Naruto: The Chosen Undead

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Chapter 124 Act. Live. Break. Repeat.

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Naruto tightened his grip on the drake sword, wind chakra swirling violently along its blade.

With a mighty swing, he brought the sword down, releasing a devastating arc of razor-sharp wind. The attack tore through the crumbling floor and shattered what remained of the church's staircase, slicing through debris before slamming into the titanite demon. The explosion of dust and debris momentarily obscured the hulking figure. But before Naruto could move to follow up, something shot out of the smoke with terrifying speed. The demon's catching pole struck like a serpent, the pronged head locking around his torso with a resounding clank.

"What?!" Naruto's breath was knocked from his lungs as he was yanked into the air. The titanite demon held him aloft, its horns crackling with ominous electricity. The air was thick with the acrid smell of ozone as the creature unleashed its attack.

A surge of raw lightning coursed through Naruto's body. He screamed, his muscles seizing as his nerves lit up with unbearable pain. His limbs felt like they were on fire, his vision blurred with spots of white, and the world around him dissolved into a haze of agony. His grip faltered, and the drake sword slipped from his hand, clattering to the ground.

Oscar, watching his friend suffer, sprang into action. The little crystal lizard darted toward the fallen blade, biting down on its hilt with surprising determination. The weight of the weapon nearly dragged him down, but Oscar dug his claws into the ground and jerked his head forward, dragging the drake sword into position.

With one final effort, Oscar tilted the blade just enough to activate its special attack. A powerful shockwave erupted from the blade, slicing through the air and slamming into the titanite demon's body. The shockwave was enough to stagger the beast, causing it to lurch forward and release its electric discharge on Naruto momentarily.

Gasping for air, Naruto struggled to regain his senses. His body felt sluggish, his nerves still raw from the electricity. His muscles ached with every movement, as if his entire body had been scorched from the inside out.

"Just like Kakashi taught you," he muttered through gritted teeth, recalling the fundamentals of escaping bindings. Focus. Push your chakra outward to loosen the hold.

Focusing his dwindling energy, Naruto channeled wind chakra through his body, letting it ripple out like a sharp gust. The chakra shredded the demon's catching pole in a burst of whirling air, the metallic prongs crumbling like brittle twigs.

Freed, Naruto dropped to the ground but wasted no time. With a fierce roar, he surged forward, chakra enhancing the gauntlet on his hand as he aimed for the demon's neck. Summoning every ounce of strength in his body, Naruto slammed his hand into the thick, stone-like slab of the titanite demon's head. The impact sent a deafening crack echoing through the chamber. His muscles, enhanced with chakra, bulged under the strain as he pulled upward with the force of a landslide.

"Flip the table Jutsu!" he shouted, adrenaline coursing through him as he tore through the titanite demon's neck. The slab crumbled beneath his gauntlet, and the beast let out a guttural, inhuman sound before its entire body began to disintegrate. Chunks of its stony frame collapsed inward, turning into dark sand that spilled across the floor. Naruto landed heavily in the pile of crumbled remains, breathing hard as pain wracked his battered body. His shoulders burned from the strain, and his armor was cracked and scorched.

[ You have killed hostile Enemy - Prowling Demon ]

[ Dropped Items ]

[ - 2000 Souls ]

[ - Demon Titanite ]

Oscar scampered over, chirping in concern as Naruto reached down to pat his head.

"Thanks for the backup, buddy," Naruto said, his voice hoarse as he reached for an Estus Flask. He gulped down the golden liquid, feeling its soothing warmth spread through his body as his injuries began to heal.

As the pain receded, Naruto turned his attention to the demon titanite lying among the remains. The slab was heavy and rough, covered in strange symbols that glowed faintly. Grabbing the titanite with a grunt, Naruto dragged it up the stairs and back to Andre's workshop. His boots scraped against the stone, and his breathing was heavy as he finally reached the blacksmith.

"Good work out there, lad. You're still in one piece."

Naruto dropped the titanite on the floor with a loud thud before removing his battered armor and setting the drake sword on the workbench.

"Fix it," he said simply, his exhaustion evident.

Andre nodded.

Naruto trudged toward the bonfire, collapsing onto the ground next to its warm glow. Oscar chirped softly, curling up beside him as the boy stared into the flames.

[ Item: Demon Titanite]

[ Description: Special titanite stolen from a faceless stone beast known as a Titanite Demon. When the nameless blacksmith deity passed, from several Slabs, great beasts arose. The power of titanite remains within them, and they still roam Lordran today.]

Naruto hummed quietly to himself as he tucked the demon titanite into his inventory, its faint glow vanishing behind the system's golden shimmer. He descended the worn stone steps to Andre's workshop, the rhythmic clanging of the blacksmith's hammer echoing like a steady heartbeat through the hollow walls.

Andre stood hunched over the anvil, working a red-hot pauldron with short, practiced strikes. The scent of scorched leather and burnt oil clung to the air like smoke.

Naruto dropped into the nearby chair with a sigh. "Hey."

"Mmm. That elite knight armor of yours took a beating, lad. Did you roll through a bloody avalanche?"

"Ran into some weird plant monsters that tried to strangle me."

"Ah... the ents," Andre muttered, turning the pauldron with long-handled tongs and giving it another few precise hammer blows. "Nasty things, those. Some say the gods made 'em to guard the deep woods. Others reckon they're remnants of Oolacile's twisted magic. Me? I think they're angry shrubbery with no manners."

Naruto chuckled. "Whatever they are, they don't go down easy."

"That's the Darkroot Garden for you," Andre said, setting the metal aside and reaching for a battered cuirass. "Beyond that lies the basin. Dark, quiet... too quiet. No one who's gone down there ever climbed back up with their mind still whole."

"Yeah... lucky me," Naruto muttered, gaze dropping to Oscar, who chirped and climbed onto his boot.

"You've got somethin' rattling around in that head of yours, lad."

Naruto hesitated. His fingers ran gently along Oscar's back, over the smooth, shining ridges of crystal. "I just... I feel dumb. For not knowing what's coming. For knowing I'm not strong enough if it does come."

Andre didn't stop his work, now inspecting Naruto's greaves for fractures. "Aye, well, you're not the same lad who went charging at that titanite demon without a plan. That counts for something."

Naruto gave a quiet sigh. "I think I might have to fight someone soon. Someone I can't beat. Not with this." He raised his cursed hand, twitching slightly from the residual ache.

"Then it's time you learned how to lean on your steel."

He reached into a pouch on his belt and tossed something toward Naruto.

[ Item: Titanite Shard. ]

[ Description: Titanite shard for weapon reinforcement. Most common titanite material. Reinforces standard weapons to +5. Titanite shards are fragments of the Legendary Slabs. Titanite is etched into weapons to reinforce. ]

Naruto picked it up and turned it over in his palm, eyes narrowing at the etched, weathered surface. "You want me to reinforce my weapon."

"Aye," Andre said, already reaching for Naruto's Zweihander and laying it across the long stone bench. "You either make yourself strong, or you make your weapon stronger. That's the way of it. So… which'll it be?"

Naruto glanced at his cursed arm, at the thin scars now glowing faintly beneath the skin. "For now… the weapon."

"Hah. Smart lad." Andre pulled a whetstone from a drawer and began methodically cleaning the blade. "There are two types of reinforcing. The first is reinforcement... basic, dependable. Strengthens the blade. Makes it last longer, bite harder. Any blacksmith worth his beard can do it."

"And the second?"

"Ascension," Andre said, pulling a file and beginning to work along the spine of the sword. "That's the fine art. Changes what the blade is, not just what it does. Fire, lightning, chaos, magic. That's the territory of we smiths. A grindstone won't help you there."

Naruto watched intently as Andre finished smoothing the surface of the Zweihander, wiping away the last traces of soot and ash with a cloth. The old blacksmith then retrieved a small metal plate from beside the forge, thick, rectangular, and already heated to a dull red.

"Right," Andre muttered, holding up the titanite shard between his fingers. "First step's separation."

He set the shard on the plate and, with a small tapping hammer and chisel, began scoring along its edges. Each strike was precise, splitting the titanite into smaller fragments, thin slivers that shimmered like veins of obsidian. Once satisfied, Andre set the chisel aside and picked up a small Estus flask.

"Now for the bonding…"

He poured a single golden stream from the flask across the metal plate, the liquid sizzling on contact. Instead of evaporating, the Estus clung to the shard slivers like a living thing, binding them with molten fire. The plate glowed brighter, the edges humming faintly with ethereal energy as the titanite began to soften, not melt, but yield. With careful precision, Andre lifted one of the glowing, softened slivers with blacksmith tongs and placed it against the fuller of the Zweihander. Then, holding a graver in one hand, he began etching a channel along the groove, pressing the softened titanite deep into the steel. The sword sparked violently, rejecting the foreign material at first.

"Stubborn girl," Andre muttered.

He tipped the flask once more. A few more drops of Estus flowed into the etched groove, and with a low, vibrating hum, the titanite fused... threads of black metal knitting into the steel like veins being drawn into bone. The fusion spread down the blade in a slow pulse of golden light. When the light faded, a thin black line, subtly glowing where the Estus had been used, now ran cleanly down the center of the Zweihander.

Andre stepped back, wiping his brow. "There. Reinforced with etched titanite and sealed with Estus. She'll bite deeper now and last longer too."

Naruto was immediately reminded of Seigmeyer's Zweihander as he ran a thumb along the center of his own.

"Hey, Andre," Naruto asked. "Does the Zweihander turn black as you reinforce it more?"

"Aye, that it does. The more titanite you fuse into it, the darker it grows. It's not just metal anymore... it becomes somethin' else." He turned fully now, wiping soot from his beard. "Reinforce it five times, lad, and you'll be ready for ascension. That's when a sword stops being a weapon… and starts becoming a legacy."

"Any way to reinforce the Drake Sword too?"

Andre scratched his jaw. "Mmm. Not with what I've got here. You'd need dragon scales… or something worse. I don't exactly stock things born before the gods, y'know."

Naruto sighed, turning the Zweihander over in his hands. "Whatever. This one's more than enough. It'll cut Gato down. And his whole gang, too."

Andre chuckled. "Well, do what you Astoran knights always do, thennannounce it like it's divine law, eh?"

That drew a crooked smile from Naruto. "You've met knights from Astora before?"

Andre let out a soft grunt as he stood. "I was smith to a noble house once. Long time ago. Squires used to gather outside the forge, bangin' on their bloody chestplates and yellin' their precepts like I was deaf." He gave a short laugh and shook his head. "Tried to get under my skin. Didn't work but they were good lads."

Naruto's smile lingered as a question tugged at him. "Why do masters give precepts to their squires anyway?"

Andre leaned against the anvil, hands resting on the haft of his hammer. "They're not just rules, lad. They're… declarations. A foundation. The words a knight offers before he gives you his blade. They're meant to guide, give shape to what you'll become. But they're not the full story."

Naruto looked down at Oscar, who rested beside the forge, his crystals catching the flicker of flame. "My master gave me a few… and I held onto them like they were everything. But now I don't know. Like I missed the point."

Andre's expression softened. "Honoring your master ain't about bein' his echo. It's not about followin' his words so close that you forget your own. It's about actin'. Livin'. Testin' those precepts against the world… and finding out which ones hold."

Naruto blinked, and Andre continued.

"You don't pay tribute to a man like Oscar by bein' his shadow. You honor him by carryin' the flame forward. Maybe you'll burn somethin'. Maybe you'll light the way. But either way, you've got to walk your own road."

Naruto was quiet, his fingers curling around the hilt of his blade. The tears didn't fall this time. But they were there, in the wetness lining his eyes, in the tremble of his breath. "Thanks, Andre. I… think I needed to hear that."

Andre nodded solemnly. "Then we've done good work today."

Naruto stared down at his reflection in the sword. "I still don't know the answers."

"You're not meant to," Andre replied. "Answers don't live in books or scrolls. They live in choices. Go make some."

Naruto stood slowly, slinging the Zweihander across his back. "I'm going back. I've got a job to finish. Doesn't matter if Zabuza comes. I can't die anyway."

Andre narrowed his eyes. "What d'you mean?"

"I'm not from here. Not really. It's… complicated." Naruto glanced at Oscar as he sealed the lizard. "Do me a favor?"

"If it involves scrubbin' your armor again, the answer's no."

Naruto gave a tired smile. "Keep my soul drop safe."

"Your what now?"

Before Andre could react, Naruto turned the blade inward and thrust it into his chest. There was no scream. Just a thunk of steel meeting flesh… and a soft gasp.

Naruto collapsed to the ground, his body dissolving into motes of light. A moment later, a soft green glow shimmered where the body had been... a small, flickering soul drop.

Andre knelt, slowly and carefully, and picked it up. The light flickered in the dark like a quiet ember. He stared at it, his brow furrowed. "Another world," he murmured. "Another bloody world." Andre chuckled. "…Huh. I wonder what kind of booze they sell over there."

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[ Personal Note: First off, thanks a ton to all of you for sticking with this story. Seriously, you guys are awesome. Now, if you're interested in supporting me on P@treon, let me just say that over there, I post these massive 5k-word chapters. But heads up, if you're jumping to P@treon, you'll need to start from Chapter 60, since that's where this chapter lines up with the content there.

To everyone here just reading along, please don't forget to leave a comment! Honestly, your comments make my day, and they let me know you're as invested in this story as I am. So yeah, thanks again, and I hope you have an amazing rest of your day!