Guidance

Orochimaru was a little taken aback by Hyuga Shin's question.

"Hasn't it always been this way?"

"Does that mean it's right just because it's always been this way?"

A shinobi's power ultimately came from the body and the spirit. How could someone live long while burning through their precious vitality?

Still, this made Orochimaru realize that there was indeed something strange about it.

"You're contracted with one of the Three Great Sage Regions, so I imagine you know a thing or two about the White Snake Sage," Hyuga Shin continued.

"Of course."

"Then have you ever looked into how powerful she is?"

"She must be very strong! I could feel how overwhelming her presence was, even though she was clearly keeping it under control."

"Then do you know how long the White Snake Sage has lived?" Hyuga Shin asked, digging his hole one step at a time as he continued to lead Orochimaru in.

"As far as I know, she's lived for at least a thousand years!" Orochimaru had heard a little about this.

"Have you ever wondered why?"

"Why what?"

"Why does the White Snake Sage possess both immense power and such a long life?" Hyuga Shin continued to guide Orochimaru.

Orochimaru had fallen right into Hyuga Shin's trap.

With Hyuga Shin's guidance, he suddenly realized what was wrong.

That was true! Why?

Hyuga Shin's question echoed over and over in Orochimaru's mind.

"Another thing: with the Shinobi World in such chaos, do you really think no one has ever thought of unifying it?"

Hyuga Shin didn't give Orochimaru much time to think. He wanted to finish his lecture and let Orochimaru mull it over on his own.

"Didn't you say that Hashirama Senju, Uchiha Madara, and you had all considered it?" Orochimaru was a little puzzled by Hyuga Shin's question.

He had heard Hyuga Shin mention this only a few days ago, so he remembered it clearly.

"Then guess why the three of us, as powerful as we were, failed?"

"To be honest, in the earliest days of the one-village-one-country system, I could have unified the Shinobi World with Konohagakure all by myself, without Madara or Hashirama lifting a finger!"

"So why didn't it happen?"

"Hashirama and Madara became different people overnight." Hyuga Shin cast a meaningful glance at Orochimaru.

When Orochimaru heard Hyuga Shin's answer, his pupils contracted. He thought of the strange feeling he'd had while treating Nawaki.

He'd long felt that something was wrong!

"Then—"

"Don't rush. Let me finish."

Orochimaru had just started to ask another question when Hyuga Shin cut him off.

"Do you think no one besides us has ever considered unifying the Shinobi World? Even you've said that if you had the ability, you'd consider it, and you can see the advantages of unifying the Shinobi World."

After all, that would be a positive direction for the Shinobi World as a whole.

"Then from the early Warring States Period to the present day, are you saying there hasn't been a single clever person?"

"Could none of them really see the advantages of unifying the Shinobi World?"

"Why does the hatred in the Shinobi World keep cycling around, again and again, without end?"

"Are the so-called wars really caused only by the villages' interests and internal conflicts?"

"And why have shinobi, the very embodiment of power, become dogs at the Daimyo's beck and call? Would anyone who truly possessed power willingly place themselves beneath ordinary people?"

"What's even more ridiculous is that not only do ordinary shinobi think this way, but even the Kage of every village consider it perfectly natural!"

"You need to break free of your limited perspective before you can understand the true face of this world." Hyuga Shin couldn't help but turn up the pressure.

Orochimaru fell silent as he listened to Hyuga Shin's string of questions.

But his expression showed that he was turning them over in his mind.

Hyuga Shin wasn't in a hurry. He waited quietly for Orochimaru to think, hoping he'd surprise him.

Time passed, second by second, and Orochimaru's expression grew more animated.

"Elder Shin, I'd like to ask you something. You once said that after the Battle of the Valley of the End, a powerful person began watching you. Who was it?" After sorting through his thoughts, Orochimaru began with what he considered the most important question.

"It's not the right time to tell you directly. It would be best if you discovered it yourself."

"Of course, if I can finish my research soon, I can tell you outright. But not yet." Hyuga Shin turned cryptic once more.

It wasn't that he feared the Sage of Six Paths. He'd already faced him head-on, so what was there to be afraid of?

Nor was it that he couldn't tell Orochimaru directly. It was simply that discovering it for himself would be far more convincing.

When you reasoned with a clever person, it wasn't about how sound your argument was. What mattered was whether you had something that could make them believe you.

"Then I'd like to ask one more thing. Is this person the same one you were guarding against with a Sealing Technique when you treated Nawaki?"

Orochimaru quickly asked the most crucial question.

"You really are exceptional, Orochimaru!"

"You managed to see the heart of the matter from the smallest clues. It seems I chose well after all!" Hyuga Shin immediately gave Orochimaru's theory his tacit approval.

"So it's true!" Orochimaru looked conflicted after Hyuga Shin confirmed it.

If things were really as he suspected, then the Shinobi World was indeed as unfathomably deep as Hyuga Shin had said.

Aside from the sages of the various Sage Regions, there could well be other immortals hidden in the shadows!

And if Hyuga Shin was wary of this person, then they were surely no pushover.

"What is his goal?"

"Why is Hyuga Shin so determined to unify the Shinobi World?"

"Why did Hashirama Senju and Uchiha Madara change overnight?"

"What secrets are the Three Great Sage Regions hiding?"

"What's wrong with the shinobi system?"

"What happened during that brief lapse in awareness in the cave where Nawaki was treated?"

Orochimaru's mind was full of questions, and his thirst for knowledge was boundless!

"Orochimaru, I'd like to confirm this one more time. If you had the ability, would you strive to unify the Shinobi World?"

Hyuga Shin's expression was solemn as he asked Orochimaru in his aged voice.

"I would!" Orochimaru's answer was firm and forceful.

Although he didn't understand why Hyuga Shin was so fixated on this, clever as he was, Orochimaru could still see the advantages of unifying the Shinobi World.

"Good! I'm glad to see you have such ambition! The future is in good hands." Hyuga Shin looked like a proud old man.

"Looking back on my life, I've always been cautious, as if walking on thin ice! My only fear is that one day I might change too."

"I see all living beings as mayflies, but you alone as a mountain!"

"You must protect your ideals, because in this distorted Shinobi World, you need unwavering faith more than ever!"

"Orochimaru, cross this river that is the chaotic Shinobi World. I believe you can reach the far shore, where the Shinobi World is united!"

"You have the talent for it!"

Hyuga Shin became a fountain of inspiration, relentlessly feeding Orochimaru words of encouragement.

Orochimaru was so overwhelmed by Hyuga Shin's words that his head spun. He almost felt like he would give his life for someone who understood him.

After chatting a little longer, Orochimaru left with a bellyful of questions.

As the commander of an army, he had far too much to do.

Over the next few days, Hyuga Shin kept an eye on Orochimaru and Tsunade. He found that the Will of the Six Paths within them had fallen completely dormant and probably wouldn't awaken again anytime soon.

"It's just as I expected. The Sage of Six Paths probably can't interfere with the Shinobi World often."

"He must have something more important to do in the Pure Land, or else something is holding him back."

"Another seed has been planted in your garden. I wonder if you're ready, Sage of Six Paths?"

"The hero I prepared for you has already begun his journey of growth!"

"Now it's time for the game between the players to begin!" Hyuga Shin gazed up at the sky, his face full of anticipation.