Chapter 129: Naturalistic Savagery! Pt 3

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto's POV (Irminsul - Terra)

Suddenly, the smoke that had become Naruto's world disappeared. Exposing Naruto to a breathtaking view. There was a massive mass of land beneath him. Split into chunks of vibrant biomes, each much larger than the Leaf Village. Each was nature in a state Naruto had never seen. Plantlife covered everything it could with an endless thickness; flowers, bushes, shrubs, trees, and even the grass grew to absurd lengths. The mere strands of grass seemed to be taller than him. Regardless of kind, the trees were thick and as tall as easily rivaling the size of the most significant buildings Naruto had ever seen. But the biomes were all different; Naruto saw a massive sprawl of icy mountains with frozen rivers cutting through them, a gigantic swamp filled with spindly trees covered in moss and weeds, a forest much more significant and thicker than even the Leaf forest, a hilly sprawling dessert, a body of water that seemed to be a lake yet was the size of a small ocean, a flat plain seemingly holding only ludicrously long grass and thick curling trees. Naruto was stunned as the wind whipped violently at his face…

"Wait! Why am I seeing this from above?!" Naruto cried as he realized he was rapidly falling towards the massive swamp land he had seen before. "What the shit Muri! Hinata and Shino come here!" Naruto said he had to save those two. Sasuke's fancy-smancy teleport thing to save himself. But to his shock when he looked around to spot his friends they were nowhere in the sky. Panicked, they were lower Naruto focused but did not see them. 'Surely they must've just spawned elsewhere. Muri did say we'd likely be separated.'

'Shit, guess I'm on my own. Better find the others soon.' Naruto inwardly complained as he allowed his chakra to flow. With a flex of both of his hands, he called out. "Wind Style: Personal Atmosphere Level One!" He cried as wind chakra burst from him, wrapping around him and attempting to push up against his downward fall. But the momentum was simply too much! Naruto strained his jutsu, managing to slow his fall, but it wasn't enough! Realizing this, Naruto channeled a massive amount of wind chakra into both fists as he held both out as if to catch himself with them.

'New idea!' Naruto thought as he drew close to the middle of a massive river. Naruto waited until he drew precariously close to the swamp's murky waters. Then, with a mighty shove of both hands, he slammed his palms toward the water. A massive amount of wind nature chakra slammed into the water through its dark depths. This caused an enormous boom, and water shot up and rose in waves from all directions from the impact. Naruto could hear the crunch of the stone beneath the water. The force of which overwhelmed Naruto's falling speed enough to slow his descent to a slow fall. Naruto smiled as he willed the chakra to keep him afloat.

"Suck it swamp!" He roared victoriously. "You can't get one over on Naruto Uzumaki!" Feeling quite satisfied with his survival, he scanned his surroundings. Long trees covered in vines and other plant life protruded from the water. The water itself seemed nearly black, with thick moss and weeds being present throughout. Naruto pulsed his chakra and was stunned at what he felt. Their tracking techniques were useless… there was simply too much chakra… it was absurd. The chakra in the air seemed to bristle; Naruto swore he could feel it in the wind against his skin. It would be nearly impossible to track each other without it running interference. Though Naruto supposed Muri had been confident he could find them… either way, he had no intention of staying in the swamp. The constant sound of buzzing insects and the deep, pungent smell were annoying. And with the moist air and beaming sun, it was hotter than hell. Naruto shot off towards the nearest tree, quickly landing on one of the higher branches. 'Better stick to the trees, they say wet mud can be as deadly as quicksand. I guess I should find some high ground so I can scan the area. Can't waste time waiting, Muri said they could be in peril.' Naruto decided before he heard a loud whooshing of water and air. Naruto turned around with a raised brow to see only a massive maw of teeth flying toward him. "Shi-" Naruto started to cry before the gigantic jaws of death slammed shut, attempting to swallow him whole.

Naruto appeared a short distance away on a branch of another tree, substituting to avoid being dinner. He looked at the tree to see it falling and a massive giant reptile smashing into the water. It looked similar to a lizard but much larger and more aggressive than any Naruto had seen. Its entire body was covered in thick scales, the top portion thick and sharp, and its long body was dense and dark green, making it difficult to spot in the water. "Was that a giant lizard!" He cried in shock. His senses screamed danger, and Naruto drew Riptide as he leaped to another branch. Watching as a smaller than the first creature missed another dive, though being smaller wasn't much. The first was easily the size of a large building, this one was merely a small building. Naruto cursed as watched the two hungry gators, seemingly focused on attempting to eat the blonde. But suffered the same as the first, crashing into the murky bottom below.

"To think a mere human would dare roam in our swamp. As well as being brazen enough to disturb it." A deep voice sounded from somewhere in the water. 

"We are not lizards! That is even worse than calling us alligators. We are the crocodiles of this swamp. Besides, brother, Is that a human?" The smaller one rumbled. Its voice was deep and warbly. As if speech was difficult for it. "I've never seen one. Is he one of those… um…"

"Shinobi is the word," the other one boomed. "Though to us he is mere prey, the chakra-enhanced ones are said to be extra tasty. Call the others, and we shall crush him and use him as a garnish." The bigger one answered. Naruto could not see where they were within the deep water, but their voices echoed out of it.

"Yeah, not intending to die, so, not really down to be eaten, ya know? Maybe find a deer or whatever you "crocodiles" normally eat. I'm just in search of other humans. Have you seen any?" Naruto asked, smiling wide.

The two apparent "crocodiles" emerged to the surface of the water. Each was roughly the size of a small carriage or boulder. "He's showing us his tiny teeth!" the smaller, apparent little brother said. "Our food intends to fight back!" Panicking, he raised his tail and slammed it three times. In mere seconds, rushing water was heard as the two soon became four. The two new ones were even larger, nearly twice as much.

"My sons, you better have a good reason to call us. Your mother and I had nearly cornered some rabbit clan members." The largest of the four and father boomed.

"It is rare to catch them, though I see they made an interesting discovery." The mother's voice was just as deep and hard to identify. "It has been thousands of years since a human stepped foot into the Irminsul Wildlands, let alone our new swamp."

"Let's feed upon his bones~!' The runt of the group cheered.

"Indeed." The older sibling agreed.

"SILENCE, SONS!" The father roared furiously. There was a pause as the father considered the situation.

'So I fell from the sky and landed in a swamp infested with overgrown lizards. Even more confusing, they are now arguing about whether or not to eat me… what are the odds…?' Naruto thought with a deadpan as he stared at the group. Content to let them bicker, he stayed in place, it was rather funny to the blonde.

"Human." The father called…