Hello everyone! I am sorry for the delay in posting the story. I promised to do it on the 1st but I have finally completed the first couple of chapters of my new fanfic.

So, without any more ado, here is the prologue. 

Constructive criticism is always appreciated.

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Disclaimer - I don’t own anything. Please support the official release.

A SAGE ADRIFT

Prologue

The Shinobi World had gone through many calamities.

The likes of which could not be imagined by the average shinobi. The average shinobi even lived to tell the tale because there has always been someone who rose up to the calamity and helped save everyone.

The Three Great Sage regions had, therefore, seen a lot of the strife that the Shinobi World went through. They had seen the rise and fall of clans. They had seen the horrors that the Uzumaki unleashed upon the world through their Fuinjutsu. They had seen the overwhelming power of the Juubi, the power of the Otsutsuki, and even the sealing of an Otsutsuki by her very children.

Therefore, for centuries since the sealing, they were very intimately aware of the fact that Kaguya was not the only Otsutsuki in existence and they were, in fact, very close to another visit from the genocidal Otsutsuki clan, something that all three sage regions had dreaded for one reason or other.

The Toad Sage, in particular as he was the only witness of that fight, was very much aware that if not for Kaguya’s love for her sons, the Sage of the Six Paths and his brother would never have won, even with them being on almost the same level as their mother at least, where combat power was concerned simply because of a single fact.

The Rinnesharingan.

The single most powerful Doujutsu that any being in the Shinobi World had ever laid eyes upon.

The sheer versatility of being able to transport yourself and your enemies to a series of alternate dimensions with varying laws of physics cannot be understated.

That was why he had been sending all of his summoners on the path to raise or nurture various powerful shinobis under the guise of telling them about a prophecy regarding the chosen one arriving to save them.

When he had done that, he had never once believed that it would turn his random gibberish into a self-fulfilling prophecy.

A self-fulfilling prophecy that resulted in the creation of someone that could, with help of course, turn the tides against someone that even the Sage would lose to.

The creation of Naruto Uzumaki. The Second Strongest Shinobi to ever grace the Shinobi World.

He had seen the young Uzumaki turn the tide against overwhelming odds time and time again but seeing him, along with young Sasuke, had finally given him hope that the Shinobi World could be saved or at least defended from the otherworldly Otsutsuki that would undoubtedly visit them in the near future, especially once they figure out the reason for Kaguya’s disappearance and her subsequent sealing inside the moon.

Of course, that hope was swiftly wiped away when Isshiki Otsutsuki revealed himself to be even more powerful than they hoped him to be. He had thought with Isshiki being weaker than Kaguya, young Naruto would be able to triumph rather easily but as it turned out, defeating an Otsutsuki without being an Otsutsuki, was a task that only the likes of Hashirama Senju could do.

So, he had been watching young Naruto’s fight despairingly when, out of nowhere, young Naruto rose up in a form that had never been seen before.

With the limited clairvoyance that was granted to him through his very own sage mode, he watched on disbelievingly as young Naruto absolutely manhandled Isshiki as if he were a Kage and Isshiki a mere Jonin.

With every punch that young Naruto diverted and with every blow that Isshiki sustained, his hopes rose more and more until at the last moment, with a furious punch, Naruto slammed Isshiki down on the ground, seemingly for good.

Young Sasuke along with Boruto celebrated Naruto’s victory over Isshiki, something that seemed impossible just a few short minutes ago.

He too sighed in relief as he saw that Isshiki was about to run out of time soon enough and even without any more effort from Naruto’s side, they were sure to win. He very much intended to ask Naruto about the new power-up he had received out of nowhere that allowed him to defeat Isshiki when the cloak of power that even set his senses tingling, from this far away, fizzled away and Naruto’s eyes rolled back in their sockets as he collapsed on the ground, unconscious and unbreathing.

His brows furrowed in worry as he could see that Naruto’s chakra was fine, if a little exhausted but that was given after a fight of this magnitude. He tried to check his Jinchuriki seal when his eyes widened immensely at the discovery.

The seal had opened wide and the Kyuubi’s chakra was leaking out of it.

Only instead of allowing it to manifest out of his jailor, it was dissipating in the wind, never to be seen again. 

He seemed to age even further as he slumped in resignation at the realisation of what the Kyuubi and young Naruto had done.

Somehow, the Kyuubi had done something that was thought to be impossible. 

True Death of a Bijuu.

A phenomenon that was thought of happening only when the Juubi was used. One of the Bijuu, essentially constructs of chakra, sacrificing themselves only to power someone else?

Unthinkable.

Yet, that was the only thing that explained what he was able to see.

The Kyuu- no.-- Kurama had sacrificed himself to make sure that Isshiki was defeated.

Somehow, Naruto himself was spared since his chakra levels were recovering back to normal levels but he was no longer a Jinchuriki.

So, this method too was a bust then?

He was no closer to finding a method of beating back those pesky Otsutsukis than he was before this fight.

As he was about to get out of his sage mode as it took a heavy toll on his already ageing body, he saw Isshiki struggling to stand on his two legs. Legs that were already crumbling away due to his dissipating Karma.

Somehow, despite Isshiki being on death’s door, he had a bad premonition regarding the situation. However, with no conceivable way of warning them, he could only watch in dismay as Isshiki seemingly squeezed out every iota of energy he had and concentrated it in his right eye.

He was left slack-jawed as, for a split second, Isshiki’s right eye took on the same hue as the Rinnesharingan and with Sasuke and Boruto being caught by surprise, Isshiki transported Naruto to an unknown dimension, possibly to his death,

His deed done, Isshiki slumped forward, his body turning to dust before his head could hit the ground.

The cries of Sasuke and Boruto could be heard for hours afterward.

And so ended the story of one Naruto Uzumaki, the Seventh Hokage of the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

Or did it?

_x_

Continue reading to find out more.

A/N - The story will have an update posted on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays along with a sprinkle of an extra chapter here and there on the weekends (depends on my backlog). Enjoy!

As usual, thank you for reading!

Toodles!