Chapter 22: Kami of the New World
The meeting chamber of Akatsuki was suffocating. Though no chains bound them, every member could feel the invisible weight of dread pressing down, like a storm cloud about to split the heavens.
For Orochimaru, that weight was unbearable. His pale, serpentine eyes flickered from Nagato to the crude map pinned to the wall—Black Zetsu's diagram of expanding concentric circles, resembling tree rings. It was meant to show the growth of Uchiha Raizen's domain. But to Orochimaru, those rings looked less like measurements and more like a coffin closing in on the entire world.
He couldn't help but sneer inwardly. A microscopic black hole devouring a planet… what else could one call it?
Destroy it or pray it would vanish on its own—those were the only options. But kneeling to reason with a black hole? Laughable. The only difference here was that Uchiha Raizen wasn't a cosmic anomaly. He was a man. A man whose existence had become more terrifying than any natural disaster.
Perhaps, Orochimaru thought bitterly, they could attempt to persuade him. To pierce his devouring field, approach him, and appeal to his humanity. But the image was absurd even in his own mind. They would burn through their chakra long before reaching him, their voices fading to nothing inside that abyss. And even if they did somehow stand before him—what guarantee did they have that Raizen wouldn't simply smile, and then crush them like insects?
Orochimaru's lips curled, half in a grin, half in despair. Even Nagato had admitted it was too late.
---
"Impossible…" Sasori muttered, his hollow voice betraying more emotion than usual. His gaze remained locked on the diagram, the puppet-master's usually sharp mind scattered like splintered wood. "How could such a human exist? Am I… am I under an illusion?"
The irony of his words gnawed at him. He had turned his body into a puppet to cheat death, to make his art eternal. And now? His "eternity" was meaningless. He felt like a man who had just won a hundred million ryo only to learn the world would end tomorrow. His puppets, his transformations—decades of work—all of it shattered under the shadow of Uchiha Raizen's looming apocalypse.
His voice trembled. "If I kill him—if I could just kill Uchiha Raizen—this would end. This… nightmare would end. If I did it, wouldn't I… become the new leader of Akatsuki?"
The words sounded hollow even as they left his lips. His eyes flicked toward Nagato, who sat silent in his chair. If the Rinnegan could not defeat Raizen… what hope did I ever have?
---
Orochimaru, for once, shared the same suffocating despair. His obsession with immortality, his research into countless forbidden arts, his dreams of transcending humanity—it all seemed fragile now, like glass ready to shatter at the slightest touch.
Unless…
His golden eyes lifted, gleaming with sudden inspiration. His thoughts pierced beyond the chamber, beyond the atmosphere, out into the stars.
Unless I no longer belong to this world.
He spoke aloud, his tongue curling around every word.
"If Uchiha Raizen truly is as terrifying as you describe, then perhaps we are thinking too small. If this world cannot contain us, then we must leave it. Abandon this planet. Seek other worlds across the universe."
The room froze.
Even Nagato faltered, his lips parting as if the weight of Orochimaru's words had stolen his breath. He had intended to unveil his "hope" to the Akatsuki at this very meeting, to ignite their faith. But Orochimaru's audacity had stolen that moment.
---
Black Zetsu's eyes narrowed. Panic flickered across his shadowed face. This wasn't in the script. He needed Nagato's plan to dominate the room, not some far-flung fantasy about escaping into the cosmos.
The idea had surface-level merit, yes. The ninja world wasn't ignorant of the stars—legends of the Sage of Six Paths spoke of celestial realms, and even Kaguya Ōtsutsuki had come from beyond. But interstellar migration? That was fantasy.
Black Zetsu exhaled in relief as reason returned. Even if they tried, they'd never build such technology in time. By the time a single ship launched, the world would already be dust.
Obito stepped forward, voice sharp beneath his mask.
"Orochimaru, your brilliance is undeniable. But your plan is impossible. We have no technology, no time. Even if you developed spacefaring ninjutsu, Raizen's domain would have consumed the world long before you left the atmosphere."
He folded his arms. "And what then? What if his power expands beyond the sky? What if it stretches into the void? Would you flee to the stars only to be swallowed in silence all the same?"
Silence answered him.
Orochimaru hissed softly, his tongue flicking against his lips. Even he, with all his arrogance, could not counter that logic. For the first time in decades, he felt truly cornered. He—Orochimaru, seeker of eternity—would die because of Shimura Danzo's idiocy, buried with the world in a grave he had not chosen.
---
That was when Nagato moved.
A faint smile crossed his thin lips, one that bore no warmth, only conviction. He shifted awkwardly in his wheelchair, struggling to rise on unsteady legs. His body trembled under the weight of pain, but his will forced him upright. Though he sank back into the chair almost immediately, the gesture was symbolic—a prophet rising to deliver revelation.
"Do not fear," he said, his voice echoing with the resonance of the Rinnegan itself. "Do not despair. Though the world trembles, though death looms, we—the Akatsuki—shall not perish with it."
His pale hands spread wide, like a priest delivering judgment. His voice deepened, carrying a messianic rhythm.
"We have an ark. An ark of salvation that will carry us through the flood into a new dawn. The Kamui Dimension will be our refuge, our vessel. When this cursed world falls, we will endure. We will emerge into the new era not as fugitives—but as gods."
The word gods rippled through the chamber.
Nagato's gaze swept across them all—Orochimaru, Sasori, Kakuzu, Konan, even Obito and Zetsu. His voice rose with each word, conviction hardening into fanatic fire.
"This disaster is not the end—it is the beginning! You, my brothers and sisters, are chosen! Each of you may bring those you deem worthy aboard the Ark of the New World. And when the era dawns anew, you will stand beside me—not as mortals, but as subordinate gods who will shape creation under the will of Kami!"
His hands lifted toward the ceiling, his Rinnegan gleaming like twin storms.
"And I…" His voice thundered now, more commanding than ever. "I will become the Supreme Kami of this new era. I will bring peace. I will end war, end suffering, end the endless cycle of hate. There will be no pain—because I will bear it all!"
The chamber shook—not with chakra, but with conviction.
---
For a long moment, no one spoke.
Kakuzu's hands tightened over his chest, torn between disbelief and the allure of survival. Sasori stared, hollow-eyed, his nihilism shaken by the promise of godhood. Orochimaru's lips twisted into a smile—not because he believed, but because even false gods were fascinating to study.
And Black Zetsu… Black Zetsu lowered his head, hiding the satisfaction in his eyes. This was the narrative he needed. Let Nagato play god. Let the Akatsuki flock to him. In the end, all paths led to Kaguya's resurrection.
Obito, silent at Nagato's side, clenched his fists. For a fleeting moment, he almost believed the speech himself. Almost.
Above them all, beyond their schemes and faiths, the shadow of Uchiha Raizen lingered—silent, immovable, devouring.
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