Chapter 51

In the palace of the Supreme Leader of Star Kingdom, John Sabah, also known as Starlord by his followers and Apocalypse by his enemies, sat on his throne while loyal subjects discussed on the topic of their conquest of the nearby territories.

Regardless of his power, there was always one problem that stood out towards his goal. Uzumaki Naruto was too strong for him too resist at this point in time. Not even making the star fragment his heart could fill the gap.

With that in account was it necessary for him to wait until he had gained more power through finding other pieces of the Star Heart or through other means. However, the Star Heart was a difficult treasure to find and complete.

Through the bond with the fragment, he could feel the direction of other fragments. But, he could also feel the danger and difficulty surrounding the task. He didn't have the patience to wait for the unknown amount of time.

And, he didn't want the enemy to get even stronger. He had watched the world devolve over the centuries, with the weaklings and the unworthy ruling over the strong. He had watched the world fall after the generation of Madara, and only now had he seen some positive change.

However, it didn't matter anymore. He didn't wish to be a follower. He wanted to stand above all, and guide the world to conquer the vast universe. His kind needed to evolve and gain power, and only through war and conquest could that happen.

With the knowledge he had received from the celestial being called Ishiki, Apocalypse had seen the vast universe and understood some of its secrets. It was unfortunate that he could only receive some knowledge and technology of the beyond, but it was enough as a guide.

Without Ishiki's technology, he wouldn't have survived the fusion with the star fragment. Feeling the power of the armor and reading the information perceived by his system, Apocalypse could only find one method and it was extremely risky.

But, do I have to take it? Will he even interfere?

He wondered if Naruto would even break his principles to deal with him. That was a problem which was difficult to answer.

Apocalypse wasn't going on a genocide, so it wasn't evil. But, his war would lead to deaths and destruction.

'He wouldn't kill me.' Apocalypse smiled as he felt the knowledge from Shino flow through him, giving him certainty. His foe hadn't even killed the person responsible for destroying Konoha, so he wouldn't kill him.

Furthermore, he would have the chance to poison Naruto with a poison of the celestial's that was beyond the mere capabilities of humanity to resist.

Looking towards his followers who had arrived on the conclusion to trap Naruto in the dark dimension, Apocalypse demanded silence.

"Show yourself" He muttered with confidence as the area above him became heavy because of his psychic powers while metallic tendrils surrounded the region after popping out of the roof.

Before anything could happen, Apocalypse found himself grounded while his followers were knocked unconscious by the enemy.

Trying his best, Apocalypse desired the molecular deconstruction of his enemy. However, his powers wouldn't respond.

"That was cute. Did your boyfriend teach you that?" Hotaru floated above ground as she mocked him. Her form wasn't clear and one could only see her as a purple energy being.

With a single command, she had locked her targets abilities and rendered him powerless. That was the power of the mighty Phoenix.

"Oh my bad, you can't move can you." Hotaru gave a small chuckle as she pushed him aside before sitting on his throne.

Apocalypse found him sprawled on the ground unceremoniously that his blood was boiling from the shame and disrespect.

Glaring at the intruder, he controlled his desire to rage like a beast and operated with a cold mindset. Getting up from the floor, he realized she had let him go.

"What do you want from me?" He didn't ask her name, as it was a pointless question. He wasn't dead, because she wanted something.

"I like that. You are definitely worthy of being a follower of mine." Hoatru smiled as she looked at him before closing the distance and flowing through him.

"I have been watching you, so I know your problems. As such, I have a gift for you. So, use it wisely." With those words, she disappeared from his sight.

Apocalypse looked at the stone in his hand. It was a bomb that could annihilate his whole world through a dimensional collapse.

It was something that would make things a lot easier, but could he trust the woman. Who was she? What was she?

How strong was she?

'It doesn't matter. I will conquer her.' Apocalypse so declared.

---------------------------

Going back to Naruto, he was visiting the lab to see the results of Orochimaru and his team. It had been more than a month since they started working and combining what they already knew.

The Shinobi world had already found a way to genetically enhance the body of a person. They could increase the chakra of a person or his control and his speed of chakra movement. They could give regeneration to a person.

They could fuse and mutate the genetics to produce shark men or other mutants. They could clone a person. They could make chakra armors and other weapons of mass destruction.

As such one team worked on the genetic mutations and the other team worked on the advanced weapons.

Orochimaru was incharge of the biological aspect while Ashiya Douman was incharge of the other team. All experiments were done with his supervision since he was the only one that could take everything safely.

And he didn't want sacrifices to be made.

The weapons available at the moment were strong as they helped even Killer Bee, but that didn't last for long as it collapsed soon after the battle with Toneri.

The material wasn't strong enough, so the team was working on creating stronger metals and other materials.

On the other hand, Orochimaru had finally succeeded with a working sample of his work. It was a small cute rabbit with ruby eyes.

Looking at it, he knew why Orochimaru chose the creature.

"What do you think?" The snake smiled with obvious humor at his annoyed expression. The rabbit was supposed to remind him of Kaguya.

Ignoring the jibe, he looked at the creature and examined it.

"We have transformed this creature from a pet for children and ladies, to a weapon of destruction. It has the physical capacity to lift 1000 tonnes and run at mach 10 speed. Its skin his impervious to all kinds of trauma, and it can regenerate at a fast pace.

We have fused the genetic structure of King Kong to generate such results."

Naruto didn't deny his claims as he could see the skeletal structure and muscular structure clearly to identify its capacity. Even after looking at it for a few seconds, he couldn't see any flaw.

"I want to see it fight."

"Of course, should I do it?"

"No, l will do it." Naruto teleported with the rabbit to a forest and released his bloodlust. The creature responded aggressively to his approach and attacked.

Though the attacks were futile, it allowed him to see if there was a structural flaw or not.

Seeing that the rabbit didn't collapse from the beating, Naruto took it back.

"So, do we move on to the human trials?" Orochimaru smiled confidently as he saw him return.

"Before that, show me the result of the bloodline experiment." The genetic fusion was one task, the other task was to combine all bloodlines in one body and even mutate those bloodlines to strengthen them.

The mad scientist gave a million dollar smile as he heard those words.

"I thought you had forgotten about it."

"No, I just didn't think there would be much progress in a month."

"You hurt us with your words, Naruto boy. We have made great strides in our goal." Orochimaru acted hurt before smiling again as the assistants brought forth the sample.

It was an empty husk of a Zetsu, without any consciousness. Zetsu were creatures that were plantlike in nature, but they were made from humans. The human body underneath was stuck in the eternal dream forever as it had been too long and it would have been the reality of the people of the world if Kaguya had won.

Regardless, Zetsu could develop personalities with time as they were once human. As such, Naruto didn't allow experimentation on them.

So, Orochimaru made clones of a Zetsu and inhibited its higher cognitive ability. This allowed him to freely tinker with the bloodline samples.

Though, these clones didn't qualify as sacrifices for the ritual for the impure resurrection.

Nonetheless, Naruto didn't like the sight of the creature. It made him feel sick, dirty. It felt as if he was violating his soul by allowing it to happen.

"Tell me, that it is the only one."

Orochimaru was about to joke about it, but seeing the expression he knew Naruto was on the edge and it wasn't good to test him.

"There were a few that perished. Do you wish for us to discontinue our usage of these clones?" Orochimaru was calm but he really wished to slap the boy for making things difficult. He was already not using human beings and now he couldn't even make use of clones of husk.

'This is going to take forever.'

"You can plan it out and use it directly on me after this." With those words out of Naruto's mouth, Orochimaru couldn't stop smiling.

'This is going to be so much fun. We are going to cover centuries worth of research in a matter of years.'

"Are you sure? I believe many would be against such an idea."

"There is no problem. I trust you… I forgive you for what you have done." Naruto looked him in the eyes for the first time since he started working on the project.

'Were his eyes always like this?' Orochimaru was taken aback by those words and saw his old friend, and teacher.

Those words shocked him to the core and touched his soul, as if Naruto saw something beyond the present.

'He probably did.'

It was at these times that Orochimaru felt semblance of respect for the boy, and didn't think he was a just a man-child given ultimate power.

If he was ;like the normal Shinobi, he would have thought that the Sage of Six Paths had seen something, and he wasn't worthy to question it. However, some times he could also feel it and agreed with that sentiment.

"Thank you for trusting me. However, I don't think I did anything wrong. I was wrong according to you, not to me. I just did what was necessary." Orochimaru wasn't someone that believed in such moral values and found them pointless.

These values only held back people like him. If Konoha hadn't been so stuck up about it, they would have created the ultimate warrior years ago.

"I know what you think and you know what I think, and we will continue to differ on these values. However, you shouldn't let your bias keep you from seeing the truth. Only these moral values keep the order of the world and stop us from acting like animals. If everyone only cared for their inherent desires, there would be no society.

Realize, it is only these moral values of mine that have kept you alive and given you a second chance. I know you are smarter than me, so you will understand the truth once you look at it carefully." Naruto didn't get angry and acted as a guide as he had seen it.

He had always believed that people could change for the better, and the world had confirmed it. Orochimaru was a vital part of his future, they needed him on their side.

"I appreciate your advice. Though, I doubt my answer will change….Moving on, please examine the results of our work." Orochimaru gave a small nod before turning back to the white clay like man floating inside the water tank.

Naruto smiled as he saw that his positive words had a positive impact on Orochimaru, further reaffirming his desire to help others change for the better.

Turning to the experiment, Naruto saw the result of multiple bloodlines in one body.

The bones reinforced through the Kaguya clan.

The blood enhanced through the Ketsuryugan of the Chinoike clan.

The sight and chakra control enhanced by the Hyuga clan.

The sight, chakra control and perception increased by the Uchiha clan.

The strength and instincts increased by the Inuzuka clan.

The chakra capacity and power increased by the Senju clan.

The chakra capacity and shark like power of the Hoshigaki clan.

The Sage abilities from the Snake Sage.

The chakra capacity and powers from the Otsutsuki clan, through Toneri.

The combined form looked stronger than just a single bloodline or two of them, as all of them worked together to enhance each other.

The creature was like an animal, but with the power to annihilate everyone in the vicinity except Naruto. Orochimaru had outdone himself and created a monster with the help of the experts scatted across the Shinobi lands. It was especially accelerated because of Kabuto, Tsunade, Sakura and Shizune.

"The body can't handle the power at the moment, but soon we will add the other genetic mutation to it and complete the procedure to stabilize the form. However, this is only for these fragile creatures, as we can go full force if we perform this procedure on you." Orochimaru was happy with the result, though he couldn't pull out the full power of the bloodlines and retain the longevity of the experiment.

The clone would die in a few years as the structure would destabilize slowly and the molecular structure would collapse from the changes they had made.

It wasn't something they could finish within a month. According to his estimates it would take them at least 2 years to fully establish the full power of the bloodlines in a single body, and more years to further develop those bloodlines with the method they were using.

Naruto looked at the Zetsu clone and saw its life force draining away. It was clear to him that it would die soon.

Commanding his skin to open from his fingertip, Naruto took a drop of his blood and placed it on the head of the clone. The golden blood drop fused with the clone.

Sage Arts: Sea of Life

The clone was covered by golden mud and transformed into a being that served Naruto with all his heart and soul. It was given more power and its structure stabilized.

Normally the skill would have boosted the power even beyond its current level, but that would have been temporary and he was only interested in stabilizing its life force.

Now the wild beast had turned into a empty human child with no memories. It was something Naruto didn't know how to do, but Hades guided him and helped him whenever he asked for a question.

It was nice having a person that was knowledgeable on your side that was willing to guide you.

Seeing the miracle take place, many of the researchers felt that their work was unneeded when Naruto could just do it like that. Only few others along with Orochimaru saw the potential of what had taken place.

Now they could do anything. There was no limit to their future now.

Orochimaru didn't know how Naruto did it, but he knew that the Sage of Six Paths had power over reality and could manipulate it. Naruto had most likely manipulated reality by using his blood as the catalyst since there was no way that the boy had the knowledge to use his blood to solve the problem.

The conclusion was based on assumptions, but it was the truth. Naruto couldn't just create something willy-nilly, but he could definitely make small changes to reality and his blood only made the affect stronger according to the current situation.

"Take the child with you and take care of him. This is a task from me. Understood?" Naruto picked up the child in his arms and handed him to Orochimaru.

It was an unexpected order, but he didn't mind. He found challenges entertaining, and this was kind of amusing in a way. Now that he was immortal, Orochimaru had the time to enjoy everything in the world. So, he even tried the mundane things in life like farming and tailoring.

"Understood, I will take care of him." Orochimaru picked up the child and was reminded of when he had picked Anko. He was a different man.

"Good, now show me what you can do." Naruto smiled and gave him the go. He wouldn't have given the okay sign so early, but now with his power he could undo anything done to him. Plus, he now saw that there were others on the planet and they were above him. He couldn't allow humanity to be at lower stage.

With how things were going, things might get worse before all these experiments finished. With the knowledge that the Sage might be alive, for Naruto it only made things more confusing.

Regardless, Naruto didn't wish to for anyone to stand above him anymore. He couldn't trust others with more power than him, and he didn't wish to be forced into a situation where he had to compromise with his values.

He knew the experiment would work and it would strengthen him, but it wasn't going to affect him much since his body had already been altered after taking in the blood of Hades.

Orochimaru felt that Naruto seemed to be looking down on his expertise, "Naruto boy, I am going to show you why they call me the best."