One Piece: Hell Pirates

Chapter 434: The Sage of Six Paths Wants to Live Again

Hearing Brook's conditions, the Great Toad Sage fell silent.

Instead of answering himself, he turned toward the Sage of Six Paths and motioned for him to speak, making it clear that the fate of the ninja world was still supposed to be decided by Hagoromo.

As long as Brook did not plant the Divine Tree and did not attack Mount Myoboku, the Great Toad Sage did not care what happened next. At that point, it could betray even Shikkotsu Forest and Ryuchi Cave without hesitation, let alone continue deceiving the Sage of Six Paths.

Still, since Brook had not openly declared war on the three holy lands, the old toad also held back from showing just how shameless it truly was.

The Sage of Six Paths looked at Brook with tired eyes and finally spoke.

"I can hand the Pure Land and the ninja world over to you. But you must not go on a killing spree, and you must allow the ninja world to continue developing."

After being sold out by the Great Toad Sage, Hagoromo felt as though half his heart had gone cold. Even so, he still accepted the toad's decision and chose to preserve the world he had created.

Brook let out a cold laugh.

"I'm only interested in getting stronger. Who said I was going to destroy the ninja world?"

"Now hand over your Yin Yang seal and your Rinnegan."

"And you, old toad, hurry up and bring out those primal sage arts."

Brook's gaze turned sharp as a blade, locking onto the little toad still acting as the medium for the Great Toad Sage.

Once he took the only thing in the world that could still threaten him, the Yin Yang seal, there would be nothing left in the ninja world for him to fear.

The Sage of Six Paths glanced at the battlefield below and spoke again.

"Then stop those two Ten Tails creatures and your puppets first."

His expression tightened slightly.

"If this goes on, the Slug Sage really will be drained dry. It has no offensive power at all."

The moment those words left his mouth, the Slug Sage finally gave up. After seeing that Brook and the Sage of Six Paths had begun negotiating, it instantly canceled its summoning and fled straight back to Shikkotsu Forest.

It had no intention of dying meaninglessly to that mad dog of a Ten Tails.

The moment the Slug Sage vanished, Groot threw back its head and roared, then instantly shifted its target to the White Snake Sage, who now had the richest chakra on the field.

When the White Snake Sage saw Groot charging at it with murderous excitement, its scalp went numb.

Now that the Slug Sage had run and the Great Toad Sage was already hiding in the rear, it had even less reason to stay and risk its life.

"Hagoromo Otsutsuki, since you're done talking, I'm leaving first!"

With that, it abandoned all loyalty, took its subordinates from Ryuchi Cave, and turned into streams of white smoke that vanished on the spot, fleeing straight back to its lair.

It no longer wanted anything to do with the mess in the ninja world. At this point, it would rather stay far away from everything. If things got any worse, it might even consider surrendering to Brook outright.

Seeing the White Snake Sage run first, the Great Toad Sage no longer dared keep the toads of Mount Myoboku on the field either. It hurriedly ordered every toad to cancel its summons and retreat back to Mount Myoboku.

In the blink of an eye, all three holy lands had pulled out.

Only the Sage of Six Paths and the communication toad were left standing there.

Brook burst into loud laughter.

"Hagoromo Otsutsuki, look at your precious allies. Don't you feel abandoned?"

On the surface, he laughed. Inwardly, he was already calculating how to plunder the three holy lands later. Did they really think fleeing back to their lairs meant they were safe?

Their inheritance, their treasures, their natural energy rich holy lands, Brook wanted all of it.

Those were the finest places for a Divine Tree to take root.

For now, though, there was no need to press them too hard. First he would strip the Sage of Six Paths clean, then continue strengthening himself. The so called alliance against him had already collapsed. It could no longer threaten him.

Under Brook's terrifying pressure, the Great Toad Sage finally made its move.

Through the communication toad, it summoned a scroll toad, which respectfully presented a green scroll to Brook.

It was the primal sage art inheritance.

The scroll toad vanished in a puff of smoke right after delivering it. Meanwhile, the communication toad kept speaking in a low, conciliatory tone, trying to soften Brook's mood and reduce his killing intent.

Then, as if afraid Brook still was not satisfied, it also handed over three resurrection talismans as compensation, claiming that these were almost all it had left.

That finally made Brook suppress, for the moment, his desire to hunt the old toad down.

He let the communication toad continue breathing.

After all, what came next was his private negotiation with the Sage of Six Paths. There was no need to let that dead toad keep watching.

In front of Hagoromo's complicated gaze, Brook casually punched the communication toad into pieces. It burst apart into white smoke instead of flesh and blood.

Then Brook turned his eyes back to the Sage of Six Paths.

"Hagoromo Otsutsuki, stop wasting my time."

With a glance from Brook, Groot quieted down. The Gedo Mazo settled. Even the Six Paths of Pain and the Edo Tensei bodies stopped moving.

The battlefield instantly fell silent.

The Sage of Six Paths looked at Brook with a gaze full of exhaustion and contradiction.

Deep down, he still could not accept the thought that Brook coveted Kaguya Otsutsuki.

Was this alien really going to become his stepfather?

How old even was Brook?

The very thought made the thousand year old Hagoromo feel sick to his stomach.

In the end, he forced those thoughts down and spoke the thing he truly cared about.

"Brook, I know you have a resurrection method that goes beyond the power of the Rinnegan."

"After I hand everything over to you, can you resurrect me and Hamura?"

"I do not need any special body. An ordinary human body is enough."

Even Brook was briefly surprised by that request.

The Sage of Six Paths actually wanted to live again.

After a thousand years of guarding the world, after being betrayed by the Great Toad Sage and abandoned by the three holy lands, his heart had finally changed.

He was no longer willing to simply fade away.

He wanted to live again.

He wanted to learn the primal sage arts.

He wanted another chance.

Brook laughed, genuinely pleased this time.

"Then submit to me."

"I can give you a different kind of resurrection. I can even let you train primal sage arts."

The Sage of Six Paths fell silent for a moment before continuing in a low voice.

"I want to completely cast off the identity of Hagoromo Otsutsuki."

"I want you to tell the three holy lands that Hamura and I are already dead."

At that point, even Brook understood what he meant.

Hagoromo could not accept Kaguya becoming Brook's woman. He would rather bury the identity of Hagoromo Otsutsuki forever than face that absurd relationship again.

Brook burst out laughing.

"Yohoho! I thought I might end up with two obedient sons."

"Forget it. I'm too lazy to be your stepfather."

"Fine. I accept."

He spoke casually, as if he were granting a minor favor.

"I can resurrect the two of you using modified White Zetsu bodies. Those bodies carry some of Hashirama's power. They might actually help you train primal sage arts faster and rise to a higher level."

"Of course, if you prefer, I can also arrange possession instead."

"I can find bodies from Tokuko Otsutsuki, the Hyuga clan, the Senju clan, the Uchiha clan, or the Uzumaki clan."

Brook listed the options one by one, but Hagoromo did not hesitate.

"White Zetsu is enough."

"I do not want any further connection to the Otsutsuki clan or to their descendants."

His tone was flat, but there was resolve in it.

He wanted a clean break from everything. From Kaguya. From the Otsutsuki. From the burden of being Hagoromo Otsutsuki.

Brook looked at him, then smiled faintly.

Very well.

From now on, the so called Sage of Six Paths would be nothing more than a dead name.

-----------

Brook looked at Hagoromo Otsutsuki and did not bother mocking him anymore. What mattered now was getting Hagoromo to serve him properly in the future.

"You and Hamura can discuss the rest between yourselves. After that, hand over the Yin Yang seal, the Pure Land, the Rinnegan, and the two tailed beasts to me. Once that is done, I will arrange your resurrection immediately."

Brook laughed, unable to hide his anticipation. He could not wait to claim all of those powers. Even the Kage level souls stored in the Pure Land would become part of his spoils.

Hagoromo brought Brook back to the Pure Land. After a brief discussion with Hamura, the two brothers finally handed over the power of the Yin Yang seal and the Rinnegan.

At that moment, the Otsutsuki brothers truly became nothing more than soul entities within the Pure Land.

The instant Brook received Hagoromo's power, his Rinnegan evolved once more, becoming a six tomoe purple Rinnegan. At the same time, he gained absolute control over the Pure Land itself.

The Yin Yang seal, carrying terrifying sealing power, also lit up on his hand and radiated a dangerous pressure.

Then the power of those six tomoe Rinnegan began to merge with the reincarnation authority he had already taken from Yama, the clone of the Eastern Underworld God, within his body.

Brook had now seized control of the planet's cycle of souls.

The Pure Land was elevated as well, transforming into this world's Reincarnation Hell. However, it still could not operate on its own. Brook would have to personally arrange the souls entering Reincarnation Hell and manually send them through the Six Paths of Reincarnation.

That realization made one thing clear to him immediately.

He would need a large number of capable subordinates to build a true underworld organization and maintain the cycle of reincarnation on this planet.

And the first people he thought of were the Otsutsuki brothers and those Kage level souls.

After claiming such divine authority, Brook was itching to make sweeping changes to hell itself. Unfortunately, the ninja world was still in the middle of a great war, and there were too many gains he still needed to digest. He could only force that urge down for now.

He still had to keep getting stronger.

With his new authority over the Pure Land, he quickly found the Four Tails jinchuriki, Roshi, and the Six Tails jinchuriki, Utakata, both of whom Hagoromo had hidden away. Once Brook located them, the Gedo Mazo easily captured the pair.

Brook did not rush to revive the Otsutsuki brothers or establish his underworld system just yet.

Instead, he brought the fully restored Ten Tails, born from the Gedo Mazo, straight onto the battlefield.

The moment Brook and the complete Ten Tails appeared, terror spread across the Ninja World Alliance. Behind him stood the Six Paths of Pain and a whole army of reanimated corpses.

"The Sage of Six Paths and the sages of the three holy lands all lost?"

Tokuko Otsutsuki, Jiraiya, and Tsunade all trembled as they stared at Brook and the terrifying perfect Ten Tails.

"Today, the ninja world will be unified. Anyone who stands in our way dies!"

Brook stood atop the complete Ten Tails like a god descending upon the world, while Groot sat on his shoulder, greedily eyeing both the fully restored Ten Tails and the countless ninjas below.

The moment he heard Brook's words, the forces of the Kingdom of Ten Thousand Nations erupted in frenzy, while the Ninja World Alliance nearly lost its will to fight on the spot.

"I will never surrender! Give Killer Bee and Yugito back to us!"

The Fourth Raikage, A, roared and charged in with Lightning Release Chakra Mode blazing around him. Yet before he could even get close, the complete Ten Tails lashed out with a single tail and sent him flying, smashing him deep into the ruins.

The difference in power was so massive it was almost laughable.

"Brook! What did you do to the Slug Sage?!"

Tsunade rushed at him in fury. Even after Brook appeared, she still could not summon even a single slug clone. She had assumed Brook had already killed the Slug Sage, and her anger had exploded.

Brook looked at her coldly.

"Woman, stop making things difficult. I don't enjoy forcing things, and I've already had enough of the bitterness that comes with forced marriage."

"Universal Pull!"

"Truth Seeking Ball Sealing Rod!"

With a single pull, Brook dragged Tsunade straight to him by the throat. Then he drove four black rods into her limbs, sealing her chakra and forcing her to collapse at his feet.

"Tsunade!"

Jiraiya immediately tried to rush in, panic written across his face.

Brook only frowned.

"You're too noisy."

"Limbo: Border Jail!"

Four invisible shadows split from Brook's body and charged forward. Jiraiya was smashed back in an instant, then pinned in place and pierced several times by unseen force.

At the same time, Groot kept begging to be let loose. Brook casually pointed toward Tokuko Otsutsuki, and the little tree tailed beast shot forward in excitement like it had just been handed a feast.

"Who else?"

Brook's voice thundered across the battlefield.

Beneath him, the complete Ten Tails extended countless roots and vines. They shot across the battlefield, impaling every stubborn resister from the Ninja World Alliance and draining away all of their chakra.

Kirigakure was the first to break.

Genji had never truly been close to Yagura in the first place, and he had long wanted to seize more power for himself. Faced with the complete Ten Tails, he immediately chose surrender and declared Kirigakure's willingness to submit to Brook.

Iwagakure held on a little longer. Kitsuchi, who had already lost his father Onoki, still wanted to resist. But when he saw Iwagakure's ninjas being drained dry one after another by the perfect Ten Tails, he finally broke down in tears and surrendered as well.

After the Fourth Raikage was swatted aside in a single blow, even the Cloud shinobi lost heart. More than half of them threw down their weapons.

A few hot blooded fools still charged forward anyway, only to become food for the complete Ten Tails.

"It still isn't enough."

Brook opened a portal and brought the young Naruto onto the battlefield.

He directly released the seal on the Yang half of the Nine Tails, then stuffed the Yang life force chakra and Naruto's soul back into his body, saving Naruto's life. After that, he sent the child back to Kushina.

With Asura's chakra still inside him and no longer burdened by the Nine Tails' chakra, Naruto's future achievements might even surpass Minato's.

Once the perfect Ten Tails devoured the Yang Nine Tails, its aura climbed to its absolute peak. It looked as though it might transform into a Divine Tree and root itself into the planet at any moment.

Far away, the Great Toad Sage, secretly watching from Mount Myoboku, grew so tense that his whole body stiffened.

The fate of the planet now rested entirely on Brook's whim.

Brook laughed.

"Come then, Ten Tails. Become my power!"

A massive wave of devouring force erupted from his body and directly dragged the complete Ten Tails into his devouring space.

Everyone stared at him in frozen disbelief.

Brook had swallowed the entire Ten Tails whole.

Even Groot, who had been fighting Tokuko Otsutsuki just moments before, shuddered on the spot at the sight of that.

Black Zetsu, who had rushed all the way back to the battlefield, was overjoyed.

Brook had restored the complete Ten Tails.

He had devoured it.

That meant the condition for rescuing Mother had finally been met.

All Brook had to do now was cast the Infinite Tsukuyomi once, and Kaguya Otsutsuki could be freed from the moon.

.....

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