But for some reason...it all led to him getting blown up multiple times!
Seriously! Did he make some sort of strange new exploding note or something!?
He looked around with a sour face, just to see how badly he messed up the forest...
The area around him was nothing but a charred wasteland by this point...explosive notes were no joke after all. Even Koneko-san didn't really face the full brunt of them, he just used them to clip her with the explosions, max.
These poor bunch of trees didn't stand a chance.
His ears twitched when he heard a slight ruffling, someone was coming.
Naruto looked back to see that a certain nun has found him, wonder what she wanted?
"Ah! I found you at last! Naruto-san!" Asia said brightly as she panted a little. Out of breath maybe?
The whiskered blond sent her a calm smile in return. "Yep, it's me. What do you need Asia-san?"
Now that he thought about it...he has never really talked to Asia-san personally before now hasn't he? At least not without it being about her healing abilities.
Maybe it was about time that he actually found out more about the nun?
Asia nodded and then proceeded to bow towards Naruto. "I thought that you might be hurt from all of your training...so I wanted to thank you for all you've done by healing you."
Naruto gave his fellow blond a weird look. "...For what exactly?"
"...For saving me. For saving Issei-san. For training him. For...many things really. I know that this isn't much but...this is the best I can do." Asia replied earnestly. Truly grateful of the whiskered boy's actions, despite not being aware of it at all until recently.
The shinobi just gave her a cheesy grin. "Heh. No need to thank me ya know? That's what a true badass would do after all. Besides...to take all of the credit would be kinda stupid."
It was true that his actions was what saved the young girl in front of him, but the perverted boy was the one who brought those actions into motion. If he hadn't told Naruto about what was going on...then he might have waited another day before attacking the fallen angel stronghold.
Too late to save an innocent girl from a cruel death.
Asia nodded, she knew about that. "I know, and I've thanked Issei-san so many times because of it...but i never thanked you until now. So...thank you."
Naruto felt slightly embarrassed at her earnest response, it was weird to be thanked so many times at once. He was almost not too sure what to do.
Man...Issei was seriously lucky to have this little saint by his side huh? He was lucky to have such a bond.
The shinobi's expression darkened a little...
"...Hey Asia-san." the shinobi muttered, gaining the nun's attention while doing so. "Did you know that Issei wants to protect you? With everything he has?"
Asia looked confused, she had a feeling that her savior was doing something like that...but why bring it up?
The whiskered blond noticed her confusion and pushed on. "It's just that...that kid will definitely face trouble in the future. Whether it's from a super powerful threat that we don't know about yet or something else...he will definitely need to have people who can back him when those times come."
The nun was staring up at her fellow blond in fascination, seemingly clinging on to his words as he continued.
"To be blunt, I won't always be here to help him get stronger. Eventually, I won't be able to help him like when we saved you...while I'm not as worried about Rias and her group...or any of the others since they are already at least somewhat trained...Issei isn't."
Naruto stopped to look up into the sky. He had to go back home one day...maybe not exactly soon...but he definitely had to go back. He would try to prep these people as much as he could before he left, but there was no guarantee that he wouldn't find another way to go back home in the meanwhile.
Someone like Issei reminded him of his past self...except much worse. He had much less to back up to if cornered, much less to aspire to, much less power, and much less creativity.
If someone decently strong came up and they were powerful enough to at the very least hold off Rias-san and her Peerage...then the kid was a sitting duck.
But he had one advantage that Naruto didn't have back then...
He had a true comrade to call his own.
Naruto didn't really form bonds with the rest of his age group until after his closest friend left the village.
Sakura-chan didn't really become a truly valuable teammate until after he returned to the village.
Kakashi-sensei was rarely there for the critical battles in his early shinobi career.
Issei had the Gremory group, but they were similar to his original team 7 by this point.
But...he definitely had Asia.
Asia would definitely come running if he was in trouble. While it may not be much since all she could do was heal for now...the fact that she would come at all was something major to the blond shinobi.
He knew how much someone's belief in another person could spur that person on...after all...his father believed in him. Ero-sennin believed in him.
He had to go back and complete their goals.
"Asia-san. I want you to protect him as much as he protects you." Naruto said finally.
.
.
.
🎉The novel is available in PDF with more than 400 chapters, visit us in our Ko-Fi store🎉
🎉ko-fi.com/gokublack444🎉