Outside Kumogakure, Konoha's Encampment
After issuing his ultimatum to Kumogakure and obliterating the Raikage building with his Lightning Style: Kirin, Hyūga Naraku made no further aggressive moves.Instead, he stationed his forces directly at the village's front gates.
Inside Kumogakure, their barrier team had no choice but to stay on full alert, working around the clock.
Naraku could breach their barrier if he wished — but he wasn't in a rush.Let them stew. Let chaos brew within their own walls.
Still, he wasn't entirely idle.
"If the lightning is too fierce, find a weaker thundercloud. The key to Kirin isn't just the lightning — it's how well you control a massive amount of Lightning Chakra,"Naraku explained, standing before a group of eager Lightning-style shinobi.
He had done something few elite shinobi would even consider: he shared his powerful technique.
Kumo's storm-filled climate made it a perfect training ground for Kirin.
Dark peaks pierced the clouds, and thunder rumbled overhead without end.Konoha's Lightning-style ninja now soared above those peaks on giant black birds, conjured with the Super Beast Imitating Drawing technique.
They trained by manipulating ambient lightning from the skies.And if they lost control? Well... they simply dropped the strike on Kumogakure's barrier.That unintended consequence had made the villagers extremely hesitant to leave their homes.
Even though the average Lightning-style blast couldn't break through the village's barrier, no one liked seeing bolts of lightning crackling just overhead.
"Thank you, Lord Naraku, for your instruction!"A group of shinobi bowed deeply in admiration.
Sharing the Kirin technique — openly, without secrecy — earned Naraku their reverence.He was not just powerful, but generous.
"Make sure each squad includes a Hyūga shinobi," Naraku reminded them sternly."Cloud may be quiet now, but don't trust them. Always monitor their chakra signatures."
Despite Kumogakure's current passivity, Naraku wasn't taking chances.
Each team flew high on the black-painted ink birds, a Hyūga eye constantly scanning the chakra flow below.
Watching from the ground, Nara Shikaku shook his head with a wry smile.
"It's still not even close to the birds Naraku draws," he muttered.
The creatures they were flying on now were conjured by the Ino–Shika–Chō trio — or at least, an attempt at Naraku's technique.
Despite weeks of collaboration, the results were underwhelming.
They had only managed a crude imitation: clunky, with visible black brush strokes and lacking substance.
Worse yet, the technique required all three clans.
Nara and Yamanaka combined their Yin Chakra to form the structure, while Akimichi's Yang Chakra imbued the drawing with animation and presence.
"Still too far off," Yamanaka Inoichi admitted, eyes following the soaring birds."Everything Naraku draws looks... real."
"It only looks real," Naraku replied calmly, already brushing fresh ink onto a scroll.
With practiced strokes, he painted a crow.Then, channeling Yin–Yang Release, the bird shimmered, twitched, and leapt from the parchment, flapping into the air as if born naturally.
Then—
Thunk.
A kunai appeared in Naraku's hand — out of nowhere — and he slashed.The crow dissolved instantly, reduced to a puddle of ink.
Nara Shikaku's eyes narrowed.
That kunai… when did he draw it?
"Wait… Naraku, you didn't have a kunai just now."
His clan's records described the apex of Yin Release: forming shape from the formless.
"It's just a dead object," Naraku replied, twirling the fading kunai before letting it vanish into pure chakra once again.
With the power of his Tenseigan Chakra Mode, he could create any non-living object — identical to the real thing, inside and out.
He remembered how Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo once created a cage from nothing — a clear mark of Yin Release mastery.
True creation.
But creating a living being?
That required mastery of both extremes — Yin and Yang — in perfect harmony.
"That kunai…" Shikaku whispered, stunned. "You created it, didn't you? With Yin Release?"
"No brush, no ink. It just... existed."Inoichi's voice trembled slightly. "We can't even maintain a bird without a scroll, and you're pulling steel out of air…"
Naraku only gave a small smile.
"To create life, both Yin and Yang must reach their peak."
He didn't add that he wasn't far off.
He opened his status window briefly.
[Yang Release Chakra: 3350 / 10,000]
After defeating the Wood Golem, the Fourth Raikage, and Killer Bee, he had gained 350, 500, and 500 chakra points respectively.
Once Yin Release was maxed out, he had shifted all focus to Yang.
If Yin imagined form, Yang brought vitality.
Together… they formed the divine power of creation itself.
Still, even now, he saw the difference between himself and the Sage of Six Paths.
Back in his previous life, official lore had stated Hagoromo had reached the "Six Paths Sage Mode."
But how?
He hadn't eaten the chakra fruit.
What made Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki different?
Then it struck him.
Black Zetsu — created by Kaguya Ōtsutsuki — had survived millennia.
The Tailed Beasts, separated from the Ten-Tails, had also existed for thousands of years.
That was the mark of a true Bloodline Limit of the Gods — the Bloodline of the Snare.
Hagoromo had somehow gained that — the power to shape immortality itself.
Naraku, for all his strength, could only create mortal beings.
Even his pseudo–Six Paths Chakra Mode wouldn't save him from aging.
He would die one day.
The Sage of Six Paths… wouldn't.
"So how did Hagoromo, without consuming the chakra fruit, reach such a realm?"
Naraku's brow furrowed deeply.
Before he could ponder more—
"Lord Naraku!"
A shinobi raced across the encampment, panting."The Two-Tails Jinchūriki… she's regained consciousness!"
Naraku's eyes sharpened.
Yugito Nii, captured alongside Killer Bee during the assault — she might be the key to understanding the tailed beasts…And perhaps, even the power of the Sage of Six Paths.