Pain started walking toward the exit of the hideout, his footsteps echoing softly against the cold stone floor. Reaching out, he pressed his right hand against the seal on the massive door and channeled his Chakra into it. With a heavy groan, the door slid open.
He pulled his hand back to his side—only for it to glitch, twisting and reshaping into a rocket launcher. A frown ford on his face beneath the mask. Grabbing his right arm, he forced it to revert to normal, flexing the fingers to make sure it obeyed. Then continued walking.
This was one of the inevitable problems with using the Six Paths abilities on a corpse without functioning Chakra coils. The body couldn't circulate or mold Chakra efficiently. The black receivers inserted throughout the body acted as both conduits and replacents for the missing coils, but that dual role placed imnse strain on the host and caused gradual deterioration as long as the body remained active.
The stress intensified each ti a Path ability was used. To counter this, Max had programd Pain to wield only two Paths—the Ashura Path and the Naraka Path—so the body could repair itself mid-battle if necessary. It was sothing Nagato hadn't done because the limit to the number of Abilities a single body can use is two and also because such a setup would have made his other Paths vulnerable and reduce their overall effectiveness.
That limitation ant Max's version of Pain would have to rely heavily on taijutsu to deal with most threats, using ninjutsu only when absolutely necessary.
As Pain stepped through the illusion guarding the hideout's entrance, moonlight washed over his form. He looked up at the pale glow of the night sky. A low hum filled the air as his feet morphed into thrusters, rging together and igniting in a burst of blue fla.
With a thunderous roar, Pain launched himself into the sky, streaking across the night toward the Himalayan mountains.
Back at Max's residence
"They were the first beings on Earth—other than Kaguya—to wield Chakra, and both grew incredibly powerful," Max said.
"Would you loose if you were to fight them?" Thena asked.
"Well, as things stand now, I'd lose," Max admitted with a small shrug. "But I'm still getting stronger."
"How strong are you exactly, Dad?" she pressed curiously.
"Hmmm…" Max humd, placing a hand on his chin in thought. "I don't have a unit of asurent that you'd understand, but I'll give you a short demonstration tomorrow so you can see for yourself."
"Okay," Thena said, smiling faintly. "Continue then."
"Alright," Max said, leaning back slightly. "When Kaguya ate the God Fruit, she gained imnse power—power she used to forcefully bring peace to the world after witnessing the horrors of war firsthand. The people began to worship her as the Rabbit Goddess.
"At first, she used her powers to maintain peace… but over ti, her paranoia and fear of betrayal twisted her. She beca a ruthless tyrant and eventually fused with the Ten-Tails—a monstrous entity of near-limitless power.
"When her sons, Hagoromo and Hamura, confronted her about her cruel thods, she saw only betrayal. To her, they had sided with the lesser humans against her divine will. And so, a legendary battle began—one that shook the very world.
"Unable to kill her, they sealed her away instead. She was too powerful to defeat and immortal to destroy. Afterward, Hagoromo split the Ten-Tails' Chakra into nine sentient beings—the tailed beasts—while Hamura took the Ten-Tails' husk for safekeeping.
"Hamura left Earth and went to the moon, where he established his own clan. Hagoromo, on the other hand, stayed behind. He took it upon himself to guide humanity toward peace, teaching Ninshū—the spiritual precursor to ninjutsu. His goal was to make people understand that Chakra was ant to connect hearts, not to dominate them."
Max paused, his tone softening. "That… was the beginning of everything."
Thena sat in silence for a few monts, her mind trying to digest everything Max had just said.
"So… this Kaguya woman beca a tyrannical goddess, and her sons were strong enough to fight her?"
"To an extent," Max replied. "They managed to stand against her, but defeating or killing her was beyond their power. In the end, they had to seal her away. The battle lasted for days and reshaped the land itself."
Thena exhaled softly, eyes. "And you said that was only the beginning?"
"Yeah," Max said, a faint smile touching his lips. "After all, I haven't even gotten to how I ended up in this world.Now are you ready for more?"
Thena nodded
"Ok then," Max continued, leaning back slightly. "Hagoromo too eventually had two sons — Indra Ōtsutsuki and Ashura Ōtsutsuki. Indra, the elder, was a genius with chakra. He also inherited the Sharingan ,a weaker derivative of the Rinnegan."
"Look into my eyes," Max said.
Thena did as told, curiosity gleaming in her golden irises.
"This," Max said as his eyes shifted, crimson with three tomoe spinning within, "is the Sharingan."
Thena's brows rose slightly.
"And this…" Max's eyes morphed again, concentric ripples forming within purple orbs. "This is the Rinnegan."
"Wow," Thena whispered. "You have both?"
"Yes," Max replied with a faint smirk. "But we'll get to what they can do so other ti."
He paused for a mont before continuing. "Now, Ashura Ōtsutsuki — the younger son — was the opposite of his brother. He wasn't a genius. Weak, slow to learn, but through persistence, empathy, and bonds, he grew stronger. Ashura embodied his father's ideals of cooperation and love… unlike Indra, who believed peace could only exist if soone with absolute power ruled over all not that he is wrong in my opinion ."
"As years passed, Hagoromo grew weak ,his death was near. He had to choose a successor to carry on his ideals, and he chose Ashura. Indra felt betrayed by this. As the eldest and the strongest, he believed it was his right to inherit everything. And that," Max said, his voice dropping low, "was where the cycle of conflict began."
"Indra rebelled. He gathered followers who shared his vision those who believed power should rule. Ashura did the sa. Their battle was fierce… devastating. And in the end, Ashura won."
"This family really had problems," Thena said flatly. "I an, their entire history is just… fighting amongst themselves."
"Sharp observation," Max said with a small sigh. "Hagoromo should've just nipped things in the bud by taking away their power. Because if you really think about it — their conflict was born from their ideals, and those ideals were shaped by their power. Take that away, and maybe the cycle would've ended before it began."
He paused for a mont, then shook his head slightly. "But I digress. Anyway—back to the history lesson".
"After that battle, the brothers' conflict didn't end with their deaths. Their wills lived on—reincarnating generation after generation into their descendants, like a curse. Ashura's descendants ford the Senju clan, known for their strong bodies and incredible vitality, while Indra's descendants beca the Uchiha clan, gifted with the Sharingan and unmatched ntal power.
Their rivalry carried into a new era of war—more deadly and grueso than ever: the Warring States Era.
Centuries later, that curse took form once more through two n who stood as the strongest of their ti—Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju. Both had lost much to war and shared a dream: to create a place where children wouldn't have to live in fear of dying on the battlefield as they once did.
Under their leadership, the two clans united to form a militaristic village called Konohagakure—the Village Hidden in the Leaves. Hashirama beca its first leader, the Hokage, aning 'Fire Shadow.'
Other clans, weary of endless bloodshed, followed suit—banding together to form their own hidden villages. In ti, five great shinobi nations rose:
Kiri—the Village Hidden in the Mist,
Iwa—the Village Hidden in the Stone,
Suna—the Village Hidden in the Sand,
Kumo—the Village Hidden in the Clouds,
and Konoha—the Village Hidden in the Leaves."
anwhile with pain.
The night was quiet, broken only by the faint hum of thrusters. Pain landed atop a jagged peak overlooking the League of Shadows' stronghold below.
Behind him, the Naraka Path — the King of Hell — materialized, its massive form looming in the moonlight. Its gaping maw opened, and Pain stepped inside. The jaws closed around him, chewing for a few seconds with an unsettling, chanical grind.
Then, as suddenly as it had swallowed him, he erged, flexing and cracking his neck with fluid precision. Without hesitation, Pain leapt from the peak, descending toward the stronghold.
End of chapter.
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