Naruto: Hope from the Darkness

Naruto was standing on a branch when he suddenly disappeared and reappeared behind Anko, attempting to deliver a powerful punch to her back.

'He's so fast!'

His speed took her by surprise. However, a kunai thrown by Kurenai came dangerously close to hitting his shoulder.

'Their reactions are incredibly quick for humans... Is this the power level of a Jonin? I have to admit, they are fast even though I'm not using my full power.'

Anko tried to turn around and stab Naruto in the leg with her kunai. Just when she thought she had succeeded, Naruto lowered his body, grabbed both kunai, and smashed them in his hands, shattering them.

Quickly, Anko retreated to prepare for her next attack.

Yugao aimed the hilt of her sword at Naruto's neck as she suddenly appeared behind him. To her surprise, Naruto grabbed her arm and kicked her, sending her flying into a tree.

Tsume attempted to confront him in a Taijutsu battle, and the fight was nearly evenly matched.

'So that's why Kiba was strong in Taijutsu at the academy, huh? Truly impressive for a head clan.'

'Damn it, how did he get so strong? He didn't even graduate from the academy! Could it have something to do with the Kyuubi?' Tsume wondered.

"Catch him alive!"

 "Snake Style: Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!"

They didn't intend to kill him, so they refrained from using any jutsu that could be lethal.

Anko's arm transformed into snakes that she unleashed to bind Naruto's body. Naruto quickly moved away from Tsume to dodge the snake attack from Anko.

Just when he thought he had avoided it, Anko vanished into clouds of mist.

'Shadow clon—'

Before he could finish his thought, the original Anko appeared behind him, trying to bind him with her snakes.

Naruto reacted quickly, jumping high just as Yugao's blade came down, aimed vertically at his head.

'I've underestimated them too much, maybe I should increase my mana consumption a little bit…' Naruto thought with a slight smile.

'Let's see where they want to go.'

He used his Darkness Authority to create a shield that easily deflected the blade. Then, he formed a tile from the darkness and performed a backflip to deliver a powerful kick towards Yugao.

Suddenly, Kurenai appeared in front of him and grabbed his leg.

Naruto smiled faintly.

"Interesting, so this is their teamwork...I missed the backflip though," he mused.

Kurenai threw him, but he landed gracefully on his feet.

In a moment, Tsume and Kei emerged from the ground. Kei was biting Naruto's foot, while Tsume was tying his arms.

"Now!"

Kurenai cast a Genjutsu on him, and Naruto suddenly found himself trapped in an illusion where he was bound by chains in a prison.

'So, this is what Genjutsu feels like,' he thought.

Naruto heard Kurama's voice in his mind: "This is your first experience with Genjutsu. Instead of being nervous, you're feeling curious? Didn't you see Hashirama's memories and understand what the illusion was?"

"It's not like he fell for it before. Don't forget, I can escape from here whenever I want." "...You have a point."

A blue screen appeared in front of Naruto.

"A message from Edward, huh?"

***

In the real world, after Naruto was trapped in Genjutsu.

Anko breathed a sigh of relief.

"Was this kid always this strong? I heard he was always at the bottom of his class."

"I don't know either, Anko," Tsume replied.

"Kiba always said that Naruto was an idiot... It's not like my son is any exception."

"Could his power be related to the Kyuubi, Tsume-san?"

Kurenai, Anko, and Yugao had never faced the Kyuubi or witnessed its terror as much as Tsume had. Tsume had been in the village during the attack when she was in her mid-twenties, while Kurenai, Anko, and Yugao had been on missions outside the village three years ago.

"I don't think so, Kurenai," Tsume replied.

"Yugao, is there any information in the ANBU records?" Anko asked, turning to Yugao.

"No, there's nothing indicating that the Kyuubi had any kind of power," Yugao responded.

Kurenai sighed.

"At least we found him on the last day of the time limit set by the Hokage. The rest of the search teams are probably starting to return now."

They all smiled, relieved that they were finally going back to Konoha.

"YES! I AM GOING TO ENJOY A LOT OF DANGO WHEN I GET BACK!" Anko exclaimed.

For Anko, her reasons ran deeper. She was returning to a village where the Hokage hadn't abandoned her, despite her teacher, Orochimaru, being the biggest traitor in Konoha.

Tsume was eager to return to her clan. They were the reason she lived in Konoha, providing her a sense of belonging that others had denied her because of her fierce appearance. After her husband left, she found it difficult to cope, but her clan and children offered her comfort. For that, she was grateful to the village for protecting her family.

Kurenai felt a wave of gratitude as she thought about returning home to Konoha, the place where her parents had sacrificed themselves to protect. She was proud to follow the same path they had chosen.

Yugao shared this sentiment; she believed Konoha was founded on the principles of justice. After her father died in the Kyuubi attack, the Hokage supported her and trained her to become a competent shinobi, which had prepared her to stand on the front lines today.

They all shared a deep hatred for traitors, unwavering in their disdain for those who abandoned the village and disrespected the sacrifices made by shinobi. This resentment had also begun to extend towards Naruto, who, despite being granted money by the Hokage to survive, was viewed with suspicion.

"Come on! I'm so excited to get back!" Anko yelled, breaking the tension.

They all smiled, feeling determined to bring Naruto back. However, to their surprise, when they looked in the direction of his fallen body, they found that he was gone.

"Where did he go?!"

'Even his scent has completely disappeared, which is truly unbelievable!'

"Quickly, let's split up! But be careful! We can't return while we're close to him. Send a signal with an explosion tag if any of you find him."

***

On a branch of a tree, Naruto stood with a blue screen displaying information in front of him.

[Young master, please be careful and remember to visit all the places I told you about. The mana leakage rate is very high in those locations.] [Don't worry, I'll visit each one and check for any problems.]

This ability to communicate was unique to Baskerve's butler, allowing him to interact with his masters. The reason Minato couldn't communicate was that he hadn't awakened his mana or passed the survival test in this world of darkness.

Kurama spoke calmly, "What will you do? Most likely, mixing the mana of this world will help you return to your father's original world. Why don't we leave these women behind and focus on completing our missions?"

"I will capture them and take them hostage for various reasons. First, releasing them would lead to more problems. If they return to Konoha and inform the Hokage, it will only complicate things further, especially since we still have our mission in the other countries. Even though my appearance has changed completely, they will recognize me because of my power; they witnessed me using darkness."

Kurama looked curious. "And what about the second reason?"

"They will serve as valuable guides to help us navigate the locations that Edward told us about and save time."

Kurama's expression turned to one of surprise. "Don't tell me you want to..."

Naruto stared coldly at the sky.

'It will be the first time I use it on humans.'

***

Tsume was searching in the west with Kei. No matter how thoroughly they searched, they couldn't find anything.

"Where the hell is he? Even Kei's sense of smell can't find him."

If Konoha had genius shinobi like Kakashi, Itachi, Minato, and Shisui, then the Inuzuka clan had Kei as a dog.

Suddenly, Kei stopped and began to look around; Naruto's scent was everywhere in the area.

Tsume's eyes widened when she sensed a shadow quickly appear behind her. Her animal instincts kicked in, prompting her to punch at the shadow. To her surprise, she hit nothing.

"What?"

Naruto materialized behind her and struck the back of her neck. Kei attempted to defend her owner with an attack, but she froze in terror when she saw Naruto's cold eyes, gleaming with a purple hue. It was a matter of survival instinct. The dogs of the Inuzuka clan were fiercely loyal to their owners and would die for them. But with Naruto, that rule didn't seem to apply.

Kei growled when she saw Naruto approaching Tsume, catching him off guard. Even the demonic wolves were fleeing from him, sensing his presence in this dark world.

As Naruto moved closer, Kei closed her eyes, resigning herself to die alongside her lady. Suddenly, she was surprised when she felt Naruto place something on her head.

"Don't worry, I don't intend to kill her," he said, his tone calm yet chilling.

"But I will put a spell on her, just like I did with the others. If she breaks the contract, she will die, just like you will. All of u survive or die here." Naruto continued, his voice steady and cold.

"The spell will allow me to control the amount of power all of you can use. If any of you try to stray beyond the distance I permit, you will all die automatically, even if just one person fails to comply."

Kei looked at Tsume's fallen body...

***

In the park, Kei the puppy waited for 5-year-old Tsume to return from the shop. She noticed a group of boys approaching her.

"Look what we have here! Isn't that the puppy belonging to the girl with the monster face? How about we kick her to death?" one of them sneered.

The others grinned, "Yeah! A new toy!"

Kei was terrified and felt cornered until Tsume returned with a box of dog food. In a burst of courage, she punched one of the boys that day.

"Leave Kei alone!" she shouted.

That day, Kei watched helplessly as Tsume was beaten to near death, but despite the pain, Tsume still...smiled softly at her.

***

Kei realized that if there was even a 0.1% chance of keeping Tsume alive, she would spend her entire life dying every day, every hour, and every moment if necessary.

When Naruto saw Kei's determination, he whispered words that would change the fate of the women, Kei, and Tsume. Just as he had done with Anko, Kurenai, and Yugao, Naruto cast his spell on Tsume and Kei.

"Death contract."