago, belonging to the true "Otsutsuki" level!
"Now..." Hagoromo's calm voice came from the crystal on the forehead of the towering god, "Can you calmly listen to me finish speaking?"
He looked down at Madara Uchiha, who stood frozen in his Susanoo with a blank expression, and the Senju brothers and Izuna, who were equally shocked by this power beyond comprehension.
"The root of all this entanglement, the long deception, and why you all awoke here..." His voice grew distant and heavy, "It all begins with my mother, Kaguya Otsutsuki..."