Inside the waterfall, the red-eyed Naruto stepped out, speaking loudly and arrogantly.
"Again and again, you never learn your lesson."
"I am you. Our powers are exactly the same."
"You can't destroy me."
His voice was filled with hatred, more intense than before.
This hatred wasn't just aimed at his past life experiences—he now hated Naruto himself.
Naruto looked at him and smiled faintly. "You're right."
Red-eyed Naruto was stunned.
"You are me," Naruto said openly and continued, "Why should I be obsessed with destroying you?"
"No one can completely eliminate their negative emotions."
"Our inner thoughts shift constantly. I've had some terrifying ideas too."
"In that moment, that self was also a part of me."
He paused here and drew out Ashura.
The golden blade radiated life and vitality.
"Denying you is denying myself," Naruto said, gazing at the sword, sensing the power nurtured within it.
Red-eyed Naruto sneered. "But it doesn't seem like you're trying to accept me, nor do you really plan to act like you say."
"Is acknowledgment the same as acceptance?" Naruto asked back.
"I acknowledge that there are dark, wicked thoughts inside me."
"But does that mean I must act on them?"
Red-eyed Naruto reached for the sword at his waist—
But his hand grabbed nothing.
He looked down.
Kurama was gone—vanished without a trace.
The original Ashura sword had scattered into starlight, floating toward Naruto's blade.
Red-eyed Naruto raised his head, confused. "Why is this happening?"
He found his power was fading.
"Hatred won't solve anything," Naruto said gently, as if it were the most natural truth. "Only love can nourish and bring forth flesh and life."
This was a realization born from traveling between the Shinobi World and Soul Society.
What helped him grow was not power, but the kindness of people like the convenience store owner, Director Bokō, and the caring captains and lieutenants.
For Karin, it was family.
Naruto raised the sword.
"Come back."
"We were never truly separated."
"It was just this waterfall showing me the shadow cast under the light, making me mistake you as something that split away from me."
Red-eyed Naruto stood still.
His body, like the original Ashura, began to break apart, disintegrating into specks of light that flowed into Naruto's sword.
Inner World.
Within the warm, powerful Ashura Force, the new budding power—wrapped securely—after absorbing this "nourishment," pierced through like a seed breaking through soil in spring after a long winter.
It greedily absorbed what remained of the Ashura energy and continued growing.
It had to grow.
It had to bloom. Bear fruit.
Naruto watched it tenderly for a moment, then sheathed his sword.
Meanwhile, in another space of consciousness—
Two Kuramas were battling the black Kurama.
Fur flew, chakra trembled.
"You damn foxes never learn," Black Kurama growled. "How many times have we fought already!"
"I am your inner self."
"We're the same—equal in every way."
"You can't kill me!"
Yang Kurama scoffed. "Naruto said where there's light, there's shadow."
"So…"
"He thinks the best way to deal with you is to accept you—"
"And then use our own light to suppress that darkness."
Yin Kurama swished its tail. "But no matter how many times we see your disgusting form, it's impossible to believe you're part of us."
"You're revolting."
"Just looking at your face makes us lose any interest in doing what Naruto suggested."
It raised a fist.
Yang Kurama mirrored it, bumping fists gently with its counterpart.
"So…" the two Kuramas spoke in unison, "What about that move?"
"These past days, aside from thinking how to beat you—"
"We've been working on how to fuse together into one being."
They paused.
Yang Kurama grinned: "Though we can't fully fuse yet, at least we've learned how to temporarily merge."
"And you?" Yin Kurama mocked. "You only have one body. Can you even use such power?"
Chakra surged around their arms like waves, clashing and merging.
Yin and yang intertwined, forming a circle.
Yin and yang harmonized, slowly shaping into a new body—
A complete Kurama.
Black Kurama sneered. "That's it? Thought you had something better."
"Don't forget—I already have all your power."
"Even if you merge, you're still just equal to me."
Kurama didn't reply and lunged again.
Just as Black Kurama said, they remained evenly matched.
"Why are you so eager to deny me?" Black Kurama growled. "Didn't you admit you still hate ninja?"
"Didn't that brat say to accept me?"
But—
Kurama spat on him, cutting him off: "As if I'd accept a disgusting thing like you."
"Disaster, hatred incarnate, a demon…"
"These are all titles the ninja branded me with."
Voices calling from afar grew clearer.
Kurama suddenly burst into wild laughter.
"I finally understand what you are," its crimson eyes locked onto the Black Kurama. "You're not the darkness in my heart at all."
"I've never denied myself!"
"Hate is hate!"
"I even admitted to Naruto I was responsible for the death of Minato and Kushina."
"What's so hard about admitting a dark side?"
Black Kurama smirked, "If I'm not you, then what am I?"
Kurama backed off and placed a paw on its stomach.
"Once, Naruto described us Tailed Beasts like this—"
"He said…"
'We are mirrors. The way others treat us is exactly what we reflect back.'
"I didn't take that seriously."
"Until—"
It lowered its head, sensing the complete force and unified consciousness within itself, and the budding new power forming inside them.
"I just inherited the other me's memories," Kurama said. "And realized something."
"Naruto wasn't a special case."
"Minato was the same."
"The way we responded to them matched Naruto's words."
"So…"
"You, this hideous creature, are the manifestation of the ninjas' hatred. They didn't understand my power or purpose."
"With their shallow, feeble understanding, they branded me with disaster and hatred."
"You're the product of their will—not mine!"
Black Kurama remained silent.
Kurama gripped a handle tightly: "Naruto also got one thing wrong."
"The reason I couldn't hear that name before—"
"Wasn't because I denied you or closed my ears."
"It's because I had never tried to become whole—until now."
"Now that I'm complete—I can hear it."
"You, this hideous thing—could you ever wield this power?"
Chakra surged wildly.
Kurama raised its voice and called out its name:
"Shine forth, Kitsune Mirror!"
It pulled from its body a long, narrow katana—its blade nearly transparent.
"This is my Zanpakutō!" Kurama grinned. "Now I'll cut you down."
It slashed fiercely, wind howling.
Black Kurama countered, trying to draw something from itself—but nothing came.
It couldn't summon a thing.
A few strikes in—
Black Kurama was bloodied, wounded, and black mist billowed from it.
Kurama's sword, however, had absorbed some of that black energy, becoming tinged with darkness.
Black Kurama snarled, impatient, and fired a Tailed Beast Bomb.
Kurama didn't retaliate in kind.
Instead, it raised its sword—and cut.
Chakra inside it surged; the same amount needed to launch a Tailed Beast Bomb was consumed.
The bomb, as if it were a mere ball, deformed and was completely absorbed into the transparent blade.
More than half the blade turned pitch black.
"My sword can absorb attacks," Kurama raised it high, "then compress and release them."
"Let your hatred destroy you."
"You disgusting thing."
It slashed.
Compressed energy burst from the blade as a tiny black orb—
And struck Black Kurama—
Ripping its massive body to shreds.
In the real world—
This uncontrollable surge of power caused a shockwave—
The river raged, water splashing everywhere.
Kurama opened its eyes and looked to the side.
Naruto had formed a chakra barrier over the platform, not a drop touched them.
To his left and right—still two foxes.
"Well?" Naruto grinned. "Your souls just grew—did you achieve Shikai?"
Yang Kurama grinned and nodded, "That's right, I achieved Shikai."
"And I killed that filthy, hideous thing."
But—
Naruto leaned in, looking at both foxes, and around them—
And didn't see a single Zanpakutō.
(End of Chapter)