"Hurry up"

"Walk faster"

"There was no mistake, you're died, now HURRY UP"

"You're a king? You ruled over millions of commoners and had the greatest army in the world? I don't care, this is the Netherworld Kingdom, and you human kings mean nothing here."

Smack!

Smack!

A tall, powerful-looking demonic soldier, his face mean and vicious, snarled angrily as he lashed out with his whip repeatedly. The whip flashed like lightning, striking on the bodies of the souls of the dead. He struck the ghost who had been arrogantly proclaiming that he was a king several dozen times, only stopping when the ghost's soul had almost lost its form.

"I died. So that means…this is the Netherworld Kingdom?" Naruto appeared out of nowhere. He couldn't help but stare with curiosity at the unfamiliar surroundings. When he heard the arrogant boastings of the king, Naruto couldn't help but feel suspicious; "Ten million citizens? Greatest army on earth? I know every major leader in the elemental nations and I've never seen this guy before, so who the hell is he?"

"Faster!" The massive, glowing Minotaur demonic soldier stared at Naruto and roared.

Naruto followed the rest of the regiment.

Countless men in white clothes formed into a line, like a long, sinuous dragon, as they slowly moved forwards. At the end of each line, more people in white would suddenly appear. Some of these white-dressed people would shake their heads and sigh. Some would weep. Some would brag and curse. Some would stare in astonishment.

"My father is the Demon King of the Great black fire Mountain. How dare you strike me! I'll eat you! Grrr!"

"Stop hitting me!"

"Ah!"

The ghosts who had just reached the Netherworld Kingdom didn't know they were dead. Many of them were roaring in anger as they were beaten, but quickly, they were beaten to the point of understanding…that they were dead. No matter how glorious they had been in the past, in death, they now had nothing.

Time passed quickly. Naruto walked for a very long time in that endless line of ghosts. He didn't say anything, he had nothing to say. Even If he spoke, he would have been whipped by that Minotaur. He had walked in a daze for a long time already. Fortunately, ghosts didn't get hungry or thirsty.

One day, after a long, long period of dazed walking.

"Uzumaki Naruto!" A thunderous sound seemed to echo in the world. The countless ghosts all raised their heads to stare at the sky. Naruto stared at the sky as well. From the horizon, an enormous black cloud began to roll over, and atop that cloud was an enormous Minotaur god who was glowing with black light.

This enormous Minotaur god was over a hundred thousand meters tall. He was like a massive mountain. The black cloud he was on quickly flew over from the horizon.

"Uzumaki Naruto." Atop the massive black cloud, the Minotaur god stared downwards, his eyes shooting out twin lofty golden rays of light, covering the entire area below and illuminating the body of Naruto, who stood there like an idiot.

The glowing light from the eyes of the Minotaur god wrapped around Naruto's body, and Naruto disappeared from within the ranks of the ghosts. Those ordinary Minotaur soldiers were all silent, none daring to make a sound. All of the ghosts were in a state of shock. Only a long time later did they recover.

…..

Within the boundless black clouds, the titanic Minotaur god stood.

He stretched out his stand, and on top of his palm was a tiny little dot. Naruto.

Naruto had done a lot of things in his life but standing on the palm of a god was a new one.

God.

An enormous Minotaur god was standing in front of him, and he was standing on its palm?

"Uzumaki Naruto." The Minotaur god peered down at the tiny little speck in his hands.

"I have come at the orders of the Lord of Cui Palace to come receive you." The Minotaur god spoke to the tiny speck in his hands, and then with a wave of his hands, Naruto was placed into an empty void area. The Minotaur god then rose his black cloud and quickly disappeared into the horizon.

In the Fengdu City of the Ghost World.

Within a quiet study, there was a bookshelf and a table next to it. Naruto stood next to it while waiting for the lord of cui palace.

"Why does the Lord of Cui Palace wish to see me?" Naruto was wondering. He had no idea who this Lord of Cui Palace was and had never met him. He was just an old man, sure when he was young he went around saving a county or two, stoped a few wars and brought pace to the world but in the grand scheme of things he was but a speck of dust, also how could he possibly know any Immortals? So why had that Lord of Cui Palace sent the Minotaur god to bring him here?

"He summoned me, but then he doesn't speak to me." Naruto sneaked a glance around the room.

The study was very simple. The only decoration was a single painting.

"That's…" Naruto looked at it carefully. This was the painting of a girl. Her feathered clothes were filled with natural grace, and the smile on her lips was even more enigmatic than those on the Buddha's in the temples on the elemental nations. In the blink of an eye Naruto became enamoured with studying that painting. The woman in this painting, in terms of appearance or hair or clothing, was extremely alluring.

"Oh? I should have expected you to notice that painting."

The world of vacant pondering which Naruto had been in just now was totally shattered, and he was totally woken up, quickly spinning around he was met with a figure he had not seen in close to 170 years.

"Rikudō Sennin?"

Standing at the door way to the study was a tall pale-skinned man, he had deep wrinkles due to his elderly age. He had spiky, shoulder-length, pale-red hair, with a chin-length braid hanging in front of his left ear. He also sported a goatee which tapered down to his waist, in his hand was an old leather book with the word Book of Life and Death in gold on the front

"Hello Naruto it's been a long time"

"Rikudō Sennin what are you doing here?"

"Well I've just been reading about your life."

Naruto was startled.

His life?

His previous life appeared in his mind like a dream. The Academy, becoming a genin, the Chūnin exam, sasuke leaving the village, travelling with jiraiya and later his death, the war, the birth of his children and finally becoming Hokage, after that everything calmed down and I lived the rest of my life in pace.

"But I don't think that's what you meant is it. After I died instead of being reincarnate I asked to watch over the Shinobi world til the matter of my mother was settled. The plan of course being that the reborn chakras of Indra and Asura would be the one to solve it, so til mother was dealt with I would work for the Heaven Realm here as the lord of cui palace and holder of the book of life and death."

"Your life was bitter since you were born." The Lord of Cui Palace said softly. "But bitterness didn't twist you. Instead, it spurred you on to astonishing accomplishments. You not only saved the world but more importantly…you lead it into an era of peace and prosperity the like of which the world has never seen!"

"194 years of age. Dead. You spent every one of those in pain or giving all of yourself to help others" Rikudō Sennin sighed. "For one to be willing to sacrifice so much of one's self… you truly are the best of humanity"

Naruto said "you praise me too much. I couldn't have done any of that without help from my friends so those deed ant mine alone."

The Rikudō Sennin laughed, and then casually flipped open the Book of Life and Death. His gentle voice carried an infinite majesty. "Uzumaki Naruto, in your life, your actions alone saved over ten million people while your indirect actions saved hundreds of million more. Your merits are great. For your reincarnation, you shall be reborn into…the Deva Realm!"

"The Deva Realm." Naruto murmured quietly

The Rikudō Sennin sighed, "Only those who accumulate great karmic merit can enter the Heaven Realm. On Earth, it is very hard for one to reach this level. Knowingly or unknowingly, in life you accumulated enormous karmic merit. Otherwise, you probably wouldn't be able to enter the Heaven Realm."

"What do you mean?" Naruto was confused.

"People are born pure and without malice." The Rikudō Sennin said. "Children are totally pure, but later on, the vagaries of life cause them to change…if you were to have helped adults, you might've helped some kind people, but it is hard to say who is kind and who is evil. If you had helped evil people, it would've reduced your karmic merit, at least that's what's true for normal people. You on the other hand help evil many times by leading them to the path of redemption. You were a person that made the world better by merely existing."

Naruto realized what he meant when he said helping people may reduce karmic merit but he wasn't ready for the second part of that speech

"The Book of Life and Death had preordained that you would only live to be sixteen. However, because of your accumulated merits and efforts, you were allowed to live until age 194, no one has escaped death for so long before." The Rikudō Sennin sighed.

"What?" Naruto was shocked. "Are you saying I changed fate that much?"

"Of course you changed it that much. Why can't it be changed so much?" The sage laughed. "For me, adding a hundred years to a person's life is nothing. Even if Heaven wanted you to die, it would still give you a chance, much less the Book of Life and Death. A person's destiny is preordained, true, but it can be changed later on."

Naruto now understood.

It was true.

The ancient said, "If Heaven commits a sinful act, one can go against it; but if you do a sinful act, then you will not be allowed to live." If Heaven wanted you to die, it would still give you a chance at life. The Book of Life and Death was nothing more than pre-ordained destiny, which one could try and change afterwards.

"I believe there are many people who accumulated great merit. Old sage, why did you summon me alone? Because I don't think it's for a catch up" Naruto asked, puzzled.

The sage laughed" you're right. There are a few reasons I called for you, one was so I can get one last look at what my son's soul became. The other was because you're the first person from our home town to make it to the Deva Realm."

"Hometown?" Naruto was stunned. "You mean…

"Right. The elemental nations!" The sage laughed.

Naruto was extremely excited. "I heard those ghosts say that they were 'princes' or 'devil kings'. None of them are from the elemental nations."

"It is normal from them to not be from the elemental nations. In the infinite universe of space-time, there are three realms; the Heaven, the Netherworld, and the Mortal Realms." The Rikudō Sennin explained. "Heaven refers to the Heaven Realm! The Netherworld refers to the underworld, the Netherworld Kingdom! Mortal, refers to the Mortal Realm. In the Mortal Realm, there are over three thousand major worlds and trillions of lesser worlds…the three thousand major worlds are all extremely vast, and have Immortals and Devils hidden within them. As for the trillions of lesser worlds, all of them are much smaller and have much lower populations. Our hometown, the elemental nations, is one of those lesser worlds. Up until now, there are still only a couple hundred million people."

"Every moment, in those three thousand major worlds and trillions of lesser worlds, there are countless deaths, and the spirits all come here to the Netherworld Kingdom! Tell me, how many ghosts does the Netherworld Kingdom have?" The Rikudō Sennin looked at Naruto.

Naruto was shocked.

My God!

Three Realms?

The Mortal Realm was enormous. The elemental nations was just one of a trillion lesser worlds. As a human of the elemental nations, in the past, he always thought the elemental nations was the centre of the universe! But now, he realized…that the elemental nations was just one of a trillion lesser worlds, and couldn't even be considered one of the three thousand major worlds. In an instant, he had a sense of loss and disorientation.

"Three thousand major worlds, a trillion lesser worlds. Of course there's many people who have high merit. But it is rare that there is someone from our hometown who has accumulated high merit, and what's more, your pre-ordained fate was a short life. For you to be able to reach such a level despite that is very rare!" said the Rikudō Sennin. "You are going to reincarnate soon. Let me tell you about the Six Realms of Reincarnation."

"The Six Realms of Reincarnation refers to the Deva Realm, the Asura Realm, the Human Realm, the Animal Realm, the Preta Ghost Realm, and the Hell Realm."

The Rikudō Sennin explained, "Those who are born into the Deva Realm and the Asura Realm are all considered to be in the 'Heaven Realm'."

"The Human Realm and the Animal Realm are part of the Mortal Realm."

"The Preta Ghost Realm and the Hell Realm are in the Netherworld Kingdom Realm."

"The Heaven Realm is the place where you are about to be reborn in." These words immediately caused Naruto to grow alert. The sage sighed, "This is the best place to be. When you are reborn into the Heaven Realm, nature itself will give birth to you as a Deva! Only someone who is born naturally by the heavens can be described as an 'immaculate lifeform'."

"Born by nature? Not by a mother?" Naruto was absolutely shocked.

"Of course." The sage laughed. "Otherwise, how could you be considered an 'immaculate lifeform'? Strictly speaking, the heavens and the earth will be your parents!"

"After being born into the Deva Realm, you will train at an astonishing pace. You will easily be able to enter the Celestial Court and become a soldier or a general of Heaven." The sage sighed emotionally.

Naruto rubbed his eyes.

A soldier or general of Heaven?

He was going to become a soldier or general of Heaven?

"Devas have another advantage; once you turn sixteen, you will regain all your memories of your previous lives." The sage sighed. "Naruto this is the other reason why I wanted to meet you this time, is to give you some help to become a standout soldier of Heaven. I didn't expect you would be spellbound by the painting of Nuwa, the creator of humans. Your insight and perception is indeed very high.

Naruto was absolutely delighted. Help him? Help him out?

"Stare at the painting of Nuwa." The sage pointed at the painting on the wall.

Naruto looked at it.

So that woman in the painting was the goddess Nuwa?

"The person on this painting is the most holy and most compassionate primordial goddess, Miss Nuwa." The face of the Rikudō Sennin turned solemn. "Ever since Pangu died after creating the universe, only she, Miss Nuwa, has reached Pangu's level. Miss Nuwa is capable of destroying the universe, but also capable of healing it. She can even create new life. Of the countless races, the human race is the most spiritual one, and it was created by Miss Nuwa. She has understood 84,000 truths, and without question, she is the most invincible, powerful presence in all three Realms."

"The highest in all three Realms?" Naruto was stunned.

Nuwa created humans, and Nuwa repaired the world. He had long ago heard of these myths.

"This painting is used for the Visualization Technique, but there's no way you can see the secrets hidden within it, at least not yet." The sage laughed. "Although you are about to become a Deva and a heavenly warrior and will also be trained in this, let me first teach you a bit of the Visualization Technique."

The sage pointed a single at Naruto's forehead.

Hong!

Naruto felt his brain suddenly explode, and an enormous figure of Nuwa along with what seems a library's worth of books appeared in his mind

"Wake up." The sage looked at Naruto. "What I just give you was a visualization Technique along with a wealth of other knowledge. The most imported thing is to often visualize her, it will allow you to train your soul. But of course, you are about to be reborn and you'll need to drink Grandma Meng's Elixir. You will temporarily lose your memory. When you turn sixteen, you will remember this Visualization Technique along with all the other techniques I have given you. It will definitely be enough to let you become an outstanding figure in the army of Heaven! With this Visualization Technique alone, you will have a chance to train to become an Immortal with everything else you will definitely became one. If you wish to become a Celestial Immortal, you will suffer many trials…I hope that you will succeed, and in the future, we will meet again in the Celestial Court."

Naruto's heart was filled with excitement.

The army of Heaven?

Becoming an Immortal?

He really looked forward to it all.

"Go." The sage waved his hand.

Hua.

Naruto disappeared.