Madara went forward the instant Izuna moved past him.
He placed himself squarely between Izuna and the floating orange cat, blade held horizontally, its edge aimed straight at Garfield's throat.
"Stay away from my brother." Madara said coldly. "Whatever you are."
Garfield frowned. This reaction… was excessive.
Garfield's gaze slid past him, locking onto Izuna once more.
The faint, horned silhouette looming behind the young Uchiha hadn't disappeared. If anything, it had grown clearer.
That's not a simple curse…
Fragments of future knowledge clicked together in Garfield's mind.
Orochimaru.
The Reaper Mask.
The summoning of the Shinigami.
The Uchiha clan's connection to forbidden contracts.
"…Ah." Garfield's ears twitched. So that's it.
Madara had touched the domain of death. Not yet, but close enough that the Shinigami had already marked Izuna.
A life forcibly extended always left a debt behind.
And debts to death were never cheap.
Garfield grimaced.
He had dealt with worse, he'd been kissed by the big boss of the underworld himself, after all, but this was still troublesome.
Fine, he decided. Let's deal with everything at once. Garfield snapped his fingers.
The living room folded inward like a collapsing page, and the world inverted itself.
Hashirama, Tobirama, Madara, Izuna and the phantom of the Shinigami were ripped free and dragged into a vast, swirling dimensional void.
Colors twisted and time bled sideways.
In an instant, all of them were stripped of physical form, their bodies dissolving into translucent soul-states bound to their consciousness.
Garfield sat cross-legged in midair, framed by spiraling light, the Ouroboros coiled tightly around his paws. The Time Gem pulsed softly, anchoring the space.
He looked every bit the god he was pretending to be.
Hashirama whistled softly, looking around in awe. "Huh. So this is where you live?"
He reached out toward a distorted ripple of space.
"Don't touch that," Garfield said flatly. "That's collapsed time. You'd die very slowly."
Hashirama immediately pulled his hand back and scratched the back of his head, laughing. "Ah… good to know."
Tobirama silently stepped closer to his brother, already prepared to physically restrain him if necessary.
Madara, meanwhile, was staring at the Shinigami. Sweat traced a slow path down his temple.
The god of death stood beside Izuna, massive and horned, its presence crushing.
Madara's fists trembled, not from fear for himself, but from dread for what it might take.
Izuna swallowed.
Their clan worshiped death, but seeing it was something else entirely.
At first, the Shinigami was wrong.
Its movements were stiff. A fragmentary avatar, nothing more than a mechanical extension of a greater will.
But… it noticed something.
The Shinigami's eyes rolled, snapping into focus.
The hollow shell was filled. Across the void, something vast stirred.
The moment it became aware, the pressure multiplied tenfold.
"You four… insects." The Shinigami's voice boomed. "How dare you interfere with death's domain?"
The space itself trembled.
Hashirama, Tobirama, Madara, and Izuna all felt it at once the sensation of standing before something utterly beyond them.
Like ants staring up at the sky.
Madara tightened his grip, instinctively shifting closer to Izuna.
Garfield sighed. "…And here we go."
The four shinobi could not see the mark on Garfield's forehead. But the moment the world was fully submerged in death's domain, they felt…
To the God of Death, they were no longer living beings.
They were children of death, fragile things standing on borrowed time.
The instant the Reaper's gaze rose and fixed on the orange figure hovering in midair, his entire being froze.
Forehead.
That mark… a seal bestowed only by that one.
The Reaper's pupils shrank violently.
He had one too, but his was crude, a brand earned through servitude. Garfield's was… proof of authority so high that even the gods of death were not permitted to question it.
His knees slammed into the void.
Under the stunned gazes of the four shinobi, the horned god collapsed face-first, prostrating himself like a loyal hound.
"My lord!" The Reaper cried. "My lord, my lord why are you here?!"
"Have you eaten? Would you like tea? My shrine is humble, but~" The groveling was relentless.
Professionally embarrassing.
Inside Garfield's soul, Pandora Godzilla exploded with excitement.
'YES, DOG MODE! FULL DOG MODE!'
'A goddess's little underling! Damn it, I love this energy~'
CHOMP.
Garfield winced internally. Pandora bit him.
Atomic breath flared briefly inside his soul before she sulked, exhausted, and sank back into silence.
Ow.
That actually hurt.
Garfield glanced warily at the Reaper. "…You didn't see that just now, right?"
The Reaper stiffened, glanced sideways at Rin's sealed room, and then at Izuna.
His expression shifted into one of deep, knowing understanding. "Ah."
"I understand, my lord."
"Rest assured. Xiaodi will not tell the Lady of Death."
Garfield was speechless.
…Why do you sound like you've misunderstood something deeply important?
"…Ah," Garfield said slowly, "You're misunderstanding something, but forget it. Let's deal with the real issue."
He pointed lazily at Izuna.
"Why does this human have your avatar following him?"
Madara's muscles locked instantly.
The Reaper turned, examining Izuna with a professional gaze. He rolled the rosary in his fingers once… twice… then sighed.
"My lord," He said, "This human's lifespan has already ended."
"…" Madara's breath caught.
"My clone was sent to retrieve his soul, but it was stopped."
Garfield's ears twitched. "Stopped by what?"
The Reaper hesitated. "…By my own mask."
"…You're telling me." Garfield said carefully, "That your avatar was blocked by your own mask?"
The Reaper's face worsened with humiliation.
"When the rules were created, flaws were… overlooked," He muttered. "It is too late for Xiaodi to revise them."
Tobirama looked at the Reaper.
Then at his brother. Then at Madara.
…Idiots really do gather naturally, he thought.
Hashirama, meanwhile, laughed quietly, rubbing the back of his head. "Wow. You remind me of a friend."
Madara didn't hear him.
He stepped forward, voice low and tight. "If the mask is removed… will you take him?"
The Reaper nodded. "According to the rules, yes. His soul must return to the underworld."
Garfield tilted his head.
"What if." He asked casually, "I take his body and soul to another world?"
The Reaper paused. "…Like the girl who was meant to die, but is currently sleeping next door?"
"Yes."
The God of Death thought for a long moment. Then he bowed his head.
"…Then."
꧁𓊈𒆜༺⚜༻𒆜𓊉꧂
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