So, here I am with about a fourth of my chakra left and an enormous beast raging above me. We had a nice little conversation in which it was agreed that I would become the Snail Clan's summoner. Shaduur is a fierce warrior capable of taking on entire armies of shinobi all by himself. Turns out the Snails haven't been summoned since the First Shinobi War.

Only Shaduur was ever utilized to bring down small villages. 'Destroyer of Empires' my ass. But I will admit that the Snail Clan has its uses. Not unlike the Slug Clan, the Snail's can produce secretions that can heal most injuries and create extremely corrosive acids. But unlike the Slug Clan, the Snail Clan actually have a decent defense for their fleshy bodies.

Their shells, even without the armor can withstand many Rank A ninjutsu and can repel any projectile attacks. Unfortunately, their contract was lost long ago when the last summoner died with it at sea and dropped it in the middle of the ocean. But to become their summoner I need to pass a special test first. A battle against the three fiercest warriors of the Snail Clan.

It was...a pointless battle all told. Since I was a higher level than them I simply used Enrage on all three forcing them to attack each other. Shaduur didn't exactly approve of what I did but he did respect my tactics. And with that, I have some new allies under my belt. I set to work on planning the next step, Water Country. To be specific I have plans for Kirigakure. I plan to aid the rebellion in order to gain the trust of the soon-to-be Mizukage Mei Terumi. It's easier to simply use Control but I figure I should save my chakra.

Then after Kiri, I plan on searching for Zabuza and Haku. It shouldn't be too hard to find them considering I plan on taking over Gato's crime network. Yeah, that little weasel won't be around for much longer if I have anything to say about it. Wave Country should have an easier time with him gone. I know that Orochimaru ropes in Suna to invade Konoha in the future so I should plan accordingly for that.

I need the current Kazekage, Gaara's father, out of the picture. Maybe if I play my cards right I could gain Gaara's trust and have him as an ally as well. Then I'll have the combined strength of 3 hidden villages on my side. Kumo, Konoha, Nagato, Obito, and Black Zetsu are the only ones left to oppose me. Should I reach a high enough level I may be able to get Nagato on my side giving me access to the Rinnegan.

So many courses I can take. So many plans to form. But all of it is necessary. I don't know why I chose this path. I could have taken the easy route and stayed in Konoha to be Naruto's friend. Things would have played out a little differently but the end result would either mean the canon ending or a darker ending in which Kaguya wins the final conflict. I could have also been given the chance to join Nagato with my current power level and finalized his plan with the Tailed Beasts.

I believe that I chose this path because it gives me control of my destiny. I operate in the shadows waiting for the perfect moment to strike at the enemies who plot to end the world. I am not held back by the politics and dictation of a weak-minded Hokage. I am not some puppet for a false god or goddess to toy around with in their search for power. I am my own man.

I will show them things they've never seen before. I will destroy them with my army of machines. I will tear down their seats of power with my magic. In the end, the world will be at peace knowing that there isn't some boogeyman coming to get them. When that time comes I will sit back and enjoy myself...truly. Maybe I'll even start a family in this twisted world.

And when another threat comes to bring chaos and destruction in their wake I will return to the battlefield and strike them down. If I'm going to live here for the rest of my days I'm going to make sure any and all threats to this world are erased from existence. I am not a god no...I'm just a man with the means to change this world.

These are some great thoughts to have while having lunch eh? For now, I need to focus on the tasks set before me. The shinobi I had sent the previous day to retrieve the materials for Stubs got back with everything I needed prompting a notification,

Ping! Quest Complete: Improvising Improvements 1!

Rewards:

+500000EXP

+10 Perk Points

Optional Objective Completed!

Rewards:

+10 Perk Points

+1 Mystery Chest containing 1 Legendary Item (LUC Based)

Companion Upgrade Menu Unlocked!

Companion Appearance Upgrade Available! Proceed? Y/N?

I brought out Stubs and hit the yes button curious as to what would happen. Stubs glowed a bright orange as the materials around us disappeared. The light suddenly became so blinding I shut my eyes. When I was sure it was done I opened my eyes to see...Stubs? I hit him with an Observe,

Stubs

Level: 35

Current Form: Medium Biped

He stood at around 6 feet. His body had a lustrous shine to it as if he had been finely polished. His new body looked much tougher than the previous model. Looks like he can handle himself now. Stubs looked himself over in awe. I chuckled at his childish behavior and pulled him back to the Companion Slot. This makes me wonder what kind of things constitute as a Companion. It might just be applicable to non-humans I encounter in dungeons.

Well, I'll think about that at another time. For now, I checked out the Machine Lifeform Creation perk to see what I would need to start building machines. Steel is the main component as the creation seems to be automated by the perk. I'm thinking I should skip the Small Stubby line and go directly to building Medium Bipeds as my foot-soldiers.

We'll start with that for now so I sent the shinobi who bought the materials for me to buy some more with the money they had left. I built a basic grunt infantry personality with the perk to put into these machines. They'll know basic combat and who their master is which is all they really have to know. Moving on from that I finally got around to the Personal Personas perk and created two personas for myself.

It turns out that personas completely change the physical appearance and voice of the user but not the clothing, which kind of makes the Henge a pointless jutsu to have. Nevertheless, I created two personas that I plan on using to throw off anyone that might be on to my plans. Raiden, the wandering samurai who wields a sword black as midnight serving justice to those that deserve it. He looks exactly like Raiden from the Metal Gear series right down to the missing eye. I'll need to work on his outfit later.

Then there was Deathstroke the Terminator, a ruthless mercenary who will take on any job no matter how cruel it may seem. He's Slade Wilson basically...right down to the goatee and eye patch. Well, I couldn't make an eye patch so, for now, he's got a missing eye. Raiden will be used to dispatch justice in the Land of Fire taking on the bandits there. This may garner the attention of Konoha which will in turn catch Danzo's interest in such a warrior.

Deathstroke will be used to form my own mercenary corps in the Land of Water. He might also catch the watchful eye of Zetsu who will no doubt speak of him to Obito who will get Nagato to try and recruit him. A nice long chain to get me into the Akatsuki. I'll table this persona plan for now until I can get a clone to be indistinguishable to any doujutsu.

The next course of action would be to set up a special spy network. I need eyes everywhere to keep me up to date on the events leading up to the start of the anime. I can use Orochimaru to set this up. No doubt that Zetsu will see what he's doing but it matters little to me. Reliable information is key in this world. Knowledge is power, said everyone who ever tried to take over the world.

But that statement can only be true if you have the means to act on knowledge such as I am now. Pretty soon this power I have will diminish when I start to truly change things. Orochimaru might have counted but I've given him orders to continue his plans, I'm just taking over his experiments and resources. It was damn lucky I don't have that chakra drain while he's under my spell.

Anyways, I had some other group of the snake's shinobi to set up a spy network. I gave them some of Orochi's cash to do so and sent them on their way. Now to finish off my day I activated Invisibility and the Sound of Silence and ran out into the night. Why? Well, for the past few years I've been wearing these ratty old clothes I stole from the orphanage. I think it's time for a wardrobe change.

Using my Ninja Run I made my way to the nearest town. Luckily, this town had a shinobi outfitter who liked to tender traveling shinobi. Of course, I didn't want to pay considering my funds could be of better use in building my projects. It had been a while since I took my measurements so I hit the shopkeeper, a retired shinobi judging by his higher than normal level, with a Control.

Turns out I got a little taller. I now stand at a good 5 foot 3. I had the shopkeeper get me a couple sets of casual wear and one set of shinobi clothes. The casual wear was simply a black shirt with black pants and a pair of combat boots, nothing special. My shinobi wear was simple leather straps surrounding a black hood and black pants. I liked it. I kind of look like an assassin from Assassin's Creed. I also got a mask like Kakashi's and a special set of goggles. According to the shopkeeper, these goggles have a night-vision mode built in.

A nice haul if I do say so myself. I placed the casual wear in my inventory and walked out in my shinobi gear. I made my way back to base to see that some progress was made to the super serum. The serum so far has worked with the only side-effect of turning test subjects into uncontrollable monsters. This new serum is more like a temporary boost. As long as you take it the effects will remain. I took one of the syringes full of the stuff and hit it with an Observe,

The Strength of the Beast Serum

Description: This serum once injected grants the user a temporary boost in strength and speed.

Duration: 1 hour

Not bad. But I'm looking for a more permanent solution. If they can't get it done at least we'll have this draft of the formula. I checked on the progress on the Cursed Seal. The Uzumaki scrolls that Orochimaru left here have been a great help in altering the seal. Already some of the major side-effects have been removed such as the obsessive reliance to it. I'm hoping to increase the power boost and lower the corrupted properties of the seal. It will take time of course and I am a patient man when it comes to these things.

In the coming weeks, my routine would be to train my new spells and jutsu, take a break, and do some physical training. Magic is nice and all but I still like to punch things. Speaking of which I picked up a new taijutsu style from one of the shinobi stationed here,

Pacifying Fist(Rank B)

Skill Level: 10

Mastery: 50%

Description: The Pacifying Fist is a fighting style known throughout the Naruto world. Its focus is on ending fights as quickly as possible through the negation of the enemy's attacks and counter-attacking in order to cripple the opponent to the point where the victim is incapable of effectively fighting, hence the name.

Damage: 5 x STR per successful counter

Penalties: -25% chance to counter if the opponent is a higher level or has a higher STR than the user.

Speed: +250%

It's very much like the Reversal Style but it has an offensive aspect to it. It doesn't hit the chakra circulatory system but the various pressure points in the human body. This is a nice little style to have and it helps with my physical training as well. I've decided that when word gets out on the Uchiha Massacre I'm gonna look for Itachi so that I can get a read on him. Hopefully, I can talk him into joining me...if not I'll risk using Control and hope for the best.

I just remembered that I have Perk Points and a Mystery Chest waiting in my inventory. I left the points in storage for now and opened the chest,

Ping! You have gained a Legendary Item!

Spell: Emil's Shop

Skill Level: MAX

Description: This spell grants the user the ability to enter Emil's Shop. The user may exit at any time.

CP: 500 per use

Um...what? Yes, I need to see this. Summoning my chakra I spoke,

"Emil's Shop" I opened my eyes to find myself at some kind of kiosk in the middle of the desert. Looking around there wasn't anything around but sand. But then in the distance...I heard it,

~My stuff's so cheap, that you will not believe, how much you can save, so swing on by...~

That song. That fucking song that got stuck in my head every time I played Nier: Automata and shopped at Emil's. The song got louder and louder until I could see a small vehicle coming my way. It looked like a small three-wheeled pickup truck with a bunch of random crap stored in the back, probably why it was running so slow. Eventually, the truck arrived bearing its signature Emil head on the front.

What surprised me is the side of the truck opened revealing...Emil. I mean, Emil in his human form wearing his purple outfit with a green sash. He smiled at me as he approached,

"Hey! Here to shop?" he asked jovially. I nodded and pulled out the Goblin Drafts and God's Mead in my inventory,

"Can I sell these to you?" I asked him hoping to get rid of these things. Emil looked at the bottles curiously, opening them to sniff their contents,

"Well...I can take the Goblin stuff but not the God's Mead" he said taking the bottles of Goblin Draft into the truck. I tilted my head,

"Hm? Why not?" I asked him. He shrugged and said,

"Well, I can't afford it. I don't know where you found these but you're one lucky guy!" Confused I asked him,

"Why's that? What's so special about this stuff?" Emil finished loading the bottles into the truck and looked back to me,

"Well, if you must know the God's Mead is a special drink that grants you a temporary but incredible stat boost. You should really be using Observe on the items you grab from the dungeons."

Shocked and perplexed I asked him,

"So, you know about me then? About the other Gamers?" Emil chuckled and nodded,

"Yup! Been buying and selling your junk for centuries! As long as you have the spell that takes you here I'll always be right over to lighten the load" as he said this he pulled out two large cases,

"You can buy one of these for the Goblin Drafts. Which one will it be?" he asked placing the cases down before me. I opened them up and saw a scythe and a shield. I didn't really need another weapon right now so I picked up the shield, turning it over in my hands. It was a simple rounded silver shield with two leather straps on the back to hold it. Curious, I hit the thing with an Observe,

Chakra Metal Shield

Description: This shield is made from chakra metal, which allows the user to conduct their chakra into it making it stronger. Alternatively, this shield can absorb the chakra from offensive jutsu and repel the force of the energy back at the opponent.

"I'll be taking this one," I said, placing the shield into the inventory. I considered trading the poison vials I collected from the Goblins but decided against that. I figure I can make something useful out of them. Emil took the scythe and the empty case back to the truck.

"Oh, by the way...what is this place and why are you out here trading?" I asked him. Emil smiled as he looked around the desert,

"This is the last place I...died. Well, a version of me anyway. I was sent here as a sort of...medium. To control the things that come through from other dimensions. Some stuff I send back to where it came from and others...well, I trade it with people like you." he said. I nodded and waved to him,

"Well, I'll be off then. See you later Emil!" he waved back with a smile,

"Be seeing you!" and with that I stared out into the desert and focused my chakra once again, thinking about the Naruto world. In moments I opened my eyes to find myself back in my room at the base. I slumped onto my bed. It's going to be a long and tough road. Should I fail...well, there's something I have planned for that. I only hope that it won't come to that. I closed my eyes letting sleep take hold of me, sweet dreams drifting me away from the woes of this mad world.

Meanwhile...

"HA!" Kin yelled as she plunged her knife into the eye of the bandit below her. Covered in sweat and blood she looked up and smiled at Alucard who stood there clapping his hands,

"Well done. This is the fourth camp today. Feeling restless?" he asked as he ripped the head off one of the bandits. Kin shook her head,

"No...it just feels like something big is about to happen...you know?" she said wiping her blade. The girl watched as her master sunk his teeth into the severed head, sucking the blood dry from it before he tossed it over his shoulder,

"Sure, it's the same feeling I get when the big bad villain is planning his next move. Speaking of moves their is a nice little town nearby. Care to give the killing a rest?" Kin snorted as his response,

"Never thought I'd hear you say that," she said as she sheathed her blade and approached the vampire. Alucard grinned,

"Well, when you've been at this game for so many years...it gets boring at times. Besides, it's always nice to take a break once in a while. I grow tired of watching you fight weaklings all day" he said. Kin shrugged,

"Fine, let's go. I need some new clothes anyways" and with that, they walked to a sleepy little town. Luckily for Kin, there was a shop that sold shinobi gear. When they walked in Alucard immediately moved towards the shopkeeper, startling the old man,

"I-Is t-there something I can help you with sir?" the old man said. Alucard narrowed his eyes,

"I sense magic around your head human. I've been here long enough to familiarize myself with the energies of this world and arcane magic is not a part of it." the vampire said. The shopkeeper looked bewildered,

"And what in Kami's name are you talking about?" he asked a little put off at Alucard's staring. Rolling his eyes the vampire pointed a finger at the man and said in a commanding voice,

"Now, who cast their magic on you...seems your memory was erased, Manipulation Magic? Impossible, that old tome hasn't been seen in centuries..." the vampire mumbled to himself as Kin walked around the store trying on various outfits. Eventually, she settled on a green vest with cow-camo pants along with a pair of black sandals. She also picked up various sizes of the same outfit because, well...she's eight and she's not done growing okay!

Alucard released his hold on the shopkeeper and called out,

"Kin! We're leaving...pick up some weapons on your way out." Kin hurriedly packed up her clothes and searched the store. The senbon needles caught her eye so she grabbed some and made her way out following Alucard. The vampire was walking at a brisk pace so Kin had to jog to catch up to him. She was about to berate him for almost leaving her behind until she caught the look in his eyes,

"Master...what's wrong?" she asked hesitantly, Alucard sighed,

"As far as I know from this world, arcane magic doesn't exist. Especially not the spells used on that man. I've encountered such magic in my time. When it leaves the target it tends to leave a trace of the spell caster. Right now I aim to find whoever cast those spells and get some answers." he said sniffing the air. He looked into the surrounding forests of the town,

"I can sense traces of the spell caster there. Come on Kin. Maybe you'll get the chance to have a real fight" Kin nodded and followed her master into the forest...