I know it has been over three years since this story was updated, but in order to make to a YouTube video detailing this what-if scenario I knew that I would need a plot to go off of. This story being stuck in my head for the past few years has eventually led me to this point, and while this is NOT a promise to finish this story, this shall be a temporary return. When I initially published this story, I was a teenager in middle-to-high school trying to appeal to the masses. In hindsight, many of my plot devices and decisions were derived off of other great stories in an attempt to come up with the best story possible.
As a freshly-minted grown man in society nowadays, I do not have the time nor patience to revise the older chapters in order to fit my more logic-based vision as to how this story should ultimately play out. Maybe whenever I get to the endgame of this story I will find the time to line everything up from start to finish, but as of this writing I simply cannot be bothered. As my power levels have increased physically, mentally, and emotionally, I can recognize the stark contrast between an epic tale and a poorly written one. While I do not believe I was ever a bad writer in any event, I do acknowledge that my emotions bled into the story, which made characters such as Goku and Hinata stray away from their characters to the point that they are essentially OCs. Naruto being a redhead and a 'smart genius' made absolutely zero sense. Sasuke being amicable with others upon the Uchiha massacre, and also receiving the Mangekyou is an illogical mistake. Kurotsuchi even being relevant in the story at this point would not logically make sense, Haku being alive and a female was simply a plot device to give Sasuke a different pairing. Karin being relevant in the Forest of Death is only a greater hassle for me as the author to write in, and it simply would not flow. Yugao being the sensei because of her time as an Anbu member watching over Goku as a child is not realistic given the nature of being an Anbu member to begin with. You do not typically leave.
On top of that, a four man team was lazy writing on my part. Instead of switching up the team dynamics from canon, it would have been more sound to simply have Goku act as his own sort of free agent rather than have him linked to a team. That way the strategic employment of a tracking, assault, and interrogation squad would have remained the same. And as we all know, Goku has the potential to function in all three sects by his lonesome.
In all honesty, the whole plot-line was a conglomerate of other works remixed and remastered to a degree that I could somewhat claim it as my own story. The silver-lining to all of this is that I am a far stronger person than I was at 13 when I published this story, and while the emphasis on the journeys of anyone not named Son Goku will inevitably decrease, the story should sober up and hopefully end up being that much greater.
After all, the Super Saiyan is the ultimate equalizer.
Chapter 0: Zeno's Retcon
"A world like this..."
Two child-like blue hands rose in the sky, coating themselves with an unknown level of energy.
"Must disappear!"
And then, the entire Ludicrous Shinobi timeline was erased.
"We must retcon it immediately."
"As you command, Lord Zeno," an angelic figure with white hair, pale blue skin, lavender eyes, a turquoise gi with an orange triangular symbol, a luminescent halo, a red belt with a golden Zeno emblem in the center, and white boots with grey tips.
With a wave of his right hand, the Grand Priest reinstated the previously erased universe with the specific modifications meant to appease the Omni-King. Nobody likes a bad TV show after all, and to someone as powerful as Zeno, entertainment happens to be overwhelmingly important in his day-to-day life.
Entertainment was everything.
The timeline as it was had deviated too far away from what originally would have happened, and as such the story became hard to watch. It needed a change of pace.
In an event not too dissimilar to DC's retcon punch by Superboy Prime, the timeline of The Ludicrous Shinobi had shifted.
For better or worse, only time will tell.
