Chapter 2: The Cripple, the Ninja, and the New Beginning
The world around them pulsed with an energy that felt both ancient and volatile — like a storm trapped beneath a fragile glass dome, waiting for the slightest crack to shatter everything.
Eida, standing beside Naruto, lifted a slender finger, her eyes glowing faintly with the strange power that allowed her to see the past of this place like pages flickering in a forgotten book.
"We are on Blue Pole Star," she said, voice smooth as silk but with an edge of caution. "Specifically, in Floating Cloud City, part of the Blue Wind Empire on the Profound Sky Continent."
Naruto nodded, eyes sharp. "Sounds… peaceful."
Everyone else snorted.
Floating Cloud City was anything but peaceful.
Nestled in the farthest eastern edge of the empire — so remote and forgotten it was barely worthy of the title city — Floating Cloud City was a place where survival was a game of teeth and claws, and the stakes were always life or death. Morals? Compassion? Those were luxuries reserved for stories told to children by candlelight.
Here, the strong ruled mercilessly, and the weak vanished without a trace. A world where millions were as insignificant as ants beneath a boot — crushed, experimented on, betrayed, and discarded without a second thought.
No one blinked when a person disappeared. Except, perhaps, when the wrong person noticed.
Naruto's gaze settled on the narrow streets winding beneath towering spires of steel and mist, on the weathered faces of passersby hardened by hardship, and on the signs of a city that had given up hoping for kindness.
Xiao Che, the boy Naruto had just healed, belonged here — a scion of the Xiao Clan, the strongest family in the city, though not to be confused with the famed Xiao Sect that had inspired it.
The clan's founder, Xiao Bieli, had been an outcast once himself — abandoned by the Xiao Sect over a century and a half ago, but stubborn as a thundercloud, he built the clan from scratch, driven by a desire to reclaim honor and recognition.
Yet, despite such a legacy, Xiao Che was cursed with a cruel irony.
Born with a defect that robbed him of the ability to cultivate Profound Strength — the very lifeblood of this harsh world — he was a paradox: a son of power with none of his own.
He wasn't mistreated, thanks to the protective shadow of his grandfather and his little aunt, but even they couldn't shield him from the constant whispers, the sideways glances, the weight of expectation crumbling like brittle ice.
In a place where loyalty was as rare as sunlight, and betrayals as common as rainstorms, Xiao Che was a reminder of fragility amidst steel.
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Naruto stood atop a weather-beaten rooftop in Floating Cloud City, arms crossed and cloak fluttering in the wind, golden eyes half-lidded as if the entire universe had presented itself to him in a scroll — and he'd already read the last page.
His expression was thoughtful. Not brooding, mind you. Just that special kind of thoughtful you get when you're trying to decide whether a new planet should be greeted with diplomacy... or a Rasengan to the face.
Sage Mode — the perfected one, of course — had never left him since the day he'd figured out how to keep it running in the background like a shinobi's version of auto-pilot. His senses expanded over mountains, rivers, cities, and all the people who lived in between. It was a bit like stretching your legs in the morning, if your legs happened to run halfway around the planet and could hear people whispering rude things about your haircut from five thousand miles away.
He blinked.
"Someone just compared me to a turnip," he muttered.
From behind him, a small rock made a tok sound as it was kicked. Eida, perched lazily atop a crumbling chimney stack, gave a dramatic sigh.
"You do look a bit earthy with that cloak. Like a root vegetable… but powerful. A war turnip, if you will."
Naruto smirked. "I'll take that as a compliment."
His senses pulsed outward again, and this time, they hit a wall. A peculiar, ancient, thinking wall — as if the planet had decided it would very much like him to get off its lawn.
"Definitely conscious," he murmured, eyes narrowing. "Not fond of visitors either. Kaguya wasn't lying."
The very energy of the world — heavier, denser, tinged with something primal and wild — pushed against him like a stubborn mule. The gravity alone was nearly ten times that of Earth. He hadn't walked anywhere since arriving; he'd slogged. And every breath he took was a tug-of-war between his chakra and whatever primordial soup this world considered air.
"It's resisting me," he said to no one in particular, though the ground beneath him gave a faint, passive-aggressive rumble in reply.
But even resistance was just a challenge in a prettier hat.
Naruto's grin widened. "You don't like me? That's cute."
He looked out over the edge of the building, at the city below — if one could be charitable enough to call it that. Floating Cloud City looked more like a collection of forgotten rooftops someone had hastily stapled to a cliffside and then regretted halfway through. The buildings leaned, the roads twisted, and the air smelled faintly of old fish and even older dreams.
Still, there was something charming about it. In the way a three-legged dog is charming — pitiable, but determined.
He let his senses sweep over the continent once more. He had already located the strongest presence on the planet — a flame tucked away in a deep mountain temple, coiled and ancient — but decided against a direct visit.
No, this wasn't a time for battles. Not yet. He had come for bigger reasons: enemies to root out, allies to gather, and — eventually — a war to win.
This planet wasn't dangerous yet. Its strongest warriors were barely flickers in his perception. Power existed, but it slept, or hid, or tried very hard to look important by shouting and waving swords at weaker people.
Naruto had met planets like this before. Low-tier worlds in the cosmic scheme. Planets that pretended they were important. Planets that the Ōtsutsuki could eat for breakfast.
He'd seen how the clan operated. Cruel and monstrous, yes — but never foolish. Even monsters knew when to hold back. After one particularly catastrophic war (Naruto had read the reports with mild nausea), the King had learned never to let pride drive the clan into another galaxy-wide tantrum.
That lesson, unfortunately, had not translated to humility. Just better PR.
Still, Naruto knew enough not to underestimate anything. He had felt more subtle forces shifting, ancient things watching. This world might look like a backwater speck, but even specks could hide daggers. Or dragons.
He turned away from the edge, letting his feet leave the rooftop, floating down toward the dusty road like a leaf caught in an updraft.
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If anyone had asked Delta five years ago whether she'd be traipsing across alien worlds with the man who repeatedly squashed her in battle like a bug in summer, she would have laughed in their face—or possibly incinerated it. But fate, as it so often did in tales worth telling, had a habit of turning mortal enemies into... well, she wouldn't say soulmates, but certainly teammates with benefits.
Delta stood with her hands on her hips, blonde hair catching the sunlight in dramatic waves, as if it knew it had a reputation to uphold. She watched Naruto with a calculating stare, the kind that made most men nervous—but Naruto Uzumaki was not most men. In fact, he was very much the opposite: hero of his world, sage of the stars, breaker of enemies, and, more inconveniently, the man she now found herself absolutely, irreversibly in love with.
"Should we check for information on this planet or do we continue forward?" she asked, brushing her hair away as casually as one might flick a fly off their shoulder. A perfectly choreographed motion, if you asked her.
Naruto didn't turn right away. He was in Sage Mode, which meant his senses were spread like butter over the planetary toast, reaching corners of the world others hadn't even imagined. Planets like these, the low-tier types with uneven skies and oversized insects, weren't much of a threat. But he wasn't just here for war—he was here to understand. That sounded dangerously like character development, and Delta wasn't sure she approved.
"We'll explore this region first," Naruto finally said, glancing back at her with that maddeningly calm expression. "We need some experience before we go higher. Helps the team blend better. And maybe this world has something useful. We'll have Eida look into the past later."
Delta pouted slightly. "You always sound like a strategist when you're in Sage Mode."
"That's because I am a strategist," he replied with a grin that made her circuits flutter in a way that no AI maintenance manual had ever prepared her for.
Delta sighed and followed as he walked toward Xiao Che, who was beginning to stir on the grass like a character halfway through a particularly long nap scene.
Meanwhile, Delta's mind wandered—not an uncommon occurrence for someone who'd once had over a hundred artificial bodies and an equal number of dramatic defeats. Each loss had carved a lesson into her code until Naruto, the so-called "man who broke her," had become the only constant in her scattered life.
She remembered how it had begun: him standing tall, golden hair dancing with wind and chakra, while her best efforts fizzled like damp fireworks. And then, the moment she expected death, he offered her a life instead. A new body. A normal one. He said she could rest.
Naturally, she refused. Normal was boring.
And so, somewhere between sparring sessions and interstellar espionage, between stolen glances and missions filled with cosmic peril, she had fallen for him. Not in the poetic, sunset-on-the-horizon kind of way, but more like tripping over your own pride and landing face-first into affection.
Her story was far from a fairy tale. She was a girl made of wires and vengeance who discovered that emotions couldn't be debugged—and Naruto Uzumaki was the error she didn't want to fix.
"Oi, Delta," Naruto called over his shoulder, a teasing tone in his voice, "you daydreaming about me again?"
She blinked, flushed, and quickly marched forward, mumbling something about dented pride and malfunctioning feelings. But behind the scowl, there was the faintest smile curling at her lips.
The group moved forward together, a curious mix of ancient warriors, cosmic outcasts, and one very determined android who now believed in second chances.
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Xiao Che had never woken up so... dramatically.
He jolted upright, gasping as though he'd just escaped from drowning in a river of needles. The ceiling of his modest room greeted him with its usual cracks and cobwebs, utterly unaware of the extraordinary scene unfolding beneath it. Sweat clung to his brow, his breath came in rapid bursts, and for a brief moment, he thought he'd risen from the dead—because, well... he had.
The last thing he remembered was the feeling of fire in his veins. Not the poetic kind—no, this was poison. Real, cruel, deliberate poison, engineered to shred his heart from the inside out. The betrayal stung more than the venom. His own cousin, a boy he'd treated like a brother, had slipped the toxin into his drink, all because Xiao Che was set to marry the most beautiful woman in Floating Cloud City. And that, apparently, was too much for a cripple to hope for.
But now—now—he was not dead.
'How...?' his muddled thoughts fumbled about, still slow from the trauma. His hands, once cold and clammy, felt steady. Strong. Whole.
And then a voice answered, as casually as if someone had offered him a cup of tea.
"That would be me."
Startled, Xiao Che twisted toward the sound, and there they were—the most unusual group of people he had ever seen.
The man who had spoken stood tall and calm, a glowing presence that warmed the room without a flame. He had golden hair like sunlit wheat, and his blue eyes—swirling with strange patterns—were kind, and yet ancient, like they'd seen too many wars and still believed in peace. He wore clothes that screamed foreign hero to Xiao Che: a bright orange jacket, black trousers, and boots that looked like they'd kicked down empires.
Beside him stood a woman who... well, Xiao Che had never seen a woman quite like her. She was a vision carved by some cheeky immortaldess—curves in all the right places, confidence in every movement, and eyes that twinkled with mischief. Her green outfit matched her energy: bold and unapologetic.
There was another woman too, standing quietly but looking like she'd stepped out of a painting of the stars. Long blue hair curled in loops, turquoise eyes lined with two dainty beauty marks, and an outfit so intricate it made royalty look underdressed. She radiated calm. Mystery.
And then—thump!—a boy in dark clothes leapt onto the bed, giggling like a fox who'd stolen a whole henhouse.
"I'm Daemon," the child grinned. "You were drooling in your sleep."
"Daemon," the blue-haired woman said with a long-suffering sigh, "get off the bed."
Xiao Che blinked. Once. Twice. These were not people from Floating Cloud City. Not even from the Blue Wind Empire. They were strangers—powerful, otherworldly strangers—and he, the weakest of weaklings, was suddenly in their company.
"S-Senior..." he managed, bowing awkwardly as etiquette demanded. "I am Xiao Che. I owe you my life. I don't know how to repay—"
"No need for all that," Naruto cut in with a warm smile that crinkled the corners of his eyes. "You're a good kid. It was a simple thing. I believe that if you do good, good finds you."
Xiao Che blinked again. That kind of talk didn't belong in his world. In Floating Cloud City, kindness was just a disguise people wore before sticking a knife in your back. And yet... something in this man's voice made him want to believe.
"I've healed your body," Naruto continued, placing a hand on his shoulder like a kindly elder. "You can cultivate now. Try it."
The words hit Xiao Che like a hammer to the chest.
He didn't waste a second. He closed his eyes, reached inward—and there it was! The flow, the warmth, the pulse of power that he had only heard about in stories. His crippled meridians, broken since birth, were alive. Alive!
He leapt to his feet, trembling not from fear, but exhilaration. "I—Senior, I... please, anything you ask of me, I will do it. This is more than my life—this is everything!"
Naruto laughed softly and ruffled his hair like a big brother. "Just be my guide in the city, that's all I ask. Show me around. Keep me out of trouble."
Xiao Che swallowed his eagerness and nodded solemnly. "Yes, Senior. It would be my greatest honour."
Privately, Naruto already knew everything about the boy—thanks to Eida's curious ability to peek into the past like it was a storybook. He didn't need a guide, nor did he expect much from Xiao Che. But he'd given him a new chance—and sometimes, that was the start of everything.
As they exited the humble home, Delta winked at the boy. "Try not to faint next time you wake up next to legends."
Daemon snorted. "He's gonna faint every time, I bet."
Eida sighed again, ever the quiet moon to her brother's fire.
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The knock came first—sharp, polite, and completely at odds with the flurry of panic rising in Xiao Che's chest.
"Xiao Che!" a muffled voice called through the heavy wooden door. "Come out! The bride's waiting! We're going to be late!"
The room, which had moments ago been filled with awkward silence and ceremonial tension, now felt much smaller. Like the walls had taken a breath and decided not to exhale.
Xiao Che turned pale. Deathly pale. So pale even the curtains seemed to wilt in sympathy.
"That would be the marriage mob," Naruto muttered from the windowsill where he sat cross-legged, biting into an apple that hadn't existed two minutes ago. "They've brought torches and… oh wait, that's just lanterns. Shame. Torches would have been more fun."
Xiao Che blinked, torn between despair and sheer disbelief. "It's happening. I'm getting married."
"Unless you say otherwise," Naruto said with a shrug, as though canceling a wedding was as simple as misplacing your socks.
And then came the voice—low, amused, and thoroughly uninterested in decorum.
"Oh, let him suffer," said Delta, lounging on the couch with her legs propped on a low table. She was polishing her nails with a kunai, which, even by ninja standards, was wildly excessive. "Marrying someone who doesn't love you? That's a rite of passage for mortals, isn't it?"
Eida, sitting beside her, was studying her reflection in a floating shard of enchanted glass, though she was clearly listening. Her mismatched eyes sparkled, one gold and one lavender. "It is a little sad, though," she said. "Like a story that ends before it even begins. A prince who falls in love with a painting."
"A painting that wants to be a sword," added Daemon, who had somehow found his way to the chandelier and was now hanging upside down like a bat, giggling at his own observation.
Xiao Che, already overwhelmed, found the surreal absurdity almost comforting.
"I…" he hesitated, glancing between Naruto and the others. "I know she doesn't love me. She never looked at me like I mattered. Just a… just a boy playing pretend in a man's shoes."
Naruto's expression softened. "Then say the word, Xiao Che. I'll undo it all. No shame. No scandal. Just a different morning."
"But the families—"
"I'll erase the memories," Naruto said, standing up. "You won't owe anyone an explanation. As far as the city's concerned, it never happened. Eida?"
"Mm?" Eida hummed, flicking her fingers and causing the glass shard to spin slowly in the air.
"Cover for me if anyone asks why the moon feels funny today."
She grinned. "Of course, Lord Naruto."
"Then," Xiao Che said, voice trembling but resolute, "I'll do it. I'll win her heart first… properly. And if I can't, then at least I'll know I tried."
Delta rolled her eyes so hard it looked physically painful. "Ugh. Romance."
Daemon clapped his hands and spun off the chandelier like a shooting star. "Ooooh, make her a sword of roses! Or ride in on a flaming eagle! Wait—no—fight a hundred men for her hand!"
"Don't give him ideas," Delta snapped. "He'll die before the first swing."
Naruto chuckled and made a lazy gesture with his hand. The entire city shimmered—like the surface of a pond kissed by wind—and then it settled. In that moment, decorations vanished, announcements reversed themselves, and thoughts were quietly, surgically extracted from the minds of everyone who had cared.
Within the room, a gust of wind swept through and left Xiao Che blinking at his perfectly ordinary clothes. The ceremonial robes were gone.
"…Done," Naruto said, brushing invisible dust off his sleeves. "Get changed. We're going out for dumplings."
Xiao Che stared at him, mouth agape. "That's it? That fast?"
"Please," Delta scoffed. "This is the man who un-erased a volcano just to punch someone with it."
Eida laughed lightly. "You looked quite majestic, you know. All gloomy and noble. You're lucky he likes you."
Naruto walked to the door and threw it open. "Come on, lover boy. Fate doesn't wait for cowards."
Behind him, Daemon tried to leap onto his shoulders but got casually swatted mid-air, crashing into Delta, who then—very deliberately—kicked over the coffee table in retaliation.