Kumogakure – Indra's Inner World
The silence of the Inner World was absolute, a blank canvas of white ground under a twilight sky. Here, time and space were his to command, a fact that had never felt more literal than it did now.
Indra Uzumaki-Uchiha stood at the centre of his personal realm, his consciousness fully immersed. Before him, hovering in the air, was the interface of his System—a construct only he could perceive, a legacy of the ROB who had sent him here. It glowed with soft, golden light.
For years, he had accumulated "System Tickets"—rewards for major milestones, breakthroughs, and significant alterations to the world's trajectory. He had largely ignored them, focused on tangible progress. But with the Coalition formed, the Uchiha resurrected, and Kumo's position unshakable, he felt a shift. The calm before the storm. A time to consolidate his most personal, hidden assets.
"Ticket Tally: 15. Available for Template Lottery or Specific Boon Draw. Host may proceed."
The System's voice was neutral, genderless, a direct feed into his mind.
Fifteen, he thought. Enough for two specific draws, with five left over. His current templates—Indra Ōtsutsuki, Ashina Uzumaki, Victor Von Doom—had served him well, granting him the foundation of his power, his genius, and his strategic mindset. But his recent awakening of the Mangekyō's true nature had revealed a path. His eyes didn't just manipulate space and time; they commanded them on a fundamental, almost divine level. The abilities he'd named Palkia and Dialga were not just techniques; they were echoes of a higher authority.
He needed to understand that authority. To move from echo to source.
Indra: System. I wish to use ten tickets. Target draw: Conceptual Templates aligned with Spatial Dominion and Temporal Dominion. No random lottery. Direct acquisition.
System: Acknowledged. Ten tickets consumed. Scanning Omni-Verse for compatible conceptual archetypes… Found. Two primary templates identified. Warning: These templates represent fundamental cosmic forces. Integration will be profound and may alter host's metaphysical composition. Proceed?
Indra: Proceed.
Two surges of energy, unlike anything he had ever felt, flooded his being. It was not chakra. It was something older, more pristine. One felt like the infinite expanse between stars, cold, silent, and perfectly ordered. The other felt like the relentless, crushing flow of history, the birth and death of galaxies, the unyielding arrow of causality.
Data streams, images, and profound understandings unfolded in his mind's eye.
[ Template Acquired: Palkia – The Spatial Sovereign. Integration: 10%.]
[ Associated Concepts: Dimensionality, Coordinates, Separation, Connection, Vacuum.]
[ Template Acquired: Dialga – The Temporal Sovereign. Integration: 10%.]
[ Associated Concepts: Duration, Sequence, Entropy, Preservation, Causality.]
The 10% integration was directly linked to the foundation laid by his Mangekyō. His eyes had been the key that unlocked the door; these templates were the realms beyond it.
He gasped, staggering slightly as the world around him flexed. The white ground beneath his feet seemed to simultaneously stretch into infinite distance and contract to a single point. The twilight sky flickered, showing brief, dizzying glimpses of a past sunrise and a future meteor shower.
His sensory perception exploded. He could feel the layered dimensions of his Inner World—not just the one he stood on, but the folded spaces where he stored his creations, the microscopic gaps between atoms, the conceptual "distance" between two ideas. Simultaneously, he perceived the "time" of his realm—not just the flow he controlled, but the wear on the simulated rock from non-existent wind, the potential futures of the ecosystem he might create, the ghostly echoes of past configurations.
System: Host's affinity with Space-Time release has increased exponentially. Chakra nature transformation for Space and Time is now innate. Previous Mangekyō abilities are now recognized as novice applications of these templates. Further integration will allow manipulation beyond ocular reliance.
Indra took a deep, steadying breath. This changed everything. His Creation ability, which allowed him to manifest objects using chakra and conceptual understanding, would now be infinitely more precise. He could create items with inherent spatial properties—bags that held continents, blades that cut through dimensions. Or temporal properties—a salve that accelerated healing a thousand-fold, a grenade that aged its target to dust in a picosecond.
He raised a hand, focusing on the Spatial (Palkia) template. Without activating his Sharingan, he willed a point in the air ten meters away to fold. Space complied seamlessly. The point twisted, and a perfect, shimmering portal, a window to a location fifty meters to the left, opened and held stable with zero chakra strain. It wasn't a ninjutsu. It was simply him telling space to be different, and it obeying.
Next, the Temporal (Dialga) template. He looked at a small, simulated boulder. He focused on the concept of Sequence. He didn't rewind its time. He reordered it. The boulder instantly deconstructed into a pile of neatly cut, geometric sandstone blocks, as if the process of its erosion over centuries had been instantly sorted and catalogued. Then he reversed the sequence, and the blocks reassembled into the boulder, but now with veins of quartz that hadn't been there before—a potential mineral deposit that could have formed, made manifest.
The power was intoxicating. And dangerous. This was reality editing on a granular level.
Indra: System. What is required to increase template integration?
System: Understanding and embodiment of the template's core concept. For Palkia: exercise of sovereignty over domains, creation of order from spatial chaos, establishment of absolute boundaries. For Dialga: enforcement of temporal law, preservation of significant timelines, correction of causal anomalies. Major acts aligning with these concepts will grant integration milestones.
Sovereignty over domains, he mused. Kumo is my domain. The Coalition… could become an extension of it. Temporal law… preserving history, correcting anomalies. The resurrection of the Uchiha was a massive temporal anomaly. A correction of a grievous wrong. That likely contributed to the initial 10%.
He spent the next subjective hours experimenting, pushing the limits of his 10% control. He created a small, self-contained bubble where time flowed ten times faster, perfect for accelerated training or growth. He crafted a tiny dagger that, when thrust, phased through any physical matter, striking only the specific spatial coordinate he designated—the enemy's heart, bypassing armor, bone, and even intangible defenses.
The final five tickets he spent on a Specific Boon Draw, targeting something to augment his growing temporal prowess.
[ Boon Acquired: "Causal Anchor". Host can, once per lunar cycle, designate a single event or state as an "Anchor Point". Should reality be altered retroactively (e.g., by Izanagi, time-travel, or similar high-level causal manipulation), the Host and a designated area/group will retain memory of the original timeline and be partially shielded from the changes. Anchor strength scales with Temporal Template integration.]
A defense against time-based attacks and reality rewrites. Invaluable, given the known existence of Izanagi and the unknown capabilities of entities like the Ōtsutsuki.
He dissolved the System interface. The new templates hummed within him, a deep, fundamental addition to his being. He was no longer just a shinobi with powerful eyes. He was becoming an entity who viewed space and time as his tools, his subjects, his very medium.
He returned his focus to the physical world, opening his eyes in his Kumo laboratory. The familiar room felt different. He could see the slight spatial warping around the high-chakra equipment, perceive the minute temporal decay on a sealed scroll from last week. The world was richer, more detailed, more… malleable.
The door slid open. Rias entered, carrying two steaming mugs. She stopped, her sharp eyes scanning him.
Rias: You've changed. Your chakra… it's quieter. Deeper. Like the ocean floor. And your eyes… you're not using the Sharingan, but they look… sharper. Clearer.
Indra: (Accepting the mug) A breakthrough. A deeper understanding of what my eyes truly represent. It's not just visual prowess, Rias. It's… authority.
Rias: (Sitting beside him, her shoulder touching his) More god-king stuff? You're going to give me a complex, you know. It's hard to be the girlfriend of a force of nature.
Her tone was light, but her eyes were serious, watching him closely.
Indra: (He smiled, a genuine, soft expression reserved only for her) You are my anchor. My fixed point in all this. The one who reminds me I'm still a man who likes terrible puns and his mother's cooking. Without you, the authority would just be loneliness.
He squeezed her hand, feeling the callouses from her spear training. In her, he saw his own reflection—not of power, but of purpose. She was his equal, not in raw cosmic power, but in unwavering will. She was the reason he built a fortress instead of a throne.
Rias: Good. Just remember that when you're busy folding space or rewinding time. Now, what's next? The Coalition's first intelligence sharing is in a week. The Raikage wants you to design a secure communication network.
Indra: A network… (His mind, enhanced by the new spatial understanding, immediately began designing a system of quantum-entangled data crystals, linked through stabilized micro-portals). Yes. I have ideas. But first, I need to run a few more… calibrations.
As Rias left him to his work, Indra looked at his hands. With a thought, a faint, geometric pattern of blue light (space) and silver light (time) shimmered across his skin for a second before fading. The storm within him had gained two new, fundamental winds.
Akatsuki Hideout – Amegakure
Rain drummed a perpetual elegy on the rusted metal of the hidden tower. Within the gloom, the phantom projections of the Akatsuki gathered, their forms flickering in the pale light.
Pain, his Rinnegan eyes cold, initiated the meeting.
Pain: The Chunin Exams in Konoha have concluded. The balance of the world continues to shift in unpredicted ways.
Konan: The report from our observer is concerning. Kumogakure did not merely participate; they showcased a new paradigm. Their genin fought with systemic efficiency, not individual brilliance. Their Jonin… displayed power that defies standard classification.
Kisame: (Grinning, shark-teeth gleaming) That fight between the Uchiha brat and his red-haired girl? That wasn't a spar. That was a declaration. They were holding back, and it was still the most terrifyingly coordinated thing I've ever seen. It was like watching two halves of the same weapon.
Itachi: (His voice was a monotone, but a faint strain underlay it) Indra Uzumaki-Uchiha and Rias Uzumaki. Their synergy is total. It transcends tactical teamwork. It is a shared wavelength of thought and intent. Defeating one would require simultaneously defeating the other, as they cover each other's weaknesses perfectly.
Sasori: The girl's weapon is a masterpiece of bio-metallic fusion. Self-repairing, elemental channeling, size-shifting. And his… everything. His eyes, his summonings, his sheer tactical foresight. He is a creator. He does not find weaknesses; he designs systems that have none.
Deidara: Hn! It was still art! The flow, the clash, the unspoken communication—it was explosive in its precision, yeah! But… it made my C4 feel crude. Unnerving.
Pain listened, his expression unchanging. The names "Uzumaki" were spoken, but they sparked no familial recognition in his eyes, only analytical assessment.
Pain: Their lineage is irrelevant. What is relevant is their role as an obstacle. They have fortified Kumogakure. They have given the Raikage a strategic vision. They have, according to our sources, even forged some form of understanding with the Two-Tails and Eight-Tails. They are defenders. Their threat is conditional upon our direct attack on their village or its jinchuriki.
Kakuzu: (His voice a gravelly rumble of resentment) Conditional or not, they are a variable that increases the cost of our primary objectives exponentially. The boy's analytical prowess is a hard counter to any complex strategy. He sees systems, and then he breaks them or builds better ones.
Pain: Which is why we adjust our timeline and our priorities. The Gedo Statue will be ready to begin absorption in three years. Coincidentally, intelligence suggests the Three-Tails, Isobu, will fully re-form in the wild approximately in that same timeframe.
A murmur went through the assembled projections.
Pain: Our current focus must be on the beasts that are isolated and less guarded. The One-Tail in Suna, though now under the protection of the new Kazekage, is a political target. The Four-Tails and Five-Tails in Iwa are possibilities. The Six-Tails is rogue. We will continue to gather them, starting with the lowest risk. We will avoid direct confrontation with Kumo until absolutely necessary.
Obito (as Tobi): (His cheerful, grating voice piped up) But Senpai! Senpai! What about the super-cool lovebird fight? Didn't it give you the feels? The way they moved, it was like they were sharing one brain! So beautiful! It almost makes you believe in love, yeah!
The other members ignored him, used to his antics. But beneath the orange spiral mask, Obito's single Sharingan was cold and calculating.
Pain: Sentiment is a weakness they have turned into a strength. It is a vulnerability we may exploit in the future. But for now, it is not our concern. Our plan proceeds. We have three years to capture the available beasts and prepare for the final extractions. By the time the Three-Tails reforms, the statue will be hungry, and Kumo's fortress will be forced to watch as we reshape the world around them. They may be untouchable now, but in a world under the Infinite Tsukuyomi, their fortress will be a relic in a shared dream.
The meeting concluded, the projections fading one by one. In the damp silence of the real hideout, Nagato, emaciated and connected to machines, coughed weakly. Konan placed a hand on his shoulder.
Konan: "Uzumaki…" she whispered. "They are of our blood, Nagato."
Pain/Nagato: (His voice was a dry rasp) "Blood is irrelevant. What is relevant is the pain of this world. They have built a haven from that pain. A small, selfish haven. When the world knows true peace, their haven will be unnecessary. They will join the dream, or be erased by it. Their choice."
There was no familial pride, no curiosity. Only the cold calculus of a messiah who had long since sacrificed his personal identity on the altar of his twisted salvation. To Pain, Indra and Rias were not distant cousins; they were particularly sturdy bricks in the wall of the painful world he intended to dismantle.
Kamui Dimension – Obito Uchiha POV
The sterile, grey emptiness of the Kamui dimension was a perfect reflection of Obito's soul. He stood, having shed the "Tobi" persona, his scarred face set in a grimace.
The memory of the fight replayed in his mind's eye. He had watched from the shadows, using Kamui to observe the Jonin exhibition match without being detected.
It had infuriated him.
Not because of the power on display—though that was concerning. It was the synergy. The effortless, wordless communication between Indra and Rias. Every movement was anticipated, every opening covered, every strength amplified by the other. They fought not as two individuals, but as a single, devastating organism.
It was everything he had once dreamed of with Rin. A partnership. A bond so strong it transcended the battlefield. He saw the way Indra's eyes, even in the heat of combat, would flick to Rias not with worry, but with absolute trust. He saw the way Rias would move, not just to attack, but to position herself perfectly for Indra's next spatial manipulation.
It was a mirror held up to his own shattered life.
Rin…
Her face, smiling, blood-stained, lifeless, flashed before him. The chain of events—his "death," her murder at Kakashi's hand, the fall into Madara's machinations. His love had been twisted into the foundational trauma of his existence. It had become the reason for the Infinite Tsukuyomi—a perfect world where Rin was alive, where that bond could exist without pain, without loss.
And here were these two children, living that bond in the real world. They had taken the very thing his plan was meant to artificially recreate, and they were flaunting it. They had built a reality where their love was their strength, not their weakness. It mocked him. It invalidated his entire decades-long crusade.
Obito: (Muttering to the void) "A perfect partnership… in an imperfect world. A fleeting illusion. The world will break them. It always does. It took Rin from me. It will take her from him, or him from her. Pain, loss, betrayal… it is inevitable."
His hand clenched. The Moon's Eye Plan was not just about saving the world. It was about vindicating his pain. It was proof that his path—the path of isolation, manipulation, and grand, world-encompassing sacrifice—was the only true one. That individual happiness in this hell-world was a lie waiting to be shattered.
Indra and Rias were living a lie. And he would prove it.
When the Infinite Tsukuyomi was cast, their perfect synergy, their unwavering trust, would be revealed as the fragile, mortal construct it was. In the dream, everyone would have that. Their special bond would be rendered mundane. Their fortress would be meaningless.
And perhaps, in that new world, a version of Obito would be standing beside a living Rin, in a partnership just as seamless. The thought was the only ember of warmth in his frozen heart.
Obito: "Enjoy your dance while it lasts, little king and queen of the clouds. Your world is on borrowed time. And when the moon's eye opens, your love will be just another beautiful dream, shared by all. You will understand then… that this pain, this loneliness… is the only real thing."
He turned his thoughts to practical matters. Pain's three-year timeline was acceptable. It gave him time to monitor this "Coalition" the Kage were doubtlessly trying to form. It would fail. They were too steeped in mutual distrust. And it gave him time to find a way to crack Kumo's shell. Every fortress had a weakness. Indra's weakness was written in every glance he shared with Rias, in every protective act for his mother and his resurrected clan. He was tethered. And tethered things could be pulled apart.
The plan was sound. The dream was within reach. The existence of a happy, powerful Uzumaki-Uchiha couple in Kumo was just a minor, irritating paradox in a universe he was about to rewrite.
Land of Fire – Border Forest, One Week After the Chunin Exams Finals
The air shimmered, not with heat, but with a profound distortion of space-time. With a silent pop, two figures materialized in a small clearing, accompanied by the faint scent of ozone and rust.
One was a man of imposing stature, with dark, spiky hair, a pale complexion, and a deep purple cloak. His left arm was missing, replaced by a prosthetic of dark material. His right eye was a Rinnegan, pulsing with violet light, while his left was a dark, weary Sharingan. Adult Sasuke Uchiha.
The other was a teenager with spiky, blond hair, bright blue eyes, and a determined set to his jaw. He wore a mix of Konoha and foreign attire, a scientific ninja tool gauntlet on his right wrist. Boruto Uzumaki.
Boruto stumbled, catching himself on a tree. "Whoa! That was rougher than last time, Uncle Sasuke!"
Sasuke steadied himself, his Rinnegan scanning the environment with intense focus. "The space-time continuum here is… unusually stable. Thick. It resisted the Turtle's entry." He held up a small, intricate device in the shape of a turtle—the Time-Space Turtle, a relic from their battle with the Ōtsutsuki Urashiki. It was cracked and dim.
Boruto: "Is it broken? Can we get back?"
Sasuke: "Not broken. Drained. The journey here, the instability of fighting Urashiki across timelines… it expended most of its energy. It is recharging, slowly. The Turtle estimates… one year before it has enough power for a return journey."
Boruto: "A year?!"
Sasuke: "Calm down. We knew this was a risk when we pursued him. According to the Turtle's last scan before the jump, Urashiki's temporal signature was pulled into this… branching reality. He will manifest here as well. The Turtle predicts his arrival in approximately one year, once the local dimensional walls finish settling from our intrusion."
He pocketed the device. "Our mission remains. Find Urashiki, stop him from harvesting chakra and disrupting this timeline, and then return home. We have a year to prepare."
They had arrived subtly, during the final rounds of the Chunin Exams a week prior. Using Sasuke's prowess and genjutsu, they had blended in as minor nobles from a distant country, observing the events. What they had seen had left them reeling.
Boruto: "A year in the past… but it's not our past, is it? I mean, Dad's a Genin here! And he has both arms! And you're… well, you're a jerk."
A ghost of a smirk touched Sasuke's lips. "This is a divergent timeline. Significant deviations are apparent. The most glaring…" He paused, the memory of the intelligence they'd gathered flashing in his mind.
Sasuke: "Kumogakure. It is not the militarily strong, blunt village of our history. It is… something else. A technological and strategic powerhouse. And at its center…"
Boruto: "That guy. Indra. The 'Lake Maker'. Mom told stories about someone with that name, an ancient dude, a founder. But this guy's our age! And he's an Uchiha and an Uzumaki? How is that even possible? And he has, like, a whole clan of Uzumaki with him! Red hair everywhere!"
Sasuke's Sharingan had narrowed when he first saw the reports, then the man himself during the exams. An Uchiha with Uzumaki vitality. A prodigy who invented revolutionary technology. A summoner of mythical clans. A strategist who had humbled Konoha without firing a single shot in anger. And his partner, Rias Uzumaki—a kunoichi of frightening skill and clear, deep bond with him.
It was an anomaly that shook his understanding of history. In his timeline, the Uchiha were extinct save for him. The Uzumaki were scattered and nearly gone. Kumo was an ally, but not a leader. Here, a hybrid of the two clans was not just alive but thriving, and had reshaped a Great Village in his image.
They had watched the Jonin exhibition match from the shadows. Sasuke's Rinnegan and Boruto's Jougan had given them a perspective no one else in the stadium had.
Boruto: "That fight… it was insane. They weren't even trying to hurt each other, were they?"
Sasuke: (His voice low, introspective) "No. They were demonstrating. Communicating. It was a dialogue in violence. Every move was a statement, a question, an answer."
He had seen it with painful clarity. The flawless synergy. The absolute trust. Indra would create a spatial distortion, and Rias would already be moving through the opening it created without a moment's hesitation. Rias would feint, and Indra would use the diversion to set up a sealing array. They moved like two currents of the same river.
A profound, aching melancholy had settled in Sasuke's chest as he watched. He thought of his own marriage to Sakura. There was love, deep and abiding. There was partnership, forged in war and peace. But it was not… that. It was not that effortless, wordless, total fusion of intent. Theirs was a bond built on apology, on healing, on chosen family. It was powerful, but it bore the scars of their painful history.
He thought of Naruto and Hinata. A love of quiet devotion and explosive protection. Again, powerful, true… but different. Naruto's boundless energy and Hinata's steady calm were complementary, but they were not two halves of a single weapon.
What he witnessed between Indra and Rias was something he and Naruto, for all their world-shaking bond as rivals and brothers, had never achieved with their wives. It was a romantic and tactical ideal he hadn't known could exist in reality. It was beautiful. And it made the lonely path of his youth, and the complicated peace of his adulthood, feel… incomplete.
Boruto: "They looked happy. Even when they were fighting."
Sasuke nodded silently. That was the other thing. The joy. The slight smiles, the glint in their eyes. They were enjoying it. Their battle was an expression of their bond, not a threat to it.
Then they had witnessed the Chunin Exams finals. The battle between young Sasuke and Naruto. It was raw, powerful, filled with the anger and passion of youth. And then… his younger self had used techniques he had never learned.
Boruto: "Hey, Uncle Sasuke… that Fire Release: Blue Flare jutsu you used… I've never seen you do that. It was way cooler than your regular Great Fireball!"
Sasuke: "I didn't know it either."
Boruto: "What? But you just did! And that Lightning Release: Volt Tackle! That was like a combination of Chidori and Lightning Armor! How did your younger self know it if you don't?"
Sasuke had frozen as he watched. Blue Flare. A technique of intense, controlled blue-white fire that burned hotter and cleaner than any he'd used. Volt Tackle. A full-body lightning charge that combined speed and devastating impact. They were advanced, creative, powerful—hallmarks of a master synthesizing their lineage. He had never developed them. Because the Uchiha techniques available to him were the standard clan curriculum, and his innovations had gone in different directions—Amenotejikara, his various Chidori evolutions.
The only explanation was the intervention of the anomaly: Indra.
He must have taught these techniques to the young Sasuke. Gifts from a older, hybrid clansman. A gesture of… what? Kinship? Strategy? A way to strengthen Konoha's last Uchiha?
It was a disturbing thought. His younger self's path was already diverging because of this man's presence. What would that mean for the future? For his future?
Boruto: (Eyes shining with typical Uzumaki enthusiasm) "Those moves were awesome! Do you think you could teach them to me? Well, you can't, since you don't know them… but maybe he could! The older you, I mean! Or… maybe Indra could! He seems to know everything!"
Sasuke placed a hand on Boruto's head, a rare gentle gesture. "Our priority is Urashiki and maintaining timeline integrity. We cannot interact directly. Not yet. But… observing Indra Uzumaki-Uchiha may be as important as tracking our target. He is the greatest variable in this world. Understanding him might be key to understanding what Urashiki's goal here could be."
He looked north, towards the distant, cloud-shrouded mountains of Lightning.
A hybrid of Uchiha and Uzumaki, wielding space and time, building a legacy of order and protection. A man who had achieved a seamless, powerful partnership that Sasuke himself could only observe with a quiet sense of awe and loss.
This was not the past he knew. This was a new world, with a new storm at its center. And he and Boruto were adrift in it, with a ticking clock and a hidden enemy on the way.
Sasuke: "We move carefully. We observe. We learn. And we wait for Urashiki to show himself. This 'Lake Maker'… he may be the greatest ally or the greatest obstacle in this timeline. We need to know which."
As they melted back into the forest shadows, two ghosts from a future that might never be, the weight of divergent histories pressed down on them. The dance of the Storm Monarch and his Queen had ended, but its echoes were reshaping everything, even the perceptions of those who fell from beyond time.
End of chapter – 40.