Haruto looked at the two people before him and became stunned. His heart beat at a quick pace, almost as if he were having a heart attack, and his palms turned sweaty.
Megamind waved his latex gloved hand in front of Haruto to snap him out of his machinations and stood with his shoulders squared.
"Why did you two get sent here?!" Haruto blurted out his question since he couldn't believe the two of them had any reason to become template characters.
Megamind looked at Grindelwald for a second before turning around to Haruto and speaking with his head tilted slightly backwards, "The hero I helped create was a little too powerful…"
"You mean Hal?" Haruto asked, slightly puzzled, "He got you?"
"Yes… the old space man told me that as long as I help you out in your heroic journey, I shall be given a chance at coming alive!"
Haruto's eyes widened.
'So he died… that's strange…'
Haruto's gaze then shifted towards Grindelwald. The man was standing there calmly with his hands on each other in front of him as he paid keen attention to everyone around him.
Edward looked at Grindelwald with undisguised scrutiny while Megumin hid behind Haruto, clearly afraid. There was just an eerie aura around Grindelwald that made it simultaneously very comfortable to be around him, as if you were in a spring garden, but also as if the grass you were walking on were spiky blades, razor sharp and ready to stab you to death.
Haruto however wasn't the least bit deterred. He quickly looked at Grindelwald, matched gazes and blurted out his question once again, "And you sir?"
"A god told me that as long as I could help you on your journey to victory, I could redo my life all over again."
Haruto shivered involuntarily.
'A do over? For Grindelwald… I pity the poor world that he's from…'
"I was prepared to introduce myself… however you seem to know me better than most young man…" Grindelwald said calmly with an edge to his tone.
And Haruto quickly nodded, he gave Megamind and Grindelwald the same explanation about authors as he did with Edward and Megumin and once that concluded they both had a thoughtful look on their faces.
Whether they believed him or not, only they knew. But Haruto didn't give them any more time to think about the matter. Instead he informed them all about the Naruto world and caught them up on all the changes that had happened to it due to his involvement.
It caused Grindelwald to immediately frown before he asked Haruto a question, "So this world is somewhat like mine… the muggles are more in number than the truly strong… why does no one want to replace the Daimyo or use him if he is so weak?"
Megumin nearly hissed at the 'evil' idea that Grindelwald was polluting Haruto's mind with, while Edward and Megamind looked at Grindelwald with sharp eyes.
Haruto frowned slightly too before explaining his thoughts on the matter, "I guess that's because too few people are shinobi in this world. And making an enemy out of a Daimyo in one region would cause all the other Daimyo's to turn against you and send shinobi of their countries to take revenge."
Grindelwald's frown morphed into a smile. "That's not true my dear boy…"
"Not true? What do you mean?" Haruto asked, confused as to what Grindelwald was getting at.
"There are probably far more ways in this world to cover up such assassination attempts than you even know off. Why fear the 'others' when they can never stand a chance? If I had the strength to rebel I would start off by killing them all and taking the throne for myself, or at the very least replacing them so that I can control them from the shadows and make the situation favourable for myself."
Edward clenched his fist tight as he realised what Grindelwald was spelling out. He wanted to interrupt but Haruto beat him to it, only Haruto's understanding was far deeper than Edward's.
"I see what you mean…" Haruto nodded calmly. Megumin's eyes widened in surprise at those words. "Haruto no! You don't need to kill anyone!"
Haruto's face suddenly morphed into a frown of confusion and disgust.
"Kill someone? Why would I kill anyone?"
Edward's mouth too opened at this statement as he looked at Haruto and Grindelwald in confusion before scratching his head, only Megamind looked at the two of them in equal confusion like Haruto.
"You weren't talking about killing the Daimyo just now?" Megumin asked.
"We were." Haruto nodded but then suddenly realised that without the proper context their conversation did indeed sound very edgy and dangerous. So Haruto explained properly, "Grindelwald-san here is saying that Obito's next target should be attempting an assassination on the Daimyo's to make it seem like the Uchiha clan is trying to control him to make their position in the village favourable."
"Huh?" Megumin let out a dumb sound since she still hadn't understood Haruto. "How does what you were saying equate to that?!"
Haruto smiled and explained again in depth this time, "What Grindelwald-san is saying is that since the Daimyo is the most powerful person in the village, at least in terms of giving out orders that have to be obeyed, the one who controls him controls the entire village."
Megumin nodded for Haruto to carry on, she understood that much.
"Since the Uchiha's sharingan has the ability to hypnotise anyone weak and the Daimyo is the one issuing orders, it would be a logical conclusion that if the Uchiha want to gain an equal footing in the village, the Uchiha will attack the Daimyo to control him and make him issue orders to Danzo, possibly even taking away the Hokage seat from him to give to one of their own."
"Oh!!" Megumin suddenly understood it all. "You mean to say that Obito will pretend to be an Uchiha doing all the assassination and get caught and escape to put the blame on the Uchiha so that with the help of the Daimyo's hatred he can exterminate the clan faster!"
"Precisely!" Haruto nodded, "Isn't that it Grindelwald?"
Grindelwald nodded with a smile before adding, "You understood my words well Haruto…"
Haruto smiled, feeling proud at being praised by his part-time idol from another life. But then he frowned, "This means that if I wish to prevent this tragedy I need to do something quickly… After all, we don't know when Obito will think up this plan and act on it…"
Grindelwald nodded and then spoke calmly, "Then I hereby issue my first quest to you…"
Haruto's eyes shone brightly as he read the contents of the quest, especially the reward.
Mission Aim : Prevent Obito Uchiha's assassination attempt on the Daimyo from affecting the Uchiha.
Mission Assigned By : Gellert Grindelwald.
Mission Reward : Grindelwald's Occlumency Knowledge.
"What's the reward for his mission Haruto? Is it another explosion type magic!?" Megumin asked with stars in her eyes.
Haruto laughed softly before shaking his head, "No it's something much better… it's occlumency, mind protection magic. As long as I have this no mind seal or jutsu should affect me!"
It lifted a great deal of pressure off of Haruto's shoulders since he didn't know when Danzo would do something that might implant him with the cursed tongue seal or when his subordinates would go through his memories.
It was at this point that Megamind asked a question that stunned everyone.
"Would sacrificing Jigen to the Ten Tails birth a new Chakra Fruit and Tree?"
***
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