Naruto: Passerby and Returnee

Chapter 274 Primal Matter

Are you serious?

"Do I look like I'm joking?"

"Is the 'Pure Land' you're referring to the same 'Pure Land' as I understand it?"

Is there another 'pure land' in this world?

Although Tobirama and Kurama couldn't communicate, their questions were surprisingly identical. Upon receiving an affirmative answer, Kurama immediately wanted to fight him in their mental space. Since he didn't cherish this body, he might as well be devoured by the Tailed Beast and become part of it!

Tobirama, on the other hand, was much calmer. He took several deep breaths before continuing to ask, "Why?"

“You said it yourself last time, my soul is abnormal, and this abnormality has reached a point where I can no longer ignore it. If I want to truly understand the soul, I really have to try going to the ‘Pure Land’.” Under the double pressure, Naruto was still able to answer clearly and logically.

"You haven't forgotten that none of the 'deceased' recalled so far remember anything about the 'Pure Land,' have you?"

“I’m already special, what if I can find the answer? Besides, as a doctor, you should know this body’s condition very well, right? There’s no need to waste resources. With that energy, we could probably even conquer cancer.” The fourteen-year-old spoke casually and patted Tobirama’s fur collar quite naturally.

They were clearly talking about life and death, yet Naruto seemed completely unconcerned. As both doctor and patient, they were well aware of the body's condition; even the world's best medical ninja had never encountered a case like this. Hashirama's best self-healing record was only a cut to his back along with part of his heart, but good self-healing didn't mean he could save others with similar injuries; otherwise, so many Senju wouldn't have died back then.

Naruto's injury was several times more severe than that slash; it's a miracle he can still breathe.

Tobirama shouldn't have harbored any more illusions, but he was simply unwilling to accept it. Naruto understood this perfectly well; this little rascal, just like that night, laid bare the bloody truth before him, forcing him to face reality.

"Sometimes, I really hate you." Tobirama had thought of today ever since he saw that string of words in the database, but who knew that "today" would come so quickly, and he didn't even have time to come up with a contingency plan.

Naruto smiled apologetically. When Tobirama is in a hurry, he doesn't remember to maintain a serious self-reference; the fact that he can say "this old man" again means that he has already compromised.

“But I can’t watch you die. You can have your own plans, and I will have mine.” Tobirama’s eyes blazed with fighting spirit again. “If I find a way to cure you, you can’t refuse.”

"Okay, let's do it that way."

Watching Naruto vanish in an instant, Tobirama sighed deeply. His words were firm, but the consequences would be endless trouble; he'd probably have to cover for Naruto's annual medical checkup. He knew the power of numbers, but saving Naruto would likely require unconventional methods. He wondered if his often soft-hearted older brother would be willing to cooperate… He'd have to find a reason to fool him; there was no harm in using someone like that.

At this moment, Tobirama had no idea that Naruto, who had disappeared, hadn't gone back to rest at all, but had instead rushed to the other side of the sea. The captain had special privileges and his own private cabin. The spaceship was too large overall, and contained many things that shouldn't be there at this stage, so a large portion of the area wasn't open to the public, and the captain's cabin was naturally among them.

"Welcome home, Captain Golden Wheel."

"Thank you. Fu Ming, please retrieve all the information about the dark universe for me."

"...What is the Dark Universe?" Nine-Ra, who unilaterally declared a Cold War, couldn't stay quiet for a second.

"I don't know the clues provided by the demons." Naruto made up an excuse on the spot, then was stunned by the sheer volume of data in the database. No other discipline had ever reached this number of records. Was this thing really that important ten thousand years ago? But he had never heard of this name before, nor did the Otsutsuki clan have it.

Soon, the man and the fox were too busy to argue anymore; their attention was completely drawn to the information.

"'Dark Universe' is a universe where 'darkness' is the primary substance... But what exactly is 'darkness'?"

"Research indicates that 'Source' and 'Darkness' are the smallest molecules that matter can be broken down into; they are collectively referred to as 'Primordial Matter.' If these two substances exist in equal amounts, they will undergo an annihilation reaction, transforming into 'Chaos' energy. 'Chaos' can be guided into either 'Source' or 'Darkness,' or it can naturally precipitate into both types of molecules. During natural precipitation, the final number of the two types of molecules tends to be equal. Therefore, the universe can only be born when the number of the two types of molecules is unequal..."

"I don't understand this at all. Can you understand it?" Nine Lama tried to understand, but there were many terms he really didn't understand, so reading it was completely incomprehensible to him.

"Shh, don't say anything yet, let me finish reading." Naruto didn't have time to explain at this moment. He was surprised to find that he could understand the meaning of each word smoothly, and after understanding it, he felt a chill down his spine.

“The ‘Source’ and ‘Darkness’ will spontaneously attract each other. If a large amount of ‘Source’ contains a very small amount of ‘Darkness’, they will not annihilate each other. Instead, ‘Darkness’ will act as a binder to form the various substances that exist. Our universe is a universe with ‘Source’ as the main substance. If the properties of ‘Darkness’ are completely consistent with those of ‘Source’, then according to the law of conservation of mass, there must exist a universe in this world with ‘Darkness’ as the main substance.”

"**There's a concern that the properties of the two primordial substances might lead to a mutual attraction between the 'source' universe and the 'dark' universe...**"

Naruto suddenly couldn't continue reading; the words that person had said were echoing in his mind.

"The dark universe is our eternal enemy."

So that's how it is! This sentence doesn't contain any personal emotion, but rather reflects a helpless choice made out of reality. If two universes are bound to attract each other, approach each other, and then annihilate each other due to the collision of primordial matter... with his mind, he couldn't even imagine what kind of disaster would result from such a collision.

Wouldn't that definitely result in both sides being wiped out?

So, does this mean the universe is going to be destroyed? Because a 'dark' universe is already nearby?

"How come there's still so much damage? Who's worried? Who's researching this? Don't they remember such important things?" Kurama couldn't understand the documents, but he could see the abrupt incompleteness. His voice saved Naruto's chaotic mind.

"Other research materials record many names, so why is this one completely blank?"

"Sorry, the data is missing and cannot be recovered."

Forget it, these kinds of cosmic matters are hardly something a civilization like theirs, which hasn't even left its planet, should be concerned with. Wait, didn't that guy ask him for help? And he seemed really anxious... Tsk, what good stuff could an Otsutsuki possibly have? You can't believe a word he says!