The Existence of the Sage of Six Paths

"Nagato, are you going to keep resting?"

In the dim underground base, Konan, dressed in a black cloak patterned with red clouds, walked over to Nagato alone.

"No need." Nagato shook his head. Seeing that Konan still looked tired, he asked, "Can't you sleep?"

When he saw the look she gave him, he immediately understood. "I guess you won't feel at ease unless I tell you what happened."

Konan wasn't some naïve, airheaded woman. On the contrary, she was perceptive and keenly sensitive. Getting her opinion would help Nagato see the situation more objectively.

Nagato rubbed his Rinnegan-covered forehead and gathered his thoughts.

He had already checked the surrounding area with his Byakugan and Chakra sensing. No one was listening in. Obito and Zetsu were probably busy right now and had no time to keep an eye on him.

"I suddenly changed my original plan because something very serious happened in Konoha," Nagato said, recalling the events.

Konan watched him quietly, showing that she was listening.

Perhaps it was her cool, composed presence, or the familiar sound of rain around them that put him at ease. Either way, Nagato felt his thoughts gradually fall into place.

"Until now, our plan was based on the assumption that the Sage of Six Paths was dead. We believed the Rinnegan were the Sage of Six Paths' eyes, and that they would bring us hope and allow us to achieve peace in Amegakure, and even change the world. We all believed that."

Konan frowned. Nagato had spoken of the Sage of Six Paths with an unusual coldness, and she suddenly felt a sense of foreboding.

"But when I was in Konoha this time, I saw the Sage of Six Paths inside Naruto," Nagato recalled, speaking softly. "Now that I think about it, it probably wasn't the Sage of Six Paths himself, or his Chakra, but a will he had left behind in this world."

"A will?" Konan repeated. Hearing that Nagato hadn't seen the Sage of Six Paths himself did nothing to reassure her. If anything, she grew more anxious. "Are you certain it was the Sage of Six Paths' will?"

Nagato nodded firmly. "I am. I could see his Rinnegan."

A complete pair of Rinnegan was the Sage of Six Paths' defining feature. Everyone in this world, whether they were ordinary shinobi or a transmigrant like Nagato, recognized that.

At the time, he had instinctively thought the Sage of Six Paths was trying to stop him from killing Naruto. But on reflection, that wasn't the case. If he had wanted Naruto dead, Pain could have killed him long ago. Naruto was alive only because Nagato hadn't tried to kill him. If the Sage of Six Paths truly cared about Naruto's life, he should have appeared sooner.

"Why would the Sage of Six Paths' will appear?" Konan's voice turned grave, a shadow falling across her face.

"Probably to stop me from obtaining Naruto's Chakra," Nagato guessed.

He had figured out what had happened. His real aim hadn't been to kill Naruto, but to take the Chakra inside him. The moment Nagato pulled out Naruto's soul and tried to extract Asura's soul from him as well, the Sage of Six Paths' will had appeared and stopped him.

"Is Naruto special?" Konan seemed to have lost her composure. As a core member of the Akatsuki, she knew all too well how important the Sage of Six Paths was to their plan. If he was still alive—or even if his will had remained in the world of the living—then they had a serious problem. Konan couldn't imagine how badly this would shake the Akatsuki's beliefs. "No, that doesn't make sense. Naruto isn't the main issue. The real question is the Sage of Six Paths. Why does he still have a will in this world?"

For the Akatsuki, if the Sage of Six Paths was dead—truly dead—then it didn't matter how or why he had died. He wouldn't be a problem, at most a mistake.

Problems and mistakes were entirely different things. A problem could give rise to even more problems, while a mistake only needed to be corrected. Problems concerned the present and future; mistakes belonged only to the past.

In practical terms, if the Sage of Six Paths was completely dead, he couldn't interfere with the Akatsuki's plan, so he wouldn't be a problem. But if his will remained in the world of the living, the Akatsuki would have to face all the problems that entailed. The first was why the Sage of Six Paths was still "alive." What was his purpose? Did he know about the Akatsuki? What did he think of them? And would he act against them?

Another organization, or another person, might not care so much about the news that the Sage of Six Paths' will still existed.

But the Akatsuki were different, and so were Konan and Nagato. Compared to ordinary people, the Sage of Six Paths' existence mattered far too much to them.

The Sage of Six Paths was, in a sense, the foundation of the Akatsuki's plan. Everything they did was aimed at that distant beacon, as they hoped to achieve and surpass the great deeds the Sage of Six Paths had once accomplished.

Why had Jiraiya believed Nagato was the Child of Prophecy? Because he had the Rinnegan. Why had Yahiko firmly believed Nagato could bring peace? Because Nagato had the same eyes as the Sage of Six Paths. Why had the Akatsuki's members continued to join the cause, daring to challenge the entire world? Because they believed that gathering all the Tailed Beasts would repeat the Sage of Six Paths' great achievement—and might even surpass it.

That had always been the Akatsuki's goal, and the source of their motivation.

The Rinnegan and the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path—two facts as legendary and epic as myth—had inspired the Akatsuki. This band of proud, unruly missing-nin, hunted by the entire world, had betrayed their original villages and yet carried out the organization's orders with unwavering loyalty.

Even a missing-nin like Kisame, who had repeatedly raised his blade against his own comrades, had ultimately chosen to die rather than reveal the organization's secrets. They believed they had found their true purpose here. They believed this plan could fulfill their goals, destroy the old world that was a living hell to them, and create a new, ideal world.

For that goal, even if they failed and died, they would have no regrets. It was something even the Sage of Six Paths had never accomplished, so their chances of success were low to begin with. They were simply making another attempt.

But now the Sage of Six Paths was apparently still alive. What, then, did everything they had done mean?

To everyone involved in the plan, it was as if the goal they had pursued all along—their faith—hadn't been somewhere far away, but had been lurking among them like a monster. Which one was real? Which one was false? There could only be one goal, yet the Sage of Six Paths seemed to be two things at once: one existed in legend, while the other had lived on to the present day.

Why could the Sage of Six Paths' will remain in this world? Why could it stop Nagato, yet never reveal itself?

The thought sent a chill through Konan.

Because if the Sage of Six Paths hadn't died, then he wasn't a sage. He was a man—or a ghost.

There was no way to trust his actions, either. He had hidden in the darkness, keeping his thoughts from everyone. Anyone involved, like Konan, could sense the stench of conspiracy in his behavior.

The Sage of Six Paths had once been a living person. For his will to have endured from ancient times all the way to the present, no one would believe he had no desires at all.

Moreover, his actions now were the complete opposite of what the legends said he had done: founding the Ninjutsu Sect to spread his teachings in the name of peace. How could someone so frightening, who had kept his will in the world of the living all this time, have no purpose?

"Is he after your Rinnegan?" Konan's expression turned completely cold. "No, you said he appeared to stop you from getting Naruto's Chakra? Just who—or what—is Naruto?"

To Konan, the Akatsuki possessed the Rinnegan and should have been the successors to the Sage of Six Paths' work. They had also been striving to achieve peace in the world. If the Sage of Six Paths had stood openly before them and shared his views about them or the world, she could have accepted it. That was what a normal person would do. But the Sage of Six Paths had merely watched from the shadows, lurking nearby. That could only mean he had ulterior motives.