Splash.
The waters of the Naka River, carrying shattered debris and muddy ruin, flowed onward into the distance.
Inside the barrier.
But the moment Uchiha Ren saw the scene before him, he froze in place.
What lay here was far more brutal than anything the original story had ever shown.
The air was thick with the stench of blood and burnt flesh.
Ten meters away, Minato Namikaze lay on his side.
His abdomen had been torn open into a massive wound.
Yet the exposed cross-section wasn't flesh and blood—it was some kind of crystallized chakra!
Nearby, Kushina's chest had been pierced through by the Nine-Tails' claw, leaving a gaping hole that seeped a sticky, crimson mist of light.
That red mist condensed in midair, forming a thin veil like gauze.
Beneath it, Naruto—who should have been wailing—slept soundly, wrapped in a pale golden chakra swaddle.
Father or mother…
Each of them was loving Naruto in their own way.
Uchiha Ren suddenly understood why, in the original story, Naruto never fell into darkness despite being treated the way he was.
Instead, he became the village's great hero.
Maybe some things really were in the blood—something you simply couldn't change.
If it were him?
He'd tear Konoha apart and grind it into dust.
So yeah… that's why he wasn't the protagonist.
He shook his head and started forward.
Minato Namikaze was the god of what an ordinary person could achieve through effort.
One of the very few in the Naruto world who rose to near–Six Paths-level strength without leaning on bloodline inheritance.
As Ren approached Minato's clothes—still faintly warm—his vision was instantly flooded with dazzling trait light!
[Contacting target: Minato Namikaze (Deceased)]
[Plunderable traits: Flying Thunder God Technique (Gold), Rasengan Flash Super Rotation Roar—Third Form (Gold), Dead Demon Consuming Seal (Black), Sealing Techniques (Purple), Sage Mode (Gold)…]
Golden traits flared like solar prominences. Among them, Flying Thunder God Technique shone brightest, dyeing the surrounding blood mist into molten gold!
And drifting beside them, the black trait—Dead Demon Consuming Seal—exuded a terrifying violet-black haze.
It felt like staring at it even once would have your soul ripped away.
"So this is… the pinnacle time-space ninjutsu from canon…"
He murmured, then hesitated, conflicted.
"System… what if I touch something I don't want?"
[Corpse trait plunder cooldown: 365 days.]
[Living target trait copy cooldown: 7 days.]
Seeing that, Ren's face darkened immediately.
"A year? How is that any different from a permanent cooldown?"
"I'm a fresh account—don't nerf me, System!"
These traits… he wanted all of them except Dead Demon Consuming Seal.
As for Dead Demon Consuming Seal…
If he plundered it, then activated his golden body while using it…
After becoming light, could the Shinigami even pull out his soul?
When the system didn't respond, he stopped hesitating. With his left hand he gripped the Flying Thunder God kunai engraved with the formula, and with his right he pressed down on Minato Namikaze.
Looting the Hokage's corpse—start!
Drip.
Drip.
Thirty seconds passed in the blink of an eye.
[Plundered Legendary Trait: Flying Thunder God Technique (Gold) Lv.1 — Can instantly move between objects marked with formulas (30 meters). Each teleport consumes 100 chakra.]
[Feed ninjutsu to increase Flying Thunder God level, extend teleport distance, and reduce chakra consumption.]
A scalable time-space ninjutsu?
Unexpected… yet also perfectly reasonable.
After all, Minato used Flying Thunder God even more smoothly than its creator, Tobirama.
Without changing posture, Ren lifted his hand and reached toward Kushina.
Splash!
But the instant his hand touched her, something strange happened!
The Adamantine Sealing Chains at Kushina's abdomen suddenly surged upward!
It looked like a technique meant to prevent the body from being violated.
Bang!
"Figures. Even dead, Little Pepper doesn't let anyone mess with her."
Ren shook his small head. His two-and-a-half-year-old body carried an almost absurd steadiness.
Then, raising his hand into the moonlight, he spoke plainly:
"Golden Body—activate!"
Buzz, buzz.
In the next second, golden aura wrapped around him under the moonlight.
His body turned into sunlight once again.
And the sealing chains whipped through empty air.
After waiting a moment to make sure nothing else reacted, he finally touched her again.
[Contacting target: Kushina Uzumaki (Deceased)]
[Plunderable traits: Chakra Tank (Gold), Four Red Yang Formation (Purple), Sealing Affinity (Blue), Nine-Tails Power · Pseudo (Purple), Great Strength (White)…]
Compared to Minato, Kushina's traits were weaker, but every single one was still top-tier.
Especially chakra capacity!
As one of the few remaining members of the Uzumaki clan, her chakra reserves were unmatched across the shinobi world.
No one wouldn't be tempted.
Especially a certain "fifty-fifty" guy dragged down by his bloodline eye…
Naturally, Ren was tempted too.
And he was even more tempted by the Nine-Tails power behind it!
Even if it wasn't the real thing—his traits could level up.
Feed it for a few years and who knew? It might even surpass the original.
Drip.
Thirty seconds passed quickly.
[Obtained Rare Trait: Adamantine Sealing Chains · Incomplete (Purple) — Can summon three chakra chains to bind an opponent. Effect is doubled against tailed beasts.]
"Adamantine Sealing Chains… Not bad."
Ren wasn't disappointed.
Sure, it wasn't Chakra Tank or Nine-Tails power, but he already had invincibility, invisibility, and teleportation—and now he'd added a binding tool on top of it.
His methods were more than diverse enough.
And it was beyond what he'd expected to achieve tonight.
He took a deep breath, then turned to the blond infant between them.
"Whew… next is you, Naruto."
Crack.
But the moment he tried to reach for Naruto, the Four Red Yang Formation above suddenly surged—forcefully activated!
Tap, tap, tap.
Amid the footsteps, the end of a smoking pipe slowly appeared at the center of Ren's vision.
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