Red light flowed through the hollow chamber, thick and searing as blood. Naruto and Sasuke stood back to back, warily watching the writhing wooden walls around them. The dark red markings resembled a living creature's blood vessels, pulsing to some ancient rhythm. Each pulse sent tremors through the ley lines.
At the center of the crystal, Yuki Haku's body was completely wrapped in the God Tree's roots, leaving only his pale face exposed. His eyes had turned pure white, without pupils, yet they seemed capable of seeing through everything. An eerie smile lingered at the corners of his mouth. That smile did not belong to Shiro, but to something far older and more sinister.
"Naruto Uzumaki... Sasuke Uchiha..." Isshiki's voice emerged from Shiro's mouth, low and resonant. "Descendants of the Sage of Six Paths, reincarnations of Indra and Asura. I have waited a long time for this moment."
"You knew the Sage of Six Paths?" Naruto clenched his fists.
"More than knew him." Isshiki sneered. "He sealed me away with his own hands. A thousand years ago, he and his brother joined forces and sealed me deep within the ley lines. I slumbered there for a thousand years, enduring a thousand years of solitude and darkness, all to await the day I would see the light again."
He looked at Naruto, a trace of greed flashing in his white eyes. "And you, Naruto Uzumaki-you possess the Sage of Six Paths' yang power, the Nine-Tails' chakra, and the Uzumaki Clan's vitality. You are the perfect vessel, far more perfect than this Yuki Haku."
"You want to take my body?" Naruto warily stepped back.
"Not take. Merge." Isshiki smiled. "Your body will become the God Tree's vessel, your chakra its nourishment, and your soul a part of it. You will become one