what if naruto summon pegasus from beyblade metal fusion

# Wings of Destiny: Naruto's Celestial Summoning

## Chapter 1: The Dimensional Summon

The forest blurred into streaks of emerald and shadow as Naruto bounded through the canopy, each leap propelling him forward with practiced precision. The humid air filled his lungs, carrying the faint metallic scent of rain on the horizon. Behind him, Sakura's rhythmic footfalls kept perfect time with Kakashi's silent advance—Team 7 moving as a single entity through the densely packed trees of the northern Fire Country border.

"Three kilometers to target," Kakashi's voice crackled through the radio earpiece. "Remember, recovery only. The scroll contains forbidden sealing techniques that could destabilize the entire region if misused."

Naruto tapped his receiver twice in acknowledgment, his usual boisterous energy contained within the focused intensity of the mission. Five rogue ninjas—all jonin-level—had raided the Konoha Archives three days prior. The forbidden scroll they'd stolen contained ancient jutsu that predated the Hidden Villages themselves.

"I still don't understand why Lady Tsunade sent just the three of us," Sakura whispered, her breath barely disturbing the air around her. "These rogues took out an entire ANBU squad."

The corner of Naruto's mouth twitched upward. "Because we're just that good, Sakura."

"Or because we're expendable," she countered, though the slight smile took the edge off her words.

Kakashi held up a closed fist, and both younger ninjas instantly froze on adjacent branches. The silver-haired jonin tilted his head, his exposed eye narrowing. "They've changed course. Moving northeast now, toward the Valley of Echoes. Naruto—"

A explosive tag detonated mere inches from where Naruto stood, the concussive force sending splinters of bark flying like deadly needles. The blond ninja tucked into a reflexive roll as the branch beneath him disintegrated, twisting mid-air to land in a defensive crouch on the forest floor.

"Ambush!" Sakura's voice rang out as three black-clad figures converged on their position.

The forest erupted into chaos. Kunai whistled through the air, slicing leaves and embedding into tree trunks with dull thunks. Naruto's hands moved in a blur, forming his signature cross seal.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

A dozen Narutos materialized in puffs of smoke, each wearing the same determined grin as they launched themselves at the attackers. Kakashi disappeared in a swirl of leaves only to reappear behind one of the rogues, the distinctive chirping of his Chidori cutting through the battlefield din.

"They knew we were coming," Sakura called out, her chakra-enhanced fist connecting with the ground and sending fissures racing toward two approaching enemies. "This is a diversion!"

Through gaps in the ensuing dust cloud, Naruto spotted a fourth figure clutching a distinctive scroll case with faded crimson edges. "The scroll!" he shouted, breaking away from the main skirmish and tearing through the underbrush after the escaping thief.

"Naruto, wait!" Kakashi's command faded behind him as Naruto pushed deeper into unfamiliar territory.

The pursuit led him through increasingly treacherous terrain—jagged rock formations rising from the earth like broken teeth, the ground beneath his feet shifting from soil to stone. The rogue ninja glanced back, his face partially obscured by a respirator mask, eyes widening at Naruto's persistence.

"You're out of your depth, kid," the man growled, fingers forming a rapid sequence of hand signs.

Earth erupted around Naruto, forming a cage of stone spikes that nearly impaled him. He twisted desperately, the razor-sharp projections slicing through his jacket sleeve and drawing a thin line of blood along his forearm.

"Earth Style: Stone Prison Jutsu!"

The ground beneath Naruto suddenly transformed into quicksand, threatening to drag him under. He channeled chakra to his feet, struggling to maintain his balance as two more rogue ninjas emerged from hiding spots amongst the rocks.

"We got separated on purpose," Naruto realized aloud, watching as the three rogue ninjas surrounded him, their expressions cold and calculating behind their various masks and face coverings.

The leader—a broad-shouldered woman with a jagged scar running from her temple to jaw—stepped forward. "Naruto Uzumaki," she said, his name falling from her lips like a death sentence. "The Nine-Tails jinchūriki. Your bounty alone will fund our operations for years."

Naruto's eyes narrowed, his muscles coiling with tension. "Sorry to disappoint, but I'm not for sale."

He launched himself at the nearest enemy, feinting left before creating three shadow clones that attacked from different angles. The rogues responded with practiced coordination, dispelling his clones with brutal efficiency while herding Naruto toward a sheer rock face.

Pain exploded along his side as a water jutsu slammed him against the stone with crushing force. He tasted blood, felt his ribs protest as he struggled to regain his footing on the slick, uneven ground.

"Where's your famous determination now, Nine-Tails?" taunted the third rogue—thin and wiry with bandages covering most of his face.

Naruto wiped blood from his chin, azure eyes hardening with resolve. "I'm just getting started!"

But as he prepared to counterattack, the leader executed a series of hand signs he'd never seen before. The air around him suddenly grew heavy, chakra pathways constricting painfully in his limbs.

"Sealing Style: Chakra Suppression Field!"

Naruto gasped as his energy seemed to drain away, his attempted jutsu fizzling before it could form. The rogues advanced methodically, weapons drawn.

"That scroll wasn't our only target from the archives," the leader explained, cold satisfaction coloring her voice. "This sealing technique was designed specifically for containing tailed beasts."

Naruto's mind raced, calculating his dwindling options. His gaze darted to the steep cliffs above, to the narrow pass behind his attackers, searching for any avenue of escape. The chakra suppression field wouldn't last forever—he just needed to buy time.

His fingers brushed against a small scroll in his weapons pouch—his summoning contract. The rogues hadn't completely cut off his chakra flow, just restricted it. If he could just...

"Now!" he shouted, hurling a smoke bomb at his feet. The dense gray cloud provided momentary confusion as he bit his thumb hard enough to draw blood and unfurled the small scroll with practiced movements.

Please work, Naruto thought desperately, channeling every scrap of remaining chakra he could muster into the summoning jutsu. His palm slammed against the rocky ground, black sealing script spreading outward from the point of contact.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

---

Across dimensions, within a gleaming steel arena in Metal City, Gingka Hagane's arms extended in a dramatic flourish as his launcher locked into position. The roar of the crowd washed over him in waves as he faced his opponent across the Beyblade stadium.

"Let it rip!" he cried, pulling the ripcord with practiced precision. His Storm Pegasus shot forward, blue light trailing behind it as it hit the stadium and immediately began circling the rim with intimidating speed.

"You'll have to do better than that, Gingka!" his opponent called out, directing his own beyblade to intercept. The two spinning tops crashed together, sending sparks flying as they rebounded and circled each other like wary predators.

Gingka's eyes narrowed in concentration, his connection with his beyblade transcending mere command. "Go, Pegasus!"

As Storm Pegasus accelerated into its attack pattern, something strange happened. The beyblade suddenly wobbled, its spin becoming erratic as a faint blue aura surrounded it.

"What's happening?" Gingka murmured, feeling a peculiar tugging sensation in his chest, as though an invisible thread connected to his heart was being pulled taut.

Storm Pegasus began to emit a high-pitched whine, its rotation creating a vortex of energy that spiraled upward. The constellation spirit within the beyblade—the majestic winged horse that gave the beyblade its name—seemed to be responding to some unseen call.

"Pegasus?" Gingka reached out instinctively, fingers extending toward his partner. The connection between blader and beyblade had always been special, but this... this was different. It felt as though Pegasus was simultaneously present and infinitely distant.

The blue aura intensified, streams of stellar energy coursing around the spinning top. The beyblade stadium began to tremble, hairline fractures spreading across its surface.

"What kind of special move is this?" his opponent demanded, backing away as the phenomenon intensified.

But Gingka wasn't executing any technique. His wide amber eyes reflected the startling azure glow as Storm Pegasus lifted off the stadium floor, hovering several inches above it while continuing to spin.

"Something's calling to Pegasus," he whispered, the realization striking him with certainty. "Something... somewhere..."

For a brief, disorienting moment, Gingka saw flashes of another world—stone formations, dense forests, a blond boy surrounded by enemies, desperation etched across features adorned with curious whisker-like markings.

Then Storm Pegasus erupted into a pillar of light that shot toward the sky, momentarily blinding everyone in the arena. When Gingka could see again, the beyblade stadium was empty.

Storm Pegasus was gone.

---

The summoning circle beneath Naruto's palm glowed with unexpected intensity, blindingly bright compared to his previous summons. The familiar puff of smoke expanded outward, but instead of dissipating to reveal one of Gamabunta's offspring, it swirled into a concentrated vortex, crackling with energy that definitely wasn't chakra.

"What did you do?" the bandaged rogue demanded, shielding his eyes from the intensifying light.

Naruto had no answer. His summoning jutsu had never felt like this—like he'd punctured reality itself, creating a doorway to somewhere impossibly distant. The air around the summoning circle hummed with strange energy, vibrating at a frequency that made his teeth ache and his skin prickle with goosebumps.

"Something's coming through," the leader warned, readying her weapons. "Prepare to—"

Her words cut off as a concentrated beam of blue light erupted from the summoning circle, shooting skyward with enough force to create a shockwave that sent everyone staggering backward. Within that column of light, something took shape—massive, majestic, and utterly foreign to their world.

Translucent wings spread wide, spanning nearly twenty feet from tip to tip. A powerful equine body materialized, muscles rippling beneath a coat that seemed composed of starlight itself. A spiraling horn adorned its head, and eyes that contained galaxies fixed upon Naruto with ancient wisdom.

Pegasus had answered his call.

The rogue ninjas recovered quickly, the leader launching a barrage of kunai toward both Naruto and the unexpected summon. "Kill them both!"

The celestial creature reared, its wings creating a gust of wind that deflected the weapons effortlessly. Then it charged, hooves striking sparks against stone as it barreled into the attacking ninjas with unstoppable momentum.

Naruto felt it then—a connection forming between himself and this magnificent being. Not like his link with the toads, built on contract and respect. This was something primal, instantaneous, as though their very souls recognized each other across the void of space and time.

"Who... what are you?" Naruto breathed, azure eyes meeting the creature's gaze.

The winged horse didn't speak, not in words, yet Naruto received an impression—*Pegasus, constellation spirit, guardian of cosmic storms*—that settled into his mind with the clarity of a remembered dream.

The ground trembled as the rogue leader slammed her palms against the earth. "Earth Style: Stone Spear Forest!"

Deadly stone projections erupted from the ground, racing toward Naruto and Pegasus. Without conscious thought, Naruto leapt onto the creature's back, his body moving with instinctive certainty. Pegasus responded immediately, powerful wings beating the air as they soared above the deadly jutsu.

"This isn't possible," the bandaged rogue gasped, his hands trembling as he formed seals. "That's not a summoning animal from any known contract!"

From atop Pegasus, Naruto felt invincible. Chakra flowed through him with renewed vigor, somehow amplified by his connection to the celestial being. He formed his familiar hand sign, grinning down at his enemies.

"Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Dozens of Narutos appeared mid-air, descending upon the rogues like an orange and black deluge. Simultaneously, Pegasus gathered energy at its horn, a swirling vortex of blue power that it released in a concentrated blast. The combination of shadow clones and celestial energy overwhelmed the rogue ninjas' defenses, sending them flying backward into the rock formations.

The shockwave from Pegasus's attack cracked the very stone beneath them, creating a rumbling cascade as boulders broke free and tumbled down the slopes. Naruto guided Pegasus away from the rockslide, watching as the rogue ninjas scrambled to retreat, their confident demeanor shattered by the unexpected turn of events.

"That was... incredible," Naruto breathed, hands resting lightly on Pegasus's neck, feeling the steady pulse of cosmic energy beneath his fingertips.

The winged horse circled once above the battlefield, then gracefully descended to land on a flat expanse of stone. As Naruto slid from its back, Pegasus turned to face him, intelligent eyes studying him with unmistakable curiosity.

Naruto reached out slowly, palm extended. "Thank you. You saved me back there."

Pegasus leaned forward, its muzzle touching Naruto's hand in a gesture of acknowledgment. The connection between them pulsed once more, stronger this time, filling Naruto's mind with fragments of another world—steel arenas, spinning tops infused with the spirits of constellations, a red-haired boy with a white scarf and determined eyes.

"You're not from our world at all, are you?" Naruto whispered, awe coloring his voice.

The celestial horse nickered softly, then suddenly began to glow with the same azure light that had heralded its arrival. Naruto stepped back, watching in fascination as Pegasus's form contracted, condensing into a small, dense object that fell to the ground with a metallic clink.

Where the majestic winged horse had stood moments before, there now lay a strange metal top with blue and silver components. Naruto knelt beside it, carefully lifting the object and turning it in his palm, noting the stylized horse emblazoned on its face.

"What are you?" he murmured, tracing the unfamiliar design with his fingertip.

The metal felt warm against his skin, humming with dormant power. Something told him this wasn't the end of their encounter, but merely the beginning of something far greater than he could comprehend.

The sound of approaching footsteps pulled Naruto from his reverie. He quickly tucked the strange object into his weapons pouch as Kakashi and Sakura emerged from the tree line, both looking battle-worn but triumphant.

"Naruto!" Sakura called out, relief evident in her voice. "We recovered the scroll. Are you okay? We saw this weird blue light and—" She stopped short, taking in the devastated battlefield—cracked earth, scattered boulders, and signs of a power far beyond ordinary jutsu.

Kakashi's visible eye narrowed as he surveyed the scene. "What happened here, Naruto?"

Naruto's hand instinctively moved to his weapons pouch, feeling the reassuring presence of the metal top within. How could he possibly explain what had just occurred? Would they even believe him?

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," he said finally, a grin spreading across his face despite his exhaustion. "But I think I just made a new friend."

As Team 7 regrouped and began their journey back to Konoha, Naruto felt the weight of the strange object against his hip—a small, dense promise of cosmic possibilities that had somehow crossed between worlds to find him.

In the sky above, unnoticed by the ninja below, the stars of the Pegasus constellation shimmered with unusual brightness, as though acknowledging the unprecedented connection that had just been forged—a bond that would soon shake the very foundations of two universes.

# Wings of Destiny: Naruto's Celestial Summoning

## Chapter 2: A Bond Across Worlds

The gates of Konoha loomed before them, bathed in the amber glow of sunset. Naruto's footsteps dragged with exhaustion, but his mind buzzed with electric intensity. The metal object in his pocket seemed to pulse with each heartbeat, a constant reminder that he hadn't imagined the impossible encounter.

"So you're really sticking with that story?" Sakura's voice cut through his thoughts, skepticism dripping from every syllable. "A flying horse made of starlight that turned into a... what did you call it? A spinning top?"

Naruto dug into his weapons pouch and thrust the object toward her. "See for yourself! I don't know what it's called, but it's real!"

Sakura took the blue and silver top, turning it over in her palm with clinical precision. Her jade eyes narrowed, chakra flowing subtly from her fingertips as she tested the object for traps or illusions.

"It's just metal and some kind of polymer," she concluded, flicking it back to him. "Unusual craftsmanship, but I don't sense any chakra."

"That's because it's not chakra!" Naruto clutched the object defensively. "It's... different. Like starlight or something."

Kakashi, who had been walking a few paces ahead, glanced back. The setting sun cast long shadows across his masked face, his one visible eye revealing nothing.

"Whatever it is," he said, voice casual despite the weight of his words, "it left a crater visible from two kilometers away and took out three jonin-level rogues. Lady Tsunade will want a full report."

The streets of Konoha welcomed them home with familiar sounds and scents—sizzling meat from food stalls, children's laughter fading as parents called them home for dinner, the distant clang of training from the academy grounds. But Naruto barely registered any of it, his focus entirely on the strange object nestled in his palm.

---

The Hokage's office felt unusually crowded. Tsunade leaned forward at her desk, amber eyes intense as they locked onto the metal top sitting before her. Shizune hovered nervously by her side, while Jiraiya lounged against the wall, his relaxed posture belying the sharp interest in his gaze.

"Let me get this straight," Tsunade said, her manicured nail tapping against her desk with metronomic precision. "You attempted a standard toad summoning and instead got a... constellation spirit... that transformed into this object?"

Naruto nodded emphatically. "You should have seen it, Granny! Huge wings, body made of light, eyes that looked like they had galaxies in them! And when we fought together—" His hands gestured wildly, nearly knocking over a stack of papers. "It was like nothing I've ever felt before!"

"And now you can't summon it again?" Jiraiya pushed himself off the wall, approaching the desk with newfound interest.

"I've tried everything!" Frustration colored Naruto's voice. "Regular summoning jutsu, blood offerings, even channeling Nine-Tails chakra. Nothing works!"

Jiraiya picked up the object, rolling it between his fingers with practiced ease. "Fascinating construction. Not from any nation I recognize." He placed it back on the desk. "You said it called itself 'Pegasus'?"

"Not in words exactly." Naruto struggled to explain. "More like... I just knew. Like the information appeared in my head."

Tsunade exchanged a meaningful glance with Jiraiya. "Telepathic communication isn't unheard of with certain summons, but cross-dimensional contact?" She shook her head. "This is beyond standard summoning theory."

"Maybe it's not a summon at all," Jiraiya mused, stroking his chin. "At least, not in the traditional sense." He turned to Naruto, eyes alight with scholarly excitement that rarely surfaced. "What if this was a cosmic alignment? There are ancient texts about constellation spirits—entities that exist as patterns of stars but can manifest under specific conditions."

Tsunade snorted. "Are you suggesting he accidentally punctured the barrier between dimensions?"

"Why not?" Jiraiya crossed his arms. "The bijuu themselves are essentially cosmic chakra given form and consciousness. Who's to say other forms of cosmic energy don't exist beyond our understanding?"

Naruto stared at the metal top, its blue surface catching the light. "So how do I call it back?"

"That," Jiraiya said with a wry smile, "is the million-ryo question."

---

The night wrapped around Konoha like a velvet cloak, stars winking into existence one by one. Naruto sat cross-legged on his apartment rooftop, the metal top—he'd taken to calling it Pegasus—resting on the tiles before him. Eleven failed summoning attempts had left him with depleted chakra and mounting frustration.

"Come on," he muttered, forming the hand signs once more. "I know you're in there somewhere."

Blood from his bitten thumb dripped onto the cool metal. Nothing happened—no flash of light, no majestic apparition, not even a twitch of movement from the object itself.

Naruto flopped backward, staring up at the endless expanse of stars. "What am I missing?"

His eyes traced familiar constellations, ones that Iruka-sensei had pointed out years ago during a rare night training exercise. The Hunter. The Dragon. The Great Bear.

Then his gaze fixed on a pattern he'd never noticed before—stars forming the unmistakable outline of a winged horse, galloping across the celestial vault.

"That's it," he whispered, sitting up abruptly. "That's Pegasus!"

The constellation seemed to shimmer in response, a barely perceptible pulse of light that might have been his imagination. Naruto clutched the metal top, holding it up toward the stars as if making an introduction.

"Are you watching me?" he asked the cosmos. "Are you trying to tell me something?"

Only the whisper of a late-night breeze answered him. With a sigh, Naruto pocketed the object and climbed back into his apartment. Sleep came quickly to his exhausted body, even as his mind raced with unanswered questions.

---

In another world, in a city of gleaming metal and flashing lights, Gingka Hagane paced the length of Madoka's workshop for the forty-seventh time. The computer screens around them displayed complex energy readings, waveform analyses, and trajectory calculations—all centered around the mysterious disappearance of Storm Pegasus.

"It just doesn't make sense!" Madoka's voice emerged from beneath a mop of tousled brown hair as she hunched over her keyboard. "Beyblades don't just vanish into thin air!"

Gingka's fist tightened around his launcher, the familiar weight now a painful reminder of absence. "I can still feel Pegasus," he insisted, tapping his chest. "Not gone, just... distant."

Kenta, perched on a workbench nearby, looked up from his own beyblade with concern etching his young features. "Like when you sense its spirit during battle?"

"Different." Gingka closed his eyes, focusing on the tenuous thread of connection that still pulsed faintly within him. "It's like Pegasus is calling to me from somewhere so far away that the signal gets scrambled."

Madoka spun in her chair, pushing her goggles up into her hair. "The energy readings just before Pegasus disappeared were off the charts. Some kind of dimensional anomaly—like a wormhole or a fold in space-time."

"In English, please?" Benkei rumbled from his position by the door, massive arms crossed over his chest.

"Something pulled Pegasus into another dimension," Madoka explained, exasperation coloring her tone. "A parallel world, maybe, or an alternate reality."

Kyoya scoffed from his corner, green eyes narrowed with skepticism. "Parallel worlds? You've been watching too much science fiction."

"Actually," Madoka countered, pulling up a complex graph on her main screen, "the Multi-Constellation Theory suggests that beyblade spirits—especially ancient ones like Pegasus and Leone—exist simultaneously across multiple planes of reality. They're cosmic constants, anchored to their constellations but able to manifest in different dimensions."

Gingka placed his palm against the window, staring up at the night sky where Pegasus had always watched over him. "So something—or someone—in another dimension called to Pegasus with enough power to pull it through?"

"Exactly." Madoka's fingers flew across her keyboard. "And the connection between you and Pegasus means we might be able to trace that energy signature and establish communication."

Hope flared in Gingka's chest. "You mean I could find Pegasus? Bring it back?"

"Theoretically." Madoka's expression turned serious. "But Gingka, if Pegasus formed a new bond with someone in this other dimension, things could get... complicated."

The red-haired blader turned his gaze back to the stars, determination hardening his features. "Pegasus is my partner. Whoever this person is, they need to understand that."

As if in response to his resolve, the Pegasus constellation above pulsed with unusual brightness, a single shooting star streaking across its pattern like a cosmic messenger between worlds.

---

Darkness surrounded Naruto, but not the familiar darkness of his bedroom. This darkness had depth, dimension—a velvety expanse studded with countless pinpricks of light that seemed both infinitely distant and close enough to touch. He floated weightlessly, neither falling nor rising, suspended in a void that somehow felt more like an embrace than an abyss.

"Where am I?" His voice didn't produce sound so much as ripples of light that spread outward through the starscape.

Movement caught his attention—a shimmer of blue against the cosmic backdrop. The silhouette of a magnificent horse approached, each hoofbeat sending waves of stardust billowing in its wake. Wings of pure energy stretched from its shoulders, and its eyes held the wisdom of eons.

Pegasus, Naruto recognized, not with sight but with some deeper sense of knowing.

The celestial being circled him once, cosmic mane flowing like liquid light, before coming to a stop before him. Their eyes met, and Naruto felt the strange connection from their first encounter strengthen into something more substantial—a bridge between minds.

You called to me across the void, a voice resonated in Naruto's consciousness. Not words exactly, but concepts and emotions translated into understanding. Your energy pattern is... unusual. Compatible with my own in ways I've never encountered.

"I didn't mean to pull you from your world," Naruto replied, finding he could communicate through focused thought. "I was just trying to summon a toad."

Amusement rippled from Pegasus, like starlight dancing across water. Dimensions are more permeable than most realize. Your chakra—particularly the ancient energy you harbor within you—resonated with my cosmic frequency at precisely the moment when the constellation barriers were thinnest.

Images flashed through Naruto's mind—a red-haired boy with fierce eyes, spinning tops clashing in elaborate arenas, spirits of constellations manifesting in spectacular battles, and the deep bond between Pegasus and its chosen partner.

"Gingka," Naruto murmured, the name appearing in his thoughts from the shared images. "He's your partner."

Sadness tinged the mental connection. For many cycles, yes. Our bond remains, though stretched thin across the dimensional barrier. He searches for me even now.

Guilt washed through Naruto. "I should find a way to send you back."

Not so simple, Pegasus replied. The pathway between worlds is unstable, dangerous to traverse without proper harmonization. And our connection, unexpected though it was, has already begun to take root.

The cosmic horse moved closer, its muzzle nearly touching Naruto's forehead. You possess extraordinary energy—both your own and that of the ancient being within you. But to properly channel my power in your world, you must learn to harmonize your chakra with cosmic energy.

"How do I do that?" Naruto asked, reaching out to touch the star-spun mane that flickered and flowed like living flame.

Find the resonance point between intention and intuition. Your chakra flows like water through channels; cosmic energy radiates like light in all directions simultaneously. Where these patterns overlap—there you will find our harmony.

The void around them began to pulse, stars blinking faster as the dream-space fluctuated. Pegasus backed away, its form beginning to dissolve into motes of light.

Our time here grows short. Dawn approaches in your world.

"Wait!" Naruto called out, reaching toward the fading apparition. "Will I see you again? How do I call you?"

Pegasus reared majestically, wings spreading wide enough to encompass galaxies. I exist in both worlds now, tethered to two souls. Look to the stars, Naruto Uzumaki. My constellation will guide you.

As the magnificent being dissolved completely, its final thoughts drifted to Naruto like whispered secrets: The object you possess is more than mere metal. It is a vessel—a focal point for cosmic energy. Learn its purpose, and you will unlock our true potential.

The star-filled void collapsed around Naruto, reality rushing back in a dizzying whirl of sensation and sound.

---

Naruto bolted upright, sheets tangled around his legs and sweat beading on his forehead. Morning sunlight streamed through his window, birds chattering noisily on the sill. The dream clung to him with unusual vividness, details crystalline instead of fading with wakefulness.

"Pegasus," he whispered, reaching instinctively for his weapons pouch where he'd stored the metal top before sleeping.

His fingers froze mid-motion as his gaze fell on the small table beside his bed. There, gleaming in the morning light as if it had always belonged there, sat the blue and silver top. Only now, it pulsed with a faint inner light that rhythmically matched his own heartbeat.

Naruto approached it cautiously, half-expecting it to vanish like a mirage. When his fingers brushed against the cool metal, a spark of energy—neither chakra nor the Nine-Tails' power, but something entirely new—leapt between them, forming a momentary thread of light that connected his hand to the object.

"You really are here," he breathed, lifting the beyblade reverently. "In both worlds at once."

The realization settled over him with profound weight. Whatever had happened during that desperate summoning jutsu, it had forged something unprecedented—a bridge between dimensions, with Pegasus straddling the divide and Naruto now connected to a world he barely understood.

He turned the object slowly, noting details he hadn't seen before: the intricate face bolt emblazoned with Pegasus's image, the metal wheel with wing-like projections, the blue energy ring that seemed to capture and refract light in impossible ways.

Naruto grinned, the familiar determination igniting in his eyes as he clutched the beyblade.

"Alright, Pegasus," he declared to the empty room, voice brimming with certainty. "Let's figure this out together."

Outside his window, high in the morning sky, a single star still shone—the brightest point in the Pegasus constellation, visible even in daylight as it watched over two worlds and the unprecedented bond that now connected them.

# Wings of Destiny: Naruto's Celestial Summoning

## Chapter 3: Learning to Soar

The morning exploded with sound as Naruto crashed through the underbrush, twigs snapping like brittle bones beneath his sandals. Sweat plastered blonde hair to his forehead, his chest heaving with exertion. Behind him, Jiraiya's booming voice cut through the forest.

"Again! You're holding back!"

Naruto skidded to a halt, dirt billowing around his ankles. The weight of the blue and silver beyblade felt heavier than it should in his palm. "I'm trying, Pervy Sage! But this thing doesn't work like regular jutsu!"

Three days of training had yielded frustratingly little progress. The majestic winged horse hadn't reappeared since that fateful mission, despite Naruto's increasingly creative attempts to summon it.

Jiraiya landed beside him with surprising grace for a man his size, white mane flowing dramatically in the morning breeze. "Stop thinking of it as a summoning animal." He snatched the beyblade from Naruto's hand, holding it up to catch the dappled sunlight filtering through the canopy. "Whatever this is, it's not bound by a blood contract like the toads."

"Then what am I supposed to do?" Naruto's voice cracked with frustration.

Jiraiya tossed the beyblade back, his expression uncharacteristically serious. "Tell me again what Pegasus said in your dream."

Naruto closed his eyes, recalling the vast cosmic void where stars had served as words. "That this thing is a vessel. A focal point for cosmic energy." His fingers traced the winged horse emblem on the beyblade's face. "And something about harmonizing my chakra with cosmic energy."

"Hmm." Jiraiya stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Have you tried launching it?"

"Launching it?"

"In your dream, didn't you see images of this object spinning? People using devices to set it in motion?"

Naruto's eyes widened. "Yeah! There was this red-haired kid with a launcher thing, and—"

"So maybe," Jiraiya cut in, eyes twinkling with the thrill of discovery, "it needs kinetic energy to activate. Not just chakra, but physical motion."

Naruto stared down at the beyblade. Could it really be that simple? Without a proper launcher like he'd seen in his dream-visions, how could he—

"Try this." Jiraiya produced a length of sturdy cord from one of his many pockets. "Thread it through that hole in the center, then pull it quickly while releasing the object."

With fumbling fingers, Naruto followed the instructions, looping the cord through the beyblade's center. He held the metal top in his left hand, cord wrapped around his right index finger. Closing one eye in concentration, he gave an experimental tug.

Nothing happened except the beyblade wobbling pathetically in his grip.

"You need to release it as you pull," Jiraiya instructed, demonstrating the motion. "Like casting a fishing line, but with a snap at the end."

Naruto tried again, this time flicking his wrist as he yanked the cord. The beyblade leapt from his hand, spinning erratically before colliding with a tree root and toppling over.

"Well," Jiraiya said with a poorly concealed smirk, "at least it spun."

Naruto glared at him, retrieving the beyblade. "I'd like to see you do better."

"This isn't my cosmic horse from another dimension," Jiraiya laughed, ruffling Naruto's hair. "But I suspect there's more to this than just making it spin. Focus on your connection to Pegasus while you launch it."

Naruto positioned himself again, feet planted firmly on the forest floor. This time, he closed his eyes momentarily, envisioning the magnificent constellation spirit from his dream. He reached for that peculiar resonance he'd felt—not quite chakra, not quite the Nine-Tails' energy, but something that existed in the spaces between.

"Let it rip!" The unfamiliar phrase sprang from his lips unbidden, feeling right somehow as he pulled the cord with decisive force.

The beyblade shot forward with startling velocity, a blur of blue and silver that seemed to leave a trail of light in its wake. It hit the ground spinning, but instead of wobbling to a stop, it maintained its rotation, carving a precise circle in the dirt.

"I did it!" Naruto pumped his fist in the air.

Then the real miracle happened. The spinning beyblade began to emit a soft blue glow, pulsing in rhythm with Naruto's heartbeat. The light expanded outward, not fully materializing the majestic horse, but creating a translucent aura that suggested its shape—spectral wings extending from the spinning top as it accelerated.

"Fascinating," Jiraiya breathed, crouching to observe the phenomenon. "It's a partial manifestation. The spirit is present, but not fully summoned into our dimension."

Naruto felt it—the connection humming between himself and Pegasus, stronger than before but different from his bond with the toads. This wasn't about command and obedience; it was resonance, two energies harmonizing across an impossible divide.

"Now try directing it," Jiraiya suggested, pointing to a small boulder several meters away. "See if you can make it move where you want."

Naruto extended his hand, focusing on the boulder. The connection wavered, like trying to tune a radio to a distant station. Come on, Pegasus. Let's show him what we can do.

The beyblade's spin faltered momentarily, then surged with renewed vigor. It changed direction with a sharp curve, shooting toward the boulder with unexpected speed. When it struck the rock, the impact released a concentrated burst of energy that cracked the stone clean down the middle.

"Whoa!" Naruto's jaw dropped as the boulder split apart. "Did you see that?!"

Jiraiya's expression shifted from amusement to analytical intensity. "There's definitely power there, but it's wild, unrefined." He folded his arms across his broad chest. "You need more control, more precision. And we need to understand exactly what we're dealing with."

---

"You want me to do what now?" Shikamaru's perpetually bored expression gained a rare hint of interest as he eyed the beyblade resting on the grass between them.

The afternoon sun cast long shadows across Training Ground Seven, where Naruto had gathered Shikamaru and Neji at Jiraiya's suggestion. The Sage himself had disappeared on "urgent research"—which probably meant peeping at the hot springs, but Naruto wasn't about to complain if it also involved finding answers about Pegasus.

"Just help me figure out what it is," Naruto urged, nudging the beyblade toward the Nara genius with his foot. "Pervy Sage thinks your analytical skills might spot something we've missed."

Shikamaru sighed his trademark what-a-drag sigh, but picked up the object with surprising care. "Metal composition is unusual," he noted immediately, testing its weight. "And the balance is exceptional."

Neji knelt beside them, pale eyes narrowed in concentration. "The craftsmanship isn't like anything from the Five Great Nations. Too precise for hand-forging."

"Can you check it with your Byakugan?" Naruto asked, practically vibrating with impatience.

Neji activated his dōjutsu without a word, veins bulging around his eyes as his penetrating gaze focused on the beyblade. Several seconds passed in silence, his expression shifting from clinical detachment to puzzled intensity.

"Well?" Naruto finally blurted.

"It's... unusual." Neji's voice held a note of genuine confusion—a rarity for the composed Hyūga. "I can see chakra pathways within it, but they don't contain chakra."

Shikamaru's eyebrows shot up. "Empty pathways?"

"Not empty." Neji tilted his head slightly, as if viewing the object from another angle. "Filled with something else. An energy that isn't chakra, doesn't flow like chakra, but interacts with the physical world in similar ways."

"Cosmic energy," Naruto said with certainty. "That's what Pegasus called it in my dream."

"Whatever it is," Neji continued, "it's responding to your presence, Naruto. The energy flow increases when you're closer, almost like it's... reaching for you."

Shikamaru set the beyblade spinning with a casual flick, watching its motion with calculating eyes. "Fascinating physics. It's maintaining angular momentum far longer than it should based on the initial force applied."

"Show them what it can do," Jiraiya's voice boomed as he strolled into the clearing, carrying a stack of scrolls under one arm. "Let's see if they can help you refine your control."

For the next hour, Naruto demonstrated everything he'd learned—which wasn't much, but enough to raise eyebrows. The beyblade responded to his thoughts, albeit sluggishly and with limited precision. It could accelerate suddenly, change direction, and deliver impacts with far more force than its size should allow.

"It's like a remotely controlled weapon," Neji observed after watching the beyblade shatter a small tree stump.

"But clumsy," Shikamaru added, causing Naruto to shoot him an indignant look. "What? It is. Your control is inconsistent. Sometimes it responds instantly, other times there's a lag."

"That's because he's trying to control it like a jutsu," Jiraiya interjected, unfurling one of his scrolls. "But I think I've found something useful. Ancient texts mention cosmic energy responding to emotional resonance more than technical precision."

"Meaning?" Naruto frowned.

"Meaning," Jiraiya grinned, "stop overthinking it. Feel the connection instead."

"That's not exactly helpful advice," Naruto grumbled.

Neji suddenly straightened, Byakugan still active. "Try channeling your wind-nature chakra into it."

"Huh?"

"The energy pathways in that object," Neji explained, pointing precisely at the beyblade, "they resemble wind chakra circulation patterns. Perhaps that's the resonance point—the place where your energy and its energy can harmonize."

Naruto scooped up the beyblade, cradling it in his palm. Wind chakra was his natural affinity, the element he'd worked so hard to master with Kakashi's training. Could that be the key?

"Worth a shot," he muttered, launching the beyblade with his improvised cord system. As it spun across the grass, he focused on the sensation of wind chakra—sharp, free-flowing, cutting.

Just like splitting a leaf, he thought, visualizing his chakra extending outward from his core, through his arm, into the spinning beyblade.

The reaction was immediate and dramatic. The beyblade's blue aura intensified tenfold, expanding into a miniature whirlwind that kicked up dirt and grass in a spiraling column. The spectral suggestion of wings became more distinct, more solid, as the beyblade's rotation accelerated beyond visible tracking.

"Now that's more like it!" Jiraiya shouted over the suddenly howling wind.

Naruto grinned, feeling the connection solidify into something tangible. He extended his hand, and the beyblade responded instantaneously, shooting across the training ground in a blur of blue light.

"Try an attack pattern!" Shikamaru called out, his usual laziness forgotten in the face of scientific curiosity.

Naruto nodded, focusing on the largest boulder at the edge of the field. But instead of just sending Pegasus directly at it, he envisioned a spiraling approach—like his Rasengan, a vortex of concentrated power.

The beyblade responded beautifully, curving into a tight spiral that built momentum with each revolution. When it finally struck the boulder, the impact released not just force but a focused blade of wind that sliced through the stone like it was butter.

"Holy—" Shikamaru's exclamation cut off as the two halves of the massive rock toppled apart.

Neji's Byakugan widened slightly—his version of extreme surprise. "The chakra and cosmic energy synchronized perfectly during that attack. They amplified each other."

Naruto recalled the beyblade with a thought, the spinning top returning to his outstretched hand with unerring precision. The metal felt warm against his skin, humming with power and something that felt oddly like satisfaction.

"I think," he said, grinning broadly, "Pegasus and I are starting to understand each other."

---

Miles away, deep within a candlelit cavern carved into the mountains bordering the Land of Fire, five figures knelt before a sixth seated on an elevated stone chair. The kneeling ninjas bore fresh wounds and haunted expressions—the survivors of the rogue group that had encountered Naruto days earlier.

"You expect me to believe this story?" The seated figure's voice echoed softly against the rough stone walls, feminine yet commanding. Candlelight glinted off a traditional theater mask that concealed her features—porcelain white with crimson markings suggesting a fox. "A flying horse made of stars?"

"We wouldn't dare lie to you, Lady Kitsune," the leader of the rogues replied, head bowed low. "The Nine-Tails jinchūriki summoned something unprecedented. It wasn't a standard summoning animal."

"And this... creature... transformed into some kind of metal object?" Lady Kitsune leaned forward slightly, the mask betraying nothing of her thoughts.

"Yes, my lady. After defeating us, the spirit changed shape. Uzumaki took it with him."

Silence stretched for several uncomfortable seconds before Lady Kitsune rose from her seat. She moved with liquid grace to a cluttered table at the far side of the cavern, where scrolls and artifacts from a dozen different nations lay in organized disarray.

"Interesting timing," she murmured, unrolling an ancient star chart. "The celestial convergence approaches—when the barrier between dimensions grows thinnest." Her finger traced a constellation pattern. "And you say this occurred when the Pegasus constellation was directly overhead?"

"I... didn't notice the stars at the time, my lady," the rogue admitted.

Lady Kitsune turned back to face her subordinates, mask gleaming eerily in the flickering light. "No matter. You've brought me valuable information regardless." She approached the kneeling ninjas, her midnight blue robes whispering against the stone floor. "A power from beyond our dimension, bound to the Nine-Tails jinchūriki... how perfectly fortuitous."

"What are your orders, my lady?" the rogue leader asked.

"Monitor the boy, but do not engage." Lady Kitsune's voice carried a smile her mask concealed. "I want to see what this power develops into before we attempt to... liberate it from its current master."

---

Back in Konoha, twilight painted the Hokage Tower in shades of amber and gold as Naruto demonstrated his progress to a skeptical Tsunade. The crater his beyblade created in her office wall was significantly more impressive than he'd intended.

"Sorry about that," he said sheepishly, recalling Pegasus to his hand as plaster dust settled on Tsunade's paperwork.

The Fifth Hokage's eyebrow twitched dangerously. "Naruto..."

"But did you see how awesome that was?" he interrupted excitedly. "I channeled my wind chakra into Pegasus and—"

"And nearly destroyed my office!" Tsunade slammed her palm on her desk, causing several scrolls to roll onto the floor. "This isn't a toy, Naruto. We still don't understand what we're dealing with."

Jiraiya, leaning against the door frame with studied casualness, cleared his throat. "To be fair, he's making remarkable progress. The synchronization between his chakra and this cosmic energy is advancing faster than I anticipated."

"That's exactly my concern," Tsunade replied, fixing Naruto with a penetrating stare. "Unknown power, advancing rapidly, with a teenage boy who's not exactly known for restraint."

"Hey!" Naruto protested.

"She has a point," Jiraiya conceded with a chuckle. "But I'm keeping close watch on his training. There's no indication the power is dangerous or corrupting."

Tsunade sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "That's not my only concern." She pulled a sealed document from her desk drawer, breaking the security seal with a pulse of chakra. "Intelligence reports are coming in from our border patrols. There's unusual movement among several criminal organizations, all converging toward Fire Country."

"The Akatsuki?" Naruto asked, suddenly serious.

"Not just them." Tsunade's amber eyes narrowed. "At least three separate groups have shown interest in rumors of a 'celestial summoning' witnessed near our northern border. Word travels fast in the underground."

"Great," Naruto muttered. "More people trying to capture me. What else is new?"

"This isn't just about you or the Nine-Tails this time," Tsunade countered sharply. "Whatever this Pegasus is, it represents a form of power previously unknown in our world. Every collector of rare jutsu, every power-hungry rogue, every researcher of forbidden techniques—they'll all want to acquire it."

The implications sank in slowly. Naruto's hand tightened protectively around the beyblade. "Let them try. Pegasus chose me."

"Which is why," Jiraiya interjected smoothly, "we need to accelerate your training. If you're going to be a target anyway, better you have full mastery of this new power."

Tsunade's expression didn't soften, but she nodded reluctantly. "Agreed. But with conditions." She fixed Naruto with a stern glare. "No using this power inside the village walls. No solo training sessions. And Jiraiya stays with you at all times when you're practicing."

"What about missions?" Naruto asked.

"For now, you're off the regular mission roster." Tsunade held up a hand to forestall his protest. "Consider mastering this new ability your mission. It's not just about adding to your arsenal, Naruto. We need to understand if there are broader implications to having this... interdimensional entity connected to our world."

Naruto wanted to argue, but the seriousness in Tsunade's eyes stopped him. Instead, he nodded, tucking Pegasus safely into his weapons pouch. "I understand, Granny. But I'm telling you, this is going to be amazing once I get the hang of it!"

Tsunade's severe expression cracked slightly. "Just don't destroy half the forest in the process, brat."

As Naruto and Jiraiya left the office, the Toad Sage placed a heavy hand on his student's shoulder. "She's right to be cautious, you know. New forms of power always draw unwanted attention."

"I know," Naruto replied, uncharacteristically subdued. "But Pegasus doesn't feel dangerous. It feels... right, somehow. Like it was supposed to find me."

"Perhaps it was," Jiraiya mused, guiding them toward Ichiraku Ramen. "The universe works in mysterious ways. Now, how about some dinner before tomorrow's training? I want to try combining your Rasengan with this beyblade power."

Naruto's eyes lit up like stars. "Seriously? A Pegasus Rasengan?"

"If it works," Jiraiya grinned, "it'll be spectacular. If it fails..." He shrugged dramatically. "Well, at least we'll make an impressive crater."

---

Dawn broke over the training grounds as Naruto stood facing a massive boulder, beyblade clutched in his right hand, determination etched on his features. Jiraiya watched from a safe distance—emphasis on "safe"—as his student prepared for the experimental technique they'd discussed the previous night.

"Remember," the Toad Sage called out, "this isn't about forcing the energies to combine. Find the harmony between them!"

Naruto nodded, focusing on the now-familiar sensation of his connection with Pegasus. The beyblade seemed to pulse in his grip, eager for what was to come.

"Alright," he whispered to the object, "let's show everyone what we can really do."

With practiced motion, he launched the beyblade, sending it spinning toward the boulder in a streak of blue light. As it raced forward, Naruto extended his right hand, summoning his chakra into the familiar spiraling sphere of the Rasengan.

But instead of attacking with the Rasengan directly, he focused on channeling its energy pattern toward Pegasus. The connection between them stretched, hummed, then solidified into a blazing thread of combined power.

"Now!" Naruto shouted, pushing his wind-nature chakra into both the Rasengan and, through their connection, into Pegasus simultaneously.

The effect was instantaneous and breathtaking. The beyblade's spectral aura expanded dramatically, the ghostly suggestion of wings becoming a magnificent translucent stallion that galloped alongside its spinning physical form. Simultaneously, Naruto's Rasengan transformed, stretching into an elongated spiral that connected to Pegasus's aura.

When the combined attack struck the boulder, the resulting explosion sent shock waves rippling across the training ground. Dust and debris billowed outward in a perfect circle, forcing even Jiraiya to shield his eyes with his arm.

As the dust settled, Naruto stood wide-eyed at the center of a crater that definitely hadn't been there before. The boulder wasn't merely broken—it had been pulverized into fine gravel. More impressively, the destruction followed a perfect spiral pattern etched into the ground, as though a cosmic drill had bored through the earth.

"Did you... mean to do that?" Jiraiya asked, approaching cautiously.

Naruto shook his head slowly, a grin spreading across his face as Pegasus returned to his outstretched hand, the beyblade warm and humming with satisfied energy.

"Not exactly," he admitted. "But it was way better than I imagined!"

Jiraiya surveyed the destruction with mingled awe and concern. "Tsunade's going to kill me for authorizing this."

"Worth it though, right?" Naruto beamed, holding up the beyblade triumphantly. "Pegasus and I just created a whole new jutsu! I'm calling it 'Cosmic Spiral Rasengan'!"

As if in response, the beyblade pulsed with blue light, its connection to Naruto growing stronger with each successful synchronization. Above them, unseen in the morning sky, the Pegasus constellation shimmered briefly—a silent acknowledgment from across the dimensional barrier.

In two worlds simultaneously, the legend of Naruto and Pegasus was taking flight.

# Wings of Destiny: Naruto's Celestial Summoning

## Chapter 4: Worlds in Parallel

Sunset painted Metal City's skyline in blazing oranges and deep purples, the modern glass towers reflecting light like pillars of fire against the darkening sky. Gingka Hagane stood alone on the rooftop of the WBBA headquarters, scarf fluttering in the evening breeze, amber eyes fixed on the spot where the Pegasus constellation would soon appear.

His fingers traced the outline of his empty launcher for the hundredth time that day. The familiar weight of Storm Pegasus—his partner, his friend—remained an aching absence at his side.

"I know you're still out there," he whispered to the emerging stars. "I can feel you."

And he could. Throughout the past week, the tenuous thread connecting him to Pegasus had strengthened in unpredictable surges—moments when the bond flared so brightly that Gingka could almost see through his partner's eyes. Glimpses of a world both familiar and utterly alien: forests taller than skyscrapers, people moving with impossible speed, a blonde boy with whisker marks and eyes that burned with determination so similar to his own.

The door to the rooftop swung open with a metallic groan. Madoka's footsteps approached, her presence as familiar to Gingka as his own heartbeat.

"I thought I'd find you up here," she said, joining him at the railing. The last rays of sunlight caught in her auburn hair, lighting it like copper wire. "Any change?"

Gingka didn't look away from the deepening twilight. "It's getting stronger. The connection. This morning during training, I felt Pegasus... battling."

"Battling?" Alarm sharpened Madoka's voice. "You mean someone's using Pegasus to beyblade without you?"

"Not beyblade exactly." Gingka struggled to articulate the sensation. "Different, but familiar. Like Pegasus was... dancing with energy. Raw power that feels ancient and new at the same time."

Madoka pulled her portable analyzer from her pocket, its holographic display casting her face in blue light. "The dimensional readings have been fluctuating wildly. Look at this energy signature."

The hologram showed a pulsing waveform, erratic yet following a pattern that reminded Gingka of a heartbeat.

"That spike there," Madoka pointed, "happened exactly when you said you felt the connection strengthen. And this one matches when you mentioned seeing flashes of... wherever Pegasus is now."

"It's not just flashes anymore." Gingka's voice dropped to a near-whisper. "I had a dream last night. I was floating in space, surrounded by stars. Pegasus was there, but also... not there. Split somehow, existing in two places at once."

Madoka's eyes widened behind her goggles. "That matches my theory! The cosmic energy binding Pegasus to its beyblade—it's a constant across dimensions. When Pegasus was pulled through, it didn't transfer completely. It created a stable connection, anchored at both ends."

"So Pegasus exists in both worlds now?" Gingka's heart leapt with renewed hope.

"In a manner of speaking." Madoka adjusted settings on her analyzer, bringing up a complex dimensional model. "Think of it like a rubber band, stretched between two points. The further it stretches, the more tension builds. Eventually..."

"It either breaks or snaps back," Gingka finished, a knot forming in his stomach.

Madoka nodded grimly. "And right now, it's still stretching."

The first stars of the Pegasus constellation blinked into existence above them, brighter than they had any right to be. Gingka reached toward them instinctively, and for a breathless moment, he could have sworn he felt someone reaching back.

---

Half a world and one dimension away, Naruto sat cross-legged beneath a gnarled oak tree, dust motes dancing in the shafts of afternoon sunlight that penetrated the forest canopy. The beyblade rested on a flat stone before him, its metal surface gleaming with subtle power.

"Focus on your breathing," Yamato instructed from where he stood several paces away, his voice low and even. "Find the center of your chakra, then reach beyond it."

Naruto's eyelids fluttered closed. The sounds of the forest—rustling leaves, distant birdsong, the burble of a nearby stream—faded as he turned his awareness inward. The familiar swirl of his chakra network came into focus, blue energy flowing through pathways as familiar as the streets of Konoha.

But now, intertwined with that energy, ran threads of something else—something that pulsed with starlight and cosmic rhythms.

"I can see it," Naruto murmured, his physical voice seeming distant to his own ears. "The cosmic energy. It's like... rivers of starlight flowing alongside my chakra."

"Follow those rivers," Yamato urged. "See where they lead."

Naruto's consciousness drifted along the shimmering streams, past the swirling vortex of his own chakra, beyond even the massive, ancient presence of the Nine-Tails that slumbered in its cage. The cosmic pathways stretched onward, thinning to delicate silver threads that disappeared into what felt like infinite distance.

He reached out, following the brightest thread, and suddenly—

Vertigo. Disorientation. The sensation of falling upward through a midnight sky studded with impossibly bright stars.

And then he was there, floating in the cosmic void that had become strangely familiar in the past weeks. The vast emptiness wasn't empty at all, but rather teeming with currents of energy, swirling nebulae of possibility, constellations that pulsed like heartbeats.

A familiar presence approached—Pegasus, magnificent and ethereal, its galactic wings spanning what felt like light-years.

"You're getting better at this," the mental voice resonated, filled with approval. "Your consciousness travels the cosmic pathways with increasing ease."

"It's still weird," Naruto admitted, his thoughts manifesting as pulses of blue light. "Awesome, but weird."

The celestial horse circled him playfully, stardust trailing in its wake. "You've been experimenting with our combined power. The Rasengan fusion was... unexpected."

"Good unexpected or bad unexpected?"

Amusement rippled through their connection. "Creatively unexpected. In my world, my power usually manifests in very specific patterns. Your chakra techniques add new dimensions to what's possible."

Naruto's consciousness expanded with pride. "Wait until you see what else I've been working on! Pervy Sage thinks we might be able to—"

A sudden ripple disturbed the cosmic void, causing the stars around them to flicker and dim. Pegasus's form wavered, becoming briefly transparent before resolidifying.

"What was that?" Naruto asked, alarm coursing through him.

"Another consciousness, reaching for me." Pegasus's mental voice grew distant, stretched thin. "Gingka. My partner from the other world. He grows stronger in his connection as well."

The void shimmered, and for a dizzying moment, Naruto caught a glimpse of somewhere else—a city of gleaming towers unlike anything in the Five Great Nations, a red-haired boy standing on a rooftop, reaching toward the stars with an expression of fierce determination.

"He's looking for you," Naruto realized, unexpected empathy washing through him. "He misses you."

"Yes." Sadness tinged Pegasus's voice. "Our bond has spanned many battles, many years. It was not meant to be severed this way."

Guilt coiled through Naruto's consciousness. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to take you from him."

"You didn't." Pegasus moved closer, its starlight mane brushing against Naruto's manifested form. "Cosmic forces beyond either of you created this situation. And perhaps for a purpose we don't yet understand."

The ripple came again, stronger this time. The cosmic void lurched, and suddenly Naruto could see the red-haired boy more clearly—could almost hear his voice calling across the dimensional barrier.

"He can feel us talking," Naruto whispered in awe.

"The boundaries between worlds grow thinner each day," Pegasus confirmed. "Soon, more than just consciousness may be able to cross."

Before Naruto could ask what that meant, a third presence intruded on their communion—vast, ancient, and unmistakably malevolent. Red chakra bled into the starry void like spilled ink, and a rumbling voice that Naruto knew all too well reverberated through the cosmic space.

"**So this is the interloper that's been feeding on my host's chakra,**" the Nine-Tails growled, its fox-shaped chakra manifestation stalking into view, nine tails lashing with irritation. "**A glorified horse from beyond the stars. I'm not impressed.**"

"Kurama!" Naruto's shock pulsed through the void. "How did you get here?"

The massive fox fixed him with a baleful crimson stare. "**Your meditation opened pathways beyond your seal, kit. Did you think I wouldn't notice? Wouldn't investigate?**"

Pegasus stood its ground, unfazed by the fox's intimidating presence. "Ancient One," it acknowledged with dignified respect. "I am not your enemy, nor do I feed on your host. Our energies resonate, nothing more."

"**Resonate.**" The fox's laugh rumbled like distant thunder. "**You've been pulling on his chakra—and by extension, mine—since you arrived in our world. I can taste your foreign energy polluting his pathways.**"

"That's not true!" Naruto protested. "Pegasus has been helping me!"

"**Has it?**" Kurama circled the cosmic horse, tails weaving hypnotic patterns through the starscape. "**Or has it been preparing you as a conduit? A bridge between worlds can carry traffic in both directions, Naruto.**"

Uncertainty flickered through Naruto's consciousness. "What do you mean?"

Before the fox could answer, the cosmic void lurched violently. Stars blurred into streaks of light, and the delicate balance between the three entities shattered as their energies collided in chaotic patterns.

"Too many consciousnesses," Pegasus warned, its form beginning to dissipate. "The connection grows unstable—"

"**This isn't over, constellation spirit,**" Kurama snarled as the void collapsed around them. "**I protect what's mine.**"

Reality rushed back with the force of a physical blow. Naruto's eyes snapped open, his body pitching forward as he gasped for air. The forest spun around him, colors too bright, sounds too sharp after the ethereal quiet of the cosmic void.

"Naruto!" Yamato's voice seemed to come from miles away. "What happened? Your chakra went haywire!"

Pain lanced through Naruto's right arm. He clutched at it, staring in shock as glowing blue lines appeared beneath his skin, tracing patterns that mirrored the Pegasus constellation. The marks pulsed once, twice, then faded to faint silver outlines that remained etched into his flesh like luminous tattoos.

"Nine-Tails," he managed through gritted teeth. "It confronted Pegasus in the cosmic space. They... didn't get along."

Yamato's face tightened with concern. "This is exactly what we were afraid of. We need to get you to Kakashi immediately."

---

Kakashi Hatake had seen many strange things in his years as a shinobi, but the shifting, constellation-shaped seal now adorning his former student's arm ranked high on the list. He traced one gloved finger above the marks, careful not to touch them directly as his Sharingan cataloged the intricate pattern.

"Fascinating." His visible eye crinkled with what might have been a smile or a frown—impossible to tell beneath his mask. "It's not chakra-based, at least not entirely. The Sharingan can see it, but the patterns are... unfamiliar."

They stood in a sealed room deep beneath the Hokage Tower, where sensitive fuinjutsu research was conducted away from prying eyes. Scrolls and reference texts littered the central table, hastily gathered by Yamato during their urgent journey back to the village.

Naruto flexed his marked arm experimentally. "It doesn't hurt anymore. Actually, it kind of... hums. Like Pegasus's energy is flowing through it."

"That's what concerns me." Kakashi straightened, fixing Naruto with a serious stare. "This seal formed spontaneously, without your knowledge or consent. We have no idea what its purpose might be."

"Pegasus wouldn't hurt me," Naruto insisted, though a seed of doubt had taken root since the Nine-Tails' accusation.

"Perhaps not intentionally." Yamato joined them at the table, setting down yet another ancient scroll. "But as I've been trying to warn you, Naruto, this is uncharted territory. The interaction between cosmic energy, your chakra, and the Nine-Tails seal could have unpredictable consequences."

A knock at the door interrupted them. Tsunade entered without waiting for a response, Jiraiya close behind. The Hokage's sharp gaze immediately fixed on Naruto's arm, her medical training evident in the clinical way she assessed the marks.

"So it's true." She approached rapidly, taking Naruto's wrist in a grip that brooked no resistance. "Yamato's messenger said new markings had appeared."

"It happened during meditation," Naruto explained as Tsunade examined the constellation pattern. "I was communicating with Pegasus when the Nine-Tails crashed the party. They had a... disagreement."

"That's putting it mildly," Jiraiya commented, peering over Tsunade's shoulder. "These marks follow the exact pattern of the Pegasus constellation. See how the brightest star corresponds to this larger node near his wrist?"

Tsunade's fingers pressed against the node, and Naruto gasped as the entire seal flared with blue light. The beyblade, sitting innocuously on the table, simultaneously pulsed with matching radiance.

"They're linked," she murmured, releasing his wrist. "The seal responds to stimulus, and the object mirrors it exactly."

"It's a conduit," Jiraiya realized aloud. "Not just a focal point for power, but a direct connection to the cosmic energy Pegasus represents."

Kakashi leaned against the table, arms crossed. "The question is, does this seal enhance the Nine-Tails seal, interfere with it, or operate independently?"

"Only one way to find out." Jiraiya's expression turned serious as he locked eyes with Naruto. "We need to see what happens when you access Nine-Tails chakra while consciously connecting with Pegasus."

Naruto swallowed hard. "After what just happened, I'm not sure that's a great idea."

"Which is exactly why we're doing it here, under controlled conditions," Tsunade countered, her tone allowing no argument. "With three jōnin-level shinobi and a Sannin ready to intervene if something goes wrong."

Yamato stepped forward, extending his palm to reveal the special suppression seal embedded in his hand. "I'll maintain control of the Nine-Tails chakra if it begins to overpower you."

Naruto looked from face to face, seeing the resolve in each of his mentors' expressions. Finally, he nodded, moving to the center of the room where protective seals had been inlaid into the floor decades ago.

"How should I do this?" he asked, suddenly nervous.

"Start by accessing a minimal amount of the Nine-Tails chakra," Jiraiya instructed, taking position at one corner of the room. "Just enough to create the initial aura. Then attempt to establish your connection with Pegasus simultaneously."

Naruto closed his eyes, centering himself with a deep breath. He reached inward, toward the familiar reservoir of the Nine-Tails' power. Despite their confrontation in the cosmic void, the fox didn't resist as Naruto drew a thin stream of its chakra outward.

Red energy began to shimmer around his body, creating the distinctive aura that had become his signature in serious battles. The power hummed through his system, heightening his senses, strengthening his muscles.

"Good," Jiraiya murmured. "Now, reach for Pegasus."

Naruto extended his marked arm toward the beyblade on the table. The constellation pattern began to glow, rivulets of blue light flowing between the star-points like cosmic rivers. He focused on the sensation of Pegasus—the majesty, the freedom, the boundless stellar energy that had become increasingly familiar.

For a moment, nothing happened beyond the intensifying glow of the seal. Then—

The beyblade shot from the table of its own accord, flying into Naruto's outstretched hand with a sound like a thunderclap. Blue and red energies collided around him in visible waves, fighting for dominance, creating a purple storm of conflicting power that whipped through the room like a cyclone.

Pain seared through Naruto's arm as the constellation seal expanded, lines of light spreading across his chest, up his neck, branching toward his face. Simultaneously, the Nine-Tails chakra flared in response, the red aura intensifying to match the cosmic energy surge for surge.

"The energies are competing!" Yamato shouted over the howling maelstrom. "Naruto, you need to control them!"

But Naruto could barely hear through the cacophony in his mind—Kurama's thunderous roars battling with Pegasus's cosmic song, two ancient powers locked in a contest for dominance within his mortal frame. His body felt like a battlefield, torn between forces beyond human comprehension.

"Enough!" Kakashi appeared before him, Sharingan spinning frantically. "Naruto, find the balance point! Don't try to control either power—harmonize them!"

The word cut through the chaos, a lifeline for Naruto's faltering consciousness. Harmonize. Not domination, not control, but synergy.

Drawing on every meditation technique he'd ever learned, Naruto stopped fighting the conflicting energies and instead opened himself to both simultaneously. In his mind's eye, he visualized not a tug-of-war but a dance—the Nine-Tails' ancient chakra and Pegasus's cosmic energy circling each other like binary stars, distinct but complementary.

"That's it," he heard Jiraiya encourage distantly. "Find the resonance point!"

The pain began to recede as the energies gradually shifted from conflict to cooperation. The purple storm around Naruto stabilized, then transformed, red and blue separating into distinct layers that flowed around each other in harmonious patterns.

And Pegasus—no longer just a spinning top in his hand but a semi-materialized presence with spectral wings that emerged from the beyblade—began to change. Its cosmic form grew, gained definition, acquired new features that mirrored the Nine-Tails' influence: tails of stardust trailing from its flanks, crimson accents highlighting its ethereal mane, a fiercer aspect to its celestial countenance.

"Extraordinary," Tsunade breathed, watching as the transformed Pegasus circled Naruto in a protective orbit, partially manifested in their dimension. "It's adapting to the Nine-Tails chakra, incorporating elements rather than rejecting them."

The constellation seal on Naruto's arm stabilized into a silvery lattice that pulsed with both blue and red light at different nodes. The pain vanished entirely, replaced by a sensation of balanced power unlike anything he'd experienced before.

"I can feel them both," he said in wonder, his voice echoing with harmonics that hadn't been there before. "Not fighting anymore. It's like... they're talking to each other. Finding common ground."

"The Nine-Tails is a cosmic entity in its own right," Jiraiya observed, approaching cautiously as the energy storm subsided. "Ancient chakra given form and consciousness. Perhaps not so different from a constellation spirit after all."

Naruto extended his hand, and the partially-materialized Pegasus nuzzled against his palm with surprising solidity. "This form is stronger," he realized aloud. "More present in our world than before."

"The Nine-Tails chakra is anchoring it," Kakashi theorized, his Sharingan still tracking the complex energy patterns. "Giving cosmic energy a compatible medium to interact with our dimension."

As the demonstration concluded, the energies gradually receded. Pegasus returned to its beyblade form, though the metal now bore subtle changes—crimson accents integrated into its design, and a faint suggestion of multiple tails in its attack ring pattern.

Naruto felt simultaneously exhausted and exhilarated as the power faded, leaving him swaying slightly on his feet. Yamato steadied him with a firm hand on his shoulder.

"Well," the wood-style user said with a wry smile, "I think we can safely say the Nine-Tails seal and this new constellation seal are definitely interacting."

"But not negatively," Naruto pointed out quickly. "They found balance. Harmony."

Tsunade's expression remained cautious as she studied him. "For now. But this still represents an unknown variable in your chakra system, Naruto. I want daily monitoring until we're certain the equilibrium is stable."

"And continued training," Jiraiya added, "to ensure you can maintain that harmony under combat conditions. What happens if you lose control of either energy source during a battle?"

Naruto nodded soberly, understanding their concerns even as excitement bubbled within him at the new possibilities this combined power represented. "I'll be careful. Promise."

As they concluded the experiment and departed the sealed room, none of them noticed the barely-visible snake that slithered away through a ventilation shaft, its scales refracting light in patterns that rendered it nearly invisible to the naked eye.

---

Miles away, in a laboratory carved deep beneath an abandoned temple, Orochimaru's golden eyes gleamed with interest as he severed the chakra connection to his spy snake. The visual and sensory data it had transmitted left him momentarily speechless—a rare state for the perpetually calculating Sannin.

"Cosmic energy," he murmured, the words tasting exotic on his tongue. "A power source from beyond our dimension, compatible with chakra yet distinct from it."

He rose from his meditation posture in one fluid motion, moving to a workbench littered with scrolls and specimens. Behind him, Kabuto adjusted his glasses, the lenses catching the greenish light of the laboratory's alchemical lamps.

"Is it worth pursuing, Lord Orochimaru?" his faithful assistant inquired. "The boy is heavily guarded, and extracting this power would prove challenging."

Orochimaru's pale fingers traced the outline of a diagram—one of his many theoretical models for chakra enhancement. "Oh, it's worth pursuing, Kabuto. What we just witnessed was nothing less than the birth of a new form of power fusion."

He turned, a smile playing at the corners of his thin lips. "Imagine the possibilities. If cosmic energy can be harnessed, integrated with chakra... it could represent an evolutionary leap beyond even the most forbidden techniques we've discovered."

"Shall I prepare an acquisition plan?" Kabuto asked, already reaching for his mission scrolls.

"No." Orochimaru's decision surprised even himself. "Not yet. This power is too raw, too unpredictable in its current state. Let the Nine-Tails jinchūriki serve as our unwitting test subject. Let him discover the boundaries, the limitations... and the true potential."

He moved to a rarely-used section of his laboratory, brushing dust from ancient star charts acquired during his time with the Akatsuki. "Besides," he added, almost to himself, "there may be other ways to access this cosmic energy that don't require us to confront Konoha's defenses directly."

His finger landed on a constellation marked in faded ink—the winged horse, Pegasus. "If one constellation spirit can cross dimensions, perhaps others can too. We simply need to understand the mechanics of the connection."

Kabuto studied his master with barely concealed fascination. It was rare to see Orochimaru this intellectually stimulated by something that didn't involve forbidden jutsu or immortality research.

"And the boy?" he asked. "When the time comes?"

Orochimaru's smile widened, revealing teeth too sharp to be fully human. "When the time comes, we'll offer young Naruto exactly what he's always wanted—acknowledgment of his unique potential. Recognition of his special status."

He turned back to his star charts, eyes gleaming with malevolent purpose. "After all, what vessel could be more perfect for revolutionary new power than one already accustomed to containing forces beyond human comprehension?"

---

Twilight settled over Konoha as Naruto stood on the Hokage Monument, the beyblade balanced on his palm, the constellation seal on his arm a faint silver tracery against his skin. The day's experiments had left him drained but buzzing with possibilities.

Beneath him, lights blinked on throughout the village—warm yellows and soft whites mapping out the streets and buildings he'd known all his life. Above, stars emerged one by one, including the distinctive pattern of Pegasus now so familiar to him.

"Two worlds," he murmured to the beyblade, "connected through you."

The metal felt warm against his skin, responsive in a way that transcended its physical form. In the week since the seal had appeared, Naruto had grown increasingly aware of Pegasus as more than just a powerful tool or even a summon animal. The constellation spirit was becoming... a friend.

An unexpected voice rumbled from the depths of his consciousness—Kurama, the Nine-Tails, speaking directly to him outside their usual confrontations.

"**It's changed you already,**" the fox observed, without its customary hostility. "**Your chakra pathways are adapting to cosmic energy. Evolving.**"

"Is that a bad thing?" Naruto asked aloud, knowing the fox could hear him.

A mental impression of shoulders shrugging. "**Change is neither good nor bad on its own. But rapid change can be... destabilizing.**"

"You're worried about your seal."

"**I'm worried about my continued existence,**" Kurama corrected bluntly. "**I've been imprisoned in human vessels for generations, but none ever contained two different types of cosmic power simultaneously. The strain could shatter your chakra network—and me along with it.**"

Naruto's hand tightened around the beyblade. "That's not going to happen. We found harmony today. We can maintain it."

"**Perhaps.**" The fox's voice was uncharacteristically contemplative. "**The horse-spirit is old—not as old as me, but ancient by human standards. There's wisdom there, beneath the stellar flames. I may have... overreacted during our first encounter.**"

Naruto nearly fell off the monument in shock. "Are you actually admitting you were wrong?"

A growl rippled through his mind. "**I said I overreacted, not that I was wrong to be cautious. Don't push your luck, kit.**"

The mental connection faded, leaving Naruto grinning despite himself. If even the cantankerous Nine-Tails was warming to the idea of coexistence with Pegasus, perhaps the balanced trinity of energies—his chakra, Kurama's ancient power, and Pegasus's cosmic force—really could work in harmony.

He launched the beyblade with practiced ease, watching as it spun across the stone surface of the monument, leaving faint trails of blue light in its wake. With each passing day, his control grew more precise, his connection to Pegasus more nuanced.

The spinning top executed a perfect figure-eight pattern before returning to his outstretched hand, responsive to his thoughts as much as his movements. When he channeled a hint of chakra—just enough to activate the constellation seal—the beyblade's spectral aura manifested into a miniature version of Pegasus that cantered around him playfully.

"We're getting pretty good at this," he told the spirit, watching as starlight gathered around its ethereal form. "Wait until everyone sees what we can really do."

The spectral horse nickered in response, then froze suddenly, its cosmic gaze fixed on something beyond Naruto's perception. The air around them seemed to thin, reality stretching like fabric pulled too tight.

And for a breathless moment, Naruto saw through the dimensional barrier—saw a city of gleaming towers, saw the red-haired boy with fierce eyes, saw him reaching out across impossible distance with an expression of stunned recognition.

Their eyes met, blue to amber, separated by worlds yet connected through the constellation spirit that had become their shared bond. No words passed between them, yet understanding flowed in both directions—neither had stolen Pegasus from the other; both were part of something larger than themselves.

Then reality snapped back into place, the vision vanishing as suddenly as it had appeared. But the connection lingered, a bridge across dimensions that grew stronger with each passing day.

Naruto looked up at the Pegasus constellation, understanding now that these same stars shone over two worlds simultaneously, two realities that had never been meant to touch—yet now were inextricably linked through cosmic chance and human determination.

"Gingka," he named the red-haired boy from the other world, the word carrying the weight of destiny. "See you soon."

Above him, the stars of Pegasus pulsed once in silent confirmation, a cosmic promise of worlds converging—and the adventures that would inevitably follow.

# Wings of Destiny: Naruto's Celestial Summoning

## Chapter 5: Hunters from Two Worlds

Dawn broke over Konoha like shattered glass—all jagged edges and dangerous beauty. Crimson light spilled across rooftops still glistening with morning dew, casting long shadows that stretched like grasping fingers through deserted streets. In the Hokage Tower, alarms blared with strident urgency.

"Perimeter breach in sectors three, seven, and nine!" A chunin burst into the command center, sweat beading on his forehead. "Multiple hostiles with unidentified chakra signatures!"

Tsunade's fist crashed down, splintering the oak table beneath her palm. "Defensive positions! All available jōnin to the outer wall! Where's Naruto?"

"Training Ground Seventeen," Shizune replied, already dispatching messenger birds through the open window. "With Kakashi and Captain Yamato."

The Fifth Hokage's amber eyes narrowed to dangerous slits. "Get him inside the village—now! This is no coincidence."

Outside, the morning air erupted with explosive tags and jutsu collisions. Smoke billowed skyward in thick black plumes as the village's defensive forces engaged the intruders. Citizens scurried toward shelter areas, the well-rehearsed evacuation drills transforming panic into orderly retreat.

At the eastern wall, Izumo and Kotetsu fought back-to-back against three masked attackers whose fighting style matched no known village.

"These aren't ordinary rogues," Kotetsu grunted, blocking a barrage of senbon with his kunai. "Too coordinated, too disciplined."

Izumo ducked beneath a fire jutsu that singed his eyebrows. "They're not targeting infrastructure or civilians—they're pressing toward the village center. Looking for something specific."

Or someone.

---

The earth beneath Training Ground Seventeen erupted in a fountain of soil and shattered rock. Naruto leapt backward, narrowly avoiding the stone spikes that pursued him with unnatural precision. He twisted mid-air, launching Pegasus with practiced fluidity.

"Storm Attack Pattern!" he commanded, channeling wind-natured chakra into the beyblade.

Pegasus responded instantly, its spin accelerating to create a localized tornado that tore through the stone projectiles. Blue energy crackled around the spinning top as it executed a perfect arc before returning to Naruto's outstretched hand.

"Not bad," Kakashi acknowledged from his perch on a nearby boulder, orange book suspiciously absent. "Your synchronization is improving."

Naruto grinned, the constellation seal on his arm pulsing with satisfied energy. "Pegasus and I have been working on combining attack patterns with—"

A deafening explosion from the village interrupted him. All three shinobi spun toward the sound, watching as smoke billowed above the eastern wall.

"That's not a training exercise," Yamato said grimly, already forming hand seals.

Kakashi's headband slid upward, revealing his Sharingan. "Multiple chakra signatures approaching—fast."

Before Naruto could respond, the ground beneath them split open. Six black-clad figures erupted from the earth, each wearing the same distinctive crimson mask that had haunted Naruto's memories since that fateful mission.

"The rogues," he breathed, instinctively shifting into a defensive stance.

"Naruto Uzumaki." The leader's voice drifted from behind her fox-patterned mask. "Surrender the celestial object and you may live."

Kakashi stepped forward, lightning already crackling around his right hand. "You've made a serious miscalculation attacking a Konoha ninja on home ground."

"Have we?" The masked woman tilted her head with eerie calm. "Or are you the ones who fail to grasp the situation?"

She raised one hand, forming an unfamiliar seal. The air above the training ground shimmered, reality itself seeming to ripple like the surface of a disturbed pond. A high-pitched whine built from nowhere, pressing against eardrums with increasing pressure.

"What jutsu is this?" Yamato growled, wooden pillars erupting from his arms as he prepared to counter.

But it wasn't a jutsu—at least, not one from their world.

The air split open, tearing along an invisible seam to reveal a swirling vortex of cosmic energy. Stars wheeled in impossible patterns within the rift, galaxies collapsed and reformed in microseconds, and through this chaotic portal stepped figures unlike any Naruto had ever seen.

"Right on schedule," the masked leader purred. "Our associates have arrived."

The newcomers didn't move like shinobi. Their postures, their clothing, their very presence radiated an alien confidence. At their center stood a tall man with violet hair swept back in an imperious style, round glasses glinting in the morning sun, and a walking cane that he clearly didn't need for support.

"Doji," Naruto whispered, the name appearing in his mind through his connection with Pegasus—knowledge from another world, another life.

The violet-haired man's eyebrows arched in surprise. "You know me? How fascinating." His accent was strange, his manner of speech formal yet dripping with condescension. "Then you must also know why we've come, young vessel of Pegasus."

Kakashi's Sharingan spun rapidly, analyzing the newcomers. "Naruto, these people aren't using chakra. There's something else—something I can't copy."

"Because it isn't jutsu," Naruto replied, the constellation seal on his arm burning with recognition. "They're from Pegasus's world. The world of Beyblade."

Doji's thin lips curved into a smile. "Very good. The Dark Nebula Organization has invested considerable resources tracking Pegasus's unique energy signature across the dimensional barrier. Imagine our surprise when we discovered it had bonded with a new blader—one from a world we never knew existed."

"How did you cross over?" Yamato demanded, wooden tendrils snaking through the ground around him, ready to strike.

"The same way Pegasus did," Doji replied, tapping his cane against the ground with theatrical precision. "Cosmic convergence points exist where the barriers between dimensions grow thin. We simply... widened the gap."

The masked rogue leader stepped forward to stand beside Doji. "Our organizations have found common purpose. The Dark Nebula desires Pegasus. We desire the cosmic power it represents. An alliance was... inevitable."

Naruto clutched the beyblade tighter, feeling Pegasus's agitation through their connection. "You can't have either."

"Oh, but we can," Doji countered smoothly. "And we will. You see, while you've been experimenting with Pegasus's power in this primitive world, we've been studying the cosmic pathways between dimensions. The connection works both ways, boy."

He snapped his fingers, and his followers—five bladers with predatory expressions—each produced launchers far more sophisticated than Naruto's improvised system.

"Let it rip!" they cried in unison, their beyblades shooting forward with devastating precision.

---

In the heart of Konoha, chaos reigned. The coordinated attack had breached the outer defenses with surgical precision, forcing the village's shinobi to split their forces. Tsunade stood atop the Hokage Tower, directing the counteroffensive with calculated fury.

"They're herding us," she realized aloud, watching the pattern of skirmishes across the village. "Creating a diversion while—" Her eyes widened. "They're after Naruto!"

Shikamaru appeared beside her in a blur of movement, chest heaving from his sprint across rooftops. "Lady Hokage! The eastern perimeter's holding, but there's something else—a spatial distortion at Training Ground Seventeen. Nothing like any jutsu I've ever seen."

"Alert all available ANBU," Tsunade ordered, already leaping toward the disturbance. "And find Jiraiya!"

---

The collision of worlds manifested in spectacular violence. Beyblades tore through the training ground like living projectiles, leaving deep furrows in solid stone. Each spin carried power that defied the physics of Naruto's world—energy that wasn't chakra but something equally potent.

Kakashi's lightning blade sliced through the air, only to be deflected by a beyblade that seemed to anticipate his movement. "These weapons," he panted, narrowly dodging a counter-attack, "they're reading our chakra patterns somehow!"

Yamato's wood style fared little better. His wooden barriers splintered against the relentless assault of spinning metal, each beyblade guided by its master with uncanny precision.

"You cannot counter what you don't understand," Doji proclaimed, directing his dark purple beyblade with elegant gestures. "Our world's cosmic energy follows different rules than your primitive chakra."

Meanwhile, the masked rogues engaged Naruto directly, their jutsu forcing him into a defensive pattern. Fire and lightning techniques hemmed him in, restricting his movement options while the beyblades controlled the battlefield around him.

"Enough of this!" Naruto growled, the constellation seal flaring across his arm. He launched Pegasus with a fluid motion, his connection to the cosmic spirit stronger than ever. "Pegasus! Cosmic Storm Attack!"

The blue beyblade shot forward, its spin generating a vortex of energy that collided with the enemy beyblades. Sparks erupted where metal met metal, the air itself seeming to warp around the points of impact.

"Magnificent," Doji breathed, watching Pegasus cut through his subordinates' beyblades. "The bond has matured wonderfully. Pegasus responds to your will as if born to it."

"Because we're partners!" Naruto shouted, directing Pegasus in a sweeping arc that scattered the rogues. "Something you wouldn't understand!"

Doji's expression darkened. "On the contrary, I understand partnership all too well. Which is why we brought insurance." He raised his cane toward the dimensional rift. "Perhaps you'll respond to... persuasion."

The portal pulsed, widening further. A new figure was thrust through—a red-haired boy bound in glowing energy restraints, his fierce amber eyes blazing with defiance despite his captivity.

"Gingka!" The name tore from Naruto's throat, recognition immediate and visceral through his connection with Pegasus.

The red-haired blader's head snapped up, eyes locking with Naruto's across the battlefield. "You!" he gasped, struggling against his bonds. "You're the one I've been seeing! The one who has Pegasus!"

"How touching," Doji sneered. "The former and current partners, united at last. Now, Uzumaki—surrender Pegasus, or watch as we extract Gingka's blader energy until nothing remains."

Rage boiled through Naruto, hot and immediate. The constellation seal pulsed in response, lines of blue fire spreading across his skin. "You coward! Using hostages because you can't win fairly!"

"Fairness is for fools," Doji replied coldly. "Results are what matter."

But something unexpected was happening. The presence of both Naruto and Gingka—both connected to Pegasus, both now in the same dimension—created a resonance that rippled through the cosmic energy field. Pegasus, still spinning between them, began to emit a light so brilliant it forced everyone to shield their eyes.

"What's happening?" the masked rogue leader demanded, backing away from the phenomenon.

"Dimensional resonance," Doji whispered, his composure cracking. "The cosmic balance is—"

He never finished. Pegasus erupted into its full spirit form, no longer a partial manifestation but the complete majestic entity in all its glory. The winged horse materialized with a thunderous cry that shook the very ground, its massive form dwarfing the humans below, its wings spanning half the training field as they unfurled in a display of stellar power.

Naruto felt the connection surge, stronger than ever before. But now there was something new—a second presence linking through Pegasus, bright and determined.

Gingka, he realized. We're both connected through Pegasus.

Acting on pure instinct, Naruto extended his hand toward the captive blader. "Gingka! Reach for Pegasus! Together!"

The red-haired boy's eyes widened with understanding. Despite his restraints, he stretched his arm toward the magnificent spirit, his own inner light blazing in response.

"Pegasus!" they shouted in unison, their voices harmonizing across the dimensional barrier.

The cosmic horse reared majestically, hooves striking the air with enough force to create shock waves that sent both rogues and Dark Nebula members tumbling backward. It descended between Naruto and Gingka, severing the energy restraints with a touch of its horn.

Free and connected, Gingka staggered to his feet, amber eyes blazing. "I've been searching for you," he told Naruto, words tumbling out with urgent intensity. "Seeing fragments of your world, feeling Pegasus's power responding to you!"

"Same here," Naruto replied, the chaos of battle momentarily forgotten as their shared connection eclipsed everything else. "Pegasus has shown me your world, your battles!"

"Impossible!" Doji scrambled backward, genuine fear replacing his arrogance. "The bond can't support two bladers simultaneously!"

"Maybe not in your world," Naruto shot back, the constellation seal now fully activated across his body. "But we're not playing by your rules anymore!"

Pegasus responded to their combined will, its cosmic form growing even more substantial as it charged the assembled enemies. Light burst from its wings in concentrated beams that cut through the battlefield like divine judgment. Where it touched the rogues, their jutsu dissolved; where it struck the Dark Nebula bladers, their beyblades shattered.

"The portal!" Yamato shouted, pointing to the dimensional rift that had begun to pulse erratically. "It's destabilizing!"

Reality itself seemed to warp around the opening, cosmic energy bleeding through in unpredictable surges. Trees near the rift aged decades in seconds, then reverted to saplings. Gravity fluctuated, sending rocks floating upward only to crash down with devastating force.

"This isn't supposed to happen," Doji hissed, backing toward the portal. "The convergence point should be stable for hours yet!"

The masked rogue leader grabbed his arm. "We must retreat! This power is beyond our current capacity to contain!"

Kakashi, Sharingan still spinning wildly, appeared beside Naruto and Gingka. "Whatever you're doing with Pegasus is tearing apart the dimensional boundary. The entire area could collapse into a void between worlds!"

Gingka's expression shifted from triumph to concern. "He's right. I can feel it—the cosmic balance shifting too quickly. Our worlds aren't meant to overlap this directly."

With a sound like thunder cracking inside a crystal vault, the portal began to contract. Doji and the remaining Dark Nebula members scrambled toward it, the masked rogues close behind.

"This isn't over, Uzumaki!" the rogue leader called back. "The power of the stars will be ours!"

As the portal shrank, Gingka suddenly staggered, a look of alarm crossing his face. "I'm being pulled back," he gasped, his body becoming partially translucent. "The dimensional barrier is reasserting itself!"

"Wait!" Naruto reached for him, their fingers nearly touching. "We have so much to talk about! Your world, Pegasus—"

"Find a way to stabilize the connection," Gingka urged, his form growing increasingly insubstantial. "Pegasus exists in both worlds now—a bridge between dimensions. But it needs anchors on both sides to remain stable!"

"How do I reach you again?" Naruto demanded, desperation edging his voice.

Gingka's amber eyes locked with his, determination blazing even as his body began to dissolve into motes of light. "The constellation! When Pegasus shines brightest—midnight during the new moon—the barrier is thinnest! Focus your energy then, and—"

His words cut off as the portal collapsed completely, the dimensional rift sealing with a sound like the universe exhaling. Where moments before chaos had reigned, now only a smoking battlefield remained, scattered with debris from two worlds.

Pegasus nickered softly, its magnificent form still fully materialized beside Naruto. The cosmic horse pressed its muzzle against his cheek in a gesture of reassurance before gradually dissolving back into the beyblade that clattered to the ground at his feet.

"They're gone," Kakashi observed, sliding his headband back over his Sharingan. "Both the rogues and those... people from the other dimension."

"For now," Naruto replied, retrieving Pegasus with reverent hands. The metal felt warm against his skin, humming with energy that seemed subtly changed by the encounter. "But they'll be back. Both groups want Pegasus for themselves."

Yamato surveyed the devastated training ground, his expression grim. "What concerns me more is the dimensional instability. If the barrier between worlds weakens further..."

"Catastrophic." Tsunade's voice cut through their conversation as she landed beside them, Jiraiya close behind. Her sharp gaze took in the destruction before settling on Naruto. "What exactly happened here?"

As Naruto explained the confrontation and the unexpected meeting with Gingka, Jiraiya examined the site where the portal had appeared. His weathered fingers traced patterns in the air where cosmic energy still lingered in faint, iridescent wisps.

"The connection between worlds is growing stronger," the Toad Sage announced, interrupting Naruto's account. "What started as a fluke—a one-in-a-million cosmic alignment that allowed Pegasus to cross over—has become a persistent bridge."

"Is that dangerous?" Tsunade demanded.

Jiraiya's expression was uncharacteristically solemn. "Potentially catastrophic. Imagine two separate ecosystems suddenly connected by a tunnel. Invasive species, environmental collapse, the destruction of established balances on both sides." He gestured to the lingering distortions where reality still hadn't fully stabilized. "Now imagine that with the fundamental laws of two different universes."

Naruto clutched Pegasus tighter, guilt coiling through him. "This is my fault. If I hadn't summoned Pegasus in the first place—"

"No," Kakashi interrupted firmly. "This goes beyond you, beyond any of us. The rogues obviously knew about cosmic energy before you encountered Pegasus. And this 'Dark Nebula' group has been researching dimensional crossings for some time."

"Which means," Tsunade concluded grimly, "we're dealing with a phenomenon that others have already weaponized. The question is, what do we do now?"

All eyes turned to Naruto, who stood silently contemplating the beyblade in his palm. Within it, he could feel Pegasus's presence—no longer distant and alien, but familiar, comforting. And beyond that connection, like a faint echo, he sensed Gingka—a determined spirit linked to his own through their shared bond with the cosmic horse.

"We prepare," he said finally, looking up with newfound resolve. "Gingka said Pegasus needs anchors in both worlds to stabilize the connection. Maybe that's the key—not fighting the link between dimensions, but understanding it. Controlling it."

Jiraiya nodded slowly. "The boy has a point. If the connection is inevitable, better we master it than leave it vulnerable to exploitation."

"And the next time these 'hunters' come?" Tsunade asked.

Naruto's eyes hardened, the constellation seal pulsing with quiet power beneath his skin. "We'll be ready. All of us—from both worlds."

---

Later that night, as Konoha settled into uneasy recovery, Naruto stood alone on his apartment roof. The stars of the Pegasus constellation shimmered overhead, brighter than they had any right to be.

The day's battle replayed in his mind—not just the fighting, but the moment of connection with Gingka. A boy from another world, yet so similar to himself in ways that transcended dimensional boundaries. The determination in those amber eyes, the unwavering loyalty to Pegasus, the willingness to risk everything for what mattered most.

"We'll find a way," Naruto promised the stars, holding Pegasus toward the constellation that was its cosmic source. "To protect both our worlds."

The beyblade warmed in response, its energy pulsing in a rhythm that felt like agreement. And for the briefest moment, Naruto could have sworn he heard Gingka's voice—a whisper across impossible distance, a promise echoed between stars.

"*Until we meet again, Naruto Uzumaki.*"

The constellation seal on his arm glowed softly in the darkness, its pattern shifting and expanding slightly—new stars appearing in the formation, strengthening the bridge between worlds. Whatever challenges lay ahead, Naruto knew with bone-deep certainty that he would face them not alone, but connected to allies across the very fabric of reality itself.

And somewhere, in a city of gleaming towers beneath the same stars, Gingka Hagane made the same silent vow.

# Wings of Destiny: Naruto's Celestial Summoning

## Chapter 6: The Constellation Seal

Dust motes danced in shafts of amber light that sliced through the high windows of Konoha's Forbidden Archives. The ancient chamber smelled of crumbling parchment and forgotten knowledge—musty, secretive, almost alive with the weight of centuries.

Jiraiya sneezed violently, sending a cloud of dust billowing from the scroll he'd just unfurled.

"Some of these haven't been touched in decades," he muttered, wiping his nose with the back of his hand. "Maybe centuries."

Tsunade didn't look up from the massive tome spread before her, her slender fingers tracing characters so faded they seemed more ghost than writing. "Stop complaining. If answers exist anywhere in Konoha, they're here."

They'd been at it for hours, combing through the village's most restricted texts for any reference to celestial seals, cosmic energy, or dimensional rifts. The attack three days earlier had shaken Konoha's leadership more than they cared to admit. Enemies from another dimension weren't covered in the standard tactical manuals.

"Got something," Tsunade said suddenly, her amber eyes narrowing with intensity. "Look at this."

Jiraiya leaned over her shoulder, squinting at the weathered page. Faded illustrations depicted human figures with intricate patterns spanning their limbs—patterns suspiciously similar to the markings now adorning Naruto's arm.

"The Hoshigaki Clan," he read aloud, tracing the ancient script. "Not to be confused with the modern Water Country lineage. Predates the founding of the Hidden Villages by several centuries."

"Star-gazers and celestial channelers," Tsunade continued, excitement bleeding into her clinical tone. "They believed the constellations were living entities that could be communed with through properly attuned chakra."

Jiraiya whistled low. "Sounds familiar."

"It gets better." She flipped to the next page, revealing more detailed anatomical drawings. "They developed techniques to create 'star bridges'—physical markings that served as conduits for cosmic energy. The stronger the connection to a particular constellation, the more elaborate the seal would become."

"And what happened to them?" Jiraiya asked, though the grimness in his voice suggested he already suspected the answer.

Tsunade's finger trailed down the page to a final passage. "Extinction. The seals were unpredictable. The cosmic energy would sometimes overwhelm the human vessel, or the connection would attract... entities... from beyond normal perception."

"Entities?" Jiraiya frowned. "Like Pegasus, you mean?"

"Not exactly." Tsunade turned the page to reveal illustrations that sent a chill through even her battle-hardened spine. Grotesque amalgamations of human and celestial forms, bodies distorted by cosmic energy run amok. "The text calls them 'star eaters.' Beings that feast on the energy bridge between dimensions."

"Well, that's terrifying," Jiraiya remarked with forced lightness. "And here I thought our biggest problem was just interdimensional ninja and spinning top enthusiasts."

Tsunade closed the tome with a decisive thud. "We need to tell Naruto about this. The seal on his arm—it's evolving faster than any documented case. And if these records are accurate..."

She didn't finish the thought. She didn't need to.

---

"It's spreading again."

Naruto stood shirtless before his bathroom mirror, azure eyes tracking the silvery lines that had crept past his shoulder overnight. The constellation pattern that had begun as a simple outline on his forearm now spanned from fingertips to collarbone, intricate stellar coordinates mapping themselves across his tanned skin.

It didn't hurt—not exactly. More like a persistent awareness, a humming energy just beneath the surface that never truly quieted. But this morning, new stars had appeared in the formation, sending tendrils of the pattern creeping toward his chest.

"This can't be good," he muttered, pressing his fingers against a particularly bright node where three lines intersected above his bicep. The spot pulsed with warmth at his touch, sending a cascade of twinkling lights racing along the pattern before settling back into dormant silver.

The beyblade—Pegasus—sat on the edge of his sink, its metal surface reflecting the morning light with unusual intensity. Since the battle and the brief meeting with Gingka, the connection between Naruto and the cosmic spirit had deepened in ways both exhilarating and unsettling.

Sometimes he dreamed with Pegasus's eyes—soaring through star fields, racing along cosmic currents that spanned universes. Other times, he caught glimpses of the other world—Metal City's gleaming towers, Gingka's friends searching for answers, technological marvels beyond anything in the Five Great Nations.

A sharp knock at his door jolted him from his thoughts.

"Naruto! Open up!" Sakura's voice, urgent but not panicked.

He hastily pulled on a black t-shirt, wincing as the fabric clung to the more sensitive nodes of the constellation seal. "Coming!"

Sakura stood on his doorstep, medical bag clutched in one hand, expression oscillating between professional concern and personal worry. Behind her loomed Sai, his face its usual unreadable mask.

"Lady Tsunade sent us," she explained, already pushing past him into the apartment. "She wants a complete medical assessment of the seal's progression."

"Good morning to you too," Naruto grumbled, though without real annoyance. "I was going to report in later anyway. It's changed again."

Sakura's mint-green eyes sharpened with interest. "Show me."

Reluctantly, Naruto removed his shirt again, revealing the expanded constellation pattern. Sakura gasped softly, while Sai's eyes widened a fraction—the equivalent of open-mouthed shock from anyone else.

"The rate of expansion has accelerated by approximately 37% since my last observation," Sai noted, pulling out a scroll to make precise sketches of the pattern.

Sakura's hands hovered over Naruto's arm, glowing faintly with diagnostic chakra. "The energy signature is unlike anything in our medical records. It's not malignant, exactly, but..." She frowned, concentration furrowing her brow. "It's changing your chakra pathways. Remapping them to accommodate the cosmic energy flow."

"Is that dangerous?" Naruto asked, trying to sound casual despite the knot forming in his stomach.

"I don't know," Sakura admitted, the words clearly difficult for her. "That's what worries me. We're in uncharted territory, Naruto."

Sai looked up from his sketch. "The pattern resembles certain ancient sealing techniques documented in Root's forbidden archives. Designs meant to channel energy from sources beyond our dimension."

"Yeah, that tracks with what Pegasus told me," Naruto said, reaching for the beyblade. The moment his fingers touched the cool metal, the constellation seal flared with blue light, causing Sakura to jerk her hands away.

"It's responsive," she observed, rubbing her fingers as though they'd been mildly shocked. "Almost like it has a will of its own."

"Not exactly," Naruto tried to explain. "It's more like... an extension of Pegasus. A physical manifestation of our connection."

Sai tilted his head, curiosity breaking through his neutral expression. "Can you control its expansion?"

"Not really. It grows when I use Pegasus's power, or when we communicate across the cosmic void. But lately..." Naruto hesitated, unsure how to articulate the strange sensations. "Lately it's been growing on its own, like it's preparing for something."

Sakura's expression darkened. "That's what I was afraid of. Lady Tsunade wants you at the hospital immediately for a full workup. They've found some information about similar seals from the past, and it's... concerning."

"How concerning?" Naruto asked, though the gravity in her eyes already told him more than he wanted to know.

"Let's just say she's pulled Jiraiya away from his 'research' at the hot springs," Sakura replied. "If that doesn't tell you how serious this is, nothing will."

---

The hidden laboratory pulsed with sickly green light, illuminating specimen jars where things that should not exist floated in preservative fluid. Orochimaru moved between workstations with fluid grace, his pale fingers dancing across scrolls and artifacts collected from a dozen forbidden sources.

"The constellation seal continues to develop at an accelerated rate," Kabuto reported, adjusting his glasses as he studied the surveillance photographs spread before him. "Our sources indicate it's begun restructuring his chakra network to better accommodate the cosmic energy."

"Fascinating," Orochimaru purred, golden eyes gleaming with intellectual hunger. "The human chakra system adapting to an entirely different energy source—and not rejecting it, but incorporating it. The possibilities are... enticing."

He lifted a glass vial containing what appeared to be liquid starlight—a swirling, iridescent substance captured from the site of the dimensional rift after the battle. Under his scrutiny, the substance seemed to respond, curling toward his gaze like a living thing seeking connection.

"The barriers between worlds grow thinner each day," he mused, setting the vial in a specially designed containment field. "Soon, more than just energy will be able to cross freely."

Kabuto's expression remained professionally neutral, though concern flickered behind his spectacles. "Is that wise, Lord Orochimaru? The cosmic imbalance could destabilize both realities. Even your immortality techniques might not survive a complete dimensional collapse."

Orochimaru's laughter echoed against the stone walls, high and cold. "Always so practical, Kabuto. But sometimes, to create something truly revolutionary, one must risk a little... devastation."

His attention turned to a series of complex diagrams sketched on rice paper with ink infused with the cosmic substance. The designs mirrored Naruto's expanding seal, but with significant modifications—alterations that would channel the energy in very different directions.

"The boy struggles to contain the power already," Orochimaru observed, tracing one of the patterns with a fingertip that briefly took on a scaled, serpentine appearance at contact with the cosmic energy. "His seal expands chaotically, without purpose or design. But with proper guidance..."

"You intend to approach him directly?" Kabuto couldn't quite keep the surprise from his voice.

"Sometimes the direct path is the most entertaining." Orochimaru smiled, the expression never reaching his reptilian eyes. "Besides, young Naruto is in a difficult position. Konoha's resources are... limited when it comes to understanding cosmic energy. And I suspect the constellation seal will soon become more than merely uncomfortable."

He rolled up the diagrams with decisive finality. "Prepare a secure meeting location. Somewhere neutral, yet private. And Kabuto..." His voice dropped to a silken whisper. "Bring our preliminary stabilization serum. I think a demonstration will be necessary to convince our stubborn young friend."

---

"It's worse than we thought."

Madoka's voice carried through the workshop, tight with worry and exhaustion. Dark circles shadowed her eyes—evidence of too many sleepless nights hunched over computer screens and energy readings. Around her, holographic displays projected cosmic disturbance patterns that pulsed with increasing frequency.

Gingka paced the length of the room, unable to contain the restless energy that had plagued him since his brief crossing to the other world. "We have to find a way back through. Warn them."

"It's not that simple." Tsubasa's normally calm voice held an edge of tension as he studied the dimensional models floating above Madoka's workstation. His silver hair caught the blue light of the displays, giving him an otherworldly appearance. "The cosmic balance between dimensions is deteriorating faster than our original projections."

He pointed to a particularly volatile energy signature on the largest display. "These rupture points are appearing with increasing frequency. Each one represents a moment when the barrier between our world and theirs weakens enough for energy transfer."

"Or crossing," Gingka added, touching his chest where phantom sensations of the constellation seal sometimes echoed through his connection with Pegasus.

"That's what concerns me." Madoka swiveled in her chair, fatigue momentarily overshadowed by scientific urgency. "The Dark Nebula didn't just find a natural weakness in the dimensional barrier—they're actively destabilizing it. These energy signatures show artificial amplification."

"English, please," Kyoya growled from his position against the far wall, Leone clutched possessively in his fist.

Tsubasa sighed. "They're making the holes between worlds bigger on purpose. And they don't care about the consequences."

"Which are?" Benkei asked, though his grimace suggested he already knew the answer wouldn't be good.

Madoka pulled up a new simulation—a visual representation of two spheres representing their respective dimensions. Lines of cosmic energy connected them, growing more numerous and chaotic with each passing second. As the simulation progressed, the spheres began to warp, drawn inexorably toward each other.

"Total dimensional collapse," she said softly. "If the barrier between worlds continues to weaken at this rate, both realities could collide. The physics of our universe and theirs aren't compatible. When they merge..."

She didn't need to finish. The simulation did it for her—both spheres shattering into cosmic debris, leaving nothing but void where two vibrant worlds had existed.

"But Pegasus is in both worlds now," Gingka protested. "And it's stable! That proves coexistence is possible!"

"Pegasus is a celestial entity," Tsubasa countered gently. "It exists partially outside normal dimensional constraints. Human worlds are different—they're bound by specific physical laws that can't simply be rewritten without catastrophic consequences."

Gingka's fist slammed against the workbench, sending tools clattering. "I won't accept that! There has to be a solution. I met him—Naruto. I felt our connection through Pegasus. He's not just some random person who accidentally got my beyblade. This means something!"

The room fell silent, the only sound the soft hum of Madoka's computers as they continued monitoring the deteriorating cosmic boundaries.

"Maybe it does," Tsubasa said finally, something like hope flickering across his stoic features. "The connection between you two through Pegasus... it could be the key to stabilizing the dimensions rather than destroying them."

Madoka straightened, fingers flying across her keyboard. "A controlled connection rather than a chaotic collapse. It's theoretically possible. If we could establish fixed points of resonance between the worlds—anchors that maintain separation while allowing limited, stable interaction..."

"Pegasus would be the perfect conductor," Gingka finished, amber eyes lighting with renewed determination. "But how do we communicate this to Naruto? The Dark Nebula controls the only technology we have for dimensional crossing."

Tsubasa's gaze drifted to the window, where the Pegasus constellation shimmered faintly in the evening sky. "The same way you've been connecting all along. Through the stars themselves."

---

Fire erupted along Naruto's arm, cosmic agony that sent him crashing to his knees in the middle of Konoha Hospital's examination room. The constellation seal blazed with blue-white intensity, new lines etching themselves across his skin with molten precision.

"Hold him!" Tsunade barked, her hands already glowing with medical chakra as she tried to stabilize the energy fluctuations. "Jiraiya, the suppression tags!"

The Toad Sage slapped specialized sealing tags along key points of the constellation pattern. For a moment, the pain receded, the brilliant light dimming to a manageable glow. Then, with a sound like shattering crystal, the tags disintegrated into cosmic dust.

"It's rejecting standard fuinjutsu!" Jiraiya shouted, already preparing more advanced seals. "The cosmic energy is evolving faster than we can adapt!"

Naruto gritted his teeth against another wave of pain, sweat beading on his forehead as he fought to maintain consciousness. Inside his mindscape, he could feel Kurama stirring restlessly, the Nine-Tails' concern manifesting as crimson chakra that attempted to shield Naruto's system from the worst of the cosmic intrusion.

"What's... happening to me?" he managed between gasped breaths.

Tsunade's expression was grim as her diagnostic jutsu mapped the changes occurring throughout his chakra network. "The seal is reaching a critical expansion phase. The ancient texts warned of this—a point where the cosmic energy begins actively restructuring the human vessel to better channel its power."

"That sounds... bad," Naruto groaned, collapsing back onto the examination table as another surge of energy raced along the constellation pattern.

"It's worse than bad," Jiraiya said, uncharacteristic solemnity weighing his words. "The Hoshigaki Clan's records indicate this phase often proved fatal to the human host. Their bodies simply couldn't adapt quickly enough to the cosmic changes."

Fear—cold and unfamiliar—slithered through Naruto's gut. He'd faced death before, stared it down with determined defiance. But this was different. This was his own body betraying him, transforming into something unknown, potentially unsurvivable.

"There has to be a way to stabilize it," he insisted, clutching at Tsunade's sleeve with desperate strength. "Pegasus wouldn't hurt me intentionally. There must be something we're missing!"

"We're trying everything in our knowledge base," Tsunade said, frustration edging her voice. "But cosmic energy doesn't follow the rules of chakra. Our sealing techniques weren't designed for this."

The door to the examination room slid open with decisive force. Shizune burst in, chest heaving from her sprint through the hospital corridors. "Lady Tsunade! Security breach at the east gate! It's—"

"Let me guess," Jiraiya interrupted, expression darkening. "Orochimaru."

Shizune nodded, her complexion pale. "He's requesting a meeting. Says he has information about the constellation seal that could save Naruto's life."

"How convenient," Tsunade spat, though calculations already raced behind her amber eyes. "He just happens to have specialized knowledge about an obscure cosmic phenomenon that predates the Hidden Villages."

"It's not completely implausible," Jiraiya admitted reluctantly. "He always did have an unhealthy interest in forbidden techniques from extinct clans. And his research often ventured into... unconventional energy sources."

Another wave of pain crashed through Naruto, forcing a strangled cry from his throat as new constellation points flared to life across his chest. The seal was spreading faster now, accelerating with each pulse of cosmic energy.

"We're running out of options," Tsunade acknowledged, the admission clearly painful. "Shizune, tell the guards to escort him to the secure meeting room in the administrative wing. Full ANBU detail, chakra suppressors active."

"You can't seriously be considering his help," Naruto protested weakly, though the agony rippling through him somewhat undermined his objection.

Tsunade's expression softened momentarily as she squeezed his shoulder—one of the few areas not yet covered by the expanding seal. "We'll hear what he has to say. That doesn't mean we'll trust him."

---

The secure conference room crackled with tension thick enough to cut with a kunai. Orochimaru sat at one end of the long table, posture relaxed despite the four ANBU operatives positioned at each corner of the room. His golden eyes gleamed with poorly concealed satisfaction as they tracked the progress of the constellation seal now covering most of Naruto's visible skin.

"Fascinating development," he observed, voice like silk over sharpened steel. "The cosmic pathways have integrated with your chakra network more thoroughly than I anticipated. Quite impressive, really."

"Skip the admiration and get to the point," Tsunade snapped from her position beside Naruto. "You claimed to have information that could help stabilize the seal."

"So impatient, Princess." Orochimaru's thin lips curved into a smile. "But yes, I've been researching interdimensional energy transfer since before you were squandering your talents at gambling tables."

He produced a scroll from within his robes, unfurling it to reveal complex sealing diagrams that mirrored Naruto's constellation pattern with significant modifications. "The Hoshigaki Clan's techniques were primitive—effective, but unrefined. They lacked the understanding to properly harmonize cosmic energy with human chakra systems."

"And you've solved this problem out of the goodness of your heart?" Jiraiya's skepticism dripped from every word.

"Scientific curiosity is motivation enough," Orochimaru replied smoothly. "The opportunity to study cosmic energy in a living vessel—particularly one already containing the Nine-Tails—is simply too fascinating to let slip away due to... historical disagreements."

Naruto, his voice steadier than he felt, cut through the verbal sparring. "What exactly are you offering?"

Orochimaru's gaze shifted to him, a predator's assessment wrapped in scholarly interest. "A stabilization seal. One that would act as a regulator between your chakra network and the cosmic energy flowing through the constellation pathways. It wouldn't remove the connection to Pegasus, merely... domesticate it."

"At what cost?" Naruto pressed, not naive enough to believe the offer came without strings.

"Merely the opportunity to observe the results." Orochimaru's casual shrug didn't quite mask the intensity in his eyes. "And perhaps occasional access to gather readings on the energy fluctuations as the seal matures."

"Absolutely not," Tsunade declared flatly.

Orochimaru sighed, a theatrical display of disappointment. "Then I suppose you've already devised an alternative solution? One that will prevent the cosmic energy from completely rewiring his nervous system within the next seventy-two hours?"

The silence that followed was answer enough. Orochimaru reached into his robe once more, retrieving a small vial filled with iridescent liquid that seemed to contain captured starlight.

"A preliminary stabilization serum," he explained, setting it carefully on the table. "Extracted from cosmic energy residue at the dimensional rift site, then processed through specialized filtration techniques. It won't permanently solve the problem, but it should buy you another week before the critical threshold is reached."

"And we should trust this isn't poison because...?" Jiraiya let the question hang.

"Because killing Naruto would deprive me of the most fascinating research subject to appear in decades," Orochimaru replied pragmatically. "Dead test subjects are so... uninformative."

Another wave of pain crashed through Naruto, forcing him to clutch the edge of the table as the constellation seal pulsed with angry light. Sweat beaded on his forehead, his breathing shallow and rapid as cosmic energy surged through pathways never meant to contain it.

"The serum," he gasped, reaching toward the vial with trembling fingers. "I want to try it."

"Naruto!" Tsunade protested, but he cut her off with a sharp gesture.

"I know the risks," he insisted, azure eyes burning with determination despite the pain etched across his features. "But if there's even a chance it buys us time to find a better solution..."

Tsunade exchanged a long look with Jiraiya, silent communication born of decades of shared history. Finally, she nodded curtly. "We'll analyze it first. If—and only if—it contains nothing immediately lethal, we'll consider a controlled test."

Orochimaru's smile never wavered. "By all means. Though I should warn you, cosmic energy is notoriously difficult to analyze with standard techniques. Its properties shift when subjected to conventional chakra-based diagnostics."

"We'll manage," Tsunade bit out, signaling to an ANBU operative who carefully collected the vial. "You've delivered your message. Now leave."

"As you wish." Orochimaru rose with fluid grace, his eerie gaze lingering on Naruto. "But remember, my offer remains open. The constellation seal will continue to expand, and conventional fuinjutsu cannot contain cosmic energy indefinitely."

He moved toward the door, then paused, one pale hand resting on the frame. "Oh, and Naruto? When the visions begin—panoramas of collapsing realities, worlds grinding against each other like tectonic plates—do try to remember which one is truly yours. The cosmic void has a way of... distorting perception."

With that cryptic warning, he glided from the room, leaving a chill in his wake that had nothing to do with temperature.

---

Midnight found Naruto alone in his apartment, sitting cross-legged on his bed with Pegasus balanced on his palm. The stabilization serum, heavily diluted and administered under Tsunade's watchful eye, had indeed reduced the pain. The constellation seal still gleamed across his skin, but its expansion had temporarily halted, giving him a moment of blessed clarity.

"What are we going to do?" he asked the beyblade softly. "Everyone's got theories, but no real answers."

The metal felt warm against his skin, pulsing gently with reassurance that transcended words. Since the battle and his brief meeting with Gingka, the connection had deepened, become more intuitive. Sometimes Naruto didn't need the cosmic void to communicate with Pegasus—their link manifested in impressions and emotions that flowed between them like a comfortable conversation.

He closed his eyes, focusing on that connection, seeking the gentle current of cosmic energy that now flowed alongside his chakra. Instead of fighting it or trying to control it, he simply observed, letting the stellar rhythms wash through him with accepting awareness.

Something shifted. The air around him seemed to thin, reality stretching like fabric pulled too tight. When Naruto opened his eyes, he was no longer in his bedroom.

Infinite space spread before him—not the comforting cosmic void where he'd met Pegasus before, but something more chaotic, more frightening. Two vast spheres hung in the nothingness, one glowing with the warm blues and greens of his own world, the other shimmering with the metallic brilliance of Gingka's reality. Between them stretched countless filaments of energy, growing more numerous by the second, pulling the spheres inexorably toward each other.

"What is this?" Naruto whispered, his voice creating ripples in the fabric of the vision.

The potential future, Pegasus's voice resonated directly into his mind. The consequence of uncontrolled dimensional convergence.

The majestic cosmic horse materialized beside him, its form more substantial than ever before, close enough that Naruto could feel the heat of stellar fire radiating from its ethereal mane.

As they watched, the filaments between worlds multiplied exponentially, their insistent pull bringing the spheres closer and closer. When they touched, reality itself seemed to scream—a sound beyond sound that vibrated through Naruto's very existence. Cracks spread across both spheres, fracturing them like glass beneath too much pressure.

"They're breaking," he realized in horror. "Both worlds. Shattering."

Yes, Pegasus confirmed grimly. The cosmic balance cannot sustain unregulated contact between dimensions. Your world's chakra-based physical laws and Gingka's technology-driven reality operate on fundamentally different principles. When forced to occupy the same space...

The vision provided its own devastating conclusion. Both spheres collapsed inward, fragments spinning away into the void, leaving nothing but empty darkness where vibrant worlds had existed.

"This can't be the only outcome," Naruto insisted, the destruction of everything he knew and loved unacceptable to his very core. "There has to be another way!"

There is, Pegasus agreed, nudging him gently with its muzzle. But it requires something that neither the scientists of Gingka's world nor the ninja of yours have fully grasped. Something beyond mere technique or technology.

The vision shifted, showing a new configuration. The spheres remained separate, but connected by a controlled bridge of light—a single, stable pathway between worlds rather than the chaotic filaments of the previous scenario.

"A regulated connection," Naruto breathed, understanding dawning. "Not preventing contact between dimensions, but controlling it. Channeling it."

Precisely, Pegasus nickered with approval. And that, Naruto Uzumaki, is the true purpose of the constellation seal forming across your skin.

Naruto glanced down at his arm, seeing the pattern with new understanding. "It's not just marking me as your partner. It's turning me into..."

A regulator, Pegasus finished. A living bridge between worlds—one anchor point in a stable connection. But for true stability, there must be a corresponding anchor in the other world.

"Gingka," Naruto realized immediately. "He needs a constellation seal too."

Yes. But there lies our challenge. The seal cannot simply be copied or artificially applied. It must form naturally through the resonance between compatible spirits and cosmic energy.

The vision began to fade, reality reasserting itself as Naruto's consciousness was pulled back toward his physical body. But before the connection broke completely, Pegasus shared one last insight directly into his mind.

Trust your instincts, Naruto. Not Orochimaru's twisted science, nor even the well-intentioned but limited knowledge of your village elders. The answers you seek lie within our connection—a bond that transcends dimensions because it exists beyond them.

Naruto gasped as he slammed back into his body, the vision dissolving like mist in morning sunlight. He found himself still sitting cross-legged on his bed, Pegasus clutched so tightly in his palm that its edges had left impressions in his skin.

"A regulator," he murmured, examining the constellation seal with newfound perspective. "Not a curse or a random side effect. A purpose."

The revelation shifted everything. The pain, the expansion, the restructuring of his chakra pathways—none of it was random or destructive. It was preparation, evolution toward a specific function that might save both worlds rather than doom them.

Deep within his mindscape, Kurama stirred, the Nine-Tails' massive form materializing in the familiar sewer setting where they often communicated.

"**You saw it too,**" the ancient bijuu rumbled, crimson eyes narrowed in thought. "**The collapse of realities.**"

"Yes," Naruto confirmed, his consciousness split between his physical form and this inner landscape. "Did you understand what Pegasus showed us? About the constellation seal's true purpose?"

Kurama snorted, tails swishing contemplatively behind him. "**I understood enough to know it's dangerous. Becoming a dimensional anchor would place extraordinary strain on even my chakra reserves. The cosmic energy requirements alone could burn out your chakra network if not properly balanced.**"

"But you think it could work?" Naruto pressed, searching the fox's expression for any hint of his true thoughts.

The Nine-Tails was silent for a long moment, ancient wisdom weighing possibilities that spanned beyond human comprehension. Finally, he huffed out what might have been a reluctant laugh.

"**It's exactly the kind of ridiculous, self-sacrificing plan you'd come up with,**" he growled, though without real malice. "**Risking everything to save not just your world, but another you barely know.**"

"Is that a yes or a no?"

"**It's an acknowledgment that we have limited options,**" Kurama replied carefully. "**Between Orochimaru's corrupted 'help' and the certainty of dimensional collapse... perhaps betting on the horse isn't completely foolish.**"

Coming from the Nine-Tails, this qualified as enthusiastic endorsement. Naruto grinned despite the gravity of the situation. "Thanks for the vote of confidence."

"**Don't mistake pragmatism for faith,**" Kurama warned, though a hint of something almost like affection colored his gruff tone. "**I simply prefer existence to oblivion, and your stubborn refusal to accept impossible odds has proven... effective in the past.**"

Naruto's consciousness slipped back fully into his physical body, the conversation with Kurama concluding as naturally as it had begun. The constellation seal pulsed once with gentle blue light, as though acknowledging the Nine-Tails' grudging support.

Dawn was still hours away, but Naruto felt a clarity that had eluded him since the seal first appeared. He knew what he had to do—and what he couldn't do.

The first light of morning found him standing before Tsunade in her office, his expression set with unmistakable determination.

"I can't accept Orochimaru's help," he declared without preamble. "The stabilization serum bought us time, but his 'solution' would corrupt the seal's true purpose."

Tsunade, eyes shadowed from another sleepless night of research, leaned forward. "Explain."

And so he did—the vision, Pegasus's explanation, the revelation about the constellation seal's function as a dimensional regulator rather than a cosmic parasite. As he spoke, the seal itself seemed to respond, pulsing with gentle light that cast his shadow in sharp relief against the office wall.

When he finished, Tsunade and Jiraiya exchanged long looks laden with silent communication. Finally, the Hokage sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Of all the impossible scenarios," she muttered, "you would land squarely in the most complicated one."

"You believe me, though?" Naruto pressed, needing their support for what would come next.

"The ancient texts did mention regulator seals," Jiraiya acknowledged reluctantly. "But they were theoretical, never successfully implemented. The cosmic energy requirements were too great for any single human vessel to contain without... catastrophic consequences."

"I'm not exactly a standard-issue human vessel," Naruto pointed out, patting his stomach where the Nine-Tails seal lay beneath the constellation pattern. "Between my Uzumaki chakra reserves and Kurama's power..."

"You might just have a chance," Tsunade finished, a hint of pride breaking through her professional concern. "But the risks remain enormous, Naruto. And we still don't know how to establish the corresponding anchor in the other world."

"Gingka will figure it out," Naruto said with absolute certainty. "Our connection through Pegasus grows stronger every day. And during the next cosmic convergence point—midnight during the new moon—we might be able to communicate directly, share what we've learned."

"That's three days from now," Jiraiya noted, calculations running behind his eyes. "Can your seal remain stable that long without further intervention?"

Naruto nodded, confidence radiating from him in palpable waves. "Now that I understand its purpose, I can work with the energy instead of fighting it. Guide its expansion instead of trying to suppress it."

Tsunade rose from her desk, circling around to face Naruto directly. Her clinical gaze assessed the constellation pattern, noting the subtle changes in its configuration since her last examination. No longer chaotic and haphazard, the lines now followed more deliberate paths, forming a cohesive network across his skin.

"It's already responding to your understanding," she observed with reluctant amazement. "Adapting based on your acceptance rather than resistance."

"Exactly." Naruto grinned, the expression lighting his features despite the seriousness of the situation. "Pegasus and I are partners. We'll figure this out together—and with Gingka, once we can communicate properly."

Tsunade's hand fell on his shoulder, her touch conveying both support and warning. "Three days, then. We'll help you prepare for the convergence point. But Naruto..." Her amber eyes bored into his with fierce intensity. "If anything goes wrong—if the seal becomes unstable or the cosmic energy threatens to overwhelm you—promise me you'll reconsider all options. Even Orochimaru's."

Naruto met her gaze steadily, understanding the concern behind her demand. "I promise to do whatever it takes to protect both worlds. But the answer isn't in his twisted science, Granny. It's in the connection itself—the bridge between dimensions that Pegasus created when it first answered my call."

As if in confirmation, the constellation seal pulsed once with brilliant blue light, momentarily illuminating the office with the radiance of distant stars. Within that brief flash, Naruto felt it again—the tenuous but strengthening connection to another world, another partner, another piece of the cosmic puzzle that would determine the fate of two realities.

Somewhere, beneath the same stars but in a different dimension, Gingka Hagane was working toward the same understanding—following the path laid out by their shared bond with a constellation spirit that existed beyond the boundaries of single worlds or limited perceptions.

Together, they would find the way forward. The constellation seal wasn't a curse to be suppressed or a power to be exploited—it was a responsibility, a cosmic trust placed in the hands of two unlikely heroes connected by forces beyond ordinary comprehension.

And neither of them had any intention of failing.