No one had ever truly seen the Sage of Six Paths, yet his presence in the shinobi world was undeniable. Almost every shinobi instinctively believed that he was the progenitor of chakra.
But then, a sudden realization struck Aoba, the Sage of Six Paths was never the true progenitor of chakra.
Despite how much he had propagated that idea, it had never been true. Before Kaguya's death, he could never have been the first.
Kaguya Ōtsutsuki was the first person to possess chakra. It was she who gave birth to Hagoromo and Hamura, and also Black Zetsu. Technically speaking, the first person to spread chakra to others was also Kaguya.
However, with Kaguya sealed away, she had no way to dispute anything. So history was rewritten, and her son became the Sage of Six Paths, the so-called Chakra Progenitor.
Realizing this, Aoba's anxiety eased considerably.
Now fully calm, he carefully reviewed all the information he had on the Sage of Six Paths.
The way the Sage had been portrayed in history and the events of the original timeline had always been contradictory.
At times, he seemed incredibly powerful, able to grant Naruto and Sasuke the strength to defeat Kaguya.
Yet at other times, he seemed strangely weak.
If he truly had that much power, why had he refused to act himself? Why insist on forcing Naruto and Sasuke through an extreme, last-minute rescue mission?
When Aoba considered all the details, he reached a rather interesting conclusion, it wasn't about the Sage being strong or weak.
It was about his actions being contradictory.
The Sage had left behind two descendants, Asura and Indra, each inheriting part of his power. However, he had clearly favored Asura.
But Aoba suspected that it wasn't about favoritism, it was because Asura was more like him.
Aoba didn't know much about the distant past, but he did know one thing: the pattern of reincarnation had remained the same for the past two generations.
Every reincarnation of Asura had been the same kind of person. Someone who constantly preached about love, who prioritized the world over themselves, even to the point of self-sacrifice.
Meanwhile, Indra's reincarnations were far more self-driven. While they were often portrayed as antagonists, their goals, Madara's vision of unification and Sasuke's pursuit of justice through strength, were actually quite logical and universally accepted principles.
Yet in the story, those beliefs were always framed as the ideology of the villain, while Hashirama and Naruto's philosophies of love and peace were glorified.
It wasn't just about favoritism, Aoba suspected that the Sage simply couldn't control Indra's reincarnations.
Every single Indra reincarnation had been highly independent, with a fully developed sense of self. The Sage had no way to influence them.
This led to a question that had puzzled Aoba for a long time:
Why did the Sage insist on dividing his power into Yin and Yang halves? Why split it between two people and force them to cooperate in an extreme, last-minute gambit?
Why not simply grant one person the full power of Yin-Yang and guide them to deal with Kaguya directly?
If Aoba's assumptions were correct, then the answer was simple, the Sage couldn't fully control the Yin-Yang power himself.
If he granted the Six Paths power to just one person, and the Yin half became dominant, that individual would become like Indra.
Looking at the two most recent Indra reincarnations, Madara and Sasuke, neither of them were the kind of people who could be controlled or guided.
The only way for the Sage to maintain control over Indra's influence was to ensure that Asura's reincarnation always defeated him.
Hashirama had defeated Madara. Naruto had defeated Sasuke. And then, the cycle repeated.
But if the Yin-Yang power were combined within a single person, and if that person had Madara's personality, then the Sage's carefully maintained cycle would break.
Madara would have unified the shinobi world long ago, and the entire story would have ended before it even began.
Aoba was certain of one thing, the Sage did not want the shinobi world to unify.
All of his interventions had been aimed at preventing that from happening.
Having realized all of this, Aoba felt a little more at ease. But simply understanding the problem didn't solve his own predicament.
The fusion of his chakra was accelerating rapidly. More importantly, his chakra wasn't just composed of the nine Tailed Beasts. It also contained all seven elemental chakra natures, including Yin and Yang.
Once fully merged, he would likely possess true Six Paths power.
Aoba wanted that power.
But if it wasn't under his control, he absolutely couldn't accept it.
Returning to the lab, Aoba sought out Tobirama.
"I need your help to develop a technique."
"You've found a solution?"
"Something like that. If this technique works, and if my theory is correct, then I should be able to solve the problem."
"So you're still betting on a theory?"
"I don't have a better choice. I moved too fast and didn't notice the cliff ahead. Now, I can't stop."
"Then let's try it. What kind of technique do you need?"
"…A technique that can take away all of my chakra."
"..."
Leaving the lab, Aoba went to find Minato.
"You want to go to Mount Myōboku?"
"That's right. I need to meet the Great Toad Sage."
"I understand. I can contact Mount Myōboku and have them use Reverse Summoning to bring you there."
Aoba had never visited the Three Great Sage Lands before. Their main purpose was to bestow Sage Mode upon the main characters.
Since Aoba had been able to use Sage Mode naturally, he had never been interested in them.
But at this stage of the game, he needed to gather as much information as possible. Meeting the Great Toad Sage was now worth his time.
As he felt a slight dizziness, Aoba suddenly found himself standing in a vast open courtyard.
Looking around, he saw numerous humanoid stone statues, most likely people who had failed Sage Mode training and been petrified.
However, what surprised Aoba was that there wasn't a single toad in sight. Not one.
Stepping forward, he climbed a flight of stairs and entered the depths of the palace.
There, he saw a massive, ancient, drowsy-looking toad.
But what struck him as odd was that, like the courtyard, the area around the Great Toad Sage was completely empty.
It felt as if he was the only one left in the entirety of Mount Myōboku.
"I was under the impression that Mount Myōboku was known for being quite hospitable. I was even hoping to try one of your famous insect feasts. But it seems… this place isn't quite what I expected."
The Great Toad Sage slowly opened his eyes.
"That is how we treat others. But you, Aoba Kamikawa… you are different."
"I've heard that before, many times. It's getting old... So tell me, Great Toad Sage, are you going to surprise me?"**
"Aoba Kamikawa… you are fighting a war that you cannot win."
"As long as it's a war, there are always winners and losers.
Why do you assume that I must lose?"
"Because you are walking down the wrong path. If you continue on this road… you are doomed to fail."
**"That sounds like you know the right path.... Care to enlighten me?"** As Aoba spoke, he glanced around the chamber.
And in that instant, he finally understood, he finally realized why there were no other toads in Mount Myōboku.
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Currently on Chapter 350 - The Sage of Six Paths' Schemes