God of the Multiverse: A Shinobi's Destiny

Chapter 33

Taking one last look around the ruined facility, Shinku concentrated his chakra into his right fist before striking the ground. What remained of the building violently trembled, as its foundations erupted and collapsed in on itself.

"Hut." Leaping out of the collapse, Shinku landed beside Akame and watched what was left crumble away.

"Was all that really necessary? I could have repurposed the equipment." Akame stared blankly at the loss of her clans technology. It wasn't that they couldn't remake the already advanced tech, but that the rare materials she acquired from the other worlds weren't exactly common commodities.

"You said you saw the fall of Uzushiogakure, then it would be best of that which brought forth my birth should be destroyed." Shinku shifted his gaze to Akame.

"Are you not going to protect us?" Hearing his words, Akame narrowed her eyes and asked.

"My life is bound to yours, so I'll protect you. Akahana, too. But the rest of your village has not shown me they would be worth saving."

"...I see. This isn't your home, but... please, at least protect the children when that day comes. They're still innocent." Akame didn't try and convince Shinku, seeing as a stubborn mule would never budge.

"I'll give it a thought. For now, we should head back to Uzu. Since I'm aware of past events now, well... mostly aware, I feel like absolute shit." Shinku sighed, receiving an apologetic nod from Akame.

"That's more or less my fault, I shouldn't have brought the others into this, nor should I have tried to play with life. I know, apologizing won't make things right, but I can't change what I have done." Sliding her arms around Shinku's back and pressed her head into his chest.

"Hn. What the hell are you talking about? I couldn't care less about being created rather than born, nor that you involved others in a plot to control your own creation. I'm simply disgusted with the actions I took when I wasn't in my right mind."

Saying this, Shinku wrapped his arms around Akame and soundlessly disappeared with her in his embrace, leaving the remaining ruble to crumble, forever burying it all away from the world.

. . .

. .

.

Teleporting back into the village, on the same rooftop they had met earlier in the day, Shinku tilted Akame's head up and passionately kissed the young woman.

"Mmm~ Wait~"

"Don't worry, I won't eat you... yet. Our matters are settled for now, but I have other matters I must tend to. And, thank you... for telling me the truth." Shinku gave Akame a small but charming smile.

Nodding, Akame kissed Shinku once more before running off, her heart lighter now that Shinku was aware of what had transpired and still loved her despite it all. She had only hoped that Shinku would come around and eventually want to protect the village out of his own will.

Watching as Akame rushed off with a smile, Shinku's smile soon fell, becoming tinged with annoyance.

'Shinku..."

Closing his eyes, Shinku called out to the souls living rent-free within him.

'Shinku.'

Not receiving an answer after his first call, Shinku tried to call out deeper within his subconscious.

Yet, still no answer.

'SHI-'

'Shut the hell up!' From his subconscious, Nobu's voice rang out, and a moment later, Shinku was forcefully dragged into the illusionary world where the four souls resided within.

"Dammit! Why the hell are you so loud! You can't even come and go as you please, so stop acting like you're going to act out." Nobu said as she sat on top of a chained down Shinku, her sword form separated from her soul as she stabbed the blade into the ground beside his face.

"Why the hell is this Loli so strong?"

Mumbling under his breath, Shinku had tried to push Nobu off hid back but was only shoved back onto the ground.

"What the hell did you want anyway? And if this is about what that albino shit did, don't even think about pursuing the matter. He may not be as strong as Shinku, but he's not someone a baby like you can act against." Despite being disgusted with what had happened back then, Nobu wouldn't let him act recklessly when her master hadn't taken control of his body yet.

"Tch. Then what the hell am I supposed to do? Even if they were clones, Eto wasn't. I feel like absolute shit, and I'm just supposed to let him go?"

"Yes. Because that's the law of the world. Those with strength can do what the wish and the weak should submit."

"That's bullshit, and you know it."

"Maybe so, but as immortals, that is the way of the world's. Eventually, you'll lose the excess naivety and compassion. Yet, that doesn't exactly make evil deeds right." The deep, melodic echo of Shinku's older self filled their ears.

Turning her gaze to Shinku coming from behind her, Nobu shot a glare at the albino who followed behind him, along with Akame with her arms wrapped around Shinku.

"Hehe. It's not evil, not like I killed them after having my fun."

"Can I shut him up?" Nobu and Akame, asked in sync.

Akame had spent quite some time with her son, as well as the albino and came to understand the two versions of her son, eventually coming to dislike the albino.

Ignoring the three, the older man stepped closer to Shinku and shooed Nobu off of his back.

"I'm aware of how you feel, but it wasn't 'you' that did such. Try not to let it affect you too much, and move on." Patting Shinku's shoulders, he made the chains disappear from his figure.

"Tch. You'll never understand how I feel. This isn't about me or my ability to forgive and forget. How can I just act like everything will be okay when she now looks at me with fearful eyes, anxious every waking moment?"

"You're not in your right mind, kid. Having four souls reside inside you has left your personality and emotions a jumbled mess." Dismissing his concerns, the older Shinku said, lifting him to his feet.

"You're an asshole!" Shinku brought his arm back to throw a punch, but his fist weakly fell. Like the older man said, his mind was jumbled suddenly receiving the once blocked memories, leaving him a mess mentally.

The albino clicked his tongue in annoyance, watching the scene of a grown man crying over something so trivial in his eyes, left a bad taste in his mouth as he walked off.

"Pathetic."

Akame and Nobu ignored the albino for the time, with Akame approaching the unstable man.

"He's just a kid... with only a year of life under him, it's only natural he's easily emotional." Akame whispered, noticing that Shinku was slowly fading out of his subconscious world.

"A kid or not, the influence of our four souls is unhealthy. Going forward, we all need to be suppressed further, allowing his natural growth to take over." The older man turned away as Shinku's figure completely vanished.

"If you let his soul properly solidify, neither of you would be able to take over the vessel. You would die." As Shinku stepped past Nobu to take a seat before a new game of Shoji, the short woman whispered through gritted teeth and clenched fists.

"If I wanted to take control in the future, even a properly formed soul would be unable to stop me, Nobu."

"That's what you always say. First, the elder gods who killed you several times over. Goddess Akame, your mother from another dimension who tortured you both for a millennia. The councils who have hunted you down, eventually leading to your final stand, losing everything. Please don't tell me, 'everything is going to be okay' and do absolutely nothing to make it come true." Storming off, Nobu left Shinku and Akame alone.

"I know I'm not exactly the best mother, nor do I have any right to speak when I have caused all this, but please, Shinku. Don't let her fears come to pass."

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CHAPTER END