Chapter 46: The Shinigami Mask (End of Volume)
Facing dozens of white serpents charging at him, Pain remained utterly calm. His left hand, wielding a black rod, stabbed forward in a blur, each strike piercing the body of a serpent.
"Impossible!"
The white snakes cried out in Orochimaru's voice. After being struck, they twisted together and reformed into Orochimaru himself.
But now, Orochimaru looked utterly wretched — not only was he dangling in midair, gripped by Pain's right hand, but several bloody holes marred his body. These wounds were clearly left by the black rod.
At that moment, the hand Pain was using to hold Orochimaru began to freeze over. Pain frowned and violently flung Orochimaru aside.
Orochimaru tumbled through the air several times before finally regaining his balance and landing steadily.
Glaring at the black rod in Pain's hand, Orochimaru asked grimly, "What kind of weapon is that? It even pierced my genjutsu clones."
Pain didn't bother answering. His gaze remained indifferent as he simply said, "Tell me your choice — join us, or die."
The black rods Pain wielded were formed by combining the power of the Rinnegan with Yin-Yang Release.
This material could damage illusions composed of Yin chakra — making it not just a deadly weapon, but also serving as chakra transmitters for the Six Paths of Pain. They were key to Nagato's control over them.
Naturally, Pain had no intention of explaining any of this to Orochimaru.
Hearing the ultimatum, Orochimaru fell silent.
Though he was confident in his own power — and had yet to unleash the strength sealed within his Cursed Seal — Orochimaru could keenly sense that this opponent was unlike anyone he had ever faced before.
This man, with his extraordinary dōjutsu bloodline, had seemingly reached a realm far beyond that of ordinary shinobi.
After a moment of thought, Orochimaru's grim expression shifted into one of intrigue.
He licked his lips and, with a hint of amusement, asked, "Joining you isn't out of the question… but first, I need to know — what is your organization's goal?"
Whether he intended to join or seek an opportunity to escape later, Orochimaru needed to understand their objectives first.
"To collect all the Tailed Beasts and use absolute power to rule the ninja world," Pain said blandly.
His tone was so calm, it was as if he were stating something as simple and inevitable as the sunrise.
"How interesting... how very interesting!"
Orochimaru burst into laughter.
He laughed for a good ten seconds before gradually stopping.
Looking at Pain, he said slowly, "Fine. I'll join."
Hearing that the organization's aim was to dominate the world by gathering all the Tailed Beasts, Orochimaru saw it as a rare opportunity for himself as well.
Currently, he had only sealed the Yin chakra of Shukaku, the One-Tail, into his "Dual Polarity Cursed Seal."
He very much intended to leverage this organization's power to seize even more Tailed Beasts for himself.
As for the One-Tail he had just extracted and killed — far from feeling any regret, Orochimaru was relieved.
If Shukaku had been discovered, not only would it have been taken away, but it would also have exposed his own ambitions regarding the Tailed Beasts.
For safety's sake, he decided he must not lightly use the Dual Polarity Cursed Seal in front of Akatsuki members, lest they catch on to his secrets.
Seeing Orochimaru agree to join, Pain retracted his black rod and casually tossed something to him.
Orochimaru caught it and opened his hand to see a ring engraved with the kanji for "Sky" (空).
"Wear this ring. You are now an official member of Akatsuki. From now on, your partner will be Sasori."
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Meanwhile, Yusuke was unaware that Orochimaru had already joined Akatsuki early, planning to use their power to gather the Tailed Beasts.
At this moment, Yusuke was deep within his spiritual world, sparring against Ryūjin Jakka — honing his soul's strength through relentless battle.
Ryūjin Jakka, manifesting as a humanoid figure, remained as domineering as ever. Each swing of his blade was wide and devastating, the flames roaring with every cleave.
Against such overwhelming attacks, Yusuke could barely hold his ground, struggling to defend himself while Ryūjin Jakka's voice boomed in his ears:
"Control your spiritual pressure — concentrate it on your weapon!"
"Don't just defend — look for opportunities to strike!"
"You're the worst disciple I've ever had!"
With a loud clang, Ryūjin Jakka's slash shattered Yusuke's weapon and sent him flying under the sheer force of the blow.
Sensing that Yusuke's ocular power was nearly depleted, Ryūjin Jakka said calmly, "That's enough for today."
After several months of training, Yusuke could clearly feel his soul's strength growing.
The most immediate benefit was the increase in his ocular power.
Initially, he could only last about ten minutes fighting in the spirit world — but now, he could hold out for almost fifteen.
Another benefit was enhanced stamina.
Nowadays, he needed much less sleep, rarely felt fatigued, and his mental focus had improved significantly.
Besides soul strength, Yusuke's swordsmanship had also advanced.
Ryūjin Jakka's sword style — called the "Genryū"— was created by Yamamoto Genryūsai Shigekuni, a former wielder of Ryūjin Jakka.
Under Ryūjin Jakka's tutelage, Yusuke had been steadily learning the Genryū techniques, which emphasized spiritual pressure control to enhance the power of each strike.
Glancing at the broken sword in his hand, Yusuke asked, "When do you think I'll be ready to learn Bankai?"
Ryūjin Jakka shook his head, "You're still far from ready. Your soul isn't yet strong enough to handle the power of Bankai."
"However," he added, "once you can maintain battle in the spirit world for half an hour, you can attempt the first stage of my Bankai."
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That night, after completing his training, Yusuke quietly left Konoha and traveled to an abandoned shrine.
The shrine's crossbeams bore a spiraling whirlpool crest — the emblem of the Uzumaki Clan.
Hidden within this derelict shrine was a legendary artifact passed down through the Uzumaki line — the Shinigami Mask.
This mask had a mysterious connection to the Shinigami.
When a shinobi wore it, they could summon the Shinigami without needing to perform the Reaper Death Seal.
In the original story, Orochimaru had used the Shinigami Mask to summon the death god, cut open its belly, and release the souls of the First to Fourth Hokage — as well as restoring the use of his own arms.
Stepping into the dilapidated shrine, Yusuke found a wall lined with countless eerie masks.
Nearly a hundred grotesque, twisted faces stared down from the wall — clearly a deliberate arrangement to hide the true Shinigami Mask among them.
However, to someone like Yusuke, whose spiritual senses were exceptionally keen, the Shinigami Mask — radiating a dense soul aura — stood out like a firefly in the dark.
"So this is the Shinigami Mask..."
Yusuke carefully took down a mask with twin horns and a fierce grin, examining it closely.
He had once spoken to Ryūjin Jakka about the Shinigami of the Naruto world.
Ryūjin Jakka, once a weapon of the true Shinigami from the Soul Society, was naturally intrigued.
However, after hearing Yusuke's descriptions, Ryūjin Jakka concluded that this so-called "Shinigami" was likely not a true god ruling over life and death, but rather a powerful soul-devouring entity.
Upon reflection, Yusuke agreed.
After all, when Orochimaru cut open the Shinigami's belly, only the souls sealed by the Reaper Death Seal were released — suggesting that this Shinigami only controlled what it had eaten through that specific jutsu, not the entire cycle of life and death.
From another perspective, the Reaper Death Seal seemed less like a sealing jutsu and more akin to a summoning technique—where the caster sacrifices their own soul to summon the Shinigami and uses it to harvest the souls of their enemies.
In Yusuke's plan, he intended to leverage the power of the Shinigami to complete the "Reverse Dual Polarity Seal."
Since the Shinigami exists purely as a soul entity and feeds on souls, its form is composed of extremely refined Yin Release chakra, which could very well meet the material requirements for the Seal.
"Although Ryūjin Jakka confirmed that as a Zanpakutō, it can slay spiritual beings like the Shinigami, the Shinigami's true strength is still unknown. If I summon it without being fully prepared and end up being overpowered, I'd die a meaningless death."
After considering it, Yusuke decided it was safer to seal the Shinigami mask into a storage scroll for now, postponing the summoning until he was confident enough to control the outcome.
The next day, Yusuke visited his usual spot—Poverty Spring Teahouse, his favorite in the Hidden Leaf Village.
"Eh? It's you!"
To his surprise, he spotted a familiar face—the young waitress he had met before.
She was wearing a floral apron, her pale gray hair tied into two playful braids resting on her shoulders, looking as lively and adorable as ever.
When she noticed Yusuke, her face lit up with joy, and she ran over in small, quick steps.
"Yusuke-sama, it's been so long!"
Yusuke smiled back and asked, "I thought you had become a ninja. How come you're back working here?"
Hearing his question, the girl kept smiling, but a trace of sadness flickered in her eyes.
"Being a ninja… just isn't for me after all."
"I used to admire the brave and dashing ninjas I saw growing up. I dreamed of becoming someone respected and revered like them one day."
"But after actually taking on missions, I realized how cruel the shinobi world truly is."
From their conversation, Yusuke learned that she was Inari Shinko—the former teammate of his disciple, Itachi.
During the mission when Itachi first awakened his Sharingan, their captain, Mizuki Yūki, and their comrade, Izumo Tenma, had died in battle.
Inari Shinko had been severely wounded and only recovered after months of rest.
After personally experiencing the harsh realities of the shinobi world, Shinko realized she lacked the talent and mental fortitude needed to be a true ninja. She had given up that path and returned to work at the teahouse instead.
"I don't have the extraordinary talent Itachi does… and I can't accept the reality of losing comrades right before my eyes. Maybe this teahouse really is the place where I belong."
As she spoke, Shinko seemed lost in painful memories.
When she snapped back to reality, she noticed Yusuke was patiently listening without a hint of impatience. Flustered, her cheeks flushed bright red.
"I'm sorry, Yusuke-sama! I must have wasted so much of your time just complaining..."
Yusuke smiled gently and shook his head, signaling her not to worry.
They didn't talk for much longer before Shinko returned to her duties, bustling around the teahouse.
Watching her busy figure, Yusuke drained the last of his tea in one gulp, but his mind was weighed down by countless thoughts.
"The Five Great Nations... the Akatsuki... the countless minor nations... and those like Obito, lurking in the shadows, waiting for their moment."
"This world is chaotic and brutally cruel."
"Now that I've arrived here, armed with Ryūjin Jakka's tremendous power... should I do something to change it?"
(End of Volume One)
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