Naruto stepped forward and extended his arm, invoking Yin-Yang Release to make it glow with a gold sheen that would allow him to physically interact with Akebi's incorporeal form.
He stood patiently while holding his hand up in Akebi's direction, letting her contemplate what to do.
"I can't touch you."
"Try," Naruto said.
After some hesitation, Akebi raised her arm and grasped Naruto's hand.
"Oh!" She made a weak squeak before clasping her mouth shut with embarrassment.
"Don't try to resist," Naruto said. "I'm going to send my chakra through your soul."
Akebi nodded and felt a sudden electrifying sensation from her hand.
From Naruto's hand, a blue light entered her slightly translucent form, moving from her hand over to her torso and then spreading toward multiple paths to populate her entire body. Within seconds, the white luster of her translucent body was mixed with a blue shine.
"What's going on?" She asked with a frown as that electrifying sensation spread through her entire body. "I feel weird."
"Your soul is being branded, Akebi," Naruto said. "By my Dominion Mark. It's a unique sensation that you have never felt in your life."
A thunderous crackle suddenly caught Akebi's attention, and she looked up with a heavy breath. The previously white sky was covered in black thunderclouds as lightning flashed in them.
"It's here," she whispered as her breaths got hurried and audible. "Let go of me. I don't want you to be punished."
"Be quiet, Akebi," Naruto said gently. "I know what I'm doing."
The entire sky as far as the eye could see was covered in thick thunderclouds that blocked the sun entirely, making it seem like it was night. The crackling of lightning in the sky only got more violent and was the only natural source of light illuminating the village. Suddenly, it started raining heavily, and a powerful bolt of lightning struck the village directly. Before it made contact with any structure, a golden sheen of light rose up into the sky and blocked it.
"Eep!" Akebi's form flickered as she bit her lower lip. "You should stop. Why are you going so far?"
"Because I want a powerful tool to work for me," Naruto said bluntly. "Plus, you had a pitiful fate. Your spirit didn't get any rest even after death because of your father's machinations."
"I didn't—" She suddenly squealed as her floating form suddenly curled up and floated closer to Naruto. Her incorporeal form flickered again as Naruto increased the speed and intensity of his chakra moving through her body.
"Don't think too much." Naruto pulled her even closer. His entire form glowed golden as he activated Six Paths Sage Mode with Kurama's cloak and patted her head. "Just enjoy the experience of being branded by the Dominion Mark."
"W-why is this happening?" She asked shakily as she recovered.
"The Dominion Mark brands your entire existence, permeating through the deepest recesses of your soul. It achieves this by destabilizing your soul and taking advantage of the flickers to spread itself through your body. The two methods to achieve that are either extreme pain or extreme pleasure. Such a gentle soul as yourself doesn't deserve to be put through the kind of pain required to destabilize your soul and put you to the brink of death. That is why I am going with pleasure. Such extreme pleasure that you feel that you are about to die."
Naruto's explanation made Akebi's eyes widen in shock. Before she could say anything, her lips parted, and a loud moan escaped her. Her form flickered again, but she kept looking with wide eyes at the man responsible for her current state.
More large bolts continued falling down on Konoha as Naruto's clones continued blocking each of them from causing any real damage to the village.
"What the hell are you doing, Naruto?" Sasuke's voice came from the side and made Naruto raise his brow.
"I'd forgotten that he was still interrogating the Outers," Naruto said with an expression that looked like he had just recalled something. "I'm forcing an Inner to defect Kara," he answered.
"What does that have to do with the soul floating in front of you? There is a reason I don't use Pain's Paths! Especially the Outer Path. If you play with the cycle of life and death, the Shinigami will come for you. You have to stop right now. If you die, the village is completely lost."
"I know what I'm doing, Sasuke. Just stay back and let me do my thing. What I'm about to do will dismantle half of Kara's forces."
"I can't let you die here, Naruto," Sasuke said as his Rinnegan was revealed from behind his hair.
"I won't die, Sasuke," he said. "Just trust me." A black orb expanded in Sasuke's vision, preventing him from looking at Naruto directly. "Don't interrupt me."
"Gah!" Sasuke stomped his foot on the ground in frustration. "Don't you dare fucking die, you moron."
"Thanks for the encouragement," Naruto smiled as Akebi continued moaning and shivering in his arms while her form flickered between existence and non-existence.
Soon, the white sheen of light emanating from her ethereal form was completely replaced by the blue glow of Naruto's chakra that filled her soul. Suddenly, a huge bolt of lightning flashed, illuminating the entire village momentarily as it struck down, directly on Naruto and Akebi's forms, only to be blocked by Kurama's massive golden form that appeared above them. The booming sound that resounded through the area after the impact was deafening. It seemed as if the heavens were raining down their wrath on Naruto for daring to blaspheme the natural order of things.
Even more bolts of lightning struck down on Kurama's form with increasing intensity, but they weren't strong enough to break Kurama's defense.
Akebi released a loud cry before her soul flickered out of existence completely. When she appeared again, the blue sheen of Naruto's chakra was suddenly crimson, as was her entire incorporeal form. Black lines went down her form as if a ribbon was wrapped around her in a spiral that went from her head to her toes. Her blue eyes were the only things that seemed unaffected by the effects of the Dominion Mark as they closed, and she fell unconscious.
Kurama was suddenly struck by another bolt of lightning, this one, red. This time, it directly destroyed half of the huge Tailed Beast's chakra manifestation. Another bolt was about to strike down, and it was clear that the cloak wouldn't be able to hold on against the assault any further.
A purple armor wrapped around Kurama's damaged chakra manifestation. Sasuke had decided to give Naruto his support and wrapped his Susanoo around Kurama's form like armor. Raising both his swords, he crossed them together and held off the red lightning. Kurama's hind legs buckled under the pressure, causing a mild quake, but Sasuke ultimately blocked the strike without losing out too much.
"Thanks for the assist, old friend," Naruto smiled as he examined Akeni's unconscious soul that had been branded with his Dominion Mark. "Come." He raised his arm and as if being sucked by a vacuum, she was pulled into his hand and her form was absorbed by his body.
A shadow appeared over Naruto which made him look like a dwarf. Despite the encompassing darkness all around them, the shadow seemed particularly dark, as if pulling in all light around them. He turned around to face the source of that shadow and looked at the large, monstrous figure covered in white robes. It had purple skin and a huge mane of hair that covered most of its face. Two red horns poked out of its head, and an intricate knife was held in its mouth. One of its hands held a set of prayer beads while the other hand slowly moved toward its mouth, seemingly planning to grasp the ritual knife.
"Shinigami," Naruto smiled. "I never was able to meet you, was I? Despite all that my clan has put you through." He looked at his side, and a clone came into view. It quickly stood beside the real self and grabbed a mask from his waist before showing it to the shinigami.
The Shinigami's slow and methodical movements paused in their place when it saw the Shinigami's Mask.
"I brought this from the Uzumaki temple close by," Naruto said. "If you don't want me to force you into another contract, look the other way this one time. She is an inconsequential soul anyway. It's not like I summoned a historically significant character."
The Shinigami didn't move, and the red lightning continued striking Kurama's Susanoo-reinforced form, slowly gaining ground despite Sasuke's attempts to keep it at bay.
"No? Do you want this mask?" Naruto grabbed it from his clone's hand. "This has much greater value than Akebi Sanzu's soul."
The Shinigami's eyes shifted to Delta's suppressed form. She was still hanging upside down by one ankle. Her damaged dress had slid to her chest in the commotion, revealing her toned abdomen as she shook her body around and tried to free herself.
"Also a negative," Naruto said. "That mutilated artificial soul of hers is necessary for my Akebi to be a useful tool. Still, I'm not going to let you go empty-handed. Your sacrifices are here."
Three of Naruto's clones came running toward him, each of them holding the body of a person on their shoulders. They dropped the three unconscious people in front of them. They were the three traitors who had turned on Konoha when it was time to go against the Outers.
"Three fully developed and alive shinobi with especially rotten souls in exchange for a single normal soul. You can consider the other two as snacks." Naruto stabbed the three of them through their heads with Truth-Seeker Orbs.
The Shinigami's arm moved with lightning-fast speed and stabbed the three of them in the same spots with its ritual knife. It then put the knife back into its mouth and spread its arms out before disappearing as if it was never there in the first place. Immediately, the red lightning stopped striking Sasuke, and the clouds started clearing up.
***
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