Location: Unknown.
On a serene and expansive plain, where the grass swayed in gentle undulations like waves on a calm sea, three figures sat in a circle, forming a tranquil tableau against the backdrop of endless green.
At the heart of the circle sat a young man with hair as white as freshly fallen snow, his eyes reflecting the wisdom of countless lifetimes. Beside him, a young woman emanating an aura of grace and tranquility. And nestled between them, a little girl with wispy strands of silver adorning her head, her eyes sparkling with innocence and curiosity.
The forest hummed with life around them, birds chirping melodiously overhead and a nearby brook murmuring a soothing lullaby as it meandered through the underbrush. Shafts of golden sunlight filtered through the canopy, dappling the ground with patches of warmth.
In this serene setting, the three companions sat in peaceful silence, their eyes closed in quiet contemplation.
As the gentle breeze brushed against their skin, carrying with it the sweet fragrance of wildflowers, a sense of harmony washed over them, binding their souls together in a timeless moment of unity and peace.
"So…you're trying to tell me that…you felt father's presence?" The young man asked as he opened his eyes.
"Mm-hmm." The little girl nodded innocently with a bit of excitement.
As for the graceful young woman, she merely wore a smile that didn't express anything. Of the three, she didn't bear any familiarity with this father of theirs, hence her lack of reaction.
"Then is it that time already?" The young man murmured. "And my main body isn't even here."
"Humph. I'll be mad if you bring your main body here. Father said you're too strong to step into this place yet." The young girl harrumphed coldly as she glared at the man.
"Yes, yes, I know. Wouldn't want to destroy your home, now would I?" The young man said with a chuckle, instantly however, his expression changed as he looked to a direction with a confused look.
"What's the matter, brother?" The young woman asked and looked over too, but didn't see anything worth his reaction.
"Something's coming…Perhaps…it's father?" He replied and squinted his eyes.
The young girl however immediately giggled in excitement and began jumping on the spot while clapping her hands. "He's here. He's here. Papa's here."
As soon as she said that, a beautifully adorned door manifested a couple meters away from them.
The door shook slightly before a Portal formed in it. As the trio watched, three figures stepped out of the portal, a man and two women, however their attention was solely on the man.
"Papa!" Like a cannonball, the little girl shot towards the trio at speeds that seemed to break the sound barrier.
The man however, simply caught her middle air before spinning her around and bringing her to a hug. "I missed you too Eien, but what did I tell you about controlling yourself?"
"Eien missed you more papa and Eien controlled herself lots." The little girl said
"Oh? Did you now?" The man asked and Eien nodded giddily.
"Fen-nii-san is the one who doesn't control himself in my body." The girl smartly snitched on her brother while diverting the attention from herself.
"Oh? Fenrir is here? When did he get back?" The man asked with a smile to match his daughter's mischievous one. "And is that you, Feathers? Wow, you grew into one beautiful young lady didn't you?"
"Humph, I've always been a beautiful young lady Father, you just didn't care to know." The woman snorted and looked away. And as you may have guessed, she was the beautiful swan that once followed Shun around.
"Hehehe, I don't doubt it. How can someone with my genes not be beautiful? It's like a blasphemy against nature itself." The man said and then looked at Eien. "And you've made massive improvements in your Law manipulation."
"Of course. Eien is a genius." Eien said with a smug look that didn't fit her stature.
The two women who came in with the man, now identified as Shun, were flabbergasted at the conversation between the four, but remembering who Shun claimed to be, they began making sense of it.
"Oh? Is that your Fenrir?" Another female voice sounded from behind the portal as three women and a man walked out.
"Hmm? This voice…Nami-chan? You're still alive?" Fenrir asked, sounding confused, "And Nagi too. What the hell? Did you two become weird like pops over there too?"
"Who are you calling weird you little beast? I'll have you know that I detest that word." Shun glared at the young man but he casually waved him off.
"The hell? What level of disrespect am I receiving from these brats?" He muttered to himself. Kimizu and Tsunade heard him but didn't particularly know how to console him.
Eien however hugged his head and said. "Eien loves papa the most."
"Aww! Papa loves Eien the most."
"Uh-uh. Eien loves papa the most."
"Nah. I love you the mostest."
"No! Mostest is not a word. Papa's cheating."
"How can Papa cheat? I'm God. If I say mostest is a word, then it's a word. And I love Eien the mostest." Shun said defiantly.
"Eh..? Then…then…Eien loves papa the moster."
"Hehehe, moster is less than mostest, so I win."
As the two squabble between themselves, the other Kages stepped through the portal too, but unlike Kimizu, Tsunade and Mei, they weren't protected from the Spatial Force, leading to them feeling discomfort.
Obito however, didn't have an issue which was normal since the guy was already a Space Force user…
"So pops?"
"Hmm?" Shun turned to Izanagi.
"Why'd you bring us here?"
"Oh, where are my manners? Eien-chan?"
"Hmm?"
"Can you bring us all home?"
"Hmm. But Eien does not know these people. These two feel familiar but not the rest." Eein replied.
"I know. They're Papa's guests. As for those two, they're your elder brother and sister I told you about. Izanagi and Izanami."
"Oh… The ones that treat Papa badly?"
"Exactly."
"Humph. Eien does not like bad brother and sister." She said and looked away from the two.
"You little brat…" Izanami said as she walked towards Shun and Eien. "Now listen here…"
However, before she could finish, she was forced to her knees all of a sudden much to the shock of those who understood what that meant.
"Now now, Eien, that's your big sister. Remember what I said? No fighting in the family."
"Eh? But bad sister looked scary. Eien no like scary things." Eien said with a frightened look.
"Alright, let her go. Your big sister has a superiority complex. It's what comes with being at the top for so long. Don't be like her alright?" Shun admonished and Eien nodded.
The pressure on Izanami disappeared and immediately, she jumped backwards and glared at Shun. "Father, what-"
"Oh? So now I'm your father?" Shun asked with a smirk. "Come, there's so much you all need to know."
Shun the added. "And you two, at your age I was already creating Living beings. As my children, you're pretty much an embarrassment. Don't spoil your image further in front of your two ignorant siblings."
As Shun said that, his tone shifted from his former carefree tone to one of disappointment. It was obvious that, despite not caring how his children treated him, he was disappointed in how they behaved.
"Now Eien, we shouldn't keep our guests waiting for long." Shun said and Eien nodded.
Suddenly, space shifted and the group were in front of a castle that floated atop the clouds.
"Wow. I love what you did with the place Eien." Shun said in admiration. "At least one of you inherited my taste in aesthetics."
Shun said and walked towards the door, and sensing his presence, the door sprang open allowing him to enter. "Don't stand out there too much. Eien doesn't particularly like idiots."
And like puppets being controlled strings, the group walked into the castle and appeared in what looked like a throne room.
To the Shinobis, the sight that greeted them was the sight of a room that seemed to be carved from the very essence of creation itself. Of course they didn't know what it meant to be carved out of the essence of creation, but still…
The walls whispered secrets of the world while the air hummed with the resonance of celestial harmonies. At the center of the chamber, towering like a monolith of power and majesty, stood the throne.
Crafted from normal metals but held a Divine presence. It gleamed with an otherworldly luminescence, its designs told tales of creation and destruction, of galaxies born and stars extinguished.
Around the throne, pillars of ethereal light rose to meet the heavens, their surfaces adorned with inscriptions in languages that they couldn't decipher..
Each step upon the gleaming marble floor echoed with the weight of eternity, as if time itself bowed in reverence to the grandeur of the space.
Above, a vaulted ceiling stretched into infinity, adorned with constellations that pulsed with the energy of a thousand suns. Streams of radiant light poured through stained glass windows, casting kaleidoscopic patterns upon the floor below.
"Wow…you…really outdid yourself Eien. How did you come…. how?" Shun couldn't really understand how Eien, who hadn't really been to worlds or seen anything related to this before could come up with this.
"Hehehe. Eien read all the books left in the Library of Heaven as Mother's were always there in the past. In the end, I thought this was the fitting throne room for Papa." Eien said with an even smugger face.
"Wow…Not even I…My former throne room was…Wow." Shun said, genuinely speechless.
"Back when Papa created me, I was only supposed to be a moving vehicle in space, but as I evolved I thought I could be more." Eien said and then looked at Shun worriedly.
"No. I knew you could be more, but…this…Last I was here, we were just talking about the law of the Endless right?"
"Yeah, and as a genius that I am, it opened the doors to other Laws. I then evolved and became an ever expanding world. In a would Eras, I could become a Universe too." Eien said with pride seeing as Shun wasn't averse to her evolution.
"That's wonderful. Truly amazing. Wow. Now that's what I'd expect from a child of mine. Of you five, Fenrir and Eien have made me proud. Tell me, what reward would you like?" Shun said causing the faces of Nami and Nagi to contort, but Nagi was less affected than Nami as he looked at Mei and smiled.
"I would like papa not to leave Eien again." Eien immediately replied.
"I would-"
"Not you Fenrir. You're a grown ass man. Get the things you want yourself." Shun immediately shut Fenrir down.
"Hey!"
"As for your request, Eien, would you give papa a bit more time? I promise that after this battle, I'll never leave you again. In fact, our entire family will explore the vast expanse of space outside this Universe."
"Is that a promise?"
"It is."
The sky within the throne room rumbled causing Shun to smile further. "Looks like you're making use of your authorities to their full potential."
"Hehehe, I'm my father's child after all."
As she said that, both she and Shun burst out laughing in the same manner that made Tsunade remember her grandfather.
Whenever they gambled and lost, they would both laugh in the same manner.
"Now then…" Shun said and turned to the group. "Make yourself at home."
"Uh…" the group of Shinobis looked at the seats and pillars extending to the heavens with perplexed looks.
Despite their status, standing in front of Shun and his family, they had long thrown away any form of arrogance that came with their status.
"Shun…those chairs aren't meant for humans to sit, but giants." Kimizu said, pointing at the pillars.
"Uh…Eien, can you change the appearance of the room to the way I made it in the past?" Shun asked. "and make another throne for me. I doubt I can power up this world now anyways."
"You don't have to worry about that Papa. I can regulate the flow of energy in the world without having you sit on your throne."
"That's great." Shun said, smiling even more.
…
"So…What do you all think about this World?" Shun asked as he casually ate from the buffet or fruits arranged on the table in front of them.
"By this world, you mean this world or our world?"
"Oh, pardon me..I meant our world. The Shinobi world." Shun corrected himself.
"There's a lot of ways to describe it. I doubt our answers are what you actually seek." Tsunade said.
"How wise of you Tsuna-chan." Shun said and then turned to the three oldest humans in the room. "Tell me, Nagi, Nami and Tsume. Having lived for so long, what do you think of the world and humanity in general."
(A/N: I've forgotten the name of that student he trained, so I'll be calling her Tsume.)
"Ah. I thought you forgot about me, Sensei." Tsume asked with a wronged look.
"Oh? So you do remember I'm your Sensei?" Shun asked back with an even more wronged expression. "Now isn't the time. We'll talk later. Answer the question."
"Uh…I think the world has a lot of space for improvement. As for humanity, I think they're beautiful." Izanagi replied.
"Hmm. And you Nami?" Shun asked.
"They are a bunch of irredeemable fools. But as the Kages once said in retaliation to this kid, I think they are interesting. As for the world…I don't think I want to part with it yet."
"Hmm. Tsume?"
"I don't know what to say. I've never really cared about them since Hashirama and Madara achieved their form of peace. You always taught me that humans were an unreasonable species and I got to learn that the hard way after Hashirama's death." Tsume began.
"Not even a year passed since his death and the humans all sought to wage wars and kill each other for stupid and vain reasons."
"Is that why you left with Nami?"
"Hmm. She promised me a word free from violence and unnecessary bloodshed." Tsume replied.
"Did you get that? The unnecessary bloodshed."
"Hmm."
"But you're nigh-immortal. How did you feel with the death of those around you? Is that the same as Death?"
"That's a natural death. In the land we created, no one dies from illness, or any form of violence death." Nami replied this time around.
"I see. And you?" Shun asked, looking at Obito. "You want to create a whole new world. Why? Is this world not enough?"
"..." Obito remained silent for a good while before he said. "This world…is filled with nothing but pain. No matter what we do, it all leads to suffering and futility."
"Haha. What a nice one. I remember saying the exact same thing to Hashirama and Madara in one of my Reincarnation. I told them: Wherever there is light, there will be darkness. As far as war continues, pain, suffering and futility will become a norm."
"Tell me, does that sound familiar?"
"..." Obito merely nodded.
"That's not true. There's more than just that in the world. The world is beautiful. We can fight for peace. In peace, there can be love, happiness, hope and so much more." Mei exclaimed, causing all eyes to turn to her.
"..." a palpable silence fell on the room as all eyes were turned to her.
"I don't doubt you one bit. But you see, as I said earlier, wherever there is light, there will be darkness lurking behind. Look at that kid." Shun said and pointed to Obito…
"Can you possibly fathom how much he had lost?" Shun asked Mei.
"You grew up in the Terumi clan in the Blood mist era. You had passion. You had something that drew this numbskull to you. I don't doubt your words, but words alone don't cut it." Shun said and tapped his forehead before pointing to the air in front of them.
"Watch…"
A video began playing with the early life of Madara and his siblings. The group watched how the cheerful kid that was Madara lost his siblings one by one until only one remained.
They watched as he met with Hashirama who also bore the same pain. The watcher the two bond together, trained together, became friends and even brothers who peed together.
They watched them say their dream of making a world without war. A world where their little siblings could live in peace without the fear of war.
They watched as Hashirama promised to turn the former lush forest into the village it became today.
That was until the day the snitching incident occurred.
They watched as the two were forced to separate and how they clashed in the battlefield on numerous occasions till the day Tobirama killed his little brother Izuna.
"If you were in his situation, would you forgive the one person who killed your little brother? The one person you swore to protect?" Shun asked everyone in the room. "You even called a Kage summit for a brother not related to you by blood. Now imagine his pain…"
Shun said, looking at the Raikage.
They watched the final battle between Hashirama and Madara where Hashirama begged the fallen Madara to stop this madness that was war.
They watched Madara give Hashirama an ultimatum which Hashirama gladly accepted. As he was about to plunge the Kunai into his own gut, Madara stopped him…and so, the peace treaty that formed the Leaf Village was formed.
They continued the watch as the bow Leaf Villager, Instead of accepting the Uchihas, looked at them in scorn and fear…
That was where the video stopped.
"Now you tell me, Terumi Mei…To an individual such as him, would words like hope, happiness and love mean anything?" Shun asked the woman who was rendered speechless as he gazed at Obito who was clenching his fists.
"Shu- Uncle…did that really happen?"
"No human is born bad…" Shun said and snapped his finger and created a little human soul. "The human soul when formed is as pure as the purest gem in the world, but as it grows…the experiences of the world turns it into what it will become in the long run."
"Madara, or rather, the Uchiha clan should be the purest clan to have been born in this World, unfortunately, the enmity Indra formed against Ashura all those years ago led to what the world is now." Shun said.
"So…the world is messed up because of your brothers?" Gaara asked slowly, causing everyone in the room to look at him incredulously.
"Unfortunately, yes. But that's only because of an entity." Shun replied.
"There is a being who has existed since the battle against the Ten-Tails. Pops…Hagoromo, the Sage of Six Paths, oblivious to this entity, went around spreading chakra. This angered this being so much that he schemed against Indra who was much more emotional than his brother Ashura who was so simple minded." Shun said and created a scene of him holding a blurry figure in a chokehold.
"What is that? Why can't we see it?"
"Because not even I can remember it?" Shun shrugged. There was no way he was going to be revealing Zetsu's identity this early.
"It is the incarnation of the Ten-Tails. As long as chakra exists, it will never die."
"Incarnation of the Ten-Tails?"
"Hmm. While you might think the Ten-Tails is a mindless beast, it was the opposite. The Ten-Tails is a very sentient beast sent to this world to harvest it." Shun said.
"Harvest?"
"Hmm, think of them as…World Eaters. They all start up as a smile seed, then like any other plant, they grow, but while a normal plant feeds off the energy in the soil…this one…"
"Feeds of the world's energy?" Ohnoki finished.
"Hmm. Seems like your old age didn't get to you entirely."
"You're older than I am…" Ohnoki mumbled to himself.
"The dwarf is right. Unfortunately for the world though, the Sage animals found out too late. By the time Gamamaru found out and told the Sage about it, it was already too late."
"Gamamaru?" The Kages asked.
"Hmm." Shun brought out the image of a relatively small toad talking to a younger him, later, he brought out the image of the older Gamamaru.
"He's still alive?"
"Hmm, the Sage animals are the true owners of this world, if you look at it from another perspective." Shun said and brought out images of different animals.
"They once inhabited this world, but with the arrival of the Ten-Tails, they were forced to leave. The current Three Sage lands are part of the ones that stayed behind."
"The snakes of the Ryuchi Cave were once a subordinate clan of the dragons. Unfortunately, they were left behind." Shun said before snapping away the pictures.
"This incarnation, in a bid to recover its chakra and deal damage to Hagoromo who had his chakra within him, poisoned Indra's mind." Shun said.
"But you killed it right?"
"Nah. I only sealed it away, but similar to chakra, what would happen if I had my chakra in any one of you?" Shun asked.
"You could kill us."
"Place us in a Genjutsu."
"Control us."
The Kages replied, and as they did, realization began to dawn on them.
"It's good you all understand. So should he deem you important, you will become his pawn in achieving its goal, which is…"
"The Ten-Tails revival."
This time, it was Obito who answered, causing everyone to look at him.
"So you're being manipulated?" Ohnoki snorted. "So much for the great Madara."
"At least he's strong and important enough to be manipulated. Doesn't that mean we're all useless to him?" Tsunade said in defense of Madara.
After watching the video of Madara's life, she couldn't help but feel that, if everything went well, wouldn't Madara have become one of her granduncles?
"But why weren't you used?" Mei asked a very important question as she looked at Shun.
"Good question, here's your answer." Shun snapped his finger and showed the scene of him opening his gates and achieving Godhood.
"What the Ten-Tails feeds on is natural energy, that means, chakra is a diluted form of Natural Energy, or Senjutsu Chakra as it is known now." Shun said.
"All I had to do was absorb Natural Energy while washing away my chakra. In so doing, I achieved a state similar to the Sage of Six Paths, but that was only the beginning." Shun said as his evolution ended with his appearance changing to the one they recognised from the earlier video.
"Back then, together with my wife, we created a system of power. Using that thing over there…" Shun said pointing to a steel on the side.
"We created a ranking system of power depending on how many chakra units you have." Shun said.
"1 unit -100 units were for children who newly awakened their chakra."
"100 units - 1000 units, we called the QI refinement stage."
"1000 units - 10,000 units , we called the foundation establishment."
"10,000 units - 100,000 units, we call the core formation."
"100,000 units - 1,000,000, we call it the Core Condensation."
"1,000,000 units - 10,000,000, we called the Golden Core."
"And finally, 10,000,000 units - 100,000,000 units, we called the nascent soul."
Looking at the faces of everyone in the room, shun smiled and continued. "Of course after we left the world, we came across an ever more mind boggling level of power that ranked up to the God Emperor stage of 1 billion chakra units."
"This…what level of power is that?"
"The power to sunder reality apart." Shun said with a smirk.
"As of then, the Ten Tails was merely in the mid-stages of the Nascent soul with the Sage and his brother being in the early stages. When he became the Sage though, he reached the Peak of nascent soul."
"And you? Pops, which stage were you before you left?"
"I and your mothers were all in the peak Gold Core. Though I was able to fight your grandpas to a tie if I wanted."
"Oh?"
"Hm. Like Fenrir there, I had control over certain laws so…" Shun shrugged and then said. "Anyways. You all saw the sight of me destroying what looked like an entire civilization of God's right?"
Everyone in the room nodded and Shun continued. "I couldn't care less how this Fourth War plays out. In fact, I would appreciate it if Madara here could reach the stage of the Sage."
"Why is that?"
"Coz like my prophecy, those motherfuckers will be arriving here shortly." Shun dropped a bomb on the group.
"What!?"
"What does that mean?"
"We can't possibly fight against those people,"
"Of course you can't. In fact, you'd all be gazed into oblivion by any foot soldier they send." Shun said with a snort.
"If it was in my time, I would say there was hope. Why? Because back then, people with 100,000+ chakra units were everywhere. Now? Adding together you Kages and my Diamond ranker, we barely have 20."
"How about you?" Mei
"Me? I'm stuck on the Million Rank." Shun winked at the woman. "Same with your man and those two."
"Only a million?" Tsunade asked in confusion.
"Yeah. I put that restriction as I left the planet. What? You want people above the million rank to walk in here whenever they want? How would you lot who barely reach the hundred thousand hope to match them?" Shun looked at the Kages in disdain.
Looking at Tsunade though, he smiled and said. "You on the other hand have far surpassed that rank and have even surpassed most of my Diamond Rankers."
Tsunade blushed and looked proud before snorting and looking away.
"Orochimaru, Jiraiya, Hiruko, Madara, Keshiro and most of my current Captains all surpass Diamond rank. All others though…other than Ohnoki, the rest are barely reaching the middle stages."
"So what's the plan?"
"Nothing. I'm just going to watch the fourth Shinobi world war play out till that entity makes his move."
"I recommend you all form a united Shinobi alliance or something to battle Madara's army, coz I'll be helping him."
"What?"
"Uncle!?"
"Hmm? What's the matter?" Shun asked.
"How can you be helping the enemy?"
"Enemy? Please. I only see a child trying to achieve his dreams. Nagi, Nami, what did I always say about dreams?"
"That no matter what, we shouldn't hinder a human trying to prove a point."
"Exactly. He wants to prove a point. Every Effect has a Cause. It's the Law of Karma. The World gave birth to this Man named Madara. Whether he's right or wrong, it's left to the world to decide."
"What? How can the world decide? We are the world,"
"Exactly. Look at Eien here. She is this world. When she finally decides to create living beings, those living beings become her and she's them. They're the world and the world is them."
"What does that even mean?"
"I don't expect you to understand. Just know that the world is round, what goes around comes around. And you, Madara (Obito), although you strayed from your path, I don't blame you. Reach the end of your journey. And then…we'll see again." Shun said to Obito.
While he called out Madara, Obito heard his name, however he wasn't that shocked. If Shun already knew about Madara, why wouldn't he know about him.
"Lemme send you on your way. Eien?" Shun said and looked at the little girl on his lap.
"Hmm." She nodded and a portal appeared behind Obito.
Giving him a nod, Shun watched as Obito left the world.
"Of my two brothers, I loved Indra the most. Seeing his reincarnation…" Shun muttered before shaking his head.
"Well then, I'll leave you all with your alliance. Kaito…you'll join the battle with the village." Shun ordered.
"I understand." Kaito nodded, not daring to defile his ancestor.
"Kimizu, I believe it's about time we had a talk." Shun said and then looked at Tsunade. "You grew up well. Although you misbehaved midway, you still grew up well. I'm sure your grandparents would be proud."
Saying that, he disappeared alongside his family leaving the six Kages with their guards.