There was no doubt: the man in the black robe was Jigen, possessed by Ōtsutsuki Isshiki's Karma—or rather, he was Ōtsutsuki Isshiki himself!
After hiding in the Shinobi World for a thousand years, his situation was hardly better than Black Zetsu's.
Even though Kaguya Otsutsuki, who had once attacked him by surprise, had been sealed away, her sons—the Sage of Six Paths and his brother—would clearly never welcome an Otsutsuki like him.
The brothers had even managed to seal Kaguya Otsutsuki, despite her having consumed the Chakra Fruit. If he revealed himself, he would meet the same fate and be sealed away. So, over the centuries, he had taken great care to hide his whereabouts.
Of course,
that was also because he had been searching in secret for a "vessel" that could contain him, and had never intervened in the Shinobi World's major events.
Watching Karin, Nameless, and Sasuke walk away, he grew suspicious. "Are they investigating me? Did something go wrong with the Akatsuki Organization?"
Clearly, the "Akatsuki Organization" he meant wasn't Shinji's group, but Nagato's.
For thousands of years, he had been a diligent bystander, gradually growing accustomed to watching the Shinobi World's fortunes change from the sidelines.
He hadn't expected that the moment he entertained an idea and tried to make contact with Nagato, Kaguya Otsutsuki's descendants would notice.
That was right. When he saw Shinji, as Akatsuki Organization's "A," successfully seal the Ten-Tails, he felt a sense of danger unlike anything he had ever known.
He could tell that "A" wasn't the Sage of Six Paths. He wouldn't foolishly split up the Ten-Tails and distribute his Chakra among all the disciples of Ninshu, burying his own chances of reaching Kekkei Mōra with his own hands.
Once "A" matured, he might become a second Kaguya Otsutsuki, ruling