I Became a Demon Sword and Traveled the Anime Worlds

"Then I'm counting on you, Asuramaru!"

Naruto smiled.

If Asuramaru was willing to deal with the tailed beast inside Gaara, then Naruto had nothing left to hesitate over.

Several three pronged kunai appeared between his fingers.

He threw them.

Whoosh!

The kunai tore through the forest from several directions.

Gaara, already half transformed by Shukaku's chakra, raised his head.

His expression twisted.

"That technique again?!"

He roared.

"I've already seen through it!"

The monstrous arm covered in sand stretched outward.

Its proportions distorted as it expanded, reaching toward the incoming kunai.

Gaara intended to intercept every possible Flying Thunder God mark before Naruto could use them.

The oversized claws closed.

Thunk!

Several kunai embedded themselves directly into the hardened sand.

Gaara grinned.

Naruto vanished.

Flash!

He appeared beside one of the kunai already lodged in Gaara's transformed arm.

Ryūjin Jakka left its sheath.

Chakra gathered along the sword edge.

"Fuzan!"

Slash!

The sword cut through Shukaku's hardened claw.

The massive hand split apart.

The strike continued through the transformed forearm, severing it cleanly.

Gaara's eyes widened.

Naruto had already moved again.

His hands formed a seal.

"Multiple Shadow Clone Technique!"

Poof!

Smoke erupted throughout the surrounding trees.

Several Narutos emerged.

They immediately split into two groups.

One rushed Kankurō.

The other attacked Temari.

Kankurō's face darkened.

"So that's your plan."

He immediately understood what Naruto was doing.

Separate them.

Keep Gaara isolated.

Prevent the other two from interfering.

Knowing the plan did not mean Kankurō could stop it.

Naruto's Shadow Clones attacked relentlessly.

Kunai flashed.

Fists came from multiple directions.

Kankurō was forced backward again and again, barely finding time to manipulate his puppet.

"Damn it!"

Temari faced the same problem.

She drew her giant fan, but every time she tried to move toward Gaara, another Shadow Clone intercepted her.

Naruto's overwhelming advantage became obvious.

Neither of them could break free.

Gaara stood on a thick tree branch.

He clutched the stump of his severed arm.

A low groan escaped him.

Then something strange happened.

He began laughing.

"Heh…"

His shoulders shook.

"Hehehe…"

Temari looked toward him.

"Gaara?"

Gaara stared at the sand and blood around the injury.

His laughter grew louder.

"This pain…"

His breathing became erratic.

"Why does it feel so good?"

His eyes fixed on Naruto.

"I understand now."

The sand around his body churned violently.

His missing arm began rebuilding itself.

The tailed beast transformation spread even farther across his body.

His frame grew larger.

His chakra became heavier.

"Someone who can hurt me…"

Gaara smiled with naked bloodlust.

"If I kill someone like you, then I'll know for certain."

His voice trembled with excitement.

"That I'm alive!"

The mission no longer mattered.

Sunagakure no longer mattered.

The Konoha Crush Plan no longer mattered.

There was only one thought left inside Gaara's mind.

Kill Naruto.

He launched himself from the tree.

Boom!

The branch shattered beneath his feet.

Gaara descended toward Naruto like a beast.

Naruto remained calm.

His fingers moved.

Several more three pronged kunai flew upward.

Gaara snarled and swung his transformed arms to block them.

He knew Naruto needed the kunai to teleport.

He would not let the same trick work again.

Sand claws struck the weapons aside.

But there were too many.

Flash!

Golden light appeared among them.

Gaara's pupils contracted.

Naruto moved from mark to mark.

One kunai.

Then another.

Then another.

His position changed too quickly for Gaara to follow.

Gaara swung wildly.

He blocked one approach.

Then another.

But Naruto only needed one opening.

Flash!

He appeared at Gaara's side.

Before the transformed Jinchūriki could turn, Naruto placed one hand firmly on his shoulder.

"Got you."

Inside Naruto, Asuramaru had been waiting for exactly this moment.

Demon Power erupted.

Dark threads extended through Naruto's hand.

They sank into Gaara.

Then deeper.

Past flesh.

Past chakra.

Straight toward the consciousness sealed within him.

Asuramaru pulled.

The world changed.

Gaara opened his eyes.

The forest was gone.

The battle was gone.

His transformed body was gone.

He stood in his ordinary human form at the boundary between an endless sea and an endless sky.

Gaara stared around him.

His killing intent remained.

But confusion briefly overwhelmed it.

"What is this place?"

He looked down at his hands.

The sand transformation had disappeared.

A dark thought entered his mind.

"Am I dead?"

Then two figures appeared ahead.

One of them was Naruto.

Gaara's face twisted immediately.

"You!"

His killing intent surged.

He pointed toward Naruto.

"You did this?!"

Naruto was about to answer.

Asuramaru had no patience for a lengthy argument.

He raised one hand.

"Enough."

The mental world rippled.

Before Naruto or Gaara could react, memories flooded into them.

Naruto saw Gaara's childhood.

The fear directed toward him.

The loneliness.

The assassination attempts.

The unbearable realization that even the person he believed loved him had tried to kill him.

He felt Gaara's despair.

The hatred.

The decision to live only for himself.

At the same time, Gaara experienced Naruto's childhood.

The empty apartment.

The hostile stares.

The whispers.

Adults pulling their children away from him.

Being called a monster without understanding why.

Eating alone.

Returning home alone.

Growing up beneath the hatred of an entire village.

Gaara froze.

The memories were different.

But the loneliness was painfully familiar.

While the two boys struggled to process what they had experienced, Asuramaru turned away.

He still had more important business.

His hand swept through the air.

Another consciousness was dragged into the mental world.

A massive creature appeared.

Shukaku.

The One Tail landed heavily and immediately looked around.

"What the hell is this place?"

He glanced left.

Then right.

Before he could understand what had happened, a familiar voice came from nearby.

"Quit staring around like an idiot."

Shukaku froze.

His head snapped toward the voice.

Kurama lay behind the seal, still restrained.

The Nine Tails stared at him with obvious amusement.

Even from a distance, Kurama looked delighted.

"I can smell your stupidity from here, tanuki."

Shukaku's face twisted.

"You!"

His fur bristled.

"Stinking fox!"

Kurama grinned.

Shukaku immediately exploded.

"You want to fight?!"

Kurama burst into laughter.

"Fight?"

His tails shifted behind him.

"Look around, moron."

"Your strength is already pathetic enough. Don't tell me your brain stopped working too."

Shukaku growled.

Kurama's grin became vicious.

"You should worry about yourself."

"Someone is about to deal with you."

"So enjoy it."

"Hahahaha!"

Shukaku stared at Kurama.

Something about the Nine Tails' behavior felt wrong.

Kurama was restrained.

And yet he seemed far too happy.

Then Shukaku slowly looked toward the third presence nearby.

Asuramaru.

For reasons he could not explain, Shukaku felt an instinctive chill.

"What are you?"

He narrowed his eyes.

"Did you bring me here?"

Asuramaru ignored the question.

He was considering something much more practical.

Who should handle Shukaku?

He had many choices.

After a moment of thought, he made his decision.

One of the colossal swords suspended within the mental world began to tremble.

A figure stepped from within it.

Armor covered his body.

Wild hair rose from his head.

A single eye stared forward.

The moment he appeared, the atmosphere changed.

Kurama stopped laughing for a second.

He studied the newcomer.

Shukaku also became alert.

Neither recognized him.

Asuramaru did.

Boros.

The former Cosmic Overlord.

One of the strongest enemies Asuramaru had encountered in the One Punch Man world.

Asuramaru folded his arms.

"Time is limited."

His lips curved upward.

"So there's no need to hold back."

If he was going to farm emotion points from Shukaku, he intended to squeeze out as much as possible immediately.

Boros understood the command.

He reached for his armor.

Clang!

The restraints covering his body fell away.

Power erupted.

His hand touched the ground.

Energy surged around him with such force that even the mental world seemed to tremble.

"Meteoric Burst."

Shukaku's eyes widened.

This was not chakra.

He could tell that immediately.

But the sheer pressure behind it made every instinct in his body scream.

"Wait"

Boros vanished.

Shukaku did not even finish speaking.

Boros appeared directly in front of him.

One fist moved.

Boom!

The punch landed.

The energy behind it erupted at once.

Shukaku's enormous body exploded.

There was no resistance.

No struggle.

No chance to defend himself.

The One Tail was blown apart and reduced to pure chakra.

Kurama's eyes lit up.

"Yes!"

The Nine Tails actually shouted.

"Good hit!"

Asuramaru glanced back at him.

Kurama immediately pretended nothing had happened.

Then the system notification arrived.

[Ding! Intense negative emotions detected from the One Tail Shukaku at the moment of death.]

[Gained 150000 emotion points.]

Asuramaru frowned.

"That little?"

The first time he had killed Kurama, the Nine Tails had produced roughly 250000 emotion points.

Shukaku had only produced 150000.

Disappointing.

Worse, repeated deaths always produced diminishing returns.

Asuramaru checked his current reserves.

He was still more than a million emotion points away from reaching ten million.

There was still work to do.

The scattered chakra gathered again.

Shukaku returned.

His enormous body reformed.

For several seconds, he stood there in complete confusion.

Then memory returned.

Fear entered his eyes.

He looked toward Boros.

"What…"

Boros punched him again.

Boom!

Shukaku exploded.

Kurama began laughing again.

The cycle continued.

Revive.

Punch.

Death.

Revive.

Punch.

Death.

Shukaku barely had enough time to understand that he was alive before Boros killed him again.

Three minutes passed.

Seven deaths.

By the seventh, the returns had collapsed.

Altogether, Asuramaru gained roughly 300000 emotion points.

After checking the diminishing emotional response, he finally raised one hand.

"That's enough."

Boros stopped.

Then his figure disappeared back into the giant sword.

Asuramaru nodded in satisfaction.

There was no point continuing once Shukaku could no longer produce meaningful emotion points.

After all, Asuramaru was not some unreasonable demon who hurt others for no benefit.

That would simply be wasteful.

Shukaku reformed one final time.

He stood trembling.

Boros was gone.

Yet the fear remained.

The One Tail stared blankly at the place where the terrifying alien had disappeared.

Then Kurama's voice came from behind him.

"Well?"

Shukaku stiffened.

Kurama rested his enormous head against one paw.

His expression was unbearably smug.

"What happened, stupid tanuki?"

His grin widened.

"Weren't you acting pretty arrogant a minute ago?"

....

[[email protected]/FanficLord03].