Naruto: The Chosen Undead

[Adamos_Amet]

Chapter no.48 Chaos meets Calamity!

---

Naruto, Oscar, and Griggs descended into the lower Undead Burg, their footsteps echoing off the cracked stone steps beside the long-abandoned chamber where the Capra Demon once dwelled.

Naruto was unusually quiet.

"Something on your mind?" Griggs asked, watching him from the corner of his eye.

"Hollows. And the curse of the Undead."

"That's a broad subject. What about it?"

Naruto hesitated. "My master, Oscar, he was Undead. Died protecting me back in the Northern Undead Asylum. But I've been thinking... shouldn't he have risen again as a hollow?"

"I'm not following," Griggs admitted.

Naruto sighed and slowed his pace, recounting the day he met Oscar, how the man sacrificed himself fighting the Asylum Demon so Naruto could escape, and how he buried him afterward he killed the demon.

"You think he's still there?" Griggs asked. "Hollowed?"

"I don't know. The place was falling apart when I left. But... maybe it returned back to normal. If he was like the merchant, then it's possible."

Griggs gave a low hum of thought. "And if he is? What would you do?"

Naruto didn't answer right away.

Would he go back? Try to speak to Oscar one last time? Tell him everything about the journey? One last conversation between a squire and his master.

A faint smile flickered across his lips at the thought. But then the idea dug deeper into his mind.

Could he save Oscar? Could chakra or fuinjutsu somehow reverse the hollowing? Could he use the advantages of his world to do what no miracle had?

The thought lingered until the world snapped back into motion.

A flash of steel whistled through the air toward his neck.

Naruto vanished.

The knife passed clean through his afterimage, and in its wake, he was squatting down, flicking a shuriken toward the source.

At the base of the steps, one undead assassin stood too perfectly in the middle of the street; hood low, blade half-drawn, posture still. But Naruto's Hawkeyes didn't fixate on the obvious target. They caught the shimmer of reflected light from the shuriken.

A second assassin, hidden in the shadows.

He launched a second shuriken, angling it off the first with a snap of chakra. The collision sent both spinning toward their marks until the second shuriken detonated mid-air, the explosive seal bursting into a concussive flash.

The hidden assassin didn't even have time to scream.

The first assassin, however, rolled through the blast and the shuriken with I-frames. But the moment his dodge ended, Griggs stepped forward and loosed a Great Soul Arrow that punched clean through the assassin's chest.

The body collapsed in a heap of ash and silence.

Oscar let out a disgruntled chirp.

Naruto glanced down and grinned. "What? You wanted a turn?"

Oscar huffed and flared his tail, clearly displeased.

Naruto ruffled the crystal lizard's head. "You've come a long way, you know. Used to be scared of your own shadow."

Oscar chirped again, nose in the air, as if he'd always been brave.

Naruto chuckled and looked toward the path ahead.

But in the back of his mind, the thought remained.

If Oscar was still somewhere in that broken asylum… then maybe, just maybe, it was worth finding a way to bring him back.

But that was a thought for another day.

Right now, Naruto chose to stay grounded—in the present, in the moment—as he scanned the path ahead.

The street opened onto a triangular stone platform. Crumbling stairs curled up both sides toward an old tower, but Naruto's gaze caught on something else: a heavy metal door embedded in the far wall. Reinforced. Angular. Claw-like ridges framed it like something meant to keep things in, not out. A small, barred window near the top shimmered with faint blue light.

"That looks like it goes down," Naruto said, stepping forward.

He pulled the Key to the Depths from his inventory and slid it into the rusted lock.

Click.

The stone beneath them trembled. With a deep metallic groan, the claw-like ridges retracted into the walls. The shimmer across the door shattered like brittle glass, and the thick slab creaked open on its own, revealing a spiral stair descending into dark, wet silence.

A stench rose from below... indescribable.

Naruto's stomach twisted, and his throat burned from the stench thick in the air.

Then came the scream.

Thud.

The unmistakable sound of cleaver meeting flesh.

Thud.

The unmistakable sound of Naruto closing the door came next.

Naruto turned to the tower. "Let's go that way first."

Meanwhile, the sorcerer was checking out the magic barrier.

"Fascinating," Griggs murmured. "That magic barrier was beyond any words I could muster. Whoever did that was powerful beyond anything I've studied."

"Any idea who?"

Griggs hesitated, then said grimly, "The only one that comes to mind is Seath the Scaleless."

Naruto stilled, something cold crawling down his spine.

He remembered now—the key to the lower Undead Burg had been near the Undead Church, right where a Channeler had ambushed him. Rickert had said they served Seath. If a dragon had gone this far... creating barriers, posting demons like Capra... then whatever was in the Depths wasn't just dangerous. It was being deliberately hidden.

Naruto's thoughts were cut short by the zing of an arrow narrowly missing his head.

He looked up.

A hollow crouched on a wooden platform halfway up the tower, bow drawn, already notching another arrow.

"Oscar," Naruto said.

The little lizard was already sprinting up the wall in a spiral of flashing claws, his tail trailing chakra sparks. Halfway up, he launched himself into the air, curled mid-flight into a tight ball, and slammed directly into the hollow's chest. The undead archer tumbled backward off the ledge, body ragdolling to the floor below with a grotesque splatter.

Naruto and Griggs exchanged a glance as they reached the top of the staircase, carefully stepping around what was left of the hollow archer splattered below.

"Nice work," Naruto said, giving Oscar a single, appreciative clap.

Griggs offered a more restrained golf clap. "Elegant."

Oscar flared his frills and gave a proud little hop. He was clearly pleased.

Naruto snorted. "Next time, I'm gonna try kicking the archer off the platform. That sounds way more fun."

Griggs arched a brow. "That would be quite the height of tactical brilliance."

Naruto mimicked him in a dramatic, mock-posh tone. "Quite the height of tactical brilliance."

Griggs snorted. "You act like a child. Try acting your age."

"Dude. I am a child. I'm twelve."

Griggs stopped cold. "By the great Albino Dragon…"

"What?"

"You're twelve?" Griggs repeated, nearly dropping his staff. "That's... that's not possible. That's… you're... wait, wait, wait." He looked Naruto up and down like he was a cursed artifact. "You expect me to believe the warrior I saw dominate a Capra Demon... is a kid whose balls haven't dropped yet?!"

Naruto made a face. "Wait. They drop?!"

Griggs stared.

Naruto stared back.

"…Please tell me you're joking," Griggs said slowly.

"No, man, what does that even mean?! Drop where? Like, fall off? Do they roll away?! Is that why old people look so depressed?!"

"Oh gods," Griggs muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose. "You are a child."

"I'M NOT JOKING!" Naruto shouted. "DO I NEED TO GLUE THEM ON OR SOMETHING?!"

Oscar let out a chirp and darted back to Naruto's side, curling around his leg like he needed protection from the conversation.

Naruto crouched and scratched the lizard behind his head frills. "You good, Griggs?"

Griggs sighed like a man thirty years older than he was. "My apologies. I just… wasn't prepared for that kind of information. Outside of Lordran, you'd be hailed as a generational prodigy. I've studied tomes older than kingdoms and I've never heard of anyone like you."

Naruto scratched the back of his head. "I mean… I kinda just woke up in the Undead Asylum." He kept it vague.

Griggs didn't push. He had already learned Naruto's secrets came in pieces.

"A shame," he said. "If only you'd been born before the Undead outbreaks… your name might've changed the world."

Naruto shrugged. "Too late for that now. So… what'd you think I was, if not a kid?"

Griggs adjusted his gloves with a small huff. "I assumed you were a Gyrm. Or as some call them… dwarves."

Naruto turned, scandalized. "You calling me short?"

"No," Griggs replied evenly. "I was describing a stocky, powerful subterranean race known for their insane strength and isolationism."

Naruto narrowed his eyes. "That's the most polite insult I've ever heard. So yeah. You were calling me short."

Griggs rolled his eyes, already moving to change the subject. "Are you ready to deal with that cursed hand of yours?"

Naruto perked up.

"That's why we're here, right? You said there's a merchant with Purging Stones down here somewhere."

"Yes," Griggs confirmed. "She doesn't show herself to just anyone, but I have an understanding with her. She won't come cheap but the stone works. You'll be rid of the curse for good."

Naruto looked down at his cursed arm. Still, a grin tugged at his lips. "I'm ready," he said. "Let's end this."

They reached the top of the tower, where a damp breeze swept across the stone. A tunnel stretched out ahead, the air thick with the foul, acidic scent of flowing sewage.

Naruto stepped forward, pausing at the edge. Below, the water was dark and sluggish, flecked with oily glimmers in the half-light that filtered through the moss-choked stone.

"…I know this place," Naruto murmured, glancing to the right. His eyes caught on a set of thick, rusted bars embedded in the tunnel wall.

Oscar let out a displeased chirp and backed away from the ledge. Sewer water was clearly not his thing.

Meanwhile, Griggs peered toward the other side of the cage-like bars, expression thoughtful.

"So where is this merchant?"

"She was here the last time I checked. Maybe your fight with the Capra Demon scared her off," Griggs offered.

Naruto groaned and crouched to pick up Oscar, cradling the little lizard against his shoulder. "Great. Just my luck."

He turned away. "Come on. Let's go back to Firelink Shrine. I'll check again later."

The two made their way down the tunnel until they reached a gate. Naruto narrowed his eyes at it.

This was the first door in Lordran that hadn't opened from the other side.

He raised his foot and kicked. With a loud clang, it gave way, groaning on its hinges. They passed through and made their way back to Firelink Shrine.

Naruto was quiet.

He'd really wanted to fix the curse today. It felt like the fastest path to real strength. Not just more skill, not just better gear. Power. A clean, whole soul again.

Why was he chasing strength so hard?

Because he still didn't know if Kakashi was truly his sensei… or his enemy.

Naruto wanted to believe there was a good reason Kakashi abandoned him. He wanted to ask. To understand. But he wasn't stupid enough to march into Tazuna's house and sit down for tea. Not after what happened. Not after everything.

Strength was his insurance policy.

If he couldn't get the curse removed yet, then it was time for plan B.

Learn magic from Griggs.

Naruto had his clones clear out the hollows as they descended the path. When they stepped through the familiar cracked stone arch and onto the terrace, Naruto gave a half-smile. "Welcome to Firelink Shrine," he said.

The bonfire sputtered at the center, casting a soft orange pulse into the ruin.

"There's a guy from the Way of White here," Naruto said, nodding to the far end where Petrus usually lingered. "He sells blessings. Real shady type."

Griggs glanced over, unimpressed.

"And down that slope," Naruto continued, "is the Fire Keeper. Over there? That elevator goes to the Undead Parish."

Griggs gave a low hum. "You certainly know your way around. How long have you been in Lordran?"

Naruto paused.

He did the math in his head. If time moved slower in the Wave… then what felt like a week in his world was far longer here. A 1:3 ratio. He'd been in Lordran for over 35 days. More than a month. Longer than the entire Wave mission. Longer than any time he'd spent in his own world in recent memory.

That hit him harder than expected. He swallowed it down.

"A while," he muttered.

"Regardless of how long you've been here, you've clearly learned much in that time. Your skill is undeniable."

Naruto blinked, dragged from his thoughts.

Griggs gave a faint grin. "I am pleased to have a chance to give something back. Well, then lets get started straight away."

[ Wares ]

[ Items ]
[Sorcerer's Catalyst – 500 Souls]

[ Spells ]
[Soul Arrow – 1,000 Souls]
[Heavy Soul Arrow – 2,000 Souls]
[Great Soul Arrow – 6,000 Souls]
[Great Heavy Soul Arrow – 8,000 Souls]
[Fall Control – 1,500 Souls]
[Magic Weapon – 3,000 Souls]
[Aural Decoy – 1,000 Souls]
[Magic Shield – 3,000 Souls]

[ Rings ]
[Bellowing Dragoncrest Ring – 20,000 Souls]
[Lingering Dragoncrest Ring – 20,000 Souls]

Naruto tried to hide the grin tugging at his lips as he scanned the growing list of sorceries available to him.

Great Soul Arrow. A stronger, heavier version of the classic projectile. Fall Control. The spell that let him launch himself like a missile from above, then land without so much as a twisted ankle. Magic Weapon. A buff. Temporary, but potent. The same glowing enhancement Beatrice had once used on his Zweihander, turning it into a spectral giant's blade. With chakra reinforcing the spell… Naruto could pull off something similar.

And yet, his eyes weren't on the spells.

They were on the rings.

More specifically, one ring. Gleaming faintly in the soft light of the Shrine, the Bellowing Dragoncrest Ring rested inside a velvet-lined box, surrounded by protective runes. The carved image of a dragon roared outward from the surface, scales etched with uncanny precision.

Naruto exhaled. "The rings are expensive."

"You might not know this," Griggs said, folding his arms, "but that ring is given only to the most gifted sorcerers of the Vinheim Dragon School. Not every student even gets to see one. It amplifies the power of sorceries significantly."

Naruto stared at it, tilting his head. "So it's like… a badge of honor, but with a buff."

"It's more than that," Griggs said, voice quieter now. "It's a testament. Only those with the strength and control to wield that amplification can survive it. Too much power too quickly and the spell can…" He mimed an explosion with his fingers. "Backfire. Violently."

Naruto gave a low hum. "Sounds dangerous."

"It is dangerous. But in the right hands? It can change the course of a war."

Naruto didn't reply. He just reached forward and picked up the ring, letting the weight of it rest in his palm. The carved dragon glinted in the light.

Then it hummed.

He frowned.

Not with sound, but something deeper like a string being plucked in the center of his chest. There was resonance between the ring and his soul. Not just his magic, but his chakra network as well.

He understood instinctively.

The ring amplified sorceries by allowing more of the soul's influence to bleed into the body. The resonance acted as a conduit, much like how chakra was formed from the fusion of physical and spiritual energy. The Bellowing Dragoncrest Ring was named not for its appearance, but for what it did... it made the soul roar, like a dragon bellowing through the flesh.

"Strength of sorceries, huh?" Naruto muttered.

He knew it already, that chakra and soul energy could reinforce one another. He'd used that synergy to fire soul arrows charged with enough chakra to punch through buildings. But this… this was a leap beyond.

He slipped the ring onto his finger.

A deep gong rang out; not aloud, but within. A pulse, ancient and echoing, shook him to his core.

The chakra in his body surged. Not out of control, but… in tune. It was like a melody he'd never known he'd been playing wrong until now.

"May I?" he asked, voice level, locking eyes with Griggs.

Griggs gave a slow nod. "Go on."

Naruto pressed his hands together, forming the familiar seal.

But what happened next was anything but familiar.

The clone didn't appear with the usual puff of smoke. Instead, his skin stretched and separated, like the slow fission of dividing cells. A shimmer of refracted light rippled through the air as Naruto's body cast off a duplicate like watching a budding plant split at the stalk, petals peeling back to reveal a twin bloom.

The clone emerged with a soft wet sound, landing upright beside him.

Griggs immediately coughed and looked away, hand flying up to shield his eyes. "By the gods! A bit of modesty, please!"

The clone stood stark naked, blinking dumbly like a newborn, clearly as surprised as the original.

Naruto didn't laugh. He wasn't even paying attention.

His hand was pressed against the clone's chest.

And what he felt, it wasn't just chakra. It wasn't just a shell with some memory feedback.

It was life.

A heartbeat. Lungs drawing breath. Skin warm to the touch.

The Bellowing Dragoncrest Ring had twisted the Shadow Clone Technique. No longer a chakra construct… this was a living, breathing copy of himself. Not a trick. Not a distraction.

A true physical clone.

Naruto's eyes widened.

"This…" he whispered, "this changes everything."

[ Name: Naruto Uzumaki ]
[ Covenant: Way of White ]
[ Level: 48 ]
[ HP: 616 / 616 → 600 / 600 ]
[ Stamina: 93 ]
[ Equip Load: 42.8 / 51.0 ]
[ Stats ]
[ Vitality: 12 → 10 ]
[ Attunement: 12 → 10 ]
[ Endurance: 11 → 10 ]
[ Strength: 24 → 12 ]
[ Dexterity: 20 → 10 ]
[ Resistance: 12 → 10 ]
[ Intelligence: 20 → 15 ]
[ Faith: 20 → 15 ]
[ Humanity: 0 ]

Naruto took a deep breath, trying to keep his heartbeat steady. Something felt off. His stats had dropped. Not just slightly noticeably. Like something had been carved out of him.

"Interesting," Griggs said, watching as the physical clone tightened the straps on the Hunter armor.

Naruto turned his head. "What is?"

Griggs nodded toward the clone. "That copy… it's not just chakra. It's made from a fragment of your soul."

Something clicked.

Of course. That's why his stats were lower. His soul had literally been split in two to give the clone life. The chakra alone couldn't explain it, but a soul pulled thin and stretched across two bodies? That could.

Naruto slowly approached the clone, eyeing it like it might crumble. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

The clone stared at him, then blinked. "It's weird."

"Helpful," Naruto muttered.

"No, like… wrong-weird." The clone frowned, his voice quieter now. "I think like you. I feel like you… but also not. There's something... hollow. Like I'm echoing inside my own skull."

He touched his chest. "It's not like being a shadow clone. They know they're fake. They pop and they're done. Me? I know I'm real. I can breathe. Bleed. Eat. But it's like my existence is balanced on a string, and someone's holding the scissors."

Naruto was silent for a beat.

The clone continued, "When I blink, it feels like someone else might open my eyes. When I think, I don't know if the thoughts are mine, or leftovers from yours."

"...Dude." Naruto winced. "That's messed up."

"Tell me about it."

"Let's figure out more about you," Naruto said, pulling away from Griggs, with Oscar scampering after him.

As they passed Anastacia, Naruto gave her a wave. The mute girl only stared, eyes wide with alarm.

The trio stepped onto the elevator platform, the old metal groaning as it descended.

"So, as a physical clone," the clone said, tapping his chin, "I make my own chakra. I can use jutsu. I think clearer. I am me… right?"

Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"But I can't copy your clothes or gear, so I have to equip stuff from the inventory manually." He looked down at his gloves. "Which means I could technically build my own loadout."

"You got the Kyuubi in you?" Naruto asked suddenly.

The clone shrugged, then lifted his shirt and channeled chakra into his gut.

Nothing.

"No seal. No fox."

"Guess not," Naruto muttered.

The elevator rattled downwards. For a while, they stood in silence, just the hum of descent and the faint clicking of Oscar's claws echoing around them.

"...So, other than being a parasite that halves my stats and steals my armor slots, what are you good for?" Naruto asked.

The clone grinned. "Eating ramen?"

Naruto sighed, then lightly bonked him on the head.

Fwshhh!

The clone vanished instantly, merging back into him in a swirl of soul-light.

Naruto staggered.

This wasn't like shadow clone memory feedback. That was clean, like watching someone else's dream. Detached. Safe.

This… was different.

His head swam as memories flooded in. He didn't remember watching the clone talk about ramen. He remembered being the one who said it. He felt the coolness of the armor on borrowed skin. He remembered the elevator descent, but from a different pair of eyes. The body felt heavier. The breath came out different. Emotions lingered like smoke in a different room of his mind.

It was like remembering a second life. A life that had only lasted ten minutes.

Naruto gripped the wall as nausea coiled in his stomach.

"Shit," he whispered. "This is so messed up…"

Oscar chirped beside him.

"Just… gimme a minute."

---

A few minutes later, Naruto and Oscar made their way to the familiar stairway, the soft hiss of distant water echoing through the stone walls.

They stopped at the edge of Rickert's cage.

Naruto cupped his hands. "RICK!"

Inside the cage, the Vinheim blacksmith jerked awake with a clatter of metal. He scrambled upright, eyes wide and limbs flailing, briefly mistaking the shadows for Hollowed attackers.

"Shit!... Wha!?" He blinked furiously, staff glowing with latent sorcery until he spotted Naruto standing there with a grin.

"Oh. It's you," Rickert muttered, rubbing the sleep from his face. "Dammit, don't scare me like that."

"Miss me?"

"Not in the slightest."

Naruto just smiled and held up his hand, flashing the Bellowing Dragon Crest Ring between two fingers.

Rickert blinked. "Well, well. Look who's getting fancy."

Naruto explained everything: Griggs, the clone, the soul mechanics, and how the ring had amplified his jutsu.

As he spoke, Rickert held out a hand to examine the ring, the blacksmith's fingers brushing against it.

"Yeah," Rickert muttered, rotating it. "This isn't his. I'd wager he pulled it off a corpse."

"Any idea why he would give me something this strong?"

Rickert shrugged. "Souls, maybe. A ring like that could fetch twenty, thirty thousand. That's no pocket change, especially for someone stuck in Lordran."

"Or maybe trust?" Naruto offered.

"Maybe." Rickert didn't sound fully convinced. "Or maybe you're just the biggest firework in a dark sky. Power draws people in, like moths."

Naruto looked down at the ring, thoughtful. "So… should I trust him?"

Rickert paused, gaze steady. "You have a habit, Naruto. You meet someone, you smile, and in your heart, you expect the best from them. I'm not saying that's good or bad, it's just you."

He walked over to the bars and leaned against them.

"But here's the thing. Everyone thinks they're doing the right thing. Even monsters. Even bastards. What matters is not what they say… it's what they do. You judge a person by how they carry the weight of their choices."

Naruto looked up, eyes a little more serious now. "So I just… wait?"

"No. You watch. You decide. If they earn your trust, give it. If they don't, don't bother."

Naruto was quiet for a beat. "And if they break it?"

Rickert's expression hardened slightly, just for a moment. "Then it's up to you to choose what that betrayal means. Vengeance. Distance. Forgiveness. Whatever you pick… it's yours to carry."

Naruto let the silence stretch before giving a small nod. That hit deeper than he thought it would — especially with Kakashi still in the back of his mind like a scar that hadn't quite closed.

"Thanks, man. I'm heading back to the Valley of Drakes. Gonna test how this ring affects my other jutsu."

Rickert raised an eyebrow as Naruto turned to go. "Wait. One thing before you go."

Naruto glanced over his shoulder.

"Who won? You or Kakashi?"

Naruto gave Oscar a smug look, arms crossed.

"Take a wild guess."

"Kakashi."

Thud.

Naruto and Oscar faceplanted.

"I won that spar, you ungrateful anvil-humper!"

"Doubt it," Rickert said with a straight face, returning to his forge.

Naruto flipped the bird, and Oscar... after glancing at his partner lifted his tiny claw and awkwardly mimicked the gesture.

Rickert laughed. A genuine, short burst of amusement. "Get outta here, you little troublemakers."

Naruto grinned, brushing himself off as he and Oscar headed for the Valley of Drakes.

"Next time, I'm not bringing ramen just to spite you."

"Bring beer too!" Rickert called after them.

A few minutes after Naruto and Oscar vanished, Rickert leaned back against the bars of his cell.

"You can come out now," he said without turning.

Almost as if peeling away from the shadows themselves, Griggs of Vinheim emerged from the gloom. His posture was calm, his steps quiet, his presence deliberate.

"Good day to you."

Rickert didn't move. "What do you want?"

"Just some answers."

"And if I don't answer?"

Griggs gave a light shrug. "Then I walk away."

Rickert snorted softly. "That's an odd stance for someone from the Black Society of Vinheim."

Griggs chuckled, but there was no humor in it. "Let's just say… I don't want to end up being hunted by a certain blonde swordsman with a pet lizard and a temper."

Rickert tilted his head, brow raised. "Smart. That kid's half wildfire, half miracle. The other half is just chaos."

The blacksmith's words hung in the air, dry and edged.

The name Black Society of Vinheim carried weight. They were the shadow knives of the Dragon School — the ones who eliminated threats, hunted defectors, and silenced questions. Griggs being one of them, and yet afraid of Naruto… that was worth a second look.

But then came the drop.

"Death's just the first toll on the road to hell for us Undead," Griggs said quietly. "And I know you've walked that road, Rickert… of the Band of the Hawk."

The name landed like a guillotine.

Rickert didn't flinch.

"A long time ago," he said, voice calm. "Another life. Another war. Now I'm just a man with a hammer and a cell. Maybe a friend… maybe a brother… to a brat who's too curious for his own good."

His words were deliberate, slow, almost a warning. I am in Naruto's inner circle.

Griggs tilted his head slightly. "You've met many people down here, haven't you?"

Rickert gave a thin smile. "I've met the damned, the broken, and a few who might just change the world."

"Anyone… particularly interesting?"

Rickert nodded once. "You ever hear of Big Hat Logan?"

Griggs froze.

His breath caught. His posture tensed like a drawn string.

"You've… spoken to him?"

"What do you think?"

Silence stretched between them. The tension had shifted. Now it was Griggs who stood on uneven ground.

"What do I need to do," Griggs said, measured and slow, "for you to tell me where he is?"

Rickert turned slightly, staring out across the shimmering water of the flooded abyss, eyes distant.

"That depends," he said. "Are you asking… as a scholar of Vinheim?"

A pause.

"Or as one of its shadows?"

Griggs didn't answer at first. Then, with careful precision, he said, "What if I told you… neither?"

Now Rickert paused.

"Well now," he murmured, "that's interesting."

---

In the mist-swept silence of the Valley of Drakes, Naruto took a long breath and grinned.

"Alright," he said, stretching his arms. "You ready to witness the glorious union of magic and chakra?"

Oscar gave a dismissive chirp.

Naruto squinted. "Come on, man, show some excitement."

Oscar flared his frills and began chirping again; this time with an unmistakably mocking rhythm, like he was baiting Naruto into proving himself.

"Rude," Naruto muttered. "Fine. Let's start simple."

He brought his hands together, fingers flowing through the familiar signs.

Transformation Jutsu.

There was no puff of smoke this time.

Instead, the chakra peeled off him like fluid silk, shimmering with faint threads of blue as it wrapped and rewrote his body. Unlike the typical transformation jutsu, which was a trick of light and perception, this was real. Naruto could feel bones subtly slide, muscle stretch and compress, and skin ripple like clay being shaped by unseen hands.

It didn't hurt. But it was weird.

A blink later, and standing where Naruto once was… stood Ino.

Naruto blinked, then looked down at himself.

"What the... Hahaha! Look, Oscar! I'm a girl!"

His voice was a pitch higher, and when he touched his face and traced his jaw, it was smoother, more angular. His hands ran briefly over his waist and hips... definitely more curved. But then he frowned.

"It's only the outer shell that's shapeshifted rather than me fully transforming into Ino." He glanced at his arms. "Guess I'm still me, just… dressed like her. Really convincingly."

Oscar stood on his hind legs and patted his own chest proudly.

"Oh, you want me to become you now?"

Oscar nodded enthusiastically.

Naruto hesitated, staring at the lizard's long limbs, sinuous body, and sharp tail. He tried to picture how to reshape his torso, his limbs, his spine but something inside him locked up. A wall. Like trying to write a word you've never heard spoken.

"I… I can't. My body just doesn't know how."

He created a shadow clone, motioning to help analyze the results.

The clone studied the Ino-form with narrowed eyes.

"Height, weight, proportions are all the same as base form," the clone reported. "You're basically a copy-paste with Ino's skin on top."

Naruto dispelled the clone and turned back to Oscar. "Guess I can't turn into something I've never been. Not in shape. Maybe if I studied a soul's form, I could force the change temporarily. Like… mimicry, but for a minute or two max."

Oscar chirped thoughtfully.

Naruto shrugged and reverted to his normal form with a flicker.

"So that's what magic's doing to transformation, it's making it real. But with limits. No mass shift, no actual internal restructuring. It's shape-shifting, not body-swapping."

He dusted his hands and stepped back. "Okay, let's try something flashier."

This time, he formed a new seal, and chakra surged.

Substitution Jutsu.

Instead of a sharp pop and log swap, this time a ripple pulsed outward from his body like a wave tearing space around him. The chakra felt denser, heavier, like it wanted to pull him somewhere. Naruto leaned into it.

He vanished.

And reappeared with a sharp skip of time... midair about ten feet farther than he intended, legs flailing as momentum carried him toward the cliff's edge.

"CRAP!"

With a quick breath, he gathered chakra into his palm and slapped the air. The compressed blast launched him back, flipping through the air before landing on his back with a loud thud.

He lay there, staring up at the gray sky, laughing like a madman.

Oscar scampered over and peered down at him, chirping and nudging Naruto's face with his snout.

"That was faster than a standard Body Flicker."

Naruto just laughed harder. "I finally have a magic-enhanced jutsu… that works!"

Oscar raised a claw, gesturing a tiny, exaggerated clap.

"Thank you, thank you," Naruto said dramatically, still lying flat.

The knight stilled for a moment, mind sharp and calculating.

The new version of the Substitution Jutsu had been fast—too fast, even. It reminded him of the Body Flicker Jutsu, except even more unstable in execution. And that sparked a thought. High-speed movement always came with trade-offs. Tunnel vision and reaction time lag. But that was for a normal shinobi.

Naruto tapped the bridge of his nose. His Hawkeyes shimmered faintly in the light. With them, those problems nearly vanished.

They tracked the motion, predicted the arc, widened his field of view. What would blind another ninja at that speed just became a blur he could read.

"Oh, I can't wait to see what a magic-enhanced Body Flicker looks like," Naruto said aloud, giddy with excitement.

Oscar, perched nearby on a rock, gave an anxious chirp.

Naruto glanced over, grinning. "Don't worry, I won't fall this time."

He hesitated. "Hopefully."

He turned to face the steep valley wall and began walking up. Chakra flowed through his feet, but it resisted—denser, stickier than normal, like trying to walk through a glue trap. "So even chakra control is getting harder," he muttered, pressing harder with each step. "Makes sense. If the ring's making my jutsu stronger, it's probably condensing my chakra too. Heavier. Stronger. Trickier."

He reached a high ledge, exhaled, and cracked his neck.

This ring was proving worth every single soul. Not just for its raw boost, but for the way it transformed fundamentals into something else.

He made a quick string of handsigns.

Body Flicker Jutsu.

Immediately, chakra flooded his legs—not in a single burst, but in stages. The first wave launched him forward like a slingshot, and his soles skimmed the ground as if gliding on ice.

Then the second burst hit.

And Naruto surged forward faster and faster still. The valley became a smear of grey and green. His cloak snapped behind him like a banner caught in a hurricane. Another chakra pulse surged, propelling him again. His body felt weightless, yet the air screamed in his ears.

He wasn't just running anymore.

He was riding a current of chakra like skating along a stream of energy shaped by his own intent. Each burst refined his path, corrected trajectory, and sharpened speed without losing control.

Ahead, the valley abruptly narrowed, and he saw the ledge ending.

With a final exhale, Naruto let the last burst taper off and bent his knees. His feet struck stone, sliding slightly, kicking up dust but he landed clean, chakra-enhanced knees absorbing the momentum.

He stood, chest rising and falling, not from exhaustion but from adrenaline.

He turned back to see the wide trail he'd left behind. Oscar stood at the far end of the valley, barely a blue dot in the distance.

"...Okay," Naruto breathed, a grin splitting his face.

"Now that was fast."

Unfortunately, Naruto was already on the bridge.

Normally, this far into the Valley of Drakes meant one thing, Stormrend.

The sky-shrieking monster usually intercepted him by now, sending him running back to Firelink with half his HP and full regrets. But this time, the skies were silent. And that let Naruto look. Past the cracked stone path. Beyond the jagged bones of old battles.

Across the yawning chasm, where it waited.

A colossal gate stood framed between two towers like a sentinel. Arched high, carved with ancient symbols now worn smooth by time, the doors were locked tight in thick vertical plates. Massive hinges, rusted and unmoving, clung to the rock like a dam clung to a cliff.

And that's when it hit him.

"This... This is what's holding back the flood."

The waters of New Londo, sealed behind that barrier for centuries. That gate was more than a wall—it was a promise. A last defense against whatever was festering beneath. Holding back the evil that Beatrice had sacrificed herself to contain.

But Naruto didn't have time to dwell on ancient tragedies because the sky crackled behind him.

A lightning drake unfurled its wings and shrieked, eyes glowing electric blue. Its chest swelled, lightning coiling in its throat like liquid rage.

Fist of the Peregrine.

Wind chakra ignited along his armor, but this time, with the Bellowing Dragoncrest Ring enhancing the effect, it didn't spiral. It didn't swirl.

It pulsed.

Like a heartbeat made of knives. Like pressure, compacted into rhythm. Each beat vibrated through his armor—not resisting air but erasing it, nullifying drag entirely.

The lightning bolt struck down.

Naruto shot across the bridge in a blur of silver and vapor, the crackling bolt searing the space he had just occupied. Another drake lunged from the side, jaws gaping, but Naruto didn't pause. He leaned forward, armor keening with power, wind chakra humming through his limbs like a thousand whispering razors.

His body tore through the drake's gut like a cannonball through silk.

Flesh shredded.

Bone splintered.

He burst clean through the beast as it crumpled behind him. And as Naruto surged forward, he felt it.

The ring's effect. The truth of his chakra.

Wind chakra had always cut, but this was different. The oscillating vibrations enhanced by the Bellowing Dragoncrest Ring didn't just slice, they unraveled. Each strike disrupted the bonds of what it touched, weakening structure at the base, making even monsters feel like paper.

[ HP: 200 / 616 ]
[ HP: 180 / 616 ]

The vibrating chakra was a double-edged sword. Every burst of speed shaved away at his own health. It was killing him faster than it killed his enemies. He dropped two more drakes mid-sprint, tearing their wings as he blitzed through them. Then, at last, he let the wind chakra drop from his armor.

His speed slowed, but his momentum didn't.

"Damn it, inertia's a bitch," Naruto muttered, boots skidding slightly as he reached the gate. The towering seal of New Londo loomed before him, and the last lightning drake circled overhead, hesitant.

Good.

Naruto narrowed his eyes. "I'm going to give you all this velocity."

He ran up the outer gate wall, chakra gripping stone. At the apex of his momentum, he kicked off and was skybound.

His body flipped. Wind howled past. And then he came down with an axe kick. His heel crashed into the drake's spine, slamming the beast out of the air like a meteor.

CRACK.

The entire bridge collapsed, giving way beneath the broken drake's weight.

The beast flailed, trying to rise, one wing torn and useless. It flapped weakly, trying to claw back into the sky.

A streak of pale magic slammed into the injured lightning drake below. Crystals burst across its remaining wing like jagged frost, anchoring the beast to the valley floor as it writhed and shrieked.

Naruto barely registered the system notification that flickered across his vision. He stood near the top of one of the gate towers of New Londo, breathing hard, his body humming from battle and blood loss. Down below, the remaining drakes screeched in frustration but didn't take flight. They kept their distance, circling wide, wary of the sealed gate behind him.

They knew.

Even beasts born of storm and sky seemed to sense it—that ancient, smothering malice buried beneath New Londo's sunken ruins. Whatever slept down there wasn't meant to wake.

Naruto let out a breath, reaching for his Estus Flask to heal. When a glint of red caught his attention. A rotting hand, curled around the base of a rope ladder a few meters away. And in its fingers… a ring.

Naruto crouched down, brushing ash and dust from the skeletal remains. He pried the item free, turning it over in his hand.

It looked nearly identical to the Blue Tearstone Ring he'd been wearing except for the deep crimson gem pulsing at its center like a beating heart.

[ Item Acquired: Red Tearstone Ring ]
[ Description: The rare gem called tearstone has the uncanny ability to sense imminent death. This red tearstone from Carim boosts the attack of its wearer when in danger. ]

A grin cracked Naruto's battered face. "Looks like lady luck's smiling on me, dattebayo."

He slipped it on. The effect was immediate.

A scarlet aura bled from the stone into his chakra coils. His body thrummed with new energy like fire held in a bottle just about to burst.

He felt… dangerous.

"Wind Style: Wind Bullet Jutsu!"

But what came from his mouth wasn't a bullet. It was a dense spinning, blood-colored, howling with pressure and fury sphere. Buffed by the Tearstone Ring and the Bellowing Dragoncrest Ring, the wind bullet jutsu screamed through the air like a cannonball forged from wind and desperation.

It struck the cluster of drakes.

BOOM.

A crimson dome erupted around them, filled with razor-edged wind. Slicing, shrieking, it tore through everything in the blast radius. The dragon kin fell. Their souls spiraled into him. But Naruto didn't feel triumphant.

He staggered to his knees. His mouth was numb.

[ HP: 10 / 616 ]

His jaw was shredded, his teeth cracked. Tongue torn and bleeding. Lips ripped raw, skin flayed away from the lower half of his face in strips. Each breath brought a wet rattle—his trachea and lungs ravaged by the backlash of compressed wind detonated inside his own body.

The strength he'd summoned had been real.

So was the price.

Shaking, he fumbled for his Estus Flask.

One swallow and the golden fire flooded him, repairing torn muscles. Second gulp and the bones clicked back into place. Third made his breath easier. Skin regrew. And just as the ring's red glow faded… he heard it.

THOOM.

The very valley wall shook as something slammed into it.

Stormrend.

The great wyvern landed, coiling its bulk against the stone like a coiled tempest. It opened its wings, the sheer force of displaced air nearly throwing Naruto off the tower. He stuck fast, chakra anchoring him to the platform.

But Stormrend… didn't attack.

It didn't even roar again. Its glowing eyes turned not to Naruto, but to the sealed gate behind him. Even a creature like the king of the skies feared what lay beneath New Londo.

Naruto seized the moment. He didn't waste time trying to swap out his cursed arm for the prosthetic. Instead, he summoned a perfect clone, who instantly took the greatbow while he fired a massive shot.

The arrow flew true.

Stormrend snorted, shifting the air enough to deflect the mach-speed missile with ease.

"Shit," Naruto hissed.

His clone was already multiplying, hundreds of shadow clones erupting across the battlefield like warriors, all charging the wyvern.

Stormrend bellowed and beat its wings, sweeping the clones into oblivion with a gust of raw force.

Naruto absorbed the pure clone, his mind reeling from the impact of shared memory, but there was no time to think. Then he grabbed Oscar, tucked the lizard tight under one arm, and ran. He sprinted through the storm, beneath a canopy of white smoke and illusions, hiding his retreat toward the other side of the bridge.

He landed across the bridge, panting, his gaze locking on something beyond the chaos.

A staircase.

It spiraled upward into the tower behind the colossal doorway carved into the valley wall. He took a step forward…

BOOM.

A bolt of lightning shattered the stone behind him. Dust and fragments flew. The frame of the doorway cracked, stone veins splitting like dry earth under strain.

"Guess we've got a long way to go before trying to take on Stormrend," Naruto muttered, half to himself. He ducked inside the cracked archway, suppressing his chakra signature. His eyes scanned quickly; an elevator, dormant but intact. Probably unused for centuries. He stepped onto it, not knowing whether Stormrend would attack this place. After all, this entrance didn't lead to the abyss… or at least, not directly.

The elevator shuddered to life, rising with metallic groans and mechanical clanks that echoed through the stone shaft. Below, the distant roar of Stormrend reverberated like thunder in a tomb.

[ Warning: Armor at risk of breaking ]

Naruto glanced at the notification, brow twitching. "Great," he sighed. "Guess magic-enhanced wind chakra not only shreds my HP, it melts my armor too."

He tapped the metal plating over his shoulder, already spotting cracks spider-webbing. Wind chakra had always been violent on the molecular level. Unforgiving. Flowing it through normal metal ruptured it. Flowing it through metal infused with magic? Even worse.

Oscar chirped curiously.

"Don't worry, bud. I get it," Naruto muttered. "Chakra and magic don't exactly mix like soy sauce and ramen. Still… these limitations are a bit much for my liking."

He paused, then grinned with curiosity creeping into his voice. "Well... we're on a slow elevator ride into hell. Might as well test what that last jutsu really looked like."

He unsheathed the Uchigatana.

Wind Style: Vacuum Blade.

Chakra surged into the sword. Wind didn't just coat the blade—it sank into it, vibrating the very structure. A shrill hum filled the elevator, the air warping subtly around the edge. Then the Sigil of Nahr Alma flared on the hilt.

The wind turned a deep, bleeding red. Naruto now held a crimson-edged Uchigatana, the blade pulsating with a glow that whispered of wounds that wouldn't close.

"Perfect," Naruto muttered. "Now it doesn't just slice through molecular bonds, it adds bleed damage. So if you somehow survive the first cut, you'll probably still die a second later."

Oscar chirped again, almost as if to say So why are you whining?

"Because I can see it," Naruto grumbled, activating Hawkeyes. His vision sharpened, and he stared at the blade.

Its durability gauge ticked down like a dying clock.

"It's gonna snap in under a minute."

The elevator lurched, halting with a clank. The heavy metal doors groaned open onto a narrow tunnel etched into the rock, dimly lit with natural phosphorescence.

The air was thick, humid with heat, like the embers of a long-dead bonfire still whispering warmth.

"Let's go," Naruto said, stepping off.

Oscar bounded ahead with a happy chirp, his crystals catching the flickering glow coming from deeper inside.

Down the corridor, nestled between the walls like a memory, a lit bonfire flickered gently. Someone had been here. Or someone still was.

Naruto's eyes swept the cavern. Moonlight streamed in through cracks in the ceiling, scattering silver across the rough stone floor. As he walked, his thoughts churned. Where is this place? he wondered silently, mapping the strange layout in his mind.

Suddenly, the sound of heavy footsteps echoed from the far end of the passage, each deliberate step resonating off the damp stone walls. Naruto's pulse quickened. His hand instinctively moved to his weapon as the sound drew closer.

Emerging from the gloom, under a sliver of moonlight that framed the entrance like a spotlight, came a figure.

A Black Knight.

In one gauntleted hand, the knight cradled a magnificent halberd. The weapon was as beautiful as it was deadly: its blade, curved gracefully into a crescent edge, reflected the moonlight in shards of silver and deep black.

Naruto was kinda nervous. Each of the Black Knights he'd faced so far had been monsters—unrelenting, precise, strong enough to tear through most fighters like paper. Even with all his growth, a lingering part of him still remembered the raw fear that came with facing one. They didn't fight like hollowed undead or beasts. They fought like knights who remembered glory.

Part of him wanted to test himself again, to see how far he'd come. To earn a true victory. The other part?

"Oscar," Naruto muttered, "my gear's about to fall apart, and this sword's on its last breath. I'm pretty sure if I sneeze too hard, it's going to snap in half."

Oscar tilted his head, chirping in sympathetic agreement.

"So here's my genius plan." Naruto crouched beside the bonfire, eyes scanning his inventory. "Let's use that summoning kunai Kakashi gave me. We toss it down, he gets summoned here, fights the Black Knight for us, and then we talk. Simple, right?"

Oscar chirped again, tail flicking as if to say, Sure, what could go wrong?

"Exactly," Naruto said, producing the kunai. "Let the silver dog deal with some of this Dark Souls nonsense for once."

---

In battle, Naruto had developed a strange habit. Whenever he thought of a specific item, his inventory would respond, equipping it straight into his hand without conscious command. So when he thought of the space-time item, the inventory responded but not with a kunai.

Naruto frowned as something cold and round materialized in his palm. He glanced down. His breath hitched. He was holding a Cracked Red Eye Orb.

"What in the—"

Before he said anything further, the Black Knight lunged with a vicious thrust of its halberd. Naruto reflexively threw the orb to intercept.

Time slowed.

The orb, mid-air, suspended itself in a crimson glow as the cracks along its surface sealed shut. The eye within the orb opened and wept tears of blood. A wave of blackness exploded outward. Darkness swallowed everything.

There was no sky. No weight. No atmosphere. Yet Naruto felt something shift deep in his gut. Maybe it was his mind trying to make sense of the void. Maybe something was in the void. When sensation returned, he was back, standing in the cave. The bonfire still burned nearby, but... it didn't feel warm.

Not to his skin. Not to his soul.

"Chirp," Oscar called, catching his attention.

Naruto turned and froze. "Oscar… why do you look like that?"

The crystal lizard's form shimmered unnaturally, like a red phantom.

Naruto looked at his hands and found that he was the same.

A red apparition.

[You have invaded the world of the Black Knight.]

The notification appeared in stark, cold text.

Naruto barely had time to process before the heavy footfalls of the Black Knight echoed from the tunnel. It emerged from the darkness, halberd gleaming.

"Tch," Naruto clicked his tongue and disappeared in a flicker.

The halberd pierced only an afterimage.

Naruto reappeared at the tunnel entrance, Oscar tucked under one arm. Oscar fired a burst of magic. The beams struck the tunnel mouth, sealing it with a thick crystal wall.

"Nice one, buddy," Naruto muttered.

He slapped an explosive tag onto the wall and bolted, sprinting up the dirt path that curved around the mountainside. He recognized this place.

Darkroot Basin.

Oscar chirped, pointing with his snout.

A shimmering white veil surrounded the entire area, sealing them inside this twisted reality.

Naruto's eyes narrowed. "Guess I've got to beat the Black Knight to leave, huh?"

Behind him, the crystal wall exploded. The Black Knight was free.

Naruto exhaled and made a quick decision. He tore off his cursed arm, gritting his teeth as pain flared, and slotted in the prosthetic.

The Black Knight stepped into view again, silent and resolute, taking a stance.

Two warriors.

A narrow dirt path.

A long drop into the abyss on one side.

A giant dirt wall on the other.

They both understood: this duel would end quickly, one way or another.

Naruto unequipped the Dragon Crest Ring, replacing it with the Blue Tearstone Ring.

The Black Knight raised his shield, halberd angled back in a classic ox guard. His armor hissed with heat and weight, each step silent but thunderous.

Naruto didn't rush.

In his left hand, he held the Zweihander—its massive frame resting against his shoulder in the high guard. In his prosthetic right hand, the red-bladed Uchigatana hummed faintly, wind-chakra-enhanced and vibrating with a bleeding aura.

And it began.

The Black Knight stepped forward first, halberd thrusting out in a lightning-quick jab. Naruto twisted his torso, pivoting off the back foot with practiced movement, batting the shaft aside with the flat of the katana.

Before the Knight could recover, Naruto lunged, bringing the Zweihander down in a masterful diagonal descending cut.

CLANG!

The Knight caught it on his shield with perfect timing, bracing it with the halberd shaft. Then he twisted and bashed forward, smashing the shield into Naruto's chest. The force sent him skidding back a foot, boots kicking gravel into the abyss.

The halberd came next, this time in a short sweeping arc. An executioner's horizontal cut designed to behead.

Naruto dropped under it into a crouch, sliding forward on one knee, Uchigatana stabbing low.

CLINK—SSSSHHH

The blade scraped across the Black Knight's greaves. Sparks flew. Metal hissed. The Uchigatana's red aura dug deeper than it should have. The Knight staggered, slightly off balance. Naruto rose from the crouch, rotating into a wrath cut meant to intercept the next attack before it started. The Zweihander arced up with brutal force but the Knight spun, absorbing the blow with his shield. The momentum drove Naruto's blade up and away.

Then came the riposte.

The halberd slammed into Naruto's stomach.

[HP: 410 / 616]

The blade bit deep. He cried out, flipping backward, using chakra to gain some extra torque to steady himself mid-air. He landed with a grimace, blood soaking his stomach.

The Knight stalked forward. Not rushing. Not taunting. Just methodical.

Naruto entered into a stance with the point down, tip forward, hands high. An invitation to attack. A trap.

The Knight accepted.

Another thrust came with deceptive simplicity.

Naruto sidestepped, parried up with the katana, then kicked the halberd shaft with his leg, forcing the weapon aside and closing the distance.

He was inside the Knight's guard.

Now it was Naruto's game.

The Zweihander swung horizontally in a brutal mittelhau, edge aligned. It clanged against the knight's shoulder pauldron, knocking the Knight half a step back. But not off balance.

The shield came up again, smashing into Naruto's side.

[HP: 390 / 616]

Naruto hissed, tumbled into a roll, and disengaged. His breaths were getting shorter. The Uchi blade's red edge was flickering. The vibrations were weakening. The blade was dying.

He threw it.

The Knight raised the shield, catching it mid-air and Naruto was already there, grabbing the falling blade and slashing low across the Knight's leg as he passed. The Knight roared, first time he made a noise, staggering and dropping to one knee.

Naruto didn't hesitate.

Feint—strike—twist.

The Zweihander smashed down into the shield, not to break it, but to pin it. With his other hand, he drove the Uchigatana into the armpit joint, where the armor split.

It sank in deep.

A heartbeat passed.

Then the Black Knight kicked Naruto away.

His ribs screamed. His vision spun. But between every slam of the halberd, every flash of steel, Naruto moved, hands weaving in hidden one-handed seals. The entire battle had all happened in under two seconds, and now came the payoff.

Wind Style: Wind Bullet!

He fired. The compressed air screamed forward. The Knight raised his shield on instinct, bracing when suddenly a crackling blue beam shot from below. Oscar, hiding in the trees, fired a laser of raw soul-light, striking the Knight's shoulder pauldron. Crystals erupted, webbing across the armor like frostfire.

The Black Knight staggered. A second. That's all Naruto needed.

He lunged.

The Uchigatana cleaved toward the weakened pauldron.

BOOM.

The chakra and soul magic reacted violently to the crystal. The explosion swallowed them both in a pulse of white light and smoke. From it stepped the Black Knight, one arm blown off at the shoulder, armor scorched and blackened. His remaining arm raised the halberd and with a guttural roar...

SLASH.

Poof.

A clone burst into smoke. The real Naruto flashed behind, red blade raised high, aiming to shear off the other arm.

CLANG!

The Uchigatana shattered. Fragments burst like glass stars. Naruto stared, lips parted, not even finishing the curse forming on his tongue.

CRACK!

The halberd met his chest. Steel howled. Flesh tore.

Naruto flew back like a ragdoll caught in a hurricane, tumbling hard across stone and moss. He came to a stop in a heap, armor shredded, ribs cracked, blood gushing from a diagonal cut across his chest.

He couldn't breathe.

If not for the Blue Tearstone Ring, the blow would have split him from collar to hip.

[HP: 70 / 616]

Naruto coughed, spitting crimson. His hands trembled but his mind stayed clear. After so many battles, injuries and obstacles in a battle didn't give Naruto any kind of fear or panic but resolve. He yanked the blue ring off and slid on the Bellowing Dragoncrest Ring. He dropped the useless hilt of his Uchigatana and equipped his rapier, chakra already flowing into the thin, gleaming blade.

Wind hummed along the steel.

He took the fencer's stance. One hand behind his back, blade angled at the heart. He let the red aura of the Red Tearstone Ring empower his next move.

Across from him, the Black Knight stood ready. One arm. Halberd raised. They both knew that the next move would end it.

Time snapped.

Naruto moved. His form blurred. A fencing lunge, sharper than lightning. His foot dug, his core twisted, the wind screamed along the blade.

To the Black Knight, Naruto vanished.

CLANG!

The rapier pierced the helm through the eye slits. Despite that, the Black Knight prepared his attack. But from behind him, Oscar fired one last laser that struck the Knight's back, freezing him for the final heartbeat. Naruto's momentum carried him forward, driving the rapier in so deep that the guard of the blade cracked against the helm.

The Black Knight shuddered.

Then fell.

[Black Knight vanquished]

[Humanity +1]

[2000 Souls]

Naruto stumbled back, breathing raggedly. He dropped the rapier, his arm shaking. Oscar chirped, wide-eyed and nervous. The Red Eye Orb hovered above them, pulsing like a heartbeat.

WHUMP.

A wave of darkness crashed down, devouring the world.

---

When Naruto opened his eyes, he was back in the cave. The bonfire flickered nearby, but something felt… right. He stared at it and felt its warmth.

"Chirp," Oscar whispered, drawing his gaze.

Naruto turned and saw it. The Black Knight's corpse, still slumped at the entrance of the cave.

Naruto blinked at the sight. His muscles were still trembling. His body ached. And the questions piled in his throat like stones. "...Oscar, what the heck just happened?"

Oscar chirped back, just as lost.

The duo cautiously approached the corpse.

Oscar gave it a suspicious sniff, then smacked it with his tail. Nothing.

Naruto knelt beside it, eyes gleaming. "No way…" he whispered, practically vibrating with excitement. The armor was pristine. Not a single scratch. Not a dent or burn mark to be seen. Even the halberd and shield were gleaming like they'd just been forged.

Naruto's heart jumped. "A full Black Knight set…!"

But when he pulled back the helm, there was no body inside. No bones. No ash. Nothing. Just empty, lifeless armor.

[ You have picked up the following: ]

[ Black Knight Shield ]

[ Black Knight Halberd ]

[ Broken Black Knight Helm ]

[ Broken Black Knight Armor ]

[ Broken Black Knight Gauntlets ]

[ Broken Black Knight Leggings ]

Naruto blinked. "Wait, broken…?" His smile faltered as the realization clicked. His mind whirred through the pieces, and then click. "…I think I got it."

Oscar tilted his head.

Naruto stood slowly, his brow furrowed in thought. "Remember what the Undead Merchant said? He got greedy and kept invading to get loot from Griggs and his schoolmates. That's how he died."

Oscar chirped.

"And that notification we got…" Naruto said slowly. "It didn't say we fought a Black Knight. It said we invaded the world of the Black Knight."

Oscar's eyes widened.

"I think…" Naruto rubbed the back of his neck, still piecing it together. "I think the Cracked Red Eye Orb doesn't just teleport us to another place, it creates a sealed-off pocket of reality."

He glanced at the now-empty armor.

"The orb doesn't pull us to their world. It drags them into a false world. One where time doesn't exist. The user invades that pocket, kills the trapped soul and the original body, the real one, is left behind with all their gear still intact."

Oscar rose onto his hind legs and clapped his little claws together proudly.

Naruto flushed. "But that is just a theory."

Still, his eyes turned distant as the implications sank in.

"If I'm right," he murmured, "then that means every Black Knight we've fought so far… they weren't alive. They were just ghosts. Echoes, puppeting broken armor. Not their full selves."

He whistled low, brushing his bangs back. "Damn. How strong was a real Black Knight? With their body and mind intact, armor whole, and soul not shattered…"

He let the question trail off, swallowing the mix of awe and dread as deep in his heart, he wanted to fight an alive Black Knight.

"At least the weapons aren't broken," he said more cheerfully, reaching for the Black Knight Shield. The weight of it was immense but comforting. His hand curled next around the halberd.

His grin returned.

"Oscar, I got my first Black Knight weapon," Naruto said, practically bouncing as he cradled the halberd in both hands. He gave it a slow, testing spin which came out awkward, unfamiliar, but deadly all the same.

He sighed a little, brushing his thumb over the haft. "Still… kinda wish it was a sword. You know I'm a blade guy. But hey... Tenten's gonna be shocked when she sees my Black Blade."

Oscar chirped, half in amusement, half in agreement.

Naruto gave the halberd another short thrust, just to feel the weight in his limbs, then turned and stepped out of the cave. Moonlight poured across the Darkroot Basin, silvering the water and glinting off the moss-slick stone. He paused, taking it in for just a moment before falling into step again.

As they walked, Naruto began forming a mental checklist.

"Alright," he muttered. "First things first, we take the broken Black Knight armor to Andre. He's gotta be able to fix it. Especially now that we've got… whatever this is made of. Should give him some good raw material from two broken armour sets."

Oscar gave a soft, agreeable chirp, hopping beside him through the damp grass.

"Then…" Naruto's voice turned mischievous. A crooked grin formed across his lips. "We grab your girlfriend."

Oscar froze mid-step. The crystal lizard turned his head, blinking once with that slow, confused expression he always wore when Naruto was being Naruto.

"You know," Naruto said, snickering, "the female crystal lizard? The one living near the cliffside? Little sparkly one? C'mon, man, don't pretend you haven't noticed."

Oscar gave a slow, deeply offended huff through his nostrils.

"I'm thinking," Naruto continued, clearly enjoying himself, "we bring her back to Anastacia. She could use a new pet. Might cheer her up. You two can share a bonfire date or whatever lizards do."

Oscar smacked his tail against the ground once, sharply.

Naruto burst out laughing. "Okay, okay! I'm kidding. Mostly. But seriously, we'll figure something out. Maybe we'll let her name you. How about 'Sir Sparkle?'"

Oscar looked ready to leave him behind.

"After that," Naruto muttered, "we kill the Hydra. That big idiot's gotta be sitting on enough souls to give us at least two more levels."

His gaze darkened.

"Then we go back home… and confront Kakashi-sensei."

Oscar chirped low in his throat; a thoughtful, almost somber sound, before suddenly veering off down the narrow ledge.

"Huh? What've you found now?"

Oscar was already pawing at the earth, digging into a knot of overgrown roots and tangled ivy. As the soil gave way, a faint green glow began to pulse from beneath. Naruto crouched beside him, brushing away the loose dirt with his gauntlet. A corpse. Long-dead, mostly skeletal, the bones tangled in what remained of rusted armor and rotted leather. Whoever they'd been, they'd died with their arm wrapped tight around a shield.

Naruto touched the edge of the relic and felt it immediately.

A shiver passed through him, subtle but profound. His chakra, which normally moved with a steady pulse, suddenly surged like blood rushing through unclogged arteries after years of stagnation.

He lifted the shield.

It was beautiful in a quiet, noble way. The surface was bisected vertically. One half a pale ivory, the other a weathered, gunmetal gray. Delicate, intertwining vines curled up and around the face of the metal, like silver ivy reaching for the sun.

[ Item Acquired: Grass Crest Shield ]

[ Description: Old medium metal shield of unknown origin. The grass crest is lightly imbued with magic, which slightly speeds stamina recovery. ]

"You know," Naruto said, glancing at Oscar with a grin, "next time we go anywhere in Lordran? I don't care how dangerous it is. I'm checking every nook and cranny. There's way too much awesome stuff hidden around here."

Oscar gave a cheerful chirp, but Naruto's attention returned to the corpse. His smile faded. The body had been cut down. Deep, deliberate slashes across the chest and shoulder like a beast hadn't done this, but a warrior. Clean, lethal strikes.

His thoughts flickered.

The Black Knight's halberd.

The Hydra guarding the basin.

The sealed tower.

The corpses.

"This wasn't just random," he murmured, stepping back. "Whoever locked that hero in the tower… they didn't leave it unguarded. They left them. The Black Knight. The Hydra. This guy tried to get past them and failed."

He crouched again, resting a hand gently over the warrior's broken armor.

"Thanks for the shield," Naruto said softly. "In return, I'll do what you couldn't. I'll free the hero."

Oscar tilted his head, confused but quiet, watching Naruto sit cross-legged and take out his smoking pipe.

"Now," Naruto added, pulling out a green blossom, "let's test a little theory…"

He lit the blossom. The smoke was a swirling emerald. As it flowed into his lungs, Naruto felt everything begin to hum. The shield on his lap responded instantly, drawing the green smoke's magic deeper into his system. His chakra pulsed like a storm rhythm, dancing through his body faster than ever before. Euphoria washed over him in a dizzying wave. The weight of fatigue vanished. His senses sharpened. It was like someone had peeled the limits off his mind and body.

Naruto giggled softly, eyes half-lidded. "Oh yeah… that's the stuff."

He passed the pipe to Oscar, who sniffed it, blinked… then took a small, cautious puff.

"Relax," Naruto said, leaning back against a moss-covered rock, his fingers still tingling with energy. "We've got a big fight ahead of us."

Above them, the moon loomed full and clear and somewhere beyond the trees, the Hydra stirred.

---

A flicker of movement cut through the quiet of Darkroot Basin.

Up the moss-slick slope toward the Garden strode a clone, his gait steady, his arms full. Cradled carefully in his grasp was a female crystal lizard, still glowing with soft bioluminescence from an interrupted moonbath. She twitched once but made no real attempt to escape, likely too stunned by the sudden kidnapping to resist. Not that it mattered.

The clone had a mission.

He stepped into the broken church-turned-forge where heat and iron sang in chorus. The air smelled of ember ash, sweat, and old wood. Andre stood behind his anvil, taking a long pull from a battered clay jug filled with murky homemade sake.

"Well, I'll be… Naruto," Andre said, his mustache twitching as he wiped his mouth with the back of his glove. "Looks like you finally came back to your senses."

"I just needed to let off some steam," the clone said. "Clear my head."

"Next time, talk to me first. I'll hand you a hammer and let you do it right."

The clone gave a thoughtful hum. Naruto would probably chew on that later. Maybe.

Andre's eyes dropped to the lizard. "Now what've we got here?"

"She's Oscar's girlfriend."

The lizard immediately tried to nip at his finger.

Andre jerked back, laughing. "Well, she's got spirit."

"She's going to Firelink," the clone explained. "Thought Anastacia could use a friend. Or a weird glowing pet."

Andre gave a deep belly laugh. "You've got a bloody strange way of cheering people up, Naruto."

"If it works, it works. I'll bring you one next time."

"I've already got a hammer to keep me company. Don't need no lizard love triangles clutterin' my forge."

The clone chuckled, then reached into his inventory with a practiced flick and pulled out two sets of battered armor. They clattered to the ground with a heavy thud.

Andre's eyebrows arched. "Well, I'll be. You took down another Black Knight?"

"Fought him in his world," the clone said with a small grin.

Andre whistled low. He bent over the damaged chestplate, fingers tracing the blackened rents in the metal. "Tough bastard, then. You're lucky you walked away."

"Barely did," the clone muttered. Then added, "Think you can fix the set?"

"Aye. Between these two sets, I've got enough material to rebuild one full suit. Might not be perfect, but it'll hold. And it'll look damn good."

"Thanks. Oh and I need a patch job on my Elite Knight set. And this." The clone produced the shattered uchigatana and dropped it on the floor with a metallic clink.

"You know, I didn't teach you the basics of blacksmithing just so you could keep dumping broken gear on my doorstep."

"You want me to use your workshop?"

Andre raised a brow. "I'd rather let the Abyss take me than let you near my tools again. You bent a divine ember last time. Bent it. How do you bend fire?"

"Guess I'll head to Firelink, then."

"Yeah, yeah. And don't get yourself killed out there."

"Dattebayo!" the clone called back with a wave, crystal lizard still squirming slightly in his arms.

Andre shook his head and took another swig from the jug. "That boy's either gonna save the world or set it on fire," he muttered.

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

A few minutes later, the clone stepped off the Firelink elevator. The sky had deepened into a rich lavender. Petrus sat near one of the pillars, hunched over an orange soapstone, muttering to himself as he read a glowing message aloud. "…Rhea to arrive soon… prepare an expedition… gods watch over us…"

Naruto glanced at him; didn't say a word, just passed. He had more important things to do.

Making his way down the spiral path, toward Anastacia's cage.

"Hey, Anastacia," Naruto called, kneeling beside the iron bars. "I brought someone to meet you."

He gently placed a tiny collar and leash in her hand.

But to his surprise, she hesitated. And then, slowly, let go of the leash.

Naruto blinked. "Wait, what?"

The crystal lizard scurried off toward the ground, digging.

He reached forward to go after her but Anastacia gently grabbed his sleeve.

She shook her head, then signed with slow, careful motions.

No more cages. Not for her.

Naruto stared for a second, then smiled.

"You're incredible, you know that?" he said. "Even trapped down here, you're… freer than most people I know."

She gave the smallest smile in return.

Naruto leaned in close, chin resting on his arms through the bars. "Want to hear what I've been doing the last few hours?"

Anastacia nodded, leaning close to the bars, as if drawn to the sound of his voice like she could listen to this boy speak for the rest of her days, and still not get enough.

---

Meanwhile, real Naruto and Oscar walked toward the lake of the Darkroot Basin, where mist rose like steam from the water's edge. The air stank of wet moss and ancient blood, and the crashing waterfall in the distance roared like a warning drum. Naruto rolled his prosthetic arm as he was taking this seriously from the start. The quiet between them was broken only by the lapping water and Oscar's low, expectant chirp.

Then came the screech.

Seven serpent-like heads lunged from the depths, each one lined with barnacle-crusted teeth.

"Here we go."

The Hydra's heads reared back then spat volleys of high-pressure water, each blast carving through the earth like cannonballs. Oscar responded instantly, bracing himself and firing three rapid crystal beams. The lasers struck the lake's surface and burst upward, forming a crystalline wall just in time to deflect the incoming torrent. The water blasts slammed into it and detonated behind the pair in a concussive explosion.

Naruto flashed a single hand seal. Dozens of shadow clones formed into existence with synchronized precision.

The clones raised their greatbows in perfect unison, the strings humming with tension. In the next breath, a volley of arrows erupted into the sky. Each one laced with concentrated Wind Chakra, the air around them warping from the sheer velocity. They tore through the sky at Mach speeds, screaming like missiles, leaving behind sharp shockwaves and ghostly trails of green as they descended in a rain of destruction.

The moment the arrows struck the Hydra's heads, the Wind Chakra began to hum, drilling into the soft tissue beneath the barnacles. One head recoiled in agony, half of its jaw hanging limp.

But the beast didn't go down.

It roared and thrashed, disappearing into the lake only to rise again like a serpent of Leviathan myth, creating a tidal wave. The clones leapt, scattering in the air like a flock of ravens. One head broke through, snapping five clones in a single bite.

The real Naruto parried with the Black Knight Shield, catching a head's charge head-on. The impact launched him into the air. In that second of freefall, he locked eyes with another mouth opening below ready to blast him midair.

A sudden beam of crystal energy shot upward, straight into the Hydra's eye from Oscar who had just popped out of the muddy ground. The monster screeched in confusion, snapping its head away and Naruto didn't hesitate. He twisted midair, grabbed the hilt of his Zweihander, and poured Wind Chakra into the blade. It hummed with invisible energy as he spun and brought it down like a guillotine.

The head severed in one clean strike, a geyser of black blood gushing like a fountain.

But the fight was far from over.

The ground exploded beneath him as the Hydra surged, grabbing Naruto and dragging him to the water's surface. Only, it had miscalculated. Unlike the warriors of Lordran, Naruto could walk on water.

He skated across the surface with Wind Chakra reinforcing his soles, zig-zagging with silver streaks and deflecting water blasts with his shield. The next moment, he swapped to the Drake Sword, now pulsing with dragon essence. As all the heads fired in unison, he slashed downward with all his might.

The lake split.

The crescent of Wind Chakra tore the water apart in a wave of force, eviscerating two of the heads midstream. The impact formed a trench in the water deep enough to see the Hydra's full form... massive, turtle-like body, rotting tentacles beneath its shell, all pulsing with unnatural vitality.

"Ugly bastard," Naruto muttered as he landed hard on the muddy bank, boots skidding across the wet ground. Just ahead, Oscar was crouched low, limbs braced, as a half-formed wall of jagged crystal bloomed up like a bed of spears behind him: dozens of needle-like spires jutting outward in every direction.

The Hydra surged, its body a dark blur rising from the lake's depths.

One of its heads lunged at them with terrifying speed, jaws wide but it met the wall.

The impact was thunderous.

The head collided with the crystal barrier, and the sheer force shattered the wall but not before the sharpened spears tore through flesh and scale. The beast's momentum carried it through, but the damage was done. Shards of crystal lodged deep into its eyes, jaw, and throat, sticking out like glass knives driven into raw meat.

It didn't even scream. The head twitched once then collapsed, sliding limp across the ground like a skinned snake, steam rising from the blood pooling beneath it.

Naruto didn't have time to rest. Way of Focality surged in his mind like a warning bell as lines of crimson light spiderwebbed across the mist as a head lunged from behind, low and fast like a snake.

Naruto didn't turn.

Instead, he slid one foot back, anchoring his stance. His fingers tightened around the grip of the Black Knight Shield. The Bellowing Dragon Crest Ring amplifying his chakra enhancement.

The Hydra's head crashed into him with the weight of a boulder and Naruto didn't budge. The shield held while the impact rang out like a gong, a deafening clang that echoed across the basin. The shield didn't even groan. The Hydra's snout, however, did... bone crunched, cartilage flattened. Its teeth split against the face of the shield like porcelain striking stone.

Naruto shifted his hips, and surged forward with all his strength, shield bash enhanced with chakra reinforcement.

The air around the strike exploded.

The shield slammed into the Hydra's wounded snout with a thunderous boom. The force pulsed forward, vibrating the air as the reinforced edge cracked the skull inwards and then shattered it. The head burst like a ruptured fruit, chunks of bone and viscous brain matter flying in every direction as the neck flopped and thrashed, dying on impact.

A ripple of displaced water fanned out from his stance, lifting a misty spray across the lakebank.

Oscar chirped in delight.

Naruto's senses flared. The final head was arcing toward Oscar. In an instant, he used the Black Knight Halberd... his movements tearing the very air as he accelerated past sound. Afterimages danced behind him like spirits.

In a single moment, he had cut the last head over a thousand times. Lines of red split across its length before the entire head simply peeled apart in the air... flesh unraveling like paper as it collapsed, twitching, into the lake.

Naruto landed with a skid, panting.

The Hydra's corpse sank into the depths, dark water turning black with blood.

Naruto looked down at his blood-slicked armor. His heartbeat slowed. The lake calmed.

"That was disappointingly easy," Naruto muttered, half-pouting as he lowered his shield. "Should've used one hand. Might've made it a little fairer…"

The basin was silent now, save for the fading ripples across the lake where the Hydra's carcass slowly sank beneath the surface. The only sound left was Oscar's proud little chirp as the lizard strutted in a circle beside the cratered remains of the monster's last head.

[ Victory Achieved! ]

[ You have gained ]

[ Black Dragon Scale ]

[ Dusk Crown Ring ]

[ 5000 Souls ]

[ Knight Helm ]

[ Knight Armor ]

[ Knight Gauntlets ]

[ Knight Leggings ]

Naruto blinked at the notification, squinting in disbelief. "Five thousand? That's it?" he muttered, genuinely offended. "All those heads, all that buildup and I don't even get a single level-up? Tch."

Still grumbling, his gaze drifted to the loot pile, and his irritation quickly faded. Nestled in his inventory was a modest armor set: basic knight gear, plain silver trim, durable plating. He picked up the helm, turning it over in his hand with a soft hum of recognition.

"Knight class gear... looks a lot like my Elite set. Just a bit worse all around." He gave a small shrug. "Maybe I'll give this to Tenten. She's probably got a hundred uses for it."

But it wasn't the armor that made his eyes twitch with curiosity, it was the ring. Delicate and gleaming, the band was made of fine gold with a soft green gem nestled at its center. It practically pulsed with quiet power.

[Item: Dusk Crown Ring]

[Description: This magic crown-shaped ring was granted to Princess Dusk of Oolacile upon her birth. The ringstone allows its wearer to cast additional sorceries, but at the cost of one-half of HP.]

Naruto frowned. "Half my HP? That's brutal."

He remembered what Rickert had explained during their training: the number of spells a person could cast was tied to how well their body could handle the energy. Trying to exceed that limit came with nasty side effects.

For pyromancy, it scorched your flesh. For miracles, it dragged your mind into a trance. And for magic? Naruto grimaced. Head-splitting migraines bad enough to kill a cow.

So how exactly did this ring work without killing its wearer?

He slipped it onto his finger and instantly, a surge of chakra drained from him, not painfully, but deeply, like something delicate drinking from a deep well. He could feel it, intuitively: a new path, a new conduit. The ring wasn't just a tool. It was an alternate casting source. A buffer that allowed him to bypass his body's natural limitations, just a little more.

But the HP drain? Naruto wasn't a fan.

"Let's get creative," he murmured.

He summoned a clone, tossed the ring to it, and slid it onto the clone's hand. No HP drain. But the moment the clone formed a Soul Arrow, the count leapt from 30 to 45.

Naruto stared like he'd just discovered fire. "No HP loss for me... more casts for the clone. That's broken."

He grinned, already scheming. "I really should design a system to abuse—no, optimize—this. Shadow clones wearing all the risk-heavy rings while I stay safe."

He turned to Oscar, his grin widening. "Should I make a necklace for you? So you can use magic rings too?"

Oscar tilted his head and chirped with enthusiasm.

Chuckling, Naruto opened his inventory, eyes scanning rapidly. He'd gotten a lot of junk recently. Maybe some of it wasn't junk at all.

[Item: Brigand Armour Set]

[Description: Worn by the brigands who raid mountain hamlets and attack travelers. Hood – Protects against sun, dust, and sand; helps identify friend from foe in chaos. Armor/Gauntlets/Trousers – Cloth and leather with added metal plating. Good balance of mobility and defense.]

Naruto tried not to smile but failed as the brigand armour set was one of the reasons why he had almost chosen the bandit class. His fingers moved fast, equipping the whole set.

Leather creaked. Steel buckles clicked into place. He rolled his shoulders, flexed his arms.

"Who knows what would've happened if this was my starting class, huh?" He struck a pose. "So, how do I look?"

Oscar gave a hop.

Naruto laughed. "I have no clue when I even picked this up."

Still smiling, he dove back into his inventory, ready to see what else he'd missed. Because if there was one thing he was starting to learn about Lordran... treasure hides in the strangest corners. Most of the inventory was the same until he found an item he'd never noticed before.

It wasn't marked as a ring, but it sat within the magic ring section like a secret that had been waiting for him to look.

[Item: Incomplete Cursed Seal]

[Description: A grotesque experimental seal, formed through twisted chakra science and forbidden instinct. In a failed pursuit to merge man and beast, Orochimaru marked Mizuki with this primal seal—an early attempt to steal traits from nature's deadliest creatures. Though incomplete, Mizuki refined the design using scraps of Orochimaru's lost research. All it now requires is a drop of blood from a beast with a trait worth stealing.]

Naruto froze.

"...Guess Mizuki dropped this when I killed him."

He frowned, mind flashing back to that first mission. Mizuki had been a joke. All bluster and ego. But this... this was forbidden stuff.

Naruto sat up straighter. "All it needs... is a drop of blood," he murmured. "From a beast."

That's when his gaze slid to his left. To the inventory icon still pulsing with a faint black glow.

[Item: Black Dragon Scale]

[Description: A jet-black scale torn from the hide of a Calamity Dragon. Said to be the more ferocious breed of the everlasting dragons, the Calamity Dragon is a beast whispered in forgotten tongues—its presence alone enough to scare the Gods. How such a relic came to rest here remains unknown... but its power still lingers, pulsing like a heartbeat in the dark.]

Naruto stared at it, then laughed quietly. "I can't believe I'm thinking about this."

Oscar chirped, tilting his head curiously, eyes flicking between the scale and the seal.

"Yeah, I am thinking of stealing the power of a black dragon using the incomplete cursed seal. That's crazy, right?" Naruto said with a grin creeping across his face. "Insane. Dangerous. Irresponsible. Could totally kill me."

Oscar puffed up like a feathered question mark.

"But also..." Naruto said, holding the scale up to the light. It shimmered in moonlight. ...Possible.

The moment the idea landed in his mind, it stuck.

"My best sword? The drake sword. My best ring? The Bellowing Dragon Crest Ring. Every time I've survived something impossible in this place, it's been with dragon power at my side."

He looked down at the black scale in his hand.

"Maybe... it's time I stop using dragon power," he said. "And start becoming it."

Oscar chirped beside him, half-excited, half-nervous.

The clone frowned. "But how does that cursed seal even work?"

Naruto shook his head. "It just says it steals a trait from a beast. Doesn't explain the 'how.'"

"So what? You grow wings? Scales?"

"Maybe," Naruto said with a shrug. "Or maybe I will gain the dragon's invulnerability."

The clone narrowed its eyes. "We already have so much power. Do we need this? Whatever this is... unknown, cursed, experimental, it could do anything. Change you. Break you."

Naruto looked at his clone. Not annoyed. Not defensive. Just... calm. "That's why I'm not using it yet."

He slipped the seal back into his inventory.

"Maybe after the Wave mission is over, I will look into this more. Refine the curse mark. I am not stupid enough to think that Mizuki has the skills to properly handle fuinjutsu. I'll gain the power of the dragons on my own terms."

Oscar nodded, a low, understanding hum in his throat.

"Now," Naruto clapped his hands, "let's get that door open."

The clone stood, walked to the ancient tower, and inserted the rusted Watchtower Basement Key into the lock. The door clicked but instead of just creaking open, the air hummed.

A translucent seal shimmered over the stone.

CRACK.

The barrier shattered like glass, and a beam of pure white light shot into the sky from the top of the tower, splitting the clouds. "What the hell? Is that some kind of magical flare? Did it alert the captor that the hero was free?"

But then the shaking began.

The entire basin trembled underfoot. Water rippled. Trees bent. And Naruto froze. He couldn't breathe.

It was like gravity itself had doubled. Then tripled. His knees buckled, and he slammed to the ground as a crushing weight pressed on his chest. Oscar chirped in alarm but was quickly forced to the dirt, wings folding in tight.

The door slowly opened, and from the shadows within stepped a giant not just in size, but in presence.

[Name: Havel the Rock]
[HP: 6,500 / 6,500]

The ground cracked beneath each step as he emerged, towering and silent. His armor looked like it had been carved from the mountain itself—rough, jagged, immovable. His helmet was nothing but a stone slab with eye slits, and he carried a slab-like shield as wide as a door. In his other hand, a massive, crude club more like the fossilized tooth of some ancient beast.

Naruto's breath caught. This wasn't just a warrior. This was a wall.

"Havel…" Naruto whispered. "The Rock."

Havel's gaze moved, slow and deliberate... until it landed on Oscar.

Naruto could feel it. Havel's intent. It wasn't just combat. It was execution. And the target wasn't him.

It was Oscar.

The boy's breath hitched. Why?

"I freed you, you bastard… and this is how you repay me?" he snarled, struggling to rise, but it was like trying to move while buried beneath the weight of the entire sky. Every inch of his body screamed in protest, crushed under Havel's monstrous presence.

The titan took a single step forward. The earth quaked.

Oscar remained frozen, trembling in place, his crystals dimming in fear.

Naruto's fingers scraped through the dirt. He gritted his teeth, reached for anything he could use. His hand closed around a familiar shape, Kakashi's summoning kunai. Without hesitation, he stabbed it into the ground and flooded it with chakra.

Please. Please, Kakashi-sensei. I need you. Not for me. For Oscar. Help us. Help... me.

The kunai glowed faintly… then fizzled.

[Item cannot be used.]

The words hit harder than a sword.

"No…!" Naruto roared, and his chakra exploded outward in an unrestrained detonation of pure emotion igniting like fire. The air snapped with force, dust and leaves scattering in every direction. For a heartbeat, the pressure lifted. It was enough. He hurled a thousand shadow clones forward, desperate to buy a second, a breath, anything.

Crack. Splat. Smoke.

A single backhand from Havel scattered the clones like flies, and the giant marched forward.

Naruto stood frozen, his wide eyes numb, throat tight. He saw it now. His nightmare becoming reality. He wasn't fast enough. Wasn't strong enough. Couldn't save the one friend who never left him.

And in that stillness, the truth sank in like a blade through the ribs. Havel wasn't an obstacle. He was a force of nature. A man so powerful he could challenge Stormrend and win. Naruto hadn't even survived Stormrend.

What chance did he have?

The tears came unbidden, hot and silent, carving down his dirt-streaked face. Rage simmered behind his teeth. Rage not at Havel, but at himself. His own uselessness. His weakness.

"I can't…" he whispered, voice breaking. "I can't protect anyone like this…"

His heart pounded. His mind spun.

He remembered Andre's words: "Lordran offers many things. Power. Knowledge. Shortcuts. But that kind of power… it is never free. Don't become the kind of thing you set out to destroy."

But what if the alternative was watching Oscar die?

Naruto made his choice.

With trembling hands, he reached into his inventory. The incomplete cursed seal.

"I promised Gato I'd show him what a true monster looked like," Naruto muttered, his voice hollow. "Guess I wasn't lying after all."

He drew out the black dragon scale. Slowly, deliberately, he pressed it into the center of the seal.

It hissed.

The scale didn't dissolve. It bled.

A single drop of ichor which was thick, oily, black as night... rose from it, trembling in the air before landing in Naruto's palm with a weight that felt cosmic.

Silence.

No roar of awakening. No flood of strength. Just… nothing.

Naruto laughed bitterly, the sound cracking. "Dammit… why did I believe that Mizuki, of all people, would get fuinjutsu right?"

He stood, jaw clenched, lips stained with the black ichor. No cursed power. No miraculous save. No help from gods or sensei.

Only Naruto and his will.

He spat blood onto the dirt.

"Then we do this the hard way," he growled, pulling out the Estus. "Even if I have to destroy myself… if it gives Oscar even a second to escape, I'll fight you with everything I've got."

He looked up.

Havel had stopped, mace raised.

A god of stone.

Naruto raised his fists. "I don't care if you're a god," he whispered. "I'll be your damn reckoning if you scratch even a scale of my friend."

He drank the Estus in one desperate gulp. Golden fire surged through his veins, knitting skin, reweaving muscle, mending fractures. Even the cursed arm reformed, its corrupted sinews smoothing under the balm of sacred flame.

And yet… he staggered.

Something was wrong.

A sound bloomed, quiet at first, but unmistakable.

Thump.

Then again.

Thump.

A heartbeat but not his. No... it was his.

That was the horror.

The rhythm was his own, but it no longer beat for him.

His cursed arm convulsed. The skin rippled like disturbed water, then tore as if rejecting its own shape. Black veins bulged, writhing up his bicep like ink bleeding beneath skin. His fingers cracked backward, joints popping like snapped twigs. Nails split. Bone split. Reality split. His forearm peeled, skin curling away like burned parchment. What emerged beneath was not flesh.

It was obsidian.

No.

It was scale.

Flame crawled up the limb. Not red. Not orange. A jaundiced black flame, flecked with sickly violet, flickering like dying starlight... light too old to belong to any sun.

And then an eye opened in the palm of his hand.

Slitted. Vertical. Unblinking. Reptilian.

But deeper than any lizard's eye had the right to be. It saw through him.

[Cursed Arm is reacting to Dragon Blood.]

[The Witch's Lord Soul is reacting.]

[The Shard of Life has absorbed the blood of the Calamity Dragon.]

Then came the pain.

Not pain of blade, nor brand, nor fire. No. This pain had no name. It was the kind of pain that whispered secrets into marrow. It coiled through time and ancestry. It remembered things Naruto never lived and forced him to feel them as if he had.

He dropped to his knees. Armor instinctively breaking apart, unequipped by the system or perhaps by some ancient will. His breath hitched.

Then stopped.

His lungs refused the air. His chest burned. His spine arched, bones cracking in sequence. Vertebrae unspooled like the teeth of a gear. Underneath his skin, things moved... not organs. Not blood. Not human. His limbs twitched in unnatural rhythm. Not resistance. Reconfiguration. His joints dislocated. Slid. Rehooked. Shifted.

No scream left his lips. It was beyond screams now. Beyond mortal suffering. This was ritual, not agony.

The eye in his palm pulsed... slow and wet, as if it had just awoken from a dream carved in stone and ash. His arm split further, rib-like bones growing from beneath, blooming like obsidian flowers. The flame danced up his shoulder. Violet and gold. Memory and death. Chaos and calamity.

Fangs pushed through his gums. Jagged. Primal. They retracted before he could bite down on his own tongue.

His legs convulsed... not to run.

To pounce.

Then, across his vision, sliding like the shutter of a lens, came a third eyelid.

His heartbeat stuttered. Paused. Resumed. But it was not his heartbeat alone.

Now, something else beat with it. A second heartbeat.

The choice of the world itself. And in that choice, the shape of all things began to shift... quietly, subtly, like the edge of a page turning in a book no one remembered writing.

From beneath his flesh, something eternal stirred.

The chaos of the Witch of Izalith merged now with the blood of the Calamity Dragon.

With chakra fueling this profane union, something impossible opened its eyes.

Ironic, isn't it?

The gods who burned the dragons to ash.

The humans they cursed for walking where gods feared to tread.

The undead they hunted for daring to evolve.

And now… here knelt a boy.

Not born of flame but cradled in it.

Not chosen by gods but rejected by them.

A child from another world. A soul cursed twice. And now… a being death could not claim.

Because death does not come for dragons. It flees them.

And from this place, on this night, something new was born.

Not a weapon.

Not a monster.

Not a demon.

But a Truth in scales and ash.

An Everlasting Dragon. No longer mindless. No longer bound.

This one would walk. This one would speak. This one would choose. And the world, both old and new, would shudder because Chaos and Calamity had met.

And they had given birth to something the gods forgot how to kill.

The First of Three had opened its eyes.

The dragon and it was still hungry.

---

Author Note: This chapter was a beast to write. Honestly, I rewrote entire sections multiple times just chasing a single feeling—that it felt right. That it felt earned. So, if you noticed something different in the pacing, the prose, the emotion… I hope the love, the sweat, and the hours I poured into it came through.

Because this chapter mattered. A lot.

Now let's talk about what you're all probably here for:

Q: What's the deal with Magic-Enhanced Jutsu?

Okay! Let's go over Naruto's current jutsu, how they've changed due to magic fusion, what the limitations are, and why I wrote them that way. I'll also explain the internal logic behind the mechanics, so you can see how they're meant to evolve over time.

1 — Shadow Clone Jutsu (Magic-Enhanced Version)

Effect: When enhanced with magic, Naruto can create physical clones instead of chakra illusions.

Limitation:

Naruto splits his soul to make the clone. That piece of soul becomes a real, physical body.

The clone is naked, can use weapons, eat, think, and yes, even reproduce.

Naruto's physical stats are halved when the clone is active, since his strength comes from his soul's accumulated power.

If the clone dies, Naruto has to physically travel to its death location to retrieve his soul shard.

Inspiration / Logic: Originally, I planned to have Naruto "discover better clones" with magic, but that felt way too convenient. The whole point of this crossover is that chakra and magic shouldn't mix cleanly, they should be dangerous, unstable, and unpredictable. Naruto gaining mastery over this chaotic system will be a major long-term arc. The stat debuff makes sense because Naruto's strength comes from soul fragments he's absorbed. Take part of that soul away? Of course he gets weaker.

That said, this version of clones has massive potential especially if Naruto starts messing with dark magic or learns how to safely manipulate his soul.

2 — Transformation Jutsu (Magic-Enhanced Version)

Effect: Naruto can shapeshift like Mystique from X-Men, but only into organic beings.

Limitation:

He needs to study the organism—its body, movements, and structure—in detail.

If he wants to impersonate someone perfectly, he must study their soul, too.

He can only shapeshift within the limits of his current mass. No shrinking into a bird or growing into a bear out of nowhere. Conservation of mass/energy applies.

Inspiration / Logic: The original version was more like optical camouflage, Naruto bending light around his body like an octopus. That worked for stealth, but for actual combat and infiltration, real shapeshifting felt more fun. The Mystique vibe just fits. But it still requires hard work, Naruto needs to study animals, observe people's souls, and train to hold transformations longer. So no insta-transformation hax here. If Naruto wants to turn into a wolf or a hawk, he better hit the books (or the forest).

3 — Substitution Jutsu (Magic-Enhanced Version)

Effect: Naruto releases a burst of chakra from his legs and rides it in a quick, short-distance escape, kind of like a controlled chakra explosion under his feet.

Limitation:

Consumes a ton of chakra.

Only goes from Point A to Point B, Naruto must pre-calculate trajectories.

If miscalculated, the enemy can easily predict or intercept him mid-flight.

Inspiration: Remember why Iruka taught Naruto the Body Flicker? Because Substitution had too many holes. With magic, this jutsu got closer to Body Flicker in speed but still falls short in complexity and adaptability.

4 — Body Flicker (Magic-Enhanced Version)

Effect: Like Substitution, but better. Naruto bursts forward using chakra, but here, he can chain bursts within the same movement, riding one explosion after another for increasing speed.

Limitation:

Tunnel vision at high speed (fixed by Hawkeyes).

Friction and momentum can literally burn him alive (wind chakra cloaking helps).

But… wind chakra is now magically enhanced, so:

Armor durability plummets.

HP drops with extended use.

Weapon damage risk increases.

Inspiration: I based this on Hirenkyaku from Bleach. Naruto's top speed now rivals Shisui Uchiha, and may even surpass it later. But unlike Shisui, Naruto has to deal with the fact that he's basically weaponizing his own body. Magic didn't fix Body Flicker. It broke the brakes.

5 — Vacuum Blade

Effect: Wind chakra coating enhances a blade until it can slice on the atomic level.

When enhanced by Nahr Alma's Sigil:

Wind chakra turns blood red.

Adds a devastating bleed effect that stacks rapidly.

Limitation:

Completely destroys weapon durability.

Can break a weapon in minutes.

Inspiration: Think frequency blades from Metal Gear, mixed with Asuma's trench knives.

Also remember when Naruto was learning from Asuma, I added that wind chakra can't be added to regular metal because it vibrates through the blade and destroys it. Hence why Naruto learned Vacuum Blade, which is a coating of wind around a weapon but they have a vacuum between them so the wind doesn't break the weapon. I took that idea, added magic, and said: What if it cuts by weakening the bonds of whatever it hits?

The result is absurdly strong, like Rasenshuriken in blade form, but the cost is brutal.

6 — Wind Bullet

Effect: Naruto fires a compressed wind cannon shot.

Limitation: Shreds Naruto's throat, lungs, and mouth. Think of it like pressure damage jutsu that Kakuzu uses, but Naruto's version shreds the enemy.

Q: Why is Wind Chakra so violent now?

Ah, now this is the good stuff.

In canon, certain elements had weird variants like Black Lightning, oil jutsu, blue flames. They were never really explained, but they hinted at elemental mastery, which gave me the idea that each nature has an apex form.

So I asked: What would Wind's look like?

And the answer is this: wind chakra that vibrates at such a frequency it weakens the bonds, allowing for more powerful cuts.

Why it's OP: It is.

Why it's okay: It comes at a massive cost:

Naruto loses HP.

His armor melts.

His weapons fracture.

A normal shinobi using this with the Bellowing Dragoncrest Ring would probably disintegrate themselves in seconds. Naruto has power, sure—but none of it is free. He's not a god yet. He's a test dummy at best. Magic and chakra don't mix cleanly, and every step forward could literally kill him. That's what makes this fun to write.

Let me know what you all thought of this chapter, especially the whole "jutsu getting powered up" plot beat. I've really tried to make each technique feel like a double-edged sword (sometimes literally). Magic-enhanced jutsu isn't about making Naruto overpowered, it's about forcing him to grow, adapt, and earn every inch of progress.

Clearly, there are ways to stabilize these volatile techniques. He pulled it off with the magic-enhanced Substitution + Hawkeyes combo. So yeah, it's dangerous. But remember, kids: where there's a will, there's a way. Or in Naruto's case, where there's soul damage, chakra bleeding, and armor degradation, there's probably a very angry lizard watching in concern.

Now for a fun hypothetical:

If Naruto had the Bellowing Dragoncrest Ring during his spar against Kakashi… how well do you think he'd do?

Another question: what would the dragon ring do to something like the Rasengan, which is an incomplete jutsu?

---

Q: Why are there dwarfs in Dark Souls?

Surprised to hear Griggs casually mention dwarfs? You're not alone.

Despite Dark Souls being a dark fantasy setting, it actually doesn't lean into many of the usual fantasy races: elves, dwarfs, halflings, etc. But there is one group that absolutely screams "dwarf" once you dig into the lore: the Gyrm, introduced in Dark Souls II.

The Gyrm are a stocky, underground-dwelling people. They're burly, beardy, and surprisingly kind-hearted, though they're considered impure by most humans. Sound familiar? Yeah. They go Hollow like any other human, but biologically, they're distinct enough to be called their own race.

So… they're totally dwarfs. FromSoftware just didn't call them that.

Now here's the fun part: Should I add an elven race?

Dark Souls has zero mention of elves in its canon, not even oblique hints. Trust me, I've searched. But since Naruto is now known as the Archer of Providence, wouldn't it be interesting if he met a race of elusive, long-lived archers? Maybe they were hidden. Maybe they were forgotten… or maybe they remember him.

Would love to hear your thoughts. If you've found any potential "elf-like" references in DS lore, drop them in the comments. If not, should I make one up?

---

Q: Everlasting Dragon Naruto

Let's be real. This was the moment many of you saw coming. Or at least felt was coming, even if you couldn't put it into words. And that's because I've been setting it up since Chapter 1.

You've seen the phrase "chaos meets calamity" repeated over and over. That wasn't just poetic dressing. It was foreshadowing in plain sight.

When Naruto told Capra he wouldn't become a demon but a dragon, that was a roadmap.

When he promised Gato he'd show him a true monster, that wasn't just rage. It was prophecy.

When Beatrice recited that cryptic little poem, that was your omen.

And when the narrator said Kakashi would meet Naruto again and he wouldn't be human the next time, that was your final warning.

---

Q: How did Naruto become an Everlasting Dragon?

A: Through the union of Chaos and Calamity.

Let's unpack that.

In Dark Souls lore, the Witch of Izalith tried to recreate the First Flame. The result? Demons. Humanoid beings twisted into monsters by the Chaos Flame. You've seen the results. Quelaag. The Fair Lady. The Capra Demon. Corruption wearing flesh.

But Naruto's path split.

Corrupted by Chaos, yes. But instead of falling into demonhood, he transcended. He became a Calamity Dragon, a being born not from pride or sin, but from suffering and refusal to break.

---

Q: Where did the Chaos Flame come from?

Naruto's pyromancy flame is more than it seems.

It's not just a spark. It's a fragment of the Witch of Izalith's own Lord Soul. That's why, when he channeled it into chakra paper, it created life. From the beginning, Naruto had a piece of life itself burning in his hands.

---

Q: Why Mizuki's cursed seal?

Confession time. This entire fanfic began with a single idea: What if Naruto became an Everlasting Dragon?

Back in the day, there was a Naruto filler arc where Mizuki gets a cursed seal and turns into a weird tiger furry. Kind of goofy. But that concept stuck with me. A cursed mark that mutates the body. In the earliest drafts of this story, I used that idea as the trigger for Naruto's dragon traits.

As the story matured and I read deeper into Dark Souls lore, I knew I needed something more. Something that earned the transformation.

So the lore evolved.

Now, it's not the seal that caused the change. It's the Chaos Flame and Dragon Blood reacting to each other. But I didn't want to erase the cursed seal completely. It was part of the story's DNA. So instead, I repurposed it.

The cursed mark catalyzed the dragon scale, transforming it into a drop of true dragon blood. Not the cause, but the ignition.

---

Q: Is Naruto possessed by a dragon or what?

Great question. One I'm sure some of you are wondering after this chapter.

Let's be clear: Naruto is not possessed by a dragon. Naruto is not the host of a dragon.

Naruto is a dragon.

Much like Quelaag, whose body was transformed by chaos into something monstrous, Naruto's body has undergone a similar transformation. Except his path didn't end in demonhood.

It led to something older. Stranger. More permanent.

He is now an Everlasting Dragon. Not by birth. Not by pact. But by corruption. By choice.

---

Q: Why now? Isn't this too early for a power-up?

Completely fair concern. But I want to be honest with you. I have a specific story I want to tell. And for that story to work, this had to happen now.

Yes, it's early in the timeline. We're still in the Wave Arc. And yes, Everlasting Dragon Naruto is overpowered.

But that power? It's not a gift. It's a curse he doesn't understand. A form he can't control.

This isn't like the Kyuubi, where he just needs to befriend Kurama to unlock it.

This is a long, grueling journey.

Naruto will have to discover what it means to be an Everlasting Dragon. The metaphysics. The madness. The soul-deep consequences of being something the world was never meant to hold. And that's not even touching on the scales. Yes, he has to find his scales.

This chapter wasn't the end of an arc. It was the beginning of something larger, darker, and stranger.

And now the only question that matters is this.

Can the Shinobi world survive what crawled out of Lordran?

Also, before anyone asks: Yes, Naruto can revert to human form. He just has to kill himself to do it.

---

Q: Who is Havel the Rock?

Let's talk lore.

Havel the Rock was a legendary warrior who fought under Gwyn. He hunted dragons to the point where his armor is made from their actual scales, and his weapon is literally the tooth of a dragon.

In Dark Souls 1, the version of Havel we fight isn't all that powerful in gameplay. But in the lore, Havel is a monster. The kind of being who almost overthrew the gods. There's even a popular theory among lore nerds that the Havel trapped in the watchtower is a fake. But this is my story. So I put the real Havel in.

---

Next Chapter Preview Two knights. One battlefield.

Havel the Rock — the knight who carved dragons into armor vs Naruto — the knight who became one. It's going to be brutal. It's going to be personal. It's going to matter. Because Naruto has shifted the balance of the world.

Thank you for reading. Let me know what you thought about the twist, the transformation, or anything else in the chapter.

I'm open to questions, ideas, and wild theories. Hit me with them.

---

That's It… For Now.

And if you can't wait for the next update, the next chapter drops on June 23th! You can read ahead to Chapter 92 on Patreon.

Thank you all for your support—you make writing this story such an incredible journey! As always, thanks for reading.

—Adam

 

[bazerkerking]

Well now I can't wait for the next chapter, the wait is going to be absolutely torture

 

[Noxim]

My god, I've never been so fucking HYPED. god damn, I swear I'm almost at the limit to just give you my money and sub on your patreon.

 

[The Legend Of Das Desu]

I didn't think that Havel was so OP, but then again Naruto was wearing clothes here. Havel's weakness is nudity, after all.

 

[Inv1ctus6243]

IIRC doesn't the Elemental Nations have dragon gods? Off on a mountain somewhere ignoring the world. If so, will they react to Dragon Naruto?

 

[ScarletFlames]

But why did Havel focus so hard on Oscar? Is it because he thinks Oscar is Seath's creation and thus he wants to destroy everything connected to True Dragons?

 

[The Legend Of Das Desu]

But why did Havel focus so hard on Oscar? Is it because he thinks Oscar is Seath's creation and thus he wants to destroy everything connected to True Dragons?

Click to shrink...

He's still probably holding a grudge from when this happened.

 

[ScarletFlames]

He's still probably holding a grudge from when this happened.

Click to shrink...

Wait, is that a real theory? Have having some knowledge of how Priscilla was made so he got sealed away?

I am not even questioning him hating Sseath, the dudes an urepentent asshole of godly proportions. If he was a Lord instead of an Everlasting Dragon he'd be the God of Douchebags and Ambigous Evilness.

Also, he's basically Lordran's version of Operation Papercllip.

 

[Tsunashi777]

Thank you for hard work, plz keep it up. Also don't feel discouraged by litle nunber of followers , your story is worth of reading with such detailed and worked On story telling and plot.