[A/N: I'm back!! I've finished the first year of Mathis' academy life at Magia's School of Magic and Magicraft! This means I need to plan out the details of the next big saga and in the meantime, I'm writing a sort of interlude arc about his adventures around the nation during the two-month break til the new school year begins!
And this also means I have time to continue writing on this story!! The voting concluded that everybody wanted Dante to leave the One Piece world for now. While I got many interesting suggestions, I had to reject most of them because I don't know enough about their worlds, I'm sorry :'(
Enough about me, shall we take a look at what Dante is going to be doing next?]
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Sitting atop his throne above the spirit world, sat a being clad in gray fog hiding his appearance from those working around him. Not because he wished to keep his face hidden but because those around him didn't have the qualifications to look at his magnificent appearance. All those that lacked divinity would lose their mind from a single glance.
One should always remember: Never look directly at god!
A young boy was training vigorously while a tall young woman with two orange red horns sticking out of her head continued to advise him.
"Momonsuke! It's not about the force you use with each swing but rather the will you put into it! Remember the stronger the will the stronger the attack!"
Dante glanced towards the training duo, those observing him felt that he was looking at the core of their actions, judging them and evaluating their behavior. But imagination and reality rarely aligned.
'What is she talking about? Is she trying to teach him haki? How the hell is he supposed to understand that?!'
Dante left the two to their own discretion, he didn't bother much about Momonosuke's training. If need be he could always fool around and bring about his inner potential if necesseray.
'Now, I think it's time for me to move on to something else...' Dante waved his hand and the endless sea of red stars around him forcing them alive. Yamato and Momonosuke as well as Vegapunk and Kaido, stopped what they were doing and focused on the breathtaking sight of red stars floating around them. Each trying to earn the Lord of Mysteries' attention, wanting to be finally connected with him.
Alas, only one star would be lucky enough to establish such connection.
'Vegapunk could use an assitant, one who has his own experience in dabbling into the mysteries of the human body. Besides, I think it's time for me to gather my first subsidary god.' Another wave of Dante's hand and the stars surrounding him were all pushed back onto the gray canvas surrounding Sefirah Castle, all but one.
'I should make a plan this time... Winging it was kind of fun but also made it quite difficult for me to make the faith in the Fool coherent.'
A piece of parchment and an ancient quill appeared in front of Dante who scribbled down some notes, the goals he wishes to achieve and how he plans to introduce the Fool.
'If it follows the same strange changes from the One Piece world, the knowledge about me should already exist. Well this should work!' Dante looked proudly at text he scribbled down on the piece of parchment and nodded.
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He then looked at the bright red star waiting patiently for him. Dante stretched his hand out and with the barest of touches, a crimson explosion enveloped Sefirah Castle, once again startling the few people residing inside at the moment.
...
Amidst the falling rain a lone figure strolls along dirt roads. The figure was quite tall standing at 1.90m in height with long black that despite being tied behind his head was still slightly messy. A pair of earrings containing countless brilliant stars inside beautifully matched his handsome face.
His black shirt that flattered in the wind coupled with the black pants gave him an otherwordly appearance, the style of clothing not matching that of the people passing by. The short sleeves revealed an ensemble of intricate and detailed tattoos running down both his sleeves reaching up to his neck.
The figure walked slowly in the rain yet despite the rain drops hitting him, his clothes, skin and hair remained dry.
The figure continued to walk along the road until a faint light in the distance managed to gain his attention.
It didn't take long for the figure to reach the source of the light; a small fire near a cave entrance. The lone figure approached the fire until he managed to outline two other people enjoying the warmth of the fire while being kept dry thanks to the natural stone ceiling keeping the falling water at bay without needing to worry about the smoke.
"Hey there. I'm sorry to bother you, do you mind if I join you? Only until the rain stops." The figure addressed the young teen and the older man sitting next to each other.
The teen had short, spiky blonde hair and wore a black and orange track suit. His dumbfounded face adorned with whiskers nearly brought a chuckle to the lone figure. The one sitting next to the next to the teen however was a man he could respect.
He was of a similar stature than the lone figure wearing a green short kimono with matching pants with a red haori on top. His long spiky white hair that reached the ground were held in place by a silver headband with Konoho's symbol engraved on it.
The two adults locked eyes, each studying the other.
"Sure, sit down! We were about to grill some fish we caught, you want some as well?!" The white haired adult clapped at the ground motioning to the stranger to sit down.
"Thank you. I'll take you up on that offer!" As the lone figure sat down next to them, the bright fire illumating his appearance he introduced himself.
"I'm Sukuna by the way." Sukuna reached out for a handshake which the white haired man reciprocated.
"Nice to meet you Sukuna, I'm Jiraiya! And this twerp is Naruto!" Jiraiya pointed at the teen sitting next to him. Naruto didn't appreciate the fact he called him a twerp and retorted by called him a pervert.
Sukuna chuckled at the odd duo.
"Are the two of you on your way to Konoha?"
At the mention of their hometown the duo stopped their bickering turning serious.
"Yeah! I've trained for two years and I'm ready to aim for the Hokage spot! Believe it!"
Jiraiya could only shake his head at his student's antics.
But unlike what Naruto had expected, the stranger didn't belittle his dream nor did he say anything for that matter.
"I see." That was the only reply he got before Sukuna moved on to something else.
"Aren't you going to tell me that it's impossible?" Naruto was visibly confused. For all his life, every person he met and told his dream to would ridicule him, tell him that it was a dream that would never come true. And yet, this stranger he had never met before looked at him with confidance and acknlowedging his dream instead of putting it down.
It was Sukuna's turn to take a confused look.
"Why should I? Aren't dreams meant to be lofty? What purpose does a dream have if you can accomplish it with minimum effort? No... a man should always strive to reach the furthest star in sky! And once you reach it? You target the one even further away!"
Naruto looked in awe at Sukuna while Jiraiya nodded in approval, his oppinion on the stranger improving.
"But what if you target a dream that is too far away? One that you are unable to accomplish?" It was Jiraiya's turn to ask the stranger.
"Hmm... Then maybe you didn't put enough effort into it... But if you did, and still didn't manage to reach the end of your dream... Then make sure someone else carries it forward, as long as someone carries your will, your dream will live on."
Jiraiya was at a loss for words, he had failed to accomplish his dream. That's why he decided to nurture talents to fulfill the dream he was unable to, but he had always believed that doing so meant renouncing his dream.
After their little exchange about dreams, the three of them fell into a comfortable silence. They enjoyed the grilled fish and waited for the rain to stop. Some time later it finally stopped and the three packed everything together.
"Sukuna, are you planning on visiting Konoha?" Jiraiya inquired.
Sukuna turned towards the white haired shinobi and answered with a smirk.
"Yeah, I'm planning on opening up a shop."
Naruto, unable to contain his excitement, jumped forward bombarding him with questions.
"What type of shop?! And how are you going to sell stuff if you have nothing on ya?!"
Although Jiraiya didn't voice it, he had the same suspicions as his student.
"It's the magical kind." Sukuna flicked his wrist and black card appeared in his hand. It depicted a man wearing a clown's mask and a long black robe covering his entire body. In his hand was a staff that contained a myriad of stars inside, similar to Sukuna's earrings. The hand grasping the staff was covered in a pitch black glove. At the bottom of the card two words were written on it: The Fool.
"I'm planning to sell my services, it contains... a variety of services." Sukuna's cryptic smile meant the end of their conversation, even though Naruto didn't get the memo and continued pesquering him about more details.