Chapter 208 Dangai?

"Target eliminated. Now, it's time for you to offer your soul."

Shinigami hovered behind Naruto, raising its short blade to finish him off.

Although Naruto had already resigned himself to using a resurrection coin and planned no resistance, he still had one lingering question. He couldn't help but asked, "Shinigami, I asked you to kill Jashin. Why is merely eliminating his projection considered mission complete?"

Shinigami explained, "Jashin exists in every world, or rather, as long as someone in any world believes in Jashin, there will be a projection of him. The Jashin in your world was just one such projection, which I have destroyed."

"You mean to say, this world will no longer have Jashin's projection? Then where is his real body?"

Naruto pressed further.

Shinigami explained, "After destroying a projection, for Jashin to form another one in this world, it would require immense faith energy. As for where his real body resides, I do not know."

Hearing this, Naruto nodded in understanding.

'According to the Shinigami's explanation, it was highly unlikely that another Jashin projection would manifest in the Naruto World within my lifetime. The Jashin cult had already been decimated here, and rebuilding a faith strong enough to summon a projection seemed an impossibility for the foreseeable future.'

This realization reassured Naruto. After all, he no longer had to worry about being hunted down by another Jashin projection after resurrection.

However, he felt a twinge of disappointment at not learning the whereabouts of Jashin's true body.

'It seemed my plan to torment Jashin would have to wait.'

Resolving himself, Naruto spread his arms and said, "I have no more questions. If possible, grant me a painless death."

After all, this was his first time dying, and Naruto couldn't help but feel a little nervous.

"Very well!"

As Shinigami's voice fell, Naruto's vision went black. When he opened his eyes again, he found himself in a pitch-dark, otherworldly space.

'My goodness, I indeed asked for a painless death, but this is too fast.'

Naruto didn't even feel anything, and he was dead before he knew it.

"Huh? Why haven't you been sealed?"

At this moment, a curious voice broke the silence.

Naruto looked up and saw his surroundings gradually becoming illuminated. He appeared to be in a cavern-like space, eerily familiar.

The speaker was none other than the Shinigami, who is still draped in its ghostly white robes.

"Yeah, why haven't I been sealed?" Naruto echoed, equally puzzled.

According to logic, his soul should have been sealed within the Shinigami's body. Naruto had even planned to take this opportunity to retrieve the Yin half of Kyubi's Chakra before reviving himself.

'Could it be that the resurrection coin had activated automatically?'

Naruto quickly opened his system inventory, only to see that both of his resurrection coins remained untouched.

Whenever confused, check the system. Opening my system panel, Naruto reviewed his status panel. What he saw left him utterly dumbfounded.

[Name: Uzumaki Naruto (Justin)

Current status: Dead (Soul body)

Current occupation: Unregistered Shinigami

...]

Other details seemed irrelevant. The 'Current Occupation' line, however, shocked Naruto to his core.

'Unregistered? Shinigami?'

'Good heavens! Because I am in soul form, lacking a physical body, I had automatically turned into a Shinigami.'

'Why is this so similar to Ichigo's situation?'

'Wait!'

Thinking about Bleach, Naruto suddenly realized why this scene felt so familiar, 'This place… it was the Dangai… the dimension between the living world and the Soul Society!'

As the realization hit, Naruto couldn't help but laugh out loud.

This death had truly been an eye-opening experience for Naruto. It revealed a whole new dimension.

'It turns out, in the Naruto World, death also led to the Soul Society.'

"Why are you laughing?" Shinigami frowned.

"What can't I laugh? Does it bother you?"

Naruto retorted coldly.

When he learned that the so-called Shinigami was actually the Shinigami from Bleach, Naruto's reverence for it vanished entirely.

Correspondingly, he also possesses Shinigami's power, making him an equal to the figure before him.

"Boy, though I don't know why you weren't sealed into my body, but that gives you no right to disrespect a god!"

Shinigami narrowed its eyes threateningly, but before it could continue, Naruto interrupted, "Disrespect? I should be filing a complaint against you! Tell me, which division do you belong to?"

The Soul Society is the realm of souls, divided into East and West districts, home to both Shinigami and souls.

At its center lies the Seireitei, where nobles and Shinigami reside, surrounded by the Rukongai, where ordinary souls dwell, a place akin to heaven.

The Soul King delegates authority to the Central 46, which issues commands while the Soul King remains uninvolved in managing the Soul Society. The Gotei 13 enforces the Central 46's orders and maintains order, with 13 elite Shinigami serving as Captains of each division.

Naruto, who has watched Bleach, knows very well who the Captains of each division are, and the Shinigami before him was clearly just an ordinary squad member.

Regular Shinigami serve the divisions of the Gotei 13, tasked with protecting humans, guiding and purifying Hollows, and maintaining balance between the worlds to prevent the collapse of existence itself.

Yet this particular Shinigami had the audacity to take on 'private work', meddling in human conflicts and using human souls as sacrifices, which is a blatant violation of the rules.

Reporting such behavior would undoubtedly land this Shinigami in serious trouble.

"You… you know about the divisions? Who are you?" The Shinigami asked, genuinely shocked for the first time.

Naruto chuckled, took out his Zanpakuto from the system inventory, and said in a low voice, "System, please sign in!"

With those words, the katana in his hand gleamed with a dark light before transforming into a sleek black blade.

"Shikai?"

The Shinigami's eyes widened in horror, making it look like a demon from hell.

"You… you have a Zanpakuto? Who… who are you?"

"Who I am isn't your concern." Naruto replied smugly, "But now I've got leverage on you. With my power, I can enter the Seireitei. What do you think your Captain would say about your actions?"

"Please… anything but that..."

Shinigami's expression turned to panic. Being reported for devouring human souls and interfering in mortal affairs would lead to severe punishment, likely millennia of imprisonment. By the time he was freed, the world would have long moved on without him.

"So now you're scared? Good. Just return my soul to my body, and I won't report you. Deal?" Naruto said with a grin.

"Deal! Absolutely!"

The Shinigami waved his hand without any hesitation.

Then, Naruto's vision turned black, and when he opened his eyes again, he was back in the Naruto World.

"Naruto-kun, you're finally awake."

Kisame exclaimed in surprise.

Naruto got up from the ground, and when he saw the concerned eyes around him, his heart felt warm.

"Yeah, I'm awake," Naruto replied with a smile.

"Well, if that's all, I'll take my leave. Just remember to keep your word." The Shinigami said, looking rather dejected.

"Go ahead, go ahead."

Naruto waved him off casually, and the Shinigami vanished completely.

Watching this, Kisame couldn't help but exclaim, "Naruto-kun, you even managed to boss around the Shinigami! That's amazing, after all, that Shinigami is way stronger than that trash Jashin Hidan worships."

As he said that, he turned his head to look at Hidan and said proudly, "Didn't you just say Naruto-kun was just a sacrifice for the Shinigami, barely holding on? Well, look at this! This is Naruto-kun's true power!"

In response, Hidan was left utterly speechless, unable to utter a single word.