Naruto: The Chosen Undead-Chapter no.210 Naruto

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Chapter 210 The Rune That Calls to the Age of Ancients

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[ Name: Naruto Uzumaki ]

[ Level: 53 →103 ]

[ Souls: 2,129 ]

[ Required Souls: 16,820 → 82,135 ]

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[ Attributes ]

[ Vitality: 12 → 30 ]

[ Attunement: 12 ]

[ Endurance: 11 → 40 ]

[ Strength: 30 ]

[ Dexterity: 20 ]

[ Resistance: 12 → 15 ]

[ Intelligence: 20 ]

[ Faith: 25 ]

[ Humanity: 1 ]

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[ Stats ]

[ HP: 616 → 1100 ]

[ Stamina: 93 → 160 ]

[ Equip Load: 51.0 → 80.0 ]

[ Poise: 46 ]

[ Bleed Resist: 98 → 160 ]

[ Poison Resist: 79 → 109 ]

[ Curse Resist: 30 → 50 ]

[ Item Discovery: 100 → 158 ]

[ Attunement Slots: 2 ]

[ Defenses ]

[ Physical DEF: 217 → 268 ]

[ VS Strike: 213 → 264 ]

[ VS Slash: 238 → 268 ]

[ VS Thrust: 217 → 268 ]

[ Magic DEF: 165 → 200 ]

[ Flame DEF: 146 → 201 ]

[ Lightning DEF: 139 → 189 ]

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After breakfast, Naruto let out a loud burp before clearing his throat. "With my belly full, I want to sleep for a week, but I will not be able to close my eyes until we talk this through. So… let us get these questions out of the way."

The morning light did nothing to dispel the underlying tension.

Sasuke asked, "What exactly happened to you in the center of the island."

Meanwhile, the adults were having their own thoughts about the morning's chaos.

"What do you think of all this, Jiraiya sama?"

Jiraiya's brows were knit tightly. "Honestly… we do not have enough information to say anything definitive. Minato never mentioned Lordran. Not to me, not to Ma and Pa, not to anyone. But at least now we have some idea of what happened to the Nine Tails. If Naruto is right, we have time before the fox reforms."

"And Danzo? His attempt to tamper with Naruto's heritage?"

Jiraiya's expression darkened. "Danzo is a tricky man to read. Could be manipulation. Could be recruitment. Could be something even worse. Either way, we cannot handle it here. We will need the Third's counsel once we return."

Kakashi's gaze drifted to Naruto and Sasuke, who were bickering half heartedly with Sakura mediating. "Should we tell Naruto about Danzo then?"

"Eventually," Jiraiya said. "But not now. The boy is exhausted. Let him have some peace."

"All right… and Minato sensei? Will you tell him?"

"Yes, he is ready to know."

Kakashi glanced sideways. "But… what if he already knows?"

Before Jiraiya could answer, a pressure rolled through the camp.

It was subtle at first… then impossible to ignore.

Everyone froze.

The sensation that washed over them made no sense as contradictions layered on contradictions.

Cold, yet strangely warm. Silent, yet thrumming like a distant roar. Dangerous enough to raise every instinct… yet comforting in a way that made the skin prickle.

Then came the sound.

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

Like water falling onto earth, but each drop echoed deeper than the physical world should allow, like it fell into something vast and hollow. All eyes swung toward the chakra paper Naruto had tossed aside.

The halves of paper warped and twisted together, earth and water chakra reacting in a way none of them had ever seen… spiraling inward, weaving, reshaping.

"Is that… wood chakra?" Kakashi whispered as he saw the tree form.

Its bark was the color of ash, etched with sharp, angular lines that resembled weathered stone. The trunk and limbs looked less like something grown and more like mineral rock molded into the shape of a tree.

Sakura swallowed hard. "Kakashi sensei… earth and water chakra combine to form Wood Release, right? That is how it works?"

Kakashi did not answer immediately. Because yes, that was the basic theory. Because no, this should not be happening. Because absolutely not, chakra paper was not supposed to behave like this. A thin sheen of sweat gathered on his temple. He forced himself to nod, but even that felt uncertain.

Sasuke scowled, jaw tight enough to crack. "This cannot be happening. Naruto should not have Wood Release."

Everyone turned to look at him.

"He should have Scorch Release."

Everyone decided to ignore him.

"How… how is this still possible?" Jiraiya muttered. "Only the Senju had Wood Release."

"The Uzumaki and Senju are still cousin clans," Kakashi reminded him.

"Name one Senju besides Hashirama who actually had it," Naruto challenged.

There was not one.

Sakura sat down. "So… why did Naruto unlock something only the First Hokage ever had?"

"Because Hashirama awakened it with the Uzumaki Clan's rite of passage as his soul had the potential for it." Naruto placed his palm against the mineral tree. A soft ripple of energy passed through it, and the wood flickered before disappearing into his inventory in a quiet wash of light.

[ Item: Archtree ]

[ Description: Titanic, ash colored tree of stone. Said to be neither fully alive nor fully dead, but a creature of the age of ancient.

These monoliths were kin to the Everlasting Dragons. Dragons nested within their hollows, slept beneath their roots, and wandered their endless canopies as if the trees and beasts were one lineage of the same primordial world.

Be warned that the blood of the abyss shall be the soil to these trees, and home to the everlasting. ]

Did I awaken Wood Release because of my dragon scale?

The question sat in Naruto's mind like a stone in still water, sending ripples through every thought as he lay awake in the dark. He had slept for almost an entire day after the Rite of Passage, but now his eyes refused to close.

The Rune awakens the potential of the soul.

And his soul… bore a dragon's scale, making it a part of him. So logically, the Rune would affect the scale as well.

Was that why he awakened Wood Release? Was it even Wood Release? Or was it something closer to the dragons than to Hashirama? Archtree Release? Archwood Release?

Author Note: And with that, I leave you on a cliffhanger. First, I want to apologize for the late update. This chapter was supposed to come out on November 12, but I ended up getting sick and then had some real life things to deal with. I hope the wait was worth it. Now let us get into the Q and A.

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Q: Is the fifty level stat buff something everyone gets when they obtain a Rune?

Answer: Normally, no. The Rune on average gives around a twenty point boost. The reason Naruto received such an absurd jump is because his astral form, the dragon, literally drank from the senjutsu well. I think it is pretty obvious why a giant hundred meter dragon can hold far more chakra than a human.

Since this topic has popped up a few times, I will address it here: Some people are concerned that Naruto is becoming too overpowered for the Chunin Exams, or that the exams will not be a challenge anymore.

This concern comes from thinking too strictly in canon terms. My fanfic is going in its own direction after the exams. Even the exams themselves will be different from canon. The fact that multiple villages, major and minor, are participating should be hint enough. And Naruto is not going to be facing average genin or chunin. The exams will involve big threats, political schemes from Danzo, Orochimaru's interference, and unique challenges.

Characters like Gaara are not going to be nerfed for the plot.

Konoha eleven will also get their own power ups in ways that make sense for this version of the story.

Point is: do not worry about Naruto getting stronger. The story is planned out, and I know exactly how I want everything to unfold. Just enjoy the ride.

And also yes, this is an OP Naruto story. While Naruto will have a lot of obstacles in the exam and outside of it, he will still be OP.

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Q: Why does Naruto have blonde hair in the seals instead of pure red?

So I want to clear something up right away because I have seen a few comments worried that I am removing Minato's side of Naruto. Trust me, I am not doing that at all.

Yes, Naruto getting red hair is a big visual shift, but it does not mean Minato's legacy suddenly vanished. Naruto still has Minato's blue eyes, he still uses the Rasengan, and in the story Minato is still the benchmark that people compare DS Naruto to. In fact, Minato's connection to Lordran is a bigger piece of the plot than some of you realize, and that will be explored later.

So no, I am not removing anything about Minato just because Naruto's hair changed color.

Some of you suggested the idea of Naruto having blonde tips or streaks, and I sat with that for a bit. I ended up liking the idea, but not the flame like blonde tips. They looked way too tacky for what I wanted. So I decided Naruto would still have some blonde mixed into his red hair. Normally you cannot see it at a glance, but if you comb through it or if the light hits right, the blonde is there.

It is subtle, but it is important to the theme. Naruto will embrace both sides of his heritage.

Hope you guys like that direction.

Edit: A lot of you brought this up, so I want to confirm it clearly. Yes, DS Naruto will learn the Flying Thunder God. Yes, he will learn Uzumaki clan fuinjutsu. And yes, he will get even more techniques tied to both sides of his heritage. I have said before that I want Naruto's character in this story to reflect both where he comes from and what he has become.

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Q: How does Naruto have Wood Release?

Alright, this is probably the biggest talking point of the chapter. A lot of you were confused about Naruto's wood release. So let me clarify.

First of all, it is not technically Wood Release. Not in the Hashirama sense.

Canon Wood Release converts chakra into life. It makes trees, vines, plants, and in Hashirama's case entire forests. Some users make smaller vegetation or binding techniques. At its highest level, it is a life giving force that controls natural growth.

Q: Can you explain the lore of Archtrees?

So, first things first: we actually do not know much about archtrees. Shocker, I know.

Archtrees are one of the oldest mysteries in the franchise. There are many theories about them, including the idea that they hold up or connect entire worlds. And honestly, if you look across FromSoft's games, some variant of an archtree or a giant world tree keeps showing up. That is why some fans believe every FromSoft world is secretly connected.

It also does not help that Elden Ring Nightreign exists, which makes people go, Oh, so the Dark Souls multiverse is real after all. Whether you believe that theory or not, or whether you think archtrees are literal world pillars or just ancient lifeforms, let us get into what we actually know about them in Dark Souls.

Archtrees are enormously tall and wide primordial trees that tower up to the skies and reach deep into the earth.

The archtrees were entities that existed in the Age of Ancients, alongside the Archdragons. In this state, before the First Flame brought any form of life and diversity, the world was undistinguished and consequently everything was made of ash colored rocks. Like dragons, archtrees were also made of stone and were half living, half mineral and simply existed without any changes. They covered the surface of the world, their roots kilometers deep with trunks reaching the sky. The rock wood of the archtrees was immensely capable of resisting magic.

Izalith and her daughters burned down the archtrees.

At some point the creatures that found the Lord Souls near the First Flame underground and developed their powers emerged to the surface with the intention of exterminating the dragons and conquering the world for themselves. During the war that followed, Izalith and her daughters used sorcery and their powers to manipulate flames and weaved great firestorms that scorched the very earth, destroying the archtrees and burning the dragons while Nito unleashed a miasma of death, rotting the archtrees and infecting the dragons, and Gwyn and his knights battled the dragons with their mighty lightning bolts. After the long struggle the Lords emerged victorious, exterminating most of the archdragons and archtrees, thus conquering the surface world for themselves.

The remnants of a forest of archtrees in the Ash Lake.

Despite the brutal conflict, several specimens of archtrees continued to survive, and in particular in the Ash Lake, an immense underground cave, many of them are still intact, offering shelter to one of the last examples of archdragon descendants, the Stone Dragon. Additionally, following the war against the dragons, Izalith developed her civilization underground, building the city bearing her name around the framework of a surviving archtree. The demons created by Izalith's Bed of Chaos would have used the tree's stone bark to forge their great hammers. The few archtrees that survived evolved into the giant trees found in Lordran, considered their distant offspring, and their wood still inherited the magic resistant properties of their ancestors.

The remnants of an archtree in the north of Drangleic. In the region of Drangleic, the lower remains of an archtree can be found in the north. Under the immense structures of the tree's roots the Shrine of Amana was built and it was inhabited by the maidens of Amana, while even deeper under the roots the Undead Crypt was located. Here the Fenito and Milfanito took care of the sleep of the undead and alleviated their suffering.

The remnants of an archtree at the end of the world.

At the end of the world, when the First Flame has reached the last crumbs of its power, the entire world has come to converge around its kiln. The last sparks of the First Flame are located inside an immense dead archtree, cleanly sliced in half and now empty inside. The Demon Prince took refuge inside this hollow tree after being defeated by Lorian and retreating beneath the earth.

It is also possible to theorize that the First Flame ignited itself within an archtree. In fact, the Kiln of the First Flame, which in Dark Souls was covered by the layers of structures in Dark Souls Three appears clearly, revealing that the First Flame was stored exactly in the center of an ancient archtree. Additionally, Izalith created her own copy of the First Flame within the archtree at the center of her city, thus likely attempting to replicate the original conditions in which the Flame had manifested itself for her experiment.

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Q: What does Archtree or Archwood Release actually do?

Alright, so this is the big one. And the honest answer right now is… I do not fully know yet.

Dark Souls barely explains archtrees outside of they are ancient, they are magic resistant, and they are connected to world geometry in weird ways.

For now, the only confirmed thing is that Naruto woke something up, and that something is not traditional Wood Release.

But the full set of abilities is still flexible, and I actually want your ideas for how it should evolve.

I have some possible directions, but I want this to be a community brainstorm. Throw me your ideas, no matter how weird or dumb they sound. I love reading them, and some of the best concepts in this fic came from comment sections.

To help get your imagination going, here are a few starter concepts:

Idea A: Archtrees absorb the nature of the soil they grow from. Example: if Naruto uses it in a silver mine, the archtree sprouts as silver wood with metallic properties.

Idea B: Archtrees are naturally resistant to magic or chakra. This means Naruto could go full mech mode and make stone wood constructs, wooden golems, or even armor that cannot be burned or cut by ninjutsu.

Idea C: Archtrees produce mushrooms instead of flowers. You know how Hashirama uses flowering trees and pollen to knock people out?

That's It… For Now.

As always, I want to thank you all for taking the time to read, comment, and follow along with this story. Your feedback means more than you know, and it helps push me to make each chapter bigger, sharper, and more true to the worlds of Naruto and Dark Souls.

Until next time, Praise the Sun.

—Adam

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[ Personal Note: First off, thanks a ton to all of you for sticking with this story. Seriously, you guys are awesome. Now, if you're interested in supporting me on P@treon, let me 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 96, 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 comment! Honestly, your comments make my day, and they let me 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!