Chapter 274: The Sage's Lie

Wood Release, Adamantine Sealing Chains, Mangekyō Sharingan, all kinds of sealing techniques—

To the Nine-Tails, they were like an arsenal of torture devices, each one perfectly capable of prying its mouth open sooner or later.

Chakra surged over Kushina's shoulder, and a small fox head gradually took form.

The little fox head immediately shot a vicious glare at Senju Hashirama, who looked completely baffled.

Did I do something to the Nine-Tails in the past?

He couldn't quite remember…

"Senju Tobirama was right… I did sense a presence within Kazuki's chakra that resembled the Sage of Six Paths."

The Nine-Tails spoke in a low, steady voice: "Though I didn't understand why at first… I thought Kazuki, like Uchiha Madara, was a reincarnation of Indra's chakra—but I eventually realized that he was much closer to the Sage of Six Paths."

At the mention of Uchiha Madara's name, Senju Hashirama instantly perked up, his eyes lighting up with intense focus.

Standing beside him, Uzumaki Mito let out a cold snort and rolled her eyes in exasperation.

But Hashirama ignored her completely, leaning in eagerly and asking, "Madara? What about Madara?!"

The Nine-Tails sighed and shook its head.

"Indra was the elder son of the Sage of Six Paths and the ancestor of the Uchiha clan. Their relationship was extremely tense—Indra once attempted to conquer the shinobi world by force. I joined forces with Asura, the Sage's younger son, to stop him."

"After Indra's defeat, his chakra continued to reincarnate across generations of the Uchiha clan, attaching itself to various exceptional shinobi. Uchiha Madara was one of them."

The Nine-Tails turned its gaze toward Senju Hashirama and said slowly: "With your power, you must have sensed that something was off within your own chakra at some point, haven't you?"

Hashirama nodded solemnly.

Beside him, Uzumaki Mito also seemed deep in thought—Hashirama had spoken to her about this in the past.

"That's right. You were once the reincarnation of Asura's chakra."

The Nine-Tails calmly revealed this ancient secret.

But off to the side, Senju Tobirama's brows furrowed tightly.

This didn't match what was written on the Uchiha Stone Tablet at all…

According to the tablet, it was Indra and Asura together who had sealed the Sage of Six Paths.

But what the Nine-Tails was saying painted Indra as a would-be destroyer—and the Sage as the righteous figure who, along with Asura, stopped him.

Could it be… the Sage of Six Paths was actually the good guy?

But if that were true, why would the Sage try to possess Kazuki?

And why would the tablet record a method for reviving the Ten-Tails, encouraging future generations to cast Infinite Tsukuyomi to gather all of the shinobi world's chakra?

"Nine-Tails, how exactly did you help Asura fight Indra?"

Senju Tobirama asked abruptly.

"At the time, the Sage of Six Paths split the Ten-Tails into nine parts and created the nine tailed beasts, each of which resided inside him…"

The Nine-Tails answered honestly: "Back then, the Sage used chakra-sharing techniques to channel my chakra to Asura and aid him in battle against Indra."

A flash of light passed through Tobirama's eyes.

"Then let me ask you—why did the Sage of Six Paths split the Ten-Tails into nine parts?"

"To suppress it!"

The Nine-Tails replied seriously.

"The Ten-Tails is the ultimate being, with terrifying, apocalyptic power."

"And after separating them all, did the Sage manage to seal the Nine Tailed Beasts?"

Tobirama pressed.

The Nine-Tails thought for a moment, then nodded.

Indeed, after the split, the Sage of Six Paths seemed to be in good condition…

Until one day, without warning, he suddenly said goodbye to them all. The little tailed beasts cried their eyes out as he extracted them from his body and scattered them across the world.

"If his purpose was to suppress the Ten-Tails… then why did he release all of you from his body in the end—even knowing it would mean dying as a jinchūriki?"

Senju Tobirama let out a cold laugh.

"Nine-Tails, what you saw—those were illusions cast by genjutsu!"

"Let me tell you how the Sage of Six Paths truly died—and what really happened between you, Asura, and Indra."

His tone deepened.

"The Sage of Six Paths was a demon who tried to destroy the world, and was sealed away by his two sons working together! This so-called 'splitting of the Ten-Tails'—it was actually the Sage's attempt to control the Ten-Tails by dividing it and defeating it piece by piece."

"You think you were housed within his body and helped Asura fight Indra… but in reality, you were under a genjutsu. The Sage was using your power to fight against his two sons."

The Nine-Tails shook its head fiercely, denying it outright.

"Impossible! There's no way I could have misjudged something like that!"

"I don't mean to insult you, Nine-Tails…"

Tobirama gestured toward his Mangekyō Sharingan.

"But in front of these eyes, you were already once controlled by Uchiha Madara and forced to fight my brother. So what chance would you stand against the Sage's Rinne Sharingan?"

"I've seen that eye inside Kazuki. And I truly don't believe you would have been able to resist it—not even a little."

Fury welled up in the Nine-Tails. You dare look down on a fox?!

But as it recalled the days it had been controlled by Uchiha Madara, its confidence faltered.

If the Sage really had controlled it, then yes—it wouldn't have been able to tell what was real and what wasn't.

But… the Sage of Six Paths had always seemed so gentle. Could someone like that really have deceived them all?

"It's a simple logic."

Tobirama raised a finger.

"If the Sage truly wanted to suppress the Ten-Tails' power, then the safest method would have been to split it apart and keep all the pieces within himself—

not release them into the world as separate tailed beasts."

"I don't believe the Sage was too stupid to realize that. Which means there's only one explanation: the Ten-Tails was forcibly extracted from him."

"And as for who did it—the answer is obvious. As for the false memories in your mind, they were planted there by the Sage to deceive you all, to deceive future shinobi, and to pin all his crimes on Indra."

Tobirama's logic was brutally straightforward—

If the Sage of Six Paths had targeted Kazuki, then he couldn't possibly be a good person.

And if he wasn't good, then everything he had done was part of a hidden scheme.

This line of thinking...

Wasn't all that different from Sarutobi Hiruzen's initial suspicion that Tobirama himself was a demon.

Hiruzen had mentally filled in all the blanks, assuming Tobirama's intentions were dark, and was even prepared to drag him into death using the Dead Demon Consuming Seal.

The difference was—

As Hiruzen's sensei, Tobirama took it even further: he concluded that the Nine-Tails had been under the Sage's illusion all along, just as it had once been controlled by Madara.

And that logic… was enough to leave the Nine-Tails utterly stunned.

Why had the Sage split the Ten-Tails? Was it truly because he couldn't withstand its toxicity?

But when he created the Pure Land, the Sage had still seemed strong. At that time, he had willingly released the nine beasts from his body—

not out of desperation, but as a way to purge the Ten-Tails' chakra early and retreat to the Pure Land to calmly collect the souls of the shinobi world.

Yet he had never told the tailed beasts this.

From the Nine-Tails' point of view, the Sage had indeed removed them from his body while still in good health…

And Tobirama's words were now lining up far too well with what it remembered.

The Nine-Tails was completely confused. Its little fox eyes spun in dazed circles.

It was utterly bewildered.

Who was the good guy?

Who was the villain?

There was no denying it—Kazuki's chakra did bear an uncanny resemblance to that of the Sage of Six Paths.

And based on the Sage's persona, as the tailed beasts had come to know him, possessing Kazuki just didn't make sense...

The Nine-Tails fell silent.

And in the eyes of the Konoha shinobi—

that silence looked an awful lot like agreement with Senju Tobirama's theory.

"Big Brother, I'll tell you everything about Kazuki now…"

Senju Tobirama's voice was low and firm.

"We must save him. He's the finest inheritor of the Will of Fire I've ever seen."

Senju Hashirama stared at his brother in disbelief.

Was this really Tobirama?

He was praising an Uchiha… claiming that no one had carried the Will of Fire better?

Meanwhile, deep within Hashirama's body—

a remnant of the Sage of Six Paths' chakra still lay dormant. The Sage himself was resting in the Pure Land, maintaining only a passive jutsu to monitor Kaguya's chakra.

He had no idea—

That a shinobi named Senju Tobirama was out there doing everything he could to brand him as the greatest manipulator in the entire shinobi world.

And on the other side of the world—

The true controller of the White Zetsu network, a being known as Ōtsutsuki Rin or 'Black Zetsu',

was shaken to its core upon witnessing this scene and hearing Tobirama's words.

Its first reaction was:

"As expected of my brother… even I couldn't have slandered the Sage of Six Paths that thoroughly!"

Its second thought:

"Damn it… Tobirama has completely riled up the people of Konoha! Kazuki's ocular technique must be targeting the village—absorbing every bit of emotional shock from their hearts!"

Kazuki must be getting stronger by the minute…

In that instant, Black Zetsu finally understood why Kazuki had chosen to resurrect Senju Tobirama.

Tobirama was nothing more than a puppet.

A tool used by Kazuki to stir up Konoha and harvest the resulting turmoil with his ocular power.

And the targets weren't just the villagers—

They also included Uchiha Madara, whose hatred for Tobirama ran deep…

And even Uchiha Izuna, who Kazuki didn't even realize had been resurrected.

If Black Zetsu recklessly informed Madara and the others that Tobirama had returned—

Kazuki's dojutsu might instantly use Tobirama as a medium to latch onto them and begin absorbing their inner strength.

The stronger Kazuki became, the harder it would be for Kaguya—still sealed within him—to endure…

Black Zetsu's black heart pounded with anxiety.

As the supposed mastermind behind the scenes, it constantly found itself being schooled by Kazuki.

And now—

It had only one desperate gamble left to play.

There was no way Kazuki would expect Black Zetsu to confront Uchiha Obito directly. He had vastly underestimated the bond between them…

And he certainly had no idea that Black Zetsu could still grant Obito power.

So…

Black Zetsu turned to Obito, fear and hope mixing in its heart.

"How should I say this to Obito…?"

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