Deep in the shadowed woods beyond the reaches of Fire Country's patrol lines, there was a place not marked on any map. No birds sang here.
No beasts dared wander close. And in the heart of those trees, surrounded by fog and silence, a crude structure stood.
Dozens knelt around a circle carved into the dirt, their heads bowed, bodies cloaked in hand-stitched robes. Their mouths whispered one name.
Kael.
He stood at the center, barefoot in the soil, his eyes glowing with an abyssal light.
Once, he had been no one. A man from Earth, with no family, no future, and no reason to keep breathing.
Just a lonely soul who drowned himself in comics, anime, and stories far more thrilling than his own.
Then one night, the screen went black. And so did everything else.
No pain. No explanation. Just cold.
And when he opened his eyes, he was no longer home.
Dropped into a forest from his favorite childhood anime. No chakra. No bloodline. No advantage. Just the memories of another world… and something else.
A pulsing black mass inside his chest.
The Abyss.
Not chakra. Not jutsu. Not any known force from the Naruto world. It was something alien — something he recognized from a different fiction: the void from Marvel's mythos, the same ancient darkness Knull once bent to forge living weapons. Except now, it wasn't on screen. It was real. And it had bonded to him.
At first, he thought it was a dream. But the pulsing black mass in his chest—the Abyss—was real. It didn't speak in words.
It moved through instincts, warning him to stay quiet, to hide. Kael wasn't a ninja, not trained to survive in a world like this.
But the Abyss helped him. It covered him in shadows, hiding his presence so well that even skilled ninja couldn't sense him.
He avoided roads and stuck to the deepest parts of the forest, where fog covered everything and the silence felt unnatural.
For years, he lived alone. He ate wild berries, caught small animals with basic traps, and drank from streams.
When he had no food, the Abyss kept him alive. It felt like both a parasite and a partner—keeping him strong, but always hungry.
He built a shelter from sticks and rocks. It wasn't much, but it was safe. No one came this far into the forest. Locals believed the woods were cursed.
The stories kept people away, and that gave Kael time.
He moved only at night, careful not to leave any sign. The Abyss taught him to stay quiet, to move without sound, and to hide even his breath.
He never went near villages. He had no chakra, and that alone would raise questions. When he did meet people—bandits or lost travelers—he let the Abyss create a pressure in the air, something heavy and frightening. Most ran without asking questions. He avoided killing when he could.
The Abyss wanted violence, but Kael held back.
The Abyss wasn't chakra. That made it strange, but also powerful. It didn't follow ninja rules. It didn't respond to hand signs or training.
It was alive, raw, and hard to control. At first, it reacted to Kael's emotions. When he got angry or scared, it lashed out—tearing trees apart or smashing rocks. He spent months learning to control it.
He trained alone, deep in the forest. He sat in silence, listening to the way the Abyss moved inside him.
He tested it slowly. He shaped claws sharper than knives, armor that blocked attacks, and black whips that could strike from a distance. The Abyss let him feel things—movement in the air, people behind walls. It wasn't chakra sensing. it was something else.
Over time, his body changed too. His eyes glowed faintly in the dark, so he wore a hood to hide them. He got stronger, faster. He could jump between trees, climb cliffs, and survive falls that should've killed him.
And next
Building the Following
Kael wasn't just hiding anymore. The black mass inside him — the Abyss — had become a part of his body. It wasn't alive. It didn't talk. It moved because he moved it. It responded to thoughts, to instinct, like a muscle he had never used before.
When he needed armor, it wrapped around him. When he needed a weapon, it shaped itself. Claws, blades, shields — fast, clean, deadly. No chakra. No jutsu. Just will and control.
He started watching the nearby villages from the trees. Not the big ones. Just the forgotten places where no one cared if people vanished.
He looked for the broken ones — orphans, failed genin, people running from debts or bloodlines. The ones like him.
He didn't make speeches. He showed them power.
A wall of black rising from the ground to stop an arrow. A single strike ripping a bandit apart. Armor growing across his skin like steel poured from nowhere.
They followed. Not out of hope — out of fear and survival.
He brought them into the forest. Gave them food. Let them rest. Taught them how to live without chakra — how to hide, how to steal, how to kill quietly.
He gave them a mark — a black circle burned into the arm with shaped heat from the Abyss. No ceremony. No names. Just a sign that they belonged.
More came. Quietly. Whispers spread — a man in the forest wearing moving black armor, untouchable by jutsu, impossible to find. A ghost with a weapon no one could explain.
His group was made of scraps: missing-nin, villagers with nowhere else to go, ex-clan members with broken bloodlines. Kael didn't care. If they followed his rules, they stayed.
They built small shelters around his. Hidden. Low to the ground. Covered in mist and trees.
Kael said little. But they listened when he spoke.
The Situation Today
Kael stood in the center of the circle. His followers bowed low, silent.
Behind him, footsteps crunched over dead leaves.
A woman stepped into the light.
Long red hair. Pale skin. Sharp eyes .
Kushina Uzumaki.
Alive.
She wore a plain dress, nothing fancy. Her wrists were bound in thick black chains.
Flashback —
Beneath Konoha, hidden far below the oldest foundations, Kael found what was left of her.
Kushina Uzumaki.
Her bones were scattered in a sealed crypt, no markings, no grave — just silence and cold.
She was supposed to be dust. But something in the bone still remembered life.
The Abyss moved, slow and cold. It sank into the marrow, soaked through dead cells, dragging memories out of rot.
Not Edo Tensei. Not chakra.
Just raw will.
It wasn't quick. It took days.
The Abyss rebuilt her piece by piece — blood, skin, nerves.
When her eyes opened, She gasped.
She blinked fast, breath shallow, chest rising like it was the first time.
"W-Where… am I?""What… is this…?"
Her voice cracked like old paper. Her hands trembled as they gripped the dirt beneath her.
She looked down — saw her own body, whole again. No wounds. No blood.
Just chains around her wrists, made of something black and shifting. Not metal. Not chakra. Something worse.
Present —
Kael didn't look back at the kneeling crowd. He raised one hand — a signal — and the cloaked followers vanished into the mist without a sound.
Now it was just him and her.
Kushina stood stiff, wrists bound in shifting black chains, her breath sharp and fast.
"Where the hell am I?" she demanded, voice hoarse. "What is this place?!"
Kael didn't answer. Just turned and started walking, slow and steady.
"Hey! Hey! I'm talking to you—!"
She didn't move, so he turned back, grabbed her wrist, and yanked.
"Let go!""Tell me what's going on!"
Her bare feet skidded through damp dirt as he dragged her along the overgrown path, deeper into the fog.
"Is this some freak cult? You some sick bastard who brought me back just to—?!"
"What the hell is wrong with you?!"
Kael's jaw clenched. His grip tightened.
"Shut. Up."
She didn't.
"You think this is normal?! Dragging someone out of their grave like a goddamn puppet?! What are you even trying to do?! Play god?! Who the hell gave you that right—?!"
He stopped walking, spun around fast.
One hand grabbed her face — rough, fingers digging into her cheeks — and clamped over her mouth.
"I said shut up."
His voice dropped, quiet but sharp. The mist around them tensed like it could hear him.
Kushina glared, muffled behind his hand. She jerked her head back—
—and bit down.
Hard.
Kael hissed and ripped his hand back, a line of black ichor dripping from the bite.
"Tch—crazy woman."
"Don't touch me again!" she snapped, chest heaving.
Kael stared at her, jaw clenched, eyes glowing faintly under the shadow of his hood.
Then, without a word, he stepped forward.
Kushina tried to backpedal—Too slow.
He grabbed her again—this time by the waist—and lifted her off the ground like she weighed nothing.
"Put me down, you bastard!" she shouted, fists hammering against his chest.
He didn't even flinch.
"You're not gonna shut up," he muttered, "so I'm done listening."
She kicked, struggling hard, but the chains on her wrists coiled tighter, shifting with the same strange black shimmer.
He pushed through the mist with fast, steady strides. The branches thinned, revealing a half-buried structure hidden beneath root and stone — his shelter.
A crude house, part cabin, part den — reinforced with scavenged wood, sealed tight with black tendrils fused into the walls.
Kushina squirmed again as he shoved the door open with his shoulder and carried her inside.
"Let me go!"
He walked to the middle of the room and dropped her—not hard, but not gentle either—on a padded mat near the wall. Her body bounced once, and she immediately scrambled upright, chains dragging as she tried to rush him.
Kael raised one hand.
The chains reacted, snapping taut and locking her in place.
She froze — not out of fear, but shock. The binds weren't controlled by him like jutsu… they responded to him. To his thoughts.
Kael exhaled slowly,
"You done screaming now?" he said.
She scoffed, eyes burning with anger.
"You still haven't told me why you brought me back. What is this? Some kind of experiment? A game? You wanna cut me open? Use my chakra for something?"
Kael stared at her in silence for a moment.
Then he spoke—calm and clear.
"No."
"I brought you back… because I want you to be my wife."
The room went quiet.
Even the black tendrils on the walls seemed to stop moving. Kushina blinked slowly, like she didn't understand what she just heard.
Then—
"You what?" she said, disgusted.
Kael didn't look away.
He crouched down in front of her, locking eyes with hers.
"You heard me right."
He reached out and gently brushed a bit of her red hair from her face.
"I want a queen."
Kushina jerked her head away like he'd hit her.
"I'd rather cut my own throat than be anything to you."
Kael didn't even blink.
"You can try."
She glared harder. "Don't push me."
"I want you to push," he said as he stood up. "But if you die again… there'll be no one left to stop what's coming."
Her eyes narrowed. "What does that mean?"
Kael turned his back to her. The shadows at his feet moved like they were alive.
"It means," he said, "that if you die again… no one will be there to save Naruto. Not when the Nine-Tails is ripped out of him. Not when the masked man finishes what he started."
Kushina froze.
Kael looked over his shoulder.
"You remember him, don't you? The one with the mask. The one who tore Kurama out of you and left your baby crying while you bled to death."
Her heart pounded hard in her chest.
"He's still alive."
Kael's voice turned cold.
"And without you… your son dies screaming."
Kushina's hands curled into fists, her nails digging into her skin. She was angry—burning with it—but under the anger was something worse: fear. Her body froze. She wanted to attack Kael, to punch that smug look off his face, but his words had already cut deep.
Naruto.Her son.
She imagined him crying, alone, while that masked man stood over him again… and suddenly, the anger inside her choked. Her mouth tightened. She bit her tongue so hard she tasted blood.
Kael watched her closely. His eyes were cold and sharp, like he could see straight through her. He stepped closer, his hand drifting near her waist again. She could smell leather from his armor… mixed with her own scent, still clinging to her skin.
"You're not as strong as you pretend to be," he said quietly. "You're alive for a reason. And it's not to play the hero by yourself."
Her jaw tensed.
"I don't need you," she snapped—but her voice cracked.
Kael's lips twitched. Not a smile, but close.
"Maybe not. But Naruto does." He leaned in, his breath brushing her ear. "And deep down… you know I'm right."
She shoved him. Hard. Her palms slammed against his chest. He didn't move. The shadows at his feet twisted like smoke, but he stayed still.
"Don't touch me," she hissed. Her voice was shaking now—not just with rage, but fear. Fear that he wasn't lying. Fear that she couldn't stop this on her own.
Kael tilted his head, watching her like a hunter watches prey.
"You're wasting time," he said. "Hate me all you want. It won't stop what's coming. The masked man's plan is already moving. He's going to take the Nine-Tails again—and this time, from Naruto."
He paused, letting that name hang in the air like a curse.
"Without you, Naruto has no one left to protect him."
Kushina's breath caught. She wanted to scream, to tell him he was wrong—but the memory of that night came back.The masked man. The pain. Kurama being ripped out.Naruto's cry as a baby, echoing in her ears.
Her knees weakened for a second. She caught herself before she could fall.
"What do you want from me?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper. Every word tasted bitter.
Kael looked at her. For a moment, his expression softened.
Kushina's body was tense, her fists clenched at her sides. She glared at Kael, her heart pounding, her mind racing. Everything in her hated him—his voice, his calm, the way he talked like he already owned her.
Then he said it again.
"You become my wife… and Naruto stays safe."
She froze.
Kael's eyes didn't waver. "No one will ever harm him. Not while you're mine."
Kushina let out a bitter laugh. "Wife?" she spat. "You're out of your damn mind."
"I brought you back for a reason," Kael said. "Not just for power. Not just for what you were. For who you are."
Her teeth gritted, rage mixing with the sick knot in her stomach. She wanted to scream. Wanted to punch him. But the thought of Naruto, alone, scared, screaming as the Nine-Tails was torn from him again…
She swallowed hard, then slowly looked him in the eyes.
"Fine," she said. "You want a 'wife'? Call me that if it makes you feel in control. I don't care."
Kael said nothing, watching her closely.
"But here are my conditions," she snapped. "You don't touch me. Not a hand. Not a finger."
He didn't respond.
"You don't sleep next to me. You don't order me around like I belong to you. You want me here? Then it's on my terms."
Kushina's words hung in the air like a blade pressed to his throat.
Kael stood still, shadows curling slowly at his feet.
Then he gave a slow nod. "Alright," he said. "Your conditions."
"You agree?" she asked, narrowing her eyes.
"I won't touch you. I won't sleep beside you. I'll call you 'wife' and nothing more… until you say otherwise."
Kushina didn't trust it. Not for a second.
"Good," she said flatly. "Then stay out of my space."
Kael took one step forward.
She tensed. "What did I just—"
He moved fast.
Before she could react, his hand reached up, gentle but firm, and he kissed her cheek—slow, deliberate.
The touch wasn't lustful. It wasn't soft, either.
It was claiming.
Kushina froze, stunned.
Her breath caught in her throat. Her whole body went rigid.
Kael pulled back only slightly, his lips close to her ear now.
"Conditions accepted," he whispered. "But don't confuse agreement… with obedience."
He turned and walked away, like nothing happened.
Kushina stood still, fists clenched, heart pounding in her chest. Her cheek burned where his lips had touched. Not from warmth—but from the cold realization:
He didn't care about her rules.
Not really.
He was just letting her think she had power.
For now.
She glared at his back as he moved through the shadows like a ghost.
"You touch me again," she growled under her breath, "and I'll rip your face off."