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Chapter 163 The Path Ahead I Can't See
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Naruto moved through the forest with a spring in his step and a grin tugging at the corner of his mouth. His inventory was loaded with snacks, drinks, and small trinkets he thought his friends would enjoy. He even snagged a few things just because they made him laugh, imagining Seigmeyer's boisterous approval or Andre's gruff chuckle. Maybe Rickert would raise an eyebrow and mutter something sarcastic, but Naruto knew he'd smile when no one was looking.
It was silly, maybe, but it mattered to him.
Those three had become more than just figures in another world. They were his world.
Andre was the grumbling, beer-swigging grandfather he'd never had. Stern but honest. Seigmeyer was lovable, bombastic, and proud. A father in every way but blood. And Rickert was the older brother he always wanted: cynical but loyal, always ready with a warning or a dry remark when things got dicey.
He couldn't wait to return to Lordran. To laugh with them. To sit by the fire and tell them all about the results of the spar with Kakashi.
Naruto checked everything, making sure he didn't miss anything, and just as he was about to close the screen, his eyes caught on something strange.
A kunai.
It shouldn't have stood out. He carried hundreds. But this one wasn't stored with the rest in the weapons tab. No... this was in Key Items.
Frowning, he selected it.
[Item: Marked Kunai]
[Note: Used for summoning.]
Naruto summoned it into his hand.
At first glance, it looked like a standard-issue shinobi blade. But when he turned it, let the light catch its surface just right, he saw them: faint lines of sealing ink, so subtle they were practically invisible. Yet to his Hawkeyes, they shone like script carved from light.
[Item: Marked Kunai]
[Description: A standard shinobi blade, etched with the twin seals of Reverse Summoning and Detection. In a quiet, calculated scheme to unravel hidden truths, Kakashi Hatake prepared this tool to pierce the veil around Naruto Uzumaki, a boy cloaked in mystery.]
His breath caught in his throat.
He didn't move, didn't blink, as something deep inside him… folded. Crumpled in on itself like a dying flame. What settled over Naruto wasn't rage or despair.
It was something worse.
Raw, terrible confusion.
Why would Kakashi do this? Not just to him but about him?
Naruto stared ahead, eyes unfocused. He hadn't even thought to run. When that pulse of chakra signaled Kakashi and Pakkun's arrival behind him, he didn't flinch. Didn't turn. Didn't ask a single question.
He couldn't.
He didn't have an answer he wanted to hear.
Kakashi stepped closer, voice tight with guilt. "Naruto… I didn't want you to find out like this. Just let me explain—"
But Naruto didn't speak. Not because he refused. Because he didn't know what to say.
He didn't even know what he was feeling.
Not really.
He wanted to scream. To ask what this was, why his own sensei would ever need to put a leash on him. To mark him like a threat. But even those emotions twisted up inside his chest, tangled and strangled by something colder.
What could Kakashi possibly gain from this? What did he see when he looked at me? Was I ever really his student? Or just something dangerous he had to manage?
Without a word, he activated the Homeward Miracle. The warmth of its light came not as comfort but as a wall. A soft, final curtain drawn across a stage.
The end of a play he hadn't realized he was performing in.
Kakashi lunged, reaching for him, but he was already gone. With no argument, no accusation, and no goodbye.
Just... silence.
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The bonfire's glow should've felt like home. It usually did.
But tonight, it felt fake.
Naruto sat by the flame, armor still on, but his helmet discarded beside him like a lie he didn't want to wear anymore. He drew his knees to his chest, staring into the fire like it might hold answers.
It didn't.
He was supposed to understand things by now. The way people worked. The way adults thought. But none of this made sense.
Kakashi was supposed to be the one person who didn't see him the way the villagers did. Who fought alongside him. Taught him. Treated him like a student. A person. Maybe even a friend.
So why had he done that? Why the seal? Why the mark?
Did Kakashi always see him the same way the villagers did?
Like something that needed watching. Like something that might snap. Like a demon.
Naruto's throat tightened. The fire in front of him seemed distant now, flickering in some other world.
It was betrayal, yes, but worse than that.
It was doubt.
The kind that sunk its claws into the back of his mind and whispered: Maybe they never saw you at all. Maybe all the smiles were fake. The trust? Conditional. His place on the team? A risk assessment. A leash wrapped in kindness.
His lips trembled.
Then something cracked. Not a scream. Not a roar. Just a small, internal snap. Like a single support beam inside him had given out under pressure. And the trembling began.
His fingers dug into his knee. His breathing grew shallow, irregular, like he couldn't find enough air in the world to stay afloat. He clenched his jaw so tightly it hurt. He bit his lip hard enough to taste blood.
But nothing helped and then he broke.
The first sob was jagged. Raw. It tore through him like a kunai slicing straight through muscle and memory then came another. And another.
A dam bursting open not with fury, but grief. Ugly, shaking grief.
He wept like someone who had been tricked into believing he mattered. Who had hoped that maybe this time, someone really cared.
But Kakashi had seen him as a what, not a who.
Not Naruto. Just the Nine-Tails. Just the risk. And that thought made it all worse.
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Chirp.
The sound was soft but clear.
Naruto sniffed, broken from the spiral for a moment. His blurred vision cleared just enough to see Oscar blinking up at him, head tilted in that confused way of his.
Chirp. Louder this time.
Naruto reached out without thinking, dragging the small crystal lizard into his arms. Oscar blinked once more, then nuzzled his face into Naruto's neck.
Naruto hugged him back like a lifeline. Held him like the world might collapse if he let go. Because maybe it already had. He buried his face into Oscar's scales and let the last of it out.
When the tears were gone, when the sobs had passed and the fire inside his chest had burned itself dry, what remained wasn't peace.
It was anger.
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Footsteps echoed from the stairwell.
"...Naruto? You alright, lad?" Andre's voice, laced with concern.
Naruto didn't look up. "I'm fine," he said flatly. "Just going out to hunt."
Andre frowned, the air shifting around them. "Something happen in that spar?"
Naruto stood without a word. Picked up his helmet. And slammed the visor shut with a metallic snap, hiding the red-rimmed eyes and hollow expression underneath.
He stepped past Andre.
"Don't get yourself killed," the blacksmith called after him. "Neither of us wants to see you go Hollow."
"I won't."
But the tone… it wasn't comforting. It wasn't hopeful.
It was empty.
Andre didn't follow. He just watched as Naruto disappeared into the dark, his presence a shadow cloaked in armor.
Somewhere deep inside, Naruto knew this feeling wasn't going away. Not tonight.
He needed to burn it out, and Lordran had monsters.
So tonight?
He'd hunt. And maybe, just maybe, when the blood dried and the blades dulled, he'd finally be able to feel something other than confusion.
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The three hollows that guarded the church didn't stand a chance.
The first never saw it coming. One moment it stood tall, sword raised in a half-hearted stance, and then, in a blur of motion, Naruto slammed into it like a battering ram. His shoulder hit the hollow's chest, lifting it off the ground and driving it backward into the stone stairs with a sickening crunch. Naruto didn't hesitate. He grabbed the hollow by the skull, reared his head back, and brought his helmet crashing down.
The impact split bone. The stairs cracked beneath them.
An arrow clinked off his helm.
He didn't flinch.
He turned, saw the next bolt incoming, and caught it mid-flight. With a twist of his body, he hurled it back like a javelin. It shrieked through the air and buried itself in the hollow archer's throat, pinning it to the wall like a grotesque banner.
The third hollow dropped its sword.
It turned to run.
A chirp echoed through the courtyard, followed by a pulse of light. Oscar's gun discharged with a crack of magic, and the fleeing hollow collapsed mid-stride, its back torn open by the blast.
Oscar trotted up behind him expectantly, tail twitching, waiting for praise, but Naruto didn't stop.
He was already walking through the great doors of the church.
Inside, the three Balder Knights stood like statues. Waiting. Guarding.
Naruto unsheathed the black rapier. A hiss filled the air as he channeled wind chakra through the blade. The air around it shimmered with razor-thin currents, wrapping around the steel like a second edge.
The first knight stepped forward.
Naruto didn't block.
He vanished and reappeared behind the knight in the span of a breath. The rapier pierced through the knight's backplate with a burst of wind. The force of the chakra-enhanced thrust erupted from the other side in a geyser of blood and pressure. The knight collapsed in pieces.
The second knight attacked in a whirlwind of precise thrusts.
Naruto flowed between them, untouched. He twisted, stepped inside the knight's reach, and drove the rapier into the gap between breastplate and arm. Wind chakra detonated inside the hollow's chest, rupturing it from within like a storm had bloomed inside its body.
The final knight paused, sensing death.
Naruto's gaze met his. Cold. Clear.
It lunged anyway.
He deflected the thrust, stepped in close, and drove the rapier upward through the hollow's jaw. Wind exploded out the top of the helm like a spear of air, splattering blood across the altar wall.
The silence that followed was heavy. Not peaceful.
Just empty.
Naruto walked forward, out the sunlit doors. The warmth meant nothing. His breath came slow. Steady. But it didn't settle him. His heart was still racing, not from effort but from the chaos in his mind.
Down the great stairs, a single hollow charged toward him.
Naruto's eyes flicked to the left.
A halberd embedded in a corpse. He pulled it free in one smooth motion and swung.
The hollow was cleaved in half mid-sprint. Blood sprayed. Entrails tumbled down the steps.
He didn't look back.
He reached the portcullis, the large gate that separated the church grounds from the path to the Lower Undead Burg. A lever sat nearby, a corpse slumped beside it with a key clutched in its hand.
[Item: Basement Key]
[Description: Opens the narrow passage leading below at the far face of the great bridge in the Undead Burg. The lower Undead Burg is a treacherous place. Do not turn your back on the wily thieves, or the wild dogs who serve the Capra Demon.]
Naruto snorted faintly. "Oh yeah. I forgot about that place."
He could've pulled the lever. Could've walked through. But he didn't.
He stepped up to the gate and gripped the iron bars. Chakra surged through his arms, flooding muscle and tendon with strength. With a growl, he lifted. The metal groaned, screamed, and rose.
Oscar darted through. Naruto slipped in behind him, just as the gate came crashing back down.
Dozens of hollows turned to face them.
Perfect.
Naruto pulled an Alluring Skull from his pouch and lobbed it into the center of the square. The hollows swarmed it at once, drawn like moths to a flame.
Oscar tilted his head, confused.
Naruto didn't explain.
He pulled a broken sword hilt from his inventory, the most worthless thing he owned, and leapt into the horde.
He didn't use jutsu.
He didn't need tricks.
He just moved.
Every swing was a scream he hadn't let out. Every strike a question with no answer. Why had Kakashi marked him? Why hide it? Why smile to his face and prepare a trap behind his back?
He thought of Team 7.
Of Sakura and Sasuke. Of Kiba. Of Shino. Of Hinata. Of... Ino. Of all the people who were beginning to trust him.
Was that a lie too?
He didn't know anymore. He was scared to ask.
Blood sprayed. Bones cracked. Hollows collapsed. The broken blade in his hand swung like a guillotine, and though it should've done nothing, chakra and rage made it a weapon worthy of gods. In seconds, the courtyard was painted red with a mosaic of limbs, guts, and ripped flesh.
Naruto stood alone, breathing softly.
Not a single scratch on him.
Not a drop of blood on his armor. But inside? He didn't feel cleansed. He felt... adrift.
The rage that had driven him was gone. But the questions remained. And with them, an ache.
He hadn't fought just because of Kakashi. He'd fought for his team. For the Wave mission. For the people counting on him.
For vengeance against Gato.
For... something.
But now, standing in the silence, he realized he didn't know what any of it meant anymore. If Kakashi didn't trust him, did the others? Was his help even welcome? What was he supposed to do? He was a protector. A teammate. A killer. A knight. A boy. Which one mattered most?
He didn't know.
A single hollow came stumbling forward, being late to the fight. Before it could reach him, a flash of blue light surged past. The hollow froze mid-step, then cracked into crystal before shattering into dust.
Oscar stood behind it, gun smoking. His face was... soft. Worried.
Naruto turned slowly. A faint, sad smile touched his lips. "Hey, partner."
Oscar chirped, gently.
"I'm back to my senses… I think," Naruto said. "That fight... helped. A little."
He reached down, patting the lizard's head with a slow, tired motion. Oscar nuzzled into his hand.
"Thanks for the save," he added.
The silence stretched between them, not heavy, but thoughtful.
Together, they walked toward the bonfire. Toward the next fight. Not because the pain was over, but because in this broken world, fighting was how he kept moving forward.
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The duo continued to kill and kill until the entire population of the Undead Burg was dead.
By the time the last enemy fell, Naruto exhaled deeply and sheathed his weapon. The silence that followed wasn't peace. It was hollow. He could still hear the echoes of his blade cutting through flesh, the wet gasps, the collapsing bodies. He looked down at his hands, wondering if he was becoming just another monster in this broken world.
"...Let's go see the merchant," he said at last, voice quieter now, almost ashamed. "It's been a while."
He reversed his hollowing just to feel the weight of life. Anything. He turned to Oscar with a tired smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.
"He's gonna be surprised," Naruto muttered. "Wait 'til he sees everything we've done. And you... get ready to show off a bit."
Oscar chirped and struck a series of dramatic poses. Naruto gave a soft snort. A laugh that caught in his throat, halfway to a sob.
But the closer they got, the worse the air felt. It smelled like iron.
"Hey, I've got so many souls now I don't even know what to do with them…" Naruto called out, hoping his voice would fill the silence, hoping it would call out that raspy, familiar laugh from the shadows.
Instead, something growled.
A shape lunged from the dark. Naruto moved before thought. He caught the undead dog's jaws mid-lunge with his left hand and slammed its skull against the wall. The crunch of bone was sickening, and the body slid to the ground like wet meat.
"What the hell is a dog doing in the Upper Burg?" he muttered, moving forward, heart slowly sinking. The silence wasn't right. This wasn't how it was supposed to be.
He stepped into the merchant's space and froze.
Blood.
It painted the floor in thick swathes, ran in lines down the wood like dark vines, seeping into every crack.
The place was wrecked. Barrels overturned, gear shattered. And in the corner, slumped like a broken puppet, lay the merchant's body.
No. It couldn't be. Not him.
Chunks of flesh were missing. His chest was torn open, ribs splayed like cracked antlers. One arm was just gone. The other twisted behind his back, fingers stretched like he had tried to crawl. To survive. To cry out.
Naruto didn't breathe.
He couldn't.
The man wasn't just a vendor. He was a constant. An odd, chuckling, grimy part of Lordran. The kind of weird that felt like home in a world where nothing made sense.
Naruto had wanted to show him his progress. Brag about the weapons he'd reforged, the armor he'd scavenged, the things he'd survived. Maybe ask if he remembered the boy who accidentally threw his reinforced club away.
But now... he was gone.
The merchant's body began to glow, soft and white, dissolving into soul vapor like every other lost life in this world.
A sword remained where his corpse slumped.
[Item Acquired: Uchigatana]
[Description: Katana forged in an Eastern land. Known for its brisk slashing motions. The Uchigatana cuts beautifully and causes bleeding, but its blade is easily nicked.]
Naruto gripped the handle of the Uchigatana. He felt warmth maybe from the merchant's blood. Then, quietly, the boy laughed, but there was no joy or healing in it. A sound born of disbelief and guilt and quiet, gnawing self-loathing.
In that moment, Naruto felt like a piece of shit because he had been wandering in circles. Swinging his sword into monsters, pretending it was something. Lashing out at the world, pretending it would make things clearer. Trying to drown his confusion in violence and rage because he didn't know where to go or what to feel. He had no direction until now because the merchant was dead, and that meant something.
That the darkness fogging his mind cleared a path for him to walk on.
Oscar nudged his leg gently, sensing the shift in him.
Naruto reached down and gave the little lizard a dull, almost numb pat on the head. The kind that said thank you without words.
He walked to the edge of the balcony.
Below him, the Lower Undead Burg stretched into darkness. Narrow, choking alleys. Wet cobblestones glistening in the faint glow of fire.
Somewhere down there, the Capra Demon waited.
Naruto used Wind Style: Vacuum Blade on the Uchigatana until it sang through the stillness like a whispering promise of death.
"Guess I owe someone a proper hunt," he muttered.
Naruto took three steps back. Then he sprinted forward.
Chakra surged into his legs, igniting every muscle in his body. Oscar raised his twin magic pistols and fired, twin beams of blue-white magic lancing toward the shimmering barrier that sealed the passage to the lower quarter. Crystals erupted across the surface of the magical barrier just as Naruto brought his blade down.
Wind met magic. Chakra met soul. And the world exploded.
The barrier shattered like glass under divine judgment, shards cascading in all directions as the wind burst from Naruto's swing in a shockwave. The detonation echoed like thunder through the Undead Burg, and Naruto dropped onto the flagstones below.
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[ Personal Note: First off, thanks a ton to all of you for sticking with this story. Seriously, you guys are awesome. Now, if you're interested in supporting me on P@treon, let me just say that over there, I post these massive 5k-word chapters. But heads up, if you're jumping to P@treon, you'll need to start from Chapter 81, since that's where this chapter lines up with the content there.
To everyone here just reading along, please don't forget to leave a comment! Honestly, your comments make my day, and they let me know you're as invested in this story as I am. So yeah, thanks again, and I hope you have an amazing rest of your day!