Throne of the Ghost Emperor (Danny Phantom X Naruto)
Chapter 69 - 17

Chapter 69 - 17

Chapter 17: "The Superior Danny of Tomorrow"

(Featuring Emotional Breakthroughs and Surprise Dad Talks)

You'd think that after dying, like, two dozen times in a row, I'd be curled up in a corner somewhere humming lullabies to myself and rocking gently.

Instead, I was chilling—literally floating—in a glowing golden chakra bath like I was in a really bougie spa run by a blonde ninja therapist who also happened to be the most overpowered guy in the multiverse.

Let me explain.

After surviving my final round of "Die Hard: Toddler Edition," Naruto finally yanked me out of his weird mental flashback world and let me collapse onto the softest couch I've ever known. I'm not saying it was heaven, but if heaven had a guest lobby, this couch would be in it.

Then he dunked me into what I can only describe as a soul Jacuzzi. Golden water. Floating lotus petals. Soft humming. Zero ghosts trying to kill me. 10/10 experience. Would recommend.

As I sank into the glow, I let out a long sigh. My whole body had that post-battle, post-breakthrough, post-everything jelly feeling. And not the gross kind of jelly. The good kind. Like your muscles just turned into warm pudding.

"Better?" Naruto asked, sitting nearby like a chill yoga instructor who moonlighted as a war god.

"Oh yeah," I groaned. "This stuff is amazing. What is it? Spiritual energy bubble bath?"

"Close enough."

We sat in comfortable silence for a bit. Well, I sat. He did that annoying thing where people meditate and don't seem to need gravity or furniture. Show-off.

Then, before I could stop my brain from flapping its mouth, I said, "So... traps. Kinda underrated."

Naruto cracked a grin. "Now you get it."

"Yeah, I do," I admitted, splashing lazily. "After, you know, being electrocuted, drowned, stabbed, exploded, bitten—who bites during an assassination?!"

"Kumo ninja are weird," Naruto said with a shrug. "And hungry."

"Anyway." I floated a little deeper into the bath, watching the golden glow swirl around my fingers. "What I'm saying is... I think I finally get it. Traps save lives. I was always like, 'just punch the problem!' But now? I see the value of a well-placed tripwire and a spicy surprise bomb."

Naruto nodded solemnly. "A ninja is only as strong as their preparations. Traps are a weapon of the clever."

"And let's be honest," I said, raising a hand. "I am very clever. Occasionally. Accidentally."

He chuckled. "You survived. That's what matters."

I went quiet for a moment, my body floating in that peaceful chakra soup. Then I added, "Also... confidence. That was the other thing."

Naruto glanced over.

"I kept dying because I didn't believe I could win. I hesitated. I doubted myself. You, the real you, didn't. Not even at six years old. You were terrified, sure, but you still believed you could do something. I didn't believe in anything except how fast I was about to die."

He nodded again, but this time it felt heavier. More serious.

"That's the difference between surviving and living, Danny," he said. "Belief. Confidence. The will to stand tall even when the odds say you'll fall."

I floated for a long time, letting that settle.

"Think I can borrow some of your overpowered willpower?" I joked.

"You don't need mine," he said. "You've already started growing your own."

My stomach did this weird flip. Not fear. Not even nerves. Something else. Something like... hope?

And then my brain—true to form—ruined the moment.

"Okay but like, do you have any tips on not accidentally triggering your own traps? Because I feel like I'm one mistimed sneeze away from self-detonation."

Naruto gave me a knowing smile and said, "That's what next week is for."

"...Next week?"

"The advanced trap lessons."

I groaned and sunk beneath the golden chakra bath with a bubble-filled sigh.

Great. Next week I get to blow myself up on purpose.

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So, after the golden chakra bath of the immortals (which I'm petitioning to have installed in every high school across America, by the way), things took a turn.

Not a bad turn. Just... one of those "uh oh, this is about to get real" kinds of turns. You know, when someone goes quiet for a little too long and suddenly you're like, oh no, they're about to say something meaningful, and I am Not Emotionally Ready™.

Naruto had gone silent. For someone who usually radiated sunshine and ramen-scented optimism, it was kind of unsettling. He just sat there, hands steepled, eyes closed, like he was consulting some ancient, invisible wisdom cloud.

Then he spoke.

"Danny... can we talk about the thing you don't talk about?"

My stomach dropped. You know the feeling you get when you realize someone's read your emotional diary even though you never wrote one? Yeah, that.

He didn't wait for me to answer. He just knew.

"You feel like you're living in the shadows," he said. "Your parents. Jazz. Everyone else who always seemed like they had their lives figured out. And you... you started believing that maybe you weren't built for greatness. Maybe you weren't supposed to shine. So you stopped trying."

Oof.

The truth hit like a gut-punch made of ice. Because, yeah. I had felt that way. Still did, sometimes. It wasn't that I didn't want to be someone. It was just... every time I tried, it felt like I was tripping over my own feet, while everyone else ran ahead like they were born knowing how to win.

"I thought if I just stayed out of the way," I muttered, "no one would notice I wasn't good enough."

Naruto nodded slowly. "I know that feeling. I used to fail everything. Couldn't do a proper Clone Jutsu if my life depended on it—which, by the way, it did. Everyone told me I was useless. And I believed it. For a while."

I remembered reading that part of his story. How he was the class clown, always getting into trouble just so someone would look at him. How everyone ignored him, and he smiled anyway, even when it hurt.

"You know who else felt like that?" Naruto added, eyes turning serious. "Boruto."

"Your son?"

He nodded. "I thought I was protecting him by not telling him about my past. I didn't want him to carry my pain. But by doing that... he grew up thinking I was this perfect, untouchable legend. And he hated it. Hated me. Because no matter how hard he tried, people kept saying, 'You're not your dad.' 'You're not Naruto.' He started to believe he'd never measure up."

I swallowed hard. That sounded... way too familiar.

"But here's the truth," Naruto said. "Boruto is strong. Stronger than I was at his age. He doesn't have Kurama, but he's got skill, heart, and the will to protect people. Once he stopped comparing himself and started walking his path—he began to shine. Just like you."

I blinked. "I'm not... shining, though."

Naruto looked at me like I had just said water wasn't wet.

"Danny, you're already stronger than you know. You survived being thrown into my past, got killed a hundred times, and you're still here. You're not the same Danny Fenton who hid in the background. You're the superior Danny of tomorrow. You just have to let go of that old weight. Let the shadows melt."

There was something about the way he said it—calm, certain—that made me actually believe it for a second.

Maybe I didn't have to keep dragging those chains of "not good enough" anymore. Maybe I didn't have to live in someone else's shadow, because I was building something new. Something mine.

I looked up at Naruto. He smiled that same goofy, gentle smile he always wore when he was about to say something totally cheesy and completely sincere.

"You don't need to be your parents. Or Jazz. Or me," he said. "You just need to be the best version of you."

For once, I didn't argue. I just nodded.

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Okay, so there I was, emotionally raw, spiritually lighter, and freshly crowned as "The Superior Danny of Tomorrow." Pretty cool title, right? Rolls off the tongue.

But before I could get too caught up in my new era of growth and self-belief, Naruto clapped his hands together and went, "Right! Emotional development session complete. Time for kabooms!"

I swear, the man said that with the same excitement most people reserve for pizza or concert tickets.

And that's how I found myself in our shared mental world, standing in the middle of what looked like the most chaotic ninja playground ever. Picture this: open fields full of wooden training dummies, targets painted with smug faces just begging to be hit, and—oh yeah—an entire rack of explosive kunai and smoke bombs sparkling like they came from the Ninja Fireworks Emporium.

Naruto tossed me a pouch with an almost casual, "Catch, kid!" Inside were glittering kunai with red-tipped ends. I turned one over in my hand. Yep. Definitely explosive.

"You sure about this?" I asked, very aware that therapy through explosions was not a standard practice back home.

Naruto grinned like it was Christmas and Halloween rolled into one. "Absolutely. Blowing stuff up is great for stress. And confidence. Mostly confidence."

So, we got started.

First, Naruto demonstrated. He tossed a kunai with casual grace and boom—one of the dummy targets exploded into splinters. Then he threw two more, backhanded, and a net trap popped up from the grass, followed by a chain of smoke bombs that blanketed the field.

It was equal parts chaos, sparkle, and unadulterated joy.

"My turn!" I yelled, channeling my inner action hero.

Let's just say my first few throws were... not elegant. The kunai either missed completely or went off too early, sending me into coughing fits and Naruto into laughter. I might've accidentally smoked myself out and tripped into a nearby bush at one point.

"Hey," I wheezed through the fog, "this is harder than it looks!"

Naruto leaned against a tree, arms crossed and grinning. "Yup. Now imagine being six years old, alone, and setting traps for real enemy ninja. That was me."

I paused, the gravity of that fact hitting me again. I was playing with smoke bombs. He was surviving with them.

But instead of letting that make me feel small again, I let it motivate me.

"Alright," I said, brushing off my sleeves. "Let's do this again. I wanna out-smoke-bomb my teacher."

I threw. I rolled. I laughed way too hard when I accidentally blasted a dummy's head into orbit. Naruto whooped and joined in, and soon we were just two idiots running across a mental battlefield, shouting "BANZAI!" and tossing chakra-enhanced explosives like it was the best day ever.

And you know what?

It kind of was.

Because yeah, I was still figuring myself out. Yeah, I still had doubts and fears and the occasional existential crisis. But here, in this moment, I was having fun. Real, genuine fun.

With someone who believed in me.

And that made all the difference.

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