A New World

II

Naruto

When Naruto re-entered the Dimensional Gap, after his victory over Regalzeva, he should’ve realized that something was wrong. He was supposed to be back at the same spot and same time.

Maybe he did, but the Dimensional Gap looked different than before… felt different.

And he was lost.

This shouldn’t be possible. Because of Great Red’s blessing, Naruto and his team could navigate through this empty space. It wasn’t perfect but it made their expeditions and training in the Gap much better. And even if unforeseen circumstances were to pop up and obstruct the blessing, Naruto and his team could direct themselves in this void maze using the beacons set up by Amun-Ra. It was a backup plan.

But now, nothing was working.

Naruto inspected his surroundings with his rinnegan again.

The Dimensional Gap was an endless void. But it was not colorless, at least, not in Naruto’s experience. It had a mix of iridescent colors in every direction, the red shade being the most prominent.

Well, at least it used to.

The colors around him were more muted and he could see, right in front of his eyes, strands of colors dying out.

What happened during his battle? During the few seconds he was away?

The only plausible theory was that Great Red went inside the world of EXE while Naruto was fighting Regalzeva. Why would the Beast of Dreams do that? Naruto knew the answer and it was simple – It was for his own amusement. That would certainly explain the change of scenery but not why Naruto was lost.

The other theory was that while Naruto was fighting the EXE God in his realm and while Great Red was distracted, something occurred in this space. Yes, Naruto was away for barely a few seconds, half a minute at max, but to beings like them that could be considered a few hours. And to the Beasts… years if they wanted it to be.

Naruto’s eyes widened as realization hit him.

…Ophis

…He should’ve foreseen this.

But he was too late.

His whole body shook when he felt that foreign yet familiar presence. And then, he saw her.

A young girl with long black hair down to her hips, wearing Gothic Lolita-styled clothes from the Victorian era. But, just like always, it was the eyes that captured his attention.

Black and empty just as the colorless space itself.

Naruto realized a moment later that he was down on one knee.

“Ophis.”

He should’ve known. He should’ve foreseen this. And the next moment happened too fast.

Ophis acted and Naruto was too slow to react… too unprepared…

The next thing he knew, he was slammed onto a solid ground.

“Wait… ground?”

“I see, she got you too.”

A calming breath was enough for Naruto to stabilize his power and senses.

“Shiva?”

“We don’t have much time,” The God of Destruction raised his fist toward him but kept a respectable distance.

After verifying Shiva’s identity with a quick scan of his rinnegan, Naruto stepped forward before fist-bumping him. Instantly, he received all the information regarding what happened during his fight with Regalzeva – Great Red willingly entering the world of EXE, restructuring that world to completely annihilate Evies, and then getting trapped there by Ophis.

Why the Beast of Dreams didn’t fight back? Why did he let Ophis trap him? All these made no sense.

The memories ended when Shiva was also forcefully teleported out of the Dimensional Gap just like Naruto, which was less than a minute ago.

“Naruto.”

He looked at Shiva who pointed at their surroundings with his free hand.

“This is not our world.”

This woke him up completely.

But before he could take any action, he felt her.

Ophis… just outside of this world.

And then, it all clicked.

The Beast of Infinity was sealing Great Red and his allies. Why was she doing this? How would this benefit her? Was anyone else involved? Unfortunately, Naruto didn’t have time to come up with vague answers when the clock was ticking.

Naruto felt Shiva reacting. It seemed he understood his intention but he was a step behind to stop him.

He teleported but not directly toward Ophis. Naruto created multiple pitstops and traveled in a zigzag manner while changing the ‘Element’ of his teleportation. He also cast various buffs on himself and his surroundings while he was on the way. This was a countermeasure against spells and abilities meant for obstructing teleportation.

And just like that, he was in front of Ophis once again. But this time, he was prepared.

His rinnegan showed all the runes of mysterious origin floating around them. They looked different but Naruto’s rinnegan could see through the unknown. These were the same type of runes used by Ophis to lock EXE.

Relaxing his stance, Naruto locked eyes with Ophis.

Hidden behind the shell of a young girl, the Beast lurked. Even with his rinnegan, Naruto could not see her entire appearance, just bits and pieces.

With eyes as terrifying as dying stars, she stared back. Her hair, branching off as tendrils of void, writhed and coiled around them. Her face and expression couldn’t be seen and yet she was drawing him in.

But that lure didn’t work on Naruto since he could see beneath her facade of elegance – An existence that defied description, a being of unfathomable power whose very presence distorts the fabric of reality itself.

She was a frighteningly majestic being whose presence alone could kill a god-like being.

And yet, Naruto stood his ground.

“I need to go back home.”

A simple statement.

“No.”

And a simpler reply.

From the moment Naruto left Shiva’s side, he was trying to come up with a plan on how to pass Ophis, the Beast of Infinity. He did not have much information about her power or her origin since Great Red didn’t like to talk about Ophis. Still, using Great Red as a benchmark, he was conjuring up ways how to handle her. What to use against her? How to defend himself against a Beast? What was the sure way to reach his home?

And the answer he came up with was terrifying. He could take only one path and that was to momentarily distract her, just enough for him to slip by her.

“Partner?”

Naruto gripped his weapon in reverse. There were only two techniques he knew that could possibly help him achieve that outcome. But this relied on one crucial point.

The curiosity of a Beast.

Great Red was an immensely curious creature. Whenever Naruto or any of his teammates would practice any techniques in the Dimensional Gap, Great Red had no problem offering himself to be used as the dummy target, only if the said technique piqued his interest. And what he heard about Ophis from various sources, she seemed the same kind.

If Naruto were to take a guess, it was that the Beasts were dangerously curious because they lacked the sense of fear and were awfully attracted to anything unknown to them.

With that in mind, Naruto stabbed himself with his divine weapon.

“Age of the First Men.”

And it seemed his intuition was on point. Ophis didn’t disrupt the technique… or so he thought.

A static distortion in his subconsciousness and the rattling of his divine weapon during the transition were enough to tell Naruto that something went horribly wrong; that the outcome of his technique was going to be different.

And he was right.

Instead of landing on the usual vast and serene open space that outlined nature’s untouched beauty, he was standing on an empty road of an equally empty town. That wasn’t all. His current getup was different than what he was wearing – A full tactical combat suit consisting of a handgun, assault rifle, a katana, and various other military gadgets.

The gear he had on now was a failsafe. He was to automatically receive all these in case this realm of his…

“A reality without Gods and Divinity.”

Naruto swiftly turned around, his AR pointing at the source of the sound, and he felt his jaw dropping seeing the newest appearance of Ophis.

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Unlike her previous childish form, this one was a symphony of seduction. It was as if her every curve and feature was designed to ensnare. Her skin was as smooth and pale as moonlight, and her hair, a cascade of midnight black, framed a face of unearthly beauty. And a perfect hourglass figure that Naruto only saw a handful of females possess.

And it didn’t end with her figure.

Clad in garments that cling to her form like a second skin, she radiated an aura of irresistible allure – a magnetic pull, a force that could compel even the strongest-willed beings to bend their knees.

“Even if this world belongs only to humans and nature,” She cracked a smile that gave Naruto goosebumps, “Supernatural exists… Extraordinary exists… you can’t deny that.”

“Fuck!”

She was right.

The concept of this reality came from atheism. A world only for humans and nature. Based on that idea, Naruto was able to create this world where the concept of ‘Godhood’, ‘Divinity’, and ‘Mythical Beings’ didn’t exist. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to remove the concept of ‘Supernatural’. After all, fear was an integral part of human nature, and fearing the unknown would one way or another lead to the ‘Supernatural’.

‘Distract the Beast with a candy’ – that was Naruto’s plan. The candy here was this Divine-less reality that Naruto was sure Ophis hadn’t seen before. So while she was distracted, Naruto would’ve jumped out of this world and headed toward his own.

Unfortunately, it seemed he needed to revise his plan. Because, one, Ophis had zoomed in on him. And two, she was able to assert certain levels of dominance over this reality, meaning Naruto was stuck here just like Ophis. Yes, he could forcefully break the reality but then Ophis would be out as well.

“And to think, she hijacked that one concept that I had no control over,” Naruto steadied his breathing.

The frightening part was not the hijacking part but it was the speed. She dissected this entire reality within a fraction of a second – the concepts of this world, the rules this world followed, the control he had over this place, and what was out of his reach.

But his goal didn’t change, only the path. Now, he would have to entertain Ophis long enough for him to regain the control back. He didn’t need total control, just enough for him to jump out while making sure Ophis couldn’t.

Could he do it?

Well, there was only one way to find out.

The Beast moved and so did the Shinobi.

Naruto took out a grappling gun and shot at a building's roof before pulling himself toward it. And not a second later, the place he was standing was covered in shadowy tendrils.

He was glad that his fighting instincts were still intact even though his body was not responding accordingly.

The moment his feet touched the roof, Naruto started running, strapping the AR on his back.

He let out a groan when a scream echoed throughout the empty city. It was terrifying and beautiful as if a group of singers were screeching and singing at the same time.

This peculiar sound gave him goosebumps but it also helped Naruto to focus on his goals – Survive, get out, and go home.

It was as if the world felt his distress and his own creation decided to go against him.

The sky darkened and the colors of the building became duller. The silence of the empty city became eerie and the shadows all around started to creep toward him.

But this didn’t stop Naruto. He sprinted across the rooftops, his custom boots pounding against the concrete with rhythmic urgency. His heart raced in his chest as he saw Ophis, from the mirrors around him, pursuing him with ridiculous speed. And, unlike him, she was using the shadows to float and move.

“Are you serious?!”

Naruto couldn’t help it.

In response, Ophis looked at him… using the mirrors… from all angles, and let out a seductive smile.

That almost made his heart stop. And this made his body react on its own.

He activated his grappling hook, sending it as far as it could go. The steel cable snaked through the air, latching onto a sturdy ledge of a building far away as he swung himself across the gap between rooftops.

As Naruto landed with a thud, he immediately took a few deep breaths to regain control over his emotions. And it took him a second to realize what just happened.

He felt fear.

No… his body was forced to feel fear.

This realization spiked his sense of urgency. He needed to end this fast before Ophis got the upper hand.

Stabilizing his heart and breathing once more, Naruto darted forward, his already sharpened senses heightened further as he navigated the labyrinthine maze of rooftops. He leaped over gaps, ducked under obstacles, and rolled to evade the grasping tendrils of darkness that reached out for him at every turn.

And he could feel it.

Ophis was getting closer.

Out of nowhere, that melodious screech echoed once more, much closer than before. And this time, that sound started to affect his senses.

“Let’s do that…”

Naruto purposely slowed down. And when Ophis was close enough, he swiftly took out a flash grenade and threw it behind him before closing his eyes and covering his ears.

The screech that came after the flash grenade went off wasn’t so melodious.

But Naruto wasn’t done. He immediately deployed his next gadget – a smoke bomb. With a quick flick of his wrist, he hurled the canister behind him, creating a thick cloud of obscuring smoke that billowed out in all directions.

With another burst of speed, he ran in a zigzag pattern before reaching the edge of a particularly tall building. When he pulled himself up, he noticed the looming bell tower at the center of the town.

A plan was formed. Without wasting any time, he activated his grappling hook once more, sending it soaring toward the spire of the tower with pinpoint accuracy. And, as he swung through the air, Naruto tried to ignore the unnatural surge of adrenaline coursing through his veins and the loud pounding of his heart.

The world of ‘Age of First Men’ was one of his strongest realms but it was also in the experimental stage. The purpose of this technique was to remove Divinity and Godhood from everyone entering this place; yes, including him. No one was allowed to touch the laws and order of nature in this realm. And against beings whose soul, existence, and power became one and inseparable, like Regalzeva from EXE, this place was lethal. This place was also dangerous to beings who overly relied on their powers or divine weapons, like Amun-Ra or Thor from the past.

How Ophis was able to bypass all these restrictions? He didn’t know. Honestly, he didn’t expect this realm of his to weaken Ophis, a Beast. This was supposed to be merely a distraction. But it seemed his plan backfired.

So why didn’t he choose a realm where he could have a fighting chance?

When he was testing out the limitation of his domain, he realized that a reality warping technique is extremely more potent if he, the initiator, were affected by it as well.

The bigger the sacrifice, the more absolute the realm would be.

There were some arguments from his team – Reality could be whatever he wanted it to be, or so they said. Unfortunately, that’s not how it worked since he had no control over ‘Rules’ only ‘Concepts’. Even then, he couldn’t manipulate all the concepts since quite a few fell under other beings’ domains.

When the bell tower was within his reach, he shifted his body forward and grasped the edge of the bell tower, pulling himself up. He tried to ignore the sense of triumph and exhilaration that came out of nowhere and focused on his powers.

Yes, he didn’t have an ounce of divinity in his body but that didn’t mean he was powerless. He had set up multiple defensive mechanisms within and outside of the realm for situations like this.

Unfortunately, he was never able to test them out since even Shiva was not able to win against this realm itself. Well, he could still beat his ass when it came to a fistfight.

Naruto smiled when he saw the sky clearing up and felt the warmth of the sun. It was enough. He tried to press on his stomach with his index and middle finger, where he stabbed himself… but a feminine hand stopped him.

The AR was instantly on his other hand and aimed at Ophis but she slapped it aside before touching his stomach. This made him groan as he felt the disturbance in his power and control.

And she didn’t give him a chance to examine himself. She threw him up before slamming him onto the ground.

Naruto felt all the wind leaving his body but luckily his instincts helped him to dodge the stomp from her.

Rolling out of harm's way, Naruto aimed his AR at her once more before finally being able to land a direct hit.

And it did nothing.

“Are you kidding…”

His complaint was cut short as Ophis gave him a spartan kick, one that was strong enough to throw him out of the bell tower.

“You piece of…”

He dropped the AR, not by choice, and switched to his grappling gun. The aim this time wasn’t perfect but it hit the mark.

Using the rope from the grappling gun, Naruto navigated and landed in a safer spot. Unfortunately for him, Ophis was already there; more like she appeared the moment his feet touched the ground.

Naruto let go of the grappling gun before taking out his katana and the handgun but Ophis was faster. She closed the distance before tapping his stomach once more.

A blink later they were back at the Dimensional Gap.

“Partner?!”

Naruto immediately took a few actions – He checked the status of his rinnegan with his other senses, he examined himself, his divine weapon, and his surroundings with his rinnegan, and pinpointed where Ophis was before finally distancing himself further from the Beast. He did all that within less than a second.

The Beast of Infinity shifted to her previous childish appearance and had a perplexed expression as she was looking at her hand.

“Your domain, your technique,” She met his gaze, “Affected my personality?”

Even though the question was directed at him, it felt like she was asking herself as well.

“Partner, are we going with the other one?” The urgency in Kurama’s tone pushed Naruto to quickly form a plan.

“I need to make some adjustments, Kurama. Otherwise, the result will be the same.”

“Another domain technique?” His divine weapon already started to power up on his own.

“Yes, she is still in her ‘curious’ phase. A direct frontal attack may snap her out of it so we shouldn’t go that route. Because if she becomes serious, it will all be over in an instant.”

The katana hummed in agreement.

“Age of the First Star.”

This was one of his favorite domain techniques – putting heavy restrictions on ‘Divinity’ and ‘Domains’ by replicating the concept of ‘Initial Singularity’.

The plan was simple. Naruto used this technique to buy him enough time to make some changes to his other realm expansion, the one that was on par with ‘Age of the First Men’.

“Disappointing.”

Ophis waved her hand and the realm shattered.

The backlash threw Naruto off balance but he got back up on his feet very quickly, “What the fuck?!”

“The ‘Principal of Causality’… It didn’t...”

“I rejected that rule,” Ophis’s statement surprised Naruto, but she wasn’t done, “I take it back. It is impressive how your concept manipulation, your domain techniques are touching the base of rule manipulation, even though, you barely scratched the surface.”

Ophis tilted her head, making a puzzled look, “Is it your domain or those eyes, I wonder?”

Naruto said nothing.

The Beast of Infinity’s expression became blank again as she raised her index finger, a movement that earned a flinch from Naruto, “Last chance, hit me with something truly fascinating.”

Naruto’s mind went numb hearing this.

This time, the fear was real.

But he didn’t despair. After all, he had one ace up his sleeve.

“Partner, don’t!”

Naruto put Kurama, his divine weapon, back inside his spatial inventory, “I will need your help later, Kurama.”

He relaxed his posture and floated closer to Ophis, a gesture that surprised her but she didn’t react. And when he was within a respectable distance, he stopped.

A defeated sigh left his lips.

He knew… he always knew that a clash with a Beast was inevitable. Considering his past life and present experiences, expecting anything else was nothing but wishful thinking. He just wished that this unavoidable clash would have happened far into the future… not now.

This was why, he created one technique with a single goal in mind.

“I will win.”

As his intentions became clear, his will and power started to affect everything around him.

Everything around Naruto started to shed their colors and their identities. He felt the forces and concepts of the Worlds and the Dimensional Gap rebelling against his command. And his eyes showed him the dangers and the consequences of the action he was about to take.

But he didn’t care.

Not this time.

“Alright, I will show you something fascinating.”

Naruto raised his index and middle fingers of both hands… for a moment, he hesitated. But that reluctance washed away when he recalled his family, his friend, and his people. They needed him

And, he needed them.

With a bright smile, he stabbed his own eyes.

“White World.”

Instantly he felt it. The worlds and realities around him twisting and bending to his command before everything came to that point.

Singularity Zero

He felt his vision returning. He felt his pain and injuries disappearing… along with a majority of his divinity and power.

And he felt it. In front of him stood Ophis, in her real form, unable to move. Yet, she remained unbothered, rather she sounded intrigued, “For a God to restrain a Beast… fascinating, truly.”

Naruto started to make a mental calculation on whether or not he could reach his home with a single teleportation, now that he didn’t have rinnegan and most of his power. And he hoped Shiva was nearby so that he could pick him up as well, “I am glad that I’ve impressed you but this is temporary.”

“I know,” Ophis nodded in acknowledgment, “But what you’ve accomplished is nothing short of a miracle. Maybe…” And out of nowhere, her tone changed which put Naruto on edge, “Unfortunately time’s up.”

Naruto tried to make the jump but realized that he couldn’t move.

“While it was a remarkable feat, you’ve stepped inside a territory that you’re not allowed to.”

The world around him started to regain its colors and at the same time, he felt his powers were returning to him.

“Rewinding?”

“Only Beasts are allowed to act outside of the rule,” Ophis smiled as her form started to change once again, “And you are no Beast.”

A flash of an image appeared before his eyes.

!@#$%^&*()

And the image was gone in an instant.

When his entire power, his rinnegan returned, Naruto collapsed. Even though his power was at its full capacity, he felt drained.

“What was it?”

Ophis waved her hand and Naruto felt himself losing balance as well as his consciousness.

“The one who makes the rules.”