"Stop it!"
Naruto's figure appeared in front of the Supreme Throne's mouth, which was brewing a terrifying power. Roaring, he spread his arms wide.
Even the army gathered outside the city could vaguely see it.
That selfless act moved everyone who witnessed it; it was a scene truly unforgettable for a lifetime.
Buzz!~
An invisible force erupted from Naruto's body, then spread out with him at the center, extending to the edge of the Imperial Capital, where the army outside the city was gathered.
Wherever this power passed, all living beings instantly lost consciousness, and Honest, who was hiding inside the Supreme Throne, was no exception.
This power, which seemed to make heaven and earth lose their color, was precisely Conqueror's Haki!
Under the sweep of Naruto's Conqueror's Haki, only Najenda and the other Imperial Arms users could maintain their consciousness.
When they recovered from their shock, their gazes toward Naruto turned into uncontrollable fervor.
She had seen His Majesty's childlike innocence long ago, but she had never seen any so-called "Supreme King" aura on him, not even a trace of monarchical thinking.
But now, she finally understood what "Supreme King" meant.
---
"It stopped?"
After Naruto's eruption, he saw the power brewing in the Supreme Throne's mouth suddenly disappear. His eyes flashed, and he directly jumped into the Supreme Throne's body through its mouth.
"Found it!"
After Naruto entered the Supreme Throne's body, he immediately sensed Honest's location. Moreover, after entering the Supreme Throne's interior, he discovered that it was much more fragile inside than outside and could be easily destroyed. He then began to rampage inside the Supreme Throne and quickly found Honest's 'cockpit.'
Thump!~
After Naruto found Honest, who had been stunned by his Conqueror's Haki, he first destroyed the cockpit, then went up and punched him, directly waking him up.
"Your—Majesty!"
Honest was startled when he woke up and saw Naruto. He still clearly remembered the scene when Naruto unleashed his Conqueror's Haki; it was too terrifying!~
"Honest!"
Naruto grabbed Honest by the collar, glaring at him, and questioned, "You—what do you take life for?!"
"Life? Are you referring to those rebels?"
Honest showed a surprised expression upon hearing Naruto's question, then retorted, "They are merely pigs and ants. Why would you care about them?"
"!!!"
Naruto grew even more furious upon hearing Honest's words and wanted to kill him directly. But remembering what Najenda had said—
This kind of person should be judged by the people—
He suppressed the killing intent in his heart.
"Why can't it move?"
Honest, while observing Naruto's expression, secretly tried to regain control of the Supreme Throne, but found that it could no longer be activated. After several failed attempts, his eyes darted, and he prepared to beg Naruto for mercy.
"Your Majesty, I should have taught you that those—"
"Shut up!"
Naruto didn't want to hear any more nonsense from this guy, so he punched him unconscious, then carried him out of the Supreme Throne.
"Najenda!"
Naruto, holding Honest, stood on top of the Supreme Throne, located Najenda and the others, and waved loudly toward her.
"Your Majesty..."
Najenda was about to respond when she suddenly saw the Imperial Arms users from the Revolutionary Army camp nearby. Her eyes shifted, and she immediately knelt on one knee toward Naruto, shouting loudly,
"Congratulations, Your Majesty, for personally capturing the traitor Honest and clearing the empire's malignant tumor! Long live the Empire! Long live Your Majesty!"
Beside her, Akame and the others were startled by Najenda's actions, but immediately reacted. They followed her example, kneeling on one knee toward Naruto and shouting loudly,
"Long live Your Majesty! Long live the Empire!"
The Imperial Arms users from the adjacent Revolutionary Army camp looked at each other for a moment, then, as if by prior agreement, looked toward Naruto, who stood on the Supreme Throne holding Honest. Remembering the scene when he unleashed his Conqueror's Haki earlier, they also knelt on one knee toward him.
As for their leader, he had already been blasted away by a cannon from the Supreme Throne, so their current refusal to join Najenda and the others in shouting slogans was already their greatest defiance.
Further away, outside the Imperial Capital—
The rebel armies from various factions also heard the shouts from inside the city. They glanced at the figures lying scattered in front of their ranks, affected by the Conqueror's Haki that Naruto had released earlier. Then, looking at Naruto's figure in the distance, holding Honest while standing on the Supreme Throne inside the city, some people began to throw down their weapons and kneel in Naruto's direction.
With someone taking the lead, a chain reaction immediately occurred. The rebel armies from various factions outside the Imperial Capital began to put down their weapons one after another, prostrating themselves before Naruto, who stood on the Supreme Throne, and followed with loud shouts:
"Long live His Majesty! Long live the Empire!"
The leaders of those rebel armies exchanged glances, then also knelt down.
There was nothing they could do; the tide had turned.
The destructive might of the Supreme Throne still lingered, coupled with the Haki Naruto had just released, which seemed to strip the world of its color. Even if they still wanted to resist, it was unlikely anyone would follow them.
As for the darkness of the Empire—that was all the fault of the great treacherous minister, Honest. What did it have to do with His Majesty the Emperor? Didn't they see that His Majesty had personally captured that cancerous tumor of the Empire?
"This—"
Naruto looked at Najenda and the others kneeling before him, then listened to the thunderous shouts from outside the Imperial Capital. He was stunned for a moment, then thought,
'Could I really have the potential to become the Emperor of the Empire?'
"No, I don't!"
Naruto slumped onto the throne, looking utterly lifeless at the mountain of documents piled before him. Then he frantically pleaded with Najenda, who sat opposite him.
"Najenda, please let me go. I—no, I understand now. I am completely unsuited to be an emperor. Please, someone else must take this throne!"
At this time, a week had passed since the final battle.
After Naruto dealt with the Supreme Throne and Honest, he was inexplicably pushed back onto the Imperial Throne by Najenda and the Anning Dao rebel army. Then Naruto's "hellish" days began.
Initially, Naruto was excited and convinced that he might truly have the potential to become the Emperor of the Empire. After all, he was a man who had awakened Conqueror's Haki!
However, on the third day after ascending the throne, he completely abandoned this idea. Not to mention the endless political affairs—just reviewing various documents already made him overwhelmed.
This was even after most of the documents had already been filtered by Najenda and the others, and he only needed to approve and stamp them.
Naruto, who was only seven years old in actual age, could not endure such work and immediately wanted to go on strike.
Whoever wants to be this emperor can be it; he's not doing it anymore!
"Your Majesty, please do not say such things again."
Najenda sighed inwardly upon hearing Naruto's words and comforted him,
"The current Empire is almost equivalent to being rebuilt from scratch. Things will indeed be more numerous at first, but once everything gets on track, you will relax. I promise you."
"Then—how long will it take to get on track?" Naruto asked tentatively.
"Five—no, three years!"
Najenda raised her hand, intending to say five years. But seeing Naruto's face immediately fall, she quickly retracted two fingers and said,
"It will only take three years for everything to get on track. By then, you will relax. I promise you."
"Three years—"
Naruto's face showed a conflicted expression. Then he tentatively asked,
"Najenda, I really can't be this emperor. Can't someone else take this position? I think the Anning Dao Cult Master is very good. If he were emperor, he would definitely do ten thousand times better than me!"
If he wasn't afraid that after his return his original 'self' would come back and ruin the empire they had painstakingly rebuilt, he would have chosen to return long ago.
"Your Majesty!"
Najenda's expression immediately stiffened upon hearing Naruto's words. She looked at him seriously and said in a deep voice,
"Please do not say such things again. Besides you, no one can stabilize this country that has been reborn with such difficulty."
"Also, please make sure to keep your distance from the Cult Master from now on, and never say things like that again!"
"Why?"
Naruto asked with a puzzled expression.
"The Cult Master is so kind, and he taught me so many things. Why should I keep my distance from him?"
"Because he is human and dangerous—Pfft!"
Najenda hesitated for a moment, about to tell Naruto the reason. But suddenly her face darkened. She violently spat out a mouthful of black blood, then fell directly to the ground.
"Najenda!"
Naruto was startled. He immediately stood up to go forward, but suddenly felt a pain in his chest. He looked down and saw a sharp blade piercing through him from behind, impaling both the throne and his body.
At the wound, dark curses spread from the injury, rapidly eroding his entire body.
"This is—Murasame—"
Naruto recognized the blade that pierced his body. His eyes filled with disbelief, and then his consciousness fell into darkness.
[Ding. Host's consciousness has successfully returned. This virtual experience has ended. Now settling your virtual life journey...]
"Akame!"
As his consciousness returned to his body, Naruto immediately heard the system's prompt, but he was in no mood to listen. Instead, he angrily shouted a name.
At this moment, Naruto's mind was still replaying the scene of Murasame piercing his chest, and Najenda lying on the ground, spitting black blood, staring behind him with an expression full of disbelief.
"System, let me go back!"
Naruto called out to the system in his mind, making a request.
He was unwilling. He had to go back and ask Akame face to face why she assassinated him. She was the person he trusted most in that world!
[Sorry, Host. The world experienced in 'Virtual Experience' mode will automatically reset after the Host returns and cannot be returned to. Even if you match with the same world in future experiences, the world's plot will unfold anew from the perspective of your new identity after you enter.]
"I don't care. I just want to go back!"
Naruto said stubbornly,
"I must go back and ask Akame face to face why she did that. You figure out a way for me to go back, or I will never activate the system again!"
[...]
The system was momentarily jammed by Naruto's unreasonable demand. Then a prompt appeared:
[Host can consume any 'Virtual Experience' mode permission to backtrack through experienced virtual worlds.]
"What does that mean?" Naruto asked.
[The Host can choose to consume any 'Virtual Experience' mode permission (such as the qualification to choose a virtual experience life identity or a life stage selection qualification) to backtrack through an already experienced world to view any desired scene before it resets, from any perspective.]
"Then show me!"
Naruto immediately said,
"I want to see why Akame killed me!"
[Sorry, Host currently has no consumable permissions. Please wait for this experience to settle and claim your life rewards first.]
"Then hurry up and settle it!"
...
[Host, in this virtual experience, you have experienced a total of 12 years, 1 month, and 14 days of life (since the Host started the experience at 12 years old, the first 12 years of the experienced life are not included in the settlement). This brief life was like a fleeting flower.
Life completion rating: Poor – (Additional rating: Died with grievances);
Rating Reward: Host can choose one from the following rewards.
Real Life Experience Qualification.
Virtual Experience Life Stage Selection Qualification.]
Naruto was about to choose, but another message popped up:
[Due to your strong feeling of unwillingness at the end of your life in this experience, an additional evaluation was triggered, granting you an extra reward selection qualification.]
...
Naruto looked at the message before him and felt as if he had been insulted.
Although he gained an extra reward selection qualification, he felt no joy at all.
Because an additional reward selection qualification was obtained, there was no need to choose between the two reward options; they would be directly issued.
After the rewards were issued, Naruto was in no mood to wait for the subsequent settlement.
"Now that I have the permission, quickly show me why Akame killed me!"
[Detecting that the Host possesses one 'Real Life Experience Qualification' and one 'Virtual Experience Life Stage Selection Qualification,' please choose which permission to consume to play the world backtrack?]
"Use the second one!"
[Host has chosen to consume one 'Virtual Experience Life Stage Selection Qualification' to backtrack through the experienced world. Now playing the backtrack footage.]
As the system's voice faded, a scene appeared in Naruto's vision and began to play.
---
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