In the Pure Land, the gray-white sky remained eternally unchanged.
The Sage of Six Paths sat cross-legged on a lotus pedestal, the ripples in his Rinnegan slowly turning.
His gaze pierced the barrier between the worlds of the living and the dead, falling upon Konoha-the "nursery" he had cultivated for a thousand years.
The images were silent, as though seen through a murky curtain of water.
He "saw" that aged figure, white hair hanging loose, his Three-Tomoe Sharingan like two ghostly flames in the dim yellow light.
Madara Uchiha.
He stood outside Kushina Uzumaki's home. Anbu corpses lay sprawled at his feet, their blood gathering into little streams that wound along the ground.
The Sage of Six Paths frowned almost imperceptibly.
"Indra's chakra reincarnation... in the end, he still took this path."
He murmured to himself, his voice echoing through the empty Pure Land, carrying a complicated mixture of lament and calculation.
He was not surprised.
A thousand years ago, the moment he had passed over the elder son in favor of the younger and chosen Asura to inherit Ninshu, he had already foreseen this day. Indra's obsession, Asura's persistence, a thousand years of reincarnation, countless confrontations... everything had been within his calculations.
But this time was different.
This time, Indra's reincarnation had not chosen to die and enter the Pure Land, leaving his successors to carry out the plan.
He had acted personally.
"The Nine-Tails Jinchuriki..." The Sage of Six Paths looked at Kushina. The red-haired woman was watching Madara warily, her hand moving unobtrusively toward a cabinet.
There was a Flying Thunder God Kunai there.
"Minato Namikaze." The Sage of Six Paths spoke the name, a trace of complicated emotion flashing through his Rinnegan.
The Fifth Hokage was young and exceptionally powerful, hailed as the "Yellow Flash." His