(No more Boruto characters appear after this!!!)
Past memories surfaced vividly before Nagato's eyes. The scenes of meeting his ancestor replayed again and again, as if they had happened only yesterday.
Yes… how could such overwhelming, invincible power come without cost?
And that cost could only be life itself.
From their very first encounter, this ancestor had revealed that there were still other Uzumaki alive in the world. He had healed Nagato's crippled legs at the expense of his own life force. And now, he was once again prepared to sacrifice himself, simply to grant Nagato greater strength against this terrible foe.
"Ancestor!" Nagato's voice cracked, tears streaming uncontrollably down his face. His hoarse cry rang with despair. "Don't!"
"Don't weep, Nagato. Don't grieve for me. My sacrifice is not meaningless."
"Open your eyes wide, and look carefully at the enemy before you."
"There are many like him—perhaps in a few years, perhaps in a decade—they will descend upon this world again."
"Never forget our ideals. Never forget the beliefs we have yet to fulfill."
"And lastly… take care of my descendant, Uzumaki Naruto. He is one of the very few clansmen you still have in this world."
"Farewell, my descendant."
"Farewell, Nagato."
With those words, Naruto fell silent. Nagato and the rest of the Akatsuki were shaken to their cores by his declaration.
Meanwhile, inside the sealed space, Kurama was practically rolling on the floor with laughter. His jaws stretched nearly to his ears.
"Stupid brat! Aren't you afraid that when the Rinnegan kid learns the truth, he'll come back to settle accounts with you?"
Naruto simply shrugged.
"This is for their own good. They need motivation. Otherwise, they won't even have the qualifications to intervene in future battles."
Then he turned to Kakarot.
"Sensei, I haven't personally mastered it yet… but in this state, I should be able to borrow that power, right?"
Kakarot replied gravely:
"You'd better think carefully. You haven't properly learned it yet. If you force that technique out now, even with your body, you'll be bedridden for a while. Even without it, you could easily finish him."
Yes—it was usable, but unnecessary.
Naruto thought otherwise.
"I want to know just how powerful that technique really is. At the very least, I need to accustom myself to it early."
Kakarot nodded.
"Very well."
"Kaio-ken!"
In the next instant, the golden aura surrounding Naruto turned into a blazing crimson flame.
His strength doubled again.
Facing Isshiki, Naruto struck an unmistakably classic pose. A white sphere of light gathered in his palms.
"Ha-me… Ha-me…"
"HA!!!"
"Wh-why?!" Isshiki shock in alarm. "Why can't I absorb this power?!"
But he had no time for answers. His body was obliterated, not even a trace left behind, swallowed whole by the terrifying energy wave.
"Ancestor!!!"
Nagato's anguished cry echoed as the underground world was engulfed in blinding white light.
Silence fell.
Three days later, Naruto lay in the medical corps' ward, his body wrapped entirely in bandages, looking thoroughly disgruntled. Hinata sat at his bedside, caring for him with the grace of a Yamato nadeshiko.
He had known the Kaio-ken carried severe aftereffects, an enormous strain on the body. What he hadn't expected was just how terrifying the price of using it forcefully would be.
Even with his regenerative ability, it had taken three whole days before he could barely move again.
It made sense, though. Even young Goku's recovery had been monstrous, yet when he used Kaio-ken as an adult, he still ended up bedridden afterward.
(Back during the battle against Vegeta on Earth, Goku forced out a four-times Kaio-ken—and spent nearly a month in the hospital afterward.)
Several times Naruto had been tempted to eat the lone senzu bean he possessed. But each time, he resisted.
There was only one bean. Once eaten, it was gone for good.
Creak.
The infirmary door opened. Sasuke and Neji walked in.
When they saw Naruto trussed up like a rice dumpling, they tried to keep their faces straight—but their shaking shoulders betrayed them.
Schadenfreude, in its purest form.
"You've really outdone yourself this time, Brother Asura," Sasuke finally snorted, bursting into laughter.
Ever since the Itachi affair, calling him that had come more and more naturally.
Neji added dryly, "I hate to admit it, but it's rare to see you like this, Naruto."
Naruto, unfazed, shrugged. "It couldn't be helped. I forced out power far beyond my current limits. A few more days in bed and I'll be fine—my Yang Release will take care of the rest."
A week later, Naruto was discharged. His body still ached faintly, but nothing serious remained.
Three months later—
In just that short span, the ninja world had changed completely.
After the battle with Isshiki, the Cloud Village suffered devastating losses among its elites. Even their supposedly invincible Raikage had been reduced to one of Sasori's puppets. The village never recovered.
Ōnoki, having somehow caught wind of this, tore up the peace treaty and launched war against the Cloud.
The ninja world, so briefly at peace, was plunged back toward chaos.
But before war could truly erupt, a god descended. With a single hand, he crushed the entire Iwa army as if swatting flies, ending the conflict in an instant.
He called himself the "Embodiment of God." His name: Pain.
Survivors of the battle recounted in awe: even the two Iwa jinchūriki were defeated with just one hand. Even the Tsuchikage himself could not match him.
It was clear—Nagato had fully mastered the Otsutsuki power within the Kāma.
With such strength, he truly deserved the title "god of this world."
Pain then visited the Mist and Cloud with the same overwhelming might. Both villages were "persuaded" into submission.
Thus, peace returned to the shinobi world.
But the god's movements did not end there. With Pain's rise, the Akatsuki emerged openly at last.
Its core consisted of ten members, each boasting power beyond the Five Kage.
Under the banner of "The Light of Dawn, Ambassadors of Peace," they declared their mission: to safeguard peace across the shinobi world.
Many passionate young shinobi joined them as outer members.
As for Black Zetsu and Obito, they had seemingly vanished. Nowhere to be found, as though erased from the world entirely.
Naruto estimated it would take until his sensory range covered the entire planet before he could hunt them down.
Yet the changes did not stop.
A month ago, the Daimyō of Fire and the Daimyō of Wind made a joint announcement—
They would aid in the restoration of the Uzumaki nation.
Not on the ruins of the old homeland, but in the former site of Konoha.
The announcement shook the world like a thunderclap.
Every eye turned toward Konoha.
But Konoha was no longer the Konoha of old. Despite the world's gaze, it remained firmly closed off. No matter how many spies tried to infiltrate, it was impossible to glean any information.
And the man behind it all, Naruto, had already turned his sights elsewhere.
"Naruto, we've got word from that place you asked us to investigate."
"The ruins of Rōran—Dragon Vein!"
Even mere Otsutsuki aren't worthy of a rice cooker.
Now I understand the horror of Boruto. It's the graveyard of empires.
Nearly lost my sanity over all those dropped subscriptions.