Chapter 17

The pale visitor - Part 1

A/N: Some people were having trouble with accessing chapter 16. I have updated it once. Let me know if anyone is still facing troubles.

Naruto idly flipped through the worn pages of an old anatomical compendium in the Senju clan's library. The words and diagrams barely registered as his mind drifted back to the conversation he'd had with Tsunade the day before, not long after she'd returned from the hospital. According to the foremost medical specialist in the world, Lee's surgery had no better than a fifty percent chance of success. Naruto had known it would be risky, but hearing that number aloud had hit him harder than he'd expected. Fifty percent. It was like flipping a coin with Lee's future. He knew that it would be risky, but hearing it spelled out had really dampened his mood.

Tsunade had promised to find a way to improve those odds, but even she couldn't work miracles. Naruto had tried to stay optimistic, but the weight of the situation was hard to shake. He closed the compendium and sighed, his thoughts drifting back to Lee— one of his newer acquaintances, a friend even. But more than that, he was an inspiration to every clanless or untalented shinobi in Konoha. The idea of Lee being stuck, unable to fight or live the way he had before, gnawed at him. Today was his day off, where he was meant to either relax or train. He had planned to train his ass off today, but it seemed like that was not happening. His mind was constantly stuck on Lee's plight.

"Naruto," Kushina's gentle voice interrupted his thoughts. "Tsunade's asking for you in the clan head's room. I think we're on to something now."

Naruto stood up, grateful for the distraction. Tsunade had taken over the clan head's room in the main house, as per Mito's wishes. The room was sealed by protective barriers that only someone from the main Senju bloodline could unlock. Out of respect for her husband's clan, Mito had never tried to access it. But now that Tsunade was here, the Senju clan records were finally within reach. She had spent the entire day inside, combing through the archives with help from Mito and his parents, searching for anything relevant to the Senju's history and the Rinnegan. As Naruto approached the room, he raised his eyebrows in surprise—he'd been so lost in thought he hadn't noticed the Hokage and Jiraiya had arrived as well.

Tsunade looked up as Naruto entered, Kushina following close behind. She gestured for them to sit and cleared her throat before addressing the group, which included the highest ranks of Konoha and Naruto.

"The records confirm some of the things we already know," Tsunade began, eyeing the topmost echelon of Konoha plus Naruto who had assembled at the Senju clan office. "It talks about the sage, his children and the linked history with the Uchiha clan, and goes into detail about the abilities of the Sharingan and Mangekyou Sharingan. It starts with the Sage of the six paths and his battle with a great monster. The Sage sealed the chakra of this monster inside himself and used a certain jutsu to seal away its body."

"That must be the ten-tails," Naruto nodded. "What jutsu did he use?"

"That's where it starts to get unbelievable." Tsunade leaned back to her chair. "It says that he formed an all-attracting heavenly sphere on the beast's body. This sphere's powers of gravity were so immense that it pulled a large chunk of the earth, including hundreds of mountains, towards it. These chunks of the earth attached around the beast's body and formed a gigantic mass. He then tossed this mass skywards, wherein it began to orbit the earth. This mass came to be known as the moon."

"...Excuse me?" Naruto squeaked. "He made the moon?"

"That's what it says here, as unbelievable as it sounds."

"That's not right…." Naruto frowned. "There is a kami for the moon." He deliberately refrained from saying his name out loud. Ever since he learned of their existence, he had learned to be very cautious in even uttering their name. He did not want their attention.

"You don't really believe all that bullshit, do you?" Tsunade snorted. "There's no such thing as Kami."

Naruto mumbled under his breath, "Kind of hard not to, after meeting one."

"What was that?" Tsunade narrowed her eyes. "Are you talking about the Sage of Six Paths? Granny Mito told me you met him in your mind. Jiraiya tossed you into a ravine, didn't he? Did anyone scan your head after that?"

"Hey! I'm not hallucinating, damn it!" Naruto said hotly.

"He's telling the truth." Kushina interjected firmly. "Remember, we're always with him. We see whatever he sees."

Tsunade exhaled, holding up a hand. "Alright, alright, I get it. It's just... a lot to wrap my head around."

"It's not the sage of the six paths I'm talking about." Naruto said, looking Tsunade in the eye. "That day when we met you, you were drinking with a young woman, remember?"

Tsunade tilted her head, a slow smile playing on her lips. "Well, it's not uncommon for boys your age to think the first pretty girl who smiles at them is a goddess."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Seriously? You didn't think she was even a little suspicious?"

Tsunade frowned. "What do you mean? Sure, she was a bit odd, and a bit too friendly and trusting with ninja, but I know that she wasn't a ninja herself. I checked."

"What did you do?" Naruto asked with a little trepidation.

"Just scanned her with a little pulse of chakra. Everything seemed fine. No chakra. No signs of muscle training."

"That's the thing—your scan wouldn't have helped. She shows you only what she wants you to see."

"What? I'm not a rookie to get fooled by a spy, no matter how good she is." Tsunade said indignantly.

"She's not a spy," Naruto corrected. "As I was saying, she's not even human. I'll tell you what I saw when I looked at her with the Rinnegan."

Tsunade raised an eyebrow. "And what did you see?"

"I saw her exactly like you did."

Tsunade blinked. "What are you talking about? That's why I said she was normal. Even your Rinnegan didn't pick anything up."

"I didn't say that," Naruto replied patiently. "I said I saw her exactly like you would see her. And you don't have a dojutsu."

"Huh?" Tsunade frowned. "You mean you didn't see any chakra?"

"Not just that, the Rinnegan shows a lot of stuff, including what I think is the soul. But with her, it was like the Rinnegan wasn't even activated. She was... exempt from it. Like I was looking at her with regular eyes."

Tsunade froze, the pieces beginning to fall into place. Maybe Naruto wasn't joking about the whole kami thing after all. "Then why didn't you alert us? If something was that off, you should've said something! You shouldn't have followed her!"

"Well, she knew that I had noticed her, and asked me to follow her. I know this is silly, but I went with my gut instinct and followed her."

Tsunade pinched the bridge of her nose, exasperated. "And? Who exactly was she? Because where you're going with this sounds impossible."

"Umm… did granny Mito also tell you about me meeting Ashura, the Sage's son and the ancestor of the Senju clan?"

"She did tell me that, yes." Tsunade still looked a little unconvinced, especially considering how ridiculous and vague the interaction was.

"Well, that makes this somewhat easier. When I was talking to Ashura, he was stopped from spilling too much by an actual Kami. It was Tatanami-no-Mikoto, the goddess of Fate, who stopped her."

"Now you've lost me." Tsunade said, her voice incredulous. "Are you seriously telling me that the girl I had a drinking contest with..."

"Well, guess you've figured it out." Naruto grinned. "Yeah, that was the goddess of fate."

Tsunade abruptly stood, muttering under her breath about needing a drink. Before she could escape, Mito calmly reached out and grabbed her by the ear, pulling her back into her seat.

"Ow! Grandma! I'm not a little kid anymore!" Tsunade protested, much to the amusement of Naruto.

"We will complete this meeting first, Tsuna." Mito frowned disapprovingly.

"I just learned that fucking Kami exist!" Tsunade all but shouted.

"I came back from the dead, Uzumakis can seal souls in the Death God's belly, and the Sage of Six Paths created the moon. You should already have a pretty broad perspective on reality, dear Tsuna," Mito replied calmly, her tone tinged with amusement.

"Okay, okay. Just give me a moment." Tsunade massaged her temples as she processed the revelations. She had always thought that either Kami didn't exist or they were just assholes that got off on the misery of humanity. And now, Naruto was telling her that the goddess of fate—the very concept she cursed daily—had shared drinks with her. Maybe they were assholes. "What did this Kami want with you, then?"

"She confirmed something about Indra possibly influencing Sasuke... and that Indra might have the backing of another Kami. The one associated with the moon."

"You mean Tsuku-mmph"

Naruto quickly clamped a hand over her mouth, eyes wide. "Don't say the name out loud!" he blurted. He quickly pulled his hand back when he saw her severely annoyed expression.

"Well, him," Tsunade conceded, muttering under her breath as she decided it was probably smart not to tempt fate—or deities, in this case. "So, we have to deal with their cosmic family squabbles now?"

"No, she asked to leave that to her. She just wanted me to keep an eye on Sasuke while she dealt with that problem."

"Oh, fantastic," Tsunade said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "So, all we have to worry about is an immortal Uchiha ancestor with a god complex? Easy. Piece of cake."

Naruto snorted. He had a feeling Tsunade was having some uncharitable thoughts about the involvement of Kami. "So, anything else in the clan records other than dubious claims of moon-making by the sage?"

"Quite a bit, actually. Based on the lore and stories passed down within the Senju clan, the records talk about the purported meaning behind why he was called the sage of the six paths. The sage was quite a philosopher, and he determined that the human soul has a possibility of reincarnation. This reincarnation could take six paths, so to speak, or six realms of existence. It basically partitions the beings of the world into six broad categories. The world of deva or the divine, the world of asura or the titans, the world of manushya or the humans, the world of tiryag or the animals, the world of preta or the ghosts, and the world of naraka or hell. As the Rinnegan is hailed as the eyes that see the samsara or the cyclic nature of the world and its inhabitants, its powers can also be split into these six paths. With me so far?"

"I vaguely remember some of this. Hashirama used to ramble about philosophy and used to talk about things like this. I don't remember much, unfortunately." Mito said regretfully. "That was in the earliest days of our marriage. His focus turned to the village and his dreams soon after that, and such topics weren't discussed anymore."

"Well, atleast we get to hear about it now," Kushina said, fascinated at this untold shinobi history.

"Right." Tsunade nodded. "As I was saying, the Rinnegan's powers mainly branch into these six paths. The Deva path or Tendō has what are called the celestial abilities - it controls the cosmic forces of the world. This allows the user to control all the elements and celestial powers of the world, including the power of gravity. The records talk about three powers of gravity -that of attraction, repulsion and devastation. The third is the one that allegedly created the moon."

Naruto nodded. "Well, I can do attraction and repulsion, but devastation is a new one. I'll have to try that."

"Just don't create another moon." Tsunade said, only half joking.

"I'll be careful." Naruto promised, smiling nervously.

"The second power is that of the Asura path or Shuradō, which relates to the amalgamation of the physical body by augmenting it in different ways -although it does not speak of how the body is augmented. Traditionally, Asura are beings that gave utmost importance to the body."

Naruto nodded. "Definitely need to check it out."

"It could be things like enhancing the speed, strength and the senses. In advanced levels, it may even give powers of regeneration." Minato theorized. "Many such abilities are well-documented among the various ninja clans of the world."

Tsunade continued. "The Human path, or Ningendō, has dominion over the human world. This power can be used to extract human souls."

Naruto shivered. "I found that out the hard way."

Tsunade grimaced. "Now, onto the next ability. The fourth power is that of the Tiryag or Animal path. It is also called Chikushōdō. It just says here that the wielder of the Rinnegan can command the beasts of the world. I'm not sure how that is different from summoning jutsu, though."

"Well, maybe they aren't limited to a particular summon." Jiraiya suggested. "Or maybe they do not need a summoning contract?"

"Both are possible. It will be an incredible power depending on the extent of its abilities." Minato said, thinking of the possibilities.

"The next one, Tsunade?" The Third prompted.

"Right. The preta path, or Gakidō. It enables the user to have a ghostlike existence." Tsunade frowned, being reminded of Dan's powers.

Jiraiya nodded. "Might be similar to the spirit transformation technique."

"It also says that similar to a hungry ghost, it can devour the energies of the body -specifically, chakra."

"I can already do that part." Naruto smiled. "I can absorb chakra and ninjutsu."

"The sixth path is the Naraka, or Jigokudō. It enables the wielder to summon an entity called the King of Hell. It can heal all injuries and restore someone to full power," Tsunade read out with growing disbelief, "It can also store a soul and pass judgment on it, whatever that means."

"The healing part seems incredible," Naruto said, awestruck. "Is there a catch for that too?"

"Nothing mentioned here, but I suppose you'd expend a lot of chakra for it." Tsunade said, also thinking of the implications. "Finally it mentions one more path outside of the six paths."

"Another one?" Hiruzen asked, surprised.

"It's called the outer path, or Gedō. It possesses abilities that defy the cycle of Saṃsāra, and that is the reason for its name, the path of heretics. It says here that while the Human path reaps a soul from the body, the outer path can restore it using the technique called Rinne Tensei or Heavenly Rebirth. It can apparently revive anyone whose soul has not departed to the pure world and whose body is in a condition that can house the soul. However, the summoner pays a price with a part of his life force if the number of souls revived is greater than the number of souls reaped by the human path. It is said that the Sage abhorred the use of these abilities."

"Such abilities are… unheard of." Hiruzen said, shocked at the extent of the abilities of the Rinnegan. "The abilities of the outer path, more than any other, seems like that of a god."

Mito kept silent. It reminded her of the Uzumaki technique of slicing the reaper's belly. But that only allowed the souls sealed by the Reaper death seal to be released. But the ability mentioned now seemingly went far beyond that.

"So far, I can use the abilities of the Deva path, the Human path and the Preta path." Naruto frowned. "I don't have any idea on how to use the other four."

"Maybe," Minato said thoughtfully, "It has to do with the fact that you possess the chakra of only one Mangekyou Sharingan. Although you have manifested two Rinnegan, they are not as strong as they could be?"

"That is certainly a possibility." Hiruzen agreed. "Tsunade, could you have a look at Naruto's ocular nerves and chakra?"

Tsunade motioned Naruto to stand in front of her and placed her palm on top of his head. She closed her eyes and concentrated for a few seconds while Naruto stood still.

"Woah." Tsunade took her hands off, surprise evident in her eyes. "Those eyes have some seriously powerful chakra. I'm almost reminded of Grandfather's chakra based on the sheer power it exudes. As your chakra is quite powerful as well, you are able to control it well. Your optic nerves are in a good condition and the external chakra has integrated well with your system." Tsunade frowned. "What I can't say for sure is whether you'd be able to fully control these eyes if you absorb the chakra of the other eye. I understand we have it with us?"

"Yes, I have the other eye." Mito confirmed. "He might not be able to control it?"

"I can't say for certain." Tsunade admitted. "I believe he will not face any issue like the Mangekyou sharingan's blindness. Since he is already used to the Rinnegan's chakra, and his control is also better than it was before, the risk might not be high. But that doesn't mean it is non-existent."

"Nagato was able to control the Rinnegan fairly well. Granted, he was probably quite young when he awakened it." Jiraiya said thoughtfully.

"Let's go for it." Naruto said with determination. "We don't know when that fake Madara will make a move. And I need to be ready if he attacks me by surprise."

"He has a point." Minato nodded in agreement. "To be a shinobi is to take risks. This might be the best situation to take such a risk, as all of us are here to step in in case something goes wrong."

"Are you sure, Naruto?" Kushina asked with worry. "Don't feel pressured and rush into something like this."

"I'll be fine, mom," Naruto said, smiling at her. "Aunt Tsunade is here, and all of you're here, too. If it becomes too much, I'm sure granny Mito can step in and seal away the excess chakra."

"That is true." Mito said, placing a comforting hand on Kushina's shoulder. "It's better to get this done now, when we are not in a state of emergency."

"It's decided, then," The Third nodded. "Mito-sama, if you would,"

Mito unsealed Shisui's eye and gingerly placed it on Naruto's outstretched hand.

"Naruto, focus on directing the absorbed chakra to your eyes." Minato advised.

"Got it." Naruto nodded, and pulled the chakra attached to the Mangekyou Sharingan. Dense, dark chakra began pouring into his system, which he hastily directed towards his optic nerve. As the chakra traversed through his tenketsu, he could feel it slowly merge with his own potency of the chakra racing toward his eyes increased exponentially every second, and the familiar pulse of his Rinnegan intensified. His vision seemed to blur momentarily as his eyes finally accepted the influx of chakra, before sharpening like never before.

Naruto swayed where he stood as a searing heat pulsed through his optic nerve, causing a sharp pain to shoot through his skull. He gritted his teeth and steadied his breathing, forcing himself to stay calm. The world outside was brightening to an almost intolerable level, and the sheer density of the sensory input was giving him a splitting headache. He canceled every single one of his clones except for Toruna, whom he instructed to excuse himself from the Hospital as early as possible. As the pain subsided, Naruto forced himself to open his eyes that had clamped shut sometime during the process. He reduced the chakra input to his Rinnegan in an effort to stop himself from being blinded. As he looked around the room, he could feel that something was different.

He felt that his visual sense had expanded to a greater degree than before. It was as if the very fabric of reality had been peeled back a little, revealing layers of existence he hadn't been able to access before. Everything he could see before, he could perceive to a greater degree. Intrinsically, he felt like he could now attempt some of the other abilities the Senju records had described. He couldn't explain it well, but It felt as if he had gained a few more metaphysical limbs. He was somehow connected with the other paths. Subconsciously, he could also feel a connection between the Rinnegan and the eight trigrams seal in his belly. Somehow, the Rinnegan had formed a link with Kurama, but he wasn't sure what it meant.

The illusion concealing his Rinnegan momentarily dispelled, and those present could see his eyes glowing with power. A small black spot formed at the seams of the second innermost ring of the Rinnegan, which slowly morphed into the pattern of a single tomoe.

"What-" Jiraiya's eyes bulged in shock as the characteristic tomoe of the sharingan formed in Naruto's eyes.

"That's new…" Tsunade muttered, eyes widening.

"Naruto! Are you alright?" Kushina asked worriedly.

"I'm alright." Naruto said, much to the onlookers' relief. He suddenly frowned, noticing a new addition to the room. "Who are you?" He asked out loud, turning to the stranger who seemed to be idly observing the proceedings. The newcomer had short, unkempt, black hair that resembled an Uchiha. He was missing an eye, and the other eye appeared white and opaque. Strangely, he could not see any chakra from the visitor, or the presence of a physical body, for that matter. It was as if he was watching an ordinary clone jutsu in action, but more… transparent. 'Is that a g-ghost?' Naruto thought, his fear of ghosts coming to the forefront. Reigning in that fear, he took a good look at the visitor and immediately realized who he was.

"Who?!" Mito looked at the place Naruto was pointing at, trying and failing to see or sense an intruder. She didn't feel a silver of chakra from that place, but wondered if the faux Madara was there, concealing his presence.

"Shisui Uchiha?" Naruto whispered.

The figure stirred, and a slow smile formed on the man's lips. He moved forward and stood in front of the Rinnegan wielder.

"Naruto Uzumaki," Naruto heard the figure say, "Looks like I made the right choice, huh?"