Licking his lips Naruto turned his back to the seemingly endless sea and made his way below deck to the 'room' he was sharing with Victor. It was actually the storage room where Captain kept things that weren't regularly needed, like spare sheets and emergency food that didn't spoil.
They both had their own hammock instead of beds, because apparently they were better for sleeping in on a boat. Apparently it was very easy to fall out of a bed at night when the boat was constantly rocking to and fro.
....
Victor was off doing…something; he had locked himself in the other storeroom and hadn't shown himself since. Naruto wasn't really sure he wanted to know what the older boy was doing, though based on the sounds of sawing and curses it probably wasn't anything good.
Ignoring his hammock for the moment Naruto carefully made his way to one of the crates to take a seat, using the wall to brace himself as the boat rocked on the waves. He crossed his legs and waited a moment to make sure he wouldn't be thrown off, before letting out a deep sigh and closing his eyes.
It took less than a minute for the world to fade around him; having practiced every day before he left the Leaf slipping into his mindscape had become almost easy for him.
When he opened his eyes again Naruto was once again standing on the Wall that divided the dark side of his mind from the light, turning around he saw his inner counterpart You casually sitting on the side of the wall facing the darker side of his mind, his legs dangling over the edge as he occasionally kicked them out while humming a tune to himself.
Without a word Naruto moved to sit next to the other half of himself, his eyes looking out over the Impure world, wandering across the dead landscape before them in curiosity.
"I take it they all ended up over there? None seemed the type to feel guilt for what they were doing." Naruto said, nodding in the direction of the barren landscape before him.
"Yeah, they weren't exactly a pleasant lot, murderers and thieves mostly, though there was one of them who was the worst of a bad lot, a murderer, a thief and a rapist. They had killed hundreds of people between them, and had kidnapped dozens of others for sick experimentation.
The world is a lot better off without their kind of filth in it." You said as he turned his eyes to Naruto, the blonde not even blinking as he met You's crimson irises.
Naruto was not bothered by this news, in fact if anything it made him feel better about eating their Souls knowing that they were scum of the earth.
"Anything interesting you think I should know about? I know you said you would go through the memories we managed to absorb. Did you find anything interesting like new Jutsu or chakra exercises?"
You upon hearing this leaned back slightly his hands behind his head as he thought about his other half's question. Seeming to come to a decision he looked up again a contemplative look on his face.
"They didn't really have much in the way of Jutsu that we can learn, the lot of them were little more than cannon fodder but there are a few things we work on in our spare time, I will share the relevant memories with you when I have finished sorting through them and then you can practice them with our body."
You said a slight smirk on his face as he looked up at the sun like orb above them, which seemed to have multiple images flickering around in it. The orb was man times bigger than it had been before, it having been expanded by the added chakra the souls Naruto devoured generated.
But the orb did not just contain the chakra of the Souls trapped within Naruto it also was where the memories that had been absorbed were kept. The memories were all of the victim's most recent ones, which could be anything from a week to a couple of month's worth of memories, and it was You's role to sort through these memories and manage the Souls they devoured just as it was Naruto's job to strengthen their body and eat more Souls to keep their body running.
It was almost like they were an engine really, You was the engineer and Naruto was the operator, neither could fully function without the other.
Turning away from the orb to look at Naruto once more the smile slipped off of his face.
"The only other thing I can think of is the fact that the Otokage is a man named Orochimaru, and from the things I have seen he is bad news. I suggest we avoid both him and his village for as long as possible, because it would take a very long time before you could even scratch him."
Before Naruto could answer his eyes were drawn to movement in the barren landscape of the Impure world, something that had never happened before. You had warned Naruto what would happened to anyone who was sent there, but that didn't change the fact he was slightly shocked.
Slowly wondering through the dead trees was a black cloaked figure without legs, floating about two feet off of the ground. The cloak was very loose and covered everything but the lower half of the face and the hands, both of which were covered in scabby grey skin.
Its fingers were twice as long as they would have been, and from what Naruto could see of its mouth the lips were black and what few teeth it had were falling out and pointed.
As he watched the creature turned its head upwards slightly, letting Naruto see under the hood and see the skeletal like face covered in tight grey skin and empty eyeholes under the hood.
This was a Wraith.
You had told Naruto that after his judgment, if a Soul was place going to be placed in the Impure world it would first be forced to experience all the pain and suffering they had inflicted in life. By the end of it they were reduced to nothing but a hollow shell, with no memories or self-awareness.
The dark portion in Naruto's mind wasn't punishment; it was merely the holding cell of what was left after the punishment had been completed. It had been designed by You, who had absolute control over their mindscape just as Naruto had absolute control over their physical body.
When asked by Naruto about whether he was happy with the situation, You had replied yes, he could feel everything Naruto felt and would experience everything he did, and that for him was more than enough.
Plus he had also revealed his slightly sadistic side when he explained how although he enjoyed playing with the animal souls in the light side, he enjoyed messing with the corrupt Souls in the Impure world more.
As Naruto continued to watch, two more wraiths came floating through towards the other, seeming to be unaware of each other despite being within only a few feet apart.
You followed his gaze and gave an indifferent shrug of his shoulders, his face set into a bored expression.
"Pathetic aren't they, don't spend too much time thinking about them Naruto. They got what they deserved."
Naruto winced slightly when he heard that, he knew deep down that You was probably right, but in his young mind it still seemed slightly wrong. It was moments like this that made the blonde realise how different You and him were, they may share the same body and soul, but their two personalities were very different, You was a lot harsher and less forgiving than him despite them being the same age.
Forcing himself to turn away Naruto gave a nod before getting to his feet, moving to look out over the Pure world instead. A moment later You stood up to and came to stand next to him, placing a hand on his shoulder as he did so.
"So you want to start on one of those Jutsu I got from their heads? There are a couple of really cool ones….."
Naruto couldn't help but smile a bit when he heard what You said, they may be very different in some ways, but they were very similar in others, You always knew exactly what to say to cheer him up.
"What kind of cool Jutsu."
"Tell me have you ever heard of elemental manipulation…" You said as he took a step off the wall and leapt towards the light side of the mindscape, Naruto quickly following along after.
...
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