"Miss Ino, how can I be of assistance?" Hades took form and have her small nod as a greeting.
He was a tall man with a slim but muscular build. He was not wide as his brothers or Naruto but he was taller.
He had exceptional looks like his brothers. He had dark eyes that always seemed cold and uncaring but people who knew him knew that he was the kindest among his siblings.
He had black hair combed in an official manner and he wore dressing style that was official. Unlike Posiedon who was casual and Zeus who mostly wore his luxurious style, Hades changed style according to the situation and preferred the official style.
He had small goatee instead of a full beard like his brothers and he was a close friend of Naruto once they all took the right step.
Hades was a dark mage like Nemesis. He was a necromancer and his domain was the underworld.
He represented Death but that was not a domain any of them could have, so he only got a weaker version of it.
He could not bring people to life and he did not have authority over death.
Regardless, Hades was satisfied with his domain and was among the strongest of his kind.
His power continued to increase as more people died and with that he had access to powerful soldiers.
Necromancy was not a taboo under Naruto. There were restrictions in place so that people didn't just collect corpses of people willy nilly. They had to make a contract with the person before his death and only then were they allowed to use the body.
This restriction was taken off when the world entered the emergency phase.
"Just Ino, Hades. We are friends, no need to act so formal." Ino stood up and gave him a hug before having him take a seat.
Today she was wearing a purple shirt qi Pao with floral design that left her beautiful legs open and emphasized her sexual regions.
Most men would be unable to look away from her bare legs or her chest. Even her face was too charming to ignore with that red lipstick and black outline on her eyes.
Just like always she just gave off a succubus like vibe that mesmerized the viewer.
Hades was not such a person that would indulge in such flights of fancy. He was also a married person, and loved his wife dearly.
"Apologies Ino, but this is just how I am." Hades gave a small smile as he looked at Ino. He had noticed that Naruto was with Amaterasu and looked away.
As a friend he knew it will hurt Ino a lot to know that Naruto hid this from her but sometimes you had to hurt the people you loved to protect them.
"Well, it would be better if you did change. Moving on, how's Persephone?" Ino wasn't like Naruto and would usually make small talk before getting to her real topic.
Naruto made small talk after getting his goal out of the way.
"She is doing fine, just waiting for your new designs. She was also working on some new flowers." Hades had a gentle smile when he talked about his wife. Among the Immortals, he was one of the lucky ones that his partner survived.
His brother Posiedon lost his wife while Hera had become insane.
One was forced to find companionship with his chosen while one took care of his wife so she would return to a normal state.
"Hmm, no details." Ino put her chin on her hand and tapped her face as she thought about her partner.
Persephone was someone she was also contracted with and they were close friends. Gaea may represent nature but Persephone had to with harvest and flowers.
They both hit it off and they designed beautiful and enchanting flowers, normal and deadly.
Ino utilized poisons that affected the nervous system. One scratch from her nails would paralyze anyone with weak poison resistance and even a kiss would send them on their way.
She utilized a vine whip with thorns and it was a poisonous as heck.
"You know her well. Just like how your next design is a surprise, she wants this to be a surprise. She said that you will love it." Hades was not someone that knew much about plants but for his wife he had learnt many things.
She was the fire of his life and brought him joy.
"Wonderful, I will give her a call and we can talk in detail. Now, the reason for my call." Ino clapped her hands happily as she got up and poured some tea for Hades, and passed him the cup.
She always drank this tea as it helped her focus and increase her mental strength. It was one of the valuable plant life that required a delicate environment and expert care.
The tea was made by experts from the Yamanaka and Akimichi clan.
Hades took the tea and waited for her words. He was curious since none of them ever met like this without a good reason. It wasn't a time where people could act in fake seriousness.
"Hades, what is true memory? Does the soul remember even when the brain does not?" Ino sat down with a cup of tea and placed it on the desk as she looked at him with a serious gaze.
Her light blue eyes shined with curiosity and desire for an answer.
Her question was surprising for Hades and it was a topic he had been working on for a time.
True memory of a person was something he had looked into long before he arrived on this world.
Taking a sip, Hades put the cup on the desk, "True memory is in the soul. Even if you erase memory from the mind, it will still remain in the soul. The body is just the vessel and the soul is what truly defines our existence. You can still live when the body dies but you can never say that for the soul.
This question I assume relates to getting memory from a target that has been mind wiped, if so then I can read their soul."
Ino nodded as she also agreed with that thought process. She just didn't have the study for it and it was just an opinion. Hades confirmed it with facts.
Even her opinion was based upon other facts that weren't directly connected to it but indirectly gave this same point.
"Is memory eternal? Are souls eternal or are they temporary? Can souls truly die?" Ino continued as this was the actual question in the end. It could decide how she could walk forward from now on.
She was the pioneer of her division. The mental plane was her battlefield. She was the expert and people needed very high stat difference to overcome her skills.
But her main skills were useless on things that didn't have a mental plane.
"Souls are eternal from what I have observed. You can not truly destroy a soul but you can injure it. The soul seems to enter a comatose stage as it thinks it is dead, but it is not truly dead.
I have experimented on this subject and never managed to destroy a soul. You can capture it and make it comatose but true destruction seems impossible. The soul will always gather back and return to its true form. But when we come to the memory, it becames quiet difficult to answer.
From what I have experienced, memory seems to disappear when you erase it from a soul. It can even become hazy when the soul is ripped apart but the thing is, if we are to believe that a soul is eternal than the memory should exist. Eternal and impossible to kill so why should the memory disappear from such a thing.
I looked into it and saw that even when we think a soul is destroyed, it just becomes hard for us to locate and not actually dead. From there I believe that memory is the same, it is there but difficult for us to locate as it has been pushed too deep. It could be a defence mechanism of the souls, I suppose. Does this answer your curiosity, Ino?" Hades explained slowly as he stood up and walked in front of Ino.
With a wave of his hand he showed a soul and divided into piece before joining it together.
Ino watched with concentration and focused on his explanation.
Hades was an expert on the souls just like Osiris.
"How sure are you on this topic and what is the view of others?" Ino leaned back into her seat and put her right leg into her left.
Hades stopped pacing and looked at the portrait of Naruto with Ino.
"I am very sure. I cannot prove it as fact but within the limits of my abilities, it is my assessment. Osiris is slightly weaker in this field but he can't deny it either. Amaterasu has been unable to bring a soul back from erasure and the memory back either but she also can't deny my view. It is just the limits of our abilities and what I have said can not be denied. Lord Seventh is still below us in this field and only the defence is very high at the moment, so he would be unable to form a proper opinion on this topic as well."
Ino nodded as it was true or she would have just asked Naruto for help. he was strong but he wasn't the top in all fields. She wouldn't go to him for help in swordsmanship but go to Sasuke or Bee or Darui or the Seven Swordsmen.
"I understand. Now, I want to get the memories that are gone from my target. From what I understood from the explanation is that we can try mixing my psychic speciality with your soul manipulation. I control the world of the mind by making it take physical shape and by exploring it, I can see all memories. Using this method I can get things even the target has forgotten but I could never get what was erased. I have tried for a long time and failed, so how about mixing it?" Ino put her leg down and looked at him as her mind went through many calculations and tried to comprehend what was given.
"Mixing...I have never really tried your method but it is worth a try. Would you like to start now or some time later?" Hades brushed his beard as he took her words. He was intrigued by her proposal. He had stopped looking into this topic for a long time now since he hit a wall but maybe this was a new breakthrough for him.
He was aware of Ino's power. She used to be a weak little mortal but now she stood equal to him. It was something that made him respect her for and take her words seriously.
The generation of miracles was worthy of their name and Hades was happy to lend them a hand.
If Naruto hadn't been such a powerful leader, they would have just made these mortals their chosen and taken their powers when needed.
It was unfair in a way but that was reality. The old version of these mortals weren't worthy of being listened to.
"Hmm, hubby should be gone for some time..." Ino stood up and felt Naruto's chakra. She had part of his chakra in her body so it reacted to the discharge.
"Lord Seventh seems to have found a way to combat Jashin." Hades felt better about it as well since many young souls had disappeared into the gullet of that abomination.
Ino was happy about it as she knew how sensitive Naruto was about the lives of innocent people especially kids.
"Will he come back or will he be late?" Ino contacted Hinata to ask her opinion.
"He will be back around five like usual." Hinata stopped as she was cross examining the city personally. The others were doing the check up but she wanted to have look as well for a stronger analysis.
With the confirmation from Hinata, "Let's do it now. We can enter your domain for the experiments and better time management."
Hades understood her concerns, the time in his domain was faster than the normal world so a day was equal to an hour.
She had the capability to enter the Immortal realm and even had permission.
'Is this okay?' Hades questioned as Naruto was engaged is carnal relationship with his wives and some words could slip the others or Ino might sense something. It would not be a happy situation.
Trusting Naruto's and Amaterasu's sense of decency that stopped anyone from thinking about such things, Hades accepted Ino's words.
"Then, let us depart." Hades offered as he extended his hand and Ino took it as both their bodies transformed into smoke and vanished.
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A.n Hope you enjoyed and comment.
I am following the actual manga so I am aware where the story is going. It is not similar to this story. After writing this, I actually realized how there has been no mention of the Otsutsuki clan and such. Like nothing, there really is no seriousness or feeling of a threat in the manga or anime.