Naruto: I, who fooled the ninja world, was hailed as a savior.

Chapter 482 Across Five Hundred Years
Ugh!
The deep sound of horns tore through the deathly silence of the jungle, only to be drowned out by the sharp, dense howling.

"Hold on! For the Blackrock Horde!"

A burly man roared hoarsely amid the chaos, his face smeared with red mud as a symbol of bravery.

He wielded a bronze axe with great force, deflecting a spear that had been thrown at him.

Clang!
A piercing clang of metal rang out, scattering a few fleeting sparks that illuminated his狰狞 face and his bloodshot eyes.

The hair that should have been tied up at the temples had come loose during the fierce battle, stained with sweat and someone's blood.

Around him, dozens of soldiers, also with their sideburns curled up, formed a precarious defensive line, clinging to a few giant trees and jagged rocks.

They clearly had an overwhelming numerical advantage, and their weapons appeared to be sharper and more pointed, but...

However, the outcome of this war was never determined by the number of people or the sharpness of weapons.

Rather, it is a power that transcends their comprehension.

"Kill!" A frenzied shout erupted from the enemy ranks.

Suddenly, several enemies of medium build, their faces contorted with almost manic devotion, shoved the “stones” they had been clutching tightly into their mouths and swallowed them with bobbing Adam’s apples.

"Uh ah ah!"

With a series of inhuman screams of pain, the bodies of those people emitted sounds of bones dislocating and realigning, and a terrifying transformation occurred before everyone's eyes.

*Crack!*

His clothes were torn into tattered strips by his rapidly expanding body, his exposed skin turned bluish-gray, his hard muscles bulged and jutted out, and his fingernails transformed into sharp, hooked claws.

Its head protrudes forward, its snout is elongated, its muzzle is split open, and its fangs are sharp in its slightly open mouth. Its eyes have turned into bloodthirsty, beastly vertical pupils.

In the blink of an eye, several upright monsters, half-human and half-wolf, replaced the original humans.

"Monsters! It's those monsters again!"

"what!"

Several short screams rang out as several Blackrock warriors were pounced on by the werewolves who suddenly charged at them. Sharp claws dug into their flesh, tearing open their throats and necks.

"asshole!"

Upon seeing this, a Blackrock warrior's eyes turned red, and he roared as he plunged his spear into the abdomen of a werewolf.

puff!

The spear tip pierced the fur on the werewolf's abdomen and penetrated its muscles, but the werewolf seemed to feel no pain.

He slowly lowered his head, his sharp wolfish snout almost touching the Blackstone Warrior's face. The next second, his sharp claws, with afterimages, swung out.

laugh!
The leather armor on the Blackrock warriors was torn apart like paper, exposing the muscles, fat, and ribs beneath with a flash of cold light, and blood spurted out, tracing a tragic arc.

"you……"

He staggered backward, the deep wounds on his chest revealing bone and even his internal organs were faintly visible. The anger in his eyes was replaced by fear and confusion.

Then, darkness swallowed his consciousness, and his body fell backward.

"Form a circle! Shields forward!" the burly man roared. "Archers, aim for their eyes, mouths, and noses! Don't let these beasts get close!"

This was their second encounter with these monsters. The lesson learned from their previous crushing defeat led them to devise this tactic of relying on shields for defense and using bows and arrows to snipe at weaknesses from a distance.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Holding a crude wooden shield covered with hardened leather, the Blackstone warrior, suppressing his fear and chattering, stepped forward, attempting to block the werewolf's pounce with a shield wall.

Behind them, dozens of archers drew their bows taut, aiming bone arrows at the werewolves' relatively vulnerable heads.

However, just as the arrow left the bowstring, a dozen more people stepped out from behind the enemy lines, their faces filled with the same fanaticism, and swallowed the strange stone that glowed with blue-green light.

Click click click!
The bodies of the group grew and expanded wildly, transforming into ape-men nearly three meters tall, with bulging muscles and arms that reached past their knees.

"Roar!"

They let out roars unlike those of humans, and with a sudden swing of their thick arms, they created a strong wind, sweeping away the arrows that were shot at them as if they were flies.

The remaining arrows struck their thick fur and muscles with a clanging sound, most of them bouncing off, leaving only faint white spots or even breaking off completely.

"What, what is that thing?!" The shield bearer at the very front cried out as he saw the terrifying ape-man.

"It's a new monster!" The burly man's heart sank, and he roared, "Don't stop! Keep firing! Shoot them in the face!"

However, at that moment, the bodies of the other people who swallowed the stones underwent completely different changes.

Their heads became pointed, their ears elongated, their eyes turned bloodshot, and their clothes on their backs were suddenly torn apart, revealing a pair of bat wings more than ten feet wide that unfurled with a whoosh.

These bat-men took to the air using their bat wings, their mouths filled with sharp teeth opening wide, and a visible ripple distorted the air, suddenly spreading towards the Black Stone Tribe members in front of them.

"what!"

The archers and shield bearers in the front row, swept by the sound waves, let out shrill screams. Their bows and shields fell from their hands, and they covered their ears tightly, with bright red blood instantly seeping from between their fingers.

His eyes bulged out, his face contorted, and he collapsed to his knees, gagging and convulsing.

"Roar!"

The werewolves charged forward at incredible speed, their claws tearing flesh and rupturing throats, their fangs snapping bones and shattering tendons, sending blood and flesh flying everywhere.

The incredibly strong ape-men suddenly leaped up, grabbed the thick branches overhead, and swung and leaped among the dense, intertwined branches, rushing towards the rear and flanks of the Black Stone tribe.

"Watch out! They're coming!"

Amidst the terrified screams of the crowd, the ape-men landed directly behind several Black Stone warriors.

Without even needing any skill, the sheer force of the fall and its own terrifying weight were enough to crush several soldiers into the mud, leaving only a pool of mangled flesh and blood.

Immediately afterwards, its giant, fan-like hand swept out horizontally.

Snap! Bang!

Several soldiers' chests caved in, and they flew backward, spitting blood, crashing into tree trunks or rocks. Their bones shattered, and they slid down softly, never to make a sound again.

Another ape-man reached out and grabbed the legs of the two black stone warriors, lifted them up, slammed them to the ground, lifted them up again, and slammed them down again...

After several attempts, only a patch of mud, its shape barely discernible, remained on the ground.

"Don't panic! Stand back to back! Move closer to me!"

The burly man, his eyes bloodshot, roared and swung his axe wildly, cutting down a werewolf that lunged at him, trying to stabilize the collapsing lines.

but……

boom!!

The apes casually uprooted trees and used them as giant clubs, sweeping and smashing them with boundless power without any rhyme or reason. Wherever they went, shields shattered, bodies twisted, and severed limbs flew everywhere.

The bat-men hovered low in the air, occasionally swooping down, their sharp talons easily slicing open the necks of those who were suffering from headaches, and occasionally emitting those headache-inducing sonic waves.

Meanwhile, the swift werewolves darted through the chaotic shadows, each flash taking several lives with them.

Bravery?

Their bravery seemed utterly laughable in the face of claws capable of tearing apart tigers and leopards and fists the size of millstones.

Formation?

Faced with the sonic shockwaves from the sky and the crushing weight of the treetops, their makeshift formation crumbled like a sandcastle. Everything they were usually so proud of now seemed utterly ridiculous and fragile.

The jungle became a bloody slaughterhouse, and the warriors of the Blackrock tribe were killed one after another.

Bang!
The burly man at the head of the group was also punched in the chest by the ape-man. The terrifying force sent him flying off the ground, where he crashed heavily into a tree.

With a "crack," the tree trunk snapped, sending wood chips flying.

"puff!"

He felt a sweet taste in his throat, spat out a mouthful of blood, and slid to the ground like a puddle of mud.

He struggled, trying to prop himself up with his still-movable arm, but a sharp pain shot through his leg. He looked down.

His vision was blurred by blood and sweat, and he could only see one of his legs twisted at a strange angle, and his other arm hanging limply at his side, clearly broken.

"..."

The burly man slowly exhaled his last breath, which carried a heavy smell of blood. He raised his head and stared at the monsters of various shapes that were slowly approaching, as well as the enemies with weapons behind him.

"You monsters..." his voice was hoarse, his tone filled with resentment, "You will surely be punished by heaven, you will surely die a horrible death!"

"hehe."

A sneer came from behind the enemy, filled with undisguised disdain and mockery.

The beast-like enemies ahead, as well as the ordinary enemies, all paused in their movements.

Immediately afterwards, as the burly man's vision gradually blurred, those arrogant monsters parted to the sides like a tide, respectfully lowering their heads and kneeling on one knee.

A blood-stained road was cleared.

A figure walked over unhurriedly, treading through the mud and corpses.

He was exceptionally tall and imposing, even a head taller than the werewolf-turned warrior, with broad shoulders and a thick back, and was clad in armor.

What's most unsettling is his eyes.

Those were a pair of scarlet eyes, vertical pupils like those of a wild beast, gleaming with a cold, inhuman luster in the dim light.

Meeting those eyes, the burly man lying on the ground felt as if he were being watched by some kind of predatory beast.

Without a doubt, it was Grell.

Thanks to the drop of blood from Otsutsuki Kumoshiki, five hundred years had not left many signs of aging on his face; instead, they had given him a rock-hard, cold appearance.

The shadow of the former young "Lei" has long since faded.

"Is this the strongest warrior of the Blackrock Horde right now?"

Grell's gaze swept over the burly man, and he said indifferently, "Although the old, weak, women and children escaped, it doesn't matter anymore."

He slowly raised his right hand, pointing his palm at the burly man.

“Once I crush your hardest bones and break your last spine, this land, along with everything buried underground, will belong to me completely.”

His once obscure tribe was defeated and driven out by the powerful Blackrock tribe, leaving him to struggle for survival in the wilderness like a stray dog.

Later, they obtained the drop of "blood" that changed their fate and discovered the strange "stone" that contained power.

Then, relying on the power he gradually gained control of and that mineral vein, he fought back bit by bit, devouring, integrating, and conquering...

Over the centuries, he either subdued or exterminated every tribe that could be named on this continent.

Those who were willing to bow down and submit were brought under their command, granted the power of "blood" and shackles; those who resisted stubbornly were wiped out of the world along with their tribes.

The Blackrock Horde, once conquerors and now stubborn resisters, has even united with several other equally ungrateful tribes to form a final alliance.

It only meant he had to put in a little more effort and enjoy the hunt a little longer.

"You..." The burly man's lips moved, as if he wanted to curse the other party.

But Grell didn't give him any more chances to speak. He held his palm to him, fingers pointing inward, and gently pulled.

puff!

The burly man lying on the ground suddenly arched his body like a fish out of water, his eyes bulging out and bloodshot, his mouth opened to its limit but he couldn't make a sound.

Immediately afterwards, dark red blood began to seep from the surface of his body, especially from the seven orifices of his mouth, nose, ears, and eyes, as well as from the pores all over his body.

It was as if an invisible hand had forcibly pulled it out of his body, turning it into countless thin, hair-like blood threads that meandered and converged in the air, surging towards Grell's palm.

The blood was flowing extremely fast. In just a few breaths, the strong man's face, which had been pale from blood loss and serious injury, visibly withered and turned ashen.

The skin clung tightly to the bones, and the wide-open eyes lost their last sparkle, becoming lifeless and sunken, ultimately leaving only two empty holes.

"hiss……"

Grell closed his eyes, took a breath as if tasting fresh blood, and a look of enjoyment appeared on his face as he greedily absorbed the nutrients.

Everyone behind him, whether ordinary soldiers or those still in their beast form, was trembling uncontrollably.

It wasn't the excitement of victory, but rather a deep-seated fear and awe.

In order to obtain this powerful force, they have all been "given blood".

Their lives and deaths were in Grell's hands.

They were essentially no different from the mummified corpse on the ground; they were all "supplies" that Grell could use at any time.

"call……"

Grell slowly exhaled, opened his eyes, and the crimson in his eyes, which was already like blood, became even deeper and richer. The divine power within him became even more active.

"Clean it up."

Grell stopped looking at the mummified corpse, turned to his kneeling subordinates, and said, "Kill all the prisoners. I want everyone to know the consequences of resisting me, Grell."

"Yes!" The crowd suppressed their fear and responded with a roar, their voices echoing through the woods, yet they couldn't hide the slight tremor in their voices.

Looking at these once unruly men, now kneeling on the ground, trembling at his mere glance or gesture, Grell felt a surge of satisfaction and exhilaration.

Five hundred years ago, on that rainy night, I was dying in the mud, as insignificant as an insect, and now I am someone who holds the power of life and death...

This stark contrast between heaven and earth was something he thoroughly enjoyed and thoroughly enjoyed.

Now, all the flames of resistance have been extinguished here by his own hands.

From that moment on, he was the only "king" of this land.

“Now I can establish what I call a ‘nation’.” Grell’s ambition spread like wildfire, almost breaking through his dignified and indifferent facade.

However, just as he was feeling triumphant...

hum! !

A throbbing sensation originating from the deepest part of his soul suddenly gripped his heart, incredibly clear yet indescribable.

“Greel”.

A calm, indifferent voice came from above him.

The voice was so familiar, so familiar that it chilled him to the bone, yet so unfamiliar, so unfamiliar that it spanned five hundred years.

(End of this chapter)