59. Mad Servant

Naruto and Shoka-sen were on their way to the Outer Part of the Temple. Both were silent during the return journey, preoccupied with their own thoughts. Naruto had a feeling that he hadn't fully understood something, that something was missing from the Master's lesson.

Actually, could it be called a lesson? They simply attended a tea ceremony, Naruto spoke with another Training Monk, and they left. It was supposed to make Naruto aware of the subtle changes happening within him. Shoka-sen had virtually no part in it and didn't say anything about the lesson until Naruto figured it out himself.

The Master's words were definitely somewhat contradictory to what Naruto had been allowed to do in the past, such as attacking another Training Monk to gain information. Naruto had harmed someone else to become stronger, and the Master had ignored the matter, allowing Naruto to get away with no consequences.

Perhaps it was contradictory, or maybe Naruto was looking at the situation wrong. Maybe his perspective was indeed too negative. Well, he wouldn't grasp everything at once; understanding would surely come with time.

The hardest things to change are beliefs and mindset. Maybe when Naruto returned to his Village in a few months, he would be a better person than he was before. Although Naruto tried very hard to be a good older brother and son to the Namikaze family, he probably wasn't doing it well, considering how bad he felt about it.

As they slowly left the Main Part of the Temple, Naruto spotted a walking corpse on the edge. That old man who seemed to be dead. He held a broom in his hands, sweeping the floor of leaves and small branches.

Only a few servants could be in the Main Part of the Temple, so his presence must mean more than just being a common servant.

"Sensei? Do you know that old man?" Naruto pointed to the distant figure of the old man.

"Oh, I recognize him, but I don't know his name. Some Monks couldn't pass some Trial of Will, their minds broke, and they became unable to properly understand the world around us. Some of them left this place, but there were a few stubborn ones who stayed for some reason; most of them became servants who take care of the Fire Temple," Shoka-sen explained, looking at the sweeping old man with pity.

"Do you think how long he's been like this?"

"Close to forty years, if not longer..." Shoka-sen replied.

"I understand, it's quite sad. Is there no way to help them somehow?" Naruto was curious and thought it should be possible, thanks to the Hermits' Gift.

"The body can be healed, but the mind is much harder. You can speed up recovery from trauma, but when the mind breaks, only pain and madness remain. It's truly amazing that this guy holds up so well."

Breaking doesn't necessarily mean mental disability and lack of full understanding. The old man handled sweeping quite well and seemed proficient at it. He also seemed to be able to perform some Kontorōrujutsu techniques, although he might do it instinctively, for example, when his body senses danger. In short, he still had some sanity left and probably understood some things.

"Let's go, we shouldn't disturb his peace," the old man said.

He started walking towards his courtyard again, but Naruto glanced at the servant for a moment. When he was about to move his feet, the servant turned his head towards him at that moment and looked at Naruto with empty eyes.

His gaze was unpleasant, and Naruto involuntarily straightened his body.

After a moment, the servant looked away from him and returned to his work.

...

The next evening...

Naruto finished his daily training and instead of resting, headed towards the Main Part of the Temple. He stood on its edge to avoid trouble and waited for someone.

There wasn't an exact hour set to the minute, but it was agreed to meet in the evening when it started to get dark.

It was long past dark already, and Naruto circled the Main Part of the Temple around for the umpteenth time, looking for a certain person.

At one point, Naruto spotted the old man he had been waiting for, sweeping the Temple some meters beyond the boundary of the Main Part.

All Training Monks and Junior Monks were forbidden from crossing the Main Part of the Temple even by a few centimeters, as they would be severely punished. Naruto hadn't heard of anyone breaking this rule, so he didn't know the punishment for it, but still, without hesitation, he crossed the boundary and headed towards the old man.

It was a servant whom Naruto called 'Living Corpse' in his mind because although no Life Energy could be detected from him, and he seemed to be dead drunk at the time, a few days later, Naruto met him when he returned from the tea ceremony.

Initially, Naruto was only mildly curious about him and didn't plan to talk to him, but after yesterday's events, he changed his mind. What he heard from his Master intrigued him, and besides, this servant, despite his empty gaze and madness in his head, seemed to still have remnants of intelligence. Naruto wasn't sure if that could be called luck or a curse in his situation.

Yesterday, when Naruto and Shoka-sen were returning from the tea ceremony, Naruto decided to send a message to this servant through echolocation about the meeting. Naruto wasn't sure if the old man would understand it, but he decided to try. Well, it was already several hours after dark, and he found him somewhere on the edge of the Main Part of the Temple, so either he did it on purpose, or it was just a coincidence, and the servant didn't hear the message.

"Sorry to bother you, old man, but I'm just curious. I completely don't believe in your situation," Naruto said from behind him, and the old man didn't pay any attention to him and skillfully swept. He probably did it thoughtlessly for most of his day and only went to sleep late at night.

"If you can't speak, move your lips or eyes, and I'll read what you want to say. You can also use sign language if you know it; we can also communicate through echolocation," Naruto spoke calmly, and halfway through his dialogue, the old man turned his head and looked at him from over his shoulder.

His eyes were empty, dark pupils resembled the abyss of nothingness. There were no emotions, no understanding, no intelligence in them. Nothing, just emptiness.

However, Naruto was absolutely sure that despite this appearance, deep down, the old man understood him.

After a moment of staring into each other's eyes, the old man returned to his work. Naruto watched him for a few minutes, waiting quietly. During this time, he noticed that he didn't blink, and his eyeballs were quite dry from lack of water and blinking.

"You were conscious then, right? And now you're angry with me for trying to kick you in the jewels, forgive me, I didn't expect that..." Naruto stopped when the old man looked at him again, but this time abruptly and unexpectedly.

"Oh, hehe..." — Naruto awkwardly scratched his neck. The attempt to provoke the old man succeeded; now he had evidence that he was aware, and the old man wouldn't be able to deny it.

"You see? We can understand each other."

Naruto sent him a gentle smile and took a few steps towards him, standing just half a meter away. Both looked into each other's eyes again. Although the old man's gaze remained unchanged, his body showed signs of irritation.

"Actually, I don't want you to take me for some arrogant kid; I just want to talk. I'm usually very curious and can't help but be interested in you, old man," Naruto explained, confident that he understood his words.

"I've learned more about people who supposedly 'went mad' because of the Trials of Will. They all left the Fire Temple due to breakdowns, unable to continue training. The symptoms varied, but most were morbidly afraid to stay here, yet there was a group of people who decided to stay and serve here for the rest of their lives. Strangely, all of you had some connections with each other, and those who stayed in the Fire Temple 'went mad' at similar times, over several years. There wasn't much information about it; I had to question a few people to find out, but everything they said somehow connected. I came to the conclusion that you didn't break down mentally because of the Trial of Will; it must have been something else because your symptoms were completely different from the rest. You became almost delirious and seemingly didn't understand reality; after the Trial of Will, people broke down in many ways, but most were controlled by fear and depression. Unfortunately, this happened over forty years ago, and only you survived; the rest of similar people died from exhaustion or committed suicide. It's really strange that no one connected the information. Do you understand what I'm saying? I want to convey that I don't buy this whole story; you can pretend not to communicate, but that was also a lie. Some part of your intelligence may have actually died, but you more or less understand my words."

The old man listened without blinking an eye to Naruto's explanations; he didn't react, just looked at him blankly and waited until he finished. When it happened, he turned his head to one side and opened his mouth, then closed it.

He somewhat resembled an undead creature from those fantasy books about the apocalypse that Naruto had accidentally read once. They were complete nonsense and elicited a wave of laughter from him, but he didn't expect to meet one of this imaginary species with his own eyes.

The servant opened his mouth a few times, at one point groaning heavily and closing it with noticeable pain. Did he have no tongue? Naruto quickly dismissed it; he definitely had one, but it was probably the result of decades of silence. His vocal cords hadn't been used for decades, and now he had to make an effort to say even one, single word.

The old man touched his throat and after a while returned bored to his work. Apparently, he lost interest in the conversation with Naruto or was unable to hold it.

"We can communicate through echolocation," Naruto suggested, and the old man looked at him again for a while, then shook his head from side to side.

Naruto fell silent in thought, observing the old man's work. If he had a functioning Chakra System, he would heal his vocal cords to conduct a normal conversation.

"Hmm, maybe this will interest you?" — Naruto pulled out a bottle of alcohol from his robes.

The old man's empty eyes widened slightly, and he sent Naruto a barely visible smile. In an instant, he took half-liter bottle from him and quickly opened it, then greedily took a few sips of alcohol. A few drops ran down his chin as he sighed with relief.

"Alcohol dulls the pain, am I right?" Naruto asked, almost certain of the answer.

The old man immediately nodded and opened his mouth again, muttering something hoarsely. However, no words wanted to pass through his throat, so he drank from the bottle again and tried to speak to Naruto.

"One more..." — he wheezed with a dead voice filled with tremendous pain. His voice sounded like a wraith from terrifying nightmares.

"Another bottle? Sure," Naruto smiled, seeing his cooperation, and pulled out another bottle of alcohol from his robes.

The old man shamelessly took it from him and hid it behind his own clothes, treating the bottle, or rather its contents, like some precious treasure.

"I'm not sure if you get any compensation, but if you tell me about yourself, I'll occasionally bring you some sake, what do you say?" Naruto proposed a simple deal, but the old man squinted at him unpleasantly.

Seeing his gaze, Naruto slightly opened his robes, revealing several bottles of alcohol near his body. The old man's empty eyes lit up intensely, and he patted Naruto's back friendly.

Naruto had probably become his friend.