Despite the less than presentable state I was in, Jiraiya's vivacious spirit could still put a smile on my face. This is a disaster; no words can describe how quickly things had gone out of my control. I have been running myself ragged trying to remediate things on my own, but whether I am a god on not, even my power has limits.
Nobody can turn back the Wheel of Samsara.
Death the absolute principle of the world.
I can certainly manipulate the scales and throw my weight around, maybe even direct the process, but to truly undo it is impossible.
That is why life should be something precious. It should be beautiful. Curses and blessings are fundamentally the same thing, so life owe to be at least as great as it is transient.
It should be worthwhile.
It will be worthwhile. I am going to make it.
Even If I have to seize said Wheel with my own hands and set its course straight.
That is Justice. The balance of the scales.
Ever since I awoke these eyes, my face cannot turn itself from injustice. I can't lie to myself like I once could that the world is simple the way it is. Too complicated and harsh for me to do anything about. That is why even while in the throes of fear something inside of me kept pushing forward, demanding me to stand up and fight. Fight for what I actually believed. Fight not to destroy but mend the world.
That is why despite the horrible circumstances involved in this meeting I am happy to face Jiraiya. That is what a proper person should look like, instead of monsters it has birthed for so long.
"Now, Jiraiya. This is your grand entrance on our stage. Can't you do a little better introduction of it? We are dealing with the epic of the ages here." I answer to his casual introduction by leaning my face over the back of my hand, completely relaxed in my throne.
"Jiraiya-chan?" The elder toads turn to their charge when he suddenly still at my declaration. "I am not exactly in my best face at the moment, though." Jiraiya answers while palming his frogged face.
"That just put us in even footing then. This isn't exactly my Sunday's best either. Regardless, when fate calls, the actors have to capitulate. That is all."
For a single frozen moment Jiraiya was utterly frozen on his spot as fear seized his heart. So, he is somewhat aware of it, at the very least. Some kind of soothsayer among the frog summons, perhaps?
"Going rather strong here, Aoko-chan. A guy might easily run away if you start talking about fate in their first meeting." He covers it expertly, as always, but the damage has been done.
"I really do hate to be the one that has to do thing to you Jiraiya, but this is how things are. This was even beyond my power to prevent. The day you have dreaded your entire life has finally arrived. This is Fate, no way around it. I am not the kind of person that ever let my enemies quarrel outside my own terms, my own frame. Yet here we are after facing each other due to a waterfall of unlikely coincidences. Myself at the limit of my mental and physical endurance, bonded and restrained by circumstances beyond my control with the added restriction of needing to go easy on you do to the critical information you hold by some fluke of the dice… and you, the minuscule possibility of change,
bearer of mighty fate,
An Star of Change!"
I flare the Rikugan to life, the shards of Heaven driving the point across by themselves. The Divine Eye 「the Comprehension of the Empyrean Eye」 allow me to see principle that governs cause and effect. Nothing about this meeting make sense, the Heavens don't seem to take kindly of upstarts such as myself. So be it, I will make my own luck.
At my casual display, Jiraiya old companions look one foot on the grave already. Color draining from their face as they face for the first time in their life un questionable
Truth. The man though is resolute, whatever he actually knows about his fate was validated by my merciless judgement.
"Jiraiya-chan, this is beyond us! You have to scape, whatever it takes!" The granny frog screams in Jiraiya's ears with frantic panic, the gramps frog follow suit, "No way! You heard it, this is a battle for the very fate of the world and we are here for the long hall. Precisely because that woman is invincible is that we must fight!"
The old toad couple started to bicker back and forth in a frenzy. I really put the man in a tight spot. Even so I let them rant, the exit tunnel has already been completely blocked by Qliphoth branches. Anyone that tried force their way here would be tore apart the countless curses from its countless Mangekyō Sharingan eyes.
Whatever design has architected this fight, I don't care. I have an agenda of my own, as I always had. I am catching this bull by the horn. Every crisis in my life so far has being turned into a chance, this is a trend I have no interest in breaking up.
"Aoko, Touko, Megumi… what even are you really?" Jiraiya finally cuts in, his turmoil has not settled but his mind is in the right track, at the very least.
"So, you really did notice after all… that is a really complicated question too, loaded even for me. What am I, and why have I been born into this world?" as I talk the old couple look uncertainly among themselves. They probable were expecting something different, but in the end of the day the legacy of Ninshun is something even high-level shinobi are prone to engage in… that the strongest are especially likely to engage into, actually.
The outcome of this battle will be decided by words as much as action. Standard affair, really.
I kept going, "for all that those questions have pursuing people since the dawn of time, the answer is always the same anyway. I was born into this world because I was wanted, just like everybody else."
"… I am afraid I don't follow."
"It's ok, you shinobi never do. To you, chakra is a hammer and the entire world a nail, you can never scratch past the surface. It is a fundamental binding force that connect everyone to everything. All actions and decision one take will me merrowed in their chakra, which open the window to endless possibilities."
"So that is how you can affirm with surety there are no coincidences, then?"
"More or less? Things are always happening anyway. But that is not what is important right now. The answer to you question lies in that direction. Ever since the Sage of the Sixth Paths died Ninshun has been under turmoil due to a crisis of succession between his two heirs. Their very essence has become a memetic curse that has been transmitted to their descendants throughout the generations. This is possible due to fact people's consciousnesses are tied together by chakra, and as these bonds are strongest among family members then even a "shared cognition" can be implanted. As long as the hatred exists then history is cursed to beat to the same old rhythm… the past is never over, it is not even really the past. Just old grudges hidden behind new faces."
Jiraiya has his eyes closed at this news, as if he was unraveling a puzzle in his mind. "And I guess you are the very same thing, some kind of refutation to it?"
"Precisely, no matter how overwhelming, human spirit is not so easily tame. Even by the cruelest of designs. There will always be those that reject the fiercest and, in those places, the unlikeliest possibilities take shake. Like yourself, insignificant yet profound. Kotaro Shimura and Tsubasa Uchiha silent toiled their entire life against this design and through their actions managed to engineer a single sparkle of revolution that now flares as star."
"How? What make are you so especial?"
"The Sage of Six Paths bore the Samsara eyes, with it he could contemplate the inner workings of all the hidden worlds. The Sharingan is an off-shot from it, based on the Four Noble Truths of the nature of Samsara and the
Kleshas [Poison/Unwholesome Root] that are rooted in all
Dukkha ("
suffering"). The eyes mirror the suffering of its bear back to the surface, like a horror house of mirrors, the greater the suffering and understanding of poison the stronger the Sharingan gets… I could go further, like how each new tomoe is tied to one Noble Truth, but you already get it."
"This is when you tell me that you are different, I presume."
I could never let a chance like this pass me by, "Indeed, I am built different. That bastard Tobirama really figured me out on the first glance. I am the first unspoiled fruit from this desiccated tree. Megumi and Me have been together since the beginning: the beginning and the end, Alpha and Omega… Megumi and the Honored One."
As I explained this, I reached for Jiraiya's own chakra with mine own, using my Mind-penetrating knowledge 「the Comprehension of the Hearts of Others」to convey for he the truth in a way he could not easily deny. The memory of my encounter with his old teammate and his mentor's mentors.
"How disappointing, even if you are scum I am forced to admit that in terms of imagination and creativity you are the only one that I can call a peer. No matter who you may be, everyone goes through their ups and down of successes and failures. That said the power of leaping through the pitfall known as the future is the power to always be at your best; then you will never experience setbacks in your life." Like the snake eating its own tail in a perfect loop, my existence is proof that you will fail.
He consider me for a moment, but in the end, he is simply too triggered to not go off complaining like the old man he is. "One well bear sprint medicinal water and the other bear only sour poison, even if the resulted cocktail of the two might see drinkable that doesn't mean the poison was neutralized."
The toad sage recoil from the turmoil of my memory as if he had been sucker punched. "Aoko and Touko..." Jiraiya concluded. "Why were you there in that small town in the first place anyway? What are you plotting?"
"Wasn't it obvious? Not everything has to do with some great master plan, if someone wants what life has of best to offer then they have to search it for themselves. The life as pariahs of the Leaf was killing me, and more importantly, it was killing my son. I rectified that."
The Toad Sage froze up. No way around this topic. I could literally jump him and he would be a seating duck, that is how deep my comment has cut. He was literally trembling.
A part of me felt bad for him, but in the end of the day I have my priorities and he had his. We both had led our lives as best we could and the result was this crucible.
We were irreconcilable enemies separated by a single name.
"
Naruto is not yours!" These words came from so deep inside Jiraiya, every other word I ever heard the man say felt like lies. His chakra recoil like a snake and burns like a living flame. The Toad Sage found his bearing at last.
It genuinely pissed me off. Something ugly and vitriolic recoiling at his bold declaration. Good, then. We are of one mind in this topic. I am going to utterly crush and smother that defiant flame that dared to aim at my love and pride without any reservation.
"Power of Human Sacrifice." My words were simple but carried behind them the weight of a thousand little implications, every single one a sharp edge to cut at his soul when backed by the memories of lived experiences.
How many nights did my son cry himself to sleep while I was powerless to do anything about it, silently praying to any god for help? Dreaming about reducing that cursed city to cinders so Apollo and me could finally experience some of that marvelous Will of Fire experience had been one of my darkest fantasies for the longest time.
My memories with Apollo are what I hold of most sacred to my heart. Only Kurama, brother of our blood and soul covenant, has the intimacy to have shared and partaken in it. Even so I hit Jiraiya in the head with the consequences of his worthless pupil's choices. So, he can experience for himself, even if only in the smallest of degrees, all the pain that man has caused my son!
"To be a parent is already the closest mortal men and women can get to the experience of godhood. For someone to have the demerit to reach even further, forsake his sacred responsibility, stealing and mortgage his son's life and future, condemning him to living on his knees so the father can be elevated on the slickest of degrees just a little further posthumously?"
To the man's credit, he took the hint and looked the part as he drowned in our pain. I would have smitten him on the stop had he dared to justify Minato's actions. That is a sin beyond forgiveness. Whatever Naruto would have been, Minato toke from him by stealing his choice in the matter. A father cannot walk the path of life for his son, so he should not take for himself the right to plan the travel either.
"There is no Naruto. Everything my Apollo has was given to him by me. I am the first one that truly looked at him and I haven't dared to turn my eyes from his. All of that for what, World Salvation? Apollo is my dream; I don't care if I have to become enemy of the entire world. If saving him is a sin, then I will gladly become a sinner!"
Those are my final words, there is nothing more worthwhile. I still remember my first meeting with that lost boy and how much my simple gesture of kindness meant to him. It's been more than five years now, a transient yet eternal bliss.
Even now, that I have my back against the wall and find myself going headlock against the World those feelings do not waver. My heart might be bleeding from all the death I intentioned brought about, and I might be crashing into a collision course against the very invisible engines of creation but even so…
I don't feel like I am going to lose! Right now, I felt every bit the god I proclaim myself to be. The World wanted my son? It will have to pass through my dead and cold body first. If the measure of a god is defined by how god-like it happens to be then I had never been more of a God than right now.
Nothing has really changed about me since the day I met my Apollo and fought Kurama. The God-that-is-me, myself and I have already decided our course. The question here is who will break first, the world or I.
But even then, looking at Jiraiya my heart can't help but constrict. He didn't deserve any of this shit, that much I can tell with our hearts connected as they are. Even now his mind is replaying the day he became Naruto's godfather in a loop, so now he takes for himself part of the blame for Minato's own hubris.
This gives credit to his character but is a reminder of why every hero story end in tragedy. I thank Hagomoro in a silent prayer for the gift of Ninshun once again, without it I would be too lost in the throes of my own pain and righteousness to give this man the respect he deserves.
What does it say about him, that enemies and allies alike would pin their hopes on the burden he so gallantry carry on his shoulders? I am the one forcing this unkindness in him. I could have deescalated things instead, we could compromise. If he dies today it will be on my head.
Even so, I need him to pull through. So, at the very least, I should come forward with the truth.
"Jiraiya, Oldman Sarutobi once told me that no matter where I want and who I became, I would always be Megumi of the Hidden Leaf. I think he was right, after all. People cannot sever themselves from their hearts, their bonds or their pasts."
My words pierce through the fog of his mind, for all of his faults the man is no a kiter. I push on.
"So, what is a shinobi to do then? Hashirama gave me the answer. Shinobis are beings that must make impossible choices in order to achieve our dreams… and depending on the nature of the dream the dreamer has to change to accommodate said dream. That is the perpetual and essential Will passed along by the Sage of Six Paths himself. We are all same, in the end, the will of ninja has never really changed."
My words pierce through his heart, dispersing his doubts like sunlight breaking the morning mist. It was as if Jiraiya had been waiting his entire life for those words. Everything that was weighting him down now seaming Lesly settling as fuel to push him forward.
I smile at the man, "I will ask once again, step on this stage. You follow your path and I follow my wrath. Everything that is left for us to do is to cast our dices now."
"Pa, Ma, this is the Last Standing of the Gallant Jiraiya, can you help me with it? I want to close my final chapter with a band." The man proudly proclaims as he stared me down with everything he has. His voice once again full of exuberance and panache that so caught me off guard the first time we met.
"Jiraiya-chan/boy!" The toads complain as one in a fit of panic. Even so the Toad sage stare does not leave me even for a moment. His mind has been set.
"A shinobi's life is defined by how he dies. Not his death but the sum of things he did with his life. For the longest time I felt like I had just been drifting and collecting failures… such a pointless story. I don't want that at all! I am Mt. Myoboku-gama's master's Hermit, also know as the Toad Sennin, remember it!"
The look of incomprehension and worry from the toad elders is compounded when they suddenly realized that I actually started clapping. The absurd situation drives the point across and for all of their domestic bickering their power level is actually insane for freaking toads. After experiencing True Ninshun they achieved a whole new level of comprehension with each other. No words were needed anymore either.
The dice was cast.
"Chomei-cha, Son Goku, get back behind the throne and defend the Mandala. This is my fight."
-//-
"Hermit Art – Deep Fryer!!!" Tree voices as one delivered a tsunami of boiling oil at my direction with any use of hand signs. A perfect execution of shock and awe, double so due to my stationary position.
It was also worthless.
With the Higher powers 「Knowledge of the Unimpeded Bodily Function」from the Rigugan I can interact with chakra directly as if it was a physical thing that can be touched. Added to that Extinction of mental intoxicants 「Knowledge of the Destruction of Defilements (Klesha)」and I can simple strip away the hostile intention of any attack.
The tsunami of boiling oil breaks apart at my touch as if it was scattered foam drifting from the sea.
To their credit, the three were both quickly on the uptake and has enough insight to predict this outcome.
From behind the wall of foam a giant super ball of compressed pneuma emerged, "ULTIMATE RASENGA!"
That attack was undoubtedly mighty. Power enough to blow through a mountain. Jiraiya is clearly in a completely different league from the average ninja. Any Kage would be scrambling to dodge or divert such attack but unfortunately his opponent is me.
To the kindred of the Nine Tailed Fox, Kurama, this level of attack is a casual display of power. A lase swing from one of my tails is enough to crumble mountains to rubble and create tsunamis. My counter was enough to kill the three outright and I couldn't afford to going easy either.
I had to put my faith in Jiraiya. That he would make it through.
The trio of sages reacted as one, using the same exoteric martial art that once halted the assault from the four and seven tails to redirect the momentum of my flow away.
They barely succeeded and even then, it was almost the end. Their connection was broken and with it so did their sage mode and Jiraiya crashed against the stone wall at a velocity that put him on death's doorsteps. But even so, he stubbornly clings to live. His gambit is paying off after all.
The sage toad couple actually decoupled from Jiraiya's shoulders a little bit early than necessary. Meaning that instead of being sent to the walls like a pavement frog incident they managed to stay in the air by using that toad magical arts of theirs. Perfectly positioned for a pincer attack.
"Demonic Illusion: Toad Confrontation Chant!!"
And so, Fate pulls its snares around my feet. By the nature of my chakra and cultivated mysteries, I am pretty well shielded from any kind of mental interference attack. That said, this is the kind of technique worth of the tittle of supreme and my fight with Hashirama drove home how Sage Arts break the boundaries and limits of conventional techniques. That is precisely why I developed the Celestial Noon Stigmata, it grants me perpetual adaptability, even the most devious technique would be eventually broken down.
If someone wants to kill me, they best do so in a single blow.
Alas, Lady Lucky is a flicker mistress. This battle just so happens to be taking place inside the Mandala Boundary Field of the Demon Gods of the Melting Furnace, making it the ultimate acoustic house for any kind of sound-based mystery. By a fluke of destiny Jiraiya was handed down an overwhelming battlefield advantage. They are using my own power against me, meaning that even for a single moment they made the impossible possible.
They actually got me death for rights with guts and determination and all that bullshit.
It would be tragicomic if it wasn't such a disgusting chan.
The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. But where does fear itself begins?
Where does awareness comes from? Where is the source of our existence?
An arm cannot experience its own armness, a stomach can't experience its own growls, a hand cannot experience its own touch.
If the body is not the source, then we must assume the mind is the source of our being… yet a thought cannot experience a thought.
A mind cannot experience its own thinking. It is something higher that is observing the entire system.
It is a form of higher field of awareness that is experiencing it all.
An observer, that is what we all are. Keeping surveillance to the body and world in inhabit.
Based on this premise can people really experience reality at all? Or are we experience a set of sensations and feelings which we search to label and control?
Pleasure and pain can often deride the same set of sensations. Anxiety and Excitement as well.
To be truly aware of one's own feelings, a person first must stop labeling it, trying to change or do anything with it.
Can I deal with a lump on my throat?
Yes.
Can I deal with my heart racing a bit?
Yes. I can deal with that.
Can I handle the tension on my stomach?
Yes.
Once we confront those sensations, we begin to see we have dealt with much worse set of symptoms and that they really are nothing at all to deal with.
What we cannot deal with, however, are the thoughts that stem from emotions.
One fear thought can generate hundreds more, the true source of thoughts however is those very emotions.
One must not focus on dealing with thoughts but the emotions.
Even if this involves the tedious labor of breaking down what burdens us.
The sooner we let something be and don't try to change it, the sooner we will be rid of it.
Negative emotions want an outlet, it doesn't want to be restrained within us.
The best way to manage those feelings is through indifference while keeping one's focus forward.
That is because we should not allow feelings… fears, to control us.
Because all those fears come down to the fear of Death.
If we play thoughts game to their ultimate conclusion, we find at the end of it Death.
While nothing can truly prepare for Death,
Letting go is all that is required. We relinquish all fears and emotions to God.
We accept that the world is beyond our control nor do we desire control over everything if we could.
Every day we are living in Faith.
Faith our bodies will work as they should, that the Sun will rise and that the birds will sing.
Faith that the ground under us will not collapse, delivering ours souls in the Valley of the Shadow of Death.
If one live in Fear Thoughts,
If one live in Fear of Death we are not truly living in Reality.
All one knows is existence and it is all one can even know in such mindset.
I will not be damned to seat in a dark room for eternity nor can I be separated from God and Heaven unless I make the decision to do so.
Surrender the control to something higher than oneself, be present and be with oneself and all things will play out as they should.
I hope. God, I do so hope that.
The nature of God is the dwell in secret. How does mortals reach for the ineffable?
That which is impossible to describe. Where words fail. To that which is ineffable.
How does one tackle down the challenge of naming the unnamable?
Indirectly, through signs and symbols invested with power.
Tricking the darkness into believing you know its name.
That is how one grapple with the ineffable itself.
As expected from a clan of lunatics!
The answer to a millennial old obsession!
Deus ex machina,
Where does the boundary between creator and creature begins and ends?
Does god create man or is men themselves the ones to birth gods?
Does it even matter?
How does somebody even begin to fight against this? How does one even fight a god?
How does somebody kill the Death God?
That is not dead which can eternal lie, and with strange aeons even death may die?
That is not something I ever thought I would have to ever deal with. I don't have answer to that.
More than that, I am simple outgunned here. My Rikugan was completely blind to the existence of the Death God until it touched me. The only reason I could even detect it was because mine familiarity with Death as a transmigrated soul.
An old memory, almost like a midnight summer dream washed over me. Then the next thing I noticed was the
Shill Touch of Death in my soul.
The Fates closed the snare around the neck of the Heaven's Rebel that dared to meddle in their design.
Jiraiya made it just in time so he was still strong enough to drag me into the underworld with him. With Nine tails my entire soul would be just too big for this jutsu to kill me.
Even then the fact this can even be done drive home how this technique deserves the qualification of Divine [
Shinjutsu]. No way a mortal like Minato or Jiraiya ever could seal always half of Kurama's soul or the entirety of mine own without appealing to a higher power.
Even the…
Even then,
Even then, even then.
The feeling in my heart. It is not fear,
it is Triumph!
I am not alone.
All this time, someone has been constantly fighting for my sake ever since we exchanged oath as brothers.
I may have never guessed this day would come, but Kurama did and he prepared. He broke his head against the puzzle of deicide for the sake of our bond. This has nothing to do with his self-appointed task of Guardian.
For my sake and for Apollo's decided he will even break the entire world if he had to.
My role in this charade was to be a trap, my part was done the moment I toke the leap of faith and placed my life in his hands.
Ever since our first meeting we have welted our souls together, this created a backdoor from where Kurama could poke into. A backdoor to Apollo's Eight Trigam's Seal. Its size's and maximum output increases as my own soul swelled too. So, by the time I could channel his full might I was already beneath the need of borrowing power.
Said that, Kurama doesn't actually need my impute to push his power through me.
He also can actually see the Death God as he survived its touch,
He also has half worthwhile of stored soul already inside the gut of the Death God,
Chakra is also a universal binding force. The more familiar the better. That is why familiar connection have always been important for ninja clans. So, how good would be such connection between the same soul?
Also, Kurama really, really, really hate chains. More than anything. He meditated over this hatred every single day, until he has distilled his vitriol into a Mantra carved into his very soul.
This is the bedrock of his Mythos Exultant.
His means to ensure he and his siblings are never jut in chains again.
This Death God might very well be the real deal. The visage of a god embodies the sight of an entire world that reveal itself through it, yet Kurama always had the power to reduce the world to ash if he truly wanted.
He just never had the reason to do so,
Until now. That is.
This are the thought frantically passing through my head as the Specter of Death suddenly manifest before me and I head my brother roar of challenge in the back of BOTH my mind AND from inside the Death God himself.
[
BARYON MODE!]
[BARYON MODE!]
-//-
The Crown Chakra, Sahasrara [Thousand-petaled], the most sublime and hidden of mysteries. Highest spiritual center, pure consciousness, containing neither object nor subject. Where the sacred and subconscious and holy Anima/Animus that reside dormant inside every soul. In esoteric Buddhism, it is called the petal lotus of "Great Bliss" corresponding to the fourth state of Four Noble Truths.
The path of liberation.
At the time of death, someone who mastered it is said to be capable of directing his consciousness up the central channel and out of this wheel in order to be reborn in a Pure Land, where he can carry on his tantric practices, or transfer that consciousness into another body or a corpse, in order to extend life.
In the West, it has been noted by many that Sahasrara expresses a similar archetypal idea to that of Kether, in the Kabbalistic Tree of Life, which rests at the head of the tree, and represents pure consciousness and union with God.
Keter is so sublime, it is called in the Zohar "the most hidden of all hidden things", and is completely incomprehensible to man, being invisible and colorless.
What are the ten utterances? The first is supreme crown, blessed be His name and His people.
The first Sephirah is called the Crown, since a crown is worn above the head. The Crown therefore refers to things that are above the mind's abilities of comprehension. All of the other Sephirot are likened to the body which starts with the head and winds its way down into action. But the crown of a king lies above the head and connects the concept of "monarchy", which is abstract and intangible, with the tangible and concrete head of the king.
This first Sefirah represents the primal stirrings of intent in the Ein Soph (infinity), or the arousal of desire to come forth into the varied life of being. But in this sense, although it contains all the potential for content, it contains no content itself, and is therefore called 'Nothing', 'The Hidden Light', 'The air that cannot be grasped'. Being desire to bring the world into being, Keter is absolute compassion.
It is the nature of god to exist in mystery but if something can't be directly contemplated then one just has to resort to indirect means.
Men are not born tabula rasas. The same way all lifeform has anatomically compatible organs, so does the psyche (soul) is similarly shaped. We call these spiritual organs Archetypes, and just as an adequately functioning physical organs are essential to a health body, a health mind is reliant on the proper functioning of said Archetypes.
Archetypes cannot be directly observed, their existence are revealed by the arrangements they produce in consciousness. Mainly through the manifestation of symbolic imagery. It is only through the interpretation of the symbols manifested by the archetypes that one can gain an understanding of the archetypical pattern of the human mind.
Gods live in mystery, symbols then serve to convey a living, subjective meaning through indirect means.
Besides the Primordial Archetype of the Self, represented by the Mandala, there are twelve main archetypes.
In retrospect, the answer has been staring me in the face this entire time. In Hinduism This eternal Self called Ātman never reincarnates, it does not change and cannot change in the Hindu belief. In contrast, the body and personality, can change, constantly changes, is born and dies.
The name stuck in the back of my throat for over six years will shake the Heaven today.
Kurama counter attack arrested the Death God's assault in its track as he immolated said god from the inside and out.
With the window of opportunity Kurama gave me I reach for the essence of the Death God. Artificial or not, a god is a god is a god. I reach with my pneuma and force a virtuous circuit between the Symbol of the Death God and my own one Last Empty Chakra.
I am going to call it, Gate of Exaltation.
A once invisible and colorless rhombus in the center of my forehead is suddenly flooded with coruscant white light, breaking in the edges with the colors of the rainbow. Suddenly all the little spots of light bearing Light Release inside my Chakra network connect like a constellation inside my soul. I feel like a living Cosmos in the shape of a person. Like a god.
The white light contained inside the rhombus soon starts to spread out as markings spread burning across the right side of my body in the design resembling esoteric tribal tattoos. The cherry on top was the single bull horn made of Lapis lazuli growing out of the corner of my forehead out of nowhere.
I guess they call it a crown Chakra for a reason. I think this make me king though. A King and a God. Now I am set. Time to show this Death God who is in charge here.
I seize the Shinigami impudent hand with two of mine own and revel in his cry of outrage as his god-flesh crumble under my grip like overripe fruit. I then jerk him away from Jiraiya in a single move by dragging him to myself by his disgustingly stretched arm in a single pull.
The God scream in outrage at this humiliation as the rules of nature simple break against my godly power. I pay his fit the amount of respect it was deserved, which was none.
Before he even reaches me, I manifest my Adamantine Celestial Orrery and pin him down by the throat with the edge my shield. That disgusting mouth will never feed on another soul ever again.
Orochimaru might have been right about Heaven's Answer but in the end, somethings cannot be inherited. They can only be taken… but other more transient and precious of all can only been gifted freely. Like the love of a brother, the love of a son.
"Do you have any fucking idea how fucked you are? I am a God, more than that I am the Father. I am THE KING.
I AM ZEUS, KING OF GODS."
"And you look a lot like my daddy now, because you are fucking out of time! Give me back my brother, nameless Death God and know that your death knell will be remembered as the Bell of my Divine Revolution."
it was kind of funny now that I think about it, this monster actually understands me and what I meant. History repeat itself; Zeus is a harbinger of chance. He freed his freed his siblings from his father belly and brought them under his banner… and Ninshu is all about sharing and carrying, after all.
My Karma Stigmata is a bedrock and foundation for the manifestation of the remaining eleven Archetypes through the use of Off-branch Karma stigmata's. Twelve seats for twelve Olympian gods. I am going to make a fucking party.
Kurama situation is a bit special though, as our Gates of Truth have already been fused together, our ascension has been simultaneous. If Zeus is the younger sibling who frees then who is the elder brother that is rescued?
This is the mantle Kurama has fully embraced for five years now. I may never have noticed it before but he had the gift of outside perspective to puzzle out my true nature. That is his master plan. Zeus and Hades are just two God-Heads of a singular entity, Chthonic and Olympic mirrors.
This is Kurama's trial to overcome now. If one does not surrender one cannot die and without death one cannot be reborn. The years his counterpart spent sealed in the belly of the Shinigami owe to be a good enough practical lesson.
I hope.
Thankfully, Kurama doesn't disappoint. The Shinigami body starts to inflate and trash like there a rabbit beast clawing its way out from inside of it. Soon enough I let my hold to the Death God go and Kurama perform the most metal death god ascension of fiction.
Kurama, Hades, wearing his jailer like a fucking skin suit, starts flay himself free by literally ripping the Shinigami apart. Everything finished with a Death Aura of Doom and rock music, thanks to the Devil Gods of the Melting Furnace.
The man… god that emerged was nine-foot-tall, which kind of make sense since his own Karma Stigmata is offshoot that simulacrum mine own. We are literally family now, a tribe. His human appearance didn't change much from the basic, aside from the fact he now had darker than black blackhole tattoos that reminded me of mine own, coupled with an onyx horn in the corner of his own brown as well.
Plus, he was rocking a black himation embroiled with gold. Traditional Greek cloths. Coward should have gone for the flaming hair as well and finished the look. But I was so relief to see him alive and free that I would let it slide this time.
"I AM COMPLETE!"
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LODSdTM2jUc
"Really, Tenacious D right out of the gate? You really were planning this for years for a fucking meme? You really the brother of my bosom breast!"
We stare at each other like a pair of rascal kids that got away with a candy truck and intended to binge eating sugar until we die of sugar overdose so we could escape punishment. "Let's add Goku and Chomei-chan to the part as well."
"Jiraiya-chan is not breathing!" The toad grandma screams over her surrogates.
Kurama cuts in, "This is not about him!"
-//-
[AUTHOR ROOM]
That is how you make the most foreshadowed and well thought out Deus Ex Machina plot. Ever.
This has been in you guys faces since chapter 3. Who is Apollo's father again? I even made a point to put some reference to Zeus is every chapter, Megumi's powers are based on Zeus as well. Her personality was based on how he would actually be like as a person.
She literally finished chapter one by assessing the human population as subhuman monkeys. She could have very easily grown to become the kind of person we think of when we think Zeus. The difference was the people around her. While the original Zeus drifted alone and scared in the world, Hagomoro's actions left handholds that she could use while filling her with gratitude and kindness.
Despite Zeus shitty up bring, he is the virtuous one because he actually broke the cycle of patricide and even forgave his father. This is an unquestionable act of courage, kindness and virtue. Especially coming from someone that never experienced that themselves.
People like to explain away Zeus moral flaws by stating that Greek gods were more concerned about truth than goodness but this statement is myopic. The point of the torrid lives of the gods was that they were the same as that of mortals. Just as difficult and unpredictable… but still the life of a god. I life worth living. This validates and redeems life.
Naruto is at its core a series about Dreams, Conflict and Resolution. Apollo is the God of Dreams; Naruto is the story about this boy pursuing said dream. While Madara reject reality for delusion Naruto search to validate and redeem life by pursing his dreams, working in the frame of reality. In a sense, Naruto very much is been set to be the same exceptional man that he was destined to become.
Indra and Zeus are both Sky Fathers of Proto-Indo-European mythology. If Indra get to have fun in the reincarnation machine, I don't see why Zeus can't join in. Sasuke was straight up possessed by Indra in part two, while his personality in Boruto actually looks like a more natural progression.
Speaking of Boruto, Megumi is team Kawaki all the way through. She is pulling the same move as him here.
