Chapter 29
"Issei-san, where are we going?"
Issei kept trudging forward despite Asia's curiosity, he didn't have too much time to kill. "We're gonna go train, or at least get started. I wanted to try out some stuff in the training center that Buchou made."
Asia's eyes began to sparkle in delight, clapping her hands together. "Oh! Does that mean you're gonna try learning a new technique? Can I join you?"
The brown-haired boy just gave her an indulgent grin. "Of course, I figured that you'd want to train a little yourself, right?"
The young blond beamed as they made their way to the Occult Research Club, seeking to utilize the newest feature to the building.
Issei and Asia quickly made it to the building, proceeding to open the door and check if anyone was present.
"Ah. Well hello there you two. What brings both of you here?" Rias inquired, looking up from her work to look at the teens.
Issei and Asia glanced at one another, before turning back to the red-head. "Buchou...I- I mean we want to use the new training center. We're done with classes and we want to try the suggestions that Naruto left for us."
Blue-green eyes regarded the pervert for a moment, before her expression shifted to look mildly amused. "Well...you too, hm? Seems everyone caught the training bug."
Asia leaned closer, eyes confused. "You mean...we weren't the first ones to be asking you this?"
Rias nodded, slowly getting up from her seat to walk to the duo. "Indeed, I'll take you downstairs. You two aren't even the second or third person to begin using the training center today. Come, I'll show you."
With that, the red-head moved past them and opened the door that was recently made, revealing an elevator that was sitting there, waiting to allow it's passenger to go underground.
She quickly pressed the button to open the elevator doors, walking inside once it opened and beckoned for the other teens to follow.
Issei and Asia quickly followed suit, with the reincarnated devil frowning in slight confusion.
"Uh...Buchou?" Issei questioned hesitantly as they entered the elevator. "Are you coming with us? You don't have to if you're busy, just tell us what to do and we can-"
"Don't worry Issei." Rias interjected, an excited smile on her face as she pressed her finger on the bottom floor. "I've been trying to get some work done, but I wanted to join everyone else down there for a while. If anything...I'm just using you two as an excuse to train too!"
The pervert's gave his king an exasperated look, seriously?
The elevator ride was relatively quick, the movement was smooth and the pawn barely noticed that they had moved. The sign of a high-quality elevator.
He was reminded of just how wealthy his benefactor was...
The moment that they reached their destination, Issei and Asia ran out to check out the new area, eager to see what they were working with.
They were not disappointed.
"Woah...it's huge!" Issei exclaimed, eyes wide as they surveyed the massive room.
Though it was less a room and more like a...stadium.
Yeah, it was huge. Just how far down underground did they go exactly...?
"Ah! Hey there you three! I was wondering if you guys would come down here."
Brown eyes stopped drinking in the sights to regard the other red-head that decided to call out to them.
"Mio-san!" Asia gasped, surprised despite herself. "You came here before us?"
Mio frowned at the young nun. "...What's that supposed to mean? I mean yeah...I didn't train too often before. But it shouldn't be that surprising, should it?"
"Actually, it kind of is." Rias stated, walking towards the group admiring the show of architecture while responding. "You just don't seem like the kind of person who works hard to be perfectly blunt. I think it's your demeanor."
The younger red-head glared at her sempai, unamused. "Oh? And you're any different?"
"Touché." The Gremory chuckled good-naturedly, before looking around for something. "Hey, by the way...where's...?"
"Here!"
Issei and Asia jumped, snapping their heads around to look at the teenaged girl that sneaked up behind them.
"Ah, I was wondering where you disappeared to, Akeno." Rias responded calmly, ignoring the way-too happy smile on her friend's face. "Although...did you really have to try and sneak up on us?"
"Absolutely." Akeno admitted readily, a beatific smile on her face. "I see that Issei-kun and Asia-chan wants to train too, hm? It seems that almost everyone has the training itch today."
"Almost everyone...?" Issei parroted, eyes wandering for more familiar faces.
"Don't bother, Koneko-chan is in another room by herself. As for Kiba-kun...well...he said that he'd be coming here too. But I haven't seen him." the queen said, purple eyes shifting to the king.
"So they're both still acting strange huh...?" Rias muttered, eyes squinted. "Well...unfortunately, we can't do much about it except let them have their space. Until then, we should actually start training while we're here. Are you still helping Mio-chan?"
Mio perked up at her name being used, pink eyes turning to the older red-head. "She was helping me with using my demonic energy, but you came just as I wanted to switch gears by following Naruto's notes for self-improvement."
The pervert leaned in, curious. "So...he left you specific notes? What did it say?"
The half-devil blinked as curious eyes zeroed in on her, she then began to fumble for her skirt pocket to grab the note in question.
"Let's see here..." Mio said quietly, grabbing the flimsy piece of paper and placing it in front of her eyes to read.
Pink eyes began to scan the little piece of paper, eyes narrowing slightly as she continued.
"...So that's what they were for..." Mio noted with a raised eyebrow, before turning her attention to her curious onlookers. "Seems that he didn't just prepare a little training regiment for me, he actually gave one to everyone."
Everyone glanced at one another, not too sure how to take the information, memories of the blond tormenting them in the Gremory estate was still relatively fresh...
Before anyone could ask however, the younger red-head brought out several pieces of paper from her other pocket, showing it to them.
"Here, everyone take one. Naruto prepped this for us, it's for training apparently."
Issei frowned as he stared at the slips of paper that occupied his kohai's hand, that looked familiar...
"...Aren't those Naruto's...uh...seals?" Rias questioned, grabbing one of them and turning it around in wonder.
"Yeah, we are supposed to use these to help train our reaction speed for future battles. The note said that all we have to do to use it is place them on a wall and heat it up with some fire. When it glows...then we have a few seconds before it sends the first...volley." the half-devil explained, eyes scanning the note on her hand.
"...Volley?" Asia parroted, green eyes looking particularly nervous.
"Yeah. It doesn't exactly fill me with confidence either." Mio responded dryly, putting the notes away and giving the seal a hard look.
She could already tell that this wouldn't be easy, but she would still go through with it regardless. She couldn't stay like this.
Well...at least Naruto was probably having an easier time than her.
"Damn it...! Back off already!"
All Naruto got in response was a defiant roar that echoed across the forest floor, one that was continuously following him as he attempted to make his escape.
The shinobi in question was speeding across the forest, running as fast as he could without hurting the girl under his arm, since she was too young to take a higher speed. All while ignoring the enraged creature that was crashing through trees as if they were made out of flimsy paper.
Naruto grit his teeth in rising annoyance, this guy wouldn't let up at all. But the simple fact was that he didn't have too much time to kill...
The sun was setting. He really didn't want to keep the kid outside in the cold.
But as the blond continued to speed past the forest, it became increasingly obvious that the beast behind him wouldn't stop without some intervention.
With that in mind, Naruto secured the young blond under his arm to form a cross with his han-
The shinobi ducked as poison spewed over his head and dissolved the area which it affected.
That snake for a tail could spit venom!? How the hell did that work!?
On second thought...he didn't want to know.
The forceful duck at the last second nearly caused him to tumble, but for the sake of his well-being, he simply had to jump over the puddle of venom that spread in front of him.
So Naruto used his tumbling as an excuse to jump over the venom, but due to his already suspect balance...he didn't exactly have a stellar landing.
To say that he had to 'tuck and roll' was putting it mildly, as the blond pushed the smaller blond to his chest and rolled down a steep hill, nearly crashing into a tree.
But he recovered admirably, forcefully pushing off from the ground the second that the floor leveled out enough to do it safely, for the kid's sake.
Still, Naruto was back to square one again, with the ridiculous and persistent yokai chasing after him without any intention of giving up the chase, with it's ally probably joining it soon enough.
So the shinobi finished what it originally intended to do!
"Kage Bunshin no Justu!"
With that, a small explosion of smoke appeared at his location, with the real Naruto jumping through it without stopping.
He wasn't the only one who quickly got out of the smoke.
The yokai that was after the human quickly charged through the smoke, intent on-
"Oh no you don't!" a Naruto clone declared, landing on top of the vicious beast after it fell from the tree branches.
The beast immediately began to try and fling the clone off, it's enraged howls echoing throughout it's rampage.
'Naruto' grit his teeth as he held on tight, what the hell was taking them so long!?
Just as he finished that line of thought, two more clones emerged from the shrubbery at opposite sides of each other, flanking the rampaging yokai, and holding kunai with wire attached to them.
Both new arrivals threw their weapons at the yokai's feet, quickly jumping over the beast and switching places, allowing for the wire to entangle their prey.
"Now! Heave! We have to buy the boss some time!" one of the clones said, gritting his teeth as he held firm.
"Heeeeey! Bastards! You tangled me with the yokai!" the clone on the yokai screamed, as he realized that he was caught in the wire with the beast, struggling to break free.
The other clones turned to one another, shrugging at their brother's misfortune. Shit happened sometimes.
"...Acceptable loss?"
"...Acceptable loss."
The clone that was tied to the yokai just gave them the middle finger in response.
Naruto knew damn well that his clones have temporarily kept the creature that was chasing after him tied down, they were him after all,
Well...that and he stopped hearing the annoying growls of the yokai behind his back, so there's that.
The shinobi glanced down at the blissfully unaware girl under his arm, he was honestly surprised that she didn't wake up from the constant movement he had to undertake. Forests are rarely straightforward after all.
Anyways, now that he made some distance, hopefully he could begin the process of finding a place to stay for the night. For as powerful as he was, he still needed to be one-hundred percent in case some bad shit goes down.
But he shouldn't do it in the open...where should he go?
Naruto pondered the question as he continued to speed towards Kyoto, intent on making more distance, mostly so that the yokai could lose his scent.
Speaking of which, he needed to hide his scent...
The shinobi stopped momentarily, turning his head to look behind him, slightly bewildered.
He just got some memories, the clones were holding the beast back for now, but how exactly did the other clone get caught with the yokai...? Nevertheless, it looked like he had still had some time.
As he began moving again, the blond accidentally tripped over himself, nearly causing him to tumble over to the ground.
Blue eyes glared at the little rock outcrop that nearly made him trip, at least no one saw that...
However, the annoyance in his eyes quickly shifted into interest, as he noticed that the rock formation seemed to descend sharply behind some bushes...
The blond leaned forward, pushing the bushes out of the way to get a better view of what he was dealing with.
...
Well...that was convenient.
Naruto's eyes darted behind him, making sure that no one saw him. He had to make this quick, before the yokai broke through his last two clones.
The shinobi proceeded to move closer to the descending rock formation, making sure to block off the relatively small entrance up with the bushes again as he entered it. Wincing a little with the memories of the second clone's defeat.
He really didn't need to see the snake vomit poison...that poor clone's face...
After Naruto covered the small hole up again, the last set of memories reached him, wincing again at the fact that his clone essentially got it's rib cage crushed.
Ouch.
The shinobi checked out his surroundings, seeing the cave get deeper, and deciding that this would be a good place to rest for the night.
He then proceeded to move forward, shifting the kid under his arm and placing her over his shoulder instead. This would be a long night...
"Yuki-san...I see them!"
The hero's eyes snapped back to the road in front of them, refocusing on her current surroundings and noticing what the succubus pointed out.
Both females quickly moved straight to the forest next to them, hiding in the underbrush to avoid getting spotted by the vehicles that were approaching them.
As the young human set herself comfortably onto the ground, she heard the noticeable sound of a helicopter nearing their location, probably following the vehicles.
News helicopter maybe?
They were silent as the columns of cars; some involved with law enforcement and some involved with the news, moved quickly to get to the train wreck they left behind.
Yuki grunted softly, looked like they needed to make more space between themselves and the train, they would be connected to it otherwise.
As the column finally moved past and the helicopter roared after them, Maria got up slowly, with her little gothic dress fluttering in the wind, and made to slowly check if they were in the clear.
"...I think we're good. Ready to go again?" the silverette asked rhetorically, a playful glint in her eye.
The hero merely nodded, standing up from her position and moving back on the road. The forest would cost them too much time.
Then another problem made itself known.
"...It's getting dark out." Yuki mentioned blandly, mind racing to figure out how to deal with the issue that she didn't consider until then and there.
What to do when you're stuck on the road in the middle of the night? While there are possible hostiles nearby?
She definitely didn't expect her day to end up like this.
"Well...so much for calling a taxi before nightfall. I can't tell you how much fun it was to sleep in the wilderness last time..." Maria grumbled, stretching her limbs as a new wave of fatigue hit her.
The night did that to you.
The hero regarded her partner with slight interest. "You make it sound like you've slept in the wilderness before."
"Yeah." the succubus returned, a wry grin appearing on her face. "Back when me and Mio-sama were on the run, sometimes we had to sleep in the wild. It was...interesting times."
Yuki stared at her companion for a moment, despite the overall situation, she was genuinely interested in hearing more about her past experiences.
But one thing at a time, Naruto was counting on them to solve the situation quickly. So her curiosity was shelved for later.
As for their dilemma...now that they were relatively clear from the initial rush of the news and law enforcement, could they actually run away from the scene? Instead of just cautiously moving away?
"Speaking of which; I think we should just run away from the area. I've had enough sneaking, thank you very much." Maria claimed, nodding to herself with her reasonableness.
The female human glanced at her partner through the side of her eye, faintly annoyed that she made that suggestion right when she was going to.
Yellow eyes did one last scan around their position, making sure that they were really in the clear. But as she did so, she noticed something...odd.
"...There's a fog rolling in, a thick one." Yuki mumbled, as a deep feeling of unease began to grow in the pit of her stomach.
Maria shuffled closer to her, looking around at the thickening fog surrounding them. "That's strange...fog's don't just appear out of thin air. Nor do they grow so thick so quickly..."
Yuki didn't reply immediately, too busy with the growing sense of unease that somehow managed to paralyze her. What was this feeling...? It was so familiar...
She practically flinched when she heard the relatively hard crunch of metal against concrete.
By this time, the succubus immediately went on alert, prepared for an attack. This was obviously supernatural.
But who was it? How did they find them?
As she scanned the fog, she caught sight if a shadow that emerged from surreal mist.
A dark figure, wearing form-fitting black armor from head-to-toe, a glowing red visor that pierced the fog, and a large broadsword that was heaved over the warrior's shoulder.
"...That's probably not a good guy." Maria said, flashing a shaky smile.
The dark figure didn't say anything, he- it merely stayed motionless, almost as if it was a statue that was standing there the whole time.
Yuki stared at the figure, or rather...at the weapon the warrior was carrying, hypnotized. That was...
"Yuki-san! Get down!"
The hero felt a small body crash into her abdomen, sending her to the ground as a blade slashed violently above her horizontally...right where her neck used to be.
She growled as she realized that she nearly got herself killed by getting distracted.
The young human quickly recovered from her fall and got back on her feet, with the hero materializing her katana and charging forward with her blade at the ready.
The dark figure brought it's large sword to bear and swung down to where the female hero was moving towards, trying to predict her movements.
However, Yuki caught wind of the tactic and swiftly jumped over the vertical swing, giving her an excellent shot for the warrior's head for her blade.
Yellow eyes were sharp as the young human thrust Sakuyatowards the dark figure's helmet.
But it wasn't meant to be, as it managed to quickly use it's broadsword's hilt as a shield to glance Sakuya's blade away instead of taking the full brunt of the attack. It was that quick maneuver however, that allowed for the warrior to viciously bring a fist out and smash it towards the female hero's abdomen now that her defenses were open.
Yuki's eyes widened as the gauntlet-covered fist came sailing towards her, but with her weapon too far away to utilize as a defense, she instead used her free arm to cross her stomach to hopefully take most of the damage.
When the fist finally connected, the attack embedded itself into her arm and sent her backwards, sliding away on the ground.
The hero used her blade and impaled it onto the soil, using it as a way to slow her down as she cradled her left arm. Just as a silver blur ran past her and took their shot at the dark figure.
Maria herself rushed forward the second she got up from the ground, taking a shot at the warrior's legs to hopefully neutralize the helmeted jerk!
As the succubus raised her fists to attack, the warrior recovered enough to bring it's blade towards the ground and slash at it. Bringing forth a large amount of dust and soil out of the ground.
The half-devil responded efficiently, using the fists that she was about to throw at the mysterious figure and instead send it towards the ground, not allowing the dust that the warrior made to reach her eyes.
Even more dust flew into the air as the soil gave way easily under the loli's strength, clouding up the area even more when combined with the fog.
The warrior backed up a little bit, wary of the disadvantage it was put under. When facing two opponents, it wasn't wise to lose sight of them...
But it seemed that it didn't have to worry, as the little silverette from before pierced through the fog and dust to charge in alone.
Perfect.
As the dark figure brought forth it's blade to brutally slash it's adversary in half, she suddenly stopped in her tracks and backed up inexplicably.
Although she did have a crooked grin on her face as she did so...
Then suddenly, it's original adversary sallied forth from the now-obscure battlefield, bringing her blade towards it's helmet.
The unknown warrior quickly continued it's course of action and intercepted the upward swing of the katana, a sharp *clang* accompanying the clash.
Yuki grit her teeth as she felt the warrior push her back steadily, it's greater strength beginning to force her feet to slide backwards, the fact that her other arm was still weak didn't help.
As the two locked with one another, Maria used this chance to jump over the female human and raise her foot in the air. Before swinging it down towards the head of the dark warrior, intent on ending the battle then and there.
The warrior, with it's superior strength, switched from pushing the female hero back to forcing their interlocked blades up. Using it as a shield, but mostly as well as a weapon with their sharp edges facing the succubus.
Maria's eyes widened, if her foot crashed against twosupernatural blades...!
The hero quickly acted after getting over her initial shock, using the lack of force against her to push the interlocking blades towards the mysterious warrior, presenting the flat of their blades to the falling half-devil.
Maria immediately crashed her foot onto the blades, the force of which was enough to push the weapons towards the warrior's body. But not enough to actually send it to the ground.
The silverette would fix that shortly!
"It's over!" Maria declared, bringing out a small fist and smashing it into the armored individual's face. Sending it sliding back along the road, it's feet grinding harshly against the hard concrete.
Yuki and Maria formed up next to one another, prepared for another attack by their assailant. Watching as the warrior was covered by the thick fog...
Silence descended upon them, as the mist seemingly sided with their enemy, as if it was almost alive...
"Impressive..." a voice rumbled, piercing the fog that surrounded the duo. "It's unfortunate that we can't continue our battle...but I've found what I needed to know. I assure you however...we will meet again."
Yuki took a step forward, intent on not letting the dark warrior get away-
"Wait!" the succubus cried out, grabbing her arm before she ran head-first into the fog. "What are you doing!? Don't run into danger so easily! We have to stick together!"
Yellow eyes snapped to the young-looking girl, stormy as they regarded an unusually calm set of purple pupils.
The growing unease that stayed with her slowly lessened, the tension finally leaving her frame, around the same time as the fog finally began to give way.
Yuki didn't say anything as she took the chance to glance where their enemy once landed, it was gone, with the marks it left behind the only proof of it's existence.
"...Sorry." she eventually spoke out, eyes aimed at the floor in shame.
She lost her cool in the middle of a battle, it was shameful how she almost got herself killed, possibly twice.
Maria locked eyes with her, visibly uneasy at the young human's behavior. "...What was that?"
The hero shifted uncomfortably, internally unwilling to divulge why she acted the way she did. If there was anyone she would tell it would be...
She shook her head, she was contemplating on divulging some personal baggage to a friend while he was busy trying to protect a child? How selfish...
But still...that sword...and the stance that the warrior utilized while fighting them...
...Hero...
"...Don't want to talk, huh?" the succubus noted, tilting her head in interest.
Yellow eyes strayed away from her companion's form, feeling a slight pang of guilt.
"Ok, that's fine."
Yuki blinked.
"...Really?"
Maria nodded, cheerful again. "Of course! We all have our secrets to hold. Myself excluded! So I guess...I can't really complain about the stuff that you hold close to your chest, right?"
Yuki simply nodded slowly in agreement, feeling the unease within finally disappear.
With that, the silverette looked up to the sky, frowning.
"...It'a dark now. Maybe we should cover a little more ground, then find some nice grass to sleep on, hm?"
The hero nodded. "You're right. We shouldn't move too much in the dark...hard to see. Best just to rest for the night. I'm sure that Naruto has done the same as well."
With that agreement at hand, the unlikely duo continued on their trek towards Kyoto. Intent on completing their objective first thing tomorrow morning.
"...He's late."
"Patience." Cao Cao recommended, casually leaning back on his seat. "He's strong, he'll be back. Probably just encountered more trouble than anticipated."
Siegfried shot his leader a sour look. "Cao Cao...we don't know anything about the abilities that Uzumaki's allies wield, for all we know...your...'servant' could be dead. Then we'd just be wasting time-!"
A mist suddenly began to form around the group, an event that shut the silver-haired hero's mouth quickly.
The Hero Faction leader merely smirked, he had no doubts.
As expected, the dark figure that served Cao Cao emerged from the fog. Kneeling down immediately once it saw it's master.
Georg also emerged from the fog, scrambling away from the warrior, it gave him the creeps...!
"As you expected master, Uzumaki Naruto's companions are weaker than him. They can be crushed at will if necessary." the unknown warrior rumbled, head still bowed.
Cao Cao nodded, pleased. "Excellent. But can you pinpoint who they are? Devils? Humans?"
The masked warrior reared it's red visor up. "One of them is a devil, her devil wings were out when she charged me. The other was...a human...a fake hero."
The young leader's eyes narrowed slightly. "A...fake hero? Of the Hero Tribe? Are you sure?"
"...She recognized my blade."
Cao Cao leaned back into his seat, contemplating this knowledge. Not many 'heroes' knew of that blade...
"Well...it seems we have an interesting situation, don't we? It doesn't really change anything anyways. They must have split off from Uzumaki for a good reason, so it's best to keep an eye on them for now. We will focus our efforts on Uzumaki for now." the young hero leader stated assuredly, before turning to address the young man by his side.
The other young man.
"...Apologies Cao Cao, I can't seem to locate Uzumaki. There seems to be a lot of yokai roaming the area...it seems that their presence is disrupting my ability to pinpoint our friend's exact location." the young man apologized softly.
This young man was an average-built male with long brown hair that was tied with red ribbons on the left side of his face. All of this while his eyes were closed into slits.
The hero leader cursed. "Damn. If I was well prepared for his intervention then I would have had you on my staff from the beginning. But it seems that he's keeping low now. Sorry for the short notice."
The mysterious man just shrugged, not exactly upset. "It's boring when I'm at the Hero Tribe, this is more exciting. You won't hear any complaints from me about last-second deployments. That being said however...until Uzumaki flares his energy signal again...I won't be able to pinpoint him."
"I see...how much longer can you stay with us undetected then?" Cao Cao inquired quickly.
"...The Great Hero has his hands full with the rise of the Old Maou Faction, as well as the rising tide of rebellion in the Hero Tribe ranks. He won't notice my absence for another day at least. I'll have to return to my duties by then." the young man explained, a relatively tired smile appearing on his face.
The young leader leaned back into his chair again, shrugging. "A shame then, I suppose you have to return to your duties as well, hm? Well...destabilizing such an ancient organization like the Hero Tribe must be hard work, so I don't particularly blame you. How is your mission progressing going by the way?"
The young hero opened an eye to reveal a crafty red eye with a pupil shaped like a slit, smiling enigmatically. "As well as you imagine I suppose. Dissatisfaction is spreading, and the threat of rebellion is keeping Toujou from paying too much attention to your operations. Not only that, but his fear of losing the last family member he has left is crippling him as well. By this point...it's simply a matter of time before you can destroy him."
Cao Cao couldn't help but smirk at that, soon...very soon...
Then he frowned, eyes focusing back on his spy. "Speaking of which...how is the...other splinter group?"
The young rebel hero's face darkened slightly. "Unfortunately...I have no idea. The Hero Tribe has lost all contact with that man, and I haven't been able to pinpoint his location either. He's completely disappeared off of the face of the Earth."
"...How troubling. If it's that man...then he could cause us a lot of trouble down the road." Cao Cao asserted darkly, scrunching his eyesbrows in minor frustration.
"Um...who are you talking about, Cao Cao?" Siegfried asked uncertainly, knocking his the Hero Faction's leader out of his musings.
The young leader merely smiled in response. "Ah, apologies Siegfried. We were talking about...an old friend. You see, I wasn't the only one who left the Hero Tribe. Actually...I wasn't even the first."
The silver-haired man's eyes widened in surprise. "Y-You weren't? Then who-?"
"A village elder." Cao Cao interrupted smoothly, eyes glazing over as he delved into the memories of his youth. "Unlike my...rather violent exit, he left without warning and abandoned the Hero Tribe while I was still a mere child. I don't remember much about it...but I do remember that he was a brilliant man, perhaps too brilliant."
The young hero eventually shrugged. "They say that he went insane one day, out of the blue. Speaking about dreams he had of humans with incredible powers that surpassed what we as heroes were capable of. Apparently those dreams drove him to leave the Hero Tribe and create a new type of 'hero'. He was never heard of since."
Siegfried whistled in appreciation. "The man sounds like a complete nut job, so why worry about him now? He's probably just an old man that got himself killed by this point."
Cao Cao shook his head. "He may be an old man, but he is still a smart old man. I don't like leaving loose ends, so it's best to keep our ears to the ground...especially if his words wasn't just a bunch of hot air."
Both men nodded, they didn't stay alive this long by being careless after all.
"Come now, we will strike when Uzumaki reveals himself, or when the yokai flush him out." Cao Cao stated with authority, before turning around and heading back to where the rest of the heroes remained.
The unknown warrior, who was staying silent the entire time, turned and gestured for the reluctant Georg to follow as well.
No one would disobey Cao Cao's orders. His word was absolute.
Naruto grunted as he slowly laid the little girl that he was carrying for what seemed like a life time, down onto a small blanket. Hopefully it would be more comfortable than the rock floor.
The shinobi has made a little camp inside the little cave that he found, going deeper inside it in order to make sure that his smell couldn't be detected.
The cold air made it pretty hard to breathe though...hell, maybe that could be used to keep the yokai from smelling him in here? He wasn't exactly the best guy to figure that shit out...
Naruto eventually shrugged, using his chakra to get his bags from the seal he place them in. He had food, water, some blankets...yeah, they'd be fine for a while.
He hoped the kid liked ramen.
Immediately after he finally got his bags out, the blond placed some twigs that he secured from some of the bushes that covered the entrance onto the ground. Using two rocks that he randomly grabbed near him to create a fire, smashing them together to cause friction and sparks.
Not too hard though, didn't want to break the stupid things!
After a few tries, he eventually sparked a fire in the little batch of twigs, a relatively small one. But they weren't exactly in high supply in a cave, so this would have to do.
With the small flame burning bright, Naruto finally relaxed, content that he did what he could to provide some semblance of comfort to the cold hard cave.
For the first time since earlier that day, the blond allowed himself to focus on things that weren't related to finding shelter and protecting a little girl. Whatever happened to Yuki and Maria for example?
The blond's face scrunched up in consternation, he hoped they were doing ok...
Blue eyes widened in elation as a new thought reached the forefront of his mind, of course! How could he forget!?
Naruto excitedly began to dig into his pockets, fishing for the new device that he recently received.
His cellphone!
The shinobi quickly fiddled with the phone, seeking to contact his friend, getting up from his spot on the ground so as not to disturb the unconscious girl laying on the floor.
Naruto waited with baited breath as the phone rang, listening intently for his friend's voice, hoping that he didn't contact her in a bad time-
"Naruto...? Is that you...?"
A sigh of relief blew past his lips before he could stop it.
She was ok.
On the other end of the line, the blond also heard his fellow human sigh in relief. Obviously glad to hear from him. "So I'm guessing that you managed to get out of that situation...good. Where are you right now, Naruto?"
"Ah...well, it took a while to shake our yokai stalker off, but for now I managed to find a little hidden cave to stay safe and hidden. I was gonna stake out in here for a while, then maybe sneak out a few hours before dawn and continue towards Kyoto." Naruto whispered, keeping his tone down so that he wouldn't disturb the kid.
"Alright, understood. That sounds like a pretty good plan, but we ourselves had a bit of a problem earlier today...to be blunt, I think that the humans we defeated before are hunting us. Specifically, the little kyuubi. We were attacked by someone who was probably affiliated with them." the hero responded, a slight urgency invading her voice.
The shinobi scowled. "Are you serious? Those bastards are hunting the kid? Damn...how did they find you exactly? I thought you managed to disassociate yourselves from me by making sure you weren't seen?"
Although he couldn't see it, he imagined his friend shrug in response. "Not sure how, but our enemies could have sensors among them, or they somehow saw us leave the train...which means that they could have seen you leave as well. That being said, if you're still getting hunted down by yokai, then it's likely that they are unintentionally helping you mask your energy signal and keeping you hidden from any sensors. As for the other theory...well, I hope you're well hidden."
Naruto clicked his teeth, they had no idea how they were being tracked. If that was the case, then he wasn't entirely sure how to continue from here.
"...I'll figure something out. Unless this place gets compromised later, I think that we will just hang out here for a while and wait. If the kid wakes up though...then maybe she could explain the situation to the yokai around here. But still, I'm not sure if I want to deal with a powerful and irate mother...how close are you to Kyoto?"
The hero hummed on the other line, seemingly thinking about the query. "I'd say...only a third of the way there. We made some distance between ourselves and the train, only stopping to deal with an armored warrior that attacked us during our trek."
There was a pause in the conversation, with Yuki being hesitant in divulging what she suspected.
Naruto opened his mouth to ask what was going on-
"Naruto...whoever that person was...was trained by a hero."
Blue eyes widened imperceptibly, seriously? "...You sure? Absolutely?"
"Not completely, but fairly certain, yes." Yuki affirmed quietly. "There's something strange going on here, too many things don't add up or we simply don't know. Like...how did this warrior find us? Why did they attack the little kyuubi? Why was that warrior fighting like someone who was trained by the Hero Tribe? It's just so...-"
"Yuki!"
The hero immediately stopped speaking, heavy breathing was now the only thing that was coming through from the other line to the blond's ears.
"Calm down." Naruto comforted, trying to ease her. "We don't really know anything, sure. But this isn't the end of the world, we will find out what's going on soon. Hopefully. Listen...this attack obviously spooked you, just relax for a little bit...alright?"
"R-Right..." Yuki agreed readily, breathing out some air audibly. "I suppose I've just been on edge for a while. Sorry."
Naruto nodded slowly, despite the fact that there was no way she could see it, but his facial features were still troubled regardless.
"...Uh, I'm not really good at reading people behind a phone, but...are you sure that you're ok? You don't want to ask or tell me anything?"
The other line went silent again, but this was a moment of consideration rather than tension.
"Later." the hero quickly decided. "We'll talk about it later, I'd prefer to talk face-to-face. For now, let's just get some rest while we still can."
Naruto grinned, relaxing. "Got it. Tell Maria I said hi, would you?"
He could practically feel the smile grow on Yuki's face.
"Of course."
Yuki had a much calmer aura around her after having this conversation with her friend, whether she liked to admit it or not, the blond simply had that kind of effect on her.
The easy way he evoked a smile out of her could attest to that.
Not even her father could truly claim to have that kind of effect.
"Good!" Naruto chirped from the other line, content with her answer. "Now I'm gonna hang up now, gotta get some rest to deal with these pesky-"
Suddenly her friend cut himself off, almost as if someone cut off the connection between them.
The hero heard a twinge of concern leak into her voice as she called out. "Naruto? Are you ok? Naruto?"
"Ah...sorry about that." the mysterious blond quickly apologized, a sheepish tone in his voice accompanying it. "Was distracted for a split-second. Anyways, like I said, say hi to Maria for me, ok? See ya later!"
With that, Naruto ended the call, cutting off any more questions that the young teen could have asked.
Yuki took the phone off of her ear, staring at it with a puzzled look, before shrugging.
If something bad happened, then she was sure that explosions would have interrupted him. He was probably just tired.
"Ahhhhh! What the heck Yuki-san!?"
Ah, Maria's back.
Yuki turned her head to look at an irate succubus holding two water bottles in her hands, gaping at her in horror.
"...What?" the hero eventually asked, dreading the answer.
Maria just stomped her foot petulantly on the ground. "What do you mean 'what'!? I'll tell you 'what'! You didn't wait for me to come back to say hi to Naruto-sama!"
The young human female sighed in response, feeling a headache come on. "I didn't think that you'd come back so fast, apologies, it was an honest mistake."
The succubus crossed her arms over her chest, looking entirely unconvinced. "You totally don't seem that sorry...I wanted to see how Naruto-sama was doing too..."
Yuki rubbed her temples, scrunching up her facial features. "Alright. Alright. I'm sorry, I will be more considerate next time."
The hero stopped rubbing her temples for a moment to send the half-devil a dry look. "That being said...he actually wanted me to tell you that he said 'hi'. So...there's that."
Maria blinked, looking somewhat stupefied that the blond would ever do such a thing. Before flashing a cheesy grin.
"Heh...really? Awww...that's so cute. That Naruto-sama is such a tsundere!" Maria mumbled incoherently, wiggling around with a self-satisfied look on her face.
Yuki stared at the silverette, completely unable to understand what exactly goes through her head to make her act like that.
To be perfectly honest, she wasn't sure that she wanted to know...
After a few more seconds of wiggling, the succubus finally noticed her partner's disquiet and pouted. "What? Naruto-sama rarely acts like he cares about me sometimes, so when he does say nice things, it becomes a big deal! Like a tsundere!"
Yuki remained completely unconvinced, since when was saying hello such a big deal?
"...If you say so." the hero allowed, leaning back on her bag which she was using as a pillow. "Hand me the bottle you filled up please? We should get some rest, we need to head out as early as possible and grab a taxi."
By this point, considering the distance they have made between themselves and the train, they should be able to disassociate themselves with it.
If you added the fact that a full day would have passed, then even better. Now they can simply claim that they were curious to check out the incident instead of being suspected of being a part of it.
As the young human prepared to relax and fall to blissful sleep, a certain succubus crawled closer to her and gave a conspiratorial grin.
Oh no...
"So...we're in the forest...by ourselves...with no one to hear us...hm?" Maria hinted, the grin on her face growing.
"...You've somehow made this incredibly uncomfortable." Yuki noted dryly, turning her body over to look away from her annoying partner.
"No wait! I didn't mean it like that!" Maria protested, crawling around the hero to face her again. "I mean that we have a chance to talk about stuff that we normally wouldn't talk about! It's a chance!"
Weary yellow eyes focused on excited purple. "I really don't want to take that chance with you though..."
The loli looked taken aback, as if she was physically slapped. "Huh!? What's that supposed to mean!?"
Yuki's expression was stoic as she delivered her retort.
"It means that my faith on whether you can keep a secret or not is nearly nonexistent."
Maria pouted at this assertion. "Oh come on~ Give me a chance! What's the worst that can happen?"
The hero's eyes connected with the silverette's again, raising a single eyebrow at her question.
"...Ok, new tact." the succubus muttered darkly for a moment, before -as if flipping a switch- gaining a happy demeanor again. "How about we do a give-and-take conversation, hm? Like...I'll tell you something that I rarely talk about, while you tell me something you rarely talk about."
Yuki's eyes narrowed imperceptibly, as if uncertain. "...Why are you so insistent on this all of a sudden? Can't this wait?"
Maria tilted her head, then her eyes strayed upwards towards the sky as she put her finger on her lips. Seriously considering the question.
"Well...I suppose it's just that...we don't really talk to each other much, ya know? We talk to one another, sure. We go through experiences together, yeah. But...talk? Like reallytalk? I don't think so. Truth be told, I only know about you through Naruto-sama, but that's pretty much it. So...well...why not I guess?"
The young human's eyes scanned the succubus for any indication of her words being a joke, finding nothing.
Which only left her with one option left.
"Fine." Yuki relented, shifting into a sitting position to pay attention to her her partner's words. "If you want to talk so bad, then fine. But let's not take too much time with this."
Maria squealed, clapping her hands in joy. "Yes! Ok! I'll go first!"
The hero didn't even get a chance to reply before the succubus crawled closer to her, with her purple pupils shining, as if she was actually a child that was about to get candy.
...She was regretting this already.
"Do you have someone that you like!?" Maria whispered conspiratorially, a shit-eating grin accompanying it.
"Yes."
...
There a long moment of silence between the two females, as Maria gave the completely straight-faced human a completely confused look.
"...Wait...really?" the silverette couldn't help but try and confirm, that was waaay too easy...
Yuki simply nodded. "Of course. I like otou-sama, my comrades in the Hero Tribe, and of course Naru-"
"Ah! Wait a minute!" Maria cried out loud, shaking her head vigorously in protest. "That's not what I meant!"
The hero frowned visibly in uncertainty. "What do you mean then?"
"It's obvious isn't it? I meant...do you have someone that you really like?"
Yuki's eyes bored into her partner's head, as she stayed silent for a long moment that stretched even longer than the last one.
"...Why are we doing this again?"
"Oh come on! This is the perfect topic for a conversation anyways! You're at the cusp of womanhood and your hormones must be raging throughout your body! Surely you must like someone!" Maria pressed.
The young human closed her eyes, did she have such emotions for someone...?
She thought about all of the people she knew, if there was ever someone who she deeply cared about. Beyond what was normal...
...
"I...can't say that I have. Heroes rarely have such time to engage in such relations, so it's not really that unusual I think..." Yuki eventually stated, nodding at her own reasoning.
Yellow eyes trained themselves on purple again, curious to see her reaction.
She was surprised to see that it was disappointment that categorized those orbs.
"Oh...that sucks. To think that you'd be a cat lady at such a young age..." Maria shook her head in sympathy, looking genuinely apologetic.
The hero's eye twitched, what exactly was that supposed to mean?
With that last parting comment, the succubus stood up from her position on the ground and casually stretched her back. "Welp, I just realized that I forgot to grab my bags by the spring where I found the water. I'm gonna go back and get it, see ya!"
Almost as fast as she has arrived, the silverette dashed away, leaving Yuki behind without hesitation.
The human female could only watch in faint fascination. What went on in that girl's head?
She could only shrug. She didn't even care too much that the succubus dodged the 'give' portion of the talks.
Yuki laid her back on her bag again, using it as a pillow to let herself fall asleep. All to prepare herself to what would probably be a busy day tomorrow.
Though, inexplicably, her thoughts went back to a certain blond that night.
Darkness, that was all she could see.
Why was it so dark?
Last time she checked...it wasn't dark...right?
Golden eyes ever so slowly revealed themselves to the world again, unfocused and unseeing as the little girl slowly gained some sense of self again.
Those bleary eyes looked around, trying to get rid of the blurriness that clouded her sight.
The soft light of the fire kind of helped a bit...
...Wait...fire?
The young girl focused entirely on the little fire that was crackling besides her, one that illuminated the darkness around her and provided her warmth.
Despite her growing uncertainty, she couldn't help but allow the heat soothe her senses...
But still...where was she?
Kunou slowly got up from her downed position, turning her head to scan the area to find out what was going on.
Rocks...rocks everywhere. A cave?
Why was she here?
As if waiting for a signal, in a rush, several memories hit her; memories of excitement and innocent wonder of seeing the world outside of Kyoto...of wondrous people going about their lives...of fun train rides with her yokai guardians...
Kunou went rigid, eyes widening, as images of men viciously attacking her protectors flashed through her head. Of their large hands circling around her neck...
The little yokai shook her head, desperate to get those images out of her head. She needed to find out where she was...she needed to warn kaa-chan!
With that sliver of determination growing in her stomach, she finally stood up to look around, taking note of the bags that were next to the fire.
She took a few steps towards the closest tunnel, seeking to at least check if the bag's owner was still present...
"Good!"
Kunou stopped, freezing in her tracks as a voice reverberated across the cavern, it was faint, but she was sure that she heard someone speak.
The little kyuubi crept forward, moving towards the corner to see who was speaking...
"Now I'm gonna hang up now, gotta get some rest to deal with these pesky-"
As the little blond kept creeping forward, she accidentally punted a little rock on the floor, knocking it forward and causing it to clack around the rock floor.
The voice silenced itself immediately, which forced the yokai to stop moving, fearing that she was found out.
"Ah...sorry about that, was distracted for a split-second. Anyways, like I said, say hi to Maria for me, ok? See ya later!"
Kunou let go a sigh of relief, then continued to move towards the corner, where after a few more crucial seconds...finally reached the corner and took a peek around it.
Golden eyes squinted slightly, trying to look through the darkness to see the man that was talking...but she couldn't see him...
"Yo!"
The little kyuubi yelped, jumping in the air, whirling around the second that she was able to.
What she saw shocked her.
A lightly tanned face, golden-blond spiky hair, large sapphire eyes, sharper than normal canines, and...
Whisker marks.
But all those observations completely slipped away from her mind as the older boy bent over in laughter, his obvious mirth echoing in the small cavern.
Kunou's fear immediately gave way to red-hot embarrassment.
"H-Hey! What's so funny!?" she cried out in anger, glaring daggers at the older boy.
The older blond just shook his head as his laughter gave way to incessant chuckling. "Sorry, sorry! I just...! I mean I had to, ya see!? If you were in my position, you would nothave wasted such an awesome opportunity! Man...if you'd just seen your face..."
The little girl stamped her feet on the ground. "It's notfunny!"
Blue eyes were filled with mirth, as the teenaged boy knelt down and met Kunou at her eye level.
"It totally was." the spiky-haired boy claimed, unrepentant.
Golden eyes flared as the little yokai prepared to throw a verbal beatdown, she wasn't about to be talked down to by this jerk-!
"Ah, by the way. My name's Naruto. Pleased to meet you." Naruto said amicably, offering his hand in greeting.
Kunou glanced at the hand, unsure of how to respond. So instead, her hand moved by instinct to take the hand in order to shake it, as her mother taught her to do.
Then she froze.
Her mother.
Kunou immediately took a step away from the mysterious blond, becoming defensive.
"You..." the little princess began slowly. "Where have you taken me?"
Naruto's eyes lit up. "Oh! Right! I completely forgot! You probably have no idea what's going on, do you? Well then...I suppose I gotta fix that. Come on, we'll talk about it over some ramen."
With that statement, the shinobi immediately made for the small camp fire, looking forward to some ramen goodness.
Kunou stared after the teenaged boy, confused, at least as much as she was cautious.
But, at least so far...this guy didn't seem so bad?
He even had some cute whisker marks on his cheeks...someone with whisker marks couldn't possibly be bad, right?
With that somewhat faulty logic in her head, the yokai princess followed after her strange captor, still wary, but at least willing to give him a chance.
...
"Well? Whatcha' waiting for? Hurry and eat, or it will get cold!"
Kunou decided that she wouldn't answer, but she still continued to stare at the cup of ramen in her hands with caution.
Golden eyes carefully peeked at the teenaged boy, seeing how he was practically devouring the ramen cup without remorse.
It was actually kind of...eh.
After more than a few more gross slurps, the older blond stopped eating for a moment to regard the little kyuubi.
"...Not hungry?"
Kunou slowly shook her head.
"...You gonna finish that?"
Kunou shook her head again, handing the cup as if it was an offering.
Naruto quickly snatched up the cup, inhaling it all in a matter of seconds. A feat that caused Kunou to gape like a fish, how the heck was he doing that?
The shinobi finished his food relatively quickly, licking his lips to get the little bit that he missed, and turned back to his fellow blond. "Alright, I suppose you want some info...but I also have no idea what happened to you as well. So how about you tell me what happened before the incident at the train occurred, and then I'll fill you in about what happened after that? Fair?"
Kunou straightened her back, her demeanor changed to a more overtly formal one. "No...I demand that you tell me what happened! As the daughter of the leader of the yokai...you will answer my question!"
Although her demand came out strong in an effort to push for answers, the yokai was still nervous of pushing her captor too far. So she waited with baited breath as the whiskered teen opened his mouth to-
"Sure. That's fine too." Naruto agreed, giving the little girl a thumbs up for effort.
The little kyuubi shot Naruto a suspicious glare, why the heck was he being so nice for!? It was really getting to her now!
"Alright...well, I suppose I should preface this by saying that I had no idea who you were before I helped you out. You were in trouble, so my friends and I stepped in. Simple as that." the whiskered teen began, recounting events earlier that day.
Kunou leaned closer, eyes widening. "Wait, you didn't kidnap me? Also, you had help from friends? Where are they?"
The shinobi raised a hand up, cutting her off. "Relax kid, no...I didn't kidnap you. As a matter of fact, I took down your kidnappers and saved you from them while you were unconscious. On a side note, my friends and I were forced to split away from one another...for a specific reason that I'm about to outline."
Naruto then proceeded to give her a sheepish grin and began scratching the back of his head in slight embarrassment. "Uh...well, it seems that someone sent yokai to rescue you since the train took too long to get back to Kyoto. So...they saw me holding you...and mistook me for your kidnapper. I ran all the way here to get away because they wouldn't listen to me."
"...Wait...are you serious!?" the yokai exclaimed, jaw unhinged. "You-wait...why? Who!?"
"...Were those questions for the kidnappers or for the yokai...?"
"Both!" Kunou shouted shrilly.
Naruto winced at that, she really had some lungs...
"Ok...uh, well...I don't really know the 'why' and 'who' of those humans, so I got nothing for that. But as for the yokai...well, one of them was a crow-like creature and the other was a chimera-like beast with a monkey face...it was kind of weird."
Kunou's eyes lit up. "That...that sounds like a karasu-tengu and a nue..."
With that, the shinobi snapped his fingers and pointed at the little girl. "That's it! I knew I recognized those yokai! But unfortunately that's not all, it turns out that your kidnappers are still hunting for you. So we should wait until tomorrow morning to -hopefully- get this mess sorted out. If we go now...we might get more easily ambushed in the darkness of the night. Best wait for light and better visibility dattebayo."
The little kyuubi nodded slowly, that made sense...
Then she paused, throwing the teen an incredulous look.
"...Dattebayo?"
Naruto snorted. "It's my thing, don't judge. Anyways, it's your turn to tell me your story."
Kunou nodded, and opened her mouth to reply, but shut it quickly afterwards. Suddenly unwilling to say anything.
This person may be friendly now...but what if he was trying to trick her? What if this was all some kind of trick? One that would hurt her mother...?
The shinobi, apparently taking the young girl's silence as an unwillingness to talk, made to lie down on his bag. Preparing to get some rest. "Well, no worries. You don't have to talk about if you don't want to. You're a kid after all, I'm sure you went through some tough shi- I mean...crap. Best to just unwind form the day's stress sometimes. Get some rest."
With that, the teen laid down on his bag, closing his eyes so that he could go to sleep.
"...You're letting this go? Just like that?"
Naruto didn't respond, he stayed on the ground, with his peaceful face inviting the blissful unconsciousness of sleep.
Kunou said nothing, she merely glanced at the older boy, then turned away resolutely, facial features blank as her thoughts raced.
"Kid?"
The little kyuubi looked back at the teen, her golden eyes connecting with his blue as he opened a single eye to look at her.
"...You're safe now. I promise. I will protect you. I'll stake my life on it."
Golden eyes blinked slowly, but then began to blink rapidly, trying desperately to stop the flow that wanted to leak through from increasingly puffy eyes.
The heightened sense of wariness finally left her frame as she began to sniffle, hiccuping minutely as she just let go.
Naruto watched in abject sympathy as tears began to freefall from the little girl's eyes...pushing him to get up from his position on the floor and move closer to the yokai princess.
The shinobi slowly, hesitantly, moved closer and brought his arm around her neck, bringing her close to his chest as she openly began to bawl, her hot tears quickly wet his vest as she snuggled close. Wanting, needing that contact.
He could only shake his head. She was so young...
"Sorry kid...I tried to be as understanding and as positive as I could. I...didn't want you to be stressed out."
Kunou could only nod lightly, refusing to use her mouth with the lump in her throat.
Naruto closed his eyes as the little girl let it out, the stress of the day and the fear that came along with it. An image of a little boy going through such ordeals flitting across his head...
He quickly swallowed the anger that wanted to rise up his throat, getting angry wouldn't help here. Leave that for when he found the perpetrators.
"...Um...excuse me?"
The shinobi snapped back to the little girl under his arm, staring up at him with puffy red eyes.
"Oh! Sorry, I'll get off you now." Naruto began, moving to get back to his spot.
"No, wait!"
The teen paused, looking back at the younger girl with interest. Unsure.
Kunou for her part, squirmed in her place, eyes glancing down at the rock floor with way too much interest.
"...Could you...well...maybe...stay with me for a little longer?"
Naruto's lips twitched upwards, a growing smile spreading across his lips as he moved closer to her again.
"No problem."
"Hei!"
The sound of the powerful blow echoed across the room, shaking it faintly.
Koneko panted heavily as she bent over and placed her hands on her knees, using it as a method to keep herself standing.
Not enough.
Why wasn't it enough?
She growled as she forced herself up again, intent on trying again with more vigor.
Harder.
The little fist she sent sailing towards the wall impacted, enlarging the crack that was already there from her previous attack.
Harder.
Another blow to the wall broke down the section where she was aiming at, the pieces of rubble falling off and riddling the floor.
This time Koneko sat down, taking in huge gulps of air to refresh her lungs.
...Ah...maybe she went too far...
The young devil groaned as her fists ached from the abuse she gave them, she wasn't getting much stronger...
She suppoed that it made sense...she already focused most of her energy on power, so raising that strength even further is going to be a bit of an uphill battle.
But she had to.
That feeling of natural energy still lingered close to her heart, that overwhelming sense of fear of that person being close.
Of that person coming for her.
She had to get stronger...!
Koneko couldn't help but sigh however, she definitely wouldn't be getting any stronger today. So may as well stop for today.
She wondered what everyone else was doing?
The young rook got up from her position on the floor back to the main room of the training center, wondering what everyone else was up to-
"Ah, no wait! Rias-sempai! STOOOOP!"
"Sorry Mio-chan! This is what the note said to do! No breaks!"
Koneko wasn't sure about how to respond to this development, so she decided to stay quiet for now.
"Ara, you're back from your time in isolation, Koneko-chan?"
The young devil coolly turned her head to regard her devil sempai, how long has she been there? Plus, how did she manage to get behind her without her noticing?
Kind of scary actually.
Akeno was smiling at her, with the usual graceful air of an ideal Japanese beauty.
But that air was somewhat marred by the her slightly frizzled hair and clothes, as well as the soot that covered her entire body.
"...Did something happen, Akeno-sempai?" Koneko couldn't help but ask, eyeing the queen warily.
Akeno glanced down at her current state. "Ah, you mean this? Well, I was testing out a new technique that I've been practicing today."
She then shrugged airily. "It didn't work."
Yeah, Koneko could see that...
"But that's ok!" the queen chirped, clapping her hands together. "Afterwards I got a volunteer to help me out! It was...admittedly exhilarating."
The rook shivered.
Who would be stupid enough to allow themselves to be a test subject for the sadistic queen...?
"Issei-san! Hold on! Please don't die!"
Amber eyes were dry as they slowly turned to look at the smoking body of Hyoudou Issei, who was currently twitching violently and didn't look amused at all.
"Never again..." the perverted boy mumbled darkly, twitching once for good measure. "Never again..."
Meanwhile, the human nun was healing most of his wounds, but it became obvious that his pride was what was most damaged at the moment.
Koneko supposed that he really couldn't be blamed...it wasn't like anyone told him that she had a sadistic streak.
"Ok...! That was...the last one...right?"
The rook was almost afraid to look at the red-headed duo, but her curiosity eventually got the better of her and allowed her to see this incoming spectacle.
"Oh come on Mio-chan..." Rias drawled lightly, waving a small fire on her finger with a tiny magic circle. "You yourself said that you wanted to be stronger. You need to keep going."
"Yeah I did!" Mio growled. "But not to the point of suicide!"
"Oh...you're exaggerating! You can handle this, you just need the support to push you to move beyond your limits! Which is why I'm doing this! For your sake." the high-class devil insisted, pushing the little flame closer to a piece of paper that was on the wall right next to her.
"Then why do you look like you're enjoying this so much!?"
Rias quickly hid the smile on her lips.
"...For your sake!" the Gremory heiress declared, pushing the little fire close to the note.
"DAMN IT!"
As if on cue, several blurs emerged from the note, rocketing straight towards the half-devil that was more than a little ways away.
Mio ducked the second that her evil sempai activated the seal, her hair fluttering behind her as the small projectiles flew over her head harmlessly.
The projectiles? Rocks.
...Really Naruto...?
Although she dodged the initial volley, more rocks kept getting shot out of the seal, at rapid-fire. Forcing the young red-head to make split-second decisions to move, forcing her eyes and general senses to keep up.
Her reaction time.
Rias beamed with pride as her kohai continued to dodge the incoming rocks that were set against her. She was getting better at avoiding them...it was nice for them to do this every now and again. For a sempai to aid their kohai in times of need, to help prepare them for the world with such exercises.
It was definitely very nice.
"Evil! You hear me Rias-sempai!? EVIL!"
It was also an excellent excuse to tease her relentlessly.
"Ara...it seems that Buchou is enjoying herself quite a bit, eh Koneko-chan?" Akeno noted, glancing at her companion.
The rook could only sigh, did she really expect all of them to do anything different?
Then she perked up, looking around.
"...Where's Kiba-kun?"
The queen frowned at the question, her happy demeanor evaporating. "Unfortunately...we aren't really sure. He said that he would be here but...well, he never came. It's quite worrying."
Koneko's lips twitched downwards, just what was he up to...?
"Hey! Akeno-san!" Issei called out, walking towards the two devils despite still being covered in soot. "Can you...?"
"Use you as my test subject? Of course! As a matter of fact...it'd be my pleasure." Akeno stated with a dark grin growing on her face.
The pawn shook his head back and forth so fast that the rook thought that he was about to snap it off. "No! No, no, no, no, no! Not that! I meant...well...the training that Mio-san is doing...I want to do it too!"
The black-haired devil raised an interested eyebrow. "You sure? I'm not as nice as Buchou you know?"
Issei shivered, not as nice as Buchou...?
Brown eyes trailed back to the desperate dodging of Naruto's sister, her face the picture of overwhelming physical exertion.
But he swallowed his fears, giving his sempai a determined glare.
"I'm ready."
Akeno nodded slowly, accepting his willingness to die- she meant train.
"Ok then." the queen stated simply, before turning her head slightly to regard the rook besides her. "You want to train as well?"
Koneko's eyes snapped to curious purple, before trailing to determined brown.
The young reincarnated devil closed her eyes, remembering why she had to get stronger, what was really at stake when that natural energy invaded her senses.
...This would help too, strength wasn't everything.
"...Yes, please."
"Anything yet?"
The spy of the Hero Tribe shook his head slowly. "No, he's staying quiet. Too quiet. By this point...it's likely that he decided to get some rest. We probably won't hear from him until tomorrow."
Cao Cao nodded slowly. "...And his allies?"
"They're under my scope, and if I were to take an educated guess by checking the general direction of their movements...I'd say that they're heading to Kyoto. Are you going to stop them?"
The hero leader shook his head slowly, eyes scrunched. "No...they're no doubt going to try to solve the misunderstanding that Uzumaki caused with the yokai faction. By the time that they reach Kyoto itself...it should already be too late to do anything about it."
A single eye opened up to reveal a red slit, filled with nothing but sharp cunning. "Are you sure that's all you want to do with them?"
Cao Cao faltered slightly, eyeing his spy in the Hero Tribe with interest.
"...You know something I don't?"
The young sensor shrugged helplessly. "I might, but I agonize over whether I should tell you, as it would undoubtedly cause a major shift in your plans."
The black-haired descendant of the great hero; Cao Cao, leaned closer, interested. "Come now, don't keep me in suspense. Tell me."
The brown-haired spy glanced at his leader, acquiescing shortly after doing so. "...Uzumaki's 'hero' ally that your...'servant' spoke about. Her energy signal is extraordinarily familiar...so familiar that I actually focused on her for a few moments and...discovered something very interesting."
Cao Cao's eyes narrowed, what was he-?
"It's her...your old apprentice...it's her."
Black eyes widened in absolute shock, that was...
Cao Cao took a couple of steps back, completely shell-shocked by the discovery. She was here...? Of all places? As Uzumaki's ally?
Unwittingly, a dark chuckle began to escape his lips, growing in it's volume and intensity with every second that passed. Until it reached it's apex with a full-blown hysterical laugh that rang across the field that the heroes were occupying.
It took several moments for Cao Cao to regain control of himself again, but when he did, his eyes were more than a little predatory. "That is interesting~ Thank you for bringing this to my attention...Shiba."
Shiba grinned. "Of course, who am I to interrupt such a...momentous occasion? The question is then...what are you going to do?"
The young hero leader shot his ally a grin. "...Test her of course, learn about how much she's grown over the years. As for Uzumaki himself...well, I'm setting up a strike force to deal with him the moment that he reveals himself."
A red slit eye widened fractionally. "Really? You're not going to deal with him yourself? Is that wise?"
Cao Cao simply shrugged. "That's not the point. I'm not sending them to him to...'deal' with him. I'm sending them there to weaken him. If they manage to defeat him on the other hand...then he simply wasn't worth the effort anyways."
Shiba couldn't help but smile. "You'd throw your heroes at Uzumaki...possibly get them all killed...all to weaken and make sure that he's worth your effort? How dark."
The former apprentice of the Great Hero could only smirk in self-satisfaction.
"Is it not a hero's duty...to die for the greater good?"