The Immortal Sage

On the colossal St. Ancestral Mountain range, sunlight shined through the gap between the mountains into the deep canyons. On the hillside beside the valley, some snow remained.

Even though it's already the early summer, the snow has yet to melt. The cold here is exceptionally long. The roars of beasts can occasionally be heard.

On the surface of the valley stood a magnificent city.

The world outside of the St. Ancestral Mountains has been occupied by the beasts. The people living in the mountain range have not contacted the outside world for hundreds of years.

The people who live in the city are unsure of the situation of the outside world. It's been recorded that at the most glorious period of mankind, having thousands of Legend rank Fighters and Demon Spiritualists, the humans established many empires in the vast continent, but those empires have been wiped out.

The city, due to being stealthily located geographically, was well preserved from the Age of Darkness. They would occasionally encounter attacks from powerful Snow Wind Beasts within the St. Ancestral Mountains; however, after going through numerous devastating conflicts, the city was being rebuilt again and again.

These motley walls were an indomitable monument.

This city is called Glory City, and it is a symbol of hope for humanity.

Inside the city of hope one Uzumaki Naruto lived, he was an orphan taken in by the former city lord. Naruto had been in a daze when the former lord came across him, he was surprised to see a boy of 7 alive without any protector. He had cautiously approached Naruto to bring him to safety, the moment his hand touched Naruto he realized why the beasts didn't dare attack the boy.

'The soul force of a silver rank' the former city lord was visibly shaken and his curiosity had been lit, he felt real hope fester in his heart after so long.

"Hello boy, what is your name? Where are your parents?" He asked after calming himself but Naruto gave no response.

'What's wrong with him, he looks completely healthy.' He was confused as to what the problem might be seeing no sign of any damage.

"Sorry boy, I will be taking you with me. As you seem to be unable to talk now, we will talk later in a safe area." He picked up Naruto carefully and could feel the pure energy inside his body

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Naruto was brought to the Snow family mansion where he was taken care of until the day he awoke. His soul was integrating with the world slowly as it had rejected him at the start. He had only been formed into existence few hours before being found by Ye Mo.

His eyes fluttered open and he came to stare at an unfamiliar ceiling, he felt groggy and weak.

'Where am I?'

'Shouldn't I be in the pure lands?'

'Why am I alive?'

'Why does my body feel so fragile?'

Naruto questioned as the haziness cleared and he knew there was no way he was alive so the hope that he might have survived vanished.

He forced himself up into a sitting position when he saw that his limbs were shorter and thinner, 'What happened to me? I should be dead after the final clash with Kaguya killed me.'

While he was lost in thought he heard footsteps coming towards the room and as the door opened he saw an old man with long white beard.

"Ah, wonderful. Boy you are finally awake, you had me worried." Ye Mo said with relief

"Who are you?"

"I am the former City Lord of Glory city, Ye Mo. What is your name boy and do you have any relatives?"

"Naruto Uzumaki, no I am an orphan. Where is Glory city?" Naruto said with confusion

"Hmm, that is a difficult question to answer. Glory city is the only human city left as the world is overrun with monsters and we have been isolated for a long time so we do not if there are other places." Ye Mo answered with his hand touching his beard while he watched Naruto's reaction

If Naruto had been his usual he might have reacted more animatedly but waking after death made his reaction slow and muted, "Oh"

"You don't seem to have anyone to look after you, how about becoming my student." Ye Mo offered gently

Naruto looked at the old man carefully and analyzed him, he couldn't find anything wrong with him.

'He is a good person, reminds me of Grandpa Hiruzen.'

Naruto smiled and nodded as he didn't have any path in life so he needed a guide to show him the way.

"Wonderful, I will introduce you to my son and granddaughter once you are ready as you will be seeing them." Ye Mo said as he hugged Naruto in his excitement

Naruto felt touched by the gesture, "Okay." Once Ye Mo left so Naruto could get ready, Naruto got up from the bed with shaky footsteps and looked into the mirror. What he saw was the face of his younger self, like 7 or 8.

'I became a kid, why?' Naruto felt confused at such a random thing and looked around the room, it was quite big.

'Bigger than my apartment' Naruto thought as he walked towards the clothes put on the chair and realized something.

'How do I put these on?' He was completely lost looking at the attire which was so different from his usual clothes

Before calling out to someone he decided to take a seat and do an internal check. He closed his eyes and he could sense the energy inside his body but he knew it was different.

'It's only formed by my soul, even then it is very small. I can't believe a day would come when I can experience how normal people feel, so low.'

But as he was about to open his eyes, inside his soul space he found it changed. The water and the pipes along with cage had disappeared, instead the place had changed into a place filled with ice and snow on one side while the other was pure flames and as he stared he could see lava flow.

'What the heck is this?' Naruto questioned but no answer was forthcoming

'Could this represent my affinities in this world? How ironic would that be, I died in the frost dimension throwing massive lava Rasenshuriken.' Naruto mused with a hollow laugh and opened his eyes

"Excuse me, could someone help with the clothes." Naruto said in a loud voice

"How may I help, young master?" A maid entered his room; she was an attractive girl of 16 year

"Can you help me wear these clothes?" Naruto said with embarrassment

The maid nodded and helped him undress as he held himself back from creating a mess and got dressed properly.

"You look dashing, young master. Don't worry." The maid complemented him and navigated him to the place where the family was waiting.

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"Come sit, Naruto" Ye Mo called out as he entered the dining room

Naruto could see a man with a strict gaze sitting at head of the table while on his side was a little girl of 4 years and another boy who was around 10 years.

"Thank you for having me" Naruto said as he approached the table to sit beside the elder

Ye Mo stood up and introduced them all as he said they would be family from now on so not knowing their names was unacceptable.

The man at the head seat was the current City lord, Ye Zong, while the little girl was his daughter, Ye Ziyun, and the boy was the adoptive son, Ye Han.

"Nice to meet you all" Naruto said courteously as much as he could manage and received similar responses in turn after which they ate.

No one talked as they considered it disrespectful and only after everyone had stopped did they start talking.

"I know father has already taken you in but I wish to ask, where are you from Naruto?" Ye Zhong questioned, he was not someone that just believed in things and there was no such thing as coincidence in his mind

"I don't know" Naruto said and he meant it as he couldn't really tell him where it was.

Zhong stared at him with suspicion but Mo interfered, "Don't be so serious with a child, he has just woken up and you are treating him like a criminal."

"Sorry Father, it's just a force of habit."

"No need to worry Naruto, you will be fine here. He is just paranoid as it's his job to take care of the city. Today just relax and play with the kids, tomorrow I will help you become a warrior." Ye Mo said with barely hidden joy

Naruto nodded and walked towards, Ziyun and Han while Mo whispered to Zhong, "What are you doing, he is my hope and someone with high levels of potential not seen in Glory city ever. He hasn't even practiced yet he has such high soul force."

"But Father he could have been a trap waiting to be unleashed, who knows what mysterious beasts exists out there."

"Don't, I am more experienced so deem yourself worthy to make decisions for me." Mo looked at him with serious expression

"Understood" Zhong sighed and nodded giving up for the moment but he was definitely suspicious of Naruto

'How can someone like him exist?'

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Chapter 2

"Hello" Naruto greeted the two children who were sitting together; they seem to be curious about him

"Hello, Naruto did you come from outside the city. How is it, are there cool monsters or other cities?" Ye Ziyun was a 4 year old child but she was more intelligent than someone her age and she showed deep curiosity for the outside world

Hearing her cute little voice made him smile and want to pinch her cheeks, "Yes, I am from outside. But I do not know of any cool monsters or a city, sorry."

"Aww" She pouted in disappointment

"Don't be down, I will definitely show you some cool monsters when you are older and tell you about the world when we get older." Naruto said as he touched her head

"Really?" She said as she stared at him, it seems his warm presence still affected people as she didn't feel shy around him

"You don't need to trick her with such foolish promises." Ye Han interjected

"I never break my promises and I do not lie. I said I would do it then it means that I will." Naruto said with a voice filled with conviction as he stared into the eyes of the 10 year old boy who had very harsh gaze brought from the harsh life.

Ye Han was surprised at Naruto's powerful gaze, it softened him a bit as it told him that Naruto was not a sissy boy.

"We will see but for now it is nice to meet you." Ye Han said with a prideful smile

"Same" Naruto said as he extended his hand for a handshake

"From the excitement shown by grandpa, it seems you are supposed to be really strong. Let me see." Ye Han said as he gripped Naruto's hand hard

'Man, this guy is really childish' Naruto thought hypocritically as he was doing his best to beat him at his game

Ye Ziyun watched both boys expression change and laughed as their faces became weird from the strength expanded.

"Let's just say it's a tie" Naruto said through gritted teeth, he was feeling the pain in his hand

"Yeah, why don't you just give up?"

"Were you even listening?"

"I heard you wanted to give"

"Oh, we are playing like that" Naruto smiled which looked really evil

"Ow" Ye Han felt his hand almost snap

"I give, damn" Ye Han said as he looked at his hand which looked swollen from the intense competition

"I told you, it would have been better to go for a tie" Naruto said as he checked his hand which was already healing

'You cheated, there is no way you had more strength left for the last move." Ye Han said as he looked at him suspiciously, 'He isn't a practitioner so he couldn't have controlled his energy for that but what was it.'

"Nah, I was just playing with you. It called being nice so when you decided to prolong it, I had to show you my power." Naruto said with a confident tone and a smile as he showed him his hand

"See, completely clear"

Ye Han was shocked as he had thought they might have been equal in physical strength. 'I have already trained for 4 years, how can this be? It was already hard to believe that we were equal but knowing that I was just played, makes it really frustrating.'

"No need to be so shocked, you can also become as strong I am." Naruto said as he put his arm over Ye Han's shoulder

"So do you want to be friends?" Naruto offered again

"Why not but I will definitely make you pay for this, you remember." Ye Han said as he calmed down his nerves, 'at least he seem to not d.e.s.i.r.e the seat and wants adventure, so it's okay and I can learn from him. He is definitely special.'

Naruto hung around with the kids for some hours getting to know them and some other things as they talked about their friends and the city. The next morning after breakfast Naruto was standing in the training area of the City Lord's mansion along with Ye Mo.

"Are you ready to train?"

"Yes"

"Good that's the gaze of a warrior. Now I want you to follow my movements and remember my words." Ye Mo said as he started moving slowly to show Naruto the movements and continued saying chants. This was to start cultivation and he did it multiple times so that Naruto won't make a mistake

Naruto didn't understand what it meant but he followed along and he felt the energy of the world enter his abdomen which made him feel stronger. 'Does he want me to absorb energy? That's easy, I don't understand why I should be doing this weird dance and saying those chants.'

"Grandpa, I understand" Naruto said as he stopped

"Already!" Ye Mo said in astonishment

"Show me" He said in an excited voice

Naruto nodded and closed his eyes, just like when he absorbed energy for sage mode he did so for this task but instead of mixing it with his chakra he sent it t his abdomen where he felt there was something new.

As Naruto absorbed energy he felt like he broke through something and his body felt stronger, he was about to rush ahead.

"Stop" Ye Mo shouted which prompted Naruto open his eyes

"Sigh" Ye Mo sighed in relief

"What's wrong?" Naruto was confused

"It's my fault for not explaining it. You can't break through again so quickly otherwise your foundation would be weak in the future stages. You need to take it slowly and strengthen your body along with your spirit then you can break through to a higher stage. Do you think with your stick like figure and poor physical capability it would be good to go to the next level?" Ye Mo explained carefully and stared at him with expectation

"No" Naruto said as he also seemed to understand why it would be bad idea to just rush through levels

"Good, you are not stupid. Now you are already a bronze level 2 star which is very low but don't let anyone's words get to you as this a choice unlike others. We will start physical training and combat training but before that here take this" Ye Mo said as he took out a sphere and passed it to him

"What is this?"

"This is a demon spirit and ice wolf type. I want you to copy my movements and absorb it, for now it will do so you can get some experience with low level demon spirits until we can find the best for you." Ye Mo said as he showed him what to do

Naruto nodded and did what he was asked but unlike what was expected the demon spirit just vanished inside his soul realm.

"Is this supposed to happen?"

"No"

"Is it bad?"

"No need to worry, for now let's focus on other things and we will find out later what's the deal with this." Ye Mo said without showing any kind of disappointment

Naruto smiled happily and followed along with Ye Mo's instructions.

'He is already so strong; it doesn't matter if he can't use demon spirit now. With his physical capability, I can try out my experimental training method.' Ye Mo thought joyfully