When Higashino Shinichi said these things, his expression did not change and his heart did not race. He spoke with such detail, reason, and evidence that even the founder of ninjas himself could not find anything to refute.
For a moment, an utterly absurd thought arose in the Sage of Six Paths' mind.
If he returned to the Shinobi World someday and the image he presented to the people differed by even the slightest bit from the "Sage of Six Paths" described by this boy, would people point at his nose and shout, "Bold fiend! How dare you impersonate the ancestor! I'll force you to reveal your true form!"
The moment that thought surfaced, the Sage of Six Paths' feelings became exceedingly complicated.
In his view, this young man who had borrowed his name to lead future reforms in the Shinobi World had good intentions and aspirations.
But the boy had forcibly pinned far too many ideas that did not belong to him beneath the name of the "founder of ninjas."
He pinned down the good ones, and the less good ones... or rather, the ones he considered overly extreme as well.
Some had indeed been his intentions, while others were things he had never even considered.
If this continued, he could not help wondering whether it mattered who the Sage of Six Paths really was. What mattered was that whoever Higashino Shinichi said was the Sage of Six Paths would be the Sage of Six Paths.
At this moment, Shinichi had no idea about the Sage of Six Paths' complicated thoughts. He was not even sure whether the Sage of Six Paths was secretly watching this place.
After all, neither [Pursue Good Fortune] nor [Avoid Misfortune] had stirred.
He merely slowly swept his gaze across the silent Kirigakure prisoners