Chapter 670: The Beginning
The chapter starts with Naruto appearing to wake up. But it seems that he's in his mindscape rather than in the real world. And he's not alone: there's an old man there who introduces himself as Hagoromo, a.k.a. The Sage of the Six Paths.
Naruto is confused by Hagoromo's speech patterns, but eventually they find a way to communicate. Hagoromo talks about being a "transmigrant"--someone whose chakra is able to travel through time. He makes a distinction between ninshuu (the use of chakra to create connections and understanding between people, which he invented) and ninjutsu (the use of chakra for combat). Hagoromo then goes on to tell the story of himself, his mother, and his sons. His mother, Kaguya, ate the fruit of the God Tree, becoming immensely powerful. Some time later, she gave birth to Hagoromo and his brother.
The God Tree didn't appreciate having its fruit stolen, and took the form of the Juubi. Hagoromo and his brother fought it and sealed it inside of themselves. Hagoromo himself eventually had two sons: Indra and Ashura. Indra had a powerful chakra from the very start, while Ashura was much weaker.
Indra was an independent young man who relied on his power to get things done. Ashura, because he was weaker, needed a lot of help to accomplish his goals--but because of this, he developed the ability to form very strong bonds with others. He came to believe that friendship and love had a power all their own.
Ashura's worldview even inspired his own father, who broke up the power of the Juubi within him into the nine bijuu. He also named Ashura as his heir, hoping that Ashura's spirit of cooperation would extend to his brother. But this was not to be: Indra refused to accept his brother as Hagoromo's heir, and the two brothers fought a war. When they died, their chakra wasn't destroyed, but passed down through the years, so that they were reincarnated into subsequent generations of ninja. Finally, Hagoromo reveals that Naruto is the current reincarnation of Ashura.
We've heard the story of the Sage and his sons before, but now we're getting it "from the horse's mouth," so to speak. One thing I noticed is that the story of Kaguya is given a different tone here than it was in the previous telling: we had heard of Kaguya eating the fruit of the God Tree in order to stop the wars that were ravaging the world, but Hagoromo seems to paint her as more of a power-hungry figure. (Or perhaps it's a bit of both: maybe she stopped the wars by making people too afraid of her to fight, similar to what Pain wanted to do.)
The name Kaguya is itself significant, being the name of the unearthly child in the Japanese folktale "The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter." Interestingly, Hagoromo says that Kaguya came to the Elemental Nations from "a faraway place" and says that people called her a "rabbit goddess or demon." In "The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter," Kaguya came from the moon, and a rabbit is the shape traditionally seen on the moon in Japan (as opposed to the Western "man in the moon.")
In addition to the references to Japanese legend, Hagoromo's story also includes parallels to Hinduism and Buddhism. Asuras (or Ashuras in Japanese) are a class of deities in those two religions that are portrayed as being in constant competition with the devas. However, in Buddhism at least, Asuras are depicted as being prone to wrath and violence, where the Ashura here is the calmer and more cooperative of the two brothers. Indra, meanwhile, is the leader of the devas in Hinduism. (Looking him up on Wikipedia, I found this quote from the Rig Veda: "Indra, you lifted up the pariah who was oppressed, you glorified the blind and the lame," which is very different from the character of Indra as described by Hagoromo!) So overall, Kishimotos seems to be reversing the traditional personalities associated with those two names.
The $64,000 question here, of course, is who the reincarnation of Indra is. My personal theory is that Indra was previously reincarnated into Madara, but that when Madara died, his chakra transmigrated into Sasuke. (What would be really interesting is if Indra's chakra initially transmigrated into Fugaku, influencing him to plan the Uchiha coup, and then transferred into Sasuke on the night of the Massacre. I think I feel a fanfic idea coming on...)
Naruto is confused by Hagoromo's speech patterns, but eventually they find a way to communicate. Hagoromo talks about being a "transmigrant"--someone whose chakra is able to travel through time. He makes a distinction between ninshuu (the use of chakra to create connections and understanding between people, which he invented) and ninjutsu (the use of chakra for combat). Hagoromo then goes on to tell the story of himself, his mother, and his sons. His mother, Kaguya, ate the fruit of the God Tree, becoming immensely powerful. Some time later, she gave birth to Hagoromo and his brother.
The God Tree didn't appreciate having its fruit stolen, and took the form of the Juubi. Hagoromo and his brother fought it and sealed it inside of themselves. Hagoromo himself eventually had two sons: Indra and Ashura. Indra had a powerful chakra from the very start, while Ashura was much weaker.
Indra was an independent young man who relied on his power to get things done. Ashura, because he was weaker, needed a lot of help to accomplish his goals--but because of this, he developed the ability to form very strong bonds with others. He came to believe that friendship and love had a power all their own.
Ashura's worldview even inspired his own father, who broke up the power of the Juubi within him into the nine bijuu. He also named Ashura as his heir, hoping that Ashura's spirit of cooperation would extend to his brother. But this was not to be: Indra refused to accept his brother as Hagoromo's heir, and the two brothers fought a war. When they died, their chakra wasn't destroyed, but passed down through the years, so that they were reincarnated into subsequent generations of ninja. Finally, Hagoromo reveals that Naruto is the current reincarnation of Ashura.
We've heard the story of the Sage and his sons before, but now we're getting it "from the horse's mouth," so to speak. One thing I noticed is that the story of Kaguya is given a different tone here than it was in the previous telling: we had heard of Kaguya eating the fruit of the God Tree in order to stop the wars that were ravaging the world, but Hagoromo seems to paint her as more of a power-hungry figure. (Or perhaps it's a bit of both: maybe she stopped the wars by making people too afraid of her to fight, similar to what Pain wanted to do.)
The name Kaguya is itself significant, being the name of the unearthly child in the Japanese folktale "The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter." Interestingly, Hagoromo says that Kaguya came to the Elemental Nations from "a faraway place" and says that people called her a "rabbit goddess or demon." In "The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter," Kaguya came from the moon, and a rabbit is the shape traditionally seen on the moon in Japan (as opposed to the Western "man in the moon.")
In addition to the references to Japanese legend, Hagoromo's story also includes parallels to Hinduism and Buddhism. Asuras (or Ashuras in Japanese) are a class of deities in those two religions that are portrayed as being in constant competition with the devas. However, in Buddhism at least, Asuras are depicted as being prone to wrath and violence, where the Ashura here is the calmer and more cooperative of the two brothers. Indra, meanwhile, is the leader of the devas in Hinduism. (Looking him up on Wikipedia, I found this quote from the Rig Veda: "Indra, you lifted up the pariah who was oppressed, you glorified the blind and the lame," which is very different from the character of Indra as described by Hagoromo!) So overall, Kishimotos seems to be reversing the traditional personalities associated with those two names.
The $64,000 question here, of course, is who the reincarnation of Indra is. My personal theory is that Indra was previously reincarnated into Madara, but that when Madara died, his chakra transmigrated into Sasuke. (What would be really interesting is if Indra's chakra initially transmigrated into Fugaku, influencing him to plan the Uchiha coup, and then transferred into Sasuke on the night of the Massacre. I think I feel a fanfic idea coming on...)