"An immortal? You mean the Shinigami."
After regaining control of his body, Orochimaru fixed his snake-like eyes on the Shinigami's towering figure.
Immortality was an unfamiliar concept in the Shinobi World. Tailed Beasts were chakra beasts, so they were an exception, but he had never heard of a person or ninja who could live forever.
If what the Genie said was true, then the Shinobi World wasn't without immortals. They simply existed in forms unlike what most people imagined.
Orochimaru couldn't help feeling excited. "Do you know where the Shinigami came from?"
"I can't be certain."
The Genie leaned halfway out from Orochimaru's back. "Get a little closer to the Fourth. Let me investigate."
At those words, Orochimaru stopped hiding his presence. He leapt straight to the crowd gathered outside the red barrier, beside the Third Hokage and the others.
After all the upheaval that night, Hiruzen Sarutobi was on edge. "Orochimaru, what are you doing here?"
Orochimaru had no interest in dealing with his teacher just then. He pointed toward the Fourth, then went silent, his expression cold and his attention fixed entirely on the Genie.
The humanoid smoke on his back suddenly burst apart and coalesced into a mass. A moment later, a thin tendril reached out from it, passed through the barrier without hindrance, and in the blink of an eye wound around the Shinigami's neck.
A tiny, indistinct face could just be made out at the tip, peering around curiously, while the Shinigami remained completely unaware.
Orochimaru licked his lips, astonished. What exactly is this Genie?
As the Nine-Tails was sealed, the Shinigami vanished from the spot. The smoke tendril that the Genie had become plunged into empty space and stretched onward into an unknown dimension.
Orochimaru had expected the investigation to take a long time. But after only a few breaths, the smoke tendril retracted, and the Genie took humanoid form on his back once more.
"Don't look at me like that." The Genie gave a light cough. "It was quick, sure, but I learned everything I needed to on this trip."
Orochimaru's face brightened. "Did you find where the Shinigami lives?"
"That's right. The Shinigami is in the Land of Promised Spirits." The Genie raised a smoky eyebrow and smiled. "You should be familiar with it, too. It has another name: the Pure Land."
"Many great figures you'd never expect are preserved in the Pure Land."
"If you can find a way to master the Spirit Transformation Technique, you can visit the Pure Land, too. Its environment is highly beneficial to chakra-based spirits."
Hearing this, Orochimaru paid no heed to the others around them. He turned to look at the Genie on his back, who was chatting away, his expression full of doubt.
The Pure Land was where the dead went, the resting place of the departed. That was common knowledge among the ninjas of the Shinobi World.
But what the Genie was saying seemed to suggest otherwise. From the way he described it, the Pure Land sounded more like a space with certain restrictions, one that could be reached if you knew how.
Like the Sacred Lands of the Three Great Summoning Beasts.
Orochimaru committed the Spirit Transformation Technique and this matter to memory, then asked again about the Shinigami's origins.
He was intensely curious about this immortal who lived in the Pure Land.
Even Hashirama Senju, the First, couldn't freely enter and leave the Pure Land after death without a vessel brought back through Impure World Reincarnation. What era had this Shinigami been a powerful figure in?
The Genie answered Orochimaru's question. "The Shinigami has a special bloodline. He's a descendant of the Ōtsutsuki Clan."
Orochimaru frowned slightly. "The Ōtsutsuki Clan?"
"Exactly. Their distinctive horns are the clan's hallmark. They came from beyond the heavens. The Sage of Six Paths founded the Ninjutsu Sect, and that's how the Shinobi World as we know it came to be."
The Genie figured that if he didn't explain now, he'd have to explain later, so he gave a rough summary of the aliens' invasion of the Shinobi World.
"There are no longer any pure-blooded Ōtsutsuki in the Shinobi World, but every so often, a lucky descendant 'reverts to type.' Kinkaku and Ginkaku, who caused the deaths of the Second Hokage and the Second Raikage, are examples."
"The Shinigami is probably another Ōtsutsuki who reverted to type in some era, and his bloodline and strength are even greater than Kinkaku and Ginkaku's."
Orochimaru smiled, his tone a little bitter. "So the reason the Shinigami is the Shinigami is his bloodline? Because he's descended from aliens?"
"Exactly. That's how the Shinobi World has always been." The Genie nodded. "But you don't need to underestimate yourself. This isn't something individual effort can change."
To be fair, the Ōtsutsuki Clan had utterly outclassed the Shinobi World in civilization—in technology, strength, bloodlines, and every other regard. The Shinobi World had developed amid a thousand years of war, yet it still hadn't erased that gap.
Ordinary ninjas had produced plenty of powerful figures capable of standing against descendants of the Ōtsutsuki, such as the Senju and Uchiha.
But rather than credit this to the progress of the Shinobi World's ninjas, it was more that those second-generation descendants had failed to improve.
The future saviors, Sasuke and Naruto, swept all before them once they reclaimed the power of their ancestors. After that, no one in the Shinobi World could stand against them.
The Genie didn't like this story. Being born with everything decided for you, being born into privilege—it fundamentally clashed with the Genie's profession.
Orochimaru's expression shifted. "So you're telling me that instead of developing new ninjutsu, I should find a way to inherit the Ōtsutsuki legacy in the Shinobi World?"
"More precisely, you should seek progress through inheritance: take the essence and discard the dross, build on the old and innovate, and develop a new generation of ninjutsu with the Shinobi World's own character."
The Genie gave him a thumbs-up. "I have high hopes for you."
While the two of them chatted, the Fourth died at last, and the red barrier separating the Nine-Tails from the outside world shattered with a crash.
The Anbu Ninjas, who had been waiting for their chance, hurried over to check on the Fourth and his wife. They confirmed that both were dead.
In an instant, the Third seemed to age by many years.
"Waaah, waaah..."
Little Naruto kept crying, but not a single Anbu Ninja dared to approach. They treated him not like a child but like some kind of ticking bomb with immense power.
The Third sighed and was about to step forward, but someone moved faster.
Orochimaru flashed forward and scooped up the bawling little Naruto in a cradle hold, then examined him with interest.
In the Genie's account, the Uzumaki Clan embodied the Yang Release power of the Sage of Six Paths. In other words, they possessed a Sage Body similar to that of the Senju Clan.
Now, one of the few remaining members of the Uzumaki Clan had the Yang Release half of the Nine-Tails sealed inside him. It was fascinating to wonder what might happen when the two forces combined.
The Third's expression changed. "Orochimaru, what do you think you're doing?"
The Anbu Ninjas around them tensed as if facing a formidable enemy. Cold sweat appeared on their faces, and their hands instinctively moved toward the weapons at their waists.
"Old Man, this child's parents are dead. He has no one to rely on. It's rather pitiful."
A crooked smile appeared on Orochimaru's lips. "I'd like to raise him. What do you say?"
The Third rejected him without hesitation. "Orochimaru, you know that's impossible."
"Oh, well. Never mind."
Orochimaru didn't press the matter. After soothing little Naruto as if he were petting a cat, he handed him over to the Third without fuss.
The Third's expression softened, and the Anbu Ninjas breathed a sigh of relief.
"Old Man, call Jiraiya back. Someone's set their sights on Konoha—and on the Jinchuriki."
Before you continue