The Outer Path (外道, Gedō) is the seventh Path — an ability granted to the wielder of the Rinnegan. With the Outer Path, the user is able to revive the dead, transmit chakra to receivers, as well as manifest chakra chains.
Overview
A user of the Outer Path is said to exist outside the realm of life and death, and has the ability to revive the dead with the Outer Path — Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique.[1] However, this technique may only be available to users who are truly alive themselves, as Madara in his reincarnated state required another living Rinnegan wielder to revive him, and only an authentic Rinnegan may summon the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.[2]
The Outer Path allows the user to bind and potentially control the movements of those who touch the user's black receivers.[3] By implanting the receivers into corpses or reincarnated individuals, the user can control up to six bodies, referred to as the Six Paths of Pain. These bodies, as well as the King of Hell and the creatures summoned through the Animal Path, all have the Rinnegan reflected in their eyes and share visual information with the user through the Outer Path.[4][5] The user can also manifest the chakra chains of the Demonic Statue to restrict anyone who touches the receivers with an even greater binding power.[3]
During the Fourth Shinobi World War, Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki used this ability to call back the souls of the previous Kage from the Pure Land to assist him in summoning Team 7 and the tailed beasts back from Kaguya's dimension.[6] When summoned in this manner, the deceased person does not have an actual body, but appears as a mass of flickering chakra in full possession of their personality and memories. Once the user ends the technique, the summoned souls dwindle and ultimately disappear completely. Hagoromo was also able to undo another person's use of the Impure World Reincarnation technique, releasing the souls from their vessels and sending them to the Pure Land.[7]
Trivia
- Gedō (外道, literally meaning: Outer Path), derived from the Sanskrit term, Tīrthika, which refers to any doctrine which "treads the outer path" to enlightenment. This is opposed to the teachings of orthodox Buddhism, the Naidō (内道, literally meaning: Inner Path), and is thus considered misguided and heretical.
- The Demonic Statue of the Outer Path may be related to this ability, due to the name.
- Naruto Uzumaki referred to the control of the Six Paths of Pain as Gedō no Jutsu (外道の術, literally meaning: Outer Path Technique), and said that the Paths' ability to share visual information with the original body stemmed from that technique.[5]
- Kabuto Yakushi noted that he could force a reincarnated Nagato to remove the jinchūriki's souls and store both their bodies and souls within the King of Hell, then revive them at a later time. However, it is unknown whether this is related to the Outer Path as the process was interrupted.[8]
