Demon King Who Will Rule the Infinite Worlds

 "Defeat him..." Cloud leaned against the tree, ever since he became a Demon, he had the goal of defeating Aurum. It had grown much weaker, but still he dreamt of that.

'How do I defeat something that strong...?'

He took a deep breath, rubbing his eyes. His ears perked up at the sound of footsteps coming close to him. He was aware of who it was. The three of them wearing black coat with red clouds entered his sight.

"Did you stop training?" Cloud ran his eyes over Nagato, Yahiko, and Konan. Until now, they had been lucky to not go up against any of the big names. Though, now that he knew about it...it was his King arranging it to be so.

"Yeah...we are talking a break," Yahiko sat down, trying to catch his breath. Nagato was as tired as him, but there was a joyful smile in their eyes that they were trying to hide. They looked over to Konan, who jumped at Cloud, "Cloud! I did it! I reached Phase 2!"

"Already..." Cloud hugged her back, looking over to Yahiko and Nagato, "What about you two?"

Ever since they came here, he had been training them. During the first few days, that Black Thing was still keeping an eye on them. If he didn't have Libra, he couldn't see that thing too. But that thing escaped as soon as King came to this land. Since then, he had been training these three, hoping they would achieve Phase 2. Although, he hadn't reached Phase 2 yet.

It took years, decades for Demons to do it, then again, these three had great talent and training to be a Ninja. Training to open their phases was something much simpler.

"No good! I can sense it, this restriction but it's too far away. It's like...I am not Yahiko enough to reach it," Yahiko clenched his hand.

"Not enough Yahiko to reach it," Cloud repeated his words, trying to make sense of them, "What does that mean?"

"I know! It's so true," Konan flew back, partially activating Phase 2. Her legs turned into paper, her body became as light as it. She floated back, "I felt it too. Phase 2 was tough, everything I had trained for, my dreams, my Jutsu, my hard work. It took every bit of me to make me. To take me one step further. I am now the me I wish I was. Like that. Not only that, every Jutsu that I could only dream about, I can control them! I feel like no one can defeat me!"

"Haha, well, King Aurum probably can. Did you see his Jutsu?" Yahiko grinned, "I never saw anything like that."

"King isn't human," Konan pouted, shooting a glaring look at Yahiko. She raised her body in the air, the ground under her started turning into paper, spread to trees, and leaves. Ink covered the white paper, forming the paper bombs one after the other, surrounding them. She marvelled at her power, taken by it, raising two storms of paper on her left and right, transforming the whirling tornado into paper bombs, "I am confident that I can fight even Eight Tails and Brother Minato while in Phase 2."

"So strong," Nagato dazedly gazed at the thousands of paper bombs. It needed only a little bit of chakra from Konan, and she could kill them all. Luckily, she removed her Phase 2, dropping on the ground.

"Don't worry. I know you guys can do it too! When the times comes, we are going to protect Amegakure," Konan encouraged them.

Nagato and Yahiko smiled back at her, feeling much better. Their dream looked so much closer now that Konan had this much strength.

"Oh yeah," Nagato remembered something, "Cloud? Why did you ask what Yahiko meant. Did you reach Phase 2 differently?"

Cloud scratched his head, uncomfortable answering that question, "I never properly reached Phase 2."

"You didn't! No way! But you are so strong! I don't know if Konan can defeat you even now!" Yahiko sat up in shock.

"It wasn't for the lack of trying."

The four of them jerked up. None of them sensed anyone come close, but when they looked, there was a fifth person here. Leaning against the tree. The tall man's snow-white hair framed his face, his crystal blue eyes curved into a smile.

"Your Majesty!" The four of them lowered their heads to greet him with respect. He waved at them, telling them to be at ease, "there is something I have to confess. Cloud, there is no way you could have reached Phase 2. The same way Nagato and Yahiko can never reach Phase 2."

"I can't," Nagato raised his head in surprise. He lowered his head, covered his eyes, "Is it because of these eyes?"

"Your eyes? What does that have to with reaching Phase 2?" Yahiko didn't even care about him not being able to reach Phase 2. He was more worried about Nagato. Although he had eyes that only the Sage of Six Paths from the legends possessed, he was traumatised after he saw his parents getting killed. Since then, he had a sense of inferiority, but recently he had been gaining confidence. Maybe it was because of Konan or the fact that he was becoming stronger. Or both. He didn't want Nagato to suffer another backlash.

"After I reached Phase 1 my body acted differently from the two of you. My chakra, that was already more than that of everyone in the Akatsuki combined multiplied by tens of times. My life force increased too. It must be because of the Uzumaki Clan Bloodline. Uzumaki Clan was the only clan that could rival the Senju Clan, and I understood why. When I practiced a simple D-Rank Jutsu, it had the same might as A-Rank one."

"Isn't that good news! Why didn't you tell me before!" Yahiko grabbed Nagato by the shoulder, "That sounds awesome!"

"I know...I was happy too..."

"Then you started sensing it," Aurum sat down under the tree, "Your eyes."

"I did. The control I had over my body, I could sense everything chakra from miles away, but most of all...these eyes," Nagato closed them, "I could sense them...and the chakra inside of them, and I never felt something so foreign. It took me a while. They have been in my body for so long that they seem like a part of me but at the same time, at their core. These eyes are not mine. I am nothing more...than a puppet to keep these eyes fresh..."

"Nooo," Konan covered her mouth in horror, "How could that be!"

"You knew?" Cloud jerked his head to ask Aurum, slightly shocked.

"Yeah. It's like that Black Goo you saw. It was behind it," Aurum nodded.

"That thing?!!" Yahiko protectively held Nagato's shoulder, filled with so much rage over this situation. He wanted to cry and fight all at the same time. Konan took Nagato's hand, trying to comfort him, looking as angry and eager as Yahiko to know who to kill.

"Destruction of Uzumaki Clan. Do you know how strong was Uzumaki Clan?" Aurum changed the topic, "From what Tsunade remembers, they could rival a village. Each Uzumaki Clan member had the chakra of ten Jonin. Those were with the weaker bloodline. Stronger ones had the chakra of Hundred Jonin. Then there are talented one like Nagato, whose chakra could rival tailed beasts. If those eyes weren't consuming an obscene amount of his chakra, then he would be as strong as the strongest in this land."

"That strong...?" Nagato sensed it before. If these eyes weren't taking so much chakra, then his normal chakra would be as much as he had in Phase 1. It was true he had a bit of confidence that he could fight against Eight Tails that he saw in the Arena with Phase 1 active.

"Let alone their Kekkei Genkai was a bane of many. Especially the Tailed Beasts," Aurum nodded, "From what I have read in reports and seen in Tsunade's memories, Uzumaki Clan could rival any of Great Five Villages. But then the Four Great Villages banded together and destroyed them. Why? For their Sealing Techniques? Because they couldn't defeat Konoha? Why didn't Konoha help?"

"Well, simply because they were being attacked by the Four Villages too. They couldn't spare any forces, but Konoha managed to survive and Uzumaki Clan couldn't even hold on long enough. That's the biggest bullshit I ever heard."

"Why? No matter how strong, they were only a clan."

Aurum chuckled, "Yeah. Sure. A Clan of who?"

"Masters of Sealing Jutsu. Is what you want to say?"

"Huh, Jiraiya-sensei!" Yahiko's anger subsided a little. He felt relieved seeing Jiraiya, even Minato sitting standing on the branch.

"Hahaha, I came to see you three. I hope you don't mind me overhearing a few things," Jiraiya laughed, easing the atmosphere.

Minato jumped down him, bowing towards Aurum, "I am sure King Aurum already knew we were here."

"No. I am the one who invited you here," Aurum gazed at them with a knowing smile, confusing them.

"You invited us? I only came here because I felt like seeing my students. I wanted to see how they were progressing, and Minato decided to tag along. What does it have to do with you," Jiraiya crossed his arms, puffing his chest. His jealousy over Tsunade made him refuse to acknowledge the King.

"I did find it strange. Why did I suddenly have the urge to see the three of them," Minato rubbed his chin, "What kind of Jutsu is that?"

"A mental suggestion. When I came here, I saw a strange creature hiding underground. It wasn't human, something made of strange matter with a ton of mental energy to spare. Just like that suggestion, it might have been behind flaming the fire that led to the four villages coming together in attacking Uzumaki Clan. They were led there. Along with the White Creatures that Cloud came across before, the puzzle pieces started to fit."

"White Creatures?" Minato and Jiraiya exchanged a look.

Konan filled them in, "Cloud told us about it before! He even showed us the Materia, Libra. I could scan anything in my sight, even creatures hiding behind the wall. Through that he saw strange white creatures keeping an eye on Nagato. They transformed into us and attacked Hidden Waterfall Village. We were forced to fight. Then they somehow made Hidden Hotspring Ninja attack us, and later even transformed into Senju Village guards to ambush us. All the while they wanted to keep Nagato safe!"

"Cloud couldn't tell us before. It was only after King arrived that he told us there was another creature that was keeping an eye on us. Is that the one you are talking about?" Nagato urgently asked.

"Yeah. That is. I am sure it is the one that caused the destruction of Uzumaki Clan."

"Do you have any proof about these creatures," Jiraiya furrowed his brows, "I have never seen anything like that."

"I could have...but I didn't want that thing to know that we knew about it. I burned those creatures before they could return to normal," Cloud turned his head away.

"No. That was a good decision," Aurum reassured him, "That thing would be troublesome to deal with. According to Cloud, these white creatures didn't transform. Transformation disappears when one is injured. But these things managed to fight against Hidden Waterfall Ninja while being injured. If I had to guess, they shapeshifted into some members of Uzumaki Clan and broke their barrier from inside."

"I don't get it. Four Great Villages attacked the clan. How could you be so sure they would survive it and there is some conspiracy?" as much as Yahiko wanted to believe him, it didn't make sense.

"It's because of the seals. Even if they couldn't defeat the enemy, they could seal themselves inside to buy time," Minato answered him, "there were other sealing techniques. Like the Death Reaper Seal. It's not a matter of that they were destroyed, it's a matter of none of the Kages died while destroying them. They were destroyed too easily. Not only that, some of the Uzumaki managed to escape and stayed alive for so long. If four villages wanted to exterminate a clan, especially one who have red hair and are easy to recognise, then only Kushina would have been alive. That's why Konoha never searched for Uzumaki outside the village. Survival was deemed impossible."

"As usual. You catch on quick," Aurum smiled, "what do you think?"

"Sure. Destroy the Uzumaki Clan, let a few of them go and keep an eye on them," Minato narrowed his eyes, "Once they saw Nagato, they decided to transplant the eyes in him. But..."

"Nagato. I am sorry to ask you this...were your parents killed by Ninja of the Leaf?" Minato asked.

"Huh..." Nagato raised his head in shock, "How did you know...?"

"I see. That makes sense."

"What makes sense," Jiraiya furrowed his brows.

"Sensei. Uzumaki Clan and the Senju Clan are close. Konoha couldn't protect them, but if an Uzumaki child in need of help was found, then the Village would take him or her in if the child requests asylum. Let alone if the boy in this case has Rinnegan. It's a small possibility, but it is. Once the child with Rinnegan goes to the Hidden Leaf village, it would be hard to keep an eye on him. What do you think the best way is to make sure that the child never trusts Hidden Leaf?"

Jiraiya clenched his fist. It wasn't even needed to be said, "First they destroyed a clan then killed a child's parents using the Ninja from the only village that would unconditionally support him?"

"Because of me...my clan...my parents..."

"It's not because of you. They needed an innocent child from Uzumaki Clan. It is all on them, not you," Aurum stopped him from blaming himself, "In this case. You could have done nothing."

"Nagato," Konan hugged his arm tightly, hoping to provide him some support.

Though very unlike himself, Nagato raised his palm. using chakra threads that he slid under his eyelids. He pulled out his eyes, closing his eyelids, throwing the Rinnegan towards the King, "these eyes killed my parents, my family and nearly my new family. I don't want them in my body a second longer."

Aurum caught those eyes, sending them in another space, looking at the boy with an impressed look in his eyes, "I am sure. Soon I would be able to see you in full glory."

Nagato stood up, taking Yahiko and Konan's help. He bowed towards King Aurum, hesitating, "Your Majesty. Why can't Yahiko reach Phase 2?"

"Man! Is this the time to be worrying about me!" Yahiko held Nagato, "We need to get to the hospital! You just pulled your eyes out!"

"Because of Fate," Aurum's voice interrupted them. With all eyes on him, the King spoke, "Yahiko is your light. Your guide. For you to become their darkness. Your light need to disappear. At the hand of Konoha, so you don't forget about your parents murder and take Konan there to protect her."

"Wait, does that mean," Konan widened her eyes, her eyes became red as a tear slid down her cheek.

"Aura is a part of nature. It is a part of Universe. A part of Past, Present and Future. When you reach for Nature's powers, the Fate becomes stronger. There are few types of hurdles to Phase 2. You are lazy, have no willpower. You can too talented and can't decide on one thing, never form the true you. You don't know about yourself or your past keeping you from finding that last piece, and Your Fate. Yahiko would die, that's why he can't find his True Self. He can't reach Phase 2 unless to break his Fate."

Yahiko stared at the King in a daze. He wasn't sure what he should be feeling, angry at those who made his friends life so miserable. Sad for his Fate. Disappointed? Scared? He didn't know what to feel. The world seemed to turn blank when he felt Nagato path his back, smiling with closed eyes, looking at the King with utmost confidence in his voice, "I will...we will defeat that Fate together!"

Yahiko parted his lip. He bit down on his lower lip, keeping his tear in his eyes. He clenched his teeth, curving his lips into a grin, "Yeah! We will! Just you watch!"

Jiraiya and Minato let out a relieved smile. Jiraiya even started laughing, walking behind them, "hahahaha! Let me come with you! I will introduce you to Tsuande! She's the best healer there is! She will make your eyes better in no time and then we can train together!"

"Yeah! Sensei!"

Minato looked over his shoulder, smiling. His smile slowly disappeared. He turned to ask King Aurum, "What are you going to do with those eyes?"

"Return to their owner."

"Why?" Minato furrowed his brows when the King looked in the direction of Nagato, "who knows what an angered, despairing enemy would do. I don't know their limits and I can't stay here to protect everyone. Aren't you confident, that by the time enemy is ready you will be stronger?"

"I am," Minato looked towards the Rinnegan. These eyes were strong, 'with Nine...Kurama's chakra and Sage Mode, along with the Rasengan I will develop. I won't lose.'

"I understand."

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Next Day,

"You are leaving? The Tournament is not over yet," Tifa urged the Akatsuki members to stay. But Nagato respectfully bowed, seeming to be a different person since he threw those eyes away.

"Thank you. The tournament is over for us. We don't have much money or resources to exchange in the shop either. There are things we must deal with back home," Nagato turned around, walking past the rest of Akatsuki members, "Let's go."

"Mm," Konan's feet left the ground as she floated in the air, turning the ground below her into a rug of paper that carried the members of Akatsuki flying off towards the sky.

"How can a person change so much in one night..." Tifa stared at the back of the red-haired boy, whispering.

"That's because he found himself...he reached Phase 2," Cloud walked out of a nearby alley, standing at the edge of Senju Village, watching Akatsuki members disappear in the horizon.

"You could have said goodbye to her," Tifa clasped his palm, gesturing towards the sky, "her eyes were searching for you."

"I doubt she'd have the time to breathe until Yahiko's Fate is broken," Cloud exhaled, staring at Tifa's palm in his with the same brooding expression, "We'll meet again."

Tifa pecked his lips, "Want to come with me? I'll be busy with today's preparation though."

"Okay..."