When I arrived in this world, at this time, the first thing I felt was the weakness of this bothersome human body... and my own. My mind, now limited by mortality, tried to comprehend the incomprehensible. I nearly destroyed myself trying to decipher my final moments before sending this fragment of myself into the past of this reality, of this material plane.
My memories returned to that instant: the moment I broke into this reality. The linear time of this world was an annoyance, but not an unfamiliar one. Fortunately, the two fragments I left in the souls I sent back—under the pact with that naïve goddess who invited me into this reality—helped me better understand the situation, even if their connection to me was nearly destroyed. Not enough, however, to escape my reach. That, and something else. Something strange, hidden behind the veil of reality, generated by the planar anomaly that sought to devour me as its final step toward ascension.
The impossible had occurred. Reality itself had become aware of me. In a desperate act, it created and nourished an entire plane of dreams and fused spirits to destroy my intrusion. Nothing like this had ever happened before—a plane governed by linear time resisting me. Within that plane, I sensed the cause of my troubles: an enlightened soul, tainted by my influence, the third soul to be sent back in time. Clearly, my plans had failed. The pact with the goddess Kaguya had been left incomplete. That being—the avatar of my nemesis, Hinata—had somehow affected the very spirit of this reality.
Everything converges on her: the avatar this world uses to resist me. Her very existence disrupted the natural flow of souls so deeply that my attempt to erase her from the timeline by sending a fragment of myself to the past had failed so much that this world stopped my attempt with its trembling. Now I was trapped in the body of a young monk, in the Fire Temple, and the anomaly had grown too powerful for me to face alone.
Still, I had to ensure that the story moved forward. That Kaguya be resurrected and, as written, sealed once more by the descendants of Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki. They had to achieve the proper level of power to confront and bind her again. Because when this world inevitably destroyed itself—through the folly of mortals—and Kaguya was freed once more, in her desperation, she would call to me.
Even with the warnings of her ancestors, who warned their descendants never to do so. Because they knew I would not fall for the same trick again. But the temptation of altering the past that I offered was too great. And the fool... accepted the pact. One that the Ōtsutsuki's tricks could not avoid. One that even reality could not detect. Until now…
…
With my thoughts now clear, and knowing the flow I needed to ensure, I understood that the anomaly—Hinata—was acting unpredictably. Her attempt to infiltrate the key organization of this world, Akatsuki, with the absurd hope of forming an alliance, had to be intercepted. I knew I had to use my spiritual skill to feed the darkness in mortal hearts and influence key figures. No mortal in this reality could resist this ability of mine.
It was necessary to set a trap. But that wouldn't be enough. To complete the cycle, I needed to strengthen the incarnations of Indra and Ashura enough to defeat Kaguya—and for that, provoking war was essential. However, Hinata had even managed to interfere with that: Orochimaru and Kabuto were unavailable due to her interference.
The solution was obvious: Shisui Uchiha's eye, now in possession of Itachi—that was the key piece to shift the board in my favor. I moved into Akatsuki territory. Through the darkness embedded in Pain's soul, I subtly influenced him. This drew the attention of Black Zetsu, the third 'son' of Kaguya. Manipulating him was easy. Through him, I reached my true target: Obito Uchiha.
Once I had influenced the three key forces of Akatsuki, each with their own motivations, feeding the darkness in their hearts and steering them toward my goals was inevitable. Thus, Obito received the information to locate Orochimaru and Kabuto. Thanks to the predictable echoes of fate, still aligned with fragments of the original timeline, Obito was able to track down Kabuto… and with him, Sasuke Uchiha.
Capturing him temporarily was enough to force his brother's hand and obtain the eye. Although Orochimaru remained hidden, Kabuto proved a useful alternative. Using Shisui's eye—now in possession of my most dangerous pawn—we brought Kabuto under control. Another piece on the board.
Now, my board is ready. My pieces in position.
I gave Konan a sealing technique, a modification of her paper art that would work on both body and spirit. She, an expert in sealing arts, completed it without suspicion. I easily convinced Pain by referencing the overwhelming power the Silver Lady had shown in her war against the Pure Lands. He agreed to sacrifice five of his six puppet bodies to trap her.
The plan was a complete success. Hinata, the greatest threat to me, was off the board.
Time moved on... or so I thought. With Kabuto under control, reviving Hidan with Edo Tensei was trivial. He was needed to further the growth of the Ashura incarnation. Unfortunately, we could not revive Sasori—he would've been a useful piece. According to Kabuto, Sasori was not linked to the Pure Lands. An anomaly tied to Yumegakure, undoubtedly.
Events continued. My pawn Obito captured the five tails Jinchūriki and Itachi and Kisame captured the new host of the four-tailed Bijuu, another irregularity in the timeline, at least the extraction was successful... The surprise did not end there when almost immediately after that, Indra's incarnation... Sasuke Uchiha faced off against his brother... somehow that resulted in Sasuke's victory before he could test his power against Deidara... another irregularity... At least I still have Deidara as a pawn.
Even so, my pawn Obito couldn't find any trace of Sasuke or his brother's body, Sasuke's group vanished as well... another deviation, one that I'm going to have to rectify.
Konan and Deidara captured the Three-Tails; Hidan and Kakuzu, the Two-Tails. But something went wrong. The Two-Tails jinchūriki survived extraction. Zetsu discovered she carried a strange amulet, whose energy vanished after the event. Another timeline deviation. Once again, Hinata's doing.
Then I remembered… the Amulets of Life. Fragments of knowledge from the first avatar I sent. Hinata had linked the jinchūrikis to Yumegakure. Without her, they were the anchors keeping that plane stable.
Logic dictated they should be eliminated. Execute them. Begin with the attack on the Fire Temple and start the chain of events to empower Ashura's incarnation. But my ambition—something unexpected in this body—wanted more. I wanted to absorb Yumegakure's power. I wanted to devour it, as it had tried to devour me.
Using the surviving jinchūrikis for that purpose was perfect.
The problem was that if Kumo couldn't find the body of their Jinchūriki, they would never stop searching. That would accelerate events before Ashura and Indra could reach the necessary power.
It was time to deploy my puppets. To prepare a new play. I would make Ashura's incarnation dance to my rhythm.
This game, at least, remained entertaining.
And the darkness within mortal hearts… was still mine.
And soon, Yumegakure would be too.