Two Weeks Ago:
The moment the gate exploded, everything turned into chaos.
The impact was instantaneous, the force so massive that space itself fractured, sending ripples of destruction outward. The air crackled with unstable energy, and a deep, resonating hum filled the surroundings as reality tore apart at the seams.
Naruto barely had time to react.
His instincts—normally razor-sharp—failed him.
The Dark Dimension had an oppressive, suffocating presence, dampening even his ability to sense danger. The attack came without warning, and for the first time in a long time, Naruto found himself caught off guard.
Sakura and Kakashi were only a few feet away from him, but the explosion's shockwave threatened to consume them whole.
Without hesitation, Naruto threw himself forward, his chakra flaring brighter than a dying star.
The sheer pressure of the blast slammed into his body, sending searing pain through his nerves. But he held firm. His arms stretched outward, forming an invisible wall of chakra, absorbing the impact before it could annihilate everything.
The explosion bent around him.
It crackled and roared, fighting against his power, but he refused to let it break through.
Naruto could feel the weight of it pressing against his very soul.
But still—he held on.
Through sheer force of will, he redirected the energy outward, away from the Demon Kingdom on Earth. His chakra surged, swallowing the destructive force whole and dissipating it into the void.
And then—silence.
Naruto let out a sharp breath, his muscles tensed from the strain. He could still feel the remnants of the explosion vibrating through his bones, but at least Sakura and Kakashi were safe.
Sakura coughed, struggling to regain her footing. "That was too close."
Kakashi adjusted his headband, his visible eye narrowing. "This wasn't an accident."
Naruto didn't need to be told. He already knew.
His golden eyes flickered as he scanned their surroundings.
The gate was gone.
Completely obliterated.
They were now trapped in the Dark Dimension.
And even worse?
Naruto couldn't sense a way out.
He clenched his fists. "Apocalypse..."
This was his doing.
Even after everything—after all the sacrifices, after all the struggles, even when peace was finally within reach—there were still those who clung to war.
Still those who refused to move forward.
Naruto stood still, his golden eyes scanning the hellish landscape before him.
The land was black as ink, stretching endlessly into a desolate abyss. The air felt wrong, thick with an oppressive force that made even breathing a challenge. His body naturally adjusted, resisting the environment, but beside him, Sakura and Kakashi visibly struggled.
The moon loomed overhead—a grotesque demon with two massive eyes and a maw filled with jagged, predatory teeth.
It wasn't just watching.
It was hunting.
The eerie glow from its twisted, bloodshot gaze fell upon an abomination resembling a camel, a creature that had clearly adapted to survive in this hostile dimension. The moment the moonlight touched it, the creature let out a horrific screech, its elongated legs kicking frantically as it tried to burrow underground.
It was too late.
A spectral force dragged the beast upward, defying gravity as it was slowly pulled toward the gaping maw of the monstrous moon.
Then, with a single bite, the camel-like creature was erased from existence.
Silence.
Sakura gulped, her hands clenching into fists.
"What the hell is this place...?" she whispered, her voice barely audible.
Kakashi remained composed, but his visible eye twitched, betraying the unease he tried to suppress.
Naruto's mind raced.
This wasn't just a dangerous place—this was a predatory world where everything devoured everything else. Even the moon wasn't safe.
Because suddenly—
The planet trembled.
A massive, shadowy tongue shot out from the darkness, stretching across the sky like a black hole devouring light itself.
It lashed forward, aiming for the moon.
The demonic celestial body screeched, its eyes widening in terror before it fled, vanishing into the void.
The tongue slammed into the place where the moon had been, the sheer impact warping reality itself.
Naruto felt his chakra fluctuate violently in response to the environment, as if the very laws of nature were collapsing under their feet.
This world—
It wasn't just dangerous.
It was hungry.
Naruto exhaled, his chakra instinctively forming a protective barrier around Sakura and Kakashi. He could already feel it—the way this dimension was creeping into their minds, twisting their thoughts, trying to break them down.
Sakura had already clenched her jaw tight, her hands trembling slightly. Kakashi's breathing had slowed—too controlled.
The Demon King's warning echoed in his mind.
"You can only last two weeks before the madness takes hold."
That meant they had fourteen days.
Fourteen days to escape.
Fourteen days to survive.
But how?
Naruto's ability to bend space was useless here. The Dark Dimension was cut off from the normal universal pathways by a powerful seal.
They were completely stranded.
Naruto clenched his fists, his thoughts whirling.
Not just for himself.
But for his friends.
If he had come here alone, he wouldn't have cared. He would have fought, adapted, and endured.
But Sakura and Kakashi?
They were human.
Even now, Naruto could sense it—the Dark Dimension was affecting them.
It was subtle, like a whisper in the back of their minds, growing louder with each second they remained here.
They had to move.
They had to find a way out—fast.
Taking a step forward, Naruto turned to Sakura and Kakashi, his voice firm yet gentle.
"Stay close to me. No matter what happens, don't lose focus. This world will try to break us—but we don't let it."
Kakashi gave a small nod, his usual lazy demeanor replaced by cold determination. "Understood."
The air was thick with tension as Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi moved cautiously across the warped, hellish landscape of the Dark Dimension. Every step they took felt wrong, like they were intruding upon something not meant for mortal beings. The sky overhead twisted and churned, a swirling void of deep purples and blacks, while the grotesque demon-moon leered down at them, its massive eyes flickering with an unsettling hunger.
Kakashi stopped first, sighing heavily. "Alright… we need to talk."
Naruto glanced at him. "About what?"
Kakashi crossed his arms, his usual relaxed posture gone, replaced by something more rigid. "We need a plan. We can't just wander around hoping a way out magically appears."
Sakura rubbed her arms, trying to shake off the eerie sensation clinging to her skin. "Agreed. But where do we even start?"
Naruto looked around, his eyes glowing slightly in the darkness. "…I can't sense anything helpful." He scowled. "This whole place feels… unnatural. Even my chakra feels slower, heavier. I can still use my abilities, but I don't think I can warp out of here. Something's blocking me."
Sakura's brows furrowed. "You mean the explosion wasn't just a trap to stop us from following Apocalypse—it was meant to trap us in here?"
Naruto nodded. "Looks like it."
Kakashi exhaled deeply. "Which means someone—Apocalypse—didn't just want us dead. He wanted us gone."
Sakura gritted her teeth. "But why? What's the point? We're wasting time here while the world is…"
She trailed off, not wanting to finish that sentence.
Naruto clenched his fists. "I don't know. But I don't like it."
They fell into silence for a moment, the distant sounds of inhuman creatures shrieking in agony echoing from somewhere deep in the abyss.
Then Kakashi spoke.
"We need someone who knows how to leave this place."
Naruto's expression hardened. "And who exactly do we know that fits that description?"
Kakashi looked at him, his single visible eye unreadable. "…Lord Loss."
A heavy silence fell between them.
Sakura stiffened, her eyes widening slightly. "You can't be serious."
Naruto just stared. "…You want us to willingly go find him?"
Kakashi's voice was calm, but firm. "Do you have any better ideas?"
Naruto gritted his teeth. He hated to admit it, but Kakashi had a point. Lord Loss was the only being they knew of that could freely travel between dimensions. He had walked the realms of immortals and demons without fear, without restriction. If anyone had an answer, it was him.
But the problem wasn't just that Lord Loss was dangerous—it was that he was unpredictable.
Naruto's mind raced. Lord Loss never did anything for free. He played games with fate, weaving tragedies for his own twisted amusement.
Going to him for help was like asking a viper for a favor—you'd get something in return, but only after the venom had already entered your bloodstream.
Sakura exhaled sharply. "Even if he does know a way out, what makes you think he'll tell us?"
Kakashi shrugged. "I don't."
Sakura scowled. "Then why even bring it up?"
Kakashi's gaze hardened. "Because we're running out of time."
Naruto frowned. "…How long do you think we have?"
Kakashi looked at him seriously. "The Demon King said we have two weeks before this place starts affecting our minds." He paused. "That was before we saw that moon eating things alive."
The implication hung in the air—this place was worse than they had anticipated. They couldn't afford to wait.
Sakura crossed her arms, her voice quiet but uneasy. "So we just… go to him? And what? Beg?"
Kakashi's voice was low. "We don't beg. We negotiate."
Naruto scoffed. "And what exactly do we have that a monster like Lord Loss would want?"
Kakashi's eye narrowed slightly. "That's what we need to figure out."
Sakura sighed. "I don't like this."
Naruto ran a hand through his hair, frustrated but unable to deny the logic in Kakashi's words. "…I don't either. But he's right."
Sakura looked at him in disbelief. "Naruto, you know what Lord Loss is like—"
"I know." Naruto's voice was calm, but there was an edge to it. "But unless you know of another way out, we don't have a choice."
Sakura's shoulders dropped. "…Dammit."
Kakashi gave them both a long look. "So… we're doing this?"
Naruto exhaled slowly. "Yeah. Let's go find the demon."
Kakashi let out a tired sigh, his visible eye scanning their surroundings. "Alright, let's focus. We need to find Lord Loss… but with how massive this dimension is, he could be anywhere."
Naruto frowned, clenching his fists. "It's worse than that. He told me before that he's the weakest Demon King here."
Sakura blinked. "Wait… what?"
Naruto nodded. "Yeah. He mentioned there are 70 more Demon Kings stronger than him, and above them is the Demon Emperor. So not only do we have to find him, but we also have to avoid everything else that's stronger."
A heavy silence followed.
Sakura rubbed her temples. "Great. Fantastic. We're searching for one demon in a realm full of monsters that could probably erase us with a flick of their wrist."
Kakashi crossed his arms. "We've had worse odds."
Naruto scoffed. "Barely."
Kakashi ignored him and crouched down, dragging his fingers through the cracked, blackened earth beneath them. It pulsed slightly at his touch, sending unnatural vibrations up his arm. He pulled back, flexing his fingers as if shaking off an unseen force.
This place was alive.
Not in a way that nature was alive, but something… twisted. It was a plane built on suffering, a reality where pain was the only constant.
And Lord Loss thrived on pain.
Kakashi stood up, dusting his gloves off. "He's a Demon King that feeds off suffering, right?"
Naruto gave a small nod. "Yeah. He doesn't rule through power—he feeds off emotions. He loves despair, sorrow, pain… all the things that make people break."
Sakura's lips thinned. "So, what? We just… start crying until he notices us?"
Kakashi chuckled dryly. "Not exactly, but we can use that to our advantage."
Naruto narrowed his eyes. "What are you thinking?"
Kakashi glanced at the sky, his voice thoughtful. "If he feeds on suffering and despair, then he'll be drawn to places where those emotions are strongest."
Naruto's face darkened. "You're suggesting we go somewhere worse than this?"
Kakashi sighed, his shoulders slumping slightly. "We're already in hell, Naruto. We just need to find a deeper level of it."
Sakura crossed her arms. "And what happens if we find something even worse than Lord Loss?"
A long pause followed.
No one had an answer to that.
Because the truth was, there were far worse things than Lord Loss in this dimension—and if they made a mistake, they might never leave.
It wasn't a place—it was a nightmare given form, a twisted reality where the laws of existence were perversions of what should be.
The sky churned like a festering wound, bleeding an eerie crimson glow that bathed the land in an unholy light. Jagged mountains pulsed as though they were alive, and rivers of black ichor twisted and coiled like sentient serpents.
But none of that compared to what Naruto had just discovered.
The planet itself was alive.
A massive, eldritch intelligence slumbered beneath the surface, its vast consciousness stretching across the world like a suffocating shroud. It wasn't a being—it was a immortal-forsaken thing that should not exist. And yet, it did.
And Naruto was going to make it talk.
Naruto raised his hand, golden and white armor shining with an unnatural brilliance in this land of eternal suffering. His very presence repulsed the air itself, as if existence rejected something so pure.
He placed his palm against the blackened earth, his chakra surging forth like an unstoppable tide.
The world convulsed.
An inhuman screech rippled through the void, as though an ancient terror had been roused from slumber. The ground quivered beneath them, its very fabric rejecting the intrusion of Naruto's divine energy.
The air grew dense, thick with a feeling of malevolence that clawed at the mind.
Naruto ignored it.
His chakra pierced through the planet's core, diving deep into the mass of writhing tendrils that formed its heart. His senses, sharpened by centuries of battle, recoiled at what he felt.
Pure, undiluted evil.
Not the kind of hatred he had known in war, nor the twisted corruption of the Otsutsuki. This was primordial malevolence—something born from the abyss before time itself.
Naruto clenched his jaw. He didn't care.
He spoke, his voice a command, not a request.
"Where are we? Where can I find Lord Loss?"
The planet shuddered, its sentience recoiling at the authority in his voice.
It laughed—or at least, the sound it made was something beyond laughter, a guttural, wet gurgling noise that slithered through the air.
It spoke.
"You are in the domain of Dagon, the Prince of the Darkened Depths."
A pause.
"And you… do not belong here, golden one."
The voice was a cacophony of whispers and screams, layered upon each other as though countless souls were speaking in unison.
Naruto narrowed his eyes. "I didn't ask for your opinion. Tell me where Lord Loss is, or I'll destroy you."
The very air cracked at his words. The planet reeled, its consciousness writhing under the sheer force of Naruto's will. It could sense the absolute certainty behind his words—the promise of destruction so effortless it was terrifying.
For the first time in its wretched existence…
It felt fear.
The entity hesitated before answering, its massive consciousness pressing against Naruto's mind like the weight of an ocean.
"Lord Loss is but a worm in the abyss. You seek him, yet you do not comprehend what lurks beyond him. You have trespassed into a realm where immortals fear to tread."
Naruto's eyes narrowed. "Try me."
A deep rumble rolled through the world, and the sky itself seemed to darken further.
The voice shifted, becoming something even more alien, something that seeped into the bones.
"Dagon watches. Dagon listens. Dagon knows."
A vision forced itself into Naruto's mind—an abyssal sea, vast beyond comprehension, stretching across an eternity of black waters. And beneath it…
Something moved.
Something massive.
A leviathan. A terror beyond time.
Dagon.
A being so impossibly large that even the solar system itself was nothing but a speck of dust in comparison.
A primeval horror, a immortal of the abyss whose mere presence brought madness.
Naruto gritted his teeth, shoving the vision out of his mind before it could consume him.
He wasn't here for that. He didn't care about Dagon.
He wanted Lord Loss.
The planet trembled again. "Seek the City of Lamentations… There, your prey waits."
Naruto pulled back his chakra, releasing the planet from his grip. He had his answer.
Now, they had a destination.
The City of Lamentations.
Naruto stared down at the writhing planet, its grotesque surface trembling under the weight of his presence. Even in this wretched realm, he still found himself hesitating. Could he justify killing it?
The creature's essence was pure malevolence, its very existence an affront to everything he stood for. But even so, did that make it deserving of death?
For all its horror, it was still a living thing.
He sighed. "Tch... Not yet."
Instead of obliterating it, Naruto extended his hand. Seals unraveled from his fingertips, spiraling down into the very core of the monstrous world. They slithered like golden serpents, embedding themselves into the abyssal flesh of the planet, sinking deep into its consciousness.
A deep, guttural shriek echoed from the depths of the living world, but the chains of his Fuinjutsu held firm.
A moment later, the struggle stopped.
Naruto could feel it. The moment the creature's will snapped—its existence bending beneath his overwhelming control.
It was his now.
A living planet, bound to his command.
Naruto closed his eyes, his senses delving into the consciousness of the enslaved being. He sifted through its memories, searching for anything useful.
What he found was... disappointing.
The creature wasn't intelligent. It was like a rabid dog, running purely on instinct. It knew only hunger, only survival.
Still, there were glimpses of knowledge, fragmented images buried in its ancient mind. Dagon's Domain. The Abyssal Trench. The Nameless Horrors That Roamed the Wastes.
And most importantly—
Galactic Sector 72. The City of Lamentations.
The place where Lord Loss reigned supreme.
The creature's voice, now an echo in Naruto's mind, slithered through his consciousness.
"You are in Galactic Sector 50. If I were you, I would hide."
Naruto's brow furrowed.
"Why?"
The answer came with a wave of cruel amusement.
"Because nothing crosses the borders of the Supreme Beings without their knowledge."
A deep, rumbling laughter followed—ugly, mocking, something utterly inhuman.
Naruto's fingers twitched at his sides.
For a brief moment, he considered ending this wretched thing right now.
But he didn't.
Not yet.
Instead, he lifted his hand, shifting the enslaved planet into his personal pocket dimension.
It vanished instantly, leaving behind a gaping void in the surface where it once was.
Naruto exhaled, feeling the last traces of its presence fade into nothingness.
He had what he needed.
Now, all that remained was figuring out how to reach Lord Loss without alerting the Supreme Beings of this forsaken dimension.