[Samsara] Chapter 7 - Evil Spirit (I)

A strange, fierce creature roared as it pounded with its claws and fists against a purple wall of light, but despite its giant size and ferocity, its attacks could not leave a scratch on it. As the walls of purple light started closing in on the monster, the creature began struggling in desperation, going as far as to slam its head into the wall, using the hardest part of its body (its white bone mask) in an attempt to break out.

That monster was a Hollow, and the walls of purple light trapping it were a Sealing Kido spell. As Naruto formed a different hand sign with his fingers, the walls of purple light took the form of a cube, which trapped the Hollow so tightly that it could no longer move an inch.

The cube of purple light started levitating, carrying the trapped Hollow inside a special cell. Once the doors of the cell closed, he cancelled his Sealing Kido, freeing the Hollow.

“Good work, Uzumaki-fukutaicho,” a female Shinigami said respectfully. “You have passed the test with flying colours. Welcome to the Detention Unit!”

“Thank you, Suwa-san. I’ll be in your care,” said Naruto.

Although his enrolment meant that Suwa was going to lose her position as the leader of the Detention Unit soon, the woman did not dare slight him. After knocking out the entirety of the Second Squad with his reiatsu alone, nobody questioned his strength anymore. Now, he was the lieutenant of the Second Division.

With the test over, Suwa became his guide, showing him around and telling him all there was to know about the Detention Unit.

Onmitsukido (also known as the Stealth Force) had five branches, with each branch having one leader who took direct orders from Shihoin. Each leader of the Stealth Force’s five branches was also a seated officer in the Second Squad. Suwa, the female Shinigami who had just tested his aptitude for Sealing Kido, was the 3rd Seated Officer of the Second Squad.

Known as the third branch of the Onmitsukido (the Stealth Force), the Detention Unit was responsible for the imprisonment and supervision of all the criminals in Seireitei.

With that being said, Naruto had no plans of taking Suwa’s position anytime soon. In the present, the most important thing for him was to start his Bankai training in earnest. Becoming the leader of the Detention Unit came with a set of responsibilities that would cut into his training time, so the blond asked the Captain to not give him the leadership position until he achieved Bankai; that could take years or even decades.

By the time his tour of the Detention Unit’s facilities came to an end, it was noon. Saying his goodbyes, he left and headed back to the Second Squad in order to have lunch in the mess hall.


⁂


Done with his meal, Naruto went over his plans for the rest of the day in his mind.

‘Let’s see, what else do I have scheduled today? First, a visit to Captain Katori to check up on the progress of the anti-invisibility device. Then, Healing Kido training with Captain Unohana, late in the afternoon. As for the evening, I’ll go to the lowest level of the Maggots’ Nest and try to materialise my zanpakuto spirit outside.’

He frowned as he thought of the evil spirit dwelling inside his zanpakuto. He had interacted with him before. . . and it had not been his favourite experience, to say the least.

‘Why is that bastard my zanpakuto spirit?’

Zanpakuto spirits were a part of the Shinigami’s soul, and their appearance and abilities were a reflection of the Shinigami too.

‘Then why is my reflection a demon?’

The release command of his Shikai was “Seal, Akuryo!” (evil spirit), and its main ability was to seal.

‘My shikai having the ability to seal makes sense. I had a tailed beast sealed inside of me once. Sealing jutsu turned me into a human sacrifice. . . but why is my zanpakuto spirit such an evil dickhead?’

If Naruto was calm and composed, his zanpakuto spirit was angry and aggressive. If he tried to maintain a modicum of civility when talking, the zanpakuto spirit swore and cursed like a sailor. If he wanted to talk peacefully, the zanpakuto spirit wanted nothing but to fight.

So absorbed he was in his thoughts that he almost didn’t notice the sharp spike of anger and lust for violence coming from behind him.

A loud clang of swords clashing against each other was heard as Naruto turned around, drew out his zanpakuto, and parried the attack aiming for his spine.

“Oh, for God’s sake, you again?” he said in irritation when he saw the appearance of his attacker.

He was none other than Zaraki, the unhinged killer from Rukongai.

While their swords were locked in a battle of strength, Naruto kicked the boy in the stomach, sending him skidding backwards for more than ten metres.

“Seal, Ak-” he started saying the release command of his Shikai, but Zaraki lunged at him with wild abandon, forcing the blond to parry his hit, thus preventing him from activating his Shikai.

It was the fifth time that Zaraki started a battle against Naruto ever since he was brought to Seireitei. Having lost miserably three times in a row due to the sealing ability of his Shikai, Zaraki had made it his mission to not allow him even one second of spare time to release it again.

The two clashed their blades against each other more than 50 times in less than a minute, each collision sending a shockwave that made the doors and windows of the Second Squad’s buildings rattle.

But that reckless style of fighting on Zaraki’s part did not come without a cost; less than two minutes later, the young boy’s body sported a number of gruesome, bone-deep sword wounds. Nevertheless, he was laughing like a madman, his reiatsu only growing stronger the longer the fight continued.

If not for their location, Naruto would have bombarded him with Kido, but, wary of destroying his surroundings, he was limited to just Hakuda and Zanjutsu.

“Sho!” Naruto suddenly shouted, forgoing the number and the type in the chant, only saying its name.

A telekinetic blast shot forth from his index finger, and Zaraki was unexpectedly hurled backwards uncontrollably, smashing so hard into a nearby building that he left a human indentation in it.

“You won’t escape!” Zaraki shouted as he jumped up from the rubble, charging at Naruto like a lunatic once more.

However, this time, just before he could reach him, the blond threw down a small marble. A dense cloud of smoke burst from it, covering the entire training ground.

“Fight me like a man, coward!” Zaraki shouted, and he flared his reiatsu, instantly blowing away all that smoke. . . only to realise that Naruto was no longer there.

A shout of anger and frustration came from the boy when he sensed the blond’s reiatsu well over half a kilometre away. He had run away with a flash step.


⁂


Naruto let out a cuss under his breath as he Shunpo’d as fast as he could, trying to get away from the crazy kid.

It was the 5th time Zaraki attacked him, and, after every defeat, the kid came back stronger than before. His rate of improvement was monstrous.

‘One of these days, I might end up killing him.’

It wasn’t that he wanted to put him down for good, but Zaraki’s strength increased so quickly that Naruto reached the point where he could no longer hold back when fighting him. He had to give it his all, but in doing so, accidents could happen.

‘This little shit. Why the hell did Chika let him out of the Maggots’ Nest?’Naruto swore again.

Dozens of Shinigami came out of their barracks and flew up in the sky, curious what was the source of the commotion as Zaraki chased Naruto all over the Seireitei, screaming and flaring his reiatsu in anger due to not being able to catch up to him.

‘This isn’t going anywhere. I can’t shake him off my tail.’

If running wasn’t an option, he went with plan B. Without warning, Naruto dived down and rushed into a random building whose door happened to be open. It turned out to be a dojo, where two young men were in the middle of a sparring match, exchanging strikes with wooden swords as they practised their Zanjutsu.

His sudden arrival made both of them stop and turn toward him, startled. Naruto quickly put a finger to his lips, shushing them.

“Uzumaki-fukutaichō?” they said in surprise, recognising him as the newly promoted Lieutenant of Squad 2. His act of knocking out his entire division with the sheer force of his reiatsu had made him infamous in Seireitei.

“Please pretend I’m not here,” he begged, and before they could reply, he cast a peculiar Barrier Kido.

The air shimmered, and both men’s eyes widened as his silhouette vanished completely from view. He became invisible. A split second later, even his reiatsu disappeared.

The two exchanged a look before the brown-haired one suddenly lunged at the other, thrusting his bokken forward.

“Oy, Shunsui! That’s not fair!” the white-haired man complained as he barely sidestepped the stab.

“No one cares about fairness on the battlefield!” Shunsui laughed and came at him harder, swinging his wooden sword in a sharp diagonal cut.

But the white-haired man angled his parry just right, letting the bokken slide past. Then, closing the distance in a flash, he grabbed Shunsui by the front of his white gi and threw him down with an impressive display of grappling technique.

“Aw, man, I almost had you!” complained Shunsui.

“You were overeager,” the white-haired youngster laughed softly and offered Shunsui his hand to help him stand.

At that moment, a kid covered in bloodied sword wounds and wielding a long, serrated zanpakuto suddenly burst inside the dojo and shouted:

“Oy, you two! Have you seen a man with blond hair and three bitch-like marks on his face?”

The young men exchanged a glance before shrugging their shoulders.

“Sorry, you must’ve gotten the wrong place. This is the Kyoraku family’s compound,” Shunsui said in a laid-back voice.

Zaraki narrowed his eyes at them dangerously.

“Are you sure? This is the last place I sensed his reiatsu. . . if you are lying to me-”

The kid didn’t get to finish his words because a soft voice suddenly rang from behind him:

“Bakudō #61: Rikujokoro!” (Six Rods Prison of Light)

“Fucking hell!” Zaraki swore as six rods of light suddenly slammed into him from all sides, immobilising him. The space behind the kid twisted as the invisibility barrier dropped, revealing the blonde-haired Shinigami.

“You fucking coward!” Zaraki screamed in a rage. “Fight me fair and square! Fight me like a man!”

In his fury, he flared his reiatsu with such strength that the entire building started shaking, and cracks appeared in the light pillars of the spell that was paralysing him.

Naruto didn’t waste his time replying to him. Instead, he rushed at the kid, and his zanpakuto turned into a blur as he slashed both of the kid’s Achilles tendons and also stabbed him twice in each shoulder, effectively rendering him incapable of any movement.

Zaraki screamed, but that wasn’t a scream of pain. It was a scream of frustration at being outsmarted and defeated again.

“Stupid kid. You’re not getting out of the Maggot’s Nest for at least three weeks. I’ll make sure of it,” Naruto said in annoyance.

Following that, he cast another Bakudo spell that wrapped Zaraki in bandages from head to toe like a mummy, not even leaving space for his eyes to see.

Now that he had finally captured that little lunatic, he turned towards the young men and bowed slightly.

“You saved me just now. Thank you.”

“. . . Where did you find that monster?” asked Shunsui.

His family and acquaintances often called him a prodigy and anticipated that he would have a bright and glorious future as a shinigami, but Zaraki just now left him at a loss. Shunsui had never seen someone as young as Zaraki possessing such powerful reiatsu. It was even stronger than that of some captains!

Naruto sighed.

“We captured him in Rukongai for causing a bloodbath over there. Personally, I think we should’ve killed him right then and there, but Captain Shihouin had other plans for him. . .” Naruto said in chagrin.

“Nevermind that. Sorry to cut this short, but I’m running late. I have to drop this stupid kid in jail. Thanks again for helping me out. But, before I go, at least tell me your names.”

“I’m Kyoraku Shunsui,” the brown-haired man said.

“I’m Ukitake Jushiro,” the white-haired young man also introduced himself.

“It’s nice to meet you, guys,” Naruto said as he shook their hands. “I won’t forget this favour. If you ever need anything, just come to Squad 2 to find me. I promise to repay this favour.”

And with that, he grabbed the mummified kid from the back of his neck and started dragging his screaming ass to the Maggots’ Nest.


⁂


After leaving Zaraki in the hands of the shinigami in his division and ordering them not to release him from his bonds until the next day, Naruto used Shunpo to head toward Squad 8’s barracks.

‘Hope she’s not mad I’m late,’ he thought as he landed in front of the Eighth Division’s gates.

But the moment he stepped inside, he froze.

“Captain Katori?!”

He had not expected the captain herself to be waiting for him outside.

“Uzumaki-fukutaicho! You should never keep a woman waiting!” Katori said with a frown, her hands on her hips.

She was probably trying to act angry, but her exaggerated pout was so cute that he was having a hard time taking it seriously.

“I’m sorry, Captain,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

“Did you get into a fight again?” she asked when she noticed the dishevelled state of his shihakusho.

Naruto's fights with Zaraki had become so frequent that even captains from other divisions, such as Katori, had taken note of them.

She sighed, walked up to him, and began adjusting the collar of his uniform without a word. But when her hands moved down to his white sash, Naruto suddenly grabbed her wrists.

“What are you doing?!” he asked, startled.

“O-Oh!” Katori stammered, quickly stepping back.

Her face turned a deep shade of red as realisation dawned on her.

“I only meant to fix your shihakushō! No impure intentions, I swear!” she said, flustered.

It was this kind of airheaded behaviour that had mentally exhausted Naruto the last time he came to speak with her. He would have preferred a brutal sword fight with Captain Unohana over spending a full day with Captain Katori.

She cleared her throat and pushed her big, round glasses higher up her nose in an attempt to appear more serious.

“R-Right. So, I figured out how to use your Sealing Kido! And I also devised a special solution that could be used for tracking! Come, follow me to my laboratory!” she said, suddenly becoming excited and walking ahead.

Naruto followed without a word, but as they walked down the long corridor leading to Captain Katori’s lab, he found his eyes drawn to the only thing in his line of sight: her long, braided hair that swayed with every step she took like a pendulum.

Consequently, he also noticed that, for some reason, the Captain was not wearing her customary white haori that day. Involuntarily, his eyes fell on her narrow waist and trailed down the sinful curve of her hips. The shihakusho worn by shinigami was a loose garment, not meant to flatter one’s body, but the fabric of her uniform was straining to contain her hourglass figure.

‘It’s a crime for an innocent airhead like her to have this killer figure.’

Lost in the hypnotic sway of her hips, Naruto didn’t even realise he was staring until Katori unexpectedly glanced back at him over her shoulder. Her lips curled into a subtle smile when she noticed what exactly he was looking at, but she just slid the door to her quarters open and walked inside, not commenting on it.



Naruto, however, felt like wanting to dig a grave and bury himself alive.

He couldn’t understand his own behaviour. It wasn’t like he was a horny teenager anymore to stare so openly at someone’s body, but something about this woman just seemed to turn him into a fool.


⁂


Later that evening, Naruto spent a long time in the bathroom trying to cool off. Not even the intense, borderline violent sword fight or the healing Kido training session with Captain Unohana had been enough to take his mind off Squad Eight’s Captain.

But eventually, it was time to head out. He couldn’t afford to waste time, not when there was an invisible killer out there, hell-bent on taking his life.

Soon, he arrived at the Detention Unit and descended to the lowest level of the Maggot’s Nest, which was designed specifically to suppress reiatsu. Because of that, although its original purpose was to imprison exceedingly dangerous criminals, the lowest level of the Maggots’ Nest also happened to be the perfect place to train Bankai since none of the reiatsu fluctuations would be felt outside. After all, no Captain-level Shinigami was allowed to release their Bankai within Seireitei itself.

Naruto sat down cross-legged, resting his hands on his knees, adopting the same posture he used to take in his past life when entering Sage Mode.

The blond no longer had the ability to enter the Sage Mode in his current life, but focusing on becoming entirely still was a great method to clear his mind of any miscellaneous thoughts.

Following Shihouin Chika’s instructions, Naruto focused entirely on summoning his zanpakutō spirit. He poured all his willpower and spiritual energy into forcing it to materialise in the outside world.

Due to his eyes being closed, he did not see it the moment it happened, but his Negative Emotions Sensing did warn him of the sudden rush of anger and disdain coming from behind him.

Running on instinct, Naruto rolled to the side, just barely dodging a sword slash that made the floor light up with numerous glowing kanji and other mystical symbols.

“You’re never going to change, are you?” said Naruto, frowning as he drew out his zanpakuto as well.

They had interacted in the inner world of his consciousness before, and his zanpakuto spirit had attacked him on sight back there, too.

“Why did you summon me in real life, loser? Wait, don’t tell me; you think that’ll help you to achieve Bankai?” his zanpakuto spirit said and threw his head back, laughing out loud.

Following that, the two of them stared at each other for nearly half a minute without saying a thing. Naruto, in particular, was still struggling to come to terms with the concept that that psychopath was his zanpakuto spirit.

Judging by the body type and by the voice, the zanpakuto did resemble Naruto somewhat. The zanpakuto spirit was also wearing a shihakusho, and their weapons were identical as well. However, whereas Naruto’s hair was blonde and his eyes were blue, the zanpakuto spirit had black hair, red eyes with black sclera, and a white mask similar to those worn by the ANBU of his past life covered his face.

“Well, aren’t you going to say anything? Are you just going to stare at me the whole day? I don’t swing that way, you know?”

“What the hell are you on?” Naruto asked in a deadpan tone.

Seemingly ignoring him, the zanpakuto spirit continued on his own,

"Then again, that bitch today was basically begging you to fuck her, and you, limp dicked loser, were too scared to even look at her properly. If it were me, I would've fucked her brains out. I would've pounded that ass into a coma."

A look of anger flashed on Naruto’s face briefly.

“You really are an utter piece of shit.”

Loud, obnoxious laughter came from the zanpakuto spirit at his words.

“You do understand that you’re insulting yourself now, do you? You’re so stupid, hahahah!”

The blond’s first intention was to retort that Akuryo was doing the exact same thing, but he decided to drop it.

“Look, I didn’t bring you out here so that we could throw insults at each other. Tell me your name. Your true name.”

“Nope. I won’t say it. You’ll have to beat it out of me. . . That is if you can,” said the zanpakuto spirit in a malicious voice.

“So, in the end, it all comes down to a fight.”

“Of course it would be a fight, retard!” Akuryo shouted. “Did you think you could win me over by talking? Who do you think I am, Obito? Fucking idiot. Hadō #88. Hiryu Gekizoku Shinten Raiho!”

A massive beam of blue light exploded from Akuryo’s hand like a cannon, but Naruto chanted quickly:

“Bakudō #81. Danku”

Despite how powerful and violent it looked, Akuryo’s massive energy attack fizzled harmlessly against Naruto’s transparent shield.

In the blink of an eye, Akuryo’s body vanished. His flash step was so quick that Naruto would have been caught off-guard if it hadn’t been for the Negative Emotions Sensing pinpointing his location.

The blond successfully parried his vertical sword swing, but when their swords locked together, a bright orb of energy unexpectedly appeared in the spirit’s left hand.

Naruto’s eyes widened in shock, but they were too close to each other for him to dodge. The Kido Rasengan slammed flush into his face, sending him hurling violently through the air.

A scream of pain erupted from his mouth when he crashed into the enchanted walls of the underground prison.

“How?” he could not help muttering as he picked himself up from the ground with difficulty.

“I told you we are practically the same, retard!” Akuryo sneered at him, his voice filled with disdain.

A cyan glow engulfed Naruto’s hand as he started healing the mangled flesh of his face with Kaido.

“Don’t fuck with me,” said Naruto in a harsh voice, the obliterated portion of his nose and mouth making it difficult for him to talk. “You and I are nothing alike!”

Akuryo charged at him with another flash step, not wanting to give him the opportunity to finish healing his wounds.

Due to using one hand to heal himself and wielding his sword one-handed, Naruto was at a disadvantage against Akuryo, who was hacking his own zanpakuto at Naruto with wild abandon, all the while constantly mocking him.

“How can it be? - I bet that’s what you’re thinking,” he said as he stabbed his sword at Naruto’s navel to disembowel him.

The blond flash stepped backwards, but Akuryo pursued him and even overtook him before axe-kicking him in the shoulder, his shunpo apparently superior to that of Naruto.

The entire floor shuddered from his body’s powerful collision with it, and Naruto let out a moan of pain.

“There’s no way that dickhead is me,” Akuryo spoke in a whiny voice, doing a horrible imitation of Naruto.

He took his time, walking slowly to his collapsed form, creating bright sparks as he dragged the tip of his sword against the floor.

“I could never be sooo evil. I am a hero. I am the protector of the innocents!” Akuryo spoke mockingly again when he arrived at his prone body and stabbed him in the leg.

However, instead of hearing another scream of pain coming from Naruto, Akuryo felt his sword hitting nothing but empty air. . . the body lying on the ground was an illusion!

“Shit-” Akuryo let out a curse.

Fooled by the Illusion Kido that Naruto had cast, he had been caught unprepared. Sensing the real Naruto’s arrival at his back, Akuryo abruptly turned his body in a desperate attempt to escape.

His efforts were not for nought. Due to twisting his body at the very last moment, Naruto’s stab missed the back of his head.

Nevertheless, while Akuryo did escape with his life, he did not get away unscathed either. The blond’s stab left a deep cut into Akuryo’s cheek and shattered half his mask too.

“Slippery piece of shit,” Akuryo swore vehemently as he flash-stepped away, distancing himself from Naruto.

But, unlike Akuryo, the blond did not chase him. No, instead, it was as though he became petrified.

As Akuryo’s broken mask fell off his face, even despite the torn and bloodied right cheek, it was impossible for Naruto not to recognise his face.

From the tanned skin and the shape of his chin to the three pairs of whisker marks and even the worry lines between his eyebrows... ...Akuryo looked identical to him.

He felt like he was staring at his shadow clones in his past life, with the only differences being that Akuryo’s hair was black and his eyes were red, while his sclera was black.

“Finally convinced now?” Akuryo asked while also activating his healing kido to regenerate his disfigured face. “Or, perhaps, did you forget me?”

“I don’t understand,” Naruto finally said, at a loss for how to react.

Akuryo sneered.

“What’s so hard to understand? I am you. I am the part of you that you hate. I am the part of you that you tried to erase.”

“Cut the crap already!” Naruto shouted back at him. “If that were the case, I would have never become a perfect jinchuuriki!”

Having finished healing his injury, Akuryo spat on the floor the remaining blood left in his mouth before readying his sword.

Naruto did not wait for Akuryo to attack. He was the one who initiated the assault this time. But, unexpectedly, Akuryo’s physical strength seemed to have increased enormously out of nowhere, and the blond almost dropped his sword, his entire arm having become numb from the force of their clash.

“If you truly accepted me, then why am I a separate entity now?”

A chant came from Akuryo's mouth, and a serpent of purple fire burst from his palm, forcing Naruto to cast another Barrier Kido to shield himself.

While his barrier did stop the flaming serpent, it couldn’t withstand Akuryo’s following sword strike. A second Rasengan appeared in Akuryo's hand, and Naruto could only conjure a hastily cast Enkosen Kido Spell to defend.

Unfortunately, his second shielding spell was not enough, and the Rasengan shattered it with relative ease before nailing Naruto in the right shoulder.

“Tell me, Naruto, if you accepted me, then why are you so weak?” Akuryo shouted.

He flash-stepped at Naruto’s back and swung his sword at his neck. The blond raised his sword to parry, but the force behind Akuryo’s strike smashed the blond back as though he had been hit by a truck.

"Why am I beating the living dogshit out of you now?"

Blood burst from Naruto’s mouth as the repeated slams against the walls and the floor finally injured his internal organs. He got up with difficulty, using his zanpakuto as a cane to stand.

“If we are the same, you should know my past,” said Naruto. “Before I became friends with Kurama, I met my darker half at the Waterfall of Truth. I accepted who I was. I accepted you.”

“You didn’t accept shit,” Akuryo screamed. “If you had accepted your darker half, tell me, where was your anger when you found Obito, the one who murdered your mother and pushed your father into committing suicide? He was the reason you were turned into a human sacrifice. He was the reason everyone hated you. He was the one behind the Akatsuki, the reason why you were chased around for years like a stray dog. He was the one who started the Fourth World War. All the suffering in your life can be traced back to him, so I ask you now:"

"Where was your rage?”

“Where was your thirst for vengeance?”

“Why did you not kill that worthless sack of shit the very moment you saw him?”

“Tell me, Naruto!” Akuryo screamed and lunged at Naruto, his black and red eyes filled with wrath.

Seemingly empowered by his anger, Akuryo discarded his sword and put a brutal beating on Naruto with his bare hands.

“You didn’t accept me! You never accepted me! All your life, you thought about others!” he shouted as he smashed his fist into the blond’s face, turning it into a bloodied mess. "Others' happiness always came first, not yours!"

“Your father turned you into a weapon and cursed you to be a jinchuuriki. What did you do? You forgave him.”

Grabbing him by his blond hair, Akuryo dragged his face against the walls viciously before throwing him violently into the other side of the prison room. Sickening sounds of bones breaking were heard as Naruto’s ribs shattered.

“Pain massacred everyone you’ve ever held dear, and you forgave him, too!”

“That Uchiha lowlife shoved a lightning fist into your chest, and you still called him your brother! You even knelt in front of that trashy bastard from Kumo, begging him to spare him.”

"As for Obito? You called him the coolest guy? You fucking retard!"

By the end of his screaming rant, Akuryo was breathing laboriously, and tears fell from his dark eyes uncontrollably.

“What about me?” Akuryo shouted himself hoarse. “When was the last time you thought about me? About US!”

“You never do. It’s always about others. You never follow our desires. You never put ourselves first.”

A string of spiritual energy grew from Akuryo’s index finger, and he controlled it to grab his discarded sword off the floor and pull it back into his hand.

"And that's why I am stronger than you. Because you never tried to accept me. You always rejected half of your soul."

“But that ends now. I've had enough of that. It’s time that I follow my desires.”

“It’s time that I put myself first.”

Saying those final words, Akuryo sank his blade into Naruto’s chest. It was not an illusion spell this time around. A wet, squelching sound was heard, and a large amount of blood pooled on the floor as the evil spirit’s blade pierced the blond’s heart.



⁂⁂⁂⁂⁂

AN: Don’t worry, this isn’t a pretext to turn Naruto edgy lol. This chapter is actually extremely important for Naruto’s character development. It will also make a lot more sense why this chapter was necessary once the ability of his Bankai will be revealed.

I apologise if there are many typos. I have proofread this now, while I am at work.

Hope you enjoyed it. Until next time!