[Theory] [Spoilers!] The Other Mysterious Old Man

[SIR HERDERP PRESIDERP SDO]

First and foremost, Naruto is an Uzumaki, not a Senju, also, Naruto does not represent the Younger Son, for the Younger Son like his embodiment Hashirama lacks one vital element that Naruto and Hagoromo both have: friendship with all the Bijuus

Naruto is the one sole embodiment of Rikudou Sennin.

Also, The one who made the Bijuus was Hagoromo, not the Younger Son, if anyone is going to store his chakra inside the Bijuus in order to meet his future successor then it would be the Sage himself, which btw, the technique of sealing the Chakra inside an entity like what Minato and Kushina used to meet Naruto is an Uzumaki Fuuinjutsu.

And do not be surprised if the Younger Son is not as benevolent as Kishimoto lead us all to believe, as it has been shown, the Uchiha is full of love and the lost of the object of that love leads to their hatred and downfall, it is apparent to me that the Elder Son loved his father very much, and the Younger Son probably usurped their father's "successorship" from his elder brother, mirroring Esau and Jacob in the Bible.​

 

[Hyuga Prodigy]

I like your efforts but I find it so obvious it's going to be the Sage of the 6th path.

 

[flyboyissac]

Naruto meeting anyone at this moment is totally useless what will they do give him a lecture on how he saving this world wtf

Sage will make naruto op? That ruin sasuke character

Maybe he will meat barbque sausage in a sental mental mind and teach each other how to cook

 

[davidou]

Narutopedia:"Bunpuku was feared and despised by the villagers of Sunagakure."

Sunagakure was created after konoha

The scene of that old priest happened approximately 100 years ago.
He is not SO6P's son.

 

[Snow eYe]

Good theory! although I think that you might be over thinking it a bit I think the old man was talking about Garaa and his relationship with the One tails, when he puts his hands together with the two symbols, thats the tattoo that garaa has on his forehead but as one !

 

[GhostProject]

I agree with this thread and disagree at the same time. I like the effort put into it which made it easy to read, but most importantly I agree that based on your presentation I would agree that it could possibly be the Old Man. BUT keep in mind that anything is possible, so now lets move on to probability.

What would the old man give to Naruto? Would he tell him that all the Tailed Beasts should be cherished and treated right? Naruto already believes that heck he freed the 4 Tails when it was controlled by Obito and recieved chakra from all the Tailed Beasts signifying their trust in one another. What he present Naruto with a new technique or philosophy of some sort? Unlikely. But most importantly how did he get their, As he said Jinchuriki die when removed from their tailed beast, Shukaku is in Gaara therefore the old man must be dead. So is Naruto talking to a spirit.. And again Why? Although Naruto could meet the Old Man it seems unlikely and if anything would be more filler to delay the end of the manga.

As oppose to him meeting the Sage who could shed some meaningful back story on his upcoming and possibly some useful information about the Juubi, its purpose and how to stop/contain it. On top of which the sage has been referenced several times in relation to Naruto the most meaningful being when the Juubi looks at Naruto and see's the Sage.

On top of which seeing as to how the Sage's last actions before dying of old age was sealing the juubi and scattering its chakra it stands to reason that if he was to meet naruto he would be an old man, hence "the mysterious old man."

Fair, I think in terms of probabilities, Kishi is more likely to use the Sage. I do think there is a good chance for this old man to appear. His character is just so similar to Naruto and what we've seen of the Sage, his ideas are unbelievably relevant to the current arc (perhaps he knows even more), and his introduction was odd and brief given these things. With that said, plot would have to dictate a lot of the answers to these questions, whereas the Sage has more obvious reasoning for being WSJ's "mysterious old man."

First and foremost, Naruto is an Uzumaki, not a Senju, also, Naruto does not represent the Younger Son, for the Younger Son like his embodiment Hashirama lacks one vital element that Naruto and Hagoromo both have: friendship with all the Bijuus

Naruto is the one sole embodiment of Rikudou Sennin.

Also, The one who made the Bijuus was Hagoromo, not the Younger Son, if anyone is going to store his chakra inside the Bijuus in order to meet his future successor then it would be the Sage himself, which btw, the technique of sealing the Chakra inside an entity like what Minato and Kushina used to meet Naruto is an Uzumaki Fuuinjutsu.

And do not be surprised if the Younger Son is not as benevolent as Kishimoto lead us all to believe, as it has been shown, the Uchiha is full of love and the lost of the object of that love leads to their hatred and downfall, it is apparent to me that the Elder Son loved his father very much, and the Younger Son probably usurped their father's "successorship" from his elder brother, mirroring Esau and Jacob in the Bible.​

I do have to agree that by the end of this manga, Naruto is the only true embodiment of Rikudou. However, I think that his journey has represented him as the Younger Son. Aside from not being a direct Senju, Naruto has been dealing with creating peace through love, and more importantly preserving his bonds especially with Sasuke. A single bond is what both the Younger and Hashirama failed to keep, and why they could not usher peace.

Bonds (except with the Bijuu), were not important in the Sage's story, meanwhile the current presence of Sasuke is foreshadowed to be important regarding the tailed beasts and Naruto. If Naruto cannot end the hate against bijuu's (which Sasuke will be at the head of), then he doesn't get the chance to create peace as the next Sage. He has to first overcome where the Younger Son failed before he may become the true successor to the Sage. If he embodies the Sage at the end of his life span, then Naruto must also embody the solutions to the obstacles of the Younger Son, essentially being a successful Younger Son to become like Rikudou.

I do like your last point, as I do not think in his 'prime', the Younger Son was benevolent either. After all, he clearly could not be liked by the tailed beasts. The Younger must have really screwed up being the next Rikudou if it ended in war and the tailed beasts completely hating mankind. As for usurping, I cannot say but we can be certain that he handled a few things poorly, mainly regarding his 'brother', which led to war.

 

[Animeboy274]

i don't think so.

 

[SIR HERDERP PRESIDERP SDO]

Fair, I think in terms of probabilities, Kishi is more likely to use the Sage. I do think there is a good chance for this old man to appear. His character is just so similar to Naruto and what we've seen of the Sage, his ideas are unbelievably relevant to the current arc (perhaps he knows even more), and his introduction was odd and brief given these things. With that said, plot would have to dictate a lot of the answers to these questions, whereas the Sage has more obvious reasoning for being WSJ's "mysterious old man."



I do have to agree that by the end of this manga, Naruto is the only true embodiment of Rikudou. However, I think that his journey has represented him as the Younger Son. Aside from not being a direct Senju, Naruto has been dealing with creating peace through love, and more importantly preserving his bonds especially with Sasuke. A single bond is what both the Younger and Hashirama failed to keep, and why they could not usher peace.

Bonds (except with the Bijuu), were not important in the Sage's story, meanwhile the current presence of Sasuke is foreshadowed to be important regarding the tailed beasts and Naruto. If Naruto cannot end the hate against bijuu's (which Sasuke will be at the head of), then he doesn't get the chance to create peace as the next Sage. He has to first overcome where the Younger Son failed before he may become the true successor to the Sage. If he embodies the Sage at the end of his life span, then Naruto must also embody the solutions to the obstacles of the Younger Son, essentially being a successful Younger Son to become like Rikudou.

I do like your last point, as I do not think in his 'prime', the Younger Son was benevolent either. After all, he clearly could not be liked by the tailed beasts. The Younger must have really screwed up being the next Rikudou if it ended in war and the tailed beasts completely hating mankind. As for usurping, I cannot say but we can be certain that he handled a few things poorly, mainly regarding his 'brother', which led to war.

The relevance and importance of Sasuke is towards the Elder Son vs Younger Son, Uchiha vs Senju feud and the reunification of the two clan's ideology and bloodline, as seen with his inquiry about the Uchiha and Senju backstory with Hashirama and his new resolve to establish a new system with the proper interplay of love and peace, whereas, the relevance and pertinence of the Juubi, the Sage and the Bijuus plot points are strictly with Naruto only, more than anything, it is Sasuke who embodies the two sons, while Naruto is the sole embodiment of the Sage, no more, and no less.

Aside from the symbolism and themes, Naruto is, literally, not figuratively, the reincarnation of Rikudou Sennin:

Viz

Spoiler

You must be registered for see images

Hagoromo is a Bodhisattva symbolized by the six rings of his staff (a Buddha has 12 rings) a Bodhisattva is a Sage of the Six Realms of Samsara because he is there to alleviate suffering (dukkha) from the Six Realms. Hagoromo tried to usher peace, but he was not truly successful, therefore, it is a conditio sine qua non for the Bodhisattva Sage to reincarnate himself into the human realm to once and for all nullify the Karmic Action of his mother Kaguya and free humanity from the Outer Path heresy which is the stolen power of Chakra, through his reincarnation Naruto, Hagoromo will be able to liberate humanity from the Wheel of Suffering once and for all (Moksha)


​

 

[davidou]

Hagoromo is a Bodhisattva symbolized by the six rings of his staff (a Buddha has 12 rings) a Bodhisattva is a Sage of the Six Realms of Samsara because he is there to alleviate suffering (dukkha) from the Six Realms. Hagoromo tried to usher peace, but he was not truly successful, therefore, it is a conditio sine qua non for the Bodhisattva Sage to reincarnate himself into the human realm to once and for all nullify the Karmic Action of his mother Kaguya and free humanity from the Outer Path heresy which is the stolen power of Chakra, through his reincarnation Naruto, Hagoromo will be able to liberate humanity from the Wheel of Suffering once and for all (Moksha)

I like the concept of Karma.
I don't like the concept of reincarnation , I prefer the purgatory concept ( that concept exists in Narutoverse , reincarnation wasn't shown yet ).

Like Kakashi's father who was blocked in that dimension until Kakashi forgave him , the sage may be blocked in that dimension.

 

[GhostProject]

The relevance and importance of Sasuke is towards the Elder Son vs Younger Son, Uchiha vs Senju feud and the reunification of the two clan's ideology and bloodline, as seen with his inquiry about the Uchiha and Senju backstory with Hashirama and his new resolve to establish a new system with the proper interplay of love and peace, whereas, the relevance and pertinence of the Juubi, the Sage and the Bijuus plot points are strictly with Naruto only, more than anything, it is Sasuke who embodies the two sons, while Naruto is the sole embodiment of the Sage, no more, and no less.

Aside from the symbolism and themes, Naruto is, literally, not figuratively, the reincarnation of Rikudou Sennin:

Viz

Spoiler

You must be registered for see images

Hagoromo is a Bodhisattva symbolized by the six rings of his staff (a Buddha has 12 rings) a Bodhisattva is a Sage of the Six Realms of Samsara because he is there to alleviate suffering (dukkha) from the Six Realms. Hagoromo tried to usher peace, but he was not truly successful, therefore, it is a conditio sine qua non for the Bodhisattva Sage to reincarnate himself into the human realm to once and for all nullify the Karmic Action of his mother Kaguya and free humanity from the Outer Path heresy which is the stolen power of Chakra, through his reincarnation Naruto, Hagoromo will be able to liberate humanity from the Wheel of Suffering once and for all (Moksha)


​

He is not literally the Sage's reincarnation, at least not until Kishi writes it. That manga page does not say he is the Sage's reincarnation, it only implies heavily only that Naruto has likeness to the Sage.

Here is how I would expect to finish the line: "Naruto is the old man's prophecy" or something similar, which the prophecy seems to be Kurama's most fond memory of the Sage and is also most likely the other Bijuus' fondest memory as well. It makes sense that they would draw this conclusion since they believe in and will follow Naruto, more sense than jumping to reincarnation.

Also I do not believe that Kishi will directly go to reincarnation in this manga, especially with the theme of hard work vs fate that Naruto has overcome on multiple occasions, despite reincarnation being a prominent aspect of Buddhism. I believe the Will of Fire concept and Future Generations theme Kishi has created is his method of showing a figurative reincarnation and he will not make it literal in this manga.

I do not disagree that Naruto embodies the Sage's ideals, however, I believe it is a mistake to deny he also represents the Younger Son, as Naruto also has represented Hashirama long before the Sage was even a figure. Naruto is simply the only other one to befriend all of the Bijuus not because he is only the Sage's reincarnation, but because he is the only true successor to the Sage.

Naruto solves problems through bonds, it's his characteristic that makes him unique and human. Kishi hints that Sasuke and Naruto will clash regarding their beliefs of the tailed beasts. The only way Naruto will solve this problem is to solve the conflict like a brother and an equal, like the Younger/ Elder and Hashi/Madara failed to do.

This fits with the recent themes we've seen of which Sasuke learned that "Two opposing forces can achieve happiness by working together," meanwhile Naruto has learned that he cannot expect to accomplish everything alone. They are Yin and Yang, Elder and Younger, Curse of Hatred and Will of Fire (which sort of in a way can be seen as a figurative reincarnation). Much of this balance can be applied to many characters in the series, with Naruto and Sasuke at the forefront since the beginning.

I see that you are coming from a theological perspective and understand it and agree in some aspects, but from a perspective of the themes Kishi has created, Naruto has a distinct role as a Younger Son representation that he most overcome before he can actually become the next Sage and surpass Rikudou.

 

[Jikukan]

This aint gonna happen, thats for sure

 

[Hori 👑]

I don't think the old man is that priest. Think about it.. why would the younger son be still alive and why would he be in Suna village? That priest is not related to the sage by blood but perhaps their philosophies as you stated.

 

[ninjarasengan]

Couple of thing tho.... How in the hell is the younger son still alive? Anyways that old man was just a plot device to make shukaku trust gaara....

It also covers the so called plothole from part one of Gaara thinking shukaku was the crazy spirit of an old sand priest...