The full moon hung in the clear, star-filled sky. The Hidden Leaf had sunk into carefree silence, with most villagers and shinobi having returned home, leaving the streets nearly empty. Despite this pleasant atmosphere, unease refused to leave Naruto. His piercing blue eyes stared intently at the glowing white disc in the sky.
Something within him stirred... Disgust? Perhaps that wasn't quite the right word for the tangled emotions coiling in his chest. Moreover, his heart had been plagued by vague anxiety these past days. The last two weeks had been particularly sunny, yet Uzumaki couldn't shake the feeling that storm clouds were gathering over the village. It was impossible not to notice how the number of Uchiha clan members patrolling the streets had significantly decreased.
An ordinary civilian wouldn't pay such things any mind, but against the backdrop of suspicion and accusations directed at one of the Leaf's two founding clans, it awakened in the boy a premonition of disaster. However, the King possessed not just sharp intuition but a brilliant mind. He didn't need to speculate - he already knew with certainty that something momentous was brewing.
A giant abscess of hidden resentment, hatred, and malice was about to burst under internal pressure. Like any human society, Konoha wasn't free of flaws. Who better than Meruem to understand how vile and destructive human nature could be? After all, he and his kind had been poisoned by this venom of discord and individualism in his past life.
The Chimera Ant Queen had been doomed to tragedy the moment she decided to use humans for reproduction. This was why the Chimera Ants lost their greatest and indisputable advantage over any other species. They forfeited their unconditional unity, and the strict hierarchy of the anthill would never be as unshakable as before.
The Uchiha clan members were undoubtedly human too.
The human ego cannot endure oppression indefinitely. Prolonged ostracism could only be perceived by most as aggression. And aggression inevitably provokes retaliation. This vicious cycle of malice, driving people to despicable acts, cannot be broken without decisive measures - measures the Hidden Leaf's leadership had yet to take.
Frowning, Naruto finally tore his piercing gaze away from the moon after three long minutes. He walked along the street in dead silence. Konoha seemed frozen in amber-like stagnation, teetering on the brink of decay. Even infrastructure was problematic - not every streetlamp he passed functioned properly. Terrible roads collecting puddles after rain, dilapidated buildings everywhere except the village center and clan districts... And virtually no development.
Uzumaki moved forward unhurriedly, aimlessly. His feet carried him of their own accord. Suspicion and inner unrest guided his steps. In all seven years of his new life, he hadn't managed to truly bond with anyone. Having killed his own mother in his past life, as if punished for this sin, he'd been parentless from the very beginning here. This caused him no sorrow or suffering, but in this world, loneliness had become the King's new companion.
The Royal Guards had vanished like a mirage from the past. Komugi, his closest friend, was gone. He'd lost his subjects, even his very nature. Once he'd been a King without a name. Now he'd become a King without a kingdom. Could he still call himself King? Though his ego insisted nothing had changed...
One was born the Chimera Ant King - it wasn't a title one could claim by will. Meruem had died, leaving only Uzumaki Naruto - a pitiful orphan scorned for the tailed beast people saw in him. Humiliating a child was infinitely easier than facing an unstoppable force of nature... What was there for him to protect? Who would follow him into the future? What meaning did such existence hold?
His great intellect was both blessing and curse. Time and again, he tormented himself with unanswerable questions. Had he not lived these six years as a human without his past experience as Chimera Ant King, only certain death would await him.
Perhaps life itself was beautiful? Every breath, step, smile, and embrace... Living beings often only appreciate things after losing them. Having gained a fragment of wisdom, Meruem had greedily clung to his final moments with Komugi, though he knew it was futile.
These feelings were more powerful and dangerous than any enemy Meruem had ever faced. Nothing is more devastating and merciless than death. Impassable and inexorable, it always has, does, and will take everything within sight.
Uzumaki Naruto's expression didn't flicker for an instant, but his eyes brimmed with deadly sorrow. A sudden wave of silent grief flooded his soul. Tears had never streamed down this boy's cheeks, yet such sorrow was undoubtedly far more terrible than any outburst.
He stopped before the gates leading to the clan district. The Uchiha clan district. His deep blue gaze fell upon the symbol resembling a folding fan - the Uchiha clan crest.
Why had he come here? Did he intend to intervene in whatever was transpiring between the village and its founding clan? And how could a child, however exceptionally gifted, change anything without power or authority?
And without desire.
Naruto's attention was caught by something strange - a small figure sprawled on the ground inside the clan territory, beyond the main gates. Focusing on it, his eyes flew wide open the next instant, his heart constricting in shock.
It was a corpse. A little girl's decapitated corpse.
Only a fraction of a second was needed for him to process every detail. A child outside at night in home clothes was abnormal. Clearly, she had been running from someone... From whoever had killed her.
Without wasting another second, Naruto surged forward, accelerating to his limits with the Body Flicker Technique!