"Guarantee—"
Najenda heard Naruto's question, froze for a moment, then looked at him somewhat angrily and said, "Who can guarantee the future? At least I can guarantee that after overthrowing the Empire's rule, the world will definitely not be worse than it is now!"
Najenda was angry because she thought Naruto had asked that question to deny the efforts of the Revolutionary Army, to make excuses for the Empire's corruption, and to find reasons for his own incompetence.
However, she was mistaken. The reason Naruto asked that question was entirely because he genuinely wanted to know the answer.
Even if that answer was only a possibility.
As for defending the Empire's corruption? Don't be ridiculous—he doesn't want to be the Emperor at all right now!
"It won't be worse?"
Naruto didn't know why Najenda suddenly got angry, but he pondered her answer, then nodded in agreement and said.
"If you put it that way, then yes. It's your turn next. If you have any more questions, just ask them. I will tell you everything I know."
When Najenda heard Naruto's words, the angry expression on her face suddenly froze, as if she realized something. Then she looked at him with complex eyes and asked.
"Your Majesty, why did you order Admiral General Budo to arrest the Minister?"
"Why?"
Naruto looked at Najenda with a strange expression when he heard her words, then retorted, "That guy is a bad person, isn't he? Is there anything wrong with me telling General Budo to arrest him?"
"That's true."
Najenda looked at Naruto's sincere expression, and the doubts in her heart gradually cleared. Then she continued to ask, "Then why now? I mean, why did you only decide to arrest the Minister now?"
"Because I just found out he was a bad person!" Naruto replied matter-of-factly.
"I knew it!"
When Najenda heard Naruto's answer, she was certain that this young Emperor in front of her was not truly a bad person; he was just foolish, which was why he had been deceived by treacherous ministers like Honest.
It could even be said that the Emperor's heart was very righteous, because after realizing the Minister was a bad person, he immediately ordered the Admiral to arrest him, without considering the consequences of doing so.
"Such a person—one can only say it's a bit sad. If he were just an ordinary person and not the Emperor, he would probably become someone like Tatsumi, right?" Najenda thought to herself.
"Last question."
Najenda composed herself, looked at Naruto seriously, and asked, "Why three months?"
Indeed, the message Najenda had the three of the Rakshasa Four deliver to the Minister earlier—telling him to wait three months and then bring the ultimate Imperial Arm hidden in the royal family to the mountains west of the Imperial Capital to exchange for Naruto—was not her idea, but Naruto's.
The reason Najenda agreed to Naruto's request was that if she didn't, they wouldn't have been able to take Naruto with them. Or rather, they would only have been able to take Naruto's corpse. For them, a living Emperor was far more valuable than a dead one, so Najenda had no choice but to agree to Naruto's request.
However, Najenda was very curious why Naruto set such a deadline.
"Because I also want to do some things within my capabilities," Naruto said somewhat helplessly.
"Do some things—"
When Najenda heard Naruto's words, she couldn't help but ask curiously, "Your Majesty, what do you want to do?"
"Of course, to do something meaningful for this Empire, for this world," Naruto replied seriously.
Since he chose the identity of "Emperor" for this life experience, he certainly couldn't just slack off, otherwise he wouldn't get the desired reward at the final settlement. So what he needed to do next was first to make himself stronger.
Only by becoming strong himself could he accomplish more.
Three months was the time Naruto set aside for his own training. He believed that after three months, he would definitely be able to train this body to be strong enough.
Naruto felt that after three months of training, he would at least be able to easily crush someone like Honest without any problem.
However, Najenda and the others were very confused by Naruto's statement.
Although they didn't know what "meaningful" things Naruto wanted to do.
But in their opinion, with the Emperor's ability, what could he do in another three months? Was he going to practice how to act spoiled toward the Minister?
That wouldn't count as "meaningful" things, would it?
However, Najenda did not continue to press the issue.
Because in the next three months, or perhaps even sooner, this Emperor would be staying with them, and she would have plenty of time to get to know him.
Little did they know, in the next three months, Naruto would show them what "genius" meant!
Soon.
The Super Class Danger Beast they were riding carried them to the headquarters of Night Raid.
"Yo, Boss, Akame, Lubbock, and Leone, it's great that you all came back safely!"
As soon as the group dismounted from the super Danger Beast, Almondo, a tall, well-built man walked toward them, greeting Najenda and the four one by one enthusiastically, before looking at Naruto with an incredulous expression.
"This— isn't this the Emperor? You actually captured him!"
This man's name was Bulat, a core member of Night Raid. But like Najenda, he had also been a soldier of the Empire, and a strong one known as the 'Hundred-Man Slayer.'
Bulat was powerful and upright. The reason he left the Empire was because he could no longer tolerate its corruption, so he fled with his Imperial Arm and eventually joined Night Raid.
Because he had once been an Imperial soldier, Bulat had seen the Emperor before. And Najenda and the others' current operation was impromptu; not everyone knew about it. That was why Bulat, a core member and absolute main force of Night Raid, didn't participate in this operation. That was also why he was so surprised to see Najenda and the others bring Naruto back.
However, because Bulat's position in the Imperial Army had been far lower than Najenda's, who was a general, Naruto had no impression of him whatsoever.
"We'll talk about this later."
Najenda waved her hand, then suddenly jumped back onto Almondo's back and said to Akame and the others, "I'm going to pick up Sheele and Mine now, then I'll explain everything to you."
After speaking, she controlled the super Danger Beast, Almondo, and flew back toward the Imperial Capital.
"Akame, everyone—"
Just then, a bare-chested young man ran over excitedly, wanting to greet everyone. But when he saw Najenda leaving again on Almondo, he couldn't help but ask curiously, "Eh, why did the Boss leave again?"
This young man, named Tatsumi, was a young swordsman from a village. Because he had received training from a retired military instructor in his village when he was young, he came to the Imperial Capital with two companions after growing up, hoping to make a name for himself. However, he first witnessed the dark side of the Imperial Capital, saw his companions die tragically, and then unexpectedly joined Night Raid.
He was not yet an official member of Night Raid; he was currently receiving training from Brand and working hard to become one.
"It's nothing."
Bulat waved his hand at Tatsumi, then put an arm around him and walked aside, asking with a hearty laugh, "Tatsumi, how was your training today? Did you train hard—"
Tatsumi was not yet an official member, so he couldn't be told Naruto's identity yet.
This was not a lack of trust, but rather caution.
"Well, Akame, I'll leave him to you guys. I'm off!"
Leone said to Akame and Lubbock, then walked away on her own.
"Wait for me!"
Lubbock glanced at Naruto, then chased after Leone, leaving only the expressionless Akame by Naruto's side, seemingly with no intention of leaving.
In fact, the reason Akame didn't leave was because Najenda had given her the task of "guarding" Naruto.
Although Najenda had no intention of restricting Naruto's personal freedom, he was, after all, a prisoner—and a very important one at that—so he had to be properly guarded.
Akame was Night Raid's ace. Not only was she strong enough, but her personality was also very cautious. Najenda believed that only she could handle this job. Well, in fact, the others were unwilling to take on this task, so it was given to the more easily bullied Akame.
"That..."
Naruto looked at the only remaining Akame beside him and asked, "I'm hungry. Can you get me something to eat?"
Akame glanced at him, then nodded and said, "Follow me."
Akame led Naruto to the kitchen, then, under his surprised gaze, tied on an apron and began to cook.
Besides being Night Raid's ace assassin, Akame was also responsible for the daily meals of all members, meaning she was the cook.
"That..."
Naruto saw this and immediately said, "My appetite might be a bit large. Please prepare a lot of food. Thank you very much."
Akame paused slightly, her eyes flickered, then she nodded.
"Okay, no problem."
Half an hour later.
A table full of delicious food was placed in front of Naruto, almost all of it meat.
Akame looked at Naruto with some anticipation, seemingly wanting to see how "large" his appetite would be.
"Thank you. I'll dig in!"
Naruto thanked Akame again, then began to eat heartily. His eating speed was so fast that Akame's eyes lit up. That look was as if a lonely anomaly had found its kind.
Indeed, Akame's appetite was also quite large; the food she had prepared was probably just enough for one of her own meals.
Now, watching Naruto eat at such speed made her feel as if she had found a kindred spirit.
"Burp!~"
Under Akame's surprised gaze, Naruto quickly devoured all the food on the table, then let out a comfortable burp.
"Thank you very much!"
Naruto thanked Akame again, then said somewhat sheepishly, "Um—I might eat even more in the future. I hope you don't mind."
For Naruto, eating was his most important training at the moment, because his current body was too weak. Eating a lot was the best way to quickly accumulate strength, and combined with appropriate "post-meal exercise," his physical fitness would quickly improve.
However, as his physical fitness improved, his appetite would also grow larger and larger.
Although it wouldn't reach the level of his main body, it would certainly be an amount unimaginable to ordinary people, so Naruto felt he had to give a heads-up first.
"Even more?!"
Akame's eyes lit up even more. She excitedly clenched her fists and said seriously, "Bring it on. No matter how much you can eat, I will satisfy you!"
Naruto's appetite just now was already almost catching up to hers, and he had even said he could eat more!
This made Akame feel as if she had been challenged, and for the first time in her life, she felt that her appetite might still have room for improvement.
"Then I'll trouble you in the future."
Naruto thanked Akame again, then stood up and patted his slightly bulging stomach.
"I'm full. Now it's time to move around and digest."
As he spoke, he looked at Akame and asked, "Miss Akame, how do you usually train?"
The members of Night Raid seemed quite strong, and Naruto was curious whether they also had any special training methods.
"Because the Imperial Arms we wield are different, each of our training methods is unique—"
Akame subconsciously wanted to answer Naruto's question, but halfway through, she suddenly felt something was off. She stopped, pondered for a moment, then looked at Naruto seriously.
"Since I don't know yet whether you will be an enemy or a comrade, I cannot tell you these things."
"Understood."
Naruto was slightly taken aback, then thought about it carefully and felt that Akame was very reasonable.
"I'm sorry. That was presumptuous of me."
"It's alright."
Akame shook her head. Probably due to her approval of Naruto's appetite, her feelings toward him had already risen from initial indifference to approval.
If it weren't for Naruto's identity, she would probably already be discussing post-meal exercise with him.
Since he couldn't ask Akame and the others about their training methods, Naruto decided to train in his own way.
Although for him, even if he did nothing, his physical fitness would strengthen as his will and body gradually aligned, exercise would undoubtedly accelerate this process. And for a new body, combat techniques also needed to be re-honed.
However, just as he was about to begin his training, he suddenly heard a loud bell.
Akame's expression instantly turned serious. She pulled Naruto and walked toward Night Raid's meeting hall.
Along the way, Akame thoughtfully explained the bell sound to Naruto. It was Night Raid's emergency summons. When the bell rang, it meant something very important had happened.
---
Happy Reading. Be sure to leave a review!!!
Visit my Patreon for early access to 20+ chapters!!!
P@treon: mrfanfiction140