A New Ancestor

Return Ruins.

There was no light, no sound, no up or down, no direction.

Only endless darkness.

Uchiha Kei floated in this darkness, unable to feel his own body, the passage of time, or anything at all.

All he could feel was that he was still alive.

There's still a heartbeat.

One time.

Two times.

Three times.

After an unknown amount of time, a glimmer of light suddenly appeared ahead.

It was faint, but it stood out starkly in the endless darkness.

Uchiha Kei swam towards that point of light.

The closer you get, the brighter the light becomes.

Until--

He saw it.

That was a world.

A broken world.

Countless shattered continents floated in the void, each continent piled high with endless corpses.

Those corpses included human remains, animal remains, divine remains, and monster remains...

All forms, all races, all eras.

They all died here.

Uchiha Kei landed on the largest continent, stepping over corpses as he walked forward.

He walked for a long time, and then he saw a person.

A man sitting on a corpse.

White hair, white clothes, pale face.

Jiang Hao.

No, it wasn't Jiang Hao.

Is it Jiang Hao's... corpse?

The corpse sat there, head bowed, motionless.

But Uchiha Kei could sense a faint life force within the corpse.

He walked over, squatted down, and reached out his hand.

I just touched the corpse's shoulder--

The corpse suddenly raised its head.

A pair of scarlet eyes stared intently at him.

"The three hundred and eightieth time."

A hoarse voice came from the corpse's mouth.

"You've finally arrived."

Uchiha Kei didn't retreat; he just stared at him.

"Who are you?"

The corpse laughed.

He laughed terribly.

"Who I am?"

"I am Jiang Hao."

"Also an ancestor."

"It is also... nothingness."

He stood up and met Uchiha Kei.

Those scarlet eyes were filled with exhaustion and despair.

"Do you know, after 379 failures, I've come here every single time."

"Each time, I see another version of myself."

"Every time, I learn a truth."

"A truth... more terrifying than death."

Uchiha Kei frowned. "What truth?"

Jiang Hao's corpse looked at him and suddenly smiled.

His smile was eerie.

Are you sure you want to know?

"Sure."

"Alright then."

Jiang Hao's corpse raised its hand and gently touched his forehead.

In the next instant, countless images flooded his mind.

He saw--

Before the birth of the universe, there was only nothingness.

Endless nothingness, nothing at all.

Then, a consciousness was born from nothingness.

That was the first God, and the only God.

His name is... Ancestor.

Our ancestors created the universe, the world, and all living beings.

But He discovered that everything He created would die.

Everything will return to nothingness.

He was unwilling to accept it.

So He divided Himself into two parts.

One portion is light, creation, and life—that is what He desired.

One portion is darkness, Destruction, and death—that is what He fears.

He believed that by separating, the light could endure forever.

But He was wrong.

After they separated, the darker part began to hate the light.

It wants to devour the light, and wants to return to nothingness.

And so, the war began.

The war between light and darkness has lasted for countless years.

In the end, the light prevailed.

He sealed the darkness within the Return Ruins, using his own body as a barrier to eternally protect this world.

But the seal is not permanent.

Every so often, darkness awakens, attempting to break the seal.

Each time it awakens, a "Jiang Hao" will appear, and it will fight against it.

Because of the light within him, he was reincarnated as Jiang Hao.

Three hundred and seventy-nine failures, not because Jiang Hao wasn't strong enough.

It's because he hit himself.

Light and darkness are inherently one.

Kill the darkness, and the light will die.

So every time, he loses.

We didn't lose to the darkness, we lost to ourselves.

The image disappeared.

Uchiha Kei opened his eyes and looked at Jiang Hao's corpse in front of him.

That corpse was no longer a corpse.

Rather... light.

Soft light.

"Do you understand?" Guang asked.

Uchiha Kei remained silent for a long time before slowly nodding.

"Understood."

Therefore, the real enemy is not darkness.

"But... it was myself."

Guang laughed.

"You finally understand."

"So, do you know what to do next?"

Uchiha Kei thought for a moment and said, "Find the darkness, and then... merge with it."

"Yes." Guang nodded. "Only through fusion can we become a new ancestor."

"To achieve a new balance."

"Become..."

"Eternal."

The light began to dissipate, turning into countless specks of light that drifted in all directions.

Finally, only one voice remained, echoing in the Return Ruins.

"You will win on the 380th time."

Because this time, you are not alone.

The light disappeared completely.

Uchiha Kei stood still, looking at the endless darkness around him.

Then he spoke.

"Come out."

I know you're there.

From the depths of darkness, a voice rang out.

"Aren't you afraid?"

"I'm afraid," Uchiha Kei said, "But I must see him."

A moment of darkness and silence followed.

Then, a figure emerged from the darkness.

Black hair, black clothes, black eyes.

That was... Uchiha Kei himself.

No, it wasn't me.

It's another version of yourself.

A dark, desperate self, a self that has given up on everything.

"I am you," said the dark Uchiha Kei, "The part of you deepest inside that you least want to face."

You are afraid of failure, afraid of loss, afraid of loneliness, and afraid of death.

"These fears are me."

Uchiha Kei looked at him and remained silent for a long time.

Then he smiled.

So this is what you look like.

Dark Uchiha Kei was taken aback. "You're not afraid of me?"

"I'm afraid," Uchiha Kei said, "But what can I do if I'm afraid?"

You are my fear, but also a part of me.

"A person without fear is not human."

"Light without darkness is not light."

He reached out and placed his hand on his own shoulder, which was shrouded in darkness.

"Bring it on."

"Let's merge."

Together, we will become the new ancestors.

Dark-skinned Uchiha Kei looked at him, a complex emotion flashing in his eyes.

Are you sure?

"Sure."

You might lose yourself.

"Won't."

"Why?"

"Because..." Uchiha Kei smiled, "I still have them."

Countless faces flashed through his mind.

Naruto, Sasuke, Kaguya, Hanabi, Madara, Hashirama, Uchiha Izuna, Tobirama, Itachi, Shisui...

And A-Yi.

And Jiang Hao.

And those three thousand warriors.

"I have them."

"They are me."

"No matter what I become, they will remember me."

That's enough.

The dark-skinned Uchiha Kei remained silent for a long time.

Then he smiled.

He smiled with a sense of relief.

"Good."

"Then... let's go together."

He transformed into a black ray of light and merged into Uchiha Kei's body.

Uchiha Kei closed his eyes, feeling the black power merge with the original power within his body.

Light and darkness.

Creation and Destruction.

Beginning and end.

Everything, at this moment, comes together as one.

He opened his eyes.

In my eyes, half is light, and half is darkness.

He raised his hand.

A whole new world appears in the palm of my hand.

That was a complete world.

There is light, there is darkness, there is life, there is death, there is a beginning, there is an end.

That is...

The world of our ancestors.

He succeeded.

He became the new patriarch.