At Mount Myoboku,
Houka, the Six Paths Sage, and the Great Toad Sage watched the farce unfolding in Konoha—a spectacle of power and human nature.
Master and disciple turned on each other, concealing the truth and trading lies.
"I hear your Shinobi World has been through three great wars. Neither of you intervened?"
"Or do you also believe war is the best breeding ground for the strong?"
"Many of the Shinobi World's forbidden Ninjutsu seem to have been developed for war and combat."
Houka glanced at the Six Paths Sage. The old man had gathered quite a few powerful souls in the Pure Land.
It was hard to say whether the centuries of wars between shinobi clans and villages had continued because the Six Paths Sage had deliberately let them.
He had kept the reincarnated souls of his two sons fighting, seeking a balance that would let them coexist in peace.
Perhaps he truly was searching for a path to peace for the Shinobi World.
Or perhaps he hoped more geniuses would emerge,
so he could collect more souls to face enemies from beyond the heavens.
But the Otsutsuki Clan had yet to arrive. Instead, Houka and the others had come from another world.
"I'm only an incomplete soul. I can no longer manage the affairs of the Shinobi World."
The Six Paths Sage spoke earnestly, revealing little about his knowledge or strength.
He was nothing like Houka and those children, who gave away information about themselves so easily.
Of course, that might be because Houka and the others had absolute confidence in their strength.
That was why they could reveal so much without a care.
"We summon beasts rarely interfere in human wars, either."
The Great Toad Sage spoke slowly, without directly answering Houka.
Still, through powerful shinobi like