The Great Toad Sage had foreseen Aoba's arrival and had sent all the other toads away in advance.
Only now did Aoba understand why the old toad thought he would use the toads as leverage to force out information.
In truth, Aoba hadn't considered such a thing. At least, not until now. But seeing how the sage had taken precautions, he suddenly felt that if the toads had been here, he might actually have resorted to such tactics.
Unlike Jiraiya or Naruto, Aoba had no particular fondness for the toads of Mount Myōboku. He didn't fear them either.
If obtaining crucial information required bloodshed, he wouldn't hesitate.
The Great Toad Sage slowly opened its weary eyes with some difficulty.
Aoba had never been able to determine the old toad's actual condition, was it truly nearing death, or was this just its natural state?
Judging by its sluggish movements, it seemed to pose little threat. Yet Aoba could still faintly sense an immense, dormant energy deep within its body.
Though subtle, as if it were in a state of inertia, the presence of that power gave Aoba an ominous feeling.
He had no intention of antagonizing the Great Toad Sage, so long as he got the answers he needed. And it was clear that the old toad knew something crucial.
"Aoba Kamikawa, you are the most extraordinary human I have ever seen. Even more so than Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha.
But it is unfortunate, you are still walking the wrong path.
I know what you seek to accomplish. But I regret to inform you that you have already lost.
Nothing will change. Everything will return to how it was."**
Aoba smirked. "Alright, so I've lost. I've made a mistake. But at least let me die understanding why... Tell me, where exactly did I go wrong?"
"Chakra."
Aoba's smirk faded slightly. "I don't buy it. If he had complete control over chakra, I wouldn't have even made it this far."
"You are correct. He does not control all chakra. In truth, he can only control two types of chakra, Asura's power… and the Tailed Beasts."
Aoba fell silent.
The answer didn't surprise him. Of course it was the Tailed Beasts.
That meant that his efforts to absorb their essence, in pursuit of becoming a pseudo-Ten-Tails, had been a grave mistake.
He had believed that by avoiding becoming a Jinchūriki and only extracting portions of their chakra, he could sidestep any potential risks.
But now, it was clear, he had fallen right into the trap.
Aoba took a deep breath. "I still don't understand, what exactly does he want?"
He didn't say the name, but he knew the old toad understood who he was referring to.
The Great Toad Sage sighed. "Aoba Kamikawa… This is what makes you unique. I have observed your life path more than once, yet I cannot determine why you have grown to this extent. Now, I see it. The reason you have become who you are is because of something I cannot perceive, your thoughts. Your thoughts are unlike anyone else's. From the very beginning, you never revered him. From the very beginning, you questioned him. From the very beginning, you saw him as an adversary. And that is why you now face this problem. I once had the same question many years ago. I spent centuries thinking, observing. And in the end, I came to a conclusion, he wants chakra. All of it."
Aoba narrowed his eyes. "By 'all of it,' do you mean gathered into a single body?"
"No. I mean all the permissions. That is a human term I recently learned. It is the perfect word for this situation."
Aoba mulled over the answer. Pieces of previously vague theories suddenly clicked into place.
"Yes… Permissions. He is not the progenitor of chakra, yet he spread the idea that he was. He could have ended war, yet he chose not to, he even encouraged it. Because he was after chakra permissions. More specifically… he is stealing his mother's control over chakra."
The Great Toad Sage's old eyes flickered slightly. "And how would he steal it?"
Aoba had the same question for a fleeting moment, but before the old toad could answer, he figured it out himself.
"The Pure Land."
The Great Toad Sage's ancient face actually showed a rare expression of shock. "I cannot confirm your answer, for I have never been to the Pure Land. But I agree with your deduction."
Aoba clenched his fist. "It must be the Pure Land. I should have realized it long ago… The cycle of life and death in the shinobi world has never made sense. It's because someone has tampered with the realm of the dead. Every shinobi can use chakra. That means every shinobi has a sliver of chakra permissions.
Individually, these permissions are insignificant. But they exist. Under a normal life cycle, when someone dies, their chakra should disperse, and their associated permissions should disappear along with them.
Until a new shinobi is born.
But the realm of the dead has been altered. The dead do not reincarnate. They remain trapped in the Pure Land.
I've spoken to those who returned from the Pure Land. But none of them could clearly recall what it was like.
All they remembered was a state of half-sleep. An empty, foggy existence. None of them could remember what actually happened there."
The Great Toad Sage let out a slow breath. "What a pity, Aoba Kamikawa… You are the furthest any human has ever come. You have even touched the very edge of the truth. If I were you, I would think about how to pass this knowledge forward. And wait for the next version of yourself to appear."
Aoba's gaze sharpened. "You can't do it? Here, in this place, I assume he can't hear us."
The Great Toad Sage nodded. "You are correct. I can ensure that nothing that happens here will leave this place. But I am sorry. I can do no more. Mount Myōboku has survived for millennia because I do not take unnecessary action."
It was clear, the Great Toad Sage refused to pass on the information.
More than that, it had already written Aoba off as doomed.
Aoba understood the reasoning. Even he could feel it now, his chakra was accelerating in its fusion at an alarming rate.
He still didn't know what would happen when all of his chakra fully merged.
But he was certain, it wouldn't be anything good.
Yet despite all this, Aoba was not hopeless.
The Great Toad Sage had repeatedly hinted that there was no way out, but in their conversation, Aoba had caught onto something critically important.
What is Mount Myōboku best known for?
Toads? Summoning beasts? Prophecies?
No.
The greatest temptation Mount Myōboku offered to shinobi was Senjutsu.
Yet in their entire conversation, the Great Toad Sage had never once mentioned Senjutsu.
Aoba himself was an expert in Senjutsu. He had originally expected some sort of discussion or exchange regarding Sage Mode.
Yet the old toad had completely avoided the topic.
And that, more than anything else, was what made this so interesting.
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Currently on Chapter 351 - Rinnegan