Foreward: "Eisegesis is best understood when contrasted with exegesis. Exegesis is drawing out text's meaning in accordance with the author's context and discoverable meaning. Eisegesis is when a reader imposes their interpretation of the text. Thus exegesis tends to be objective; and eisegesis, highly subjective."

This is 1 of 2 titular chapters that will be written in this discussion format, the latter of which will be published at a later date(within the next 3 chapters)

**This chapter is unique from all of the others that I have written so far. It uses the socratic method/elenctic method which is "a form of cooperative argumentative dialogue between individuals, based on asking and answering questions to stimulate critical thinking and to draw out ideas and underlying presuppositions." SO, this is essentially a philosophical discussion - a group talk-no-jutsu, if you will - where the characters break down some of their motivations. I tried to keep it as readable as possible, despite nerding out a bit. I also could have gone SO much deeper into the character psychology, and perhaps I will at some point, but lucky for you all I've kept it around 5000 words! lol. I hope you find it as interesting as I do, and that it gives you some food for thought.

Chapter 19: Eisegesis

The men sat in Parity such that Hagoromo Otsutsuki and Aratashiki Otsutsuki were positioned at opposite ends of the group, with the reincarnations of Hagoromo's son Indra, who were Madara and Sasuke Uchiha, and the reincarnations of Hagoromo's other son Ashura, who were Hashirama Senju and Naruto Uzumaki, sitting face-to-face with their respective generational pairings. When Hagoromo had finished recounting his own portion of history and the transmigrated struggle between Indra and Ashura throughout time, he opened up the conversation to group discussion.

-ooo-

SPEAKERS

Hagoromo Otsutsuki

Madara Uchiha Hashirama Senju

Sasuke Uchiha Naruto Uzumaki

Aratashiki Otsutsuki

THUS I HAVE HEARD, began Madara, that according to you, Sage of Six Paths, a great deal of our values are not only flawed, but are predetermined to be as such due to a battle of wits between your two dead sons?

It is true that in trusting one son over the other I failed as a father, Hagoromo replied, and in doing so unwittingly allowed the world to persist in the belief of pursuing power for peace.

And what would you have had them believe instead?

Well, that both power and love are necessary for peace, for one.

Yet when a man learns to love, he must bear the risk of hatred. Therefore love is not a necessity, and power is the only true necessity.

If you define yourself by your power to take life, your desire to dominate, to possess, then you have nothing*, said Naruto, inserting himself into the discussion. Whether you do it in the name of love, or hate, or whatever else, at the end of the day you are nothing more than an abuser and an oppressor, exploiting others for your own gain and perpetuating the human suffering you so boldly claim to be set on eradicating.

What of love, then? Look at your predecessors. Look at yourselves. Your strategy of 'love', your 'Will of Fire', has resulted in failure after failure ever since the village's inception. All of the work that I and Hashirama did was for nothing, Madara said.

Hashirama, who had been intensely focused on his own self-reflection and naivety, offered a rebuttal. The only real failure, he said, is abandoning your principles. Killing what you love because you can't bear to part from it is selfish and stupid.*

So as the Clan head of my people, I am supposed to love blindly and accept defeat?

If your reputation can't absorb a few blows, it wasn't worth anything in the first place.* Hashirama gazed into Madara's eyes, resolute in his statements and hoping against all hope that his dear friend would accept the error of his ways.

In failure or adversity, it's so easy to hate, said Naruto. Hate defers blame. It makes someone else responsible. It's a distraction too; we don't do much else when we're busy getting revenge or investigating the wrongs that have supposedly been done to us. We waste time tearing things down instead of using our strengths to build them anew.

Madara was quiet, deep in thought. It was evident that he was angry, but not necessarily at the others. Rather, at himself and the circumstances that led him to this predicament in the first place.

I have this weird self esteem issue, said Sasuke, where I hate myself but at the same time think that I am better than everyone else. This is a genetic curse, a flaw in the Uchiha gene that Madara suffers from as well. However, it has become clear to me that I don't even understand even one of these philosophical problems being presented. All I do know is that in failure or adversity, it is so easy to hate. Hate defers blame. It makes someone else responsible.

You are just parroting what I said, no more than sixty seconds ago.

Yeah, well, mimicry is the sincerest form of flattery.

Okay, and when did you realize all of this, asked Naruto, because it contradicts the insanity of the majority of your actions.

Look, Naruto. I thought I was losing it back then…but then I thought, I've got nothing to lose.

I'm not sure what you mean by that, Sasuke.

Me neither, but I am sure that I said it, and that it might make sense someday.

Madara frowned, still unwilling to accept a different point of view from his own. In an effort to dissuade the others from further disagreement and opposition to his values, Madara decided to tell them, from his perspective, how and why he came to be the way that he is; starting from his early childhood, to the death of his brother, to his later defection from the village, Madara presented a sympathetic view of himself, but without realizing that in doing so he'd only further proved the arguments brought against him.

So yes, that's my life story, Madara concluded. Would anyone else like to share?

My mother killed herself and my father, a genocidal maniac, trapped me in purgatory for most of my teen years, Aratashiki responded in a quiet voice.

That's rough, buddy. And having gone through that, what is your opinion on this whole subject?

Well, she said, it is my belief that neither love nor power will lead to peace. Love alone cannot bring peace because true evil will always exist and will persist no matter how much love you pour into its source, and power alone cannot bring peace because power without compassion will always lead to corruption and suffering through subjugation. Peace will not be achieved through power or love, but through compassion and an understanding of the interdependence and mutual welfare of all beings.

And what has led you to this conclusion, that compassion is the answer?

It is my understanding of the highest truth. That every intention has an antithesis and opposition of equal passion; that the universe is fueled by the cycles of death and rebirth. Cause and Effect. You came close to grasping this reality of dualism; but unfortunately your own whims seem to have steered you away from full comprehension. Only understanding of this highest truth will reveal the pathway towards absolute compassion. Chasing the impossible, the elimination of either love or hatred or good or evil, will always result in failure. This is why, in my opinion, it is imperative that you all learn to accept duality, and thus grant yourselves the ability to incite meaningful, positive change within your society.

When I think of the meaning of dualism, I imagine opposites. Light and dark, winners and losers. They cannot exist without one another.

Yes. It is the division of something conceptually into two opposed or contrasted aspects, or the state of being so divided; the quality or condition of being dual. As I said, Cause and Effect.

Then when keeping this dualism in mind, if we do choose the path you have proposed, there must logically be someone else who has done the opposite, no?

Correct.

So what reason is there for me not to represent that opposition myself?

Morality aside, it is because the opposition you speak of already exists. They are far ahead of you, and you cannot defeat them. This is about more than just the current war, it is about the entire future of humanity. My people - my father - are your attrition. They have already beat you in the race for power; it was over before any human was able to wield chakra. You will perish long before you are able to catch up, if the current state of affairs remains unchanged. Kaguya is not the last who will come for you, yet she is the weakest . Use this information well. If your society does not change, does not figure out how to make peace and prosperity a priority, then you have no future.

Do you see now, said Hashirama to his old friend, why you are wrong? You are only looking at one tree, when you should be looking at the whole forest.

The forest is gone, Hashirama! We were in a crater before, and now we are in this place.

It is ok to admit when you are wrong, Madara.

I can do no such thing, my moral compass will not allow it.

With all due respect, my friend, your moral compass is a fucking roulette wheel.

Fine, you are entitled to your opinion. Anyways, it's not that I am wrong; I just didn't know that I wasn't right, until now.

This all sounds very nice, Sasuke interjected, however I'm struggling to see a place for proper justice in any of this. Are we to accept abuses out of compassion? What of revenge, or of avenging those who have unjustly fallen? Compassion will obstruct justice, it will make us vulnerable to manipulation and wrongdoing.

Sasuke, said Naruto as he prepared to refute the assertion, would you say that it is proper to do good to the just, and harm to the unjust?

Yes. That is how it should be.

But there are consequences to that. Many who don't understand human nature have friends who are bad friends. By your logic, they should do harm to those friends. Conversely, there are those who have good enemies that they are supposed to benefit; if so, then it speaks the very opposite of what you just defined as just.

Hmm. I guess you might be right. Maybe. Although, there is an error to correct in this definition of a friend or enemy.

What would you consider them to be, then?

Well, I think that in saying someone is a friend it implies that they not only seem good, but are good. If someone seems but is not good, then they aren't a friend, they just appear to be. I think the same applies to an enemy.

So the good are our friends and the bad are our enemies?

Yes.

So then, instead we should do good to our friends when they are good, and harm to our enemies when they are evil; this would be just?

Exactly.

But is it even just to harm others at all?

Of course it is, if they are evil and they are an enemy.

So when a sword becomes dull, is it improved or deteriorated?

The latter.

Like, the sword now lacks good qualities of a sword, and not of a fuinjutsu seal?

Yes, a sword needs to be sharp.

And a seal is deteriorated in the qualities of fuinjutsu, not of swords?

Of course.

Then won't people who are injured be deteriorated in regards to our proper human virtue?

Without a doubt.

And that virtue is justice?

You got it.

Then people - shinobi and civilians alike - who are injured are necessarily made unjust?

Seems like it.

But can a weapon-smith by her craft make swordsmen unskilled?

I don't think so.

Or can a bully who belittles your dick, via persistence, make it shrink?

Uh, oddly specific, Naruto...but, no.

So can the just, using justice, make someone unjust; or can the good, by virtue, make them bad?

Nah, that would be wack.

Any more than catching fire can make you cold?

No.

Or being pushed into a river make you dry?

Nope.

And the good cannot harm anyone?

Hell no.

And the just are the good?

Oh, worm.

So if you injure a friend or anyone else you are not acting as a just man, but the opposite, who is unjust?

You are quite right, Naruto.

So if a man says that justice is the repayment of debts, and that good is the debt owed by a just man to his friends, and evil what he owes to his enemies - then he is wrong, because it's not wise or true at all, as we just proved by showing that the injuring of another man is never just.

Tch. I agree with you.

So, you agree to join me in battling the incorrect mindset, through the power of Talk no Jutsu?

And also in war, Sasuke said.

Several times during their conversation Madara had wanted to intervene and steer the discussion himself, but had been repeatedly silenced by Hashirama giving him 'the look', because the others wanted to hear whatever conclusion Naruto and Sasuke would come to. Now that they had finished speaking he could no longer hold back, and he went after them with all of the quiet fury stewing in his abdomen. Several among the group were frightened at the sight of him.

What heresy is this, what do-gooder nonsense has taken possession of you all? If you really want to know what justice is, then stop asking questions and answer yourselves instead. Stop bolstering yourselves with the self-righteousness of believing your postulations are right and better than everyone else's. Are you implying that we should just forgive those who wrong us, because to do otherwise would be unjust, and we should pretend nothing injurious has been done in the first place?

Madara please, Hashirama said, calm down so we can discuss this properly.

Do not tell me to calm down, he seethed, when I am being suggested to forgive and forget the deaths of my brothers and my kin! Of Izuna, killed by your own dear sibling.

What you do forget is that your family, too, took the lives of my younger brothers. However, I have learned to let go of such grudges for the betterment of all, and to prevent such occurrences from happening in the first place.

Yet look at where we are now. Has your forgiveness had the intended effect, is this what you wanted?

I don't think you are looking at forgiveness or its implications in the lighting of the truth. A second chance doesn't mean you're in the clear. In many ways, it is the more difficult thing to endure, because a second chance means that you have to try harder and make fundamental changes to the way you live your life. You must rise to the challenges you face without the blind optimism of ignorance.*

It's not at all uncommon, added Hagoromo, to find a person's desires compelling him to go against his reason, and to see him cursing himself and venting his passion on the source of the compulsion within him. It's as if there were two warring factions within the mind, with passion fighting on the side of reason. But I'm sure you won't claim that you had ever, in yourself or in anyone else, met a case of passion siding with his desires against the rational mind, when the rational mind prohibits resistance. In both of you, Madara, Sasuke, and as I did with Indra, I see that your passion - the fierceness with which you love and protect - is pure in essence, but your desires for revenge and perfection have taken the tide of battle and bastardized what would be good intentions.

Madara remained quiet for a moment as he gathered his thoughts, and then said: What, hypothetically, would you have me do if I were to forgive, repent, and then take up arms against this apparent greater enemy, Kaguya? When all is said and done, what is there left for me? Everyone I know is dead, and I do not belong to this present time; surely I cannot just return to live in the village. The very idea of it sounds absurd.

That will be up to them to decide, Hashirama said, while looking towards Naruto, Sasuke, and Aratashiki, and implicating the other leaders and shinobi not present as well.

Also uncomfortable with the idea of being forgiven, Sasuke wondered aloud what he too should do after the war ended.

I intend to become Hokage, but clearly everyone else thinks that is a terrible idea; I would garner no support, he added.

Being the most current representative of the village present, Naruto dared to offer an answer, or at least to make an attempt at doing so. He said: there was one time that I was talking with Kakashi-sensei about you, Sasuke; I was angry and hurt, struggling to understand why you had left the village to join Orochimaru; part of me wanted to get back at you for hurting me, hurting Sakura, and for leaving us behind. You had abandoned me, just like the rest of the village did when my parents died. In fact, do you remember what you said to me before you left? he asked.

You might need to jog my memory on that, Sasuke said, averting his gaze in discomfort.

Alright, well it was "Just shut up for once! What the hell do you know about it?! It's not like you ever had a family in the first place! You were on your own right from the beginning, what makes you think you know anything about it?! Huh?! I'm suffering now because I had those ties, how on Earth could you possibly understand what it feels like to lose all that?!"

The others were taken aback by the harshness of those words; they were absolutely brutal, and Sasuke was unable to completely hide his guilt as everyone's eyes turned to him.

Damn, I don't think even Madara said something so awful to me, and he was the king of vitriol, commented Hashirama.

That can't be true; I'm certain I said something just as scathing at least once, said Madara in defense of his venomous tongue - Sasuke and I have a lot in common.

What a terrible thing to say, Hashirama admonished, gasping upon hearing the audacious statement.

Anyways, interrupted Sasuke in an effort to move on from the subject, what are you saying by bringing that up, Naruto?

Oh, replied Naruto, it was just an example for everyone else of one of the things contributing to my anger towards you. So, all that aside, it wasn't until I heard what Kakashi-sensei had to say that I was able to actually process everything, he said.

Okay, what did Kakashi say? Don't tell me it was 'getting lost on the road of life' or whatever.

Naruto laughed, genuine and pure despite the heaviness in the air. No, he said, Kakashi-sensei told me that "When we see men of a contrary character, we should turn inwards and examine ourselves"*. So I did, and I tried to empathize with you.

And what was the result of that - how does this even relate to my earlier question?

I'm getting there, you know - I reflected on what he said; about how I would want to be treated, and how I would try to redeem myself, if I had ended up in your position.

In my mind, Naruto continued, there is one way for both of you to redeem yourselves; everyone has that one - or maybe a few - things that they are really good at, you know. And I think, that justice for you, or me, or Madara, or anyone else, is minding your own business - like, doing your own thing, you know? It doesn't mean that people should just go out and do whatever they want; I mean that everyone has some innate qualities or "business" that they should develop and put to unhindered use; contribute as much as you can to society, the greater good, the people you wronged; try and make up for whatever injustices you committed, and the pain you caused, he said. If we kill or punish every enemy who tries to redeem themselves, then nobody really wins; rather, we lose out on things that could have been good or beneficial, you know? If I had killed Nagato right away instead of talking with him first, half of the village would still be dead - Kakashi would be dead, and Hinata would be dead, too.

Indeed, said Hagoromo, you must find canvases for other people to paint on; be an anteambulo, clear the path for the people above you and you will eventually create a path for yourself.* People cling to their hate because they know that once it is gone, it will be replaced with pain; you must abandon your fear of feeling, face the things that torment you, and learn to move forward with them; thus the weak will never forgive, because it is an attribute of the strong; without forgiveness, life becomes a never-ending cycle of resentment and retaliation, he said. So, if any can remember a time that hatred solved a problem, speak now.

When he finished talking a poignant quietude engulfed the space, the truth of both men's words settling in for some and for others rattling them to the core. The atmosphere previously buzzing with unsaid thoughts and postulations became static and empty, and not a single person could speak to Hagoromo's closing remark.

After they had all remained silent for so long, Hagoromo spoke up once more. Madara, Sasuke, he said, I ask to the both of you: does this mean to say that you are admitting error? Will you repent, and denounce the curse of hatred cast upon you by my son, Indra?

Sasuke replied with a reluctant hum of agreeance, and Madara said yes, but reiterated that he was not wrong - only mistaken.

Satisfied with their answers and the progress made, Hagoromo Otsutsuki said a few parting words to each of the individuals in attendance; time was running out, and he needed to return to whatever realm his spirit normally existed within. Before leaving he relinquished some of his powers to both Sasuke and Naruto, to aid them should his mother inevitably return. At last, it seemed, the war might really come to an end; especially if they could prevent Kaguya from returning.

ooooooo

*Original speakers, in order: Obi-wan Kenobi, Ryan Holiday - The Ego Is the Enemy, Ling Ma, Confucius, Ryan Holiday.

Credit to the classical text and novel adaptation of The Republic by Plato for debate structure and conceptual philosophical arguments.

ooooooo

Author Commentary:

One thing I hear a lot of people complain about regarding the ending of Shippuden is how easily Naruto forgave Sasuke - not to mention countless others he has forgiven throughout the series - and so I wanted to try and flesh out the psychology behind those decisions, since it is a very important and relevant plot point in this story. As you might be able to tell, despite my goofy dialogue and blatant parody at times, I'm a real stickler for trying to make things make sense . Way more obvious in the rewrite, where I've fixed plot holes, but yeah. Suspension of disbelief. Furthermore, it seems like a lot of people miss or fail to grasp this huge theme in Naruto, which is fine because if everyone treated all of their entertainment sources like an English Lit project we would all be bitter, middle aged women. Anyways, that's why I'm including this chapter in the first place.

Hagoromo and Hamura Otsutsuki are Buddhists in principle. I'm not going to dance around it for the sake of avoiding controversy, because it is so plainly obvious within the show. I firmly believe that Hagoromo is based off of Siddhartha Guatama, AKA, the Buddha himself. Siddhartha was born to royalty, sheltered from the truth of the world, and lived a normal life all through early adulthood and even got married/had kids, and then at the age of 29 he embarked on his ascetic journey. What prompted him to do this? Well, Siddartha encountered Four Sights: an old man, a sick man, a corpse, and a holy man. Kaguya sheltered both of her sons, and her people, from the truth of their world as well - that she was a tyrant, and was sacrificing people to the Divine Tree for her own gain. In episode 461, Hagoromo and Hamura , we see Hagoromo first encounter Gamamaru, the Great Toad Sage - he looks young at the time, but as we all know Gamamaru is super fucking old . Next, he encounters a snake-oil salesman who has such awful back issues that he has resorted to scamming people because he can't really perform any other normal job. A sick man . Hagoromo heals his back, the man rejoices, and then the man is told to leave and never return to their land, for his own sake.

Then comes the biggest moment, when Hagoromo and Hamura venture into the Divine Tree, which is forbidden, and find an ocean of corpses attached to its roots. Specifically, Hagoromo finds the corpse of a young woman whom he cared deeply for, named Haori. This shatters him, and he seeks out Gamamaru to take him up on the offer of learning senjutsu. Gamamaru is basically a frog Jesus and reveals a prophetic dream to Hagoromo and Hamura, which is something a holy man would do, you know? So there we go, our four Sights.

After those four realizations, Siddartha began to seek out enlightenment, and eventually this happened:

"Siddhartha sat alone under the Bodhi tree, vowing to not get up until the truths he sought came to him, and he meditated until the sun came up the next day. He remained there for several days, purifying his mind, seeing his entire life, and previous lives, in his thoughts. During this time, he had to overcome the threats of Mara, an evil demon , who challenged his right to become the Buddha. When Mara attempted to claim the enlightened state as his own, Siddhartha touched his hand to the ground and asked the Earth to bear witness to his enlightenment, which it did, banishing Mara. And soon a picture began to form in his mind of all that occurred in the universe, and Siddhartha finally saw the answer to the questions of suffering that he had been seeking for so many years. In that moment of pure enlightenment, Siddhartha Gautama became the Buddha."

Sound familiar? Hagoromo learned Sage powers, which are activated via meditation and becoming "one with nature/the universe", and then was able to defeat Kaguya alongside his brother Hamura. After which point he basically ascended to god-hood. Yep.

The Rinnegan is literally called the reincarnation eye, and the Six Paths powers(of which there are actually seven) are based on the Buddhist realms of reincarnation. Straight from the wiki:

"The Six Paths share their names with the six realms of reincarnation in Buddhism: Deva, Asura, Human, Animal, Preta, and Naraka. Each of these "paths" represents one of the realms a being may be reborn into after death, determined by the accumulated karma of their past lives. While the two lower realms, Preta and Naraka, are hellish, and the two higher realms, Deva and Asura, are heavenly, all six are considered to be realms of suffering, as they perpetuate Saṃsāra , the cycle of reincarnation; the only way to break this cycle and ascend to a higher state of existence is to attain enlightenment. The Outer Path, derived from the Sanskrit term Tīrthika , refers to any doctrine that "treads the outer path" to enlightenment. This is opposed to the teachings of orthodox Buddhism, the Naidō (内道, Literally meaning: Inner Path), and is thus considered misguided and heretical."

Gedō - the Outer Path - is frowned upon. The Gedo statue is the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path and is literally the husk of the Juubi, which is a life-sucking parasite. Makes sense to me. Also, we know that Hagoromo doesn't truly die, since he shows up during the war….because he's enlightened . Then we have Indra and Ashura, who are reincarnated repeatedly until they break their own cycle of mutual suffering - which is exactly what Samsara is. I really don't even feel like I need to point out all the instances of Karma in the series, especially if you have seen Boruto, lol.

If all of this isn't enough to convince you that Buddhist philosophy is central to the show/Naruto's world, then….well, that's too bad I suppose. The reason I just outlined all of that is so that I can make my real point, which is the key to understanding Naruto Uzumaki's character, as well as Aratashiki, and the main theme driving my plot.

Bodhicitta, which means "enlightened mind", is the Buddhist concept of absolute compassion - a mind that strives towards awakening, empathy, and compassion for all sentient beings. It is closely tied with the principle of Ahimsa(compassion), the first of the five precepts of buddhism. Anyone who has generated bodhicitta is referred to as a bodhisattva, and is considered to be on the path to buddhahood. Siddhartha Guatama was a bodhisattva. The four divine abodes, or virtues, of a bodhisattva are loving-kindness, compassion, empathetic joy, and equanimity( equanimity: mental calmness, composure, and evenness of temper, especially in a difficult situation ).

[Ahimsa as a precept involves non-violence, and is extremely relevant to war theories. I'm not going to spoil what comes next for the Villages, so I won't explain Ahimsa until later, during the second discussion-chapter.]

Does this sound like anyone we know? Because to me it sure sounds like our knuckleheaded ninja, and what his character development had been leading towards throughout the series. Naruto Uzumaki is the first of Ashura's reincarnations to break the cycle of war and hatred - to become enlightened , if you will. Hence, he is one of the only characters who fully embraces this concept of absolute compassion. This is why Naruto is so empathetic and forgiving towards his enemies, and why he tries so hard to understand them. It is not because of bad writing, fan-service, lack of a spine, stupidity, or hopeless optimism, but because on a spiritual level Naruto Uzumaki is wholly compassionate to a degree that the majority of people never have and never will achieve.

Naruto is just a better person than any of us could hope to be.