The Strongest Race

Location: Ucia, The Ucian Archipelago, Pandora's Cluster

Ucia – a planet that existed at one of the furthest reaches of the universe and home to the strongest race in the cosmos. The Ucians secluded themselves from all other advanced races in the universe.

The planet Ucia itself was also unique since it orbited a black hole, albeit a large distance away from it to not get pulled in. While all other stars released light that lit up their surrounding planets, this dead star absorbed all light that reached it, plunging Ucia into a state of perpetual darkness. There was no such thing as natural daytime on this planet. It was always night time. However since light is essential for life to exist, the Ucians created large artificial low orbit satellites known as illuminators over every city which shone light and other forms of radiation down on the land below during a certain part of each day, playing the same kind of role as the sun did for Earth. This created an artificial day-night cycle for the inhabitants of the planet. But even then, there were a lot of other factors that were also controlled by the Ucians to make the existence of life possible on this unconventional planet. Nonetheless, this was the place the Ucians chose to live in due to some very particular reasons.

A young man about the same age as Naruto and Hinata, 26 was currently walking through an empty street of the largest city on this planet. This city was special however since it was built and dedicated entirely to research purposes. It was a place where the brightest minds were brought together to investigate various phenomenon. Given that it was night time, the illuminators were currently non-operational and as such darkness shrouded the entire city. Also since that working hours were over and there were no residential areas in the city, the place was like a ghost town at this time.

Sasuke walked through the dimly lit streets of research city until he arrived at the entrance of one of its largest facilities. The sign at the entrance read "Humanoid Research Facility". As soon as Sasuke stepped in front of the doors, they slid open having performed an automatic identification check. It did not take him long before he was in front of his destination, a room inside the building whose sign read "Classified Research Area – Designated Personnel Only". Although very few people could get into this place or even knew what was inside, Sasuke was simply able to walk in without any issues at all. After all, he was the person in charge.

The room was almost entirely empty as far as the eyes could so. There was only one large cylindrical tube at the middle of the room which was connected from the floor to the roof. The research chamber was filled with some form of transparent liquid and a three year old child with dark purple hair was floating within it, countless wires connected to almost every part of his body and a respirator covered his face apart from his eyes, which were both forced shut with two small metallic pads that were also used for taking measurements. The child seemed to be asleep right now due to the effect of anaesthetics.

Sasuke spent a few seconds staring at the large screen in front of the tube, looking at the results that were being displayed. Eventually after a while he looked up at the subject of interest. So far his expression was emotionless but as soon as he caught a glimpse of the little boy, Sasuke's face visibly showed anger. He looked annoyed and frustrated. He was not happy to say the least.

"Three years' worth of research. Three…long…years and NOTHING!" He shouted for the first time since he arrived at the place, no one else present to hear him. "What is up with this child? He is from the lineage of the current Hyuyan royal family. We got the absolute best we could find. Yet we've made no progress whatsoever. One anomaly after another. WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU KID?!"

Sasuke was normally a very calm and emotionless man, but at this instance even he couldn't control his anger. Before he could do anything else though, he received a notification that there was a call from him. Although he didn't want to talk to anyone right now, once he saw the one who was calling he reluctantly received it.

"What is it Tobi?" He asked in a stoic tone that was more in line with how he usually talked. "I'm not in the mood to have a conversation right now."

"Trust me Sasuke I have ground breaking information. I wouldn't have called you otherwise." Tobi said in a very serious tone. "It would seem that your idea of tailing the Hyuyan princess was well worth the effort. The person she came to Earth to meet is one you would never be able to guess."

"If I cannot possibly guess then what are you waiting for? Stop wasting my time and tell me already so that I can get back to work."

"The person she came to meet and the one who is the father to her children is none other than Naruto. I'll repeat it once again if it wasn't clear. The father of that child we have in our possession is Naruto!"

There was a moment of silence between the two.

"Naruto…wait…NARUTO?!" Sasuke's normally emotionless voice now showed astonishment. "You do not actually mean it's him? How is that even possible? After everything that happened to him during his birth, how did he even survive? There's absolutely no way he could be the father of this child. Are you sure about this? I mean you were there when it all happened right…the annihilation of his race."

"Indeed I'm positive and it's all starting to become clear to me now." Tobi replied. "His mother planned this all along to protect him from me and to save him from meeting the same end as the rest of his kind. She intended for him to be sent to Earth, the place where his father originated from. Her plan worked as well since I was completely unaware of Naruto's location up until now. But thanks to the Hyuyan princess, he is now right in front of my very eyes."

"Has he realised yet who he truly is?" Sasuke asked. "Did the Hyuyans figure it out?"

"No, it would seem they have not. He thinks of himself as a mere Earthling….how wrong he is." Tobi sighed at the thought. "Naruto does not yet know about his own lineage and powers. He has no recognition of the fact that he is the last remaining member of a now extinct race which was once known to be amongst the strongest in the universe. Given that I have known him since his birth, it is almost sad to see him so unaware about his own self."

Sasuke was deep in thought until a sudden realisation struck him. "WAIT! It's all starting to make sense now. If Naruto is the father of this child then that would mean that this child you've captured has inherited his genes as well, which would account for the various anomalies we've been encountering thus far in our results. Since we previously only knew the mother's identity and assumed the father to also be a run off the mill Hyuyan, we were thrown off completely when the results from analysing this child were different from our expectations. But as it turns out, his father is anything but regular."

"Indeed, that is what I wanted to tell you. I think we can finally start to unravel the mystery behind our little test subject with this breakthrough. There was a reason why he exhibited traits unfamiliar to a regular Hyuyan after all. What is most amazing though is the fact that his parents actually got together and had a child in the first place, especially given the very unusual way in which the people of both of their races pick their partners. And not only that, but Naruto is the only one left of his race living on Earth. Under these circumstances it is a miracle that he was able to meet a Hyuyan, let alone marry her and conceive a child together."

"That was our original goal after all, to analyse the DNA from the Hyuyan and Naruto's races and then produce computer simulations of what a combined genetic sequence from both races might look like. That was the whole reason we brought this child here after all. But it would seem what we have right in front of our eyes is leaps and bounds beyond what we ever hoped to achieve - a living breathing specimen that has inherited the genes of both races. We just didn't notice it, perhaps because it was beyond our expectations." For the first time there was a smile on Sasuke's face as he touched the glass tube holding the boy.

"Given the mixing of his mother and father's genes, I would even surmise that the child may have inherited the powers of the long lost ancestral race…the key that we seek." Tobi added.

"This child…if his parental lineages truly have granted him the power of the ancestors, then he may very well become our trump card. We just need to find a way to awaken that dormant power." Sasuke said while he observed the boy closely.

"You're absolutely right. But for now, I'm going to go pay Naruto a visit. The last time I saw him was right after his birth. I would like to meet him again. It has been too long after all."

"You will do no such thing Tobi." Sasuke ordered strictly. "Return back to Ucia at once. Your job there is done."

"I'm afraid I cannot do that Sasuke. I want to meet Naruto face to face. It is something that I have to do."

"No, you can't. I cannot let you take that risk."

Tobi laughed loudly at the statement. "You are not insinuating that Naruto would be able to harm me in any way are you? Or perhaps you are thinking that the battalion the Hyuyan leader sent after his daughter is going to stop me?"

Indeed as they spoke, an entire battalion unit of several hundred Hyuyan warships were scattered all around the various solar system planets watching out for anything unusual happening around Hinata. This was done by her father without her knowledge to ensure her safety.

"You're wrong." Sasuke replied. "I'm not afraid of what they might do to you. Rather I fear what you might do to them. Understand Tobi that Naruto is still an incredibly valuable subject as the last remaining survivor of an extinct race. Until we are sure this child can provide us with what we want, it is paramount we do not do anything to jeopardise Naruto's life. He could be vital later on."

"I do not have any intention to hurt him-"

"You are the person who despite me telling you to steal this child stealthily after he was born, decided to barge into the Hyuyan planet, give their princess an impromptu surgery to forcibly extract her child and EMPed part of their planetary defence system to escape." Sasuke explained as calmly as he could despite the irritation he had. "Plus given your history with Naruto and his race, I do not trust you to have subtlety."

Tobi sighed on account of his own actions. "I suppose I cannot argue with that, but it doesn't change the fact that I will meet Naruto once again."

Sasuke knew that once Tobi had set his mind on something, it was impossible to turn it around. "Fine have it your way. You can meet him, but not right now. We will keep track of his whereabouts, so I want you to wait a bit longer until we've conducted some more research on his child. In return when you do go to meet him, I will let you take the fox with you."

"The fox!" Tobi was excited from hearing the proposition. "I wonder how Naruto will react. Yes that could be interesting. Very interesting indeed. Fine I'll take you up on that offer. I'm coming back. I'll talk to you once I return."

"Good, I'll be waiting. For now we can leave Naruto and the Hyuyan princess alone. There is much we need to discuss and undertake in regards to their child." With those final words of Sasuke their communication ended.

Sasuke looked up at the boy and pondered about all the possibilities. His excitement was starting to become visible. He turned around and focused his vision at a point a few feet in front of him. His eyes glowed red, activating one of the Ucian's special abilities. The point where Sasuke focused his eyes was torn apart, creating a dark void in the spacetime continuum. A small black entranceway the size of a human now floated in front of Sasuke.

"I suppose I should not waste any time in getting started." Sasuke said to himself as he stepped through the portal to the other side of the boundary.

Outside of the laboratory room, another man a few years older than Sasuke was listening to the entire conversation. Although his expression would not tell it, he was rather perturbed by what he heard.

"What are you planning to do with that child Sasuke?" Itachi asked himself, worried about the future of the various races that were now involved in this incident.

Location: Prison of Beasts, The Eye's Dimension, Unknown Space.

Sasuke walked within darkness. As far as the eyes could see there was nothing around. But he kept walking because his special eyes told showed him the way. The place where Sasuke was walking through right now was a location only a few Ucians could enter whose eyes were strong enough to tear open a hole in the fabric of spacetime. That is why this place was called "The Eye's Dimension" and it was in a completely unknown part of space.

The Eye's Dimension was an incredibly large place. No one even knew exactly how large it was. Hence it was divided into several smaller parts. The part where Sasuke was located right now was used as a prison to keep a certain beast locked in from the outside world. A beast too powerful to control. Sasuke finally arrived in front of the beast.

A colossally large mechanical fox laid in front of Sasuke in a deep slumber. The beast's size made Sasuke look like an ant in comparison. The fox's tail would go on for miles if it weren't curled up right now. Just one look at its menacing face would send shivers down anyone's back and make them lose consciousness out of fear. But Sasuke stood in front of the beast unflinchingly, looking at it with great curiosity.

"Naruto, your race may not exist any longer but look at this beautiful relic of destruction that they have left behind." He said with a malevolent smile. "Although the Ucians could only imprison the beast thus far, we now finally have the key that will allow us to gain control of it. And I can only thank you and the Hyuyan for providing us with that key…in other words, your son."

"To control this beast that child's dormant powers must be awakened, and I think I know how. Let's see what happens when the kid is influenced by this beast's blood lust. After all, his kind is the one that created this beast in the first place." Sasuke proceeded to press several buttons on the small screen attached to his wrist to initiate preparations. "Now child, show me the power that results from combining your mother's Hyuyan lineage with your father's Uzumark lineage. Bring forth the power that was lost from this universe many millennia ago. The power that is said to rival even the Ucians."

Thus unbeknownst to Naruto and Hinata, their son was about to face great pain.

A little change of pace. We'll go back to Naruto and Hinata again of course, but I wanted to introduce the other main race in this chapter.

The Crimson Lotus King: A lot of times when I am by myself and I'm trying to solve a problem, I tend to explain it to myself out loud. Of course I don't do that in public because that would be weird. But is this just me? I thought others might do that too. Now you've got me a bit worried. Since I kind of do it myself, I made Tobi do that little external monologue. If it seems a bit out of place you could imagine it being his internal thought as well.

anon: Naruto the space opera. I like that name lol.

As always, thanks for reading and let me know your thoughts in reviews. Until next time, be well and take care :)