Time flew like an arrow.
Unknowingly, the final moment had arrived.
"Finally... I've been waiting for this day…"
Naruto could barely contain his excitement. His body had already regained sensation. All that remained was the final fusion of his soul and spirit to fully become the Thunder God.
[Progress bar: 99.1… 99.2… 99.9…]
[Friendly Reminder: Congratulations to the host for attaining the Thunder God's Body!]
As the system's prompt sounded, the skies erupted with countless bolts of lightning, as if the thunder itself were celebrating the birth of its Thunder God.
"Phew!"
Naruto exhaled deeply and slowly opened his eyes. Two streaks of black thunder flashed across his pupils, and in the next moment, the sky was torn open with a massive rift.
It was as if the descriptions from novels had come to life: his gaze alone could kill!
"So, this is the soul of the Thunder God?"
Naruto flexed casually, and crackling sounds like exploding beans echoed from his body. Lightning surged around him, leaving charred and pitted craters on the ground.
"Maybe now I can truly master the Heart Network."
Infusing lightning into his Observation Haki, Naruto expanded its range exponentially. What was once limited to a small area now stretched across the entire Sky Island, continuing to grow without any signs of stopping.
[Friendly Reminder: The host's Observation Haki has surpassed 10,000 meters and achieved full potential. Reward: Divine Perception.]
[Divine Sense: A god's exclusive sensory ability. Capable of perceiving vast distances, seeing through hearts, and glimpsing past and future. Consumes soul energy when used.]
"Goodness…!"
Naruto couldn't help but gasp. The capabilities of Divine Sense were on another level, practically transitioning him from a two-dimensional world to the Xianxia world.
'This power was nearly invincible!'
While his soul energy wasn't yet immense, Naruto realized that with the continued accumulation of faith and more believers, his spiritual power would grow. At that point, using Divine Sense would be effortless.
Whoosh!
Sensing the edge of the Sky Island with his Divine Sense, Naruto willed himself there in an instant.
Wherever his thoughts reached, his body followed!
'Now this is true speed!'
Right now, Naruto's current speed is comparable to Flying Thunder God Technique.
Then again, such speed was to be expected. After all, how can Thunder God couldn't surpass a mortal's Ninjutsu with its name on it?
"This power... feels incredible!"
Naruto reveled in his newfound strength, a feeling of absolute control unlike anything before.
[Friendly Reminder: The host has completed the Thunder God's transformation. The sign-in task is over. Initiating transfer, forcibly returning to the Naruto World.]
Before Naruto could utter a word, his consciousness faded. When he regained consciousness, he was back in the Naruto World, specifically at Otogakure, where he had stayed before transferring to Naruto World.
'Even after becoming a god, I still can't resist the system's force...'
Naruto had thought that attaining Thunder God status might allow him to maintain consciousness during a forced transfer, but it seemed even that was beyond him.
The system, after all, was omnipotent.
In hindsight, it made sense. Everything he had achieved was granted by the system, and resisting it was a fool's errand..
"Huh?"
Naruto came to his senses and was about to leave the room when he suddenly noticed that the person in the mirror looked unfamiliar.
His once modest 1.5-meter frame had grown to a towering 1.9 meters. His silver-white hair flowed freely, exuding a divine aura, and his face, now sharp and defined, featured piercing sword-like eyebrows and starry eyes. The only familiar feature was his bright blue eyes.
The most important part? He wasn't wearing any clothes.
'It seemed the transformation process before had caused his clothes to tear apart.'
"Good thing I checked the mirror first, or I'd be streaking."
Naruto was relieved to have avoided embarrassment. With a mere thought, the lightning surrounding him transformed into a white robe adorned with black lightning patterns. The garment exuded an aura of divine authority and inviolability.
Creak!
The door swung open, and as Naruto stepped out, the once-clear skies above Otogakure were suddenly shrouded with dark clouds. Thunder and lightning gathered en masse, crackling and roaring, as if scrambling for a chance to greet the newly returned Thunder God.
It was like a frenzy of bargain hunters at a market or fans rushing to catch a glimpse of their idol. The lightning bolts surged toward Otogakure to welcome Naruto's presence.
'Has it come?'
From a room nearby, Orochimaru burst out, his expression unusually grave as he looked toward the sky.
"Don't worry."
Naruto said calmly, teleporting to Orochimaru's side with a thought. With a single wave of his hand, the chaotic lightning promptly dispersed, retreating in an orderly fashion.
"Naruto-kun, you've finally returned!"
Orochimaru was slightly startled when he saw the handsome tall man in front of him, but he quickly regained his expression of surprise. He felt the aura that belonged exclusively to Naruto from the other person, which was the induction of the Servant Contract.
"Hmm. But what was it you said about something coming?"
Naruto knew the lightning had come for him, but Orochimaru's earlier concern suggested that trouble was brewing.
Everything was normal when there was only one month left for the fusion of his soul, but just over twenty days ago, the Hokage's Office was suddenly razed to the ground, and the surveillance system Naruto put there was buried in the ruins. It was pitch black and nothing could be seen.
He knew that something big must have happened to cause the Hokage's Office to be razed to the ground.
Orochimaru sighed and began explaining, "Naruto-kun, during your absence, Sasuke sought revenge. He joined forces with your nemesis, the one in the black robe."
"What? The one in the black robe?"
Naruto didn't know much about 'the one in the black robe', but he immediately understood that Orochimaru was referring to the unknown system owner.
"What exactly happened?"
Naruto couldn't help but feel a little nervous.
Orochimaru took a deep breath and started recounting, "This is what happened..."
…
One month earlier…
In a desolate wilderness, a mournful cry echoed as a huge orangutan fell to the ground. It was none other than the Yonbi, Son Goku!
Yonbi is a huge red orangutan. It was sealed in Roshi's body, and was later captured by Kisame and Itachi in the original work.
However, Sasuke had interfered, killing Roshi in the process.
The reason was simple… Roshi refused to submit.
The black-robed figure had offered a straightforward solution: extract the Biju from its Jinchuriki, as they had done before.
Thus, Roshi was killed, and the seal was undone.
Sasuke then defeated Yonbi again.
Seeing the green light emanating from the black-robed figure completely absorb Yonbi, Sasuke smiled with satisfaction.
Now, all the Biju were under his control.
Using these Biju as bargaining chips, Sasuke planned to lure out the one controlling Pain.
With this plan in mind, Sasuke and the black-robed figure passed through a dark green portal to Sunagakure.
The goal was to take Gaara with them. With the Biju, excluding Naruto's Kyubi, this would present an offer the mastermind couldn't refuse.
If it weren't for the black-robed figure's slow progress in breaking through the Chakra signals, Sasuke wouldn't have had to go through such trouble.
However, as soon as Sasuke arrived at Sunagakure, his expression darkened.
The first person he saw was the one he least wanted to encounter.
"Uchiha Itachi... what are you doing here?"