[This is a newcomer's first book. Please tear into it, as long as I can learn something.]
[As a newcomer, I've been learning as I write. Sometimes I put things into practice right after learning them, so please tear into any awful bits.]
[Brain storage area, complete with a soak in fantastic nutrient solution. Your brain will be good as new after reading, so hurry and put it in here. Heh heh heh.]
Darkness surrounded him.
A planet revolved around the sun in the void.
A figure floated in the planet's orbit.
At the edge of the planet's north pole, a thread of golden light appeared, growing brighter and brighter.
As the planet's orbit shifted its alignment with the sun, blazing sunlight finally crossed the horizon and spilled over Pero, outlining his muscular frame.
He spread his arms and embraced the sun.
Sunlight touched Pero like rain falling after a long drought, and every cell in his body began to stir.
[Ding] [Host energy absorption has reached 100%. Bloodline evolution: ordinary Kryptonian → Man of Steel (Life Codex)]
His eyes snapped open, his pupils reflecting the sun gradually rising over the planet.
"Three years. So this is... the power of a god among men."
Pero stretched hard in midair, his joints crackling explosively.
He clenched his fists, feeling the power within his body.
His slumbering body had awakened. His heart roared like an engine, and blood raced throughout his body.
Pero looked around. Planetary rubble of every size floated as far as he could see. He casually threw a punch, without any technique, only pure strength.
The space ahead shattered like a broken mirror, and the fractured space crushed the rubble into powder that scattered everywhere.
He spread his arms, letting more sunlight fall upon his skin as he felt his body growing stronger every moment.
The three years are up. From now on, I am a god among men.
His gaze fell upon the enormous sun in the distance, his past reflected in his eyes.
His name was Luo Pei, and in his previous life, he had been an ordinary bus driver. Having just found a new job, he had planned to leave bus driving behind, only to encounter a robber who boarded during his final shift.
After joining forces with the passengers to subdue the robber, he discovered a dagger buried in his chest. His clothes were already soaked with blood.
Amid the passengers' cries of alarm, his body gradually grew cold.
When he opened his eyes again, he was already wandering. He met a red-haired boy with ringed eyes who said his name was Nagato.
After a high fever, he awakened the memories of his previous life.
He finally understood what kind of world he had come to.
Naruto.
He had thought his knowledge of the plot was his transmigration cheat, never expecting his real cheat to be this Kryptonian system, which had only belatedly arrived when he was twelve and on the brink of death.
When he was eight, war raged everywhere. People were homeless, and some exchanged children to eat.
He and Nagato collapsed from hunger by the roadside.
When he opened his eyes again, he was inside a dilapidated house.
Someone named Konan had saved them. She had seen us curled up against each other beside a roadside rock and had intended to turn and leave, but Nagato's yearning to live had stopped her.
With her was a boy named Yahiko.
In this place they called their "base," everyone depended on one another to survive.
Together, they listened to Yahiko's beautiful dream.
He wanted world peace.
What a ridiculous, yet nostalgic dream.
Pero shook his head, casting those thoughts from his mind.
He had been away from that planet for too long. He wondered how Nagato and the others were doing now.
He looked at the planet beneath his feet and focused his attention on his hearing.
Super-Hearing, activate.
In an instant, countless sounds crossed space, traversing the barriers of vacuum and atmosphere, and flooded his ears.
The wind, the rain, ninjas' footsteps, villagers' conversations.
The sounds of the entire planet flowed into Pero's ears in perfect order, and he easily picked out familiar voices among them.
"Pero, it's been so long since I saw you. Are you doing all right? Yahiko and I are on our way with the others to discuss an alliance with Hanzō. Although you told me to be extremely careful around him, we still have to try for the sake of peace."
Hearing this voice, Pero murmured a name.
"Nagato..."
His brows knitted tightly as a trace of foreboding rose within him.
Immediately afterward, another urgent voice confirmed his premonition.
"Yahiko, something's wrong. Konan... Hanzō has captured Konan!"
The smile vanished from Pero's face, replaced by anger tinged with coldness.
"Idiots! I explained it so many times!"
"Still dreaming of that illusory peace? What naive, arrogant fools."
He paused, then his anger faded, and his lips curled into an amused smile again.
Fine, then. The plot actually started two years early.
Don't worry, children.
Prepare to welcome your god.
Floating in orbit, Pero looked at the planet beneath his feet and flicked the black robe behind him.
The rubble drifting slowly around him suddenly froze in place. Pero activated his bio-electric field to avoid causing a massive disturbance through extremely high-speed movement.
His figure paused slightly, then shot toward the planet, becoming a streak of light that plunged into it.
Ten minutes earlier.
Amegakure.
An arrogant voice rang out from above.
"Your organization is far too much of a nuisance to me!" Hanzō stood on high ground, holding Konan in his right hand as he looked down.
"Yahiko, as their leader, you'll die here. If you dare resist, this woman dies here."
With that, he tossed the kunai in his hand down.
"Choose. You, the redhead over there. Kill Yahiko with that kunai, and I'll let you and the woman go." Hanzō grinned.
"Forget about me! Run!" Konan's voice came from above.
As though he had made some decision, Yahiko turned and calmly said to Nagato, "Kill me."
Seeing Nagato still hesitate, Yahiko shouted, "Nagato!"
"Hurry up. Don't you care whether this woman lives or dies?" Hanzō urged impatiently.
Nagato looked at the kunai on the ground, his Rinnegan filled with pain and conflict. His trembling hand reached toward it.
Suddenly, the surrounding air pressure grew unbearably heavy, as though the entire sky had pressed down, suffocating everyone beneath it.
"What is this?"
"Why... can't I move?"
"What an overwhelming presence!"
The surrounding Rain Ninja and disguised Root ninjas were pinned motionless by that presence.
"Nagato, if you pick up that kunai, I'll knock your head clean off." A familiar voice came from the sky. It wasn't loud, but everyone present could hear it.
Nagato raised his head with difficulty. A great hole had been punched through the dense clouds, and dazzling sunlight poured through it. He looked at the sun. A black silhouette stood at its center, and as that silhouette slowly grew larger, a figure familiar to Nagato emerged.
Pero, his hair short and black, hovered in the air. His eyes glowed faintly red, and his rain cloak fluttered without wind as he looked down at Nagato.
"Pero!! Run!" A flash of delighted surprise crossed Nagato's face, only to turn instantly to anxiety.
After Nagato shouted his name.
The powerful presence weighing down on everyone abruptly vanished.
"Enough of your tricks! Rain Ninja, shoot him down!" Having caught his breath, Hanzō ordered his subordinate ninjas to attack, his humiliation turning to anger.
"Water Release: Water Fang Bullet!"
"Water Release: Water Shockwave!"
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!"
Hundreds of ninjas formed hand seals and launched a tremendous barrage. An enormous, lifelike water dragon formed from countless Water Release attacks roared skyward, surging toward Pero with enough force to destroy a city.
To Pero, the movements and techniques of these Rain Ninja looked as though they were playing in slow motion.
He gently blew a breath downward.
Freeze Breath.
An intensely cold current descended instantly. The raging water dragon, along with every Water Release ninjutsu surrounding it, froze in midair into a crystal-clear ice sculpture.
Then frost began spreading from beneath the feet of every ninja below.
In the blink of an eye, they were frozen into icicles with only their heads exposed, expressions of terror and pleading still lingering on their faces.
"N-no... don't kill me. I'm a ninja from Konoha."
"Please, spare me! Lord Hanzō forced me to come. I didn't want to!"
"M-monster!!!"
Pero raised an eyebrow at the varied displays of pleading below.
It seems the Life Codex amplified my abilities even more dramatically than I imagined.
[Host, please do not compare the Life Codex with ordinary Kryptonians.]
"Those are only the Kryptonians from the movies, anyway. System, how much more energy do I need to evolve into Silver Superman?"
[Current energy: 0.11%. Estimated evolution after approximately 451 years and 4 months of absorbing sunlight in Earth's orbit.]
Over four hundred years? Too slow. Looks like I'll have to take a bath inside the sun when I have time. That should improve efficiency somewhat.
First, I'll deal with this lot below.
Hanzō watched the miraculous scene before him, his heart jolting.
He hoisted Konan up again and pressed a kunai against her neck, roaring with a fierce front that concealed his fear, "I don't care what kind of monster you are! This woman is still in my hands! Move again, and I'll kill her!"
"Oh, I nearly forgot about you."
Looking at the figure in the sky, who seemed afraid to move, Hanzō thought his threat had worked and couldn't help laughing.
But his laughter abruptly stopped.
Pero's figure vanished from his sight in an instant.
He felt only his hand emptying, followed by a gentle force pushing against his chest.
The next instant, Hanzō flew from where he stood, spinning seven hundred and twenty degrees before smashing into a boulder.
"Urgh..." Hanzō leaned against the boulder, vomiting mouthfuls of blood mixed with dark red fragments of his internal organs.
"Wh-what happened?" Hanzō raised his head as he coughed up blood and saw the figure in the sky holding a woman in his arm. "When...?!"
A destructive red glow gradually lit up Pero's eyes.
Even Nagato on the ground could feel the heat coming from the sky.
"Goodbye, scum."
Red light flashed. A laser swept down from the sky and across the ground like a knife through butter. Moments later, only charred furrows and twisting steam remained.
All the frozen ninjas evaporated.
Konan witnessed everything from a god's vantage point in the sky. She looked back at Pero in shock, then chuckled softly and gently leaned against him, whom she hadn't seen in so long.
Yahiko, Nagato, and Hanzō stared, dumbstruck by the divine judgment in the sky.
Hanzō was afraid. The once high-spirited demigod of ninjas was gone now.
He wanted to cling to life.
Watching the figure drift toward him from the sky, his face grew ever paler, and his body began trembling uncontrollably.
Pero grabbed Hanzō by the collar and lifted him before his face.
"Any last words?"
"Gulp... my lord, can we make peace?" Hanzō swallowed the bloody froth in his mouth while putting on a fawning smile.
"Boring."
Smack!
Before you continue