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Naruto was angry, sad, and so much more.
For the first time in his life, the boy felt this cocktail of emotions and couldn't put a single one of them into words.
Why didn't the old man just tell me the truth? What is he so afraid of? He's the Hokage. He can do anything he wants in this village. So why can't he just tell me?
Naruto reached his apartment in a blur and pulled the homeward bone from his inventory without breaking stride.
Take me back to lordran. At least it doesn't pretend to be something it's not.
The thought brought tears to his eyes before he'd even finished it. He wanted to consider Konoha his home. A place that would accept him one day, even if it never had before. And instead, the man at the very top of it... the one person he'd let himself trust more than he probably should have, had chosen to stay quiet.
[ You must not trust Hiruzen Sarutobi. That man has kept a lot from you. More than you even know. ]
The words from the red letter surfaced in his mind uninvited. He still wasn't sure he believed them. But he was no longer sure he didn't, either. And that uncertainty was its own kind of wound. It made him wonder just how much of his life had been built on things people had decided he didn't need to know.
Maybe the hawk actually has answers. Maybe it doesn't.
Before the thought could go any further, a magical warmth swallowed him whole. He was back in Firelink Shrine. No villagers whispering behind hands. No polite smiles hiding something uglier underneath. Just stone, ash, and the low crackle of a flame that asked nothing of him he hadn't already chosen to give.
The stillness let something in his chest finally lossen. And in that unclenching, one thought rose clear above the noise.
I need to talk to someone I can actually trust.
That was going to be harder than it sounded. In Konoha, the list of people who fit that description could be counted on one hand. And after tonight he wasn't in the mood to spend what little trust he had left on anyone still standing inside those walls.
Maybe Alexander can help.
The man was the single most depressed individual Naruto had ever met. But depressed didn't mean dishonest. If anything Alexander was the closest thing Naruto had to an unbiased opinion.
He looked around the shrine.
Empty.
Where the hell is that edgelord when I actually need him?, Naruto thought, irritation flaring before it burned itself out just as fast. He probably went off on his own thing again. Good for him, dattebayo. Bad for me.
With no other option, the boy laid on his back, and stared at a sky that wasn't really a sky at all. Just an ashen ceiling of a place that existed somewhere outside anywhere.
In that quiet Naruto's frustration tightened in his throat he tried to swallow down out of habit. The same habit that had kept him smiling through years of glares, shouts and shut doors. But there was no one here to perform for, and no village waiting to decide what his tears meant about him.
The first tear slid sideways into his hair. Then another. Suddenly the dam gave out entirely. His breath came out in short, broken pulls. He pressed the heel of his hand against his eyes like he could physically hold it in, and it didn't work. Some small part of him was almost grateful it didn't. He hadn't let himself do this in a long time. He'd forgotten how much weight a person could carry without noticing.
Eventually the boy's hand drifted to his belt, fingers finding the hilt of the broken Astora straight sword resting there. A relic of a man who hadn't lived to see him become anything, and yet somehow still shaped every part of who Naruto was becoming.
He closed his eyes and began to recite the precepts of a Knight of Astora.
His mind wandered to the last thing his master had ever said to him.
"A knight does not measure himself... by how brightly... he burns. He measures himself... by how long... he keeps the flame... alive. When everything is dark... when he is alone... when there is no one... left to see him stand..."
Naruto smiled.
"That is when... it matters... most."
Silence.
"Now... stand tall... for me."
Naruto took a long breath.
It didn't matter whether Hiruzen had his reasons or had simply chosen convenience over honesty. It didn't matter whether the hawk turned out to be a friend or something wearing a its face. None of that changed what he had to do next.
He was going to stand tall. He was going to keep walking. And he was going to get his answers, one way or another, even if he had to carve the truth out of this village himself.
Because no knight walks out on his own story.
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"First order of business."
Naruto made a cross-shaped sign with his fingers.
The Shadow Clone Jutsu was such a simple technique that the boy honestly wondered why it was locked away in the forbidden scroll to begin with. All you had to do was push a big chunk of chakra out of your body, like blowing a bubble. His body was the bubble-wand, the clone was the bubble, and chakra was the soap solution holding it together.
After that, you just had to fill the bubble up.
Maybe everyone else just didn't have enough chakra to fill the bubble in the first place.
Poof!
"You ready for the plan?"
"We're going grave robbing, dattebayo!" the clone declared, throwing a fist into the air.
"Can you not make it sound so… so bad?! It's not grave robbing! We're just… recycling stuff nobody's using anymore!"
The clone gave him a double thumbs-up as Naruto made a hundred more.
"Let's do some strategic grave robbing. Dattebayo."
"Just go do your job, will you?"
"Aye-aye, boss!"
And with that, the sea of clones took off toward the skeleton graveyard. Naruto wanted to pick up a few of the items he'd spotted last time, and if he was being honest with himself, he also wanted a little revenge on those blasted skeletons.
Meanwhile, Naruto sat back with a different thought churning in his head.
How does the Estus Flask actually affect my chakra?
The thing had already saved his life more than a few times, healing injuries that would've taken weeks to heal on their own.
He winced, remembering the state he'd been in after the Asylum Demon fight. According to Iruka, injuries were one of the things that lowered a shinobi's overall fighting capacity. Chakra wasn't just spiritual energy, it was physical energy and mental energy working together. An injured body couldn't produce as much of either. Which meant if the Estus healed the body, and maybe even settled the mind a little, there was a real chance it was doing something to his reserves too.
Normally, shinobi replenished chakra the boring way: Eating, Drinking, Resting an injury, Sleeping, Meditating etc.
Did the Estus Flash make the process faster or not?
"Only one way to find out," Naruto muttered before taking a swig.
With no injuries and enemies to distract him, the boy focused on his chakra.
And there it was.
He felt his reserves fill up. It took three full swigs before he was back at full chakra reserves. Which meant, in theory, he maintain full strength three times in a fight.
Naruto grinned.
I wonder if it only works like this on an Undead, or if it'd do the same thing for someone like Sasuke or Sakura.
Before he could chase that thought any further, a distant BOOM cut through the graveyard air.
"Stupid skeletons," he muttered with a satisfied."That's what you get for messing with the great Naruto Uzumaki."
A rush of borrowed memory hit him a second later. The clones dumped everything they'd found straight into his inventory before they went.
Naruto rubbed his hands together like a kid tearing into a birthday present.
[ Item: Winged Spear ]
[ Weapon type: Spears ]
[ Description: A long-hilted spear with a barbed point. Long reach, and can be used with shield up. Effective against hard exteriors, and hits for high damage at the right moment of an enemy's swing. But the hit radius is small, and it is easily blocked by shields. ]
Naruto hefted the spear in his hands. It had a long shaft, with a sharp tip despite some rusting. Just below the blade were these small, wing-like protrusions.
"Looks pretty badass," Naruto muttered, turning it over. He gave the tip an experimental jab at the air. "But… am I gonna use this?"
The boy wasn't beyond diversifying his skillset. Lordran was really opening up his love for weapons. But it's not like he had a teacher. He himself wasn't sure about his skill with a sword, let alone trying to learn something else. He'd have to figure that out later. For now, though, it was just one more thing taking up space in his inventory.
[ Item: Caduceus Round Shield ]
[ Weapon type: Small Shield ]
[ Description: Round wooden shield crafted in Lordran. Decorated by an ancient blue Caduceus. The giant trees in Lordran are distant offspring of the great stone archtrees. This shield inherits their properties, and the wood greatly reduces magic damage. ]
It was a small and round shield. Made of wood with a faded green background. The design on its face was a pair of curved lines resembling snakes meeting at a "U" shap. The edges of the shield were reinforced with a thin rim of metal, though it had seen better days.
Naruto wanted to incorporate more shield use into his fighting. Problem was, he already had Oscar's Crest Shield, and there was only one of him to swing a shield around.
Well... technically.
Naruto picked up the shield, made a clone. Thanks to how the jutsu worked, the clone came out holding a perfect copy of it. He made two more clones after that and tossed the Caduceus Shield toward one of them.
"We're ready, boss," the shieldless clone said, right before Naruto punched it in the face.
"Let's see how much a shield actually matters," the original muttered, delivering the exact same punch to each of the shield-carrying clones.
Both of them stayed standing.
That told him plenty on its own. A shielded clone was a lot harder to pop than a regular one. He pulled the zweihander out next and swung it at the clone with the clone shield.
Poof.
Then he swung the same blade, at the clone holding the real shield.
CLANG.
The clone flew backward, skidded across the dirt, and groaned. But it didn't disappear.
"Yatta. I lived," it wheezed from the ground.
Naruto grinned down at it.
The idea worked. If he armored his clones properly, actual weapons, shields, and gear instead of cloned items. Naruto would've an actual squadron of clones that could take alot of punishment. But if a clone did go down, the gear itself wouldn't vanish with it. That meant people could steal or damage it.
Eh, I'll grab it after the fight, dattebayo.
[ Item: Binoculars ]
[ Description: Binoculars made of Brass. Use to peer at distant scenery. This advanced device was built by a famous craftsman of Astora. Its utility is singular, but its applications many. The value of these specs depends greatly on the imagination of their owner. ]
The binoculars were made of brass, with two cylindrical eyepieces connected by a small hinge in the middle.
Naruto smiled as he remembered stealing something like this off Hiruzen's desk years ago. He hadn't even known what they were for at the time, or why the old man kept them around. Mostly he'd just paraded them through the academy for a few glorious minutes of fame. Every kid in class suddenly wanting a turn.
Some idiot ended up snapping the hinge because nobody could agree on whose turn it actually was. Naruto had been furious in the moment, and then crushed the second the anger wore off, because he'd broken Jiji's stuff. Hiruzen hadn't yelled at him for it. He'd sat him down, talked him through it, and teaching him something that stuck a lot longer than the anger ever had. A Hokage takes responsibility for what happens under his watch, no matter how small.
Will you take responsibility for yours, old man? Naruto thought, raising the binoculars to his eyes.
Maybe he could put them to better use than showing off. Long range scouting using a clone was his first thought.
The second thought was some half-formed idea about peeking on girls from a safe distance. He didn't even get seconds into the fantasy before Oscar's voice cracked through his skull like a physical blow.
Precept the Sixth. A knight does not measure his honor by what he can take, but by what he chooses not to. Courtesy is owed to every woman he meets, highborn or common, stranger or friend, not because she demands it, but because he does. A knight defends the honor of those who cannot defend their own, and never mistakes a woman's kindness for permission, or her silence for consent. True chivalry needs no audience. A knight who behaves honorably only when watched has not learned honor. He has only learned to perform it.
"Okay, okay, geez," Naruto muttered out loud, rubbing the back of his head like Oscar had actually cuffed him one. "I wasn't gonna do anything, I was just thinking about it!"
Naruto could imagine Oscar shaking his head.
Through the lenses, he could make out winding paths carved into the massive stone walls surrounding the area. The paths twisted and turned, disappearing into the distance. Trails leading toward the unknown.
Naruto lowered the binoculars, a grin spreading across his face. "Well, looks like I know where I'm going next," he said, standing up and stretching. "Let's go see what this world's got for me next!"