The light of the dimensional rift faded, and Kaien was gently laid down upon a lush, green earth. The air was pure, filled with the scent of wildflowers and the salty moisture of the ocean. The soft pulses of infinite energy from his dimension slowly receded, replaced by the denser, soothing sensation of living chakra and the vibrant energy of a reborn nature. He was in Uzushio, the ancient hidden village of the Land of Whirlpools, the homeland of his clan. But it was no longer a field of ruins.
Where houses and towers once stood, nature had reclaimed its territory with surprising vigor. Towering trees, their trunks entwined with thick vines, formed a dome of lush greenery. Vibrant flowers scattered the ground, and murmuring streams wound through dense underbrush. The thick village walls, once shattered, were now covered in moss and ivy, blending into the landscape. Almost no visible trace of the past destruction remained; the earth had healed its wounds, and life had triumphed.
Kaien's flaming red hair was lifted by the ocean breeze, and his Eyes of Infinity, long accustomed to the symphony of energy in his dimension, now perceived a harmony of vital chakra, growth, and peace. He stood there, appearing as a teenager, but with the innocence of a child and the power of a primordial entity, completely unaware of what had transpired decades ago.
"Mom?" His voice, deeper than he remembered, echoed softly amidst the birdsong. "Mom? Dad?"
He took a step, then another, moving through the dense vegetation with instinctive agility. Each step led him deeper into the verdant heart of the village. He searched for familiar faces, joyful voices, the warmth of embraces long gone. But all he found was the serene beauty of nature.
He arrived before what might have once been his home — a mound of earth covered in tall grass, an old, sturdy tree growing where the porch once stood. Broken toys, barely recognizable, were half-buried beneath the leaves and moss. A wooden horse, a headless doll. The plush bunny he had clung to on that fateful day was gone, likely left behind in the dimension he had been thrust into.
The innocence Kaien had so preciously preserved in his sorrowless realm began to crack. He realized, with the cruel clarity of a pure soul facing absence, that no one was here. That his family, his clan, his former world… were gone. Tears — tears he had never known in the infinite — began to roll down his cheeks. They were warm and salty, burning like the dull ache of abandonment.
"Mom…" he whispered, a sob shaking his body. The child within him screamed in pain, a silent cry for the world he had lost. Sorrow consumed him, a dark tide overwhelming his joyful nature.
And at that precise moment, when his grief reached its peak, his powers responded. Not by conscious will, but through a primordial instinct, driven by the deepest longing in his child's heart. The desperation of not finding his mother, the intensity of his attachment, triggered the infinite power slumbering within him. His Eyes of Infinity flared with blinding light, cosmic colors swirling frenetically in their depths.
An aura of pure energy, colossal and uncontrolled, radiated from his body. It wasn't aimed — it was an emotional explosion. The energy expanded, spreading across the verdant ground, probing the depths of the reborn earth. It searched, with blind determination, for the one thing he desired most: his mother's life.
Beneath the earth, long forgotten and buried deep, lay the body of a woman. It was Akari Uzumaki, Kaien's mother. Her body, preserved by the unique properties of Uzumaki chakra and a self-activated preservation seal triggered in her final moments, had withstood the ravages of time. But her soul had long since departed the world of the living.