"Legend has it that long, long ago… there was a monster."
"Its skin was as pale as a mountain rock, its fingers bigger than skyscrapers, and with just one gulp, it could drain an entire sea!"
"Its breath was fire, and with every step, it stirred up hurricanes."
"And, and it only had one eye, but ten tails!"
The classroom erupted in laughter, and the noise reached Naruto Uzumaki's ears.
"Naruto, those are just from a manga. How are you still taking them seriously?"
"You even said it with a straight face. Aren't you sixteen already?"
"Naruto-kun, take some advice from me, if you keep acting like this, you're gonna lose all your chances at dating! Hahaha…"
Naruto rolled his eyes and was going to explain again, but as he caught sight of the pink-haired girl sitting by the window, he swallowed his words quickly.
'Hmph, whatever. No point arguing with these dreamless fools.'
Still, he couldn't hold back. He nudged the cool acting black-haired boy sitting next to him and whispered mysteriously, "Sasuke, I gotta tell you a huge secret. I really, really heard a voice calling me…"
"Loser." Sasuke Uchiha didn't even lift an eyelid. "You want to repeat a grade? You were dead last in the midterms."
Naruto slumped back in his seat, frowning as he flipped open his textbook.
Hours passed, and when the school bell rang, students poured out of the building, leaving in small groups.
Naruto hopped into an unmanned car parked on the roadside. The wheels retracted, and the three-mode vehicle lifted into the air, carrying him off into the distance.
In the vast city, these flying machines crisscrossed the sky, their lights outshining even the stars.
Students chose their majors based on their interests; adults used smart machines to complete what used to be laborious tasks with a single tap. Even the homeless had become free-spirited artists, with city subsidies covering all living expenses for an entire year.
There was no need to work, nor was there conflict.
Because—
At the heart of the ocean was a supermassive whirlpool, over a hundred kilometers wide. In just one day, the energy it generated could power a megacity for fifty years. This was the 'Rasengan Whirlpool.'
Elsewhere, there were endless mountains of fire, producing enough heat to keep all the northern cities warm throughout the winter, known as the 'Great Fire Annihilation Mountain Range.'
At the exit of a deep canyon, animals burst forth every second, and people only had to collect the ones that had fallen to their deaths to make canned meat. This place was called 'The Valley of Summoning.'
And there was more: the 'Flying Thunder God's Path,' the 'Forest of Chidori,' and the 'River of Exploding Tags'...
No one knew why these strange places had such strange names.
But one truth was known by all—These miracle-producing locations were true perpetual motion machines.
On the front page of An Overview of World Geography, there was even this sentimental phrase, "Our home is an incredible miracle. Energy is inexhaustible, and people can freely obtain energy and organic matter from the ecosystem at no cost… Yes, we are loved by the gods."
Naruto had lived his whole life in such a prosperous and beautiful society.
Buzz—
The three-mode vehicle landed on the rooftop helipad behind his house. He jumped out of it and slipped inside.
He carefully took off his shoes, tiptoed upstairs, and sure enough, his parents in the kitchen hadn't noticed his return. They were still chatting and laughing while preparing dinner.
"Whew… Operation Step One, success!"
He then quietly closed his door, made a victory sign, and then pulled out all his hidden gears from under the bed.
Climbing gear, a mountaineering axe, durable rope, tactical gloves…
He suited up but didn't immediately act. Instead, he lay on the floor and covered his belly with both hands, then started to breathe deeply and steadily.
Soon, he heard the voice again.
"Naruto Uzumaki…"
"Naruto, come to me…"
"I hear you! Operation Step Two, success!" Naruto whispered excitedly. "Where are you? I'll come find you!"
"Follow your feelings… Come… Hurry…"
"Hey, hey, is that all you can say?" Naruto quipped.
"Hurry…"
The voice was rough and impatient, but he could hear the weakness and frailty beneath it, ready to go out at any moment.
"Follow my feelings, huh? Guess I'll go with my gut! If I can't find you, don't blame me!"
Gripping his resolve, he couldn't resist the thought of this being the start of his supernatural journey to save the world like all the manga he had read. He stuffed his backpack with gear, tossed out a rope, and rappelled down into the garden.
He dashed to the shed, pulled out the silent airbike his dad had bought last month, and activated it with a fingerprint scan. He shot off from the garden.
"You little brat! Where are you going out this late?! I'll kill you!" His mother's angry roar echoed behind him. Naruto hunched his shoulders, not daring to look back at his mother's furious expression.
"Follow my feelings… Follow…"
Riding the last rays of sunset, he followed the voice's guidance, heading toward the edge of the city.
By the time night fully descended, he had left the residential area and arrived at the city's outskirts, in the mountainous region.
In the dark, the rough, impatient voice became clearer.
"Naruto Uzumaki…"
"Come…"
"Come to me…"
"You have to stop him..."
(End of Chapter)