From the night of genocide, marching towards the strongest.

If someone drinks the hero's water and is unharmed, he will personally intervene.

However, this underhanded tactic did not yield the results he desired.

For thousands of years, almost no one has been able to survive drinking the Hero's Water.

Even those few who were lucky enough to survive were left as cripples.

A piece of trash that cannot even withstand the power of a mere Hero's Water, let alone become his "vessel".

After muttering something to himself, the mysterious middle-aged man closed his eyes again, seemingly unconcerned about the branch of the divine tree that Sasuke had taken.

If Sasuke were to hear the mysterious man's words, he would be utterly horrified.

Because the divine branches inside the Takigakure Giant Tree were not, as he had previously guessed, a hidden hand left behind by Kaguya Otsutsuki or the Sage of Six Paths.

Instead, it was the mysterious man in front of them!

Moreover, the so-called Hero's Water was merely a testing method he used to select physical bodies!

However, although Sasuke was not shocked by the mysterious man's words, he was almost dumbfounded by something else that happened before his eyes.

"........"

Looking at the meteorite and the tree branch that he had released, which immediately went berserk upon meeting him, ready to fight to the death with an aura of "it's either you or me."

It was as if the two had a deep-seated hatred, an irreconcilable enmity.

After casually putting away the meteorite and the tree branch of the God Tree that were about to clash, Sasuke fell into deep thought.

Although Sasuke was still unable to destroy the indestructible data within both, the high-end, indelible data was what truly mattered.

The meteorite and the tree branch of the divine tree are not particularly powerful. With his current strength, he can easily suppress their rampaging power.

"Does Kaguya... have a split personality?"

After pondering for a long time, Sasuke spoke earnestly.

Chapter 283 Sasuke's Speculation, Using One Tiger to Devour Another

Why does this happen?

Why do meteorites and divine tree branches go berserk when they meet, as if they are mortal enemies?

After casually suppressing and resealing the rampaging meteorite and the tree branch of the God Tree and placing them into a storage scroll, Sasuke attempted to analyze the situation based on his experience and memories.

First of all, the meteorite is indeed the flesh and blood of the Ten-Tails in animal form, and its source should be Kaguya Otsutsuki, who was sealed inside the moon.

This story begins with the origin of this meteorite. It is said that this meteorite fell into the Land of Bears decades ago and was obtained by the First Hoshikage of the Hoshi Ninja Village. (Note: 1)

The first Hoshikage discovered that this meteorite, in addition to being radioactive and harmful to humans, also possessed extremely powerful and pure Yin Release energy.

Therefore, he created the Peacock Mystic Technique, which maximizes the activation of chakra, based on meteorites.

During this period, Ōtsutsuki Hamura had been dead for many years, and the Sage of Six Paths was deep in the Pure Land of the Underworld.

It's hard to say about Ōtsutsuki Hamura; is he really dead?

Or perhaps, like the Sage of Six Paths, one should remain hidden behind the scenes, observing everything in the ninja world.

Take the Sage of Six Paths for example. With his ability to create two Six Paths level powerhouses at will, obtaining a physical body or even resurrecting someone directly would not be a problem for him.

There's absolutely no need for such a trivial method as meteorites; only Kaguya Otsutsuki, who is trapped within the Six Paths Seal and has limited mobility, would use it.

Moreover, the timing of this meteorite's arrival in the Star Ninja Village was extremely coincidental, approximately thirty years ago, close to the timeline of the Second Shinobi World War.

Sasuke didn't know exactly when Madara Uchiha awakened his Rinnegan, but he learned from Toneri of another world that the Gedo Mazo, guarded by the Otsutsuki clan on the moon, was stolen by a summoning during that same period.

That's why Sasuke was 99% certain that the meteorite was Kaguya Otsutsuki's doing.

Perhaps it was because when Madara Uchiha summoned the Gedo Mazo, a crack appeared in the originally tight Six Paths Seal, allowing Kaguya Otsutsuki to send down a meteorite containing her will.

This could serve as another means of resurrection besides Black Zetsu.

Since the meteorite was one of Kaguya Otsutsuki's backup plans, is the sacred tree branch of Takigakure really just a so-called escaped fish?

'Could it be that the sacred tree branch of Takigakure is, as I previously suspected, a work left by the Sage of Six Paths?'

'So that's why they're acting like they're locked in a life-or-death struggle?'

Sasuke's gaze deepened as he pondered the origin of the divine tree's branch.

First of all, it's impossible for Kaguya to have a split personality.

At most, it's just that staying at home for too long makes one's reactions a bit slow and makes one easily distracted and lost in memories.

If this divine tree branch is something left behind by the Sage of Six Paths, then it contains his data consciousness.

In that case, it seems understandable that the meteorite would have a fierce conflict with the tree trunk of the divine tree.

After all, a fierce battle had taken place between their masters, which ended with Kaguya Otsutsuki being sealed away by the Sage of Six Paths and Hamura Otsutsuki.

However, Sasuke still felt that something was very wrong.

Ultimately, Kaguya Otsutsuki and the Sage of Six Paths were mother and son. Although they eventually broke off their relationship, Sasuke did not believe that there was no longer any mother-son affection between them after the breakup, only naked hatred.

Regarding the situation of this mother and son, it can only be described as a love-hate relationship, rather than the seemingly irreconcilable conflict that occurred earlier.

Even though Otsutsuki Hamura was a filial son, after a thousand years, he had long since forgotten the bond between mother and son.

However, this meteorite containing Kaguya Otsutsuki's consciousness data did not immediately seem to want the other party dead when it saw the branch of the God Tree containing the consciousness data of the eldest son.

At the very least, it should be like the battle against Naruto and Sasuke during the Fourth Shinobi World War in the original timeline, where it involves three parts recollection, three parts melancholy, and three parts pain before finally transforming into that resolute killing intent.

Instead of the previous situation where both sides seemed intent on annihilating each other.

If this divine tree branch wasn't left behind by the Sage of Six Paths, then who was it?

Is it Otsutsuki Hamura?

Sasuke shook his head. If he wasn't even the Sage of Six Paths, then he couldn't possibly be Hagoromo Otsutsuki, Kaguya's favorite son, who personally went to the moon to accompany his mother Kaguya.

It is neither Hagoromo nor Hamura.

So who exactly left behind the tree branch of the divine tree?

What is their purpose and intention?

Sasuke frowned, his mood heavy.

This unexpected outcome made Sasuke, who was used to using his prophetic advantage and God's-eye view to control everything, extremely uncomfortable.

Unfortunately, with his current abilities, he is unable to discern the data information inside; otherwise, he wouldn't be here guessing blindly.

Sasuke could indeed use the Sage Seal to write his consciousness data into the meteorite and the tree branch of the God Tree to know that there was data belonging to the Otsutsuki clan inside.

However, just as Black Zetsu, a product of Kaguya Otsutsuki's will, could cause trouble in front of Madara Uchiha, replacing the will clone he created, so that Madara couldn't sense anything unusual.

The data contained in the meteorite and the tree branch of the God Tree are extremely advanced for Sasuke at this point, and he simply cannot distinguish whether there is any difference between the two.

All he knew was that there was data in both, and that was it.

The reason he was able to conclude that the meteorite was Kaguya Otsutsuki's doing was simply by deducing it from various clues.

'Could it be him?'

While pondering silently, Sasuke suddenly had a flash of inspiration and thought of another member of the Otsutsuki clan who descended with Kaguya Otsutsuki a thousand years ago.

Based on Sasuke's speculation about Kaguya Otsutsuki's identity and the reason for her taking the God Tree Fruit, it is very likely that another Otsutsuki has already died at Kaguya's hands!

That Otsutsuki who has never shown the slightest trace in the anime!

'If my speculation is correct, Kaguya Otsutsuki did indeed kill her comrades a thousand years ago, and this branch of the divine tree is a message left behind by the Otsutsuki who never appeared.'

'Then the behavior of the meteorite and the tree branch of the God Tree makes sense. Although we don't know why Kaguya Otsutsuki attacked her comrades, Kaguya did indeed have a blood feud with the other Otsutsuki. That's why their combined wills went berserk upon meeting, acting as if it were a fight to the death!'

'I wonder what state that guy is in right now? What is he plotting?'

'However, judging from his act of leaving behind the branch of the God's Tree, this guy is clearly not in good condition. He's either completely dead and trying to revive himself using the data from the branch's "device," or he's severely injured or sealed away like Kaguya Otsutsuki.'

After thinking for a while, Sasuke put it out of his mind. The state of another Otsutsuki was not something he should be concerned about at the moment.

Even if that Otsutsuki is already dead, it's none of Sasuke's business to worry about him.

When the sky falls, there are tall people to hold it up.

Even if this Otsutsuki were to cause trouble right now, that's a matter for the Sage of Six Paths and that Otsutsuki Hamura, who may or may not be completely dead. Sasuke's concern is useless now.

At this moment, Sasuke's mind was not on the Otsutsuki, whose life or death was unknown. Instead, he was thinking about what benefits this discovery could bring him.

Drive away the tiger to devour the wolf; the snipe and the clam fight each other!

The artificial Ten-Tails plan has always held a very important place in Sasuke's heart.

However, whether it's the meteorite or the tree branch of the God Tree, the consciousness data within them is something that Sasuke cannot analyze, destroy, erase, or delete.

Sasuke's original plan was to collect both of them first, and at the same time obtain the artificial tailed beast method from Shennong. After he awakened the Rinnegan and even reached the Six Paths level, he would try to erase the data and hidden techniques inside to create his own Ten-Tails.

But this discovery may allow him to start his artificial ten-tailed tauren project ahead of schedule.

With Sasuke's current strength, he indeed has no way to deal with the data from either of them, but there is an irreconcilable hatred between the two.

As long as the two sides fight each other until they are both severely injured, or even perish together.

Sasuke could then take advantage of the situation and inscribe his own consciousness data on them, turning these two items into his own exclusive possessions.

In that case, once Sasuke creates his own Ten-Tails, he won't have to worry about anyone borrowing his body to be reborn.

However, how to make the two fight each other is also a problem.

That kind of utter destruction won't do.

After all, what if the meteorite and the tree trunk of the divine tree were destroyed?

Now Sasuke has no idea where to find the other Ten-Tails' flesh and blood, or the branches of the God Tree.

Ideally, the consciousness data within the two should fight each other without damaging the meteorite and the flesh and blood material of the ten-tailed beast.

Therefore, the only way to forcibly merge the two into one is to let the two types of data fight each other inside, while Sasuke sits on the sidelines and watches the battle unfold.

And this method should originate from...

"Shennong!"

Sasuke slowly uttered a name: Shennong, who possessed the method to create artificial tailed beasts, was likely the one who fused the Star Meteorite God Tree branch with him.

With that in mind, Sasuke paused his journey back to Otogakure and prepared to change course to search for Shennong's whereabouts.