Myths and legends

A month later, Cat Granny had Orange Flame notify Sasuke right on schedule that everything they wanted was ready.

However, the equipment that went with the cloning technology was rather bulky. It could not conveniently be brought into Konoha all at once and would have to be dismantled first.

After getting the equipment's specifications, Neji and Sasuke agreed that they should leave it on the ninja cats' territory rather than bring it into Konoha.

They could simply hire ninja cats to work for them when the time came. There was no need to put everything in Konoha.

After setting down the enormous scroll carried on Orange Flame's back, Orange Flame released the summoning and returned to the Ninja Cat Clan.

Once Orange Flame had left, Neji undid the scroll's bindings and spread it out on the table.

The scroll began with some basic knowledge of Medical Ninjutsu, then went straight into a highly difficult B-Rank Medical Ninjutsu, the Delicate Illness Extraction Technique, and a C-Rank Accelerated Healing Technique.

The former could remove poison and extract or transplant organs. It met Neji's requirements perfectly, and even offered a few additional functions. As its name suggested, the latter healed wounds at the cost of the cells' lifespan.

"Just two techniques?" Sasuke looked rather surprised.

Neji explained, "This isn't your average B-Rank ninjutsu. Mastering these two Medical Ninjutsu is practically equivalent to becoming a medical ninja highly proficient in the field. They're enough to handle most situations."

"Judging by the description, this technique's main function is still removing poison. Even organ transplantation isn't its primary ability. The other one is even simpler." After reading the notes on the techniques for a while, Sasuke began to understand their value.

"Medical Ninjutsu really is much more complicated than ordinary release techniques." After studying them for a while, Sasuke shook his head. Reading about this technique made him dizzy.

His own B-Rank Fire Release Ninjutsu was nowhere near this complicated.

"Of course," Neji said. "No Medical Ninjutsu is ranked below C-Rank, and most are highly difficult B-Rank techniques. They often don't serve just one purpose, but combine several effects, just like this Delicate Illness Extraction Technique."

"Now that you've got what you wanted, isn't it time you told me what you're planning to do?" Sasuke finally voiced the question that had been bothering him all this time.

"You really want to know? I'm afraid finding out now might upset you." Neji looked at him with a slightly strange expression.

"Stop looking down on the Uchiha!" Sasuke shot him an irritated look. "I helped get this stuff, you know. I might even need it myself someday. How am I supposed to feel at ease when I don't know anything?"

Neji nodded. "Fair enough. You'll be using it too, anyway. In that case, I'll tell you."

Sasuke leaned against the doorway with his hands in his pockets, looking as though he were waiting to see what Neji could possibly come up with.

"Have you ever heard the legend of the Sage of Six Paths?" Neji asked.

"Of course I have," Sasuke said irritably. "Who hasn't heard the legend of the Sage of Six Paths subduing a monster, ending an age of chaos, and founding Ninshu? But what does that have to do with what you're planning?"

"That's right, that very legend. I learned a secret about the Sage of Six Paths from a stone tablet passed down in secret within the Hyuga Clan!" Neji began recounting the story he had just invented.

Sasuke looked Neji up and down, wondering whether something had gone wrong with his head. The Sage of Six Paths was just a myth people had made up.

Ignoring the look Sasuke gave him as though he were insane, Neji continued, "That isn't a fabricated legend. It's actual history. The Sage of Six Paths wasn't a mythical figure people invented, but a real person who existed in history."

After a long silence, Sasuke said, "Are you all right? Do you need to go to Konoha Hospital and have your head checked?"

Sasuke watched him, wondering whether too much pressure had caused some sort of mental problem.

Neji ignored him and went on. "The tablet recorded something else: there wasn't just one person who subdued the monster back then. The Sage of Six Paths' younger brother also took part in that battle."

"Huh?" Sasuke obligingly put on a surprised expression. By now, he was convinced that Neji's desperate desire for freedom had made something go wrong with his head.

The Sage of Six Paths, his younger brother—Sasuke was starting to regret standing here listening to Neji's nonsense. He would have been better off spending this time practicing Fire Release.

Forget it. I'll just consider this stuff payment for awakening my Sharingan, Sasuke thought.

Money meant nothing to him. Only his own strength mattered.

"According to the tablet, the Sage of Six Paths' real name was Hagoromo Otsutsuki, and his younger brother's name was Hamura Otsutsuki. The Uchiha Clan, Senju Clan, and Uzumaki Clan are actually descendants of Hagoromo Otsutsuki, the Sage of Six Paths, while the Hyuga Clan and Kaguya Clan are descendants of Hamura Otsutsuki." Neji kept talking, mixing nine parts truth with one part lies.

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!" Sasuke's eyes widened.

Was this a joke? How could his Uchiha Clan share an ancestor with the Hyuga Clan? That was nonsense!

"Sasuke, I know you can't accept this fact right away," Neji said calmly. "But surely you know that your Uchiha Clan also has a mysterious stone tablet?"

Sasuke froze. He remembered what Uchiha Itachi had said on the night of the massacre. That man had indeed mentioned a mysterious stone tablet in the shrine's basement, but when Sasuke went to look afterward, he had found nothing.

"How do you know about that?" Sasuke asked urgently.

Neji glanced at him. "Didn't I just tell you the Hyuga have one too? Its contents can only be deciphered once the Byakugan's eye power reaches a certain level. That's where I learned it."

"Since the Uchiha Clan and the Hyuga Clan share the same origins, and both are bloodline clans renowned for their Dōjutsu, wouldn't it make perfect sense for your Uchiha Clan to have a similar stone tablet? And I suspect yours follows similar rules to the Hyuga tablet when it comes to deciphering it. At the very least, you'd need to awaken the Sharingan to read some of its contents."

It's not like I can tell him I watched the anime and read the manga... Neji thought.

Sasuke pondered for a moment. "We Uchiha do have a stone tablet. That man said something similar back then. When I went to look, I came away with nothing, so I didn't think much of it. Now it seems I should go back and look at it with my Sharingan."

"Doesn't that line up?" Neji smiled and continued, "I read a passage on that tablet: 'A god divided yin and yang into two poles, and in pursuit of stability, when those poles become one again, one may obtain all-creation and bring forth reincarnation!'"

The original passage did not read exactly like that. Neji had added a little something of his own at the end.

"What does that mean? A god divided yin and yang into two poles—who is this god supposed to be? The Sage of Six Paths, or someone else? And what does obtaining all-creation and bringing forth reincarnation when the two poles of yin and yang reunite even mean?" Sasuke had not fully understood the passage.

"It's easy to understand! I keep telling you to read more, but you never do. Now a genuine path to the heavens is right in front of you, and you're acting like an illiterate." Neji mocked Sasuke without mercy.

"Quit rambling and explain," Sasuke urged.

Neji was not angry. He gave Sasuke a scornful look. "The meaning is simple. Combining two opposing powers into one can give rise to the power of the Rinnegan and the Tenseigan, which can bring true peace to the world!"

Seeing Sasuke's utterly bewildered face, Neji grinned. "Don't tell me you've never heard of the Rinnegan?"