Chapter 104 – Brother of the Beast

The silence was war.

Naruto's cloak fluttered once. Red chakra licked the ground around him.

Across the clearing, Kaito stood still.

No weapon. No stance.

Just that broken eye glowing like a dying star.

Kurama—the one outside—circled them both. Towering. Smiling.

The fox's voice echoed like thunder.

:: Two containers. One full. One broken. Let's see who breaks first. ::

Naruto didn't blink.

"Who are you?"

Kaito tilted his head slightly. "You already know."

"You shouldn't exist."

"Neither should you."

The wind passed between them again. Slow. Uneasy.

Kaito stepped forward.

Naruto didn't move.

"I'm not here to fight you," Kaito said.

Naruto's fists clenched. "Then why did you release him?"

Kaito looked at Kurama behind him. "Because I could."

"That's not a reason."

"It's the only reason that matters."

Naruto's eyes narrowed. "You risked everything."

"No," Kaito replied, "I challenged everything."

A pause.

Then Naruto spoke low. "You remind me of Sasuke."

Kaito smiled faintly. "You say that like it's an insult."

Kurama's tails twitched in amusement.

Naruto took a step forward now.

The air cracked.

Kaito's eye flared.

Both forces surged at once—chakra clashing without movement.

The trees around them groaned.

Then Naruto vanished.

A blur.

Fast.

Faster than lightning.

Kaito didn't dodge.

He raised a single hand.

And caught Naruto's punch.

The ground cratered beneath them.

Shockwaves blew dirt into the sky.

Kurama roared in surprise.

Naruto's eyes widened. His fist was caught. Held like paper.

Kaito's broken eye twisted mid-motion. Symbols rearranged.

Naruto vanished from his grip.

And reappeared twenty meters away—thrown by a force that ignored space.

He landed on his feet, breath sharp.

Kaito didn't chase.

Naruto stared at his hand.

It was shaking.

Just slightly.

:: He displaced you without time-space jutsu, :: Kurama whispered inside.

:: That… shouldn't be possible. ::

Naruto's expression hardened.

"I'm not here to kill you," he said again.

Kaito looked up.

"That's your second lie."

Naruto's eyes glowed.

"Third," he corrected, forming a Rasengan mid-step.

Chakra swirled, pulsing with deadly heat.

Kaito stood still.

Naruto charged.

A flicker—

Kaito moved.

The Rasengan passed through afterimage.

Naruto twisted mid-air, spinning to strike from above.

Kaito vanished again.

No teleportation.

Just... movement.

Like light skipping across time.

He reappeared behind Naruto, fingers outstretched.

:: Now. ::

Naruto felt it too late.

Kaito's hand touched his cloak.

Symbols flared along Naruto's back. Red light ignited.

Pain.

Naruto screamed as chakra burst from his seal involuntarily.

The cloak flickered. Kurama inside surged to defend.

Kaito's eye opened fully.

Jagged. Unholy.

It drank chakra like a void.

Kurama's voice echoed inside Naruto.

:: He's pulling me—::

Naruto flared.

Raw will.

Chakra exploded outward like a sun.

Kaito staggered back.

But smiled.

Naruto's breathing was heavy now. Sweat lined his forehead.

"What… did you just do?"

Kaito didn't answer.

Behind them, the real Kurama laughed.

"Didn't like that, did you?" the beast taunted.

Kaito turned toward him.

"It's working," he said.

Naruto stared. "What is?"

"My eye. It's learning your seal."

Naruto's eyes widened.

"What are you trying to do?"

Kaito looked at him.

"Break it."

Naruto lunged again.

This time faster.

Fists glowing.

He struck with precision—aiming to disable, not kill.

But Kaito was done blocking.

His eye twisted once.

Time slowed.

Naruto's punch froze mid-air.

Birds halted in flight.

Even sound stopped.

Kaito walked through the frozen moment.

Stepped behind Naruto.

And whispered—

"I could kill you right now."

Then he moved again.

The world resumed.

Naruto's punch struck nothing but air.

He spun around—too late.

Kaito was already sitting on a broken stump, calm as still water.

"You don't understand what I am," he said softly.

Naruto didn't answer.

His hands trembled.

Not from fear.

But realization.

:: He doesn't fight like a shinobi. ::

:: No. ::

:: He fights like something older. ::

Naruto breathed in.

Then out.

"I don't want to fight you anymore."

Kaito raised an eyebrow.

"Giving up?"

"No."

Naruto stepped forward again.

"But I don't fight to win. I fight to protect."

He placed a hand over his heart.

"I'll protect this world. Even from you."

Kaito stood slowly.

"You can try."

The tension faded just slightly.

But not the danger.

Kurama behind them sat now, watching like a god bored with its toys.

Kaito turned to leave.

"You're not ready."

Naruto didn't stop him.

"Wait."

Kaito paused at the edge of the trees.

Naruto asked, "Why do all this? Why unseal him? Why now?"

Kaito turned his head, just slightly.

And said one word.

"Warning."

Then vanished.

Far away, in the heart of Konoha—

Danzo stood at the edge of the underground Root vault.

Behind him, a chamber filled with stasis tanks.

Eyes.

Hearts.

Limbs.

All stolen.

All preserved.

He stared at the sealed vault door before him.

Carved into it—an ancient mark.

A mirror split down the middle.

Danzo's hand hovered over it.

He whispered to himself.

"If he's really returned…"

Then he opened the vault.

And stepped into the darkness.

End of Chapter 104