Naruto World

It had been three days since he arrived in this world, and Meruem's body had recovered remarkably quickly during that time. While he could not be said to have fully recovered, moving around was no longer much of a problem.

Over those three days, Meruem learned about the world he was currently in from that little girl—the world of Naruto.

Perhaps because they were both fictional worlds or something, the languages of the two worlds were astonishingly similar. Of course, with Chama involved, there was probably also the world of "Saint," meaning all three worlds used exactly the same language. Only the writing systems were completely different.

The writing of the Hunter World was like oracle bone script, full of inexplicable holes and circles, while the writing of the Naruto World leaned more toward Area 11 script. Of course, none of that was a problem for Meruem, whose learning ability was LVMAX. He mastered it completely in less than a day, leaving the little loli quite astonished.

Unfortunately, when Meruem transmigrated directly from the Hunter World, he had already overdrawn himself and suffered serious injuries. Coupled with his smaller body, although he had recovered somewhat now, he probably possessed only around one-tenth of his strength at his peak.

And that was not all.

What made Meruem even more miserable was that his loyal subordinates had all been sealed inside the system's companion-carrying space. Granted, this Transmigration System could bring people along during transmigrations, and there was no limit to the number of people.

But damn it, he actually needed to reach a certain level of strength before he could release them. The previous Meruem would naturally have had no problem with that, but the current Meruem...

According to the system's prompt, Meruem needed to recover thirty percent of his peak strength before he could open it.

Thirty percent, my ass. If I recover thirty percent of my strength, would I still need them to protect me? The reason he needed protection was because Meruem's strength had hit rock bottom. Having only around one-tenth of his strength was a real pain no matter where he was. If the three Royal Guards—Pouf and Youpi—were by his side, things would be relatively safer.

Thinking of the three Royal Guards made him think of Neferpitou. Her egg was also in that space now.

One day, I will have you by my side again.

Although the Naruto World and the Hunter World were two entirely different worlds, their basic assessments of combat strength were fairly similar. People from the Hunter World were roughly equivalent to taijutsu ninja from the Naruto World with certain special abilities.

Since he had never compared them directly, Meruem could not accurately judge the specific difference in combat strength between the two sides.

Still, based on Meruem's personal impression from the manga in his previous life, Chimera Ants at the Squad Captain level were basically on par with Jonin. From the manga, most Squad Captain-level Chimera Ants were already unafraid of modern artillery fire. What did that mean? You knew Exploding Tags from the Naruto World, right? Their power was about equal to rocket artillery. Jonin would be injured if they were caught in one, but Chimera Ants could take it. Of course, when comparing the various ninjutsu and genjutsu of the Naruto World, all one could say was that their combat strength was similar. Squad Captains were more like those taijutsu ninja who specialized in physical enhancement, naturally with special abilities of their own.

As for ordinary ant soldiers, they were probably around Genin or Chunin level.

And, just quietly, Squad Captain-level Chimera Ants were not weak even in the Hunter World. They could be considered minor experts.

Those who thought they were weak only needed to look at the opponents they faced: the Phantom Troupe, the Chairman, and the Zoldyck Family. How could they possibly win? Let a Jonin fight someone on Madara or Hashirama's level and see whether they would not get instantly killed.

To be fair, although the Phantom Troupe as a whole looked weaker than Akatsuki, they were not weak either. If the two sides fought, it would be hard to say who would win. Rating Squad Captains as roughly equal to Jonin was fairly reasonable.

Squad Leaders, meanwhile, ranged from Elite Jonin to Kage level. The Squad Leaders strengthened by Meruem were definitely Kage level, while those who had not been strengthened were only around Elite Jonin level.

Of course, all of this was merely Meruem's rough estimate. As for whether it was truly accurate, they would have to wait until Meruem recovered his strength.

"Ah, Meru! You got up again! Didn't I tell you? You're still a patient and need to rest!" The little loli who had returned from outside nagged him as soon as she saw Meruem. Then she took out some bread, dried noodles, and milk from the basket at her side. This was the little loli's food for the week. Her parents had both belonged to a branch family of the Uchiha Clan and had died on missions. Although the Uchiha Clan's branch and Main Family were not as strictly divided as the Hyuga Clan, they still treated clan members who had awakened their eyes very differently from those who had not. Unfortunately, the little loli's parents had both failed to awaken their eyes, and she had not awakened hers either. Thus, her treatment within the clan was only slightly better than that of Konoha's war orphans.

"Got it, Saten-chan!"

"Don't call me Saten! I told you, call me Ruiko! Ruiko! Uchiha Ruiko! Uchiha Ruiko! Important things must be said twice! I'm not Saten Ruiko!" The little loli put her hands on her hips and declared imposingly.

"Okay, Saten-chan!"

Yes, you heard that right—Saten Ruiko. The little loli looked almost exactly like Saten Ruiko, the popular supporting character from A Certain Scientific Railgun that Meruem had known in his previous life. Why almost exactly? Naturally, because the little loli was only nine years old, practically a miniature Saten Ruiko. So, for certain personal reasons, Meruem called her Saten. Of course, Meruem had a very favorable impression of this little benefactor who had brought him home.

Although the little loli had not said anything, Meruem knew that bringing a stranger found by the roadside back to one's home was taboo in any village or clan, perhaps even enough to invite suspicion of betraying one's clan. Especially someone of unknown origins like Meruem. Yet Ruiko not only brought Meruem home, but also concealed his existence from both her clan and the village. She had even shared her already meager food with him.

This was an enormous debt of gratitude. How should he repay it? Meruem did not consider himself a good person, but he at least knew that even a drop of kindness should be repaid with a spring.

"Here, Meru. Eat." Little Ruiko handed Meruem a piece of bread and some milk. By now, Meruem could already feed himself; Ruiko had been feeding him the whole time before this.

Meruem had not suffered any injuries other than his smaller body. He had merely exhausted a tremendous amount of stamina and energy, and he had now recovered seventy or eighty percent of it. It was only because of his smaller body that he could wield merely one-tenth of his former strength.

Fortunately, because the laws of the worlds differed, and Chama was not in this world, his laws of time could not restrain Meruem. In a few years, Meruem would grow up. Since he had never experienced childhood in this life anyway, he could treat it as a new experience.

"You haven't eaten yet, have you? Then you eat it." Meruem glanced at Ruiko but did not take the food from her hand. Honestly, he did not want to eat the little food Ruiko had left. Even with only one-tenth of his strength remaining, it would still be easy for Meruem to find food in the Uchiha Clan, where no one other than Itachi possessed Kage-level strength.

Incidentally, over the past few days, Meruem had roughly figured out which period of Naruto he had arrived in. Itachi existed, Sasuke had already been born and was eight or nine years old, and Uchiha Shisui was dead. Meruem could therefore basically confirm that the Uchiha Clan had reached the eve of its massacre. The massacre might unfold in a few days. Of course, the Uchiha Clan's survivors might no longer number two, but three.

At the very least, Meruem would save Ruiko. Do not think Meruem was easy to bully just because he had only one-tenth of his strength left. What he had lost was merely Nen Quantity and power. His speed had not fallen by such an exaggerated ninety percent, and his body's defensive ability was not bad either. His experience, martial arts, terrifying talent, and Nen abilities were all still there. At least in the current Konoha, few people could do anything to him. Even with only one-tenth of his strength, he was still above a Squad Leader.

Knuckle had once said that Youpi's Nen Quantity was more than ten, perhaps even dozens of times greater than Morel's, while Meruem possessed even more Nen than Youpi. So do not think Meruem was easy to bully! Even after losing ninety percent, he was not someone you mere mortals could insult! Whoever dared touch the person I wanted to protect?

"I ate before I came. I'm not hungry." Ruiko shook her head, still insisting on giving the food in her hand to Meruem. Then a strange growl left her stomach, plunging Ruiko into embarrassment. That was right—her stomach had growled.

"Then let's eat together." Meruem sighed and gave Ruiko a way out. He knew that if he did not eat, Ruiko would not eat either. He could just owe her even more. He already owed her so much anyway.

"Mm." Ruiko's voice was as soft as a mosquito's. She lowered her head, her cheeks flushed bright red.

Watching Ruiko slowly eat the bread, treating every bite like a treasure, Meruem suddenly felt a sense of warmth. It had been a long time since someone had cared for him like this. Of course, many other Chimera Ants cared about Meruem as well, such as the three Royal Guards, but this feeling was different.

Over the past few days, Meruem had contacted the system, though they had only exchanged a few words before it went back to its so-called updating work. Since Meruem's purpose in coming to this world had been to grow stronger, the system told him that the thing in the Naruto World that could make him stronger was the Chakra Fruit of the God Tree—the very thing that Kaguya, the final boss of the Naruto World, sought.

"Looks like I'll have to become humanity's enemy once again. But whether the humans of this world live or die has nothing to do with me. As long as the people I care about survive, nothing else matters. I'll become a villainous boss again, but this time I'll hide in the deepest shadows and only appear at the very end. I'll definitely give the world a surprise."

However, to become that final boss, he needed to begin laying the groundwork now.

First, it would be such a waste for the Uchiha Clan, descendants of the Son of the Six Paths, to be wiped out just like that. There was room to make use of them.

As he watched, he suddenly felt that something wasn't right.

The shadows on the ground were shifting.

From the surrounding jungle, pitch-black beasts that looked like giant wolves leaped out silently. Their eyes glowed with a faint, eerie blue light in the dark.

Shadow Wolves!

Gale Wolf King? No, this was an entire pack of Shadow Wolves!

How could there be Shadow Wolves in this outer perimeter?

Gale's heart sank instantly.

Normally, Shadow Wolves lived deep within the territory and rarely appeared in the outer rings. Even if one or two strayed out, it was impossible for a whole pack of dozens to suddenly ambush them like this.

More importantly, these Shadow Wolves were completely silent. Their footsteps didn't make a single sound, as if they had melted into the darkness.

"Be careful! Form a circle!"

Gale shouted loudly, pulling his heavy sword from his back. His muscles tensed.

The mercenaries reacted quickly as well. They were experienced veterans, and despite the sudden surprise, they didn't panic. They immediately formed a defensive circle, back-to-back, weapons drawn.

However, the Shadow Wolves didn't attack immediately. They paced slowly in the shadows, their green-blue eyes fixed on the people in the center, licking their lips with bloody tongues.

The oppressive atmosphere grew heavier.

Roar—!

With a low howl, the Shadow Wolves launched their attack.

They were like bolts of black lightning, rushing from all directions. Their speed was terrifyingly fast, leaving afterimages in the air.

"Hmph! Courting death!"

A mercenary snorted coldly, swinging his battleaxe and cleaving down at the nearest Shadow Wolf.

Clang!

Sparks flew. The mercenary's axe merely left a white mark on the wolf's thick hide, failing to cut through it.

Before he could recover, another Shadow Wolf lunged at his throat.

"Help me—!"

Before the mercenary could finish his cry, his throat was torn open. Fresh blood spewed out, and he collapsed to the ground, twitching a few times before he stopped moving.

In just a few breaths, the mercenary formation was breached.

"Damn it! Their defense is too strong!"

Gale's expression was grim. He swung his heavy sword, sending a Shadow Wolf flying, but more wolves swarmed in to take its place.

The situation was critical.

If this kept up, none of them would make it out alive.

Lin Chen stood not far away, watching the scene unfold with a calm expression. He didn't make a move, nor did he intend to help.

To him, these mercenaries were just tools for information. Their lives or deaths had nothing to do with him.

"You..."

Gale noticed Lin Chen standing idly by. Desperation in his eyes, he shouted, "Brother! Help us! If we die, you won't find the way out of the forest either!"

Lin Chen glanced at him indifferently.

"Who said I need a guide?"

PS2: Apparently, due to the internet cleanup campaign, nothing below the neck can be described. One Lelouch novel has already been taken down.