Nineteen years.
It took that long.
Not to gain power—
But to awaken what was already mine.
I stood in silence.
Just outside the Temple of the Oracle.
The air felt different here.
Heavy.
Sacred.
Inside—
Heracles faced his fate.
Madness.
Blood.
Regret.
And now—
A prophecy that would bind him to the path of the Twelve Labours.
"…Irrelevant."
My focus was elsewhere.
Within.
For years—
I had felt it.
A presence.
Dormant.
Watching.
Waiting.
My father's chakra.
Not separate.
Not sealed.
Connected.
It flowed through my network—
But never fully merged.
Until now.
I closed my eyes.
And guided it.
Slowly.
Carefully.
This wasn't something you rushed.
Not power like this.
Because this—
Was the chakra of Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki.
The Sage of Six Paths.
The origin.
The foundation of everything.
At first—
It resisted.
Not violently.
But naturally.
Two forces.
Similar—
Yet not identical.
My chakra.
His chakra.
"…Synchronize."
I exhaled slowly.
Yin.
Yang.
Balance.
The principles he himself had mastered.
And I—
Inherited.
The fusion began.
Not explosive.
Not dramatic.
But overwhelming.
My body trembled.
Not from weakness—
But from the sheer density of power flooding through me.
Every cell reacted.
Every pathway expanded.
Every limit—
Shattered.
"…So this is it."
My eyes snapped open.
The Rinnegan pulsed.
Deeper.
Sharper.
More complete.
The world changed.
Again.
This time—
Even more profoundly.
I could see the structure of reality itself.
Chakra wasn't just energy anymore.
It was creation.
Form.
Concept.
Existence.
Yin-Yang Release responded instinctively.
More stable.
More refined.
More absolute.
Kurama's voice echoed faintly—
but even he sounded different now.
…This chakra…
I didn't respond.
Because I understood.
This wasn't just an increase.
It was evolution.
My reserves—
Skyrocketed.
No—
That wasn't the right word.
They transformed.
Dense.
Vast.
Endless.
Like a calm ocean hiding immeasurable depth.
Techniques that once required caution—
Now felt effortless.
The Rinnegan?
Stable.
Natural.
As if it had always belonged active.
I raised a hand slowly.
Black chakra formed.
Then white.
Yin.
Yang.
They merged seamlessly.
No instability.
No backlash.
Perfect harmony.
"…Creation of All Things."
The technique lingered in my mind.
Clearer now.
Closer.
Not yet fully mastered—
But no longer out of reach.
Not anymore.
I exhaled.
And the pressure—
Vanished.
Not because it lessened—
But because I had adapted to it.
Completely.
Outside—
The world continued.
Inside the temple—
Heracles received his burden.
Twelve Labours.
Twelve trials.
A path to redemption.
A path to legend.
"…Good for him."
But I had my own path.
And it didn't involve servitude.
Or redemption.
Only—
Ascension.
I stepped forward slightly.
The ground beneath my feet barely reacted.
My presence—
Contained.
Controlled.
Because if I let it out—
This entire region would feel it.
Gods included.
And I wasn't ready for that.
Not yet.
"…Soon."
A faint smile formed on my face.
Because now—
I had reached a new threshold.
Not just Kage level.
Not just beyond it.
Something else entirely.
Something closer to—
Divinity.
Lightning flickered faintly around me—
instinctive now.
Space itself bent slightly.
Yin-Yang chakra flowed effortlessly.
Everything—
Was aligned.
And for the first time—
I felt it clearly.
There were very few beings left in this world—
Who could challenge me.
Very few—
Who could even understand me.
I turned slightly.
The temple doors remained closed.
Heracles' story had begun.
Mine?
Was just reaching its turning point.
"…Let's see what this world has to offer."
And with that—
I vanished.
Not with speed.
Not with movement.
But with something far more absolute.
Space itself simply—
Let me go.