At the appointed time, Roshi followed behind Nagato, heading towards the Ninja Sect's reception hall with him.
At this moment, Roshi felt both excited and apprehensive, his emotions somewhat complex.
The meeting he had been anticipating for so long was finally about to happen, and it was impossible for Roshi not to be excited. However, he also had concerns; he wasn't someone who was good at talking, and he wasn't sure if he could effectively express his thoughts without conflicting with Sosuke.
Roshi often criticized Onoki in his heart, yet he knew that his own temper wasn't good either, and he wasn't much better than Onoki.
After entering the Ninja Sect's reception hall, Roshi noticed that Sosuke had already arrived and was sitting on a chair drinking tea.
"Teacher, I've brought him." Nagato walked to Mokgetsu's side and said.
Mokgetsu smiled and nodded at Nagato, then looked towards Roshi.
Roshi also looked at Sosuke; it wasn't his first time seeing Sosuke, but it was his first time seeing him at such a close distance.
Outside of class, Sosuke wasn't much different from when he was lecturing, still often wearing white and sporting a gentle smile.
The long-awaited conversation was finally starting, yet Roshi didn't know what to say.
He had many things he wanted to say, but he couldn't decide what was best to say or in what sequence to say them.
Roshi was a bit anxious; the conversation could only start with him because he knew Sosuke, but Sosuke didn't know him, not even his name.
"Have you finished reading the book? Which chapter left the deepest impression on you?" Mokgetsu was the first to break the silence.
Initially, when he learned Roshi wanted to meet him, Mokgetsu wasn't sure about Roshi's purpose and thoughts.
Later, Mokgetsu investigated a village on the northern border of the Land of Rain and learned about Roshi's activities there. Based on some information revealed in the original work, he formed some guesses.
"The book." Roshi was briefly stunned, then quickly understood which book Sosuke was referring to.
"I finished it. The chapter that left the deepest impression should be the world after the ultimate goal is achieved—a world without prejudice, without war, where everyone is equal." Roshi recalled the book's contents and responded.
This was probably the most beautiful fairytale Roshi had ever seen.
He could only use "fairytale" to describe this ultimate goal; not to mention war, even just eliminating prejudice was something incredibly distant.
For Roshi had been discriminated against since childhood due to his identity as a Jinchuriki, and he was acutely aware of how difficult it was to eliminate prejudice.
Despite his immense power and accomplishing numerous tasks for Hidden Rock, the villagers still discriminated against him.
"Do you find this goal unrealistic, impossible to achieve?" Mokgetsu seemed to see through Roshi's inner thoughts.
"That's right." Roshi nodded honestly.
In his view, this was simply an utterly unattainable, beautiful fantasy.
Even the Six Paths Sage, a great being hailed as a Creator God by later generations, could only maintain a brief peace. Is it really possible for war to disappear?
"You should know about radios and TVs, right?" Mokgetsu didn't continue talking about the ultimate goal, but instead asked with a smile.
"I know." Roshi felt somewhat strange in his heart; how did they end up talking about these unrelated things?
"If you were a ninja a thousand years ago, no, five hundred years ago, could you believe that there would be an iron box in the future that could allow remote communication without needing Chakra?"
Roshi fell into contemplation; while radios and TVs weren't rare in his world, Sosuke's words made Roshi realize the truth.
If he didn't know about the existence of radios initially, he would certainly find it impossible for such a product to exist.
"The development of things is always spiraling upwards, and just because something didn't exist in the past doesn't mean it can't be achieved in the future." Mokgetsu continued.
"Precisely because it is distant, it's the ultimate goal."
Mokgetsu never intended to have the Ninja Sect achieve the ultimate goal in his lifetime; if he could lead the Ninja Sect to make the Ninja World slightly better, resembling the country from his past life, that would be enough.
"It's really alike; the Six Paths Sage also wanted to create a world without war where people can coexist peacefully." Four-tails sighed.
Looking at Sosuke clad in white, explaining the Ninja Sect's ultimate goal, Four-tails recalled Hagoromo, who once shared his ideals with the nine Tailed Beasts.
Thousands of years ago, Hagoromo created the Ninja Sect, teaching them to coexist with humans, preaching peace.
Today, thousands of years later, Sosuke has created the Ninja Sect, and in his presence, he describes the goal of a peaceful world.
If only Nagato, not Sosuke, had the Rinnegan, Four-tails would have thought Sosuke is the reincarnation of the Six Paths Sage.
They did similar things, their ideals were similar, both liked wearing white, with the Rinnegan added—it would be all the elements complete.
Roshi was convinced; he found Sosuke's words very reasonable.
But it's also possible that he may have convinced himself.
Because the world depicted by the Ninja Sect's ultimate goal truly was a world Roshi couldn't even dream of.
In his dreams, he dared only dream of being treated as a normal person and never dreamed of war disappearing.
Who wouldn't wish for such a beautiful and peaceful world to become a reality? Roshi thought surely there was no one.
"We've talked for so long, yet I haven't introduced my name; it's truly rude." Roshi stood up and slightly bowed to express his apology to Sosuke.
Due to the cooperation between the Ninja Sect and Hidden Rock, Roshi worried about exposing his identity and being betrayed, so he hadn't shown his true appearance and identity to Sosuke and the Ninja Sect.
Now, however, Roshi felt that his behavior was disrespectful to Sosuke.
Roshi lifted the Transformation Jutsu, revealing his true appearance, then solemnly introduced himself, "My name is Roshi."