Naruto: The Shattered Eyes

Today would be the 19th of January, 13 Years After Naruto's Birth.

The Academy was holding a graduation exam for a blessed batch of shinobi. However, an uncanny atmosphere had blanketed the village.

Iruka, who was trying his best to smile in front of his students, could feel the dreadful knot in his stomach tightening ever so slowly. He had already been shocked to witness Mizuki, his fellow instructor at the academy, get eliminated by a squad of Anbu just a few weeks ago.

It turned out that Mizuki harbored a deep resentment for the village that Iruka had never noticed. Konoha's higher-ups had caught wind of his plans and promptly neutralized his impending threat.

However, that was not Iruka's main worry at the moment.

Iruka had been unable to contact one of his students for a while. Uzumaki Naruto, who had been pulling pranks around the village, no longer appeared in public. Furthermore, he rarely came to class.

When Naruto did appear, he would usually appear tired and lifeless, with bags under his eyes. His eyes were dead, void of any life.

Iruka had tried to speak with him multiple times, however nothing ever reached him. Naruto would just nod and walk away without a single reply.

Unbeknownst to Iruka and the rest of the village, however, Naruto was biding his time. The boiling hatred in his heart grew with every passing moment.

"Sigh," Iruka held a clipboard in his hand and scanned the students standing before him.

Despite the bleak, cloud-filled sky, life had to go on.

"Alright, let's begin the exam."

***

Deep below Konohagakure, a cruel torment continued to befall an innocent soul. Naruto's pitiful, quivering figure had become a common sight here.

Ever since the Negative Chakra Formation had been completed, the room had been filled with empty darkness. No one, not even Danzo had stepped foot inside the sealed chamber. Naruto's body, shackled by the formation, was slowly dying.

No food nor drink had blessed his mouth in days. He was starving. He was thirsty.

Yet no one was there to help him.

All that remained of his destiny was to wither away and die to create a seamless transition for the Negative Chakra Formation. Danzo had devised a way to use the Kyuubi as a perfect, undying power source — without bothering to extract the beast from its living jinchuriki.

It was in this abysmal darkness that Naruto opened his eyes. All the negative emotions that flooded his mind had dyed his heart black.

A few strands of his hair had long lost their light.

Looking into the abyss with an empty gaze, the world gazed back at him. Naruto saw everything beyond the walls of his prison like hallucinations plaguing the insane. Images, surfacing from nothingness and similarly disappearing into that same nothingness.

Endlessly.

Infinitely.

His mind could no longer form coherent thoughts. Only one emotion seethed in his soul, resonating with the Demon Fox within him. It was very much like a gas leak, waiting to be ignited.

Simple and unbridled—

Rage.

And so, an inhuman roar would shake the stone walls. Like a dragon, betrayed and plunged into the deepest depths of the earth.

Bloodshot eyes that used to be a beautiful blue hue, had plunged into a deep crimson. With his irises morphed into vertical slits and the eruption of malevolent chakra, Naruto would claw for his own freedom.

Limb for limb.

Life for life.

Grudge for grudge.

For a moment, there would be silence.

In the next, there would be destruction.

—BOOM!

***

Danzo felt the bone-rattling roar first-hand as he stood before the raging Kyuubi before him. With eyes wide open, he bore witness to the crazed chakra erupting like an endless tide. The gleam of his stolen Sharingan was deep, carrying the weight of his actions.

"Tsk," Although a click of the tongue was all that Danzo expressed... The sheer quantity of chakra before him was immense.

It was suffocating.

"Thirteen years, and I get to see the Kyuubi once more." 

[Ram].

Forming a seal, Danzo's voice was barely even a whisper.

Pouring chakra into his eyes, his Sharingan's spinning tomoe turned into long, spiraling curves reminiscent of a shinobi's Nagare Manji shuriken. Their appearance was indicative of the showdown that was destined to commence.

'Mangekyou Sharingan!'

Instantly, the battlefield was set. This vast underground space where Naruto's prison had been chained to, could now fulfill its purpose.

[Bishamonten].

"I'm afraid I cannot allow you to rampage further." Danzo's chilling declaration fell.

However, the partially transformed Demon Fox had no capacity for rational thought. There would be no conversation. No hesitation.

A Tailed Beast Bomb instantly bombarded Danzo's location. Both Naruto and Kurama agreed on one thing and one thing only at the moment.

The Hokage's death.

***

Jiraiya was meditating with his eyes closed and Senjutsu chakra flowing through his body. The night was calm, void of any ominous presence. The full moon above cast faint shadows throughout the land.

Suddenly, a stinging sensation pierced his mind.

—Bzzt!

Jiraiya was jolted awake. His sudden movement rid him of his frog-like features and cut off his senses.

However, he had seen more than enough.

'That evil chakra,' A grim expression formed on his face. 

It was time to act.

"Crow," Jiraiya called out to the darkness.

—Squawk!

A figure emerged as if manifesting out of nothing, accompanied by the cry of a raven. At one glance, it would be obvious to be the figure of a young man, still approaching his prime.

It was clear that the young man had long been waiting. His silent, observant demeanor was uncharacteristic of such a youth. Cold, rational, and deadly.

The crow mask he wore seemed to gleam in the moonlit night.

The shine of two unsettling Mangekyou Sharingan pierced through. Never once had they been deactivated in all these years. Yet never once did they bleed.

These eyes were eternal.

"Is it time, Jiraiya-sama?" Itachi's voice was like the cold grasp of a merciless assassin.

No hint of emotion was conveyed.

[]=[]=[]=[]

I appreciate your support on P@treon! Hehe~

Link: pa treon.com/ubemantou

(No space.)

You can read up to 35 chapters ahead!

[]=[]=[]=[]