Nindō: Dominion

In the Hokage Office.

Naruto was panting tiredly as he maintained a slow yet steady flow of chakra that entered Karin through the orb, leaving her overstimulated and blank-minded.

[What's wrong?] Kurama asked concernedly. [I haven't seen you this exhausted since you … came back.]

"Just … An experiment that took a little out of me," Naruto said."

[A little? You just expended half of your chakra reserves — that kind of raw firepower would destroy this village and then some — your three clones have all been dispelled, and your face looks worse than when I used to force the incomplete jinchūriki transformation on you.]

"Yeah, well …" Naruto took a deep breath, calming his raging heart rate. "At least I know that the Truth-Seeker Orbs are independent of my chakra since they didn't get dispelled or even affected."

[What did you do exactly?]

Kurama couldn't exactly spy on things that were done through the Dominion mark. Even the telepathic communication that was done through the Dominion mark was independent of the fox, unlike chakra-based communication, which would be more like an open conversation that not only Kurama but the other Tailed Beasts inside Naruto would be able to listen in on as well if they wanted.

"Remember the toy I left inside Karin last night? I was experimenting with it and tried to use the Dominion Mark as a medium to create a second Truth Seeking Orb. As for the result, you can see. I had to push myself to channel Divine Authority through the mark."

[Then why is half of your chakra exhausted? Did you try to push your chakra through the mark as well?]

"I had to. I can't just create the orbs with divinity; they need a medium. For the Ōtsutsuki, it's their bloodline. For me, it's chakra. Maybe more obscure abilities like Space-Time or precognition stuff may not require my chakra, but the orbs sure do. As for the consumption, it was because I couldn't exactly send usable chakra through the mark. Whatever I send will be absorbed by Karin. That's why I had to use the Divine Authority in conjunction as an anchor to pull the transferred chakra out of Karin. The result, as you can see, was the waste of half of my chakra reserves as most of it turned into natural energy."

[So that girl is currently in an environment that is so chakra-dense that it beats out Mount Myōboku's concentration multiple times?]

[Don't worry,] Naruto finally responded to Kurama telepathically. [I'm all over it. She's currently drowning in pleasure as I take advantage of her vulnerable state to integrate all that chakra back into her body without turning her into stone. When she comes back to her senses, her chakra reserves should at least increase by half. And that's saying something considering her already high number.]

[At the cost of losing her sanity. How many hours will it take for you to finish that?]

[I'll be done a few hours after midnight.] Naruto's gaze inadvertently shifted to the window where the sun was at its peak. Karin would be in that state of constant chakra-infused pleasure for more than half a day. [She will be fine. I'll give her some aftercare tomorrow. So why do you think this happened? I had to push myself so much for a single one of those orbs. I can easily maintain around fifty concurrent orbs with the current divinity that I've siphoned off of Momoshiki by now.]

Naruto got to the crux of the conversation. He hadn't told Kurama all that because he wanted to have a laugh about it. He wanted to hear the fox's opinion about the situation.

Just as Kurama was about to respond, [Master! Are you okay? Your Shadow Clone just got dispelled!]

There was a clearly noticeable panic in Sarada's voice that made Naruto chuckle.

"Give me a second, Kurama," He spoke before focusing on his telepathic connection to Sarada.

[Now you ask me? It's already been a few minutes since that happened.]

[Is everything okay? Don't tell me that my hesitation caused problems. Did I fail some kind of test?]

[You would go there, wouldn't you?] Naruto chuckled. [It wasn't a test to see your response time, Sarada. If it was, you failed because of your hesitation to contact me. Anyway, there isn't any issue. I was just doing something and had to dispel my clones.]

[Oh no … I'm sorry to have disappointed you, Master.] She was hung up on Naruto's words about her failing.

[It's fine. Just remember to not hesitate in case you are the one in danger. Now, turn around and head back to the training ground, you aren't done with training just yet. My clone will be with you shortly.]

[You can sense my location? Is it also because you are connected to me by your chakra?]

[Something like that. Now stop disturbing me. We will continue our chat when you come to my office once your training is complete.]

[O-okay. Sorry …] She responded.

"My bad, buddy," Naruto made a hand sign, and three clones appeared with a puff of smoke. They all shared a silent look and disappeared. "We were talking about your view on this consumption."

Kurama's thoughtful hum sounded more like a growl before he spoke. [When you use the mark as a medium for transferring chakra, it turns into the perfect nourishment for the recipient. When you try to do the same for Divine Authority, you need to use your mental strength to surpass whatever resistance that transfer encounters. I believe that your mark has a certain level of resistance toward divinity. Either that or you need to use a special method to do the same thing with Divine Authority. It's not exactly an energy and more a concept, as you've told me.]

[Yeah, I reached a similar conclusion. I don't think the mark resists my utilization of Divine Authority. I don't have anything to stand on, but I just feel it. That leaves us with a specific method to use Divinity through the mark. And that I need to spend time figuring out.]

[You could try to ask Momoshiki. Maybe he has some way.]

[Maybe. What do you think about the connection between Divinity and the Ōtsutsuki bloodline?]

[You could explore that connection. As I understand, instead of an energy like chakra, Divine Authority is exactly that — an authority over reality. As long as you possess the authority, all you need is to invoke it, and the world itself will bend to your whims.]

[Precisely. The chakra requirement for Truth Seeker Orbs comes from the simplistic nature of the ability. As Momoshiki said, it truly is one of the most basic abilities in the Ōtsutsuki arsenal. The only divine aspect it has is the integration of five chakra natures with Yin-Yang. Its foundation still lies in chakra.]

[In an ideal situation, as long as you have a way to extend your mental power through that mark, you should be able to cast Shinjutsu abilities naturally. Unfortunately, this situation is not ideal. That's why you are thinking of studying the Ōtsutsuki bloodline more deeply… to gain insight into their use of Divinity.]

[Yes. For now, however, I need to observe and understand Shinjutsu further before experimenting further with the mark.]

[I just had a thought. Why don't you try to utilize natural chakra through the mark? With that absolute control you possess, that should be possible for you.]

[I wish. I've already tried that. I can only barely extend my mental power through the mark. It's not even enough to sense the natural chakra, let alone utilize it.]

[Hmm … Why not try to send your tamed natural chakra through the mark? Maybe that won't be directly absorbed. On that note, you can also try to do the same with that chakra that you refine through the Truth Seeker Orbs. It seems to possess some specialty over your normal chakra. I can't help but recall Old Man Six Paths' chakra when I sense it.]

[I hadn't thought of that … You're pretty useful sometimes, Kurama. For a furball, that is.]

[I'll show you furball, you ancient oaf.] The fox's violent roar reverberated through Naruto's consciousness.

Naruto burst out laughing, [Ancient oaf, huh? What would the people think if they heard a tailed beast that is thousands of years old call me ancient?]

[Considering their weak mentalities, it probably won't take them long before they start calling you demon incarnate once again.]

[Public opinion changes more often than a sex worker switches between customers. One day, those people hate you, but suddenly, you do something good, and they love you. Then, something happens to make them hate you again before you do some more heroics, and they love you again. It's an infinite and meaningless cycle. As long as you're strong enough and know how to manipulate the masses, public opinion barely qualifies as a cherry on top.]

[I didn't expect a philosophy lesson. How about we move back to the experimentation? I'm curious how natural energy will work with that mark.]

[Not on Karin.] Naruto shook his head. [She's already enduring all that torturous pleasure. I'll try that stuff with Hinata tonight. Working with chakra is familiar enough territory that I can control things if they go awry.]

[Your call.]

Naruto could imagine Kurama curling back up like a fox and burying his face in his forelegs.

'Kurama's words just gave me an idea about a different issue I've been thinking of for a while now.'

***

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