Just as Jigen silently slipped deep into Amegakure, searching bases or secret facilities Nagato might have left behind for information on the Rinnegan, remnants of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, or anything else of value, a "gaze" he had spent a thousand years desperately avoiding yet constantly fearing pierced the boundary between life and death and fell upon him.
The Pure Land.
Upon a platform formed from soft light, Hagoromo Otsutsuki-the man revered by the world as the Sage of Six Paths-sat cross-legged.
He wore ancient white robes, two horns rose from his forehead, and his face was both majestic and serene. His eyes held the purple Rinnegan.
Before him floated an enormous screen of light that rippled like water, clearly reflecting Jigen's figure as he cautiously searched Amegakure.
Hagoromo's gaze was as still as water. As he watched the figure dressed as a monk on the screen, a trace of gravity and resolve passed through the depths of his eyes.
He turned his head slightly toward one side of the platform.
There sat an enormous orange toad, wearing a necklace marked with the character for "oil" and a Scholar's Cap. He was Gamamaru, the Great Toad Sage of Mount Myōboku, and he was currently seated on a specially made cushion.
Nothing like his perpetually drowsy appearance back on Mount Myōboku, Gamamaru was now alert and vigorous. His enormous eyes shone with wisdom and insight, and even the crooked Scholar's Cap atop his head had been carefully straightened, lending him an unusually solemn air.
"Gamamaru," the Sage of Six Paths began slowly, his voice echoing through the Pure Land like the tolling of an ancient bell, "in your opinion, is now... the best time to strike at him?"
Gamamaru spoke in a deep, clear voice. "Hagoromo, you and