Chapter 40

"I expected your answers, but I am still disappointed in your hypocrisy and cowardice. You overlook the human beings involved in torture and genocides but have a problem when I do something similar. Unlike them, I am actually bringing a good change to the world and not harming the innocent lives.

You should hear yourselves, you sound like children afraid of the dark instead of adults. You are already aware of the result and you are aware of my backing, but you still insist on pointless conflict. Do you not see that I am master of the new era, and the world has recognized my authority? In the end, I am one of you. I will allow you another chance to step down, my friends, and avoid an avoidable punishment." Naruto didn't attack the group and stood like heroic figure with his white cape blowing in the wind as he said his piece. The armor disappeared from his body and everyone witnessed his real appearance.

Naruto was confident enough to finally show his appearance. Without Gaea's support, he might have hidden for a longer time but now he didn't need it. He was satisfied with his power level and knew that it was enough to stand strong on Earth. The guardians had already known about Naruto's connection with Gaea; however she was a chaotic neutral entity most of the time. So, they hadn't trusted him because of Gaea.

Though, it had made his piece about Will of Humanity more factual.

None of them believed that Naruto was Will of Humanity since they had captured some of his energy and analyzed it. They broke it down to Chakra and Nature energy. For a will of humanity, the creature lacked many forces and abilities that humanity owned. Nonetheless, it wasn't easy to deny that he could still be the Will. Even if he wasn't, he was still a very powerful creature with various abilities.

Seeing his appearance was shocking as most of them had thought he might have been an alien. His appearance was perfect and matched his enchanting voice. It was especially effective on the female heroes.

His words and appearance made the guardians hesitate, especially those who wanted to support him. Within a few moments of silence, someone took the first step. It was Sandstorm; he walked to Naruto's side after looking at their location. They were on Neptune where Naruto had created an Island for them to stand on and the Island was covered in a barrier that made everyone feel like it was Earth.

Sandstorm had been thinking about Naruto from the beginning and when he appeared he was further attracted to him. The fact that Naruto didn't get angry at their refusal and kill them was a good point. The final deal maker was the fact that he still continued to give them a chance when it was obvious that majority of them wouldn't survive a single move from him.

Sandstorm wasn't the only one as Cascade also joined Naruto's side. She had been living in Indonesia and other countries around it. She was aware how corrupt the government was and how that corruption had sunk into society itself. The task of cleaning the mind of the people was beyond her capabilities as she wasn't a good speaker. Seeing Naruto change the character of the suspicious and vile human beings of Gotham was a great indicator of his abilities. Cascade was fully convinced that Naruto was the Emperor that the people had been waiting for.

Ice Maiden and Green Fire also stepped forward as they all had bad feelings for the current system. Naruto's words reminded them of the suffering that they had overlooked. He was right, the system was killing Innocents and they had done nothing while he was only killing evil criminals that refused to change.

There was more than enough reason to believe his words. His actions and words won their hearts. Ice also liked that he talked to them in a friendly manner, like a close friend.

Doctor Must didn't stop them from going to Naruto's side and observed the situation carefully so that they weren't harmed. Naruto greeted them happily and gave them a hug, thanking them for making a good decision. He even spoke some good words in to their ears that made them all extremely happy. It was most likely about changes that must have taken place while they were occupied.

Seeing all this made the other members awkward, they felt like they were the aggressors in the situation as the other side was being patient and didn't even want to harm them. Doctor Mist also felt inclined towards Naruto after hearing his words, but wanted to be absolutely sure.

'Let us see how he fights us and what happens after it.' Doctor Mist shared his thoughts with others and they agreed.

"I see, you have made your mind. Then, let me oblige with your desire." Naruto muttered as he looked at them, knowing their thoughts.

Clapping his hands, the guardians saw people appear around them. They were the villains that had vanished and it seems they were now servants of the Emperor.

"Fighting weak beings is beneath my position, you have to remember that. So, prove your point and achieve victory against my servants. Fight without any worries, as none of you shall die under my care." Naruto declared as he took flight and the armor returned, the guardians that followed him were covered in a golden barrier and were seated so they could watch the show from above.

On the Island, Naruto had brought his team.

Konan, Red Hood, Killer Croc (King Croc), Killer Frost, Livewire, Poison Ivy (Green Queen), Mister Freeze, White Rabbit, Clayface (Earth King), Firefly, Man-Bat, Volcana (Phoenix) and finally Toyman. There were thirteen fighting type members on his team and with Black Mask, there were fourteen. That was almost the same number of the guardians, but now they outnumbered them.

"I would have loved to give you a fair fight, but the world isn't really fair." Naruto said as he sat down on his throne and gave his command for the fight to start.

Doctor Mist had thought they would fight Naruto, but now they were fighting more enemies. He had planned to go for Naruto directly, however he assumed it was better to take out the others before going for Naruto since they could provide backup in a serious battle.

None of these people were supposed to be strong as his team and he could easily take care of them. However, Emperor had confidence in them so he didn't take them lightly.

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Caitlin Snow was Killer Frost, a scientist with cryogenic powers. Though she started out as a villain, she had since reformed.

Caitlin Snow was a young and bright scientist working for S.T.A.R. Labs assigned to an underfunded S.T.A.R. Labs Outpost #72 in the Arctic Circle, where the deceased researcher Dr. Louise Lincoln had been working on a Self-Sustaining Thermodynamic Ultra conductor Engine that could subvert the second law of thermodynamics in order to create perpetual motion. Caitlin became interested in continuing Lincoln's work, in spite of her colleagues warning her against it.

When Caitlin succeeded in finishing the S.T.U. engine, her colleagues turned on her and revealed themselves to be working for H.I.V.E., as they were expected to ensure that the engine was never made public in order to protect H.I.V.E.'s investments in the energy industry. Furthermore, they were also responsible for Lincoln's death, and they then proceeded in silencing Caitlin by placing her in the working S.T.U. engine. In a panic, Caitlin ripped out the wires for the engine's coolant system, consequently infusing her biological makeup with ice. As a result, she became a vampiric being who craved for heat, and killed the H.I.V.E. agents.

After carrying out her vengeance, Caitlin continued to search for other sources of heat; she attacked a Norwegian research camp and stole their helicopter to fly to her hometown of Pittsburgh, where she encountered and fought Firestorm. While fighting Firestorm, Caitlin discovered that Firestorm's powers could temporarily heal her condition, and devoted her time to seeking and confronting him. She soon learned about the Firestorm Matrix and attempted to recreate it.

Caitlin was about to be captured by the Suicide Squad when Pamela came to the rescue. She led Snow to Naruto, who gave her the cure she had been looking for and she gave her loyalty in return. Snow now didn't need to steal heat from others and lived with her powers peacefully. Her ice abilities had been enhanced to a very high level and she was on Naruto's science team.

Snow was a passionate and persistent woman with deep curiosity. And, she wasn't a true villain as she just kept looking for a cure.

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Leslie Willis was Livewire, electricity manipulating super-villain and former video blogger. She primarily fought against Superman although she had gone up against the likes of Batgirl. Leslie Willis was an ordinary video blogger based in Metropolis; her blog mainly consisted of funny pranks and makeup tutorials. Although her pranks were normally harmless she eventually planned a prank that would go too far. Leslie designed a device which would allow her to control all of the electricity in Metropolis once set up to the main power station of the city.

She managed to break into the power station and hook up her device to the power grid; she then recorded herself as she prepared to pull her prank. However as she prepared to pull the lever to activate the device, her invention was taken away by Superman. Angered by the sabotage of her prank, Leslie decided to settle with turning the power off which would leave Metropolis in complete darkness. However when she turned the switch off she received a gigantic electric shock which put her into a coma.

When she awoke she found that she was a creature of pure electricity. Seeking revenge on Superman for the condition she was in, she fought the hero several times under the moniker Livewire. Eventually with the help of Batman, Superman was able to create a containment cell capable of holding Livewire in her electrical form. Livewire was captured by the two heroes and transported to Stryker's Island Penitentiary where she was supposed to serve out her prison time.

Naruto found about her place of imprisonment and got her out. Livewire was a hotheaded and narrow minded woman that was extremely selfish and self serving. She loved to joke around and wished to become famous.

Pranking was the only thing she knew about, and thought it would make her famous on YouTube like the other big guys.

Naruto's offer to make her famous very attractive especially because he allowed her the ability to become a normal human again, plus she didn't want to die at his hands.

His looks and charm was another point, so she was taken like the rest of the women under Naruto. Her powers went through the roof once Naruto gave her the boost.

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The final new member of the team was Toyman. Winslow Schott was the Toyman, an enemy of Superman who used toys as weapons. While growing up in the United Kingdom, Winslow Percival Schott discovered that he had a knack for toy-making and took an interest in testing his own creative talents. The very first toy he ever constructed was a humble toy biplane, made from balsa wood and painted red and blue. Sadly, the neighborhood bully took the opportunity to abuse the sensitive Schott and stole his wooden biplane, infuriating the boy whose skills had just gone to waste. Nevertheless, Schott was not discouraged from making a future career for himself as a toymaker; in fact, Schott became world-renowned for his brilliant toy designs while running his own modest, small business. Then came the day when unscrupulous businessman Walter Dunhill, the owner of an arms manufacturer, came to Schott with the proposition of purchasing his technologically advanced toy designs for usage in weapons development. Horrified by the suggestion, Schott refused, but the death of his wife Mary in an automobile accident, probably arranged by Dunhill, caused Schott to give in from resignation and sell his business and designs. In actuality, Schott was never legally married in any way or form and created "Mary" as a humanlike android programmed to act as if she were his wife. Regardless, "Mary" was very much real to Schott, motivating him to take his revenge on Dunhill by sending him an exploding teddy bear that killed him. Subsequently, Schott went on to embark on a criminal career as the nefarious Toyman.

The Toyman then made a failed attempt to assassinate Lex Luthor, whose company LexCorp owned Walter Dunhill's arms manufacturing company as a subsidiary, by using first an exploding model of a LexCorp flying wing and then a horde of exploding action figures. By the time Superman located Toyman's apartment, however, the Toyman had been kidnapped by Morgan Edge, who brought Toyman into the employ of his crime organization Intergang. When he resurfaced a while later, Toyman tried to use robotic toys to kidnap the children of LexCorp executives, but Superman thwarted this scheme. Toyman was also deceived into helping build the Happyland Amusement Park under the false belief that it was intended for the sole purpose of bringing happiness to children, yet when Toyman learned that the amusement park was really a front for an operation headed by the Apokoliptian monster Sleez, he assisted his enemy Superman in bringing the true clandestine goings-on at the park down.

After escaping prison and changing his image (prompted by a voice in his head, which he identified as the voice of his mother), Toyman abducted several children in Metropolis, including Adam Grant, the son of Cat Grant. When Adam tried to free the others, Toyman murdered them all and dumped their bodies in an alley in Suicide Slum. Superman caught him and brought him in. While he was in prison, Cat Grant thought about killing him but ultimately decided not to.

Months after her son's death, Cat decided to visit Schott in prison and discover why he had turned into a child killer. Toyman explained that it was entirely the children's fault. After being arrested for helping Intergang, Toyman had been approached by a toy manufacturer, who made Superman-based toys, for permission to use Toyman's image as a toy. Schott would not receive any royalties, but he agreed nonetheless, ecstatic at the thought of being made into an actual toy. For the better part of a year, Schott then tried to get a hold of the toy manufacturer, hoping that at the very least he would get a copy of the toy. No response came. Eventually, Schott was allowed to be part of a prisoner work program, mopping floors at a local mall after dark. Coming to one of the toy stores, he found his toy in among the many other Superman toys, but not one of them had been sold, despite having been marked down to dirt-cheap prices. Schott snapped, and after strangling his guard, escaped and tracked down the toy manufacturer, demanding an explanation. The toy manufacturer explained that the children simply did not want him, having no desire to play with a toy that looked like a clown instead of a serial killer. After murdering the man, Schott began to hear the voice of his "mother" and decided to make children pay.

Zatanna had tried to fix his mind and only made it worse. Prior to having Zatanna foul up his mind, Schott had already begun hearing his mother's voice while he was in jail. It had since been revealed that the Toyman was not the real Winslow P. Schott but rather a malfunctioning android proxy designed by him. Nonetheless, the real Toyman did suffer from very real psychological illness and delusions (but never when reaching the point of injuring or killing children, as the duplicate did). This was proven by his wholehearted conviction that his android creation "Mary Schott" was actually his legitimately married wife and his paranoid insistence on distrusting other individuals aged over 17.

Locating the real Toyman was very hard job, but Naruto had been looking through the minds of everyone so he found the clues and matched them to locate the man. After punishing him for his crimes, Naruto recruited him to create even better toys that could help the children of the new era. The man had exceptional intellect to create such marvelous inventions and especially the ability to create an A.I. of such a level.

Just like the rest, Toyman saw Naruto's vision and was entranced by it. He was happy that the Emperor was also very creative when it came to toys and wished to create such things.

In his life, he had finally found the investor that was truly wishing for the development of the bets toys. He had joined just one week before the battle and had already started working on new projects to make the children happy.

Naruto liked children as they were the future and they were just so adorable. He wanted them to love him and in turn it would affect the others around them and they would support him in the future. Naruto never forgot to cover every point, as he even made cartoons for little kids and nursery rhymes.

Naruto gave Toyman the knowledge about puppetry from his world and gave him the power to make such powerful toys. With his level of intellect, Toyman didn't take more than a week to create two masterpieces called Puppetmon and Monzaemon.

Puppetmon looked like a wooden puppet with a iron mallet while Monzae was a giant yellow teddy bear.

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Getting back to the battle, Red Hood took command of the team according to Naruto's wish. He hadn't wanted to fight the heroes but he understood Naruto's point and agreed wholeheartedly. The heroes needed to follow or they needed to step out of the game so they didn't become a nuisance.

Red Hood had expected that Naruto wouldn't participate from the moment he had been informed of his leader position. However, he wasn't alarmed and felt happy to receive such honor. In the previous month, he had calmed down and found a leader in Naruto. He saw hope of Batman becoming whole again, so he just wanted to get close to that date soon.

Though, he did wish that Joker was actually evil and wished that the madman would deny the second chance so that Naruto would kill him. However, he knew Joker was insane and he would most likely get spared after being healed of his insanity.

Looking at the enemies, Red Hood picked the targets for each member. Most of the Guardians would be taken down fast so the team could focus properly on the strongest members later.

'Black Mask, take down Crimson Fox. Do it fast and then provide assistance to the others.'

'Konan, Livewire and Phoenix take care of Doctor Mist.'

'Killer Frost and Mister Freeze, take care of Rising Sun.'

'Green Queen, take care of Olympian.'

'King Croc, take out Tasmanian Devil and provide support to Green Queen.'

'Firefly and Earth King, take out Godiva.'

'Toyman and White Rabbit take care of Thunder Lord and give support against Doctor Mist.'

'Man-Bat, follow me and we will take out Chrysalis.'

"Team, move out!" Red Hood announced as he raced towards his target with his new powers and equipment.

Green Queen acted first as she created a whole forest under the Guardians that was put to flames by Phoenix.

Man-Bat flew through the air faster than Jason and flapped his wings, creating huge tornadoes around that mixed with the flames.

Doctor Mist was forced to block the attack with his magic barrier while Livewire showered it with a lightning storm. It took his attention as Earth King used the land to move the other heroes away from him.

Doctor Mist saw the mistake and wanted to bring them back, but he was forced to focus on his opponents as his vision was covered by a storm of millions of paper that exploded. The strong attacks made it hard to give support to his team, but he managed to provide magical enhancement and protection to them.

In the team, Black Mask had the easiest foe. Crimson Fox was unlucky that she specialized in pheromone control when Green Queen had already spread her own pheromones to counteract that possibility.

In the start, he only had the power of a normal superhuman. However, after his achievements he had inherited the power of shadows. His old appearance melted away as darkness covered his body and showed his new appearance as the Shadow Lord.

He became taller and muscular with a dark armor and a huge blade. His head was still in the shape of a skull and it was burning with blue flame to give him a demonic appearance.

"Apologies my beautiful lady, but allow me to introduce you to the darkness of the world." Shadow Lord smiled gleefully as he was finally able to use his new powers in combat. Appearing from the shadows, Shadow Lord dragged Crimson Fox into the darkness.

It was a combat style that Naruto formed after combining the Nara clan shadow control with the abilities from the Grudge. The Grudge had heavily contributed to his dark powers increasing along with Zatara who had fought against the Great Darkness.

It was unfortunate but Crimson Fox was taken out of the battlefield and could provide no resistance as she was trapped in a dark pool, with only Doctor Mist's protection keeping her safe.

Following Crimson Fox, Tasmanian devil was the second to fall. King Croc had grown in height and power during the month and it was too much for his opponent to contend with.

King Croc looked like a giant bi-pedal crocodile with golden armor and he stood 5 meter tall while his tail was two meters. His muscular frame made Tasmanian devil look small.

Like a speeding train, King Croc crashed into his foe while using water to slide towards him. King Croc also used water around his foe to keep him chained, giving him an immobile foe to tackle.

Tasmanian Devil was sent flying as King Croc crashed into his body with a shoulder strike and was further hit by a lighting attack from Livewire.

"That was mine!" King Croc roared towards his teammate who laughed at him. Ignoring the interference, King Croc continued his assault and dragged Tasmanian into the water where he trapped him in a water prison.

The beast like man soon lost unconscious and sunk into the water, but Naruto retrieved him along with Crimson Fox.

Following Tasmanian Devil, it was Thunder Lord who was fighting against two powerful foes. White Rabbit alone was too much for him as she could move faster than his sound attacks but Toyman's puppets were also too much.

Only his exceptional martial arts abilities helped him survive the battle for than a moment. White Rabbit, released her pheromones to confuse him but the man was resolute and was able to resist her temptations.

He also survived the poison attack from Toyman's puppets and used his sound attacks to shatter their bones.

Thunder Lord could release sound attacks and control their vibrations to break down even metals, so he was definitely a powerful foe that had completely utilized his powers to their best. However, the information was already known about him and the team avoided his attacks.

White Rabbit went for direct combat while avoiding his sound attacks. She was a master of illusions and they worked wonders on him.

Running around the foe, White Rabbit constructed an illusion of the current battlefield but made it impossible for Thunder Lord to see their proper position and gave him wrong visual and audio data through it.

This made Thunder Lord act like he had grown crazy, as he was attacking the wind while the Royal Knights were free to take him out.

Puppetmon came in like a wrecking ball and smashed his ballistic mallet on his back, and sent him flying. The explosive attack that could have destroyed a skyscraper with ease destroyed his clothes and burned his skin along with damaging his internals.

White Rabbit followed the attack with a flying kick to his abdomen, further damaging him. Though he managed to put up his arms up and screamed at White Rabbit in retaliation.

She was still too fast for the attack and moved out of range while Thunder Lord was again hit by a Shoulder tackle from the giant Teddy Bear that made him continue flying. He was severely injured and throwing up blood so White Rabbit caught his arm and smashed him into the ground while breathing into his face, making him lose consciousness.

White Rabbit looked around the battlefield and decided to provide support to Red Hood while Toyman followed the plan and went to support the fighters against Doctor Mist.

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Red Hood didn't have the full information about Chrysalis so the battle took longer to finish and she ended being extremely dangerous to them because of her disease ability.

Man-Bat had covered up Chrysalis with his tornadoes, blocking her mobility and vision. However, the robotic fairy had been able to smash through the powerful wind barriers and crashed into Man-Bat.

The robotic fairy had gone ballistic as she had been given the command to eliminate all enemies since the group didn't think she would survive the battle.

Red Hood shot with his new weapons that could shoot at Mach 50 and had the power to plow through tanks with ease. His mini machinegun shot at a fast rate and saved Man-Bat from being history as Chrysalis had almost pierced his head with her drill like hand.

The bullet fire made Chrysalis block the attack with her wings and allowed Man-Bat to release a sonic scream that pushed away his assailant.

Following that attack, Red Hood used his rocket launcher and shot the fairy. The metallic fairy shot a laser, destroying the hypersonic weapon.

Analyzing the opponents, she changed her combat style and the battle became terrible for Red Hood. Releasing lasers from her shining wings, she caught both heroes into a trap as she released small butterflies in the openings of the laser field.

Man-Bat was the first one to get hit and he found his wings going through necrosis almost instantly. Red Hood reacted fast and cut of the wings with his blade while dropping miniature bombs around his foe.

The explosion rocked the battlefield but their opponent was unharmed and it was fortunate that White Rabbit joined them.

Red Hood understood that the fairy had never used her real abilities before this fight and she was one of the strongest foes in the battlefield.

'White Rabbit, this is not suitable for us. Shift to Doctor Mist with Man-Bat, we will let Konan handle Chrysalis.'

Red Hood commanded as he started running away from the robotic murder fairy that almost killed them with her powerful lasers. Papers formed a wall in front of them and stopped the attack.

Konan flew away from Doctor Mist once she heard Red Hood. The battle with wizard master wasn't easy and it wasn't ending any time soon, but Konan was able to make clones unlike the others.

She wasn't the strongest on the team as that went to Green Queen, but Konan was without a doubt the forth strongest on the team. Livewire and Killer Frost were second and third as their abilities were already extremely powerful before Naruto's blessing.

Konan had grown through Naruto's blessing and got even more power through the Sage Mode. Her base strength had been upgraded to Pain's level, meaning she was a city buster in base. With Sage Mode, she had grown to Country level.

The month had been very productive and she had become closer to Naruto. She saw him as a friend and lost her dark thoughts that demanded her life. He had given her the attention and shown her the way to a positive life style.

He had blessed her without any prejudice even though she was replaceable to him. Konan planned to give him the Rinnegan after the battle as he proved that even against resistance; he made no compromise and fought to change the world. He didn't kill the heroes that denied him. He was worthy of being the leader, and not a hypocrite.

Like an unstoppable force, Konan wrapped Chrysalis with her paper bombs in multiple layers and pushed her into the ground while detonating the bombs below. Chrysalis lost her legs and wings, damaging her system and was grounded by the remaining papers.

Konan continued with her support and attacked Godiva who was having a hard fight against Firefly and Earth King. She had managed to hurt both fighters and would have won easily if Shadow Lord hadn't provided assistance with his shadow binding ability. It made Godiva immobile and almost cost her the battle. Unfortunately, she used her hairs to fight so she was able to block the attack and continued to fight even with Shadow Lord disturbing her flow.

Konan wrapped her up in the paper bombs as Earth King and Shadow Lord gave her the opportunity. She focused on the attacks from the three troublemakers and didn't realize the paper bombs invisible to the eye.

Godiva could continue fighting with her hair but Konan exploded the few bombs on her legs and arms. It was not a pretty sight as Godiva screamed from the pain. Her limbs shattered and she lost consciousness from the immense pain.

Her screams disturbed Olympian and made him enraged while the team members focused on helping out against Doctor Mist.

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A.N. Hope you enjoyed