Death isn't painful. Not at first.
I was sitting in my room, lights off, hoodie on, surrounded by the quiet hum of my laptop fan and the glowing screen that played the latest episode of Boruto. It was that episode — the one where they finally dropped the name:
"Shibai Ōtsutsuki."
The god of gods. The one who ascended. The one no one ever expected to show up in canon.
As Daemon uttered the name and the screen flashed to a grainy hologram of the celestial being, something inside me twisted.
I barely had time to react.
A sharp pain struck my chest — sudden, blinding. My breath hitched. I clutched at my shirt, heart pounding like a war drum. The next wave hit harder. My fingers went cold. My vision blurred. The world spun, and I fell sideways from my chair, landing hard on the carpet.
The episode kept playing.
I couldn't move.
I couldn't speak.
"He no longer needed a physical body. He evolved beyond mortality..."
The voice echoed from the screen like some cosmic joke.
And then… everything went dark.
A white soul tinged with black slowly ascended into the sky, rising higher and higher until it reached the edge of the world, close to the vastness of space. There, a swirling portal opened, and the soul passed through into another place and time — a realm filled with magnificent stars and crowned by a colossal palace.
"Hm... my time for Ascension has come. I can't delay it any longer," Shibai murmured to himself, his voice calm yet resolute. "My godly powers are already unraveling the very fabric of time and space."
As Shibai contemplated his imminent ascension, a soul suddenly appeared before him. Shock flashed in his eyes as he gazed into its memories with utter astonishment.
"Impossible... how is this possible?" he whispered. "A mere mortal fabricates me in a storyline? Haha... maybe this is fate. If it were me in the past, I would have cleaved that lowly planet in half — even if it exists in another time-space."
His gaze hardened. "But this means my future remains here, exploited by these despicable clan members and lowly shinobi from that world."
Shibai studied the soul intently, an idea forming in his mind. "Since you miserable being died just by hearing my name, I will at least give you some compensation. And since you are from another time-space, you might have gained something special by coming here."
He paused before continuing. "I can let you inherit my legacy, as I am already leaving this world. You and I have no connection by blood or soul, so I will make you my son — by erasing your useless memories and implanting useful ones. Perhaps, if you one day reach my heights, I will take you back to a higher dimension and officially acknowledge you as worthy."
Sitting on his throne, Shibai stared up at the starry sky beyond the palace windows. Below, many members of the Ōtsutsuki clan admired him reverently.
Without another word, Shibai took his own body and cut it with divine precision. Blood dripped slowly as his soul detached, sending an overwhelming wave of despair through the clan members below.
One Ōtsutsuki whispered, "Lord Shibai is performing his Ascension Ceremony. His soul is transcending, leaving his body behind."
Slowly, Shibai's soul separated from his corpse. He glanced at the soul before him, which was now surrounded by immense chakra.
Using his Divine Chakra, Shibai transformed the soul's color to golden. Then, he reformed his body's remains into a small infant, which absorbed the golden soul.
The infant rapidly aged, becoming a ten-year-old child in moments.
"That is all I can do. The rest you must earn on your own," Shibai said. "I am also granting you my techniques and knowledge, which you will need to unlock."
He examined the system concept that appeared before him — intrigued by the idea. "I shall create a system and call it 'World Destroyer.'"
"Now, you are my son. Your name shall be Reizan Ōtsutsuki."
Using divine thought, Shibai transmitted a message to the main Ōtsutsuki family members — his most loyal followers — instructing them to take care of his heir.
Ōtsutsuki Tensai, Shibai's right-hand man, approached the powerful divine soul of Reizan. Without Shibai's protection, even glancing at the child would have been deadly, sending chills down Tensai's spine.
Shibai handed Reizan over to Tensai and shared some details about his son — carefully omitting any information about the other time-space or Reizan's past life.
Then, Shibai's soul ascended. A vast gateway opened within the void, shaking all creatures across the universe. The main and branch family members of the Ōtsutsuki clan looked up as the massive portal radiated an intense, golden light that spread throughout existence.
The clan leader, long suppressed by Shibai's might, muttered bitterly, "You finally ascend, Shibai. Even now, I have not reached god-stage, and yet you leave for a higher dimension while I am stuck here with these useless clan members who only brag about bloodlines without training."
"I will come to meet you again someday," he vowed. "Although you suppressed me and now you leave, I have heard you have a son. I will see whether that son becomes a disgrace or rises like you. This truly becomes interesting."
Once again, Shibai looked at the universe he was leaving behind, now a small orb as he approached the end of the passageway. Ahead, he saw a colossal world — countless times larger than his own universe.
"Now, let's see what fate holds," he whispered. "I hope my new son can one day walk this same path."
Yet, deep down, he knew it was a gamble — for Reizan came from a completely different time-space, a lower dimension altogether. His future remained uncertain.