Naruto: Passerby and Returnee

Chapter 272 "A Ray of Light"

There was no one else there. Even Kurama gradually sank into Naruto's sea of ​​consciousness and was imprisoned underwater with Naruto.

The light emanating from "Naruto" was like a deadly poison to the demons; every head of the monster howled and perished, followed by the true trunk buried deep underground.

"Impossible! No one in this world can kill me! What are you?!"

The "person" he referred to as "the thing" floated silently above the lava, his expression still incredibly peaceful, even his eyes were closed. But their energy clash was incredibly fierce, and Naruto watched helplessly as the large point of light on the demon's body was dismantled and devoured by an invisible hand, starting from the outermost layer of dark energy, then moving to the light energy in the middle, and finally to the pure black core.

Only at the very end did "Naruto" reach out and grab the core from the gradually dissipating body of the demon. Although the core was clearly visible, it did not provide Naruto with any tactile feedback; instead, the chakra in his hand began to slowly disappear.

"This is the core of the beings in the dark universe. No matter what their appearance changes, their core remains the same, while our universe is the complete opposite. We are beings constructed from the source, remember that..."

"The dark universe is our eternal enemy."

As the sound rang out, countless bright cracks appeared on the pure black core, and soon the thing vanished with the wind.

Control suddenly returned to Naruto's hands. Caught off guard, he nearly fell into the molten lava. The area had been completely destroyed in the battle, and the aftershocks of the explosion had turned the volcano upside down, hinting at an imminent eruption. His first instinct was to return to everyone. The news of the mission's completion, and of course, the news of his survival, had to be relayed properly to dispel the shadow of death that had haunted them for so many days. But his mind changed in an instant. In the chaos, he somehow managed to change his location halfway through his journey, plunging headfirst into the soft sand.

Perhaps his brain needed some time to process what was happening, for he then felt an even more intense pain than before, a pain that permeated his entire body, as if every part of him was rejecting his return. He didn't even have the strength to howl, and he could barely move, but in the end, he managed to move his arm with sheer willpower, squeezing out a proper path from the chaotic flow of chakra with incredible difficulty.

"Bang." A shadow clone appeared. Fortunately, the clone didn't seem to share the original's pain, and it could still move freely. But the clone just nodded to the original, then flipped the person over and laid them flat before rushing back to report.

----------

Before him lay darkness... no, not entirely; there were slivers of light scattered in many places, appearing very far away. Everywhere was empty, as if there was nothing there... Was there anything here?

"Are you awake?" Hmm? A voice I've never heard before.

He looked up and saw a large, bright light above him, which seemed very close, unlike the other lights that appeared distant. Strange, could light speak?

"I can hear it, I'm responding..." The voice seemed to emanate from the light, or perhaps echoed directly in my mind, omnipresent. It sounded a little...excited? Yet, it softened its tone and asked again, "Who are you?"

What kind of question is this? Of course he is...is he?

The space, which had been so quiet it was completely silent, suddenly became noisy. The noise gave him a headache, and he tried to cover his ears, but he couldn't feel his hands. But he didn't have time to think about these problems anymore; the sounds grew louder and clearer, almost destroying his senses.

"Seventh Hokage, please save us!"

"Help! I don't want to die, I don't want to die! Seventh Boss..."

Where is the Seventh Hokage?

"Please bless Boruto and the others, Naruto-kun."

"Can we win, Naruto?"

"Naruto, if only you were still here..."

"Naruto, our world is about to be destroyed."

"Naruto, I've come to find you."

All sound suddenly vanished, and his world returned to complete silence. Who was he? This was, of course, an unquestionable question.

"...Naruto, it's Naruto." He opened his mouth, wanting to answer, but no sound came out. Why? He felt like he wasn't exhaling any air at all; was there no air around him? When was the last time he experienced something like this? Was it on the moon...?

moon?

“Unbelievable… He actually possesses a clear sense of self? This is the first successful case in thousands of years.” The light above spoke again, and this time he could confirm it because the thing had brightened a little and moved closer.

"Are you feeling any discomfort?"

"No." His answer remained silent, so he tried to shake his head, but found himself suddenly able to see the entire scene before and behind him. In front of him was nothingness, with only countless pebbles floating, but behind him was a huge and dazzling white planet.

That's... the sun, right? Then, where did the moon go? No, that's not right. The important thing isn't the moon, but...

His desperate attempt to recall was interrupted; the light drew closer, speaking in an almost urgent tone: "Then come with me. I know you can't remember anything right now, but that doesn't matter. Our world is about to be destroyed..."

"Destruction?" Did he just hear that phrase? That all-knowing tone... who was it again?

"Ah, I'll explain all that on the way. Let's set off now."

"Wait." He wanted to confirm, to make sure that the person who said those words was indeed the light in front of him. "What's your name?"

"Are you particularly curious because I'm a new individual? Well, we still have time to say a few words." The ball of light seemed quite helpless, but finally answered the question: "My name is Otsutsuki Shibakai."

Otsutsuki...

The name was like a switch to switch on his suffering; memories of despair instantly flooded his mind. He remembered the seemingly omnipotent enemy, the void on the moon, the hideous giant trees rising from the ground, and... a light that could destroy the world!

And that light was right in front of him!

His hatred burned fiercely, and it seemed to control his body better than his confusion. He instinctively regained his hands, which burst forth with a light more intense than the sun.

"What are you doing?"

"Kill, kill, kill!" he roared silently, the force of the two colliding lights cracking the empty world. He felt pain in the collapse, but it didn't matter; being shattered to pieces didn't matter, he had only one goal.

Kill the Otsutsuki!