"...The relationship between the innate Primordial Spirit and the acquired Conscious Spirit is one of opposition and unity. In other words, 'the original nature is subtle, while the acquired nature is prominent.'
As people pass through childhood, youth, adulthood, and old age, their acquired nature grows increasingly prominent while their original nature grows ever fainter. In the end, the desires of the Conscious Spirit obscure the Primordial Spirit. This is 'the acquired nature of temperament prevailing over one's original nature.' When distracting thoughts abound, the Primordial Spirit withdraws; when they are cast aside, it appears. This is 'when thoughts cease, the spirit arrives; when thoughts stir, the spirit departs.'
In ordinary people, the innate Primordial Spirit is obscured by the acquired Conscious Spirit. Their thoughts by day and dreams by night are like clouds veiling the moon, so the Primordial Spirit withdraws and the Conscious Spirit governs them throughout the day. If they can become still and focused, returning to unity without thought or desire, the Conscious Spirit will naturally withdraw, and the true nature of the Primordial Spirit will emerge. This is what it means to see one's nature.
The State of Entry you mentioned earlier, honored sir, means 'the Conscious Spirit steps down, and the Primordial Spirit takes charge.' This is the work of reversing the acquired and returning to the innate."
After hearing this, the old man closed his eyes and pondered. Although he had never encountered Bai Sui's system before, when he considered it alongside his own experiences and all he had learned over the past seventy years, the more he thought about it, the more convincing it seemed, and the more he uncovered its subtleties.
"Brilliant! Truly brilliant! I have pored over countless swordsmanship classics, yet never encountered words so profound. This teaching stands on its own, yet encompasses all things.
"It takes the human body as its foundation and probes its roots. From the roots, it forms the trunk; from the trunk, branches grow; the branches sprout leaves, the flowers fall, and fruit ripens.
"This is a fruit—the Primordial Spirit—nourished and brought forth by the human being."
Bai Sui was pleased as well. "You see it clearly, honored sir."
The old man thought for a moment. "From your words, it seems you have not yet revealed everything. Might you enlighten this old man? What comes after the Primordial Spirit? Ah, please forgive me if I have overstepped."
"Haha, not at all." Bai Sui did not refuse.
"Well, to answer that, I must introduce another concept: the immortal. It differs from the legends of immortals in the Ninja World. The Zhong and Lu Ancestors divided immortals into five ranks: heavenly, divine, earthly, human, and ghost.
"Of these, the ghost immortal is the easiest path to achieve after you cultivate the Primordial Spirit, honored sir. It may also be called the immortal of liberation, or attaining Buddhahood, and so on.
"At its core, this means continuing to strengthen the Primordial Spirit until, when the physical body decays, a spark of true spirit remains undying.
"By then, you could choose either to take over another body or to be reincarnated, though either choice would come at some cost, and you would lose some memories.
"Of course, if you are unwilling to lose your memories, you could instead become a deity sustained by incense offerings and protect a region. That would also be a valid choice."
The old man keenly caught the key point. "Who are these Zhong and Lu Ancestors you mentioned, honored sir? Such eminent masters should not be unknown, yet I have traveled throughout the Ninja World and never heard of them."
Bai Sui gathered his thoughts. "That's a long story, so I'll make it short.
"Our pursuit of the Dao is divided into five schools: the Accumulated Goodness Sect, the Classic Sect, the Talisman Sect, the Alchemy Sect, and the Divination Sect. The Zhong and Lu Ancestors were patriarchs of the Alchemy Sect, and they passed down the Golden Core Great Way, a path that leads straight to becoming a heavenly immortal."
The two of them continued discussing the Primordial Spirit until the snow reached their knees. Only then did they stop. As Bai Sui watched the old man leave, he was filled with emotion.
In truth, during their earlier conversation, Bai Sui had intended to pass on some of his teachings, though he had not said so outright. But the other man never asked, even as he was leaving, and Bai Sui could only feel that the man lacked the fated connection.
Bai Sui understood that the other man might have felt he had already gained so much from him that he was too ashamed to ask for more. But whatever the reason, he had ultimately missed this opportunity.
By the end, however, Bai Sui had also gained some insight. Even if he passed some of the teachings on to the man, he might not truly understand them.
That was because the two of them had different cultural ideas, making it exceedingly difficult for the man to grasp them.
For the man to understand those teachings, he would need to understand not only the Dao, but also Confucianism.
After all, thousands of years of development in his previous life had long since embedded both in the bones of its people.
One was about the ideals one held for life; the other was about living an ideal life.
Confucianism emphasized classics and principles; Daoism emphasized adapting to circumstances and flexibility.
Over the thousands of years that followed, Confucianism and Daoism complemented each other, making people value both principles and flexibility. The two became highly unified, and the people of his previous life generally developed a nature that was outwardly accommodating but inwardly firm.
Even Zen Buddhism in his previous life had infused the Buddha-nature of enlightenment into everyone's daily life.
But the people of this Ninja World had thoughts shaped by a mixture of their Shinto beliefs and Buddhist ideas.
Shintoism had grown out of the belief that all things possessed spirits. Those spirits could inhabit birds and beasts, mountains and rivers, or trees and plants. Anything could be a god.
Shinto thought had successfully guided the people of the Ninja World toward civilization, but its primitive worship had also taken root in everyone's minds.
Though Buddhist thought had supplemented it, in Bai Sui's view, people in the Ninja World treated Buddhism more as another means of worship. For the most part, they had still been assimilated by Shinto thought.
The complementary ideas of Confucianism and Daoism did not fit with this. Even if he passed his teachings on to someone, they might cultivate out of reverence for their creator rather than in pursuit of their own transcendence. That could easily send them down the wrong path.
These were the thoughts that had occurred to Bai Sui as he watched the old man leave. His mind now worked quickly; he needed little time to organize his thoughts and draw new insights from them.
This conversation and his own reflections also made Bai Sui realize how difficult it would be to discuss the Dao with anyone in this world.
After all, according to the old man, he had searched the entire Ninja World and found only Bai Sui. So who else could Bai Sui discuss it with?
Of course, drawing on his memories of the original story, Bai Sui suspected that Senju Hashirama might also have entered the Dao. His Wood Release seemed to carry the quality of a spirit residing within a technique.
Even Hatake Kakashi might have, to some extent. Bai Sui had observed that his Earth Release defenses were considerably stronger than other people's, even though Kakashi himself excelled at Lightning Release.
So Bai Sui had reason to suspect that his Earth Release was so effective defensively because of the dog heads carved into it.
Bai Sui suspected this might have been caused by the pressure of losing his father at a young age, which had closed off his heart. Afterward, he suffered one blow after another, and the only ones who truly stayed by his side were his ninken.
Later, as he rebuilt his heart after it had been shattered by the death of his comrades, he unconsciously made the ninken who had comforted him the core of that reconstruction. As a result, the heart he rebuilt took on the shape of those dogs.
Since chakra combined physical and spiritual energy, it was also affected by one's heart and mind. Other ninjutsu manifested as energy, so the effect was not obvious. But Earth Release took physical form, and so those dog heads appeared on it.
Anyone capable of rebuilding their shattered heart was unquestionably exceptional. Bai Sui suspected the Mangekyo had helped, but that rebuilt heart might also have given Kakashi a more resilient spiritual energy, which was why his Earth Release had stronger defensive power.