Kunou stared at him, transfixed.
He didn't...look different, but he was. He was.
She couldn't really put a finger on it, but he had a new...aura. A feeling that surrounded him in such a way that it changed him, but it was still subtle.
Naruto turned to her, grinning, with toad-like eyes and orange pigmentation around them.
"I sent a clone to send me some extra power when we first left the yokai search group, he just finished now. Now...I'm gonna go beat everyone up, alright?" the shinobi asked, a cheeky smile on his face.
The yokai princess blinked, if anything more confused than before.
But she still believed him, she had nothing to fear.
"Got it. Go get 'em! Naruto!" Kunou declared, raising a small fist into the air.
A confident thumbs up was her answer.
Yuki was knelt against a tree, head peeking out of her cover to help determine where her adversary went.
She needed to find a way to win this without her left arm now...which meant no more sword locks, it was a battle that she couldn't win now.
But she couldn't think of anything...there had to be something...!
...What would Naruto do?
Yellow eyes blinked.
...That actually gave her an idea.
She'd have to thank Naruto later.
Immediately after this epiphany, a harsh amount of killing intent hit her and gave her the good sense to roll out of the way from the tree. Right before it was cut vertically in half.
The dark warrior was back, and obviously intending to finish her off this time.
But hopefully...just maybe...she had a way to cut her enemy down to size. She just had to play her cards right.
The hero raised her katana up with her right arm, eyes narrowed as she regarded her adversary, making sure to glare right at the red visor.
Both combatants went silent for a moment, contemplating and sizing up the other for battle.
Then the dark figure made the first move, charging forward in zeal and swinging it's blade horizontally at the human's torso.
Yuki responded quickly, utilizing Sakuya to catch the broadsword at the bottom and swinging upwards, redirecting the attack so that it would reach her neck instead.
She already made to lean back while she was doing this, barely avoiding the attack that was set against her.
Chance!
The moment that the attack went by, she leaned back in and moved forward, intent on getting under her opponent's guard to counterattack.
But that was foiled quickly when the warrior twisted it's sword hand, swinging the blade so that it would make an arc and prevent the hero from moving closer lest she take serious damage.
A makeshift shield.
Yuki opted to back up again instead, using the fact that the warrior's maneuver required for it to stay still to work.
Once the dark figure noticed her movement, it stopped spinning it's weapon to give chase, idly noting that she was moving behind a couple of trees for temporary cover.
It decided to use this, swinging it's broadsword to cut through the trees easily without effort, feeling a pang of disappointment when it didn't feel flesh get ripped apart.
Then it saw harsh yellow eyes emerge from the series of stumps, connecting with it's own under the visor, swinging the weapon in her hand which had a green aura surrounding-
The warrior growled as it's left arm caught the violent green wave, making the large cracks that were already present even worse than before.
As it the mysterious being was distracted, Yuki closed the distance between the two, ducking under the figure's guard and bringing her blade in towards the damaged armor.
She aimed her katana at the crack, impaling it with vicious force and pushing with all the strength that her arms and legs could muster, eyes locked onto the visor.
But now that she was up close...she could see.
She could see.
Green eyes stare back at her.
Cao Cao watched the final stage of the fight with a smirk, thoroughly pleased.
She has grown well, he was sure that she'd be a nobody but...
"It seems you've surpassed my expectations, Yuki-chan..." he couldn't help but say.
Her eyes especially has surpassed what he expected, he left those eyes broken and embittered, but now they're firm and practical.
Wasn't this what he wanted? Wasn't this what he sought?
To test the limits of humanity?
Even if she became physically powerful, her eyes would still have been merely a fraction to what they were in the beginning, what with the loss of her original family and all.
Yet here she was.
How much would it take until she broke again? What were her new limits?
"What are you up to?"
The sudden question broke through his musings, pushing him to turn his head just enough to glance at the devil that interrupted him.
"Hm? Whatever do you mean?" he asked sarcastically, a sly smile growing on his face.
Maria glared at the human male, eyes narrowing. "You know what I mean! What are you planning!?"
Cao Cao shrugged helplessly, nonchalant. "I'll tell you this, I don't have something planned for Yuki-chan. But I do have other plans in motion...you simply don't know about them yet."
The succubus watched the older-looking male suspiciously, before she turned to her comrade with worried eyes.
The hero leader eyed the female devil that was floating beside him, curious, then coolly disregarding her.
They were both in an elevated position, looking down on the battle that moved deeper into the forest. With himself standing on a tree branch while she stayed floating near him on her devil wings.
All thoughts ceased again as he tapped his ear, listening to a voice that was giving him a warning.
His eyes widened, his plan was underway.
"I see...very well then, I will be there shortly. Also...cut him off of your Sacred Gear...he isn't useful anymore. Leave him as a ticking time bomb if you can." Cao Cao muttered gently into his earpiece, before turning it off.
"Well then!" the young man declared, straightening his back and catching the succubus' attention. "I think it's about time that I take my leave. I hope that we shall see each other in better circumstances!"
With that statement, the 'hero' materialized a spear out of thin air, calmly wielding it with practiced ease.
Maria immediately flew backwards, away from the spear that just screamed 'danger!' to her.
Almost as an afterthought, seven orbs materialized immediately afterwards, one of which began to move closer to his person as he opened his mouth to whisper.
"Hatsutei Ratana..."
Maria gaped as the young man that was occupying a tree branch suddenly disappeared into thin air, just like that! No sudden movements whatsoever!
Just gone.
It had to have been one of those orbs...whatever they were.
Nevertheless, she now had the option to help Yuki-san without punishment, so she was intent on doing so.
With that in mind, she lowered herself to the ground, ignoring the feeling of water droplets that began to pelt her head.
Blood spurted out, splashing her as she made her pass, covering her and Sakuya with it's disgusting substance.
She tripped over herself from the sudden loss of resistance to her blade, falling down face-first to the grassy floor, wincing at the fact that she fell on her broken arm.
Ugh...
The young hero slowly turned around, eyes focusing on the form of her enemy, who was standing tall still, almost stoically.
But slowly, the figure began to hunch over, moving it's last good arm to cover the stump on it's other arm from bleeding. Trying to slow down the loss.
Red liquid kept seeping through clenched fingers, as the powerful being eventually fell down to it's knees, losing it's strength as time went on.
Yuki watched, feeling extraordinarily complex feelings conflict with one another as she continued.
She could only turn away, feeling inexplicably sad.
It was at that moment that she felt something wet tickle her scalp, which pushed her to check the sky despite the fact that the danger hasn't already passed. Her mental exhaustion being that extensive by this point.
It was beginning to rain...
"Yuki-san!" a feminine voice called out, moving closer to her as well.
The hero turned to look at the half-devil that was steadily floating closer to her, waving happily.
But Yuki didn't exactly look amused to see her.
"Maria-san, what are you doing? The battle isn't over yet!" she reprimanded sternly, voice firm.
Maria kept moving towards her, shaking her head. "Don't worry, Yuki-san. He left already, just like that. Even leaving behind his apprentice no less..."
The human female looked surprised for a moment, but quickly smoothed out her facial features to think.
He left...just like that? Then why did he bother to come here in the first place? What was his real goal?
She knew her former sensei, he didn't do things for no reason, despite the fact that he claimed to do so. No...he always did things for some reason...
The hero pondered the question for a minute or two, seriously considering, ignoring the rain that began to get heavier as time passed.
Then realization reached her yellow orbs as she remembered something.
She quickly moved her hands over her form, cursing under her breath when she realized that she already got her hero outfit out.
"Maria-san!" Yuki shouted, grabbing the succubus' attention. "Lend me your phone! Quickly!"
Maria didn't argue, she quickly went into her dress pocket and gave her partner her phone, silently thankful that she didn't transform into her fighting outfit.
Yuki quickly called up Naruto, hoping that he picked up so that she could at least warn him of the fact that Cao Cao was after-
Her thoughts went cold and her lips thinned as she slowly took the phone off of her ear, giving it back to Maria, quietly.
"...Straight to voicemail." was all she said.
Bad implications.
The half-devil took the phone back after wiping if from the rain that accumulated on the screen, worried. "Then what should we do? Keep going to Kyoto? Try to warn Naruto-sama? Whatever we decide...we have to do it now. Especially since we probably can't make another call now that the taxi driver disappeared..."
Yuki nodded slowly, recognizing their bad position, but her mind was still elsewhere.
More specifically, her mind was...
Yellow eyes turned to look at the dark warrior, still holding on to it's stump of an arm desperately, trying to keep itself...no...himself alive.
Her heart was bleeding with sympathy now, seeing the mysterious figure still hunched over while still trying to nurse his injury after getting abandoned by his master was painful to watch.
It reminded her too much of her own past.
She looked away, unable to look at the person in the suit of armor.
"...No..."
Yuki froze in her tracks, flinching imperceptibly at the distorted voice that called out, almost as if physically rasping for her...
She turned around cautiously, eyes wary. Idly noticing that Maria was also watching with an equal amount of caution, ignoring the fact that the rain was pouring onto her heavily now.
The armored figure slowly got up from it's position on the ground, getting to it's feet as it steadied itself. Blood still seeping from it's arm. With the heavy rain helping the blood flow from his body to the ground.
"...No...I won't...let you...!" the figure growled, shaking his head repeatedly.
The two females watched in fascination, uncertain on how to respond., but couldn't help but continue to watch anyways.
But their attention was about to move to something just as troubling.
Before any of them could figure out what was going on, Yuki and Maria both shivered as a heavy sense of foreboding entered their senses, giving them a heavy dose of goosebumps.
Both turned around, eyes wide as they searched for the source, fear began to unwillingly to creep into their hearts.
Then Maria saw it.
"...What is that?" she couldn't help but breathe out, the sense of foreboding growing in her stomach.
Yuki turned to where the half-devil was looking at, swallowing the sense of unease that accompanied it.
They were both looking at a pillar of violent red energy, swirling from the ground into the sky from another part of the forest, somewhere closer to Kyoto than them.
It's power was...dark. That was all she could say for sure.
She couldn't tell what it was or where it came from, but there was something she was sure of.
Naruto was there, somewhere. In the middle of that mess.
She opened her mouth to inform the succubus beside her-
A harsh clang interrupted her thoughts from behind her, followed by repeated chants.
"No...no, no, no, no!"
The hero grit her teeth as she was unpleasantly reminded of the other problem they had, forcing her to turn around and deal with the issue at hand.
So she did so, prepared to end this, permanently. It was truly unfortunate though...
But then her facial features contorted to something very different from her attempt at calm detachment, shifting to something akin to complete shell-shock.
All thanks to the fact that the warrior clawed his helmet off.
Green eyes.
Brown messy hair.
Facial features that mirrored that of her adoptive father...
She took a step back, unwilling, unable to understand what was happening.
But she tried to, she wanted to, but it was so much at once...!
Yet her mouth still opened, tentatively whispering a name that she hasn't uttered in years.
"...Basara?" Yuki whispered out, hoping against hope that her comrade was-
'Basara' growled, clenching teeth as he grasped his head, shaking it repeatedly. Green eyes glowing ominously as a streak of hair began to shift to vibrant green as well.
No...there was something wrong...
Then the young man let loose a scream, raising his stump of an arm into the air as it glowed green, covering it up in it's luminescence.
Once the glow faded away, both females stared in abject wonder at the change.
The abandoned 'apprentice' of Cao Cao now had a metallic arm where his old one once stayed, wielding the broadsword that he carried before as several pieces of it glowed green.
Brynhildr.
His features had grown increasingly intense after he grew out the arm, with a small clump of hair standing up vibrant green, a strange mark right next to his right eye, and his eyes glowing ominously with power.
But what really struck Yuki was the slasher grin on his face.
"...Bad." was all the hero could say. "This is very, verybad..."
Maria nodded slowly, before she turned back to where the pillar of energy came from.
She seriously hoped that Naruto-sama was doing better than they were...
"Damn you...! Stay still so that I can pummel you!" Heracles roared, throwing a fist straight at the obnoxious blond's face.
'Naruto' spun around it, catching it as he did so and bending it around the large brute, a dark grin on his face as he did so.
The large hero grit his teeth, he couldn't hit the slippery bastard...!
He was about to swing his other arm around, intent on catching him off guard, but through the side of his eye, he caught two blurs appearing right under him.
He immediately tried to intercept, but instead, all he got was two vicious blows up his chin.
The descendant of the original Heracles was sent sky-high, his jaw smarting from the blow, but when he managed to open his eyes, he was met with a new problem.
Three of those damn copies raising their foots in the air, right above him.
Three vicious blows smashed against his face, sending him sailing to the ground, slamming him into the ground with brutal force.
As he crashed, Jeanne was facing off against a clone herself, deftly clashing against his small knife with deft swordplay from her rapier.
The two clashed their weapons together after a swift flurry of blows, faces inches from one another during the cross of blades.
"You know..." the clone grunted out, trying to ignore the creeping feeling of frost that was enveloping his hand from her blade. "You really should stop while you're ahead. There's no way you can win this."
The female hero hummed at that, tilting her head upwards as if to consider. "Whatever do you mean? This onee-san doesn't really think that our chances are that bad, you know~?"
'Naruto' narrowed his eyes faintly. "Because despite the battle that we're fighting, we aren't taking you a hundred percent seriously. We have no idea if your bodies can take our more...powerful moves...so easily. So to be honest...we're hoping that you give up before the boss gets back."
It was true, despite how much stronger these humans are compared to the normal ones...they still didn't have anything to truly enhance their bodies. So to take a rasengan to the gut would be...
Well...it would probably kill them. Easily.
He wanted to keep these people alive for questioning, so this was ridiculously important!
Jeanne pouted, pressing her rapier against the clone further. "Oh~? You're not taking us seriously? Well that won't do...that won't do at all."
Blue eyes crinkled lightly, confused at the shift. He wanted to defuse the situation, not make it worse.
Jeanne then stamped her foot onto the ground, a decidedly unfriendly smile plastered on her face.
Balance Breaker.
"Blade Blacksmith!"
The clone's eyes widened, wha-?
Then his thoughts ceased, thanks to the fact that several holy swords were sticking out of him.
*POOF*
The female hero smiled as the copy disappeared. "I suppose that we just have to stop holding back too, now don't we~?"
As she stated that, several magic bullets shot out of what remained of the forest around them, piercing through the still-too-thick fog and aiming for...
"Look out! Move, move, move!" a clone cried out, rolling out of the way as the magical attack nearly hit him, trying to spread the word before his brothers met their end.
Several copies shifted their focus from their fights with the 'heroes' to the attacks, trying to make sure that they didn't get popped.
Some didn't stand a chance.
The clones that were just coming down from sending Heracles to the ground, couldn't get out of the air in time. They got impaled before they could move out of the way.
The 'Naruto' that was in the middle of a duel with Siegfried was a different story, they were surrounded by ice pillars and small whirlwinds that prevented anything from getting through, literally insulating them from harm.
Excluding the one locked in a death battle, that left four clones running around dodging the suspiciously accurate shots.
Jeanne took this opportunity to concentrate inwards, calling upon her inner strength to end this fight, they did have a job to do after all.
As she went to do just that, the someone broke through the ground close to her, emerging from it like some sort of zombie from a horror flick. Looking absolutely furious.
Looks like she wasn't the only one about to get serious.
Several of the holy swords that were created to destroy the blond copy began to coalesce into a single entity, growing ever more elaborate as it took in more of the sharp weapons.
Meanwhile, Heracles' body began to glow bright, with several small protrusions beginning to stick out from his body.
"Stake Victim Dragon!" Jeanne declared excitedly, gleefully watching the numerous swords form a large dragon. Allowing her to jump on top of it's head and survey the battlefield from an elevated position.
"Detonation-Mighty Comet!" Heracles roared, with several missile-like objects sticking out of his skin, a maniacal grin accompanying it.
His own Balance Breaker...!
He was going to enjoy this...
Naruto was close to the area where his clones were fighting, he knew that his enemies were still fighting there thanks to the recent memories his clones left behind and to his incredibly enhanced sensing abilities.
Almost there...
He stopped in his tracks, narrowing his eyes as an explosion rocked the forest, sending dirt, rocks, and trees into the air. The shock wave also buffeted against him, strong enough to bend the trees near him, but not nearly enough to make him budge in his current state.
The shinobi just watched the plume cloud that went higher into the sky, receiving all of the memories of the recently deceased copies. Contemplating the turn of events.
Sacred Gears were annoying, weren't they?
He had no idea about the full extent of these people's new abilities were, only fragments. Underestimating them wasn't a good idea in this case.
So then...may as well make sure they didn't have the chance to attack back.
A bit of...shock and awe was in order.
With that thought in place, he took off his vest, leaving it at the floor so that it wouldn't get caught in the second technique he learned back at the forest. After that, the sage moved forward, toad-like eyes serious as he zeroed in on his enemies.
He reached his destination in no time, crashing through the fallen trees as he emerged in the now ruined battlefield. Which was a mix of rubble, several craters of varying sizes, holy swords sticking out of the ground, pillars of ice towering over everyone, and toppled trees everywhere.
Moving away from that, Naruto quickly took stock of his enemies; noting the silver-haired man and his six arms, the young blond woman standing upon a dragon made of swords, a muscle-head that was glowing with weird protrusions all over his body...
Plus there was a pseudo-sniper here too.
As a side note, the fog that was still lingering on the battlefield was...unnatural. He could tell now, but what did it do exactly?
"Ah...so you must be the real one, right!?" Heracles growled out, taking a menacing step forward.
Toad eyes panned to the muscle-head, deadly serious, but strangely quiet.
"...Hm? Is Uzu-kun shy now? You shouldn't have to worry! Onee-san will take good care of you!" Jeanne chirped, while the dragon that she was sitting on began to move closer to his position.
The blond continued to watch, silent, contemplating.
"It's a shame Uzumaki, it's been a long time since I've faced another blade-user with such skill. But we have our objective...hand over the girl." Siegfried demanded, as his four dragon arms wielded the demon swords with expert efficiency.
Once more, the young teen stayed silent, closing his eyes after a few more moments.
"One chance." he eventually said, unusually solemn. "You all have one chance to give up. If not, then I'll have to crush all of you."
The humans exchanged glances, surprised, before bursting into fits of chuckles, amused that the blond would issue demands with his horrible position.
They were currently utilizing their Balance Breakers, the epitome of power for Sacred Gears. Not only that, but some of them were using their sub-species variants of their Sacred Gears, more powerful and personalized versions of their inherited weapons.
What chance did Uzumaki possibly have?
Naruto didn't bother to wait for them to stop chuckling about his threat. He simply made a familiar hand sign and let it do the talking.
"Kage bunshin no jutsu!"
Immediately, two clones appeared in an explosion of smoke, flanking him with serious expressions.
The heroes immediately quieted down, getting serious now that he made the first move.
One of the clones leaned to the boss. "Hey...are you sureyou want to go through with this? I mean it will probably work...it's just kind of risky, don't ya think?"
Naruto shrugged casually. "The theory is pretty sound I think, and in practice it works too. Don't worry."
The copy sighed, seems that there was no convincing the boss with this.
The triplets then huddled together, the original provided the hand, another started to making grabbing motions over that hand, and the last poured wind into it...
He needed to make the jutsu as stable as possible...!
Siegfried narrowed his eyes as a fierce wind began to blow against him and his comrades, coming from-
"Fūton: Rasenshuriken!" Naruto shouted above the screaming winds, carrying the deadly jutsu over his head with practiced ease.
The heroes watched the spinning star with unease, the power of the attack was obvious as it boldly pushed them all back, despite the great strength that they all boasted.
Even the dragon that Jeanne created was slowly getting pushed against the powerful push back of the jutsu.
Naruto noticed their worried features, he tilted his head as he looked at all of them, an amused smile on his face.
"Oh...don't worry you guys." the shinobi stated clearly over the screaming winds. "This jutsu isn't actually for you."
Siegfried's eyes shifted from wariness to confusion, turning to look at Jeanne and Heracles who carried the same looks.
Before anyone could ask, the blond raised the fierce attack higher as if about to throw it...
"It's for me."
With that, he threw the powerful jutsu to the ground, right where he stood.
The explosion enveloped the blond immediately, vicious winds grinding against one another as a dome of wind began to emerge from the impact.
Siegfried took a step back, eyes wide, did he just throw that attack at himself!?
Regardless of what he thought, the dome of wind was beginning to expand, growing larger and about to reach them, with deadly consequences no doubt.
Jeanne and Heracles stared at the dome, gobsmacked themselves, but also quickly noticed the danger.
But before any of them could actually make any moves, a peculiar thing happened.
The dome stopped.
It's expansion stopped suddenly, despite the fact that the violent wind blades from within kept swirling around inside.
If anything...the dome of wind began to recede.
All watched in awe as the dome of wind slowly but surely retreated back to where the attack was initially thrown, until it finally vanished into nothingness, leaving nothing but the crater as evidence of it's existence.
In the middle of that crater...was Naruto.
Naruto opened his eyes, still toad-like, to the world again. With a soft wind shifting the clothes he wore and the occasional violent crash of wind blades that broke out right next to his form, just far away enough to not harm him.
With his golden hair flowing, eyes fierce, and clothes following the whims of the wind surrounding him, he made his declaration.
"...Fūton Chakra Mode...activated."
A few seconds of silence passed after the declaration was made, with the heroes watching him warily.
"...W-What did you do?" Heracles questioned eventually, shaken, but managed to gather his nerve at the last second. "Well...it doesn't matter anyways! We're still going to crush you, even after your little circus show!"
With that, the large man screamed, releasing the missiles that were attached to him as they surged to the stationary blond.
Naruto just watched as the projectiles headed straight towards him, clustered together for one powerful strike.
Then he raised his hand in a quick motion, as if back-handing the air itself.
Siegfried narrowed his eyes at the movement, what was he-?
His eyes widened, his mouth fell open to gape as the missiles that was set against their enemy was shredded to pieces, several of which fell short of their destination. Falling in a heap in front of the blond.
Jeanne blinked, thoroughly confused, not understanding what just happened.
While Heracles involuntarily took a step back, horrified. That was his Balance Breaker...!
His eyes traveled back to his enemy, anger rising in his veins, about to mete out his righteous-
"Yo."
A hand casually clasped itself at the descendant of the original Heracles' back.
"I warned you."
Heracles screamed as he began to writhe in pain, feeling something akin to a shredder do it's dirty work on his back, trying to get away from the pain...!
Naruto took his hand off the large man's back, allowing him to breathe, worn out from screaming his lungs out.
Then the teen flicked a finger.
A large gash appeared on the hero's back, ripping apart skin as the owner bit back a scream, as he fell down in agony.
Naruto watched, frowning. Somewhat uncomfortable with the pain he's caused, but still fine as long as it doesn't go overboard.
Now for the others...
A wall of flame came flying towards him while he was distracted, coming from Jeanne's dragon as it utilized the holy swords from within itself to attack at her order.
His form was seemingly taken in by the storm of fire, causing the blond woman to smile in triumph, believing that she managed to catch her opponent off guard.
Meanwhile, Georg was watching the battle from a still-forested area, several magic circles ready to fire at the ready. Using the mist that he's created to hide his position and prepared to teleport again should his position be compromised.
A perfect plan for a support like himself.
But it seemed that Jeanne managed to kill their enemy, so maybe it was time to-
"Nice hiding spot, though I did figure out where you were before I even entered the battle dattebayo."
The bespectacled man's eyes widened, spinning around to try and salvage the situation.
All he saw was a hand.
"Sorry about this, it won't kill you."
"Where did he go!? Did you see him escape, Jeanne!?" Siegfried questioned harshly, eyes scanning around the burnt crisp of ground that his partner burned.
The girl that carried the spirit of the original Joan of Arc huffed, pouting cutely. "How rude! My child's flames are more than powerful enough to kill him!"
The silver-haired man could have growled, he still wasn't comfortable until he found a body!
"Gaaah!"
Both 'heroes' snapped their heads to an area where trees still stood, as a body came flying out in a heap, covered in nasty cuts and gashed all throughout his body.
"...Georg!" Siegfried muttered, mortified.
It became increasingly obvious as he stared that the young man was either dead or unconscious since the fog around them finally began to lift, aiding in visibility.
As the mist lightened, their enemy walked right out of the area that he kicked their comrade out of. Just as self-assured as before.
Jeanne subtly ordered her dragon to move forward slowly, intent on getting close enough to use another elemental attack and catch their enemy off guard.
Siegfried also raised two demonic swords; Balmung andTyrfing, to use their powers to catch the teen before he tried anything else.
As they began their attempts to attack, Naruto himself brought his arms close to his chest, crossing them as if he was clutching something invisible to his body. As he did this, the casual wind that surrounded his form began to move to his hands, enhancing it to the point that the wind around the skin began to grind violently against one another.
This powerful winds glowed bright white, cupping his hands like a couple of gauntlets.
As the two heroes made their move, he made his.
Naruto once more back-handed the air, releasing the charged power from his finger tips.
The moment that they were released, the ground around him began to shred apart, literally getting ripped apart piece by piece as they made their way to their intended target.
Neither Jeanne or Siegfried had a chance in dodging the nearly invisible attack, at it moved far faster than anything they were capable of.
It hit the female hero first, as the blades that make up her 'child' began to get ripped to shreds from the attack, destabilizing the dragon as it began to fall apart from the accumulating damage.
Until it finally broke apart, the swords that made it up were broken up to little shards, falling under it's own weight.
Jeanne was hit by the last bit of violent wind as it broke through the crumbling dragon, giving her massive cuts and gashes all over her body.
Siegfried was behind the female hero when she received the attacks, using the two demonic swords he was already about to use from before. Summoning a whirlwind and a massive pillar of ice for protection, before crossing his swords together in a makeshift shield for the attack ahead.
The wind reached him.
He grit his teeth as the wind blades buffeted the ice pillar after cutting through the whirlwind with little effort, carving through his makeshift defense without much difficulty.
The silver-haired man held firm, watching the ice pillar begin to crumble under it's own weight as the wind shred it's base to pieces.
Then, it broke through.
He bit his lips hard enough to bleed, as the wind hit him where his demonic swords weren't protecting, ripping his body apart as it made it's pass.
The wind continued past the two heroes, sending rock and soil into the air as it ripped apart anything in it's way, eventually shredding the trees that were on the other side of the field.
Until it finally died down, leaving the ground devoid of grass or soft dirt, and making a long line of obliterated trees.
Both heroes that were affected by it's coming fell over, groaning and bleeding heavily on the ground.
Naruto's eyes flitted around, determining that the battle was over now that his enemies were for the most part, finished. All he had to do now...was get Kunou and take these people with him to Kyoto or her mother.
Either or.
"N-N-Naruto! What was that!?"
Ah, there she was.
Toad-like eyes turned to where he came from in the forest, as a little girl emerged from it, golden eyes wide in awe.
She followed him...it was a good thing he had Sage Mode on, otherwise he could have accidentally hit her with his attacks...
The blond couldn't help but shake his head, but he let it go.
"Kunou-chan, you alright? Not hurt are you?" Naruto asked gently, walking up to her, making sure to not touch her.
Kunou just gaped, completely entranced. "...That was amazing! I've never seen anything like that before! How'd ya do it? How'd ya do it?"
The shinobi allowed for an indulgent smile to spread across his lips, amused. "Kind of complicated kid."
Her eyes dulled, looking annoyed that he still called her a 'kid' after all of this.
But he was telling the truth, it was kind of complicated.
The process of his Fūton Chakra Mode was very similar to similar to his fūton: rasenshuriken. Almost identical as matter of fact.
In a rasenshuriken, the rasengan itself was the medium that was used to control the wind, spinning it around faster and faster to create the deadly wind blades that were so infamous.
The rasengan was the core.
The Fūton Chakra Mode? Same concept, as himself as the core. Spinning around the wind chakra around his form to provide a coat of deadly wind, keeping himself insulated from it while keeping it as armor.
Not only that, but by utilizing his skills in shape manipulation, he could actively send out wind chakra from the points of his fingertips if he wants. A flick of motion while releasing some of the wind coating his body actively sends wind blades in that direction.
But...there were still lots of problems with it.
For example, he couldn't make the wind blades in this form anywhere near as powerful as those in a rasengan.
The rasengan was essentially a little maelstrom of power, with the chakra flying everywhere, clashing against one another repeatedly to make it's grinding effect against it's victims.
It was that aspect of the jutsu that makes the wind blades so deadly, as it spins around the wind blades and grinds them against one another. It made them overwhelmingly sharp, and when they were released...they flew apart everywhere because of their momentum.
There was no way he could replicate that with his body, if he tried, he'd just kill himself.
So instead, he created the rasenshuriken, set it on himself, released the wind from their container, and spun his chakra around himself, trying to keep the wind's momentum without having it kill him.
Although it would have killed him in his normal state, but that was what senjutsu was for. As senjutsu chakra had a stabilizing effect on anything he attempted with chakra, allowing him to stabilize the rasenshuriken enough to throw it for example, or even make a one-handed rasenganwithout any help.
Hell, he made a rasenrengan without clones once against one of the Paths of Pain, in the toad chief's mouth if he remembered...
So essentially, with senjutsu chakra, he could keep the wind chakra spinning around himself, to be utilized however he wishes. As a shield, or even to keep the air pressure off of him when running at high speeds, allowing him to move even faster than normal.
Too bad he couldn't fly or anything while like this...that was the original point of this mode too.
More than that, since the mode was still new, it still takes a lot of concentration to continuously spin his chakra around for so long, so he couldn't focus on any jutsus or anything while in this state.
Speaking of that, the final problem with this was...
Naruto took a deep breathe, as he slowly and methodically let loose the wind that was coating him. Making sure that the wind blades that surrounded him were still getting moved around his body, but slowing down the chakra that was spinning it.
Slowing it down, little by little.
The process of getting rid of the mode he was using was exhausting for his senjutsu reserves, as he meticulously made sure that the winds blades wouldn't be released in a fashion that the rasenshuriken did.
As he finally slowed down the wind blades enough to let them be released, then watch them fizzle out, completely harmless, he came to an obvious conclusion.
The amount of senjutsu chakra he had left was pretty low, especially since before he even used his new chakra mode, he used a rasenshuriken.
So he let loose a sigh as toad-like eyes shifted to blue, and orange pigmentation faded away.
Naruto finally looked at Kunou again, who was looking at him all confused. Opening his mouth to speak-
He suddenly fell to his knees, eyes wide as he nearly fell to his hands, shaking.
Kunou looked taken aback at the sudden movement, but quickly moved closer to him, clutching at him. "Naruto!? Are you ok!?"
The blond turned to look at the yokai princess straight in the eye. Suddenly and completely unsure.
Why did he feel so...weak?
His legs quite simply gave up on him to what quickly felt like a building on his shoulders.
This was something that never happened before...what could have caused it?
Then his eyes widened as a thought occurred to him, remembering how slick and oily the natural energy felt as the clone took it in...
Could that be it...?
He didn't feel anything negative when he used senjutsu...so maybe the negative effects were just hitting him after he's weakened after using Sage Mode?
If that's the case...then he had to use it more carefully.
"...Naruto?" the little kyuubi called out, concerned.
The teen raised his head to her, giving her a shaky smile. "Ah...sorry, just tripped."
Kunou's eyes scanned his face for a few seconds, trying to see if he was telling the truth, before nodding slowly.
Blue eyes turned away from the kid for a moment to look to where he laid his vest at-
Ah.
He face-palmed as he realized something.
The area that he just completely obliterated with his wind? That was where he placed his vest...
He was so worried about making sure that Kunou didn't get hit that he obliterated his vest...and the phone inside it as well. Probably.
Damn...Rias and Akeno were right about his luck with phones, weren't they? He'd never hear the end of it.
For now Naruto ignored that little fact. Instead he forced himself up, grabbed Kunou by her hand in order to lead her away to the powerful energy source that he noticed while he still had his senjutsu.
A powerful energy source.
It must be the kid's mother, and she wasn't that far either!
It was while he was leading the little girl by the hand that he felt something wet hit his scalp, making him flinch at the sudden contact.
He glanced up into the sky, was it about to rain...?
Kunou snuggled a little closer to his body while he was distracted, catching his attention as she did so.
"Naruto? We're...actually going to be ok, right? We're really gonna see okaa-sama again?" she mumbled out, trying to meld her body as close to his as possible.
The shinobi held the little hand in his palms a little tighter, as reassurance. She's had a rough day.
"I told you didn't I? I'll protect you." Naruto soothed, firmly holding that tiny hand.
She didn't reply, she simply stayed as she was, moving in tandem with him.
Naruto smiled, continuing forward to meet the faction leader of the yokai. Eager to put this whole mess behind him and finally learn more-
His smile suddenly disappeared from his face as a chill went right down his spine, as the sound of clapping began to drown out all else from his eardrums.
"Heartwarming." a masculine voice stated dryly. "But you really shouldn't make promises that you can'tkeep...Uzumaki."
The shinobi didn't reply, caught completely off-guard by the sudden appearance of the handsome man wielding a spear. He literally just appeared in front of them! No warning!
It was only after he got over the abrupt surprise, that he noticed the seven orbs that were surrounding the young man...
"Okaa-sama!" Kunou screamed out, charging forward.
Naruto's eyes widened as he physically pulled the kid back, eyes scanning to see what had her so riled up.
Then he saw it, or rather...her.
A breathtakingly beautiful woman with long blond hair, a voluptuous body, and golden eyes.
But those eyes were...dulled, as if the woman wasn't actually present in her own body.
More importantly...she looked just like...
The shinobi gripped on Kunou's hand harder. He understood.
"...What did you do to her?" Naruto demanded quietly, doing his best to keep a lid on the anger that was boiling inside.
Cao Cao shrugged airily. "What I did to her, I've done to many, including my former student as a matter of fact. I sometimes have to use more...extreme measures on certain powerful or talented people refuse listen to me. Nothing personal."
Blue eyes narrowed dangerously, anger growing further from his complete lack of contrition. "You're controlling her then...? How? But more importantly...why?"
The hero leader sighed, casually placing his spear over his shoulder, at complete ease. "My, don't you have a lot of questions? But unfortunately, I didn't come here to answer those questions, I've come here to get the girl...and to give you an offer."
Kunou looked up nervously at the teenaged boy, fearful that the man would do to her what he did to her mother.
He squeezed her hand, easing her worries.
He was still with her.
Cao Cao didn't say anything if he noticed the exchange. "I'll only ask once, as many of my people are quite upset at you for all of the trouble you've put us through. Join us, embrace us as your brothers and sisters, and help us overthrow this decadent world that the Hero Tribe has allowed to form."
Naruto raised an eyebrow, ignoring the slow increase of rain that was falling now. "Decadent?"
The older man nodded solemnly, completely serious. "Yes, a world where supernatural beings such as devils, fallen angels, and even angels have abused and oppressed humanity for over thousands of years. A world where humans are still used by their 'betters' to inflate their numbers or use as cattle. A world that the Hero Tribe could have ended it if it had the guts to do so...but didn't."
The shinobi frowned heavily, confused, but steady. "What kind of bullshit are you spouting? What the hell does any of this have to do with that cause?"
Cao Cao inclined his head. "Fair point, if you're looking at it from a narrow point of view, it would look strange, wouldn't it? But I assure you, this is relevant. This event will aid us in our quest to challenge the supernatural, to show that they can be overcome by humans!"
The hero leader leaned back, tilting his head to regard the young woman that stood by his side. "Yasaka here will give me the ability to challenge the greatest of all monsters; Great Red."
Naruto's eyes widened to the size of saucers, horrified. "Are...are you insane!? I thought that Great Red was the strongest being alive!? Why would you-?"
"To test my limitations." the 'hero' interrupted, deadly serious. "Humans are known for adapting to difficult situations, aren't they? They can overcome numerous challenges to reach their end goal, given time. Can this not be seen as a new challenge to be overcome? A new goal to be reached and conquered?"
He then spread his arms out, welcoming. "I intend to open the flood gates Uzumaki, to push as many humans as possible to challenge their limitations...and challenge the greatest limitation."
"...He's insane." Kunou whispered, shuffling closer to his body.
Naruto didn't respond, he kept his eyes locked on his opponent. "...I wonder how many people will have to end up like Yasaka for this...'plan' of yours to work out."
Cao Cao's facial features crinkled slightly. "Why should the oppressed care about what happens to their oppressor?"
The shinobi took a step forward, newly aggressive as his eyes dilated, raising Kunou's hand as he did so. "Does the kid look like a fucking oppressor to you!?"
Now the hero leader's own eyes narrowed. "It doesn't change the fact that she benefits from the system in place, she's complicit, whether she likes it or not. So I ask again...should the oppressed care about what happens to their oppressor? Is it not just for the oppressors to get destroyed for their arrogance? As comeuppance?"
Naruto's face blanked out at that statement, he took a step back, and released a long drawn out sigh.
Then he gave his fellow human a steady look.
"Man...I wish I can see things from your point of view." the blond mused, suddenly relaxed. "But I'm afraid that I can't stick my head far enough in my own ass for that, so I'll have to decline."
Cao Cao frowned, bringing his spear back to the forefront. "A shame, we could have used your abilities. But as it stands..."
The black-haired young man turned around to look at the unresponsive Yasaka.
"...Kill him, I suppose." the 'hero' ordered lightly.
Golden eyes flashed open, glowing brightly with excess power as the beautiful woman began to change.
Her form grew to gargantuan proportions, dwarfing the trees easily with this transformation.
Then she solidified into a form that made Naruto do a double-take, trying not to equate it to...something else.
A kyuubi, with beautiful golden fur, and nine long royal tails, in all of it's feral glory.
Naruto pushed Kunou behind him, prepared to fight against the fierce beast of legend, but trying to do his best to ignore the memories of another beast...one that sometimes still haunted him.
"...Naruto..."
Ignore it. Pretend it doesn't exist.
The shinobi quickly brought his hands together, prepared to use his signature jutsu to get him out of this mess.
As he did so, he noticed that his enemy seemed to be looking awfully smug over something...
Then he felt it.
Killing intent.
He had to cut himself off in order to pull Kunou away from him and to cross his arms in take the attack that was heading at him from behind...!
*BOOM*
The yokai princess was thrown bodily away from her protector, only getting up to see what happened when she managed to stop herself. Giving her the chance to see what happened...
She couldn't, the mist that was surrounding them was too thick to-
Wait...mist?
Hey golden eyes widened, but that's impossible! They were badly defeated already!
Meanwhile, Naruto swiped away at the smoke that the attack left behind, giving him the chance to see what was going on. Smarting at all of the singes that the attack left behind.
As he did so, the first thing that his eyes registered was the maw of a what seemed like a thousand swords...
Fire and electricity spewed from that maw, heading straight towards him as the blond quickly grabbed a kunai from his pouch and enhanced it with wind chakra so that it could be used to intercept the attack.
He succeeded, stopping the attack cold, but the twin attacks were taking their toll on the little knife and on his hand, which was quickly getting heated up from the assault.
As he focused on this, his instincts screamed at him to move, pushing him to grab another kunai from his pouch and enhance it with wind chakra.
He caught the vicious blade that was aimed at his heart, but the power of the blade bodily pushed him close to the ground, making a decent crater from right under him.
It also pushed him closer to the double elemental attack, wincing as the attacks buffeted him on the left side of his face.
"You're outnumbered. You're weakened. With a large handicap. You need me..."
Naruto grit his teeth, as he used every ounce of strength he had left in him to shove the blade that was used against him and shift it to where the elemental onslaught was pushing him back.
This surprise move obviously shocked the sword wielder, as his blade was used to intercept the attack from his comrade, but during the distraction, Naruto quickly backed up. Needing to get some space.
It was at that moment, while backing up, with the now thunderous sound of rain pouring onto the ground, that he noticed something.
Fog. If anything, thicker than before.
The shinobi growled, how could they have gotten up? They were so wounded that it would have been impossible!
But he couldn't stop to think, as several missiles pierced through the fog, moving towards him.
Naruto prepared to move again, looking for his enemies in this annoying fog which lowered his field of vision.
Then he noticed something strange.
The missiles weren't...aimed at him. Their trajectory was, if anything, aimed at something behind him...
It felt like a lead weight fell onto his stomach as realization hit him.
The shinobi spun around and raced towards the missile's destination, running as fast as he could with his weakened body.
Kunou's golden eyes shone with relief when their eyes connected again.
"Ah! Thank goodness you're-"
She didn't finish her sentence as he scooped her up and jumped away, with several explosions erupting behind him as they moved away.
Naruto released a sigh of relief when he landed, preparing to let go of the little girl to get back to the fight.
Then he saw several sharp glints break through the fog.
"Shit...!" the blond couldn't help but spit out, as he realized he had no time to make another jump or make a jutsu.
Naruto turned away from the attack, showing his back to it, and covered the little kyuubi up with his arms as he braced for impact...!
Several magic missiles crashed against his back, sending the duo forward and towards the ground. Crashing against it due to the initial push from the attack.
"You're still human...Naruto...you can't ignore me forever..."
The shinobi grit his teeth as he took the attack and made sure that his arms took the hardened dirt as well. Sparing his fellow blond from pain.
He hoped that the second that they stopped sliding across the ground, that he could make some distance to turn the tables on these people.
But then he saw the massive dose of flames get spewed from his right side, not even letting him get up to respond.
Once more, the blond covered his body, gritting his teeth as the powerful flames consumed their forms, knowing instinctively that this was from the yokai leader.
As he tanked through the attack, he began to get bombarded from the air by missiles and rapid-fire magic bullets crashing into him, sending him flat onto the ground in pain.
Damn it...! He just needed a single second to fight back...!
"...You can't keep this up...Naruto."
Blue eyes clenched shut as the fire grew stronger, enhanced by the fire from somewhere else, as well as a whirlwind that picked up. Leaving him in the middle of a literal fire storm.
He felt skin begin to give way as the flames grew stronger, giving him mild second degree burns that were moving dangerously close to third degree.
Yet his resolve to protect the little girl under him held firm.
The onslaught continued for a little while longer, until it finally, mercifully, stopped.
Steam came out of the blond's body, getting cooled down by the incessant rain, a pool of red water began to flow from under him as water and blood intertwined.
It hurt. It hurt so much...
"Naruto...?" Kunou whispered, voice small. "Are...are we going to die...?"
The shinobi slowly got up on his elbows, making some space between the two blondes, revealing a soot-covered face surrounded by burns.
But his smile was still true.
"...I promise you...didn't I?" he rasped out, wincing at the effort. "I...I will protect you. I promise."
The little girl let loose a wistful smile, eyes fluttering close.
"Thank you."
With that, Kunou closed her eyes, losing consciousness. The stress of the day knocking her out.
Naruto leaned down, tapping his head with hers, getting a little bit of soot on her completely clean head.
"...I'll keep that promise." the shinobi determined solemnly.
He had no choice anymore.
He had to do it.
Even if it made every fiber of his being feel sick at having to rely on that power again...it was for the greater good.
With that, he closed his eyes, losing consciousness.
...
...
...
"I know you're there."
...
...
...
"It's been a long time...Naruto."
"Not long enough."
...
...
"I heard you. I didn't want to, but I heard you..."
...
"This is a one-time thing, I won't let you push me as far as last time. I won't let you put those I care about in danger. You understand?"
"...I understand. But I wonder...do you understand? If I remember correctly...it was you who began to use my power recklessly enough for me to utilize to my advantage. Just remember...Naruto...we aren't friends."
...
...
"...That's too bad. Honestly, if there was a way to get us to work together as a team...ah...who am I kidding? Never mind. Though...if there's any chance for you to join the good side...I'd take it you know?"
...
"Keh! Damn brat..."
Cao Cao stood on the yokai leader's head, staring down at the fallen body of their adversary.
"Not bad. You used his protective feelings of the child to bombard him relentlessly. I'm impressed." Cao Cao complimented, turning to Heracles with a raised eyebrow.
The 'hero' puffed his chest out, proud. "I did it by accident, but by the time I realized it, I thought that it would be a good idea. Hahahaha!"
Siegfried walked closer to the hero leader, also peering down at the blond. "Also...his movements were far more sluggish compared to before. Perhaps his first battle with us took more of a toll on him than we thought."
The black-haired young man nodded, considering the idea. "Fortunate for us then."
Jeanne walked up to them, humming to herself. "Yep! It was also a good thing that we brought those phoenix tears with us! We would have been in big trouble if that Lucifer guy didn't hand them out to us."
Cao Cao hummed, agreeing silently. The supply of phoenix tears proved to be an excellent investment. He was partially stalling for time as he was talking to Uzumaki as a matter of fact, hoping that the team would use the phoenix tears to restore themselves to full strength and ambush him from behind.
It ended beautifully.
The hero leader then leaned down from his perch, as self-satisfied as ever. "Hey Uzumaki...there's one more thing that I forgot to mention. There's actually something I should be thanking you for."
Cao Cao spread his arms out, smirking. "It was actually thanks to your intervention, that I managed to trap Yasaka here. As she left Kyoto on the assumption that her daughter was close by and you were the only enemy, unaware that I was waiting for her to make such a mistake. In short, you were the beacon, her daughter was the bait, and you all played your parts to perfection. Isn't that funny? So thank you for your support."
Naruto didn't respond, still face down on the ground.
The 'hero' shrugged. "Well, he seems spent. I suppose I should just kill them both."
No one disagreed.
But before he could give the other, a sudden chill crawled down their collective spines.
What was...?
"...Hey...what...what's happening to him...?" Georg asked quietly, taking a step back from the group in fear.
All of the humans turned to look at the teenaged male on the ground, still face down, but with steam exuding his body.
Everyone watched in morbid fascination as severe burns were repaired, cuts were sewn shut, and clumps of skin grew back.
Then a violent red aura began to surround the blond, overtaking his form as the red energy shot into the air, piercing the storm clouds overhead.
That aura, oh...that aura...!
It felt like pure evil...
Suddenly, without warning, Naruto began to stand. Getting onto his feet despite formerly being unconcious, keeping his face turned away from the 'heroes'.
He had changed.
His fingernails grown to resemble claws.
His already wild hair became feral and untamable.
The whisker marks on his cheeks grew and thickened.
The aura around him was volatile and dangerous, with small pebbles floating into the air just from being in close proximity to him, and the ground cracked and gave way from him just standing there.
Then, slowly, ever so slowly, he turned around.
Glaring at them, through a harsh and blood-thirsty red slit.
"...What are you...? Cao Cao whispered, taking a step back, feeling something he hasn't felt in a long time.
Fear.
Naruto didn't reply immediately, he first smiled, which bared impossibly sharp and dangerous canines.
"Your worst nightmare incarnate."