Chương 78

"Morning." Jiraya said, seeing Rei. This was the first time Rei had shown up to the training ground. Jiraya had taken all information on Rei and, suffice it to say, he was more than impressed, and glad that Rei was a teammate of these two who seemed to be opposing each other at all times. He wondered how Kakashi was able to handle these two with their opposing nature.

"Good morning, Lord Jiraya." Rei replied.

"Sorry for the intrusion this early morning, but can I take these two idiots with me?" Rei asked.

"Hey, who are you calling idiots?" Sasuke growled.

"Yeah, yeah.." Naruto fumed, but Rei didn't even bother to reply and waited for Jiraya to reply. The reincarnation duo wasn't happy about it and both went on to confront Rei, in full anime style, only to be dodged each time by Rei without even moving his head. Jiraya was amused seeing this interaction, and of course not everyone was actually being serious here.

Because let's be honest, even if Rei was way ahead of the two, it didn't mean he could dodge their attacks without using his eyes, especially from the two, where one has the Sharingan and the other has Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu.

"Where are you guys going?"

"To have some fun. We have all been practicing a bit too much, so I wanted to have some fun." Rei said with a straight face, lying right there.

"Oh! That's great. Good. Goo.. In fact, don't come back.." Jiraya looked more than happy to let these two go away while he would go in search of beautiful women.

"Hey, Pervy Sage.. Are you trying to get rid of us?" Naruto shouted.

"You bet that I am." Jiraya said.

"Hmph! Naruto, don't bother. He won't be able to run far. We will find him no matter what." Sasuke said.

"You two.." Jiraya was angered, but then at the end he sighed.

"One day I will vanish and you won't be able to find me at all."

"You wish." Naruto said. Seeing that Jiraya had gotten a day of respite at least, he took off without another second of waiting. This man really didn't like responsibilities. Left Nagato, refused to become Hokage and now all he wanted was to get away from Naruto and Sasuke. No wonder Tsunade was afraid of falling in love with him. Jiraya vanished in no time, leaving the three in the training ground. Naruto looked a bit relieved seeing the Pervy Sage leave as he felt he couldn't look at the man anymore.

He had been a failure for quite some time now and needed to get away from him to do his own job and succeed, while making this man proud of him. Sasuke didn't have many feelings about Jiraya leaving. He had learnt what he needed from him for the time being, and just needed to fully master it, which he could do alone.

"Hey Rei.. What kind of ramen are you inviting us for?" Naruto asked with sparkles in his eyes, leaving the dark thoughts under his feet for the time being.

"Idiot. He won't take us to Ichiraku, he is here to take us to the other world. Am I right?" Sasuke asked.

"Uh.. You are both right and wrong." Rei replied.

"Huh!"

"Wait, we are going back? Yohooo." Naruto was beyond overjoyed to go back to the other world. Naruto had been craving the other world for quite some time, but they couldn't because of the Chunin Exams and now they were allowed back, which was a huge relief for Naruto. The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. As Naruto was concentrated on the part about going back, Sasuke felt something was off when Rei said yes and no at the same time.

"Aren't we going back?" Sasuke asked again.

"You will see." Rei replied.

"Wait. You didn't get access to another universe, did you?" Sasuke asked.

"You are watching too many movies." Rei scoffed. As they were talking, both Kakashi and Sakura walked in. Kakashi, as usual, had novels in his hand while Sakura was dressed in clean and bright clothes. She knew from the call of Rei that they would be going back momentarily, so she was looking forward to it.

"Everyone is here?" Rei asked.

"Unfortunately." Kakashi replied.

"Good." Without another explanation, Rei activated the contract. The world twisted. Naruto felt the familiar sensation first. It wasn't painful anymore. In fact, after experiencing it multiple times, it almost felt natural. Space folded around them before the scenery of Konoha vanished completely. A second later, solid ground returned beneath their feet. What followed next was complete silence and the faces of all four showing different shades of surprise and wonder.

Naruto's mouth slowly opened while Sakura's eyes widened. Kakashi actually closed the book and Sasuke had forgotten how to react at all and just froze. This place wasn't anything like New York. The chamber where they had materialized was itself larger than most houses in Konoha. Polished golden pillars rose toward a ceiling so high that Naruto had to tilt his head back to see it properly.

Intricate carvings covered the walls, depicting ancient battles, kings, warriors and creatures that looked straight out of mythology. The floor beneath them reflected the light like a mirror while elegant furniture crafted from materials none of them could identify occupied different corners of the room. The entire place radiated wealth. Not the kind of wealth that merchants bragged about. The kind that came from a civilization so old and powerful that displaying mountains of gold had become normal.

"... What."

"Is this gold?"

"Probably."

"PROBABLY?!" Before anyone could continue, Sakura noticed something.

"Wait..." A massive window occupied one side of the chamber. Everyone slowly turned toward it. Then the four of them froze. Beyond the window stretched a city unlike anything they had ever imagined. Golden towers reached toward the heavens. Vast bridges connected impossible structures across enormous distances. Rivers flowed through the city itself while waterfalls cascaded from elevated platforms into glittering lakes below.

Far beyond the city rose mountains that shimmered beneath sunlight, their peaks touching clouds that seemed almost close enough to grasp.

"This..." Sakura finally managed.

"What is this place?" Rei folded his arms and grinned.

"Welcome to Asgard."

"You lied. This is another universe, isn't it?" Sasuke was more sure now about his assumption from before.

"No. This is the same universe but a different planet."

"What? You can travel to different planets now? That means you have a spaceship?" Naruto had watched Star Wars so the concept of planets was a bit clear to him at the moment.

"You are thinking too much. I didn't travel here by myself. Someone gave me a ride." Rei replied. They couldn't understand what that meant because they were sure that Rei didn't know anyone who could use spaceships. Rei then briefly gave a description of the Nine Realms and how Earth was one of the Nine Realms and technically Earth was the territory of Asgard; it's just that they didn't bother to regulate or control any of the realms anymore.

The more they listened, the more their jaws made a better circle through their mouths. Of course, that excluded Kakashi as his mouth was covered.

"How the hell do you know all this?" Sakura had to ask.

"And how did you end up here?"

"Well, I noticed an artifact of Asgard being on Earth and the one whom it belonged to was an exiled prince of this kingdom. And I helped him return here. Consequently, I was invited. And the question about how I know about this place, that will be answered much later as I myself have some questions to ask someone." Rei replied.

"Heh, someone? Who?" Naruto asked.

"You will see. Enough about that. Come. I have been invited here for a banquet and I have asked for permission from the King here to show you around and also take you to the banquet. Let's look around since I am also excited to look around." Rei replied. Kakashi noticed how he skirted the question about him knowing about the existence of this place. Honestly speaking, he was dumbfounded too. The stories of aliens that he had watched in the movies of this universe had suddenly become reality.

He had always thought that they were fantasies and now suddenly his reality had changed again. All in the span of a few months. And from the looks of it, even Rei himself had some questions, just like him. But that could wait, because at the moment, just like his students, he wanted to look around this place. This place looked magical, straight out of a movie. And just like that, all of them set off to do some sightseeing around and take in all the wonders that this place had to offer.