267: True Identity

Chapter 267: True Identity  

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Kurenai had mixed feelings about the recent things that happened around her.

First, her child was killed inside her stomach, but was then revived by Neji Hyuga who revealed he was a God. Not only that, in return for reviving Mirai, he asked her to serve him…

As for what sort of ‘serving’ he wanted from her… Kurenai hadn't honestly given much thought to those words. She was happy with her daughter alive, and she was busy helping the little girl get used to her surroundings. She looked like a 10-year-old, but in her mind she was just born yesterday, she didn’t know anything so Kurenai had to give extra attention to her. Thankfully, due to her developed brain— or perhaps because of Neji’s blessing earlier, Mirai was learning faster. She could already walk, and even almost speak sentences!

Kurenai wished to see Asuma, she wanted to show what their daughter was capable of— she wanted to share her feelings with him. He was Mirai’s father, after all.

But… as Kurenai watched the scene ahead of her, she felt that may not be very true for Mirai.

“Ahaha! N-no it ticklesh!” Mirai laughed, flapping around in Neji’s arms as he tickled her with a smile. “Shtop! Shtop! Pa!”

Kurenai held back a sigh as the little girl referred to him as her father for the umpteenth time. Neji told her not to by himself, and she did listen most of the time— but when excited, her instincts came out.

The worst thing was that Kurenai couldn’t bring herself to teach Mirai that he wasn’t her father. He did give life into her in a way

“Papa! You are cheating on me!”

Then there was the cat who looked jealous of Mirai…

Kurenai sighed.

—-—

Neji could feel Kurenai's emotions through their connection of God-&-Believer. But he had no fix for this problem— he was never good with these types of things anyway.

He handed Mirai to her mother a few minutes later when Arima entered the room, making everyone in God’s Palace present in the living room.

“Now that everyone is here,” Neji said, standing beside a whiteboard while facing all the girls and women sitting on the floor. “I should explain what your life is now.”

He waited three seconds to allow anyone to ask anything, but when nobody did he continued. “Let’s start with— yes, I am a God, in case you are still confused. A real, full-fledged deity who can do most of the things you imagine a God should be capable of doing. That is me.” he pointed at himself. ”My current goal is to expand my religion, kind of like the Goddess Jashin you met yesterday, excluding all the gore and stuff her believers tend to commit. My ultimate goal is to spread my religion to the entire world and therefore kill discrimination to its root. One thing I agree with Pain is that the world can only be at peace when under the rule of a single person— in this case, that would be me.”

Neji knew how grandeur his words sounded, but they were true. If everyone wholeheartedly believed in the ruling of a single person, all sorts of war and discrimination will cease to exist. Well, unless Neji wanted them to happen, but these girls didn’t need that information.

At first, Neji was planning to bring an end to this world— just as he did to his former world— that’d have given him lots of level-ups. But now with the possibility of earning divinity points by making them all his believers, that could be considered a somewhat substitute for the levels he would have gained otherwise. 

Truthfully, Neji… didn’t want to kill everything. Not only because the people he loved will see him differently, but also because he didn’t wish to lose himself entirely from what he was at the start. If he really went hard, he could have saved the loved ones of Ryuko and Rumi— or even his friends, even Ochako and Mina. But he was blinded by the smell of power. He let them all die so that he could focus on the immediate danger. He didn’t want to do it for the girls currently in front of her, he didn’t want to lie to them that— ‘Sorry, there was no other way.’

Because this time, there is that other way. The thing was, the Primordial God wasn’t an immediate threat. Even if Neji grinded like a mad man for decades, losing everything that made him what he was, only to protect the people who may have already left him by then— he may still not be strong enough to defeat the red-skinned titan.

He needed to be slow. Steady, but slow. To keep the end goal in mind, yet to not lose his path.

Maybe this change was all intended by Lady Luck when she gave him the quest? Perhaps she didn’t want to see the mortal she felt fascinated by change into a thing that didn’t fascinate her anymore. Perhaps she just wanted to see her entertainment source stay the way that entertained her— but still, Neji felt grateful to her once more for this.

The girls in front of him exchanged glances in silence before slowly each of them nodded.

“I am with you, then.” Hanabi said first. She wasn’t the first to make her decision— but she was the first to let her voice be known. “I… thought you were just searching for power for something selfish like living a lazy life, yet I had decided to follow you. These new words of yours don’t make anything change in me, I will still do whatever you wish for me to do.”

“Please don’t conclude that I am not selfish,” Neji sighed, snapping his finger as his five girls’ pictures materialised on the whiteboard behind him. He could do that in this realm. “Besides that goal that you seem to think of as ‘noble’, I have another goal in mind— something I personally care more about. These five girls, they mean a lot to me, and they have been lost for a while now. I am searching for them, that’s also my goal, and personally my current main goal.”

Toga, Nemuri and Kiana looked at the pictures and blinked, but said nothing. The other girls simply observed the photos for a while, and in the end Temari was the one to raise her hand.

“Yes, Temari?”

“Can I ask just who they are?” she asked. “It doesn’t seem anyone here knows them, excluding maybe the three maids. Are these five girls from the distant land these maids are from?”

Neji had instinctively opened his mouth to lie, but he shut up quickly and chewed on his lips for a minute. “You know what?” he asked himself. “I am going to tell you the truth. I am another worlder, originating from a universe far from here. So are these three maids. These five girls behind me are my lovers and I care deeply about them. Yet due to unforeseen complications, I had to throw them to different universes, except I don’t know who ended up where.”

Everyone had paused, and the silence was broken by Kiana. “I am curious too, honestly. You destroyed your and our planet, our entire society, yet you sent your girls away? Why?”

“Enemy Gods,” Neji replied calmly. “After stealing Nighteye’s quirk, I saw the future the world was heading to. The world would have gotten destroyed regardless, if not by the Nuclear War then by the hands of the invading Gods. I decided to kill a part of the civilization myself because one of my powers is to gain more powers by killing people. I thought since they’re dying anyway, I should at least guarantee my chances of survival by killing a few myself. By few I mean millions, but still. At least my hypothesis was correct and I did survive.” Neji shrugged. “Except I saw the future where my lovers would not survive so I had to throw them around the omniverse despite their unwillingness to the idea.”

The room fell into an eerie silence. The Naruto girls looked utterly confused and flabbergasted at his words while Kiana and Nemuri looked at him with wide eyes, the latter especially looking as if the wheels in her head were spinning.

“Y-you…” Nemuri’s voice cracked as she ran, her palm rising in the air and planting on his face. “Why didn’t you tell me before?” she slapped his other cheek. “You could have explained, dammit!” her hands shook in the air but she couldn’t find the strength to hit him again, so she pulled his collar. “I was so confused all this time! It didn’t make sense to me why you’d want Nighteye’s Quirk! After that, you went even crazier! It makes sense now, doesn’t it?! So why didn’t you explain to me before?”

“Hey, hey, Nemuri! Why are you trusting his words so easily?!” Kiana tried from behind her. “He might be making it all up.”

“He’s not!” Nemuri didn’t even glance at her and just glared at Neji’s eyes. “I know him better… well maybe not anymore, but back in the day I knew him better than anyone in this room knows him now. He was always a bit of a vigilante type, but never a monster.” she looked as if she would cry as her glare became blurry with her tears. “Or else he wouldn’t have saved me…”

The former pro hero Midnight released his collar and became busy wiping her tears. “Y-you should have explained to me at least… if you care enough about me to keep me alive.” she sounded gentle, for the first time since she talked to him in this world. “I wouldn’t have… I- I wouldn’t have hated you. You have suffered enough, 22 years here trying to find the people you love.”

Neji pulled her into a hug and sighed in his mind. Nemuri’s sobs only became louder, but Neji could feel how she felt at peace as he embraced her with care. He could feel the bond between them restore. Now exactly how it was once, but entirely better than before.

“I mean,” Toga broke the silence with a shrug. “If you love a guy, does it matter if he is a good guy or bad? If your love is real… well, just saying.” she shrugged again.

“It’s fine, Toga. Not everyone has a twisted sense of morals so they can’t relate to you. Don’t worry, I can.” Neji said to her and she smiled.

“That’s why I like you, boss.” Toga said and was about to continue but Tenten jumped up on her feet.

“Wait. Wait, wait, wait!” She gasped, looking as if she was hit in her head. “D-does that mean that the Neji that I spent my time with until maybe a few weeks ago was someone else? Please explain, I am confused, I am l-losing myself!”

Hanabi and Tsunade also looked at Neji with strange eyes— while the others didn’t really bother. Though Arima Hyuga’s face was painted with surprise and realisation, her face literally said- ‘It all makes sense now!’.

“Technically, I am the same Neji you have known all your life.” Neji answered Tenten’s question. “For the last 22 years, you have known a Neji Hyuga who was loosely based on my personality— kind of like the real me was yet to waken within him. On 27th October though, which is a bit more than two weeks ago, did I fully surface.”

It was the truth. The story of Neji Hyuga followed the one from canon, but the personality and the way he acted matched the Neji who just spoke— courtesy to Lady Luck. Basically, people of this world have known a robot programmed to be himself until the real he emerged.

“I-”

“It's like I regained my previous life’s memories.” Neji interrupted Tenten and explained in a way that made it easier to understand. “Still confused?”

“Ah…. no, no, not anymore.” Tenten sighed and sat back down.

Now Neji realised why Lady Luck went so far to rewrite the reality of the past. If not, he would have replaced the real Neji, and Tenten who had fallen with that Neji may have lost her path with her feelings for him. Really, he sometimes forgot how smart a billion-year-old being could be…

She had planned everything to unwrap this way, hadn’t she?

The phantom giggle he heard in his ears made him realise that— yes, she really did. What a cute old fossil.

[“Don’t ever call me that again.”] Lady Luck warned but he ignored her.

Before anybody else could speak, Temari raised her hand again. “So, uh, you plan to rule the world and for that, you are gathering power by hunting Kekkei Genkais and Jutsus?” she asked. “About the Sand… when you go attack them, can you let me talk to them first? I can possibly talk them into surrendering first, you don’t have to fight and destroy the village… even if you do, can you at least let my brothers live-”

“Temari?” Neji sounded somewhat hurt as he interrupted her. “Why do you sound scared?” He said and she blinked, making everyone look at her, watching sweat trail down her forehead. “I am not… anyone new. Two weeks is a short time, I know, but I am the same person you have known for the past two weeks. You at least should believe that I won’t hurt you right? I also don’t destroy wherever I go either, your village is safe... My previous world was a… special situation.”

“I-”

“I love you, Temari. I don’t hurt the people I love.” Neji interrupted her once more and this time she shut her mouth, pausing for a long moment before facepalming.

“Sorry, that was idiotic of me.” she looked back at him. “...God, I feel like such an idiot now.”

Neji created a clone and hugged her too. “Let’s just say it was the sudden development and secret drops that made you panic, let’s forget about it.”

“Forget about what?” Hanabi chimed in.

“Yeah, what are you talking about?”

“Yep, I am confused too.”

Everyone agreed that nothing happened in the last 60 seconds, and then broke into laughter. After some calming down, Nemuri went back to her spot and Neji continued his job on the whiteboard.

“Anyway, since I now have a religion for real— I need executives, or priests for short. The Head Priestess, or I guess [Saintess] works too, has already been decided to be the person amongst the five of my other worlder girls who is in this world. However, since there's a Head Priest, there can naturally be more. Any volunteers?”

Basically everyone except for Arima, and Kurenai had raised their hands— which included Tenten, Temari, Sakura, Shizune, Hanabi, Tsunade, Samui, and even Mirai (who had her hands quickly pulled down by an awkwardly smiling Kurenai). Neji didn’t count Toga who was jumping with her hands in the air and Nemuri and Kiana who stayed awkwardly silent.

The other person who hadn’t raised their hands (paws) was Kurai.

Kurai licked his cheeks. “I don’t have to be a priest right?”

“I mean you can if you want to be, but you don’t have to.” Neji nudged her nose with his. “How can I have my cutie-pie work hard?”

"Yep, I am allergic work." Kurai smiled and raised her head in the air, giving everyone else an arrogant hmph as she looked down on them in clear superiority.

Then she turned to Neji. “Okay then, let me get out of here. This is so boring. I wanna go play.” she demanded and Neji delivered, creating a portal for her through which she jumped out back into the mortal world. “Bye papa!” she said and vanished.

“What is up with Kurai, by the way.” Tsunade asked. “Also, I never knew you were so close with so many girls… Sakura and Shizune too. Maybe you can explain to me later on? I am not demanding, of course, my otherworldly kami-sama.”

Sakura and Shizune flinched, avoiding her eye contact, while Neji facepalmed and shook his head. “Please don’t. It’s fun in bed but calling me that normally feels so cringe. As for Kurai, she is a divine cat species, and also a death god. As for the girls… Well, sure, I will explain when I have time.”

Tsunade gave him a narrowed-eyed look as he continued. “In any case, since you guys have decided, then sure— seven priests for now. Our first mission as a full-fledged cult would be to invade the Rock Village, where the main goal is to steal the Tsuchikage’s Particle Release.”

Everyone exchanged glances before shrugging and nodding. 

Tsunade spoke again. “It’s been a long while since I have taken orders,” she said with a laugh. “Also, if we are heading towards the Land of Earth, can you keep an eye out for Anko? She was out of the village when the attack happened, looking around to figure out if Orochimaru really did die or not.”

“Well, sure, I will keep an eye out for her.” Neji said. “Then, let’s start moving.”

The planet shook as if an earthquake had hit it— and with a mental command, Neji opened a huge screen in the air that showed a small ball of yellow cloud moving fast in the air of the ninja world, phasing through threes as if it was an illusion and moving towards the Land of Earth.

Neji liked this place, it worked like both a car and a home.

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