I'm a God, Ok? (Naruto/God-SI)

It had been almost 2 months since I began preaching in the Land of Waves. Currently, Ayumu was standing on a small stage, leading my followers in prayer, at this point there were about 200 people consistently listening to me, and my godly self could sense about double that number with some amount of faith in me.

"O great Watcher Behind the Stars, guide us through these dark times. Be our light in this time of darkness and show us the way forward. Bring peace and prosperity to us all!"

As I finished, everyone else joined me in reciting the prayer. "Praise The Watcher!"

As the chorus of voices rang out throughout the room, I felt a large burst of energy fill god-me's being, increasing my pool of DP. Once again, praying is truly a massive boost to DP gain. But while the sermon was winding down, I spotted something that made me pause.

At the edge of the crowd, leaning against the back wall of the room, was a tall man with slicked-back black hair and an unshaven face. His outfit consisted of a loose-fitting grey shirt tucked into his black pants, with a belt around his waist.

He had a sword on his waist and was well-built with broad shoulders and a muscular frame. I think the time was approaching, Gatō must have finally sent someone to investigate my cult. They had been gaining popularity fairly quickly lately; it's only natural he would want to check them out himself after hearing about such a large group suddenly popping up out of nowhere.

I checked my DP just in case he cut me down on the spot.

DP:1534

Good enough.

After dismissing the congregation, I noticed the man still hadn't left yet. He stayed behind even after everyone else had gone home. As soon as we were alone, he stepped forward towards me.

"Excuse me, sir? Do you have a moment?" The man asked politely enough, though there was an underlying hint of coldness in his tone.

"Yes? Can I help you?"

"I was hoping to speak with whoever was organizing this whole... event here today." He looked around at the empty hall we were standing in. "Would that happen to be you?"

"Yes, I'm the one leading these sessions. How may I assist you?" I replied calmly.

"Hmm... My name is Kinro by the way," He introduced himself. His voice took on a more formal quality as he continued speaking. "I work under Gatō-sama as part of his security force."

Bingo.

"Oh! Well then, welcome, Kinro-san. My name is Ayumu, nice to meet you."

"Hm. As a member of Gatō-sama's security force, it's my job to keep track of any possible troublemakers within Wave. You see, we can't allow anyone or anything to disrupt peace and order here." His eyes narrowed slightly at those words before continuing, "So I wanted you to stop whatever this is right away, it's very unsafe having this many people standing around in one place."

"I'm afraid I can't do that," I said firmly. The man seemed annoyed when I refused him outright like that, but quickly regained his composure again.

"Look kid, you since you don't seem to get it, let me spell it out for you. You're attracting too much attention. It makes my boss nervous, so he sends guys like me out to check things like this out. We find problems and eliminate them before they become bigger problems later down the line."

I simply smiled at him patiently.

"What exactly are you implying, Kinro-san?"

"Don't play dumb with me boy," He hissed as he leaned forward threateningly, his voice taking on a rougher edge. "If you know what's good for ya, you stop this whole thing before it goes any further. You hear? Or else we'll be back here real soon, and we won't be nearly as nice next time around."

"Please tell Gatō he can send whoever he wants to try and silence us, but all it will do is show how much of a coward he really is. Go back to your master, lapdog. You aren't welcome here anymore." I spat out with feigned anger. I think my performance was rather convincing.

Kinro's face twisted into a scowl. He took a step towards me before stopping himself short. His fists clenched tightly by his sides. For a second, I thought he might attack right then and there.

But instead, after taking several deep breaths, he relaxed slightly and spoke again in a low voice tinged with rage, "You better watch yourself boy..." With that parting shot, Kinro turned around and left.

Hopefully, that was enough to set Gatō off. If he tried the same public execution method he did with that one guy in the original series, it would save me a lot of DP. Now I just had to gather a few people willing to take over Ayumu after he dies. Luckily, I already had several candidates lined up.

***

Haruka was cleaning the kitchen when she heard someone knocking on the front door. She quickly dried her hands and went to answer it. Upon opening the door, she saw Ayumu standing there with his usual calm expression.

"Ayumu-sama! What brings you here so late? It's almost nightfall."

"I apologize for coming unannounced like this but I needed to speak you about something important." His tone seemed serious which worried Haruka slightly as he continued to speak.

"Could you meet me in an hour? Near the Nura river bridge? I have some other people I need to gather for this meeting."

Haruka nodded slowly while trying to process everything he'd just said. He sounded urgent enough that she didn't want to keep asking questions until later. While normally, she would refuse to leave the orphanage so late at night, she could tell by his demeanor that this wasn't something she should decline.

Ayumu deserved at least that much respect from her considering all he had done for them in these last couple of months. Not only did he donate almost all of the food he collected during his sermons, but he also helped out whenever possible around the city, always willing to lend a helping hand without expecting anything back in return.

Seeing him get thinner and thinner each day was heartbreaking. It reminded Haruka that Ayumu would be dead soon and that there was nothing anyone could do to stop it. "O-okay."

The man simply gave her a small bow before leaving. He began walking away down the street, presumably going off to meet with whoever else he wanted to talk to.

She watched as his figure slowly disappeared into the distance before closing the door behind her.

An hour later, Haruka was waiting patiently next to the bridge for Ayumu when she noticed someone approaching her from across the riverbank.

As they got closer, she recognized them as being one of Ayumu's followers, a woman wearing simple clothes named Hikari.

"Haruka-san! You're here too?" She exclaimed happily upon seeing the young caretaker. The two women greeted each other warmly before settling down together near where they were meeting Ayumu.

"What do you think this is all about?" Hikari asked curiously after a few moments of silence passed between them. "It must be pretty important if he wanted both of us to come out here at night like this."

Haruka thought for a moment before responding, "I'm not sure... but whatever it is, I'm certain we'll find out soon enough."

As if on cue, another person walked up to join their conversation shortly afterwards. It was a young man with short brown hair and a lean build dressed in plain attire similar to what most civilians wore around town. Another follower of Ayumu. She didn't know him, but he always in the first row, listening to Ayumu speak.

"Oh hey ladies! What are you doing here?" He said cheerfully as he came over to greet the two women.

"Kenji-san! Good evening," Hikari replied politely while Haruka just nodded at him silently.

"So why did our dear priest call us all here tonight anyway?"

Both women exchanged glances with each other before shrugging simultaneously. Kenji sighed, disappointed, but didn't press any further since neither of them seemed willing to share anything more than that.

Soon enough though, Ayumu arrived along with yet another follower following closely behind him. This one she actually knew very well; it was an elderly man, about 60 years old who worked as a doctor.

His name was Kazuo, and he had been treating the kids at her orphanage before she even started working there. In fact, he was technically retired now but still helped out whenever he could.

She respected the old man greatly for his tireless efforts to provide aid to those less fortunate, despite having no obligation or reason to do so anymore.

Everyone quickly gathered together once they saw the two newcomers arrive.

"Thank you all for coming," Ayumu began speaking without preamble. "I know most of you have busy lives outside of our little community, so I really appreciate your willingness to take time out of your day like this."

All four people nodded their heads in agreement while Ayumu continued to speak again.

"Before I get to the main point of this meeting, though, I would first like everyone here to introduce themselves. Please tell us your name, occupation, and why exactly you joined my sermons."

"Why?" Asked Kenji, raising an eyebrow curiously.

"Just so everyone is on the same page going forward. We will be talking about something fairly important shortly, after all."

Everyone else seemed satisfied by his explanation, except for Kazuo who simply frowned slightly before nodding reluctantly.

"My name is Haruka," The caretaker spoke up hesitantly after everyone fell silent once more. She paused momentarily as she collected her thoughts before continuing to talk again.

"I help run a small orphanage in town... I've been listening to your sermons ever since you started doing them because I wanted something positive in my life again and..." Her voice trailed off quietly as she blushed slightly and looked away, embarrassed.

She didn't want to say out loud that she mostly only came to the sermons to make Ayumu happy.

Hikari suddenly giggled softly next to her, which caused Haruka to glare angrily at her friend for laughing at such an inappropriate moment, but it had little effect on the other woman who merely smiled back mischievously instead.

"I'm Hikari, a seamstress. I originally just went because I heard about you from some of the others around here," She explained with a smile while glancing at Haruka and Kenji respectively. "But I kept coming back because... well, I prayed for my sister's health and she got better! She's still sickly, but she doesn't have any problems breathing anymore!"

Ayumu nodded at her words patiently before turning his attention towards Kenji next.

The young man grinned widely when he realized it was finally his turn to speak up. He immediately began rambling excitedly about himself, without hesitation whatsoever.

"My name's Kenji and I used to be a fisherman like my old man before he passed away last year due to illness," His cheerful expression faded slightly as he recounted this memory but quickly perked right back up again afterward.

"But I found another job working at a local factory where I met some of our fellow followers who told me about your sermons! And ever since listening to one, well... I became convinced that The Watcher is truly watching over us!" He exclaimed passionately while gesturing wildly with his arms in excitement, causing both Haruka and Hikari to smile amused at his enthusiasm. Kazuo however, remained stoic throughout the entire exchange and didn't react much beyond giving the young man an unimpressed stare.

"Be quieter." Kazuo grumbled, clearly annoyed by Kenji's loud voice.

The young man blinked owlishly at him for a second before sheepishly rubbing the back of his head as he apologized quietly under his breath.

"And you?" Ayumu asked patiently once things settled down again.

"Kazuo. Doctor." He stated bluntly without elaborating further, which earned him an exasperated look from everyone else present except for Ayumu who simply nodded understandingly.

"Well then..." The priest trailed off as he glanced around at each person gathered around him one last time before continuing to speak again. "Gatō has taken notice of my preaching."

Everyone tensed up immediately upon hearing those words, their expressions ranging from nervousness to outright anger depending on who you looked at.

"Earlier today, one of Gatō's men showed up after I finished and tried to threaten me into stopping what we're doing here."

"That bastard!" Kenji exclaimed angrily, while Hikari gasped softly beside him in shock. Haruka stayed silent, but she couldn't hide her own worry either. It seemed like only Ayumu himself remained calm despite the tense atmosphere surrounding them all.

"So... the sermons will stop then?" Kazuo asked, clearly displeased by this development.

"No." Ayumu said firmly, without hesitation. "I'm not going to stop, regardless of what happens next." His tone left no room for argument, his eyes were filled with determination as he met each person's gaze steadily before continuing again.

"Gatō will kill you, boy," Kazuo said matter-of-factly, but there was an underlying hint of concern hidden within his gruff demeanor that made it obvious he cared about Ayumu despite his attitude suggesting otherwise. "He may seem like a cowardly rat with too much money, but he is ruthless when threatened."

"I know." Ayumu replied simply while looking directly into Kazuo's eyes unwaveringly, causing the older man's mouth to twist into a frown once more.

"What do you mean, 'I know'?!" Kazuo demanded hotly, clearly upset by Ayumu's lackadaisical attitude towards this whole situation. "Who will preach about The Watcher when you are dead?!"

"You will." Ayumu stated calmly, causing everyone present including Kazuo to look at him in surprise.

"Him?" Kenji asked incredulously as he pointed at Kazuo questioningly with a puzzled expression plastered across his face.

"No." Ayumu replied bluntly, which caused Kenji's jaw to drop open slightly as he stared back dumbfounded.

"What?"

"You all will," Ayumu clarified without missing a beat before continuing again. "I want each of you here today to become a leader for our people."

Haruka couldn't help but feel guilty, she didn't really believe in The Watcher that much, only going because she knew it would make Ayumu happy to see her there. But even so... How could she refuse such an earnest request from someone who had done nothing but try his best to help others?

"...Okay." She said quietly while nodding slowly.

"Are you mad, boy?!" Kazuo exclaimed angrily while glaring fiercely at the young priest standing before them all. "You plan to let yourself die for nothing and expect us to pick up where you left off?! We barely know anything about The Watcher! I'm not even sure I believe in him!"

Ayumu simply smiled sadly when he heard those words.

"Haruka already knows, but I won't be alive for much longer anyway. Gatō or not, I'll be dead within a month." His tone was light despite the heavy weight of his words hanging over everyone's head like a dark cloud threatening to burst open at any moment now.

"Although even Haruka doesn't know the extent of my condition."

Haruka blinked in surprise upon hearing this news and looked at Ayumu curiously, prompting him to continue explaining further.

"A better way to say it is that I'm not just dying soon, rather I am already dead," Ayumu clarified without hesitation. Everyone stared wide-eyed as they tried their hardest to comprehend what exactly he meant by that statement, but before anyone could ask anything else, he spoke again first.

"My body is already empty of chakra. I have been surviving only by the grace of The Watcher these past 2 years."

There was a long pause after this revelation during which no one knew quite what to say or do, until finally Kazuo stepped forward with an unreadable expression on his face and grabbed Ayumu firmly by the arm. Without saying another word, his hands began glowing green as he quickly scanned Ayumu's entire body using medical ninjutsu before releasing him again moments later.

"You're telling the truth." He stated softly while looking down at Ayumu with disbelief written plainly across every inch of his features. "There isn't a single drop of Chakra in your body."

Everyone else present seemed confused, not really fully understanding how impossible that was supposed to be.

Ayumu seemed surprised by Kazuo's actions but didn't react beyond smiling slightly when he heard those words from him.

"I didn't know you were trained in Medical Ninjutsu..."

He shook off his surprise quickly however and instead focused back onto the task at hand once more.

"The full reason of why I'm like this and why I do not care about that fact is complicated. But I will show you." Ayumu suddenly turned around and started walking away from them all, causing everyone else to follow him.

"Where are we going?" Hikari asked hesitantly while looking around worriedly, confused at the many revelations today. It was getting dark, and she didn't want to get stuck in the wilderness.

"We are going far away from the city, what I am about to show you cannot be seen by anyone else." Ayumu replied simply without slowing down or stopping his stride whatsoever which only served to further confuse everyone following, including Haruka herself who couldn't shake off her feeling of... not quite unease but definitely discomfort over all these recent developments taking place one right after another like some sort of bizarre dream.

They walked until the sun had set completely beneath the horizon, leaving them bathed under moonlight. Only then did Ayumu finally stop walking once more, causing everyone to look around curiously.

"We're here," He stated simply before turning back towards everyone gathered before continuing.

"I chose some of you because of your determination," Ayumu glanced at Kenji, "Some of you because of your keen minds," He glanced at Kazuo and Hikari, "And others because of your kindness," He glanced at Haruka before looking at everyone else once more.

"All of you lack true faith in The Watcher. There are many others who believe far more than any of you, but that's fine. Because the best followers are not made through words and promises, they are made through action and proof. I will show you now exactly what I preach, and only then can you truly believe."

With those final words spoken, Ayumu turned around to face an empty field before raising his hands into the air above his head as if he was praising the sky...

"You who has existed since time immemorial, You who dwell in the realm beyond our sight, You lay hidden behind the stars, watching over us all."

Everyone tensed up as they felt a weight settle over them, a sense of foreboding unlike anything else they had ever experienced before, as Ayumu continued chanting without pause or hesitation.

"O Watcher of the cosmos, please grant unto this humble servant thy guidance!"

As soon as these last words left his lips, the sky above seemed to split apart. Stars began swirling around like fireflies dancing through night air until finally coming together into a single point directly overhead, forming a massive face composed entirely of stars. But... its eyes were closed, all three of them.

It remained still, serenely suspended high up amongst the endless sea of twinkling lights. The silence that followed afterward seemed deafening compared to Ayumu's loud chant from earlier.

"Do any of you notice something wrong?"

Everyone startled at Ayumu's sudden question, breaking them out of their stupor. It took several seconds before anyone could even think straight enough again to answer him properly.

"The eyes," Kazuo said after another long stretch of uncomfortable quiet passed by between everyone present once more. "Why aren't they open?"

"The Watcher has been forgotten," Ayumu explained patiently, while gesturing towards the three closed eyes of The Watcher. "He is older than this nation, He is older than the Sage of Six Paths, He has existed since time immemorial, but his followers are long gone."

The four were stunned silent, not knowing what to say or do in response to such a bizarre sight before them.

"Maybe they were exterminated, maybe they abandoned Him for a shinier idol, maybe He abandoned them first," Ayumu continued without waiting for anyone else to speak up again. "But no matter what happened, with nothing tying to the mortal world, He has fallen into a deep slumber, and I am going to wake Him up."

"Is that why..." Hikari whispered softly as he stared at Ayumu intently. Haruka meanwhile, was uncomprehending at what was happening.

"You are using yourself as a sacrifice." Kazuo said.

Ayumu nodded, acknowledging his words.

"Why?" Kenji asked. His voice sounded small compared to how excitedly he spoke earlier, almost childlike even. It seemed like he still couldn't quite wrap his head around everything that had just transpired so quickly in front of him.

"I found information about The Watcher a couple of years ago. It told of an ancient religion that worshiped a being beyond mortal comprehension, who ruled over the night sky and stars. Desperate and with all the Doctors giving me months to live, I prayed to Him."

"It was a desperate thing, full of fear and despair," Ayumu paused as he looked up at the starry visage above them. "But even though He slept, it seemed even the smallest of prayers roused Him enough to answer me. My body's Chakra system withered away, but my body survived. I tried other prayers, greedy for more, prayers of power and wealth, but nothing happened. I thought it was punishment for my greed. But eventually, my body started to wither away again. And in desperation, I prayed for more time."

"He answered again, giving me another few months of life." Ayumu stopped, closing his eyes as if remembering something from long ago. Then he opened them again slowly before continuing once more.

"This repeated itself several times until finally one day... I found the prayer to invoke the Watcher."

Everyone else present remained silent throughout Ayumu's entire explanation, listening intently without interrupting him even once throughout his whole speech thus far.

"When I cast the invocation for the first time, the Watcher appeared just like this." He gestured upwards towards where the Watcher currently sat motionless above everyone gathered beneath, its massive form composed entirely out of glittering stars and swirling galaxies within deep space itself.

"He remained still, silent. For days, I tried to talk to Him, tried to understand Him better than just these small bits of information left behind by an ancient people."

"Eventually, I understood that while He could hear me, His mind was sleeping, not conscious. But..."

Ayumu paused again briefly here as he took a deep breath before resuming once more.

"But even though His consciousness slept, He still answered my prayers, even now, he still answers when I pray for someone's health."

Hikari gasped quietly as she remembered how her sister had gotten better after Ayumu prayed for her.

Ayumu turned to look at everyone else gathered behind him, his mouth set into a small smile.

"Is that not worthy of worship? A Being who has no connection to the mortal world, a Being that even deep asleep will answer a simple prayer for health from a non-believer, is that not truly something worth calling a god?"

Everyone except Kazuo nodded slowly, clearly moved by what they were seeing right now.

"And so... after receiving life several times over from the Watcher, I will give it back. I will give Him a following, full of kind people, of determined people, of clever people. I will give up myself to wake this slumbering God!"

Ayumu's voice echoed through the darkness surrounding them.

There was another pause after these words left his lips before anyone spoke again, finally breaking the silence once more as Hikari stepped forward hesitantly before asking Ayumu one last question.

"What do you need us to do?"

Ayumu smiled softly at her request, nodding his head ever slightly in approval.

"Continue my sermons in secret, recruit others who are like-minded, teach them of The Watcher, gather your strength," He said simply. "One day, Wave will shine again."

Ayumu reached into his robe and pulled out several scrolls from within before handing each person present here today their own scroll respectively. 

"All the information I managed to gather about The Watcher is here." He explained calmly without waiting for anyone else's reply first. "It should help you when you try teaching others about Him later on down the line, in case Gatō moves against me tomorrow and I cannot meet with any of you again, just read these. It will explain everything I know about him."

Everyone nodded solemnly, still somewhat stunned by all this new knowledge being thrown upon them suddenly like some kind of dream but they didn't dare question whether or not what Ayumu had shown them was real anymore... Not after seeing such an amazing sight unfold before their very eyes earlier.

"Now..." Ayumu spoke up again, suddenly breaking everyone out of their thoughts once more, causing everyone else present to focus back onto him instead.

"I think I will stay here for a while, meditating and praying. Feel free to join me."

Ayumu sat down on the ground and crossed his legs before closing his eyes silently before beginning his prayers for the night ahead of him.