Land of Demons — Priestess Temple
SWISH
"Tell Lady Miroku that I have something to ask from her."
Itachi, who suddenly teleported in front of the Priestess Temple, spoke to the nearby guard. Although it was around one in the morning and most people in the world would already be asleep by now, today was a special occasion.
Three Minutes Later
"Itachi, you have changed."
Miroku, who sat down in front of Itachi, noticed the changes in him and spoke in surprise.
"Well, I just advanced my bloodline limit, which might have caused some changes. I want a little of your power... or chakra."
Itachi got straight to the point. Within his spiritual space, where Sagittarius resided, it had been reacting far too violently.
"Hmm? Oh, okay."
Miroku, who had thought the matter was something serious, looked confused by Itachi's request but still nodded.
"Here, transfer it into this bead."
Seeing Miroku agree, Itachi handed her a white bead.
---
Half an Hour Later — Former Konoha
Itachi, who appeared atop the former Hokage Mountain, looked down in confusion. Everyone was fine, but why was Hyūga Neji standing together with Naruto, Sasuke, and Haruto?
"Itachi, Neji joined the Uchiha Clan."
Seeing Itachi appear, Fugaku explained with a faintly gloating tone. Recruiting the most talented member of the Hyūga Clan—their long-time rivals—right in front of them gave Fugaku a strange sense of satisfaction(NTR), though he obviously had no idea what NTR meant.
"Itachi-sama."
Seeing Itachi look toward him, Neji hurriedly stepped forward and bowed respectfully.
"There is no need for such formalities. In the Uchiha Clan, strength is supreme. From now on, you will call me Big Brother just like the other Uchiha children."
"Yes, Big Brother Itachi."
Hearing Itachi's words, Neji became even more convinced that his decision had been the correct one.
Fūinjutsu: Anti-Seal
Seeing the white headband covering Neji's forehead, Itachi formed several hand seals before pressing his palm against Neji's forehead. Neji realized what was happening but remained still, afraid that moving might interfere with the process.
"Done. You won't need to cover your forehead anymore. Go play with them."
After erasing Neji's Caged Bird Seal, Itachi sent him toward Naruto and the others before walking over to Fugaku and the rest.
"Everyone, I need all of you to move at least ten kilometers away from here. And Obito, you have the latest video recorder, right? Record the entire process in 8K."
After thinking for a moment, Itachi took out multiple cameras and video recorders before handing them to everyone.
He was about to accomplish a mythical feat. Of course it had to be recorded properly. Later, he could even sell the footage to other nations to earn money while simultaneously intimidating them. And since AI did not exist yet, people would have no choice but to believe it.
"Okayy."
Ten Minutes Later
Itachi lay on a concrete slab while admiring the moon above. Tonight's moon was exceptionally bright, especially over the current barren Konoha, which no longer had a single streetlight or candle illuminating it.
"Uncle Hagoromo, start releasing the souls."
After sensing that Fugaku and the others had already moved beyond the danger zone, Itachi spoke into the empty air.
The next moment, he sensed the arrival of hundreds of thousands of souls, all comparable to the ones he had harvested within Konoha. This process would continue for the next several minutes until the total reached ten million.
Ryōiki Tenkai: Hakua Kyūden
Domain Expansion: White Palace
After opening his Domain—which, like Sukuna's, was barrierless—Itachi took out the pure white shining bead.
This bead contained half of the Priestess's power, and it was permanent power, meaning Miroku had permanently lost half of her strength. Itachi had tried persuading her to give him less, but she reasoned that this power was useless to her anyway, so she willingly handed it over. ( It is mainly against Moryo, which Itachi had already taken care of. )
The next moment, Itachi began fusing the white bead with the souls from the Pure Land. At first, nothing seemed to happen, except that the bead gradually became more fluid and radiant.
Three Minutes Later
By now, the light emitted from the bead had spread across the entirety of Konoha, making the night as bright as day. Yet even then, it had only devoured one million souls so far.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk... Looks like the entire Land of Fire will witness today's show."
And it was indeed true. Hiashi and the others, who had already traveled more than a dozen kilometers away from Konoha, turned around in confusion upon seeing the brilliant light illuminating the sky behind them.
Ten Minutes Later
By now, the nearby hundreds of kilometers were engulfed in white light. With Itachi at the center, the surrounding few kilometers had already been burned into nothingness.
Within the core radius of several meters, the heat and light had become so overwhelming that if Itachi were not the creator with absolute control over it, even he would have perished without leaving behind ashes.
"Lux Tempestas Yggdrasil."
(Light Storm Yggdrasil)
Muttering those words, Itachi released the bead of light before teleporting several kilometers away and watching it with anticipation.
The next moment, the bead of light began expanding drastically like a seed planted in soil. Within moments, it reached a height of hundreds of meters, with leaves stretching dozens of meters in length and width.
This was merely a sapling.
Over the following moments, it continued growing taller and wider until it surpassed a height of more than one thousand meters. By now, Yggdrasil was visible from tens of kilometers away, illuminating the night sky.
"Is this the power of Big Brother Itachi?"
Neji stared at the thousand-meter-tall banyan tree made of lightning with his mouth hanging open in shock.
"This is nothing for Big Brother Itachi."
Sasuke boasted with a smirk, though even he remained mesmerized by the technique despite having witnessed it before. Seeing it once again only strengthened his determination to learn it himself.
"Indeed, this is only stage two," Haruto nodded in agreement with Sasuke's words.
"Wait, what do yo—"
Before Sasuke could finish his question, Yggdrasil once again began growing at an even faster rate.
"Yggdrasil has 3+1 stages. Three stages in its base form, with each subsequent stage becoming ten times taller than the previous one. As for the last stage, it is temporary. Uncle Itachi has never used it before, so I don't know the specifics."
"Then... that means... Yggdrasil's base height is te-ten thousand meters??"
Naruto looked at the growing miracle and spoke with difficulty.
"Hehehe, indeed. You are shocked, right?"
Although Itachi couldn't hear Haruto's words, he could feel it—the growing power within Yggdrasil, its endless potential, and its overwhelming desire.
Ten Minutes Later
After nearly twenty three minutes, Yggdrasil finally reached its current limit.
Its height surpassed the tallest mountains from both Itachi's present and previous life. Its leaves were the size of houses, while its branches spread across the sky like countless streets of a city. Its roots burrowed hundreds of thousands of meters beneath the earth, while the surface roots extended across thousands of meters.
Hanging roots, each thousands of meters long and dozens of meters thick, descended from the heavens, with some even reaching the ground.
The entire tree was made of lightning and light, with the surrounding thousands of meters constantly engulfed in storms of crackling lightning. The tree itself was visible from hundreds of kilometers away, and against the night sky, it shone as brightly as a second sun over the lands surrounding Konoha.
"Hehehehehehehe... hahahahahah... yahhahahahahah!!!"
Seeing the complete Yggdrasil ( Masterpiece ) from the sky, Itachi began laughing. At first, it was an ordinary laugh, but little by little, the characteristic Uchiha madness awakened within it.
"You are also impatient to meet your friend, aren't you, Sagittarius?"
The next moment, a purple-black spear appeared in his right hand, trembling excitedly.
Itachi then released Sagittarius completely.
The moment it was unleashed, black clouds covered the sky and all color vanished from the world, as though even light itself was being devoured.
The next moment, Sagittarius also began changing form. Black and purple smoke covered it before rapidly expanding outward.
"Let's play!!!!"
---