Naruto: The Chosen Undead-Chapter 128 - no. Naruto

Read advance Chapters of all my works or want to support me.

https/www.p.a.t.r.e.on/Adamo_Amet

Join us on discord:

https://di..scord.gg/h3kDw7ma

••••••••••••••••••

Chapter 128 The Ripples in the Wave

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Naruto said he'd head to bed, but when he pushed open the door to his room, he found both Sasuke and Sakura lying awake, eyes fixed on the ceiling as if the night itself had questions they couldn't answer.

"You two should be asleep," Naruto mumbled as he padded across the floor. Oscar clicked quietly on his shoulder, curling tighter into himself as Naruto set him gently on a folded blanket near his pillow.

"Can't," Sakura replied. "Too much on my mind."

Sasuke didn't speak. His eyes were open, but unreadable, distant as always.

"If it helps, you can talk about it."

"Yeah... sure. Naruto, about your... about what you did."

"Kakashi-sensei erased the tracks," Naruto said. "No one'll trace it back to us."

"No, that's not what I meant," Sakura said quickly. "I mean... how did you go through with it?"

Naruto blinked. "I went in through the front door. Killed them. Asked the boss man if he knew where Gato was, got what info I could, killed him, moved on to the next. Same thing. Over and over."

"No," Sasuke cut in. "She means how do you feel about it? Sakura has nightmares after killing one rogue. You slaughtered more people than she's ever even met."

Naruto was quiet for a moment. He scratched at his cheek, the way he always did when he didn't know what to say. "Oh," he said finally. "I guess... I don't really feel anything."

A moment passed. Then Sakura let out a brittle chuckle. "Wow," she said. "That's scary. I wish I could be that strong."

"No," Sasuke murmured, eyes still open, unmoving. "You don't."

"What do you mean?"

"Killing others and not feeling anything," Sasuke said, "isn't strength. It's losing something. And once it's gone... I don't think you can ever get it back." He closed his eyes, voice quiet, as if speaking more to himself than anyone else. "I wonder if Itachi felt anything... when he killed our clan. When he killed them all."

The silence after that was different.

Naruto shifted on his mattress, sitting up. His thoughts were spinning, but one truth settled into place like a cold stone.

Maybe it's because killing's just become a numbers game to me. In Lordran, it wasn't about the person. It was about the souls. Every kill was a step toward strength. Every enemy a currency. Hollows, bandits, beasts—they were all the same. And I guess, somewhere along the way, people started becoming that too. Unless I cared about them... unless they were mine... it didn't matter.

He didn't say any of that. But it stayed with him.

"I think your brother killing your family is a little different than me killing some random pieces of shit," Naruto said aloud, trying to shift the weight off Sasuke's shoulders.

The attempt at levity fell flat.

Sakura winced. "That... came out wrong."

Sasuke exhaled slowly. "No. You're right." He stared up at the wooden beams above him, eyes tracing the cracks in the ceiling. "Sometimes when I try to remember that night, I imagine Itachi crying. Just to make it make sense. Just to believe he still had a soul."

Naruto didn't speak. Instead, he picked up Oscar, who chirped quietly, and padded across the room. He placed the little crystal lizard on Sasuke's chest.

The Uchiha blinked down at the creature, almost confused.

Then, slowly, almost imperceptibly, his hand rose and rubbed Oscar's head.

The most uptodat𝓮 n𝒐vels are published on freёnovelkiss.com.

A ghost of a smile crossed Sasuke's face.

Sakura and Naruto said nothing. But they saw it. And for a brief moment, the darkness in the room wasn't so heavy.

Then Naruto asked the question. "Do you know why he did it?"

Sasuke looked over.

"Itachi," Naruto clarified. "Why'd he kill them all?"

The boy stared back at the ceiling for a long moment before speaking.

"He told me... he wanted to test his capacity."

His voice was hollow. A rehearsal of a line burned into him.

Silence followed, but with more confusion than tension.

"The capacity to do what, exactly?"

Sakura turned her head slightly, narrowing her eyes at him. "Naruto..." she warned, not with anger, but with unease. Even she wasn't sure if he should be poking at this.

But Sasuke didn't snap or glare.

"I wonder," Sasuke said, his voice low. "Was it power? Was that what he meant? But then I remember... the Uchiha clan wasn't just shinobi. There were children. Old people. Women who didn't even carry kunai. They were all slaughtered. So maybe..."

He paused. His jaw tightened. "Maybe it was the capacity to do violence. To carry out an atrocity like that and feel... nothing."

Sakura flinched at the word. "Nothing?" she echoed.

Sasuke gave a slow, deliberate nod, but didn't look at either of them. "I've tried to keep up with the news. I listen. I pay attention. But after the Uchiha Massacre, there was nothing. No headlines. No sightings. No missions gone wrong and blamed on a rogue Uchiha. No whisper of Itachi's name. He just... vanished."

Naruto's brow furrowed, lips parting slightly. His thoughts went not to Itachi but to Shisui. To the weight of that soul he had absorbed.

"Maybe..." Naruto began, "Maybe there's more to the Uchiha Massacre than you know."

The air went still. Sasuke didn't move, but Sakura felt the shift. The stiffness in his frame, the subtle clench of his hands. His body reacted before his voice did.

Naruto looked like he was about to clarify, backtrack even, but Sasuke cut him off with something much colder.

"I know," Sasuke said, his voice sharpened into a blade. "I've always known. Somewhere in me, I've known there had to be more. But that doesn't change the fact that Itachi killed them. All of them. My friends. My family. My parents."

The Sharingan burned to life in his eyes, bleeding red in the dark like coals fanned by hate. His gaze didn't turn to Naruto or Sakura. It simply burned upward, as though carving his resolve into the ceiling. "Whatever reason he had... whatever truth lies behind it... I'll carve it out of his corpse myself."

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

Morning came, and Naruto found himself standing guard along the rising edge of the unfinished bridge, joined by Sakura, Hinata, and Kurenai. The ocean breeze swept over the scaffolding, carrying the scent of salt and damp stone. Below them, the workers gathered near the base of the support beams, some stretching sore muscles, others quietly watching the horizon where sea and sky met.

But there was something different about the air today. It wasn't just the weather. It was in the way the workers stood taller, in the way their voices carried more clearly, filled with energy instead of weariness.

Usually, mornings were sluggish. Full of groans, aching backs, and silent breakfasts. But today, the workers were talking, gathered in clusters, some laughing, others weeping quietly.

"Alright, what's going on?" Tazuna called out, climbing down toward the largest group. "You all look like someone paid off your debts and brought your mothers back from the grave."

"They're all dead," Hiroto said, voice trembling.

"What?" Tazuna blinked. "Who's dead?"

"The gangs. The West District crew. The ones who ran the protection racket in the port and slit my cousin's throat for missing a week's pay. Gone. All of them."

"Not just them," another man added, stepping forward. "My sister lives near the rice canals up north. She sent word this morning. The Red Fang gang, the ones who raided their village and snatched up girls? Wiped out. Every last one of them."

A murmur swept through the crowd. Not one of disbelief, but of awe. Like they had witnessed a miracle.

"The whole nation," someone else whispered. "The gangs that've controlled the Wave for years... they're gone."

"Some say they were killed in their sleep. Others say a ghost in a white mask walked through them like the reaper."

A stocky man gripped the post of the bridge and leaned on it, his voice thick. "My boy... he was going to be conscripted next month by Gato's thugs. I told him to run to the woods, hide like a dog. But now... now he can come home."

"You're sure?" Tazuna's voice had lost its bark. "This isn't just drunken hearsay?"

"No," Hiroto said firmly. "Word's spreading fast. Villages are lighting bonfires. People are talking. For the first time... no one's afraid."

"And they say it was the Archer of Providence," a younger worker said reverently, eyes alight.

Sakura blinked. "Who?"

"The Archer of Providence," the man repeated. "They say he came from the shadows. Took back what was stolen and gave it to the people."

Naruto stared at the man, deadpan. "How do you know he's an archer?"

"Bodies were full of arrows. What else could he be?"

Kurenai turned her head slightly, eyes narrowing at Naruto. Hinata said nothing, but her glance toward Naruto was curious.

"Doesn't that sound a little dramatic?"

Another worker, older and hunched with age, stepped forward, his voice crackling like dry bark. "I don't know who this Archer really is. Maybe he's a shinobi. Maybe he's a spirit sent from the gods. But I know this... my granddaughter can walk to market now. My wife can sleep without clutching a kitchen knife. For the first time in years, we can breathe."

The words landed hard. Even Naruto found himself strangely quiet. He looked around at the tired hands that were suddenly full of purpose, at the teary-eyed smiles and grateful nods.

They weren't just thankful. They were free.

"To the Archer!" someone called.

"To the Archer!" echoed back.

And Naruto felt a strange pressure in his chest.

"I can't imagine the look on Gato's face when he realizes his empire is crumbling," Tazuna muttered, a grin pulling at the corners of his mouth. "But we've got work to do. This bridge will stand for the people of the Wave so they'll never need to beg for protection again."

The workers roared in agreement.

And as they returned to their tools, spirits high, Naruto stood still among the morning light and crashing waves.

"You know, I was unsure about the name, but I guess it's... okay."

Kurenai tilted her head. "Names are just tools, Naruto. Symbols. They don't have to fit perfectly, they just need to mean something to the people who say them."

"Still weird. Archer of Providence? I'm not even that good with a bow. Crossbows don't count."

Sakura glanced up with a smirk. "Since when do you care about technicalities? Just enjoy the praise."

"It's not about the praise," Naruto grumbled, scuffing his sandal on the edge of the bridge. "It's about the branding. Knight of Light, Blade of Justice... something with swords would've been way cooler."

Kurenai gave a small snort. "You're the only person I know who'd complain about being called a hero by an entire nation."

"Still should've been Knight of the Wave..."

Hinata murmured, "I think... I think it's beautiful, actually."

Everyone looked at her.

"The name," she clarified, blushing slightly. "Maybe it's not about the weapon. Maybe it's about... what it means to them."

"Anyway, back to work. Hinata, I want your Byakugan up during rotations. Just because the gangs are gone doesn't mean the threat is."

"Yes, sensei."

"Sakura, I want you to keep building our genjutsu trip lines. We can start with inducing low-level genjutsu."

"Understood."

Kurenai turned to Naruto. "And you..."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm on errand duty," he groaned, already walking toward a nearby pile of supplies. "I get it. I'm the glorified gopher."

"I was going to say, go practice your one-handed seals while keeping up with support tasks. Consider it multitasking."

Naruto stopped, then grinned. "Or..." He walked over to a steel beam leaning against the bridge's edge. Without so much as a grunt, he hoisted it one-handed and propped it over his shoulder like a walking stick.

There was a collective pause from the workers.

"Did you see that?!"

"That kid just lifted that like it was made of paper!"

"Is that normal for shinobi?!"

Tazuna's eyes widened, his mouth falling open. "Kurenai... how much do you feed this kid?"

"Not enough," Naruto called down cheekily. "Old man, got more beams for me?"

Tazuna blinked, then let out a loud belly laugh. "Hell yeah, I do. Get your super-strength butt down here. We've got a bridge to build!"

Naruto jogged off, still grinning, the steel swaying slightly behind him.

Sakura watched him go, shaking her head. "I keep forgetting... even without chakra, Naruto's a monster."

"And with chakra..."

Sakura smirked faintly. "Let's just say, if he gets his ninjutsu back before Zabuza shows up, we're not just going to survive..."

She glanced toward the workers, still cheering and clapping Naruto on.

"...we're going to win."

Hinata gasped. "Really?"

Sakura nodded. "Yeah. I believe it."

Kurenai half-listened to Sakura and Hinata's exchange, their voices soft but tinged with growing admiration. Typical of young genin, she thought, idolizing someone reckless, someone who didn't understand the full weight of what he'd done.

And yet... she couldn't bring herself to dismiss the Archer of Providence.

It should've bothered her. The recklessness, the bloodshed, the sheer disregard for structure. Naruto had broken almost every rule in the shinobi handbook, discarded protocol like it was meaningless, and acted on his own sense of justice. That kind of behavior, especially from a genin, should have set off every alarm in her head.

But it didn't.

What unsettled Kurenai wasn't his defiance. It was what would happen if others started believing he was right.

If Naruto inspired others to walk the same path, it wouldn't lead to reform. It would lead to funerals. Naruto could afford to be a storm. He had too much value. As the Jinchuriki. As the son of the Fourth. As the accidental wielder of power that no one fully understood, those Estus flasks that could heal wounds even medical jutsu couldn't. And now, possibly, as someone who had Scorch Release.

The system would bend for him. But it wouldn't bend for anyone else.

And that terrified her.

Because one boy thinking he's a knight might make a good story. But a generation of shinobi believing they could rewrite the rules? That could burn the entire shinobi world to the ground.

She didn't know if Naruto would break the system.

But Kurenai was sure of one thing. He was already cracking it.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

[ 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 61, 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!