"Then I'll accept it. But since you're giving it away so casually, it doesn't matter whether I take it or not, so I won't thank you."
Looking at Chiba's calm expression, the Sage of Six Paths spoke after the turmoil in his heart had settled.
He extended his hand as well.
"Hmph..."
Chiba seemed somewhat amused. He then extended his hand and passed over the pure white flaming heart in his right palm.
Yet, at the very instant he handed it over, the flaming heart in his palm suddenly flared up. In the blink of an eye, it turned into a wisp of white smoke.
Sizzle!
Then, a wisp of smoke quietly ignited in the Sage of Six Paths' outstretched hand. With a bang, it formed into a pure white flaming heart.
Without any hesitation, the Sage of Six Paths embedded the flaming heart in the hollow in his chest.
Although the heart was much smaller than the hollow, the moment the Sage of Six Paths inserted it, the flames instantly filled the entire cavity. Before long, white Chakra surged in, and the hollow naturally transformed into what looked like intact skin, as though there had never been a hole there at all.
"...Old fox."
Only then did Chiba quietly speak the second half of his sentence.
Certainly, returning the heart this time was Chiba's display of force, a demonstration of the composure of someone holding the advantage. But that did not mean that, in their previous exchange, the Sage of Six Paths—or rather, the World Will—had been completely at a disadvantage, helplessly at his mercy.
Given the current situation, the reason Chiba had chosen to resolve things peacefully was, in a sense, because this was the only path available to him.
And now, without a doubt, the Sage of