The longer Artoria walked along the path through the forest, the more clearly she felt, in the distance, a place where the hatred of human beings manifested in her senses like an open wound.
The forests in that direction seemed more lifeless. Even the wind itself felt heavier there.
Yes, she could feel that autumn would soon arrive in this land.
Suddenly, the voice of the system rang out.
Welcome to the outskirts of Konoha, Host.
Your student is located 54 kilometers southwest of you. Please proceed to your student by the fastest possible route.
Artoria did not slow her steps. She simply kept listening.
Quest 1:
For the first few weeks, be visible only to your student.
Reward: 5 RNG-Gacha
Time limit: 21 days
Artoria's expression shifted slightly.
"What kind of quest is that supposed to be...?"
She fell silent for a moment, then half-closed her eyes and exhaled calmly.
"But if that is what the system wants, then for now I will abide by its rules."
A thoughtful look crossed her face.
"Let us see who I am to receive as a student. Realistically, there are only three possibilities."
She slowly raised one hand and began counting on her fingers.
"Hinata Hyūga..."
A soft murmur. "Hm."
"Sasuke Uchiha... considering the genocide of his clan..."
Then her gaze softened a little.
"Or Naruto Uzumaki."
A brief pause.
"And I hope it is him. The other two do not need it to the same extent."
After about two hours, the feeling grew stronger. Much stronger.
Artoria sensed several ANBU in the forests. They remained hidden and were watching a small clearing beside a narrow stream.
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
"Oh..." she said softly. "It seems it really will be Naruto Uzumaki."
An almost invisible smile touched her lips.
"Then it is time to begin this quest."
With every additional step, her presence grew fainter.
The beings of this world could see her less and less, feel her less and less, until she moved like a shadow between the trees.
And now, as she drew closer to the source of that pressure, she finally recognized what exactly she had been sensing all this time.
Not only the hatred of people.
But something else beneath it.
Something older. Wilder. Darker.
"The Nine-Tails..." she murmured.
On the way to the clearing, Artoria stepped to the brook, knelt briefly, and dipped her hand into the water. With one calm, precise motion, she drew out four large fish.
She studied them for a moment.
"He must be hungry."
At that moment, the voice of the system sounded again.
Host, you are now only 20 meters away from your student.
He is in the hell before you.
Artoria slowly lifted her gaze.
And for one moment, her face went still.
Very still.
Because suddenly she knew that, for once, even the system had not exaggerated.
When Artoria entered hell, she came to an abrupt halt.
Before her burned a small campfire. Beside it lay a small figure, slumped, thin, exhausted—almost starved.
For a moment, Artoria could not move.
The sight tore at something inside her.
Or rather: it touched something she had long believed lost.
Now it became clear to her.
With the fusion with Jenni, she had not only regained power, memories, or fragments of her past. No... she had regained something else as well. Something she had lost on her way to becoming a Divine Spirit.
Her human side.
The heart within her that could still feel pain.
The heart that still knew what loss meant.
Perhaps it had been Jenni. Perhaps a part of her former self. Perhaps both. But whatever it was—it had now returned.
A faint, almost incredulous smile appeared on Artoria's face.
Across thousands of years of wandering, she had lost that part of herself.
And now it had returned.
Yes, that also meant that the wound in her heart had been opened again.
But at the same time, it meant that she was once again more than a distant, sacred being.
She was human in her heart once more.
It was sad that it took the sight of a child who had nearly starved to make her realize it.
Slowly, she stepped closer.
Then she knelt beside the fire and raised one hand. With a small pulse of her magic, she made the flames grow larger and warmer, until the desolate camp at least appeared a little less bleak.
Afterward, she prepared the four fish and set them roasting over the fire.
Only then did she turn to the boy.
Carefully, she laid Naruto down more properly so that his body was no longer resting in such a cramped position.
Then she let her magic flow through him.
At once, her expression tightened slightly.
"Mmh... not good."
She sensed that his Uzumaki bloodline was being partially suppressed by the seal of the Nine-Tails.
But that was far from all.
The deeper Artoria examined him, the colder her gaze became.
Injuries.
Several of them, old and new.
And then... seals.
Several.
For a moment, everything inside her went utterly still.
She recognized their functions one by one—and with each one, her stomach turned more.
Mental suppression.
An interference meant to make his mind develop more slowly and leave him behind.
Pain seals.
Seals that could be triggered at any time.
And finally, something she simply stared at for a moment.
A kill switch.
Artoria's eyes narrowed.
"What an abomination..." she said softly.
There was no volume in her voice.
Only disgust.
"I suppose I will have to deal with these problems in the coming days as well."
Carefully, she began healing Naruto. Not too much at once—his body was exhausted, and she did not want to overtax him further. Just enough to ease the worst of the damage and let him rest.
When she was finished, she draped her cloak over his small body.
Almost immediately, Naruto shifted slightly beneath it, as though his body understood that, for the first time in a very long while, something warm and safe was near him.
Artoria looked down at him.
How peaceful he seemed in that moment.
How small.
How vulnerable.
And how unjust it was that a child had to live like this.
A gentle expression entered her eyes.
How adorable he looks, Artoria thought.
But behind that thought lay something deeper.
Not mere affection.
But the quiet, painful resolve that she would not simply leave this boy to the hell in which he had been abandoned.