God of Shinobi
Disclaimer:
I do not own Genshin Impact nor Naruto Shippuden. All rights belong to Hoyoverse (Genshin Impact) and Masashi Kishimoto (Naruto Shippuden)
Chapter 3:
Hero of Vindagnyr
Beta: Old man of the mountain/Darklord331
Painting…
How long has it been since she last painted something significant?
Her soft delicate hands trembled slightly, fingers fiddling the wooden brush, her mind lingered deep in her thoughts as her slender figure stood across the wet plaster wall, her snow boots covered feet rattled in frustration, her pale-blonde hair gently waving in the cold breeze.
Her teeth clinched and her dried lips quivered as her thoughts continued to explore, eagerly waiting for a revelation, but as the minutes stretched into hours, all she saw was dreary darkness.
She realized there was no progress, and no matter how many times she tried to see into the future, all she saw was a tunnel of darkness that filled her vision, seemingly snaring her and obscuring her eyesight from seeing beyond; a horrifying sight, one she had never seen before.
Thus, she couldn't help but wonder.
Was that a foreshadowing of her nation's future fate?
She shook her head and tried again, clenching the brush fiercely, causing the wooden handle to crack, splitting in half, forcing her back to reality, and eventually succumbing to the feeling of failure.
Her breath heaved in disappointment as she snapped her eyes open, her dark violet eyes glistening in despair, and tears began to swell down her cheeks.
Will everything be for naught?
Was there truly no hope for her people?
"F-father…"
Her sweet words resonated in the King's ears, filled with sadness and distress, and the King saw tears flowing down her cheeks.
The King lowered his gaze, realizing that nothing seemed to be working, as if the Gods had abandoned them.
There was no hope, he recognized that since the day the Divine nail struck their region, an eternal winter had engulfed his Nation for as long as he could remember, but he strived for a miracle.
"I-I'm sorry...I failed you...I failed everyone."
The King's head shook as he approached his only daughter and took her into a comforting embrace that he hoped would calm her down.
She was desperate.
Her father was desperate...and she realized how wretched she was in the presence of the Gods.
The Land was withering, her people were starving, and she had done everything she could to save them, but at the end of the day...they had earned the wrath of the Gods.
The King of Sal Vindagnyr sighed, contemplating telling her about his plan, but there's no point in hiding it now...Their glorious past has long been buried by the Gods, and their penalty has long been served by his people.
The burden of the past's sins falls solely on him.
So why…
Why would the Celestia do this to his people?
His eyes hardened with resolve.
At the very least...
As the father met his daughter's gaze and wiped her tears away, he told her.
"I'll go to the mountaintop and beg forgiveness from the Gods above...perhaps just then, the land will be able to prosper once more. So, Jane, stay here and look after the people."
The Princess's eyes widened in surprise, but quickly turned to remorse as she understood how serious he was in this despite knowing the consequences. Seeing his daughter's sad smile, the King tightened his grips on her shoulders and smiled at her.
She was the princess of Sal Vindagnyr, a once-thriving Kingdom, but now...she was merely a girl with no power to save her people from their demise, and with that, the Princess tightened her lips and gave a slight nod, yielding to her father's demand.
With nothing left behind, it was just a matter of time before death came knocking...
No, death has been watching her and her people for a long time, and it is finally time for her and her people to embrace it.
The Princess watched as her father departed from the cavern, his feet buried under the blanket of snow, as the man staggered forward, going further into the mountaintop, leaving behind not even a trail of his steps as the snow had already buried his footsteps, seeing him gone Jane realized how lonely she was.
There is no one who can help her now.
The Princess then followed in her father's footsteps, heading in the opposite direction, back to her encampment, before changing course and wandering aimlessly until she arrived at the place of her birth.
Her eyes gaze intently on the withering crimson tree, reminiscing about the past and feeling nothing but grief. The Princess clenched her lips and slowly approached the tree, then she looked up to the branches, observing the tree's present condition and began to search for the healthiest twig that she hoped to rescue.
Perhaps if she could manage to graft a twig or two...then maybe just maybe there could be salvation.
It took her more than ten minutes.
But she saw one, however it was beyond her reach.
The Princess inhaled then exhaled, calming herself as she walked closer; the icy cold she felt minutes before had long vanished as she could feel the warmth of the Divine tree embracing her chilled body; the heavy wind had also vanished almost as if non-existent.
The Princess paid no attention to it because she was now closer to its trunk.
Her eyes then stared at the tree for a minute, hesitant to climb up because the tree was divine after all, and she could feel it being sentient, as if it's warning her that something would happen to her if she did.
However, there's no point in fretting about the inevitable.
Thus she braced herself and with one long sighed she touched the trunk, the warmth radiating from it burning her palms, whilst her eyes widened in shock as she entered a tunnel-like vision, unknown scenes flashing in her head at light speed, as she witnessed everything that was bestowed upon her, millions of possibilities and yet only one outcome, eventually she fell to the ground with blood trickling down her nose and the burned she received was soothed by the cold snow beneath her feet.
On the ground, the Princess was panting relentlessly as she swept the blood off her and she glanced back to the dying tree, her hands trembling as her brain tried to stop her, but she ignored the pleas and was ready to climb it again when she was stopped by a hand.
"If you do that again, you will die."
Her eyes widened.
Imunlaukr?
Her body turned around as she met the gaze of a handsome man in a white cloak, who was accompanied by an attractive woman as the latter waved her hand at her.
The Princess was surprised but her surprise quickly turned to rage.
These people...are Gods!
She recognized one when she saw one.
"L-Let go!" Jane screamed slapping his hand away, however the man didn't budge as she could only writhe in her current position.
"I won't unless you tell me what you're going to do."
Jane's eyes widened, startled by his quick response, while the Princess gritted her teeth and averted her gaze down.
"Does it even matter? You Gods...caused this."
The blonde-haired man hummed in thought before turning his gaze to the silver-haired goddess.
"Havria?"
"I'm not sure, Naruto." The Goddess of Salt replied in honesty as she walked past the two and toward the withering tree.
"What are you doing!"
She was boisterous and strong, but it didn't matter to the God of Shinobi, who held the princess back while she struggled under his grasp and could only watch as the Goddess of Salt approached the Frost-bearing tree.
Havria examined the dying tree, appraising the issue while ignoring the Princess's wails.
As the minutes passed, her beautiful face turned glum, and he let go of the Princess's arm.
The latter falls to the ground as she watches the man walk past her and approach the tree.
"This is part of the Irminsul."
"Irminsul?"
Havria hummed in thought as she sought the proper words, then nodded her head.
"The Tree of Life...It bears everything of Teyvat...every living being, every event, every tragedy...this is the tree that contained memories of the world itself."
"Everything, huh?" wondered Naruto as he approached the tree and touched it.
Havria and the Princess of Sal Vindagnyr were only able to watch in silent as they saw Naruto touched the trunk, sending a pulse of chakra into it. However, nothing seems to have happened for a few minutes.
"W-what is he doing?"
"Be quiet, child; you will find out in the end." Havria commented as his power surged out causing the snow surrounds the tree parameters began to melt, and a pulse of golden energy shot forth into the sky, tearing the dense and heavy clouds apart as the tree basked in pure energy.
It lasted more than ten minutes, and the Princess of Sal Vindagnyr's eyes widened in awe.
Golden light...
As that goes on, the cycles of the snowfall were disturbed as the sun light beamed down from the heavens, the high wind and snowstorm ceased devouring the area, and the sun light shone brightly in the eternal winter region, basking the man in its light, however Naruto wasn't happy.
No.
The anchor...whatever that was reacted violently and tried to absorb his power, fighting over authority as it attempts to thwart him, and Naruto wasn't known as the God of Shinobi for nothing as he amends back the chakra thread within the trunk, reconnecting everything back to its original state, causing the Anchor to be furious but it eventually lost the battle over dominance as its power was contained.
Unbeknownst to the three, a Slumbering Deity in Celestia opened her eyes, detecting the abrupt anomalies.
How stupid.
These mortals...seem to know no bounds in their arrogations.
But for now, she will only observe from the Heavens and oversee the outcome.
After all, her focus was elsewhere, on one nation that will someday reveal its true colours and engulf the world in everlasting darkness.
The Princess of Sal Vindagnyr was left speechless, unable to say anything but gaped her mouth opened in awestruck at what he had done and what she had witnessed.
Was this man the salvation they seek?
"What did you do?" The princess sought an answer from him, but before he had a chance to reply, a spear lunged towards him, causing Naruto to react and move his body to the side slightly, using the momentum his hand redirected the spear back to the person as the latter widened and jumped to the side just in time, watching as the spear impaled before exploding, sending splinters of wood flying everywhere.
"Princess!" The man scowls, bracing himself against his fear as he glares at Naruto. "Whoever you are, get away from her!"
Naruto glanced at him before turning to look at the princess. He then glanced at his footprints and deadpanned, "I'm not even standing anywhere near her."
Havria gave a tiny, amused smile at his replied.
The Knight, on the other hand, growls furiously as his face warms up in rage and embarrassment.
"Calm down, Ukko!"
"But Princess!"
"Yeah, calm down, boi." Naruto spoke out from beside him, alerting Ukko to the man's abrupt reappearance. "Here's your weapon, I hope I didn't break it."
The man in cloak returned him his weapon back, which the knight accepted in a state of confusion.
"W-what?"
"Since this is not the source of the corruption, let's proceed to the Mountaintop Havria."
"Okay." The Goddess of Salt nodded as she returned to his side, and the two walked in the direction her father had gone.
"Wait! At the very least...please come with us."
"And get arrested? No, thanks." Naruto answered quickly, ignoring her plea and striding away till she shouted out with her head bowed to the ground.
"There are people who require your attention...please, Lord...granted us your mercy."
Naruto came to a halt and cast a glance towards Havria, who shrugged her shoulders.
Naruto lifted an eyebrow at the princess. "Why should we help you when you've pointed your weapons at us? As far as I'm concerned, you're going to stab us in the back."
Havira flinched at Naruto's tone as he reminded her of specific occurrences with her people that would have almost killed her if Naruto hadn't arrived on time and saved her from being slaughtered by her own people.
Before raising her head, the princess fidgets her eyes, trying to think of some explanations. "Please, I beg you. My people will suffer if I don't act...I cannot bear any more deaths. Please, my lord, I beseech you."
Naruto continued to stare at her for a while, attempting to read her body language to determine if she was lying or not, despite the fact that he could see her intentions were sincere.
He then glanced at Havira as the latter spoke up.
"It's almost noon anyway, I'm sure you're hungry by now, and it's been two days since we left our camp." Havria told him with a smile that made the blonde-haired shinobi chuckle.
She has a point, but the most essential thing is...
He wanted to meet other people, it had been ages since he had seen humans like himself, and now...there are two of them already, Havria may have had the appearance of a mortal, but at the end of the day she was a divine Deity.
"Sure, let's go." Naruto nodded, charmingly smiling at the princess, causing her to stammer in surprise, while Havria felt a pang of jealously in her heart.
Ukko, on the other hand, was speechless.
Is this man...a God?
'Oh no…I hope he doesn't punish me or anything along those lines...' The knight spoke in thought with fear for his life, especially for the generation yet to come...if there will ever be any.
The four of them went deeper into the mountain, leaving a trail of their footprints behind as the heavens shone gloriously, basking the land in its light, eradicating the cold by emitting warmth as the snow slowly melted, while the tree they left behind prospered once again returning to its glory form, filling the branches with new leaves and growing out flowers, then it produces nothing but a green light that embraces the tree before taking on a female form.
"Wake up Uzumaki Naruto."
Naruto came to a halt as he looked back to find nothing but snow being blown away by the wind. He undoubtedly heard the message...
Wake up...?
Waking up from what exactly?
He was definitely awake and living.
So why?
Why do those words stir something in his heart?
For the time being, he has nothing to answer the questions racing through his head, so he dismissed them and continues his walk alongside them, and then finally arriving at a small camp with few inhabitants.
He noticed, there were tents loaded with the sick.
What exactly is the source of their illness?
It wasn't simply the flu, but something else that seemed to have rendered them comatose.
"I've returned."
"Princess!"
Everyone was relieved at the sight of the princess as the two saw her tending her people, conversing with them, and telling them everything. However, when she dropped the bombshell about the King's decision, the current state of their region, and how Naruto saved them from the everlasting winter, their expressions changed from worried to surprised, before a small minority of them became enraged and barked at them with specific questions and statements.
What made you decide to come now?
What? Do you think we'll start worshiping you just because you saved our region?
The inquiries varied, but the most of them were on their status as Gods.
The barrage of inquiries caught Havria off guard, leaving her with no time to respond.
However, she was saddened, recalling the tragedy that befell her people as a result of incompetence, and right now seeing how they reacted brought back some memories she had buried for a while, after all, everything begins with confusion and doubts, and right now she was witnessing this happening in front of her.
Naruto however chuckled.
Ahh, Human emotions are quite incredible.
Even in their most dire state, they would feel resentful rather than relieved; their weakness had brought them to this situation.
Despite this, he has no enmity for them.
After all, he is human, just like them.
"Silence!" Jane exclaimed, her voice brimming with authority, while her people's voices fell silent in surprise. "Does it really matter? You can react in this manner to the Gods who have brought our land to this situation! But not to them! When the abyss swallowed us up, they were our light! They gave us hope, and now you all seek to provoke our saviour's wrath!? If this is your response, then I... Sal Vindagnyr's princess... am disappointed in all of you! The King and I tried everything we could to save Vindagnyr, and all you're doing now is complaining! Shouldn't that energy be spent on something other than rage and hatred?!"
Her statement caused everyone to think for themselves, realizing the princess was right; they have been nothing but burdens for the King and the Princess.
"Please pardon my interruption, my Lady."
Aside from Ukko, another knight alerted her of his presence, causing her to cast a glance at him.
"I agree with you, my Lady; shall we throw a party for our Saviour, The Hero of Vindagnyr?"
Hero, eh...
It's been a while since he heard someone acclaim him as a hero.
The Hero of Sal Vindagnyr; Uzumaki Naruto.
Huh, that does have a nice ring to it.
Naruto couldn't stop himself from laughing.
"It's fine, it's fine...Seeing this reaction has been sufficient for me." Naruto smiled as he looked at Havria. "If you want to thank someone, thank her; unlike me, she is a goddess after all."
Havria blinked once, then twice, her eyes widening in disbelief and surprise when she heard him said that.
"E-eh?"
"O Goddess of Salt, please bestow your blessing on them." Naruto replied, making her flush at the way he addressed her.
While this was going on, the Princess was stunned by his comment.
He wasn't a God?
That is simply not possible.
Even now, she could sense his divinity.
Nonetheless, she breathed out in acceptance.
There's no harm in following her; after all, they were the saviour of her nation.
For the first time since its establishment, the Sal Vindagnyr Kingdom now has a God to worship.
The Goddess of Salt, Havria...
"Thank you, your gracious." The Princess of Sal Vindagnyr stated this as she dropped down to her knees, hands clasped together, facing Havria. "We will devote ourselves to you, and we are grateful for your blessing for your mercy and kindness."
Her actions cause everyone in the camp to follow her as they all began to express their gratitude, while Havria herself was startled, a pang could be felt in her heart as she recalled this very scene from her first worshippers, and now the Goddess of Salt has a new follower, but unlike back then, she has someone who stands by her side and supports her.
Even if these people will one day...
No!
She will not let the past repeat itself.
"Rise, all of you, I Havira...shall now bless everyone with health, prosperity, and...Salt." She said with a smile as her body was wrapped in a magnificent golden light that covered the entire campsite, and then everyone rose from their positions.
Even those who were sick have been cured by her divine energy.
Naruto beside her whispered to her.
"Salt, huh?"
Havria blushed and lowered her sight to cover her flushed face.
"W-what's so amusing about it?"
Naruto shook his head, laughing; hiding the fact that he was pleased, and seeing how happy she was, was enough for him.
Naruto stood there watching as the Goddess was surrounded by her worshippers before being absorbed by the masses, leaving Naruto alone with the Princess and Ukko, who remained by her side.
"Now Princess," The former Hokage called out, drawing her attention as the Princess gazed at him attentively. "Tell me everything you know about the anchor that caused your region to wither."
The Princess stiffened and nodded her head as she then revealed everything she knew about the divine Nail that had struck down the Region and was sent by the Gods from Celestia.
Author Note: Chapter 3 is done. Was this update much earlier than you anticipated? Hehehe, well I decided to focus on this for now, whilst I'm still revising with the 8th chapter of Written Future. Now on to the reviews.
Uday Sra: Thank you! I will try my best to update this story as soon as possible!
Dream657: Hahaha sorry for the delay! I hope to hear more feedbacks from you :D
rick12: Yes, you're right, Naruto is indeed the strongest here.
Kurokawa Uzuna: Hehe thanks for the comment! It's fine if you have no questions at the moment, nonetheless if you have something in your mind and wished to ask just shoot away, I will try my best to answer them.
Odin Ror: I would be delighted if you could comment from your account instead from Guest, but hey we can't have everything we wanted handed to us in silver platter :D and to answer your question, I say that base Naruto is as powerful as the Gods, then from there his other forms like Sage Mode that can rival the archons with mid diff, and his Rikudo mode above the Archon, I'd say on par with the Heavenly Principles from the on his other forms is above the rest Deities in Teyvat. As for holding back, Naruto will do that depends on his opponents, we can't have him gone full power against any humans now can we? He won't be a mindless murder, he will mostly use his head, this happened due to everything that has happened with the war and all that's goes in Naruto even in Boruto. The power scaling might get changed later on, but I assure you that Naruto Uzumaki is the strongest in Teyvat.
IDR Raiden Shogun: Thank you for telling me that! I hope to hear more feedbacks from you :D
Spark681: You'll find out in the next chapter! XD
NragedEnforcer: Well don't think too much about Makoto, like I say I promise nothing but we will see where the story will goes and from then on I will decide what happened to Ei's twin, there's a reason why she must die after all, all to further progress Ei's understanding about Eternity and all, but still once again I promise nothing to the fate of Makoto, she might live or shares the same fate as her Canon self…and I'm glad you agreed with my point regarding Ganyu and the likes of Cloud Retainer.
redlox2: No problem! I'd love to supports other fanfiction authors too, and I hope more to come from your stories! Naruto and Havria will most likely be paired, and I'm thinking of making this a harem since I like other characters like Yelan, Ayaka etc etc…but who knows? For now, it will be Naruto x Havria, then it will progress to more, Eula has her own role in this, but that happened later on in the story.
Now with that sorted out, I'd like to mentioned that I'm slightly tweaking the fate of the people of Sal Vindagnyr, and the Frost Bearing Tree itself, and yes unlike in Game the region will not be shrouded in eternal snowstorm. As for the name of the Princess, I cannot just call her the princess every time, hence the reason why I came up with Jane. The name Jane has the meaning of God is Gracious, I came up with this is because how she was born under the Frost-Bearing tree. The arc around Sal Vindagnyr will continue for two more chapter I think…if not, the next one will be the last before we moved to Mondstadt. Regarding the pairing, Eula and Havria is the final, but there will be more room for others, tell me which girl you like to have them paired with Naruto and the reason why you decided to choose them. I hope there will be more interactions between I, the author and you, the readers. I really am glad and appreciated that you gave a review to this fic, I know it might not be as great as the others but I guess it has its own uniqueness to itself. Before I conclude the author note, make sure to drop by a favourite if you love reading this story and a follow to get notified whenever it got updated and a review to tell me what you think about the chapter! Well then until then, I bid you farewell.
Next Update: Written Future