But he soon shook his head, It's no use, the negative emotion inside the room behind this door is too thick.

He might capably differentiate between each of the emotions but the current situation resembled a searching of a needle within a barn full of a haystack. Naruto huffed, he took his time quite a while before pushed the door open, it creaked upon it swayed.

The room he arrived came with an outline of a square, the place was cleared from any stuff, even no pillars held the ceiling. He needed to squint his eyes since no lights source supported the room whatsoever, the chill lingered in the air felt unnatural. At the heart of the room, a heptagon formation marked the ground, a circle secured each of the sides.

Naruto widened his eyes, Are those... the missing children?!

Inside the circles, a group of human a bit younger than him huddled together. Their face filled with anguish and fear while some also wept and snuffled.

"Huum..."

A girl's body trembled, her both knees touched the plank and curled hands on her eyes. The everlasting trail of water soaked her cheek.

Three men stood in front of the formation, giving their back for a pair of cerulean eyes to see, they wore the same suit with the people he previously handled several minutes ago, it perfectly matched the surrounding scene.

Naruto tugged his right sleeve and pulled out three explosive kunai from under his wrist, he threw them to the ground of the entrance and fished out three shurikens from his left wrist. He swung his hand and launched the star projectiles toward those people, it covered in a pale green energy the moment of rotation began.

The shurikens flew across s.p.a.ce and reached their target less than 3 seconds.

*Pa!* *Pa!* *Pa!*

Black barriers appeared on the each of their back and deflected his enchanted shuriken that could cut a stone into an half without worry. Naruto's face remained steady, he had experienced worst and it's not the first time he failed at an attempted pre-emptive strike. He put his senses of danger as high as possible.

"Are you lost, kid?" An eerie voice resounded in the room. The man in the middle turned his body and revealed his face to the blonde boy. His face curved in oval line, possessed a pair of deep-set eyes, high cheekbone, and small nose but wide colorless lips. His pale skin appeared in contrast with the view of this room.

Naruto stayed quiet, his hands readied for any incoming attack. The pale man curled his lips, his face showed an interest toward the boy across of him.

"Relax kid, even if you threw thousands attack at us, we won't fight you back."

Naruto knitted his eyebrow, clearly confuse with the man's statement, the man noticed this, he shrugged his shoulder, "We are at the end phase of our mission, in an approximately 5 minutes later, the moon will reach a certain cycle, we can't allow ourselves to be distracted by anything."

Naruto looked upward, his expression lagged for quite sometimes before he took shuriken from his back pouch, he made various hand seals then clapped his palm together with the shuriken inside, wind around him started moving in agitation before they collected into his palm, it took some time for him to do this until he brought down the joined palm to the left side of his stomach while twisting the palm along the way.

The palm's movement stopped right the moment this two palm at intersecting, the winds no longer wildly moved, in fact, it quiet still...

"Wind Release: Shuriken Gale Strike," Naruto slid his right hand as strong as he could and the tool shot out at high speed, sparking a collective of wind the moment of the launch, it traversed forward in the way the man's eyes unable to follow but he sneered in a mocking manner.

He made a few hand seals, "Dark Release: s.h.i.+eld of the fallen hero." As he finished the sentence, A black rectangle as big as him emerged, it blocked the path of the shuriken right before it only a few milliseconds to arrive.

*Pa!*

The shuriken got deflected after losing its power. Naruto's face like an unwavering stone that even the strongest storm unable to move, he took out another tool and this time a kunai. He did the same with it like the shuriken but this time, he only clapped the handle and let out the pointy part of the kunai above the tip of his finger, wind raged and abused, as if a wild animal tras.h.i.+ng its cage, the wind inside him palm punched anywhere it could.

Naruto's hand trembled but it soon became steady, he turned his palms from vertical to horizontal and positioned it few inches from his face, the edge aimed at the man.

"Wind Release: Javelin Gale."

*Boom!*

It shot in a supersonic explosion that forced Naruto to slide back from his initial spot, the unbelievable technique this time not even let the man had the chance to sneer as he flashed his hand signs, another black rectangle emerged but barely able to manifest before the fierce kunai stabbed onto it.

*Bang!*

It came with an explosion of wind and managed to push back the three-man from their spot, shock decorated their face and dread born within their guts.

From their observation, the boy in front no more but a genin, yet the technique he used capable to bear a threat to them.

Dangerous, this boy is too dangerous, they thought at the same time. While the three-man descended into their inner babble, Naruto reached out to his pouch and took out another tool which weirdly, a small ball in red, its size was barely even visible to the naked eyes, Naruto clapped his hand, the wind raging once again, when it became silent, he aimed the ball but not to the man this time, but the person beside him, "Wind Release: Red Eyes."

The weird red ball shot out but this time with no sound at all, it plunged faster than the previous two and finally managed to hit the person's face before he even had the chance to release a barrier.

*Splat!*

The ball exploded the moment it crashed, spewing a red hot liquid into the person's eyes.

"Aaaarghhh!" He stumbled backward while holding his face, the shrill of agony he let out made his comrades winced their face.

"It hurt! It hurt! My eyeeeeeeeees!" His hand tried to wipe it off but the hateful liquid somehow glued to his face like a relentless ex-lover. His legs thrashed around, kicking the oak plank's surface with his heel. The man knelt beside him and tried to help him get rid his predicament, "Calm down! I can't do this if you act like crazy!"

"Calm down?! It's not your eyes that burned like h.e.l.l!"

"s.h.i.+t, hey cover me!" The man forcefully grabbed his teammate's hand and tore it from his face, he kneed the hand and used his left hand to hold another person limb while his right hand forcefully tried to banish the red sauce with a thick smell.

Naruto stayed a while, he heaved in a rush rhythm since the last three techniques took a big chunk of his chakra, the technique actually required a less one but the user could further strengthen their speed and power by increasing the chakra input.

This technique might look strong but the application was hard to do because in order to reach that kind of attack required a lot of time for preparations which it's impossible if the battle was mobile.

What a bunch of sorry losers, Naruto shook his head.

'Bahahahaha kid I couldn't believe you use the chili marbles!' Kurama's laughter reverberated inside his mind, Naruto sighed, 'yeah, who guess that actually work on them.'

'You've shown strong techniques before them thus they expecting you'll use something stronger in the next round, they must be readied to use a stronger barrier which required a longer seal,' Kurama narrowed his eyes, he chortled in a tease, Humph! Human really is pathetic...

'h.e.l.lo, we still connected, at least close it if you want to mock us, the human...' Naruto rolled his eyes.

'Pffftt, where is the fun in that? The ultimate taste of happiness is to shame and insult those human while watching their face turn ugly, bahaha!'

'Whatever, now leave me alone and crawl back to your cage, I have enough of you today,' Naruto rubbed his temple, Kurama's eyes twitched in annoyance, 'fine, nothing interests me anyway."

As soon as the foxy creature resigned his presence, Naruto refocused his attention back at his enemies, the man still tried to wipe the sauce from his comrade while the other one stood by and protected them.

2 minutes left, eh? Naruto took out a scroll, he unfolded it and bit his finger, the open wound tapped against the strange mark on the scroll.

*Puff!*

A large pot made of ceramic appeared above the scroll, it had a white paper stuck on its surface with a big word "Nose" wrote on it. Naruto hopped onto the pot and pulled a rubber cap that plugged its hole. A 'pop' sound came from the pot and soon, a bizarre air danced from within. Naruto quickly activated the same technique and collected the winds inside his palm but strangely he held no tools now.

His stuff completely exhausted? The protector wrinkled his eyebrows, this kid bears an unexpected movement, I must be careful not letting my guard down!

The fingers he had flashed out several seals, it indeed seemed more complex than they previously used, "Dark Release: Demonic king Iron Castle!"

A large building made of black energy constructed around the protector, it scooped the entire s.p.a.ce including his comrades and the kids, he let out a thunderous laughter, his hands remained on the stance, "It's over little s.h.i.+t, no matter what technique you use, you will forever never able to break my defense!"

Naruto pursed his lips, the wind that crazily moved in his vicinity gathered into his joined palm and the bizarre dense air from the pot joined the fray. Naruto took a whole minute to completely free the pot from what it holds. Sweat drenched his head, with high concentration, Naruto molded the compressed air that resided in his palm, his hands trembled in a strong wave before it finally steady. Naruto opened his hand and aimed his creation up above the giant black construction, he shot it out without spoke any technique's name.

The protector watched how the explosive of wind propelled in the s.p.a.ce, flying toward the ceiling with high acceleration, it slowly losing its speed after reaching a certain alt.i.tude and fell toward the center of the construction and they clashed.

*Swoos.h.!.+*

The pressured air unleashed it might and shook the energy made building's surface, the protector strengthened his mind, tightly clasped his hand to maintain his technique, while he occupied by his predicament, Naruto brought out his explosive kunai in a swift, he threw them in precise aim, raiding the stronghold with raining strike.

*Pa!* *Pa!* *Pa!*

None of the tools managed to help him pierce the obstacle, they stabbed but deflected, mingled in the air as they fell to the ground, the protector about to smirk but he noticed a piece of paper under each of those kunai, Naruto raised his hand and he leaped backward, pus.h.i.+ng through the door that led into this room, the moment he entered the short path, he knitted his eyebrows and said out loud: "Explode!"

"..."

One tag triggered and created a small size of the flaming blast in the air, following this tag, the other also started mimicking its action, filled the scenery with series of explosion. The flame greeted the bizarre air as they hugged in harmonic, enlargening and strengthening the once small flames. They collected and ignited the rest of the s.p.a.ce and blew the entire area in one giant explosion.

*Bang!*

Despite he already made the distance from the blast range, Naruto still got thrown and plunged toward the door at the end of the path then he crashed into the next room.

The calm and desolate environment from outside, with snake leisurely searching for its prey and squirrel nipping on a nut, the part of rundown yet stood proud wooden house, devastated in the instant, exposing a red colored element into the vicinity and they lit the dim forest, turning the gloomy night into a bright sunny day.

Naruto looked into his back, and he watched how the disaster engulfed the world, his body drenched in perspiration as he felt part of his body losing their spirit to fight. Luckily the house quite big and built upon the clearing, at least the nearby woods remain unaffected.

*Shuaa!*

In the midst of raging flames, someone strolled from inside, his body smeared with spots of black like a charcoal, the suit he wore no longer intact and his face traced with fierceness. He glared at Naruto, one could see an immense hatred in his gaze.

"I salute your ruthlessness in destroying my operation, even not hesitate to burn the children you intended to rescue," he clenched his jaw, the curled hands s.h.i.+vered, "now that things have gone for naught, I have your life recompensate for my loss."

*Bang!*

The man dashed forward, with hands flas.h.i.+ng seals, "Dark Release: Shadow Pulse!"

Strong energies surged from underneath Naruto's feet, he retreated yet still got hit by the force, he flew to the air and slammed hard against the ceiling, a mouthful of blood spew from his mouth.

Without any mercy, the man formed another seal and cast the technique, "Dark Release: Demonic Howl!" He puffed his cheek and breathed a wave of black energy, quickly approaching Naruto's position, in spite of moment, Naruto cast Zephyr s.h.i.+eld and managed to reduce the impact from the powerful wave but only in a small scale, the black energy hit Naruto's body and broke him through the ceiling, completely set his path to the sky.

"Dark Release: Dark Haze!"

The man's body covered in black mist and he sprung toward the hole in the ceiling, his feet landed upon the roof as he rose his hand, directing it to Naruto's direction, the mist from his body crept out and swarmed toward Naruto.

With a pale face and ache body, tired senses, and exhausted chakra, Naruto brought up his hands, prepared to guard against the incoming attack.

At this moment, a blurry figure appeared behind him, he caught Naruto's body and disappeared once again. The man's face turned ugly as he saw the mist hit thin air, this f.u.c.king boy had ruined his plan, making him no longer could resurrect the dark s.h.i.+n.o.bi's ancestor and brought the glory back to his kind, the boy also successfully killed his people.

The man already decided to kill Naruto no matter what cost he had to pay, he bit his finger, marked his forehead with his own blood before he joined his hand, "Oo demonic lord from seven h.e.l.l, give me the strength to obliterate this pest, Dark Forbidden Technique: Demonic Possession!"

*Shuaa!*

An intense black energy surged from the man's body, covering it with bubbling dark essence, his eyes completely pitch black and low growl haunted his tone, "Time to die..."

(***)

In the forest, behind a tree with height many times higher than them, Naruto and s.h.i.+sui panted a lot, he might be can blink from one location into another but it didn't mean he could do that without the use of chakra, the farther it was, the larger his chakra consumption. On the other hand, Naruto panted not just because of his low quant.i.ty in chakra's reservation but the wound he currently bore because of the man's various techniques.

"You alright?" s.h.i.+sui wiped the sweat off his forehead.

"I have been worst," Naruto nodded, the pant he let out slowly restored its rhythm.

s.h.i.+sui glanced at the bright scene far ahead of him, "Do you think everything going as we plan?"

"I don't know..." Naruto fished out two b.a.l.l.s in black then threw one toward s.h.i.+sui, "catch."

In reflex, s.h.i.+sui grabbed the ball, he briefly gave it a stare before putting it inside his mouth, like Naruto, he chewed on the stuff which made him felt some portion of his chakra and vitality restored.

Naruto stood tall while ma.s.saging his back, "We could only trust the children to Kakas.h.i.+."

s.h.i.+sui frowned, he was about to tell something before Naruto's face suddenly changed, in a quick reflex, he dashed toward s.h.i.+sui and tackled him into the ground, their body rolled several meters away.

*Bang!*

Right on the spot where they previously stood, black energy crashed hard. Breaking the big tree and smashed the soil before them. Few distances away, the man walked from the dark with both hands engulfed by dancing flame, his pitch black eyes akin to an abyss of nothingness. The ghastly aura that covered him defile the nature on its surrounding. Naruto watched the man's arrival with dignified expression, he felt that whatever the technique the man's use, it's too dangerous to face with his current situation and level. He grasped s.h.i.+sui's s.h.i.+rt and yelled to him, "Use teleport, NOW!"

True to his fame as one of the gifted s.h.i.+n.o.bi ever born, s.h.i.+sui quickly sobered and his brain's processing prowess was magnificent, he accessed his surrounding and pinpoint the best place to s.h.i.+ft, not just to run but also to hide, he touched Naruto's shoulder and both of them teleported.

The man didn't bother with his prey's getaway, he raised both hands, the flames lit with gloomy darkish power, he threw them into the sky, two flames plunged upward and combined together in the mid-air. Naruto and s.h.i.+sui arrived somewhere among bushes, the distance they managed to cover only just several meters away but the place was acceptable enough for them to hide.

Body flicker technique allowed the user to move very fast that created an illusion of them teleporting from their spot, this technique could be learned by anyone in genin rank despite it's an advancement from body replacing technique. There were many styles that could employ with this body flicker, like Tranquil Feet which was a wind style body flicker.

But nevertheless, the technique never truly a teleportation since they couldn't travel pa.s.s through an enclosed s.p.a.ce, at least not until s.h.i.+sui managed to comprehend the time and s.p.a.ce attribute which allowed him to utilize the body flicker into its maximum potential, in conclusion, s.h.i.+sui was the first s.h.i.+n.o.bi who successfully did teleport albeit not perfect and it consumed too many of his chakra.

With his current level of chakra, he could do one more teleport before his chakra completely exhausted.

"Here..." Naruto pa.s.sed him another chakra replenish pill which he received with no hesitation, s.h.i.+sui chewed on it with a slight frown, "your pill kind of different from other, I felt it restore my chakra several many more than the usual one."

"You can thank Danzo for that..." Naruto also munched one.

"Or I should thanking you instead for becoming his golden boy," s.h.i.+sui curled his lips.

"I don't get this 'golden boy' nickname for, is it because I have a yellow hair or something?" Naruto wrinkled his eyebrows.

"Forget it..." s.h.i.+sui rolled his eyes.

Naruto frowned but the face he possessed soon startle with a terrified expression, he grabbed s.h.i.+sui s.h.i.+rt while urged him to teleport again.

Their figure became a blur before they disappeared once again, their previous hideout smashed by another dark flame.

They arrived in a somewhat gra.s.sland clearing, stumbled to the ground. Naruto glanced toward s.h.i.+sui who panted while sweat and pale modified his body. No matter how many chakra restoration medicines you had eaten, your body will not never immune toward fatigue. It's clear that his Body Flicker: Teleportation burdened his body quite heavy. Naruto fished out another pill and put it inside his mouth, urged him to chow on it.

In the nick of time, Naruto heartbeat jumped, he stood up and cast Zephyr s.h.i.+eld to his south, a homing black flame flew down from the sky above, it clashed against his greenish s.h.i.+eld but crashed immediately as it stood no chance. Naruto kicked s.h.i.+sui out of the way yet his own body got blasted away.

Naruto rolled on the gra.s.sland, he stabbed his fingers down to slow the speed, in an all-fours position, he glanced toward his south. Another homing flame like a dark meteor headed toward him, Naruto quickly jumped out of the way but to his surprise, the flame followed his movement and about to collide with him.

Out of nowhere, a line of chain sprung in the air, binding itself on Naruto's ankle and pulled his body, successfully kept Naruto from the flame dangerous range as it exploded the moment it touched the ground.

He crashed against the land but the pain clearly not mentionable in the front of this homing flame. He glanced to his back, widening his eyes as he saw a girl with hair tied in two buns holding the chain on her tiny hands.

Tenten never thought that she would have to save Naruto Uzumaki from a harm's way, initially, her job was just a distraction thus after managed to kite several enemies away while got help from s.h.i.+sui, her task will be done. But after several minutes stayed in the shadow, she's unable to contain herself to hide any longer while her teammates risked their lives in the fight, she dashed toward the commotion and finally found the path that led her into this clearing.

She hated the blonde boy, his constant remarked about how annoying she was, the indifferent face he always put whenever they talked as if she's not worth his attention at all, his habit of rolling eyes to mock the things she did.

But he, after all, her teammate... there is no way she's going to let him die, Tenten sighed.

Naruto released the chain from his ankle, he rose on his feet, patted some dust from his clothes, he said without moving his face to see her, "What are you doing here? This area is a war zone, return to the hiding spot immediately..."

Then Naruto walked away, leaving Tenten who fumed in rage as her body trembled all over.

I change my mind, I'm going to kill that b.a.s.t.a.r.d after the fight is over!

Naruto moved in heavy steps, his eyes carefully observed the lush forest that filled the scenery presented for his eyes. The moon perched high in the sea of stars, sharing its grace to the world with its deceptive lights. The bright crimson panorama caused by him has finally ceased, returning the dimness back to the environment. The wind air drifted, swaying his attire gently, the headband he wore danced along with the current.

It froze his skin but his face neither cares or bother with it.

Tenten went to her left, approaching another boy who laid like a rag doll.

In the line between the forest and the clearing, the man strolled out like he's in the park, with two dark flames in his hands, his dangerous visage overrode the harmony of the ecosystem.

"Finally stop running, eh?" Sneer pulled the corner of his lips. The distance between them still half a mile away but his hoa.r.s.e and eerie voice managed to enter Naruto's sense.

He didn't respond toward the man's words, fixed face glued into the surface of his head.

"Hehe..." The man laughed, the mocking tone he bore failed to hide, "keep pretending you not scare but after I enter this condition, I could see the heart of the people, the things they desire and the negative emotion they have, all of them, visible for my eyes like a naked woman."

He raised his hands, the flame shook quite intense, he squinted his eyes, "And this power will hunt you down and seize those delicious like a food they are."

He threw the flame on his right hand before followed by the one in his left hand, it headed toward Naruto as a speeding car raced against each other.

Naruto's heart turned cold, he quickly took out his kunai and shoot the incoming flame, the pair of steel halted the flame's movement but they unable to block them since it broke to pieces almost in the second. Without any indication to give up, Naruto used his both hands to reach toward his left wrist and brought out his remaining enchanted shurikens, he threw them unceasingly in hope to destroy the flame. After didn't know how many he had thrown, the flame finally disappeared before they reached the target. Naruto's chest heaved in a rush manner, the muscle in his arms somewhat became sore.

The man curled his lips, showing disdain for the boy's struggle, even though Naruto just disturbed his strike but the cost he paid not just a mere two or three shurikens. He raised his hands again, prepared to attack the blonde boy once more.

Naruto knitted his eyebrows, the man clearly had the advantage in both short and long distance, while his kunai already spent, he no longer had other tools with him beside the diminish in quant.i.ty shurikens.

His level of wind technique clearly not matched with the man's dark one, the previous tricks he utilized also no longer reliable for him to use. The only way to beat the man for Naruto was...

Naruto clenched his jaw, there was unwilling countenance masked his face, the reason he insistingly chose this mission was exactly because the man included in a.s.sa.s.sination hit list which Danzo prepared for his disciples.

He had struck a deal with Kurama that if he capable of killing some people within the list, the beast had to grant him something. After bargaining back and forth which clearly not Naruto's strongest adversary, they finally reached the conclusion:

1. If Naruto kill list has reached 5 targets, Kurama will not interfere with Naruto's affair without the host consent, that included training and fighting.

2. If Naruto kill list has reached 10 targets, Kurama will have to teach him water element comprehension.

3. If Naruto kill list has reached 20 targets, Kurama will have to teach him how to sense negative emotion.

4. ...

5. ...

The list kept going until it finally ended with 100 targets, and he only managed to kill 25 targets this far, the reason was that everytime he used Kurama's help in those tasks, the kill count for that target will be null thus made his effort became fruitless.

What most annoying was, every target inside that a.s.sa.s.sination hit list was very difficult to kill, he needed to employ all tactics in his disposable and not all of them was successful.

Naruto frowned for quite a while, the man strolled forward, his pitch black eyes observed the boy every gesture and action, he wouldn't let him do anymore surprises. He raised his hands and readied the attack for him to commence.

Gritting his teeth, Naruto decided not to fight the man with Kurama's power yet, he joined his fingers, "Shadow Clone technique!"

*Poof!*

In the once clearing gra.s.slands, ten to twenty Naruto filled the land, they all shared the same feature including looks and suits. The man startled for a brief but laughed in contempt, You dare use a low technique like that, aren't you belittle me too much?

The man launched another homing flame and they flew into the air, moving in a certain direction as if it guided by something, it landed among the midst of clone, dispersing their figure in a puff of smoke.

"Eh?"

The man wrinkled his eyebrows, he could see that his flame killed some of the clones but the creator's real body seemed not among them. He launched another flame, it sprung to the air and landed among the clones but all he saw was smoke... just smoke.

What the h.e.l.l is going here? The man's face smeared with a confused tone. For several rounds the man still did the same, throwing the flame into the midst of clones but he only could see smokes.

That boy clearly still there but where the h.e.l.l is he?

Frustration filled the man's head, the previous mock and sneer no longer visible on his face, the flame within his both hands moved agitatedly, they increased in size and density, it's normally as big as soccer ball but now it resembled a small boulder, around a bit bigger than Naruto's figure.

Sweat broke the man's forehead, and his face flushed red, with all of his might, he threw the flames toward the crowd of blonde person, it fell into the center and blew up. Creating a large shockwave that swept the entire surrounding area, dispersing each of the clones in a dust of smoke.

The man gasped for breath, he bent his body and placed his both hands on his knees. His eyes still pitch black but the aura coating him no longer had its previous strength. He observed the aftermath of his strike then noticed the boy's presence had gone from the field.

Is it over?

Is he dead?

The man was filled with joy, his revenge finally accomplished. But before he managed to exclaim his celebration...

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

A large ball of flame flew toward him in a swift motion, the man's eyebrows jumped, he quickly rushed to active his dark s.h.i.+eld, but a rope made of chain struck from the bushes and bound the man's ankle, it immediately made a pull movement which made the man knelt one leg and disturbed his technique gesture, the fireball already reached the man's location by the time he sobered.

*Bang!*

The man's body blasted from his location, but the chain on his leg held him in place, his body charred with smoke trailed from every surface.

"Water Release: Bubbles Technique!"

From other bushes, several small b.a.l.l.s of waters headed out and a.s.saulted the man's body, punching him with the small scale of destruction which punctured the man but not enough to create holes. His body got pushed back but the chain still tied down the man, making him unable to freely trash to the ground.

A white scroll flew into the air, unrolled the moment it reached above the man.

"Hundred Misery Rain!"

A numerous steel needle appeared under a collective of smoke, stabbing every part of the man's body and making him looked like a hedgehog. His body fell to the ground with a hard dull sound, and he stayed quiet for a long time.

From the bushes; Naruto, s.h.i.+sui, and Tenten came out with hurried breath but they have a relaxed expression. They slowly approached the man who laid without any life indication.

"I hope he's dead..." Tenten huffed, she felt tired and sore after holding the man's body with her chain.

"I exhausted his chakra for quite much, the fact that he unable to detect out presence nearby meaning his vitality must be consumed in large quant.i.ty," Naruto crossed his arm, the cool visage he adopted fail to conceal his tired expression.

"After p.r.i.c.k with that many needles, I don't think he survives..." s.h.i.+sui canceled his Sharingan, he bitterly stared at Tenten, "note to my self not to anger you..."

"Hehe..." Tenten bashfully fiddled her feet, then she faced Naruto with nose turned a little higher, "do you hear that Uzumaki? Even s.h.i.+sui is afraid of me!"

"Hm? What? I'm sorry, I was lost in thought, what did you say?" Naruto raised his eyebrows and looked at her.

Tenten twitched her eyes, "I said s.h.i.+sui is-"

"Ah, yes! Hey, do you think Kakas.h.i.+ successfully secure the kids?" Naruto glanced at s.h.i.+sui.

"Hey, listen to me!" Tenten raised her hands above her head and swung them angrily.

s.h.i.+sui shook his head, "I hope so..."

Naruto frowned, he observed the dead man then nodded his head, "Let's go to the rendezvous point, we'll know what happens after hearing the news from Kakas.h.i.+ himself."

s.h.i.+sui and Tenten nodded, they turned around and walked in a quite heavy step.

"Where... do... you... think... you're... going?"

black substances like tentacle sprouted from the supposedly dead man's body, it split into many small tentacles and caught the three Genin without giving them any chance to understand the situation. They screamed the moment those tentacles lifted their body and hanged them in mid-air.

"Hehe..." The man rose on his feet, with a charred body, broken limbs, and needles on the head, he tilted upward and exposed his hideous face to them. His eyes became more black while the skin on his body getting paler, "I admit, I'll never expect to get beat up by a bunch of snot brats like you..."

His arms and legs dangled on his body as if they no longer had any bone in them, "But nevertheless, my experience in a fight still a lot more many than you... hehe..."

The black tentacles that connected from his back increased their tight grasp on their body, it clutched their waist while another grasped their neck.

"Argh..."

They felt pain and the lack of air, with flushed red color, painted their body, Tenten held onto the one that clung into her neck, her eyes crawled with a red vein, saliva started spilled from her mouth. s.h.i.+sui tried to teleport away from his binding but one of the tentacles caught his hand and smothering it into his body, he could feel the bone that reconstructed his body about to break. Among the two of them, Naruto seemed the one who suffered much, while the others had two separate tentacles that bound them, Naruto instead, had three.

One covered his legs, another clutched his body, the last one choked his neck. He sensed every single part of his body squeezed thoroughly, all blood as if rushed into his head, making him dizzy and unable to think.

Even when he tried to contact Kurama, his mind quickly felt light headed and his consciousness became dim.

In the span of one minute, the three Genin finally failed to persist and their awareness faded away, the man laughed, his voice came in high pitch disturbing tone as if two voice responsible for such situation. He dropped s.h.i.+sui and Tenten from the tentacle grasped and brought Naruto in front of him.

He curled his lips, and eyeing the blonde's figure, he licked his lips, "This body no longer suitable to be a vessel, I don't know the ident.i.ty of this boy but his skill and technique surpa.s.sed most of the children I ever saw, this boy definitely become a strong s.h.i.+n.o.bi in the future, hehe, such a delicious human meat suit, while I should waste it by killing him..."

The man rose he barely function hands, making several seals with it in stutter manner, he opened his mouth then a group of black smoke rushed out, quickly set its path straight and entered Naruto's mouth. The quant.i.ty of this smoke quite large as it took some time before it finally left the man's body.

The black substances tentacle's figure became blurry, it slowly disappeared within the times along with the one that held Naruto. The man's body powerlessly fell into the ground, carrying Naruto's body down with him.

(***)

Inside a strange tunnel with white wall and several pipes on its surface. A speck of water sounded, dripping somewhere easily caught by the lonely ears. The floor of this place flooded with water that reached into one grown man's knees, it's cold and hot at the same time.

A figure in a completely black appearance from head to toe traversed the labyrinth, it glanced to right and left, albeit one couldn't see it face but from the gesture it exhibited, clearly it confused about something.

Strange, I never been inside this kind of place before within someone, is this the boy's consciousness?

The "clack-clack" sounds wandered in the desolate area as the figure was the only ent.i.ty inside this labyrinth, at least until it heard a growling sound came from somewhere. It startled, looking into its back and front, trying to recognize the sound whether was real or just imagination, after for such long time no more weird sound it heard, a relief breath breeze from its mouth, it continued the journey inside the labyrinth.

After several times got lost in the way, it finally arrived in a place that very s.p.a.cious, even the wall around the room was nowhere to be seen. It hesitated for a while before gazing the complete dark view ahead and decided to just the h.e.l.l with it, the figure strode forward, brus.h.i.+ng against the water on its feet.

It started to let out a cold sweat, the figure thought it was traveled into the infinite horizon, no limit that indicated the end of the line whatsoever.

It ran and dashed, hoping to meet another wall or sort.

It stumbled but didn't care, only wish to end the journey as fast as it could.

But the figure never found it, the only thing around it was darkness and land filled with water, it wandered around, trying to catch a clue that might bring it out from this place.

It was useless, the figure felt as if it's already traveled around the place in a long time, maybe a dozen years, perhaps centuries.

Desperation filled its mind, the terror and distress hounding the figure to let out a scream, just wanted to hear its own voice.

Time moved like a snail, creeping on the wall.

The figure laid in water, tired and suffered from the endless journey it just experienced. It somehow regretted to enter the boy's consciousness. In the brink of mind collapsing, it heard another growl, alerting one mind that already desperate for company, it jumped on its feet, stretching the ears to catch more anomaly sounds.

"Grr..."

Its eyes lit up, without care what possible ent.i.ty that let out such a beastly growl, it dashed toward the sound, following everywhere the sounds came from.

But after a long time, it still didn't find anything. It just dark, dark, and dark.

The figure itself was the ent.i.ty of darkness but never felt this kind of pressure before. Another growl came out, it figured whoever let out the sound actually trying to play with it, misleading it into anywhere and made it lost.

"Alright, I give up! Please show me yourself!" It roared with all of its might, who said the figure like it was a creature of patience.

There was no response regarding it tantrum, it roared again but still, no respond, after did this without knowing how many, it finally gave up. Just laid there without any will to stand, it turned its consciousness off and prepared to doze off, but a large tidal wave suddenly surged in the room, sweeping the figure into the endless whirlpool and throwing its body all around like a fish inside a plastic container.

It screamed, begging whoever did this to stop and promised won't invade the boy again, the current which throwing the figure upside down ceased, bubbles started appearing and collected in front of it, it started with small groups before more bubbles collected and formed a giant creature many times bigger from its size.

What made the figure shocked was that the bubbles trying to form was only the creature's head. The beastly face manifested by the bubbles: Sharp chin, wide eyes, long ears, and sharp teeth.

"Imbecile..." The creature sharp teeth moved like its ready to grind on the figure.

"Such a sp.a.w.n pathetic creature like you dare to invade my host..." The voice it possessed far deeper and felt extremely dangerous than anything the figure ever heard.

"Who's your lord?" The creature asked, the mocking tone it let out was loud and clear.

"Asmodeus..." The figure slowly said, it somewhat felt so small in front of the might of the creature.

"Asmodeus?" The creature's voice held a hint of surprise, but followed with big laughter, "Bahaha! That b.i.t.c.h boy Asmodeous was your lord?! No wonder you are so pathetic and weak!"

The figure shocked, b.i.t.c.h boy? You dare to call seven lords of the h.e.l.l as b.i.t.c.h boy?!

What an arrogant creature!

The figure sneered inwardly, Asmodeous famed in h.e.l.l realm couldn't be compared to a mere existence, even if you are strong, do you think your power capable to beat down my lord?!

The creature as if could read what inside the figure's mind, he let out a satire remark, "You people from h.e.l.l always thought you're stronger than anything else, proud to yourself, looking down upon other kind but in the truth you bunch of lot not more than a pebble to me... even your king Lucifer only matched to be my toothpick."

The figure startled at the words the creature just spoke, It knows my king Lucifer?! Not to mention it blatantly insult him as a toothpick...

The figure fumed with anger, the creature kept mocking the lords and the king of h.e.l.l as if they just toys that not even fun to play.

"Shut your trap, you b.i.t.c.h! If my demon lords and king know what you just said, they will hunt you down like a dog!" The figure said in a loud tone, clearly didn't take the creature prowess seriously, it thought that the power of h.e.l.l was immeasurable that whoever on this realm won't be able to compare.

But soon the figure realized it had made a big mistake...

"Dog...?" The creature mumbled.

"Did you just call me, a dog?" There is an absentminded tone within the creature's voice.

There was a moment of silence between the blurry ent.i.ties.

"IMPUDENT!"

The creature roared and let out a stream of water, was.h.i.+ng the figure and tras.h.i.+ng it all over the place, it hurled from left to right, up to bottom, every possible side the figure was thrown. It no longer just felt dizzy, it was as if put inside a rotating wheel and let it rolled along with the wheel. The frenzy stream halted, but the figure already devoid from any power and the will to live, it started pondering maybe the dark element win against another element just a myth since the creature attack was so devastating.

The figure floated in water without any indication to move at all, the creature stared at the figure with narrowed eyes, the beastly growl he let out akin to a raging volcano, "When you come back to h.e.l.l, make sure you tell that b.i.t.c.h boy, my s.h.i.+t miss him soo much!"

"Graaaah!" The creature let out a roar and flushed the figure out from the water, traveled far to the tunnel and flew toward the light.

Back in the forest, four-figure laid on the top of the gra.s.slands. One of them was an adult, while the three other just a bunch of kids. One of the kids with blonde hair gaped his mouth and let out a bunch of black smoke, it traveled through the air and slip inside the adult's mouth. After several seconds pa.s.sed, the smoke fully entered the adult's body, it tremored before the adult opened his eyes.

A pair of pitch black eyes observed the blonde boy while tried to stand, he could only reach out halfway before his body started to give out the strength thus his position turned very weird; his torso bent downward in 45 degrees, making his b.u.t.t raised since his legs still stood proudly.

What the h.e.l.l is that thing inside this boy? The man stared in complicated light, it seemed to an acquaintance with my lord Asmodeus.

He hesitated to kill the boy right now, feared if he did that, the creature will be angry then released from its cage, it will be fine if the creature just slaughter the earth realm but if it arrived in h.e.l.l realm...

The man shook his head, his top priority now it's to find a new vessel before this body finally gave out, it's hard for a demon to pa.s.s through this dimension, the regulation was terrible and h.e.l.l was boring, there were only fire and rock there, unlike this place, so colorful...

He glanced at the black haired boy and decided to pick him as the new vessel, after all, he could see the potential within this boy not fall short from the blonde, had he given enough practice, surely he could be the strongest person in this realm.

The man gaped his mouth and prepared to rush the black smoke.

*Biri!* *Biri!*

He didn't realize the glaring lightning that headed toward his direction with the quickest speed, by the time he recognized the imminent threat, it's already too late...

"Lightning Release: Thunder Blade!"

*Puchi!*

(***)

In the night where the moon shone with a bluish phenomenon, one head hovered in the air while red liquid spilled to the sky, this time it's no longer a chili sauce, but the water that reeked with an iron smell.

In the hospital's room with a white luminous door, Ruoxi eyelids trembled, it's the third day since Naruto received a blood donor from Jiang Wei and heal from his corruption with the help from Liu Ruyan. Albeit the relations.h.i.+p between her and Jiang Wei turned out not that bad but they yet to be called friendly, they greeted once a while when they changed s.h.i.+ft in taking care Naruto, daytime will be Jiang Wei turn while night would be her. Senior Liu and Liu Ruyan would also come by from time to time, checking on Naruto's condition, Ruoxi felt a tad restless since the seductive Liu Ruyan seemed taking a great interest toward Naruto, it's like a vixen hunting for its prey, it clearly visible in Liu Ruyan's eyes that she wanted something from Naruto.

Ruoxi opened her eyes, she felt a little dizzy from the lack of proper rest, she always fell asleep in sitting position while resting her head on Naruto's bed, her hand never once let man's go. Every time she woke up, she had to twist her neck around to lessen the sore feeling around it, she even let w.a.n.g Ma ma.s.sage it for a while before she took off to the office.

She stared at the ceiling, a bright luminous lamp blinded her eyes.

En?

Ruoxi startled, usually, the scene that greeted her will either be a blue colored blanket, the LCD television across the room, and white painted wall. She would glance to her left and gazing upon the handsome face that slept peacefully while his firm chest rose up and down in a steady manner.

But she didn't do that now, because she felt she no longer sleeping in sitting position, she could sense the soft mattress underneath her body and cotton pillow held her head, her body undergone a comfortable feeling, no ache or sore restricted some part of her body, in fact, she was as if bath in a warm pool or tub, it washed away her fatigue and nourished her spirit.

"Is Mayonnaise an Instrument?"

"No, Patrick, mayonnaise is not an instrument.

Horseradish is not an instrument either."

"With these many kinds of seafood in the sea, they even cast a squirrel, but didn't have enough money to include a frog? Bulls.h.i.+t that's what I call."

A yammering from the scene being played by the LCD, followed by annoyed tone entered her ears.

Her breath stopped in the instant, mind unable to process for quite some time, and heartbeat as if refused to pulse. She realized now what bed she slept on, whose pillow she used, and why she basked in a comfortable warm feeling.

It's him...

He's awake...

She yet to recover her consciousness, not until a familiar male's voice that resembled a breezing wind slipped inside her temporal lobe before finally registered into her brain.

"Oh, Ruoxi, you awake? It's no good to sleep like that, you could have hurt your neck..."

The gentle and caring voice in his tone, shook the brief malfunction of her brain, it running the halted gears and making it produce a signal wave to her entire body, but the main focused, was the corner of her eyes that dimmed with a reddish hue, Ruoxi wiped it with her finger but it still unceasingly flowed.

"Eh? Ruoxi why did you cry?!"

Ruoxi's tone lightly skipped, with both fingers now tried their best to block the well from flowing any more water, "You stupid jerk, I hate you!"

"The heck? What did I do?"

"Nothing!"

"Then why did you hate me for?!"

"If I hate you then I hate you, you have a problem with that?!"

"Of course I do, if you hate because I've been making a mistake, then I surely could find a way to apologize..."

"Fine, it's your mistake, go apologise to me!"

"You're not being detailed, what mistake that I do that making me have to apologize to you?!"

"You're being a jerk, that's your mistake, apologize now!"

"Huh? But I don't remember doing anything that leads me into being a jerk, I just woke up a couple minutes ago; when, where, and what action did I do?"

"Huuum, that's why I hate you, go to h.e.l.l!"

"Been there, I hate the place, it's hot and full of rock, there is s.e.xy demoness though..."

"Jerk! How can you joke in this situation, I'm sad!"

"Alright, alright, do you know that tree frog can jump 150 times of their height?"

"Shut up, I don't care about your stupid frog!"

"Ruoxi, please stop crying, I don't know what to do..."

In the room where calmness had been shooed away, a commotion of crying and pleading sounds rung together, like a beautiful singing of two innocent children.