Chapter 2: #1
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A SAGE ADRIFT
#1
In the immediate aftermath of the fight with Isshiki, Naruto and Kurama could be found talking in the mind space that both of them shared in the Jinchuuriki seal.
Kurama, knowing that he was about to die a true death, was reminiscing all the moments he had spent with Naruto. Something that would have been unthinkable to his past self.
In fact, his past self would have recoiled violently at the mere thought of bonding with one of the accursed ninjas who perverted his father's teachings.
Alas, the prophecy given by that Toad Sage turned out to be true. He had always thought him to have gone senile from old age as he always blabbered on and on about the chosen one that would one day arrive to unite and save the shinobi world from an otherworldly threat but as it turned out, Naruto did arrive in the world and they did face not one but two otherworldly threats in the form of the pesky Otsutsukis.
He knew that the Otsutsuki would return, if not sooner then later, but then he would not be there to assist Naruto in taking them down. Even now, taking down Isshiki alone took the combined prowess of himself and Naruto.
But..that was for later. Right now..
"This is farewell, Naruto," He said after they were both done reminiscing about the old days, not that he would ever admit it to Naruto.
At Naruto's quizzical look, "When a Tailed Beast is taken out of a Jinchurriki, the Jinchuriki dies but that is not the case right now."
Naruto's eyes slowly widened in horror as he realised what Kurama was talking about, "No.."
"All that will happen now is my chakra will disappear, me along with it,"
"No,"
"The Price was my life and not yours, Naruto,"
"Wait a minute.."
Slowly, Kurama's form began smoking as his chakra finally began running out of the seal.
At Naruto's horror-stricken look, "Don't look at me with that annoying gaze. Sigh, just be careful. You won't have the same superhuman strength and chakra now, so be careful or you'll just join me sooner than expected."
"It's almost time. I won't be here for lo–Hmm?" Kurama paused mid-sentence as he sensed something happening in the outside world but with Naruto's entire body almost shut down due to the stress of Baryon Mode, he was unable to figure out what was happening outside by borrowing Naruto's senses.
Still, he had a bad premonition but before he could warn Naruto about it, the entire mental space they were in jolted as if they had been thrown away.
"Kurama!"
"Shut up, I'm trying to do something here," Kurama winced as the strain of merely sending chakra to shock Naruto's senses into becoming active could be felt. It would seem he had even less time than he had thought.
The chakra he had sent out was immediately devoured by a type of energy that he had only sensed once in his entire life.
Void Energy.
The energy that permeated the space between different universes. Something that was dangerous enough that even the Otsutsuki hesitated when they wanted to travel between universes.
As far as he could remember, the only way they could fight off Void Energy was by getting used to it. Unfortunately, no mortal had ever gotten used to Void Energy.
Wincing internally, he decided to do all that he could and transfer all of his meager remaining chakra back to Naruto, jumpstarting his recovery process.
In the mental space, Naruto perked up as he could feel his chakra spiking, "Um, Kurama? What is happening?"
Kurama's giant head peeked back into the mindscape, "Listen here, Naruto. Something has gone terribly wrong. Somehow, Isshiki must have done something to transport you out of our Universe. Now, you are in the Void between universes and the only way to survive this is to use Chakra. More and More chakra so that the disintegrating effects of Void energy can be resisted."
Naruto's face took on a serious look as he realised what Kurama was talking about.
"I'll be leaving now, Naruto but be careful," Saying so, Kurama, The Nine Tails, the eldest sibling to all the Bijuu, dissipated.
"Kurama!!!" Naruto shouted in despair as he fell down to his knees.
Wiping off his tears, Naruto was about to stand up when his entire body seized up, the void energy corrosion finally taking its toll on his chakra system.
Outside Naruto's body, a visible crimson cloak could be seen that was surrounding his body. The cloak was slowly being whittled down by the torrent of void energy that permeated the space they were in.
The good news was that the cloak was selectively letting in void energy into Naruto's chakra system. The resulting damage due to the exposure to Void energy was soon healed by the rapid healing prowess of Naruto. Until that damage was healed, the cloak stopped letting in Void Energy and then the cycle repeated.
This happened until the crimson cloak slowly whittled down to almost nothing. As if it had a mind of its own, it receded to protect the critical areas of Naruto's body like the torso and head.
Without the protection of Kurama's chakra, the surrounding void energy ravaged Naruto's chakra system. Fortunately, due to the previous controlled exposure, the damage was not unrepairable before Naruto was pushed out of the Void stream and right into a trash can, without anyone being the wiser about it.
Due to the strain of universal travel, Naruto's mind and body had shut down before he could hit the garbage but his chakra system, having partially adapted to void energy, was working on overdrive as it tried to absorb chakra from the surroundings to restore Naruto's depleted chakra levels as well as to heal the void burns that had occurred on Naruto's body.
Alas, the world he had crash-landed in had no chakra to speak of. Thus, Naruto's chakra system soon realised its blunder and began searching for the most compatible energy system around and that was when it stumbled upon the ambient dimensional energy that flowed through every reality in that cluster of the multiverse.
Like a ravenous beast, Naruto's chakra system feasted on the ambient dimensional energy only to find out that dimensional energy, unlike chakra, cannot be stored in one's body. It can only flow through someone, powering something.
So, the dimensional energy that should have been stored before being used was now being used directly.
Firstly, it was used to purge whatever void energy was remaining in the system and then was used to accelerate Naruto's natural healing prowess.
Slowly, the burns caused due to exposure to void energy began to heal and scab over.
Just then, the whooshing sound of air being displaced could be heard as two sets of footsteps echoed in the narrow alley that Naruto had crashed in.
"My my, you truly are a long way from home, Mr.Uzumaki," One of the voices could be heard saying before somebody snapped their fingers and a platform made up of golden lines of dimensional energy formed right under Naruto and lifted him up from the heaps of trash he was under.
"Are you sure this is the right decision?" A second voice could be heard saying as both of them retreated from the alley using a golden portal that had formed in front of them.
Right as the portal closed up, somebody else arrived on the scene and seeing that the alley was empty, cast a spell that reeked of purple darkness.
Upon seeing the results, she froze and cursed out loud, "Damn it! I was too late!"
"Ah, Ms.Harkness, so nice of you to join us here,"
Agatha Harkness froze as the form of the Ancient One became visible to her. Her first action was to form a spell to attack the Ancient One but as if she had been bound, her body refused to listen to her.
The Ancient One took calm, measured steps towards her, and said, "I wouldn't be doing that if I were you. I sure hope you remember the pact and the consequences of breaking it."
She gritted her teeth at the reminder of that accursed pact and the blatant disregard for the threat she posed to the Ancient One.
The Ancient One soon reached her and stopped, "And if you came here in search of someone, that person is under my protection and will soon become a member of Kamar Taj. While I understand that someone with his capabilities would allow you in particular to reach heights that you could only dream of, I can't allow that. So, goodbye Ms.Harkness."
The Ancient One then stepped past her and into the portal that she had opened but not before saying one last sentence, "I hope, for your sake, that our paths don't cross for a long time after today."
Only when the portal closed did she regain control over her body.
Damn, that woman and her dominion over time.
Agatha Harkness, a centuries-old witch, had used her limited precognitive abilities to divine the location of a person who would arrive completely vulnerable and would be perfectly compatible with her abilities of absorbing the magic and vitality of people and turning that into her own strength. The source of her frustration stemmed from the fact that even by standing near the Ancient One, she was able to feel the sheer vitality coming off of her which was not hers since she was aware of the means that the Ancient One had employed in order to prolong her lifespan, a method she was loathe to use. She shuddered as the intoxicating smell of the delicious vitality in the area just taunted her of her failure to collect someone that would have allowed her to live for millennia.
Breathing heavily, her eyes flashed purple as she screamed in rage, destroying everything around her in a blazing fire.
Breathing heavily, she turned on her heels and disappeared from the alley, the area left blazing in a fire that would not extinguish all night. The local residents were left unaware of the series of events that had happened there.
Kamar Taj, Kathmandu [2003]
In a ritually strengthened room in Kamar Taj, the prone form of one Naruto Uzumaki could be seen resting on a glowing bed. The bed was a handy new invention, made possible due to the invention of the Nitramene that emitted Vita-Rays, or as it is called in the supernatural community, CHI.
CHI, literal life force, was something that was doubling the speed of natural healing of Naruto.
The Ancient One was sitting nearby with a normal recreational book in her hand, the rhythmic breathing of Naruto a constant sound in the background.
Despite Naruto not having any more visible wounds, he was still unconscious mainly due to the shock he had received when he was transported between universes.
Meanwhile, Naruto was slowly regaining his consciousness as his body was being healed back to its peak.
"Wh-*cough* *cough*" Naruto sat upright, coughing as his throat had run dry during his multiversal trip.
The Ancient One snapped her fingers and a glass of water floated towards Naruto's hand.
"Thank you," Naruto managed to say between coughs.
After emptying the glass of water, he sat down and looked towards the Ancient One with dead eyes, "Where am I?"
The Ancient One raised her eyebrows at the lackadaisical reaction from Naruto even after waking up in a completely unknown environment with a stranger.
"You are remarkably calm for someone who essentially just lost his entire life,"
Her words were blunt and they might seem cruel to someone but it was the truth. Something that was in short supply in her line of work.
Naruto let out a bitter chuckle at that, "Huh, Yeah, I guess you could say that,"
"So, where do we go from here, Mr.Uzumaki?"
"I..don't know…"
Word Count - 2012
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