Chapter 38
One month passed and none could deny that it was anything but eventful. Naruto finally came out of his seclusion and went to one of his bases to take a bath. He had been sitting in one place for too long, it was the longest meditation he had ever done.
His body hadn't needed to eat or move because nature energy filled him up, and even his chakra could replace his need for food for a very long time.
The month of meditation had been very fruitful and Naruto had leveled up. He had learned to fully control his power once again and he had reached the molecular stage, granting him a great power. Mastering the cellular stage with Kurama had granted him Large Planet level but with the molecular stage, Naruto had reached Star level of power. His chakra had become extremely dense and was increasing in quality every second along with his very being, it was increasing the power of his base and that increased his final power level even further.
He was now ready to actually compete with the threats on Earth without having to worry about getting one shotted. However, there was still the problem of being knocked out of his Bijuu Sage Mode (Kurama and Naruto's combination) and losing control of the molecular stage. Being knocked out of either of them for a second could be extremely dangerous because Naruto would drop to large city level of power.
To counter that problem, Naruto had managed to program his fuinjutsu seals to make the process automatic. Now he could put his mind to ease about losing control and becoming fodder during battle. However, even the fuinjutsu seal matrix wasn't invincible. The seals were engraved on his cells while the core was engraved on the bones, but these seals could also fail through outside interference.
So, there was always a risk of getting depowered especially if someone who could null his chakra appeared. Nonetheless, Naruto didn't worry much as life was always filled with risks and even a normal human lived a risky life where he could die from a falling brick or an unexpected car.
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Appearing in his room in the base, Naruto removed his clothes and entered the hot spring that he prepared. Entering the hot water brought him great comfort and Kurama joined him in the bath as a chibi version.
It had been a long time since Kurama appeared in the real world so he very much appreciated the hot bath and dived into the water.
"When do we fight? I really can't wait to see the look on their faces." Kurama was excited after they came out of training. They had been sparring against each other and clones of all the creatures that Naruto knew about. In the soul Land they had spent 30 days and at their speeds of multiple times light, that was a very long time.
It was especially wonderful after Gaea had helped them by giving the duo data on the different creatures around the Universe, so they had no need to worry about being ignorant of some species.
Naruto smiled at those words as he also felt a similar excitement. He was a warrior and with all that power at his disposal, it was hard not to want to test it out. However, he could never allow a risky move and needed to move with a plan in mind.
"Soon, we will fight. I have already picked out the targets and we are going to hit them hard before anyone can interfere." Naruto replied as he put his hand through his golden hair and couldn't help but laugh at the naiveté of the heroes.
"Who is our prey?" Kurama enquired with an animalistic grin. The evil beast loved to bully the weak creatures and he knew they were about to bully some weaklings. He could just imagine their expressions of fear and despair, as they begged for mercy.
"The Global Guardians will be our first target. After that, we will go for Asia and Africa before finally settling for Europe and America." Naruto replied as he used the light manipulation to show the shapes of people they would end up fighting against.
His people had been gathering data about the groups in each continent and he had collected it to form his plans. He had evaluated the different groups and ranked them accordingly.
Penguin and Black Mask were given the task, and they had done wonderfully. The duo was fully charged with energy and doing work without stop as they saw opportunity in Naruto. They saw his work and understood that there was a very low chance of failure, and the rewards were enormous.
Both of them had the chance to become key figures of the Human Empire of the new era and they embraced it completely. Penguin gathered data from Europe and America while Black Mask travelled afar and gathered data from Africa, Asia and Australia.
That wasn't all, as Black Mask was involved in the manipulation of the Australia based hero team and he had managed to gather all of them in a single location for Naruto. The Global Guardians were an international team of heroes created during the Cold War. Many of its members were also active on their own but their main operations were near to Australia sine Stormwatch and Justice League took care of the Europe and America side of things.
Each Continent had main group of heroes that protected and all of their approach differed. But, the results were very much similar. The people didn't live in a safe and ideal environment because the heroes lacked future insight and knowledge about politics. Crime wasn't always so apparent and it was where these heroes failed spectacularly.
Getting back to the conversation, Kurama whistled at the list and the various abilities of the targets.
"I assume there will be a gap between each fight."
"After taking out the Global Guardians we will see their reaction and continue our assault accordingly. From my information, these groups don't all get along and each of them has their territory. The heroes are stickler for rules so they will wait for permission most likely."
Kurama nodded cutely, "I see, and what are you going to do with the Global Guardians? They are heroes, so I didn't think you want to enslave them."
"I don't want to enslave them… I will give them a choice. They will surrender and follow my rules, or they will retire from hero business. I don't need them getting in my way and put their lives on the line for nothing." Naruto replied as he got up and the water dried up on his body while clothes appeared to cover him up.
"I hope they never force your hand." Kurama muttered seriously as life could be unexpected and some hero could end up dead.
"There are always casualties in war and everyone participates while knowing that risk. I am above all of them, so I will never put my life below them. If there is a choice my life and theirs, they will die." Naruto assured him that there was never a risk of getting hurt emotionally and mentally because of such choices.
Kurama looked at his imposing figure and smiled happily at those words as he didn't wish to see Naruto breakdown after making those terrible decisions. With that, he didn't have anything to add and he flew into the soul land.
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Once Naruto was finished bathing, Naruto visited his science team. The team was led by Mr. Freeze and the team members were Poison Ivy, Man-Bat and Firefly as these members were knowledgeable and creative.
Penguin had provided the necessary equipment for the research labs. Naruto had given them one task, genetic modification of his DNA.
Naruto had given them his blood without informing them and asked them to make it the base while providing them with other useful DNA.
He had gotten Martian DNA (Martian Manhunter), Kryptonian DNA (Supergirl), Tamarian DNA (Starfire), Demonic DNA (Raven), White Martian DNA (Meghan), Speedster DNA (Flash), Amazonian DNA (Diana), Moon Maiden's DNA, Poison Ivy's DNA, Volcana's DNA, Livewire's DNA, Killer Frost DNA, Shazam's DNA and multitude other DNA from useful sources.
The team's task was to merge them all perfectly so that it was replicable and long lasting. He didn't want to die after changing his genetic structure. The modification should allow him to become an Ultimate being in the Universe and it was a long term plan. He just wanted the current team to show him some visible progress and later he would add other scientist into the group to accelerate the progress.
"Good morning team, how goes the project?" Naruto asked as he entered the research lab that was looking proper and high tech like the doctors asked. He was certainly happy with their improvement in terms of personality and morals, so he was also hoping to see some good work done with that progress.
Seeing their boss approach, the team turned away from the glass container in the center that was filled with their experiment. None of them were jumpy around him anymore or Firefly would piss himself when Naruto appeared suddenly.
"The project is going great, love." Pamela replied with a happy smile as she had gotten greatly attached to him over the month like the rest of the girls. It was the first time she spent so long with someone similar and someone who had granted her desires. She had seen the changes around the world and was very much enchanted.
The dates had also done a wonder and she felt like monopolizing him, but the man was too dominating and wouldn't budge. She didn't want to leave him or get thrown out, so she avoided making pointless threats.
She even showed her usefulness by inviting Livewire and Killer Frost in to the group. She had wanted to bring in Harley as well, but Naruto had stopped her and informed her that there was something wrong with the Suicide Squad.
Nonetheless, Pam enjoyed her time with the team and changed her name to The Green Queen. Poison Ivy didn't suit her level of power anymore and her position as a Royal Knight, and future Empress.
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Naruto allowed her to enter his arms and gave her a simple kiss.
"How long will it take? And, have you managed to mix them?" Naruto asked as he took a seat while putting Pam on his knee.
The team gathered around him and only Victor managed to face him on an eye level, while the other two had a hard time looking at him straight when it came to work.
Victor answered the question as the leader of the team, "We have managed to make multiple samples with two or three sources with the core DNA. It is still out of our hands to get all these exceptional materials to match in a perfect manner. The materials keep on rejecting each other and some of them consume each other, so it is impossible to achieve with this level of technology."
"Sir, we aren't specialist in this field. It is our first time interacting with these kinds of materials. So, our progress is very good when taking account our limited experience and equipment." Man-Bat Kirk added to Victor's words as he didn't want the team to get looked down upon. He had become close to these people and they were his friends unlike others in the normal world.
"Heh, you don't have to panic. I am happy with your progress, and I will bring specialist to the group soon. But, did you enjoy the challenge?" Naruto smiled as he looked at them, his tone was gentle and allowed them to relax.
The response was positive except for Firefly, who didn't seem very interested in doing such a job. Naruto removed him from the team and put him in the weapon development team, which suited him perfectly.
Naruto also shifted Victor to that field since his expertise with weapons was better and the team had hit a block, so the research had to come to a pause for a while.
"Now, go and get ready for combat. It is your time to shine." Naruto commanded as he stood up and walked away from the team.