Chapter 152 - 2

Chapter 2: The Sleeping Uzumaki NarutoKonoha HospitalThe heart rate monitor emitted a monotonous beep in the silent room, like someone unhurriedly beating a tiny drum in the darkness. The white light left nowhere for anything in the ward to hide—the walls were bare of any decoration, and only an enamel cup and an unlit pipe sat on the bedside table.Sandaime Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi sat on a folding chair by the hospital bed, hands folded over his cane and chin resting on the back of his hands. His Hokage hat lay on his knees, revealing his graying hair and the old scar on his forehead that was usually hidden by his headband. The old man's eyes were half-closed, appearing as if he were dozing, but a sharp glint of light always remained in the slits of his eyes, focused on the small figure on the bed.Uzumaki Naruto lay on the bed, his face so pale it almost blended with the pillow. His breathing was shallow, his chest barely rising or falling; only the green waveform jumping on the heart rate monitor proved he was still alive. The bruises from being beaten the previous night were particularly striking under the light, his left cheek swollen high and the wound at the corner of his mouth having formed a dark red scab."Sandaime, it's already three in the morning." An Anbu leaned halfway into the doorway, his voice kept very low. "Would you like to go back and rest? We'll—""No need."Sandaime's voice was soft, but his tone carried an unquestionable firmness. The Anbu fell silent for a moment and then retreated soundlessly.The old man turned his gaze back to Naruto.He thought back to that night years ago—no, to be precise, that October 10th years ago. The day Minato and Kushina's child was born was also the day the Nine-Tailed attacked Konoha. He remembered that when he arrived at the scene, Minato was already dying next to Naruto, Kushina's hand still resting on her son, their blood mixing together and staining the entire gravel ground red."Sandaime... this child... I leave him to you..."Those were Minato's last words.From then on, he ordered that no one was to reveal Naruto's heritage to him. He thought this would protect the child and allow him to grow up peacefully in Konoha. But as it turned out, silence was never protection; silence was just another form of cruelty.The people in the Village poured all their fear and hatred of the Nine-Tailed onto that innocent child. They didn't dare say "Nine-Tailed," so they called him "Demon Fox." They didn't dare take action, so they made their children stay away from him. They didn't even allow their children to play with Naruto, as if being near him would stain them with something ominous.Sandaime knew all of this. He knew it all.But he thought there wasn't much he could do. He could only send Naruto a living allowance every month and occasionally watch him through a crystal ball in the Hokage Office as the boy sat alone on a swing in a daze. He was the Hokage; he was responsible for the entire Village, he couldn't—"Beep—"The heart rate monitor suddenly emitted a sharp, prolonged wail.Sandaime stood up abruptly, his chair sliding back and hitting the wall. He saw the green waveform on the monitor turn into a straight line, then begin to jump violently, high and low, completely erratic, like a frantic dance."Naruto!"He stepped to the bedside in one stride and reached out to Naruto's forehead—it was alarmingly hot. The child's body began to tremble slightly, starting with a faint twitch of the fingers, then spreading to the entire arm, and finally, the whole body began to convulse. Naruto's head tilted to one side, a trace of white foam leaking from the corner of his mouth, his brow furrowed tightly as if enduring some immense pain."Doctor! Get a doctor!"Sandaime shouted toward the door while holding down Naruto's shoulders to prevent him from rolling off the bed. Beneath his palms, he could feel the child's heartbeat—no, it wasn't a heartbeat; it was a vibration coming from deep within the body, as if something were rampaging inside Naruto, trying to tear this small shell apart from the inside.Two doctors and a nurse rushed into the ward and quickly surrounded the bed. One doctor pried open Naruto's eyelid and shone a flashlight on his pupil—no reaction. The other doctor pressed a stethoscope to Naruto's chest, listened for three seconds, and his expression changed."Chakra Rampage! His Chakra is circulating wildly within his body at a speed more than ten times that of a normal person!""Impossible! He's only six years old. How could he have such a massive amount of Chakra in his body?"The doctors looked at each other, not knowing how to handle the situation."First, use medication to suppress the flow of Chakra!" the older doctor decided. "Give him a sedative to slow his heart rate—""No."Sandaime spoke again. He stared at Naruto's pale face, his gaze deep as if trying to penetrate this small body to see the war being waged in the mental world."This process cannot be interrupted. If the Chakrain his body is in turmoil, external intervention will only make things worse.""But Sandaime, if this continues, the child's body won't be able to hold out!"Sandaime fell silent.He knew what the doctor said was true. Narutowas only a six-year-old child; his body was not yet fully developed, and his meridian System was far from mature. Two powerful forces clashing in his body was like two armies fighting on uncultivated land—no matter who won, the land would be destroyed.But Sandaime knew one thing even more clearly: if he let the doctors intervene and forcibly suppress it, Naruto might survive, but if turmoil occurred again, it would be like a time bomb that could explode at any moment. By then, Naruto wouldn't just be in a coma."Wait."Sandaime sat back down in the chair, his voice terrifyingly calm.The doctor opened his mouth to speak but ultimately said nothing. He hung the stethoscope back around his neck, exchanged a look with the other doctor, and then stood silently by the bed, ready to respond to the worst-case scenario at any moment.The ward fell silent again, leaving only the frantic beeping of the monitor and Naruto's increasingly rapid breathing.And in a place Sandaime and the doctors could not see—within Naruto's mental world—a war was unfolding.It was a boundless surface of water.The water's surface was as calm as a giant mirror, reflecting the gray sky. There was no wind, no ripples; the entire world was frozen in an eerie silence. This was Naruto's Mental Space, the place where the Nine-Tailed was sealed.But at this moment, the location of the Seal was no longer the focus.In the very center of the water's surface, two figures stood in confrontation.No, saying "figures" wasn't entirely accurate. One of them did indeed have a human form—a young man who looked to be about twenty years old, wearing clothes that didn't belong to this world, with black hair and dark brown eyes. His face was filled with shock and anger, and his hands were constantly gesturing in front of him as if operating an invisible panel."Why! System! System, get out here!"The young man's voice echoed across the water, carrying a hysterical sharpness.Standing opposite him was another—no, that wasn't a person either. It was a figure condensed from golden Chakra, its outline blurred and its features indistinguishable, only vaguely recognizable as a human shape. But the aura emitted by that figure was ancient and powerful, like a volcano that had slept for a thousand years and was slowly awakening."Invader."The golden figure spoke, its voice deep like the earth vibrating."Begone.""Then enough talk.""System! Give me power!"The young man roared, and a layer of pale blue light film suddenly surfaced on his body. That light film was like a suit of armor, enveloping his entire body and blocking the erosion of the golden Chakra. The blue and golden lights collided on the water's surface, making a sizzling sound like two pieces of red-hot iron being dipped into water."Detected host is in a dangerous state," a mechanical voice came from within the young man. "Activating emergency defense mode. Analyzing enemy Chakra composition... Analysis complete. Enemy Chakra is the Residual Will of Ashura, the eldest son of the Six Paths Sage, with a concentration of approximately three percent of the original state. Suggesting host evacuate immediately.""Evacuate? Evacuate to where! This is my body! I transmigrated here just to become Uzumaki Naruto!""Correction: This body does not currently belong to the host. The host is in the occupation phase, with a completion rate of forty-seven percent. The enemy Chakra is backlashing against the host's spiritual body at a rate of five percent per minute. It is estimated that the host will be completely expelled in eleven minutes.""Shut up!" the young man roared, grabbing at the void with both hands and drawing out a long blade condensed from blue light. "With the System's support, I don't believe I can't beat a piece of residual Chakra!"He swung the blade and charged at the golden figure.The blade's light sliced across the water, kicking up a curtain of water several meters high. The golden figure did not dodge, simply raising an arm. The blade edge struck the golden Chakra with a loud metallic crash; blue and golden fragments scattered everywhere like a brilliant firework display."Stubborn."The golden figure's other arm swung out, a fist slamming into the young man's chest. The blue light film shattered like glass, and the young man's body flew back like a broken kite, bouncing twice on the water's surface before finally crashing into the water with a huge splash.The young man crawled out of the water, soaked through, his face covered in water droplets and bloodshot veins. His eyes were red and his lips trembled, but the ferocity in his gaze grew even more intense.Because the golden figure had already appeared before him again, hands pressed together, a golden light sphere the size of a fist condensing between its palms. The sphere emitted a blinding light, illuminating the entire Mental Space into a sheet of white."...Begone."The golden light sphere shot out.The young man gritted his teeth and drew a circle in front of him with both hands, the blue light re-condensing into the shape of a shield."justice execution system—Ultimate Defense!"The blue shield and the golden sphere collided.There was no explosion, no loud noise.The moment the two forces collided, the world fell silent for a second.Then, everything shattered.Golden Chakra fragments and blue Systemfragments fell from the sky like rain, dense and overwhelming. Countless tiny ripples were struck into the water's surface, as if the entire Mental Space were weeping.The golden figure began to disintegrate—its outline became increasingly blurred, starting from the feet, bit by bit turning into golden specks of light that drifted into the air.Ashura's Residual Will was dissipating.The young man's body was also breaking apart—his arms, his legs, his torso, all turning into blue specks of light. His face was filled with unwillingness, his mouth open as if trying to say something, but no sound could come out."System... binding failed... Host... dissipating..."That mechanical voice sounded intermittently a few times and then fell completely silent.Two forces, both sides defeated.Perishing together.The golden and blue light points drifted in the Mental Space like fireflies. Slowly, very slowly, they converged in the same direction—toward the small figure on the water's surface.That was Uzumaki Naruto.The real Uzumaki Naruto.He stood on the water, looking at it all with a dazed expression. He saw the golden figure dissipate, saw the blue figure shatter, and saw countless light points rushing toward him. He didn't know what was happening; his consciousness was still in a half-awake, half-dreaming state, but he could feel it—something was entering his body.The golden light points merged into his chest, bringing a warm sensation. It was an ancient, deep power, like the earth itself embracing him.The blue light points merged into his forehead, bringing a cool sensation. It was a strange, complex set of information, like countless images and words flashing through his mind.He saw far too many images, so many that his brain could almost not bear it. But he didn't resist; he just stood there, letting all the light points merge into his body.When the last light point vanished, the Mental Space became quiet once again.The water's surface regained its calm, and a faint glimmer of light peeked through the gray sky.Then, a voice rang out in his mind."Ding—""justice execution system binding successful.""Detected host: Uzumaki Naruto. Age: Six years old. Special status: Contains the Nine-TailedDemon Fox sealed within, has absorbed Ashura's Residual Will, has absorbed the spiritual fragments of the previous Transmigrator.""System core rules: Each time the host performs an action that fits the definition of 'justice,' a corresponding reward will be obtained. Definition of justice—protecting the weak, confronting evil, and guarding those who are important.""Detected that the host performed a just act in this event—protecting Hyuga Hinata from bullying on a snowy night. Reward settlement in progress...""Reward 1: Ninjutsu—Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu. This Ninjutsu was developed by the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama. It allows the creation of a large number of physical Clones after a single hand Seal, with each Clone having an equal distribution of Chakra as the original body. This Ninjutsu has been optimized by the System and is now directly mastered by the host.""Reward 2: 15 Points.""Notice: Newbie Gift Pack has been issued.""Note: After the first act of justice rewards a Ninjutsu, all subsequent rewards will be points.""System Notice: The ultimate goal of the justice execution system is to cultivate a true Messenger of Justice. Please remember, host—power itself is not the goal; protection is."The voice vanished.Silence returned to the Mental Space.