Chapter 147

……

Watching Senju Hashirama leave,

a strange expression appeared on Nara Saki's face.

He never could have imagined

that the bizarre research his own daughter had done would actually earn Senju Hashirama's approval!!

The two of them seemed to have no shortage of topics to discuss!!

Especially after looking over Nara Natsuki's research,

Nara Saki realized he couldn't even get a word in edgewise!!

He felt more like an outsider,

completely unable to understand the conversation between Nara Natsuki and Senju Hashirama.

But considering that the goal of this visit had already been achieved,

he didn't bother thinking about anything else.

For him, the process didn't matter—as long as the goal was reached, that was enough.

Their three clans—Ino, Shika, and Cho—had also formally established a preliminary pact with Senju Hashirama,

and their relationship was much closer than before.

Thinking back to how just a few years ago they and the Senju clan had still been on opposing sides,

Nara Saki couldn't help but sigh.

He never expected the turn of events to come so quickly,

and Senju Hashirama was the biggest variable of all,

his appearance had caused the Senju clan's overall strength to rise far too fast!!!

And he alone possessed the power to change the entire course of the war,

Nara Saki had never imagined

that the things recorded in the clan's archives were actually true,

that a ninja's strength could actually reach such an extreme level,

that one person alone could possess the ability to alter the entire trajectory of the war,

Nara Saki couldn't imagine what it would look like to oppose the Senju clan.

Even the legendary Tailed Beast Shukaku was like a pet cat before him,

and that was merely the tip of the iceberg of this man's power,

enough to make Nara Saki shudder with dread!!

Seeing the delighted, joyful expression on his daughter's face,

he also felt deeply gratified,

it was the first time he had ever seen such an expression on his daughter's face,

whenever she had contact with any man in the past,

Nara Natsuki always wore an icy cold look,

only when facing those bizarre experiments of hers

would Nara Natsuki show such an expression.

As for Nara Natsuki, he had quite a headache,

his daughter loved doing these messy, terrifying experiments,

any man probably wouldn't be able to stand it.

【Orochimaru: What a pity… this head of the Nara clan has no idea how important his daughter's experiments are, or how precious they are—her talent is being utterly wasted.】

【Jiraiya: Perhaps it's because of the era. In the Warring States period, let alone conducting human experimentation, even an in-depth discussion of Kekkei Genkai was considered something unreasonable.】

【Tsunade: It seems things are slightly better in the Land of Fire. If she had been born in another country, experiments like the ones this little miss of the Nara family has done would long ago have been branded as heresy, and she might have been burned alive by her own father!!!】

【Terumi Mei: Kekkei Genkai… during the Bloody Mist era, the entire Land of Water would not allow anyone possessing Kekkei Genkai to live. Kekkei Genkai was a heresy in the Land of Water, let alone anyone who dared to dream of researching it.】

【Ohnoki: Perhaps this is the fundamental reason for the gap between our countries and the Land of Fire. They actually had people beginning Kekkei Genkai research as early as the Warring States period, while our country only started research in this area a few years ago.】

【Fourth Raikage: What Kekkei Genkai—it's all just unorthodox trickery. As long as you diligently temper your own body and push your flesh to its absolute limit, there's nothing a single punch from me can't solve!!!】

【Rasa: Fourth Raikage… you're that confident? Then I suppose the First Hokage's Wood Release and Madara Uchiha's Sharingan, you could also take care of them all with a single punch!!?】

……

In a daze,

amid a haze of consciousness,

Senju Hashirama seemed to have arrived in a strange space!!

"Young Asura reincarnation, we finally meet…"

"Fate has at last brought us together once more."

"Future hero, savior of the world, you have finally chosen the correct path."

"I shall guide you toward an even brighter future…"

An old man with a withered face, horns on his head, and a tin staff in his hand appeared before Senju Hashirama.

Seeing the old man acting all mystical and about to keep talking,

Senju Hashirama waved his hand.

"Old man, you've said so much—could you get to the point? …"

"What do you mean fate brought us together again?"

"Didn't you come looking for me on purpose and pull me into this mindspace? …"

Hashirama Senju mercilessly tore apart the old man's words.

At his current level of life,

he had not slept for many years,

using cultivation meditation to replace sleep,

so there was absolutely no way he could have dreamed!!!

Therefore, the appearance of this conscious space before his eyes

was simply the old man deliberately pulling him in.

And to be able to silently drag him into a dream

without him noticing at all

showed that the old man's strength was far above his own,

far more terrifying than he had imagined!!

Looking at the old man's eyes, ring upon ring of ripple-patterned pupils,

he had some guesses about the old man's identity—

this seemed to be the eyes possessed by the legendary Sage of Six Paths??!

Hearing this, the kind, benevolent smile on the old man's face froze.

He had never encountered such an awkward moment.

He had never expected this incarnation of Asura to be even more different than he had imagined!!!

Was this still his gentle, well-mannered son?

……

【Orochimaru: It seems all the previous guesses were true—the Sage of Six Paths actually still lives in this world. He did not vanish and die as the records say!!】

【Jiraiya: Even the sages of the Three Great Holy Lands have lived from the ancient era to the present, let alone the Sage of Six Paths, whose strength far surpasses theirs… For a figure like a deity, life and death may not matter to him at all.】

【Tsunade: From the looks of it, the Sage of Six Paths seems very familiar with Grandfather? I feel like he has a lot he wants to say to him.】

【Fourth Raikage: Why do I feel this Sage of Six Paths looks so unreliable, all rambling and mystical, giving me the feeling of a fortune-telling Mr. on the street…】

【Minato Namikaze: But this Sage of Six Paths must be real—his eyes can't be faked. They really are exactly the same as the legendary Rinnegan!!!】

【Ohnoki: Even Madara Uchiha's Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan could easily control Tailed Beasts—one can't imagine just how powerful the Sage of Six Paths' Rinnegan truly is…】

【Hanzo: If you encounter someone who also possesses the Rinnegan, run as far away as you can. Without having fought the master of these eyes, you will never understand just how terrifying his strength is!!!】

【Terumi Mei: Hanzo… from what you say, it seems you've fought the master of the Rinnegan. Could it be that your death was caused by the master of these eyes?】

Seeing the Sage of Six Paths appear, Nagato

could not help but begin breathing rapidly!!!

Especially the Sage of Six Paths' pair of Rinnegan,