The guardian was silent. This was the first time that Boruto felt that it was "pausing" - if this kind of existence could also pause. This issue seemed to have touched a certain boundary, some kind of cognitive threshold that even it could not easily cross.
[I know. But that's not what you really want to ask.]
Boruto really wanted to ask another question. A question that he had been avoiding from the moment he learned the truth, a starting point that he had to face after going around in a big circle.
"My birth," he said, feeling his voice tremble, "Does it have anything to do with God?"
[Your birth is the result of design.]
"Who designed it?"
The guardian did not answer directly. It pressed a certain "image" into Boruto's consciousness - not a clear picture, but more like an over-compressed memory, incomplete, fragmented, and noisy. Boruto saw a space where the planets were arranged too neatly, like chess pieces on a chessboard; he He saw something moving, precisely and indifferently, like a chess player making moves; he saw the familiar pattern of Chakra Wave, saw the Runes of the Ōtsutsuki Clan, and finally, he saw a name, but the characters were blurred the moment he tried to read them, like ink stains blurred by water.
Shi whispered in his mind, "The God of Otsutsuki left a chess piece before falling asleep."
"Me."
"It's not just you. The whole Shinobi World is a chessboard."
Boruto stood for a long time without speaking. Anger was the first reaction - he felt it burning in his chest, like a suppressed flame. But anger needed to be directed and needed a specific target. A god who was sleeping or dead? A consciousness that had long been fragmented? His fists were clenched and then slowly loosened.
"Then what is God's purpose?" he asked, his voice dry.
"Resurrection, or continuation." Shi Shi gave a rare uncertain answer, "I'm not sure which one it is. My memory... my existence itself may be a designed filter layer."
Boruto turned to Yamada. The man still maintained the posture of a researcher, but Boruto noticed that his fingers tightened slightly - an almost imperceptible movement.
"You know this." Boruto said. This is not a question.
Yamada nodded slowly, something flashed in his white eyes, and he quickly put it away. "I know part of it. I tell you because you have the right to know."
"Rights." Boruto repeated the word, savoring its flavor, "It's interesting that you used the word 'rights'."
"What's the problem?"
"A person uses another person as a pawn for decades, and finally gives him the right to know." Boruto paused and found a word, "I think this logic is a bit... generous."
Yamada did not reply. His expression did not change, but Boruto noticed that his breathing rhythm had changed - from that precise rhythm to a more natural, human breathing.
The guardian's consciousness pressed in again, with a sense of finality: [You have passed. The road is behind.]
Boruto did not move. "Wait a minute, there is another question."
[Q.]
"Shiki," Boruto said, feeling his heart speeding up, "Otsutsuki God, does he know that Shiki exists?"
This time, the guardian paused for a longer time. It was so long that Boruto began to wonder whether this kind of existence would also feel hesitant.
[Know that Shiki is another chess piece of God.]
Boruto glanced back at Yamada. The man's composure finally cracked - his brows moved. It was the first time Boruto saw him react when receiving information. It was not a reaction that the plan was disrupted, but something more complicated, almost... sad?
Shi had been quiet in Boruto's mind for a long time. When his voice sounded again, it was lower than usual, with a sense of uprooted confusion:
"I thought I knew what I was."
"What now?"
"Now..." Shiki seemed to be laughing, but there was no joy in the laughter, "Now I'm not sure. I thought I was your observer, your companion, or even your friend. But if even this cognition was designed..."
Boruto wanted to say "it's okay" and "we'll figure it out". But these words were nonsense at this time and were a cheap placebo. He just returned his attention to the guardian, said "thank you" - for some reason that he couldn't explain himself - and then pulled Naruto and Sarada, following the faint guidance that appeared, and walked deeper.
Yamada walked at the end. Boruto heard his footsteps, still very steady, without any panic.
This makes Boruto even more worried.
The top level of the pyramid is much smaller than Boruto expected.
After passing through the realm of the Guardian of Nothingness, the passage suddenly converged at a certain Node, like a hose pinched by invisible hands. Then it suddenly opened up - they were standing in a circular space, with an unfathomable dome, and blue light seeping out from the crystals on the four walls. The texture was dense, like some kind of liquid that was about to drip.
In the center is a platform of unknown material, with fine lines on the surface, like rocks that have been weathered and eroded for thousands of years. There is a container on the platform - or, in other words, a carrier of some kind of god's relics. The shape is irregular, like a piece of ore sintered by high temperature, but there is flowing light inside, slowly rotating, and the color changes repeatedly between blue and gold, like the heartbeat of some living creature.
Just this little thing?
Naruto glanced at it with a subtle expression. It was his unique expression when facing something beyond the scope of his understanding - not contempt, but a subconscious defense. "Is this the so-called core of God?"
"Matter is just the outer shell," Yamada walked towards the platform. There was an uncontrollable ups and downs in his voice, like an undercurrent under a calm lake. "The consciousness inside is the real body. The rotating light you see is the projection of the dream when God is sleeping."
He walked very fast, so fast that Boruto had to keep up. Sarada quietly tugged on Boruto's sleeve and made a gesture from an angle that only the two of them could see - Sharingan had recorded all the details from entering the pyramid to the present and kept it as a backup. Boruto nodded towards her and felt a faint sense of relief.
Yamada stopped in front of the platform and muttered something in the ancient language of Otsutsuki. The pronunciation method of the language was beyond the structural scope of human vocal cords, as if it was vibrating the air with some more primitive organ. The light on the outer wall of the container fluctuated, as if in response to the call. "Boruto, come here."
"What am I here to do?"
"You are a pure fusion bloodline. The core of God will respond to you, but will not harm you. I need you to establish a connection first and confirm the status of the core - the depth of its sleep and the activity of the fragments of consciousness."