Unnamed

"An immortal being? You mean the Death God?"

After regaining control of his body, Orochimaru's serpentine eyes fixed on the towering figure of the Death God.

Immortality was an unfamiliar term in the shinobi world. Letting Tailed Beasts slide, he had never heard of a human or shinobi being immortal.

But if what the genie said was true, then the shinobi world was not without immortals, only that their form of existence was different from what ordinary people imagined.

Orochimaru couldn't help getting excited. "Do you know the Death God's origins?"

"I cannot be certain."

The genie poked half his body out from Orochimaru's back. "Get a little closer to the Fourth and let me investigate."

Hearing this, Orochimaru simply stopped concealing himself and leapt right outside the crimson barrier, next to the spectators including the Third Hokage.

Rattled by the night's events, Hiruzen Sarutobi was somewhat paranoid. He barked, "Orochimaru, what are you doing here?"

Orochimaru now had no mind to humor his teacher. He gestured at the Fourth, then went silent with a stony expression, his attention completely on the genie.

The humanoid smoke on his back suddenly collapsed and morphed into a blob. A thin line extended out from it, ignoring the barrier and wrapping around the Death God's neck in a flash.

At the end of the line could vaguely be seen a tiny blurred face peeking around. Yet the Death God remained oblivious.

Orochimaru licked his lips, marveling inwardly, "Just what kind of existence is this genie?"

As the Nine-Tails' sealing finished, the Death God vanished. The genie's smoky line also jabbed into the void, extending towards unknown dimensions.

Orochimaru had expected this probe to take a long time, but after just a few breaths, the smoky line retracted and reformed into a human shape on his back.

"Don't look at me like that." The genie coughed lightly. "It was quick, but I found out everything I needed to know."

Orochimaru was delighted to hear this. "You found where the Death God resides?"

"That's right, the Death God is in the Pure Land." The genie quirked his smoky brows and smiled. "Somewhere you should be familiar with. It has another name—Paradise."

"Many astonishing figures you can't imagine reside in Paradise."

"If you can master the Living Corpse Reincarnation, you can also visit Paradise and greatly benefit your chakra spirit."

Hearing this, Orochimaru ignored the presence of others and turned to look at the genie chattering away on his back, his expression fluctuating.

The Pure Land was where the dead went, the realm of departed souls. This was common knowledge among shinobi.

But the way the genie described it, it didn't seem so. In his words, the Pure Land was more like a space with some restrictions but could be reached if the method was grasped, like the Three Great Summoning Grounds.

Orochimaru asked again about the Death God's origins, taking keen interest in this immortal being residing in Paradise.

Even someone as powerful as First Hokage Hashirama Senju, without the medium of Impure World Reincarnation, could not freely come and go in Paradise after death. Just what era's powerhouse was this Death God?

In response to Orochimaru's doubts, the genie gave an answer. "The Death God has a special lineage. He is a descendant of the Otsutsuki clan."

Orochimaru's brows furrowed slightly. "The Otsutsuki clan?"

"That's right. The horns on their foreheads are this clan's insignia. They were aliens. The Sage of Six Paths who founded ninshu was one of them, which led to today's shinobi world."

The genie figured he would have to explain this eventually and gave a brief summary of the alien invasion history.

"There are no pureblood Otsutsuki clansmen left in the shinobi world now, but among their bloodline descendants, occasionally some 'atavisms' pop up, like Kinkaku and Ginkaku who caused the Second Hokage and Second Raikage's deaths."

"This Death God is probably an Otsutsuki atavism from some era, and his lineage and power are greater than Kinkaku and Ginkaku's."

Orochimaru laughed bitterly. "So the Death God is the Death God simply because of his lineage? Just because he's an alien descendant?"

"That's right, it has always been so in the shinobi world." The genie nodded. "But don't disparage yourself. This is not something personal effort can change."

Objectively speaking, to the shinobi world, the Otsutsuki clan was like crushing with superior civilization - technology, power, lineage... In every aspect, even after developing through a millennium of wars, the shinobi world still couldn't close the gap.

Ordinary shinobi had produced many powerful figures who could rival the Otsutsuki descendants like Senju and Uchiha.

But it was less that the shinobi had progressed, and more that these second generations had stagnated.

The future saviors, Sasuke and Naruto, still dominated the world after retrieving their predecessors' power, with no rivals left in the shinobi world.

The genie disliked this storyline of innate predestination and inborn nobility. It contradicted his profession.

Orochimaru's expression flickered. "So by telling me this, you mean to say seeking to develop new ninjutsu is not as good as trying to inherit the Otsutsuki legacy in the shinobi world?"

"To be precise, seeking development through inheritance, taking its essence and shedding the dross, bringing forth the new from the old, and creating a new generation of ninjutsu with shinobi characteristics."

The genie gave a thumbs up. "I have high hopes for you!"

As the two were chatting, with the Fourth Hokage's complete death, the crimson barrier sealing the Nine-Tails collapsed with a boom.

The ANBU who had been waiting immediately hurried forward to examine the Fourth couple's condition and confirmed their deaths.

In that moment, the Third seemed to have aged decades.

"Wah wah..."

Naruto's cries continued. Yet not a single ANBU dared to approach, as if the child before them wasn't a baby but some volatile bomb.

The Third sighed, about to step forward, when a figure beat him to it.

Orochimaru flashed forward and gathered the bawling baby Naruto into his arms in an airplane carry. He examined the child with great interest.

According to the genie's tale, the Uzumaki clan represented the Sage of Six Paths' Yang Release lineage, which meant they had Body of Human Path like the Senju clan.

And now, this one of the rare remaining Uzumaki clansmen also had the Nine-Tails' Yang half sealed within him. Combined together, who knew what future changes may occur? Truly fascinating.

The Third's expression shifted. He said coldly, "Orochimaru, what are you doing?"

The surrounding ANBU grew alert, cold sweat beading their faces as they reflexively reached for their weapons.

"Old man, the child's parents are dead and he has no one. How pitiful."

Orochimaru's mouth twisted into a grin. "I'm thinking of raising this child. What do you think?"

The moment the words left his mouth, the Third flatly rejected, "Orochimaru, you know that's impossible."

"Oh, then forget it."

Orochimaru didn't insist. Like handling a cat, he soothed Naruto and neatly handed him to the Third.

The Third's expression eased and the ANBU relaxed.

"Old man, call Jiraiya back. Someone has their eyes on Konoha, on the jinchūriki."