Indra's POV –
The Summit's Edge, One Month Later
The view from the peak of Kumogakure's highest lightning rod tower was one of absolute dominion. Clouds rolled beneath my feet, pierced by the stark, black mountains of the Land of Lightning. The Thunderhead's sensor network was a gentle hum in the back of my mind, a symphony of data painting a picture of a nation at peace, prosperous, and secure.
But my thoughts were not on the present. They were on the future, and on two boys on the other side of the world.
My Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan allowed me to perceive more than chakra. I could see the subtle threads of fate, of narrative momentum. Two such threads, once thick and destined for a cataclysmic clash, had grown… faint. Dormant.
Naruto Uzumaki. Sasuke Uchiha.
Jiraiya had taken them away two years ago, just after the catastrophic revelations of Danzo's treachery and the Summit of Iron. Tsunade, as the new Fifth Hokage, had sanctioned it—a desperate move to both protect and empower the two heirs of Konoha's shattered legacy. To train them away from the poisonous atmosphere of a village undergoing painful, public autopsy.
According to the latest intelligence from my own networks and the occasional, grudgingly shared update from Konoha's reformed intelligence division, they were due to return in approximately one year. They would be fifteen—the age I was now. A year from now, I would be sixteen.
What would they return to? A Konoha trying to rebuild its soul. A world where Kumo was the undeniable apex power. And a "last loyal Uchiha" in Kumo who had not only awakened the Mangekyō but had cured its curse, built an impregnable fortress nation, and turned two tailed beasts into sovereign, unassailable gods of their own dimensions.
Their destinies, as written by the Sage and the cycle of hatred, were in tatters. I had rendered them obsolete. But that didn't mean they were harmless. Naruto, with the Nine-Tails and Jiraiya's training, would be a force of unbelievable power and unpredictability. Sasuke, stewing in a hatred based on a lie, trained by a Sannin… he was a live wire in a powder keg.
I felt no enmity toward them. Only a distant, analytical pity, and a slight tinge of responsibility. I had broken their story. I owed it to the world to ensure the new story was stable.
But to do that, I couldn't remain static. Kumo was stable. Thunderhead ran itself, with Garuda and Airavat overseeing it with ancient, patient minds. The Uzumaki clan was thriving under Venelana and Zeoticus. My mother was safe, happy, and now had my resurrected father, Fujin, by her side—a man slowly adjusting to a second life and a son who was a living legend. The Raikage was a capable, if blunt, ruler who had embraced my architectural vision completely.
I had built the perfect machine. Now, it could run without me for a while.
The other reason was more personal. Rias.
She stood beside me on the tower, her red hair whipping in the high-altitude wind, her eyes on the horizon. She had just been promoted to Jonin, a testament to her own incredible skill and the brutal efficiency she'd honed on countless missions. But I could see the subtle tension in her frame. The constant pressure of being the girlfriend of the most wanted, most powerful shinobi in the world. Of being a key member of the reborn Uzumaki clan. Of living in the shadow of a storm I constantly generated.
She never complained. Her support was my bedrock. But she deserved more than just being my support. She deserved her own growth, her own legend, away from the overwhelming context of "Indra's Kumo."
The idea had been forming in my mind for months, nurtured in the quiet corners of my Inner World. The Multiversal Travel gift from ROB—my original transmigration benefactor—had lain mostly dormant, used only for subtle background creation for the Uzumaki clan's arrival. It was a door to infinite worlds, infinite possibilities for training, for resources, for perspective.
It was time we walked through it.
Indra's POV –
The Raikage's Office, Later That Day
Raikage A was in a surprisingly good mood. The latest trade reports from the Land of Lightning's merchant guilds showed a staggering surplus. The Daimyo had sent a crate of the rarest vintage sake as a "thank you." The morning's training incident had only destroyed one gravity chamber, not three.
When Darui announced me, A was actually smiling.
Raikage A: "Indra. If you're here to ask for another mountain's worth of adamantium for your 'personal stress relief,' the answer is still no. But given the numbers this quarter, I might let you have a hill."
Indra: "Not today, sir. I'm here to request a leave of absence."
The smile vanished, replaced by sharp, assessing focus. He leaned forward, his massive arms on the desk.
Raikage A: "Leave. For how long?"
Indra: "One year."
A low whistle escaped Darui, who was lounging by the window. The Raikage's eyes narrowed.
Raikage A: "A year. You want to walk away from everything you've built for a year? Why? Is there a threat you're not telling me about? Are you planning something that requires you to be off-grid?"
Indra: "The opposite. Everything is running optimally. Thunderhead is autonomous with the Clan Elders' oversight. The strategic initiatives are mapped for the next five years. The village is secure, prosperous, and at peace. My presence is becoming… administrative. I am an architect, Lord Raikage, not a bureaucrat. I grow stagnant."
I met his gaze squarely.
Indra: "Naruto and Sasuke will return in a year. Their re-entry into the world's calculus will be disruptive. I need to be stronger, sharper, with a broader perspective to manage that disruption and ensure it doesn't shatter the stability we've built. I can't achieve the necessary growth here. The context of Kumo, of my own legend, limits me. I need to be a student again. Somewhere with no history, no reputation."
Raikage A: "And Rias?"
Indra: "She comes with me. She is my partner, and she is facing her own glass ceiling. She needs to shatter it away from the shadow of my tower."
The Raikage was silent for a long minute. He looked at Darui, who gave a slow, thoughtful nod.
Darui: "He's not wrong, boss. The kid's been solving world-ending problems since he was ten. The village… it runs on his blueprints now. He's earned a vacation. A working vacation."
Raikage A: "A year is a long time in shinobi politics. Things change."
Indra: "We will not be completely out of contact." I placed a small, obsidian disk on his desk. It was etched with a spiral pattern that seemed to drink the light. "This is a Quantum Entanglement Communicator. It uses a principle from my Inner World to transmit a simple, binary signal—'return immediately'—across any dimensional barrier. It is a one-time, emergency recall. If Kumo faces an existential threat that Thunderhead and the forces here cannot handle, use it. Rias and I will be back within the hour."
The Raikage picked up the disk, feeling its unnatural weight. "Any barrier?"
Indra: "Any barrier. Where we are going… it is far. But this will cut through."
He turned the disk over in his hands, then placed it carefully in a drawer. He looked up at me, and for a moment, I saw not the fearsome leader of Kumo, but a man who had watched a scared refugee boy become the pillar of his nation.
Raikage A: "You've given this village more than any shinobi in its history. You've given me a legacy I could never have dreamed of. A year…" He sighed, a sound like a rockslide. "Take it. Take Rias. Go… be students. Get stronger. See things that will make the Elemental Nations look like a backwater. But you come back in one year. Understood? This is your home."
Indra: (I bowed, deeply and sincerely) "Thank you, Lord Raikage. It is my home. And I will return to defend it."
Darui gave me a lazy salute as I turned to leave. "Don't come back without some wild stories, yeah? And maybe a souvenir that doesn't try to eat the village."
Indra's POV –
Our Home, That Evening
I found Rias on the terrace of the home we shared, overlooking the glittering night-lights of Kumo. She was polishing the blade of her spear, Gáe Buide, the motion meditative. I sat beside her, the city's hum a distant lullaby.
Rias: "You've been thinking loudly all day. It's distracting. Are we expanding the Inner World again? Or did you finally invent a way to turn chakra into actual chocolate?"
Indra: "Something more audacious." I took her hand, stopping her polishing. "How would you like to take a year off? Just you and me. No missions. No lab alarms. No diplomatic functions. Just training, exploration, and… adventure."
She blinked, her crimson eyes searching mine. "A year? Indra, the village… my clan… our responsibilities…"
Indra: "The village will be fine. Your mother has the hospital running like a dream. Your father's trade network is a self-sustaining empire. Sirzechs has the diplomacy so smooth the Daimyo sends him thank-you notes. Our responsibilities are in capable hands. I've already spoken to the Raikage. He approved."
Her breath caught. I could see the conflict—the dedicated kunoichi warring with the young woman who had followed me to tide pools and bioluminescent coves, who laughed at my ridiculous chakra-desserts.
Rias: "A year… just training? Where? Some remote island in the Blissful Sea?"
Indra: "Farther." I activated my Sharingan, not in threat, but in focus. A small, intricate hologram appeared between us—a swirling, multi-colored portal. "I have the ability to travel to other worlds, Rias. Other universes, with different physical laws, different energies, different… everything. I want us to go to one. For one year. Train in environments that would be impossible here. Fight creatures that would make the tailed beasts look tame. Learn sciences and arts that don't exist in the Elemental Nations. Then come back, stronger, wiser, and ready for whatever Naruto and Sasuke, or the Akatsuki, or the stars themselves throw at us."
She stared at the portal hologram, her face a canvas of shock, fear, and dawning, breathtaking excitement.
Rias: "Other… universes. You can do that? Truly?"
Indra: "I always could. I used it to give your clan a believable background. But I've never used it for personal travel. The risks are non-zero. We would be utterly alone. No backup. No extraction except the emergency recall beacon I gave the Raikage. We would have to rely only on each other."
She was silent for a long moment, her gaze shifting from the hologram to my eyes, then to the spear in her lap—the spear I made for her, that was bound to her blood.
Rias: "What world?"
I smiled. I had done the research, cross-referencing the known omniverse data from my system. I needed a world that was immensely dangerous, with a power system that could complement and challenge our own, and one where we could integrate without immediately causing an apocalyptic scene.
Indra: "A world called Toriko's. It's a world of… culinary adventure, but don't let that fool you. The creatures there, the ingredients, are governed by a life-force called 'Appetite Energy.' The planet itself is orders of magnitude larger than ours, with gravity and biodiversity to match. The apex beings there make the Ten-Tails look like a pet. It's a world of brutal, beautiful struggle for the ultimate flavors and the ultimate strength. We can go there, pose as travelers from a distant land. Train our bodies, spirits, and techniques against monsters that will push us beyond any limit we've ever known."
"Culinary adventure?" She let out a disbelieving laugh. "You want to fight… food?"
Indra: "Food that fights back. With continents for teeth. It's perfect. The energy system is different but compatible. We can learn to harness our 'Appetite,' our sheer will to consume and grow stronger. It will force us to evolve in ways chakra alone cannot."
She stood up, pacing the terrace. I could see her mind racing, weighing the insanity against the incredible opportunity.
Rias: "A year in another universe. No one would know where we went. They'd think we were on some secret mission in a hidden corner of our own world."
Indra: "Exactly. It maintains our mystique and provides perfect cover."
She stopped, turning to face me, her expression set with fierce determination. "We tell our families we're going on an extended, high-risk training mission to an uncharted region. We don't lie, but we don't give details. They deserve that much."
Indra: "Agreed."
Rias walked over, cupping my face in her hands. Her eyes were blazing. "One year. In a universe of monsters and Flavors. With you. To get so strong that when we come back, we can face anything. Yes. A thousand times, yes."
The Uzumaki-Uchiha Estate – The Following Evening
We gathered everyone in the spacious main hall of the compound my parents and the Uzumaki's shared. The atmosphere was warm, filled with the smell of Delia's cooking and Zeoticus's fine wine.
Present were my mother, Delia Uzumaki Uchiha, and my father, Fujin Uchiha, looking more at peace each day, his stern Uchiha features softened by a second chance. On the Uzumaki side: Venelana Uzumaki, regal and sharp-eyed; Zeoticus Uzumaki, jovial but shrewd; and Sirzechs Uzumaki, polished and quietly powerful. Rias stood by my side, her hand in mine.
Zeoticus raised a glass. "A family dinner! To celebrate… well, everything! The children's promotions, the village's prosperity, and the fact we're all together and not being hunted!"
We shared a laugh, but as the meal wound down, I cleared my throat.
Indra: "Everyone, Rias and I have an announcement."
All eyes turned to us, curious.
Indra: "For the next year, Rias and I will be going on an extended training mission. It will take us far from Kumo, to a very remote and dangerous region. We will be completely incommunicado."
The warmth in the room chilled by several degrees.
Delia: "A year? Indra, that's… so long. And dangerous? What region?"
Indra: "I can't give specifics, mother. Operational security. Even here. Suffice to say, it's a place where my current abilities will be tested to their limit, and where Rias can break through to her next level."
Fujin studied me, his Sharingan (reactivated and stable thanks to my serum) seeing more than most. "This is about the Konoha boys returning, isn't it? You're preparing for a storm."
Indra: "I'm preparing for many storms, father. Some we know of, some we don't. Stagnation is death. We must grow."
Sirzechs, ever the diplomat, leaned forward. "The political ramifications of your absence for a year… the Raikage approves?"
Rias: "He does. We have a secure, emergency contact method. The village and our clans are in more than capable hands." She looked at her parents. "Mother, Father… this is something I need. I love our clan, I love Kumo. But I am always 'Rias Uzumaki, Indra's girlfriend,' or 'Rias of the revived Uzumaki.' I need to be just… Rias. And become someone stronger, for all of us."
Venelana's expression was unreadable for a moment, then she nodded, a proud smile touching her lips. "You have never shied from a challenge, my daughter. To seek your own strength, not just reflect another's… that is the Uzumaki way. Be safe. Come back to us."
Zeoticus, though worried, puffed out his chest. "That's my girl! Go conquer some distant corner of the world! Just… try not to get eaten by whatever giant thing lives there, yes?"
The mood lightened, though the undercurrent of concern remained. We spent the rest of the evening sharing stories, making promises to be careful, and solidifying the cover story: a top-secret, high-difficulty training expedition.
As we left, my mother hugged me fiercely. "You have given me back everything, my son," she whispered. "Your father, a home, a purpose. Now you go chase your own. Just come back. That's all I ask."
Fujin placed a firm hand on my shoulder. "Protect each other. And remember… no matter what universe you're in, you are an Uchiha of Kumo. And a son I am immeasurably proud of."
The Village Gates –
We left at first light. The Raijin-1 sat just outside the main gates, its matte grey surface gleaming with dew. We traveled light: essential gear, weapons, a vast store of sealed supplies from my Inner World, and our wits.
The Raikage and Darui were there to see us off, along with Bee and Yugito. Bee had Gyūki's avatar perched on his head, and Matatabi's avatar was curled around Yugito's shoulders.
Raikage A: "Remember the recall beacon. Don't make me use it for something trivial, like missing your cooking, brat."
Indra: "Understood, sir."
Darui: "Try to bring back a recipe for something that doesn't require a summoning scroll to prepare."
Killer Bee: "Yo! Get stronger, come back, and we'll have a rap battle that shakes the mountains! The Eight-Tails wants a rematch with your new tricks!"
Gyūki's Avatar: "Don't get digested in some alien stomach, kid! My Inkblings would be devastated!"
Yugito stepped forward, hugging Rias tightly. "Come back safe. Both of you."
Matatabi's Avatar nuzzled my hand. "The flame of your will burns bright. Do not let it be extinguished in a strange sky."
With final nods and waves, Rias and I boarded the Raijin-1. The hatch sealed with a hiss. I took the pilot's seat; Rias took the co-pilot's. The vehicle hummed to life, lifting silently on its repulsors.
Rias: "Nervous?"
Indra: "Excited. This is the first truly unknown variable I've embraced since I got here."
I input a course not for any location on the map, but for a set of dimensional coordinates held in my system. The Raijin-1 shot forward, not across the land, but straight up, piercing the cloud layer and climbing into the stratosphere.
Indra: "Activating multiversal transit. Brace for dimensional shear."
Outside the viewport, the blue sky darkened to the black of space, the curve of the planet visible below. Then, I engaged the travel gift. The space before us didn't tear; it unfolded. A kaleidoscopic tunnel of impossible colors and geometries swallowed the Raijin-1. There was no sound, only a profound pressure on our senses.
Rias gasped, her knuckles white on the armrests. I reached over, taking her hand.
Indra: "It's okay. The vehicle's integrity is shielded. We just have to ride it out."
The journey through the interdstitial void was timeless. It could have been seconds or days. Finally, a light appeared ahead—not the end of a tunnel, but the emergence into a new… everything.
The Raijin-1 shot out into a breathtaking vista.
We were in the upper atmosphere of a planet, but the scale was all wrong. The continents below were vast beyond comprehension, with mountain ranges that looked like planetary spines and oceans that seemed to hold smaller seas within them. The colors were hyper-saturated—emerald jungles, sapphire oceans, crimson deserts. The sky was a deeper blue, with multiple moons of different sizes and colors visible even during the day. The air that now surrounded the ship, as we descended, was thick, rich with oxygen and strange, tantalizing scents even through the filters.
Rias: "By the Sage…"
Indra: "Welcome to the Gourmet World. Or at least, the airspace above it."
I began scanning, using the ship's sensors and my own perception to find a safe, remote landing spot. I detected an area on the edge of a colossal forest, near a mountain range, far from any massive life-form signatures—at least, any that registered as immediately hostile.
We set down in a clearing of giant, fragrant ferns. The gravity hit us as soon as the hatch opened. It was at least 1.5 times that of the Elemental Nations. The air was humid, sweet, and carried a cacophony of sounds—unfamiliar bird calls, deep seismic rumbles, and the rustle of vegetation on a scale we'd never known.
We stepped out, our bodies immediately adjusting. Chakra flared instinctively to compensate. The plant life was monstrous. Ferns as tall as buildings. Flowers the size of houses with intoxicating perfumes.
Rias hefted her spear, her eyes wide with wonder and alertness. "It's… overwhelming. The life-force here… it's not chakra. It's…"
Indra: "Appetite Energy. The desire to live, to eat, to grow, to thrive. It's in the air, the soil, every creature." I took a deep breath, focusing my dojutsu. I could see it—a swirling, colorful aura around every living thing, a visual representation of their vitality and hunger. "Our first task is to learn to sense it, then to harmonize with it. To make our own 'Appetite' work for us."
A distant, earth-shaking roar echoed across the forest, a sound of pure, territorial hunger.
Rias grinned, a fierce, competitive light in her eyes. "Well? What are we waiting for? Let's go find something to train on. I'm starving."
I laughed, the sound feeling free and light in this alien air. I summoned a storage scroll from my Inner World, containing supplies to set up a secure base camp.
Indra: "First, shelter. Then, reconnaissance. We have a year. Let's start by not getting eaten on day one."
As we set to work, using ninjutsu to shape the local stone and wood into a fortified hideaway, I felt it—the thrilling uncertainty of a true blank slate. No prophecies. No legacy. No shadow of a massacre or a village. Just two people, in an impossible world, with nothing but each other and a hunger to become more.
[System Notification: Multiversal Transit Successful. Destination: Toriko Universe (Gourmet World, Remote Sector). Local Physic Laws Assimilation: 15%. Appetite Energy Interface: Unlocked (Novice).]
[System Notification: Background Generation Active. Creating plausible identities as 'Wandering Gourmet Warriors' from a lost, distant human civilization. Linguistic protocols integrated. Currency: Barter/Mission Rewards. Status: Tourists (with combat licenses).]
[Objective Updated: Survive, Adapt, and Grow. Timeframe: 1 Earth Year (Approx. 890 Gourmet World Days due to planetary rotation).]
We finished the basic camp as the giant suns (there were two) began to set, painting the insane landscape in shades of gold and violet. Sitting by a containment-sealed fire, eating ration bars that suddenly tasted incredibly bland compared to the smells around us, Rias looked at me.
Rias: "A year here… we're going to be very different people when we go home."
Indra: (I squeezed her hand) "Better ones. Stronger ones. Together."
She leaned against me, watching the alien stars begin to pepper the multi-mooned sky. "I can't wait."
And so, under a foreign heavens, the Architect of Kumo and his Queen of Storms began their greatest project yet: themselves. The adventure, and the feasting, had just begun.
End of chapter – 52.