271 Naruto: Snatching the Mangekyō

"I never expected a descendant of mine to be someone like you." Indra was genuinely surprised.

Right now, Akira looked overwhelmingly powerful.

His unique Sharingan, along with his other blue eye that rivaled the Rinnegan, left no doubt about his strength.

Indra had to admit—this descendant of his had already surpassed him in power.

A faint smile appeared on Indra's face. "I've fought Asura for so many years, always losing to him. At least, this time, I've finally won in something."

"Without you, my ancestor, I wouldn't be who I am today—nor would the current shinobi world exist as it does." Akira spoke with respect.

Indra had invented hand seals, paving the way for humanity to better wield chakra. Akira's words were no empty flattery.

Hearing this, Indra let out a self-deprecating chuckle.

"In the end, I was just a failure... unable to accept that Father didn't pass down Ninshū to me."

Shaking his head, he looked at Akira and asked, "The shinobi world must be facing some kind of catastrophe, isn't it? I actually woke up earlier—the disturbance was too great to ignore."

When it came to spiritual power, Indra had always been stronger than Asura.

"Kaguya Ōtsutsuki has revived. And we've discovered more of the Ōtsutsuki Clan." Akira revealed.

"I see..." Indra murmured. "So, it really is her..."

He had already sensed it.

"I understand." Indra sighed and turned to Akira. "Stretch out your hand. If you want to deal with her, there's only one method—Father's technique, the Six Paths: Chibaku Tensei."

"Thank you, Ancestor." Akira extended his left hand.

A cool sensation washed over him as a faint black crescent moon seal formed in the center of his palm.

This didn't mean he had completely mastered the Six Paths: Chibaku Tensei—rather, he had gained the qualification to comprehend it.

"Well, since my younger brother has already let go of the past, it would be petty of me to cling to it any longer." Indra smiled wryly as specks of violet light drifted from his body.

Clearly, just like Asura, he had decided to leave behind his power.

"I'll be going now! Having such an outstanding and powerful descendant brings me great satisfaction!"

With a final glance at Akira, Indra's form dissolved into a brilliant violet radiance, vanishing from the darkness.

Beyond the planet, in the vast, deep cosmos, Asura's soul radiated a soft white light as he silently gazed down at the world below.

Suddenly, he turned his head.

A figure glowing with violet light had appeared beside him without warning—it was his brother, Indra.

"I knew you'd come, Brother."

Asura looked at Indra, memories of their childhood games surfacing in his mind. A warm smile spread across his face.

Seeing his younger brother, Indra also smiled. In a gentle voice, he said, "Brother, let's go. It's time to meet Father in the Pure Land."

Asura nodded slowly. The two lights, one white and one violet, flickered before vanishing into the vastness of space.

...

Back in Konoha, those present saw a flash of white light, and then Akira opened his eyes.

"Well? Did you gain anything?" Senju Tobirama was the first to speak.

His main concern was whether there were any gains.

"Yes, and a major one at that!" Akira nodded.

Tobirama's eyes lit up. "What did you gain?"

"A technique—one created by the Sage of Six Paths himself, a sealing jutsu known as the Six Paths: Chibaku Tensei."

"Six Paths: Chibaku Tensei?" Tobirama frowned in thought.

At this moment, Uchiha Hikari spoke up, puzzled. "How is this different from Nagato's Chibaku Tensei? The names sound connected."

"That's because they are connected," Akira explained. "Compared to the standard Chibaku Tensei, the Six Paths: Chibaku Tensei is far stronger. It was specifically created to seal a Ten-Tails Jinchūriki. Once caught in this technique, the Ten-Tails will be forcibly extracted."

"This was the very technique used to seal Kaguya Ōtsutsuki back then," he added.

The revelation caused a look of understanding to cross the faces of those present.

"Have you mastered it already?" Tobirama asked curiously.

"It's not that simple." Akira shook his head and explained, "This technique isn't an ordinary ninjutsu. It has no hand seals—it's not even like normal jutsu. It's more akin to a dōjutsu, like the Mangekyō Sharingan or the Rinnegan."

"Then it's not something that can be learned quickly," Tobirama nodded, immediately understanding.

The so-called Six Paths: Chibaku Tensei seemed more like an innate ability rather than something that could be studied like regular ninjutsu.

Much like the unique dōjutsu abilities granted upon awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan, this wasn't something just anyone could master.

"This technique requires an extreme level of Yin and Yang Release—specifically, the power of Yin and Yang themselves. If anyone wishes to learn it, they should first focus on cultivating Yin and Yang Release." Akira advised.

Yin and Yang energies were not the same as Yin-Yang Release. Though related, they were distinct concepts.

Pure Yin and Yang energies, when cultivated to the extreme, were not necessarily weaker than Yin-Yang Release.

"I'm quite interested," Hikari remarked.

As a Ten-Tails Jinchūriki, Hikari had already mastered Yin-Yang Release, but she had yet to grasp the full extent of pure Yin and Yang energies.

"Then you should start preparing in advance," Akira nodded.

"Have you made any progress with planetary energy and stellar energy?" Tobirama asked.

They had labeled the Earth's innate energy as "planetary energy" and the energy from stars as "stellar energy."

Meanwhile, the natural energy they currently used was called "life-nature energy."

"We've just begun to understand planetary energy. Fully mastering it will take more time," Akira admitted.

Manipulating natural energy from planets and stars was far more challenging than expected. Even for someone like him, mastering it in such a short period was difficult.

...

Time flowed on.

Half a year passed, bringing the calendar to the middle of Konoha Year 56.

Inside a vast, empty hall, three towering Divine Trees stood, each over a thousand meters tall.

Their lush green foliage flourished, radiating an overwhelming aura of life.

For six months, Akira had tirelessly infused them with stellar natural energy, allowing them to grow into their current state.

Beneath the colossal roots, three of his shadow clones sat in meditation.

One of them slowly opened his eyes and murmured, "As expected, it's impossible to abandon life-nature energy entirely."

After half a year of experimentation, he had finally discovered the method to wield planetary natural energy.

And with that, he had successfully developed an even more powerful Sage Mode.

This new Sage Mode far surpassed his previous versions, granting immense improvements in taijutsu, ninjutsu, and every other aspect of combat.