There's no such thing as a free lunch. The Lamp God might have its own hidden agenda, but Sargatanas didn't mind.
As long as something was useful, it had value—potential for leverage and gain. If the Lamp God could shake even the Will of the Abyss, then it was one hell of a golden opportunity.
After altering the contents of the stone tablet, Sargatanas left the Shrine and headed straight for the Hyuga compound.
On the way, he casually flipped through a copy of Naruto—a manga he'd swiped from a dying dimension once upon a time, just something for entertainment. Never thought he'd end up in the very world it depicted. Dimensional descent, huh?
The mood in Konoha was tense. First the Uchiha were wiped out. Then the Hokage Rock exploded. And now there were mysterious enemy attacks. To an outsider, it might seem like the start of another ninja war.
But the current state of things wasn't living up to Sargatanas' expectations.
He'd crossed into this world two and a half months ago. The body he occupied—Uchiha Shiran—was just an ordinary civilian of the Uchiha clan. No tragic past. No dead parents. No cheat code sealed into his bloodline. Not even a radioactive spider willing to bite him. His most dangerous adventure before this was probably stealing cash from his parents to buy dirty magazines.
Honestly, what kind of protagonist doesn't come with a tragic backstory by default?
Just when Shiran had accepted the fact that he'd never become a shinobi and was resigned to inheriting a few million ryo in family savings… the devil showed up.
The devil was thoughtful. He didn't just take all the money—he also gave Uchiha Shiran a firsthand experience of what it felt like to lose both parents.
Because that's what a proper soul-hijacking demon would do. The parents had started noticing something was off. In a world without chakra or transformation jutsu, they might've just chalked up his personality shift to puberty. But in the shinobi world? Sudden behavioral changes triggered suspicion. Shiran's parents suspected he was an enemy spy in disguise.
So Sargatanas shut them up for good.
That's the thing—possession is murder. Crossing over is an act of replacement. What's a few more bodies at that point?
Sargatanas had never understood why so many transmigrators got sentimental over the original body's family and friends. Were they really that emotionally invested? If the original soul were still around, would it have wanted its body hijacked and puppeted around?
From experience, Sargatanas knew: if you want to destroy a world, a shadowy puppet master does more damage than a straightforward invasion. His Concealment Authority was tailor-made for pulling strings behind the scenes.
A proper mastermind never reveals himself. From this moment until he left this plane entirely, Sargatanas was Uchiha Shiran. If wars broke out, souls were harvested, and the world burned—well, that was all the Uchiha's fault. Had nothing to do with Sargatanas, nope.
High-quality souls were fuel for a demon's restoration. And the Lamp God required sacrifices too.
Of course, one identity wouldn't cut it. He'd prepared several backups: a surviving Senju, a local deity predating the Rabbit Goddess, even an ancient evil god—each one a false mask.
The Uchiha Massacre was a net positive. Uchiha souls were delicious. But he wanted more. So he leaked intel about the planned extermination to the other four great ninja villages and, the night after the massacre, triggered the explosive tags that Gennō had hidden inside the Hokage Rock.
(T/N: Gennō faked his death and successfully planted explosive tags all throughout the village in a chain-effect. Gennō planted more explosive tags in and on the face of the Hokage Mountain. From: Konoha Plans Recapture Mission)
But the results were... underwhelming. Those "unknown" shinobi only showed up to stir trouble the next day.
Kumogakure and Iwagakure might be ambitious, but they weren't about to believe that Konoha would amputate one of its own limbs. Especially not without verified intel. Before taking action, they'd investigate the credibility of the information.
Cautious. But they'd missed the best window to fish in troubled waters.
Could Konoha weather this storm? Did Itachi ever consider that wiping out the Uchiha would leave the village vulnerable to war?
The more fools like Itachi there were, the easier Sargatanas' plans would go.
According to the manga, Konoha was a cradle of genius, a magnet for chosen ones. Just in case something went sideways, Sargatanas planted a few backup triggers.
He'd already tampered with Sasuke. That eye—the single tomoe awakened through a whole clan's blood—was swapped out for a pair of regular human eyes.
And Sasuke wasn't the only dark seed. Plenty of others were teetering on the edge.
He slipped into the Hyuga district without issue. People bustled through the streets but acted like Uchiha Shiran didn't exist.
Neji Hyuga—another target—received a subtle mark. Sargatanas also made the rounds through the Sarutobi and Shimura households, then stopped by Ichiraku Ramen to check in on Teuchi and Ayame. Only after all that did he go to see Naruto.
Naruto's place was filthy and cluttered. But at least he had a home, unlike the kids from the orphanage who were regularly snatched away by the Foundation.
In the shadows, a sinister black hand crept toward Naruto's head. Demonic energy began seeping into Naruto's mind. But the very next second, the miasma was blown away.
Naruto didn't notice a thing. But Uchiha Shiran did. He felt a foreign gaze—one that transcended time and space—watching them.
"The Sage of Six Paths?" Uchiha Shiran raised a brow. With the Concealment Authority shielding him, he wasn't worried about being discovered—just surprised. Why did the old man treat Asura and Indra so differently?
When he'd tried meddling with Indra's chakra, everything had gone smoothly. No backlash. But the moment he touched Asura's vessel? Instant rejection.
Maybe the Sage never saw Indra as a son. Maybe he saw him as an enemy—like Kaguya. Beautiful. Powerful. Arrogant. And those scarlet eyes...
"If I can't use you, then you can die."
Shiran calmly snapped Naruto's neck.
To be thorough, he planned to incinerate the body—but before he could, a dark red chakra erupted from Naruto's body.
Seeing it, Shiran vanished instantly.
The next moment, the Nine-Tails went berserk.
Shiran looked back once, grinning wickedly.
...
"So, where are you heading next?" the Lamp God appeared beside him, seemingly out of nowhere.
"The Daimyo's palace and Sunagakure," Uchiha Shiran replied. "Just passing through."
The demon's goal was global. He wouldn't waste his time on a tiny village.
"From experience, the best first move is to destabilize the living environment. Scarcity leads to conflict. And conflict is perfect for someone like me to stir up chaos."
The Lamp God considered this. "You could make a wish. What about the T-Virus?"
The demon shook his head. "That stuff mutates. Mix it with chakra and you might end up creating a supermonster."
"Ninja are powerful in some ways," he continued, "but weak in others. Exploiting those weaknesses? That's the smart play."
"The ocean. The economy," the Lamp God said calmly.
Sargatanas paused, then nodded.
"You're right. Ninja are strong, but they don't produce anything. Chakra can't cure hunger or purify water. So they're trapped within the economic systems built by ordinary people."
"As for the ocean—that's untouched territory for ninja. And the ocean plays a massive role in climate stability..."