A white light suddenly flared in the chaotic darkness,
Bibi Dong abruptly opened her eyes, clutching her chest as she gasped for breath,
"Haah... haah..."
I'm... still alive?
Breathing raggedly, Bibi Dong stared blankly at her palm, opening and closing her hand in disbelief.
Like someone on the verge of drowning who had just been pulled from the water, her lungs greedily sucked in the oxygen around her. It wasn't only her body recovering; her hazy, muddled consciousness was gradually clearing, too.
Something was wrong!
Bibi Dong lowered her head and looked at herself.
She was wearing her usual solemn papal robes, without a speck of dirt or a single tear. These definitely weren't the clothes she'd worn on the battlefield at Jialing Pass!
What on earth had happened?
Where was she?
What had happened to Xiao Xue?
Was this some contingency left behind by that bastard Rakshasa?
Bibi Dong's thoughts had already turned into a muddle, but years of cultivating herself as a strong leader forced her to calm down. She slowly rose to her feet, sweeping her cold gaze over the surroundings as Soul Power coursed through her body, checking its condition.
Just as she'd thought,
something was seriously wrong with her! She was nothing but a mass of Soul Power now!?
Bibi Dong's pupils trembled almost imperceptibly, and her expression turned cold. Who was behind this? She was already dead, and Tang Brat still wouldn't leave her alone?
Her thoughts raced as she took in her surroundings. The spacious area had no light source, and ankle-deep water covered the floor. Rusty pipes lined the thick stone walls at the edge of the space. It looked just like...
The sewer system in Spirit City?
Accustomed to the palaces and churches, Bibi Dong had to think for a moment before she remembered this gloomy corner. She furrowed her brow; the dim surroundings stirred up some unpleasant memories.
Splash.
"Who's there!?"
Footsteps sounded, and Bibi Dong whipped around to look. But the instant she saw who had arrived, the wariness in her eyes turned to disappointment.
A child...
The only person standing before her was a little boy with short, tousled black hair and bright eyes fixed on her. With those chubby cheeks, he looked like a porcelain doll.
He barely reached Bibi Dong's thigh, and she had to look down to meet his gaze.
So weak.
Bibi Dong narrowed her eyes. This little brat's Soul Power Level wasn't even at ten. No wonder she hadn't sensed him at first.
So he wasn't the mastermind...
Had the child just wandered in by chance?
Still, if even a brat like him could come and go as he pleased, then this place's defenses had a massive flaw!
With that thought, Bibi Dong folded her arms and looked down at him haughtily. "Brat, are you a citizen of the Spirit Hall Empire? Where are we?"
"Huh?"
The little boy lost his look of shock, glanced around, then stared at her with a puzzled expression.
"You don't seem to understand your situation."
"Watch your tone, brat!"
Bibi Dong raised one hand slightly, her thin lips parting as she let a little of her restrained Soul Power spill out. Even that tiny fraction was enough to whip up a purple-black storm in the strange space!
She'd give the little brat a small lesson for showing disrespect to the emperor.
The thought had barely formed when Bibi Dong's pupils shrank!
The raging Soul Power swept over the child without causing the slightest disturbance. It only brushed past him like a gentle breeze...
"You did all this!?"
Bibi Dong's face twisted in an instant, her voice squeezed through clenched teeth. The little boy opposite her merely raised an eyebrow, perfectly composed, as though chatting with a friend. "Uh? How do I put this? Not exactly... But strictly speaking, it does have something to do with me..."
Boom!
An invisible shock wave erupted through the enclosed space. Water leapt high into the air, and the entire sewer filled with violent Soul Power. If the Soul Power vortex from before had been a storm, this was now a hundred-meter tsunami!
Bibi Dong's fingers, coated in purple-black Soul Power and curled like claws, stopped in front of the child's neck, unable to advance another inch!
Clink!
The crisp sound of chains rang out!
Countless golden chains engraved with mysterious runes burst out of thin air. In the blink of an eye, they bound Bibi Dong's limbs and body tightly, pinning her in place.
Splash.
The water column behind her fell with a rush, showering down like a light rain.
"Ugh..."
Bibi Dong stifled a pained groan, veins bulging at her temples as she forced the Soul Power inside her body into motion!
The chains clattered, but remained unmoved. Before she knew it, ominous black runes had crawled across her delicate oval face.
The flashy little boy seemed to have expected this. Ignoring the fire in Bibi Dong's eyes, he reached out and pushed her dangerous hand aside. "Just like I said before, you don't seem to understand your situation."
The chains had completely stopped the flow of Soul Power and even divine power within her! Bibi Dong lowered her gaze, staring fixedly at the brat in front of her.
"Who are you!?"
"Jiang Naruto. I'm still a nobody for now." He seemed to remember something, then declared loudly, "But I'm going to be a man who becomes the Hokage Ninja!"
"That's right, Dong Trumpet."
"Huh?"
"Jiang Naruto? That's your name, right?"
In a plain wooden house, a beautiful azure crystal ball sat at the center of the room. A group of children cowered by the wall, waiting for the adults' instructions. The Spirit Hall Spirit Master standing behind the crystal ball stroked his bushy beard as he casually leafed through a file.
Jiang Naruto nodded.
The village chief standing beside him seemed to feel that wasn't respectful enough, so he took over and explained.
"Yes, esteemed Battle Spirit Master. He's the most promising child around here. Both his parents were Spirit Masters, but..."
"Alas..."
The village chief let out a long sigh.
"His parents went to the Soul Hunting Forest to obtain Spirit Rings, and they never came back. We couldn't even find their bodies, so all we could do was set up a grave with their clothes... The child has no one left at home..."
Not only that, the poor kid had cried himself to death from grief...
Six-year-old Jiang Naruto blinked. If anyone heard the dark joke in his head, it would probably scare them to death.
That was right. He was a transmigrator. In his previous life, he'd been perfectly ordinary and was rushing to finish his graduation thesis in his dorm when, by some rotten luck, the dormitory transformer—worn out with age—had fried him with a surge of electricity.
After dying, he'd had the good fortune to transmigrate into the body of this boy who had cried himself to death, a boy with the same name. Half a year had passed since then.
The past was past.
Over the past six months, he'd gradually given up on the idea of going back. Since he was here, he'd make the best of it and enjoy his life in the Douluo World first.
"Is that so?" The Spirit Hall Spirit Master seemed to be reminded of something and couldn't help adding a few words. "That's common enough. Cultivating as a Spirit Master is difficult. An accident can happen at any time."
When he'd finished, he beckoned to Jiang Naruto.
"Kid, hold out your hand."
Jiang Naruto extended his right hand. Under the Spirit Master's guidance, the hexagram beneath his feet lit up.
Like a shell cracking open to reveal new life, Jiang Naruto felt some sort of shackle inside his body split apart, then he pushed against it with all his might until it broke.
Star-like motes of Soul Power appeared on Jiang Naruto's palm. A pitch-black chain suddenly shot out from his palm, startling the village chief beside him.
"A chain?"
The bearded Spirit Master glanced at the unremarkable Martial Soul and muttered, "You could count that as a combat Martial Soul. You can swing it like a whip."
"Let's check your Soul Power."
Jiang Naruto gazed at his Martial Soul for a moment, then, prompted by the bearded Spirit Master, pressed his palm against the azure crystal ball.
Light appeared deep within the crystal ball and quickly spread across half of it, before slowing to a crawl.
Compared with the children who had gone before Jiang Naruto, the light was astonishing. The village chief and the bearded Spirit Master were practically glowing with excitement. Only Jiang Naruto felt his heart sink further.
This much wasn't nearly enough.
"Excellent! Excellent!"
"Kid, you've got real talent! Your Innate Soul Power is actually level six—three levels higher than mine was!"
The bearded Spirit Master shouted excitedly, but Jiang Naruto ignored him completely, furrowing his brow in thought.
Bibi Dong had already been Pope for five years. Going by the timeline, Tang San had to be at least six. Jiang Naruto had forgotten much of the original story, but he was certain Tang San had become a god before turning thirty.
That was... way too fast...
He didn't need to make a name for himself among the feudal lords; staying alive through the chaos would be enough. In a dozen years or so, the mainland's factions would be at each other's throats, fighting hard enough to beat the brains out of each other.
Was he supposed to be cannon fodder then?
His natural talent wasn't enough!
Then he'd make up for it later!
Jiang Naruto pursed his lips and racked his brains, frantically searching his memories of the original Douluo story, until...
"Little Ming! Little Ming!"
Someone shook Jiang Naruto by the shoulder, and he finally came back to himself. He hurriedly looked up. "Oh? What is it, Uncle Village Chief?"
"Did the excitement make you daft? The grown-up's talking to you!"
None of them had noticed Jiang Naruto's odd behavior. The village chief's wrinkled face was wreathed in smiles as he pointed to the bearded Spirit Master beside him, who was beaming just as brightly.
"Kid, would you like to join our Spirit Hall? With talent like yours, getting into Spirit Hall Academy won't be a problem. You know about Spirit Hall Academy, right? It's..."
The bearded Spirit Master went on and on, heaping praise on Spirit Hall Academy.
Some of it was professional enthusiasm, but some of it was genuine.
Awakening a little genius and sending a little genius to Spirit Hall were worth very different bonuses. Besides, Spirit Hall Academy was the best academy under heaven, and Spirit Hall was the holy land of Spirit Masters on the continent. How could joining Spirit Hall possibly hurt the boy?
Faced with the Spirit Hall Spirit Master's fervor,
Jiang Naruto patiently waited for him to finish, then put on a hesitant expression befitting a six-year-old.
"Um... I'm just a country bumpkin from a little place like this. I'd probably get bullied there. I'd be happy just going to school here in Nuoding City."
The bearded Spirit Master was about to try persuading him again,
but then he thought, what could a six-year-old possibly understand?
Once he was old enough, he'd see Spirit Hall Academy's students with the best Spirit Rings slaughtering their opponents at the tournament. Maybe he'd come begging to join Spirit Hall Academy. There was no point wasting his breath now.
"Ah... Fine. You don't understand how great Spirit Master Academy is yet. When you've grown up a little, you can come find me."
After saying that, the bearded Spirit Master still waved him away, a touch dissatisfied.
"Thank you, sir."
Under the village chief's puzzled gaze, Jiang Naruto obediently stood with the children who had already completed their awakenings.
The awakening ceremony continued.
[Ping!]
Jiang Naruto had just turned away when a cold electronic voice sounded in his mind.
Could it be?
A system!
A system that could punch Asura and kick the Sea God?
The delight in Jiang Naruto's eyes had barely surfaced when the cold electronic voice continued. [The Naruto: Better Naruto System is at your service!]
Huh?
Naruto? Hokage?
Jiang Naruto's head buzzed. He glanced at the Martial Soul Awakening ceremony continuing not far away, then lowered his eyes to the Spirit Mark on the back of his hand...
Oh no! This system's probably an idiot!
Before you continue