New Zealand, Westport
The late afternoon sun, a gentle caress of gold, stretched long shadows across the quiet streets of Westport, New Zealand. In front of a quaint, brightly painted local ice cream shop, a boy sat on the curb, utterly absorbed in his treat. He held the cone with both hands, his eyes wide with a pure, unadulterated joy that spread across his face with every lick. Just watching him, it was clear he was savoring every single moment.
But it seemed he wasn't the only one enjoying the calm evening. Around him, a small cluster of young girls had gathered. They stood at a respectful distance, most pretending to be interested in anything but him, their gazes flitting away whenever he might glance up. Yet, Elric could still feel it—the sporadic, curious stares, the lingering attention that brushed against him like a phantom touch.
A whispered exchange drifted over: "Hey, Elie, go talk to him!" "Shush! Look at his tattoos, all over his face. He doesn't seem like a good guy." "Okay, don't ask for his number after I get it." "Yeah, yeah, get it first."
Gathering a surge of courage, one girl, braver than the rest, stepped forward. Her voice, when she finally spoke, was a nervous whisper, barely audible above the gentle evening breeze. "Excuse me," she began, "can I get your number?"
Elric didn't even lift his head, his focus unwavering on his ice cream. His voice, calm and even, cut through the air. "Don't have one."
The girl, surprisingly, didn't seem discouraged. Her resolve, perhaps fueled by her friends' expectant glances, held firm. "Then what about your email?" she pressed, her voice a little stronger this time.
Elric, still without looking up, replied in the same perfectly monotone voice. "I don't use any electronic devices. Currently, I live in a deep forest with my pet tiger."
Naturally, the girl didn't believe a word of it. She took his bizarre explanation for what it clearly was: a gentle, yet firm, rejection. With a sigh that spoke volumes of her dejection, she turned and walked away, her friends' muffled giggles following her.
Even though he was, at his core, just a normal guy with regular human DNA – if someone made a clone of him, it would simply be another human child – that didn't mean the immense power now coursing through him hadn't profoundly affected his body. His transformation had been akin to someone becoming an Otsutsuki from another world; his genetic code had been perfected to an impossible degree, his physical form transforming accordingly. So, to the eyes of normal people, he wasn't just beautiful; he exuded an unusual, almost ethereal charm that radiated from him like an aura. He had tried to mask it, to somehow dampen this magnetic pull, but it seemed utterly beyond his control. It was like a fundamental part of his very being, not an ability he could simply turn off.
So, in the end, he had helplessly realized that wherever he went, he attracted far too much attention. And it wasn't just females; males, and even other creatures he came across – dogs, cats, it didn't matter – all seemed drawn to him. He'd simply given up trying to hide it, and most of the time, he just ignored them, a silent acceptance of his strange, captivating nature.
Adding to the inexplicable allure were the unusual tattoos that covered his arms and even parts of his face. These intricate Karma markings, as they were known, were technically useless to him, merely an aesthetic flourish he could remove anytime he wished. But it was different for Naruto Elric, whose Karma seemed to be branded onto his body, impossible to remove. Because of this, everyone had collectively decided to keep their marks, a strange symbol of their shared, otherworldly power.
Elric glanced at his wrist, where a sleek, modern watch displayed the time: 8 PM. "It's already late. I should go back," he murmured, finishing the last bite of his ice cream. He rose from the curb, leaving a crisp 100-dollar bill on the ground beside the empty cone – a generous tip that would surely make the shop owner's night.
It had already been a month since he'd returned from that strange, interdimensional space. After coming back, he had been genuinely excited for his grand plan to kick off. Yet, despite his initial enthusiasm, he had, until now, absolutely zero to show for it. His plan urgently required a strong AI, and building the necessary infrastructure was proving incredibly time-consuming. Only yesterday had he finally finished constructing the basic framework. But the main reason for his lack of progress was a surprising wave of laziness. After spending sixteen grueling years in Sokovia, subsisting on white bread for meals, he couldn't help but want to bask in the glow of his newfound powers, to enjoy the simple pleasures of this relatively normal world. However, it wasn't as if he had just wasted time.
His initial experiments with chakra compatibility had been incredibly successful, almost shockingly so. It seemed this world, with its myriad energies, simply didn't care what kind of power you threw at it. Not only had nothing adverse happened to Leo, his pet tiger, after implanting the chakra, but the cub had even adapted to it with incredible ease, almost as if he had been born with it. It appeared that in the Marvel universe, there were simply too many kinds of energy already present; adding another one didn't seem to make much of a difference. And the creatures here seemed remarkably adapted to various energy forms – perhaps not all of them, but it was still an astonishing discovery.
While walking back through the city streets, he passed by a brightly lit pizza joint. The warm, cheesy aroma wafted toward him, wrapping around his senses like an invisible lure. He paused, hand unconsciously drifting toward his pocket as he considered grabbing a quick slice.
Maybe just one...
But before he could decide, a sudden, piercing alarm rang in his from his simple watch.
He froze.
That sound—he recognized it instantly. It was a proximity alert, one he had personally set up not long ago. Not for any hidden base protocols—nothing like that. It was simply because of Leo.
That guy… ever since the incident, he'd developed a deep-rooted grudge against humans. The moment a person came within range of their house, Leo would go into full attack mode. No questions asked. No hesitation. Just pure instinct.
Damn it, Leo, he thought with a sigh.
Without wasting another second, he ducked into the nearest alley. A faint shimmer of light enveloped him, and in the blink of an eye—he vanished.
Home was calling. Or rather, trouble was.