In a dimension made of black cubes with red-trimmed edges, a throne stood against a wall built from stacked, interlocking shapes. A man with long black hair tied back in a ponytail sat upon it, one arm braced against the armrest. In his other hand he cradled a glass of the finest crystal. The dark-red liquid inside swayed lazily as he studied the shadows around him. His dark, penetrating eyes stared ahead, lost in thought.
"Humanity," he mused slowly, as if tasting the word. "Weak, short-lived… yet stubborn creatures. I'm flattered, though. A pitiful, ordinary world, and yet it managed to surprise me again?"
He closed his eyes, and his thoughts drifted back to where it all began.
The vessel he currently occupied introduced itself, when necessary, as Jigen.
To the eye, an ordinary man. Tall, pale-skinned. Unremarkable, save for the diamond mark below his lower lip and the circular black seal on his abdomen. This body was already approaching a thousand years old, and from the moment of its taking, it had not aged a single day.
Otsutsuki Isshiki. That was the name of the one who had claimed the vessel. He'd had no choice at the time; his own body had been split in two by one of his own clanswomen. She had fed the lower half to the God-Tree to cultivate a defective chakra fruit from part of the planet's energy.
Originally, they had arrived together to plant a Shinju seed on Earth. According to Otsutsuki clan doctrine, it was the woman who was to offer herself to the grown tree, for she stood lower in rank. All for the sake of a perfect fruit: the distilled essence of a planet's life and genes.
But Kaguya had her own ideas about that.
The upper half of the wounded Isshiki managed to escape. By chance, he came upon a temple and, within it, a tall, pale-skinned monk.
The Kokugan, the eye in Isshiki's left socket, held the power to shrink objects. Ordinarily only inanimate ones, though the owner himself was the exception. In a moment of critical weakness, when his strength was barely enough to keep him alive, Isshiki shrank himself and crawled through the monk's ear into his brain. Gradually, over time, he bent the body to his will.
That was how he found a vessel. An imperfect one.
Otsutsuki possess a special seal, Karma, that allows them to be reborn even after death. For a long while, he absorbed nutrients while residing inside the monk Jigen's skull, until he had gathered enough strength to inscribe it upon the vessel he had found.
This fuin, however, could not be placed on just any living being. No, synchronization was required. Without it, the creature marked by Karma would die. Though, of course, with certain additional variables, exceptions could always be found. Isshiki managed to place Karma on the monk, even though the man's body lacked full synchronization. The key lay in the fact that it was an incomplete Karma that had been inscribed, one that transferred only a portion of the alien's genome, as the human body in question could not withstand the full might of an Otsutsuki. Were he to attempt a full revival through Karma into Jigen's body, the vessel would hold for two days at most before tearing itself apart.
Back then, millennia ago, the logical move for Isshiki would have been to seek out a suitable vessel and be reborn in his full form. But vessels were not so easily found. Though he had tried no small number of times over the years, he eventually set aside the search for a while among the weak genes. That is to say, among humans.
He knew what had become of Kaguya, who had betrayed him. She had been preparing for the arrival of other clan members, and along the way had borne children by humans. Those children inherited a fragment of the Otsutsuki genome.
In his weakened state, Isshiki lacked the power to face her direct descendants head-on. So he chose the long game: allow humanity to develop to the point where a proper vessel could be cultivated from among them. That would require deep genetic work, a level the civilization was nowhere near capable of yet. The other option was simply to wait for a fortunate convergence of genes. But that, too, demanded time.
Isshiki was in no particular hurry. And rather than sit idle, he occupied himself with a second project, no less vital to the fulfillment of his mission.
After a long recovery, through the power of Karma, Isshiki reclaimed his ability to perform spatial jutsu. And by opening a portal into a special dimension once used by five other Otsutsuki, he conducted his experiments within it.
His goal was the cultivation of a God-Tree. A Ten-Tails, in miniature. The dimension lacked the energy for a full one, but even this would be sufficient given enough patience.
Following the mechanism his clan had long since perfected, he planted a new seed grown from his own chakra.
When the Juubi matured, Isshiki would find a suitable vessel and inscribe Karma upon it. Then he would feed Jigen's body, already well on its way to becoming an Otsutsuki body, to the beast he had raised. And, reborn in a new vessel, he would consume the Earth's chakra fruit once the God-Tree had devoured all life from this planet.
Everything was proceeding according to plan. It was simply a matter of time.
Occasionally, to break the monotony, he would travel and wander the Earth for a while. He rarely found anything of interest.
The gene pool kept drowning in wars. The most notable curiosity, perhaps, was the second-rate offshoots, fragments of the former, imperfect Juubi. These miserable imitations were little different in Isshiki's eyes from the rest. Yes, their chakra was considerably greater, but utterly useless. The Otsutsuki confirmed this to his own satisfaction when the natives went and sealed the lesser tailed beasts away.
Centuries passed. Isshiki's Juubi slowly gathered strength. Two to three decades remained before the fruit would ripen.
And then something unexpected happened.
During one of his visits to Earth, Isshiki noticed something troubling: half the energy of the most powerful of their so-called "Bijuu" had simply vanished. The suspicion triggered a faint tension within him. Using a spatial jutsu, he effortlessly extracted gold from the treasury of some minor ruler and paid a group of ninja for reconnaissance.
The answers they brought back provoked one of his rare flashes of irritation.
These underdeveloped creatures had actually managed to seal a portion of a Bijuu into some dimension they called "the stomach of the Death God."
What did they know of true gods? It was an act of senseless blasphemy.
The fact remained, however, that even his razor-sharp sensory abilities could not detect the missing energy, as though it had ceased to exist. The Bijuu had vanished from every dimension accessible to his perception, as if erased from the face of creation.
Even so, Isshiki soon suppressed the anger. Against the full potential of the planet, half the energy of one tailed beast amounted to no great loss. He returned to his plans, focusing on the Juubi and the forthcoming chakra fruit.
But his calm didn't last long.
Barely a decade later, he visited Earth again and found that yet another Bijuu had vanished. This time, even his impeccable self-control showed cracks.
Now acting on instinct, Isshiki went personally to the location where the anomaly had first occurred. But when he drew close to the village, he, to his own astonishment, sensed the missing Bijuu once more.
Some young gene… human had not only managed to seal two Bijuu within himself simultaneously, but had also concealed the chakra of one of them at a substantial distance from him. From an Otsutsuki.
He observed this specimen for a while, noting clear deviations from the norm. The possibility that someone sufficiently talented by birth had ended up in sufficiently favorable conditions for that talent to flourish had, to the Otsutsuki's surprise, actually occurred in this world. Humanity had set foot on the path toward making itself into something far higher than what it was. Of course, this specimen bore little resemblance to a Heavenly Being; it fell vastly short. But the sheer fact that humans were capable of reaching such heights gave Isshiki a quiet satisfaction. A little more time, and the search for a suitable vessel in this world would become considerably easier. This was excellent news, because it meant he might not have to wait very long after the Shinju's formation was complete.
And so, having noted the promising gene in his memory, he began visiting the human world more frequently.
His next reason for a display of emotion came far sooner than he had expected.
A matter of mere months, and another Bijuu had vanished from his senses…
This pulled Isshiki out of his composed observation. At first, he considered it unnecessary to investigate personally, and so once again enlisted shinobi for reconnaissance. But after hearing the details about some kind of god, he decided, with considerable skepticism, to verify things himself.
Proceeding with caution, the man chose not to approach close enough to see with his own eyes. Instead, using methods particular to his clan, he connected to the sage chakra permeating the entire Earth and, experiencing in the process the burning hatred of the one who had sealed her will within the Juubi that had once walked this planet, managed to conduct a careful survey. The pain was worth it…
The gene he had noted in his memory. That human. He had made another leap. One vessel, three tailed beasts. This meant only one thing: the genes of this mortal were strong enough to bear such a devastating burden.
Without question, that person was no god. He didn't even approach the strength of a main-branch Otsutsuki. But with his own power limited as it was, Isshiki was glad he had not come to meet him unprepared. Because after the gene's last power leap, it was far from certain that the alien, in his current vessel, could even escape if their encounter went badly. Who knew what ace might be hidden up the sleeve of, apparently, the greatest genius humanity had ever produced?
And at the same time, he could not afford to let him slip away. This person's body, given its resilience, could possess a high natural affinity for Karma. Perhaps if not the man himself, then his descendants could fully accommodate an Otsutsuki. And so Isshiki, who had yet to find a suitable candidate after all this time, simply could not allow himself to lose this one.
Taking stock of the young man's genetic potential, he understood: his current vessel would not survive a direct confrontation with such an opponent. But that did not mean abandoning the idea. The Otsutsuki had always been a pragmatist; he preferred to minimize effort wherever possible. Simple diplomacy could resolve the problem. With his knowledge of humans, he knew they craved gold and their worthless scraps of paper. If necessary, it would be no trouble at all for Isshiki to procure a large quantity of either to get what he wanted.
As always, the Otsutsuki's plans included contingencies. Should diplomacy fail, Isshiki intended to ensure that the potential partner, or enemy, would find it impossible to refuse.
Jigen's body gave the faintest shudder as his thoughts returned to the present.
He rose smoothly, leaving the glass balanced on the armrest. Then, without any visible effect, he shifted from one space to another.
The Kokugan could not only alter the size of matter; it could transfer it, along with its owner, into its own dimension. That was precisely where he had been until he decided to step out into the external world. Into one of the buildings that belonged to him on Earth.
Of course, not having been fully reborn within Jigen, the latter's body lacked that particular eye, as well as the other one belonging to the Otsutsuki: the Byakugan. Yet even while dwelling as a small parasite inside the human, Isshiki granted his imperfect vessel the ability to perform jutsu… But this time, he chose to make use of one of Karma's capabilities instead:
Before Jigen, a black vortex materialized in the air in an instant, its depths flickering with crimson light. The mesmerizing sight produced a low hum that rolled through the room.
Unhurried, the Otsutsuki stepped forward.
The sensation of the transfer was instantaneous. And then Jigen was met with a sight that was breathtaking and terrifying in equal measure.
Grey cliffs stretched upward like the petrified aftermath of a battle between titans. The sky overhead, painted in an ominous violet, pulsed with energy.
Jigen arrived on a large platform flanked by several walls. But what held his attention was what lay below.
Beneath the elevated structure, riddled with openings, sprawled an enormous, unnatural creature. Radiating chakra of staggering intensity, it trembled with fury and the desperate desire to devour the one who had appeared before it.
Jigen, drifting through the air, descended calmly toward the massive, beige monstrosity. It fixed him with a single colossal crimson eye adorned with concentric rings, three tomoe glinting on each of the first two.
Before him loomed the Juubi. Far from its true form as it was, even in this state its power eclipsed any of the Bijuu of Earth. It was substantially stronger, in fact, than the one whose might Kaguya had once consumed.
"R-R-R-AAAAH!!!" A primordial roar tore from the beast's throat, rolling like peals of thunder.
"It is not yet time to devour me," Jigen's deep, commanding voice answered.
"R-r-r-r-r…"
"I ask your forgiveness, but I need to borrow your energy."
Jigen raised his hand toward the Bijuu. Dark tattoos spread from the limb across his entire body, lines resembling the rays of a sun but asymmetrical, imperfect. Karma granted more than physical enhancement and access to spatial jutsu. It also allowed the absorption of chakra.
A crimson radiance stretched from the Juubi's body toward the man as a dense torrent of energy poured into Jigen. As the chakra filled him, the vessel's body began to change. A horn grew from above his brow, curling around the back of his head until its tip rose above the other side of his skull.
When the flow reached its limit, it cut off abruptly. Only a tenth of the Juubi's former chakra remained.
"Don't worry," Jigen's voice dropped to something close to a whisper. "I'll return it soon. If not all of it, then the greater part."
The moment he finished speaking, a new rift opened in the air. The man vanished, leaving the monster to howl in impotent rage.
The beast had been created to devour the Otsutsuki. But today, it was fated only to snarl in helplessness, its purpose still unfulfilled.
Uzumaki Naruto's POV
"Greetings. You're not exactly the most expected guest here," I said, looking into the face of an ordinary-looking man with a ponytail and white garments.
"My apologies for the lack of formalities. I come uninvited," he replied with measured courtesy, before casting a brief glance at my hand, where the seals of the One-Tail and Three-Tails rested. "My name is Jigen."
"May I ask what compelled you to make such a long journey?"
A chill tried to creep down my spine, but I smothered it through sheer willpower. Having… something like that in close proximity couldn't not set me on edge.
But whatever the case, I wasn't a barbarian, and since he wasn't attacking, I had no objection to a conversation.
"Long?" He tilted his head ever so slightly, while a flicker of mild suspicion passed through the chakra background he wasn't particularly trying to conceal. "I need something from you, Naruto. Consider it a business proposition."
"Is that so… I'm listening." My eyes narrowed just a fraction as I turned over what I might be offered. Takeover of a neighboring world? Assistance in devouring this one? Help locating the local Otsutsuki, who had probably not shown her face in her clan for the better part of a thousand years? All of that was genuinely intriguing, though it fit poorly into my own plans. Still, I couldn't deny the proposition might be something else entirely, perhaps even mutually beneficial. So we continue… "But before you make it, how about we relocate somewhere more fitting than a plain street?"
"I was simply waiting for the opportunity," Jigen nodded, and then his body began to be covered by tattoos overflowing with the chakra residing inside his head.
Before I could ask anything, he extended his arm to the side, and in its direction a spatial rift several meters in diameter tore open. The silence of the world, broken until then only by two voices and gusts of wind, filled for a time with a low hum.
"After you."
Somewhere in the wilderness. A small, elongated house in the Land of Valleys. The only one for kilometers in any direction.
We sat at a long table of dark wood, in a bare but well-appointed room decorated in shades of green. Apart from the table, a pair of throne-like chairs, and an ornate chandelier, there was nothing else.
"Would you care for some wine?" Leaning back, he made a casual wave of his hand, and the aforementioned appeared on the table, along with a pair of glasses.
"No, I don't drink alcohol. Perhaps you have something sweet?"
He looked me over, then nodded.
A moment later I was sipping hot chocolate, listening to the propositions of a very well-prepared entity. In the fashion of one particular island nation, we dispensed with prolonged preamble; a matter of seconds, not minutes, was all it took to get to the point.
"I won't conceal it. It's been some time since you first captured my interest. I even indulged myself with a passing observation," he swirled his glass of wine.
"…" Nothing in my expression or my energies gave it away, but his words sat very poorly with me. So I'd failed to detect a creature stronger than all the Bijuu combined? On the other hand… Was I supposed to take his admitting this as genuine candor? Or as a deliberate signal that his capabilities exceeded mine?
"I was struck by the existence of someone as talented as yourself. You possess certain qualities you may not even be aware of. They interest me, which is why I'm prepared to make a generous offer."
"I'd imagine," I took my turn to look him over. An Otsutsuki… Authoritative, meticulous, and monstrously powerful. Someone of his capabilities could do a great deal, which meant he could offer a great deal too. "With someone like you, I'm sure we can reach an agreement, provided both sides walk away with something. So, what is it you want?"
"I need your biological material." With a click of his fingers, a small plastic container appeared in front of me.
I nearly choked on my drink the moment I recognized the item. After which a cascade of suspicions began to take root.
"He wants… my hair?" I ventured, going with the least alarming interpretation.
Jigen paused for a beat, then clicked his fingers once more, placing before me, for good measure, the local equivalent of Playboy, a magazine with naked women.
"(._.)… (-_-)…"
And here he'd been sitting so businesslike. Couldn't he have found a slightly more tactful way to frame this kind of request?
"…Do you see something inappropriate in my actions?" he asked with genuine puzzlement, then took another small sip of his red drink.
And there he sits, perfectly at ease, as though everything is entirely fine. Then again, from the perspective of a being who may not have probed particularly deeply into the nuances of human social interaction, perhaps it genuinely seemed that way to him.
"Hm?… No… probably," I blinked, having already settled on a definitive answer. Still, I was curious. "Would you care to explain what the material is for?"
"Eugenics. My aim is to cultivate the closest possible approximation to an ideal shinobi."
"Refreshingly direct…"
"I see no point in dishonesty. So, what figure were you thinking?" His eyelids dropped just slightly in anticipation.
Apparently my question had been taken as consent.
"You know… I think I'll decline your offer, however generous it may be. My genes are my own secret."
And genuinely, what was he planning to do with them? Possibly something of benefit to the world at large, but I seriously doubted it. On top of that, an Otsutsuki was an alien whose entire species was in the business of consuming planetary gene pools, and studying mine could reveal some vulnerability in me. With that advantage in hand, he could do absolutely anything he pleased… Right now, speaking with me, he was unsure he could oppose me without taking losses. So why had he come to talk at all? Surely not out of some predatory sense of courtesy?
He shifted his position, moving the glass to his other hand.
"I can offer something greater than money."
"…" I raised my eyebrows slightly, prompting him to hurry up.
"Power… and immortality," his voice dropped even lower on the last word. But I merely let one eyebrow slide down in condescension while the other climbed a fraction higher.
"By what means?" "You can offer me what I already have," I decided not to finish the thought aloud.
"Kara is an organization I will found and lead. Its plan is simple in its grandeur. We will cultivate the Divine Tree, a being that will absorb all the chakra of this world and produce the Fruit. That Fruit is the key to immortality and power beyond your comprehension. But executing this plan requires a vessel. The Divine Tree needs a sacrifice with particular genes in order to yield the Fruit. And to receive those genes, a body with an exceptional genetic foundation is required… I believe someone of your capabilities would have no trouble creating a clone from DNA that we modify. In this way, we create the perfect instrument."
"And you're proposing to share part of the Fruit?"
"Precisely…" And in his chakra background, in the faintest, most barely distinguishable of notes, there rang out unmistakable dishonesty.
Well. What else was I supposed to expect from a creature like this?
"…Yeah, that would be very tempting for many people," my face went blank as the warmth left my eyes entirely, replaced by something cold as steel. "But not for me. Is this really just a parasite from the Otsutsuki clan wanting to devour yet another planet?"
At my words, his gaze filled with what appeared to be sincere regret, and he closed his eyes.
"A pity… You were among those who advanced the technologies of this world so remarkably far. But you are not the only one. I'm certain that in time, a small piece of your body will suffice…"
Neither of us had made any move with energy while he spoke. The moment he finished, I immediately drew chakra from the outside world, flooding my body with power. From "Jigen," chakra surged upward in a flash, and through a spatial rift torn open above the building, a massive, tapered column came hurtling straight down at me.
Teleportation, and I watched the small negotiation house acquire an unscheduled hole with a crash.
"Fast. But not fast enough," the surprised thought flashed through my mind as I thrust out my hand and immediately fired an Adamantine Chain from it.
The air exploded as an object moving at multiples of the speed of sound tore through it. And then, with some surprise, I watched my technique tear apart the body of Jigen, who had already gotten back to his feet…
The lone building, already damaged, immediately folded in on itself under the shockwave chasing after my technique.
"Overestimated him?"
No. When I yanked the chain back, beneath the rubble, far faster than before, chakra ignited at the destroyed body's location, and a spatial distortion swept it away.
"Where is he?" The Mangekyo lit up in my eye sockets instantly as I scanned in every direction. Who knew where he might have instantly regenerated and gone to ground, waiting for a blindside strike.
But nothing remained, only the residual traces of spent chakra. Closing the distance quickly, I swept the collapsed building aside with a gesture and began to analyze, working to pick up a trail. An enemy like this couldn't be left alive.
Less than two seconds in, I had analyzed part of some very faint properties… after which I had cause to be quietly grateful I'd devoted only part of my attention to it…
Through my senses, a flash of something microscopic: one directly in front of my head, several more at my chest. An instant later, in those exact locations, black chakra-saturated stakes materialized at impossible speed. I managed to intercept with my hands only the one aimed at my head and the one driving toward the center of my chakra core, while my chest announced their arrival with a crunch, acquiring several deeply embedded new additions.
"Now that's fast!" the thought tore through my mind. "Even the toads' sage chakra didn't block it…"
"Remarkable reflexes…"
The same deep voice, behind me, but I managed to slip away with a spatial technique before several more stakes could find purchase in my body. They pulsed painfully, sowing chaos through my energy system. But thanks to the "crutch" in my eyes, I managed to execute the technique fast enough.
Without pause, my body, using those same eyes, dissolved into energy, letting the stakes fall clear, then reassembled itself completely whole. Izanagi, though it cost a considerable amount of chakra given the "weight" of my body, put me back in fighting shape in an instant.
"But it's not just the resilience and the chakra… I was wrong," he continued speaking even as he pressed his attempts to skewer me with sharp stakes. "You've forced me to be reborn in this worthless vessel. But you've also let me confirm that you are an excellent candidate for the next one. A complete Otsutsuki, whose destiny is to be consumed by the tree. To be reborn, and become something greater…"
"There's a lot more contempt in your tone now," I said, sidestepping another volley of stakes with a spatial technique.
As I evaded, I moved steadily upward, ensuring our exchange wouldn't catch anyone below in the crossfire… even if the nearest people were several kilometers away.
My opponent, capable of flight himself, followed. Compared to his first attempt at an attack, he was now substantially faster, substantially more treacherous. Those stakes masked their own chakra exquisitely and existed at a scale nearly impossible to track, only expanding to full size at the moment when dodging was nearly out of reach. It took time to adjust, to begin anticipating their appearance and acting preemptively, and it demanded the lion's share of my attention.
During one such evasion, I got a proper look at the one who had reappeared. He was now bare-chested, his near-white skin covered in black tomoe and other markings, wearing a white coat with a high collar and violet trim. His long hair had become a short, segmented style, grey, matched by a grey beard. A horn had grown from his head, while his right eye glowed yellow with some unknown dojutsu I had never encountered, and his left held a Byakugan. Through all of his attacks he still held his glass of wine, and had taken another sip at some point during it all.
"Don't you want to introduce yourself again?" I asked with genuine curiosity, preserving what remained of our performative courtesy.
No answer came immediately. Only another surge of chakra rolled through my senses, as directly above me, something opened. An enormous black cube with pulsing crimson outlines. It wrapped itself in waves of distortion that made reality appear to shudder, losing definition. That wave nearly neutralized my teleportation, forcing me to immediately flood my leg with a far coarser chakra structure to attack.
The limb connected with a heavy impact, and the world around us shook from the explosive collision, after which I slipped away via teleportation to watch two more cubes snap shut on where I had been while the first one shattered into fragments.
"Otsutsuki Isshiki." The name resonated through the air like an echo, and behind his back something materialized that set my nerves even more on edge: an entire constellation of black cubes, each one pouring out waves of destabilizing chakra, submerging everything around them in chaos.
They moved with sharp, erratic motions around their summoner, refusing any semblance of order, cutting off every convenient approach to him.
"Well, then. Now that introductions are out of the way, I suppose we can take this to the next level," I said, and felt a grin spread across my face.
Those cubes were a serious problem. My strike shouldn't have recoiled against me at all, but the destabilizing aura had managed to crack my defenses enough to send the shockwave back through me. And yes, this creature likely had more cards yet to play. But he could still be matched…
He had already shown part of what he could do. As, for that matter, had I.
But we had yet to show our full power!
_____
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