The Legendary Sage of Six Paths, Chapter 7;
The Tower of Death Part 1; A Test of Power, Courage & Wisdom - Preview:
Just when I had come to an agreement with myself that maintaining peace would finally be my main and only goal to strive for in the years to come, and to grow old with Trea and have children of my own who would carry on my legacy while my only worry from then on and out would be to make sure I had enough sake for any potential guests, the wizard had suddenly come to see me once more to make sure that any plans I had for an early retirement, would not happen. He had after all told me during our last meeting that he back then had a feeling that we would meet again some time in the future, and after claiming to be able to see the future itself, I should have known better than to be naive enough to think that it would not happen after all. I suppose I just never expected it to be so soon, and definitely not because of the things he now had on his mind...
'I'm sure you are surprised, Hagoromo... But at the same time, I have a feeling you know why I am here' Sitting down on a chair, the wizard continued to keep his firm look through his menacing mask. 'Do you want me to leave the room, Hagoromo?' Trea, who was also present, carefully asked. I was still standing in the door-frame of the other room, not entirely sure if I could really believe what I saw in front of me, but it was indeed him, no mistake about it... I knew right away that his appearance meant that the peace we had fought so hard for to establish would not last, despite all the efforts I had put into it during my life to make sure it would happen. I immediately realized that my journey was still far from being over. Looking at Trea, a smile formed on my face, although deep down inside, a part of me wished that it didn't have to come to this. Couldn't it all just be a dream... 'It's okay, you might want to hear this.' I causally replied. 'Can I offer you something?' Looking at the wizard, Trea seemed a bit tense regarding the situation, but I knew there was no danger so I entered the room and sat down by one of the chairs to sort of give her a signal that she could relax. 'I no longer need such trivial privileges to survive...' He simply answered. 'In case you haven't caught on, this is the wizard I told you about from back then, the one being who bestowed upon me these... Powers, powers I've used to do many unlikely things in these past years...' She looked at me. She didn't know whether to be reassured or nervous about it all, but I could easily sense her uncertainty. 'The fact that she's present now means that you have broken my trust, Hagoromo... I know what happened and what you did, but I'll save that for last...' The wizard hadn't come to make everyday chit-chats, and I knew that. This was serious business, and I had to pay utmost attention...
A part of me wanted to ask what he meant about that, while another wanted me to beg his pardon for his apparent rudeness, and a third but more dark side of me wanted to tell him to go to hell for even daring to state such a thing in my home. Simultaneously, I knew what he meant, and I knew he was right. So instead of replying, I looked down, as if acknowledging what we both knew. As I looked up, our eyes met. We probably sat like that for a minute or two as silence filled the room. Trea tried to make things happen so she gently and carefully collected two cups, placed them on the table and filled them up with sake, despite the fact that the wizard had just told her he didn't require such trivial things anymore. He turned his attention to her as he looked at her almost as if in disbelief. Both Trea and I expected him to carefully shove the cup away from himself, but instead, he just accepted it and let it be as he resumed his stern glance at me. Wasn't he going to say something? 'You were once a mortal human being too, weren't you?? I mean, you must have been...' I asked, but I wasn't sure what he would say in return. Would he even give me an answer? I had to say something to break the silence, and this was the first thing that came to my mind. 'I was... Before I ventured to the past.' 'The past?' I followed up. 'By now you must have realized that I don't belong in this era... I did tell you back then the last time we met that we would talk more about the future, more about a certain individual named Uzumaki Naruto, which is the same name that was given to you during your stay in the Sanada clan. Do you remember that I told you this? I told you I would save it for the next time we met, regardless of when that would be. The matter of fact is, I don't see the future, I am from the future...' I couldn't believe it. So that was how it was, but still, I was very confused. 'We also need to talk about the past wielders of the Master Sword too. This is the proper time I said would one day come, to have those conversations, but unfortunately, it isn't just as simple as that. There's a lot to discuss...'
The next thing I knew, the wizard then did something unexpected. He reached up to his helmet as he proceeded to remove it from his head, placing it on the table beside him. It was the face of a young individual that met us. He was blond, had blue eyes, and probably weren't older than 32, two years more than me at the time. If, my assumption was right that is, after all, it was only an educated guess, nothing more... 'I thought you said last time that revealing your true face would change the outcome of the future forever? Did you forget about that, or simply don't you care for the small details anymore? And how can you be this young, shouldn't you have been older to be this wise and powerful?' I hadn't expected him to break his mysterious character any time soon, and I had definitely not expected it to belong to the face of this young man, so I was indeed surprised. Who really was this guy? 'I'm older than you think, don't let this appearance deceive you... And I know what I said last time but at this point, I'm a bit tired of following everything I'm set out to do point by point, bit by bit. Before I leave today, I had intended to say that you might find out who I truly was one day when everything comes to an end. That even though I've had many shapes and forms, many names and aliases, who I used to be was no longer important, only whom I will be in the future. That if you had to have a name to go by, you could call me Menma, in which you would have asked "Menma?" And I would have told you that it was a name I picked up along the way. Then you would have followed up by asking what else lies ahead, in which I would have told you that I'm afraid you'll have to find that out for yourself from this point on... Truth be told, I don't think it really matters if I go entirely by the book or not anymore, so I might as well just be honest with you from the start instead. What's important is this-...' What exactly was on his mind?? He seemed more human than ever before, and if not removing the helmet helped create that image, then the way he now talked surely did the trick. It was less mystery and more straight-forward. 'Some time in the future, long passed your death, you will be resurrected by someone named Kabuto, just like this helmet is called. There you will be cast under his control and forced to fight someone that looks just like me. In fact, it is me, or my past self from the future, and my real name, is indeed Uzumaki Naruto.' I looked at him. What was I supposed to say to this? All I could do was to listen. He was the one with all the cards in his hands now. I simply had to wait for his next move before making mine...
'I once met up with Yukimura in an alternative form of mine like I mentioned last time we spoke, and just like the first time you and I met when you were younger, I did not look like this at all... In the appearance of an old man, I told him that I'd had a premonition of the future, that he would one day come across a young man and a girl in the Sacred forest where the legendary blade rested. Once he met up with them, they would be lost, having barely survived a massacre, and on top of that, the man would already have been able to both draw and claim the legendary blade for himself. I told him that it was utmost important that he would take these two into his clan and give them protection under his wing until the day that the young man was ready to join the war and bring it to an end came. Only this way would the Thousand Years' War finally end. In order to protect the man's identity, he would have to give him a cover name until the time where the man was able to stand up for himself. I told him that the name he should give you was Uzumaki Naruto. And I also warned him that whatever he did, he could never tell you about this meeting. Yukimura didn't believe what I had said at first, but as soon as he witnessed the events unfolding one by one before his eyes, he always kept an eye towards you, didn't he?' Looking at the two of us, the wizard seemed calm. 'If you knew all of this, why haven't you interfered and saved the land, why haven't you prevented all the bad that has happened in my life if you had the powers to do so all along?!' I stood up from my chair and slammed my hand into the table demanding answers. 'If I had, the future wouldn't have come to be and the world would have forever been lost. I couldn't interfere, no matter the pain nor the cost. You had to grow into the man you are now, the man you soon will be, in order for the world to progress correctly. If the future doesn't happen, then the world will forever be thrown into a dark void, never to be the same again.' 'If that's true, then why did you save my life two years ago after I defeated my grandparents?! You saved me back then didn't you, you were the one who healed my wounds?!' I looked at him. I knew where he was coming from but I couldn't help feel infuriated. 'I would have liked to say yes, but that wasn't me...' 'What?! Then who?! Answer me!' I was about to reach out to him but it was as if I was pulled back to the chair I sat on previously and forced to sit down again by a mysterious force. It had to be of his doing, that much I knew...
'Just be quiet for a bit and let me explain. In time, everything shall become clear. That man was not me, and even if I know who it is, it's up to you to find that out for yourself.' 'Fine I'll settle down, but there are so many things I want to ask you! You told me that my real father was never known, but you knew... You knew that it was Nobunaga all along, didn't you? You knew the story of how he had been controlled by my grandparents to do their bidding and wreak havoc in the land, didn't you??' 'Yes I knew, but just like the identity of the man who saved your life two years ago is for you alone to find out, you had to find that out for yourself. If I had told you that and if I tell you now, the future-...' 'Fine, fine, the future, I know... So let's cut to the chase...' I had finally calmed down but I was getting impatient. However, I knew this conversation was very far from being over, so there wasn't much else to do. This could indeed be a long night...
'I told Yukimura to give you my cover name for one purpose, and that was for you to remember it by heart, even passed your death. As I was saying, the man you will be fighting in the future when you get resurrected, is me, and it is crucial that you at no time refer back to this exact meeting, that you actually know who he is. You can tell him that your name was once Naruto Uzumaki as well and that he looks similar to your younger self, but in truth, you are really referring to me. The only thing you can mention is that like the Great Toad Sage has told him, he will meet someone named the wizard who keeps his identity from the world, but that you never saw his-... My true face, even though you did. When the right time comes, they will meet, just like you had met with me once before in your life and were bestowed upon the Founding Book of Jutsu and the Staff of Fortune & Destiny back then. You can give him lessons and some powers, but you need to keep certain details out of it. If you reveal that both he and the wizard are the same person, just from different periods of time, it will completely mess up the time/space continuity. Only I can tell him that we are the same once the time comes, once he's ready, but not before then.'
Explaining to me how the encounter would pan out, I became just more and more baffled. Everything about the future, our battle in what was suppose to be another dimension, several titans, different forms of powered-up modes, and using the Master Sword to escape that said dimension, the Great Toad Sage, the Giant Toad of Mt. Myobokuzan... I wasn't even sure how I would remember all of it, yet along after my apparent death. 'You will remember, that I can guarantee. There's no need to worry about it. In fact, in the distant future before your death, you will face these Titans of the Underworld for yourself in battle after venturing to this magical place called Mt. Myobokuzan that I mentioned. They are called the Titans of the Underworld because you were the one to seal them away in this dimension using the Master Sword. You will know what I'm talking about when the time comes. That will prepare you for what happens after your passing. Now, what's also important to remember is that when the time is nigh and the Circle of Hatred has reached the end some years later after this event that takes place after your death, all the wielders of the Master Sword will meet once more to free the world forever, and so will you be brought back yet again. At this time, I, Naruto Uzumaki, will be much older than last time you met him and you won't need to battle him this time either. You won't recognize him at first though due to his age. Also, my current form of the wizard will also be present then to guide you all, and only at the end can you hint at the identity of the wizard and Naruto being the same person, both being me.' I hadn't been this confused in a while, but at the same time, most of it also made sense somehow. But if all of this happened after I had died and right before I died, why was it important now?? I simply nodded back at him.
'There's so much I could have told you about the future and about the past, but I need to keep things simple...' "Keep things simple??" I hopelessly thought to myself, although I knew he was serious. 'After we have battled in the future, I will take over the role as the guardian of the world and become immortal, that's how I came to be in my current state. After the Circle of Hatred has been broken and I have faced my future self, which is the route I'm heading for now as the wizard, I have to travel to the past to become the wizard, in fact I traveled 7000 years back in time, which by now is 6000 years ago, to eventually get here, in this room, right now, with the two of you. The curious thing is that before I jumped time, I looked old, but once I touched ground in the past, I looked like my younger-self again, like my appearance now. There's still 1000 years to go for me before I can finally rest. To be noted, you are the 8th and final wielder of the Master Sword. It happens to be that you have to pass the sword over to my future-past self in order for me to escape your dimensional travel technique, but in truth, I am the 2nd wielder of the sword meaning that I was already predestined to claim it even in the future. Otherwise, the condition for passing on the Master Sword to the next wielder is by shaking hands, like the 1st wielder Revan did to me, like I did to the 3rd wielder Aragon, and so forth. You did however never meet the 7th wielder of the sword, but it was I who passed the crest over to you back then the first time we met when you were younger and still in the sect, just like we talked about during our last meeting when you were still among the Sanada clan...'
I simply nodded back once more. It was a ton of information to swallow, but I was certain that as long as I understood the main points of it, then that was all that mattered. 'When I look at you now, I can clearly see that your lineage is strong in you, even to the degree that the famous horns of the Otsutsuki clan is beginning to show.' He was right... By now, what seemed to be two small mishaps during my birth, was indeed starting to look like the foundation of two horns growing out of my head, although I hadn't really noticed it much before now. Come to think of it, both my grandparents had the same thing, and I had already come to peace with my true origins realizing this. Not that it really mattered though... 'So now that we have that out of the way, what's more to talk about? I'm certain that you're actually here for a whole other reason than just to tell me all this??' I wanted to think that most of what the wizard wanted to say was already out there on the table, but the truth was that only now would he really start talking about what he came here for, and as I had expected, there weren't exactly many praises to be heard in my favor, rather the opposite...
'Now over to something else then, and I have a feeling you know what it is... I mentioned when I came today that you had broken my promise, Hagoromo...' His tone had changed once more. From joyful and easy-going, he was now suddenly dead serious. I couldn't help getting nervous and it was as if he realized this while looking on me. 'The strange part about it all is that I already knew you would break it... It was your destiny to break my trust and revive Trea...' Turning his attention towards her, she couldn't help taking a step back. 'Leave her out of this okay!' Standing up once more, I decided to step in between them in sudden fear that he would actually decide to pull a wise one on me, and only act friendly up until now to further his agenda, whatever that could be. 'What's done is done, I won't let any harm come to your wife, so relax Hagoromo.' He wasn't going to do something after all? No, that couldn't be it, why would he mention it otherwise?? 'You sure seem too fixated on my wife being alive than to not have anything up your sleeve... Don't think for a second that I will allow you to pull any tricks even if we've had a friendly talk so far...' 'Will you just listen to me for once!!' Suddenly, the wizard, or rather, Naruto raised his voice for the first time, as if having adopted his human side even more. I was shocked to say the least as both Trea and I took another step back. 'If I wanted to pull something, none of you would have still been alive, I can assure you that...' He was dead serious, but at the same time, you could easily see that he was only joking. On the other hand though, I knew he was strong and getting him on his nerve would spell bad, even for me. 'However, I am on your side... Besides, it's not my call. If something was to happen to your wife, there wouldn't be a future to look towards, Hagoromo...' Still seated on his chair, Naruto then proceeded to take a sip out of the sake in front of him, much to our amazement. 'You actually tasted it?' I cleverly replied. He simply ignored my remark and continued. 'The reason I say this, is that in order for my own existence to ever happen, the world needs your sons and daughter to be born in the future...' 'Our children?? What do you mean?' Leaning out from behind me, Trea was courageous enough to ask him what was on her mind. 'Like I said, it was your destiny to bring your wife back into this world so even if I both was aware that you would break my promise in order to do so and knew what that would ultimately lead down to, I had to let it happen. As it was your destiny to revive her, it was also your destiny to create the curse...' 'The curse??' I replied hesitantly, realizing that Naruto's face had become more concerned. 'Reviving your wife was only the first cause, but using your powers for even more selfish desires and creating the five Treasure Tools of destruction was what truly created the curse... The Curse of the Jubi, the Manifestation of Hatred. I warned you not to use these powers for your own good, I warned you of the consequences, didn't I??' Crossing his arms together, Naruto let out a deep sigh, but somehow, he refused to take it so serious that he would feel the need to get up from his chair, rather the contrary as he sat glued to it...
I didn't know what to say in response to this... Had I somehow forgotten the warnings he had given me? Had I truly let my own despair and selfishness get the better of me? This was what Yukimura talked about wasn't it? Why he forbade me from reviving him in the first place, in fear that something like this would happen. If he hadn't, I would have had him revived by now for certain. No... If I hadn't made the tools, how would I have been able to beat my grandparents in the first place? My father said that I required something special in order to beat them, and I was certain that this was it. It was my destiny to do it, regardless of what I wanted, wasn't it? What exactly did Naruto expect of me having said all this? What did he want from me, if he knew it would happen no matter what I did?? 'What do I do, what will happen? What is the Jubi?' I uttered. 'In time you will find out... A great dark curse is brewing in the shadows, and it will soon be upon us. Only you and your brother have the powers to oppose this creature, which will change the world as you know it forever. Only you can stop it from taking over the world.' 'But I haven't met my brother yet?! I don't even know if Hamura is alive, neither my mother Kaguya??' 'Your father Nobunaga entrusted you to find them, did he not? He believed in you, didn't he?' He was right... There was no time to despair now. 'A Divine Tree will first sprout from the blood-soaked soil of the land in the near future, and shortly thereafter will you encounter the Jubi. That is all I can say about it. What you need to remember is that you are the last wielder of the Master Sword for a reason, don't forget about that. You were chosen for a purpose, so use its powers to guide you, and don't let the power of chakra blind you, as the moment you neglect the Master Sword's powers in search for other sources, is the moment you fail...' 'But how??' 'You must awaken the True Master Sword which will guide you through the darkness, and you also have to awaken your own true powers by becoming the wielder of the three symbols of Wisdom, Courage and Power if you ever hope to be strong enough to face the Jubi with your brother, and what's to come after...' The Symbols of Wisdom, Courage and Power... Hadn't he mentioned this before somewhere?? 'To help explain to you what I mean, I want you to meet someone. In fact, one of them has already visited you in a dream.' At this point I could only wait and see what he meant. 'Come, let's head outside for the final phase.' 'And Trea??' I vaguely asked. 'Bring her if you want.' He answered.
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Damn >_> xd
