A Shinobi of Paradis Chapter 16 (New Power) (Patreon)

"Hey, you alright?" Mikasa asked concernedly, her brows furrowing as she sat close to him in the soft, swaying grass. The moonlit glow cast an ethereal light on the scene, adding a touch of tranquility to the atmosphere. Feeling Mikasa's genuine worry, Eren reciprocated by smiling reassuringly at her before gently nodding his head in affirmation, assuring her that he was indeed alright. Together, as they sat under the comforting moonlight, Eren couldn't help but look at the walls far in the distance with disdain.

Armin from the porch noticed how Jean was looking at them; the color on his face disappeared, and the blonde boy was trying hard not to laugh.

That was until Connie walked by; Jean stretched out his hand and whipped his hand across Connie's shirt.

The bald boy turned around, trying to see what he had whipped on him. "Oi, what are you doing?! What did you whip on me?" He asked frantically, still trying to see the behind of his shirt until Jean looked him dead in the eye.

"My faith in humanity."

Armin couldn't contain his amusement as he burst out laughing, his contagious laughter filling the air. With lightheartedness in his stride, he quickly made his way over to Eren and Mikasa, who were engaged in a playful moment. His observant eyes noticed that Eren was gently toying with a couple of stray strands of Mikasa's lustrous hair, a mischievous smile gracing his face. Despite her usual composed demeanor, Mikasa had a subtle blush adorning her cheeks, a telltale sign that she was thoroughly enjoying the affectionate gesture.

Sitting close to each other, he slowly tilted his head upwards, his gaze fixated on the vast expanse of the sky above. His eyes twinkled with a mix of hope and contentment, perfectly mirroring the genuine smile that adorned his face. Armin couldn't help but express his innermost thoughts to his companion.

With gentle sincerity, he uttered, "I have a feeling everything will go alright." As his words hung in the air, a serene silence enveloped them. A sudden gust of wind playfully swept through, gracefully tousling Mikasa's flowing, ebony locks, causing them to shimmer and dance with an ethereal vibrancy akin to crackling fire.

"Indeed, I have that feeling as well. But why hasn't Naruto returned yet?" Eren asked, concerned, as he looked around, trying to see where his little brother had gone.

"I think he went to give food to that potato girl, what was her name... Sasha," Armin answered with a small chuckle, still remembering the small incident during their introduction.

Eren wasn't sure why Naruto would give Sasha his own food. He knew he loved helping people, and Eren had nothing against it. His brother's desire to help people was something Eren always secretly admired, but Eren hoped that Naruto wasn't leaving himself without food just to help her. That was something Eren would never allow him to do.

"Why? I mean, someone else could have helped her?" Eren asked, looking at Armin, waiting for him to give an answer; he had an answer for everything.

"Well, maybe, he likes her." Armin suggested with a teasing grin, but this caught both Eren and Mikasa off guard.

Naruto liking a girl?! But he's still too young for that, both Eren and Mikasa thought at the same time. They knew sooner or later that Naruto would eventually find a girl he liked; that was to be expected, but both Eren and Mikasa couldn't help but feel that it was way too soon, perhaps after a few years when he was older.

Naruto

To the point of weariness inside the camp, Sasha had to use all of her physical and mental stamina. Her sole remaining hope was that a kind person would come across her and place her in the bed that had been designated for her. She fell into unconsciousness in the interim.

To emerge instantly right away as soon as the aroma of a bun reached her nose. She sprang like a beast towards the direction her nose was guiding her before being brutally caught by the ponytail and imprisoned behind unyielding arms. She was only paying attention to her stomach throughout this time. The ravenous cadet had attempted to fling herself at Christa Lenz, but she had quickly sidestepped her.

"Gave her the food, Now." Naruto intervened, shooing away the ravenous beast.

During the brief moment they were apart, she retrieved the loaf of bread she had stashed beneath her waistcoat and jammed it between Sasha's lips. Christa had to draw her hand away out of concern that she might get bit because the meal was smashed so rapidly.

The girl blinked her eyelids several times before feverishly running her tongue over her teeth as the two saviors argued. After being somewhat satisfied, Braus' animal breathing calmed until her pupils shrank to their usual size.

"I wasn't in any danger," Christa defended herself.

"Maybe, but she's a food demon; we should be careful; she might devour the whole camp," Naruto said seriously, something the blonde found funny, Krista letting out a cute chuckle.

"BREAD!" Sasha suddenly screamed and startled the two recruits. "IT WAS BREAD!"

Christa and Naruto exchanged a confused look before the younger replied hesitantly:

"Uh ... It's all I could keep," She informed politely before taking out a skin bottle from under her right armpit. "But you have been running almost fourteen hours without hydrating yourself; you must drink..."

Sasha didn't hear, Sasha didn't listen, and Sasha was obsessed with the beauty and kindness of the little angel who came down from heaven to answer her prayer. Not content with feeding her, she also offered to water her.

"Are you a goddess?!" she cried, throwing herself on the blonde to worship her.

She started shaking Christa and screaming, 'Are you a goddess?' She screamed when Naruto pulled her away from the blonde.

"Calm down, potato girl," he said; he had never seen before someone like her; at that moment, he decided to give her his own piece of bread.

"Here," he gestured toward the loaf of bread in his hand; seeing more food for her caused Sasha to start drooling like a dog.

"Thank you," she screamed before she started eating it with tears in her eyes; she couldn't remember the last time someone did such a good deed for her. Naruto wondered what kind of creature she was, soon coming to the conclusion she was probably a Titan in disguise.

Sasha kept eating before she suddenly collapsed, her face falling on Christa's lap; now she was sleeping.

"Jeez, now we have a food demon amongst our midst. Thank god she's not sleeping anywhere near me. I don't want to wake up with half of my body missing," Naruto commented, rubbing the back of his head. If she could devour bread so fast, he didn't want to imagine what she would do to roasted meat cooked with onions, garlic, pepper, and mashed potatoes.

Christa chuckled in a way Naruto thought was cute, and the blonde's attention turned to the boy.

"Name's Krista Lenz," she said, extending her hand towards him but not standing up since Sasha was still resting her head on her lap.

"Naruto," he said, shaking her hand.

"Oï. What the hell are you three doing?"

Naruto moved his hand away, turning to look at the figure stepping out of the darkness dramatically.

She was tall for her age; her freckled face sported a suspicious-looking, disinterested expression. Indeed, her presence in a place particularly far from the refectory and the girls' dormitory did not tally with a lack of interest.

Naruto looked up at her eyes, quite surprised by how tall she was. Damn, what are they feeding her?! He thought, scratching his cheek, comparing his own height with hers; this was definitely the tallest girl he had ever seen.

"Well, me and Krista decided to give food to the food demon before she devours one of us, and this is the result," Naruto explained, pointing at the sleeping form of Sasha, who was now snoring a little.

"So you're doing a good deed because you want her to be in your debt?" Ymir questioned, walking closer to the trio; her eyes briefly glanced at Krista while Naruto arched an eyebrow at her words.

"That's an interesting way of seeing this, but not me; I simply helped a fellow recruit in need of help," Naruto replied, with Krista quickly nodding along.

The tall girl rolled her eyes at their words, finding it a bit pathetic. "You will soon understand people who do good deeds because they think they should are the first to get the short stick?" Ymir said, her voice getting a little angry by the end.

Naruto arched an eyebrow at her words, wondering if she knew that from personal experience.

"Maybe, but there's nothing wrong with giving someone food," Naruto said with a little shrug. Ymir suddenly looked at him from up close, a teasing smirk on her face.

What now? Naruto wondered out loud, knowing her smirk wasn't a good sign. "You do have whiskers! You are like a cat," Ymir teased with a look of triumph on her face, her hand reaching out, trying to touch his cheeks, but Naruto quickly moved backward from her, a look of irritation on his face.

"I'm not a cat. I was born this way!" Naruto countered, looking annoyed, especially when the tall girl laughed out loud.

"What's your name?" Naruto asked while hearing Sasha snoring from behind.

"Ymir, mister cat," Ymir said with a teasing smile; she giggled at Naruto's expression, especially when he gave her a deadpan look.

"Naruto! My name is Naruto." Naruto corrected with a glare toward her, but Ymir simply ignored him as she walked past him.

"Will you help her?" He questioned, pointing at Sasha sleeping on the ground, wondering if he himself should carry her to the girl's domain.

"Well, nothing in this world is free; allow me to help her back at girl's domain," Ymir said, walking up to Sasha. She and Krista helped Sasha up, who was still sleeping.

"What's your reason for helping her?" Naruto questioned, crossing his arms in front of his chest; he eyed the tall girl up and down suspiciously.

Clicking her tongue in annoyance, she looked at him over her shoulder. "This way, she will be in my debt, so if I ever need her help, she will have to help me," Ymir replied with a little annoyance; Krista frowned slightly at her words.

"Good night, Krista, Bad night, ugly freckles," he said with his own smirk, walking away, waving his hand at the blonde girl who smiled. Ymir groaned in annoyance, knowing he would probably call her that for the next three years.

"Good Night," Krista quickly said, smiling, as she and Ymir lifted Sasha, her arms around their shoulders, letting a sound as they carried her to the girl's domain.

"Damn it, she's heavy," Ymir complained as they carried her away.

"Don't say things like that to him; he just wanted to help," Krista said disapprovingly at the tall girl, who rolled her eyes.

"It was a simple joke," she replied, dismissing her worries before looking at Krista from the corner of her eyes.

Boy's Domain

"Hello there, shorty," Naruto greeted him with a proud smirk on his face. Finally, someone else was shorter than him.

Connie groaned in annoyance. "Look who's talking if I had my hair. I would be taller," He moaned in annoyance as Naruto sat in his bed near his. Putting his bag just under his.

"Nope. I'm still four centimeters taller; that's a huge difference," Naruto said, showing the difference with his right hand. His thumb and index finger show the difference.

"Jean, is four centimetres really that important?" Connie asked innocently, turning to the nearest boy, who groaned loudly, covering his face with a pillow.

"Four centimetres! It depends on what you two are comparing," Jean replied with a little smirk, earning a chuckle from many cadets who were still awake. Connie was even more confused while Naruto rolled his eyes before laying on his bed.

"Good night, shorty," Naruto said.

"I'm not short!"

Soon, most of them fell asleep, except Naruto, who kept himself awake and simply remembered what happened that day. "Naruto," the blonde turned his head to see his big brother, who was still awake; before Naruto could ask him why he was still awake, Eren asked first.

"Are the dreams bothering you?" Eren asked with concern. Naruto wondered how he knew about the dreams; he was tempted to say he had no bad dreams, but he knew someone like Eren would keep asking until he got an answer.

"Not much, don't worry about it, Eren," Naruto reassured him. Eren looked at him for several seconds as if trying to read his mind before laying back on his bed.

"Naruto, don't worry if anything happens. I Will protect you; that's my duty." Eren promised with resolve. Naruto couldn't help but smile before closing his eyes and letting himself fall asleep.

.............Zeke

Tomorrow

As the peaceful slumber enveloped the cadets, their minds and bodies found solace in the blissful oblivion of deep sleep, completely oblivious to the world around them. However, this serene tranquility was abruptly shattered when a powerful voice thundered through the air, rousing them from their dreams in an instant.

"WAKE UP, MAGGOTS!" bellowed Keith, his voice piercing through the calm like a clap of thunder. The suddenness of his exclamation jolted the cadets awake, causing a cacophony of startled reactions. Some cadets woke up with a jolt, their hearts pounding, instinctively assuming they were under attack. Others, bewildered and disoriented, tried to make sense of the unexpected interruption, desperately searching for an explanation amidst the chaos that had disrupted their peaceful slumber.

In a state of panic and terror, Connie desperately attempted to escape, his piercing screams echoing through the room. However, disoriented and consumed by fear, he failed to realize that he was actually confined to a comfortable bed rather than the vast openness of a field. Consequently, his ill-fated flight resulted in an unintended tumble from the elevated surface, prompting him to emit a deep groan of agony upon impact. Despite the pain coursing through her, Connie valiantly pushed himself to regain his footing, instinctively reaching for his throbbing nose in a futile attempt to alleviate the discomfort.

Eren, Naruto, Reiner, Bertholdt, and Armin stood before everyone else, only wearing their night clothes; Armin was still rubbing his eyes, trying to make the drowsiness go away.

Everyone slowly stood up; some were still trying to wear their clothes and not salute in front of the instructor with only night clothes.

Naruto grabbed his dark shirt, his hand going through the sleeve.

Naruto was about to ask the instructor what they should do since the latter had been silent, not giving out any orders.

When Naruto peeked over the instructor's shoulder, only now noticing that it was pitch black out there, it wasn't uncommon to be woken up earlier than usual, but never like this. The sun wasn't peeking over the mountain. Naruto didn't have a watch around him, but he knew it was around 3 AM! And it seemed the others were noticing it as well.

"Instructor, why did you wake us so early?" Jean asked, trying to sound as respectful as possible, but his voice showed clear annoyance; it was one thing to train the whole day and run around like a slave carrying heavy items, but waking up so early was straight-up cruel.

Keith glared at Jean, who backed away a little, Marco beside him sending him a concerned look.

"Now, everyone fix your beds; within an hour, I want everyone outside at the training yard," he shouted, earning confused and angry looks from everyone.

Soon, they all started complaining about why wake them up so early, only to be immediately silenced by Keith, who shouted at them.

"SILENCE. An Hour Later, Everyone Outside. No Exceptions," He shouted, silencing everyone, giving a warning look at every one. They all looked down the moment his cold eyes made eye contact with them; some even backed away.

After saying what he wanted to say, Keith turned around and left the big room the moment the door clicked, signaling that it was closed...

"Man, what the hell is his problem?" One moaned in annoyance before falling back on his bed as if he was dead.

"Ohhh, Samuel. Don't sleep; he will kill you if you are late," Connie warned him, trying to get him to stand up, nudging his shoulders. Samuel simply turned around, not answering his friend, dismissing him with a wave of his hands.

"Only five minutes," he said, with his eyes closed, already half-asleep.

Connie stopped trying to wake him up, and many others followed Samuel's example, falling back to sleep almost immediately. Naruto ignored them and decided to wear the rest of his uniform.

Same for some others. Naruto knew there must be a reason that Keith decided to wake them up an hour earlier than needed.

"Naruto?" Armin gave him a confused look, seeing him wearing his socks and then his boots.

Naruto turned to him, still trying to fit his feet in them. "I lost all my sleep. I might as well take a walk outside," Naruto said with a little shrug; Armin nodded in understanding while Eren was busy wearing his uniform.

As Naruto gingerly turned the doorknob, he stepped forward; outside was still complete darkness. Unable to discern his surroundings, he couldn't help but wonder how much longer until the sun's gentle rays would permeate the night's veil, illuminating the horizon he craved to see. As he cautiously ventured outside, a subtle yet invigorating breeze danced around him, causing a cascade of goosebumps to course through his body. Amidst this eerie stillness, the comforting symphony of crickets and birds serenaded him, their harmonious melodies guiding his path through the abyss. Step by step, his determination guided him closer to his destination until finally, Naruto found himself standing in the training yard.

As Naruto continued his vigorous run, his acute senses swiftly caught on to the presence of someone else. Curiosity sparked within him, compelling Naruto to redirect his focused gaze towards his own shoulder in order to gain visibility over his surroundings. To his surprise, he beheld Annie enthusiastically, matching his pace and determinedly closing the distance between them. Naruto decided to deliberately decelerate his own pace, allowing Annie the opportunity to catch up with him.

"Good Morning," Naruto greeted cheerfully, a wide grin adorning his face. He turned towards her, his eyes scanning her figure with intrigue. As the duo jogged around the vast field, their footsteps synchronizing, Naruto couldn't help but inquire, "You run every morning?" The sun's vibrant rays gradually extended above the horizon, casting a warm golden glow across the Training Corps area and infusing the atmosphere with a renewed sense of vitality and energy. The tranquil morning breeze tousled their hair.

"Yes. My father used to wake me up every morning to run." Annie answered with a small shrug.

"That's a good exercise, but I didn't really start training until a year ago," Naruto answered as they made a sharp turn to the left, still running at the same pace.

"To prepare for the Training Corps?" Annie asked; usually, she wouldn't really care to have any kind of conversation with him, but she figured it wouldn't be bad to talk while they ran as long as he didn't try to seek her out after the morning exercise.

"Yes, before deciding to join the military, I wanted to be a doctor, but The Colossal Titan happened," Naruto answered with a somewhat hushed voice. Annie didn't say anything to that; instead, she couldn't help but notice that Naruto did indeed have whiskers on his cheeks; yesterday, she hadn't paid attention to them, but right now, she could tell they were real and not something he painted on his face.

Annie's eyes went to the glasses hanging by Naruto's shirt; she wondered why he kept the glasses if he wasn't using them, but decided to keep her mouth shut; she wasn't here to make friends with anyone if anything, she should do everything to avoid making friends with anyone.

"Your father did a good job, did he teach you anything else?" Naruto suddenly asked, looking at Annie with the same friendly smile.

"He taught me hand-to-hand combat," Annie answered; usually, she wasn't someone to have any discussion with anyone, but talking about training and hand-to-hand combat was something she liked talking about; even Pieck had managed to become somewhat of a friend because of their discussion about training.

"Oh, I think tomorrow we will have combat training." Naruto let her know. She wondered how he knew that, but the thought of fighting excited her, even if she would probably be better than everyone else, at least in Hand-to-Hand combat.

"Let me guess, you want to test yourself against me?" Annie asked, but more like stating the obvious, she wondered how good he was; from the way he ran and did his push-ups, Annie quickly concluded that Naruto knew a thing or two about training in general.

"I Wouldn't mind. And you don't have to hole back; pain is something I Can manage." Naruto answered; Annie couldn't help but look forward to it, just so she could beat his ass, and perhaps he would leave her alone after that.

Later

Naruto managed without difficulty to do what was asked of him; he got up to salute once again. Thus giving him all the height necessary to see the extent of the disaster.

The cadets were all shaking in pain and collapsed one after the other without having managed to pass the bar of fifty push-ups. However, Mikasa and Annie weren't having problems. His eyes turned to Annie, who was a bit shorter than him. She was pretty impressive. He couldn't help but notice that she wasn't really trying.

Unfortunately, it looked like Shadis wasn't done yet:

"Arlert! How many push-ups have you done, you cockroach?!"

"T-twenty-six, sir," replied the little boy with shame and terror.

"Are you kidding me, you shit?!" roared the furious instructor. "Two chicks have already finished the exercise five minutes ago! What are you jerking off?!"

Naruto looked at Armin, wondering if he could help him somehow, something that didn't go unnoticed by Keith.

"Well, it looks like Naruto is pitying you, Arlert!" He sneered. "Naruto! Get your ass here and help him! For every push-up he fails to do, the other cadets will have to do two more! Understood ?!

"Yes, sir!"

Naruto walked up to him, but this time to help, he did something else, focusing on his hand; he felt his power flowing to his hand, and what seemed like strange blue mist covered his hand; Naruto wasn't sure what it was, but the moment he touched Armin's back, the mist disappeared and went into Armin.

Armin suddenly felt all the exhaustion disappear like flipping a switch; he quickly did the rest of the push-ups without any problems; as Naruto observed, he wondered just how much else he could do with his power.

I hope you all Enjoyed this Chapter. Naruto is discovering new abilities, and soon, his abilities will catch the eyes of someone.