Reappearance

Orochimaru, wearing the Shinigami Mask and performing those inexplicable, bizarre movements, was indeed hard to make sense of. Yet the ancient, mysterious air surrounding it was still plain to see.

"Is playing god the beginning of every faith... Maintaining a certain degree of mystery—the methods aren't important. What matters is making people feel it's necessary. It seems the Uzumaki Clan's predecessors included people who truly understood the human heart. As expected of a great clan that has endured for nearly a thousand years."

Being able to create a god and sustain it through faith was absolutely not something wandering monks or smooth-talking charlatans could accomplish. It required researchers who truly understood the power of the human heart, as well as how to gather and use the power of faith.

After the clownish ritual dance and prayer chants that sounded like roars, an indescribable pressure suddenly filled the dim underground laboratory. Orochimaru also stopped his movements, which looked effortless but had actually consumed a great deal of focus and chakra.

"Is this the Shinigami?"

Mizuki stared blankly at the empty space behind Orochimaru. He saw nothing, yet a fear that seeped deep into his soul rose uncontrollably within him.

In his perception, a phantom with a mouth full of fangs, a soul-stirring Shinigami blade clenched between its teeth, and long, disheveled gray-white hair was sizing up the harvest around it.

"How did it feel, summoning the Shinigami for the first time?"

Orochimaru caught his breath slightly before answering.

"There was an involuntary sense of fear. So this is what the Shinigami is like!"

For people like Orochimaru and Mizuki, power had never been something to fear, and so-called forbidden techniques were even less worth mentioning. The only troublesome thing was the unknown, where there was no place to start. Once they