bookbashuk Page 97
Page 97
The intense mental anguish still pierced my soul like millions of ice needles, and my vision was torn apart by distorted crimson and darkness.
But his core will—the warmth he gained from reuniting with his parents and the strength he drew from the trust of his companions—was like an anchor, firmly fixed deep within his soul.
"Ugh..." A muffled groan escaped from his clenched teeth, his body still trembling violently on the grass in the sealed space.
Chapter 42 Embracing the Darkness
However, this time, he did not back down, nor did he succumb!
His inner space reappeared, on one side being the core of his own will, a place flowing with warm gold, the green of life, pure blue, and even a colorful radiance symbolizing the future and possibilities.
This is his dream, his protective spirit, and all his positive emotions and beliefs. In the face of conflict, these are compressed and condensed, making them shine even brighter.
On the other side, there was only boundless darkness and cold.
It's not just the hatred of others, but the culmination of all the negative emotions in the world.
At the heart of the scene, a figure exactly like him, yet radiating an aura of suffocating despair, stood silently.
This Dark Naruto looks exactly like him, except his eyes are scarlet, his gaze is empty and cold, and his body is shrouded in visible, almost tangible black smoke.
Resentment, anger, loneliness, destruction... That was the grievance of being rejected by the villagers and all alone at the beginning; it was the resentment against the injustice of the world that was infinitely magnified under the corruption of the Nine-Tails' chakra; it was the instinctive retaliation and destructive desire against the malice inflicted upon him!
This is the stripped-out and visualized negative and dark side of Naruto's innermost self!
“We meet again, another version of myself!” Naruto said to him.
Dark Naruto slowly raised his head, his empty, scarlet eyes devoid of any light, filled only with pure coldness and a desire for destruction.
His voice echoed with endless mockery and despair:
"What? Have you figured it out? We are one, after all. Destroying everything that gets in our way is the only way to be free!"
"I am your dark side, the source of all your negative emotions..."
But before he could finish speaking, Naruto appeared in front of him. To the astonishment of Dark Naruto, Naruto's true form opened his arms and, without any defenses, embraced the cold, dark embodiment of all his negativity and darkness with acceptance!
"I understand!" Naruto's real body spoke, his voice no longer trembling, but carrying a deep understanding.
"You have never been wrong, you are a part of me."
His voice pierced through the darkness of despair, and the multicolored radiance he carried gradually began to drive away the darkness.
"You are the wound I once suffered, the grievances and resentments buried deep in my heart. You are the pain I tried to forget but could never truly discard! You are the past me who was hurt by the world, angry and lonely!"
Dark Naruto's usually emotionless eyes seemed to show a very subtle ripple because of these words.
“Those hatreds and resentments, they are heavy, painful, and cold! I know all of that! I really know!” Naruto said gently, “It must have been so hard for you to bear all of this alone, right? Alone in the darkness, locking all the pain inside your heart!”
Dark Naruto's crimson eyes looked at Naruto, and there was no resistance or distancing in his gaze, only deep sympathy and concern.
"But you don't need to be alone anymore!"
"Because, now, I'm here with you to share all of this!"
This is neither annihilation nor expulsion!
This is the deepest level of reconciliation and acceptance!
Naruto finally confronted the shadow in his heart, acknowledged its existence, understood that it stemmed from the hurt and loneliness of the past, and then chose to embrace it and bear it, rather than be devoured by it or be separated from and abandoned by it!
"I will help you bear those resentments."
"Those grievances are no longer your secret alone."
"I understand where those destructive impulses come from, but I choose a different path!"
"Don't be afraid of being alone, we will always be together!"
Naruto's true form tightly embraced his dark self, the multicolored light gently attempting to penetrate the coldness of black and white, not to assimilate or destroy it, but to envelop and contain it:
"You are also Naruto Uzumaki! Let's walk towards the future together! Let's use this power to do something great! Not to destroy, but to protect the bonds we want to protect, to protect our grand unification plan!"
Naruto remembered the silent care that Guy had shown him when he hugged him;
The kind eyes of three generations and the words, "Your safety is more important than anything else";
Jiraiya's hearty laughter, which was both bold and deeply caring;
Kakashi's languid tone conveyed silent support;
Minato Namikaze's last words were, "You are now our pride."
Kushina, the mother, had a tearful yet smiling face, filled with pride.
Sasuke's angry yet determined gaze when he activated his Mangekyou Sharingan: "You idiot, if you ever do anything this dangerous again, I have to be by your side!"
Hinata's face was pale with worry, and she said in a tearful voice, "Naruto, please don't do things like this again."
The nine-tailed beast's huge eyes, which revealed loneliness after he sensed hatred, were now filled with a sense of solitude.
These images, along with his expectations for the future and his plan for unification, will completely eliminate hatred!
These colorful lights are not only his own, but also carry everything he loves, protects, and cherishes!
They are not a hypocritical fig leaf, but the very foundation upon which Naruto Uzumaki exists!
In that instant, the violent crimson chakra light on Naruto's body in the sealed space outside suddenly changed!
A golden, warm light filled Naruto's entire body, and his pained expression quickly subsided. His tightly furrowed brows slowly relaxed, replaced by an extremely calm and profound focus.
His body still emanated a powerful energy fluctuation that made the air tremble, but the violent aura contained within that energy was contained by a vast will as boundless as the starry sea, and was no longer out of control.
For the first time, the Nine-Tailed Fox suddenly opened its enormous fox eyes wide!
Because of its deep connection with Naruto, it clearly sensed it!
Its heavy negative emotions accumulated over thousands of years have not been severed or isolated!
After entering the depths of Naruto's soul, they seemed to rush into an incomparably vast starry sky, where the boundless darkness seemed to have boundaries, and the icy sting was enveloped and soothed by a warm power.
That's not simply about eliminating it, but about taking responsibility!
It was Naruto's soul that, with his beliefs and the accumulation of all positive emotions, actively constructed a massive "container" to contain this overwhelming darkness, and slowly calmed, subsided, and restored it to its proper place!
This is the true meaning of a Jinchūriki!
It's not that the Tailed Beasts are sealed in containers, but rather that humans, with their powerful spirit and will, actively bear and harmonize the power and negative aspects of the Tailed Beasts!
Sasuke's Mangekyou Sharingan stared intently at Naruto. His tense nerves finally relaxed a little, and his eyes were filled with shocked admiration: "Naruto, you really did it!"
Hinata covered her mouth, tears streaming down her face uncontrollably. She saw that the cold darkness in Naruto's soul had not disappeared, but it had been gently and firmly embraced and contained by Naruto's own light, just as the sky embraces the earth. They were no longer opposites, but had become a complete whole!
Light and darkness coexist; only then can existence be complete!
Just as there is heaven and there is earth.
In Hinata's eyes, Naruto at this moment was like a yin-yang symbol, with black and white coexisting and complementing each other!
An unprecedentedly powerful aura emanated from Naruto's body.
Under the blue sky and white clouds of the sealed space, Kurama lay quietly, but its gaze was fixed on Naruto without blinking.
It recalled Naruto's stubborn words, "How could mere negative emotions possibly affect me?"
"I'm willing to share the same negative emotions as you!"
"How can I truly understand you if I can't feel the same pain?!"
After a long while, the huge fox head lowered slightly, as if some kind of unchanging barrier had quietly cracked open at that moment, letting in a ray of unfamiliar light called "recognition".
Chapter 43 Seeking the Dao Jade
The crimson in Dark Naruto's eyes slowly disappeared, turning into a clear blue like the sky.
A gentle smile, just like Naruto's, appeared on his lips. He turned around and hugged Naruto, gradually merging into Naruto's body.
Along with what merged into his body was the immense chakra of the Nine-Tails!
This immense power no longer resisted Naruto and actively entered his body, merging with his own chakra.
Naruto suddenly opened his eyes.
An unimaginably large amount of golden chakra surged from Naruto's body.
Like a golden torrent of chakra, its scale and purity far surpassed any previous chakra burst.
But this power was not filled with violent destructive desire; instead, it was vast and boundless, as warm and glorious as the rising sun, carrying a sacred sense of washing away all gloom.
Under Naruto's precise guidance, the burst of golden chakra energy instantly converged, condensed, and shaped inward.
The blinding light gradually stabilized, and what covered Naruto's entire body was no longer the illusory flame-shaped chakra, but a solidified, almost tangible "golden battle suit".
On this dazzling golden base, mysterious and powerful jet-black patterns flow, outlining intricate yet harmonious designs on the chest, arms, and legs.
A graceful golden band of light floated above his head, moving behind Naruto without wind, swaying gently, each movement creating pure and powerful ripples of chakra.
Naruto looked at the changes in his body in surprise.
“This is extremely pure Yang Release chakra!” Naruto made the judgment.
He had Sasuke's Mangekyou Sharingan in his eyes, and the extreme Yin Release chakra of the Mangekyou Sharingan resonated with the Yang Release chakra on his body.
The five elements attributes within the body are automatically incorporated.
With a single thought from Naruto, the seven attributes merged together seamlessly.
Finally, three black spheres formed behind Naruto.
"Truth-Seeking Balls?" A strange information came from Naruto's chakra, letting him know what the three black balls in front of him were.
Sasuke and Hinata also appeared from Naruto's inner space.
Sasuke looked at Naruto's drastic change, and the Mangekyou Sharingan in his eyes flickered slightly.
In an instant, his body was clad in a golden armor resembling Naruto's, and the powerful Yang Release instantly restored his Mangekyou Sharingan, which had been experiencing vision loss.
Three Seeking the Dao Jade also appeared behind him.
This is the power of the eye technique of "Heart-to-Heart Connection".
In the temporary ability-sharing state, even Naruto's Tailed Beast Chakra Mode can be shared.
Hinata also shared Sasuke's current state.
Golden battle armor appeared on her body, and three Truth-Seeking Jewels appeared behind her.
Sasuke and Hinata were shocked by the changes in themselves.
Sasuke looked at his hands: "What incredible power this is!"
"This power! I feel invincible!" Naruto took a deep breath, stepped out of the pavilion, and looked up at the sky.
Naruto took a deep breath, stepped out of the pavilion, and looked up at the sky. Raindrops fell on Naruto, but were blocked by his golden chakra.
He felt an unprecedented surge of pure and powerful energy within his body, like a vast ocean.
A clear whistle broke the silence.
Naruto unleashed a powerful punch!
In that instant, it seemed as if the whole world held its breath.
Wherever the fist struck, there was no earth-shattering explosion; instead, there was a silent roar as space was extremely compressed and then instantly torn apart.
An incredibly condensed and dazzling straight golden torrent erupted from Naruto's fist, piercing straight into the sky!
This torrent was not a violent shockwave, but rather more like a golden divine blade that split the heavens and the earth.
It surges upwards at a speed beyond visual perception, forcefully pushing aside and annihilating everything in its path—air, dust, light—creating a path of absolute vacuum!
The crest of the torrent crashed violently into the thick clouds!
At that moment, the delayed roar exploded like rolling thunder, but it was merely the aftershock of the energy release.
What followed was a truly soul-chilling spectacle.
Above the vast, leaden-gray sky, a massive crack was cleaved open straight through the very center by that golden divine blade!
The thick clouds on both sides of the crack seemed to be violently separated and pushed aside by an invisible giant hand!
The rolling clouds, bounded by that straight vacuum trajectory, surged and churned wildly to the left and right!
This rift, stretching across the sky, was so flat, straight, and wide that its edges even shimmered with golden chakra lightning that had not yet dissipated.