Chapter 10: The Silent Ascension

The village was quiet, as usual, the sun casting its rays across the rooftops and between the trees. The streets were alive with the chatter of civilians, but there was an underlying tension in the air—an energy that came with the growing anticipation of the Chūnin Exams. Whispers in the wind, not yet fully realized, told of the youth in the village sharpening their skills in secret.

But none of that concerned Asmodeus.

At twelve years old, he had far outgrown the petty struggles of his peers. His eyes, though youthful, bore the weight of an ancient soul. His body had reached a point of controlled, calm precision, every movement deliberate, as if even the air had learned to bend around his power.

He sat now in the shadows, perched atop the Hokage monument, his gaze not on the village below, but on the man whose life he would soon claim.

Hiruzen Sarutobi.

The Third Hokage. A man whose days were numbered, though none knew it yet.

Asmodeus watched him from afar—quiet, patient. The threads of fate were not random; they were a web he had long learned to navigate.

Soon, he would devour the power of the Hokage.

And with it, he would transcend everything.

Elsewhere, Team 7's dynamic had shifted. Kakashi had taken a step back, observing, and the weight of his own knowledge sat heavily on his shoulders.

His suspicion about Asmodeus had grown over the past few months. Kakashi had seen him train in private—seen the ease with which he defeated high-ranking missions that would have been impossible for a child of his age. He had seen the cold, calculating eyes of Asmodeus focus with precision and intensity beyond any child, beyond even some seasoned jōnin.

And Kakashi feared it.

The Chūnin Exams were fast approaching, and yet, Asmodeus was nowhere to be seen in the lineups.

"He's already beyond the exams," Kakashi muttered to himself, alone in his small apartment that evening. "His mind is sharp enough to outsmart a Kage. But what does he truly want? To lead... or to devour?"

His fingers traced the spine of the worn-out book in his hands. But even as the pages fluttered beneath his fingertips, his mind could not shake the image of the young boy. A prodigy in every sense, and yet, there was something… far darker.

Kakashi sighed and closed the book, resting it on the desk. He looked out the window, watching the moon rise above the village.

Asmodeus wasn't just another ninja.

He was something… more.

In the dead of night, Asmodeus stood outside the Hokage's mansion. His eyes narrowed as he surveyed the place, every movement deliberate, calculated. His mission wasn't to engage tonight. No, tonight he was simply watching, studying, waiting.

For weeks, he had been planning this moment.

Hiruzen Sarutobi, the man who had led the village for decades, was aging. Weakening. His own time was slipping away, whether he realized it or not.

Asmodeus could feel the pull of the inevitable.

Soon, I will take it all...

The flicker of a shadow caught his attention, pulling him from his thoughts. Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura stood just out of view, walking the streets in the late hours. The excitement of the Chūnin Exams had them restless, filled with their usual energy.

But there was something in their eyes—especially Sasuke's—that Asmodeus noticed. An unsettling undercurrent of doubt.

Sasuke had always been driven. Always sought to be the best. But now… now there was something else. A simmering rivalry that had grown stronger since Asmodeus had surpassed him. His ambition was no longer just to be the best for himself. He was determined to prove he was superior to Asmodeus.

Asmodeus smirked, his expression unreadable.

Let him chase that illusion.

The wind stirred his hair as he silently stepped into the shadows, moving unseen.

The morning of the Chūnin Exams arrived with the same eerie calm, the streets filled with the bustle of eager contestants. But beneath that surface, tensions had already begun to rise.

Asmodeus stood in the background, hands tucked neatly in his cloak as he observed the arena. He wasn't part of the exams. He didn't need to be. He was beyond that now.

His eyes flickered toward the stands—toward the Hokage, watching from his place of power, surrounded by other Kage, though none knew what Asmodeus was about to do.

But Asmodeus wasn't watching the Hokage for the same reason others were.

His plan was already set in motion. Orochimaru's presence loomed large, and with it, the death of the Third Hokage.

Scene 5: The Call of Power

Back in the hidden shadows of Konoha, Asmodeus began to feel the stirrings of something greater. Every moment of silence. Every breath in the wind. Everything, aligning perfectly.

The time would come when he would step forward, but not as a child.

Not as an ordinary ninja.

He would emerge, a god.

A perfect weapon.

And the power of the Hokage, the power of the village, would be his.

End of Chapter 10