NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 1: 1
Prologue: Demon Reborn
In the quiet village of Konohagakure, amidst fire and destruction caused by the Nine-Tails' rampage, a child was born, a child whose soul bore the remnants of the King of Time, Mephisto Pheles.
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The cries of an infant echoed through the cave as Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage, looked upon his newborn son with sorrow. The baby's unusual appearance immediately struck confusion into the hearts of those present.
Naruto Uzumaki was not like any other child. His ears were unnaturally long, tapering into sharp, elf-like points. His eyes shimmered faintly, reflecting an unnerving intelligence that belied his infant status.
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From the moment Naruto could walk, he was met with fear and hostility. Children ran from him, calling him a monster, while adults avoided his gaze, muttering about his cursed existence. The hatred aimed at him was more than that of a typical jinchūriki; it was as if the villagers sensed the dormant power within him and feared it.
Naruto, however, found solace in chaos. Even as a child, he showed a mischievous streak, pulling pranks that would leave the villagers in an uproar. Though the pranks earned him more scorn, they also brought him fleeting moments of laughter.
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Naruto's body occasionally exhibited strange phenomena.
At age four, while being chased by angry villagers after a prank, Naruto accidentally tore open a small rift in space, vanishing and reappearing behind them. Though brief and uncontrolled, this left the villagers more terrified than ever.
Naruto once turned into a small dog without realizing how. He remained in this form until he fell asleep and reverted back. The incident became an unsettling tale whispered in fear.
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By the time Naruto turned six, his isolation had reached its peak. He spent his days wandering the village, yearning for acceptance but finding none. On one such day, as he sat under a tree, sulking, a peculiar entity appeared, a faint, humanoid figure with long ears and a sly grin.
"Why so glum, kid?" the figure teased.
Naruto, startled but curious, spoke hesitantly. "Who...who are you?"
"Call me a fragment of your imagination, or maybe your true self," the figure said with a chuckle. "The name's Mephisto. And you, little fox, are far more special than you think."
Though the figure would appear sporadically, it began to guide Naruto subtly, teaching him to embrace his quirks rather than fear them. It showed him the joy in chaos and the art of outsmarting those who belittled him.
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As Naruto approached the academy age, his latent abilities began to manifest more frequently.
He unintentionally stopped time for a split second, allowing him to escape a beating from bullies.
While practicing his drawing, a candy clock appeared from nowhere, ticking ominously before disappearing.
These incidents scared him at first, but the voice of Mephisto in his dreams reassured him"Control is the key, Naruto. And when you learn to wield these powers, the world will bow to your chaos."
By the time Naruto was set t join the Ninja Academy, his reputation as a "demon child" had solidified. The villagers avoided him at all costs, while children dared each other to approach him, only to run away in fear. Despite the loneliness, Naruto masked his pain with an exaggerated personality, grinning through the hurt and pranking those who rejected him.
Deep down, however, a flicker of something darker began to grow, a yearning to show the world his true worth, to prove that he was more than the monster they claimed.
Under a full moon, Naruto stood on the Hokage Monument, staring down at the village that feared him. His long ears twitched as the voice of Mephisto echoed in his mind: "Patience, young one. They may hate you now, but one day, they'll see your brilliance. After all, you are my reincarnation, the King of Time."
Naruto's sharp fangs glinted as he smirked, a mischievous light in his eyes. "Yeah, they'll see..."
With that, he leapt off the monument, vanishing into the shadows, leaving only a faint, eerie laughter behind.