Seeing One's True Nature, Beholding All Gods

Neji felt himself floating in a void, his consciousness seemingly soaked in warm, nourishing spiritual fluid as it slowly revived.

At last, his consciousness awakened again within the Sea of Consciousness, and the first thing he sensed was the sound of liquid energy flowing.

He opened his "eyes"—if they could still be called "eyes" in this chaotic Sea of Consciousness—and saw a several-zhang-tall Thousand-Armed Statue seated in meditation.

Nine hundred and ninety-nine arms spread out like peacock feathers. Every palm bore a different Sage Art rune: some burned like flames, some flowed like water, some were wrapped in lightning, and some condensed into ice crystals.

Above the statue's head, the unfurled Primordial Bagua Diagram slowly revolved. Qian, Zhen, Dui, Ze... eight trigrams glittered like stars, refining the Evil God's remaining spiritual energy bit by bit into pure mental power. With each breath, some energy was occasionally scattered outward.

That scattered Evil God energy transformed into golden streams, forming eight whirlpools around the Thousand-Armed Statue. They slowly nourished it, seeping thread by thread into its body. Mysterious golden lines immediately appeared across the statue's skin, flashing with cryptic gleams.

"So this is... my statue..." Neji murmured, his voice echoing through the Sea of Consciousness.

He tried to move his body, only to discover that his physical body was still unconscious. Only his consciousness was awake in this spiritual world.

"I see. My physical injuries are too severe, but my mental power benefited from the disaster instead. It was tempered by the Evil God's energy and became even stronger."

Neji watched the Primordial Bagua Diagram continue to absorb and release energy, secretly amused. It should be full this time, right?

He looked up at the Thousand-Armed Statue, an inexplicable sense of closeness rising within him.

He stretched out his hand, and the instant his consciousness touched the statue, the entire Sea of Consciousness suddenly turned upside down. Countless fragments of memory fell like a meteor shower.

As Neji sank his consciousness into the statue's core, the suddenly emerging memory fragments slowly unfolded before him.

He saw planets burst forth from the heart of cosmic explosions. He saw the Three Great Sage Regions stabilize earth, fire, water, and wind. He saw a being from beyond the heavens swallow a planet's fruit. He saw war, famine, and desolation.

He saw the entire process by which the Sage of Six Paths created the Tailed Beasts with Yin-Yang Release. He also saw the incomplete statue flickering indistinctly behind Hashirama Senju during the Battle of the Valley of the End.

"This is..." Neji clutched his head, swollen with pain from the torrent of information, and formed a faint guess.

"Historical nodes imprinted by space... What a shame. I can only see phantom images, not any deeper knowledge." Neji sighed regretfully.

"Wood Release... So a statue needs a vessel..." As starlight flowed around him, Neji suddenly understood. "Senior Hashirama forcibly completed his statue with extreme Yang Release and learned Sage Art, but every use inevitably came with the loss of life force. That was why he died so young."

"What the Thousand-Armed Statue displays outwardly is extreme Yang Release, but constructing the statue itself requires enormous Yin Release—mental power. If I didn't have the Primordial Bagua Diagram, I truly would never have been able to complete this statue even in death. Yin and Yang truly are a mighty force that cannot be treated separately."

"If Senior Hashirama had transplanted an Uchiha Clan Sharingan, could he have united Yin and Yang and thus possessed the power of all creation? What a pity..."

A storm of thoughts flashed through Neji's consciousness—realization, relief, and even regret.

Just as Neji continued peering into the shadows of the ancients, another stream of information suddenly flooded into his mind—

"Sage Art: Domain Profound Meaning!"

"Sage Art: Ninjutsu Profound Meaning!"

"Sage Art: Statue Profound Meaning!"

One Sage Art profound meaning after another unfolded in his mind, as though these were powers he had already mastered long ago. Amid the collision of ultimate knowledge, it seemed that even the level of his life had undergone a leap.

"A statue... the embodiment of rules, the manifestation of Sage Art. Once I take this first step of condensing a statue, later cultivation will naturally fall into place. As expected of the Sage Arts of the sacred regions. The secrets of the Three Great Sage Regions cannot be underestimated!"

Neji thought to himself.

"Sage Art requires a vessel to unleash the full might of Sage Art, just like Hashirama Senju's Wood Release. Otherwise, it merely strengthens ninjutsu, like Jiraiya and Naruto Uzumaki, who only made their Rasengan bigger!"

"Fortunately, I figured out my path long ago—Crystal Release. If there is any tangible chakra in the Ninja World capable of carrying a statue, it must be Crystal Release. It comes from the nature transformations of Fire Release and Earth Release, perfectly matching my chakra attributes..."

As Neji spoke to himself, a determined gleam flashed through his eyes.

A statue was a creation of the spirit, and the vessel it required was closely tied to one's physique. Hashirama possessed a powerful Sage Body, so he could use Wood Release as his vessel.

Although the Hyuga Clan also carried Ōtsutsuki Clan blood, what Hamura Ōtsutsuki passed down was the Sage Eye rather than a Sage Body at the level of the Six Paths. Thus, Neji had no chance of using Wood Release. Even if he transplanted the First Hokage's cells, he would only gain lifeless Wood Release like Yamato's.

"Crystal Release—the fusion of water and earth nature transformations, materializing chakra into crystals." A sharp gleam flashed in his eyes.

"If I can master Crystal Release and use crystals to carry the statue!"

He imagined it—

A Thousand-Armed Statue a thousand zhang tall, its entire body the color of glazed crystal. Its nine hundred and ninety-nine arms would shine like diamonds, every strike carrying the sharpness and sturdiness of Crystal Release, perhaps even reflecting an enemy's ninjutsu.

"It's simply perfect!" Neji could not help grinning.

"However, Crystal Release is not easy to cultivate. It requires specific chakra nature transformations and is a bloodline limit. Perhaps even its user does not know the principles behind this release. I don't know whether I can reverse-engineer a method to cultivate it..."

"Crystal Release... I remember its user is Guren, Orochimaru's subordinate. Should I approach Orochimaru, or go directly after Guren? If it's Orochimaru, what price would I have to pay? Intelligence, ninjutsu, or something else..."

Neji sank into deep thought.

Just as he racked his brains to scheme, a thought suddenly surfaced at one moment—

"Have I become too unscrupulous in my pursuit of strength?"

Neji was abruptly startled, frightened by the sudden thought. He did not understand why it had appeared. According to his usual beliefs, wasn't transcendence something for which one could abandon everything?

"Could this be an inner demon..."

Neji was uncertain. "Is there a conflict between my actions and my values?"

"No, I shouldn't doubt myself like this. Orochimaru... Hahaha... Orochimaru... unity of knowledge and action. As expected of you, Orochimaru. Only today do I understand you."

Neji suddenly laughed because he recalled a school of philosophy he had learned in his previous life.

"Unity of knowledge and action!"

"So that is how unity of knowledge and action should be understood. If I know something benefits me, I should do it decisively. If it harms me, then I should not do it. What excellent words from a sage—they have resolved years of confusion for me. Hahaha..."

"Orochimaru pursued truth without caring about worldly judgment. Even after becoming a rogue ninja, he still walked his own path without hesitation."

"And me? I have always been tangled up over who I am—a Taoist priest from my previous life, or Neji of the Hyuga Clan in this life?"

He looked up at the Primordial Bagua Diagram within the Sea of Consciousness and suddenly understood.

"I am myself."

"Whether the little Taoist priest of my previous life or Hyuga Neji of this life, both are merely parts of 'me.'"

"The true self is the self."

"There is no need for restraint."

The instant his thoughts became clear, Neji suddenly felt something. Countless gods and Buddhas flashed through his mind—compassion, saving the world, relieving suffering, delivering others...

"Compassion is only a means. Transcendence is eternal!"