As the students gradually left the Ninja Academy, several figures were gathered inside the Academy's principal's office, silently watching the just-concluded entrance exam.
"As expected of my son. What a performance!"
With her long red hair cascading behind her and the Seventh Division Captain's haori draped over her shoulders, Kushina Uzumaki beamed with pride as she turned to the visibly anxious Fugaku.
"You've done a great job as Naruto's godfather, Fugaku. I officially approve of you now."
Fugaku gave a wry smile and shook his head. He had simply done what was expected of him—provided the son of the Hokage, the child of a hero, the treatment he deserved.
He hadn't shown Naruto any special favor, but he hadn't withheld anything either. Naruto's current strength, in the end, was due to his own exceptional natural talent.
"Still, Hyūga Hiashi's daughter is truly outstanding. Maybe we should let Naruto go win her over and bring her home as a bride."
Kushina stroked her chin thoughtfully, as if seriously considering the idea.
"Don't get your hopes up." Fugaku glanced at Yoru and chuckled helplessly.
"Aside from Hiashi, the only person that girl is close to is Yoru-sama. With everyone else, she keeps the same polite but distant attitude."
"I even tried getting Sasuke to win her over—he never had a chance!"
"Seems like our Mizukage takes very good care of his disciple," Kushina teased.
Seeing her beloved son again after so long—and seeing how happy and carefree his life was now—filled her heart with joy as a mother.
But something seemed to cross her mind. The smile on her face faded gradually, and her tone turned serious as she lowered her voice toward Yoru:
"What's the status of that soul inside Naruto?"
"Hmm?" Fugaku's expression stiffened.
He looked between Yoru and Kushina, eyes wide as if he'd just overheard something unbelievable.
Naruto… has a soul sealed inside him?
What the hell are they talking about?!
"I told you before," Yoru said calmly, "Naruto has a special soul sealed inside him—what you'd call a 'Karma mark'. It was implanted at birth. Even I can't extract it."
"All I can do is use gentle influence over time to reduce its chakra's erosion."
"But… the good news is, it's working."
Yoru looked at Naruto and Sasuke below, who were just fighting to the point of bleeding, and now had their arms around each other's shoulders, walking away like good buddies. He explained
"The Karma within Naruto is slowly thawing, but it hasn't significantly affected his consciousness."
"Thanks to the boost from my spiritual power, his situation is far better than I originally feared."
A hint of relief bloomed on Kushina's face.
"So… Naruto is still Naruto?"
"Exactly. As long as he continues growing at this pace, the Karma won't invade his mind—it'll become a source of power instead, a key that will open the door to a strength beyond Kage-level."
"That's all I care about. As long as he's safe…"
Kushina's voice trembled slightly, her eyes misting with emotion.
"Power or not, I just want him to live peacefully."
"I don't fully understand what's going on," Fugaku said softly, "but it seems things are heading in the right direction."
Over the years of caring for Naruto, Fugaku had grown genuinely attached. As the son of a hero—and the child of his wife's dearest friend—he had embraced Naruto as family.
But he never imagined that, on top of being a Jinchūriki, Naruto also carried such a dangerous hidden soul.
Thank the gods, everything seemed stable.
Kushina nodded solemnly at his reassurance.
"Yes. I believe Naruto and Sasuke will both be fine."
"Yeah… Wait—Naruto and Sasuke?!"
Fugaku suddenly froze, his eyes widening in alarm. His Mangekyō Sharingan even activated instinctively.
"Don't tell me… Sasuke too?!"
"You didn't know?" Yoru raised an eyebrow, then laughed in realization.
"Ah, that's my bad. I forgot to tell you—just like Naruto, Sasuke also carries the reincarnated soul left behind by the Sage of Six Paths. In fact, it's the older brother of the one sealed in Naruto."
You've got to be kidding me.
Something that important, and you forgot to mention it?!
Fugaku looked absolutely stricken.
"Then Sasuke…?"
"He's going through the same soul fusion process as Naruto," Yoru replied calmly.
"With my spiritual power keeping them stable, they'll both be fine. In fact, if this continues, they'll be able to fully integrate that power—and break through their limits."
"Good… that's good…"
Despite Yoru's words, worry lingered in Fugaku's eyes.
Having another person's soul hidden inside your body—just thinking about it was deeply unsettling.
If it weren't Yoru himself saying all this, he wouldn't have believed a word.
He looked at Sasuke again and whispered internally, over and over, trying to convince himself:
Trust Yoru. Trust Sasuke. He'll be okay.
Only after several silent repetitions did Fugaku manage to calm his nerves.
With his mind finally settled, Fugaku hurried home to see Sasuke.
Since Kushina had finally returned after so long, she wanted to spend time with Naruto too. She disguised herself as a distant relative of the Uzumaki clan so she could stay near him and make up for lost time.
Yoru didn't stop her.
But in truth, the situation with Naruto and Sasuke wasn't nearly as simple as he had claimed.
The Sage of Six Paths had used some truly absurd techniques.
The souls of Asura and Indra had long since fused with chakra. From the moment Naruto and Sasuke were born, those souls had merged into their bodies.
Even with Yoru's spiritual power stabilizing them, no one could say for certain:
Are Naruto and Sasuke still themselves?
Or are they becoming Asura and Indra?
All Yoru could do was suppress the Sage's lingering influence and monitor the fused chakra of Asura and Indra.
"The intensity of their chakra spiked today during that sparring match…"
"So, this is what you were waiting for, huh? Waiting for their power to fully awaken."
Yoru's expression turned unreadable.
A quiet chuckle escaped his lips.
"Fine.
Let's wait and see…
See what kind of ending you're hoping for."
...
Amegakure, on a mountain behind the village.
Looking at the excited Hiruko in the distance, who was constantly commanding the outer members of the Akatsuki to move various instruments, the expression under Obito's spiral mask was strangely eerie.
After two and a half years of planning, Hiruko had finally gathered all the sacrifices he needed to become the ultimate shinobi.
With all the conditions met, Hiruko was no longer willing to wait for the arrival of celestial alignments or natural phenomena. With the permission of the leader, Nagato, Hiruko resolutely began his path to godhood!
The terrain of the mountain behind the village was wide. With the modification of Earth Release ninjutsu, the empty space was transformed into a ten-meter-high altar.
The altar was littered with strange equipment. On either side stood five execution racks.
Four of them held living, sealed ninja.
These four were elite Kekkei Genkai users, handpicked by Hiruko:
Dark Release (Meiton)
Steel Release (Kōton)
Magnet Release (Jiton)
Sharingan
Originally, Hiruko wanted to fuse with Deidara, who had the Explosion Release Kekkei Genkai. But because of Deidara's outstanding talent and suitable age, combined with his madness for art, Pain saw his potential and took him from Hiruko.
Hiruko couldn't argue, so he had to settle for the indestructible Steel Release.
Adding his own Swift Release that he had fused with long ago, he had a total of five Kekkei Genkai!
Black Zetsu looked at the excited Hiruko and asked Obito beside him: "Do you think he can succeed?"
Obito glanced at him but didn't answer.
As the creator and a deep researcher of the technique, if Hiruko failed, it would definitely be a huge blow to Obito.
This path to godhood ritual today was not only the most important event of Hiruko's life, but also a rehearsal for Obito's future 'path to godhood ritual'!
If this ritual succeeded, then Obito would have great confidence in his own ritual.
But if this ritual failed...
Then Obito would analyze every detail of this ritual—to identify the flaws and perfect his own version.
Zetsu noticed Obito's silence and narrowed eyes locked on the altar.
A raspy chuckle escaped him.
"Nagato's getting more twisted by the day. You should've used him as your sacrifice when you had the chance."
"Nagato, huh…"
The name pulled Obito out of his thoughts.
From above, a red-haired boy descended slowly—expression emotionless, eyes dull.
Obito narrowed his gaze as he watched Nagato float down toward the altar.
He hadn't expected this.
After his injuries healed, Nagato would forcibly absorb the natural energy of the world, fuse it with the chakra in his body, and try to create his own Sage Mode.
And the most crucial thing was that he succeeded!
The boost of Sage Mode was undoubtedly terrifying; it could even be said to be a doubled increase.
But after learning Sage Mode, Nagato no longer showed the stance of a god who would punish the soul-devouring Yuki Yoru for his evil.
It seemed he had become more reserved, and a part of him seemed to have been subdued by Yuki Yoru's power.
But Obito knew better.
Behind those Rinnegan eyes, hidden in their abyssal depths, was pure, barely-contained madness.
Nagato descended from the sky and landed directly on the altar. He asked Hiruko: "How are the ritual preparations?"
"Everything is ready. All we need is a chakra source."
Hiruko bowed slightly, flashing a toady smile.
"Everything is ready. All we need is a chakra source," Hiruko said, looking at Nagato in a somewhat fawning manner. He lowered his voice: "I used Madara-sama's dark chakra methods to condense a portion of dark chakra, but to complete the entire ritual, I'm afraid I'll need help from you, leader, and the rest of the organization members."
The 'Bloodline Fusion' required a huge amount of chakra to support it. In the original story, to solve this problem, Hiruko came up with the clever idea of moving the ritual site to the top of a mountain and using the power of the stars.
But in this world, Hiruko had completed the collection of Kekkei Genkai ninja early on, and his desire for power had become so strong that he couldn't wait any longer.
Using the method of dark chakra concentration that Hiruko had obtained from Obito, he condensed a portion of dark chakra. But compared to the entire ritual, it was still not enough. Therefore, Hiruko had to seek Nagato's help.
Nagato's expression was indifferent. He nodded slightly: "Don't worry. I have already had them all come. You don't have to worry about the chakra."
Although the current Akatsuki was still small, Nagato himself—now a Sage Mode user with a Sage Body—possessed chakra reserves that rivaled the Jinchūriki.
He alone was more than enough.
Upon hearing this, Hiruko was overjoyed.
If the chakra problem could be solved, he would have a ninety percent chance of success with this ritual!
Nagato glanced at Obito and Zetsu in the distance and said calmly: "When do you plan to start?"
"We can start anytime!"
"Then let's begin."
Nagato waved his hand, voice calm.
"Let's see what you're made of, Hiruko.
If you succeed, I'll give you command of all mission departments—both in Akatsuki and Amegakure."
"Yes, Leader!"
Hiruko excitedly went up to the altar. After commanding the outer members of the Akatsuki to activate the instruments one by one, he sat in the center of the altar, put his hands together, and began to concentrate chakra.
One by one, the current Akatsuki members arrived at the altar:
Konan, Shinno, Sasori—even Deidara, still a trainee, followed Sasori in.
"A ritual to devour a Kekkei Genkai, huh? It looks like an incredible piece of art!"
Looking at Hiruko, who was sitting on the altar with his eyes closed, building something up, Deidara showed no sign of fear or dread. Instead, he seemed excited and eager.
However, after seeing the four sacrifices, Deidara sneered and made a direct judgment: "What a pity. Art without the fusion of Explosion Release is incomplete art. Mm!"
"Eternal art is the only true art," Sasori cut in coolly.
"You kidding me, Sasori-senpai?
True art is a fleeting aesthetic, mm! The beauty of a single moment..."
BOOM!
The surging chakra abruptly interrupted Deidara's argument about art. The center of the altar was enveloped in vast chakra, and it even burst forth with a dazzling light, causing a hurricane-like airflow.
The immense pressure attracted everyone's attention.
Hiruko, at the center of the ritual, suddenly opened his eyes and let out a cold shout. A cluster of eerie, purple, clay-like fleshy buds instantly surged from his body!
This was the special kind of Chimera he had meticulously researched!
At the same time, as Hiruko summoned the chimeras, the surging chakra airflow also woke the four people on the altar from their genjutsu.
But before they could figure out what was happening, the chimeras on Hiruko's body, like octopus tentacles or a giant python devouring its prey, wrapped around all four of them!
With the four people's terror, the onlookers' surprise, and Hiruko's excitement and madness.
The devouring ritual, the journey to godhood.
Had officially begun!