Within the Realm of Divinity
Lucian stood atop the celestial plains of his growing God's Domain, overseeing his most recent additions: the Purple Jade Heavenly Pythons—his first divine creatures.
A thousand violet serpent eggs shimmered beneath the morning starlight, hatching in waves. Their radiant scales gleamed like liquid amethyst.
And towering over them, coiled lazily with narrowed eyes…
Lay the reluctant caretaker—
Manda.
The once-feared serpent king of the Naruto world, now resigned to the role of divine wet nurse.
"Tch… I'm a warrior, not a nanny…"
But he dared not defy the Eternal God.
Better to be a grumbling caretaker than a dead snake.
Even Manda, prideful as he was, bowed to the inevitable truth: obey or be erased.
Lucian nodded in satisfaction.
"Now that the Domain has its first batch of living creatures, it's time to take the next step…"
His golden eyes turned skyward, toward the artificial sun he had formed earlier.
"Let's build the first Divine Temple."
Not just a structure—
A home for his divine consciousness.
A place where his spirit could rest, radiate power, and deepen the influence of faith.
Lucian's focus returned to reality.
He opened the Communicator Interface—a divine artifact embedded with multiversal shop access.
The catalog unfolded before him.
A glittering list of rare materials scrolled into view:
Starforged Gold (1M Divine Power / 10K tons)
Luminite Silver Sand
Beastborne Qian-Ming Fruit Trees
Prebuilt Temple Cores from abandoned gods...
"One million divine power for a full shipment?"
"That's… dirt cheap."
Only in the Nursery Zone, where young gods were incubated and tested, could such absurd deals be found.
But there was a catch:
One-time purchase only.
Most deities hoarded their divine power, unwilling to spend even one unit of their original reserves.
After all, Original Divine Power was painfully slow to accumulate.
But Lucian wasn't most gods.
"Let's clean the whole damn shop."
With a smirk, he confirmed the order.
In moments, space tore open above him.
One by one, glowing rainbow spheres—each the size of a small moon—descended from the wormhole above.
Acquired:
[Starforged Gold]: Infused into his solar core.
The small sun at the heart of his Domain blazed brighter, swelling in size, transforming into a proper stellar forge.
[Luminite Silver Sand]: Merged into a satellite body.
A glowing moon now floated in the sky, its silvery light calming minds and subtly boosting spiritual power.
[Qian-Ming Fruit Trees]: Planted across the divine plains.
These mythical trees produced divine beast fruits, accelerating the growth and evolution of his serpent legion.
Finally, Lucian held a platinum sphere in his hands.
Smooth. Cold. Buzzing with contained might.
This was no ordinary item.
[Temple Core – Celestial Bastion Variant]
Constructed by a mid-tier god. Worth 60 million divine power.
Abandoned for eons. Never sold. Until now.
And Lucian?
He'd bought it without blinking—burning 120 Original Divine Power to reshape his world.
"Excessive? Maybe."
"But I'm building a divine empire. Not a backyard."
The moment he activated the core, the land trembled.
Celestial light surged through the sky as a cathedral of the stars rose from the plains—white and gold, crystalline towers glowing with runes.
This was not just a structure.
It was a beacon of worship.
In the Divine Domain
The air shimmered with celestial energy.
Below the endless starlit sky, the Qian-Ming Fruit Tree towered over the land—ten thousand meters tall, its branches heavy with thousands of glowing golden fruits. Each one pulsed with divine power.
And nestled lazily beneath it—
Manda stirred.
The massive serpent cracked an eye, drawn from sleep by the rich, honeyed aroma of the fruit above.
Its forked tongue flicked greedily.
"So many... and they smell divine…"
Just as it coiled its body to climb, a voice thundered from above.
"Only one… per year."
The divine command struck like a mountain.
Manda's body dropped instantly into a reverent bow, pressed flat against the divine soil.
By the time the echo faded, Lucian's form had already vanished from the skies above.
Only then did Manda dare move again.
It slithered up the trunk, plucked a single radiant fruit with its jaws, and swallowed it whole.
A warm tide of cosmic energy surged through its body. Strength. Agility. Intelligence. It all rose with divine speed.
"Mmm… I could sleep forever…"
But then it remembered.
"The hatchlings."
With a groggy sigh, Manda forced its massive body back toward the nesting plains—curling gently around the infant serpents, eyes finally sliding shut.
Above the Domain – The Heavens Take Shape
In the sky, a vast Heavenly Palace shimmered into existence—Lucian's personal divine citadel.
Ornate spires and curved golden roofs danced through clouds, stretching across 100 kilometers of suspended landmass.
At its center stood the Sanctum of the Eternal Flame, Lucian's throne hall.
Surrounding it were dozens of lesser temples, forming a sacred constellation of power nodes, each channeling protective energy into a living formation.
"Now this," Lucian said with satisfaction, "feels divine."
"Once my believers start arriving… they will kneel before this glory."
And they would know.
Their god was real.
Shinobi World – Hidden Mist Village (Kirigakure)
Far from the calm skies of Lucian's realm, the Mist Village stirred with tension.
Once one of the Five Great Shinobi Nations, Kirigakure had long suffered. Under Obito's manipulation, it had descended into the Village of the Bloody Mist.
Countless elites had fled.
Now, its streets echoed with silence… until they saw them:
A force of over 1,000 powerful shinobi, clad in ceremonial armor lined with golden trim, marching in unison down the main road.
At their head:
Orochimaru. High Priest of the Eternal God.
Flanking him:
Uchiha Sasuke, clad in divine gold and black—his eyes glowing with Mangekyō power.
"Stop right there!" a masked ANBU called out from the watchtower.
The alarms screamed.
Within minutes, dozens of shinobi surrounded them—armed and cautious.
At the front stood two familiar faces: Terumi Mei and Ao.
She wasn't Mizukage yet—but her word still carried weight.
"Orochimaru… and a surviving Uchiha?"
Her brow furrowed, ready for a fight.
"What are you doing here?"
Orochimaru gave a serene smile, arms outstretched as if greeting friends.
"I come not with war… but with doctrine. I am now the High Priest of the Eternal God."
"I bring His word, and His grace."
He looked… peaceful.
Too peaceful.
Almost like a monk.
"Accept His light, and your village will flourish anew."
"Tch—charity from a traitor?" Ao spat.
"You expect us to believe anything that comes from your forked tongue? Even if this 'god' exists, he must be an evil deity to accept you as a believer!"
Orochimaru's smile faltered.
For a second, only a faint twitch of his lip betrayed his wrath.
Then, he floated into the sky—eyes narrowing into slits of divine fury.
The clouds overhead began to churn.
"You may insult me."
"Mock me. Curse my past. Deny my path."
"But to blaspheme the Eternal God—"
His voice boomed through the mist.
"Is to invite divine punishment."
The air crackled. His chakra surged like a tidal wave.
Even the elite Mist shinobi took a step back, sensing the searing weight of judgment.