Bunyaamatoashuradou



Overview
The Four Paths of Truth is a series of techniques that were developed and used by Tsunami, the "Smiling Buddha". They are influenced by human emotions. They develop, grow, and evolve with the users' emotions as well as the emotion around them. These techniques take on different shapes and forms as the user wishes. It is said through spreading and molding their unnatural chakra, utilizing their unorthodox chakra the wielders can both create life and cause great calamity. Because these techniques are said to be utilized by the Buddha it is highly regarded as benevolent, something with only pure intent. Despite this common notion, it takes on the corrupt ideals shunned in, the techniques mention both the good and evil in the world, and justifies both as necessary. This forced Buddhist Monks consider those who use these teachings traitors. During the creation of these techniques, Tsunami incorporated both Buddhist and ideology, he believed that with every good there must be a corresponding evil. This ideal lead to these techniques being branded as among the Buddhist priests, they were forbidden and mocked by the priests. Due to his dabbling in the "Dark Arts", Tsunami was shunned by the priests, they no longer supported him and begun openly showed their discontent. Due to the priest's betrayal, Tsunami fell into a never-ending pool of hatred, which later caused more of the techniques to revolve around the darker aspects of life while few revolved around the good of life.

While drowning in his hatred Tsunami almost transformed into a demon, he brought great terror to the land of shinobi. He contemplated freeing the world of his contradictory existence by killing himself. After countless attempts to take he has failed to take his life, he noticed the beauty in the world he once forsook. He noticed the beauty behind the cold exterior, he also noticed the way he and the people treated it like re-usable garbage. His heart changed once more, he began to guide other humans and repent for his sins to nature. As his heart became filled with emotions of happiness and as he grew content with his existence, his chakra began to strengthen its connection with nature, instead of being a being filled with hatred he grew into one that balanced hatred and love. His wisdom grew to the point where it could be compare to that of a divine being's. His stemmed from his connection to life and death itself, he also obtained a unique ideology he had due to the experiences he had as both a saint and demon. Whilst being overtaken by his nature energy, right before death he wrote all the experiences one who awakened these techniques would have. The burden and happiness one will gain as they developed their techniques, and most importantly the wraith they could unleash if not given the proper guidance and falling into their hatred

Deprived State
Those who have fallen deep into depravity and feeds upon another's soul loses their human features and become something akin to the devil. Their face is said to resemble that of a who holds absolutely no compassion or care for humans, except a pure glee when inflicting pain to others. Their first form still takes on humanoid shape, the only significant difference is the change in their hair's color, it often becomes silver but in a rare case, it became pure-white. The change in color is a signification that they have been drained of all emotion, all except for their eternal hatred. It is said that those in this form absorbs the negative energy of the world. This constant consumption of foul chakra was proven to greatly boost one's innate abilities. When Tsunami achieved this form, he stated that he had no sense of doing anything deemed good, instead, he became clouded by the thought of destroying and bringing an end to all things that were considered living. Those in this form are completely immune to any form of genjutsu, even those of the highest caliber. Kotoamatsukami has shown to be the only genjutsu to break this theory. The reason for their immunity is because of their brain being in a trance, it is incapable of being freed from that trance without the intervention of that overwhelms their trance, the Kotoamatsukami has been shown to be the only genjutsu with enough power to do so.

Technique Branches
Firstly, the wielders of these techniques must possess the unique chakra of Tsunami, rumored to be capable of manipulating nature unconsciously. As aforementioned, the techniques continually evolve and grow stronger as the user develops intense emotions of hatred or compassion. This renders the techniques useless in the hands of someone who has lost their way of life and those who bare no true face. The techniques are often formed through materializing their unnatural chakra with regular abilities, giving them a unique set of laws completely different than the original. Through these techniques, Tatsumi was able to create the Four Paths. Those who have mastered the Four Paths gain an interesting perspective on life and death. Their perspective gave them a more accurate theory of what chakra truly is and its connection with one's soul. This knowledge allowed them to do things with their chakra considered to be impossible for the common man. The techniques of the Four Paths have always been noted to have overwhelming beauty, but at times it has been shown to be incredibly terrifying.

Path of Suffering


The Suffering Path is often the first branch of techniques to manifest. It is first awakened when one with the unique chakra undergoes excruciating emotional pain. It has been shown to grant the user great capabilities said to rival the  or in some degree even surpass it. Quite similarly to the Kurama's Kekkei Genkai, those who have mastered this path can confuse the human brain, making it unsure what is considered real or illusion. However, it also takes on a much darker effect compared to the Kurama's. The user can be trapped in the technique just the same as the opponent. The technique makes the victim experience their worst fear constantly without end, the only way to break out being to overcome the fear, time is not slowed down in this realm. In reality, they are in a state similar to a coma until overcoming the technique, be it years or seconds they are in eternal sleep. Even when conquering the technique, it can leave mental scars on those who have been caught in it. The trauma is not one to be easily overcome, it is as if seeing your worst nightmare for eternity until you lose all sense of fear. It is a truly sinister and dangerous ability. The Suffering Path also houses another form of techniques unrelated to their original function. It is one that allows the user to peer into the memories of another. This technique was proven to be extremely useful in espionage and interrogation. It is extremely risky to rely on this technique, overuse can lead to the user seeing more than a single memory. It can lead to those who overuse it reliving another's life as their own. The wielder then has no true sense of self, not sure if they are the victim or themselves. They are cursed for eternity unsure who they truly are as in their eyes they have lived two completely different lives. It is a wicked fate, a fate worse than death.

Path of Hatred
The Hatred Path, the most sinister and corrupt of the Four Paths. It is the literal manifestation of the users' hatred. The techniques based around it are based around curses and hexes. Through using poison in conjunction, the curses gain immense power, capable of shutting down one's brain without much physical contact. The brain's absence often leads to the bodily functions slowly shutting down one by one, these curses have been shown to be extremely effective against body base Kekkei Genkai such as Shikotsumyaku. These curses are absolutely terrifying, the only true way to overcome these curses is by blocking the toxic air from entering your nose and travel into your body. Those who have awakened the Hatred Path notice a darker more sinister chakra within them. Their chakra is said to be more menacing than the Kyuubi upon awakening, it is said to be the embodiment of the darkness of both the living and dead. The hexes granted by the Four Path are often associated with and. It involves changing the physical condition of another. It can cause fatigue, temporary blindness, and even amplify one's innate abilities. These techniques do not work on the user due to their unique physiology. The primary function of these techniques is to amplify their teammates' powers and weaken their opponents, it takes on a much more supportive role than a combative one. And due to this, the hexes are best used in a fight with multiple allies and foe, it is capable of blinding enemies allowing the wielder to advance without much of a problem and generally saves a lot of trouble for the wielder. Unlike the other techniques granted by the Four Paths, it requires a cooldown and charging time. It takes about 1 minute to create and induce the hex. Making it near useless in one versus one situations. Despite its weaknesses, it is extremely effective in clashes that involve large teams.

Path of Truth


The Truth Path the most prominent of the Four Paths. During this state, their chakra slowly takes on more life energy. The Hatred Paths becomes slightly weaker upon the awakening of this path. Their chakra begins to grow a deeper connection with nature and due to this, their ninjutsu is significantly strengthened when compared to that of a regular person. Their enhanced connection to nature allows for one to control chakra perfectly and mold it perfectly, granting perfect chakra control as a result. Their enhanced chakra flow grants them abilities incomprehensible to man, using their perfect chakra points they are allowed to open five along the. This grants them a similar but exponentially weaker version of the Eight Gates. The enhancements to the nature transformations are often mistaken for Kekkei Genkai. The Truth Path is regarded as the most powerful of the Four Paths for both its incredible strength but also for its versatility in and outside of combat.

The Truth Path whilst literally being based around the duality of their chakra is not completely unified in this form. Instead of their "Corrupt" chakra fusing with their "Good" chakra, the two are like opposites, not truly unified but doing work with each other, each doing their specific function individually. This leads to the chakra of the user growing constantly out of control at times of rage or immense happiness due to the imbalance. Their raging emotions lead to their ninjutsu being akin to a raging storm... extremely powerful but nigh impossible to truly control. Two specific nature transformations take on a completely different form when given amplified with the special chakra: Water and Fire, two of the most powerful nature transformations and polar opposites of one another. Water Release, something naturally calm serene and normally takes the shape of a magnificent blue. It is a mystery that engulfs a large amount of the planet, something said to be incapable to take on the rash and fiery personality. When enhanced by special chakra, the water release's common nature completely shifts, instead it takes on the rash and violent nature of Fire Release. Whilst being used by those who have obtained this path, water is no longer bound by the laws of nature and generate this water out of will, similarly to Tobirama Senju. Those who have mastered this form of water release can regulate the temperature of the water, due to this, they are able to make something similar to both and. The affinities created by the Four Paths are naturally weaker than the two in their specific function due to the fact that it only uses water to create, despite this the overall ability to manipulate both forms can lead to them creating varying jutsu that surpass the original forms. Due to it being crafted from purely water, it is much easier to melt than the form gifted to the, even then it has a great defense against natural fire release, and can only melt after hours and hours in the glaring heat of the sun. Fire-based Kekkei Genkai, such as has also shown to quickly melt away the ice. The Boil Release granted by the Four Paths is quite different from the one utilized by and. Instead of fire being the main component, water takes the lead during this collaboration, and due to this it has more of a scald effect, the steaming hot water has been shown to melt through the toughest of metals, it was even proven to take a small portion out of easily. Fire Release, the complete opposite of Water Release, it causes great suffering, inflicts pain, and is likely associated with the evil in the world. When powered by the unnatural chakra. It becomes elegant, smooth and without ridged movement, it said to be like a highly choreographed dance. The flames of those who have attained complete mastery gain a unique tint, a violet tint, unlike most other flames, these flames being powered by Yin-Yang have a different functionality of burning. Instead of being an uncontrolled overwhelming flame, it is a flame that is one with nature, often giving it the effects of. These flames pride themselves in the essence of being truly never-ending, those caught by these flames can either try to transfer the flame to a conductor, or be burned to a crisp, the only known way of truly putting out these flames are using those who have mastered Ice Release, freezing the flames can eventually lead to them dying out, however even then it can be deadly to those who come close to it. Many who have seen this claimed it was like seeing a captivating illusion, it holds enough beauty that people smile when they are being burned alive. Not many who have seen this managed to live to tell the tale...

Path of Reconciliation
The Reconciliation Path, the strongest and most elegant of the Four Paths. During this state, their chakra enters perfect equilibrium, during this state they can out of seemingly nothing, those who have reached this form often becomes compared to the Sage of Six Paths due to that ability. Those who create life also must end life as stated by the creed, their hatred path also reaches a state of mastery. This state was shown to purify the body, hence weakening the corruption of Jitsuryoku, despite this their curses grow in strength, it is unknown why exactly, but Yomi came to the conclusion that the life chakra was aiding the dark chakra on the user's request. The Reconciliation Path due to using an immense amount of Yang energy is able o heal the most severe injuries, the only thing they seemingly couldn't heal was completely destroyed organs. Their chakra blends immensely with nature in this state, granting them. Despite their abilities they have been shown to have immense limits when it came to doing so, many people claim it to be the water-downed version of Hashirama's Mokuton, but it has a completely different use, instead of using it for defensive and offensive purposes, their wood's main functionality was to give the user to fight on, it could also be used for offensive and defensive purposes but not nearly to the extent of the Mokuton. Due to being manifested by Yin-Yang energy, the trees naturally have a consciousness. Often their primary focus is to protect their users. When being used in the form of a weapon, the wood is constantly absorbing, often strengthening the blade's cutting capabilities. Due to it still having the physical make-up of wood, it cannot conduct any elemental nature transformations without being severely damaged. The wood itself, despite wanting to protect their user also has other goals and achievements for themselves, Yomi views his trusted partner Gin, a wooden human created by Yomi, as his family and they often fight alongside each other. Due to it having its own consciousness like humans, the wood can be seen backstabbing the wielder. The behavior of the wood often depends on its environment upon creation. These wooden constructs became the personal minions of Tatsumi after his ascension to "Buddha", and one of these minions tried to kill Tatsumi, using this can oftentimes be risky and cause a great disaster. Those who use these constructs often times make sure they treat the constructs with love and care.

Drawbacks/Limitations
The powerful Four Paths like any other great ability has quite the limiting factor. It not only causes grave side-effects to the user, one can completely lose their mental stability with immense overuse of these abilities. The techniques' great connection to nature can make one become one with nature, veins like tree sprout throughout their entire body, they act delusional and as if they are as unmoving as a mighty tree. This unmoving tree, while mighty during its last fight cannot stand tall for much longer. They soon transform to become one with nature, in rare moments when another with this rare ability visits them. The two souls can speak to one another, even when one is in their tree state. Tsunami, during his last battle, turned into a mighty tree that was worshiped for many generations. Eventually, the hollow tree proclaimed as the last testament of the mighty warrior came to root once again when a mighty young boy kindles the lost soul, bounding their souls together. This grave weakness and possible fatality limit one's use of the Four Paths, it is the same thing that brought fear to Yomi's heart and made him try to forget about his talents trying to start a life where he can live peacefully with his "family".

The most unseen illness caused by overuse of the darker aspects of life, a fate worse than dying a mighty warrior. Noruki is the only one who has fallen prey to this illness or although, a curse would be the most suitable for the terrifying sickness. Those who have mastered the Suffering and Hatred Paths as well as seemingly overcome the effects of Jitsuryoku obtain something much worse, the cruelest form of immortality. Those who have fallen into despair greater than that of Jitsuryoku are trapped in their subconsciousness, they live their eternal lives going through new torture and nightmares every waking moment, the only true way to solve this is with complete disintegration of the mind and body. Which would result in immediate death, Noruki never aging managed to live three centuries in this state, until her body got destroyed and she finally got rest, in the deepest part of Gakidō. These along with the other side-effects of the Four Paths show the extreme risk one who wishes to master these teachings must take, only those who are of perfect equality can weaken the drawbacks and draw out the true power of the Four Paths.

Trivia

 * The main influence of this is the Four Noble Truths in Buddhist mythology.
 * The Four Paths of Truth involves multiple religious beliefs, including but not limited to,, , and.
 * The Four Paths cannot be passed on through blood, it is not a trait able to be passed down into children, in fact, it is impossible for those who wield this to give birth with humans due to having a completely different anatomical make-up. This is the main reason it is considered a branch of techniques rather than bloodline, the only common trait is their unique chakra.
 * Fun Fact: The Four Paths of Truth, is highly compared to the and  due to their connection to Buddhism and the never-ending cycle of life, though it is commonly misinterpreted that they follow the same Buddhism. Whilst the Rinnegan and Tenseigan are restricted to Japan's version of Buddhism, the Four Paths utilizes all forms of Buddhism. It is still mainly inspired by Japan's version of Buddhism, but China and India's also plays a small role in the creation of the techniques derived from the Four Paths
 * This is the first official complete work of the Author and took approximately 2 weeks off and on work, you can do absolutely anything if you put your mind to it!
 * This not only relates to anime, but it also relates to us as humans. First, we suffer somehow. That suffer eventually manifests into hatred for who you blame for the cause of your suffering. Thirdly, the truth is revealed and you start to make up for your actions. Finally, you completely compensate for your actions, usually by forgiveness or helping the person you have wronged.