Naruto: The Chosen Undead

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Chapter no.5 Back in Konoha

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Naruto blinked and suddenly found himself back in the forest. His mind was a blur, everything that had just happened feeling distant, like a dream slipping through his fingers. The Northern Undead Asylum, Oscar… was it real? It all felt so hazy. He shook his head, trying to make sense of it.

"Naruto!" Iruka's voice cut through the fog in his mind like a splash of cold water. His tone was sharp, almost angry. Naruto looked up, only to see Iruka storming toward him, his hands gripping the boy's shoulders tightly. His eyes bore into Naruto's with an intensity that made his stomach twist. It was rare to see Iruka-sensei like this. The young Uzumaki would've flinched under that stare if he wasn't still trying to process whether everything around him was real.

"Do you know what you've done?" Iruka demanded, his voice edged with something Naruto didn't recognize—panic? Anger? Both?

"What?" Naruto barely had time to respond before a barrage of shuriken whistled through the air toward them. His instincts kicked in. Without thinking, Naruto shoved Iruka out of the way, and even he was surprised by the force. He landed hard, spinning to face the source of the attack.

"Well, well," came a voice from the shadows. Mizuki stepped out, a twisted grin on his face. "I didn't expect that. I'm impressed you found this place, Iruka."

"Mizuki!"

Mizuki's grin widened as he locked eyes with Naruto. "Naruto, give me the scroll."

"Don't!" Iruka's voice cracked with urgency as he positioned himself protectively in front of Naruto. "Naruto, never give him that scroll. It's dangerous. Mizuki used you to get it for himself!"

Naruto stared at the scroll, his mind still swimming, trying to piece everything together. Mizuki… used him?

"Naruto," Mizuki interjected smoothly, "Iruka's just afraid of you having that scroll."

"Huh?" Naruto blinked, trying to make sense of what he was saying. It didn't make sense. Iruka-sensei wouldn't be afraid of him, would he?

"Don't do it!" Iruka shouted, pulling out a kunai. "That scroll holds jutsu collected by past Hokage, techniques too dangerous to use! Mizuki's lying! He used you!"

Naruto's mind reeled as he looked between them. Mizuki's grin turned sinister, his gaze cold.

"There's no point in delaying this," Mizuki said darkly. His eyes locked onto Naruto's, and something shifted in the air. "Naruto, do you know why the whole village hates you?"

Naruto froze. His stomach churned at the question. The whole village… He always wondered why. He'd always felt their stares, their whispers. But no one ever told him why.

"No, Mizuki, stop!" Iruka shouted, panic lacing his voice, but Mizuki ignored him.

"Roughly twelve years ago," Mizuki began, his voice low and dripping with malice, "you know about the Kyuubi no Kitsune, right? The monster that attacked Konoha?"

Naruto nodded slowly, his heart pounding harder in his chest.

"Well, the Yondaime Hokage couldn't kill the Kyuubi, so he sealed it away… into the body of a baby. And that baby was you."

Naruto's blood turned to ice. Everything clicked in an instant—why the villagers glared at him, why parents pulled their children away from him, why he was always treated like some kind of monster. All the whispers, the dirty looks. He thought it was because he was a troublemaker, because he didn't fit in, but this? He wasn't just disliked. He was hated because he was the Kyuubi. He was the monster.

"That's why everyone despises you, Naruto," Mizuki sneered, his voice sharp and mocking. "You're the dreaded Kyuubi no Kitsune."

It felt like the world was collapsing around him. His chest tightened, and his breath hitched. Demon child… That wasn't just a cruel nickname. It was his reality.

"How dare you," Iruka's voice snapped through the suffocating silence, filled with more anger than Naruto had ever heard from him before.

Mizuki grinned as he drew a giant shuriken from his back, his intentions clear. "And now, I'll kill you and become a hero to the village."

"Don't listen to him, Naruto!" Iruka yelled, stepping protectively in front of Naruto, his body tense. "He's lying. He's the traitor here."

Mizuki just laughed, his voice cold and cruel. "Why protect him, Iruka? He's the one who killed your family."

Naruto froze again, the weight of Mizuki's words pressing down on him like a mountain. He… killed Iruka-sensei's family? No… it wasn't him. It was the Kyuubi. But he was the Kyuubi, wasn't he?

He was a demon… just like the asylum demon.

"I'm not letting an idiot like you get that scroll!" he spat, his voice shaking with fury.

"You're the idiot, Iruka," Mizuki sneered. "Naruto is a monster, just like me."

"Anyone with that scroll can do whatever they want. The Kyuubi would abuse its power," Mizuki goaded, his words sharp and cutting.

"You're right," Iruka said suddenly, and Naruto's heart sank.

But then Iruka's voice changed, his tone stronger, more certain. "But Naruto is different. He's one of my best students. He works harder than anyone. He's not the Kyuubi. He's Uzumaki Naruto of Konohagakure."

Naruto looked up, stunned. Iruka-sensei… believed in him?

Mizuki's face twisted with rage. "Then die!" he screamed, hurling the giant shuriken with deadly force.

Suddenly, the familiar feeling of Focality washed over Naruto, sharpening everything. It was like time slowed, and he could see the path of the fuma shuriken flying toward him. More importantly, he saw Iruka-sensei moving—he was going to jump in, using his body as a shield to save him.

Naruto didn't need any more proof. That was all he needed to know Iruka was on his side, that Mizuki had betrayed them.

Without thinking, Naruto's hand shot out, grabbing Iruka mid-jump. He twisted his hips, jerking his arm forward as he felt the surge of pyromancy flame building inside him. It flowed to his hands like a rush of heat, and suddenly, a fireball erupted, blasting through the air and destroying the fuma shuriken in one fiery explosion.

"So, the demon child got his hands on a Fire Style jutsu, huh?" Mizuki sneered, his voice full of malice. He moved his hands through a series of hand signs, quick and deliberate. "Let me show you how a real fireball is done."

He blew into the ring formed by his thumb and pointer finger, and a massive fireball roared toward them, the heat radiating from it in waves.

Iruka prepped his Earth Style, already ready to raise a defensive wall, but Naruto wasn't about to just stand by.

Iruka's jaw dropped as he saw it—Naruto's fireball, smaller but concentrated, blasted right through Mizuki's like it wasn't even there. The explosion was huge, a burst of flames and smoke that lit up the entire clearing. For a moment, the boy couldn't see anything. But then, in a blur, Mizuki appeared behind him in a flash, using the Body Flicker Technique.

His kunai was cold against Naruto's neck.

"Got you now," Mizuki growled, thinking he had already won. But he didn't see Naruto's eyes—he didn't see the Focality still guiding him, showing him exactly what to do. Naruto didn't hesitate. With a swift motion, his hand axe sliced through the air, the blade cutting cleanly through Mizuki's wrist.

Mizuki's hand, along with the kunai, hit the ground with a sickening thud.

Mizuki screamed in pain, clutching the stump where his hand used to be. His face twisted in agony, and without thinking, Naruto grabbed him by the mouth, his palm pressing against Mizuki's face.

"Fireball."

The word came out quietly, almost instinctively, as if Naruto's body moved on its own. Heat surged through his hand again, and he felt the fire erupt from his palm, engulfing Mizuki's head. The flames roared for a moment, and then… boom... then silence.

Iruka had closed his eyes, turning away. He didn't want to see it.

When everything was still, Naruto looked down at what was left of Mizuki's body. His head—there was nothing left. The fireball had turned it to ash, his skull gone, only charred remains scattered around. Naruto stood there, covered in blood and bone shards, the heat still lingering on his skin. There was a blankness in him, a numbness as he looked down at the body.

He bent down and grabbed something from Mizuki's corpse. His soul. It was there, almost glowing, and he absorbed it. The energy flowed into him like a rush of power, and he stared at the system window that popped up in front of him.

[ You have killed hostile Enemy — Mizuki ]

[ Dropped Items ]

[ - Fuma Shuriken ×2 ]

[ - Incomplete Cursed Seal ]

[ - 200 Soul ]

Naruto didn't know what to feel. The blood was still clinging to his skin, drying in patches on his hands, his clothes, everywhere. But inside… inside, he felt nothing. Not anger, not regret, not even relief. Just… emptiness.

Nothing at all.

Killing Mizuki—it didn't feel real. It was just like killing a hollow. Just another fight, just another enemy. But it wasn't, was it? Mizuki wasn't a hollow. He was… human.

His mind raced, but there was no room for emotions. Everything was happening too fast. His thoughts were scattered, and one thing kept echoing in his head.

Oscar.

He had to go back. He had to save his teacher… his friend. But how? How did he get here in the first place? There was no clear answer, no path in front of him. Just blood and confusion.

Hollows, Oscar, that world… how do I get back?

Naruto stood there, lost in the chaos, the weight of what he'd done pressing down on him, but not in a way that made him feel anything. It was all so hollow, just like the enemies he'd fought before, but now… it felt like he was trapped between worlds.

Where was he supposed to go from here?