In the original Naruto storyline, by the Boruto era, Asura, Indra, and the Sage of Six Paths were rarely mentioned. The focus had entirely shifted to fighting the Ōtsutsuki clan.
This indirectly proved Aoba's theory. By that time, the Sage of Six Paths had likely already gained full control over Asura and Indra. For him, it was only a matter of time.
However, in this timeline, Aoba's existence had changed everything. The fate of the last Indra reincarnation, Sasuke, had been altered by him.
In reality, Naruto's fate had also been changed quite a bit. But there wasn't much Aoba could do, Naruto was Asura's reincarnation, so Aoba couldn't place too much hope in him.
Even so, Aoba still felt immense pressure when facing the Sage of Six Paths.
The biggest problem was that his plan had been flawed from the very beginning. His original goal was to gather the nine tailed beasts, become the Jinchūriki of the Ten-Tails, and merge the seven chakra natures to achieve his own Six Paths Mode.
But later, he realized that chakra was a trap. The only thing he could truly rely on was natural energy.
Looking back, Aoba realized this was an oversight on his part.
His most unique trait in this world wasn't his foreknowledge or his exceptional ninja talent.
It was the fact that he was born able to absorb natural energy.
And this was not a coincidence, everything had already been predetermined. Since all souls in the Shinobi World were under the control of the Sage of Six Paths, it made sense that natural energy should not reject the human body. As the native energy of this world, everyone should have been able to use it, with limitations based only on individual talent.
But in reality, that wasn't the case. Because over thousands of years of reincarnation, all souls and chakra had been tampered with by the Sage of Six Paths.
Natural energy wasn't rejecting humanity, it was rejecting chakra and the modified souls.
It was the innate resistance of the Shinobi World's native power against an external invader.
Only when the Sage of Six Paths allowed it, a select few individuals could learn Senjutsu. And even then, it came with various side effects. This was because the Sage of Six Paths could never allow a complete, unrestricted path to natural energy.
Look at the people in the original story who could use Senjutsu, Hashirama was practically the Sage of Six Paths' lapdog.
Later, Minato and Jiraiya were also clearly preordained pieces in the game. The only real accident was Aoba himself.
Originally, it should have been impossible for anyone in the Shinobi World to naturally absorb natural energy. Every soul and chakra had already been altered.
But Aoba's soul came from outside this world.
That made him a uniquely special existence, not entirely bound by the Sage of Six Paths' influence, allowing him to absorb natural energy on his own.
Unfortunately, Aoba hadn't realized from the start that this was the Shinobi World's version of a "golden cheat."
The main issue was that chakra was simply too tempting. Compared to the wild and chaotic nature of natural energy, chakra was undeniably perfect.
It was stable, gentle, and seamlessly compatible with most people. It was also far easier to control.
And because Aoba was familiar with the storyline, his instinct was to follow the chakra path. He had originally believed that with his foreknowledge, reaching the Six Paths level would be no problem. He thought that pairing it with the Rinnegan or Tenseigan would be enough to handle all the major threats in the story.
But he hadn't expected that just as he was on the verge of reaching the peak, he would finally realize the trap.
He was forced to abandon chakra cultivation and turn to natural energy instead.
Now, he knew what he needed in order to wield natural energy independently, he had to become a native deity of the Shinobi World, like Jashin or the Shinigami.
While the upper limit of such a path was not bad, it still couldn't compare to the Sage of Six Paths.
So, he needed to find another road, one with an even higher ceiling.
If you would like to read more...
The novel has be completed (Chp. 362) on the patreon -> SaintXI