Through the Hell Realm's King Enma statue—they opened the gates to the underworld. Naruto and the others arrived in the world after death. Yomi.
Clang. After the gate closed—it vanished.
They stood on a small island about ten meters square. Surrounding the island was a black river shrouded in mist. Visibility was extremely limited.
After looking around—Sasuke frowned. "In this godforsaken place—how are we supposed to track down Madara?"
Without thinking twice—Hashirama was about to step into that black water.
"Wait!" Obito pressed down on Hashirama's shoulder. "First Hokage—I understand how you feel. But everything here is unknown to us. We can't rush this."
Hashirama clenched his fist. Suppressing the anxiety and urgency in his heart. "Sorry. I lost my composure."
Obito nodded. Lowering his hand. "Since we're here—let's take things as they come."
Naruto stepped forward. Looking at the rushing black water. In his palm—he condensed a Truth-Seeking Ball. And tossed it into the water.
Splash.
The Truth-Seeking Ball disappeared into the splash.
Hashirama asked, "Well?"
Naruto's brow furrowed. "It dissolved."
The expressions of the other three grew serious.
After a long moment—Sasuke said. "Hey—don't you think this water is a lot like what that Shizuki used before?"
Naruto stroked his chin. Pondering. "Ah—Shizuki's pupil technique. Mizuhanome's Water? Mizuhanome is pretty formidable. No less than Amaterasu. But that alone couldn't dissolve a Truth-Seeking Ball. There must be some other mystery to this water."
Hashirama said, "Then how about we use the Rinnegan's abilities to fly across?"
Naruto's eyes focused. "Not advisable. We don't know how big this river is. Or what's hidden in the mist. But—" He looked down at the ground beneath their feet. And smiled. "This small island can remain intact under the river's current. It must have significant origins."
With that—he crouched down. And pressed his hand to the earth.
Obito said, "Ultra-Added-Weight Rock?"
Naruto smiled faintly without speaking. His Rinnegan pupils flowing with light.
—Futsunomitama.
Whoosh.
A spirit form emerged from the earth before them.
Naruto stood up. "I've given the land a soul. It's the Earth God."
The Earth God bowed respectfully. "This child greets Father and all the uncles!"
Obito and Sasuke simultaneously thought: This is getting more and more underworld-like.
Naruto said, "No need for formalities. Rise and speak."
The Earth God stood.
Naruto asked, "Tell me about this place."
The Earth God gazed into the distance. "The river before you is the Meigawa. It originates from Mount Kagu's tail. This location is roughly in the middle-to-lower reaches of the Meigawa. Not far from the Sanzu River downstream."
"Sanzu River?"
"In the lower reaches of the Meigawa—it splits into three tributaries. The Yomotsugawa. The Abigawa. And the Gokurakugawa. Collectively called the Sanzu River. They lead respectively to Yomi's three great fortresses—Yomi-no-Kuni, Abi Hell, and Pure Land."
Naruto's gaze darkened.
In Jiraiya's coded message—he'd mentioned secrets unknown to most.
The world only knew the Pure Land as the destination for souls after death. But didn't know that souls entering the Pure Land were ultimately just a minority.
Souls with neither merit nor fault entered Yomi-no-Kuni after death. Souls of the utterly wicked were cast into Abi Hell. Only souls whose merits outweighed their faults could enter the Pure Land.
Naruto thought: Madara touched Yomi's taboo. There's no way he's in the Pure Land. Yomi-no-Kuni is also unlikely. Could it be—Abi Hell?
No. Can't jump to conclusions too quickly.
In any case—I need to find a way to get to that Sanzu River.
After Naruto explained his thinking—the Earth God said. "Father—I was born from the Heavenly Solid Stone in Takamagahara's Ame-no-Yasukawa. I was placed here before the Meigawa even formed. And have never moved. So while I know the Sanzu River is downstream—I don't know the specific route."
Hashirama asked, "Then is there no way?"
"There is a way. Occasionally—underworld ferrymen patrol this river. Guiding lost souls to the Sanzu River. If we can catch a boat—we can get there. But the Meigawa is vast. The last time a boat passed by was ten years ago."
"We can't wait that long!"
Szzzt.
Toad horizontal pupils appeared in Naruto's eyes. He entered the singular Mount Myōboku Sage Mode for the first time in a while.
Don't misunderstand. This wasn't regression. But rather a demonstration of mastery after reaching the pinnacle of Six Paths Sage Techniques. Maximizing the advantages of singular sage arts.
Like right now. He could sense every movement within a thousand-mile radius.
Naruto said, "No need to wait. We'll go find a boat ourselves. Earth God—please. Take us for a ride."
"As you command, Father!"
Whoosh.
The Earth God spun in place. And burrowed into the ground.
Rumble rumble rumble.
The ground beneath their feet rumbled. That Heavenly Solid Stone rose from the bottom of the Meigawa. Floated into the sky. And flew forward.
This way—Naruto's thousand-mile sensing circle in Sage Mode also moved. Expanding the detection range.
The Heavenly Solid Stone traveled through the Meigawa's mist. Naruto asked. "Earth God—you said you're the Heavenly Solid Stone. What's your relationship with the Thousand-Pull Stone?"
Whoosh. Anthropomorphic eyes and a mouth appeared on the Heavenly Solid Stone. The Earth God's voice emerged. "Thousand-Pull Stones are tool stones quarried and processed from the Heavenly Origin Stone. Frankly speaking—with enough effort—they can be mass-produced. But we're different. Each one of us is unique. Because of our solid composition—almost all of us have been preserved intact."
Naruto sighed. "If I'd known you had such impressive origins—I would've used Ōkuninushi to copy a few thousand. And stored them in Daikokuten."
"Hehe."
Hearing the praise—the Heavenly Solid Stone's nose grew longer.
Naruto closed his eyes. Focusing on sensing.
Hum.
After the Heavenly Solid Stone flew over the Meigawa for half a day—Naruto's sensing circle detected a suspected target.
He opened his eyes. "Found it."
Obito asked, "Coordinates confirmed?"
Naruto nodded. "Yeah."
Obito said, "Don't go directly there. Stop on its route to avoid suspicion."
Naruto smiled. "That's what I was thinking too."
Szzzt.
The six-tomoe Rinnegan in both his eyes flowed with radiance.
Whoosh.
A large Yomotsu Hirasaka opened. The Heavenly Solid Stone directly crashed through it.
Yomotsu Hirasaka closed. The Heavenly Solid Stone fell into the water. Becoming a new river island.
Naruto and the others waited patiently.
Ding-dong.
A bell rang. Through the mist—a small black boat approached. A lantern-lit figure in a straw hat sitting at the bow.
The boat docked. At the bow—the straw-hatted figure lifted their hat. Revealing the face of an enormous green-headed fly. Two bulging eyes emitted an eerie green light. Covered in fine hair.
Naruto frowned. Cursing inwardly: So this is an underworld ferryman? Creepy as hell.
Hiss hiss. The fly ferryman's mouth threads on either side twitched. Making a bizarre laughing sound. "Shiruruuru~ Lost souls, I see. With physical bodies too. What rare ghosts! Come aboard. I'll take you to report where you need to go."
The four exchanged glances. And boarded without showing their thoughts.
The ferryman sat at the bow without moving.
Naruto asked, "You're not rowing?"
"This boat auto-navigates. Targeting the Sanzu River. No rowing needed."
"Oh."
But the boat didn't move for a long while. The fly ghost rubbed his head with two long, thin hands. "Strange—why won't it go? Overweight? This boat can carry five lives worth including me!"
Naruto asked, "What's wrong?"
"For some reason—we're one life's weight over. No choice. One of you has to get off!"
"Really no other way—off you go!"
Naruto stood up. And without further ado kicked the fly ferryman off the boat.
Splash.
The boat started up. Carrying the four of five lives toward the lower Meigawa. And the Sanzu River.
At this moment—they still didn't know. This journey would completely reshape their understanding of the world.
I'll save the thank-you list for tomorrow's first chapter. Just got back from a long trip and I'm exhausted. Good night.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
📚 BOOK COMPLETED ON PATREON!📚
This story has reached its conclusion on my Patreon!
🔥 Full story available now
💎 Exclusive bonus content & early access to new books
👉 Join my Patreon community today!
[✨patreon.com/DarkGolds]
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━