As he climbed the stone steps along the mountain path to the shrine, Orochimaru retrieved everything about the "Four Gods of the Earth" from his vast repository of truth.
The Four Gods of the Earth... were ancient deities born of the land of this Ninja world. Unlike the celestial god Ōtsutsuki, they had not been gods from birth.
Human or otherwise, each had followed their own path of fate, attained divinity, and come to wield divine power over different domains!
Three of those gods had already had their mysteries unveiled.
The Shinigami represented death and sacrifice. In life, he had been a human named "Jinnai," a direct descendant of the Sage of Six Paths... and the oldest traceable ancestor of the Uzumaki Clan! Before his death, he had sacrificed many of his clansmen to create a forbidden technique. After he died, the sheer strength of his will had brought his soul back from hell, transforming him into the spirit medium of the Reaper Death Seal!
Now, the Shinigami was sealed within Orochimaru, his future uncertain.
The Evil God represented slaughter and curses. The Evil God had also been human in life, though their name was unknown... Legend held that they were an ancestor of the Chinoike Clan. Obsessed with making their flesh immortal, they had conducted experiments and slaughtered people in a frenzy, gaining a host of fanatical followers—the Jashin Cult. But even the Evil God had ultimately failed to resist the ravages of time. After death, to perpetuate their divine power, they would choose a contractor from among their followers and appoint a representative through a ritual!
Now, the Ketsuryūgan that served as the Evil God's shrine belonged to Karin, with a bright future ahead.
The Feathered Serpent God symbolized power and dominance. Originally named "Black Feather," they had