"Yo, Sasuke, how are you feeling? Did that Six Paths Old Man feed you any bullshit?"
"Lord Chiba!?"
Sasuke looked in surprise at the man seated on the throne of corpses.
This bizarre space and that terrifying throne seemed to possess a strange magic that could distort human perception to some extent.
Still, it was mainly the familiar tone and that utterly disrespectful way of addressing the Sage of Six Paths that had allowed him to recognize Tetsuya.
"What's wrong? Didn't recognize me?"
Tetsuya sat with one leg crossed over the other and spoke with a smile.
"Right, this space does seem to distort other people's perceptions."
"Lord Chiba, what exactly is going on? What is this place? And what does the Sage of Six Paths want with me?"
"Don't rush. I'll answer your questions one at a time."
Tetsuya tapped the armrest of his skeletal throne.
"First, let me introduce this place. This is the Evil God Space, a special space similar to a mental realm or a demiplane.
"And I'm its master, though I don't actually know what this space is good for, so I generally don't come here."
"The Evil God Space? As in the Evil God worshipped by the Jashin Cult?"
"That's right. That Evil God worshipper in the Akatsuki is one of my lackeys."
At that, Tetsuya slapped his thigh.
"Oh, damn. If you hadn't mentioned it, I would've forgotten. Quite a few of the other Akatsuki members seem to still be alive.
"What have those guys been up to?
"Whatever. I'll ask Hidan later."
Sasuke tilted his head. Damn, that's a lot to take in.
"Enough about that. What did you think of what the Six Paths Old Man told you?"
Sasuke shook his head.
"Not much."
As far as Sasuke was concerned, everything