The desert was silent.
Not peaceful.
Silent.
For miles in every direction, there was nothing but endless golden sand beneath a cloudless sky.
Then—
BOOM!
A massive crater appeared in the middle of the desert.
Sand erupted into the air.
Something moved inside the crater.
Two enormous golden eyes slowly opened.
“…Huh?”
The creature blinked.
He looked down.
Huge claws.
A massive body covered in tan fur.
A gigantic tail made entirely of sand.
He stared at himself.
Silence.
“…”
He looked left.
Then right.
Then down again.
His eyes widened.
“WHY AM I A GIANT TANUKI?!”
His voice echoed across the desert.
Several birds immediately fled.
Noel slowly sat down.
His enormous body caused the ground to tremble.
“Okay…”
He took a deep breath.
“Calm down.”
He tried to remember what happened.
His name was Noel.
He remembered his previous life.
He remembered Earth.
Anime.
Manga.
Games.
Naruto.
Then…
Nothing.
He had somehow reincarnated.
And judging by his appearance—
“…I’m Shukaku.”
The One-Tail.
Noel stared at his enormous paws.
“This is definitely not what I expected.”
Suddenly—
DING!
A translucent blue screen appeared in front of his face.
Noel froze.
“…A system?”
The screen displayed several lines.
[Character Template System Activated.]
[Host: Noel]
[Current Species: One-Tailed Beast — Shukaku]
[Primary Objective: Survive, develop, and establish your own civilization.]
Noel’s expression became blank.
“…Civilization?”
Another notification appeared.
[Additional Objective Detected.]
[Establish a sovereign nation.]
Noel stared at it.
“You’re telling me…”
He pointed at himself.
“I’m a giant sand monster…”
Then pointed toward the completely empty desert.
“…and you want me to build a country?”
[Correct.]
“…”
Noel covered his face with one enormous paw.
“This is going to be a lot of work.”
DING!
Another window appeared.
[Character Template Slot: 1]
[Available Template: Morax]
[Template Identity: Zhongli / Morax]
[Synchronization: 0%]
Noel’s eyes widened.
“Morax?”
The Geo Archon.
The Lord of Geo.
Zhongli.
The god who had ruled over Liyue for thousands of years.
Noel grinned.
“Okay.”
For the first time since waking up, he looked genuinely excited.
“Now we’re talking.”
The system continued.
[Important Rule]
[Templates do not replace the host’s identity.]
[Host remains Noel.]
[Template abilities, knowledge, and transformations will become available according to synchronization.]
Noel nodded.
“So I’m still me.”
[Confirmed.]
“And I don’t inherit Morax’s memories?”
[Confirmed.]
“Good.”
Noel looked toward the horizon.
“If I’m going to build a nation…”
His eyes narrowed.
“…I’m going to do it properly.”
The First Decision
Noel spent the next several hours exploring.
The desert seemed endless.
There were no cities.
No villages.
No armies.
No shinobi villages.
No familiar landmarks.
Eventually, Noel climbed onto a rocky plateau and looked across the horizon.
“This place is practically empty.”
He remembered Naruto’s timeline.
Something suddenly clicked.
“Wait…”
His expression changed.
“The other Tailed Beasts haven’t even been born yet.”
That meant something enormous.
He wasn’t simply early.
He was extremely early.
The future Tailed Beasts would eventually exist.
But for now?
No Kurama.
No Gyūki.
No Son Gokū.
No Saiken.
No Kokuō.
No Chōmei.
No Isobu.
No Matatabi.
No other siblings.
Noel was alone.
And according to what he remembered…
He had roughly two centuries before his siblings were born.
Noel slowly smiled.
“Two hundred years…”
He looked across the empty desert.
“That’s plenty of time.”
The system immediately responded.
[Nation-building phase initiated.]
[Recommended first step: Select territory.]
Noel looked around.
“This entire desert?”
[Too large for initial administration.]
“…Fair.”
He walked farther.
Eventually, he found something interesting.
A valley surrounded by rocky mountains.
At the center was a small natural spring.
Water.
Noel’s eyes lit up.
“Perfect.”
The surrounding mountains provided protection.
The valley had water.
The desert provided plenty of space.
And most importantly—
Nobody appeared to own it.
Noel planted one enormous paw into the ground.
“This will be the center.”
He smiled.
“Someday, this place will become a nation.”
The First Miracle
Noel looked at the tiny spring.
“…But this isn’t enough.”
His first citizens would need water.
Food.
Shelter.
Protection.
He needed more than a spring.
He needed an oasis.
Noel closed his eyes.
The Morax template was still at 0% synchronization.
But the system suddenly displayed something.
[Template synchronization can increase through actions compatible with the template.]
Noel raised an eyebrow.
“Actions compatible with Morax…”
He thought about what Morax represented.
Contracts.
Protection.
Civilization.
Building.
Order.
Creating a safe place for people.
Noel smiled.
“So that’s how I increase synchronization.”
He placed both hands against the ground.
His Shukaku chakra flowed through the earth.
The desert trembled.
BOOOOM!
Stone rose from beneath the sand.
A massive stone pillar erupted from the ground.
Noel stared.
“…That was easy.”
The system appeared.
[Synchronization: 0.1%]
Noel’s eyes widened.
“Only 0.1?!”
He looked at the enormous stone pillar.
“…This is going to take a while.”
😂
But Noel didn’t complain.
He continued.
Stone by stone.
Pillar by pillar.
He shaped the valley.
He redirected underground water.
He created reservoirs.
He carved irrigation channels through the desert.
And slowly—
The empty wasteland began to change.
A small oasis appeared.
Then another.
Green plants began growing around the water.
Noel stood at the center of it all.
For the first time…
The desert didn’t look completely lifeless.
Noel smiled.
“Not bad.”
The system appeared again.
[Founding Territory established.]
[Nation development: 1%]
Noel stared.
“Only one percent?”
He sighed.
“Yeah…”
He looked toward the horizon.
“…I’ve got a lot of work to do.”
Far away, beneath the desert sands, something ancient stirred.
The world had not noticed it yet.
But something had changed.
The One-Tail had awakened.
And unlike the future legends that would fear him…
Shukaku had decided to build a civilization.
To be continued…