Chapter 83 – The Name in the Flame
Naruto hit the ground hard.
Mud. Leaves. Cold.
He gasped, clutching his chest.
The black thread was gone.
But something worse took its place.
His name.
It felt… fractured.
Still there. But distant.
Like a word on the tip of the tongue—forever unreachable.
His memories flickered.
Jiraiya's training.
Gone.
The first time he met Sai.
Gone.
The face of the Third Hokage.
Blurred.
But then—
A hand grabbed his shoulder.
"Easy," came Kakashi's voice.
Naruto turned, panting.
They were in a cave.
Dark. Damp. Lit by blue fire in a hanging jar.
Kiba and Shino stood guard at the mouth. Both looked shaken.
Naruto blinked.
"…How long was I gone?"
Kakashi's face was pale beneath the mask.
"Three days."
Naruto froze.
"No."
"Impossible."
"We saw you vanish. Threads swallowed you. Then you reappeared—bleeding, screaming, and…"
He hesitated.
"…you weren't you."
Naruto looked down.
His fingers were twitching.
His left eye throbbed.
He touched it.
Burning.
Kiba glanced over. "You said something in your sleep."
Naruto looked up.
"What?"
Kiba hesitated.
"You said: Burn the name. Save the world."
Silence.
Naruto stood.
"I saw the tower," he said quietly.
"I saw the man who lost everything."
"He called me the Unweaver."
Shino stepped forward. "What does that mean?"
Naruto stared into the flame.
Its light shimmered strangely.
No heat. Just glow.
Then—
A figure appeared in the fire.
Small.
Frog-like.
Old.
Naruto's heart skipped.
"Fukasaku?"
The toad elder nodded solemnly.
His voice came from the flame itself.
"Naruto-boy… ya did it."
"You reached the Thread Veil."
Kakashi stepped forward. "You know about this?"
The toad's eyes narrowed. "Only in legends."
"But if he's truly been touched by the Loom…"
"…then the world's on the edge."
Naruto spoke softly. "What's the Unweaver?"
Fukasaku sighed.
"Every thousand years, the Loom picks a thread to cut."
"One name. One soul. One rewrite."
"But sometimes… the cut doesn't work."
"Sometimes, the thread fights back."
"That thread becomes the Unweaver."
"A being who doesn't follow fate."
"Who tears patterns apart."
Kiba sat heavily. "You mean… Naruto's cursed?"
Fukasaku shook his head.
"No."
"He's freedom."
"But freedom is chaos."
"And chaos always calls the monsters."
Naruto clenched his fists.
"So the Loom wants me erased."
The toad nodded.
"Wants your name gone. Wants your story undone."
"But it's not just after you anymore."
"It's after all names."
Naruto swallowed.
"Then we fight."
Fukasaku's eyes glimmered.
"There's one chance."
"One place where threads can't reach."
"A shrine. Hidden beneath the old roots of Mount Myōboku."
Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "Even I haven't heard of it."
"You weren't meant to."
Fukasaku looked directly at Naruto.
"It's called the Namefire."
"A place where names burn forever."
"You go there, Naruto-boy… and you forge your name in flame."
"Once done—it can't be erased."
Naruto's heart thundered.
Shino nodded. "Then that's our next move."
But the fire flickered again.
And Fukasaku's image frowned.
"There's one problem."
"The Loom knows you're coming."
"It's sent something ahead."
Naruto's jaw tightened. "What?"
The toad's voice dropped.
"The Seamstress."
Kiba paled.
Shino went still.
Kakashi's Sharingan flared. "She's real?"
Fukasaku nodded slowly.
"She weaves from silence. Sews with souls. Her breath can rip pages from history."
Naruto stepped toward the flame.
"Then we rip her first."
Fukasaku gave a sad smile.
"You'll need more than strength."
"You'll need your true name."
And with that—
The fire went out.
Darkness swallowed the cave.
Naruto stood alone with his thoughts.
His heartbeat loud.
His soul louder.
The Unweaver walked again.
And the world would either remember—
Or burn.
—End of Chapter 83—