Konoha Gates – Dawn
The morning sun painted the village gates in hues of gold, but Naruto Uzumaki felt no warmth. His hands trembled inside his pockets, still faintly translucent from the void's grip. Sakura shot him sidelong glances, while Sasuke lingered at the rear, his Sharingan subtly tracking Naruto's every twitch.
"Stay sharp," Kakashi said, flipping a page of Icha Icha with forced nonchalance. "Land of Waves isn't a vacation spot."
Tazuna, the grizzled bridge builder, scoffed. "Understatement of the century. That place's drowning in more than water."
Naruto's scar prickled. Drowning. The word echoed the Ōtsutsuki's taunts. You'll drag them all down with you.
The Road to Waves – Shadows in the Mist
The forest thickened, mist curling around the team like spectral fingers. Naruto lagged behind, staring at his flickering hands.
"Oi, deadlast." Sasuke's voice sliced through the fog. "If you're gonna space out, do it after we survive."
"Shut up," Naruto muttered, but his retort lacked its usual fire.
Kakashi's eye narrowed. The scar on Naruto's cheek pulsed faintly, casting ghostly shadows on the trees. Like Minato's seals during the Kyuubi attack, he recalled. But twisted.
"Rest stop!" Tazuna announced, gesturing to a crumbling shack. "Gonna need a drink before we hit the bridge."
Sakura frowned. "We're behind schedule. The Hokage said—"
"The Hokage ain't paying my funeral costs," Tazuna snapped, uncorking a flask. "That demon Gatō's got eyes everywhere. Even here."
Naruto flinched. Demon.
Ambush on the Great Naruto Bridge
The bridge loomed ahead, half-finished and skeletal, its planks groaning under the weight of decay. Mist thickened, swallowing the horizon.
"Stay close," Kakashi ordered, Icha Icha tucked away.
Too late.
Zabuza's laugh rumbled through the fog, his massive blade Kubikiribōchō glinting. "Cute team, Kakashi. Mind if I borrow the blond?"
Naruto froze. Zabuza's killing intent crashed over him—not just bloodlust, but a hunger that mirrored the Ōtsutsuki's.
"Run…!" Naruto choked, but his legs refused to move.
"Pathetic," Zabuza sneered, swinging his sword. "You're the one they call a jinchūriki? A whimpering—"
The blade never connected.
Naruto's scar erupted.
The Golden Storm
Lightning crackled—not blue, but gold. The world dissolved into a churning vortex, Team 7's screams swallowed by the roar of collapsing spacetime.
"Hold on!" Kakashi lunged for Naruto, but the boy's form flickered like a dying flame.
Sasuke's Sharingan bled as he fought to track the chaos. "What the hell is he?!"
The bridge, Zabuza, the mist—all vanished.
The Ash-World – Land of Waves
They materialized in hell.
The sky wept ash, coating a warped version of the Great Naruto Bridge. Its planks were splintered and charred, the spiral symbol from Naruto's scar branded into its supports.
"Welcome," a voice rasped.
Alternate Sakura emerged from the haze, her left arm severed at the elbow, replaced by a jagged ice prosthetic. "To Zabuza's empire."
The Tyrant's Mark
"Empire?" Sakura echoed.
Alternate Sakura yanked up her sleeve, revealing a spiral brand identical to Naruto's scar. "He calls it 'the Chain.' Controls everything—chakra, trade, lives. And your friend…" She glared at Naruto, ice claw crackling. "You're the bridge he's been waiting for."
Naruto stumbled back, scar blazing. "I didn't—!"
"Save it." She tossed a rusted kunai at his feet. "Either help us kill him or die here. Your choice, demon."
Kakashi's Silence
Kakashi studied the spiral symbol, dread coiling in his gut. Minato's seal. Zabuza's brand. The Ōtsutsuki's corruption. The pieces aligned like tombstones.
"We'll help," he said, voice steel.
"Kakashi-sensei?!" Sakura hissed.
"No choice," he muttered, eye lingering on Naruto's flickering form. Not anymore.
As the team followed alternate Sakura into the rebels' hideout, Sasuke pocketed a shard of ice from the bridge. It pulsed faintly, its surface etched with micro-scrolls only the Sharingan could read:
"The Yondaime's key opens all doors… and all cages."
Above them, in a tower of blackened ice, Zabuza grinned. "Found you, little bridge."