Chapter 489: The Underworld

"Where are you planning to go now?"

Upon hearing Shishou's question, Hagoromo Otsutsuki smiled and said, "Before I dissipate completely, I plan to explore beyond the Ninja World."

Hagoromo had long known about the existence of many life-bearing planets in the universe and had always wanted to see them. However, his duty to protect the Ninja World had kept him here.

Shishou casually said, "Be careful not to encounter your mother's Otsutsuki clan."

Hagoromo laughed, "I know."

After saying this, Hagoromo waved his hand, and the soul of the Great Toad Sage appeared in his hand. Holding the Great Toad Sage, Hagoromo instantly disappeared.

Shishou looked up at the starry sky, staring at Hagoromo's departing figure, and sighed deeply.

"Now, it's truly up to me to protect the Ninja World."

No, I must find a way to delegate this task; I don't have much time to waste on this.

With this thought, Shishou suddenly had an idea.

He could awaken the power of the Six Paths in Naruto and Sasuke, making them the guardians of the Ninja World in his stead.

But to do this, Shishou would need to plan carefully.

After contemplating, Shishou glanced at the black-and-white tomoe in his hand and vanished.

...

Ryuchi Cave.

Shishou appeared beside Rin Nohara, waking her up.

"Shishou, what's going on?" Rin Nohara rubbed her eyes, still drowsy.

Shishou smiled, "I'm going out for a while. Can you watch over my body?"

"Watch over your body?" Rin Nohara asked, puzzled.

Shishou patted her head and smiled, "You'll see in a moment."

With that, Shishou formed hand seals and used the Spirit Transformation Technique.

Seeing Shishou's soul leave his body, Rin Nohara was shocked.

Though she had died once before, it was her first time seeing someone's soul.

"Wait for me," Shishou said, smiling, and then he merged the black-and-white tomoe into his soul, disappearing.

Rin Nohara looked at Shishou's sleeping body on her bed, and a bold thought surfaced in her mind.

...

The Underworld.

In a pure white world filled with light.

Unlike the dark environment Shishou had imagined, the Underworld created by Hagoromo Otsutsuki was quite bright.

In this white Underworld, constructed with the power of the Hell Path, stood a towering tree, a hundred meters wide and a thousand meters tall, at the center.

Beneath the tree sat hundreds of black-and-white puppets.

These were Human Path puppets created by the Six Paths Sage, capable of automatically guiding the souls of powerful deceased individuals from the Ninja World into the tree, returning them to the Pure Land after a hundred years.

Flying to the top of the tree, Shishou noticed that each leaf housed a slumbering ninja's soul. The larger the leaf, the stronger the soul it contained during life.

Among them, Shishou spotted many powerful ninjas who had died within the past hundred years.

The leaves containing Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha's souls were the most prominent, each as large as a washbasin, standing out among the thumb-sized leaves.

Other notable souls included Tobirama Senju and the various Kage from different villages, each leaf the size of an adult's palm.

Even the souls of Orochimaru and Kabuto Yakushi were present.

Uchiha Obito's soul was also lying on one of the leaves.

It seemed that any ninja or samurai who had died within the past hundred years could be found here, while ordinary souls were scarce.

It appeared that the Six Paths Sage had deemed ordinary souls insufficient in chakra and had thus disregarded them.

Approaching the tree's trunk, Shishou found a two-meter-wide hollow. Inside the hollow, a basketball-sized chakra orb floated quietly.

This chakra orb, gathered from the souls housed within the tree's leaves, was the energy source sustaining the Underworld.

Though it appeared small, the energy it contained was immense and incalculable.

According to Hagoromo, this chakra orb was originally larger, but reckless use of the Impure World Reincarnation by people like Orochimaru had diminished it.

Among those reincarnated, Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha were the most prominent, their abilities like True Several Thousand Hands consuming significant chakra.

Staring at the chakra orb, Shishou murmured, "Absorbing half should be fine."

Raising his right hand, Shishou began to absorb the chakra. He stopped only when the orb was reduced to half its original size.

Feeling the changes within his chakra, Shishou was delighted.

Just now, his chakra reserves had increased several times!

Considering he was already at the Six Paths level, this increase in chakra was significant.

"This is even more than the energy I gained from devouring the entirety of Mount Myoboku."

"This way, the Divine Tree will bear fruit even sooner."

Pleased with this, Shishou began to explore the Underworld.

However, with only a tree and several Human Path puppets, he quickly grew bored.

"No wonder Hagoromo didn't want to stay. It's truly dull here."

Muttering to himself, Shishou started inspecting the Underworld for any operational issues, as instructed by Hagoromo.

Though the Underworld could function autonomously, occasional problems needed timely resolution to prevent it from collapsing.

After confirming everything was in order, Shishou left the Underworld and returned to Ryuchi Cave.

Upon re-entering the room where Rin Nohara was, Shishou was puzzled.

Rin Nohara was playing with makeup, dressing his body like a warrior, clearly enjoying herself.

It felt akin to when he asked Mikoto and Kushina to cosplay as doctors and nurses for added excitement.

"This looks so cool."

Admiring the warrior outfit she had put on Shishou's body, Rin Nohara was delighted.

Although she already found Shishou handsome, she thought he looked even better dressed up.

"Ahem."

Shishou's soul cleared his throat.

Startled, Rin Nohara saw Shishou's soul and laughed awkwardly.

"Hehe, Shishou, you're back."

Reentering his body, Shishou quickly pinned Rin Nohara down.

"Let's see how I'll deal with you tonight."

Rin Nohara wrapped her arms around Shishou, her face beaming.

"Bring it on."

_____________________

POWER STONE!!!!

__________________

This fanfiction is complete on my P@treon. If you want to read it, you can find it at p@treon.com/Betek.

_____________________