Rei Ao had the origin of the Naruto world in his hand.
Like pinching a flapping bird by the neck.
Right now, he was the only god here—saying it out loud sounded edgy as hell, but that was simply the truth.
"Rei Ao, what are you doing? Weren't you going to the other villages?" Kushina leaned in, her long red hair swaying in front of his eyes.
"As you can see." Rei Ao spread his hand. In his palm floated a mass of flowing light.
"I cleared this world."
"Huh?"
"Put simply." He closed his fingers, and the light seeped out between them.
"I'm the admin now. Highest permissions. I can do whatever I want."
Kushina blinked. "A god??"
"More or less." Rei Ao laughed. "The one and only."
Being the one and only god felt like suddenly seeing through every magic trick's mechanism—no matter how brilliant the show, it all turned bland.
The world became lines of code to him. Everyone was a preprogrammed NPC.
Boring to the extreme.
So he had to find some entertainment.
"So what can you do now?" Kushina tilted her head. "Like the Sage of Six Paths from legend? Make a moon? Create life?"
"Too cliché." Rei Ao snapped his fingers.
The world unfolded before them, becoming a glowing river.
It wasn't a metaphor—okay, fine, it was a metaphor, but you could genuinely see time flowing like water.
The past was upstream, the future downstream, countless branches spreading out like blood vessels.
Every point of light was an instant.
Someone's birth, a jutsu being cast, a sunset, a confession, a death.
Kushina's mouth hung open for a long time.
"Th-this… what is this?"
"The river of time," Rei Ao said casually.
"I can touch it whenever I want—stir it, even fish things out of it."
He extended a finger and dipped it into the stream of light.
Ripples spread across the river.
Those points of light trembled, like startled fireflies.
Rei Ao closed his eyes, sensing the torrent of information flowing from his fingertip.
He was searching for those "special frequencies"—the taste of despair.
Found it.
"What are you going to do?" Kushina asked.
"Connect to the chat group." Rei Ao opened his eyes, lips curling up. "The kind where I receive trade requests."
"Huh?"
"Look." He explained patiently, his finger still stirring the river.
"When someone's desperate enough that even death is an option, they'll give anything, trade anything. And I can hear those voices—"
Before he could finish—
A mechanical prompt detonated inside his consciousness, cold and emotionless.
[Ding! Trade Initiated!]
Kushina shivered.
[Trade Target]: Nohara Rin
[Trade Content]: Please kill me!
[Trade Conditions]: "Three-Tails," "Unlimited usage rights to this body"
The air froze for several seconds.
"Who is that?" Kushina frowned at the Mars World group chat, where a new person had appeared.
"An interesting girl." Rei Ao read fragments of information from the timeline.
"A Hidden Mist conspiracy. A Three-Tails jinchūriki implanted into her. And a silver-haired boy trying to save her with everything he's got."
Nohara Rin wanted to die.
Not as a figure of speech.
She was truly—clear-headed, hopeless—begging someone to kill her.
Kushina's expression turned strange. "This trade condition is also a tailed beast and body usage rights… just like me back then."
The way she looked at Rei Ao gained a different edge.
Another girl about to get bullied?
"Don't look at me like that." Rei Ao smiled. "If I help her, she belongs to me. Fair trade."
"You want to help her?"
"I want to see," Rei Ao said. "How far someone can go for a so-called village. How deep their despair can get—and how long they can keep holding on."
He grabbed Kushina by the wrist.
"Let's go. Time to watch the show."
…
The battlefield smelled like rust mixed with soil.
More specifically: blood, sweat, and that burnt stink that came after you'd run your chakra dry.
Kakashi felt like his lungs were on fire. Every breath was like swallowing knives.
His left eye's Sharingan spun wildly. In his field of view were seven Mist Anbu—no, eight.
And one more hiding in the shadows of the trees, like a venomous snake waiting for the right moment.
"Rin!" he shouted, voice hoarse. "Stay close to me!"
Nohara Rin didn't answer.
Her face was paper-white, fingers pressed hard against her chest.
Not an injury—something worse.
She could feel something writhing beneath her skin.
The Three-Tails.
It was enormous, violent, overflowing with hatred.
She understood the Mist's plan.
Turn her into a living bomb and send her back to Konoha.
When the seal loosened, the Three-Tails would rampage, and the village would become hell.
She couldn't go back. Absolutely not.
"Kakashi." Rin's voice was soft—so soft it was almost swallowed by the wind.
"Kill me."
"Don't say something that stupid!" Kakashi drove his blade forward and forced back an enemy rushing in. Chidori screamed in his palm, like a thousand birds shrieking at once.
"I'll bring you back. Minato-sensei will be here any moment—"
"It's too late."
Rin saw the Mist Anbu forming hand signs.
Not attack seals—guiding seals.
They were forcing the seal inside her to react.
She could feel it: the tailed beast's chakra waking up, like a giant beast opening its eyes in the deep sea.
She didn't have much time left.
And then that voice appeared.
Not something her ears heard—something that rang directly inside her mind.
Cold, mechanical, yet strangely tempting.
[Ding! Trade Initiated!]
Glowing text appeared before her eyes.
Rin froze for a beat, then understood—
This was a chance.
Her only chance.
She didn't hesitate.
[Trade Content]: Please kill me!
Her hands shook as she entered the words, but her mind was strangely calm.
Like she'd finally grabbed the last vine at the edge of a cliff—even if it led somewhere deeper.
Kakashi noticed something was wrong. "Rin? What are you—"
He didn't get to finish.
Two figures appeared out of thin air beside Rin.
Not Body Flicker. No smoke. No sound.
As if they'd always been there—only the world hadn't drawn them in until now.
A young man with black hair, relaxed as if out for a stroll.
And a red-haired woman.
Rei Ao and Kushina—crossing the river of time into this future.