The slanting shadows on the wooden walls lengthened with the flickering firelight, suddenly drawing Rikusei's thoughts out.
Hashirama's conclusive words from earlier vaguely suggested that he seemed to know something.
Was the intelligence from the three great sage regions?
Hashirama had always been accompanied by Anbu. If he had gone to the three great sage regions, word of it would certainly have spread through the village.
Besides, the three great sage regions had long hidden themselves away from the Shinobi World, maintaining an air of detachment. They would not rashly make direct contact with the highly expansionist Shinobi Alliance.
If they rashly contacted the current leader of the Shinobi World, then once their location was exposed, countless humans in the Shinobi World who yearned for Summoning Beasts would inevitably swarm toward them.
Rikusei felt he could dismiss that possibility.
Hashirama's certain words also carried obvious confidence. It was highly likely that he had encountered someone whose words could be trusted.
The key lay in Hashirama's other identity.
Ashura.
If the Sage of Six Paths had appeared in a dream, the conditions required to meet him were rather harsh.
The chakra of the Nine-Tails, Ashura, and Indra were all indispensable. The current Hashirama possessed only the first two, so he could not meet the Sage of Six Paths ahead of time.
Then Hashirama's source of intelligence should be the Sage of Six Paths' younger brother—the one whose chakra still remained within the moon to this day.
Otsutsuki Hamura.
Through the chakra they left behind, the two brothers had quietly endured a thousand years. In a sense, they had achieved immortality by another means.
Meeting that being did not require nearly as many conditions as meeting the Sage of Six Paths.
Interesting.
Having grasped the general picture in an instant, Rikusei curled