The System Spits Out Gold! The Threshold of Six Paths Level!
The corridor was quiet.
Naruto looked down at the baby in his arms. The Byakugan, with its flowing blue starlight, was as calm as if he were looking at an old friend.
A smile still lingered on his lips.
Then the system crashed.
It wasn't the usual bland "ding".
It was a continuous, dense, almost overlapping mechanical sound, like someone had poured an entire gold mine into his brain.
[Ding--Host's first offspring's bloodline rating detected: SS (surpassing the current known upper limit in the Shinobi World)!]
[Hidden achievement triggered: Progenitor Echo!]
[Super Reward Package Now Available--]
[Reward 1: Max Level All-Attribute Chakra Nature Transformation. Wind, Lightning, Water, Fire, Earth, Yin, Yang—the seven attributes instantly reach their pinnacle, granting the host the ability to freely control all nature transformations.]
[Reward Two: Permanent Offspring Aptitude Feedback Mechanism Activated. Firstborn son's aptitude rating SS, feedback coefficient 10% -- host's total Chakra forcibly doubles.]
[Current Chakra total exceeds...]
[Breakthrough...]
[The threshold of Six Paths Level has been broken.]
Naruto's pupils contracted sharply.
He sensed it.
No system explanation is needed.
His body was telling him.
Something is expanding from the dantian—no, from every single cell.
It's not pain.
It is overflowing.
Like a dam being filled with the volume of ten oceans in three seconds, the dam trembled, hummed, and issued warnings.
But the dam did not collapse.
The vessel for the Perfect Uzumaki Sage Body withstood the attack.
He didn't deliberately show off.
He even immediately controlled his body's reaction, steadily supporting the Menma head with his left hand and holding the swaddling clothes tightly with his right.
But--
"Click."
The glass window at the end of the corridor is cracked.
"Click--"
Like dominoes.
From the end of the corridor to the entrance of the delivery room, spiderweb-like cracks appeared on the paint of every glass window, every lampshade, and every Anbu at the same instant.
Then—it all shattered.
It wasn't an explosion.
There were no flying fragments.
All the glass seemed to have been crushed into powder by an invisible hand, falling silently and with a soft patter.
Morning light streamed in through the empty window frames, illuminating the faces of everyone in the corridor.
Every face wore the same expression.
Tsunade's hands hung at her sides, her fingers spread wide.
She was medical-nin, and she knew better than anyone what what had just emanated from Naruto's body meant—it wasn't Chakra fluctuation.
That's life itself resonating.
Like a star completing fusion within his body.
Her lips moved twice, but she couldn't utter a complete syllable.
"This..."
Four columns of Anbu.
A highly trained and battle-hardened elite Anbu.
At this moment, everyone knelt on one knee.
It's not because of the rules.
It's because my legs went weak.
The body made the decision before the brain—kneel down.
Kneel before the absolute hierarchy of life.
Karin's glasses are crooked.
She sat on the bench, her hands gripping the seat, her knuckles clenched tightly.
Her perceptive abilities allow her to "see" more clearly than anyone else.
Naruto's Chakra... is doubling.
It's not slow growth.
It's direct, brutal, and without any transition—doubling.
The total amount of Chakra, which was originally like the sun, has now become two suns stacked together.
"Crazy."
She could hear her own voice trembling.
"Completely insane."
Bai did not kneel.
She stood half a step behind Naruto, motionless.
It wasn't because she could withstand the pressure—it was because her entire attention was on the baby in Naruto's arms.
Menma didn't cry.
The infant, only a few minutes old, lay quietly in his father's arms amidst an energy tide powerful enough to make even elite Jonin submission. The blue starlight in his pupils even seemed to be spinning faster.
It's like absorbing.
Hyuga Hiashi's forehead was pressed against the floor, and his whole body was trembling.
It's not fear.
It was a kind of fanaticism that transcended fear, bordering on religious.
Even the progenitor of the Otsutsuki Clan did not reach such a height.
His son-in-law.
His grandson's father.
Standing there, even a casual burst of power shattered the glass of the entire building into powder.
Five seconds.
From the moment the system broadcast began until Naruto regained control of the surging power within him, the entire process took no more than five seconds.
The corridor returned to silence.
The shards of glass were still floating in the air, shimmering like golden snow in the morning light.
Naruto looked down at Menma in his arms.
Menma looked at him.
The father and son looked at each other.
Then Naruto smiled.
It wasn't the same arrogant laughter as before.
It was a very light, very content laugh.
It's like a gambler betting everything, only to find out they have a royal flush.
He looked up.
"Tsunade."
Tsunade's throat bobbed.
"... Um?"
"Sorry, I couldn't stop myself."
His tone was casual, as if he were talking about what to have for breakfast.
I'll pay for the glass.
Tsunade opened her mouth.
She wanted to say, "You son of a bitch, what are you going to pay for the broken glass?"
She wanted to say, "What just happened inside your body?"
She wanted to ask a thousand questions.
But in the end, she just took a deep breath and forced a smile that looked worse than crying.
"... Okay. I'll deduct it from your mission reward later."
Naruto nodded, then looked down at Menma again.
He gently touched the baby's cheek with his right index finger.
The movements were extremely light.
It was lighter than any Ninjutsu he had ever dismantled in his life.
The little hand on the Menma started moving.
Five fingers grasped his index finger.
Not very strong.
But it's very tight.
Naruto's expression changed.
Soon.
It was so fast that no one noticed it except for Bai, who was half a step behind.
Then he raised his head again, reverting to his arrogant, self-important expression.
"Alright, stop kneeling."
He glanced at the Anbu kneeling all over the corridor.
"It's not that bad."
No one moved.
It's not that I don't want to get up.
My legs are still shaking.
At the same time.
Amegakure.
The top floor of the tower.
In Deva Path Pain's Rinnegan, the concentric circles trembled violently three times.
He had already stood up.
The table in front of him was pushed two meters away by the repulsive force he unconsciously released, and the teacups on the table shattered all over the floor.
"Nagato."
Konan's voice came from the shadows, sounding a beat more urgent than usual.
"I felt it."
Deva Path Pain's voice was devoid of warmth.
"The ripples from Hidden Leaf just now—"
He paused.
There was a three-second silence.
"... Better than me."
Konan stopped breathing.
Nagato is the holder of the Six Paths Power.
The owner of the Rinnegan.
He calls himself "the man of God".
He said.
"Better than me."
The rain is still falling.
But the temperature inside the tower suddenly dropped ten degrees.
Konoha, Hyuga Main House Corridor.
Naruto carried Menma and walked slowly toward the delivery room.
He's going to see Hinata.
The system's announcements continued in my mind.
[Overall assessment of the host's current status--]
[Taijutsu: Surpassing the Six Paths Level.]
[Ninjutsu: All attributes maxed out; theoretically, it can perform all known nature transformation combinations of Ninjutsu.]
[Total Chakra: Has surpassed the baseline for the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki.]
[Overall combat strength: Currently, he has no natural enemies in the Shinobi World.]
Naruto clenched his right fist.
Then it loosened again.
He tried to suppress the curve of his lips, but couldn't.
Six Paths Level.
All attributes are maxed out.
It has no natural enemies.
"Good."
He thought to himself.
"That's more like it."
He pushed open the door to the delivery room.
Hinata leaned against the headboard, her face pale but her eyes shining brightly.
Her eyes welled up with tears the moment she saw Naruto walk in Menma.
Naruto sat down on the edge of the bed.
He placed the Menma into her arms.
"Thanks for your hard work."
Two words.
The voice was kept very low.
Hinata shook her head.
Tears fell, but she smiled.
Naruto reached out and wiped away her tears with his thumb.
"After--"
He paused.
His gaze shifted from Hinata's face to Menma, then back again.
"No one can touch you."
No one will do.
Meanwhile, a thousand miles away at the Hidden Rain Fortress, Deva Path Pain had already begun gathering all his members.
Itachi and Kisame's mission to probe the enemy failed.
That twelve-year-old boy has become stronger again.
"Accelerate the plan."
His voice echoed in the empty tower top.
"We must act before he can continue to grow."