Chapter no.103 The Three Eyes of Naruto

"Your objective is simple," Danzo said, his voice calm but commanding as it echoed through the fog of the Baku clan's dream realm. "Show me what you have done with the Blade of Wind."

Around Naruto, dozens of white humanoid figures stood still as statues. They were faceless and unnervingly human in shape while holding a weapon.

"So these are my training partners? Creepy choice, old man."

"They will be enough to test your growth," Danzo replied flatly. He tapped his staff against the reflective ground, and the mannequins began to move, joints cracking as they came to life.

Naruto exhaled through his nose and brought his hands together. His right hand formed one set of signs while his left worked on another.

Danzo observed silently, his sharp eye following every motion. "Two jutsu at the same time. Most shinobi cannot maintain the mental precision to control parallel chakra flows. It requires perfect timing and discipline. One mistake, and they will collide and collapse."

Naruto grinned. "Yeah, that happened the first couple of times. But I figured it out. Turns out, if you cast the same jutsu twice, the chance of interference lowers."

"There should still be a slight delay when forming two jutsu at once," Danzo said, his tone calm but probing. "Unless you have somehow developed a second chakra network?"

"No, I'm still human." Naruto could almost hear Oscar's sarcastic snort in the back of his mind. "But I figured out a trick to make it work anyway."

"Then demonstrate it."

The word had barely left Danzo's mouth before two mannequins lunged forward, weapons gleaming. One swung a short sword toward Naruto's ribs while the other slashed downward with a kunai aimed for his neck.

Naruto's armoured leg shot out, shin clashing against the sword with a sharp clang as his left hand flicked forward, unleashing a nearly invisible ripple of wind. The head flew off in a spray of white fragments.

The other mannequin darted low, aiming for his legs. Naruto spun midair, his right palm slicing outward, releasing another compressed wave. The kunai shattered on impact, and the mannequin's head split in two.

Danzo nodded slightly. "You use the Blade of Wind as if wielding two swords. The alternating delay between casts gives the rhythm of dual-weapon combat."

Naruto grinned. "I have learned in dual swordsmanship that you can't attack with both blades at once. One covers, one cuts. You build rhythm of one strike flows into the next."

"Indeed," Danzo said, studying him closely. "It allows you to attack from two vectors at once, misdirecting the opponent. Effective, but inefficient as your chakra output is wasteful."

"I am still working on it."

Danzo tilted his head slightly. "Is that all you have done with it?"

Naruto frowned internally. He could almost hear the old man's intent. Trying to see if I'll show everything, huh? Danzo wasn't testing his jutsu; rather, he was testing his judgment—seeing how much Naruto would reveal.

Naruto decided to give him a show without showing his full hand.

"You want to see something new? Fine, but I need a crowd to show off."

The crowd of mannequins began twitching to motion as they began sprinting toward Naruto in a unified rush.

Naruto's body slipped through the gaps in their formation with ease while setting up his jutsu.

A puff of white smoke burst behind him, and a dozen shadow clones appeared in a semicircle formation, each already weaving the same jutsu.

Wind Style: Blade of Wind Barrage!

The sound that followed was like a hurricane trapped inside a bell. Invisible blades erupted from every direction, crossing paths and tearing through the mannequins. When the storm subsided, Naruto stood at the center with his arms outstretched and said, "And that's how it's done."

"Just a variant made from combining shadow clones with the original jutsu."

"You think any average shinobi is walking away from that?"

"You think the average shinobi will be sent after you in the Chunin Exams?"

Naruto scowled, unable to argue with that. "Fine then," he said, squaring his shoulders. "Why don't you show me how you'd use the Blade of Wind?"

The shattered pieces of the mannequins began to vibrate, fragments of limbs and weapons rising from the ground. They swirled together like a storm of broken glass, forming into a giant humanoid shape that towered over both of them.

Danzo stepped forward. His hand weaved a single hand sign and released it in a burst of focused wind. A massive cleaver of air erupted from his motion, slicing through the giant in a single strike. The gash ran clean through, and the creature collapsed into dust that never touched the ground.

Naruto blinked, impressed despite himself. "So you combined Vacuum Blade with Blade of Wind to create a massive version of the jutsu," he said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "I thought of that too, but I couldn't figure out how to merge the compression without destabilizing the chakra flow."

"You did?"

"Yeah." Naruto stepped closer, excitement creeping into his tone. "Since the Blade of Wind comes from the waterfall cutting exercise, I figured... why stop at cutting a person? Why not split something bigger? Guess I was missing the link on how to make the blade bigger. Looks like you just gave me that."

Danzo's visible eye narrowed faintly, though whether in irritation or interest, Naruto couldn't tell.

The old man raised his cane again, and another mannequin formed, towering over Naruto. The boy cracked his neck and reached into the air, focusing his will, as this was a realm of dreams. A massive zweihander shimmered into existence, translucent at first, before solidifying in his grip.

The blade felt wrong; it was too light for his liking. "Right, dream world," he muttered. "Not exactly the real deal."

He adjusted his grip, taking the Fool's Guard stance, his left foot forward and blade angled down. His right hand began weaving signs while his left infused the weapon with chakra. A sharp, whirling sound filled the air as the wind chakra coated the sword's edge.

"That application resembles the Sickle Weasel Technique."

Naruto smiled faintly. "Yeah, I asked Kakashi about it since scroll said the Blade of Wind is to the Sickle Weasel what a longsword is to a kunai. The Sickle Weasel is thrown by channeling wind chakra through a weapon, while the Blade of Wind is projected straight from the hands. So I figured, if I wanted to create a great Blade of Wind, I'd need something solid to contain and focus the jutsu."

He raised the zweihander high and brought it down in a clean cut. The edge of his sword unleashed a nearly invisible arc of wind that sliced the mannequin neatly in half.

"You used the mechanics of the Sickle Weasel alongside the principles of the Blade of Wind and Vacuum Blade. You stabilized the chakra flow by binding the release medium to a solid edge." Danzo paused, his voice heavy with reluctant approval. "At this point, that is no longer a mere variant. You have created an entirely new jutsu."

"Great, I'm thinking Wind Style: Fruit Ninja is a perfect name."

Danzo stared at him in complete silence.

"Come on, you can't tell me that's not a fun name," Naruto added, looking far too pleased with himself.

"I see you've inherited your father's terrible naming sense."

Naruto huffed. "Oh please, I could've gone for something long and complicated like Wind Style: Sequential Air Pressure Rotational Cleaver Technique, but I figured a fun name was better."

"You want to give a whimsical name to a jutsu that can cleave a man in half?"

Naruto thought for a moment, then nodded.

"Regardless of the name, there are clear limitations to this so-called greatsword version of the technique." His tone grew sharper, though he left the statement hanging.

Naruto caught on quickly. "Well, the first issue is the hand sign sequence. I'm basically merging two different jutsu patterns into one, and that makes the process clunky. I'll have to find the right combination of seals to stabilize it. The second problem is activation time as it takes too long to form. It's not really a battle-ready technique unless..." He paused, tapping his chin. "Unless I seal it in my sword beforehand and release it instantly as a surprise attack."

"Thinking like an Uzumaki."

The old hawk's single eye lingered on the boy for a moment longer than usual. Beneath his emotionless expression, Danzo was quietly assessing. It hadn't been long since he had handed Naruto the scroll for the Blade of Wind, yet the boy had not only mastered it but reshaped it, molding it to suit his own fighting style and personality.

He was improvising, innovating, and improving. A terrifying combination for someone so young.

Naruto was already lost in thought again. "Still, Fruit Ninja kinda fits though, right? I mean, if I can slice through air, rocks, and training dummies, fruit doesn't stand a chance."

The fog hung thick and unmoving between them. For a while, neither spoke. Naruto shifted his weight, rocking back slightly on his heels before breaking the silence. "So… was that enough to pass your little test?"

"The test was never about the technique itself. I wanted to see who you are."

Naruto raised an eyebrow, a little surprised at the bluntness. Danzo was usually more cryptic, always hiding meaning behind layers of manipulation. Maybe this is another test, Naruto thought. Old hawk probably wants to see how I react.

"So then, who do you think I am?"

"You are the son of Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki. You carry your father's ingenuity and the ability to see the battlefield differently. Alongside your mother's unyielding will and power."

"So basically, I'm awesome."

Danzo's tone didn't waver. "You adapt quickly, you recognize weakness, and you exploit it without hesitation. You think in motion. But you lean too much on instinct. Instinct wins battles. Strategy wins wars."

"So what, you want me to start planning everything out like Shikamaru? Sounds boring."

"You don't have to be like Nara," Danzo replied evenly. "You simply need to think before the blow is struck. You react to what's in front of you, but a shinobi must react to what will be in front of them. Anticipation is the difference between survival and regret."

"That's a poetic way to call me reckless."

"Reckless men either die before their potential or become legends. Time will decide which you are."

Naruto's grin widened. "Then I'll just make sure it's the second one."

Danzo was quiet for a moment, then, almost casually, he said, "Let me ask you something, Uzumaki. A simple hypothetical. You are the captain of a ship. One of your crew falls ill with a deadly, contagious disease. If you do nothing, the rest of your crew will die. What do you do?"

"That's a messed-up question."

"Answer it."

"Heal him with my jutsu."

"You cannot heal him in time."

"Do I have someone who can?"

"No."

"Then I do what I can," Naruto said. "I isolate him. Make sure no one else gets infected. I buy time. Maybe find a way to ease his pain. And if there's truly no hope, I let him go cleanly. Not out of fear. Out of mercy."

"Why waste time?" Danzo's voice was level, but it carried an edge. "Why risk the lives of the many for one man? Mercy is sentiment. Sentiment kills."

"Mercy doesn't kill people. Fear pretending to be logic does."

"A true commander acts before emotion clouds the mind. The sick man's death preserves the crew. You ensure survival."

Naruto exhaled softly and said, "Survival's not the same as living, old man. You kill the sick one without trying, and the rest of the crew might still breathe but they're already dead inside. They'll never trust you again. And the next time something goes wrong, they won't move for you. They'll freeze because they'll know they're next."

"Fear commands obedience."

"Fear commands silence," Naruto replied. "Not loyalty. Silence cracks when things get bad. People who trust you fight even when they're afraid. People who fear you just wait for someone braver to kill you."

There was a faint shift in the air as Danzo's version of surprise. "You speak as though you've already led men to their deaths."

"You don't need to lead men to understand what dying for the wrong reason looks like. So, what kind of shinobi does that make me, old man?"

Danzo regarded him with that calm, unreadable gaze. "A shinobi worthy of becoming Hokage."

"Eh?!"

Danzo's tone didn't waver. "A Hokage must be the light that guides the village… but also the hand that makes the difficult choices when the light falters. You have the will to do both."

"Thanks," Naruto muttered, though his tone was wary. He didn't like how Danzo said it like a chess move disguised as flattery.

Danzo turned slightly, the mist curling around his feet as if bowing to him. "Hiruzen's era will soon end. And the next age will need a shinobi who can protect Konoha from within as much as from without." His single eye flicked back to Naruto. "You may be that shinobi, if you embrace the burden."

"You think I'm just gonna sit in that office and babysit paperwork? No thanks. But…" Naruto crossed his arms. "Maybe I could rebuild the Uzumaki clan instead. Lead them, protect them, make sure our name actually means something again."

For a fraction of a second, Danzo's expression twitched; too quick for most to notice, but Naruto saw it. A flicker of irritation, buried immediately beneath that impassive calm. Danzo had expected the word Hokage to plant itself in Naruto's heart like a seed. Instead, the boy's ambition had curved sideways, blooming in a direction he hadn't anticipated.

Danzo adjusted his tone, smooth as ever. "Rebuilding your clan will require strength, discipline, and knowledge. The Uzumaki were masters of sealing arts for a reason. To reclaim that legacy, you will need to master what they left behind."

"Yeah. Guess I'll need some scrolls then, huh?"

Danzo nodded once. "I will provide you with the foundational scrolls on the Uzumaki art of fuinjutsu… and the technique of the Adamantine Sealing Chains. They should serve as the first step toward understanding your heritage."

"The chakra chains are my mom's jutsu?"

For a moment, Naruto tried to figure what move in whatever game the old man was playing.

"Yes. The technique was used by both Kushina Uzumaki and Mito-sama to restrain the Nine-Tails."

Naruto's eyes widened slightly.

"The chains are versatile," Danzo continued. "They can act as conduits for sealing formulas, foundations for barrier techniques, or channels for direct ninjutsu. In capable hands, they are both weapon and seal. A perfect extension of the Uzumaki art."

"Wow, that strong, huh?"

"Indeed. And there is another reason you should learn it."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Let me guess because it's useful to Konoha somehow?"

Danzo ignored the jab. "Word has reached me that during the Chunin Exams, there will be participants who are jinchuriki from other villages. If you encounter them, the chakra chains will serve as your hidden weapon."

Naruto hummed, pretending to think about it as he tucked his hands into his pockets. "So, you want me to use my mom's technique to beat other jinchuriki?"

"To protect the Leaf. And to protect yourself."

"Guess that's one way to look at it."

Inside, though, Naruto could already see through the way Danzo framed manipulation as duty and control as protection. He was dangling his mother's legacy like bait. But if the old hawk wanted to hand over powerful jutsu thinking he was pulling strings, Naruto wasn't about to stop him.

"Thank you. For looking out for me and for the jutsu. Guess I've got both of my mom's legacies now: her chains and her spear style."

"I see that Hiruzen has been taking some action, then."

Naruto chuckled. "Yeah, you were right. I got the old monkey to finally admit he's going to dig up Mom's spear jutsu from the Senju clan library. But get this, he wants to train me for the Chunin Exams."

"I see. And what do you plan to do with this opportunity?"

Naruto gave a casual shrug, the picture of teenage ease. "I'll play along with whatever the old monkey's got in mind. Either way, it's still a chance to learn from a Kage." He tilted his head slightly, a small smirk tugging at his lips. "And don't worry, I'm not dumb enough to walk into a trap without a backup plan."

Danzo studied him, his gaze probing for any tell, any flicker of deception.

Naruto didn't blink or twitch. Inside, however, he repeated Inoichi's trick to himself: Don't lie, redirect.
So when he spoke, Naruto imagined he was talking about Danzo instead of Hiruzen. The same wariness, the same cautious respect, and the same veiled defiance. Every word that came out sounded genuine because, in its own way, it was.

Danzo's eye narrowed slightly, but he saw no cracks.

"Be careful. That old monkey has lived through wars, coups, and assassins. He listens more than he speaks, and when he acts... it is already too late for others to react."

"Then I'll make sure there's no room for him to move around in my head."

For a split second, Danzo's expression softened, more in the way his eye creased than anything else. A whisper of approval, or perhaps amusement. "Good answer," he said.

The mist around them stirred, soft and weightless, as the two stood facing each other, hawk and dragon. One saw a weapon being sharpened. The other saw a game being played.

To Danzo, Naruto was potential waiting to be molded. To Naruto, Danzo was a vault waiting to be emptied.

Whether it was Hiruzen's guiding light or Danzo's hidden shadow, Naruto didn't care.

Old men think they are playing shogi, Naruto thought. They don't know that I'm not a piece on their board. I am another player. That's why we're learning their games so I can flip the board later.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

His meeting with Danzo had a strange end. The old hawk hadn't given him any deadline, no cryptic warning or final piece of advice. Just a silent nod and the feeling of eyes still watching him long after he left the dream realm.

It was too calm, and that calmness put Naruto on edge.

When he came back to reality, Munna was gone, leaving behind only a few scrolls laid neatly beside him.

"I don't like this," Naruto muttered, his gut tightening. He crouched, picking up the scrolls, checking them for seals before tucking them into his inventory.

"Anything happen while I was gone?"

Oscar, perched on a pile of dirty clothes, shook his little head with a quiet chirp.

"Whatever. Let's just go to Lordran."

Lordran's silence always helped him think. Its stillness was the kind that didn't demand answers, only patience.

When he arrived, he sat before the familiar orange flames licking at the air and calming his mind with their heat, while Oscar was curled in his lap.

Naruto stared into the blaze, his reflection flickering in the embers. The heat kissed his skin, but his mind was far away.

Oscar blinked, letting out a questioning noise.

"Nothing's wrong," Naruto murmured. "I'm just… wondering what Danzo's goal is moving forward." He sighed, rubbing at his temples. "He clearly has his eye on the Hokage seat, yet he says I should take it. Probably thinks he can use me like some puppet figurehead." His lips curved in a frustrated grimace. "Or maybe that's just another trick to get in my head."

He groaned and tugged at his hair until Oscar gently patted his leg with a clawed limb.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Let's just check the scrolls. Make sure he didn't do anything shady."

He rubbed Oscar's head three times for luck before checking the first one.

[Item: The Art of Fūinjutsu of the Uzumaki Clan]

[Description: Fūinjutsu are a form of jutsu used to seal objects, living beings, chakra, and various other energies within another object or person. The Art of Fūinjutsu of the Uzumaki Clan represents the pinnacle of this craft.]

Naruto read the description once. Then again. Then a third time for good measure.

The system's description felt clean, untouched by Danzo's usual tampering.

He went through the rest of the scrolls just as carefully, watching for the faintest sign of manipulation. But every description felt genuine.

"Guess even Danzo knows better than to mess with Uzumaki sealing arts. Or maybe… he just wants to see if I can read them."

Oscar tilted his small head, chirping a confused sound, as Naruto unrolled the main scroll.

Naruto smiled faintly and murmured the words that came to him naturally.

"Ink binds thought to will,
Will shapes chakra to law,
And law gives name to the unseen.
What is sealed is not gone,
Only waiting to be spoken again."

He chuckled softly. "Fūinjutsu is just poetry that bites back."

Oscar blinked sleepily at him, unimpressed.

"Remember what Gran-Gran-Gran Mito said? All Uzumaki clan scrolls are written in poetic cipher. You can't read it unless you understand how the words feel, not just what they say." Naruto reached into his inventory and pulled out the fox mask. "And to really read it, I need the Mask of Whispers."

He slipped the mask over his face. The world dimmed slightly, colors bleeding into deeper hues of red and gold. The air itself seemed to murmur, as if the seals written on the scrolls were whispering to him in a long-forgotten language.

"Maybe that's Danzo's real game," Naruto murmured, his voice low as the firelight danced across his mask. "He's sitting on my clan's legacy, and I'm the key to unlocking it. If I prove I can read and use these techniques, then to him, I'm not just a pawn…" He gave a humorless chuckle. "I'm his ticket to even more power."

Oscar gave Naruto a look that clearly said, You've got something in mind, don't you?

"Yeah, I've got a plan."

Oscar gave a small nod, then promptly curled back up and fell asleep in his lap. The little lizard had learned long ago that whenever Naruto got this focused, it meant hours of silence.

Naruto found himself lost in the glowing text, the script rearranging itself beneath his gaze, symbols folding and unfolding like breathing ink.

[Item: Adamantine Sealing Chains]

[Description: A unique sealing technique characteristic of the Uzumaki clan. Users generate chains composed of their own chakra, which typically emerge from their torso and can be extended or retracted at will. These chains are primarily used to restrain targets by wrapping around them, effectively immobilizing both body and chakra. The chains are renowned for their unparalleled durability. In addition to their physical strength, the chains are said to possess a sealing effect that suppresses and nullifies the target's chakra upon contact.]

Naruto stared at the glowing letters, feeling the pull of chakra from the scroll.

"So this is Mom's legacy," he whispered.

Naruto continued to read.

"Glad Sakura and Kakashi taught me the basics."

Without that foundation, half of what he was reading would have looked like gibberish.

The more he read, the more his fascination grew.

The Adamantine Sealing Chains were not simple chakra constructs. They were the physical result of an intricate formula etched into the user's very chakra network. The seal acted as both a mold and a regulator, condensing portions of the user's chakra into an incredibly dense and stable form. When activated, the formula released that stored chakra, shaping it into chains that could manifest outside the body.

But there were parts of the jutsu that made Naruto uneasy. The formula's complexity was one thing. The seal had to be etched directly into the chakra network, where a single mistake could cripple the user. The risk didn't scare him; he'd done worse to himself before. What bothered him was the process.

"What the hell is adamantine?" Naruto muttered, frowning. "And how do I get it? The scroll just assumes I've got some lying around along with the dozen other things."

He leaned back, running a hand through his crimson hair, the firelight flickering against his face. But another line caught his attention, and his expression shifted from curiosity to inspiration.

"Wait a second…" He looked up from the scroll, eyes glinting. "This doesn't actually say the construct has to be chains."

Oscar made a noise.

"Think about it, bud. The chakra construct takes form based on the seal pattern and the user's will. The Uzumaki always made chains because they wanted bindings, but what if someone like me used a different shape? What if it could be something else… like arms?"

Oscar's eyes widened a little.

"Yeah! Arms!" Naruto said excitedly, his grin stretching wide. "Imagine it, Oscar. Multiple arms made of chakra. I could wield a sword, a spear, a shield, and a catalyst! I could fight with my whole arsenal, dattebayo!"

Oscar blinked again, then proudly started wiggling all six of his limbs as if showing off.

"Exactly, partner! You've got six already. I might as well catch up."

Oscar let out a pleased chirp.

Naruto rolled the scroll closed with a snap and stood up, tucking it into his inventory. "Alright then. Enough imagination for now. Let's get back to Darkroot Basin and start training."

Oscar squeaked affirmatively, already darting ahead. The little lizard ran toward the door, leapt up with surprising agility, and twisted the knob using his weight.

The door creaked open, revealing a narrow tunnel stretching into darkness.

Naruto froze beside his partner. "Uh… Oscar, you seeing this?"

Oscar let out a low, wary chirp.

In front of them was a sewer tunnel; though technically, they were still in the Depths, so this should have been normal. But Naruto could tell immediately that something was off.

The usual tunnels he'd explored before had branching paths, broken bridges, and ceilings covered in slime monsters that pulsed and twitched.

This one, though… was a completely different tunnel.

The tunnel itself sloped gently downward toward a wide pit in the center, where dark sewage water spiraled endlessly into a hole.

"Did the Depths suddenly… change their layout?"

Oscar gave an uncertain chirp.

Naruto reached up, lifting the little creature from the doorknob and setting him carefully on his shoulder. "Don't worry, bud. I just wanna check it out. It's weird, but maybe we'll find something interesting."

Oscar tilted his head, clicking his claws softly, which was his way of asking, We really jumping down that hole?

"Dattebayo."

With that, he crouched, then leapt.

The world dropped out from beneath him.

The sensation of falling through that darkness was disorienting, and the air felt damp and heavy, swallowing sound and breath alike. For a few seconds, he couldn't tell if he was actually falling or just sinking through ink. The smell of stagnant water grew stronger, and then...

SPLASH!

Naruto landed hard in knee-deep sewer water, the cold soaking through his boots instantly. He staggered forward with a grimace, shaking off the splash. "Ugh. Verdammt!" he cursed in the tongue of Catarina, his voice echoing across the hollow chamber.

Suddenly, a dozen undead rats jumped out from the mist all at once.

Naruto vanished in a blink, leaving behind only a puff of smoke. The undead rats tore into what they thought was his leg, only for the "flesh" to splinter apart, revealing the wooden log of the Substitution Jutsu.

Suddenly the massive blade of the zweihander cut through the gloom in a sweeping arc. The air screamed with the force of the wind chakra reinforcing the blade as it tore through rat skulls and ribs like butter through bread.

One of the rats survived, leaping sideways just in time to avoid the final swing, only to be shot midair by Oscar.

A faint shimmer rippled through the air.

[You have gained: 2000 Souls]

[You have gained: Humanity]

Naruto wiped a bit of rat blood from his blade and glanced up toward the hole he had fallen through. "You think this might've been a trap?"

Oscar noised, pointing one claw toward a half-eaten corpse slumped against the far wall.

"Yeah… looks like someone else fell for it first."

But then his eyes caught the glint of metal beside the corpse. A weapon half-buried in the muck. He approached slowly, crouching to examine it.

The weapon was massive. A greataxe, wide-bladed and brutal. Its head was rectangular, with a subtle curve at the top and faint engravings etched into the steel. The haft was long and made of dark, weathered metal, held together by bands of dull iron.

[You have obtained: Greataxe]

Naruto grunted as he hefted the weapon with both hands. The weight nearly dragged his arms down. He had to channel chakra through his limbs just to swing it.

"I think Sakura's gonna love using this thing."

Oscar made a doubtful noise.

"Okay, maybe she can't lift it yet, but that's easy to fix. I'll just get Sakura to start working out. Give her a few weeks and she'll be swinging this like a pro."

He grinned, clearly enjoying the thought. "Then we can both gang up on twig-arm Sasuke. You know, just to remind him that muscles matter too."

Oscar let out a mischievous chirp.

Naruto chuckled even harder. "Yeah, exactly. Team 7's new motto: lift heavy, mock Sasuke."

Oscar let out a series of squeaky giggles.

The pair continued onward, their footsteps splashing softly through the shallow water. At the far end of the chamber, a narrow staircase climbed upward into a second floor shrouded in darkness.

The second floor led into another narrow tunnel. A floor drain sat open in the middle of the floor in the dead-end tunnel.

Naruto and Oscar exchanged a look.

"Yeah," Naruto said flatly. "That's a trap if I've ever seen one."

Oscar gave a slow, deliberate chirp that basically translated to absolutely.

"Alright, clone time. If it's a trap, it's better you than me."

The shadow clone gave a deadpan look as it dropped down the hole. "You say that like it's fair."

It landed with a splash in what looked like a prison cell. In the center stood a statue, humanoid but jagged and uneven, like it had been carved out of raw rock by a mad sculptor.

"Okay… creepy stone guy in a sewer cell. Definitely not cursed at all."

Then it noticed something shining faintly on the statue's hand.

A magic ring.

"Oh hey, new loot. Don't mind if I—"

The moment the clone touched it, the statue crumbled into dust, leaving only the ring behind. The clone held it up, examining the craftsmanship.

The ring was forged from blackened, aged metal that looked almost organic, its surface covered in faint, worn runes. In the center sat a gem of polished obsidian, perfectly round and unnaturally glossy. Deep inside that gem was a faint, pulsing slit of white light, like an eye opening in the dark.

[You have obtained: Ring of the Evil Eye]

"That's not ominous at all."

Before it could gloat, a strange beige fog began to roll across the ground.

"Okay…" the clone said nervously, hand half-raised in a seal. "This is fine. It's just some spooky mist in a death dungeon. Totally normal."

The fog brushed against his boot.

For a moment, nothing happened. Then came the sound of a faint, brittle crack.

The clone looked down, his pupils shrinking. Jagged lines of gray began to spread across his leg, crawling upward like veins of stone. His skin hardened, color draining away as his joints stiffened.

The cracks spread to his chest, his arms, his face. His last sound wasn't a scream, but the sharp snap of rock fracturing as the transformation finished. In seconds, the clone was nothing but a twisted statue, half-frozen in panic, fingers reaching for a jutsu he'd never finish.

Up above, Naruto felt the memory rush back as the clone popped, the brief flash of terror and pain hitting him like a wave. He exhaled through gritted teeth, shaking his head to steady himself.

"Yeah, that's… definitely the most obvious trap ever, right? Heh. Guess I'll add turning into a rock statue to my list of things to avoid today."

The lizard chirped softly, but even he could tell Naruto's joke didn't quite reach his eyes.

Then came the sound of something sloshing through the sewer water.

Naruto crouched near the hole, peering down as the ripples grew louder. From the darkness, a shape emerged, crawling slowly into view.

[Name: Basilisk]

[HP: 200 / 200]

The thing was grotesque. Its body was a bloated, gray mass, somewhere between a lizard and a toad, covered in cracked, scale-like skin that flaked with every movement. Its limbs were long and skeletal, jointed wrong, claws scraping against the wet stone as it dragged itself closer. A thick tail trailed behind it, split at the end like something that used to swim once but forgot how.

Its most striking feature was its "eyes," as they were huge, glowing gold orbs that bulged grotesquely from its skull, giving it an almost cartoonish appearance. But there was nothing funny about it. The way the eyes pulsed, like lanterns in the dark, made it feel like the creature itself was staring straight through Naruto's soul.

"Nope. Don't like that."

He leapt down, chakra bursting through his arm as he formed a Rasengan midair. The spinning sphere of chakra slammed straight into the creature's head, bursting the fake eyes in an explosion of blue light and flesh fragments.

The Basilisk convulsed once and fell limp, its body twitching before going still. Steam rose from the corpse.

As he bent to absorb the soul, he realized something strange. The creature's real eyes were tiny and pitch-black, hidden lower on its face beneath the ruined golden orbs.

He frowned. "So the big ones were just decoys. Why?"

Oscar hopped down from his shoulder onto the Basilisk's tail, sniffing curiously before chirping in disgust.

Suddenly, more of that thick gray fog poured into the prison cell.

Naruto's instincts screamed as he slashed the metal bars apart with a glowing edge of wind, the sound of tearing steel echoing through the tunnel. He leapt out just as the fog swallowed the cell behind him.

Even from here, he could feel it. The fog didn't just poison the body; it gnawed at the edges of his being, like invisible claws scraping at his very soul.

"A curse?" Naruto muttered, his stomach twisting. He didn't have time to figure it out. Not when he saw them.

Six—no, seven—figures crawled out of the shadows, webbed feet splashing through the filthy water. The Basilisks' bloated throats glistened in the dim light, their grotesque eyes glowing gold as their bodies shuddered with croaking growls.

They were standing in the same chamber where Naruto had fought the giant undead rat. Only now, the air itself was poison.

Oscar pulsed with light, the small creature letting out a sharp battle chirp.

Naruto gave a nod, reaching for a scroll from his pouch. "Oscar, use the crystal fuma shuriken jutsu."

Oscar yipped and began to channel chakra, the faint shimmer of magic forming around his tail.

Naruto bit into the scroll, holding it between his teeth as he flashed through a long sequence of hand signs. The Basilisks' throats ballooned grotesquely, puffing up like swollen sacks.

Then, with a unified hiss, they unleashed the fog.

It poured out in thick, suffocating clouds like death made visible.

Chakra pulsed through the scroll, igniting a storage seal that began spewing water like a broken dam.

Water Style: Wild Water Wave!

The entire tunnel erupted into a flood. A roaring torrent surged forward, crashing into the fog with explosive force. The cursed mist hissed and recoiled, whipped back into the shadows by the sheer pressure of the wave. The air filled with a smog as water and curse clashed, swirling together in a violent, beige-gray storm.

The Basilisks screeched as the water crashed against them, swelling their throats again as if they were about to burst.

"Oscar, now!"

The crystal lizard's tail flicked, launching a shimmering hexagonal shuriken. It whistled through the air, slicing cleanly across the creatures' throats like a razor through silk.

One by one, the Basilisks' swollen sacs exploded in sprays of dark mist. Their bodies collapsed into the water, but the moment the sacs burst, the curse fog came back, denser and darker than before.

Earth Style: Mud Wall!

The ground beneath him rumbled. A thick pillar of stone shot upward, carrying Naruto and Oscar away from the spreading fog.

They only had a minute of safety before the fog started creeping upward.

"Alright," Naruto said through a quick breath, clutching the talisman on his belt. "Let's just use the Homeward Miracle and get back to Andre. I've had enough of cursed frog lizards for one day."

[Homeward Miracle has been blocked]

"What?" Naruto's eyes widened, panic flickering in them. The fog below started swirling like a living whirlpool, reaching upward.

He unequipped his helmet with a flicker of light and inhaled sharply, molding chakra through his lungs. Sparks of yellow danced across his lips.

Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!

A massive inferno burst from his mouth, spiraling outward into the fog. The flames surged with explosive pressure, pushing the cursed mist back in a violent wave. The air rippled, steam exploding outward as the flames carved out a brief, blessed pocket of safety.

Naruto jumped, tucking Oscar under his arm as the fog clawed back toward them.

"Hold on, buddy!"

He reached into his pouch midair, snapping a brittle white bone between his fingers.

The Homeward Bone.

A swirl of golden-yellow light wrapped around Naruto and Oscar. The cursed fog reached up one final time, only to close on empty air as the two vanished in a flash of divine light.

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Landing face-first onto his bed, Naruto exhaled, voice muffled into the sheets before flipping over with a tired chuckle. "I have to hand it to Lordran. It never stops finding new and creative ways to kill me."

Oscar, still perched on his chest, gave a long, exhausted chirp before going completely limp, his tiny legs sprawled out like he'd fought the war himself.

Naruto laughed softly. "You okay, buddy?" He reached up and began unstrapping the little guy's armor, careful not to tug too hard on the delicate joints. "You know," he said conversationally, "that Basilisk thing... it's got some kind of chemical inside its throat sacs that makes that cursed fog."

Oscar gave a weak wiggle as his last plate came off, tilting his head curiously.

"Yeah, exactly," Naruto said, his eyes lighting up in that dangerous way they did when his brain was cooking up something questionable. "So, what if we extract it? You know, like how they get venom from snakes. Then I could seal it in a storage tag and... bam... instant curse trap! Imagine using it on an enemy shinobi who's never built resistance to curses."

He said it with the same tone someone might use to describe baking cookies.

Oscar just stared at him, deadpan, before glancing down at the bedsheets that were absolutely soaked in a mix of sewer water, blood, and who-knows-what. Then the little lizard looked back up with a pointed chirp.

Naruto groaned. "Yeah, yeah. Bath time."

A few clones popped into existence and immediately went to work changing sheets, fetching towels, and drawing a steaming bath.

A short while later, Naruto sank into the tub with a sigh that came from the depths of his soul. The hot water stung the cuts on his arms, but it was worth it. Steam rose lazily around him, filling the air with the faint scent of soap and herbs.

Oscar floated lazily near the surface, his body bobbing like a pebble in a pond. He was kicking at the rubber duck Naruto had tossed in for him, gleefully batting it away every time it floated near.

Naruto smiled tiredly. "You really like that thing, huh?"

Oscar chirped and splashed him.

Naruto smiled as his attention shifted to his system.

[Name: Ring of the Evil Eye]

[Description: According to legend, this ring contains the spirit of the Evil Eye, a dark beast which assaulted Astora. Absorb HP from each defeated foe. The horrid spirit nearly destroyed Astora, but was eventually defeated by "the sword of one most noble."]

Naruto tilted his head, reading the text out loud. "I'm betting Artorias was the one who took this thing down."

Oscar chirped in agreement, splashing the rubber duck against the side of the tub like punctuation.

"You know, this thing's gotta be strong if it belonged to something that almost wiped out a kingdom. Makes me wonder how it reacts to chakra."

Oscar's eyes went wide, and he immediately shook his head so hard that water splashed everywhere.

"You don't want me to try it?"

Oscar gave a sharp nod.

"Come on," Naruto said with a teasing grin. "What's the worst that could happen?"

He slid the ring onto his finger and immediately gasped, clutching his chest. His breath came in sharp, heavy bursts, his muscles tensing like he'd been electrocuted.

Oscar squeaked in alarm, paddling frantically toward him, eyes wide with panic.

Then Naruto broke into laughter. "Ha! Gotcha."

Oscar froze mid-paddle before launching the rubber duck at his face.

Naruto laughed even harder. "Okay, okay! Don't look at me like that. See? No curses, no evil spirits. The system didn't even throw a warning. It's just a magical item, bud."

He leaned back, closing his eyes, letting the warmth of the bath soak into his bones. Oscar huffed and floated back to the duck, lightly tapping it with his tail, still sulking. Then, as the bulb flickered, the gem on the ring glinted faintly.

Just for an instant, it looked like that slit of white light inside the obsidian blinked.

Oscar froze mid-float, staring.

But when he looked again, it was just a ring. The same as before. He let out a nervous chirp and sank a little lower into the water, hoping—really hoping—it was just his imagination.

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There is a story in the kingdom of Astora that mothers tell their children to make them behave.

The story of the Darkbeast.

It begins as all old tales do; spoken in hushed voices around dim hearths, while rain batters the stone walls of lonely cottages. It is said that long ago, when Astora was still young and its knights shone with the pride of sunlight, something crawled out from the deepest part of the Abyss. It was not man, not beast, not spirit.

The people called it the Evil Eye.

The creature was said to have been born from envy and hunger, a twisted spirit that fed not on flesh but on vitality itself. Wherever it went, it devoured the life of men, beasts, and earth alike. Grass turned gray, rivers dried, and those who dared to fight it found their strength drained before they could even raise their swords. The monster's eye could see the life within all living things, and it drank that light greedily.

For months, Astora burned. Entire battalions vanished into fog and shadow. The knights called it a curse; the priests said it was divine punishment. When all hope seemed lost, a single knight stepped forward.

His name was Artorias.

He faced the Darkbeast alone in the ruins of a monastery swallowed by darkness. The battle lasted three days and three nights. The creature's eye glowed brighter than the moon, and its voice was said to sound like a thousand whispers crying in hunger. But Artorias did not yield. With his sword of pure resolve, he cut through the creature and sealed its essence within a ring.

From that day onward, mothers of Astora warned their children: Do not look into the dark, or the Evil Eye will see you.

Years turned to centuries, and the truth faded into myth. The beast became a bedtime story, a superstition told to keep children from wandering after sunset. The ring that held its soul was hidden deep within the royal vaults. Forgotten.

And ignorance bred carelessness.

One day, long after the story had turned to folklore, the nobles of Astora discovered the ring again. Thinking it was just a regular magic ring, they gifted it to one of their young knights before he left on a pilgrimage to become the Chosen Undead.

The knight wore the ring proudly. In his battles, he found that he could drink strength from his enemies, their life flowing into him with every strike. Wounds closed. Pain faded. The more he fought, the more invincible he felt.

But the longer he wore it, the colder his heart became. His eyes lost their color. His laughter disappeared. The ring whispered to him, teaching him to hunger; for blood, for life, for more. By the time he reached the Depths, the man who had once been a knight of Astora was no longer human. He killed without thought, devoured life itself, and walked with the arrogance of a god. But fate caught him there. A Basilisk turned its gaze upon him. His body hardened, stone overtaking flesh, freezing him mid-step as the ring pulsed faintly on his finger.

The Evil Eye slept once more.

Until Naruto found it.

When he slipped the ring onto his hand, the dark spirit stirred again for the first time in hundreds of years. It could feel the pulse of Naruto's chakra, a torrent of energy greater than any soul it had touched before. In the silence of the night, while Naruto slept peacefully, the Darkbeast began its work.

The Darkbeast was patient by nature, an ancient hunger that knew how to wait, how to whisper, how to rot things from within.

And now, inside Naruto, it believed it had found paradise.

The creature could sense the endless energy coursing like rivers of light through his veins, power wild and pure and so alive it almost burned. The Darkbeast trembled with desire. This body was no mere vessel. It was a banquet.

So it didn't wait. It lunged.

In an instant, the world shifted. The Darkbeast found itself standing in a place it hadn't known since before it was sealed. A place of gray fog and silence. The air here was heavy, suffocating, and carried the taste of eternity.

It looked around and saw nothing but colossal gray rocks and impossibly tall arch trees, their roots knotted deep in the fog. The ground shimmered faintly with the reflection of water, though no rain fell. There was no wind, no sound, just the stillness of an old, sleeping god.

This was Naruto's mindscape.

The beast glanced down at its reflection.

For the first time in what felt like an eternity, it saw itself clearly.

A hulking figure of twisted muscle and smoke. Four legs ending in claws that dragged against the fog as if the world itself resisted its existence. The body was warped, as though flesh had grown over shadows. From its back, ribbons of white mist drifted upward like steam from a dying fire.

And there, at its heart, was the eye.

The Evil Eye.

It pulsed faintly, glowing with a deep pinkish light that bordered on red. The flesh around it looked torn, raw, and constantly shifting as if it couldn't decide what form to take. Thin black veins spread outward from the wound, each one throbbing with the same color as the eye. The beast looked upon its own reflection with confusion... almost curiosity.

Was this what it had always been?

Was this what the Abyss had made it?

It tried to remember the days before hunger, before it became nothing but a creature of taking. But memory slipped through its claws like smoke.

A ripple moved through the shallow water, breaking the reflection.

The beast raised its head.

Something stirred in the distance, a shape rising from beneath the fog, larger than the arch trees, larger than anything that should exist in this place. The fog curled and bent around it, fleeing its presence.

A pair of eyes opened.

One of them glowed red.

The Darkbeast froze. Every instinct screamed. The creature before it was not prey. Then came the fear. The kind that devoured everything.

The Darkbeast roared, its voice shaking the world of fog. It lashed out with its magic, the eye on its chest blazing to life, releasing waves of dark energy that turned the water beneath it black. The fog burned with the power of the Abyss.

But the dragon's eye glowed brighter.

A red light spread outward from it like cracks in the sky. The air shattered. The beast's attack froze in place, locked midair, every drop of cursed mist suspended as if time itself refused to move. The Darkbeast tried to retreat, but its limbs wouldn't respond. Invisible chains wrapped around its body, pulsing with a terrible crimson glow. Its claws scraped uselessly at the fog, each movement slower than the last.

It could feel its body being pulled apart; not by strength, but by will. The dragon didn't roar. It didn't even move. It simply decided that the beast would no longer exist.

And so it didn't.

The Darkbeast's body tore open in silence. Its limbs dissolved into black vapor, its spine cracked into dust, and the Evil Eye itself pulsed violently as if it were alive, trying to flee. But the dragon's gaze followed it.

The beast understood, too late, that it had never been the predator. It had only ever been prey.

It screamed. A soundless cry that tore through the fog as the dragon opened its jaws and consumed the darkness whole.

The mist stilled. The world of gray fell silent once more.

When the dragon lifted its head, its form shimmered, shifting back into the vague outline of a boy with burning eyes. Naruto's soul pulsed faintly, a storm of chakra swirling within him, now laced with something darker, deeper, and hungrier.

It is said that a Calamity Dragon has three eyes. One to use its magic. Two that see the world as it is.

But when Naruto devoured the Darkbeast, the old rule no longer applied.

The storm inside him twisted. The boy's chakra swirled like a living ocean, mixing the essence of the Abyss with the light of his own soul. The Evil Eye had not simply merged; rather, it had been claimed.

Naruto's first eye was the Eye of Calamity. It commands the world to bend, to crumble and to yield before his intent.

Naruto's second eye became the Eye of Evil, a gift stolen from the Darkbeast itself. It sees the vitality of all living things and drinks from it.

Naruto's third eye... has not yet opened.

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Author Note

Hey everyone, welcome back to today's Q&A!

1. What is the Darkbeast of the Evil Eye?

So, this one's a fun bit of Dark Souls lore that's always fascinated me. The Darkbeast (or the Evil Eye) is one of those background monsters that's never directly shown in any of the Dark Souls games 1, 2, or 3. It's only mentioned through item descriptions, which makes it the perfect kind of mystery to play with.

Here are the actual ring descriptions from each game:

DS1: According to legend, this ring contains the spirit of the evil eye, a dark beast which assaulted Astora. The strength of the evil eye does not waver, and HP is absorbed from fallen enemies.

DS2: A modest, but inexplicably disturbing ring. Absorb HP for each enemy defeated. Peer too closely at the rare stone that forms the eye of this ring, and things that writhe and stir may come into focus.

DS3: This ring captured the foul spirit of an evil eye, a creature that ravaged Astora. Absorb HP from each defeated foe. The horrid spirit nearly destroyed Astora, but was eventually defeated by "the sword of one most noble."

Those three short descriptions are all the official lore we have, but they tell us quite a lot. The Evil Eye was powerful enough to nearly wipe out an entire kingdom, and its spirit is sealed within the ring. That's why I used the concept of the Darkbeast's soul being trapped inside the ring and trying to take over Naruto's body.

Now, the interesting part is who the sword of one most noble is. Canonically, it's never stated, but I personally like the idea that it was Artorias who killed the Darkbeast. It fits thematically, especially if you remember my earlier theory from a previous chapter that Artorias might have originally come from Astora.

That connection adds a lot of meaning: the Darkbeast would then be the first creature of the Abyss that Artorias ever fought, marking the beginning of his journey as the Abysswalker.

Also, there's an interesting note from an old Reddit post that mentioned the German version of the ring's description actually names Artorias as the one who slew the Darkbeast. I can't confirm that myself (since I don't read German), but it's a cool little detail to think about, so take that with a grain of salt.

As for how we know the Darkbeast is connected to the Abyss, there are a few clues:

It's literally called a dark beast.

The eye described in the ring is a glowing eye opening within the darkness, very similar to the imagery of the Abyss.

The ring's ability—to absorb HP after every kill—is almost identical to the Dark Hand, which drains humanity from others, another Abyss-related ability.

What do you guys think?

2. Why did I give Naruto the Evil Eye?

Alright, so for this one, we need to rewind a bit to when Naruto first gained his dragon form. In the lore I'm building, an Everlasting Calamity Dragon has three eyes. Two are normal, and the third is something special as the Eye of Calamity. This idea comes directly from the canonical design of Black Dragon Kalameet in Dark Souls.

Back when I wrote that chapter, I decided that throughout this story, Naruto would eventually awaken all three of his dragon eyes, each one representing a different force or concept.

The first is the Eye of Calamity, which he already has.

The second is the Eye of Evil, which comes from the Ring of the Evil Eye and the Darkbeast's soul.

The third eye, however… is still a mystery. I've been toying with the idea that it might come from the Naruto universe itself—maybe a Dojutsu or something?

I'm open to suggestions here! What Dojutsu do you think would make the most sense for Naruto's third eye? Would you prefer it be something entirely new, or maybe a twist on something existing like the Rinnegan, the Tenseigan, or even something inspired by the Sharingan but molded by magic?

Let me know what you think!

That's it for this Q&A!

Next chapter's gonna dive deep into the how Team 7 reacts to what Naruto's become, and maybe… something special with tora the cat.

As always, let me know your theories in the comments!

What do you think Naruto's Rune will awaken? And do you like the red hair change?

Until next time, don't you dare go hollow, my friends.

— Adam