Chat Group Escanor 18 (Patreon)

Escanor walked on his own to the flattest open space with the best view in the center of the city.

He formed hand seals with both hands once again.

Wood Release: Castle Technique!

A wooden castle even more magnificent than Octo's villa, rose from the ground, becoming the central landmark of this brand-new city.

Having done all this, hejumped onto the high city wall.

The wind and sand outside the city remained, and the air was turbid.

He frowned.

The environment still needed to be improved.

He went out of the city and stood at a place about fifty meters away from the new city wall. This distance would neither block the sunlight of the buildings inside the city nor serve a certain buffering role.

Wood Release: Advent of a World of Flowering Trees!

With him as the center, a lush forest with a radius of more than one hundred meters spread around.

Giant trees towered into the sky, vines intertwined, and bushes grew thickly, filled with vibrant vitality.

Along the outer perimeter of the city wall, the forest formed a one-hundred-meter-wide green ring, wrapping the entire new city inside.

After the forest was formed, the air inside the city seemed to become much fresher, and the sand was effectively blocked.

Escanor returned to the top of the city wall, looking at the revitalized city below and the surrounding forest, and found it much more pleasing to the eye.

But looking at the residents in the city who were still filthy and wearing tattered clothes, he still found them an eyesore.

Water Release: Torrential Rain!

Dark clouds gathered and a torrential downpour descended.

"All of you filthy creatures! Come out and wash up! Catch the water!" Escanor's voice resounded throughout the city.

The residents were stunned for a moment, and then burst into even greater cheers. They rushed into the rain and scrubbed hard at the grime of years accumulated on their bodies.

Children frolicked and played in the rain, while adults took out all containers that could hold water, greedily catching this precious resource.

The heavy rain lasted for a full three hours. After the rain stopped, sunlight penetrated the gradually dispersing dark clouds, shining on the renewed city.

Over the next few days, Escanor lived quite comfortably.

The air was fresh, the environment was clean, and it looked much more pleasing.

After communicating through the Chat Group with Minato's side, the first batch of supplies was successfully transferred—mainly easy-to-store food (rice, flour), dehydrated vegetables, and various crop seeds.

Octo was now full of drive, efficiently distributing the food, and organizing manpower to reclaim experimental plots on the circular open space between the outer forest and the city wall, attempting to sow those seeds from the Land of Fire. Everything was developing in a good direction.

Escanor lay on the lounge chair on his castle balcony, basking in the sun and drinking cola. He felt that this life at the peak finally looked somewhat decent.

However, this hard-earned coziness was shattered one afternoon a few days later by a message that suddenly popped up in the Chat Group.

Uzumaki Naruto: "Save me!"

Flashback.

Konoha, deep within the Root base.

The atmosphere was even more oppressive and chilling than usual.

Danzo sat upon a stone chair, looking a whole decade older. Where his original eye and arm used to be, there was now only an empty right shoulder wrapped tightly in bandages.

He still had no idea why that man had specifically gouged out one of his eyes and torn off one of his arms.

With every breath, the lingering phantom pain in his severed arm and deep within his eye socket reminded him of that brief yet unforgettable terrifying encounter.

It took him two full days to barely struggle out of the fear and humiliation that had almost devoured his sanity.

That man who savagely tore off his arm, and burned away all his trump cards, along with those eyes that looked down upon him with the cold indifference of viewing dust, tormented him repeatedly like a nightmare.

He had confirmed that that man had indeed left.

Konoha's barrier showed no reaction, his informants reported nothing, and there were no abnormal energy fluctuations outside the village. He was gone, disappearing just as suddenly as he had appeared.

As the fear receded slightly, a more twisted emotion grew wildly like poisonous vines—an ultimate craving for power, and the absolute determination to acquire power at any cost.

That man was so strong that he, a leader of Root who had schemed for half his life and considered himself in mastery of forbidden power, was trampled upon at will like an ant.

This was intolerable!

He must become stronger!

He must master greater, more absolute power!

And right now, the easiest and most controllable source of powerful strength was the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, Uzumaki Naruto.

That man seemed to have a close relationship with Naruto, and had even broken into the Hokage Office because of it, forcing Hiruzen to hand over money in a humiliating manner. This relationship should have made him hesitant.

But Danzo's thought process was unlike ordinary people. Not only did he not give up the idea of targeting Naruto because of this, but he conversely deduced: precisely because that man was related to Naruto and had displayed terrifying strength, he needed to acquire even stronger power all the more, and scheme against Naruto while he was away.

However, there would be a tiny bit of risk.

Risk?

That man was indeed strong, but as long as he himself was strong enough...

Danzo's single eye flickered with a cold and paranoid light as he gave an order to the Root elite kneeling on one knee below, wearing an animal mask.

He chose Itachi.

A genius of the Uchiha clan, possessing a powerful Sharingan.

As for the consequences?

A flicker of sinister darkness swept across the depths of Danzo's single eye.

As long as he gained power, as long as he could match or even surpass that man, any price was worth paying.

Hiruzen's indecisiveness and the village's so-called peace were all things that could be sacrificed in the face of absolute power.

Thus, after Escanor left Konoha, and when Naruto—having recognized his parents from another world through the Chat Group, his heart filled with warmth and hope—wanted to go to Ichiraku Ramen for a bowl of noodles to celebrate—

Several Root Ninjas suddenly struck as he passed through a secluded alley.

Five-year-old Naruto failed to even fully cry out for help before he was subdued by a potent anesthetic and Chakra-suppressing seals, his vision turning dark as he lost consciousness.

Present.

Post-apocalyptic Wooden Fortress, castle balcony.

Escanor looked at the distress message sent by Naruto that suddenly popped up in the Chat Group, his pupils constricting.

Red-Hot Habanero's avatar flashed frantically, and a string of messages gushed out.

"Naruto?! What's wrong?! What happened?!"

"Where are you?! Who is it?!"

"Answer me quickly! Naruto!!!"

Ever since the five-year-old Naruto recognized them as his parents through the Chat Group last time, Kushina's concern for this "eldest son" whom she had never met had long reached its peak.

Seeing this brief yet desperate plea for help at this moment, her heart leaped to her throat.

Immediately after, as if sensing Kushina's extreme desire for rescue and the crisis contained within Naruto's distress message, the Chat Group system prompt sounded urgently.

[Ding! Detected that group member 'Uzumaki Naruto' has sent an emergency distress signal. The publisher's strong will meets the task generation conditions!]

[Emergency task automatically generated!]

[Task Type: Cross-World Emergency Rescue]

[Publisher: Red-Hot Habanero]

[Task Name: Save Uzumaki Naruto!]

[Task Description: Group member 'Uzumaki Naruto' has encountered unknown danger in his world (Naruto World - Timeline A) and sent an emergency distress signal. Immediate rescue is required to ensure his personal safety and eliminate the source of crisis.]

[Task Objectives: Locate and ensure the safety of Uzumaki Naruto, resolve the factors posing a threat to him.]

[Participant Limit: None]

[Accept task?]

[Yes / No]

Kushina did not hesitate at all, instantly confirming acceptance of the task.

She didn't even have time to notify Minato, who was handling government affairs, nor did she want to bring him along. There were certain things she wanted to question Hiruzen about along the way, and she understood Minato's personality. His presence would be inconvenient.

Without the slightest hesitation, Escanor also locked onto [Yes] with his mind.

[Red-Hot Habanero has accepted the task.]

[Pride has accepted the task.]

Inside the Chat Group, Akainu's avatar remained dim and unresponsive. Perhaps he was executing a Marine mission, or perhaps he was watching from the sidelines.

At this moment, neither Escanor nor Kushina cared whether he participated or not.

Escanor: "Let's go."

Kushina responded immediately on her end. The two confirmed their departure almost simultaneously.

Because it was an emergency rescue task and Naruto's location had been roughly locked by the system, the teleportation landing point could be even more precise.