"Ahhh, this feels awesome!"
After eating the Devil Fruit, Naruto's hunger completely disappeared.
Now, he just had to wait for the sign-in to finish, and he could return to the Naruto World.
Originally, Naruto thought so...
However, after eating the Devil Fruit, instead of feeling a warm, soothing flow through his body, Naruto was instead overwhelmed by a tingling, electric current.
Wherever the lightning passed, every inch of his skin, every cell in his body, was replaced by lightning and reformed.
At first, he thought he could endure it, but when it reached his internal organs, Naruto could no longer stand it.
Even the slightest hint of electricity made the vulnerable areas of his body feel incredibly uncomfortable. Especially when it passed through his heart, the pain was so intense that it felt like his heart was being pierced, almost leaving him unable to breathe properly.
"What the hell! What's going on?!"
Naruto cursed loudly, panicking. He didn't want to die from pain like this.
[Friendly Reminder: This is the process of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit merging with the host's body, turning the host's body into lightning.]
"Don't mess with me! I just became electrified not long ago, and it didn't hurt at all! It felt great! This is nothing like that! Aaaahhh!!!"
Naruto rolled around on the ground in agony, feeling like his insides were being torn apart.
[The modified Rumble-Rumble Fruit and the original fruit don't cause pain, but when accumulated together, they've exceeded the limits of a normal human body. After the lightning transformation, the host's body will be fully electrified, forming the foundation of the Thunder God's body, ultimately granting the host the body of the Thunder God.]
"Becoming a god? Damn it, I'll just have to endure it!"
Naruto gritted his teeth and stopped asking further questions.
'Time to tough it out… this was my chance to level up!'
'Wait, what if I hadn't eaten the Rumble-Rumble Fruit? What if, after the sign-in ended, the fruit disappeared, and I could never obtain the Thunder God's body?'
'The system hadn't even warned me about that. If I hadn't acted, I could have missed out on this opportunity.'
Zzzzzt!
The lightning continued to rework his body, and when it passed through his stomach, every part of his intestines felt like they were being twisted, nearly making him lose control of his bowels.
When it hit his kidneys, Naruto collapsed to the floor in pain.
By the time the lightning reached his lower body, Naruto was lying on the ground, curled up like a shrimp, screaming in agony.
But the most excruciating part came when the lightning reached his soles. The feet are a convergence point for various pressure points in the body.
As the electricity hit, every point connected to those areas discharged a shock, sending Naruto into a fit, his body convulsing as if he were having a seizure, and foam began to form at his mouth.
As the lightning continued its transformation of his body, it finally reached his brain.
Why was the pain in his soles so much worse than in his brain?
The answer was simple: the moment the lightning reached his brain, Naruto had completely lost consciousness.
[It is detected that the host has stayed in One Piece's Sky Island for one hour. Sign-in successful. Reward: Divinity!]
[Divinity: By collecting followers and gathering the power of belief, once the divinity fully awakens, the host will obtain a divine status.]
[Divine Status: By merging the divine status with the divine body, the host can become a true god!]
"F*ck! This reward is insane!"
Naruto was ecstatic. At this moment, he had obtained all the qualifications to become a god. All he needed to do was gather followers, and he could reach the peak, becoming the Thunder God.
At first, Naruto's goal of becoming a Thunder God was simply to do what Enel did: to self-proclaim himself as a god.
Now, with all the rewards stacking up, he was close to achieving true godhood.
Especially with the divinity and divine status… this was like what Jashin needed: followers. As long as he gathered enough followers in a world, he could manifest his Thunder God's avatar within that world.
Without a doubt, he was now truly qualified to take on Jashin.
Not only that, but the existence of a god in a world was pivotal. Gods were among the rulers of world rules, and lightning was naturally tied to nature itself. Combined with his protagonist's halo, Naruto was certain that the unknown system owner would eventually be defeated.
"But... where am I now?"
It wasn't until a while later that Naruto finally snapped out of his excitement.
When he heard the system's prompt, he regained consciousness, but he couldn't move at all. Everything around him was pitch black.
'What is going on?'
[The host's physical brain has been completely replaced by lightning during the transformation, resulting in total destruction. This can be considered brain death. The host will need to use a resurrection coin to revive.]
"What? Dead? So after I revive, will my body have to go through the lightning transformation again? Isn't that an endless cycle of suffering and death?"
Naruto voiced his concern.
[Host need not worry. The body data has been saved. However, it is not recommended for the host to revive now.]
"Why?"
Naruto asked, somewhat confused.
[After completing the sign-in on Enel's residence, the Rumble-Rumble Fruit has been upgraded to the fifth level. Your body will receive further upgrades. If the host revives now, it will immediately result in death. It is advised to wait until all upgrades are complete before reviving the physical body.]
"Alright, I'll follow your advice."
Naruto didn't expect the system to offer a solid recommendation this time, 'It seemed that my previous complaints about it might have been heard.'
But as long as it helped, he wasn't worried about the system holding a grudge. After all, they were in this together, through thick and thin.
In the endless darkness of his current state, Naruto felt nothing. The system was silent, and the silence felt suffocating.
Thankfully, the system soon chimed in again, breaking the silence before Naruto could lose his mind. If he had waited much longer, he might have developed a claustrophobia. The unending darkness was truly torturous.
[Friendly Reminder: The host's body has completed all upgrades. Would you like to use the resurrection coin?]
"Use it!"
The moment Naruto spoke, his consciousness began to return. His body shimmered with complex, glowing symbols, and a sense of weightlessness overcame him, like he was drifting through the air.
"Huh?"
Naruto snapped his eyes open, and he had successfully returned to his physical body. Clearly, the resurrection was a success.
"Hiss!"
Naruto instinctively inhaled sharply as he returned to his body.
'Is this my body?'
His current skin was even whiter than a woman's, and his entire being felt ethereal.
It wasn't that he couldn't find the words, it was just that he felt those were the only words that seemed to fit.
His body felt as though it existed and yet didn't, standing between reality and illusion.
When Naruto glanced toward the temple's doorway, he had the sudden urge to move, but before he could even make a move, his body was already standing outside the temple.
"F*ck!"
He couldn't help but curse. His lack of education had led him to rely on simple expletives.
[Congratulations to the host for obtaining the Thunder God's body. Would you like to merge with the divinity?]
Naruto marveled at the instantaneous speed. His body's movements were faster than he could consciously react to, 'This was the true speed of lightning. The Thunder God's Body was so domineering.'
"Merge!"
His body was that of a god, but his soul was still that of a human. Thankfully, after receiving Shinigami-level Reiatsu, his spiritual power increased immensely.
Otherwise, his soul would have already dissipated and perished once again. And even with such powerful Reiatsu, he could feel it rapidly depleting.
How could he describe this?
To use a car analogy: Naruto's body was like a car with a full tank of fuel, but his soul was the fuel itself. If the fuel quality was poor, it would be consumed too quickly, eventually causing the car to fail to start.
By integrating divinity into his soul, turning it into a divine soul, it would be akin to a qualitative change.
As Naruto responded to the call, his body glowed with countless complex blue symbols, each one pouring into him, coursing through his body, and directly striking his soul...