214. Meeting with the Sage of Six Paths

Ugh!

Izuna clutches his forehead as he feels an intense stabbing pain in his head.

Ugh…

He groggily opens his eyes and slowly gets up.

"Where am I?"

He slowly looks around and notices a white room.

"Ah!… My mindscape."

Izuna slowly stands up and turns towards the elemental orbs floating in his mindscape.

"It has been a while since I last came here. This place is livelier than before."

He notices a giant purple black hole floating in the middle of the group.

Purple lightning keeps flickering from the black hole orb.

"So that's the electromagnet release."

Izuna approaches the purple orb and urges it to come towards him.

Bzzt…

The purple black hole resists his pull and releases a bolt of lightning which strikes Izuna.

"You aren't tame, are you?" Izuna shakes his head.

"Quite a unique place, isn't it?"

An ancient and powerful voice falls in Izuna's ear.

Huh!

Izuna's expression turns grave as he hurriedly urges all the elemental orbs to surround him.

"Who is there? Who is intruding in my mindscape?"

He turns around and notices a tall, pale-skinned man with deep wrinkles and a strong jawline.

The elderly man has spiky, shoulder-length, pale brown hair with a chin-length braided lock hanging in front of his left ear. He also sports a goatee tapered down to his waist.

He has a pair of horn-like protrusions extending from either side of his forehead. Both of his eyes have pupilless Rinnegan in them.

He wears a white, full length-kimono with a pattern of six black magatamas.

'Sage of Six Paths! What's he doing here?'

Izuna lowers his guard a little as the orbs continue to fly around him.

Hagoromo nods his head as he introduces himself.

"I am he who shall achieve peace and order and my name is…"

"You are Sage of Six Paths Hagoromo Otsutsuki, right?"

Izuna interrupts him as he inspects Hagoromo's ethereal body.

'Man! What potent chakra? His entire body is a lump of chakra held together with his soul. Such dense chakra to form a physical form.'

"Ah! So, thou are aware of me? I beg thy pardon for intruding into thine mindscape."

"I see. So, what's the esteemed Sage of Six Paths seeking from me?" Izuna warily stares at Hagoromo.

'Sage of Six paths or not? I still don't know what are his intentions for intruding in my mindscape. Is it because I stole chakra from the tailed-beast?'

Ahem…

Hagoromo clears his throat as he continues.

"You can lower thy guard! I have no malicious intention towards thee. I am nothing but a spiritual body with no physical form."

"Very well…"

Izuna waves his hand as the orbs return to their position.

Hagoromo nods his head.

"I never expected thou mindscape to have such powerful defenses. It's even stronger than my mindscape, if I would have to say.

For the past twelve years, I have been seeking an opportunity to communicate with thou; but thy mental barrier always barred me from entering in thine mindscape."

"Well, it is not like I was expecting you to enter in my mindscape."

Izuna curiously stares at Hagoromo.

"Fair enough! I don't have enough time to spare, so I will get to the point. At the rate thou are progressing with thy chakra, thou are going to die in five more years."

Hagoromo drops a bombshell on Izuna.

"WHAT?!"

Izuna yells in flusteration.

"What do you mean? How am I going to die in five years? Would you mind explaining it to me?"

He quickly approaches Hagoromo.

Cough… cough…

Hagoromo coughs slightly to calm him down.

"Thou still have five years to live."

"That's not helping." Izuna depressingly turns towards Hagoromo.

"Can you tell me the reason why I am dying?" He pleads to Hagoromo.

"It's because of that."

Hagoromo points towards the purple-black hole in the center of his mindscape.

"Thy power is killing thou." He remarks.

"Can you elaborate on it a little more?" Izuna turns towards the electromagnet release orb.

Hmm…

"Thy chakra and mental strength are far too strong. Thy power is slowly corroding your body and eating away your chakra system."

"WHAT? There was such a thing."

Izuna activates his Mangekyo Sharingan and inspects his body.

"This is…"

His eyes widen in horror as he notices purple lightning flickering through his body. There are several microscopic cracks in his chakra nerves.

"No way… this…"

He desperately turns towards Hagoromo for help.

"Sadly, I don't have a solution for thine problem." Hagoromo shakes his head.

"But, there must be a way. If I die now, how will I fight against Jigen?" Izuna turns towards Hagoromo.

"It's the reason I seek thou. My lifelong goal was to achieve peace and order in this world.

They are coming, the members of the mother's clan are approaching this world. They aim to lay waste upon this world and harvest the essence of this planet to grow in strength."

Hagoromo warns Izuna.

"I know. You must be talking about Momoshiki Otsutsuki and Kinshiki Otsutsuki." Izuna nods his head.

"NO! I am talking about a much bigger threat."

Hagoromo shakes his head. He stretches out his right hand and creates a staff from his truth-seeking ball.

Tap… tap…

He taps it on the floor and creates an image of Kaguya and Isshiki.

"The Otsutsuki clan existed at a time much before even this world was created."

Whoosh…

The image disappears as a giant nebula appears in front of Izuna.

"The members of the Otsutsuki would travel from one world to another planting the seeds of ten-tails and harvesting chakra fruits in an attempt to reach a higher form of life, to evolve into a form they call GOD."

"GOD?!"

Izuna interrupts Hagoromo.

'Well, that's news to me. But it makes sense, I died too early and never came to know the ending of Boruto. So, the appearance of a GOD is quite possible.'

"The so-called GOD is omniscience, omnipotent, and omnipresent, being capable of creating and destroying worlds just by his thoughts alone.

All the members of the Otsutsuki clan will unite with this being and will exist as one single entity called 'Entropy'."

Whoosh…

Hagoromo slams his staff on the ground to create a blurry image of an entity.

Brr…

Cold sweat runs through Izuna's body as his eyes meet with the image of the figure. His body shivers as he feels a sense of dread from the image of the being.

Whoosh…

Hagoromo taps his staff and dispels the image.

"This being exists and doesn't exist. He is a mere concept at this moment, but if the Otsutsuki clan succeeds in their attempt, he will come into existence."

"Then we must stop them at all costs? I can't allow them to mess with my family and friends." Izuna clenches his fist.

'No way in hell, I will allow them to do as they please. One thing I would never want in this life is regret.'

He turns towards Hagoromo and questions him.

"About this 'GOD'? How is he leading the Otsutsuki clan?"

"Even without existing in reality; this being can still shape the world and guide the Otsutsuki clan. He is a concept, an existence far beyond anything. He is the Otsutsuki GOD."

Gulp…

Izuna gulps his saliva as the image of Otsutsuki God keeps refreshing in his mind.

'This wasn't how it was supposed to be. I was supposed to get rid of Isshiki Otsutsuki and prevent the Shinobi World from plunging into the era of destruction.

What's the deal with Otsutsuki GOD popping out of nowhere? Then there is that Soul clan too. That member of Soul clan messed me up.'

Izuna is lost in his thoughts as Hagoromo stares at him.

'If the last prophecy of the Toad Sage before my death bed was correct; then this world will fall into chaos and destruction, the likes of which were never seen before.

According to the prophecy, a child of fate will lead the world in this Era and prevent the downfall of this world.'

"Err… I don't mean to be rude or something; but can you tell me the source of this information?"

Izuna curiously turns towards the Sage of Six Paths.

"It is no harm informing thou about such matters."

Hagoromo nods his head.

"There are several ancient ruins spread throughout the Shinobi world. They existed much before the arrival of Mother.

There is an ancient shrine of Otsutsuki God erected in one of those ruins. That shrine acts as a beacon to other Otsutsuki members and guides them to this world."

"I see." Izuna nods his head.

"I came to know about such matters during the final moments of my Mother when she inadvertently passed all of her memories to me.

Mother destroyed the shrine when she ate the chakra fruit, but the remains of the shrine are still present. I sealed the shrine at my death bed but Isshiki Otsutsuki recently broke my seal, awakening me from my slumber."

Hagoromo taps his staff on the ground as an ancient Shrine appears in his vision.

"This location!"

Izuna recognizes the location.

"… isn't this the inhabitable Land of Swamps; a land filled with all kinds of mindless monsters and mutant chakra beasts."

Hagoromo nods his head.

"During the war between Mother and us brother; the chakra of ten-tails leaked into the world and infected many nearby beings. The roots of the ten-tails were spread throughout the shinobi world as it continues to effect living beings.

I spent the rest of my life spreading the teaching of Ninshu while sealing these beings at one place."

"I see." Izuna nods his head.

Izuna stretches his arms and lies on the ground.

"But still… do you have a solution for my problem? I don't want to die early."

"No, I don't." Hagoromo shakes his head.

"…"