Naruto: Passerby and Returnee

Chapter 543 Observing a Ray of Light

For a soul without physical form to reach the human world, it is as difficult as ascending to heaven, because they truly need to physically cross the sky that marks the boundary between life and death.

The Pure Land lies submerged in the deep sea, where starlight is incredibly dim. The source of light is clearly the souls themselves. The projections of the human world merge with the energy of the Pure Land, providing a haven for souls unwilling to return to the human world. However, this does not mean that souls can remain forever. Souls, like the physical body, undergo "aging," but this "aging" is not manifested in outward changes. Instead, the most important core of the soul is gradually dismantled by the power of the Pure Land, eventually dissipating.

Few fully formed souls stubbornly remain until their time of dissipation, because the sign of dissipation is usually the loss of memories. When the memories that sustain the soul in the Pure Land are also lost, they will automatically enter the process of reincarnation, be matched with a new body in the present world, and erase all the past between life and death, leaving only the last core to fall into the body and grow anew.

This is what people call reincarnation, and it is also the reason why, although the Pure Land is regarded as a belief by the vast majority of people, the scenes of this place have never been spread to the human world.

For the soul, only the core truly matters. While the Pure Land can allow the soul to remain, it is filled with energy similar to the soul itself, easily assimilating and eroding the core. It is not suitable for the soul's growth, and only a very few souls can remain there indefinitely. Transcending life and death requires immense energy. To achieve this, the soul first consumes everything outside the core; unfortunately, memories are among them. Therefore, all souls returning to the human world lose their memories and become reborn individuals.

Hagoromo Otsutsuki, the guardian who has watched over the human world for a thousand years, noticed Him the moment that light appeared. To be precise, the entire Pure Land could not help but notice Him.

His light pierced through the sea, reaching the Pure Land and illuminating the sky. The light was warm and bright, and the souls touched by it seemed to become more stable, but Yu Yi knew that this was merely an appearance weakened by the sea. When he stepped into the sea and faced the light directly, even he could feel a faint pull, as if calling him to merge with that light.

He had never seen such a being before. Out of caution, he never dared to get too close. He circled around it from a distance until he reached the boundary, wanting to see the impact of the light on the human world. As a result, he saw a "line" that stretched straight to the sky.

The world seemed no different than usual, but the person connected by that "thread" made him unable to ignore it. It was Ashura's chosen successor, a generation separated from the previous one by several decades. Because Indra's chakra hadn't returned for so long, Indra had remained dormant in the Pure Land, causing Ashura to frequently visit him to check on what his brother's reincarnation was doing. At that time, he saw signs of danger, and sure enough, that reincarnated being, Uchiha Madara, after decades of dormancy, had indeed awakened the Rinnegan.

He was deeply worried about the "Eye of the Moon Project," but he couldn't stay at the border indefinitely; he could only go up to observe from time to time. Finally, Madara Uchiha arrived in the Pure Land, only to find that he had many tricks up his sleeve and would likely wreak havoc on the world in the future.

Now that they've reached the Pure Land, they've already talked things out. The two brothers only kept their chakra flowing between the reincarnated ones because of that bet, while their original bodies slept during the reincarnation process. They never expected that their descendants would retain the stubbornness of their ancestors, and they still haven't reconciled.

But this time the situation was different. Indra also knew that the Infinite Tsukuyomi was not a blessing, but the beginning of danger. The two brothers discussed it and felt that without their chakra in the next life, they would most likely be doomed. So they quickly chose the next reincarnation, hoping that they could stop the plan.

Indra's reincarnation was relatively easy to find, but Ashura faced a problem, waiting for more than half a year before finally finding a successor closest to his brother. He desperately hoped that the cursed bet could end in this life, not only to end his and his brother's regrets, but also because if the two reincarnated individuals could not unite, then the Infinite Tsukuyomi would likely be unstoppable.

Originally, seeing that the reincarnation of Ashura became the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki at birth, Hagoromo felt that the world could be saved and wouldn't be on the verge of destruction. However, he never expected that fate would play such a cruel joke on him, as the reincarnation of Ashura was chosen by a mysteriously appearing light.

The light greatly affected the reincarnated person's perception, seemingly making him believe that he was someone else. Let's continue to call the reincarnated person Naruto. Under the influence of the light, Naruto didn't do anything too outrageous in the first year. However, a year later, as the two Senju disappeared in the Pure Land, Hagoromo realized that the other's ambition might not be weaker than that of Uchiha Madara.

However, a few years later, a large number of Uchiha people poured into the Pure Land. At that time, Hagoromo arrived at the border with the determination to go to the human world even if it meant his own demise. As a result, he heard Naruto recruiting people to join him.

To be honest, given the threat lurking beneath the sea, no matter how eloquently Naruto spoke, he couldn't trust him. So he decided to let time prove everything. As he scrutinized Naruto's life, the principle of "keeping one's word" was indeed consistently upheld. The land bathed in "Radiance" even reminded him of the long-changed era of Ninja Clan, except that people now no longer relied on chakra but could create a richer life with their own hands.

Hagoromo didn't consider his thinking to be "old-fashioned," but rather constantly evolving with the times. Naruto had done the best he could, and he shouldn't always see him as an enemy. So when he stepped into the sea again, he didn't take a detour, but slowly approached the ever-bright light.

Being strong is not a reason to be rejected; becoming strong through extreme and harmful means is what deserves the most contempt.

When Yu Yi got close enough to hear the sound buried in the light, he was once again shocked by the light and began to doubt his own senses for the first time.

He heard countless voices—intense, fervent, desperate, and painful—almost no complete calm, and what was even more terrifying was that he even heard voices he was familiar with.

"I'm so sorry, Naruto... it seems I'm no longer able to protect your family."

"Brother, are you scared?"

"Are you joking? Asura, if you're scared, I'll allow you to hug me."

"Entrusting the world to one person... is probably the craziest decision I've ever made."

"Isn't it you who keeps emphasizing the passing down of traditions, brother?"

"The last stand of mortals? How dazzling... Is this the light I have been destroying all along?"

"Then let me join you. It would be nice to be with the children."