Chapter 19: The Giant's Eyes
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The forest remained calm.
The evening light filtered through the treetops, bathing the path in orange hues as two small figures moved forward without hurry.
Naruto walked with his hands inside his pants pockets, watching the path ahead of him.
Beside him, Mikasa walked in silence, now wrapped in the scarf and jacket he had given her a few minutes ago.
Neither of them spoke.
The only sounds accompanying them were their footsteps against the ground and the wind moving through the leaves.
At that moment, when the little Ackerman put on the scarf, a notification appeared.
[Event Detected!]
[You have altered the course of history by intervening in an event that was destined to happen.]
[Event Changed: Eren Yeager Saving Mikasa Ackerman.]
[As a result, you have changed the fate of a key individual and gained the companionship of Mikasa Ackerman.]
[Rewards: (+2,000 SP)]
Naruto read the message with curiosity.
"Did I alter history...?" he asked quietly, curious, before noticing the unfamiliar name that had appeared. "And who is Eren Yeager?"
Aetheria responded immediately.
[That is correct, Naruto.]
[Important actions alter the natural development of this world. The greater the alteration, the more the future will change.]
[As for Eren Yeager, he is the protagonist of this world, but due to the alterations you have caused, the main focus of this story is beginning to shift toward you.]
Naruto slowly nodded. He didn't fully understand it, none of this protagonist stuff or whatever it was. Even if he could deduce that this so-called protagonist was someone important, all because of the whole deuteragonist thing involving Mikasa.
Besides, he wasn't too concerned about it, since it didn't involve him. So he simply continued walking.
The path ahead of them seemed to have no end, stretching between the trees while the sun continued to slowly descend.
Naruto kept walking alongside Mikasa.
Although his pace remained steady and his body showed no signs of fatigue, as time passed, a feeling began to emerge within him.
Boredom.
Ever since the previous universe he had been in, which was Marvel, Naruto hadn't traveled a great distance on foot. Even here, it seemed that this small habit he was beginning to develop would repeat itself.
It was all because, between the armor, the gems, and even the new Titan powers he had obtained, moving from one place to another had always been quick and simple.
Walking for hours wasn't a problem for him. But that didn't mean it was interesting.
Naruto let out a small sigh.
Mikasa, who was walking beside him, looked at him slightly confused.
"Is something wrong, Naruto?"
Naruto turned his gaze toward her, before simply shaking his head.
Although he technically wasn't tired, continuing to walk like this was beginning to seem unnecessary to him.
Then he remembered something.
The power he had recently obtained, which he still needed to test. Since he had used the Attack Titan for a while, he should probably start using the Jaw Titan as well.
An almost imperceptible smile appeared on his face.
Mikasa, meanwhile, watched curiously, wondering what was happening with Naruto. But when she saw him raising his hand toward his mouth, she felt something strange.
Like danger, or something similar.
So she instinctively moved a little farther away, even if another part of her didn't want to do so.
Then, she saw him bite his hand, drawing a little blood.
For an instant, nothing happened. But at that moment, an enormous amount of energy began to be released.
A huge sphere of golden energy appeared around Naruto, accompanied by orange-colored lightning that traveled across the surface of the sphere, illuminating the forest with an intense light.
Mikasa's eyes widened slightly as she watched the scene, unable to look away. It was something completely different from anything she had ever seen before.
The energy increased, before slowly beginning to disappear. And when the energy faded away, there was no longer a boy standing in that place. Instead, a huge figure stood before Mikasa.
A Titan approximately five meters tall.
Its body was covered in defined muscles, with steam slowly rising from its skin as its eyes surveyed the forest.
Mikasa remained motionless.
For several seconds, her mind simply couldn't process what she had just seen.
First, she had watched Naruto defeat two men without effort. Then she had discovered that Naruto could pull objects out of thin air.
And now...
Now...
Naruto had turned into this... giant thing.
The enormous creature tilted its head slightly toward her.
Although its appearance was terrifying, Mikasa could recognize something.
The eyes.
They were the same blue eyes as Naruto's. Even the blond hair was identical to Naruto's.
With that, the Titan took a few steps toward Mikasa. And once it was close enough, it stopped.
Mikasa remained motionless, staring at the enormous figure before her.
Although she had already seen impossible things that day, this was different.
The size.
The appearance.
The pressure emanating from the creature.
Everything about it reminded her of the creatures she had heard her parents talk about.
Titans.
The little Ackerman slightly tightened her grip on the scarf Naruto had given her, without taking her eyes off the enormous creature.
"Naruto..." Mikasa spoke with some hesitation.
The Jaw Titan slightly turned its head toward her.
Mikasa took a small step backward on instinct, though not out of fear.
There was something strange.
Despite its terrifying appearance, those bright eyes, and the enormous jaw covered by a kind of tooth-filled mask, she knew that Titan was Naruto.
"Is that thing... a Titan?"
The question caused Naruto to remain still.
The problem was obvious.
The Titan couldn't speak.
Inside the nape, Naruto called out to Aetheria.
"Aetheria, how am I supposed to do this?" Naruto asked. "I can't speak in this form."
The answer came quickly.
[There is a simple solution, Naruto.]
[You do not need to completely leave the transformation.]
[You can release only the upper part of your body from the Titan's nape while maintaining your connection to the transformation.]
Naruto nodded, having found a solution, and remembering all his transformations, where he had done something similar to what Aetheria had suggested.
The quadrupedal Titan began to move slowly.
Mikasa watched carefully.
That creature was different from any Titan she could have imagined.
It had wild blond hair falling around its face, an enormous jaw shaped like an armored mask, large claws, and bones protruding from its elbows.
From this angle, it didn't look like a humanoid giant, but rather a creature created solely for fighting.
Then something unexpected happened.
The Titan slowly began to lean forward.
Mikasa tensed for a moment. But there was no attack. Instead, a large amount of steam began pouring from the back of its neck.
Mikasa narrowed her eyes, trying to understand what was happening.
And then she saw it.
A figure emerged from the Titan's nape.
Little by little, Naruto emerged from that area, still connected to the body of the enormous creature.
His blond hair was disheveled. His eyes showed the same dark markings that appeared after using that transformation.
But his expression remained the same as always.
Calm.
Naruto opened his eyes and looked toward Mikasa.
"Yes," the Uzumaki finally answered. "This is a Titan, more specifically, it's called the Jaw Titan."
Mikasa remained silent, staring at him.
For the first time since meeting him, she seemed to have no immediate response.
"But..." she said, her eyes once again turning toward the enormous body Naruto was still connected to. "I thought Titans were just monsters that devoured people."
Naruto tilted his head slightly, remembering the information Aetheria had told him about these things.
"From what I understand, the only ones that do that are the so-called Pure Titans," Naruto answered.
"Pure Titans...?"
"Yes. Those are simple Titans that eat people by instinct, the same ones you've heard about," Naruto continued. "What I am is a Titan Shifter."
Mikasa listened carefully to the information Naruto was giving her.
Until now, she had never expected to encounter a Titan in her life, much less one that could appear from a boy she had saved only recently.
However, among the information Naruto had revealed, one particular part caught her attention.
"Titan... Shifter...?"
Naruto nodded.
"An ordinary human capable of turning into a Titan and becoming human again whenever they want."
Mikasa remained motionless.
It was impossible. People couldn't turn into Titans.
At least, she had never heard of anything like that.
Throughout her entire life, Titans had been viewed as an absolute threat. Mindless creatures that appeared from outside the walls to destroy everything in their path.
But Naruto was standing before her, proving otherwise. Not only could he turn into one of them. He could also control his own will.
Mikasa lowered her gaze slightly, trying to organize her thoughts.
"So..." she began slowly. "You're a human inside that body?"
Naruto nodded. And that answer was so simple that it almost seemed absurd.
Mikasa looked again at the enormous Titan leaning over, looking down.
Despite knowing that he was in there, it was still difficult to accept that such a huge creature could be controlled by a person.
"And how long can you stay like that?"
Naruto looked at his own Titan body for a few seconds.
"I don't know."
The answer made Mikasa raise an eyebrow.
"You don't know?"
"I've never tested how long I can remain in this form, so I can't answer that," the blond boy said honestly.
That left Mikasa even more confused.
Naruto had just transformed into a gigantic creature, an ability that seemed to belong only to legends, and yet he spoke about it as if he were simply testing out a new technique.
Something inside her told her that Naruto was much stranger than he appeared.
And that was already saying something.
"Why did you want to transform?" Mikasa asked, causing Naruto to look toward the forest.
"Because I got bored of walking."
Mikasa blinked for several seconds, not knowing how to respond.
Of all the answers she expected to hear, that one was probably the last.
She had imagined Naruto saying something related to training, survival, testing his abilities, or even some more complicated reason.
But no.
He had simply transformed into a Titan because he was bored of walking.
The little Ackerman silently observed the blond boy, trying to understand how someone could act so calmly about something that would be impossible for anyone else.
"You transformed into a Titan...?" Mikasa began slowly, "because you were tired of walking?"
Naruto nodded naturally, not noticing anything strange about it.
Mikasa remained silent.
For a few seconds, only the sound of the wind moving through the trees filled the area.
All of this made Naruto curiously tilt his head.
"What's wrong, Mikasa?"
Mikasa looked away.
"Nothing."
But something clearly was wrong.
Naruto didn't seem to understand the gravity of the situation. To him, turning into a Titan wasn't a terrifying ability or something he needed to hide.
It was simply another tool.
Like a sword or a bow and arrow. Or anything else he could use.
Mikasa looked again at the enormous body of the Jaw Titan that remained connected to Naruto.
Even after seeing it appear before her, she still found it difficult to accept that such a thing was possible.
"So..." Mikasa asked after a few seconds. "Can you use that form to fight?"
Naruto looked at Mikasa, before simply nodding.
If he had been able to use the Attack Titan to fight Titans, the Jaw Titan wouldn't be any different.
Mikasa closed her eyes for a moment.
Every new thing she learned about Naruto only made more questions appear. It was as if he didn't understand how strange all of this was.
"From what you're saying... have you already tested the power of using a Titan?"
"Yes."
Mikasa stared at him. Naruto simply stared back.
After a few seconds, she sighed.
"You're really strange."
Naruto smiled slightly, not knowing why those words sounded so familiar.
Mikasa remained quiet for the moment. There were still too many things she didn't know about him. However, there was something she was certain of.
Naruto wasn't like the others.
The adults she had met until then, aside from her parents or Dr. Yeager, weren't as good as she had imagined.
But Naruto... Naruto simply did what he considered right. Without expecting anything in return.
The young girl looked at the blond boy's transformation again.
"From what I heard... you said the Titan was called the Jaw Titan."
Naruto simply nodded as always. But the more she listened, the more questions formed in her mind.
First of all, she approached Naruto, curious, while letting her eyes wander over the Titan.
"Now..." she spoke, drawing Naruto's attention. "What you did earlier, biting your hand, that was for this."
"That's correct," Naruto said. "To turn into a Titan, you have to injure yourself and have the intention to transform."
"And can you control everything the... Titan does?" she asked, watching Naruto nod. "And does it obey you?"
The blond boy tilted his head.
"It's not that it obeys me, I don't know exactly what that means," he said in confusion, before continuing. "It's as if it's me... just much bigger. My human body remains inside the nape while I control it."
Mikasa slowly lowered her gaze.
After several seconds of silence, she looked once again at the enormous body of the Titan connected to Naruto.
So, out of pure curiosity, she continued observing the Titan's body. Eventually, her gaze reached its face.
Seeing this, Naruto returned to the body, with the nape regenerating as he resumed operating the body.
He raised his head, bringing it level with Mikasa's small body.
The little Ackerman watched the movement, her curiosity only continuing to grow.
And so, with slow movements, she brought her hand toward a part of the Titan's jaw.
She hesitated for a few seconds.
Finally, she touched it.
The tips of her fingers brushed against that smooth, warm skin.
Mikasa's eyes widened slightly.
"...It's... hard..."
It was strange. It wasn't cold or rough like a rock. It radiated warmth, almost as if she were touching a person's body.
She couldn't understand it.
She had always been told that Titans were monsters created to kill humans. But this one had saved her.
Naruto had given her a jacket, a scarf, and now remained completely still so he wouldn't frighten her.
It was difficult to accept that everything she knew could be wrong.
Slowly, she raised her gaze until she met the Titan's enormous blue eyes. And, for the first time, she didn't feel only fear.
She felt curiosity.
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