"Your students?" asked Naruto with curiosity and surprise.
"Yes. You see, a while back, I met someone who became a friend of mine and she was a teacher at an academy. Her students were children who were summoned from another world." said Rimuru.
"You mean those children came to this world from another world like me?" asked Naruto.
"Well, your case is different, as they were summoned due to the intentions of other kingdoms, but due to… certain aspects, they were set aside." said Rimuru.
Naruto got a little angry when he heard that.
"Those bastards. How dare they treat children like that after they were brought here by force?" asked Naruto.
To tell the truth, that sounded a bit like jinchurikis to him, who were created with warlike intentions by the ninja villages, only to be disowned by everyone and treated like monsters or demons.
"I understand your frustration, but nothing can be done anymore. The thing is that my friend, before she died, asked me to take care of her students. So I went to the academy and became their teacher." said Rimuru.
"And how did it go?" asked Naruto.
"Honestly, at first, they didn't like me, but over time, they came to appreciate me a lot. Which is shown by sending me this letter asking me to come visit them." said Rimuru.
"Will you go to see them? I mean, you're the leader of a nation, so you're bound to be busy." said Naruto.
"That's true, but it's not a problem. In fact, I can leave tomorrow. I know the others will be able to take care of everything in my absence." said Rimuru.
"I see." began Naruto before an idea flashed through his mind. "Hey, do you mind if I tag along? I'm curious about your students and I could entertain myself in the time I stay here."
"Sure. I'm sure they'll like you. Very well, then." began Rimuru before getting up. "I'll go let everyone know of my future departure and get things organized. We'll leave tomorrow morning."
"Understood." said Naruto with a smile as he stood up.
The next morning, Naruto and Rimuru met at the outskirts of the city to embark on their journey to another realm.
"By the way, how are we going to go? Will we go on foot or in a cart?" asked Naruto.
"Neither, since the academy is very far away. It would take us more than a week or so to get there." said Rimuru.
"What? Not that I'm in a hurry, but I don't want to waste my time in this world on such a long trip." said Naruto.
"That's why I know someone who will make our journey take much less time." said Rimuru before, out of his shadow came a large wolf with two horns in a line, something that quite surprised the ninja.
"Ah! What's that?" asked Naruto.
"This is Ranga. He has a habit of staying in my shadow all the time." said Rimuru.
"Wherever my master goes, I'll accompany him." said Ranga as he wagged his tail happily.
"And talk and all. It would certainly make Akamaru and Pakkun look like puppies. Anyway, do you think he'll be able to get us to our destination in no time?" asked Naruto.
"Positive. Ranga is very fast and will make our journey of many days reduced to very few days." said Rimuru.
"Wow, you are impressive, Ranga." said Naruto with a smile.
"I am what I am because of my master." said Ranga.
After that, Rimuru jumped up and returned to his slime form before landing on top of the monstrous wolf.
"Well, let's not waste any more time. Let's leave right away." said Rimuru.
"Sure thing." said Naruto climbing onto Ranga's back.
The next instant Ranga took off running and Naruto had to admit that the slime wasn't lying about being very fast, as he could feel the wind against his face and saw his surroundings moving so fast it was almost a blur.
Now all he could think to do was relax and enjoy the ride.
"WOW!" exclaimed Naruto in awe at the large city and huge castle they were gazing at from a hill.
True to his word, thanks to Ranga's speed, it took them less than half a week to reach their destination.
There was a time when Rimuru suggested stopping to rest for the night, but Naruto told him that his ninja training meant he could stay awake for a couple of nights or more.
And in less time than he expected, they arrived at the outskirts of another kingdom, which was the one they were currently looking at.
"Yeah, I was impressed the first time too." said Rimuru.
"And Freedom Academy is in that city?" asked Naruto.
"No. It's in the outskirts. Since they teach magic, they prefer the classes to be held away from others to avoid harm." explained Rimuru.
"Makes sense." said Naruto.
"Well, let's not keep them waiting." said Rimuru.
"Wait, do they know you're coming?" asked Naruto.
"No and there's the fun. I want to give them a surprise when they see me coming." said Rimuru.
"Oh, in that case, I have the perfect idea for it." said Naruto with a toothy grin.
"Why do I get the feeling I'm not going to like that idea?" thought Rimuru with a bead of sweat.
In the courtyard of the academy, there was a certain group of five children, only, this time, they were lying on the ground with an expression of pure boredom.
"What a quiet and boring day." said the boy with spiky orange hair.
"But people usually prefer these days to days when something happens." said the tall boy.
"Well, I don't. I'd like something interesting to happen." said the blond-haired girl.
"Do you think master Rimuru must have received our letter?" asked the black-haired girl.
"We sent it days ago. It has probably arrived." said the black-haired boy.
"Does that mean he will come?" asked the black-haired girl with a hopeful smile.
"I don't know. I mean, first he would have to organize his schedule as the leader of a nation and then send a message with his reply and that could take a while." said the tall boy.
It was then that a blue colored ball came hovering towards them, catching their attention.
"Excuse me!"
The five looked in the same direction to see a boy with blond hair, fox whiskers and a black and orange jumpsuit arrive on the scene.
"Sorry to interrupt you. I was playing a little and the ball got out of my hands." said Naruto.
"Oh, you're not bothering us at all." said the black-haired girl picking up the ball and approaching the ninja to return it.
"And anyway, it's not like you interrupted us in the middle of something either." said the blonde-haired girl.
"Why? Did something happen?" asked Naruto.
"Nothing and that's the problem." said the spiky orange haired boy.
"We've been busy studying and practicing lately." said the tall boy.
"But actually, what's wrong is that we miss master Rimuru." said the black-haired boy.
"Master Rimuru?" asked Naruto.
"He's the best teacher in the world. He's strong, smart, brave and… he's also handsome." said the black-haired girl slightly blushing.
What they didn't know was that, for some apparent reason, the ball blushed slightly.
"You seem to love him a lot." said Naruto.
"Well, yes. In fact, we wrote him a letter days ago telling him that we'd like him to come visit." said the blonde-haired girl.
"But considering that he is also the leader of a nation, it might take a while for him to come here." said the tall boy.
"I see." began Naruto before getting to thinking. "Hey, do you feel like playing a little ball with me? It might entertain you."
The five children looked at each other, thinking about the boy's offer.
"Well, we have nothing to do." said the black-haired boy.
"And it might be fun." said the boy with spiky orange hair.
"All right. We're in." said the tall boy.
"Perfect. Now, everyone get into position." began Naruto taking the ball as the children got into different areas. "Alright. Here goes." said Naruto hitting the ball, sending it towards the tall boy.
When the ball reached him, the tall boy hit it, sending it flying towards the blonde girl, who hit it, sending it towards the spiky orange haired boy who threw it at the black-haired boy in one hit.
On cue, the black-haired boy hit the ball, launching it toward the black-haired girl who hit it so hard that it sent it flying upward.
"Oh, no." said the black-haired girl as she realized what she did.
Then suddenly, the ball began to twist in mid-air before taking a certain human shape and when it landed on the ground, it revealed to be Rimuru.
"Nice throw, Chloe." said Rimuru with a smile.
The children's eyes and mouths dropped open for a few moments before realization hit them.
"Master Rimuru!" shouted they all with joy before running up to him and hugging him.
"I can't believe you're here!" said the little boy with spiky orange hair.
"We've missed him!" said the blonde-haired girl.
"I know and I you." said Rimuru.
"Wait, you were the ball all this time?" asked the black-haired boy.
"Yes, I was." said Rimuru.
The black-haired girl's face turned tomato red as that meant he had heard everything she said and that embarrassed her to no end.
"Haha. See? I told you it was a good idea." said Naruto.
"Yeah, but I don't remember agreeing to be treated like a beach ball." said Rimuru with a frown, causing Naruto to chuckle nervously as he rubbed the back of his head.
"Wait a minute, is it that you two know each other?" the black-haired girl asked.
"Why yes. Naruto, these are my students. Kenya." began Rimuru pointing to the spiky orange haired boy. "Ryota." said Rimuru pointing to the black-haired boy. "Alice." said Rimuru pointing to the blonde-haired girl. "Gale." said Rimuru pointing to the tall boy. "And this is Chloe." said Rimuru pointing to the black-haired girl.
"Nice to meet you." said Naruto.
"Guys, this is Naruto Uzumaki. Just like you, he comes from another world, but a very different one from the one you come from." said Rimuru.
"Really? Amazing!" said Kenya in awe and excitement.
"What's in your world that's different from ours?" asked Alice excitedly.
"Well… I don't know if it would help, but in my world, there are ninja villages, me being a member of one of them." said Naruto.
"You're a ninja?" asked Gale with surprise.
"Yes and I have done various missions since I was your age. I even saved the world." said Naruto.
"Wow. You're like the ninja from the manga." said Ryota.
"Manga?" asked Naruto.
"One that master Rimuru gave me before he left. In fact, I was reading it again before we performed the spell." said Ryota.
"What spell?" asked Rimuru.
"You see, a couple of days ago, we wanted to send him a letter using a teleportation spell. Everything was going well, but because Ryota was focused on that ninja story, the spell failed." explained Kenya.
"Wait a minute. Were they performing a teleportation spell a couple of days ago and during the process, Ryota thought of a ninja story?" asked Rimuru mentally before looking towards Naruto. "It can't be. Or can it?"
"Analysis. Looks like we found the reason why Naruto came to this world." said Raphael.
"I know and I can't believe it was like this." thought Rimuru.
"*Sigh* Naruto, I think I just figured out how you came to this world." said Rimuru.
"Oh yeah, how?" asked Naruto surprised and confused.
"Because of them" said Rimuru pointing to the children.
"What?" asked the five in unison.
"From what you said, when you cast that spell, you intended to send a letter to me, but then, because Ryota thought of that ninja story, there was an alteration in the spell that meant that instead of sending me the letter, what it did was send me the closest thing to a powerful, world-saving ninja." began Rimuru before pointing to the ninja. "And that's Naruto."
"So, I've been dragged into this world because of them?" asked Naruto with a frown and pointing at the children.
Hearing that, the five children began to sweat nervously before quickly standing in front of the jinchuriki.
"WE ARE SO SORRY!" the five exclaimed in unison as they bowed.
"It was all my fault!" said Ryota.
"No! I was the one who came up with the idea!" said Kenya.
"I should have been more responsible about it!" said Gale.
"We didn't know this was going to happen!" said Alice.
"Please forgive us! Don't be mad at us!" said Chloe with tear drops at the corners of her eyes.
Naruto stared at them for a few seconds before smiling and stroking Chloe's head, to the surprise of everyone who looked up.
"Hey, calm down. It's true that I'm a little upset, but I'm not mad at you. Anyone can make a mistake, right?" asked Naruto with a smile.
That made the kids feel a little better to see that the ninja wasn't pissed at them.
"Besides. Rimuru told me that he can take me back to my world." said Naruto pointing at the human slime.
"That's true. In fact, I'll have it ready in no time." said Rimuru.
"I'm glad for that, sir." said Chloe.
"Oh, please. I'm not that old. You can just call me Naruto." said Naruto.
"So, Naruto, could you tell us about your world?" asked Alice.
"Yes, I want to know about the adventures you've had." said Ryota.
"And about the battles you've fought." said Kenya.
"Would you do us that favor?" asked Gale.
"Hehehe. Gladly." said Naruto.
For quite a while, Naruto was telling the kids about the various adventures and experiences he went through in his life, from graduating as a ninja to participating in a war that ended recently.
Needless to say, the five children were all the time with their mouths open in amazement at the ninja's stories.
Even Rimuru, who was listening as well, was amazed at the things the jinchuriki had experienced.
Later, Naruto, Ranga and Rimuru, in their slime form, were resting in the shade of a tree while the children were in class.
"They are good kids." said Naruto.
"I know and I'm proud to be their teacher." said Rimuru.
"You know? They remind me of a trio of kids from my home." said Naruto remembering Konohamaru and his group.
"I see. Mmm-" expressed Rimuru getting to thinking about something. "Hey, I have an idea, how about you give them a little lesson?"
"You want me to teach them something?" asked Naruto.
"Well, you told earlier that you went through a lot of things. I think some of that you could teach them." said Rimuru.
Naruto looked at the leaves on the tree as he thought about the slime's offer and that's when a certain test crossed his mind.
"You know what? I'll do it and I have the perfect test for them." said Naruto.
"Can you tell me what it's about?" asked Rimuru.
"Sure. Listen." said Naruto leaning closer to the slime to whisper something in his 'ear'.
"Ah. Sounds like a good test. You have my support." said Rimuru pulling out of his body and lump that made the thumbs up gesture.
"Sounds good to me." said Naruto.
Soon after, the five children reconvened in the courtyard, where Rimuru and Naruto were waiting for them.
"Kids. We're going to give you a special test today." said Rimuru.
"A special test?" asked Gale.
"Come on now! We just had a test. I don't feel like another one." said Kenya.
"Don't worry. It's not one of those tests you do. This test is different." said Naruto.
"Different in what way?" asked Alice.
"In that it will be Naruto who will be giving you the test." said Rimuru pointing to the ninja with his hand.
"Really? Naruto will be testing us?" asked Ryota.
"Yes, but you can back off if you don't want to take it." said Naruto.
"No. We're not backing out, are we guys?" asked Chloe.
"Yes. We've been through several things. We're not afraid of anything." said Kenya with a confident smile.
"Let's do this test." said Gale.
"Very well. The test consists of this." began Naruto before pulling four bells from his pocket. "You have to take these bells from me. Whoever has a bell when I finish the test will pass."
"But… There are only four and there are five of us." said Ryota.
"That's right. One of you won't pass the test." said Naruto.
"That's not fair!" said Alice.
"Life isn't fair. You have to know how to adapt to circumstances like these." said Rimuru.
"Do you still want to take the test?" asked Naruto with a smile.
The five children looked at each other, a little worried and nervous about the test, but still, they looked at the ninja with a serious look.
"Anytime." said Kenya.
A couple of minutes later, the five children found themselves facing Naruto, who had his bells tied around his waist while Rimuru stood under the shade of the tree watching everything.
"Well, anytime you want, you can attack me." said Naruto.
"Don't underestimate us." said Ryota pulling out a bow and arrows.
He quickly shot an arrow just before shooting two energy arrows.
Naruto quickly moved to dodge the arrows.
"Ha. That won't hit me." said Naruto before his eyes widened in horror as he saw a pair of kunais wrapped in a violet aura flying towards him.
He quickly moved to the side to avoid them, but the kunais followed their path, forcing him to move from side to side to dodge the kunais that were moving thanks to Alice's magic.
"That's it, ninja. Dance for me." said Alice with a smile.
That's when a shadow loomed over him and he turned his head to see a giant creature with a blue fire crest on its back.
"Go, Beast Gnome!" said Gale causing the beast to clap his hands with Naruto in his hands.
"Okay, we got him." said Chloe with a smile.
However, when the creature pulled its hands away, it revealed that what it had crushed was a piece of log.
"What?" asked Gale.
"I'm here." said Naruto suddenly appearing behind Gale before kicking him in the back that knocked him to the ground.
"Gale!" exclaimed Ryota before he started shooting arrows nonstop, but Naruto nimbly dodged the arrows before waving his hands.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" shouted Naruto causing a clone to emerge from an explosion of smoke.
"It's multiplied!" said Kenya.
"Not for long." said Alice before she swung her kunais as Ryota shot energy arrows.
Naruto and his clone nimbly dodged the incoming objects as they charged towards them.
Naruto approached Ryota and elbowed him in the stomach which brought him to his knees.
Then, the clone managed to get in front of Alice and give her a shove that knocked her to the ground.
Before she could do anything, the clone suddenly received a sword strike that knocked him off, courtesy of Kenya who had a sword.
"Now you'll see!" said Kenya before lunging towards Naruto who pulled out a kunai to defend himself from the boy's sword.
Needless to say, Naruto was impressed with the boy's sword skills.
With a shout of effort, Kenya managed to slash at the ninja, only for him to disappear through an explosion of smoke.
"What? A clone?" asked Kenya before receiving a side kick from the real Naruto, which knocked him to the ground.
"That's it? I expected more from Rimuru's students." began Naruto before noticing something on the ground and looking down, he was shocked when he saw that the ground beneath him had become wet and was sinking like quicksand. "But what…?" asked Naruto before looking to the side, only to see Chloe with her hands on the ground at the edge of the mud puddle she was in.
Once she finished her attack, Chloe stood up with a smile.
"Just know that master Rimuru taught us many things." said Chloe before walking on the wet ground, which had become solid again.
She walked over to Naruto and took all the bells from him.
"I got them." said Chloe.
"It's okay. I admit you've outdone me. Now, what are you going to do with those bells? I said you only had to have one to pass." said Naruto with his arms crossed and a smile.
Chloe looked at the bells in her hand for a moment before turning around to see her classmates, who were getting up.
She walked over to them and handed a bell to each of them.
"Chloe?" asked Alice in confusion.
"I don't want you to fail the test. So you can keep the bells." said Chloe.
"But then, you'll fail." said Gale.
"I don't care. I'd rather fail than pass and have one of you be sad." said Chloe with a smile.
"Chloe." said Ryota surprised by his partner's decision.
"You know what? I don't care!" exclaimed Kenya throwing the bell on the floor. "If you're going to fail, then, so am I."
"So am I." said Alice throwing the bell.
"Me too." said Ryota throwing the bell.
"We won't let you carry this on your own." said Gale throwing the bell.
"Guys." said Chloe surprised, but happy that her friends were willing to that point for her.
"What are you going to do now, Naruto?" asked Kenya as Naruto came out of the ground.
"Well what I'm going to do is…" began Naruto making the kids a little nervous as he snapped out of it. "Pass you all." said Naruto with a toothy grin.
"Huh?" asked the five in unison.
"I-I don't get it. Aren't we supposed to pass if we had a bell?" asked Chloe confused.
"That's right Chloe, you could have kept one bell to pass the test, but instead, you decided to give all the bells to your classmates even though that would mean you would fail. Afterwards, they could have kept them and passed the test, but they decided to join you even though they would fail afterwards." said Naruto.
"I still don't get it." said Kenya.
"You see, when I graduated from the ninja academy, my teacher gave me this very test and after I passed it, he gave me a lesson I will never forget. Those who don't follow the rules are scum, but those who forget their friends are worse than scum." said Naruto.
"He's right." began Rimuru approaching the others. "The test wasn't about proving your strength, but your bonds of friendship and you proved that when you gave up passing to keep a friend from feeling lonely."
"Well, of course we did. We would never leave a friend behind." said Alice.
"That's something you taught us too, master Rimuru." said Ryota.
"To tell you the truth, I wouldn't have minded failing if it made the others pass." said Gale.
"You're not really tough if a bunch of kids were able to beat you." said Kenya giving the ninja a superior smile.
"Haha. That's because I held back a lot. If I wanted to, I would have beaten you up so badly that you'd end up in the hospital." said Naruto with a grin.
That made the boys nervous knowing that the ninja could be as strong as Rimuru.
"Well, we won't waste any more of your time. You'd better get back to class." said Rimuru.
"Hey, master Rimuru, could you stay here at least until tomorrow?" asked Chloe.
"Yes, we would like to have you longer." said Kenya.
"We know you might be busy with your homework, but we'd really like you to stay longer." said Gale.
"Mmm. Well, that's fine. Since you're asking, I'll stay longer, but only until the sun rises the highest tomorrow, understood?" asked Rimuru.
"That's enough." said Ryota.
"Yes, it will be worth it." said Alice.
"You won't mind being here a while longer, will you, Naruto?" asked Rimuru.
"Not at all. In fact, I'd love to have some more fun with you." said Naruto looking at the kids.
"Good!" exclaimed the five children excited to play with the ninja.
For the next few hours, Rimuru and Naruto hung out with the kids, either playing games or teaching both magic and physical exercises in Naruto's case.
Night came and thanks to the permission of the other teachers and the principal, they were given a room of their own where the two could rest until the next day when they would return to the city of Rimuru.
Everyone was sleeping peacefully.
However, that calm was disturbed when a strange fellow wandered around the academy.
Said subject slipped into the bushes and looked around before continuing his way towards the academy.
Once he was attached to the wall, he made a magic circle appear on the ground below him, which caused a small pillar of earth to emerge and lift him up to the window.
After that, he made another magic circle on the lock, which caused it to open, allowing the guy to open the window very stealthily.
Once he opened it all the way, he went inside, although first, he undid the earthen pillar and closed the window, as if cleaning his trail.
Now that he was inside the academy, the mysterious subject proceeded to walk the corridors quickly, looking for his target.
In the room given to Rimuru and Naruto, while Rimuru, in his slime form, didn't need to sleep, Naruto was sleeping soundly, even snoring a little.
Since he didn't need sleep, Rimuru was all the while staring off into nothingness, deep in thought when…
"Warning. An unknown presence has been detected inside the academy." said Raphael.
"What, an intruder? What could he have come for?" asked Rimuru mentally before shaking himself in denial. "No time to dwell on that. The matter must be taken care of, but first…" thought Rimuru before focusing on the sleeping jinchuriki. "Pss. Naruto. Naruto!" whispered Rimuru loudly, trying to wake him up.
Unfortunately, it only made Naruto groan a little.
"No, Kakashi-sensei. I'm done being curious about what's underneath your mask." said Naruto in his sleep before snoring again.
"It's alright. I have no choice but to do this." said Rimuru before jumping towards Naruto's bed, landing hard on his stomach, causing him to double over as he gasped heavily.
"Hey, you…!" began Naruto loudly before Rimuru covered his mouth with an arm.
"Shh. Sorry to wake you up like this, but this is important. There's an intruder at the academy." said Rimuru.
"An intruder?" asked Naruto.
"He's right. I sense an unfamiliar presence. He seems to have something that prevents him from being easily detected." said Kurama.
"Can you find out where he is?" asked Naruto as he changed.
"Wait." said Rimuru. "Raphael, where is the intruder?"
"Analysis. The unknown subject is half a distance away from the students' rooms." said Raphael.
"What? The students?" asked Rimuru aloud.
"Is he going after the students? Why?" asked Naruto.
"I don't know either, but we'd better take care of this matter before something bad happens." said Rimuru very seriously.
The mysterious subject moved quickly until he reached a hallway full of doors.
He reached behind his back to pull out a dagger with glowing violet engravings.
"All be for the salvation of mankind." said the fellow in a man's voice.
He was about to head for a door when suddenly…
"HEY!"
The subject startled as he turned around to see Naruto scowling at him.
"Are you and what are you doing here?" asked Naruto pointing his finger at him.
Instead of answering, the subject lunged towards Naruto and tried to stab him with the dagger, but Naruto was able to dodge the attacks before punching him in the face, knocking him back a bit.
After that, the subject created a magic circle in front of him from which several green fireballs shot out, but before they reached the ninja, Rimuru stood in the middle and raised his arms, which were covered in scales, in an X-shape to block the fireballs, although the impact caused a small explosion.
After that, the guy proceeded to escape down the other side of the hallway, but he didn't even take two steps when Rimuru quickly moved to stand on the other side of the hallway.
"You're not going anywhere." said Rimuru.
The subject looked at the human slime before turning his head to see the ninja cracking his knuckles.
"Very well. You can tell us what's going on by hook or by crook." said Naruto.
The subject stared at him before looking back at the human slime.
Realizing his situation, he had no choice but to do just that.
"All be for the salvation of mankind." said the subject before stabbing himself with the dagger, something that surprised the other two.
They were more shocked when the subject was engulfed in violet flames and screamed in pain before he turned to ashes, the dagger being the only thing that went unpunished.
"Tsk. I hate it when they decide to take secrets to the grave." said Naruto.
"He didn't take them all." began Rimuru picking up the dagger to examine it, managing to find an emblem of a twelve-pointed star. "And something tells me there's more to this than meets the eye."