Chapter 81 – The Thread Eaters

They moved fast.

By sunrise, the forest was gone.

Left behind like a dream they weren't supposed to wake from.

Naruto led the group in silence. His mind buzzed, but his body moved on instinct. Every branch, every step, every breath—it all felt… watched.

Even when no one was there.

Even when nothing stirred.

They crossed two rivers and passed a broken shrine.

And that's where it happened.

Kiba stopped first.

"Hold up."

He sniffed the air.

Again.

Brows furrowed.

"I smell blood."

Naruto dropped to one knee.

"Where?"

Kiba pointed toward a ridge of rocks.

Shino released a small cluster of kikaichū. They flew ahead.

Ten seconds later, they didn't return.

Shino frowned.

"That's not normal."

Kakashi stepped beside Naruto, hand already on a kunai. "We check it. Quietly."

They moved through the cracked stones.

Naruto stepped onto the ridge—

And froze.

Below them—

A battlefield.

Corpses.

Hundreds of them.

Shinobi. Rogue. Missing-nin. Bandits. Mercenaries.

But all of them had the same thing in common.

Their bodies were stitched open.

Mouths agape.

Eyes hollow.

And from their wounds—

Threads spilled.

Red. Black. Silver.

Some still moved.

Kiba gagged. "What is this?"

Shino knelt beside a corpse.

"…Their memories are gone."

Naruto blinked. "What?"

"Every cell should hold chakra trace. Patterns. Instincts. Even in death. These bodies… are blank."

Like paper.

Wiped clean.

Naruto stood, fists clenched. "Something fed on them."

A slow clap echoed behind them.

They turned.

Three figures stood on the rocks.

Cloaked. Hooded.

Their robes were stitched from human hair.

Their faces were sewn shut—except for the eyes.

Eyes that spun.

But not like a Sharingan.

Not like a Rinnegan.

These eyes were just…

Wrong.

No color.

Just spirals of thread.

The middle one stepped forward.

Voice muffled behind his stitched lips.

But somehow, they still heard it.

"You came from the Cradle."

"We smelt the Loom on you."

Naruto stepped forward. "Who are you?"

The figure tilted his head.

"Thread Eaters."

"We consume what the Loom weaves."

Kiba drew a kunai. "So you're the enemy."

The second figure shook his head slowly.

"No. We're the warning."

"The Loom doesn't want you dead."

"It wants you rewritten."

Kakashi's Sharingan bled open.

"Why the corpses?"

The first Thread Eater chuckled. The threads at his mouth twitched.

"These were already forgotten."

"We just cleaned the page."

Naruto took one step forward.

"Where's the tower?"

The third figure finally spoke.

Her voice was soft. Female.

But cracked.

Like it had been stitched back together.

"You'll find it when your name is gone."

"Only the forgotten can walk through the Loom's gates."

Naruto narrowed his eyes.

"I'm not afraid of being forgotten."

The woman stepped closer.

Lifted a hand.

A single black thread hovered above her palm.

It spun once.

Then shot toward Naruto.

Fast.

He moved.

Faster.

Boom.

The air split.

Rasengan formed instantly.

He slammed it into the thread.

It hissed—shrieking like metal tearing apart.

But it didn't vanish.

Instead—it latched onto his palm.

Naruto screamed.

The world tilted.

Suddenly—

He was standing in Konoha.

Empty.

No people.

No sound.

No footprints.

Just… buildings.

And wind.

He turned.

No faces.

No names.

He looked at himself—reflected in a broken window.

No eyes.

No mouth.

No self.

He was a shadow.

A blank.

Then—

The voice returned.

"This is what the Loom offers."

"Peace."

"Silence."

"No past. No pain."

Naruto clenched his fists.

Then screamed.

"No."

The Rasengan flared.

The shadow shattered.

He tore the thread from his hand.

Returned to the real world—gasping.

The three Thread Eaters staggered back.

Cracks spread across their robes.

The woman hissed. "He resists the pattern."

The middle one growled. "Unravel him!"

They struck.

Dozens of black threads shot forward.

Shino's insects met them mid-air—devoured on contact.

Kiba and Akamaru split, spinning.

Kakashi released a wave of lightning.

Naruto charged forward—Rasengan red, burning with fury.

But it wasn't enough.

The threads pierced the ground.

And from below—

Something woke.

Roots twisted.

Dark hands reached up from the soil.

Not alive.

Not dead.

Weaving themselves together.

A mouth formed in the ground.

It spoke with a thousand voices.

"THE LOOM HAS CHOSEN HIM."

"BRING HIM TO THE TOWER."

Naruto's heart stopped.

The Thread Eaters reached for him—

And the world collapsed inward.

Everything turned white.

Then—

Gone.

Naruto vanished.

Just like that.

Kakashi screamed, "Naruto!"

But there was no echo.

No reply.

Only one thing remained in the air—

A single thread.

Red.

Still warm.

—End of Chapter 81—