AN: Yesterday's chapter was a triple chapter (151-152-153) instead of the usual one; I know just how easy it is to miss a small AN and to miss a few chapters too...
So just in case, I'm writing this little AN, to make sure you didn't actually skip the two chapters that came before the ten-worder hahahaha - I still don't know how the alert system works or if people generally click on the 'last chapter' button.
So... That's out of the way. And you probably read all chapters...
There will be six more chapters after this one.
Now, for today's chapter.
Morning and Noon of Existence
One day, as Lord Jinushigami was strolling alone by the banks of the Pure Lands' Migi Pond, he came across something peculiar.
The pond carried perfect water lilies that opened up when the time was right. The other flowers, the ones that were similar to white pearls, emitted a sweet fragrance, one that seemed to never end, one that caught every nose.
It was Morning, if such a thing ever really applied to the Pure Lands.
Lord Jinushigami moved closer to the pond, his eyes having been caught by a most peculiar glint. He glanced down through the blossoms to peer through the lower realms.
For under the Pure Land, — far, far below — lay the sixteen depths of Naraka, the Hell Realm.
A place in which a person experienced the results of their own karma, in the form of torments.
Lord Jinushigami's eyes saw through the distance easily, for the time he had been a man was long gone. He peered down, and took it all in, starting from the blistering Naraka called Arbuda; frozen plain surrounded by icy mountains and continually swept by blizzards.
The denizens of this world suffered naked and alone, while the cold raised blisters upon their bodies, until their penance was over.
He could see the Mountains of Sacrifice as clearly as if he had been down there.
The Eight Cold Narakas were, in order of severity…
Arbuda, hell of freezing, where skin blistered.
Nirarbuda, hell of freezing, where blisters broke open.
Atata, hell of shivering.
Hahava, hell of shivering and moaning.
Huhuva, hell of chattering teeth and moaning.
Utpala, hell where the cold turned one's skin as blue as a lotus.
Padma, hell where one's skin cracked open from the cold.
Mahapadma — the great lotus hell where one became so frozen that their body fell apart.
Lord Jinushigami's eyes peered through the Hot Narakas, as well.
From Samjiva, the realm of hot iron heated by fire, where souls would be revived over and over again, until their penance was over.
He could see the Road of Survival as clearly as if he had been down there.
The Eight Hot Narakas were, in order of severity…
Samjiva, hell of reviving and repeated attacks.
Kalasutra, hell where black lines were drawn upon the body and used as guides for fiery saws and sharp axes to cut beings.
Samghata, hell of being crushed to bloody paste by large rocks.
Raurava, hell of screaming; of running around on burning ground.
Maharaurava, hell of great screaming while being eaten by animals.
Tapana, hell of scorching heat, while being pierced by spears.
Pratapana, hell of fiercely scorching heat, while being pierced by tridents.
Avici, hell of no interruption while being roasted in blazing ovens.
And now…
Lord Jinushigami's eyes came to rest upon a man, who was running through the Hells, one after the other, like one that was possessed.
Lord Jinushigami knew exactly who that man, who was not writhing with the other sinners, was. He was one who had committed many evil deeds over the ages; killing people, burning cities was only the start of it.
The man currently was in the Samghata level of Hot Hell, surrounded by huge masses of rock that smashed together and crushed beings to a bloody heap. Life would then be restored to them, and the process would start again.
Except this man clearly had no intention of respecting the rules in place. He simply dodged the rocks and continued to speed down the wasteland with pink skies.
Now, as he looked down at the realms below, he noticed something strange about him — not just the fact that he was going deeper. He blinked.
That is most peculiar.
And unprecedented, too. Lord Jinushigami called for a Hell Guard.
"Please warn Enma-daiō that someone is causing trouble, down here."
Here with the sinners of the third lowest level of Hell, Uzumaki Naruto kept on running.
He had gotten very good at this, over the course of his many lives.
But this time, he was not running away.
Rather, it was he who was chasing after something.
Naruto remembered many things.
And there was one memory, in particular, that had set this particular course of events.
Something that he never had paid enough attention to, before.
The Sage, - Father - had been able to momentarily call forth the spirits of all the deceased from the Pure Land.
It was a godly feat, sure.
But he wasn't really concerned about that.
Rather... that meant one thing.
Chakra connected the worlds, and that included the physical realm - Earth -, the Naraka Realm, as well as the Pure Lands.
Because that was the only thing that could explain something like Rinne Tensei, as well.
And as far as Naruto could tell, his possession of the Rinnegan allowed him more... leeway than most.
He was intending to use and abuse that fact. As always.
Now... the Naraka realm was an impossibly huge place. This level, for one, really didn't look too welcoming.
Well, at least... here, he could see.
One of the first levels he had landed himself into had been pitch black.
And so had been the level after it. It had taken Naruto a bit longer than he would like — or would admit — to realize that he had been sinking in the Pond of Blood.
He had escaped pretty easily, as walking over blood wasn't very different from walking over water.
That level had been pretty silent, which had been the worst part about it.
But now that he could hear the screams of people as spears ran through them… he realized that it hadn't been that bad.
Naruto idly wondered if people had already managed to escape from here. The Pure Lands were high above, he could tell, but there was undoubtedly something preventing people from reaching there. Not that he cared, since it wasn't what he was here for.
And extending his senses, he had a feeling that this place was the one he had been looking for. For in the distance —
He came to a halt. Something felt off.
The air around him became unnaturally still. Naruto tensed.
The feeling reminded him of death.
A flash.
Blue flames consumed him.
The pain was all-encompassing and reduced his body to nothing but ash. And yet, somehow, he knew that he was not dying again.
When his eyes formed anew, he was someplace else.
His throat was as it should be again. Naruto finally let out a groan of pain.
A large — gigantic, really — man with a long beard sat in front of him, in a chair that might well have been a throne.
The worst were his eyes. His features, although calm, were one thing. But his eyes only betrayed total control.
And something entirely inhuman, too.
Here was something truly beyond Naruto.
Souls in the shape of men, women and children were moving forward, awaiting judgment. As far as he could tell, Naruto was the only one to have kept his human body.
He waited, and figured out where he was exactly, and who he was facing, simply by listening.
Naruto's turn came soon enough.
For once, he was feeling nervous.
"You…?" Enma-daiō, Hell Judge, asked.
His voice was like ice, and boomed across the walls.
Naruto wiped some sweat from his forehead. Nothing in his memories told him anything about having met the man already.
And he was pretty sure he would remember.
"Me…?" He asked, uneasily.
"Has your time finally come...?" Enma-daiō snapped. "You have died twenty times now. Without coming here, even once. Did you come to taunt me, or are you finally dead for good…?"
"Taunting you, Enma-daiō…?" Naruto began. "I never did so—"
"And you shall not, this time either!" Enma-daiō said sharply. "Not fully gone, then...? Then it is time for you to go again and find yourself a host, Deathless."
He spat the last word.
So the anchors that had been Indra's originally were still working, then. Naruto had been afraid that he had messed things up by coming here.
"I am not going to the mortal world right away, Enma-daiō." Naruto said.
"What did you just say…?" Enma-daiō's voice was calm, smooth and freezing. And it would have cowed anyone.
"I said that I'm not going to the mortal world right away. And I won't find a host either."
"And where else…" Enma-daiō began, his voice like flat, unfeeling music. "…Do you think you are going, with your soul bound to the mortal world…? As long as your anchors remain, there's nowhere else for you to go. You are not supposed to be here, either."
Legend had it that Enma-daiō had been a man, once. Some said that he had been the first person in the world to die.
(Not that Naruto thought that their once shared species was going to earn him any goodwill.)
Then Enma supposedly became the one looking after the dead… and then the one judging them.
Because that was what he did.
Enma-daiō judged the dead.
He decided if a dead person went to the Pure Land — also called Heaven — or Naraka — also called Hell.
Enma-daiō made his judgment based on the actions people had taken during their lives.
It was simple enough.
People who had behaved well enough went to Heaven. People who had behaved badly enough went to Hell.
Temporarily.
Because that was a simplification, and Hell was only a temporary place - if one that lasted for long - before reincarnation on either Earth or in the Pure Lands.
Naruto was pretty sure of where he was supposed to go.
There was just one thing, though.
Indra, of course, had broken the rules.
And for this, Enma-daiō despised him.
"...I understand that, Enma-daiō." Naruto nodded. "And I do remember what it means."
Every time Indra and Asura both died, they would reincarnate without going through here.
Naruto was no exception — on this.
"…Why have you come here…?" Enma-daiō finally asked, his eyes hard. "This is not the way it is supposed to work for you."
Not with an anchor, it was true.
"Because—" Naruto tried.
"And why do you have your human body, still?" Enma-daiō's voice boomed. "None of the dead shall keep their mortal shell!"
Silence stretched.
The tension rose.
Naruto saw Enma frown. He had realized, then.
"…But I'm not dead, Enma-daiō." Uzumaki Naruto grinned at the actual King of Hell.
Not the creature summoned by the Naraka Path, the one he had used to come here.
Naruto finished. "…Or not anymore, at least."
There was a long silence.
"To think you have gone even further in your insanity…" Enma-daiō said, his bottling fury clear. His gaze had turned baleful. "You have come to taunt me, now."
Naruto had expected this to go somewhat badly.
"No." Naruto shook his head. He didn't flinch away. Instead, he stared up, into Enma's eyes. "I have come for what's mine."
His expression must have been a terrible sight to behold, if Naruto trusted the reaction of the beings around Enma-daiō. But the Judge didn't flinch.
"You still live." Enma's voice was a quiet thing.
Naruto didn't bother lying to him.
"Yes." He simply said.
"Then you have no cause to be here."
"I do have a reason. Several of them, in fact." Naruto's voice was soft and sure.
Enma laughed.
A low, terrible sound.
Like mountains grinding.
"How foolish. Back to the world of the living with you." Enma-daiō said with finality.
Flames.
Enma-daiō dismissed him, and Naruto's body burned painfully as he was forced to undergo the pain of rebirth in the physical world.
Naruto woke up on his back with a gasp, followed by a sharp intake of air.
Naruto looked around him quickly.
He was still in the same damn house.
He was back in the human world.
It was painful, but not any different from using the Naraka path to heal.
"I failed." He growled.
Doubt started niggling at him. Maybe this was simply not possible this way. The Rinne Tensei might be a better option, but he had a feeling that it wouldn't be such a wise idea, if Enma oversaw the entire process. He was already playing with fire.
Maybe it was impossible.
Maybe he should just-
Naruto scoffed.
What the hell was he saying…?
"The fuck am I moping for?" Naruto shook his head, muttering to no one in particular. "This is nothing but a setback."
He stood back again, almost manic.
"I am sure it is, my Lord." The other person in the room nodded quietly.
"Don't call me that." Naruto sighed. How many times had he repeated it, already…?
"Do you intend to try again?" A quiet question.
"Yes." Naruto nodded, ignoring his own frustration.
"Very well."
"How long have I been gone...?"
"You came out as soon as you entered."
For the first time in a long time, Uzumaki Naruto really smiled.
"That's good." He said.
"Will you need me?"
"Yes. Once I go in... Lock me inside there, this time. The way we planned for. I will break the lock from my side once I'm done." Naruto said resolutely.
"Are you sure about it…? We already established that time doesn't flow the same way at all, there."
"I am sure."
"As you will it, my Lord."
He didn't roll his eyes.
Naruto stood up and slapped his palms together. Chakra bathed the entire room.
"Gedō: Jigoku Tensei."
He summoned the King of Hell and went through its mouth again. To meet the actual being.
Naruto landed into a vast pool of red water.
This time, he had expected it, and once he fell through the saturated waters, he reacted.
He pushed himself to the surface, broke it. He took a gasping breath.
Above him were only dark, cloudy skies.
In the far distance, red thunder crackled ominously.
Naruto took a long breath.
He began to run again.
There were only two alternatives.
Either he reached where he needed to be… or Enma-daiō summoned him back up.
There was no way he could lose, really.
Running the whole way through the different levels was going to take him a while, though.
Well, better to run than curse the road.
"Enma-daiō…" A servant bowed low in front of the God.
He was reluctant to even tell this much to the Great Lord, but...
"What is it..?" The God's voice boomed.
There were sinners to judge, and people who deserved to reach the Pure Lands too. The servant knew it. And he felt terrible about bothering him.
Especially with this.
"The one you sent back before has come back. He has started from the lowest point this time, and has reached the third deepest level, once more."
The gaze Enma-daiō sent his way made the servant freeze.
"Take care of him." Enma-daiō said at last.
The servant had trouble speaking.
"Great Lord... he is a mortal. We cannot."
Enma-daiō's fury was a terrifying sight.
Blue flames burned Naruto, and he found himself in the palace, once more.
"Enma-daiō." Naruto nodded politely.
Better not to antagonize him, really.
Besides...
Rumor had it he was a fair man - or god -, usually. One with a very limited amount of patience, despite the long, long time he had been alive.
Perfect.
Naruto knew exactly how to deal with this type of person.
He had been one of them, after all.
"Get out before I send you to Hell myself."
"You judge the dead. Which I am not." Naruto said evenly. "I don't think you can. But by all means, send me there."
Enma-daiō proceeded to ignore him.
Naruto waited patiently as the souls around him were slowly sentenced to the Pure Land or to the depths of Hell.
It was a strange process to watch. And there didn't seem to be any pattern there that he could discern.
Some nervous souls went to the Pure Lands, some went to Naraka.
Some happy souls went to the Pure Lands, some went to Naraka.
Some angry souls went to the Pure Lands, some went to Naraka.
It was a strange but fascinating process.
Naruto sat there, not saying anything. He knew that his mere presence rubbed Enma the wrong way.
Enma-daiō continued to ignore him.
In the meantime, Naruto simply thought. He considered several courses of action. The things he needed to do, still.
After what felt like hours, maybe days of this, Enma finally answered Naruto's sentence. He had almost forgotten about it by then.
"I judge the dead, indeed. Out with you." He grunted. "You still live, Indra."
Naruto was forced out painfully.
"I'm Uzumaki Naru-"
"Enma-daiō." One of his Hell Guards called to him.
He was much higher on the totem pole than the servant from last time.
It didn't prevent him from feeling very nervous.
"What is it…?" The Great Lord asked, his voice sending shivers down the Guard's spine.
"He is causing trouble in the lower levels again."
Of course.
Enma-daiō growled. "Send him out. You should be able to do so."
There was hesitation in his servant.
"What is it...?"
"We… cannot catch him, my Lord."
Enma-daiō stared at him.
As though the Hell Guard, who had been doing his job for so long, was nothing but a waste of space.
"He... He is too fast, my Lord."
"I think I understood that." Enma-daiō growled.
Enma-daiō called Indra… Uzumaki Naruto… whatever he was calling himself now, here.
Here, the Great Lord could send him away. The Hell Guard waited gleefully.
"Out with you." Enma-daiō said, in his infinite mercy.
Then he dismissed the intruder.
"Enma-daiō." Naruto nodded politely.
Enma-daiō proceeded to ignore him.
Only then did he blink.
Naruto waited patiently as the souls around him were slowly sentenced to the Pure Land or to the depths of Hell.
Enma-daiō continued to ignore him.
"Spit it out." Enma-daiō growled. "How did you do it?"
Ind—… Uzumaki Naruto shrugged. "I figured out how you brought me here. It wasn't that hard to bring myself here."
...He was learning. And getting faster, too.
Did he intend on getting to his destination before anyone caught on to him...?
How preposterous.
"Out with you." Enma-daiō growled.
Naruto was forced out.
"Enma-daiō." One of his Hell Guards called to him.
He let out a long suffering sigh.
"Is he stirring the souls up again…?"
"…Yes, my Lord."
The air heated up and the Hell Guard shivered in spite of it.
Enma-daiō growled. "Send him here."
"Of course, my Lord." He hesitated. "We..."
"...Still can't catch him." Enma-daiō said in immense displeasure.
Uzumaki Naruto was summoned by the Great Lord himself.
"Are you willing to talk, now?" Naruto asked.
There was no more doubt in him, which was the most frustrating thing.
"Out." Enma-daiō growled.
Then he dismissed him.
"Enma-daiō." Naruto nodded politely.
He had brought himself here, once more.
Enma-daiō proceeded to ignore him, grinding his teeth.
Naruto waited patiently as the souls around him were slowly sentenced to the Pure Land or to the depths of Hell.
"This one looks like he belongs lower." Uzumaki Naruto commented idly.
Enma-daiō's fist tightened.
"...Lower."
Enma-daiō ignored him.
"Higher."
Enma-daiō snapped after hours, maybe days of this.
"What is it that you want?!" He asked, startling a few poor souls who had nothing to do with it.
"I already told you." Naruto shrugged. "Will you give me access?"
Naruto was forced out again.
There was the sound of displaced air.
"Enma-daiō." Naruto nodded politely.
Enma-daiō took a long breath.
There was an old saying in Naraka.
"It is not easy to count time here and say it is so many years, or so many hundreds of years, or so many thousands of years, or so many hundreds of thousands of years."
Still...
How many times had Uzumaki Naruto come here...?
How many times had it been today…?
How many times had it been this week…?
How many times had it been this month…?
These were very human terms, but ones he sometimes used. Out of familiarity, perhaps - all of the deceased used them, and sometimes he did so as well. Time didn't really flow the same way at all, here.
Naruto waited patiently as the souls around him were slowly sentenced to the Pure Land or to the depths of Hell.
Enma-daiō continued to ignore him.
He snapped after hours, maybe days of this.
"You still live!"
Naruto was forced out.
"My Lord—" A Hell Guard began.
"Don't." Enma growled.
There was the sound of displaced air.
"Enma-daiō." Naruto nodded politely.
"You cannot do this forever!"
Naruto blinked. "Why not?"
Naruto waited patiently as the souls around him were slowly sentenced to the Pure Land or to the depths of Hell.
"Out!"
Naruto was forced out.
Time passed.
"Enma-daiō." Naruto nodded politely.
Enma didn't even bother looking up. "Out."
"Enma-daiō." Naruto greeted. He was ignored again.
Once Enma finally snapped his fingers, Naruto was half-asleep already, although he didn't need to sleep here.
"Enma-daiō." Naruto greeted genially.
This time, he waited patiently.
It went on.
"I'm back."
Naruto stood next to Enma.
"Out."
"Did you change your mind already...?"
"I have come for what's mine."
"Do you think I do not know this already?!"
It went on and on.
"Enma-daiō." Naruto nodded politely.
This was the third time in what felt like a minute to him.
"Enma—"
"Stop." Enma growled.
"Will you give me what I want?" Naruto asked.
The Lord of Hell refused and Naruto waited.
It went on and on and on.
"Enma-daiō." Naruto bowed.
"Out!"
"Your Hell Guards are getting slower." Naruto said and was ignored.
Naruto continued, unimpeded. "I think they're giving up."
"Hello, Enma-daiō." Naruto greeted.
The Great Lord didn't look up.
Sometimes, Naruto thought he was making progress. Sometimes... not so much.
"Enma-daiō."
"What do you want?"
Naruto smiled.
"Nothing so complicated. I just want the souls linked to my own to leave here with me. And not just this time, either."
There was only silence.
"Their bodies are healed and if they weren't... I would just recreate them anew. Their souls are anchored to the physical realm, too. Through my own!" Naruto continued, his confidence rising. "Which means that if we're being technical about it… You have no right over them."
"Get out."
"I will see you in a few minutes."
It went on.
"Enma-daiō." Uzumaki Naruto nodded politely.
How Enma hated that voice.
"Enma-daiō."
How many times had it been this year…?
"Enma-daiō." Uzumaki Naruto nodded politely.
He was not going to relent, was he..?
"Enma-daiō." Uzumaki Naruto sat himself.
Why was he even refusing, at this point? It was the truth, they were bound to his soul, all of them. They did not belong.
"Enma-daiō." Uzumaki Naruto greeted.
Staring into his eyes, Enma-daiō realized that this man would never stop. He was immortal, just like Enma-daiō himself was. And his presence was getting more and more insufferable. All for what...? Souls that Enma-daiō didn't even have a real claim over...?
Uzumaki Naruto had only told the truth.
Enma-daiō scoffed.
Hagoromo himself had not been nearly this stubborn.
And of course, his eldest son took it as a challenge.
"…Go and get them." The giant waved Uzumaki Naruto off, scowling. "Just go."
"Thank you, Enma-daiō." The man made it seem so casual, too.
"Only the souls you trapped together with your own." Enma said flatly.
Then he stared at Uzumaki Naruto intently.
"A word of warning, though." Enma-daiō's voice was low, rumbling. Something ancient, much older than the Ten-Tails. He knew that Uzumaki Naruto was paying attention, now. "The last two people with these eyes knew not to… go overboard. Your circumstances are… unique. For this reason, I will ask of you not to break the balance. Life and Death, barring a few… exceptions that I exceptionally allow to the ones such as you… Life and Death shall remain as they are."
Silence hung in the air. And there was a real threat here. Confined to Hell or not, Uzumaki Naruto wasn't willing to test the giant's patience, it seemed.
(…Not now, at least. Maybe once I become stronger. Naruto thought)
"Only the souls that belong with my own." Uzumaki Naruto nodded carefully.
(How many more could I fit into the bond…? Naruto wondered.)
"Indeed." Enma-daiō said dryly.
"The bonded ones." Uzumaki Naruto said carefully.
"Need I repeat myself...?" Enma-daiō's patience was wearing thin.
"Of course not, Enma-daiō." Uzumaki Naruto smiled. "We will see each other when... some of us die again, then."
"We won't." The man growled. "They're your problem, now. Take care of your souls until they are ready to die for good. Only then shall we talk. Out of my sight!"
Enma-daiō sighed in relief once he was gone.
Peace at last.
Tapana. Naraka.
The scorching spears were slammed into her flank once again, and she gritted her teeth.
In here, that bastard Enma's servants impaled people with fiery lances, over and over again.
No matter how repetitive it quickly had become, the pain was very real.
And since time didn't seem to be a very grounded concept here, it might well have been her first day here… or she might have come years ago.
It was impossible to say.
And it was probably the only reason no one truly lost their mind here.
She wasn't sure if every human who had killed someone went through here, but if so… The shinobi world was fucked.
Well... if every human had managed, so would she.
(Not that any of them had another choice.)
If they — whoever that was — expected her to repent… they had another thing coming to them.
Because it was painful, sure…
But the real problem was that it was very repetitive.
Well, at least it was not going to last forever. Once the full sentence was carried, a soul would either live again in the Pure Lands, or would be reincarnated on Earth.
(Or so she had heard from some of the others.)
Well, 'life' in this Naraka was supposed to last for a long, long, long time, so maybe it was not going to be all that great, either.
Or maybe it would pass by in a blink, it was hard to say.
Then the guards stopped suddenly. There was some sort of commotion, apparently.
They left her alone. Well, she was not about to complain about less of the mostly eternal torture. Wincing, even as her immaterial body began to heal itself, she sat down against the rocks, staring at the orange skies.
(Well, at least they were not purple.)
She hoped the others lived, or that they at least didn't end up in this shit.
(Did Naruto's latest harebrained scheme work...? Was he alive..?)
"Let him pass." One Hell Guard, a gigantic red ogre said.
Someone roared in outrage.
"Enma-daiō's orders." The first one sighed.
"What? That's unheard of—"
"Why don't you take it up to the boss, then…?"
That shut the second one right up.
"Apparently…" The first one continued. "Enma-daiō has no claim over her soul — Don't ask me."
"But that's—"
"Why don't you ask me, instead?" A third male voice asked, flatly. "I'll tell you what I think of the whole thing, too, while we're at it."
Her heart would have missed a beat, if she still had one.
'No way.'
"These matters do not concern you, Deathless."
"I think they do." The last one said, voice as cold as it ever got. "Out of my way, now."
"What did you just say—"
"I said fuck off. I don't need you for this, and unlike Enma, there's nothing you can hold over me."
"You wretch—"
Something the man did cut him off.
She did not dare to turn around. Footsteps drew closer to her.
Silence.
"This is... a horrible place." The man said, by way of greeting.
She didn't answer right away.
"Yeah. I suppose it is."
"Was I supposed to end up here, too…? It's more than time we find a more sustainable way." Uzumaki Naruto continued.
She said nothing. Naruto turned more somber.
"I'm sorry that you had to endure this."
"…It's not your fault, really." She said. "Far from it."
"Some of it is."
More silence.
"You… came for me?" She asked, not daring to believe. She was pretty sure tears ran down her face, as she slowly turned around.
"Hell yeah." Naruto grinned tiredly, and she fell back into old patterns, groaning at the terrible joke. "Heard you had some karma to ripen. Well, there's a change of plans. We're breaking you out of this place."
Haruno Sakura's smile might well have blinded Naruto, right now.
"Man, Ino is never going to let go of the fact that I was burning in hell, will she…?" She finally asked.
"Never." He laughed.
Hahava. Naraka.
The Eight Cold Hells were not much better than the Eight Hot Hells, frankly.
On this level, the lucky residents were tormented by the painful bite cold. It was not as bad as the lower levels, but it was terrible in its own right.
It was cold, and it was dark, too.
Above the two of them, a starless, moonless sky stretched, casting weak lights and long shadows.
In the snow, the only thing that seemed to remain were naked footsteps. Anything else was quickly covered by more snow.
"This place really sucks, too." Sakura said.
"I can try to warm us up." Naruto weaved a wave of Fire, melting some of the snow away. As soon as they walked away, it reformed.
"…You can use chakra here…?"
"You can't?" He asked in surprise.
"It feels as though it is limited, it's hard to tell."
"Well, we'll get you back to your body very soon, because this just won't do." Naruto smiled slightly.
"I can't wait."
They walked.
They passed several settlements, leaving whatever they thought could help to some of the shivering people. Which still didn't feel like all that much, and both of them had the feeling it would be taken away by the Hell Guards soon enough.
Days passed, in this strange limbo state where time didn't flow the way any human mind was used to.
Sakura began to tire, until she could barely go on.
"I think… I think I will wait for you here—"
Naruto picked her up, carrying her piggyback style.
"…I guess that will do, too. Thanks."
"It won't be long, now."
The last mountain range they had passed was now hidden in the depths of darkness.
The dull glint of the cloudy gray sky was only made more sinister by the sphere of Fire and Lightning Naruto carried in his hand, to light their way.
('There.')
A woman's soul, walking alone.
Naruto felt Sakura's grin. She felt his own.
"Karin!" Naruto called out. "KARIN!"
The soul turned around, not looking as surprised as Sakura had been. Some remnant of her sensing ability had remained, then.
Her red eyes still went wide.
"Naruto! Sakura! What took you so long?!" Karin laughed through her tears, waving at the two of them.
She jumped on both of them, grabbing them in a bone-crushing hug. Which was a strange thing, because just like Sakura, she was only mostly corporeal.
"Sorry for the wait." Naruto apologized again.
"It's... hard to tell how long it's been in here." Karin waved it off.
"I think you two will forget it soon." Naruto said. "From what I understood."
And he had had a lot of time to do so, so they believed him easily.
"But still, I thought — something went wrong with the plan. That…" Karin began.
"We weren't able to use Kotoamatsukami on Nagato, back then. Shisui was convinced it wouldn't take." Sakura repeated what Naruto had told her.
"Ah."
"Which meant I had to come here to drag both of you girls out." Naruto said.
"Well, gee, thanks. I guess... I owe you one." Karin chuckled. "So… Are we getting out, then…?"
"Sure thing." Sakura nodded, barely hiding her relief.
"You two go on ahead." Naruto just said. "I'm not finished here."
"Let's go, then." Karin hurried.
"That bad for you too, then…?" Sakura asked.
"…It could have been worse."
"How so…?"
"It could have been on a boat, for one." Karin grinned.
"Definitely." Naruto agreed.
Well, it had only taken him what felt like… a long, long while of pestering the King of Hell to manage, in the end.
Hard to say, since time seemed to be very relative, here.
He would say years, but that probably wasn't the case.
In the end, he had stayed for as long as he needed to, and it was something unquantifiable.
Naruto hadn't lied to Enma, he had used a similar — better — process to the one Indra had used to bind his — their — soul to the physical plane.
With their permission, and through the soul bond… Naruto had anchored Ino, Hanabi, Karin and Sakura's souls to his own.
He hadn't been sure whether or not it would actually work and had told the women as much. Death was still death, after all.
But in theory…
As long as one of them lived… The rest of them could come back to life.
Or rather…
As long as Naruto lived, it was simply a matter of time before all of them came back. And he would always come back, until he severed both his and Indra's anchors.
The rest of it, the how… he had understood during his fight with Nagato, and from the man's memories.
And now… Naruto knew how to pull it off for all of them.
Immortality.
Once their souls were released, Naruto went in again.
Enma had said all of the souls linked to his own.
Naruto didn't see one more as breaking the rules. Not really.
Because wasn't this what a soul bond was, too...?
Well, worst case, he would explain the whole thing to Enma. If it took him more years... then so be it.
It wasn't like Sakura and Karin would feel time passing.
Naruto continued to run.
Now… where in hell was Toru…?
Was he in the lowest levels...?
Nah, he couldn't possibly be lower than Sakura had been... right?
Lord Jinushigami was strolling alone by the Ogano River of the Pure Lands.
The river grew perfect crested irises, and black willows, as well. The flowers, all of them, emitted a sweet fragrance. Each of them had a most peculiar one, and none of them ever failed to catch his attention.
The matter had been settled, according to Enma-daiō. That was good.
And so was this existence.
It was Noon, if such a thing ever really applied to the Pure Lands.