Chains of Heaven

No!

Bibi Dong immediately shot down her own guess.

Spirit Hall had long since been reorganized into the Spirit Hall Empire, and its uniforms had been thoroughly revamped on her orders. How could anyone still be wearing this old-fashioned outfit?

What was more, every Spirit Master the Spirit Hall Empire could muster had been deployed for the Battle of Jialing Pass. Even ordinary citizens of the empire had been conscripted. How could there still be a Spirit Master here, taking his sweet time awakening Martial Souls for people?

Bibi Dong's thoughts were in a complete muddle.

Her struggle finally eased, and the golden chains wrapped around her stopped making that dangerous, sizzling sound.

"Good, that's everyone!"

After awakening the Martial Soul of the last child, the bearded Spirit Master waved a hand and turned to face the crowd, stroking his beard. "Your street got lucky this year. Three children awakened Soul Power."

"Eh? It's not that we're lucky. It's all thanks to your blessing, sir. If you hadn't awakened their Martial Souls, how could these little ones have been so fortunate?"

The street chief's face bloomed like a flower. He bowed slightly and showered the bearded Spirit Master with flattery.

"Now, now, that's too much."

The bearded man waved a hand, though he couldn't hide his smile. "Awakening Martial Souls is my job. You can't put it like that."

"..."

Under the children's watchful eyes, the two adults put on quite a display of grown-up society.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, the street chief herded everyone out of Spirit Hall like a flock of ducks.

The Spirit Hall in Nuoding City wasn't large, and it didn't have many Spirit Masters. To avoid crowding during Martial Soul Awakenings, children were brought in by neighborhood in separate batches, while their parents waited outside.

They walked through Spirit Hall's solemn front doors.

Sunlight spilled down over rows of steep-roofed houses with a distinctly otherworldly style, stretching all the way to the stone City Lord's Mansion. Citizens in plain hemp clothes streamed back and forth, while carriage wheels creaked over the gravel road.

Jiang Naruto narrowed his eyes as he adjusted to the daylight.

Inside him, Bibi Dong's eyes widened. She had single-handedly set the war between the Spirit Hall Empire and those two useless nations in motion. Scenes of peaceful streets like this had vanished from the continent long ago!

"Brat! What in the world is going on? Why am I inside your body? What year is it?!"

Jiang Naruto ignored her.

He planned to leave this "Queen" hanging for now.

As the children who had undergone Martial Soul Awakening came out of Spirit Hall, dozens of parents in all kinds of clothes, who had been waiting for ages outside the front doors, surged toward them.

"How'd it go, son? Do you have Soul Power?"

"You must be hungry. Mom brought you something tasty!"

"..."

The two streams of people converged, and the place grew noisy at once. None of this had anything to do with Jiang Naruto. He stood quietly beside the street chief, tuning out the commotion as an electronic voice suddenly sounded in his mind.

[For many years, the orphan Naruto could only hide in a corner and watch from afar, envying other people's happy families. His parents' absence had left him longing endlessly for "love"...]

Seriously?

System, are you blind?

You still think this is the Naruto world? And you're really doubling down on it!

Wait!

Jiang Naruto suddenly remembered something and shook his head hard. He wasn't an orphan, so why was he putting himself in that role? Strictly speaking, counting his older brother, he was the one who'd died in their family of four. That was losing a child!

Well... that was a pretty hellish joke, too...

Naruto shook his head. He'd gotten a taste of the system's "write Naruto's legendary life" feature. As expected, it was utterly useless.

The street chief, who was congratulating the parents of the other two children, shot a strange look at Naruto as he shivered. He assumed the boy was moved by the scene and had remembered his family, who had lost their lives, and was crying in secret.

The street chief sighed softly but said nothing, afraid of hurting the little man's pride.

The parents of the children without Innate Soul Power sighed and left, disappointed. The parents of the two children who did have Soul Power stayed to chat a little longer with the street chief. Just then—

"Wait!"

A booming voice rang out behind them.

They turned around, their expressions changing. The bearded Spirit Master was clutching his precious beard as he hurried out of Spirit Hall after them.

"Battle Soul Master, sir? What is it?"

The two pairs of parents lowered their heads instinctively in the presence of a Spirit Master from Spirit Hall. Only the street chief spoke up to ask.

"Look at me, I completely forgot. I only gave you the certificates." The bearded Spirit Master took the three certificates from the street chief, picked out Naruto's, and crossed out the word "chains" in big strokes. Then he looked down at the boy. "Lucky lad, what's your Martial Soul called?"

"Eh?"

Seeing that the boy didn't understand, he continued to explain.

"The other two can call theirs whatever they like. Their Innate Soul Power isn't even level two. But you're destined to become a Spirit King, even a Soul Emperor. A great man like you can't be careless about your Martial Soul's name, or people will laugh at you when you tell them."

All the parents still lingering by the entrance turned to stare, eyes wide, at the orphan, Jiang Naruto.

This kid was incredibly lucky!

Jiang Naruto didn't care in the slightest what they were thinking. He furrowed his brows and thought it over.

A name?

Adamantine Sealing Chains?

Naruto's first thought was of that classic Kekkei Genkai from Naruto. He was about to answer, then remembered the golden chains etched with runes that had wrapped around Bibi Dong just moments ago and obeyed his every command.

Was that also his Martial Soul?

Or just some bonus the system had tossed in?

Naruto couldn't be sure. But those chains, capable of sealing gods, gave him another idea. He lowered his gaze to the Spirit Mark on the back of his hand and spoke without thinking.

"Chains of Heaven."

"Oh?"

The bearded Spirit Master glanced at Naruto, then smiled as he quickly wrote down the name.

"That's a name that reaches for the heavens. Train hard. Don't disgrace your talent, or the boldness you showed today."

"Yes!"

Jiang Naruto thanked him with a clasped-hands salute. The bearded Spirit Master returned the other certificates to the street chief, but handed Naruto's directly to him.

"Take it. With this certificate, you can choose any elementary academy in the nearby cities."

Looking at the certificate in his hand,

Jiang Naruto felt a rush of emotion. His path of cultivation was beginning now.

[On the eve of starting at Ninja Academy, six-year-old Naruto tossed and turned in bed, clutching his admission letter and unable to sleep. Would he make any friends at school? he wondered...]

Shut up, you ridiculous system!

"Little Naruto, have you decided which elementary academy you want to attend?"

Outside the quiet Jiang Family courtyard, the street chief asked with a smile. People on Douluo Continent matured early, and besides, this was a major decision in life. Jiang Naruto ought to make it himself.

Naruto scratched his head and gave the vague answer a child his age might come up with. "I haven't decided yet. I'm thinking of visiting a few elementary academies."

"Fair enough!" The street chief nodded in approval. "You can't be careless when choosing an academy. You really should look around and think it over. There are still a few days before school starts, so there's no need to rush."

Then, as if remembering something, he added, "Get ready properly, and don't slack off just because your Innate Soul Power is high. Ordinary people like us only get one chance like this in our whole lives. Make the most of it."

The street chief rambled on and on, even repeating several times how he'd broken through to level ten as a Spirit Master at the age of twenty and absorbed a forty-year Spirit Ring.

He meant well. Naruto nodded like a pecking chicken and bowed to see him off once he'd finished.

"Thank you, Uncle Street Chief."

"Don't mention it. We all live on the same street. If you need any help, just ask."

The street chief waved and disappeared at the end of the street.

After that, Jiang Naruto returned to his quiet home by himself. The courtyard his parents had left behind wasn't large, but it was enough to keep Naruto from going hungry. He shut the doors and windows, then sat cross-legged on the bed. It was time to see how his "Dong Trumpet" was doing.

The moment the seal loosened, Bibi Dong's frantic voice exploded in his mind.

"Brat?"

"Still calling me brat? Didn't your mother teach you manners?" Jiang Naruto's brows rose, and his tone turned unfriendly. A man's gentleness was for eighteen-year-old girls, not old aunties!

"At the very least, I'm your lifesaver. Without me, you'd already be dead!"

"..."

"...Little friend..."

After a long pause, Bibi Dong stammered out the two words.

With that single short sentence, Jiang Naruto broke through on the spot. An invisible, soundless shockwave rose behind him, and he went straight from the Ant Realm into the Little Friend Realm!