P.S. correction of chapter 1

thanks for the information Phantom Shadow Wolf

The warm, humid air of the summer afternoon in Konoha carried the sweet scent of wild flowers as Naruto Uzumaki, eight years old with inexhaustible energy, explored the edge of the forest alone. His laughter echoed among the trees, cradled by the fantasy of being a brave ninja on a secret mission. Suddenly, the sky, once a vibrant blue, began to be torn apart by dense, heavy clouds. The first drop, cold and isolated, hit his face, followed by a downpour that turned the dust into sticky mud in seconds. The distant sound of thunder echoed, compelling Naruto to frantically seek shelter.

His eyes, widened by the sudden storm, caught sight of a small, dark structure nestled among the trees: a tiny temple, with mossy tiles and greenish stone walls, a stark contrast to the familiar landscape. A flicker of confusion arose in his mind – he had never seen that place before, even though he played there so many times. Curiosity, stronger than the fear of the torrential rain, propelled him towards the temple.

The dark wooden door creaked open, revealing a surprising interior. Despite its ancient appearance on the outside, the small space, about six by six feet, seemed strangely preserved, almost newly built. A subtle scent of incense and damp earth hung in the air. In the center, on a smooth stone altar, rested a small clay statue of a man. It was simple, but its rustic features possessed a strange dignity, arousing an irresistible curiosity in Naruto. As he picked it up, the cold, smooth clay contrasted with the warmth of his hand. At the same instant, the temple shook violently, and spiderwebs of cracks spread across the walls, while the sound of breaking wood echoed above. The place, which had seemed so new inside, was collapsing with frightening speed.

Instinctively, Naruto ran for the exit, stumbling on the unstable floor. He managed to throw himself out at the last second, watching with wide eyes as the small temple crumbled into a cloud of dust and stone chips. The statue slipped from his hands, shattering on the muddy ground and releasing an intense white glow that momentarily blinded him. A strange sensation ran through his body in that instant of light, as if something subtle had infiltrated his skin.

When the blindness passed, Naruto was no longer in the forest. He found himself in a dark tunnel, so black that the walls seemed to swallow the light. A single source of pale glow emanated from a distant point at one end. The surrounding walls undulated like dancing shadows, solid only beneath his feet. Beside him, a whitish human outline hovered, holding a tenuous chain that seemed to link Naruto to something beyond the dark wall. Only when the figure spoke did a fleeting suggestion of a mouth materialize on its contour.

"Calm down, boy," the voice was serious but possessed a strangely calming quality. "I am a spirit."

Naruto recoiled, fear chilling his blood, but something in the presence of that figure paradoxically made him feel safe. "I won't hurt you. In fact, I'm quite happy: you freed me." There was a carefree tone in its voice, as if a great burden had been lifted. "I was trapped in that clay for eons. I feel indebted to you for using it as my escape route." It raised the spectral hand holding the chain. "This is your life chain; it anchors you to your body. As long as I hold it, you cannot be dragged back to the world of the living."

With a casual nod, it explained, "While I hold it, there will be two points of support, which will prevent you from returning to life, understand?" Its tone became more serious. "I am holding it only to talk to you and thank you, but we must be careful; if it breaks... well, you die."

"Die?" Naruto whispered, his eyes wide with terror.

"Don't worry, it takes quite a bit of force to break it," the spirit replied. "We are on our way to the Pure World. Here, I can use my powers again, or part of them. And before I head to the river that leads to other worlds..."

"Other worlds?" Naruto interrupted, confused.

The spirit shrugged, its form almost flickering. "It's complicated. So don't worry about it. What matters is that I want to repay you. Is there anything you would like? I can try to grant your wish."

Naruto's blue eyes gleamed with childish hope. "I wanted to find my parents."

The spirit pondered for a moment, bringing a whitish finger to Naruto's chest. Two lines of faint light emanated, one running along the dark tunnel and the other disappearing through the dark wall. "Your parents... are dead. One of them resides in the Pure World; the other... is in a place I cannot reach."

Sadness struck Naruto like a physical blow. The spirit sensed his pain. "But I can take you to meet the one who is in the Pure World. As long as I hold your chain, we can do that. Just listen to what I say."

They walked through the tunnel until they reached a shimmering barrier. "Here it is. I will connect you with her. But remember what I said about the chain: do not force it."

"Yes," Naruto replied, his heart racing.

The spirit created a sphere of soft light that enveloped them, and they passed through the barrier. On the other side, the radiant figure of a woman with red hair and gentle eyes appeared. Naruto ran to her, hugging her tightly. The woman, Kushina, returned the embrace, her eyes welling up with a contained emotion, while casting a questioning look at the white outline.

"Don't waste time with me," the spirit said, observing the scene with a neutral expression. "Our time is limited." A small crystal hourglass appeared in the air, its grains of sand running out quickly.

Mother and son spoke in an urgent whisper. Kushina told him about her last moments, the infinite love she felt for him, the pain of not seeing him grow up. Her words, glances, and implied touches conveyed a palpable affection, a depth of feeling that words alone could not express. Naruto shared the loneliness of his childhood, the emptiness he had always felt. Kushina listened intently, her heart breaking for her son's hardships. The spirit, standing a little apart, watched and listened to every word exchanged, the story of that mother and son resonating silently around it.

When the last grains of sand fell, the spirit announced that it was time to go. Naruto stood up, hugging his mother even tighter, engraving every detail of her face in his memory. The spirit turned, ready to go its own way, only to hear a dry, sharp crack. Looking back, it saw Naruto grasping with both hands a link of the chain that connected him to the spirit. With a silent cry of effort, the boy broke it. At the instant of the rupture, to the surprise etched on its contour, the spirit was violently pulled backward, through the shimmering barrier, towards the world of the living, while Naruto remained embraced with his mother, tears streaming down his face in a mixture of joy and despair.

The spirit watched the forest dance under the lash of the torrential rain, and a bitter laugh bubbled in its newly formed throat. "How lucky am I," it mocked the gray sky, cold drops running down its childish face. It didn't want to be there, trapped in this plane of existence where archaic and inflexible laws prevented it from accessing its power. It was an incompatibility; it was the reason it had been cast into this world, stripped of its strength, dangerously vulnerable.

With a brusque movement, it stood up, its body still strange and uncoordinated. Its eyes fixed on the wreckage of its clay prison, now reduced to fragments in the mud. Only a pure soul, an immaculate vessel, could have freed it from that condemnation. The boy... what had gone through that child's head to prefer death? His life couldn't have been that bad. As if the universe answered its silent question, a torrent of memories flooded its mind, and it saw the life of Naruto Uzumaki, his piercing loneliness, the pain of rejection, the desperate longing for connection.

Another laugh, this time filled with scorn and a hint of dark understanding, escaped its lips. "What a shitty world this is?" it shouted at the sky in fury, before staggering and falling backward, its hands sinking into the soaked and living earth. It felt the cold dampness penetrate its bones, a viscerally new sensation. It shook its head, trying to organize the whirlwind of information and its own ambitions. It was condemned to rebuild its power, brick by brick, in this fragile body. At least... at least this one possessed a surprisingly latent potential, a reservoir of raw energy that it could feel pulsing beneath the surface. It wasn't the worst of beginnings. A wild and lively smile split its childish face as the rain fell violently around it. To it, that dark day seemed strangely promising.

"From today onward," it hissed, raising its small, clenched fist towards the laden sky, "the world shall prepare for the new Naruto!" At the same instant, as if the world itself echoed its audacious declaration, a colossal thunderclap shook the sky, illuminating the forest with a fleeting white flash.