Hiruzen persuaded me to die

Inside the Hokage's office, deep within the heart of Konoha.

The thick scroll of forbidden knowledge—the Book of Seals—lay open on Hyūga Naraku's desk, its ancient pages turned to a sinister jutsu: the Dead Demon Consuming Seal.

It was, perhaps, the greatest privilege of becoming Hokage.

Access.

To the darkest, most forbidden techniques ever developed in the ninja world.

Konoha's strength wasn't just in its ninja—it was in its foundations, its archives, its legacy. The Impure World Reincarnation, the Dead Demon Consuming Seal, and other terrifying arts were all recorded within this massive scroll. And to Hyūga Naraku—who now stood at the edge of Six Paths power—they were more than history.

They were the key to evolution.

Naraku had already mastered both Yin and Yang Release at the highest possible tier—Six Paths level. But to evolve further, to cross that final threshold and grasp the legendary Bloodline of the Gods (Kekkei Mōra), raw chakra wasn't enough.

He needed more.

Just like Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki, the Sage of Six Paths, once did.

Despite being a master of all chakra natures, and capable of creating Truth-Seeking Orbs, even he only ascended to that mythical state after absorbing the Ten Tails' chakra.

Naraku's fingers tapped rhythmically on the desk.

Even the Sage fell back to "just" Six Paths level once he divided the Ten Tails into the nine tailed beasts. It was proof—strength alone wasn't enough. One needed a limitless wellspring of chakra to achieve transcendence.

That was why he had brought back the Eight Tails.

He needed to study them—understand how to harness their power without falling prey to the same pitfalls that destroyed Uchiha Madara.

Because both of the original methods—Madara's and Hagoromo's—were flawed.

Flawed Ascension: Madara's Path

Madara's method was brute force.

Extract the Gedo Statue. Reform the Ten Tails. Become its Jinchūriki.

And yet, even after awakening the Rinnegan and claiming the Ten Tails, Madara remained—at his core—a mortal. Powerful, yes. But he lacked the foundation of Six Paths mastery before his transformation.

He never truly earned the Truth-Seeking Orbs. They formed automatically.

And once used… they were gone.

In contrast, Naraku had already reached the Six Paths tier before any fusion.

If he took in the Ten Tails now, he could immediately ascend to the level of a Bloodline Snare—Kekkei Mōra!

But the Ten Tails wasn't a simple tool. It was a piece of Kaguya Ōtsutsuki herself.

In the original timeline, Madara was manipulated. The voice of the Divine Tree whispering to him… was Kaguya. And the third eye he manifested? It wasn't his.

It was hers.

Naraku's eyes narrowed. "So even at the apex, Madara was just a vessel."

After Infinite Tsukuyomi, Kaguya used Black Zetsu to backstab him and reclaimed her form—resurrecting through the chakra he gathered.

That fate wouldn't be his.

The Sage's Way: Too Naive

The Sage's method was more elegant… but just as dangerous.

He extracted the chakra of the Ten Tails, split it into nine sentient beasts, and only then did he absorb their power.

But Hagoromo was unique. He created the tailed beasts. They saw him as their father.

Naraku?

He was a predator, not a caretaker.

If he dared to permanently seal all nine into his body, he wouldn't be hosting them. He would be enslaving them.

And they wouldn't stay quiet.

He imagined it now—facing off against some godlike Ōtsutsuki while Kurama and the others rioted within his chakra system. The embarrassment alone could kill a man.

"Damn it," Naraku muttered. "Even if I devour them for power, they'll rebel the moment an opportunity appears. Whether I consume them or someone else does—it's all the same to them."

They would sabotage him out of spite.

And so, neither path worked.

A New Method: Sealing, Division… Control

Naraku's eyes shifted back to the scroll. There was only one possibility left.

The Dead Demon Consuming Seal.

Minato once used it to split the Nine Tails into Yin and Yang halves—each retaining sentience, each capable of functioning as an independent entity. They were, for all intents and purposes, clones.

Not illusions. Not puppets. True, chakra-bearing copies.

And they could restore chakra independently.

In the Fourth War, Naruto shared Nine Tails chakra with the entire Allied Shinobi Forces—yet the original Kurama's power returned, slowly but surely.

If Naraku could split a tailed beast into an unconscious clone with that same regenerative ability… he wouldn't have to deal with rebellion.

He would have chakra wells on standby. No minds. No mutiny.

"Fascinating," Naraku muttered, closing the scroll with a soft thud. "To think the power of a deity could be loopholed by a sealing jutsu…"

But there was a risk.

The Shinigami's Mask: A Broken God

The technique summoned a being called the Shinigami—a death god of sorts, residing in a separate dimension. But the more Naraku studied it, the more it resembled… a system glitch.

Tobirama once noted that its aura was similar to Impure World Reincarnation. Was it tied to the underworld? The Pure Land?

Sage of Six Paths himself could summon the souls of the past Hokage directly, without sacrifice.

So why the theatrics with the Shinigami?

He recalled Orochimaru's bold move—donning the Shinigami mask, stepping into its space, and hijacking the seal. Sacrificing only a White Zetsu body, Orochimaru retrieved not only his own arms, but the souls of the Hokage too.

A god?

More like an outdated program being exploited.

"Even gods can be hacked," Naraku smiled coldly. "If the Shinigami can be tricked… then it can be studied."

New Objective: Shinigami Deconstruction

He now had a hypothesis.

Could he use the Dead Demon Consuming Seal to divide a tailed beast into an unconscious clone?

And if so, could he use that to accumulate chakra without internal conflict?

If each clone could recover chakra just like the original, then he could build a chakra bank of his own—silent, obedient, and ever-regenerating.

A walking engine of chakra.

Not a Jinchūriki. Not a Sage. Something else entirely.

A god with no leash.

But for now, he needed more data. He wouldn't risk summoning the Shinigami just yet. Too many unknowns. Too many potential traps.

And he had a war to prepare for.

"Mist will not answer our messengers," Naraku said at last, turning to the ANBU kneeling before him. "Send word. Mobilize all units. Kiri is stalling, and I won't wait for them to sharpen their blades."

"Yes, Lord Hokage!"

As the masked operative disappeared into the shadows, Naraku stood and looked once more at the sealed scroll, eyes thoughtful.

The gods may have ruled this world once…

But they left behind their blueprints.