Hong Meiling Sleepwalks Through the Heavens

It was about afternoon when Hong Meiling sleepwalked into the world of Naruto. After working tirelessly for about half a day, an endless darkness had already enveloped the entire village.

Since Meiling’s dishes were… different from what the other chefs were used to, coupling with the fact that she will only remain here for a short period, the innkeeper set a few ground rules for her – when customers order new dishes introduced by Meiling, she will go into the kitchen to help with both preparation and cooking; if nobody orders these new dishes, she may rest and chat with her colleagues.

It was about nine in the evening, and the inn stopped providing dinner. There was still room service for supper, but Meiling’s dishes were rich in oil and spice, which, obviously, aren’t great as midnight snacks, so they were excluded from the supper menu.

In other words, she was done with her work for the day.

She spent most of her time in the kitchen, but the new dishes introduced in the menu barely piqued the customers’ interests. Hence, Meiling spent most of her time in the kitchen simply chatting and joking around with her colleagues, so it was relatively carefree.

Nine o’clock at night was a great time to get off work, and Meiling planned to take a stroll around the Hidden Eddy Village to appreciate the village’s night life before resting.

Although the Hidden Eddy Village was not as powerful as the Five Great Shinobi Villages, it could be considered the most powerful village under them. They didn’t have legendary shinobis like Hanzō of the Salamander, but they still are as strong in terms of power as Amegakure, also known as the Hidden Rain Village.

Moreover, Hidden Eddy has a geographical advantage over Hidden Rain, and Hidden Eddy’s villagers were kind in heart. The village elders here hold mild policies and attempt to uphold pacifism to the best of their abilities. Therefore, Hidden Eddy is still relatively prosperous and held good reputation.

The sky was dark, but children still frolicked around and chased after each other in the brightly lit streets of Hidden Eddy; couples still shopped together, hand-in-hand; clothing stores, florists, and restaurants were still bustling with activity; ramen stalls that bickered with conversation; laughter and cheers within the bars…

Meiling walked into some of these stores to see the delicate trinkets and souvenirs that were available.

Occasionally, she would see ninjas patrolling down the streets, but the overall atmosphere and night life in the village is harmonious.

Despite how cheerful and carefree the scene was, she couldn’t help but feel anxious, and felt a chill run down her spine. She knew the plot of Naruto very well – sooner or later, the Hidden Eddy Village will be besieged by a coalition of villages, leaving nothing behind.

Children ran past her with gleeful laughter, and she couldn’t help but feel sad thinking about the doomed fate of Hidden Eddy. There is nothing I can do, and I don’t know how long I will be in this world. If only I could help them…

She continued to wander about the streets for an hour and a half. Later, she returned to the inn and entered her room, which was assigned to her by the owner of the inn.

Meiling took a glance into her mind to check her remaining Dream Energy, and the counter displayed 96/100.

It has been less than half a day since she sleepwalked here, and only four points of Dream Energy were consumed. With a rough estimation, she guessed that she will remain here for ten days more.

Meiling sighed as she sat on her bed. She recalled that, in her previous life, she would have to rush to work almost every day before her illness struck. After entering into Gensokyo and taking over the body of Hong Meiling, she had to guard the gate to the Scarlet Devil Mansion all day and all night (though, she was given the privilege of sleeping on the job and slacking off). Now, in the world of Naruto, she has to work as a chef for a living.

No matter where I am, even across worlds, I can’t escape work.

Of course, with how strong I am, I can get money easily.

She remembered seeing businessmen leaving the village under a few ninjas’ protection, and clearly, those ninjas were not very strong. If I robbed them, I would definitely succeed! And I can spend all the money I want in this village like nothing happened!

She shook her head and brushed off her malicious thoughts. What am I thinking? I am Hong Meiling – just and true!

She knew that she would only remain in this world for about ten days, so there wasn’t any need to cause any trouble. Yes! I’ll just work and earn enough money to tour around Hidden Eddy Village! That would make this little vacation worthwhile!

Drowsiness began washing over her like a tide as she dreamt about her plans to tour around the village. Laying down, she was ready to shut her eyes and welcome the new day tomorrow.

As she shut her eyes, however, she remembered that, although this world is real, she entered via dreaming. Doesn’t this technically mean that she’s currently dreaming?

If I dream in my sleep, does that mean I’m dreaming inside of a dream…?

Swirling in her thoughts, she fell into a deep sleep.

…

Her eyes opened groggily once more. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she checked her remaining Dream Energy –  92/100.

Meiling wondered if sleeping would replenish her Dream Energy, but it seems that the answer was no – Dream Energy will still deplete as time goes by.

She got up and combed through her hair, ready to start a new day.

Although her current job as a chef was a bit boring, she still felt that it was infinitely more interesting than just standing guard outside the Scarlet Devil Mansion. At least she had colleagues to chat with here.

However, it seems that her wishes unintentionally came true. At about two or three o’clock in the afternoon, the inn’s owner rushed into the kitchen and slammed open the doors, asking all the chefs to gather in the lobby.

Meiling hurriedly walked over to the lobby, and was surprised to see that all the guests and other staff were gathered there too.

Standing in front of everyone was a ninja with red hair, and his eyes were stained with anxiety and uneasiness.

Ninjas, to Meiling’s knowledge, should be calm in all situations; they absolutely cannot afford to be emotional. If a ninja had trouble hiding their emotions, that means something very, very bad is about to happen.

Meiling felt her heart drop at the realization. No…

Sure enough, the ninja began to speak to everyone in a solemn tone, “We have received intel that an army, composing of ninjas from multiple villages, are heading towards us right now. A war may be about to break out.”

The crowd erupted into murmurs and gasps, but the ninja continued, “This inn has been designated as Refuge Point One, and we will be evacuating villagers over to this inn when needed. An elder has also appointed four ninjas, including me, to protect this inn.”

Fear was visible in everyone’s eyes.

Meiling knew what each and everyone one of them were thinking: But it can’t be! We’re pacifists, and we have little experience in war! Why are there multiple villages attacking us?

Even the phrase ‘composing of ninjas from multiple villages’ was horrifying to hear.

There were other travelers in the lobby, and all of them were thinking of how to evacuate from here as soon as possible.

At this moment, a female ninja walked in, but her eyes seemed calmer compared to the ninja who broke the news. Seeing everyone’s panic, she raised her hand, as if to comfort everybody in the lobby, “Don’t worry, the elders have sent people to the Hidden Leaf Village to request for backup. I believe that we will be safe when the time comes.”

After she spoke, everybody visibly relaxed. The Hidden Eddy Village and the Hidden Leaf Village are allies, so now that Hidden Eddy is in trouble, surely, Hidden Leaf will come and provide aid.

Plus, the Hidden Leaf Village is incredibly strong – as long as they lend a helping hand, even the threat of the terrifying ninja coalition sounded tame.

Meiling, however, knew that the situation was far from what the optimistic villagers thought.

Hidden Leaf’s reinforcements will be too late, she shivered. By the time they arrive, Hidden Eddy will be buried underneath history.

Even if Hidden Eddy defends against the attack with all their might, Hidden Leaf’s reinforcements will still not arrive until Hidden Eddy is completely destroyed, despite how close the two villages were in terms of geographical location.

Many Naruto fans speculate that Hidden Leaf deliberately arrived late to ensure Hidden Eddy’s destruction.

Hidden Eddy Village specializes in powerful sealing techniques, and they are even able to seal powerful beasts. With such powerful techniques in the hands of one single village, even Hidden Leaf, who is their ally, may feel threatened by it.

Regardless, it is impossible to expect Hidden Leaf’s reinforcements to arrive in time.

Meiling couldn’t help but grumble in her heart. Yesterday, she was just lamenting about Hidden Eddy’s inevitable destruction, but she never expected the war to happen within her duration of stay.

But then again, what am I supposed to do to help? I’m not as strong as a Kage¹, and even if Hidden Eddy is weak in war, surely they have at least some jōnins to help… if I try and help them, I might get in the way.

Forget it! She yelled inwardly as she thumped her fist against her heart. I’m attached to Hidden Eddy and I’m not afraid to admit it! I still want to help!

Well, as much as I can. If anything dangerous happens, I’m putting my shoes on and running the hell away!

Meiling was confident that she could evacuate immediately if anything bad happens. She could fly, and not many ninjas have that ability in the world of Naruto.

A large number of ninjas were dispatched to move civilians to the inn where Meiling and other villagers were, and the lobby started to get a little crowded.

Most of these ninjas were genin. After all, the chūnin and jōnin have already rushed to the front line of battle.

Two more ninjas, male and female, entered the inn. It seems that they were tasked with protecting the inn alongside the previous two ninjas.

However, the previous three ninjas were not from the Uzumaki clan. The first one was, but he is only a chūnin, while the remaining three are all genin.

Meiling did not feel optimistic at all. What could these four ninjas possibly protect if the war broke into the village?

While the ninjas weren’t looking, Meiling snuck out through the backdoor, and was prepared to go to the front line to observe the situation.

The inn was almost flooded with villagers, and nobody noticed Meiling leaving.

Although she didn’t know where the front line of battle was, that didn’t stop her. Clutching her fist, she plans on waiting for a group of ninjas to rush to the front line and follow them there.

Footnotes

¹ Kage refers to the title of the leader to a Hidden Village. A more recognizable term would be the Hokage (The Kage to the Hidden Leaf Village, i.e., Naruto going “I want to be Hokage!”)

Additional Notes:
Might as well link the page to the ninja ranks here for easy reference.