Naruto: The Chosen Undead Chapter no.174 Naruto

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Chapter 174 Haku ets a Dragon

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Orochimaru's footsteps echoed faintly through the stone corridor of his newest hideout. The floor beneath him was slick and cool, humming softly with the chakra of restrained test subjects buried in the walls. He was in an unusually good mood.

His eyes were half-lidded with satisfaction as he slowly turned an old parchnt scroll over in his hands.

The Snake Sage's library had not disappointed him. There had been far more knowledge than he expected, a trove of secrets both ancient and forbidden. But he was not foolish enough to believe that this was all there was. Even after all these years, Orochimaru knew better than to trust the snakes of Ryūchi Cave.

You had to be cunning when dealing with them.

They were liars by nature, deceivers by instinct. The Snake Sage gave him just enough to keep him curious. Just enough to keep him working. A carrot on a stick. She would never share her deepest knowledge freely. Not until he found this so-called Dragon God she whispered about.

Still, Orochimaru intended to take advantage of the opportunity for as long as he could.

He stepped into his private study. The lights flared to life automatically, candles flickering blue against obsidian walls. A scroll lay on the black desk before him, sealed with crimson wax. The symbol stamped into it marked it as high priority.

He tilted his head and approached. Breaking the seal with one finger, he unrolled the scroll and scanned its contents lazily until one word caught his eye.

Gato.

Orochimaru's golden eyes glead with new interest. He let the scroll settle across the desk and leaned in, reading more carefully now.

Gato.

The na reeked of cheap cologne, dirty money, and desperate ambition. A tycoon who had clawed his way into relevance through smuggling, bribery, and a trail of bodies. Orochimaru's shinobi had used Gato's shipping lines before. Sotis with permission. Sotis without.

Gato was useful. So Orochimaru let him live.

But to think that the man would actually reach out with a personal request?

Interesting.

It was a contract. Eliminate two Konoha genin teams escorting a bridge builder in the Land of Waves.

Orochimaru leaned back in his chair, tongue slipping out to wet his lower lip.

"What could possibly be so important?"

He kept reading. His amusent began to grow.

Zabuza Momochi had already been hired. And now Gato wanted him dead.

Typical.

Gato was the kind of man who would throw away a blade after the first scratch, never realizing that even dull blades were dangerous to the user.

But what ca next made Orochimaru still.

He stared at the photographs attached to the scroll.

Three familiar faces.

Kakashi Hatake. Naruto Uzumaki. Sasuke Uchiha.

The laughter that bubbled up from his throat was slow and soft. Giddy, almost childlike.

"Fate has such a delicious sense of irony."

Sasuke.

The vessel he had chosen since the night of the Uchiha Massacre. A prodigy just beginning to bloom. The perfect body for his next rebirth.

And Naruto.

The Nine-Tails Jinchūriki. Eliminating him would not only cripple Konoha but draw out all the right enemies. The right chaos.

"And Kakashi…" Orochimaru whispered, eyes narrowing.

He drumd his fingers on the desk, already running the calculations in his mind. He could not go himself. Not yet. His work in Ryūchi Cave was not finished, and the Snake Sage was watching more closely now. He needed ti. He needed focus.

Still, this was an opportunity.

A perfect vessel. A Hyūga, perhaps. Maybe both.

Too many experints were at a delicate stage to be interrupted. But soone had to be sent. Soone capable. Loyal. Quiet.

Kimimaro?

No. Still fragile. Still precious. He could not be risked.

The Sound Four?

No. Too weak to go against Kakashi.

Orochimaru rolled the paper back up and smiled.

A slow, sharp smile.

"I will have to prepare sothing... special."

He stood from his chair, the long tails of his robe trailing behind him like shadows.

This mission, if executed properly, would be more than a job. It would be the first move in a far greater ga.

The death of two elite jonin jōnin. The capture of an Uchiha and Hyūga. The death of two clan heirs. The fall of a Jinchūriki. The effects would cripple Konoha, disrupt the Akatsuki, and send ripples across the shinobi world. It would be the beginning of the end for so many plans and the start of his own vengeance against Itachi.

A single strike. A carefully placed dagger.

One that would echo across nations.

He stepped into the next chamber. Several cloaked figures stood waiting in the shadows, motionless and silent. They bowed slightly as he entered.

"Summon Guren," Orochimaru said, his voice smooth as silk. As the words left his lips, his mind was already turning, weighing the odds.

What more could he give her to ensure success?

The thought slithered through him like a serpent in tall grass.

Should I grant her the Cursed Seal of Heaven?

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The forest was quiet.

That alone was strange. On a morning like this, the trees should have been alive with sound. Birds singing, insects buzzing, small animals scurrying through the brush. But there was nothing. Not even the rustle of leaves.

The silence unsettled Haku.

His sandals made almost no noise as he moved through the underbrush. A small wicker basket hung from his arm, already half-filled with herbs and a few dried roots. The morning air was still damp with mist, and the scent of wet bark and moss clung to everything. It should have been comforting. It usually was.

But not with Zabuza gone.

He had not returned the previous night, and that troubled Haku more than he wanted to admit. Zabuza was never careless. If he was late, sothing had gone wrong.

He had left to bring in another shinobi. Soone expendable. A hired blade ant to keep the second Konoha team busy while he and Haku focused on their true target: Kakashi Hatake.

Haku tried to remind himself of the plan to calm the unease in his chest.

With the day of battle drawing closer, Haku had prepared the only way he knew how. He made poisons, chakra pills, and dicine to treat wounds. It was his way of contributing. His way of making sure Zabuza survived.

This routine had made the forest feel like a second ho. He knew its patterns, its scents, its sounds.

But today, sothing was different.

It was not just the silence. The entire forest felt wrong, as if it had shifted in so subtle way. The shadows seed longer. The air felt heavier. And then there was the strange sensation crawling up Haku's spine.

His body shivered, even though the air was not cold.

Sothing was out there.

Haku followed the feeling. His steps were careful, his senses sharp. He moved through the trees like a shadow, his basket swinging lightly at his side.

Then he stopped.

Soone was lying in the grass ahead of him.

Sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting flickers of light across the figure's skin.

It was Naruto Uzumaki.

Haku recognized him imdiately. He had observed him long enough to know his face.

But sothing had changed.

Naruto looked taller. The last ti Haku saw him, the boy had barely reached four and a half feet. Now, he was over five feet at least.

There were no signs of injury on his body. The wounds Haku had once noted were gone. Even the right arm that had been damaged before looked normal.

Normal if only you ignored the boy's palm, where a deep slit ran across. It did not look like an injury. It looked like a closed eye. And as Haku stared, he thought he saw it tremble, like sothing was trying to open from beneath.

Then Haku noticed the hair.

The short, ssy blond hair was gone. In its place, golden strands flowed down past his shoulders, catching the morning light like silk spun from sunlight.

And he was completely nude.

Haku quickly turned away, cheeks burning in embarrassnt. But the feeling in his chest only grew heavier. This was no ordinary transformation.

Sothing had happened to Naruto.

Haku looked down at his trembling hands. His body felt tense, as if it was reacting to a presence his mind could not yet understand.

Is this why my body is shaking? he whispered to himself.

Even asleep, Naruto felt dangerous.

And yet, Haku took a step forward.

Then another.

And finally, he knelt beside the boy, heart pounding, unsure of what he was about to face.

This boy was far colder than any living person should have been. For a mont, Haku wondered if he was touching stone.

Then he felt it. A heartbeat.

Thump. Thump.

It was slow. Far too slow. Not the rhythm of a human being.

Haku's eyes widened slightly.

He did not know what he was touching, but one thought crawled into his mind and refused to leave.

I should kill Naruto.

He stood with a kunai in hand, ready to do what Zabuza would expect. Kill an enemy in their sleep. End the threat before it could grow.

But his hands would not move.

He watched the boy's chest rise and fall. He stared at the way the wind tugged at that golden hair.

And for a mont, Haku stood still. His grip on the kunai loosened.

He told himself it was instinct. So quiet voice inside warned him not to move. Not to test whatever was curled beneath that boy's skin.

But deep down, he knew that was just an excuse.

The truth was simpler, softer, and harder to admit.

Haku did not want to kill soone else.

He stepped back just as the boy began to stir.

Naruto groaned low in his throat. His muscles twitched as if waking from a deep sleep or a long nightmare.

His eyelids opened slowly, but not like a human's. There was a thin, translucent mbrane that slid sideways across each eye before vanishing. It reminded Haku of a lizard's third eyelid.

Then he saw Naruto's eyes clearly and paused.

They were almond-shaped, with a slight inward tilt that gave them a focused, predatory look. The irises were a deep sapphire, marbled with faint streaks of lighter blue that shimred subtly as the light shifted. In the center of each iris was a thin, vertical slit pupil, black and sharp like the edge of a blade. The pupils gave Naruto a dangerous and calculating presence, like that of a creature that saw through everything.

Around the irises, a dark rim traced the edge, making the colors stand out even more. Haku sensed sothing ancient behind them. Not just intelligence, but a cold, patient understanding.

The boy's gaze locked on him.

"Who are you?" The voice that ca from Naruto's lips was cold and distant. It sent a chill crawling up Haku's spine.

"My na is Haku," he said softly, kneeling again. His long hair swayed gently in the breeze, and the basket of herbs resting by his side gave him a calm, peaceful look. "I was collecting dicine. You were just lying here. Naked. Out in the cold. You will catch sothing if you are not careful."

Naruto blinked slowly, still groggy.

"And the kunai?"

"Oh, this?" Haku gave a small smile and tucked it away. "Just a gardening tool. Helps dig up roots. Not everything sharp is ant to kill."

Naruto gave a dry chuckle and sat up straighter. He pushed a few strands of golden hair out of his face.

"Right. Forgot they can be used for that too."

"Since you know that," Haku said, studying him, "I take it you are a shinobi?"

Naruto hesitated. Then he looked up at the sky, his eyes half-lidded, as though he was looking at sothing far away.

"Sothing like that," he said. "I think I am more of a knight now."

"A knight?" Haku repeated. The word felt strange in his mouth. "What do you an?"

"A knight is soone who serves," Naruto said quietly. "They stand between danger and the people who can't defend themselves. That's what I want to be. Soone like that."

The forest was still. The wind died down as though even the trees were listening.

Haku's breath caught. "And does being a knight make you strong?"

Naruto paused. He thought back to the words of Siegyer.

"No," he said. "Being sothing doesn't make you strong. Titles don't an much. What makes you strong is what you're willing to stand for. An ideal. A person. A future. That's what gives strength aning."

Haku was quiet for a while. Then they nodded slowly.

"I think I understand. When soone protects sothing truly dear to them... they can beco stronger than they ever thought possible."

They looked at Naruto.

"Do you have soone like that? Sothing worth protecting?"

Naruto gave a short nod. "Yeah. I do. A lot of people, actually."

Haku smiled faintly. "Then I believe you may one day beco the strongest shinobi I've ever seen."

Before Naruto could reply, Haku stood in one smooth motion, brushing the leaves from their robes.

"I should go. I've lingered too long already."

Naruto blinked, surprised by how quiet his voice beca. "Yeah..."

He lifted his hand in a casual wave but froze halfway. His hand.

His right hand.

It was whole.

He stared at it, twisting the wrist, opening and closing the fingers. "My arm's back..."

The words ca out as a whisper, then louder. "My arm's back!"

He shot to his feet, laughing. It was a loud, wild sound and full of joy.

"I've gotta tell the others!"

Haku blinked in shock as Naruto's chakra burst from his body. It escaped wildly, untad, like a dam that had cracked under pressure. In the next instant, the boy launched forward like a missile, vanishing into the forest.

Haku's hand tightened instinctively around the edge of his basket. A cold sweat ford along his brow.

He's faster than .

He had not even registered the movent. His eyes had not followed it. His body had not reacted. It was like trying to catch the flash of lightning after it had already struck.

His throat tightened. He thought of the mont earlier, when he had held a kunai over Naruto's throat. The hesitation. The rcy.

I should have killed him when I had the chance.

But even that thought felt empty now. As if soone were regretting not trying to stop a storm with an umbrella. Whatever Naruto had beco... he was no longer soone you could kill in his sleep.

What is he?

Haku stepped toward the spot where Naruto had been lying. Sothing caught his attention.

Ants.

There was a line of them near the place Naruto had stood. That was not unusual. What was strange was the way they behaved. While Naruto had been there, the ants had not moved. They had frozen in place.

And now that Naruto was gone, they were slowly beginning to move again.

That explained the silence earlier. Every living creature in the forest had felt Naruto's presence and had been too afraid to make a sound.

What in the world are we going to face?

Haku crouched and looked closer at the place where Naruto had been resting.

In the grass, sothing had grown.

A flower.

It was not like any flower Haku had seen before. It looked like it was made of wood, but it had the fine detail of a real bloom. The petals were shaped with perfect symtry, yet the surface had the texture of bark. The color was a dull ash gray, and faint mineral veins ran through it like frozen rivers.

He leaned in and sniffed. The scent was strange. Not bad, just unfamiliar. Like sothing old and forgotten, pulled from the roots of the earth.

He carefully placed the wooden flower into his basket.

I have soone precious that I want to protect, too.

He stood, gazing into the trees where Naruto had vanished.

When we et again on the battlefield, I hope I will have the strength to face you... for their sake.

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[ Personal Note: First off, thanks a ton to all of you for sticking with this story. Seriously, you guys are aweso. Now, if you're interested in supporting on P@treon, let 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 84, 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 comnt! Honestly, your comnts make my day, and they let 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!