As Naruto sat down again, eighteen ANBU suddenly appeared around him—in perfect attack formation.
Naruto flinched.
His gaze darted frantically from one mask to the next.
"Uh…" he managed. "Do you want to beat me too, like the others?"
Ever since his short time with Artoria, he had been able to feel hatred in people much more clearly. And the people before him… all of them carried a deep, cold hatred within them.
"I didn't do anything…" he murmured softly. "Please leave me alone."
At once, he fled behind Artoria and clung to her. Only his head cautiously peeked out from between her legs.
To the ANBU, it looked as though Naruto was clinging to something invisible and seeking shelter behind something they themselves could not see.
This monster is even helping us pinpoint the exact location of that being, one of them thought. It could hardly be going better for us.
In the next instant, several kunai flew at once toward the spot where the invisible intruder had to be standing.
But none of them struck.
All the weapons dissolved into nothing several centimeters in front of the person, as though they had never existed at all.
A voice, old and calm, cut through the tension of the clearing.
"Put away your weapons, ANBU."
An old man in robes slowly stepped onto the clearing.
Behind him walked a man with white eyes—yet his expression, and even his steps, clearly showed that he would rather have been anywhere else in the world.
Hiruzen Sarutobi came to a stop.
"I am the Third Hokage of Konoha. Hiruzen Sarutobi."
His gaze remained fixed on the point before Naruto where he suspected the foreign presence to be.
"Who am I dealing with," he asked calmly, "who is laying hands on Konoha's weapon?"
In the center of the clearing, a figure slowly began to appear, as though dense mist were revealing a hidden form.
But when the figure finally became clear, there was only one word left to describe her:
A goddess.
Long golden hair flowed down her back, and her crystal-blue eyes rested directly on Hiruzen, as though they could effortlessly see through every lie, every secret, and every weakness.
Hiashi froze.
"Lord Hokage… Her chakra… it's gone," he said in disbelief.
She wore blue armor that clung closely to her body and emphasized her figure with regal severity. But two other things immediately drew everyone's attention:
The spear in her hand.
And the golden crown upon her head.
Her voice was calm. Clear. Unshakable.
"I am the Lion King, Artoria Pendragon," she said. "Protector and teacher of little Naruto Namikaze Uzumaki."
For a moment, the clearing fell completely silent.
Then her gaze swept over those assembled.
"If those who were meant to protect and teach him serve only their own interests, then someone else must take up that duty."
Slowly, she let the shaft of Rhongomyniad tap against the ground.
A dull sound spread across the clearing.
In the next instant, everyone present was struck by the shockwave and hurled backward as though they were no more than leaves carried away by a gust of wind.
Naruto's eyes began to shine.
"Big Sister is so strong!" he cried excitedly. "Will I become as strong as you someday too?"
But before the clearing could return to calm, more figures in white masks leapt from the shadows.
Root.
Without a word, they formed hand seals.
"Katon: Bakufū Ranbu!"
The flames shot toward Artoria and Naruto.
But before the attacks could reach them, they vanished.
Just like that.
Erased, as though they had never existed.
Artoria's expression remained calm.
With another light tap of Rhongomyniad's shaft against the ground, an invisible force spread once more.
And in the next moment, the ten attackers silently crumbled into dust.
Host, you have unfortunately failed your first mission.
For the next 30 days, you will receive 50% fewer points from your student.
Artoria's gaze turned icy.
Then the system's voice sounded again.
Second penalty:
Because you failed the mission by choice, you will be forcibly teleported for one hour at a random time within the next 30 days and made to participate in a public visual punishment routine while wearing the Bunny Girl skin.
For a moment, absolute silence reigned in Artoria's mind.
Then something twitched in her eye.
"What?" she said tonelessly. "System… I thought I would only get fewer points."
The answer came without the slightest trace of shame.
That would have been the case if you had been unable to fulfill the mission.
However, you willingly chose to let it fail.
Somewhere beyond all worlds, at that same moment, one of the highest gods sat upon his throne.
When the notification reached him, a slow smile spread across his face.
It was not warm.
It was not kind.
It was the smile of a being who looked at beauty and thought first of possession.
At the same time, back in the clearing, the Root agents appeared.
But Artoria barely heard them anymore.
"How dare this system humiliate me with something like that…" she said softly, and there was a fury in her voice almost worse than shouting. "I am a goddess. Not a toy."
Her grip around Rhongomyniad tightened.
"Why did I have to be created for something like this at all? All the pain I have carried in my life… all the deaths… all the blood…"
Her eyes darkened.
The air around her began to tremble.
"And in the end… this is what I am reduced to."
"If I ever reach that person's world…" she said with icy calm, "then I will make him wear the very same thing."
A tiny moment passed.
"So that he understands how humiliating something like this can be."
At that exact moment, the Root agents moved.
But Artoria's power was no longer under fine enough control.
A barely perceptible tremor radiated from her.
And before any of the attackers could take even one more step, their bodies silently crumbled to dust.