Naruto: Passerby and Returnee

Chapter 488 Life and Death

The boundary between life and death is like a boundless sea.

The living side is the sky above the sea, which vaguely reflects the scenes of the human world. The dead side is the silent seabed, where one can reach the legendary pure land simply by sinking into the sea.

Ordinary souls arrive here exhausted and unable to remain conscious, naturally plunging into the sea and slowly sinking into the Pure Land. But there are also extraordinary souls who possess a portion of energy that can withstand the power of the Pure Land. They may linger here due to strong obsessions or be bound by intense human longings, thus gaining the power to transcend life and death.

For example, some spirits and deities worshipped by humans, over time, can indeed give rise to beings in the shadows, taking on the form of spirits and deities. However, the boundary between life and death, though seemingly thin, is actually very difficult to cross. They can at most slightly influence things in the human world, but it is difficult for them to descend in the shadows. Moreover, they must constantly resist the call from the Pure Land, and once they sink in, there is no possibility of returning.

However, there is one type of soul that stands out from the rest. They possess immense chakra in life, and take a portion of it with them after death. Once this power reaches a certain level, it is enough to allow their souls to traverse borders and observe the mortal realm from the Pure Land.

For example, there is this outcast who lingers between the pure land and the cracks.

“It’s gotten brighter,” he remarked, gazing at the strange phenomenon on the horizon.

He wasn't unfamiliar with cases of mass death. War, natural disasters, and man-made calamities—any of these could create countless deaths. The souls of mortals were like dim stars, falling like meteors and disappearing into the sea without even leaving a ripple. There were also a few brighter stars, mostly powerful ninjas or famous figures who burned like flames in an era. Only a very small portion of these stars could remain in the sky, held by the "threads" of the human world; most crashed into the sea, struggling in the ebb and flow, and sinking to the bottom after their obsession faded or their light was exhausted.

However, he had never seen the current situation before.

The light descended a week ago, hanging high in the sky from the very beginning. It was clearly something that would soon take form and regain its senses. But he couldn't say whether that outcome would be good or bad, because people's thoughts were complex and ever-changing. Most of the ghosts and spirits that existed here would have their identities erased over a long period of time, and would eventually be molded into the form that people most desired by the power of so-called faith.

It wasn't surprising that the light hovered in the sky, as it was a light even he recognized—the inheritor of Ashura's chakra, who had saved the world countless times, deserved this honor. However, the light wasn't purely bright; he could always see a wisp of black thread flowing within it, seemingly trying to intrude upon the light. He wanted to help, but his soul in this state couldn't cooperate; the black thread was too tight, making it impossible for him to intervene. Fortunately, Naruto was strong enough that the black thread couldn't find a breakthrough, and instead began to be attacked by the light, being pushed into a corner.

Just as the struggle was about to end, something unusual happened.

The sky, half in darkness and half in light, suddenly lit up completely! What does this mean? What kind of commotion could make the night as bright as day?

Soon, his worst fears came true. The daylight continued uninterrupted, and stars rained down simultaneously, clearly indicating a major event had occurred on Earth! He remembered that Indra's chakra successor was still alive and immediately tried to use the chakra connection to observe the situation on Earth. However, the falling rain changed course halfway through, and almost not a single drop fell into the sea. With a clear goal and working together, they all crashed into the nascent light in the sky.

This was a necessary process for the birth of a demon, but he had never seen such a massive soul impact before. Who knew if Naruto's soul would be swept away by this torrent? After all, Naruto was his descendant, and he naturally wanted to help, but the barrier protecting the soul was teetering on the brink of collapse in the face of the torrent; even if he gritted his teeth and held on, it would be a drop in the ocean. Soon, the light merged into one, gradually growing larger, and even he had a slight illusion of wanting to sink into the light, so he had to retreat to a more distant place.

Gradually, even the sea, which had remained calm for millennia, began to surge with waves. Many souls that had not yet sunk into the Pure Land transformed into shooting stars, flying backwards towards the sky.

He didn't know what had happened in the human world, nor did he dare to guess what would happen next. He simply instinctively established a connection with the chakra, only to find that the chakra was already in the same place as him, falling towards the light.

This was the third time he had intercepted a falling meteor. The first two times were for his two sons, and this time it was for his son's successor. Wasn't this a kind of destiny? The light of Indra's successor was very bright. He took him to the sea, and the soul that was touched by the seawater quickly regained its appearance before it was born.

When Sasuke Uchiha opened his eyes and saw him, he didn't react much, only asking, "I'm not dead?"

He was somewhat speechless, after all, he had indeed used his special abilities to help the human world during the Fourth War. But after the Fourth War, he didn't pay much attention to the human world anymore. Staying in the Pure Land to play chess with his younger brother, listening to the children's noise, and watching his old rivals fight was enough for him. Apart from his mother, there was nothing in the human world that he cared about anymore.

"No, you're dead. This is the boundary between life and death." He can still connect to the human world using the tailed beasts' chakra, but with so many people dead, he still wants to help. "What happened to the world of the living? Why did so many people die?"

Incredibly, Sasuke's eyes lit up for a moment, and he immediately looked around, but he didn't see the person he wanted to see; he only saw the sun high in the sky.

“We may have been attacked by an advanced civilization. Their methods are almost insurmountable; a single beam of light can melt everything on the ground. Although I really want to say ‘I believe in the children,’ I… can’t bring myself to say it.” Sasuke was answering, but his gaze was fixed on the sun, probably influenced by that strange summoning.

"Don't look directly at him. Did you see those lights? Those are human souls; a new god is about to be born. If you don't want to become part of the god, stay away." He was trying to process the information Sasuke had brought, and he didn't forget to remind Sasuke to be careful. He felt that Naruto probably didn't want to wake up and find himself all alone.

However, young people have such strange points of focus. Even after he made it sound so serious, Sasuke turned around and asked, "You just said 'him'? Is that also a soul? Who is he?!"

Who is he? Who else could he be?

"He's Naruto, right?"