Chapter 437: Why Can't I?

Only a voice remained, as though coming from the void itself. Every word was crystal clear, filled with a bewitching power, echoing softly through the empty room:

"You... need not know who I am."

It avoided revealing its identity, yet posed an even more deadly question:

"I ask you only this..."

"During all these years that the Sage of Six Paths has ruled the world, relying on his philosophy of 'mutual understanding'..."

"Has this world... truly become... a better place?"

"Is it better than that age of peace without war, forged by the goddess through absolute power...?"

The question, like a venomous serpent, sank its fangs into the last shred of Indra's reverence for his father's "great achievements."

Then came the earth-shattering final question, filled with incitement and a twisted sense of "historical legitimacy":

"Since... the Sage of Six Paths believed that his mother was wrong, and could therefore join forces with his brother to overthrow her rule and establish the 'new order' he desired..."

"Then..."

Black Zetsu deliberately paused, allowing the unspoken implication to ferment fully.

"You, Indra..."

"Why... can't you?"

Boom—!!!

The words struck like divine thunder from the heavens, exploding directly within Indra's mind and the depths of his soul!

His entire being trembled violently, his face filled with utter shock and...

A dangerous light that had suddenly been ignited!

He stood frozen where he was, as though transformed into a lifeless statue!

Overthrow... his father?

Just as his father had once overthrown his grandmother?

Before this, even at his most furious and resentful, such a thought had never truly taken shape in his mind!

It was taboo. It was rebellion. It was something utterly impossible to contemplate!

But now, Black Zetsu had used the logic of "history repeating itself" and "the succession of ideals" to place this forbidden thought nakedly before him—and endowed it with a... bizarre kind of legitimacy!

Why couldn't he?

His father had overthrown his "mistaken" mother.

Why couldn't he overthrow his "mistaken" father?

If his father's path proved not to be the best one, or perhaps was even a form of "regression" or "hypocrisy"...

Then could he not do the same?

Since Father said that people could understand one another...

Now that I understand Father, doesn't that mean I can become Father and do the same thing he did?

Alone in that empty, deathly silent room, where only moonlight flowed across the floor, he remained lost in thought for a long, long time.

Within the soil of his heart, watered by resentment, fury, ideological conflict, and a sense of historical destiny...

A seed called "rebellion," called "forging a new path," perhaps even called "seizing"...

Was being driven by Black Zetsu's final words, like the most potent catalyst, to quietly break through the earth and take root.

It began to release its cold, resolute...

First shoots.

Outside the Heavenly Screen, after the initial overwhelming shock and deathly silence, the masses of the Shinobi World finally came to their senses. An uproar like a tsunami swept through every corner!

"Black Zetsu! That bastard Black Zetsu! He's obviously driving a wedge between Indra and the Sage of Six Paths! He's trying to incite Indra to rebel!"

"Does he even need to drive a wedge between them?!"

Someone immediately retorted beside him, their tone agitated.

"The Sage of Six Paths' favoritism, his complete rejection of Indra's ideals, and perhaps even his dislike of Indra because of the shadows of history—it's all been laid bare!"

"This is no longer a simple dispute over succession! It's a complete clash of ideals, a portent that an old historical tragedy is about to repeat itself!"

Many people recalled the earlier revelations of the Heavenly Screen and felt a chill run down their spines.

"So... does that mean Kaguya's words before she was sealed away, about 'betrayal' and 'cycles'... were all true?"

"Will the Sage of Six Paths, in the end... also suffer betrayal at the hands of a son whose ideals he himself rejects?"

"Is this... fate?"

Yet setting aside questions of historical destiny and conspiracy, a more practical issue—one that touched upon everyone's own lives—was raised, sparking an unprecedentedly fierce debate.

"What's the point of arguing about all this old history and these conspiracies? Let me ask you something practical—"

A voice shouted loudly, drowning out much of the commotion.

"If you had to choose, what kind of leader would you rather have—someone like Asura, or someone like Indra?!"

The question instantly brought the debate back to reality.

"Of course I'd choose someone like Asura!" a ninja of common birth immediately shouted. "He's gentle, kind, willing to listen, and doesn't lord himself over everyone! At least you'd feel at ease working under him!"

"I choose Asura too! Indra is too cold. It feels like ordinary ninja like us are nothing more than tools and numbers in his eyes!" Many people chimed in.

However, other voices rose, filled with concern.

"Asura is a good person, but with his temperament... can he really keep such a vast Ninja Sect in line? Can he handle complicated diplomacy and internal struggles? Can he truly lead this world, so full of ambition and power, toward peace and an end to all conflict?"

"It took him half a year just to set one village right. What would he do when faced with larger conflicts and disputes of interest?"

"Exactly! Indra may be cold, but he has strength, decisiveness, and a broad vision! If he could put aside some of his arrogance, perhaps he would be the one truly capable of leading the Ninja Sect to greatness—or even unifying the Shinobi World and establishing a powerful order!"

"In troubled times, sometimes what you need is an iron hand!"

"But what comes after the iron hand? Wouldn't it just lead to another Kaguya? Another cycle where a child with different ideals overthrows their parent?"

The arguments rose and fell without end. Some supported Indra, believing that a strong leader was precisely what chaotic times required.

Others stood behind Asura, yearning for the warmth and possibility of equality he represented.

But whichever side they supported, no one could say with certainty that their chosen path was the one—and only—"correct" road that could lead the Shinobi World out of its millennia of war and toward lasting peace and prosperity.

History offered no answer.

The Heavenly Screen had revealed the root of the problem, yet the choices ahead had only become more shrouded in fog and controversy.

Orochimaru's Secret Base!

Karin was currently holding a remarkably plump crab—clearly prepared with great care—and devouring it with gusto, sauce smeared all over the corners of her mouth.

She glanced up at Indra's lost and bewildered appearance on the Heavenly Screen, at how thoroughly Black Zetsu had manipulated him. Her face was full of the smug satisfaction of someone whose prediction had been proven right, with even a hint of childlike excitement at having "called it."

"Heh, so I really was right!"

Karin mumbled through a mouthful of crab meat, swallowing it forcefully before extending a sauce-covered finger and pointing unceremoniously at the Heavenly Screen.

"I told that guy's chakra before, didn't I? I asked him whether his dad didn't like him! See? Wasn't I right? The Heavenly Screen has made it perfectly clear!"

Karin remembered it quite clearly. During the few times she had previously made a "guest appearance" on the Heavenly Screen, she really had said things to Indra's chakra along the lines of, "Doesn't your dad like you?"—the sort of words that cut straight to the heart.