BSWS CH-61 The Chunin Exams XXIX - Gods? Demons? Titans? Part-2

"Jashin influenced people through dreams and telepathic messages and influenced them into starting a religion for him. Every time they performed a ritual to worship and sacrifice for him, he would gain a bit more power."

"In return, he chooses avatars among the followers of the religion, who become immortal as long as Jashin himself lives."

"Shinigami on the other hand took a different route. He managed to cooperate with a certain clan, who were geniuses in manipulating laws of reality through special techniques called Fuinjutsu."

"Together they created a certain technique that helped Shinigami manifest in the world for a short period. In return, Shinigami promised that he would help them defeat their enemies, in exchange for a suitable sacrifice."

"A few others among us influenced the world in various ways by sending in our energies into various artifacts and living beings. The feedback from the world's energies influences us in turn, adapting us even more to this world." Jorogumo said happily.

"Over the millennia, we have slowly started weakening the seal as our energies are adapting to the world's energies. One day will come when we can finally escape from this seal and roam the world freely."

Sakura listened to all this in stumped silence. This was the hidden lore of Naruto world. So many unexplained phenomena and events were now clear to her.

However, a thought suddenly emerged into her head. Why was she here?

"Hold on, Jorogumo." Sakura called out "You said you are Gods or Demons who have been trapped in this place. But how did I arrive here then? I was searching for my Summoning Animal, and honestly, you don't fit the description to my knowledge."

Jorogumo gave a smile filled with mischief at that "That was actually something Shinigami managed to arrange in secret, with the help of the clan he was cooperating with. He managed to get them to modify the Summoning Technique that existed into something that could summon even us."

"But you see, it is as you said, We still are not technically Summoning Animals. So under normal circumstances, you should not have been able to connect to us. And Summoning Technique was made to only summon compatible beings."

"But, it seems that there is some aspect to you that does not belong to this world. That aspect made you compatible with us, bringing you to our place." Jorogumo said.

Jorogumo's explanation cleared things up for Sakura. Just like these entities, she was also from outside this world. That is why she was probably the only one who connected to them here in all these years.

"So, what do you say Child? Do you want to become our contractor?" Jorogumo asked with an excited look in her eyes "There are entities of many varieties in Altar of Titans. Contract with us will give you access to more abilities and powers than you can imagine."

Sakura thought for a while before a resolute look came into her eyes. Jorogumo noticed that and became serious herself.

"I am always ready for getting more powerful." Sakura said, "But, how can I accept your powers when I know how much destruction you have wrought upon this world?"

"Ryumyaku ultimately became responsible for destroying the lives of the people of Roran. Moryo still terrorizes the people of the Land of Demons. Jashin's cult has taken the lives of tens of thousands of people. Shinigami's victims can never reincarnate until freed from him."

"After knowing all this, how can I in good conscience accept your powers?" Sakura asked.

Jorogumo smiled on hearing Sakura's views "Child, you say it is us who brought the destruction. Yet you fail to see the whole picture."

"Ryumyaku's eruption was triggered by a rogue shinobi from your world. Until then Ryumyaku had only been bringing prosperity to the people of Roran."

"Moryo's evil actions are only because his mind had been twisted by the effect of the seal at the time of his escape from this place. But, as a counterpart to his terror, Miroku helped thousands of people and helped them lead good lives."

"Jashin's cult may bring pain to the world, but he takes care never to take more than one immortal cult member as his avatar in each era. His policy is only to bring enough chaos to prevent the world from stagnating, not bring it to its total destruction."

"As for Shinigami, he never forces people to use his power. It is completely an equivalent exchange. He never takes more than what is needed as a sacrifice for his abilities."

"You see child, blaming us for problems is like blaming Chakra for existing in the world. It is just a source of power, it depends on you how you employ it. The only difference between Chakra and Us is that we are sentient, and are extremely frustrated from being trapped in this place for so long." Jorogumo said.

Sakura thought over Jorogumo's words and realized that there was truth to them. Even if these entities didn't exist, people would still find a way to spread evil. As Jorogumo explained, the use of their power completely depended on the people using it.

Jashin's cult could have used Jashin's power to eradicate evil sections of society. But instead, they harmed innocents. That blame was on them, not Jashin himself. Similarly, other incidents had similar parallels.

As she realized this, a weight that had been preventing Sakura from accepting this power was finally lifted from her consciousness. She raised her head and smiled at Jorogumo.

"Alright. I have seen merit in your words. I am ready to accept the connection, Jorogumo. I will become the contractor to the Entities of the Altar of Titans." Sakura said determinedly.

"Great," Jorogumo said happily "You won't regret this decision, Child."

"So how will this work?" Sakura asked.

"Well, first we will have to see which are the ones among us that you have the highest compatibility with. As a Contractor, you will of course be able to summon everyone, but the higher affinity you have with one of us, the lesser the cost needed for the summoning process." Jorogumo explained.

"Alright, what do I have to do?" Sakura inquired.

"Blood is the strongest Bond. Let out some of your blood and mix your chakra with it until it saturates it. Then with a simple push of your mind, it will transform into a chakra saturated blood fog that will be attracted towards the ones you have the highest affinity to."

"How will I judge the amount of affinity they have to me?" Sakura asked.

"Oh, that is simple. The amount of blood fog that gets attracted to a certain entity will represent your affinity to them. The more the blood fog is attracted to an entity, the higher your affinity." Jorogumo explained.

Sakura nodded and sliced her palm with a Kunai. Following Jorogumo's explanation, a small cloud of blood fog emerged from Sakura's palm.

However, Sakura noticed that one-third of the blood cloud was immediately attracted towards Jorogumo, even though she was just staying still without doing anything. Seeing that she attracted one-third of the blood fog, Jorogumo's happiness had no bounds.

"Oh finally, I have a contractor who can summon me out easily. I hoped more than anything for this to happen as soon as I sensed a new contractor coming to Five-Span Intrinsic Archipelago. I have been waiting for this so long!!!" Jorogumo screamed happily while dancing in excitement, looking both beautiful and creepy in her half spider form.

"Let's see who else you have an affinity to!!" Jorogumo exclaimed.

Sakura nodded in agreement and Jorogumo led Sakura to other sections of the inner sections of the Five-Span Intrinsic Archipelago.