The Wraith King (CH 1) (Patreon)

A/N: This story is rated M for mature content not suitable for children.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Chapter 1: The Hunger of the Void

Elemental Nation

The end of the world didn’t smell like ozone or scorched earth. It smelled like nothing.

Naruto Uzumaki felt the sensation of his soul being peeled away from his bones, a slow, agonizing strip-tease performed by the Shinigami itself. The seal had failed. The war was over. But as the Reaper’s cold blade sliced through his spirit, something went wrong. The Fox’s malice, the Sage’s power, and the sheer, stubborn refusal of a boy who never knew when to quit collided in a singularity of pure will.

He didn't go to the Pure World. He fell through the cracks of reality, tumbling into a crimson-soaked nightmare.

Netherrealm

Naruto awoke, if you could call it that, floating inches above a floor of jagged, obsidian rock. The sky above the Netherrealm was a swirling vortex of bruised purples and blood reds. There was no sun here, only the dim, flickering glow of lava pits that dotted the horizon like open sores on the earth.

He looked down at his hands. They weren't hands. They were translucent, shimmering outlines of limbs, glowing with a ghostly, ethereal cerulean light. He could see the jagged rocks through his palms.

"I’m... dead?" he whispered. His voice didn't come from his throat; it echoed from the air around him, a hollow, haunting reverb that chilled his own non-existent blood.

He tried to stand, but his feet passed through the ground. Panic flared in his chest, a remnant of a biological life he no longer possessed. He lunged toward a nearby boulder, trying to grab it, but his fingers slipped through the stone as if it were smoke.

He was a ghost. A phantom. A nothing.

Then, the hunger started.

It wasn't a hunger for ramen or water. It was a gnawing, agonizing vacuum in the center of his being. It felt like a black hole was opening inside his soul, screaming to be filled.

Screeeeee!

The sound of a scavengers’ cry tore through the air. Three creatures, Oni, lumbered from behind a spire of bone. They were hulking, grey-skinned monstrosities with tusks and eyes that burned with a dull, hateful yellow. They carried clubs spiked with rusted iron.

"Fresh soul," the largest one grunted, its voice like grinding gravel. "Still glowing. The Master will pay well for this one."

Naruto backed away, or tried to. He hovered backward, his movements fluid and unnerving. "Stay back," he warned, his voice rippling through the air.

The Oni laughed, a wet, guttural sound. The leader swung its massive club, a blow meant to shatter ribs and pulverize spirit. Naruto closed his eyes, bracing for the impact.

The club whistled through the air. It passed through Naruto’s chest with a soft whoosh, hitting the ground with enough force to crack the obsidian.

The Oni froze. It looked at its club, then at the glowing, spectral boy standing in the middle of its swing.

Naruto opened his eyes. He felt... a tingle. Like a static shock. "You... you missed?"

"Impossible!" the creature roared. It swung again, a horizontal cleave. Again, the wood and iron passed through Naruto’s torso as if he were a projection.

Naruto reached out. He didn't know why. The hunger was screaming now, a deafening roar in his mind. Take. Consume. Fill the void.

His ghostly hand pressed against the Oni’s chest. For a moment, it passed through the leather armor. But as Naruto focused his will, his hand solidified, not into flesh, but into a cold, crushing weight.

"What is...."

Naruto gripped the creature’s heart. Literally.

A surge of white-hot energy erupted. The Oni’s yellow eyes went wide, its skin graying and shriveling in a matter of seconds. Naruto felt a rush of heat pour into his arm, memories, sensations, the taste of raw meat, the knowledge of how to swing a club, the layout of the nearby torture pits.

It was the Essence.

The Oni collapsed into a pile of ash and dry bone. Naruto stood taller, his spectral form glowing brighter, more defined. The hunger subsided, replaced by a crystalline clarity. He looked at the remaining two creatures.

"My turn," the Wraith King whispered before he lunged forward, intending to fill his hunger.

Fast Forward

Days, or perhaps years, time being a fickle thing in the Netherrealm, had passed. Naruto had moved beyond simple Oni. He had hunted the shadows of the realm, siphoning the essence of fallen warriors, sorcerers, and demons.

He was no longer a flickering flame. He was a tall, imposing figure of midnight blue and silver light. He wore a tattered, spectral cloak that ebomed behind him like living smoke. He had learned the secret of his new existence: he was the bridge between the physical and the spiritual. He could be as hard as diamond or as intangible as a thought.

And he was bored.

That was until he felt a ripple in the air, a scent of lavender and cold steel that didn't belong in this pit of rot.

He drifted through a wall of solid rock, emerging into a hidden cavern where a pool of green, glowing liquid bubbled. Standing at the edge of the pool was a woman who looked like a goddess carved from spite and grace.

She wore a mask that covered the lower half of her face, but her eyes, sharp, almond-shaped, and burning with lethal intelligence, were unmistakable. Her outfit was a deep, royal purple, accentuating curves that seemed designed to distract an opponent just long enough to slide a blade between their ribs.

This was Mileena, the princess of Outworld, a fact that Naruto was aware of thanks to the memories of those who had succumbed to him.

She wasn't alone. She was surrounded by a dozen Brotherhood of Shadow assassins.

"The soul-well is mine," Mileena hissed, her voice a seductive purr that hid a monstrous hunger. "Quan Chi can rot. I will take this power for myself."

"The sorcerer does not like thieves, Princess," the lead assassin said, drawing a curved blade.

Naruto watched from the shadows of the ceiling. He felt the hunger stir again, but this time, it was different. It wasn't just for power. It was for her. Her essence was vibrant, a chaotic storm of Tarkatan rage and Edenian beauty.

The assassins lunged. Mileena moved like a blur, her twin sais flashing in the dim light. She was a whirlwind of violence, but she was outnumbered. A blade caught her shoulder; another grazed her thigh. She snarled, a sound that was more animal than human.

Naruto decided to introduce himself.

He didn't drop; he simply appeared between Mileena and the lead assassin. The assassin’s blade was already in mid-swing. It passed harmlessly through Naruto’s neck.

The cavern went silent.

Mileena froze, her breath hitching as she looked up at the towering, spectral figure shrouded in mist. "What... what are you?"

Naruto didn't look at her yet. He turned his head toward the assassin. The man tried to scramble back, but Naruto’s hand was faster. He reached out and gripped the man’s face.

The siphoning was instantaneous. The assassin didn't even have time to scream before his soul was ripped through his pores, his body turning into a husk that shattered upon hitting the floor.

Naruto turned to the others. He didn't use a weapon. He simply walked through them. Every time he passed through an assassin, they fell, their nervous systems fried by the absolute cold of his ghostly form, their life force leaking into him like water into a sponge.

Within seconds, Mileena was the only one left standing.

She held her sais up, but her hands were trembling, not with fear, but with a dark, twisted fascination. Naruto floated toward her, his feet never touching the ground. He allowed his form to become more solid, more human, until he was standing just inches from her.

He reached out, his spectral fingers tracing the edge of her mask. He could feel the heat radiating from her skin.

"A Princess in the pits of hell," Naruto mused, his voice a deep, resonant hum. "Mileena."

Mileena didn't pull away. She leaned into the cold touch, her eyes narrowing. "You know my name, spirit? I am the rightful Empress of Outworld. And you... you are the most beautiful spirit I have ever seen."

"I am no spirit," Naruto said, his hand sliding down to her throat, his thumb brushing the pulse point where her blood hammered. "I am the King this realm has been waiting for. And I think... I’ll start my kingdom with you."

Mileena’s breath hitched. She reached up, pulling her mask down to reveal the jagged, predatory teeth of a Tarkatan. To anyone else, it was a horror. To Naruto, who had spent an eternity in the void, it was just another form of power.

"Take what you want, Wraith," she whispered, her voice a raw, primal challenge.

Naruto leaned in, his lips inches from hers. "Oh, I intend to. Everything you are... will be mine."

Chapter End

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

A/N: This marks the opening chapter of the story, which is brief but introduces the concept of Naruto existing in the Mortal Kombat universe, not as a hero or a villain, but as the ruler of his own domain. He intends to take the women of the universe for himself, indifferent to the moral implications of his actions. No longer the hero he once was, he has transformed into a wraith king. I appreciate all the support and wish you well.