"The reward is naturally yours, but I have two questions and would like to ask you one more thing." Hagoromo was clearly in an excellent mood. He showed no impatience at the stalling tactics used by Kei to delay time.
On the contrary, he proactively brought up the matter of rewards. To someone like him, who was about to transcend this world like an Ōtsutsuki play transcending dimensions, all worldly possessions were of no significance.
"Please speak." Kei quietly thought to himself, As expected.
With the realm and power the other party now possessed, if he didn't have questions to ask, he would have already transcended and left this world.
Why else would he deliberately appear here?
"The first question: Is the path of borrowing the power of all living beings' will capable of achieving transcendence?"
Hagoromo's gaze was deep, and there was a faint trace of barely noticeable regret and unwillingness.
"Yes, and it has gone very far." Kei was stunned for a moment. The amount of information in this question was enormous!
It was obvious that Hagoromo had already seen through the fact that he was not from this world, and that he knew things unknown to others.
Otherwise, he wouldn't ask such a question!
However, ever since gaining power that allowed him to disregard most dangers, Kei had never hidden his unusual nature. Not to mention someone like Hagoromo, who had experienced a millennium; even those a bit clever around him had already made guesses, though they never minded it.
As for the question itself, the so-called borrowing of the willpower of all living beings was essentially not much different from the "willing power" found in mythological novels of his previous life.
All gods and Buddhas in the heavens still gathered incense and willing power. As long as the base number was large enough, transcending the Naruto world wouldn't be that big of a deal, right?
"Sigh~ I never walked the wrong path, I just didn't persist to the end..." A sigh, expressing the unwillingness that couldn't be let go even after a thousand years. Hagoromo's originally clear and refined soul began to emit a soft golden glow after his words fell.
Under Kei's gaze, [Benevolent Heart] and [Solitary Walker] slowly disappeared.
"The second question: Has the path I now walk come to an end?"
"I don't know, but someone has already walked very far on it, reaching heights we cannot comprehend." Kei carefully chose his words before slowly speaking.
Hagoromo nodded, clearly very satisfied with this answer.
He turned and looked in the direction of Madara, Hashirama, and Kaguya. He was silent for a long time, and his expression gradually became somewhat complicated.
"My millennia of accumulation, all my knowledge and insights, are stored deep in the Pure Land. With your strength, you can easily retrieve them."
"One last question: How do you plan to deal with... my mother?"
"Depends on the situation. After all, she can now be considered an enemy of the Ōtsutsuki clan. If she's not beyond saving, we'll probably try to win her over? If that doesn't work, then seal her again?" Kei scratched his head.
Though Hagoromo spoke vaguely, the meaning was clear: I'm giving you all my collection, so please show some mercy—that's still my mom!
A millennium of accumulation in exchange for his mother's life. Every family had its difficult scripture to recite.
"Thank you. I look forward to the day we meet again."
On Hagoromo's panel, [Attachment] disappeared.
[Thousandfold Enlightenment], [Ascetic Path of Unity] and [Heaven's Heart] slowly merged, as if only a final step remained, rapidly fusing into a golden trait—[Harmony of Heaven and Man].
His softly glowing soul, as if piercing through the last barrier, radiated dazzling light. A wave, very similar yet distinct from when [Multiversal Voyager] captured a world portal, emanated, as if crossing the boundaries between worlds.
A golden gate illuminating the heavens appeared in the sky. The golden gate slowly opened, and the figure of the Sage of Six Paths, guided by its pull, soared straight into the sky.
Is this transcendence?
Is this crossing dimensions?
This is clearly stepping into a higher world, no doubt about it.
Kei instinctively wanted to use the power of the [Multiversal Voyager] to place a few marks on that heavenly gate.
But the moment he had that thought, [Destiny Chronometer], which allowed him to foresee calamities, started frantically warning him not to do it under any circumstances.
And ever since he had obtained this trait, this was the first time it had given him such a strong and clear premonition.
"Damn!" Kei suppressed his itching impulse.
Watching the fading figure of the Sage of Six Paths, he quickly gave an order to the system in his mind.
System, duplicate [Six Paths Yin-Yang Reincarnation] and [Harmony of Heaven and Man]!
- Six Paths Yin-Yang Reincarnation (Gold)
- Harmony of Heaven and Man (Gold)]
The system's notification chimed.
After the Sage of Six Paths entered that golden world portal, all the strange phenomena gradually faded away. Even the aura of the world portal vanished without a trace.
A big project is coming… Kei glanced at the system interface. He now had only one Trait Duplication left, and two gold-tier traits lying in the Inactive Trait section.
He sighed helplessly.
That portal just now felt different from the multiverse portals he had previously captured, because that was not a naturally formed world portal. It was more like some kind of pre-programmed mechanism that, upon detecting someone reaching a set threshold, used unimaginable divine power to forcibly open a world passage.
His original plan to turn the entire Naruto world into his personal resource bank and talent training base, with the appearance of that portal, the difficulty of execution had suddenly multiplied several times over.
If he didn't want the talents he nurtured to be forcibly taken away by that portal once they reached the level of the Sage of Six Paths, then he'd have to use the power of [Multiversal Voyager] to completely isolate this planet.
Not to mention how much time it would take, the energy cost alone would be astronomical, probably way more than planting two more God Trees. And even then, it wouldn't be foolproof. After all, no one could guarantee that whatever unknown being behind that portal couldn't see through his concealment.
Should I just pack up this planet and take it with me? Kei muttered to himself, even he felt it was ridiculous.
[Infinite Armory Domain] originally evolved from [Magical Wardrobe Master], couldn't contain living beings at first, but after leveling up, it became an independent space capable of holding anything. However, most living beings couldn't survive in a space without air or any material substance, unlike tailed beasts.
Back when he fought Isshiki, he had basically understood the power behind Daikokuten.
In essence, it was a special space-time ability, completely cutting off the rules of the outside world! In a space where time doesn't exist, anything placed inside would be unaffected by time, so there would naturally be no survival needs.
Kei now had the power to alter the rules of [Infinite Armory Domain], transforming it into a timeless space, just like Daikokuten. However, if he wanted to keep the planet's size unchanged while also including all lifeforms, and then store the planet… That was just too much to ask of a man.
He clicked his tongue and looked up at the galaxy sparkling in the night sky.
[Infinite Armory Domain] was named "infinite" not as exaggeration. But aside from the space he gained after acquiring traits, any further expansion would require additional energy. And to expand the domain's space enough to contain the whole planet and its atmosphere, the energy cost would far exceed what was needed to simply hide the planet.
Unless he copied the Ōtsutsuki method, plant God Trees everywhere, devour chakra fruits, and expand his space while snacking on fruit, he really couldn't think of any other method for now...
Story completed at Chapter 298!