The sky had cleared, but the storm remained in Naruto's body.
Nyx was gone, her presence dispersed like the fog before dawn. And as her darkness lifted, so too did the bonds she had placed on the others. One by one, they fell to their knees, gasping for air, their energies exhausted but their will unbroken. Raven, Kara, Donna, even Gaia—each one bore the bruises of the encounter.
But Naruto…
He was the worst off.
With Nyx's departure, the backlash of her final act struck—his body began to falter again.
Kurama's eyes widened in alarm, as the once slow-burning illness that had long nested in Naruto's body now surged forward with unrelenting fury.
Kurama's voice thundered into the silence, "Gaea, we need to leave. Now!"
"What?" she asked, confused.
"This… this illness… It's what killed Hagoromo." Kurama's expression was grim. "It's the body's rejection. This form, the regeneration, the divine devouring—it all clashed. This body isn't fully Otsutsuki. That's the problem."
He turned his gaze to Naruto, who was clutching his chest, his breathing ragged, and golden chakra spilling from cracks in his skin.
"If he'd completed the Otsutsuki transformation before absorbing Hercules and Hestia's blessing, the body would've adapted. But now? It's breaking down. The blessing introduced a pure divinity opposed to his corrupted evolution. That's why the moment his cycle of life and death ended… it began."
Kurama's voice trembled, not with fear, but with urgency. "There's only one place that holds the cure. The Sanctuary of the Sage—deep in the ninja world."
Gaea didn't question further. She waved her hand and a shimmering gate opened, revealing a familiar mountain range surrounded by endless mist—the holy lands of the Sage of Six Paths.
But this time, only a select few could go.
The multiverse was unstable. An invasion was brewing. And the world they stood on needed protectors. They couldn't risk taking everyone.
Gaia laid down the decision. "Only five of you may go. The rest must stay. A storm is coming, and we need to hold the line."
The chosen were clear:
Naruto, the afflicted.
Kurama, his guardian.
Kushina, his mother, whose chakra mastery could help stabilize him.
Kara, who wouldn't leave him again.
And Pamela, whose botanical magic and knowledge of healing arts had grown sharper with each conflict.
Before stepping into the portal, Naruto sought out one more person—Shuten.
She had awakened moments earlier… and her screams still echoed through the hall.
"All of it… it was a lie?! Everything I loved, everyone I hated—was a LIE?!" Shuten cried, curled up in a ball, trembling, lost in a sea of false memories.
Naruto entered the room, stepping past the broken remnants of her tears.
He didn't say anything at first.
Instead, he knelt before her and hugged her tightly.
She froze, her body instinctively recoiling.
"Shhh…" Naruto whispered gently into her hair. "You don't have to believe in those memories anymore. You don't have to carry that pain."
"But I—" her voice cracked. "I don't even know who I am!"
"I do," Naruto whispered back, holding her even tighter. "You're my daughter."
Shuten choked.
"I don't blame you. I don't regret it. And I don't want you to either," he continued, his voice soft but unwavering. "Let's make new memories, okay? Real ones. From now on. I don't want to lose you again."
For a long moment, silence ruled the room. Then slowly, with a trembling hand, Shuten placed it over his heart and whispered back, "I… I'll try. I'll think of you as my father."
It wasn't a full step—but it was a start.
Naruto smiled. "That's all I ask."
He stood and turned. The gate shimmered with urgency.
Shuten remained behind, watching them leave. She would stay in this world for now, seeking the truth, roaming its lands beside her mother. To live freely. To find herself.
As the gate closed behind the five, carrying them to the distant mountains of the Sage…
The next chapter of Naruto's journey began—with death snapping at his heels, and salvation just out of reach.
The world changed with the death of Naruto. It was unexpected. It was sudden. It was despairing. The Hero of Konoha killed in his sleep.
Everyone was devastated as the news spread like wildfire. His friends were shocked into silence and rage as they starting looking into what happened.
Kakashi employed everything to find the culprit for the heinous crime while Tsunade was still unconscious from overusing her powers in the Pain fight.
Hinata had gone into shock from the news and was unconscious.
The news was received well by no one as all of them had accepted Naruto as their hero and even a future Hokage.
He was the shining light that would bring Konoha to a better place but all of it was lost. Everyone was on high alert and people became suspicious of the ninja. No normal person could kill Naruto even if he was asleep so it had to be a proper ninja not some student. It had to be someone who had the ability to pierce his body and kill him before he could react.
Konoha was already destroyed but the unity was falling fast and in this time Danzo watched from afar as he sent a message to the Daimyo, suggesting a new Hokage for the time the old one was unavailable.
The process went as he wanted and Danzo became the new Hokage, and brought everything to a stop while framing some random jounin for the murder of Naruto.
The Kyuubi was precious and he would never have done such a thing but now he needed to delay the Akatsuki.
Naruto would only attract them towards Konoha, so it was the only step to delay the inevitable for at least 3 years since the Kyuubi would revive.
In this time he would rebuild Konoha, strengthen it and develop a weapon even stronger than the Kyuubi.
Danzo had known about the Rinnegan from legends as he was a very learned person and he had found real proof of its existence in Nagato, before he became Pain.
From that moment he had believed in the legends and started searching for clues to the other legends. From seeing the movement of the Akatsuki, he had already guessed they were intending to revive the ten tailed beast of apocalypse.
From his search he had found the relationship of the Hyuga, Senju, Uchiha and Uzumaki. He had found something really important about the Hyuga, the Tensaigan legend.
The brother of the sage was the ancestor of the Hyuga.
That was obviously not enough, and soon his work was rewarded as he found proof that someone lived on the moon.
He had sent some ninja to explore the moon as the legends said the beast was sealed inside of it. From the search he found proof that people lived inside of it and there was a large energy sources inside.
After that he witnessed the resident of the moon watch the Hyuga clan from afar, not the clan but Hyuga Hinata.
From there he could see that there was something big going on. He could get the man under him if Hyuga Hinata was under his control.
With Hinata gone into shock, she acted like a zombie for a week before Danzo came to meet her and convinced her that Naruto would want her to make Konoha stronger.
He would want the world to be at peace. Using Shisui's eye the affect was ingrained into her mind and even though she would never listen to him, she listened and decided to follow his suggestions.
He provided her training and cleared away her hesitations, making her win against her sister since she saw the big picture instead of worrying about short term slavery for her sister.
She had always been losing on purpose against her sister as she was worried about destroying her life with the slave symbol.
She had promised her mother to protect Hanabi but now with her own hands, she pushed her naïve sister down a peg.
Her position as the heir was in full power again as there was no doubt she had been holding back all this time. Her nature started to change as Danzo made her kill people, drowning her hands in blood.
She continued on this path for Naruto. Everything was dedicated for him, for her love, who died walking this path.
Everything was going well for Danzo especially since Tsunade was taking her time regaining her strength. But things went awry as the fake Madara declared war on them.
Danzo thought it was a joke but the man ended up working with Orochimaru, who had survived Sasuke not so unexpectedly. Sasuke himself had already come back to Konoha upon hearing Naruto's death.
He was shocked more than he had expected. He had felt more pain from his death than his own brothers.
He actually missed Naruto's stupid voice and smiling face. He returned back with Itachi's corpse stored inside his storage seal along with his Team to join Konoha and help them rebuild.
He had learned some secrets so he was aware of Danzo's crime and was sure that he was the one responsible for it.
But attacking the Hokage inside the village was hard especially the crippled bastard never left without a team.
Sasuke started working with Kakashi, who was also suspicious of the man and they were waiting for Tsunade to heal up.
On the other hand war, came to them.
Orochimaru revived the Minato and took control of him, with his revival the Kyuubi's other part was back.
Only the eight tails was left to collect for the finale.
The fake Madara's army consisted of dead ninja that were revived by the forbidden technique. He had summoned all the top ninja of old.
He only gave them a week to prepare and the nations joined together as they saw the threat clearly and the Raikage was made the leader of the joint army.
The fight went as expected as they were losing very badly against the dead ninja and the fake Madara.
Danzo took Hinata and explained to her about the Tensaigan and the man on the moon. It was the only way to save the world.
Hinata agreed to his suggestion and entered the moon where she met with Toneri who had been watching the war.
The real Madara had revived and he was playing with everyone.
Hinata talked to him and Toneri accepted her request as he took out his eyes from the Tensaigan barrier, and put them back inside his eye sockets for his love for Hinata.
He was willing to use this situation and bring peace to the world, and make himself look good. The eyes needed time to awaken so Hinata and Toneri could only talk to each other in the time.
Just like that Toneri learned about Naruto and was very much happy that the bastard was dead or he would kill them personally taking a place in the heart of his princess.
Madara became the Juubi jinchuuriki while only Sasuke was left to fight him after inheriting the power from the sage. He had injected Hashirama cells into his body once he had heard about the war to unlock the Rinnegan so it played a part in him receiving all power of the sage.
He was given a seal on both hands to defeat Madara but it was proving too difficult as he had to adjust to his new powers and fight an opponent much more skilled than him while his allies were incredibly weak.
The ninja army was dying in droves by the elite dead ninja and Toneri arrived on the battlefield clad in his Tensaigan cloak.
With this the battle turned around as Madara was barely stronger than Sasuke who had rinne-sharingan in both eyes and the six paths mode.
Most of the dead ninja were erased by the TSN barrage from Toneri and Madara quickly utilized the Infinite Tsukuyomi but it didn't work on Toneri and Sasuke so he was still in trouble.
The battle started up once again and Black Zetsu stabbed him from behind before engulfing him completely in darkness. He had been unable to sense Zetsu because Black Zetsu was part of Kaguya and Madara was using her powers.
Madara transformed into Kaguya while black Zetsu and Madara disappeared. Seeing the duo she was enraged as they reminded her of her children and the fight started once again.
Kaguya was a lot stronger than Madara especially since more energy from the people caught in the IT was transferred to her body. She had gone beyond her prime state.
This caused a reaction inside of Hinata as she heard the voice of Homura and she awakened the Tensaigan.
She joined the fight and pressurized Kaguya so she threw them into separate dimensions and left them to rot while collecting herself peacefully on Earth.
She had been asleep for thousands of years so her mind was still very slow. Months passed before the trio was finally able to find their way back to earth.
They were all new to their powers so it wasn't easy to find a way to travel through space and get back home safely.
In this time Kaguya had calmed down and she saw potential in her foes. She had also grown stronger while waiting as she had absorbed the power of the sun into her body to reach her limits.
Her kind only went for planets with living people to harvest the fruit because it was the only thing they actually thought of as a delicacy. It was their way of life and they didn't need to absorb energy from the world around the other way because it was unsafe and uncontrolled.
It was work as they had to focus on converting it properly. Kaguya didn't mind as her intelligence had grown because of her aspect collecting data for a thousand year.
She decided to make peace with them but another enemy arose, her partner. Ishiki Otsutsuki had used the war to find a good vessel and made exceptional progress in a short time.
When the trio arrived, Kaguya was engaged in a battle with her superior. Ishiki had revived to his full power and was cancelling out all her abilities with his own. His physical capability was much higher than hers and she was being ragdolled across the planet. He was playing with her, humiliating her before he devoured her existence as she had done the most taboo thing in their clan, betrayal.
The trio didn't understand what was happening but Kaguya explained to them what was happening and her decision.
Another battle started four vs one but it still proved to be pointless, he easily broke them. They couldn't hit with any jutsu as he was faster and his doujutsu could cancel all of them.
He was physically too strong and all his attacks hurt them. No matter how long they fought, they were going to die by the end but they didn't give up as the world was dependent on them.
In the heart of a shattered battlefield, where craters the size of villages pockmarked the earth and the air trembled with residual chakra, the battle paused abruptly.
A strange ripple carved open the sky, a dimensional portal unfurling like a yawning maw of reality itself. Everyone turned—Hinata, battered and bruised; Sasuke, leaning heavily on his sword; even Kaguya and Ishiki froze, sensing something ancient and terrifying approach.
From the light of the portal stepped a man—no, something beyond mortal comprehension.
Naruto Uzumaki returned.
But he was not the boy they had known. No, the Naruto who walked through that portal exuded an aura so potent it stilled even the rampage of battle. His once unruly blond hair now shimmered with golden hues, longer and wilder. His frame had matured dramatically—taller, broader, his body a carved image of divine wrath and resilience. Twin horns curled subtly from his forehead, symbols of celestial blood, while his eyes shimmered with alien depth—one Rinnegan ablaze with stars, the other a swirling storm of gold and white, far more evolved than anything the Otsutsuki had ever seen.
Kurama, the Kyuubi himself, lounged atop Naruto's head with a lazy grin—pride in every strand of his chakra fur. Behind Naruto walked Kara, clad in her solar cloak, her body glowing like a small sun; Kushina Uzumaki, his mother, revived and regal in her crimson attire; and Pamela, his devoted companion and protector, her eyes locked onto the devastated battlefield with worry.
The shift in power was palpable.
Even Ishiki, arrogant and immortallike, took an unconscious step back. His instincts screamed at him. This one... is above me.
Kaguya's pupils dilated in stunned disbelief. No... this isn't just another Otsutsuki. He is something more. Something ancient. Something... original.
Naruto stepped forward, and for a moment, the destruction around him fell silent. The shattered earth hushed, the heavens paused, and even time seemed to respect his return.
His gaze swept across the ruin of his home, and his golden eyes dimmed slightly. Where once proud forests stood, there were now smoldering ruins. Mountains were razed, and whole rivers had been boiled dry. The planet itself groaned in agony. His expression turned grim. Rage flickered in his aura like a dying star reigniting.
Then he saw her—flying toward him like an arrow loosed from the heavens.
"Naruto!" Hinata cried, her voice trembling with raw emotion. She crashed into him, wrapping her arms around his neck, tears streaming down her cheeks. He caught her instinctively, his hands tightening around her as his heart eased for the first time in months.
A warm smile broke across Naruto's face, despite the horror around him. "I'm back," he whispered against her hair.
But the reunion was cut short by a sharp scream.
Kara, ever the protector, had darted forward to face Ishiki, recognizing the danger instinctively. Her aura flared, radiant with the raw energy of the sun. But Ishiki sneered.
"Sad child," Ishiki spoke as he moved, snatching the solar energy mid-air as if it were mere smoke. "You should have learnt from your elders. Your kind fears us like the plague."
With casual cruelty, he drained Kara of her energy and lifted her by the throat, watching the light fade from her eyes.
Naruto's eyes widened in fury. In that instant, his chakra surged, spiraling out like a shockwave that cracked the very air.
"Let. Her. Go." His voice boomed, deeper and layered with something primordial.
He raised his hand and willed it.
Ishiki turned his head, a faint smirk still playing on his lips—only for his body to suddenly convulse.
And then—
He was gone.
Not blasted.
Erased.
Disintegrated from existence itself, his atoms unwound in less than a heartbeat.
The battlefield went dead silent.
Even Kaguya staggered back, stunned. She had seen immortals fall, but not like this. Not without a chance to scream.
But Naruto didn't stand tall.
He coughed, violently. Blood poured from his lips, splattering the ground with ominous crimson. His body trembled, and chakra fluctuated wildly in his system like a storm trapped in a fragile vessel.
"Naruto!" Kara rushed to his side, staggering from the drain but still whole. She grabbed his shoulders, steadying him, while Kurama leapt down, pressing his paws against Naruto's chest, pumping healing chakra into him.
Pamela appeared behind them, golden threads of healing energy weaving between her fingers. "He used too much," she muttered, grim. "That wasn't even a technique. That was will... That wasn't just chakra. It was creation energy."
Hinata held his hand tightly, her own tears falling faster. "Why... why does it hurt you so much?"
Naruto gave her a faint smile, his bloody teeth visible.
"Because I'm not what I used to be…"