I Became a Demon Sword and Traveled the Anime Worlds

Kurama had never felt so satisfied.

For more than a decade, he had endured humiliation after humiliation at Asuramaru's hands.

Beaten.

Killed inside the mental world.

Restored.

Then beaten again.

He had accumulated enough resentment to last several lifetimes.

Watching Shukaku suffer the same treatment was almost therapeutic.

Kurama laughed so hard that his enormous body shook.

"That was beautiful."

Shukaku remained silent.

The One Tail had completely lost his earlier arrogance.

He stood motionless, staring at the place where Boros had disappeared, unwilling to say another word.

Speaking seemed dangerous.

Drawing attention seemed even more dangerous.

What if that monster came back?

Asuramaru had already lost interest in him.

Once Shukaku stopped producing meaningful emotion points, there was little reason to continue.

Instead, Asuramaru turned toward Naruto and Gaara.

Both boys remained immersed in the memories he had forced them to share.

Naruto experienced Gaara's childhood.

The fear of an entire village.

The hatred directed toward a child who had never chosen to become a Jinchūriki.

The assassination attempts ordered by his own father.

The loneliness.

The terror of never knowing whether the next person who approached him intended to offer kindness or drive a weapon through his heart.

Then came the most painful memory of all.

The one person Gaara had believed still loved him.

His uncle.

And without knowing the complete truth, Gaara had killed him with his own hands.

Naruto felt the grief contained within those memories.

Even with everything he himself had endured, his heart ached.

Gaara had lived in an abyss.

And unlike Naruto, he had spent years believing there was no one waiting above to pull him out.

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

The isolation was painfully familiar.

The hostile looks.

The whispers.

The adults who recoiled from him.

The children who were kept away.

The loneliness of returning to an empty home.

The confusion of being hated without understanding why.

It was almost like watching his own life through another person's eyes.

But then Naruto's memories changed.

Iruka.

Kakashi.

Sakura.

Sasuke.

Konohamaru.

Hiruzen.

People who acknowledged him.

People he laughed with.

People he trusted.

People he wanted to protect.

Naruto had suffered from the same loneliness.

Yet somehow, he had escaped it.

He had found companions.

He had found bonds.

He had walked down a path completely different from Gaara's.

The memories faded.

Naruto and Gaara opened their eyes at the same time.

Neither spoke immediately.

Gaara stood silently.

The violent madness that had filled his eyes before was gone.

For the first time, something inside him seemed to have shifted.

Love.

Bonds.

Friendship.

They were words he had heard before.

Concepts that had once meant almost nothing to him.

Now, after living through Naruto's memories, he finally understood what they could mean.

He looked at Naruto.

There was something in his eyes that had never been there before.

Longing.

He wanted that.

He wanted to know what it felt like to live without believing the entire world was his enemy.

Naruto wiped away the tears gathering at the corners of his eyes.

Then he walked toward Gaara.

Gaara watched him approach.

Naruto stopped in front of him and extended his right hand.

A bright smile spread across his face.

"I know what it feels like to be alone."

Gaara's eyes trembled.

Naruto continued.

"I know what it's like to feel trapped somewhere so dark that you think no one will ever come for you."

His smile softened.

"I was there too."

"But my companions pulled me out."

Naruto held his hand out farther.

"So let me do the same for you."

Gaara stared at that hand.

Naruto's voice was sincere.

"Let me be your friend."

"And let me pull you out of that loneliness."

For a moment, Gaara could not breathe.

Another figure surfaced in his memories.

His uncle.

The person who had once tried to explain love to him.

The person whose death had shattered the last warmth remaining in Gaara's heart.

That buried heart seemed to move again.

Slowly, awkwardly, Gaara lifted his hand.

He hesitated.

Then he grasped Naruto's.

"Then…"

His voice was stiff, almost uncertain.

"I'll leave it to you."

He looked directly at Naruto.

"Uzumaki Naruto."

Naruto grinned.

"Leave it to me."

Not far away, Asuramaru watched the two boys.

Then he raised his hand.

The mental world disappeared.

Outside, less than a second had passed.

Naruto and Gaara were still in midair.

Their eyes opened.

Their bodies crossed.

Then both landed on separate branches.

Neither attacked.

Temari and Kankurō stared in confusion.

Gaara's transformation began to recede.

The monstrous sand covered limb shrank.

The tailed beast features disappeared.

His body returned to normal.

Temari's eyes widened.

"Gaara?"

Why had he stopped?

Why was he calm?

Her distraction lasted only a moment.

That was enough.

Naruto's Shadow Clones moved.

Temari was overwhelmed and knocked unconscious.

Kankurō tried to resist, but several clones surrounded him from different directions.

A strike landed.

His body went limp.

He collapsed beside his sister.

Gaara watched without interfering.

Naruto walked toward him.

"Sorry."

Gaara looked at him.

Naruto scratched his cheek.

"We might be friends now, but you still invaded Konoha."

His expression became serious.

"So I have to arrest you."

Gaara remained silent for a moment.

Then he lowered his arms.

"Fine."

He offered no resistance.

Compared with the village that had treated him like a weapon and feared him throughout his childhood, the boy standing in front of him had somehow given him more warmth in a single moment than he had felt in years.

Naruto restrained him.

By the time the three Sand Shinobi had been completely subdued, movement came from deeper within the forest.

Several figures approached rapidly.

Pakkun emerged first.

Sasuke and Sakura followed close behind.

They stopped when they saw the scene.

Gaara.

Temari.

Kankurō.

All three had already been defeated.

Sasuke stared.

His expression became difficult to read.

Again.

Naruto had finished everything before he arrived.

Sasuke clenched his hand.

He had gained Asuramaru's recognition.

He had been promised power.

Yet the distance between him and Naruto still felt enormous.

At this rate…

Could he really kill Itachi?

Could he really defeat that man?

Sakura had a very different reaction.

She looked visibly relieved.

"Naruto!"

She hurried toward him.

"I was worried when you disappeared."

Then she looked at the three captured Sand Shinobi.

"I should have known."

A smile appeared.

"You already took care of all three of them."

Naruto barely reacted to the praise.

Explosions continued echoing from the direction of the arena.

Boom!

Another distant impact shook the trees.

Naruto turned toward Konoha.

Something was still happening.

Something serious.

"I'm going back."

Sakura blinked.

"What?"

Naruto created a Shadow Clone.

Poof!

The clone remained beside Gaara and the others.

Naruto looked toward Sasuke and Sakura.

"I'll leave these three with you."

Before either could answer, Naruto was already moving.

He rushed toward the arena at full speed.

By the time he arrived, the battle on the roof had reached its final stage.

Inside the barrier, Hiruzen Sarutobi stood facing Orochimaru.

His aged face carried absolute determination.

There was no hesitation left.

"Orochimaru."

Hiruzen's hands moved through seals.

"I should have stopped you years ago."

His eyes hardened.

"That failure was mine."

Two Shadow Clones appeared beside him.

"Today, I will correct it."

Hiruzen formed another seal.

A terrifying presence manifested behind him.

A spectral figure appeared.

The Shinigami.

Its monstrous face emerged from the darkness.

Prayer beads wrapped around one arm.

Ancient markings spread across its limb.

Hiruzen spoke.

"Reaper Death Seal!"

The Shinigami reached forward.

Its arm plunged through Hiruzen's body.

The two Shadow Clones charged toward the reanimated First and Second Hokage.

Each clone seized one of them.

The Shinigami's power followed through.

The souls of Hashirama Senju and Tobirama Senju were dragged from their reanimated bodies.

Their Edo Tensei vessels began collapsing.

Orochimaru's expression changed.

"What is this technique?"

He could not see the Shinigami.

All he saw were the First and Second Hokage suddenly losing their strength as their bodies crumbled.

Hiruzen gave him no time to understand.

He charged.

Orochimaru reacted.

The Kusanagi Sword shot forward.

It pierced Hiruzen through the chest from behind.

Blood spilled.

But Hiruzen did not stop.

He reached Orochimaru.

His hands seized his former student.

Orochimaru's eyes widened.

Then he felt it.

Something had grabbed his soul.

A spectral arm emerged through Hiruzen.

It reached directly into Orochimaru.

His soul began separating from his body.

Orochimaru's face finally lost its composure.

"What?!"

The force pulling at him grew stronger.

For the first time, panic entered his eyes.

"Release the barrier!"

He shouted toward the Sound Four.

"Now!"

"Save me!"

The four Shinobi maintaining the Four Violet Flames Formation immediately reacted.

The barrier collapsed.

Two remained behind to block the approaching Konoha forces.

The other two rushed straight toward Hiruzen.

They intended to kill him before he could finish the technique.

Then something flashed through the air.

A three pronged kunai.

One of the Sound Shinobi saw it.

His eyes widened.

Golden light appeared.

Naruto materialized between them.

Ryūjin Jakka was already moving.

Slash!

Blood sprayed.

One of the Sound Shinobi's arms flew through the air.

Neither stopped.

Saving Orochimaru was all that mattered.

But the Reaper Death Seal was already reaching its limit.

Hiruzen's breathing became ragged.

His strength was fading.

Orochimaru fought desperately against the pull on his soul.

Hiruzen knew he could no longer drag the entire soul free.

So he changed his target.

His grip tightened.

"If I cannot take your life…"

The Shinigami pulled.

Orochimaru screamed.

"Then I will take your ninjutsu with me!"

The souls within Orochimaru's arms were torn away.

His hands dropped uselessly.

Hiruzen's voice weakened.

"From this day onward…"

"You will never perform ninjutsu with those hands again."

Orochimaru stared at his arms in horror.

"No…"

Hiruzen smiled weakly.

"I could not kill you."

His eyelids grew heavy.

"But one day…"

"We will meet again in that world."

Orochimaru's face twisted.

"You dying old fool!"

He stared at his deadened arms.

"Give them back!"

But it was over.

The two Sound Shinobi reached Orochimaru and pulled him away.

Other Hidden Sound forces rushed in to cover their retreat.

Orochimaru could do nothing except allow himself to be carried from the battlefield.

Hiruzen remained standing only through sheer will.

His chakra was nearly gone.

His life was fading.

Behind him, the Shinigami began completing the final part of its ritual.

The souls bound by the technique were being drawn toward it.

Naruto saw everything.

Unlike the others, he could see the Shinigami.

He could see the creature looming behind Hiruzen.

He could see what it was doing.

And he understood enough to know what would happen next.

Naruto's eyes widened.

"Grandpa Third!"

He drew his sword.

There was no hesitation.

Naruto slashed.

The sword tore directly across the Shinigami.

Slash!

A massive wound opened across the spectral body.

The Shinigami recoiled.

Then it screamed.

"Aaaaaagh!"

The sound did not belong to the world of the living.

The shriek tore through Hiruzen's fading consciousness.

His vision was already becoming hazy.

But through the darkness, he saw Naruto.

Still fighting.

Still refusing to surrender.

Even at the edge of death, Hiruzen felt the same certainty he had carried for months.

Naruto would become the future of the village.

Naruto could make Konoha great again.

The Shinigami turned toward the boy who had wounded it.

Its monstrous face twisted with rage.

The ritual stopped.

Its claws stretched toward Naruto.

If this mortal could attack it, then it would tear out his soul first.

The spectral hand descended.

Naruto raised his sword.

Before the Shinigami could reach him, pitch black smoke erupted from Naruto's body.

The darkness surged upward.

The Shinigami's claws stopped.

Someone stood between them.

A slender figure emerged from the black smoke.

Beautiful features.

Crimson eyes.

Long hair.

Elegant black and white formal clothing.

Asuramaru.

For the first time, he had manifested directly before everyone.

His gaze settled on the Shinigami.

There was no fear in his expression.

Only irritation.

"I do not care how mortals choose to kill one another."

His voice was calm.

Dangerously calm.

Then his crimson eyes narrowed.

"But you…"

Asuramaru stepped in front of Naruto.

"You dared attack my Sword Master."

A cold smile appeared.

"Have you decided how you want to die?"

....

[If you don't want to wait for the next update, read 50 chapters ahead on P@treon.]

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