Finding Xanadu wasn't difficult as the woman owned a magic shop open to everyone. She was an immortal woman from a long gone era and a powerful magician with the ability to foresee events. Regardless of her abilities, Xanadu was a neutral entity and not some proactive hero. Getting her help meant paying a cost.
Arriving outside the shop, Naruto walked inside without hesitation. The target wasn't strong enough and there was no need to hide, since she would have foreseen his arrival.
"Welcome to my humble shop, Emperor. It is an honor to make your acquaintance." Xanadu stood up as he walked inside and greeted him in a respectful manner.
It meant that she was ready to help him, or it was just another way of making him let down his guard. It would have been easy to read the atmosphere normally, but now he couldn't even trust those abilities. Regardless, he was always cautious.
"Good afternoon, Miss Xanadu. It is a pleasure for me as well. I wish we can talk for long hours as I am interested in your knowledge, but I am quite busy at the moment. I hope you don't mind." Naruto gave her a fruit basket and a flower bouquet as a gift.
"I don't mind. Please follow me and I will see what I can do." Xanadu took him inside a small room with a crystal ball in the middle.
"Please take a seat, and tell me what you need."
"Do you know who is interfering with my life?"
"You already the answer to that, I can't find people on that level unless they want me to." Xanadu was powerful but she knew her limits and wasn't arrogant. Knowing her limits, Xanadu yearned to get stronger and she took requests with proper rewards that would help that goal. It was the reason that she even had demons as servants, she had got them as a gift for her service.
"I see. Tell me where I can find Death?" Naruto understood and expected that answer. He took help from Xanadu because her ability was a learned skill and not a super power. It meant even though he could use it, Xanadu would do it better because of her knowledge and experience since the ability wasn't heavily dependent on power.
"You can find her at the Eiffel Tower. She is going by the name Mary and this is her appearance." His request was expected and she found the target very easily since Death allowed it.
It was obvious that she was willing to meet Naruto. Why, she couldn't tell? She didn't know what would happen to him and his future was a complete mess. No one could confidently tell what was going to happen with the Emperor because how volatile the future was. There were too many lines.
"Thank you for the assistance, we will have proper conversation next time. For now, I hope you are pleased with this gift." Naruto stood up and extended his hand, and on that hand something appeared.
It was Mew.
Xanadu chuckled at the sight and knew that Naruto had used her ability to see what she wanted. She found it amusing and accepted the cute and powerful creature. Just because she was thousands of years old, it didn't meant that she was an old in the mind. She liked to experience new things and enjoyed life.
"I am looking forward to our next meeting." Xanadu hugged her new friend and watched him disappear.
'I hope he lives. With him alive, my future as one of the most powerful beings would be set in stone.' Xanadu liked Naruto's message and ideal. It resonated with her goals properly and she was willing to help him out without needing a speech.
Leaving Xanadu, Naruto found his target within moments. It was hard not to spot Death sitting near the tower with vanilla and caramel ice cream.
Unlike the others, it seemed that she was intend on testing him or making him experience her powers. The moment he started walking towards her, Naruto started to feel sick and his power started to weaken. It became difficult to walk the closer he went and it became extremely difficult to breath.
His bones started to weaken and crack. He started to develop sicknesses. His powers had already shut down and soon all he could do was crawl towards her sitting place. He couldn't even see anymore. His hearing had disappeared and the only thing he felt was pain. He was starting to forget everything and he understood at that moment.
He was about to die.
In that moment, he didn't cry or scream. He accepted it naturally. Though, he wished he could have fixed his world and the current world at least. He wished that he could have reunited with his friends. Satsuki, Hinata, Kakashi, Gaia, Kara, Gaara, Kurama and Asuma passed through his vision as he smiled and let death take him.
"Wake up, Naruto or do you not want to talk anymore."
Hearing the sudden voice, Naruto opened his eyes and came face to face with the target. Death of the Endless was in the appearance of a bright and beautiful blonde at the start. However, that appearance disappeared and now she had shown the real features. Her real look was all dark, but her face was always filled with smiles.
She was not a gloomy person. Though, she had been gloomy in the long forgotten past. She learned from the mortals and appreciated death just like them. It was the reason why she took up mortal forms and lived normal lives before experiencing death like normal people.
"Miss Death, It is an honor. I hope I passed the test." Naruto muttered as he got up and took a seat beside her.
"It was not a test. I already knew how you would react. I wanted you to experience it and really understand it. Maybe, it will help you remember how small your existence is. Every being seems to forget their end once they get power and immortality, so it is best to get a reminder before it leads you to a wrong end."
Naruto was silent for a moment. Was he blinded by his powers? No, but it could have happened later. He might have become careless.
"Thank you for your advice, I will keep it in mind."
"Naruto, there is a proper date when this world will end. It is the day that every being would die and there will be no exception. This is what I wanted you to understand. Just like others, your immortality will not save you from the end. Even if you are victorious, you will always be on a time limit."
It was the first time Naruto heard about such a thing. He had never known that there was time limit to existence. Why was there a limit? And, what was beyond it?
"How long do we have left?"
"There is a long time left, so you can enjoy it. But, are you really ready to live as the Emperor for thousands of years? I know how you operate, Naruto. It is a sad and tragic path. Selfless and destructive, you will live in misery. You are frustrated now and you can handle it. But, can you handle these things over such a long period. Are you really fine with sacrificing your love and family for the Empire? Will you really survive a lonely existence? I want you to think over these things carefully because you will come across choices that will test your persistence and ideals.
Don't always shoulder everything, maybe it is better to let someone else take the seat." Death spoke calmly and seriously that Naruto could only listen and take note. These words from her lips were extremely precious even if he was confident in his path. Her mentioning it meant that it would definitely happen sometime in the future.
"I will contemplate on these questions. However, there is something else I need to handle at this time. Miss, please help me with this threat. Otherwise, the planet will disappear along with the people. I can't see any chance of victory against such a creature."
"Naruto, death is a natural part of life. I can't bring people back to life. It goes against my concept. Your enemy is killing people and that is alright. However, you are trying to bring back people and that is a problem. You should keep that in check or you will invite disaster. The only way I would intervene was if someone broke the rules of death and made it so that no one died… That makes it easy for the villain to force my hand against the hero, doesn't it. Evil is always easy to do and easy to spread, while heroism and selflessness is a difficult concept. It is why most people don't partake in such exercises." Death said as she leaned back and looked at him.
The fact that she wouldn't interfere annoyed him. Why was a higher being allowed to mess around with lower beings? Why couldn't some higher being take care of it? The world was truly messed up. The experience allowed him to understand how mortals felt when they were played around with powerful villains.
It was a similar thing, as he couldn't even identify the threat or even start to see a way to fight back. However, Death did show him a way. He could force the villain destroy the rules of death and make it so that no one died.
But, how could he do it?
"I understand. And, what are the consequences of bringing people to life in large numbers?"
"You will attract the Balance and the Spectre, not a good idea to see them now." Death replied while making faces, showing the cold face of Balance and the sharp look of the Spectre.
It truly was an experience. Naruto had never in his dream expected the concept of death to act so chill. It really opened his eyes and made him understand that he had still been making assumptions without any information in some cases.
"I will keep it mind. So, How about we play a game? I don't know anything else that I can give back." Naruto stood up and presented red spider lilies to her along with a box of chocolates. Hiding inside the flowers was a cute little creature called Calumon. The flowers represented death and it also represented an upcoming celebratory occasion, and passion or a sad memory.
Looking at the cute little creature, Death smiled. It was actually extremely rare for anyone to act normal once they knew her identity. Most people would go crazy and many would run the other way. The people made assumptions and feared that she would take away their souls.
The fear wasn't unfounded since Death did visit every person that would die and her appearance would change according to the person and their deeds. She didn't really have single real appearance since a concept had no shape.
However, Death visiting the dead and normal people was different. She wouldn't talk to the person that was about to die or make jokes. Plus, she would only appear at the last moment when the person was about to lose the light of their eyes.
"What do you have planned? Let me tell you, I am an expert gamer. I have been playing since the dawn of time." Death hyped up her abilities, it made her look adorable especially since Naruto knew that she lost to Xanadu in a game of cards. It was the reason that Xanadu became immortal. Death gave her immortality as a reward.
"Have you played Yugioh?"
"Of course, you looking at the world champion. Not even the King of Games could make me sweat, so are you sure about challenging me?"
Naruto doubted she could win against Atem in a game, since he had already lost to the man without the use of his powers. That man knew his games and specialized in them.
Yes, Atem had arrived in the current Universe after passing to the afterlife. He was living in Tokyo as one of the heroes and summoned the monsters using his cards.
Naruto found a friend in him and Atem helped convince the Persona Team to take his side, making Japan his territory.
"Let's duel, or do you need to make a deck before we start?" Naruto smiled at her cute expression and took out his duel disk along with the deck.
"I was born ready. So, what is the reward for winning?" Death put Calumon above her head and took out her duel disk from nothing.
"Anything you want, and I want power of death as a reward."
"You are really ambitious and fearless, asking Death for the powers of death. I will allow it." Death chuckled at his courageous approach and started the game. It was not a normal game, but a shadow game. On that day, the world saw huge monsters appear out of nowhere and saw them fight against each other. It felt like the world would end and no hero could even stop the fight from taking place.
While Naruto was playing, Alaya finished her preparation and saw the values of her targets. Naruto and his team had gained huge values because of their assets. Naruto owned two planets along with multiple pocket dimensions, so his value was extremely high. His servants also owned some of the territories, giving them a high value.
Alaya could have done the same for the earth and gotten the value, but Naruto would be able to react to the explosion and stop it. She needed the target itself to explode.
With her plan set, she set of the explosions. However, nothing happened.
"I expected nothing less from him. We will have to force the others to fight him or we will never get an opportunity for revenge." Alaya muttered as she knew Naruto stopped her attack with his reality warping abilities. After the first attack, Naruto had taken all of his servants within his protection and didn't let them leave his sight. It was a first time for him and he was quickly adapting to such tactics against him.
With power of explosion sealed, Alaya was only left with her puppet maker and social abilities. She had no confidence in convincing people especially since she lacked experience. All her short life, Alaya had lived alone with her mother and trained. She had seen her mother suffer and heard the horrendous things in the outside world.
Her world was accursed and heading for destruction. There was no hero left to stand in the Emperor's way. Living a life in the accursed world, Alaya got only joy from her mother's presence. However, even that was taken by the monster. As a little girl of twelve, Alaya was forced to see her mother get devoured in the most painful manner.
On that day her heart broke and all mercy disappeared, she vowed vengeance and for that she would do anything.
"Mother, wait for me. Soon, I will join you." Alaya didn't expect to survive and didn't care about living. Vengeance was the only reason that she was alive.
Hugging the clone of her beautiful and gentle mother, Alaya released further information to destroy Naruto's reputation. It was the reality she knew.
Everyone loved a hero, but the things most remembered were the mistakes. Even though a person was not concluded as guilty, many people would cast judgment on them once accusation took place. It was the mindset of many people.
With that in mind, Alaya knew that she didn't need to prove her story. She showed the world Naruto's reality as a tyrant.
The negative news spread like wildfire and the people completely focused on that topic. It showed how Naruto manipulated people by acting kind and once he used the people, he would dispose of them. He would even backstab people that he would call brother. There was not a single person that was an exception.
Her information matched a lot with what Naruto had been doing, casting doubts in the peoples heart. It made people question once again if what Naruto had been doing was just a trap.
The world was divided by their opinions once again since Naruto now didn't have his empathy powers to backup him up. It was pure information war against him.
However, Naruto wasn't just a puppet king or a lazy king. He retaliated and cast doubt on the information itself. Who was the one giving the information? Why were they hiding? Why did they attack people carelessly?
It stopped the downward spiral, but the doubt had been cast. The only way he could vanquish that doubt was with time. He had already seen the willingness of people to accept him, so it was time for him to just conquer the world. Once he had conquered the world, people would see if he was going to kill them or not.
