Ryosuke knew he was no match for the gatekeeper on the fifty-first floor.

So, he unceremoniously unblocked 100% of the Karma seal, activated the bonus of his talent entries, his strength instantly soared by more than 500,000 times.

The Divine Chakra in his body also transformed into an even higher-quality energy.

Ryosuke wasn't sure if it should still be called Divine Chakra or if...

Should it now be called Super God Chakra?

No matter what—

At this moment, Ryosuke was incredibly powerful.

But even now, he was still far from matching the gatekeeper in front of him.

Raising his hand, he formed a scorching white sphere in his palm, then hurled it at the gatekeeper.

"Your strength has improved a lot, but it's useless."

The gatekeeper stood there, arms folded, allowing Ryosuke's attack to land on him—completely unfazed.

When the white light finally dissipated, the gatekeeper remained completely unscathed.

Ryosuke had given it his all, yet not a single scratch appeared on his opponent.

"Godly Golden Wheel Rebirth Explosion!"

A golden lightsaber slashed down with terrifying power, enough to instantly kill hundreds of millions of invincible god-level powerhouses.

But when the golden lightsaber struck the gatekeeper, it didn't even break a single strand of his hair.

Ryosuke stopped.

He now knew that his attacks were useless against this gatekeeper.

But failing to even touch a single hair left him feeling a little shaken.

At that moment—

"Is your attack over?"

"Now, let me show you the gap between us."

The gatekeeper casually stretched out his right hand, a blue light glowing from his palm.

Then—

A small orb appeared.

With a wave of his hand, the blue orb instantly transformed into a beam of light and shot toward Ryosuke.

"...?"

The gatekeeper suddenly frowned.

As he watched Ryosuke's figure disperse upon impact, a strange glint appeared in his eyes.

At the same time—

Ryosuke had already gotten the answer he was looking for.

"The attack was weakened to 1/301… So the God King level is two levels higher than the High God level?"

A flash of understanding appeared in Ryosuke's eyes.

Then, he couldn't help but curse the Hokage chat group a few times in his mind.

They actually assigned a guardian who is three levels higher than a regular god-level powerhouse to guard the fifty-first floor of the Tower.

Wasn't this blatantly trying to stop people from passing?

What kind of ridiculous setup was this?!

Ryosuke touched his chest—where the gatekeeper had just pierced him.

"Even with the attack weakened to 1/301, it still killed me instantly… The strength of a God King is terrifying!"

But then again, this opponent was two entire levels ahead of him.

Even with his enhanced Indestructible Body, he couldn't avoid being instantly wiped out.

That was just how things were. If he had survived, that would have been the real anomaly.

"However… At least now I've confirmed something that's been bothering me."

"From what I know now, the rankings go like this: God Level → High God Level → ??? → God King Level."

"I wonder if there's an even higher level after God King?"

"But logically, there should be."

"I don't know the name of the level between High God and God King yet… God Level? Lord God Level?"

Ryosuke guessed in his heart.

The Next Day

Parallel World of the Fourth Hokage—Hatake Sakumo.

Ryosuke was sitting in the living room, flipping through a manga.

In the kitchen—

Kushina and Mikoto were busy cooking. Well, Mikoto was busy.

As for Kushina?

She was just making trouble for Mikoto.

Originally, Ryosuke had wanted to help, too.

But both girls insisted that "men shouldn't enter the kitchen"—that the kitchen was a woman's battlefield, and so on.

Ryosuke had no choice. So, he just sat in the living room and read his manga.

This manga was a new release from a renowned manga artist in this world.

It told the story of a ninja named Kojimagawa Jiro.

How was it?

Eh… It was just okay.

Decent enough to kill some time.

At that moment—

Ryosuke regretted his actions from last time.

In a moment of excitement, he had accidentally smashed that game console into pieces.

Otherwise, he wouldn't be stuck reading this boring manga right now.

Instead, he could be playing modern games on that console.

Even though he had no idea what games were in it, they had to be more interesting than this manga, right?

By the time Ryosuke finished most of the manga, Mikoto and Kushina were done preparing dinner.

"Ryosuke, come eat!"

Kushina set the table and called out to him from the dining area.

"Coming!"

Ryosuke put down the manga book and walked over.

"Whoa, looks delicious!"

"Really?"

Mikoto smiled and said, "Then you better eat a lot!"

"No problem!"

Ryosuke grinned.

The three of them sat down, and Kushina handed him a bowl of soup.

"Here, drink this!"

She looked at him expectantly.

Ryosuke could tell from the way she was watching him—this soup was probably made by Kushina herself.

Even if she hadn't done everything, she was probably involved in most of the process.

That's why she looked so eager.

Seeing this, Ryosuke naturally wouldn't let her down.

He picked up the bowl, took a sip. The taste was a bit salty but otherwise decent. It was surprisingly fresh.

"Well? How is it?"

Kushina asked, eyes full of anticipation.

"It's... delicious!"

Ryosuke nodded and pretended not to know who made it.

"Did Mikoto make this?"

Mikoto, sitting across from him, smiled and shook her head—then glanced at Kushina.

"Nope, I made it myself!"

Kushina grinned proudly.

"Oh~! I didn't expect our Kushina to learn how to cook soup!"

Ryosuke acted surprised, then ruffled her hair. He pulled her into a hug, and kissed her on the cheek.

"Thank you for your hard work~! This soup is really good. Looks like you do have some talent in cooking after all, huh?" He chuckled.

Kushina snorted proudly, "Of course! As long as I want to learn, I can definitely learn well!"

Mikoto, who was sitting across from them, blushed when she saw the two acting so intimate, as if no one else was there.

"Enough already, you two!"

"Hurry up and eat!"

She said angrily.

Damn it! They're showing off their love right in front of her!

Mikoto gripped her chopsticks angrily. She wanted sweet love too.

But...

She hadn't met the one she was destined to be with.

"Oh~! Mikoto, are you blushing?!"

Kushina grinned, looking at Mikoto's flushed face, and intentionally spoke loudly.

"Eat your food! Can't you keep your mouth shut while eating?"

Mikoto huffed, picking up a piece of meat and stuffing it into Kushina's mouth.

Kushina giggled as she chewed.

"Mmm! Mikoto's cooking is getting better and better!"

"I wonder who will be lucky enough to marry a virtuous wife like Mikoto in the future."

Kushina teased.

Mikoto's cooking skills were truly amazing.

Ryosuke had tasted food from many different places, even from other worlds.

And among all the chefs he had encountered, Mikoto's cooking ranked in the top five.

No wonder…

Mikoto was considered one of the most beloved wives by fans of Naruto in his past life.

Her high "waifu potential" was definitely a big factor.

...

Night

Mikoto stayed for a while but left at around 9:30.

Kushina asked Ryosuke to walk Mikoto home. Since Ryosuke had nothing else to do, he agreed.

"Alright, I'm here. You can go back and keep Kushina company."

Mikoto stopped at an intersection, the Uchiha clan's compound was just ahead.

Speaking of which, the Uchiha clan in this world had recently come under the control of Madara again.

But Madara had handled things very discreetly.

Aside from the upper echelons of the Uchiha clan, very few people knew about it.

After all…

With Madara's power, if he didn't want to be noticed, even Sakumo, who was at quasi-Super Kage level wouldn't be able to detect him.

"Alright, rest well. We'll meet again soon!"

Ryosuke nodded, watching Mikoto turn and walk toward her clan's grounds before heading back.

At that moment, Mikoto glanced back after taking a few steps.

"I wish I had met Ryosuke-kun sooner."

She thought silently as she watched him walk away.

During this time, Mikoto had found herself liking this boy, even though he was much younger than her.

There was something about him—many things, actually—that she was drawn to.

Compared to the men she usually interacted with, he gave her a special feeling that no one else had ever given her.

But what made her feel helpless was…

He was already with her good friend Kushina. And the two hadn't hidden their relationship at all.

Mikoto wasn't blind. She could clearly see that Kushina had given herself completely to him.

With that in mind, how could she bring herself to take a man from her friend?

Even though Kushina had jokingly said she'd share him, Mikoto felt that it was just a joke.

As a woman, who would want to share the same man with someone else unless there was no other choice?

Even with the best of friends…

That just didn't happen.

Standing under the streetlight, Mikoto let out a faint sigh.

Then, she turned around and returned to the clan grounds.

...

The next day

Having only slept for a little over two hours, Ryosuke got up early.

Leaving Kushina who was still fast asleep, he washed up, then went downstairs to head out and buy a few things.

But as soon as he opened the door—

A figure suddenly collapsed into his arms.

Since Ryosuke didn't sense any danger, he instinctively caught them.

What's going on?

He looked down in surprise at Mikoto, unconscious in his arms. His mind was full of confusion.

"Did she… faint?"

He quickly examined her condition.

Mikoto seemed to have passed out from exhaustion.

Her chakra was nearly depleted, and the pupil power in both her eyes was severely drained.

Ryosuke looked up at the sky. There were no enemies chasing her.

Extending his senses, he confirmed that there was no danger within hundreds of kilometers.

"What happened here?"

He was completely dumbfounded. His shopping trip would have to wait.

Carrying the unconscious Mikoto, he turned back inside and laid her down on the sofa in the living room.

After settling her down, he checked again.

Aside from her chakra and pupil power being drained, there didn't seem to be any other issues. That was a relief.

"From the looks of it, this seems like a case of overexertion during training. I've been through this myself." He analyzed the situation.

But… how could there be such a coincidence?

Just as he was about to leave, Mikoto lost all her strength and fell from the sky?

Also—

How did she end up in the sky in the first place?

Did she use the perfect Susanoo to fly?

But her eyes were just ordinary Mangekyō Sharingan, not Eternal Mangekyō.

How could she use Perfect Susanoo?

"Forget it. I'll ask her once she wakes up."

Ryosuke turned to the kitchen, poured a glass of water, and placed it on the table near the sofa.

Then, he sat down on a single-seater sofa, picked up the manga from yesterday, and continued reading while waiting for Mikoto to wake up.

Considering that she isn't an ordinary person, she should recover soon.