Naruto: What Kind of Starter Pack is 13 Years Late?

Chapter 517 517: Sage of Six Paths's Test?

What exactly is going on?

This was not only Hagoromo's question, but everyone's as well. They couldn't understand what was happening.

Weren't they already finished?

Weren't they destroyed?

How were they all still alive now?

And...

"Guy?!"

Kakashi suddenly turned his head, looking at Guy, who was sitting up with a bewildered expression, while Lee, not far away, also looked stunned.

"Guy-sensei, you..."

"Huh?"

Guy looked at Kakashi strangely, scratched his head, and smiled disappointedly.

"Kakashi, Lee, it seems you both lost. Oh, wait, Takemi?!"

Guy was half a beat slow in reacting. He immediately wanted to stand up and continue fighting, but then suddenly realized something was wrong.

"Didn't I use the Eight Inner Gates? Normally, I should be dead, so how..."

"Huh? We're all fine? Hmm?"

Deidara stood up nearby. He looked around at the crowd in confusion, and everyone he saw had the same expression.

"We're still alive?"

"No, that feeling just now, it really felt like dying."

"Wait, my injuries... How did they heal?"

"Huh? Me too, but what exactly..."

They were bewildered and confused. Whether it was Mei, Ōnoki, the Second Tsuchikage and Mizukage, or Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru, who was touching his stomach with a strange expression, they all looked the same.

Even...

"What exactly happened to us?"

Madara frowned, feeling greatly perplexed by everything that was happening.

"I'm not entirely sure, but..."

Hashirama looked up towards Takemi and the Sage of Six Paths. Not just him, but almost everyone, after a brief moment of blankness, instinctively looked up at the figures in the distance. They all felt a strange confusion.

"Takemi... Sage of Six Paths..."

Naruto looked blankly at Takemi and the Sage of Six Paths in the distance, while Sasuke looked dazed.

"You... We..."

Ino sat on the ground in a daze. Takemi had brought her down from the sky just now, but she was also full of questions about everything before her.

What happened? What occurred? What is all this about?

These questions echoed in everyone's hearts, constantly impacting them. They had too many questions. All of this, had too great an impact on them.

"Are you all awake?"

Just then, Takemi's voice suddenly rang out.

He looked at everyone with a smile and slowly spoke, "Why sleep long in life? You'll sleep forever after death. You're not dead yet."

"Takemi... Sage of Six Paths..."

Tobirama seemed to have realized something.

He suddenly stood up and asked loudly, "All of this, you arranged it, didn't you?!"

Arranged it?

Because the Chakra of the Golden Tree was still constantly spreading, this sentence instantly echoed across the entire battlefield.

At this moment, all the ninjas seemed to come to their senses. A sentence that had just appeared flashed in their minds.

'Sage of Six Paths, it should be over, right? If this continues, they'll really die.'

Suddenly, all eyes focused on the Sage of Six Paths.

Given the Sage of Six Paths's 'cold-blooded and cruel' nature, he was capable of anything. After all, he even dared to use his own younger brother, let his son reincarnate repeatedly after death, and even used his own mother as a human shield.

Such a ruthless individual who allowed the Ninja World to fight a bloody war for a thousand years would probably do even more terrifying things.

It's just that...

"Why exactly?!"

Naruto still couldn't believe it. Even though at this moment his heart seemed filled with excitement and joy, and a fervent emotion bloomed within him, everything before had been heartbreaking. That despair and suffocation made it impossible for him to forget.

Not just him, but Sasuke and others around him felt the same. They had an unimaginable feeling about everything before their eyes.

It was too beautiful...

So much so that it felt somewhat unreal.

"Yes, it was indeed arranged."

Takemi didn't refute. He glanced at the pale-faced Sage of Six Paths, then sighed and spoke slowly.

"As for why? It's simple. The Sage of Six Paths wanted to test your resolve."

"Resolve..."

"Exactly, your resolve. To see if you could withstand the most extreme situations, like just now."

"Just now..."

Recalling those moments just now, that feeling of ultimate despair seemed to rush back. This instantly brought extreme pain to the faces of everyone in the Ninja World. That feeling of everything within their hearts shattering made them feel suffocated even now, just thinking about it.

"Yes, that feeling just now." Takemi said with a smile.

He glanced at the Sage of Six Paths, noticing that he seemed about to speak.

Adhering to the principle of bully the honest person, he immediately interjected before the Sage of Six Paths could speak.

"The Sage of Six Paths once told me that the Ninja World has been too smooth. It has endured a thousand years of bloody war, it possesses everything other planets don't."

"Chakra, ninja, and various powerful individuals born in this world, even the Sage of Six Paths himself."

"But do the people living here truly have the courage and will to confront those Ōtsutsuki?"

"Can the thousand-year-long bloody war he orchestrated truly encompass everyone?"

"He had doubts about this, so he found me, hoping I would do something."

At this point, Takemi paused. He looked at everyone's furrowed brows and then smiled, saying, "Everyone, do you know what would happen if this planet had no Chakra, no various powers, and not even ninja?"

"No Chakra, no ninja..."

This question made the tens of thousands of ninjas frown. Although it was a hypothetical, recalling the battle with the Ōtsutsuki...

Especially the Golden Tree, still glowing and covering the sky, everyone felt a chill in their hearts.

"The entire planet, no life could survive." Kaguya spoke at this moment.

She had been observing Takemi. She felt that Takemi was different now.

That aura...

Even after consuming a Chakra fruit, she couldn't compare.

Suddenly, her inner speculation became even firmer. Besides his bloodline, she increasingly suspected that the reason Takemi was so strong was related to what this world called emotions.

Of course, it might also be related to the Path to Godhood. She decided to cooperate well, lest she be eaten by him.

"The planet would then become a dead star, unable to recover no matter how long passed."

"All living beings..."

Even though they had heard these words before, hearing Kaguya say them now gave a completely different feeling.

Complete extinction, complete destruction, becoming a dead star—such a feeling sent shivers down one's spine.

"Yes, all living beings..."

Takemi nodded at Kaguya, then immediately said, "That ultimate despair, that utter powerlessness, that feeling of being trapped in hell, that is the beginning of everything."

"And in this hellish environment, facing powerful enemies, facing insurmountable opponents, facing that ultimate despair, the Sage of Six Paths wanted to see if you could still muster courage, if you could still clench your fists, holding the belief that even if we die, we cannot give up, and continue fighting."

"Even in death, you must seek the hope of life. Even in hell and darkness, you must pursue the footsteps of light."

"Courage and will are the anthem of humanity. And the thousand years of bloody battle not only tempered strength, but also that indomitable will."

"And this is what the Sage of Six Paths most wanted to confirm, the resolve he most wanted to see in you."

Takemi spoke in a very calm tone, but his words exploded like a muffled thunder in everyone's hearts.

Ultimate despair, like darkness in hell...

Everything just now seemed to perfectly fit.

The greatest hope of the people, Takemi, who bore the mantle of a savior, suddenly became the evil of this world.

Severing all bonds, disregarding all emotions, denying everything and coldly raising his blade against everyone—that collapse, that despair, was indescribable.

"In hell, find the light of hope." Naruto murmured.

Sasuke lowered his head and softly repeated, "In death, seek the hope of life."