He did it.
Narutoland had done it, it had received enough visitors and gotten enough raw magical samples from across the infinite timelines of visitors to Narutoland. The magical forumla to break the rule was completed, all it needed to do was to be activated and the Universal Constant Rule could be broken. He looked at the magic seal that floated above the palm of his hand with a wide grin across his face.
"Elmenhilde, teleport to Asia."
A soft voice spoke.
Naruto looked next to him and saw his vampire companion had teleported against her will, in the blink of an eye. He looked towards the source of the soft voice, and saw the version of himself that he had come to know pretty well.
Naruto the Silent King of the Underworld.
SKU.
The concept of controlling the infinite power of Naruto into Control and Order.
He who represented taking all of the chakra, all of the physical might of a fully fledged Naruto, and containing it into a tightly controlled package. With all of that chakra and physical power being converted into raw willpower and magical will.
"Well, Shota Baby."
"Man with Ten Tails... cease your actions." The Silent King stated with his neutral face actually slowly changing. His pen changed into a scythe, and Naruto knew that something was wrong. "Other half... this plan needs to be stopped now." Silent King extended his hand.
He shot a single blast at the magical seal.
Naruto blocked it with a barrier, and he stood up with a frown now forming on his face when he realized that he and the Silent King were not on the same side like they usually were. He wasn't dealing with the SKU who enjoyed watching perverted pranks and liked to mess with Narutos across the multiverse. He was dealing with the Silent King who had been there at the start of it all, the concept who controlled concepts with willpower.
Silent King was serious.
"Perverted Potions Prankster." Naruto cracked his neck.
A golden aura of power wrapped around him and he unleashed his magic's full power, and then he reached down deeper. His eyes glowed yellow as he tapped into the power he always knew existed deep down inside of him.
Chakra.
"The Man with Ten Tails... who bore the Naruto concept of never being corrupted, the willpower to change destiny. Die." Silent King stated.
Everything died.
Naruto watched as all life around him died, and for a brief second he felt pain in his chest. His magical power wavered for a moment, before his life was restored. He stepped back from the fact he had nearly died during that.
"You... just tried to kill me." Naruto whispered in shock.
He thought they were friends.
"... I hoped you would just die peacefully... do not break the rule. This is a warning, if you break the rule, the constant... we will fight. You possess all of the power of Naruto, you have infinite power... but we can't have everything. It is only through our suffering that we do not abuse our power, that we can truly connect with other's pain... so that our power can not corrupt us." Silent King reached up and grabbed the armor on his head.
It shattered.
His hair glowed brilliant silver, before changing to a flaming gold. He pulled his scythe back and prepared to stop his counterpart.
"So you don't trust us to not be corrupted?"
"A Naruto with the same infinite potential, must understand the suffering of loneliness. He must come to understand true pain, so that he never wishes to inflict it. We can't let a Naruto with those levels of potential go down a dark path... our suffering gives us the strength to overcome all challenges and not become twisted by our power." Silent King swung his scythe.
He gave his scythe will.
The planet was sliced in half, and that was it.
Silent King stopped talking and looked on with his expression unreadable as Naruto used his magic and repaired the planet the second that he cut it in half.
"... You almost killed everyone!" Naruto felt genuine anger and got ready for a fight.
"Everyone except us."
"... What is your point?" Naruto asked with suspicious eyes.
"... just by existing, we destroy space and time in the universe we exist in. Not just the 2 of us, but all Narutos who have the potential to reach the same power as the real version of us. If that power were to become corrupted... it would spell doom for entire multiverses. You, who have suffered... saved this planet when you were in no risk of dying." Silent King pointed out as he gestured to the moon.
Naruto looked up.
He could feel Silent King's pain, with every word his counterpart spoke, he was in terrible pain.
"... So... you're my enemy?"
Silent King shook his head, before he summoned many magical orbs that showed the different universes that surrounded them. Some of the spheres had bulges and cracks in them, and some did not have them.
"The original Naruto, his power was so great that even in his base form... his chakra was so great that it stretched space and time, expanded his universe. Even the Otsutsuki took notice of his power... those of us who have that same potential, we must suffer. We must suffer enough to never want to put others through our suffering." Silent King explained, before he pointed his sycthe at Naruto. "... The ultimate cause of our pain is the death's of our parents."
"What about those who don't have our potential... what about them?" Naruto asked as he stepped forward.
Silent King stared him down.
"What about those who are born without the same potential as us? I know about Idiot Genius, and I know Dragon Tamer... and Quirky Villain! None of them have chakra, none of them have the potential to destroy their universes... why do they need to suffer!" Naruto waved his hand and forced all of the spheres to vanish from his sight.
Silent King shook his head again.
"Can you take that risk that an evil Naruto won't find a way to travel the multi-verse, and destroy the universes of the Narutos who can't stop him?" Silent King asked a simple question.
The rule was made for that purpose.
"But some of them have their parents..."
"Those that have their parents, will witness their deaths. Unless you can make it so that ONLY those without True Naruto's potential can grow up with their parents, and those with his potential grow up parentless... do not break the rule."
"Then I'll never get to see my parents again!"
"... Is your happiness more important than the safety of those you love?" Silent King just asked that question.
It struck.
Like hot iron to his heart, he recoiled and sat down on the dead grass with that question. He had no counter for it, and he put his hands on his face.
"A selfish Naruto would say yes... a Naruto who grew up with his parents... might not think about the happiness and safety of others. It is through your suffering, your pain, the hell we call loneliness that you understand... You are a Naruto... you possess the raw power of a Naruto... while I represent Control, you represent Chaos. We are not opposites." Silent King sat down next to him, and his hair returned back to silvery white. His scythe turned back into a pen, because he knew that the fight was over.
Naruto understood.
Those words were all that needed to be said for him to understand the true difference that not having parents made in their lives.
The ability to connect to others in unique, lasting, thoughtful ways.
"... I'll never see my parents again..."
"No... you won't... I tried, and failed. When I revived my mother, her personality was twisted. She became evil. We are Narutos... we endure our pain and help others, shouldering our pain, their pain, and the destiny of the world on our shoulders." Silent King stated as he rubbed his hand on his counterpart's back.
"Stop talking... you're hurting yourself."
"I'm destroying your dream, I can endure this pain with you. My concept was fused with the concept of a person who also understood the Naruto pain of loneliness and power. So... give up your dream for your loved ones... find a new dream." Silent King could offer that suggestion to Naruto.
"... Can you take away my power... can you make me a normal human?"
"... No... you know why."
"I do..."
"The most I can do is bend the rules... once you find a way to revive your parents... you will have 1 hour with them. That is the most I can allow." Silent King laid on the ground and stared up at the moon.
Naruto laid down as well.
"... What if I break the rule... but it only applies to those of us with the same potential as a real Naruto?"
"... You can do that."
Naruto crushed the magical seal in the palm of his hand, since it was useless to him. He hopped to his feet, and stretched his arms and legs out. He offered a hand to Silent King, who just stood up by himself.
Are we good?
"We're good... why did you even let me continue this experiment for so long?" Naruto asked with curiousity.
I never thought you would actually succeed, I expected infinite failures, and then you dying of old age.
"Well... you dick." Naruto looked at the version of himself with a look of shock for a moment, before he chuckled to himself. Naruto raised his hand and used magic, teleporting Elmenhilde back to where he was while SKU started to walk away. He made eye contact when SKU looked back at him, and the two of them came to an understanding with that one look. "... So... one last thing before you go..."
Naruto flipped off SKU, who looked back at him.
The stars in the sky shined brighter.
Rainbows magically appeared all around the world.
The world felt like a better place.
Why?
SKU smiled back a genuine smile and flipped him off as he walked through a portal as well, leaving behind his counterpart. When the portal closed, the world went back to the way it felt before.
"... What... the fuck... was all of that?"
"Oh, just a hero protecting the multi-verse from possible evil versions of ourselves, and ensuring the the strongest versions of us suffer through pain and suffering, so that our power never corrupts us into evil." Naruto told Elmenhilde the truth without hiding any facts from her should she ask about them. "... consider him the universe janitor, fixing messes that other versions of me make... and making quite a few himself." Naruto crossed his arms with a grin on his face.
A tiny portal opened up next to his head.
A book came flying out of the portal.
"OW!?"
That hurt, he wasn't physically powerful like all of those other Narutos in the multiverse.
All of his power came from his magical power!
He was a squishy mage!