Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, or Heroes of Olympus.
Reading: Fils de l'Amour: Mark of Athena
9: Bounties and Bodyguards
Thalia cracked the novel open to continue the tale.
The gold and silver brothers, now in what the natives of the Elemental Nations called the Version Two Jinchuriki cloak. Their eyes were now solid white, and blood red chakra cloaks hid the rest of their features from view. Their mouths looked a bit cartoonish, not that they were talking.
"Aw, they look so cute." Ares grinned at the sight.
Aphrodite looked horrid that her boyfriend thought that. "How are they cute?!"
"They're my favorite color, blood red! Not to mention they look ready to wreck some shit!" Ares cackled. "I want one!"
"No." Zeus frowned. "Stick to your pigs."
"First off, they're boars." Ares corrected with a frown. One does not diss the sacred animal of a god, even if the offender is the King. "Secondly, they're not as common in the States!"
"And these monstrosities are?" Zeus countered.
"They could be!"
"No."
"Aww..."
Naruto let his guard rise and lifted his two Futon: Rasengan up. The Version Two was where the Biju chakra encases the skin of the Jinchuriki, which puts strain on the life force of the vessel and ultimately shortens their lives, something Naruto and Kirabi were now immune to thanks to the understanding they had with their respective Biju.
"Now that's what we call teamwork," Leo said with a thumbs up.
"Or mutual benefit." Piper told him.
Leo shrugged. "Semantics."
Speaking of Naruto's respective Biju, Kurama was not pleased to see the two pseudo-Jinchuriki in the Version Two cloak with his chakra.
"Eat the inside of my stomach will you? Naruto, I want them obliterated! NOW!"
"Yeah, talk dirty to me, Grace."
"Ares!" Zeus warned sternly while Artemis glared at him and Thalia blanched.
"What?" Ares asked.
"How gross can you get?" Percy whispered to Annabeth, who shrugged in response.
"Yeah, they've been back for too long." Naruto agreed as he shifted his left foot slightly. The toad like eyes narrowed and, with an encouraging roar from Kurama, he ran forward in a blur of speed. The pseudo-Jinchuriki charged at an equally impressive speed, the road beneath their claws torn up as they approached Naruto.
"They're going Super Sonic-!"
"No." Percy told Apollo sternly. "Don't bring the hedgehog into this."
"No point." Nico snorted. "He's gone downhill since 2006."
Percy glared at his cousin. "Don't. Even. Start." He sighed. "I had such high hopes for that game..."
"We all did." Leo nodded in agreement.
Naruto brought his attacks back and thrust them at the brothers' chests as Kinkaku and Ginkaku flanked him. "Futon: Rasengan!"
The small orbs connected with the Jinchuriki cloaks and a loud squeal filled the air as Naruto's attacks ground against the corrosive chakra that belonged to the Gold and Silver brothers. Kinkaku laughed lowly.
"What a puny attack!" Kinkaku grabbed Naruto's wrist, showing no pain or effort as he did. Ginkaku chuckled and did the same with the other. Their chakra cloaks engulfed the Futon: Rasengan and the brothers expanded for a moment before the energy moved to rest in their cheeks.
Naruto's eyes widened as he realized what they planned to do.
Apollo gasped. "Are they going to-?!"
"They must be!" Hermes slammed his palm onto his arm rest. "It's the only logical explanation!"
"What are they going to do?" Athena asked, confused by the two's conversation.
"Wait for it." They returned.
"Burn in Hell!" Ginkaku exclaimed as a beam of potent chakra escaped his and his brother's mouths simultaneously.
"They're firin' their lasers!"
"Knock it off, that joke is dead!" Hephaestus snapped. He swore if either asked him to build them a laser – even if they could make their own or had one! – he was going to roast one and shut one in a dark box.
A small cloud of smoke encased the brothers immediately after the blast connected, quickly whipped away by their chakra tails. Ginkaku snarled at the splinters of wood that rested at their feet. "Substitution!"
"Sneaky brat," Kinkaku said with a growl of his own.
"Fear the wood!" Demeter cheered.
Hades smirked. "My, Demeter, I thought that was Artemis' policy."
Apollo stifled a laugh while his twin and Demeter glared at the Lord of the Underworld with flushed faces.
"I try."
The two brothers looked at their opponent as Naruto stood a good distance from them, his arms crossed over his chest and a glare locked on their form. Naruto's clothes were lightly singed and dirt covered his face. It was a hasty move, but the substitution paid off in the end.
Shame about that log though.
"I wonder what tree it came from?" Demeter asked thoughtfully.
"Olive." "A variant of myrtle, obviously!"
Aphrodite and Athena glared at one another.
"The myrtle is not even remotely a tree, how could he use a log of it?" Athena asked.
"Like an Olive tree log would be used instead?" Aphrodite scoffed.
"Olive trees have many uses!"
"I think it was an oak, actually," Demeter said as the screen focused on the log in question.
Athena and Aphrodite frowned while Zeus let a small smirk cross his face.
Truly, the oak tree was the way to go.
Before either party could say anything, a giant ballistae missile fired from above and impacted between where the Gold and Silver brothers stood.
"And that's how it is done son!" Leo crowed with a pump of his arm.
"Nice shot, Leo." Jason praised.
"I don't think it would do much," Annabeth said.
Leo scoffed. "Shush, nonbeliever. My missiles are no joke."
"Phrasing-ow!"
"Quiet Apollo." Artemis scowled at her twin.
Naruto used an arm to shield his face as dust shot up as it exploded. He lowered his arm and peered through the smoke. He kind of hoped that arrow had some kind of magical explosive in it that could penetrate chakra.
No such luck.
"Bull!" Leo snapped with a frown. "That had to hurt them! It was at least half a ton of bronze!"
"Freaky ninja magic." Percy reminded him.
"Not to mention we've seen Naruto brush off Roman artillery," Annabeth said.
"But those were rocks! No offense, Hazel." Leo added.
Hazel huffed. "Just wait until you're hit with a rock..."
"Well, that was annoying." Kinkaku grumbled. His white eyes were locked on the ship that hovered above them. "I think it's time to sink that ship, brother."
"…They best not be thinking of wrecking my ship!" The son of fire snarled, his eyebrows lighting up.
"Naruto won't let them, Leo." Piper assured her friend with a hand on his shoulder. "Just calm down."
"Fine, fine... but he better stop them!"
"Like the time we sank Mizugakure's fleet!" Ginkaku said with a gleeful chuckle. The brothers crouched down and kept their gaze on the Argo II. Ginkaku looked back at the dumbfounded Naruto. "Excuse us, we'll be right back."
The brothers shot up from the ground with a mighty leap that left behind two craters. Naruto stared at them and then grit his teeth.
"Oh no you don't!" Naruto crouched down like a toad and shot up after them,
"He'd be a master at leap frog." Hazel awed.
"Leap frog?" Leo asked her.
She gave him a weird look. "You don't know leap frog?"
"Well–"
"Wow, that's rather ignorant for someone who was born in the twenty first century." Hazel commented. "I thought it was still around."
Leo frowned, he felt insulted that Hazel of all people said that. Gosh darn it!
his own crater twice the size of the two brothers. He'll leave some clones to clean that up when this was all said and done. Kinkaku and Ginkaku used their chakra tails to deflect or destroy any missile that flew their way. Some explosions were getting far too close to the nearby city for Naruto's liking. Naruto made some clones that used Kurama's chakra to stop the deflected missiles,
"A bit trigger happy, Leo?" Annabeth asked.
"Big red demon things!" The son of fire countered. "You gotta shoot them in the face! Shoot them in the face!"
Ares cracked a grin to his full blooded brother. "I like him."
The smith sighed. "Of course you do."
and Naruto himself donned the golden chakra shroud.
"No, don't leave! We were just starting to have fun!" Kurama snarled as multiple chakra arms shot from Naruto's shoulders and grabbed onto the two pseudo-Jinchuriki by their tails. Kurama growled as the chakra arms flung the two brothers back towards the earth.
Ginkaku and Kinkaku hit the ground with a loud bang, demolishing whatever once remained of the road they fought on. Another set of chakra arms grabbed the revived siblings around their stomachs when they tried to rise back up. Kurama cackled in the back of Naruto's head as he landed on the ground with ease.
"Time to face oblivion, gnats! Naruto, give them a death they'll never forget!" Kurama snarled as he had the arms pull the brothers back to Naruto. With a silent agreement to his Biju, Naruto made his own chakra claws that sprouted on either side of his wrist. The claws hovered over his palms and two black orbs formed in Naruto's palms.
"Wait…didn't he destroy a mountain with that?" Jason asked with worry.
"Poor Atlanta." Percy frowned. He thought it was a pretty cool place. Besides being almost turned into a tourist attraction, that is.
Kurama roared. "Face my wrath!"
"This ends now!" Naruto declared firmly as he held his hands out once the orbs finished forming. The brothers struggled against the arms' grips on their stomachs once they saw what they approached. Naruto let out a yell as he slammed the black orbs into Ginkaku and Kinkaku's heads. "Double Cho-Bijudama!"
The collision of his attack to the Gold and Silver brothers' skin caused a loud explosion and a shockwave that made the Argo rock violently from where it was parked in the air.
"No! Not the parking spot! I could get a ticket!"
Jason and Piper palmed their faces at Leo's dramatic cry.
Dirt and dust shot up around the area, making human visibility absolutely impossible throughout the city. For any onlooker, they'd have to wait for the dust to clear to see what happened.
The passengers on the Argo, all on the deck jumped when a loud thud got their attention. Frank, who had been the one directing Leo's shots and who'd flown Hedge and Percy back from their trip to the aquarium, held his repaired bow up with an arrow knocked and ready. He stared at the golden shroud that covered Naruto's form and lowered his bow slowly.
"I will never get over how weird that is," Frank said honestly.
"You can change into probably every animal, yet that is weird to you?" Percy asked.
"He glows and uses ninja stuff!"
"I glow." Apollo sniffed.
"That's not the point," Artemis said dryly.
Naruto blinked as his sage mode faded and his crossed pupils reverted to slits while his golden cloak flickered with flames. "What's weird?"
"Dude..." Leo gaped from where he stood. "You're on fire! That's my shtick!"
"Shtick stealer." Leo crossed his arms with a pout.
"Huh?" Naruto blinked again and looked at his hands as golden chakra flames danced off of them. "Oh, right. They're dead Kurama, let's cut the cloak."
"I would, but there's another problem." Kurama grunted.
Naruto arched a brow. "And that would be?"
"The dark intentions heading our way, 'Sennin-san'."
"What?! Shit." Naruto cursed and quickly reached out with his empathy. The source was still a good distance off, but Naruto could recognize it easily.
"All of what the light touches, he can see."
"Hey." Apollo glared at Hermes. That was his shtick.
He grimaced and turned to Leo. "Wherever you have to be, start going!"
"What?" Leo asked.
Naruto groaned as he ran back to the edge of the deck and leapt to the railing. Before he pushed off, he looked over his shoulder at Leo. "Fly, you idiot!"
After Naruto leapt from the railing, Leo scowled and crossed his arms. "Who's he calling an idiot?"
"UZUMAKI!"
A wave of killer intent washed over the ship and the Seven froze. Percy, who was still recovering from his trip to the aquarium, promptly passed out due to the strain it put on his spinning head.
Ares bellowed a laugh. "Ha! Nice one Prissy, passing out like a pansy!"
Percy gritted his teeth. Much as he didn't like to admit it, Ares was sort of right. Passing out was embarrassing.
Annabeth and Piper trembled where they stood, both trying to rationalize the feeling of dread that overcame them as they slumped to the ground.
Both girls grimaced with worried looks on their faces.
Hazel collapsed to her hands and knees, eyes wide with terror as she relived her first death.
Hazel frowned, snuggle next to Frank as she didn't want to remember that.
Frank clung to his bow and the mast as he felt all sorts of animal instincts overcame his Roman training, mostly fight-or-flight instincts that leaned greatly towards the flight.
Ares gave Frank a disappointed look.
"Hey, when you can shapeshift, there's a cost. Something bigger and badder gets those instincts to go haywire." Frank explained. Ares though still looked displeased.
Jason grabbed the railing he stood near to steady himself. This was worse than what Naruto used on him, both times. His eyes even tingled as he remembered what it was like to see Hera in her godly form.
Jason shivered at the very notion that he'd remember that feeling again or even have to compare it to something.
"That killing intent is rather interesting." Hades noted. "It's much like my Helm, but has a more mortal application of activating the flight or fight instincts of their opponent instead of just generating pure fear."
Jason scrunched his eyes shut and reminded himself that he was alive, that he wasn't going to go down without a fight.
And that he still had to learn how to do that!
Jason had a hopeful look in his eyes.
"No." Piper frowned.
"But Piper, ninja stuff!"
"No ninja stuff for you."
Jason pouted.
Thalia snickered. "Leave the stealth to me, Jason."
"Thalia can stealth?" Nico asked with a bizarre look.
Thalia glared at him for the remark. "Better than you, Death Breath."
"...Shut up."
"Killing intent..." He managed to gasp out as his breathing returned to normal. Jason turned around and looked at Leo, who was on his hands and knees dry heaving, fire spreading from his back slowly. "Leo! You have to snap out of it!"
Jason stumbled to the side of the Argo II's pilot and used a large gust of wind to douse the flames just as they reached the deck. "Leo!"
"Who-What? What happened?" Leo asked with a groan. He rubbed his eyes.
"You were on fire," Jason said. "I took care of it."
"You are just such a bro." Leo smiled at him as they bro-fisted.
"Boys." Piper rolled her eyes with a tiny smile on her face.
"Killer Intent. Go start the Argo, we need to leave," Jason said with a grimace. There was a loud boom and the Argo II rocked in the air, jarring the remaining Seven (save the unconscious Percy) from their terror.
"...Is it me, or is that a giant salamander?" Leo asked as he and Jason looked toward the source of the explosion. Sure enough, there was a giant dark colored salamander with a small speck on its head, opposite of the glowing figure they knew to be Naruto.
"...Start the Argo." Jason repeated. Danger warnings were blaring in his head, and Jason didn't want any part of what Naruto had just gotten into. The giant salamander was just more evidence to stay as far away as possible.
"Oh, come on. How scary can a giant salamander be?" Ares mocked.
"Jason!" Piper protested. "We can't just leave him."
"No, Jason's right," Annabeth said sourly. "We don't have a lot of time, and Naruto can catch up after he defeats...whatever that is."
"A giant salamander." Frank mumbled as he rubbed his eyes. "I wanna go home now. This is getting too weird."
"You live in a world with gods and monsters." Reyna reminded him.
"But that's just weird!" Frank frowned. "Seriously, Canada was never like this."
"...We faced off against cannibal giants." Percy reminded him.
"Giant! Salamander!"
"...Point taken."
"Salamander? Why does that sound so familiar?" Annabeth muttered to herself, her grey eyes narrowed as she knelt next to Percy.
"The title of Strongest Shinobi is mine to dish out, not the world!" declared the man atop the largest salamander Naruto had ever seen. (That thing was slightly larger than Gamabunta!)
The speaker had long blond hair and a scar on his right cheek that was hardly visible. Over his mouth and covering his head was a large helmet-like respirator. The shinobi wore a wetsuit underneath a dark flack jacket and armored gauntlets.
"Buddy, I don't want the title, I just have it!" Naruto grumbled.
"And that is all he needs." Athena smiled. "He doesn't fight for it, he just wears it casually."
"Until someone comes along and strips him."
Athena nearly groaned into her hand at Aphrodite's comment. Instead, she settled for glaring at the grinning goddess.
He made a Rasengan in his right hand and jumped at the salamander. The salamander hissed and a purple gust escaped its mouth. The wind not only sent Naruto back to the ground, but Naruto lost concentration as the poison leaked into his system despite the chakra cloak that covered him.
"Oh, that sucks." Percy winced. "I hate fighting poisonous enemies."
"You would know." Thalia nodded.
"He has the worst luck with poison." Nico agreed.
Percy glowered at them. "You guys suck."
"Hang on, Naruto. This'll only take a second to clear up," Kurama said with a growl as Naruto landed on the ground, his hand wrapped around his throat.
"Oh come on!" Apollo complained. "He's got broken healing like Percy, too? I get it when Naruto was my kid, but this is a load!"
"You're just jealous that my son is cooler than yours." Aphrodite giggled while Athena looked haughty.
"He is not!" Apollo pouted.
Percy frowned. "…My healing isn't broken."
"The hell it isn't." Apollo snarked, glaring at his uncle.
Poseidon arched a brow. "Over centuries, alchemists and healers alike have used water in their medicines. It has a natural healing quality to it. My rule over the domain just happens to amplify it."
"Shouldn't my rule over healing do the same!?"
Poseidon shrugged. "Possibly, but it's still water. You use light and fire most of the time, sun god."
"...Touché..."
The cloak retracted back into Naruto's body so Kurama could focus fully on healing the poison without losing the proper balance of Yin and Yang that allowed Naruto to use the cloak without consequence.
"Insolent brat," the shinobi growled. "And Jiraiya spoke so highly of you during our recent battle. I am Hanzō the Salamander, former leader of Amegakure no Sato and the man that created the Sanin!"
"Wasn't there a real ninja named Hanzo?" Annabeth asked.
Athena hummed. "Yes, he was highly skilled I believe."
"So…does that mean there were two Hanzo's?" Frank asked.
Reyna frowned. "This is peculiar."
Thalia glowered at them. "You know, we could learn more if you'd let me read."
"Yes, continue, Thalia Grace." Athena nodded. She wanted to see what this 'Hanzō' could do.
"...You're the old guy that Ero-Sennin and Baachan fought with the Hebi-teme?" Naruto asked.
Hanzo blinked and looked down at his salamander summon. "This is the Savior of the World Jiraiya boasts of?"
"Percy gets that a lot." The blond child of wisdom sighed.
The son of Poseidon shrugged. "Hey, it lets them underestimate me. Like Ares."
"You weren't the savior then, you fuckin' brat!"
"Ares, watch your mouth!" Hestia chided.
"Hanzō-sama, perhaps death affected the toad summoner much like it had you," the salamander said.
"Possibly," Hanzō agreed as he looked at his older body. The summoning he was victim to in the Fourth War was preferred over this actual reincarnation; at least in that body he was immortal. His eyes narrowed and he pulled out a sickle-like weapon from behind him. It had a long chain that was weighted at one end and had a small sickle with a blade that was easily as long as Naruto's arm on the other. "For now, let us see how holds up against your poison and my kusarigama."
"Oh crap...I remembered who this meatbag is," Kurama said with an annoyed growl. "You need back-up, Naruto!"
"Man the torpedoes!"
"I shoot missiles of fiery death." Leo grinned at Percy.
Percy shrugged. "Saying torpedoes is easier and cooler."
Naruto frowned as he took in Natural Energy to go back into Sage Mode. "Why? So his name is like Danzō's,
"That freaky old dude Apollo Naruto me killed?" the sun god asked.
"...What?" Artemis asked.
"Er, the guy I killed in the story where Naruto was my son?"
"Ah." Artemis nodded. "Yes, I believe that's the one."
Hermes frowned. "We need a way to distinguish between these multiverses. Like, maybe rename Naruto when discussing different stories."
"Such as?" Athena asked.
"This one would be Aphruto." The messenger explained.
Aphrodite beamed. "I love it."
"I don't," Athena said with a frown. "Minato was my son."
"Yeah, but Minato isn't the main character." Hermes returned.
Athena frowned. "True."
so wha-?"
"Danzō!?" Hanzō cut off the internal conversation with a seething snarl. "He betrayed me to Pein, he is the reason I lost that battle and died! Coward...If he had killed that idealistic fool, Sarutobi, like I had suggested, then perhaps his reign as Hokage would've been much longer."
"...Okay, yeah, I don't like you." Naruto scowled heavily. No one dissed his Jiji and got away with it.
"Yeah! We like old people here!" Percy shook his fist. He tossed a thumb over his shoulder at the gods. "Like these guys!"
"We're not that old…" Poseidon brooded while the rest of the gods gave Percy varying looks of dryness or annoyance.
His eyes narrowed. Pein, so this is the guy that Nagato fought against...And he was the one that fought Ero-Sennin and Baachan to a standstill back in the second war. I need to keep my guard up, I don't know a lot about him.
Hanzō scoffed and held his weapon in front of him. "I care not if you like me, boy. We will fight, and I shall determine if you are worthy of my title as the Strongest Shinobi."
"He reminds me of Zeus a little." Hades rubbed his chin slowly. "Though you'd have to replace the whole 'worth of my title' with 'give me back my title'."
"With some whining?" Poseidon asked.
"Of course."
"A riot routine, the both of you." Zeus glowered at his brothers.
"Naruto, summon a stupid toad! NOW!" Kurama barked.
Fine! Naruto jumped back as a purple slash came from Hanzō's weapon. The ground that was cut by the poisonous chakra blow sizzled and died. Naruto ignored this and bit down on his thumb.
"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" Naruto exclaimed as he slammed his hand onto the earth. A plume of smoke exploded and a familiar small green toad appeared before Naruto along with a familiar purple toad that shared the green one's height. Fukasaku smiled at his student, but turned abruptly and glared at the opponent when his wife let out a surprised croak.
"Hey, the Odd Couple." Nico pointed out with a small grin.
Frank nodded. "They do argue like them."
"The what?" Percy asked.
"You don't watch old TV shows?" Nico asked.
The son of Poseidon just gave him a blank look.
"I'll take that as a no."
"Naruto-chan, I'll be givin' ya two seconds to explain to me why Sanshōuo no Hanzō (Hanzō of the Salamander) is fightin' ya." Fukasaku croaked as he leapt back and landed on Naruto's shoulder.
"That's a good question, Pa," Shima said with a frown.
"Jichan, Baachan, I don't know how exactly, but this guy and two others came back after someone put a bounty on my head." Naruto explained as Hanzo flipped through several more hand seals. Hanzō reared his head back and his chest expanded.
"A bounty?" Fukasaku asked, though his question was ignored by his wife's comment.
"Oh, no ya don't!" Shima growled as she brought her hands together. Her head reared back as her cheeks expanded.
Both threw their heads forward simultaneously.
"And puke was everywhere!" Leo snickered at his own joke.
"They do like to spit up stuff…" Jason hummed in though.
Hazel blanched. "It's gross."
Leo opened his mouth and exhaled air. He sighed. "Nope, nothin' in the tank."
"Perhaps there's a reason." Annabeth mused. "Maybe the chakra converts into another element in their lungs."
"Wouldn't that kill a human?" Hazel asked.
"These are weird ninja, Hazel." Jason reminded her. "They may as well be aliens."
"Katon: Endan (Fire Release: Flame Bullet)!"
"Suiton: Teppōdama (Water Release: Gunshot)!"
A ball of fire about the size of the salamander's head shot from Hanzō's covered mouth, while a ball of water the same size came from Shima's. The two attacks collided and canceled each other out. Hanzō narrowed his eyes.
"You certainly are the Gama Sennin's student," he said. "To be able to summon the Two Great Toad Sages while under the effect of my poison...Ibuse, cover them in a cloud!"
"Not the nacho breath," Piper said while looking green.
Leo snickered. "Nacho breath. Nice one, Beauty Queen."
"I have my moments."
"Hai." The massive salamander's mouth expanded twice its size and then opened as a large gust of poisonous wind came from it. "Dokugiri (Poison Mist)."
"Uh, Jichan, Baachan, ideas?" Naruto asked as he took a deep breath and held it when the mist came over him. He couldn't hold his breath that long, and the toads seemed to be immune from the effect.
"Relax, Naruto-chan, we got ya covered. Ma, let's sing for him!" Fukasaku said with a look to his wife.
Apollo pinched the bridge of his nose. No, singing frogs were not needed, er toads. They already had one singing frog and he was with the WB.
"You got it, Pa." Shima nodded and the two toads flipped through hand seals. They leapt from Naruto's shoulders and their cheeks swelled as chakra built into their throats. Naruto's hands went to his ears and he braced himself.
"Senpō: Kawazu Naki (Sage Art: Frog Song)!"
Percy stood up, his finger in the air. "Objection! They're toads!"
Annabeth pulled her boyfriend back into his seat. "Knock it off. Go on, Thalia."
"Thank you." Thalia rolled her eyes at Percy being...Percy.
The massive croak that came from the two toads shattered all the glass in the nearby city,
"Ow?" Leo asked with worry.
"Medical bills just went up!" Apollo whistled.
Hermes palmed his face. "Now I have to deliver glass panels, don't I?"
"I told you to invest in interns." Athena chided.
"I don't have the time!"
while the rest of the glass in the state of Georgia suddenly cracked.
Hermes just made a pained noise. "Someone end my misery..."
"Okay!" Ares grinned and manifested a sword.
"NO!" Zeus snapped at the war god.
Ares slumped in his throne and willed the sword away. "Killjoy..."
The technique easily dissipated the poison in the immediate area. And, as a bonus, Ibuse and Hanzō were rendered immobile.
"Naruto-chan, summon Bunta-chan and the others to deal with Ibuse!" Fukasaku said quickly before he returned to his croak.
Naruto nodded and bit down on his freshly healed thumb to draw more blood. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"
Another cloud of smoke surrounded the area and Naruto found himself atop the red head of one irritated Gamabunta.
"Oh, good." Aphrodite scrunched up her nose in disgust. "The wart brigade."
Artemis smirked. "Aren't you fond of your son's special powers?"
Aphrodite whined. "I wouldn't mind if they weren't icky, slimy toads!"
"Afraid he'll get warts?" Artemis grinned as she egged on her least favorite goddess.
"First of all, you say that like I would allow any of my babies to grow warts," Aphrodite said with a glare to the Huntress. "And secondly, thankfully, that's just a myth!"
"As are we, are we not?"
Aphrodite seethed at Artemis for the comment while Hermes pulled out a tally notebook.
"That's another for Artemis." Hermes noted to himself. The score was two hundred, thirty-nine thousand, eight hundred seventy to two hundred, thirty-nine thousand, eight hundred ninety-one in Artemis' favor.
"Gaki!" Bunta growled as he shifted his pipe from one side to the next. "What have I told you about summoning me to these lands?"
"Sorry, Boss," Naruto said before he looked at the companions of the toad leader. "Hey Ken, Hiro."
"Naruto-sama," the light magenta toad that equaled Gamabunta in size nodded. He adjusted the shield on his left arm and his golden eyes crinkled lightly. "Honored to be summoned, forgive me if I'm clumsy. This air feels off."
"Zeus farted."
"Who said that?!" the Sky God demanded. His children and siblings look the other way with smiles and snickers.
Thalia decided to continue before her dad started throwing lightning bolts…again.
"Quit yer bitching, Ken," Bunta said with a grunt as he noticed who his summoner faced and the two Sage Toads that were present. "Hanzō's back, huh? Never wanted to deal with Ibuse again...Hiro! Go pin him down!"
"Gangster toad for the win," Ares grinned.
Dionysus sighed, "He's the one who keep talking about drinks, right? I wonder how strong toads take sake…"
The aquamarine toad with two swords strapped to his back nodded and gave a mighty leap. A war croak
Ares belched, "Nah, not the same." He frowned.
escaped his lips as he pulled out his two blades and descended on the giant Salamander.
"Ibuse, throw me!" Hanzō ordered, and Ibuse complied, nodding his head up despite a loud crack that accompanied it. The Salamander was then stabbed through the lower half, pinned to the earth by Gamahiro's swords.
"Sacrifice the lizard to the gods!" Apollo shook his fist in cheer.
"I thought you hated snakes?" Reyna asked.
"Oh, I do. But reptiles in general bother me."
"That's not gonna be good for him," Bunta said under his breath. He turned to the shield baring toad and nodded. "Time to go clean up the trash. Ken, grab the elders and go back to the mountain, they've inhaled some of Ibuse's poison. Gaki, you deal with Hanzō."
"Right," Naruto said with a nod. He jumped up off of Bunta's head and reached into his kunai holster as the scythe-like blade of the kusarigama suddenly descended on him. Naruto deflected the blade with his kunai and hissed as something wet brushed his skin. He tossed the kunai away when he noticed it started to melt.
"Acid? Boo! Fight like a man!" Ares crowed.
"He's a ninja." Athena rolled her eyes, "They don't fight honorably."
"Screw honor! He should just be slicing the jugular with that sickle of his." The war god huffed.
Aphrodite frowned deeply, her eyes dangerous, "And kill my baby boy?"
"…No?"
Aphrodite patted his head, "Good boy." Oh, he was so boned. Best lull him into a false sense of security.
Ares smiled.
"Acidic poison, a gift from my employer," Hanzō said as he appeared behind Naruto.
"Well, they got Python venom down there, so…" Annabeth trailed off.
Thalia grimaced, "Thanks for the reminder."
"Sorry."
Purple mist escaped his breathing mask and Naruto exhaled sharply to clear the air.
Leo took out a notepad and jotted something down. "Super breath, check."
His "Naruto is Superman" list was going well so far.
All Naruto needed was flight and laser beam eyes, and that would solidify any doubts in Leo's mind.
Hanzō laughed. "A wind user from the land of fire, and the son of the Last Uzumaki? How did you manage to live with those two shinobi as your deceased parents?"
"I trained every day," Naruto said smartly. "Well, that and I pranked a lot of people."
"...You're an Uzumaki, all right." Hanzō chuckled and a gleam appeared in his eye. "This will be interesting."
Naruto frowned in confusion and ducked suddenly as the kusarigama flew back from behind him. He landed first and jumped away before Hanzō could close the distance between them.
"Come, Uzumaki boy, show me why you are called the Savior of this World!" Hanzō spun his kusarigama by the chain at his side as he charged at Naruto. The blade gleamed and purple liquid dripped from it as Hanzō crossed the blade in front of him. "Survive and conquer, that is the shinobi way!"
"Go Sparta!" Ares pumped his fist.
"My nindō is a lot easier to live with than that one," Naruto said firmly as he reached behind him and drew two kunai that Shikamaru had given him. Asuma Sarutobi's chakra blade slipped around his right hand's knuckles and Naruto channeled his sage chakra into them, forming invisible and sharper edge on the blade. "I never run away and I never go back on my word! I'm Naruto Uzumaki, future Rokudaime Hokage, dattebayo!"
Apollo grinned, now that was a saying. He wondered if Apoluto could ever be like that again.
"You say that like you're going to survive me!" Hanzō exclaimed as he closed the distance between them. He turned to the left and his kusarigama followed by half a turn. "Survive my poison first, Uzumaki boy, and then we'll see if you have what it takes to be Hokage!"
"Bring it on, Geezer!" Naruto shouted back as he charged with his right fist brought back, the chakra blade reflecting the sunlight for a brief moment. Hanzō ended his spin and swung his kusarigama at Naruto, who continued to charge and thrust his own blade forward. The chakra blade cut through the blade of the kusarigama with ease and continued to go through Hanzō's left arm, cleaving the appendage off easily.
"And Dite's kid with the literal disarming, whoo!" Ares cheered. He hoped that appeased his girlfriend. Aphrodite gave him a toothy smile and snapped her fingers. Ares now had a Naruto #1 foam finger on his hand. The war god lazily waved it around with a sour look on his face.
Hephaestus chuckled and took a quick picture of the sight.
"What déjà vu," said the onetime ruler of the Land of Rain. Hanzō fell to his knees and his remaining hand went to the place where his other arm once rested. He breathed for a moment before he looked up at the sky. "It's always either an Uzumaki or a samurai."
"Wait, there are ninja samurai?" Jason asked.
Reyna shook her head. "I believe they would just be samurai."
"But they have the ninja stuff."
"Chakra." Piper added.
"Yeah, that!"
"It would seem so." Reyna nodded.
Hanzō chuckled and got to his feet, ignoring the blood that came from his wound in waves. He turned and faced Naruto, sparing a chance to glance behind the boy at the toads that had forced Ibuse to dispel. He smiled wryly behind his breathing apparatus.
"It seems that it is time for me to relinquish my title," Hanzō said with a rasping chuckle. He pointed at Naruto as his body started to dissolve into dark dust. "You, Naruto Uzumaki, are the Strongest Shinobi in the World. I, Sanshōuo no Hanzō recognize you, Uzumaki boy, as the future Hokage. Do not disappoint me."
"Well, that's nice to say after trying to kill him," Athena said sarcastically. She was still proud of her legacy.
Naruto watched the body dissolve into black dust, the effect similar to what happened with the Gold and Silver brothers. It was certainly a lot easier than dealing with immortal corpses, he supposed.
Hades nodded. "Yes, those would be quite the bother."
"I wonder what that was like?" Apollo mused. "Would they keep any damage dealt to them?"
"With the words 'immortal' and 'corpses' being used together, I would guess not." Hades noted.
"You got lucky, Naruto." Kurama growled. "Hanzō's body was old and out of shape, not immortal like the one in the war. Send the message."
Yeah, yeah, fine. Naruto thought back as he turned and faced Gamabunta, the only toad that remained now that the salamander was defeated. Naruto nodded at him. "Boss."
"Gaki." Gamabunta nodded back. "We took the Elders back to the mountain, and I doubt they'd be able to come back anytime soon. Stubborn old fools took in too much of Ibuse's poison and forced the little natural energy they could gather here to postpone the effects. I mean it this time, Naruto. Do not summon the toads. This land is...unwelcoming."
Poseidon looked to Zeus. "Honestly brother, be nice to the poor toads."
Zeus grunted. "It isn't my fault that 'nature' is out of touch in the modern world."
"Oh sure, not your or our fault." Hermes said scathingly.
"And here we go again." Hephaestus groaned. Hermes just loved to go on a tangent about Pan. They all missed him, even if they didn't want to admit it.
"Yes, Boss. I understand," Naruto said with a frown. Damn, now I really do have to send a message.
"Told you."
Shut up, Kurama. Naruto mental retorted, to which he received a growl. Naruto looked up at the leader of the Toad Clan Contract. "Boss Toad, I need a favor."
"I suppose I can grant it," Bunta said with a displeased croak. "Make it quick, Naruto. The more time I spend here, the less I like it."
Naruto grimaced. "Sorry, Boss. Can you send Baachan a message?"
"Eh? Anything wrong?" Bunta asked.
"I need some back up," Naruto said bluntly. "A small team, anyone is welcome. ...And I need her to call the Kage together. To ask about granting me permission to use the Rikudo mode."
"His GameShark Mode?" Leo asked.
"I think it was his god mode." Nico said.
"Bullshit," The Olympians (minus Hestia) said. They didn't care about how powerful Naruto was. He didn't have a 'god' mode. Such a thing was impossible.
"It's the same thing." Leo returned, ignoring the gods' input.
"What exactly would require that?" Gamabunta asked with narrowed eyes.
Oh, you know, just the primordial of the PLANET that wants to end all life and start anew... Naruto figured that wouldn't be the best thing to say (yet).
"That's a real kick in the pants to morale." Leo nodded.
"Didn't deter us." Frank pointed out.
"Dude, we're crazy. Of course it didn't."
"Just tell them to contact me when they decide to convene."
"When?"
"Hey, I'm the Savior of the World, right? If I'm tellin' them to get together to give me permission, they're gonna want to know why," Naruto said with a nonchalant shrug. Not to mention that Tsunade and Gaara would probably threaten with withdrawals or something from some bureaucratic crap. It was nice to have political pull with the entire world.
"Just one continent." Zeus corrected sternly.
"It's the world to him." Athena reminded him. "That and Camp...Either way, he is right from his point of view."
Zeus huffed.
It was not nice to receive marriage requests from the daimyo's court member's daughters that were twice your age, though. Naruto shivered at the thought.
Some of those "noble princesses" were...wrinkly.
"But of course!" Aphrodite giggled. "Who wouldn't want to have some of that?"
"Me." The girls currently in a relationship retorted swiftly.
Thalia rolled her eyes. "I wouldn't."
Reyna was quiet and had a contemplative hum come from her mouth.
"At least one of you is honest." Aphrodite smirked. "The rest of you would still look."
The girls couldn't exactly refute this point. And, as Apoluto was not related directly to any of them, Annabeth and Piper came to realize there could be a case where they would look.
"Not to mention Piper has checked Naruto out before in the last book."
"MOM!" Piper flushed bright red. She was hoping no one remembered that.
"Yeah, yeah...I'll pass your message along, Naruto. Try to stay alive, will ya? We still need to share some sake," Bunta said before he released the summon and transported himself back to Mt. Myōboku.
Kurama huffed. "Damn right you run, stupid toad."
Naruto rolled his eyes. "Don't start, Kurama. Seriously, I already have to chase the Argo II down."
"Northeast."
"Thanks. Can we go into the cloak or...?"
"You should be fine."
Naruto grinned and erupted into golden flames. "Good, this shouldn't take more than two minutes, then."
"We got incoming!" Hedge yelled as he peered over the starboard railing. "Glowing ground-to-air missile at three o'clock!"
"Return fire!"
Piper scowled at her friend. "Leo, that's Naruto!"
"Oops," Leo said abashed. He quickly spoke to save his handsome hide. "Coach got me caught up in the moment!"
"That's not a missile, Coach," Piper said with a small smirk on her face. The "missile" missed the railing by a few feet and landed on the deck, cracking the wood as his feet connected. Naruto righted himself and grinned at her.
"Hey Imouto!" He said with a lighthearted wave. "What'd I miss?"
"Uh, the landing pad?" Leo said sourly. He glared at the cracked deck. "Look at what you did!"
"The fiend!" Leo declared heatedly while he shook his fist in the air.
Naruto looked at his feet and laughed nervously as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Er, sorry."
"Please tell me that isn't going to set the ship on fire," Percy said, concerned about the golden flames that danced off of Naruto's form.
"What?" Naruto blinked and then pointed at himself with a grin. "Oh, this isn't real fire, this is just a chakra cloak that shields me from harm. It's powered by my life force, so it's constantly moving."
"...Like Dragon Ball Z auras," Annabeth said after a moment where Percy didn't seem to get it.
"Ohh...Awesome!" Percy grinned.
"Just explain everything in DBZ terms. It's so much easier." Percy nodded sagely.
Annabeth palmed her face.
"I am not a stupid monkey! If they want a monkey, you should summon Son!" Kurama snarled.
That'll crush the ship. Naruto retorted.
"And your point is?" Kurama asked with a snort. "Remove that seal and the laws of physics do not apply to you any longer."
"What?" Athena asked as her mouth turned into a frown. She really wanted to learn more about these 'seals' and the limits that this Naruto had.
"Oh that's not fair!" Apollo pouted. "Dad never lets us bend reality to our whim anymore."
"For good reason. You all misused it whenever you had the chance," Zeus said firmly. To those that knew the god well, he looked uneasy that Naruto could twist physics to his will.
Yeah, but I can't remove the seal without the approval of all five Kage. Naruto shook his head and let his cloak dissipate. We could fall into another war, and I don't want that to happen.
Ares went to open his mouth but Aphrodite coughed into her palm. Ares kept his tongue and grumbled in dismay.
"He's trained so well." Athena grinned to the love goddess.
"It's like taking care of a puppy." Aphrodite shrugged.
"A dumb one." Hephaestus grunted.
Ares' sunglasses started to melt as he glared at his brother.
"Right, like they'd risk going to war with you at full power again."
We'll continue this later, Kurama. Naruto turned to his aunt with a grin still on his face. "So, where are we going?"
"That can come later." Annabeth frowned at him and punched him in the arm. Impressively hard...for a civilian.
"I am not a civilian!" Annabeth said with some bite.
"Not in the traditional sense since the Camps are the forces of Olympus, but, you're not a ninja either," Athena said to her daughter. "To Naruto, that may be all that separates the two."
Annabeth frowned and crossed her arms in distaste.
Naruto got the message, even if he didn't feel her displeasure. She winced and rubbed her hand. "Ow. That backfired..."
"Didn't think that one through, huh, Annie?" Thalia grinned.
The blonde scowled at her. "Like you could hit him harder."
Thalia frowned. "I could...I just haven't had the chance yet."
"Yeah, hitting him is like punching a rock," Jason said with a knowing nod. He'd made many trips to the infirmary to check at possibly dislocated knuckles after the first few spars they had. After that, Naruto suggested they stick with weapons or touch spars to make it a bit safer.
"Chiseled from marble takes on a whole new meaning with Blondie," Leo said with a chuckle.
"Well he did pose as a statue." Nico remembered well.
Aphrodite sighed happily. "Such a good smexy boy."
"Mom!" Piper groaned in embarrassment while the other demigoddesses flushed and the demigods frowned.
Leo crossed his arms. "Stupid pretty boys."
He ignored the mild glare Annabeth gave him and waved his hand over his shoulder. "If that's all, I gotta go get some grub before I fix that crack the genius ninja made."
"Wait up," Frank said as he and Hazel followed him. Food sounded like a good plan to them.
"I said I was sorry!" Naruto pouted. He turned back to Annabeth and scratched his cheek. "And, uh, sorry about your hand, Anna-Oba."
"Oboe?" Percy asked, a dark brow arched. "Isn't that an instrument?"
"It is, but not the point." Apollo snickered.
"Our secondary protagonist ladies and gentleman," Nico said dryly.
"Secondary?" Percy asked with a befuddled look.
"Naruto's the protagonist, Percy. Deal with it."
The son of Poseidon pouted. He liked being the protagonist.
"Oba. It's a familiar term that means 'aunt'," Annabeth said quickly. She returned her annoyed greys to her nephew and frowned. "Bruised hand aside, really?! Fighting Hanzō of the Salamander!?"
"He wasn't so bad..." Naruto said indifferently.
Annabeth arched a brow. "After fighting the Gold and Silver brothers? Who were eaten by the Kyubi and survived?"
"How do you know all of this exposition?" Piper asked.
Annabeth flipped her hair over her shoulder. "Duh, Minato's book."
"...How did he know all of this?"
"He's a son of Athena, Piper." Annabeth rolled her eyes. "We live for this kind of thing."
Percy nodded. "A cabin full of nerds...mine's the prettiest, though."
"Nice save, Percy." Jason chuckled.
"Shut up, Grace."
"Only because they started to eat my stomach! Stupid gnats...taking my power...should've just ripped them apart instead of eaten them..." Kurama grumbled.
"The what?" Percy asked.
"The demon –"
"Biju," Naruto corrected.
Annabeth frowned at him. "The thing in Naruto's seal. According to Minato's notes on the Elemental Nations, he had to write a report on how it was theoretically improbable to survive within the Kyubi's stomach and potentially how they survived."
"They started to eat me!" Kurama reiterated.
"We never did that to father." Poseidon hummed in thought.
"Probably because we'd be no better than him." Demeter huffed.
Poseidon nodded. "Ah, but think of the irony of it all!"
"And the calories." Hera frowned.
"They started to eat his stomach from the inside out," Naruto said. He shrugged at the eyes that landed on him. "That's what they said when we started to fight. And they almost killed the Nidaime Hokage, I think. Not sure about that."
"Anyway," Annabeth said with a frown, a bit upset that the subject was shifting before she finished addressing it.
Hazel looked at Annabeth, "You don't like sharing the exposition spotlight, do you?"
Annabeth flushed. "It's my thing."
"Like I said, prettiest nerd of them all-oof!" Percy rubbed his side where Annabeth elbowed him.
"Shush, Seaweed Brain."
"Hanzō was noted as an S-Rank shinobi with strict instructions from the Third Hokage for all Konoha shinobi to 'Flee-On-Sight' after he eradicated a whole unit in a single battle, at least forty to fifty chunin and ten jonin. The only ones to survive were students of the Third, who became known as the-"
"Sannin, yeah, I know." Naruto cut in with a shrug. He scratched the side of his nose disinterestedly. "Who then grew older and used the title to become renown shinobi. Hebi-teme became a psychopathic mad scientist that kidnapped kids and ran experiments on them, eventually trying to find a way to become immortal and nearly succeeding if Sasuke didn't kill him. Tsunade-Baachan became a travelling drunk and gambler that only came back to Konoha after I won a bet against her and won this." Naruto flicked his necklace lightly with a grin at the memory. "And Ero-Sennin...well, actually, he didn't change much. He just peeped on women in the bath houses and wrote dirty books."
Apollo wiped away a tear from his eye. "He's my hero."
"Don't even joke like that." Artemis frowned deeply.
"Who's joking?"
"Didn't this guy also teach Minato, Athena?" Hermes asked. He regretted asking the question as Athena glared at him in response.
"...And he taught you?" Piper asked as she crossed her arms and glowered.
Naruto gained a fond smile. "Yeah...Ero-Sennin was a self-proclaimed 'Super Pervert' and proud of it. Even tried to get me to stay in my Oiroke no Jutsu form when he started to train me."
"...Wait a minute, weren't you left alone with your sensei for three years?" Piper asked as a look of horror overcame her features.
"The corruption has already begun," Aphrodite said with a giggle.
"I think that train left the station already, Dite," Apollo said.
The love goddess merely let out another, more disturbing giggle.
"Mom, never do that again. Please?" Piper asked.
"I make no promises, dear."
Piper hung her head.
"Yeah, so?" Naruto arched a brow. He didn't see what the big deal was.
Annabeth gave him a look. "Naruto...What exactly did Jiraiya teach you while you two were on the road?"
Naruto scratched the side of his head. "Well, he helped me clean up my taijutsu a bit...and we worked on the Rasengan some more...and with the Biju cloak, stage one...strategy...Um...Oh! And calligraphy!" Naruto nodded proudly.
"And porn, can't forget the porn." Leo pointed out. He clutched his head after Piper smacked it. "Ow!"
"Don't remind us." Piper and Annabeth grumbled as they frowned.
Athena also had a frown on her face.
"Calligraphy?" Jason asked.
"Yep!" Naruto beamed. "Helped with seals and my writing for reports. And to stay in contact with my... 'pen pals'."
Percy chuckled. "Pen pals?"
"Yeah...Pen pals," Naruto said with a nervous laugh as he rubbed the back of his neck. He should really get back in contact with Jiraiya's network...All of Konoha's major intel was in the toilet if it was left alone for too long.
"…He has his own spy network?" Nico asked. He shook his head. "Seriously, he could conquer the world."
"Let's not think on that." Hazel paled. That was a scary though. Dictator Naruto! Yeah, not much of a good ring to it.
"But yeah, helped with my writing mostly. So...anything else? Because I'm hungry. I need some Ramen."
Annabeth shook her head. "Wait a bit longer, Naruto, we've gotten off track. The point is you went up against the Strongest Shinobi without any back up. That was dumb."
"Yeah, a real Percy moment there." Thalia chuckled.
"Hey!" the son of Poseidon frowned.
Percy frowned. For some reason, he felt like someone, somewhere had just made fun of him.
Thalia whistled after she read that sentence. "Wow, that's some Sixth Sense."
"He had to get something." Athena commented idly while Poseidon glared at her.
Oh, well, he'll ignore it for now and watch Annabeth chew someone other than himself out for once.
Percy gave Annabeth a hopeful look.
She reached over and pinched his cheek. "Not a chance. You're the only one for me…to scold."
"Oh, isn't it sweet?" Aphrodite smiled at the scene.
"Very." The couple's parents said dryly.
Naruto frowned. "I wasn't without backup! I summoned Jichan-sensei, Baachan-sennin, Boss Toad, Ken and Hiro to help me!"
"...More giant toads?" Piper asked with a grimace. "How do you not have warts?"
"I mastered Senjutsu. I don't get warts anymore," Naruto said with a shrug.
"Guys, focus?" Annabeth asked. "Point being, you can't run off and face these shinobi by yourself."
"You're right."
"Yes I am...wait, what?" Annabeth blinked.
"Wow." Percy grinned. "Gotta remember that one."
"Isn't that Boyfriend 101? Girlfriends are always right?" Leo asked.
Aphrodite giggled. "Mostly, but you can't be a suck up otherwise it's no fun!"
"Is that true?" Jason asked as he, and the other boyfriends present, looked at their girlfriends.
All they received in return were secretive little smiles.
Naruto gave her a small smile. "I've sent a message to Tsunade-Baachan to call for a Kage meeting. The toads will reverse summon me back to Konoha when it's time for the meeting. Shouldn't take more than a day or so."
"Reverse summon?" Percy asked. He felt a bit left out when Piper and Jason didn't look as curious.
"I'll explain everything later, Percy," Annabeth said to him. She turned back to Naruto. "What makes you think they'll just jump when you ask them?"
"Annabeth, read my lips." Naruto pointed at himself. "I. Saved. The. World."
"Those people owe him a lot." Leo reasoned. He hummed thoughtfully. "You know, I never got something for saving the world."
"You used a forbidden method to stay alive." Hades glared at him.
Leo chuckled sheepishly. "Right, right..."
"I beat Kronos," Percy said challengingly.
"I toppled Kronos' throne and beat Koios." Jason added.
"Aw, look at 'em trying to wave their dicks like their big shits." Ares chuckled.
"Kicked your ass."
"You got one cut, Jackson!" Ares hissed dangerously. "I can still own your ass if I wanted to. Even today!"
"Yeah, uh-huh."
"Percy, stop egging on the god of war." Poseidon sighed. His son was going to get himself killed with that kind of mouth one day.
The King of the Sea could only wonder where he'd gotten his mouth from.
"But did you have to fight a stupidly overpowered guy with an army of undead warriors and then fight a goddess that could create her own dimensions?" Naruto asked. He pointed at his bandaged hand. "Oh, and lose your arm when you had to stop your best friend from trying to destroy your home after you ended a war?"
Percy and Jason's lips clamped shut and Naruto crossed his arms.
"Yeah, didn't think so."
"And Naruto is best demigod. Period." Thalia said as she closed the book.
"Doesn't that take you out of the running?" Percy asked as he and Jason frowned.
Thalia smirked. "I said best demigod, not best demigoddess."
The two heroes pouted while the other girls smirked.
Reyna looked over at the Hunter with a hand out. "I'll go next."
"Here you go." Thalia offered it over to the Roman.