Some warning before anyone reads any of the following. I don't usually put warnings before theories because the theories are usually more speculation than anything else. I put a warning down now just because I'm linking a lot of theories that could spoil the story for anyone who reads it. It's a bit long and much of the credit should be shared - Thanks to Camoxide and nosebleed in particular (their ideas triggered a lot of this).
670 was a big chapter with a lot of important details. So putting all the pieces together:
670 was a big chapter with a lot of important details. So putting all the pieces together:
A lot of people have been complaining about the new brother to the Sage being an unnecessary development in the story and how at this stage we don't need any new story threads. I think this is the opposite.
I reckon Kishi is tying together two or three of the biggest story threads out there - namely who is the Death God that Hidan worshipped, what happened to Uzushiogakure, where did Juugo's clan come from and how does Sasuke balance out Naruto.
In order I'll start with Jashin. I reckon that the Shinigami is an Ootsutsuki. The clues are the horns, the cloak, the fingernails and the forehead markings:
Shinigami:
Shinigami forehead markings:
Kaguya Ootsutsuki Horns / Cloak / Forehead Markings:
Kaguya Ootsutsuki fingernails:
Hagoromo Ootsutsuki horns:
Indra Ootsutsuki (bottom left) Forehead Markings:
Now the Shinigami does not have exactly the same features as any one of the Ootsutsuki family but he does have all of the broad family traits. We are not shown Hagoromo's brother's face or features in 670. We get a broad outline of the brother but he is specifically not shown. By process of elimination I think there's a solid chance that this brother is the Shinigami.
What would have happened to the brother? I reckon that the brother is principally responsible for sealing Kaguya Ootsutsuki. Kaguya is given the nickname the Demon in 670. She is also explained as travelling to the Shinju in order to steal its fruit and that she subdued the inhabitants of the lands now occupied by the Ninja nations. All of the descriptions of her describe her as evil. She is not a player in the manga at the moment but I reckon she'll be coming back (more on that later).
Travelled to steal fruit:
Nickname"the Demon" - (NB pg13 nice touch Kishi), "they worshipped and feared her", "she was stronger than anyone else", "to repent for our mother's sins my brother and I fought against the Juubi, that was the incarnation of the Holy Tree and sealed it inside of us"
The flashback from the Naka Shrine Tablet - note the death balls hovering over the worshipping crowds while she is described as subduing the crowd:
Death Balls (NB how many Madara has vs how many Kaguya had)
What little we know about the brother is that he was an Ootsutsuki, he had half the Juubi sealed inside of him and that's about it. Having half the Juubi sealed inside of him should make him pretty much immortal. Hagoromo never really died. He just became a time travelling priest. The Kyuubi and Zetsu explained to us earlier that housing the Juubi grants tremendous life-force and makes extraction of Bijuu chakra (an otherwise mortal blow) survivable:
Time travelling priest meeting the individuals inhabited by the spirits of his sons:
How would the brother have died then and why would there be no record of him. My suggestion is that he gave his life in order to seal his mother, the "demon". Hagoromo and his brother faced two problems in their lives which they split the effort for. The first was dealing with the Juubi. This came first because ether are both still alive. The Juubi is the angry form of the Shinju, a holy plant that was made angry by Kaguya stealing it's fruit:
Stage two is what to do with their mother. The brothers sealed the angry Juubi inside of themselves but still would have had to deal with their mother. Hagoromo's brother is probably the one who had to deal with this particular sacrifice. Hagoromo is known of through rumour by later generations and all that is known is that he sealed the Juubi and split its chakra in order to create the nine Bijuu:
Stage three, I presume, is that the brother is left in limbo, still alive and being used to contain his mother. (or profit...)
Who would be the brother? If the Shinigami (a death god or soul reaper in Japanese culture - like in Bleach) is actually a person then he is probably Jashin, the god worshipped by Hidan:
Notice the beads:
Remind you of anyone:
One thing I'm not certain about is whether Jashin is good, bad or neutral. On the one hand Jashin is traditionally an evil god that demands sacrifice, exemplified by Hidan. On the other the Shinigami is the go to seal for most of the good guys (Minato and Hiruzen in particular). Hagoromo's brother was at least half responsible for containing the menace of the angry Shinju but he took on the appearance now appropriated by Madara (not a good sign):
Finally why is it known as the Dead Demon Seal, because it was used to seal the "Demon", Kaguya (I'll trust the translations on that one).
Second - story developments. I think a storyline centred on the Shinigami would allow Kishi to bring out the story of Uzushiogakure. The two stories are linked because the Dead Demon Seal was developed by the Hidden Eddy Village by the Clan that Naruto hails from (keep track of the spiral that symbolises the whirlpool and represents the Uzumaki):
Uzumaki shrine
Shinigami Death Mask
Scroll that Orochimaru procured telling him how to undo the dead demon seal
Any storyline would be centred on why the Hidden Eddy village was destroyed leaving Kushina and the families of Nagato and Karin as refugees:
Third - Balancing out Naruto and Sasuke - Kishi likes symmetry. If Naruto is the heir to Hagoromo then Sasuke needs to become the heir to Hagoromo's brother. It is all well and good for Naruto to be inhabited by Ashura but Ashura and Indra together would not be able to balance out the complete Juubi or the real menace, in my estimation Kaguya. That means that Naruto will probably inherit the Sage's position as protector of Life, while Sasuke will inherit Hagoromo's brother's position as protector of death. Groundwork has been laid for this going back to the Cursed seal in which Sasuke took on some of the powers of the Shinigami:
Shinigami markings
Cursed Seal
Jashin could either continue to exist as a spectral entity like Hagoromo, or his spirit might inhabit the body of Juugo, from whom the cursed seal was synthesised:
A couple of last points regarding Kaguya. Her other nickname is the Rabbit Goddess. This could either be the result of her horns giving her the appearance of a rabbit or because the Rabbit is associated with the moon - at least in Chinese culture (e.g. the Chinese Moon rover was called the Jade Rabbit after the same story). Madara's goal right now is still named the Moon's Eye Plan. I reckon using the Juubi to reflect off the Moon might not put everyone under Infinite Tsukuyomi but reawaken the Demon.
The last thing is regarding the Sharinnegan. Kaguya has a line down her forehead and Hagoromo looks like he has a Rinnegan marking on his. Hagoromo's marking in particular looks like a third eye. Now given that the Juubi has one giant Sharinnegan, I'm thinking that the vertical line on Kaguya's forehead could be a sort of blinking eye socket. If Kaguya is actually evil then when this socket opens up a Sharinnegan would pop out. Kaguya could even be the Juubi if she were to sprout from said socket (she is the same shade of white as the Juubi). Stealing the fruit might just have resulted in Kaguya being corrupted before going on a rampage. The "Holy" "God Tree" might in fact be altogether innocent. Don't steal fire from the gods.*- Transplanted from the RITS page. thanks TheoryNoJutsu for that one).
Blinking third eye?
I reckon Kishi is tying together two or three of the biggest story threads out there - namely who is the Death God that Hidan worshipped, what happened to Uzushiogakure, where did Juugo's clan come from and how does Sasuke balance out Naruto.
In order I'll start with Jashin. I reckon that the Shinigami is an Ootsutsuki. The clues are the horns, the cloak, the fingernails and the forehead markings:
Shinigami:
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Shinigami forehead markings:
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Kaguya Ootsutsuki Horns / Cloak / Forehead Markings:
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Kaguya Ootsutsuki fingernails:
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Hagoromo Ootsutsuki horns:
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Indra Ootsutsuki (bottom left) Forehead Markings:
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Now the Shinigami does not have exactly the same features as any one of the Ootsutsuki family but he does have all of the broad family traits. We are not shown Hagoromo's brother's face or features in 670. We get a broad outline of the brother but he is specifically not shown. By process of elimination I think there's a solid chance that this brother is the Shinigami.
What would have happened to the brother? I reckon that the brother is principally responsible for sealing Kaguya Ootsutsuki. Kaguya is given the nickname the Demon in 670. She is also explained as travelling to the Shinju in order to steal its fruit and that she subdued the inhabitants of the lands now occupied by the Ninja nations. All of the descriptions of her describe her as evil. She is not a player in the manga at the moment but I reckon she'll be coming back (more on that later).
Travelled to steal fruit:
You must be registered for see links
Nickname"the Demon" - (NB pg13 nice touch Kishi), "they worshipped and feared her", "she was stronger than anyone else", "to repent for our mother's sins my brother and I fought against the Juubi, that was the incarnation of the Holy Tree and sealed it inside of us"
You must be registered for see links
The flashback from the Naka Shrine Tablet - note the death balls hovering over the worshipping crowds while she is described as subduing the crowd:
You must be registered for see links
Death Balls (NB how many Madara has vs how many Kaguya had)
You must be registered for see links
What little we know about the brother is that he was an Ootsutsuki, he had half the Juubi sealed inside of him and that's about it. Having half the Juubi sealed inside of him should make him pretty much immortal. Hagoromo never really died. He just became a time travelling priest. The Kyuubi and Zetsu explained to us earlier that housing the Juubi grants tremendous life-force and makes extraction of Bijuu chakra (an otherwise mortal blow) survivable:
You must be registered for see links
Time travelling priest meeting the individuals inhabited by the spirits of his sons:
You must be registered for see links
You must be registered for see links
How would the brother have died then and why would there be no record of him. My suggestion is that he gave his life in order to seal his mother, the "demon". Hagoromo and his brother faced two problems in their lives which they split the effort for. The first was dealing with the Juubi. This came first because ether are both still alive. The Juubi is the angry form of the Shinju, a holy plant that was made angry by Kaguya stealing it's fruit:
You must be registered for see links
Stage two is what to do with their mother. The brothers sealed the angry Juubi inside of themselves but still would have had to deal with their mother. Hagoromo's brother is probably the one who had to deal with this particular sacrifice. Hagoromo is known of through rumour by later generations and all that is known is that he sealed the Juubi and split its chakra in order to create the nine Bijuu:
You must be registered for see links
Stage three, I presume, is that the brother is left in limbo, still alive and being used to contain his mother. (or profit...)
Who would be the brother? If the Shinigami (a death god or soul reaper in Japanese culture - like in Bleach) is actually a person then he is probably Jashin, the god worshipped by Hidan:
Notice the beads:
You must be registered for see links
Remind you of anyone:
You must be registered for see links
One thing I'm not certain about is whether Jashin is good, bad or neutral. On the one hand Jashin is traditionally an evil god that demands sacrifice, exemplified by Hidan. On the other the Shinigami is the go to seal for most of the good guys (Minato and Hiruzen in particular). Hagoromo's brother was at least half responsible for containing the menace of the angry Shinju but he took on the appearance now appropriated by Madara (not a good sign):
You must be registered for see links
You must be registered for see links
Finally why is it known as the Dead Demon Seal, because it was used to seal the "Demon", Kaguya (I'll trust the translations on that one).
Second - story developments. I think a storyline centred on the Shinigami would allow Kishi to bring out the story of Uzushiogakure. The two stories are linked because the Dead Demon Seal was developed by the Hidden Eddy Village by the Clan that Naruto hails from (keep track of the spiral that symbolises the whirlpool and represents the Uzumaki):
Uzumaki shrine
You must be registered for see links
Shinigami Death Mask
You must be registered for see links
Scroll that Orochimaru procured telling him how to undo the dead demon seal
You must be registered for see links
You must be registered for see links
Any storyline would be centred on why the Hidden Eddy village was destroyed leaving Kushina and the families of Nagato and Karin as refugees:
You must be registered for see links
Third - Balancing out Naruto and Sasuke - Kishi likes symmetry. If Naruto is the heir to Hagoromo then Sasuke needs to become the heir to Hagoromo's brother. It is all well and good for Naruto to be inhabited by Ashura but Ashura and Indra together would not be able to balance out the complete Juubi or the real menace, in my estimation Kaguya. That means that Naruto will probably inherit the Sage's position as protector of Life, while Sasuke will inherit Hagoromo's brother's position as protector of death. Groundwork has been laid for this going back to the Cursed seal in which Sasuke took on some of the powers of the Shinigami:
Shinigami markings
You must be registered for see links
You must be registered for see links
Cursed Seal
You must be registered for see links
You must be registered for see links
Jashin could either continue to exist as a spectral entity like Hagoromo, or his spirit might inhabit the body of Juugo, from whom the cursed seal was synthesised:
You must be registered for see links
You must be registered for see links
A couple of last points regarding Kaguya. Her other nickname is the Rabbit Goddess. This could either be the result of her horns giving her the appearance of a rabbit or because the Rabbit is associated with the moon - at least in Chinese culture (e.g. the Chinese Moon rover was called the Jade Rabbit after the same story). Madara's goal right now is still named the Moon's Eye Plan. I reckon using the Juubi to reflect off the Moon might not put everyone under Infinite Tsukuyomi but reawaken the Demon.
The last thing is regarding the Sharinnegan. Kaguya has a line down her forehead and Hagoromo looks like he has a Rinnegan marking on his. Hagoromo's marking in particular looks like a third eye. Now given that the Juubi has one giant Sharinnegan, I'm thinking that the vertical line on Kaguya's forehead could be a sort of blinking eye socket. If Kaguya is actually evil then when this socket opens up a Sharinnegan would pop out. Kaguya could even be the Juubi if she were to sprout from said socket (she is the same shade of white as the Juubi). Stealing the fruit might just have resulted in Kaguya being corrupted before going on a rampage. The "Holy" "God Tree" might in fact be altogether innocent. Don't steal fire from the gods.*- Transplanted from the RITS page. thanks TheoryNoJutsu for that one).
Blinking third eye?
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