Antares' POV
Breaking the seal was not an explosion but a quiet, deliberate tearing — like silk shredding under claws. The sensation was indescribable: weight, pressure, and twelve years of suffocation dissolving into nothing. My chakra surged outward, no longer a muffled whisper under Uzumaki skin but a tide that owned every cell, every nerve, every thought.
The merging began instantly. My chakra threaded through Naruto's, stitching wounds no medic-nin had ever touched. Malnourished muscle thickened, bones filled with living marrow, organs flushed with fresh vitality. The scars of starvation disappeared as though history itself were being rewritten.
My yin chakra moved first, slipping through the labyrinth of his mind like smoke, repairing cracks, reinforcing willpower, damping the endless buzz of insecurity that plagued him. My yang chakra followed, a tide of warmth and growth, reinforcing his nervous system, flooding his cells with energy until his frame trembled like a cocoon ready to split.
Then came the flicker — Naruto himself, a small, bright flame in the storm. Conscious. Confused. Still clinging to his naïve little dreams.
He mumbled her name even as he slept: "Sakura-chan… danger… I… have to… help her… then she'll go out on a date with me…"
I almost laughed. Even here, in this quiet space between mind and power, the banshee's name clung to him like a mantra.
With a sigh, I brushed against his consciousness, waking him. I was curious. How would he react to the figure before him — the true occupant of the seal he had called "fox"?
His eyes snapped open. Panic instantly. "Oi, where am I? Who are you? What happened to that snake girl? Where's Sakura-chan? I swear if you—"
Ah, there it was. Sakura again. The voice, the desperation. Mortals and their attachments. I raised one hand, the gesture echoing a monarch quieting a noisy court.
"Calm down, kid. One question at a time." With a flick of crimson chakra, I conjured a throne of dark crystal for myself and a simple chair for him, letting them materialize from nothing. "Sit. Speak. Then I'll answer."
He gawked at the furniture. "Woah, how did you do that? Wait—no, first, where are we? What happened to my team? We were in a fight, then I went unconscious, and…"
"Sigh. We're in what you'd call a psychic space. More precisely, my psychic space. And now it's my turn to ask."
I leaned forward, eyes narrowing with an interest I hadn't felt in centuries. "Why do you want so desperately to be Hokage? Leader of the village that despises you, starves you, manipulates you. A village that would celebrate your death. Why?"
I expected rage, denial, a hot-tempered child lashing out at the insult. Instead I got confusion — genuine, uncomprehending confusion.
"What do you mean they despise me? Sure, they don't like me, but that's because of the fox, not me. And believe it — when I become Hokage, then they'll have to acknowledge me. They'll have to look up to me. And as for why I want to become Hokage, that's simple: I want to protect my village. And to do that, I need to be the strongest. The strongest in the village is the Hokage. So believe it — I will become Hokage someday."
For a heartbeat, I went still. His words struck like a pebble in a still pond. Naïve. Gullible. Yet strangely powerful. This was not simple denial — this was faith weaponized into identity.
I laughed. Not the cruel chuckle of the fox but a full-bodied, deep laugh that echoed off the psychic walls. His eyes flared with indignation.
"Hey! Don't laugh at my dream! Just you wait — I'll become Hokage, you believe it!"
I stopped, the sound fading into the dark. "Don't worry, kid, I wasn't laughing at you. Goodbye, Naruto Uzumaki. This was a funny little conversation, but now it's time for you to go — and for me to complete my rebirth."
His eyes widened. "Wait—what do you mean—"
I placed a hand on his head. His consciousness trembled under my touch. Memories, feelings, the very blueprint of his self flowed into me. This was the key. This was the fusion.
Dark and light merged. Antares and Naruto. Monarch and vessel.
---
Third Person POV
The clearing was silent but not empty; it throbbed with tension like a wound. Crimson chakra coiled around the boy once called Naruto. Cold blue eyes opened where bright cerulean once had been. His words — casual, almost bored — dismissed the battle around him as if it were a children's squabble.
Ino, beside Shikamaru, whispered, "Hey… Shika… am I the only one seeing this?"
"That's Naruto," Shikamaru murmured back, voice flat but eyes sharp, "but it's not the Naruto we know. Stay put. Don't provoke him. Wait and watch."
Antares rolled his shoulders, the remnants of Naruto's tattered shirt falling away, revealing seals etched across his stomach like ancient runes. One seal had already unraveled, its chains dissolving into crimson smoke. The other — marked with the five elements — still pulsed faintly.
"Ah," Antares murmured, crimson chakra dancing at his fingertips, "let's get rid of this first, shall we? Five Element Seal — release."
He slammed his hand into the seal. Chakra erupted outward like a shockwave. Every shinobi in the clearing — from Sasuke to the hidden observers — felt their stomachs drop. Power radiated off him not like heat but like gravity, bending the air.
Antares straightened, his tone once more that casual drawl. "Hm. Was I disturbing something?"
Dosu, the Sound leader, swallowed hard. "Wait. Take our Heaven Scroll. You've got Earth, right? That completes your pair. Let us go and we'll leave peacefully."
Sasuke, drunk on his newfound cursed-seal high, scoffed. "What makes you think we'll agree? We've already beaten you—"
"I agree." Antares' voice sliced through Sasuke's sentence like a blade.
"Oi, idiot, who gave you the permission—" The Uchiha never finished. Antares moved without moving, a silent flicker of displacement. One heartbeat Sasuke was standing, the next he was unconscious, collapsing like a puppet with its strings cut.
"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura screamed. Her voice cracked, sharp enough to sting the ears.
"Relax," Antares said without looking at her. "I only made him faint."
But Sakura, blinded by panic, lunged at him. He sighed, sidestepped effortlessly, and tapped her neck. She folded, asleep before she hit the ground.
Turning to the rest, he asked softly, "Anyone else?" The question slid across the clearing like a blade of ice.
No one spoke.
Antares moved his head and turned it towards a branch, staring at it as if looking at someone, then turning to another and doing same. He said, "Are you going to come out," he added, "or shall I drag you?"
Shikamaru's heart skipped. He signaled Team 10 to rise slowly, arranging his face into its usual mask. "Man, what a drag," he muttered aloud. "We were going to launch a surprise attack if you couldn't handle them. Besides, we did help your team while you were unconscious."
Inside, his thoughts were racing. This is not the dead-last from the Academy. This is something else.
On the branch, Neji, Tenten, and Rock Lee tensed up. How did he know we were here? As Lee prepared to rise, Neji moved first.
"We were just observing," Neji said. "We're opponents in this round, but at the end of the day we're from the same village. We have no reason to fight." He signaled his team to withdraw.
Antares' cold eyes regarded them for a beat too long before he turned away. "Good choice."
To Dosu he said, "Leave your scroll and go." Dosu complied, setting it on the ground before hauling his teammates away.
Antares smirked at Team 10 — a curl of lips more threat than mirth. "See you at the tower. Hope you make it there." He picked up his unconscious teammates and, with a flick of chakra, vanished into the trees.
Ino exhaled hard. "Did you see his eyes? It felt like… like we were insects."
"Yeah," Chōji said faintly. "That was scary. When did Naruto get that strong?"
Shikamaru stared at the spot where Antares had stood. Whatever happened, this isn't the same Naruto. This won't be a one-time thing.
---
At the Tower
Antares moved through the forest like a phantom, carrying Sasuke and Sakura as though they weighed nothing. He could feel them stirring, but a gentle pulse of chakra kept them under.
When the tower's looming structure appeared, he almost smiled. The "riddle" outside the door was laughably simple. He opened both scrolls and tossed them onto the floor. Smoke erupted, and Iruka Umeno emerged from it — smiling at them, but his smile dropped and eyes widened when he saw the scene.
Two genin unconscious. One transformed boy. Crimson hair, cold eyes, a seal dissolving on his stomach.
"What happened?" Iruka's voice was low, but a tremor ran under it. "Naruto… is that you? What happened to —"
Antares regarded him like one might a slightly interesting insect. "Take care of them, Iruka and point me to the resting area. Or better yet, point me toward where I can get food and a shirt."
Iruka's eyes narrowed and in a stern and lecturing voice he said, "Naruto, they're your teammates. Show some respect. And mind your tone, you might be taking the chunin exams, but you are still a genin and I am still your senior in rank, age and experience"
Antares sighed. Iruka was wasting time. He let a fraction of killing intent slip — a mere thread — focusing it on Kakashi alone. The older shinobi's muscles tightened automatically, his Sharingan itching to flare.
"I don't have all day. Point me to the resting area and I'll go. Oh, and a snake gave Sasuke a hickey on his neck. You should check that."
Iruka blinked, then shakily pointed in a direction. Antares walked off without another word, the corridor seeming to bend around him.
Behind him, Iruka stared after the boy who is supposed to be Naruto, but no, he did not feel like the loudmouth confident, and quick-tempered boy that he remembered. No, this was something else.