FicWad

It was the dead of night and nary a sound could be heard, save for the light pattering of Glissa’s bare feet as she clumsily snuck up to Naruto’s room. In all fairness, stealth was not her strong suit.

Still, she was a woman on a mission. She just had to see what the Ladykiller was packing after spotting that nice bulge, earlier!

Unfortunately, she was not the only one. Just as she rounded the corner, she came face-to-face with one of the warriors from earlier… Camilla, was it?

Said warrior took a few steps back out of surprise; then she smirked. “Oh? What are you doing out this late I wonder?”

Glissa blushed and grinned. “Same as you, I’d assume~?”

Camilla giggled. “Oh, how cute! You’re here to try and seduce the Ladykiller, too, then~?”

“Seduce? Not quite. See how big his dick is after seeing that bulge? Hell. Yes.” Glissa purred.

The naughty Number 20 grinned impishly and gestured for her fellow perv to be quiet as she opened the door and peeked in. It was dark and it was quiet, save for the soft snores from Naruto and his wife Miria. Looking at Glissa, Camilla gestured for her to get down as she slowly opened the door even more. Then the blonde crawled in the room on her hands and knees.

The elf-eared brunette quietly, though enthusiastically followed suit and carefully closed the door behind her.

When they were beside the bed, The two could see Naruto in the buff and sprawled out upon the bed, a naked and very satisfied Miria snuggling up to to him. How the man wasn’t freezing to death was an excellent question.

The two female perverts exchanged looks then to the bed, then to each other again.

“...How do we do this?” Camilla whispered, as to not wake Naruto and his wife up… she didn’t want Phantom Miria to be pissed off if she sees what they’re doing to him.

“I’m sure he wouldn’t mind enduring a double-blowjob~!” Glissa giggled lowly, and impishly.

Camilla licked her lips, purring and grinning like a cheshire cat. “That, I can get behind~!”

With their evil scheme in mind the two women gently got on the mattress and crawled up to Naruto, hungrily eyeballing their prize. The slowly eased down between his thighs, pressing against one another side by side as they got closer to the flaccid 9 inch cock. The damn thing wasn’t even erect and it was still impressive! An eager Camilla gently grabbed hold first, having experience with such… activities and lightly stroked him to life.

“Lick him near the tip,” she whispered to Glissa.

The former Number 45 grinned at her and nodded, looming down and licking Naruto’s quickly awakening monster cock, swirling her tongue around the bulbous head. Naruto groaned in his sleep at the feel of having his now erect cock getting stroked and licked; smacking his lips the blond lightly shifted around and pulled his wife to him a bit.

Miria mewled cutely in her sleep and rest her head against his chest, sliding her arm around his waist.

Camilla grinned, and whispered into Glissa’s ear. “He likes it, take the head in your mouth and swirl your tongue around it.”

Glissa did just that as she gently fondled his balls.

Naruto groaned in his sleep, his hand coming up and rubbing Glissa’s scalp. She couldn’t believe his size!

Neither could Camilla, for that matter. ‘Holy hell, he wasn’t exaggerating!’ she thought in both horror and excitement. ‘How does he make it fit?!” Coming down onto the slumbering blond, Camilla decided to further assist her compatriot. She latched her lips on to the side of his dick with a soft, audible nom and started sucking on it as she moved her head up and down the shaft.

Naruto’s eyes fluttered and rolled back at the sensation of two women working together to service his dick. But he didn’t wake up. The girls prefered it this way. Let him sleep, let him dream; he’ll have something nice to wonder about in the hours to come.

Glissa groaned around the cockhead, and started to softly suck and slurp around it. Her eyes closed in concentration as she started to lightly bob up and down on it. Never taking more than the glans into her gob. The less she could take in, the more she could focus on a specific spot, and the more Camilla could work the rest of him.

A few minutes of this and Glissa pulled away, allowing Camilla to take her place, while she went and latched on to the side of the slumbering man’s prick. Camilla showed more enthusiasm in her sucking and slurping, but like Glissa, she did not take more than the bulbous head into her mouth for a similar reason.

She may have been experienced but Camilla was not all that eager to use the entirety of her throat. The stitching keeping the base of her throat sealed may accidentally break to the strain; it’s unlikely, but the possibility was still there. But still, she wasn’t about to let that minor inconvenience spoil her fun.

With a soft, quiet moan, she closed her eyes in concentration and started to move her gob up and down on the bulbous head, with Glissa dragging her tongue up and down the rest of the inches, slobbering his dick with her saliva.

The elf-eared brunette and the naughty blonde worked together like a team, swapping places every few minutes as they brought the slumbering blond closer and closer to his end. Until finally, he let out a groan that signified his release.

Glissa’s eyes snapped open, growing almost as wide as saucers as her cheeks bloated. She was quick to swallow what filled her mouth, before pulling away to let Camilla get a taste of him before he could dirty the bed with his seed. The blonde did her damnedest to take the rest on, but damn, was it hard!

He filled her mouth with his seed in one shot! He was so fucking verile! Perhaps… perhaps Jean wasn’t exaggerating when she claimed that Naruto had knocked her up? Oh, if that was the case, she’d defect right then and there~!

Eventually though, his spurts came to a stop and the elf-eared brunette and naughty blonde had to leave the room. Lest someone were to wake up and wonder where they had gone. They giggled softly and quietly scurried off, undoubtedly finding themselves looking forward to getting on Naruto’s good side.

----

Meanwhile, to the East in the Headquarters of the Organization, a natural phenomenon of the weather was passing through.

Dae stood atop a large tower as he watched the lightning storm come in. Three slabs lay behind him, with three more dead warriors upon them. In the middle was Sistina. To the left, lay Chloe, and to the right was Licht. Two massive lightning rods flanked the assembly with massive, copper wires connecting them to the metal slabs.

Thunder roared through the horizontal rain as white streaks of lightning pierced the sky.

“Miranda,” he yelled, “pull the lever!”

His impromptu assistant obeyed, yanking the large, iron rod with a mighty heave. There was a series of clicks and rattles as the machinery came to life. Then, a lightning bolt struck one of the rods and the corpses started to twitch.

“Yes! Come on! Come to life my pretties!” the madman yelled. Miranda gave him an odd look.

As if on command, yet another lightning bolt struck one of the rods, visible sparks shooting off their carcasses as they twitched yet again.

“Give me more power!” Dae yelled.

“What power?! This is all there is!” Miranda shouted to him over the lightning storm.

Dae turned around and pointed at the second, unpulled lever and as lightning flashed behind him, he yelled with a dramatic flare, “Pull the other lever!”

There was yet another lightning bolt and the corpses started twitching once more.

Miranda shielded her face from the rain and grabbed the lever, yanking it down. Then, the clattering of gears and chains signaled the raising of a box, as well as two more lightning rods. The curious, giant machine sprouted up like a daisy right behind Miranda and Dae yelled, “connect one wire to each girl’s ankle and then pull the lever!”

Though she looked at him as if he were a madman - an assumption that wasn’t far off - Miranda did as told, connecting the clamps on the end of each wire to the ankles of each woman, before moving back to the box and pulling the lever.

Almost instantly, she could feel yoki flowing from the contraption and into the three women.

There was yet another lightning bolt, this one forking and hitting both of the newly-raised rods. The three women’s eyes snapped open, their eyes glowing a demonic gold, though they were still clearly dead, as lightning and yoki coursed through their veins.

“LIFE!” Dae screamed dramatically, “GIVE MY CREATIONS… LIIIFE!”

“...What the hell did I get myself into?” Miranda deadpanned, looking at the cackling Dae with lightning flashing in the background in front of her.

----

The next morning, Naruto groaned as he groggily tried to force himself awake. For some reason, he was a bit winded.

He looked at Jean’s slumbering clone and wondered if she had anything to do with it… again. He looked at Miria, who was snuggled against him, holding onto him like a teddy bear. Smiling, he lightly shook her by the shoulder and she whined in her sleep. Miria snuggled closer to him however and pressed her entire against him.

He was tempted to turn her around and fuck her right then and there. However, he instead leaned in and kissed her full on the lips. They needed to get back to Morris and trying to teleport while half-asleep was not a good idea.

Not to mention there was his seal he had to put on Nina’s party, along with Evannia’s. Applying them while he’s half-asleep is not a good idea, either. It’s the quickest way to get yourself killed, too.

“Miria…” he whispered into her lips, “it’s take to wake up.” when she didn’t say anything other than tiredly whine, he shook her again and deepened his kiss for a brief moment, before trying again. “Miria… it’s time to wake up now.”

Again, she didn’t respond other than groan, though she was pressing more against his lips now. The light-brunette was trying to get more kisses out of him, though even she didn’t know that.

The whiskered blond chuckled, showering his woman in kisses, cupping her face with both hands. Miria mewled cutely, wrapping her arms around Naruto as she returned his affection. Her eyes fluttered and she blinked the sleep out of her eyes as the former Number 6 slowly returned to the land of the living.

Miria smiled, her eyes lovingly meeting Naruto’s. “Well, hello, there~!” she cooed.

Her husband smiled back. “Hello, yourself~!”

“Either get on with it and fuck, already, or get out of bed,” Rafaela grumbled, yawning as she half heartedly rolled out of bed. “I don’t care which.”

In eerie unison Jean and Luciela both chirped, “I say you should fuck.”

Miria turned beet red, not used to being goaded.

Naruto chuckled tiredly. “If we did,” he began. “I would be half asleep while applying those Hiraishin seals. Not a good idea.” He then kissed Miria on the forehead. “Tonight, though, when we get back home, your ass is mine~!”

The former Number 6 blushed harder and giggled shyly. “Alright,” she whispered.

With that said and done, Naruto and his posse pried themselves out of bed and got ready for the day.

----

Not long after, Camilla couldn’t help but stare at her wrist as she and her comrades went to meet up with the handler waiting for them at the edge of town.

The curious, little mark was just so interesting… she had to learn how to use this Hiraishin technique of Naruto’s! It was so cool! Clearing her throat and setting her childish gushing aside for later, the blonde sped up slightly to meet with her team captain and asked, “So… how far out is he?”

“My handler should be waiting on that cliff over there,” Nina said, gesturing to the rocky formation up ahead. “We should be there in a few minutes.”

Indeed, they were, and the handler gave their leader an expectant look, clearly surprised to see them all in one piece. That told them the Ladykiller was telling the truth - that they were sent here to die, and purposely withheld information from them.

Despite how they felt, all of them, even Clarice, hid their outrage quite well.

“So, I take it they’re dead, then?” he asked.

“No,” Nina replied.

“No?” the handler narrowed his eyes at her, “Explain!” he demanded.

Nina scoffed and crossed her arms. “Ladykiller Naruto appeared before we could engage them and convinced them to go after a nearby bandit camp, instead. He’s currently en route to Morris with the awakened beings in tow.”

“I see…” the handler wasn’t happy to hear that, though he hid it well behind a wall of indifference. “I suppose I should give you your next-”

“With all due respect,” Nina interrupted. “I have something to add.”

He looked at her expectantly. “Make it quick, then.”

“We... have made contact with the Ladykiller and managed to get on his good side,” she said. “I would like to ask permission to have Camilla shadow him and see if she can gather information. Due to how dangerous he is, and with him friendly towards us, this is an outstanding opportunity that I would hate to see wasted.”

“I will consult Rimuto about this,” the handler said. “If he finds it wise, then so be it. Until then, she will be sent back to her station. Given her skillset, that seems like a fairly sound course of action.”

“Very well,” Camilla said, bowing respectfully. “Shall I be on my way, then?”

“...yes,” the handler confirmed. “Meet back up with Handler Ingmar in your district until further notice.”

With that, Camilla bid her comrades adieu. “Understood, sir, I shall be on my way, then. Have a good one, yes?”

The hooded man only grunted.

She then waved goodbye, turned on her heel, and headed off to her district.

The handler then addressed Nina once more and said, “your next assignment is to deal with a youma infestation in the town of Nero, just south of here. Seeing as there are quite a few of them, you are to take Clarice and Miata with you.” He then turned his attention to Elise. “Your handler’s waiting for you back in your own district.”

“Very well,” Elise said; then before she departed, the Number 21 looked to Nina, Clarice and Miata and said. “I hope to see you all again some time.”

Nina gave her a single nod of agreement. Clarice mirrored the gesture with a shy smile, while Miara blinked. All of them were in agreement on one thing however: they were going to inform as many warriors as they can of the setups the Organization is giving to their troublemakers, or warriors they’re not happy with.

This would go a long way to incite a rebellion in the current generation.

----

Meanwhile, back in the Organisation’s headquarters, three more warriors returned to the land of the living.

With a groan and a hand to her head, Licht sat up on the slab. “Fuuuuuck! What the hell hit me?!”

“We suspect it was an Abyssal One, seeing as how we’d unknowingly sent you after Rigardo,” Dae answered.

Licht jumped and looked in Dae’s direction and recoiled at seeing the exposed muscle, eye and teeth one half of his head. “Dae? Is that you? What happened to your face?!”

Dae waved her question off. “An incident that happened a few decades ago. Nevermind that, however, how do you feel?” he asked, looking at her expectantly.

“Like shit.” she deadpanned. Then Licht looked herself over and frowned. “I remember getting torn apart Rigardo… while Isley watched, before blacking out.” she gave Dae her full attention. “How am I still alive? Let alone looking like this again?”

“Still alive is… inaccurate,” Dae chuckled. “You’ve been dead for some time, now - 120 years to be exact.”

Licht stared at him in disbelief. “...what. Then how are you alive?!”

Dae chuckled heartily. “I have my ways, child, I can assure you.”

Licht jumped in surprise when she heard someone else angrily speak out. “Will you people please shut the hell up?!” when she looked, Licht found Chloe sitting up with a groan and the bottom of her palms pressed against her eyes. “Fucking hell I feel like someone chewed me up and spat me out!” she ranted.

“After you stupidly picked a fight with Luciela of the South, that was precisely what she ended up doing to you.” Dae told her with a humorless chuckle. “Reviving you was fairly difficult. If it wasn’t for that regeneration fluid I made, you wouldn’t even be here.”

“It has come to pass, the end is nigh…”

Off to the side, Sistina mumbled, seemingly to herself some nonsense about the warrior with hair of gold and the whiskers of a fox.

“Riiight,” Chloe muttered. “The fuck’s up with her?” she asked, hiking a thumb to the woman.

Dae on the other hand was looking at Sistina with great intensity. A warrior with the hair of gold and the whiskers of a cat? There was only one person fitting that description, and Sistina hadn’t even met him, yet.

He approached the mumbling woman with a purpose. “You know about the Ladykiller? How?” the scarred man asked, almost demandingly.

Sistina didn’t answer, her eyes were glazed over; she was there and yet…. not. “The sage with three eyes and horns of a goat,” she muttered absently. “Six paths lead to one; a dire warning of an end to come, as the warrior with hair of gold and whiskers of a fox collects a hundred wives, training them in unknown arts to smite us all. The Organization and youma alike shall be smitten without discrimination and with his work done, the warrior and his hundred wives and his thousand children shall vanish, lost at sea, never to be seen again, amongst the swirling tides…”

Chloe and Licht looked at her, perplexed then to Dae, who - to their surprise - was looking distressed.

“Noted,” Dae muttered. “It would appear that we’ll need everyone to prevent that, after all. Teresa’s next.”

Suddenly Sistina sat up and with her eyes as wide as saucers, she yelled out, “IN THE FUTURE, HISTORY AND ENTERTAINMENT SHALL BE VIEWED THROUGH A MAGIC WINDOW! INVEST IN THE BITTEN APPLE!!!” then she fell back down again with a dramatic plop.

“Now, I’m starting to remember why I was relieved to hear of her death…” Dae muttered in exasperation. “Right… moving on.”

Sistina sat up, again. “IN THE FUTURE!” she shouted.

“OH, SHUT UP!” Dae yelled back.

“A BOOK SERIES ABOUT A WIZARD WITH A LIGHTNING BOLT UPON HIS FOREHEAD WILL TAKE THE WORLD BY STORM!” Sistina continued, undeterred. “HERMIONE IS BEST GIRL, HARRY-HERM FOR LIIIFE!” Sistina screamed like a rabid-fangirl. Then, she dramatically plopped down on the slab, once more.

“...What in the actual fuck is she talking about?” a very perplexed and bewildered Chloe asked. She looked at Licht and the other woman gave her a helpless shrug.

Suddenly there was a loud groan from the far side of the room they were in, which was typically reserved for meditation exercises. Those currently present all looked over to see Lutecia frowning, while rubbing her temples.

"What is it now?" inquired Dae, obviously not looking forward to hearing the answer.

"I am... uncertain." began Lutecia, almost uncertainly. "It was... as if a million voices are suddenly crying out, speaking gibberish that I cannot make sense of." Her eyes were closed and she seemed to be in a mild amount of pain.

There was a moment of silence, before Licht quietly spoke up, "Gibberish?"

Groaning again, Lutecia shrugged her shoulders before opening her eyes. She looked around the room, as if looking at things that weren't really there. "I can get a feeling for phrases, and the feelings behind them. 'Harmony', which is usually followed by a sense of being... right, or satisfying. Others lead to a feeling of acceptance, or curiosity... such as Haphne, or Charry, or Huna. Then there are the ones that has minor feelings of acceptance but otherwise feel wrong, or bad... those are Dramione and Snarry. Lastly... I get the greatest sense of satisfaction, or even vengeance, from repeating phrases like Dumbles bashing or Weasley bashing, and even things called 'Wrong-Boy-Who-Lived', 'The-Man-Who-Won', and 'Dark Lord Potter'."

Lutecia finally focused, once again looking at the others in the room. "I have no idea what any of those phrases mean, specifically, but they all seem to generate some rather strong emotions behind them."

One of the random warriors in the room could be heard muttering, "I could almost hear the hyphens in some of those phrases."

Dae's mind was beginning to whirl now, wondering if perhaps these odd phrases could be used in some manner to manipulate the Ladykiller or those allied with him, only for Sistina to lurch upwards into a sitting position yet again.

"IN THE FUTURE, UPON THE RELEASE OF THE SEVENTH BOOK THERE SHALL BE MUCH WAILING AND THE GNASHING OF TEETH! THE MASSES SHALL CRY OUT AND UNITE UNDER THE GLORY OF THE WONDROUS WORKS OF FANFICTION, DELIVERING US FROM AN UTTERLY PREDICTABLE YET CONFUSING AND DISAPPOINTING END!" and then she dramatically plopped down on the slab, once more.

As the warriors in the room looked among each other for some sort of explanation, Dae could only sigh and palm his forehead. Forget trying to use anything these women were spouting. He was getting too old for this shit.

----

On the outskirts of Dabi, Naruto stopped walking and started cackling aloud to himself for apparently no reason. Miria, Jean, Rafaela and Luciela all edged away from him as they gave the blond an odd look.

“Is… something wrong, honey?” the former Number 6 asked.

Suddenly, Naruto stopped cackling and looked at his wife with a confused look. “I… don’t know? I just got this sudden urge to laugh my ass off for some reason… weird.”

Evianna looked at him with a small frown. “Does that happen often?”

The blond shook his head. “No. It doesn’t. It was weird though - kind of like the myth when you sneeze if someone is talking about you.” he continued to walk again, “Let’s move on, eh?”

‘Well, at least he’s… cheerful,’ Evinna thought worriedly.

Glissa, on the other hand, was convinced that it had to do with the blowjob she and Camilla gave him the night before and grinned with satisfaction.

When the blizzard stopped Naruto, Miria, Rafaela and Luciela lowered their hoods. “Seems the blizzard finally went away now.” the blond said with a relieved sigh. Thank god he had a thermal seal on the interior of his cloak and clothes; it helped a lot when it came to keeping his body heat in.

“So,” Naruto began, looking at their new companions. “We got two weeks to get back to Morris. You got any questions you want answered, then ask away.”

“Is it true that you have 31 kids?” Glissa asked in wonder.

“How’d you know about that?” Naruto asked her, bewildered.

She giggled and hiked a thumb to Jean’s clone. “Your wife, here, was veeery informative~!”

“I see…” he gave Jean a flat smile. “Is there anything else you told them about me, dear?” the blond asked her, giving the former Number 9 an expectant and patent look. “Don’t be shy now, I might give you a spanking.”

Jean giggled, giving him a naughty grin. “Oh, not much: just that you fucked me, Riful and two other women the moment we met; the fact that you knocked me up; the number of kids you had with me, the awakened beings and other warriors; how big you are; oh! And, the fact that you could bang ten women at once, if you wanted~!”

“So… essentially everything then?”

“Not eeeverything~!” Jean purred. “I’ve got to leave some things to the imagination. It’s more enticing, that way~!”

“Oh my god…” Miria groaned as she buried her face into her hands. “She’s worse than you!” she whined, glaring at her husband through her fingers.

Naruto raised his hands in front of him. “Hey, don’t blame me! It’s not my fault she’s kinky.”

“You corrupted her.” Rafaela deadpanned. “Just like you corrupted my sister, Ophelia, Riful, Priscilla and Alicia and Beth.”

“And many more~!” Jean added.

“Right and many more.” the one-eyed blonde said concurringly.

“Alicia and Beth?!” Pyrrha asked in shock.

“That was Flora’s fault! She got them curious and they asked me to give them a baby!”

Evianna blinked owlishly. “I’ll believe that when I see it,” she muttered. “There’s no way you could have impregnated them!”

“Oh, you’ll be surprised by what he can do~!” Jean purred.

“They’re practically glued to him,” Miria sighed, “you’re more likely to see them in bed with him, naked than literally anywhere else, save for tending to their children.”

“The emotionless twins… having his children?” Megan couldn’t believe it.

“Naruto has a knack for the impossible,” Luciela pointed out. “He managed to fuck me so good I willingly became his consort. Best decision I ever made too. So him having tamed the Number 1 and 2 of the past and generations is not that far fetched.”

“Can we please talk about something else?” Miria asked.

“I fully agree,” Naruto concurred. “Can we talk about something else?”

“So… where is this Morris?” Pyrrha asked out of curiosity. “I’ve never heard of it, and I was born in the West.”

Naruto sighed, thankful for the change of subject “Like I said yesterday: it’s in the Dragonspine Mountains. It was abandoned - apparently attacked by a large force of youmas and awakened beings a long time ago.”

Pyrrha perked up. “That’s actually not far from the village I was born in. In fact, Nash should be right along the way!”

“You want to stop and rest there?” Naruto asked. “See how everything’s going in your hometown?”

“Sure.” bad memories aside, Pyrrha didn’t mind; it’s been around a decade since she was picked up by the Organization. Seeing how everything is like now would be a good way to take her mind off of things.

Besides, it’s not like anyone is going to recognise her from the little girl who left with the man in black after her parents were eaten by a youma.

Naruto slowed down to let her catch up and gave Pyrrha a pat on the back. She gave him a shy, grateful smile in return.

----

Two weeks later

Back in Sutare, within the Headquarters of the Organization, Camilla having been called back by the Elder was now in the Council Hall.

“Ah, Camilla,” Rimuto greeted, as the Number 20 took her place in the middle of the Council room. “I’ve heard of Nina’s suggestion. You remember what it is, do you know?”

“Yes, sir,” the Number 20 replied. She did exceptionally well to hide her bitterness at the fact they were trying to kill her off. “She wanted someone from the Awakened Being hunting party to shadow the Ladykiller and gather information on him. I was informed by the handler we met prior to leaving, that I am best-suited for the job, given my skillset.”

“Indeed…” one of the men in black muttered. While seduction was not meant to be their forte, Camilla knew how to draw out information and can easily use her own looks, and her… unique sense of humour to her advantage.

If anyone can spy on the Ladykiller and get information on him, Camilla the Charmer is one of the top candidates to do so. Elise is another candidate, but she is not as effective as the Number 20. Not to mention her gambling addiction would be a setback. She would probably get distracted by it!

“Yes. Your unique skills in seduction, while unusual for those in our ranks, will prove to be useful in this mission.”

Camilla looked at Rimuto expectantly. She knew full well what the man was going to say next, but it’s only polite to allow the old fucker to finish.

And finish Rimuto did. He leaned forward on the table and interlocked his fingers. “You are to spy on the Ladykiller and gather as much information on him as you can. You are to report to a handler, that will appear within Morris once per month.”

“Under-”

‘IN THE FUTURE,” a voice shouted behind Camilla, thoroughly derailing her train of thought.

“Oh god…” Dae whined, covering one half of his face up with his hand.

The double doors behind the Number 20 were suddenly kicked open and a wide-eyed Sistina marched on in, with Chloe and Licht holding her arms and trying their damned to stop her. “HUMANITY WILL KNOW THE PLEASURES OF WATCHING OTHERS FORNICATE THROUGH A MAGIC WINDOW!”

“Will someone shut this bitch up!?” Chloe complained.

“Less talking, more pulling!” Licht yelled at her.

Camilla just… stared, as did everyone else. Before they slowly looked to Dae.

“She seems to retain her most… unfortunate habit,” he explained. “The process of… waking her up last night seems to have worsened it, in fact.”

“What habit?” Sistina asked, blinking owlishly, upon realizing that everyone in the room was staring at her. “Where am I? The last thing I remember was… hmm…” she frowned, “I don’t seem to remember. I can recall being wet like I was underwater… and heard some... strange, low-pitched music.”

Camilla tore her gaze from the strange woman and cleared her throat. “Understood, Rimuto. I’m ready to leave as soon as you give the order.”

“This is about the Ladykiller, Naruto Uzumaki, correct?” Sistina asked.

“Ladykiller?” Chloe questioned.

“Naruto Uzumaki?” Licht followed suit.

Camilla looked at the curious pair, before turning to Dae. “New recruits?”

“...You could say that,” Dae replied evasively.

“The Ladykiller is someone the Organization is having trouble with.” Sistina explained. “He’s no ordinary foe. Many of our warriors have fallen to his sway and now fight alongside him as his comrades and wives.”

“He doesn’t sound so tough.” Chloe scoffed.

“He’s stronger than Luciela of the South, Riful of the West and Isley of the North, combined.” she deadpanned and Chloe winced, remembering her death at the hands of the former. “And they want to pick a fight with him.” she added, giving the Elder and handlers a flat look.

Camilla then remembered the message Naruto wanted one of them to give the Organization. She looked to Rimuto and said, “I just remembered: when we made contact with him, he gave our Hunting Party a message, to pass on to you. He said you would know what it would mean…”

“Very well,” Rimuto said, “make it quick.”

“He said, ‘the Ladykiller and the Kages know about everything you’re doing here, and they are not happy about it’. He put a lot of emphasis on ‘everything’ though.”

The elder and handlers frowned at that. “Thank you for the information,” Rimuto replied. “If that is all, you’re dismissed.”

Camilla nodded, giving the man a respectful bow, before turning on her heel to leave. As she passed by, the Number 20 gave Sistina an odd look, before shrugging and heading out.

Once the Number 20 left the room, Rimuto gave Sistina a hard look and was about to demand how she knew about Naruto Uzumaki, until...

“IN THE FUTURE,” Sistina shouted, now in her wide eyed trance, once more, “CITIZENS WILL TRAVEL THE LAND IN SELF-PROPELLED WAGONS MADE OF STEEL!”

“Oh, damn it,” Dae muttered.

“Fix her,” Rimuto commanded. “Quickly.”

“She was like this before her accident!” Dae growled back at him. “You wanted her back? Well, she’s back! You’re welcome!”

----

Meanwhile, finally back in Morris, Naruto had the urge to cackle again. But, he held back from doing so. Then, he turned to the new arrivals and said, “welcome to Morris. I hope you enjoy your stay.”

The women all looked at the town in silent awe. It was pretty big and teaming with life as the citizenry milled about. They could feel a lot of yoki signatures in the citadel perched on the mountain as well. The blond had not been kidding when he said there were people living here now. And like he also mentioned before, there was a small group of yoki on the outskirts of the town as well.

“Huh… Is that Europa?” Evianna asked herself, looking into the distance.

Naruto gave the woman a curious look. “You know her?” If she could help make contact with these awakened beings, that would be nice. It will personally ease the worries of everyone else in the citadel too.

He met them once, but out of them all, only Europa was the one that spoke to him.

“Not personally,” She answered, shaking her head. “She’s from the generation just after mine. A former single digit, I believe with a reputation for being lazy.”

“Ah, that sounds like her alright.” he said with a sigh.

Evianna looked at him, “You know her?” she asked, repeating his own question.

“I only spoke to her once. But lazy is what she is to a T.” he chuckled, “she honestly reminds me of someone I know back home. He’s lazy himself, but he makes up for it with his brains. He’s real smart; and is the type of person to have a backup plan for a backup plan for a plan B.”

“I see…” Evianna said.

“He sounds like hell to fight,” Glissa muttered. “This someone is friendly, right?”

Naruto shrugged. “More or less,” he replied. “When I said he was lazy, I wasn’t kidding. Unless you really piss him off, he’s more likely to fall asleep and try to get out of fighting than anything. The last person who pissed him off, he buried the man alive after dismembering all four of his limbs. The chances of you seeing him here though is very, very unlikely.”

Naruto led his girls and newcomers to the citadel. When they got to the bailey, all five awakened beings felt a massive yoki rapidly approaching. Soon Naruto was tackled by a flying brown blur. Instead of falling down on his ass however, his feet dragged against the ground as he wrapped his arms around the waist of the brunette in his arms

He laughed good naturedly as Priscilla rubbed her cheek against his shoulder. “Hey Priscilla, you missed me?”

“Mine~!” she muttered.

Neither of the new arrivals could believe what they were looking at. Priscilla - clearly, a powerful awakened being - was very, very pregnant.

He chuckled and kissed her on the forehead. “I’ll take that as a yes.” he said, “Come on, let’s go inside. There’s… some new people that are going to be joining us for now on.”

Hearing that Priscilla slowly turned her gaze to Glissa, Pyrrha, Megan, Betty, and Evianna and simply… stared. Being in front of a powerful awakened being, someone stronger than even Luciela of the South, honestly unnerved them.

“If you hurt him I swear, I will break you,” she growled.

Evianna hastily bowed. “I understand,” she said. “I’ll personally ensure that my colleagues and I are on our best behavior.”

Priscilla plopped back down upon her man. “Good!”

“Come on, you.” he chuckled, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and guiding the pregnant awakened being back into the citadel. “Let's get them introduced to the others, eh?”

“Okay…”

Glissa was understandably the most nervous of them all, upon feeling the massive yoki signatures in the castle. While she may have been an awakened being, she was still a former Number 45, so a good chunk of the people here were stronger than her - even if not by much, in some cases.

While they were nervous about being among so many warriors, and other awakened beings, strong or not, Evianna, Pyrrha, Betty, Glissa and Megan all followed Naruto and his small entourage into the stronghold.

The awakened party then heard a poof, jumping when they saw that Jean had gone up in smoke.

Naruto chuckled, “When I said I might teach you how to clone yourselves if you were to stick around, I wasn’t kidding.” he told them, taking enjoyment in their shocked expressions.

“She really made a…” Betty began.

The Uzumaki Patriarch chuckled once more. “A clone? Yep. Miria, Luciela, Rafaela, Riful, Priscilla and so many others are able to clone themselves. I should know, I taught them after all.”

“And you’re a good teacher too~.” Miria said, pecking his cheek happily.

The weaker three awakened eyeballed Naruto with vested interested. Each one of them wanted to know more about what he could possibly teach them.

“W-we don’t need to be your lovers to learn from you, do we?” Pyrrha asked nervously.

“Not really, there’s a couple of women I know that are here, who is in the lines of ‘friends-with-benefits’, and I’m teaching them. So if you don’t want to be my lover, or have a friends-with-benefits relationship, I’ll still teach you. So don’t let yourself feel forced into it, okay?”

That made the redhead feel much better, as she let loose a sigh of relief.

“He’s not that much of a jerk.” Miria told her, “He once told me he doesn’t go for anyone that doesn’t show any interest. So if you’re not interested in having a relationship, then he won’t pursue. Though what I’ve seen, tends to contradict that.”

“You were offering to be my slave as payment for my help. I simply listened to your request and helped you for free.” he deadpanned at her. “I’m not a womanizer, despite what you think. It’s usually me on the opposite end.”

“Suuuure it is.” Rafaela scoffed bitterly.

“If I recall, you offered yourself to be my slave to protect your sister’s chastity.” Naruto reminded her, “I refused to take you as my slave, and I kept away from her. But what did you do anyway?” Rafaela blushed, she got down on her knees and gave him a very enthusiastic blowjob. Twice. Not aware of her thoughts Naruto added. “Heck when I sensed your sister coming towards, Pieta I intended to drive her away at the time!”

“And I came onto him,” Luciela giggled naughtily.

“And there was Helen and Deneve! They started that one in Pieta, too! So no, I am not a god. Damn. Womanizer!” when he came to the end he was panting heavily, completely out of breath. “Riful, Clare, Galatea and Jean came on to me, as well. So did Flora, Cynthia, Veronica, and Undine.”

“Okay! I get it! You’re not a womanizer!” Rafaela exclaimed in exasperation. Seriously, with how he is around with all the other women here, flirting and all that, he pretty much acts like a goddamn womanizer! “No one needs to know how you slept with inconceivable numbers of women!”

“I do,” Glissa chirped impishly. “I would love to, in fact~!”

Miria growled at her, only for Naruto to pat the former Number 6 on the head.

“You know I still love you, honey,” Naruto chuckled. “And you know I’ll make time for you.”

“You’d better,” Miria muttered childishly. “You promised me snuggles when we got home.”

“Hmm… that’s true. I did, didn’t I?” he grabbed his woman by the ass. “Come to bed once the introductions are out of the way and you’ll get aaall the snuggles you want~.”

Miria turned beet red and giggled at that. “Alright, honey~!” she sang.

Rafaela sighed and shook her head. It’s… annoying, and a little awe inspiring, at how easily he can change someone from being irritable to happy in the blink of an eye. Maybe she should do that some time as well? She certainly missed the snuggling herself.

----

Several moments later, Naruto managed to gather the women of his ever-growing family in the bailey, arranged in their teams.

Seeing them, Helen couldn’t help but ask with an impish grin, “So… are they your new bitches?”

She got her reply from both Naruto and Deneve at the same time....

“What? No!”

“Helen!”

...with the latter whacking her across the back of her head with a mixed look of exasperation and irritation at the lack of tact.

All five of the awakened beings blushed to one degree or another, each for a different reason.

“No. I didn’t seduce them. No, I didn’t fuck them. No, I didn’t kiss them. Flirted with them? Yes. But I didn’t do anything sexual to them.”

“Yet,” Glissa chirped with a giggle.

Naruto looked the awakened being in exasperation. “Don’t you start, please!” he pleaded to her.

Glissa couldn’t keep the amusement off her face, but she nodded, nonetheless.

“Thank you…”

“...So when are you planning on fucking them?” Helen impishly asked.

“No!” Naruto snapped, looking at the woman sternly. “None of that! I’m not planning on having sex with any of them.”

“He confronted us after sensing our presence near Dabi,” Evianna explained for Naruto’s benefit. “Seeing as we were wise enough not to antagonize him, he offered to keep us out of trouble and provide us with food until this Tsunade woman he keeps mentioning is able to start growing it for us.”

“The lab is almost ready, so you won’t have to wait for long.” said blonde answered, from Cynthia’s left. “I’d give it a month or two and I’ll finally be able to get started.”

“Noted,” Evianna replied, giving Tsunade a respectful bow. “I thank you for the assistance, by the way. Were it not for your help, it would be much harder for your grandson to provide for us.”

“He’s not… uh, nevermind, it’s complicated.” Tsunade sighed. “You’re welcome.”

“I call her Granny-Tsunade, because she’s family. A distant relative, though we both are unsure if she’s a very distant cousin, or aunt. So I call her Granny-Tsunade; she’s certainly old enough to be one.”

“Who are you calling old, brat?!”

“Nobody!” Naruto answered hastily. “Just that you’re a very wise woman who’s older than me…” he got down on his knees and bowed down to her, “please don’t sent me to the stratosphere...”

Tsunade huffed in irritation. Though tempted, she was not about to try that with Priscilla and Riful so damn nearby… though she had to admit it felt good she still scared him, despite Naruto being stronger than her.

“Fine. I won’t…” she relented after several long, and tense moments of faux thought. Then with a sigh the former Kage bent down and pulled the blond to his feet, saying, “Now come on. Get up. You bowing down like that is… weird.”

Naruto chuckled playfully. “Fine, fine.” he sighed and scratched the back of his head, “I do miss those days, though. Back when I was a genin, under your command. Those were good times.”

“They were.” Tsunade agreed.

“Right, back to the introductions, then,” Naruto said. “The ones you’re most likely to know about are Evianna, former Number 2 from some the generation of some chick called Roxanne, and Betty, former Number 6 of Teresa’s generation.” He gestured to the wild-haired brunette and the elf-eared blonde, respectively.

Both women waved politely. Though Betty recognised Irene, and Irene recognised Betty. Betty waved at her in greeting, and the former Number 3 waved back at her. The silver haired, elf-eared woman had wondered what happened to Betty. Now she knows.

“Evianna’s the leader of this little group,” Naruto explained. “The other three are recently awakened former members of the current generation: Number 32, Pyrrha; Number 39, Megan; and Number 45, Glissa.” Again, he gestured to each girl respectively, as their names and numbers were called.

Pyrrha gave the group of rogue warriors and others a curtsey, while Megan and Glissa waved.

“It appears their conversions to being hybrids were faulty.” Naruto continued, “Each one awakened pretty quickly. Pyrrha took the longest, and even she awakened on her third assignment. The youmas they faced were unusually strong for them, as well.”

“It appears the Organization is trying to get rid of the ‘weak links’ in their forces.” Miria spoke up, “From what Naruto managed to deduce, the team they sent to fight them were troublemakers. And they didn’t know who they were facing and how many awakened beings they were told to hunt.”

“One of them was even a little girl. Around 13 years old, but was mentally unstable.” Naruto said with a deep frown. “Poor kid acted like she was five. The one she called ‘mama’ was a faulty conversion as well; she still retained her natural hair colour and her yoki was barely existent.”

“The other two were a gambler and a hussie.” Rafaela scowled. Literally everyone there could feel the jealousy coming off of her in waves.

“You missed one,” Miria pointed out; though she was equally irritated by Camilla’s attempts to seduce her husband, the former Number 6 pushed that aside and continued. “She was the Number 9 of Renee and Dietrich’s generation. Not sure why she was sent to die with them, though.”

“From what I sensed, she had a lot of negativity in her. Not sure it was to herself, or for others below her, but she was very frustrated. That, and the way she acted told me she had a shitty track record,” Naruto explained. “Though, I could be wrong.”

“Seems they’re still up to their old tricks…” Undine scowled.

“Yup,” Naruto replied. “Expect a few more new recruits to be popping up, here and there.”

Miria added, “even better, everything Naruto told them has caused the ones we met in Dabi to think. They’re now aware that the Organization is not as good as they portray themselves to be. And as Riful said: words of a threat tends to spread like wildfire; and since Naruto told them what the Organization is trying to do to them, they’re likely going to tell as much warriors of the current generation as they can.”

Naruto picked up where his wife left off. “And this will create a butterfly effect, sowing distrust in their ranks and making them more liable for a rebellion. Now, if there was a way for us to get them the information we know, without tipping the men in black off, then they would be even more outraged.”

“Information? What are you talking about?” Pyrrha asked, looking at Naruto with a perplexed, worried expression.

I’ll show you once the introduction is done. Seeing is more effective than telling, after all.” the Uzumaki Patriarch told the ginger.

----

Naruto did show them, and when they were shown the map the blond had stolen from the Organization, they had finally discovered where the Uzumaki had came from; the Organization’s attempt to get help from the Elemental Nations to remove him from being a thorn in their side. And their apparent failure.

The news that the youma they believed to be demons are in fact humans infected with a parasite the Organization had created, fairly badly. They were outraged that the Organization were the ones responsible for a lot of misery this continent was going through.

And like Miria, they did not like the fact they called the island Testing Ground One. They saw everyone on this continent as one, big experiment. They were responsible for the creation of the youma, they were intentionally making more and more of them to use as fodder and as a way to get money out of towns.

And, they were the ones who were wiping out towns, cities and villages after they refused to pay. And since it’s common knowledge the Organization refuses to help any towns or cities that refuse to pay them for their services, no one would ever think to question why a small party of youmas and awakened beings just appear hours, or even days after the man in black left.

Unsurprisingly, when they were caught up with everything, five thoroughly pissed off awakened beings offered Naruto their services in taking down the Organization.

----

Several hours later in the late evening, Naruto was in his bedchamber wearing only his boxers- Alicia and Beth lying under the covers of his bed, sleeping soundly, naked as always. He chuckled softly; it seems Miria’s snuggle time was going to be shared with Alicia and Beth if they were to wake up. He certainly didn’t mind; at least Cynthia, the kinky little minx that she was, wasn’t here to take away Miria’s snuggle time.

Speaking of, the door opened to reveal said former Number 6 in a sheer, little, red nightie. She slipped in quietly, careful not to make any noise at this hour, and clung onto Naruto’s arm. “Mine!” she whispered.

Naruto chuckled. She was so damn cute! “Yours,” he replied, wrapping his arm around her waist and kissing Miria on the forehead. “And you are mine.”

That got a content smile from the woman and she laid down on top of him. Chuckling softly Naruto wrapped his arms around Miria’s waist and rubbed along her back. A lot of people would be sick and tired of the cuddlings, and the love making. While the blond was a little tired of pleasuring his women, he certainly was not tired of cuddling them.

He was going to milk this as much as he possibly can. And from the looks of it, neither of his women were tired of the cuddling and snuggling either.

----

Back in Staff, the Headquarters of the Organization.

In their shared room, Chloe and Licht sat on the edge of their bed, staring at a pacing Sistina; the pointy-eared woman was mumbling to herself; her eyes were distant and she didn’t seem to be all there.

“The beasts of many tails will come to aid the whiskered one. He will undo all evils in ‘this world’, and will disappear with his hundred wives and thousand offspring within the swirling tides…”

They had no idea what she was talking about, but the two Number 1’s had a feeling it had something to do with this… ‘Ladykiller’ the blind in one eye woman was talking about earlier. Getting her out of the Council hall was a bitch and a half in on its own; it took two other warriors to help them drag the hallucinating woman out of there.

Lutecia and Miranda were the ones that came and dragged Sistina the Divine Oracle out of the Council Hall. Lutecia was sitting on the edge of her own bed, and Miranda was leaning against a table watching the pacing woman like a hawk.

“Is she always like this?” Lutecia asked; she couldn’t help it, she had never seen this woman before and while she knows of her, she didn’t think the stories of the woman being… well… like this was real. She thought it was an exaggeration, but apparently not.

“Apparently.” Miranda shrugged, she was looking at the partially blinded woman with concern. “When she was alive she was always like this… then she suddenly started screaming her head off and jumped off a cliff, into the sea below where she was eaten by sharks…”

“By the way,” Licht said, looking at Miranda and Lutecia. “Do any of you know what is going on? Who is the Ladykiller, this Naruto Uzumaki, Sistina had mentioned? I know the Organization revived us in order to get rid of him, but not why.”

“Naruto is inciting a rebellion among the warriors of the Organization.” Miranda began, trying to think on what Dae had explained to her. “He’s managed to convince many of the previous generation to think the Organization is evil, and they’re the ones creating the youma.”

“What?” Chloe scoffed, “The Organization? The ones who made us to fight the youmas, are the ones making them?! Preposterous!”

“Apparently…” Lutecia added, “He seems to think the Organization are the ones who send youma to towns that refuse to pay them. He also has two Abyssal Ones at his beck and call, and two awakened beings of considerable strength.”

“What…?” Licht whispered, paling. “The only Abyssal Ones I know of are Riful and Isley of the North!”

“When I was around there was another Abyssal One: Luciela of the South. I picked a fight with her, and got eaten for my troubles.” a bitterly grumbling Chloe reminded her fellow Number 1.

“So the amount of Abyssal Ones increased since my death…” Licht trailed off. Great. Just great.

“And Dae has been tasked with reviving the warriors stronger than the Abyssal Ones, and then some, in order to combat this threat.” Miranda concluded with a sigh. “To be honest, the continent the Ladykiller comes from is mysterious and from the sounds of it, they tried to get help there.”

“What happened?” Chloe asked, with Licht listening with interest.

“They failed.” Miranda replied, with a shrug. Then she added with a concerned frown. “Apparently, the Ladykiller has friends in high places. Turns out they have creatures of comparable power there, too. They’re either on par or beyond the Abyssal Ones. Luckily, there’s only a few of them. Unfortunately...”

“Go on.” Licht prompted.

Miranda sighed and rubbed her temples. “From what Dae explained, he implied Naruto can transform into one of those creatures. Five years ago, Naruto was spotted in Pieta; then a giant nine tailed fox, the size of a mountain appeared within the town before it was wiped off the face of the Earth. Survivors in Dabi had reported feeling the earth shake, as well as a loud noise and seeing a mushroom cloud. Then they heard the fox, sounding like Naruto himself, threatening to kill Isley of the North if he dares venture from his domain.”

Chloe exhaled as she took Miranda’s words in. Her words; they implied Naruto is capable of transforming into a creature capable of utterly destroying an entire town! “...I can see why they’re bringing us back then. But… do we even stand a chance? If he’s stronger than the fucking Abyssal Ones, and brought two of them to his side, then what chance do we have?”

“I don’t know.” Miranda admitted with complete honesty, “Right now, Number Ones might stand a chance against him. And Dae was tasked in bringing back the strongest of you, plus a few others of considerable skill. We have to hope that our numbers, and strength will be enough against him.”

Lutecia tsked and crossed her arms against her bosom. “In other words, the Organization is going to throw us against an unknown opponent and hope for the best. Great.”

“The warrior with hair of gold and whiskers of a fox will produce many children with the warriors of this land, mating with several women at a time,” Sistina rambled. “And the many with the power of one shall be impaled upon his mighty spear, and thus become his wives, and produce twenty sons and twenty daughters.”

“...She’s delusional… right?” Chloe asked chuckling nervously, looking at Licht, Miranda and Lutecia. “Please tell me she’s delusional…?”

“I…”

“IN THE FUTURE, BOYS WILL IDOLIZE GROWN MEN WHO PRANCE ABOUT IN BRIGHT COLORED PANTIES AND PUNCH PEOPLE!”

“Yeah, she’s delusional.” Miranda deadpanned. The former Number 35 may be the kindest girl you would ever meet, but even she had her limits. “Just… just ignore her. She’ll probably stop, eventually.”

Sistina blinked, suddenly stopping dead in her tracks. She looked around in bewilderment. “Where am I? Wasn’t I just in the Council Hall?”

“You were… then you went back in your trance again and we had to drag you here.” Miranda answered her.

“Trance…? Oh no…” Sistina groaned, burying her face in her hands. “I’m so sorry if I said anything that made things awkward. Even if they tend to come true...”

“I fucking hope not!” Chloe muttered. “The one about Barney, the giant, singing lizard gave me nightmares…”

“I can’t really help my trances,” the flustered, elf-eared prophet admitted. “I normally talk to people on the… other side, on a good day. But sometimes, it goes out of control. I occasionally recall what I was saying. Most of the times, it’s ‘IN THE FUTURE…’ then something really weird after it, but they are the majority of the ones I don’t recall.” Sistina said with a sigh, as she rubbed at her scarred, and blind eye. “Probably for the best… they tend to be embarrassing, I hear.”

“Riiight…” Lutecia muttered. “So, just how strong are you? I can’t imagine someone with this… quirk becoming Number 1 without a damn good reason.”

“When Riful awakened,” Sistina said, “I was the one who chased her off. I nearly killed her, in fact. That’s why I was among the ‘priority’ revivals, alongside you, Licht and Chloe.”

The women stared at her in shock and disbelief. Such a claim was not one made lightly. They’d have to ask Dae about it when they get the chance. Seeing as how, apparently, Miranda was his impromptu assistant, she’d likely be the one to confirm or debunk it.

“So… do we know who else the Organization is going to revive?” Chloe asked, directing her question to Miranda herself, since she is for the moment working with the man that is trying to bring them back to the land of the living.

“The next in line is a woman by the name of Teresa of the Faint Smile,” Sistina said as she massaged her temples. “She won’t come back though, not completely at least; her body will work, but her consciousness will not be there. Her very being is tied to the previous generation’s Number 47. There’s also Dust-Eater Cassandra, Miranda’s best friend, and a small chunk of their generation.” She then frowned, deep in thought. “I am not familiar with the rest, but they are also Number 1’s of previous generations, plus a few are single digits. They have ties with Naruto’s comrades, chosen to emotionally compromise his second-in-command and one of his more powerful consorts.”

“I see…” Miranda muttered with a frown of her own. She wasn’t a fan of such underhanded tactics, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

“So…” Chloe gave Sistina a flat smile. “What is this about ‘the many with the power of one shall be impaled upon his mighty spear and becoming his wives’? Now, I’m not one for prophecies, but some of the shit that’s been coming from your mouth is too detailed for my personal comfort.”

Sistina turned beet red, suddenly embarrassed. “Ah… that… uh…” she quickly looked around, before seeing how dark it was outside, “oh, would you look at the time! I’d better get to sleep!”

She then quickly bailed on them.

“Oi! What the hell?!”

----

The next day, in the town of Gatlin, Camilla found herself eyeballing a caravan that had stopped for rest. Apparently, they were on their way to Morris from Nile, as that town in particular was becoming rather popular. She couldn’t help but stare at a few towheaded kids with whisker marks, wondering if the Ladykiller had produced them with the locals, or if the kids had some sort of face paint on their cheeks. It was hard to tell from where she was standing.

Either way, she was heading in the same direction and wondered if she could hitch a ride. Call it… free protection, from any potential attacks by any wandering youma. She gave a strapping, young lad among them a suggestive grin. If nothing else, she could offer some… additional incentive to bring her along.

Said young lad blinked owlishly at the admittedly attractive silver eyed witch, giving him a flirtatious grin. “M-may I help you, miss?”

“Please, call me Camilla,” she replied. “I heard you and your friends here are on their way to Morris, and wanted to know if you let me accompany you there?” She leaned in close, her lips not even an inch away from his as she suggestively looked into the young man’s eyes. “If need be, I’m perfectly willing to make it worth your while~!”

“Uh…” with a nervous laugh the young man slowly backed away. “That… won’t be necessary. You can come with us. Just… don’t cause any trouble. Okay?”

Camilla giggled. “That’s perfectly fine by me. Thank you…” She looked at him expectantly, silently asking the man for his name.

“R-Raki,” he introduced himself. “My name is Raki. Pleased to meet you, Camilla.”

Camilla grinned at him, looking like a wolf who caught a rabbit. “Pleased to meet you too, Raki.” deciding to take pity on the young man she leaned back and casually stood beside him, “So,” she started, “where are you heading, cutie? Morris, I take it?”

Raki chuckled nervously. “I’m actually just hitching a ride; there is one more town before Morris named Venna. That is where I’m heading.”

----

Mucha, Town of Nero.

Nina sighed as she looked at the mudhead and her… ‘daughter’, wondering how the hell that brat was able to be kept in check by such a weakling. Seriously, the little girl had just grabbed a youma by the ankled and beaten another to death by using it like a fucking club! Then she tore it in half with her bare hands!

Her bare fucking hands!

It was unreal… Still, she had to admit the way the young girl acted towards the mudhead was… adorable. And the Number 47 was beginning to act more and more like a parent and was getting use to her.

She was impressed - and a little jealous - of how familiar they were being in such a short amount of time.

“Alright, you two,” she called out, “Enough rest. There’s another group of youma approaching from the east.”

“Ah… there’s more?” Clarice stood up and peered off in the direction the Number 9 had sensed them. At times she wished she was able to sense them. Unfortunately, that will rarely happen unstable as it is…

Not to mention if she were to use it... she would not be able to handle it if she were to increase it beyond 20 percent. She would not be able to resist the impulse from the act of awakening, if she were to increase her yoki percentage. Her body would turn to dust and scatter right away at the scene.

She had learned this, by Handler Rado as he laughed, a short while before being assigned as Miata’s ward. When Naruto said he could heal their stigmas… she had hope. Hope that he could fix this. And when he called her special, he made her feel better. That tiny part of her, that felt doubt, scared, and worthless had felt like a weight has been lifted.

“So it would seem,” Nina confirmed. “They’ve apparently noticed their friends disappearing and came to investigate. Look sharp, you two!”

“Should we call mister Naruto, mama?” Miata asked, looking at Clarice expectantly.

Clarice gave the long haired girl a genuine smile and put her hand on top of her scalp affectionately. “No. Not yet, Miata. I’m sure we can handle this without him...”

“If our handler did lie to us about this assignment again, then we can call him.” Nina told them with a frown, “I’m not planning on dying anytime soon, and I’m not letting any of you die either… the Ladykiller likes you, after all.” she muttered towards the end. Seeing what he did to Pieta, she did not want to find herself on his bad side.

“Well…” Clarice began, looking at Miata with a smile. “Looks like we can call Naruto to us if this assignment is more than what we were told. Come on, Miata, let’s show them who’s boss.”

----

Back in the Morris citadel, Glissa let out a yelp upon losing her grip, falling off the wall and into Naruto’s waiting arms with an undignified plop. Apparently, this tree-walking exercise was a lot harder than he made it look.

Naruto chuckled as he set the awakened being down on her feet. “You didn’t put enough chakra into it. But you’re doing very well for someone with only a few hours’ worth of training. That is 10 yards you just made, right there.” He gave her a reassuring smile. “Keep it up, and you’ll master it in no time!”

The elf-eared brunette blushed heavily at the praise and nodded. Then she smiled and gave him a peck on the cheek, before trying again without a word.

Looking to the side, Naruto saw Evianna, Megan, Betty and Pyrrha were concentrating heavily as they performed the wall-walking exercise. Like Glissa they were doing just as well as her. As he expected though, Megan, Pyrrha and Glissa being in the lower double-digits were having a better time getting this chakra exercise down than Betty and Evianna who were in the single digits. Their smaller chakra pools proved easier to control, as it turned out.

Nevertheless, they were all doing great. He wondered how Clarice would fair in this; due to her non-existent yoki, would her chakra pool be just as small? Or, would it be a lot bigger? Would her botched conversion affect the awakening of her chakra coils?

To get a bigger picture, he would have to do more than just heal her stigma. He would have to go into Six Paths Sage Mode to repair any damage her body may have sustained during the operation to make her into a half-demon half human. That form is guaranteed to fix anything that may be wrong with her.

But, that was something for later…

“Evianna, don’t rush yourself - take it one step at a time.” Naruto advised the former Number 2. Then he looked to Betty and saw she was beginning to slip. “Add more chakra into the soles of your feet Betty, don’t be afraid of failure. It took me a few days to get to the highest branch, and it only took you a few hours to make it ten yards.”

Betty smiled at that, finding it very encouraging.

“Megan and Pyrrha, keep pushing yourselves - chakra works very differently to yoki. It’s more versatile and has a lot of uses compared to the power you are use to using; your reserves will only grow if you keep exercising. The more stamina you have, the longer you can keep going.”

Evianna couldn’t help but be excited to learn just what this chakra could do.

“Once you master this technique, we can see what elemental affinities you have. Then, you’ll be joining the others in their exercises.”

“Elemental affinities?” Glissa asked, looking at him questioningly.

“Chakra can be combined with the five elements for various uses, such as attacks and defense, to illusions. For example…” Naruto rapidly went through the hand seals for Suiton: Mizurappa; to the surprise of the awakened beings they saw a powerful torrent of water shooting from his mouth and onto the wall in front of him. Once he was done he cleared his throat and wiped his mouth, “...that was Suiton: Mizurappa. A water technique you can use with chakra. Anyone can do it, though those that doesn’t have a water affinity will find it hard to learn compared to someone that does. It’s even worse for those that have its opposite affinities, fire and earth.”

Evianna raised an eyebrow at that. “Interesting…” she muttered.

“Can someone have multiple affinities?” Betty asked.

“It’s rare, but yes. Out of everyone here, Jean has 3 elemental affinities. Which is extremely uncommon. To put it in perspective, only ten other people had three or more chakra affinities. Out of them all, only two are alive today. Jean being obvious. The other, however has all five, which is also extremely uncommon.”

Evianna and her cohorts couldn’t help but be amazed. Apparently, Jean was quite a bit scarier in a fight than she let on. Good thing they were on her side...

“So…” Glissa began, “who’s this other person that has all five chakra affinities?”

Naruto grinned and spread his arms, “You’re looking at him. Granted, wind is my go to chakra affinity, since it’s what I got when I first checked. But now I’m able to use all five with ease. Though apart from wind, and a little bit of Earth, I barely know any techniques for the rest. Those that I do know are too destructive for me to show. That is why Team Samui is here: to help me give you girls advanced training.”

Glissa’s eyes visibly shined at the mention of advanced training. Oh, she was going to enjoy learning how to be the best damn fighter in the continent!

“There’s advanced training?” Megan asked, a similar shine in her eyes as Glissa.

“Oh yeah, there’s a more advanced version of tree-walking: water-walking. It does exactly what the name implies.”

“Ooh~! That sounds fun!” Glissa giggled. She eyeballed the wall and immediately went back to the exercise without a second thought, eager to get this shit down as soon as possible.

“Don’t push yourself too much, Glissa.” Naruto reminded her with a laugh. “Eagerness is good, but don’t burn yourself out.”

“Understood!” the former Number 45 answered with enthusiasm.

----

“Fuuuck,” Glissa groaned, several hours later, as she lay upon her bed, sore as all hell.

“Well, you can’t say he didn’t warn you,” an amused, but sympathetic Pyrrha pointed out.

Betty and Megan shared the redhead’s sentiment as they eyeballed the aching, elf-eared brunette perform a incredible impersonation of a dying, old lady.

“I regret my decisions in life!” the brunette wailed dramatically.

“You’ll recover, soon enough,” Evianna pointed out with a chuckle as she made her way to the door.

“Heading out?” Megan asked.

“Just looking to have a little chat with our landlord,” the former Number 2 replied. “Rest up. We have tomorrow off.”

“Way ahead of you,” Glissa groaned.

Evianna nodded in satisfaction and left the room in search of Naruto. It didn’t take long for her to find him, as he was usually in his room at this hour from the looks of it. When she found him, the blond was sitting at a table, full of stacks of clear paper, pencils, ink and charcoal; he was busy sketching on a sheet of paper.

Curious Evianna made her way behind the blond and peered over his shoulder. Apparently, he was drawing a younger version of himself right next to a man in an odd outfit with spikey hair framing his face and streak-like markings on his cheeks, resembling tears. He carried a large scroll on his back and a strange, headband with a spiked metal plate on it.

“Who’s the man next to you?” She couldn’t help but ask.

“His name’s Jiraiya,” Naruto explained. “I guess you could say he was like the father I never had.”

Evianna frowned. She could tell from Naruto’s tone that something had happened to the man and that it was a sensitive subject. “Well, if you don’t want to talk about it, I won’t pry,” she said, leaning in and hugging the blond from behind. “I just wanted to come here and thank you for all you’ve done for me and my little group.”

“It’s fine,” he chuckled. “I would have done the same for anyone. Proven they aren’t the type to cause trouble, and are reasonable.”

“It’s still sweet,” she whispered into his ear sexily. “I can’t help but want to… provide compensation for all the trouble you went through, not only to provide food and shelter for us, but training in this ‘chakra’ energy you’ve given, as well~!”

Naruto looked at her and grinned, “You don’t need to do that. You having a second chance, to actually wander around without having someone out to kill you, is more than enough for me. You deserve it just as much as I do.”

“Oh, you silly man,” she giggled. “You should know that saying such things would only make me want to do it even more~!” she punctuated her comment with a peck on the cheek.

Naruto chuckled at the irony. “Huh, even after all this time, even with all my girls, I still find it hard to completely understand this kind of… affection.” he grabbed her hand and rubbed it with his thumb. “It still feels good though.”

Evianna grinned at him, placing a hand on Naruto’s cheek and giving the man a chaste, but heated kiss. “I’m glad,” she whispered, genuinely happy. “But, would you mind if I made you feel even better?”

“Hmm.... I don’t mind at all.” he turned around in his chair and pulled the wavy haired woman onto his lap. “What do you want to do then?”

“Ooh!” she yelped, giggling playfully as she straddled him. Then, she flashed Naruto a naughty grin and ground her crotch against his. “I want to make you the happiest man alive~!” she whispered huskily.

“Well, how can I refuse that?” he rhetorically asked, pulling Evianna into a deep, passionate kiss.

The wavy-haired brunette wrapped her arms around him and shoved her tongue into his mouth. Naruto trailed his hands down to her thighs, grabbed her dress and pulled it up past her waist. As Evianna rolled her thighs on his lap Naruto had a feeling more girls were going to join his family soon.

----

Clare hummed a little tune as she scrubbed the dirt out of little Shauna’s hair. Oh, how she loved doting on her little bundles of joy~! It made her want to have a third one, but the former Number 47 already had her hands full the two she’s already produced.

Then, without any reason whatsoever, Clare felt… there was something wrong. Like there was a pull in the middle of her chest. No, not a pull, more like some invisible force was trying to rip something out of her. It was the weirdest thing.

Maybe Teresa would know?

“Teresa, I’m feeling like something is trying to rip a piece of me away. Do you know what’s going on?”

“I feel it, too,” to Clare’s surprise when Teresa replied, she sounded strained. “It feels like something’s latching onto me and trying to yank me out. Call Naruto and see if he might know something.”

“A-alright,” Clare replied. She then looked over to Undine - who just got done washing little Damia - and called to her. “Hey, Undine?” she asked, “would you mind finishing up for me? something’s … wrong, and I need to ask Naruto about it as soon as possible.”

Undine looked at her, blinking, then gave the former Number 47 a concerned look. “I see. Alright, if it’s that bad, I’ll finish up for you.”

“T-thanks…” she got up and went to seek out Naruto.

When she found Naruto in his room 20 minutes later, Clare found a satisfiedly glowing Evianna lying on his bed in a confident pose; her husband himself was sitting at his table, topless. She ignored the annoyance she felt seeing that… damn hussy lying under her mans covers, because there was more pressing matters at hand.

“N-Naruto…” said blond stopped sketching himself and Jiraiya to look at his wife. Concern was showing on his face when he heard the distressed tone in her voice. He quickly got up from his seat and went over to her upon seeing how strained she looked. “S-something is wrong…”

“What is it, Clare? What’s the matter?” he asked, holding her arms comfortingly.

“It’s like someone is latching on to me and trying to yank out my soul.” she gave him a pleading look. “Please help me; please make it stop.”

She didn’t even need to ask. The second she mentioned her own soul, Naruto closed his eyes and focused on going inside of her mindscape. When he opened his eyes once more he found himself in the familiar flat, white plain that stretched on as far as the eye can see. The blond immediately looked around for what was wrong; it didn’t take him a minute to find the cause.

Teresa was there, with a pained look on her face. Coiled around her chest was a tether. It was pulling against her, though the blonde was doing well keeping herself in place. Well, he can’t have that.

Naruto marched on up to her and placed a hand on her back, Teresa was startled, not having sensed him due to being occupied. But when she felt his soothing chakra and yoki flowing into her she relaxed.

Naruto on the other hand…

He’d never done something like this before, but the blond was doing his damnedest to help. It honestly felt like her very soul was being ripped from Clare; the closest comparison would be Nagato’s Deva Path, though it was thankfully weaker. Naruto focused intently as he poured his chakra and yoki into Teresa - the two energies serving as an anchor. Then, with his free hand, he grabbed on the rope coiled around the woman and focused his yoki, specifically, into that.

The fox’s corrosive energies ate through the tether like acid, making quick work of it. When it snapped, and only then, Naruto calmed down and so did Teresa.

“You okay?”

The winded former Number 1 took a deep, calming breath and smiled at Naruto, before giving him a peck on the cheek. “I am now,” she said, “thank you.”

“That… was uncomfortably similar to an ability I had the unfortunate luck of experiencing, back on my continent during the Fourth Great Shinobi War.” Naruto told her. The tugging Clare told him, that tether around Teresa trying to pull her out of his wife. It was remarkably similar, but different. “I… I think someone’s trying to revive you, Teresa.” Naruto told the woman.

----

Meanwhile, back in the Organization’s headquarters, Dae scowled as Teresa’s corpse seemed not to be reacting. Her body was healthy - alive, even! She was breathing and everything! She even had the same amount of yoki that made her… well, her!

But… there was nothing else. She was completely unresponsive!

For hours on end, he stared at her with increasing intensity, looking back and forth between her and the clock. Then, with a frustrated growl, he pulled the plug, turning off the machine that helped her breathe, and declaring this attempt a failure.

He wasn’t going to give up though - not just yet.

“Miranda!” he barked. “Prepare to hook her back up! Chloe, fetch me the corpse with the eyepatch. We’ll try two more times. If that fails, we’ll need Neideen.” Seeing as how Teresa’s remains were used to created that one-quarter-youma hybrid from the previous generation, Dae had figured this might happen. But, he was prepared, just in case…

----

The next day

Now that she was aware the Organization was trying to get rid of their troublemakers, defects and partially awakened warriors, Elise had a gut feeling she was being set up. Here in a long-abandoned village once named Derby, there was said to be a small pack of youma feeding off passing caravans, but there was no such evidence in the area. No derelict wagons, no corpses strewn about, nothing of the sort!

Something was amiss… and the Number 21 had a good feeling she had indeed, been set up.

She looked about frantically, reaching out with her senses, but detected nothing. She looked at her wrist the Harishan seal was out on. Maybe calling Naruto to her would be a good idea? She shook her head after a quarter of a minute of pondering, no, she won’t call him to her aid unless it’s something she most definitely cannot handle.

For all she knew, these could be just some really smart youma.

With that thought in mind Elise drew her sword and ventured forth, with her weapon ever at the ready in a rat tail guard. Her eyes were sharp. Her senses were alert. And her stride was slow, but deliberate. She wanted to catch the moment these youmas - or worse an awakened being - decides to stop hiding like a little bitch and come out to face her.

She then snapped her attention to the left, changing her stance to a wrathguard and ready to cleave a bitch in two as she found herself face-to-face with precisely what she’d feared.

A god-damned awakened being! A former single digit too, from the feels of it!

The awakened being was a man with moderately long, black, wavy hair that is parted down the middle, and a goatee. He wore a dark brown, sleeveless tunic, a white long sleeved undershirt, with vambraces; brown linen trousers and brown foots.

“Tch… so he was right after all; the Organization really is trying to get rid of their troublemakers then!” Elise growled to herself. The Number 21 narrowed her eyes and slowly backed away. “P-please stay back,” she said. “I don’t want any trouble! L-leave me alone a-and I’ll leave without a fuss, I... p-promise!”

The awakened being came to a stop, sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose in irritation. “I’m afraid it's a little too late for that.” he said, looking at her with narrowed eyes. “And this isn’t the first time I had done this song and dance. The Organization would sent their warriors out here to kill a party of youma. Or so they think. In reality, they’re sent to die.” he she is left irritated because his peace and quiet is interrupted again.

“I-I can just leave here without b-bothering you any further. A-all you need to do is to let me pass. I won’t do anything stupid, either.” Despite being scared for her life Elise tried to appeal to the awakened beings human nature. She wanted to resolve this matter peacefully before getting the Ladykiller involved. From the looks of it though, it would appear that she is going to need his help and bail her out of trouble after all.

Fuck the Organization! Just. Fuck. Them!

“I can’t take that risk.” he sighed, giving the young woman an apologetic look. He was pitying her. Her! For what was to come next. “I’m sorry.”

Then his yoki spiked, and Elise bared her teeth as he transformed in front of her very eyes. His clothes tearing and shredding as he became a large, muscular humanoid, with heavy plate like armour forming around his body. Some thick tube-like tentacles with webbing acted as his hair in that form.

Elise growled and looked at her wrist again. Yeah. forget not calling him, this was a fucking emergency! She channeled yoki into her wrist and hoped for the best as she turned tail and ran for dear life.

There was a yellow flash, and Elise yelped when she was suddenly carried off her feet, bridal style. Then she found herself on the roof tiles of one of the buildings; she saw the awakened being reducing the spot she was standing on to a small crater.

She felt her breath catch in her throat and Elise started feeling lightheaded, suddenly hyper-aware of her own mortality. That… would have killed her instantly…!

“It’s been just over two weeks since we last met, and you’re already in trouble, eh?” Elise looked up at her saviour, and found the Ladykiller looking at her with… understanding. “Unfortunately, you’re not the first one they did this to. And as long as they’re around, you won’t be the last.”

Elise clung onto Naruto for dear life letting loose a pathetic whimper. “I… I’m sorry I doubted you…” she said, burying her face into his tunic. “Just take me away! I’ll do anything! Please!” she began to hyperventilate.

Naruto sighed, frowning empathetically. The poor woman was having a panic attack.

“You…” Naruto looked in the direction of the voice, and found the awakened being staring at him and Elise with wide eyes. “You’re strong. I… I recognize that yoki. You were the one in the North half a decade ago, weren’t you? The one who destroyed Pieta.”

“Indeed I am,” the blond replied. Then he added in a no-nonsense tone. “And you, my tall friend, were about to kill my friend, here.”

Elise went stiff as a board as her eyes grew wide eyed. What…? He considers her a… friend?

The awakened being frowned. “She was sent to kill me,” he explained with a shrug. “I was merely acting in self-defense.”

Naruto looked at Elise, then to the awakened being, and then to Elise again. “Were you aware just who you were sent to kill?” he asked.

“No!” she yelled, looking up at him with unshed tears. “I was told that this town had an infestation of youma! I had no idea there was a powerful awakened being here! I don’t stand a chance against him!”

“Standard procedure for the Organization is to send a team,” the awakened being pointed out. “I had assumed that she separated from the group to scout ahead.”

“The Organization is giving false information to warriors that were troublesome. Purposely sending them on suicide missions in the hopes to kill them off.” Naruto informed him.

“Ah… that old trick again,” the awakened being growled. “They did that to kill off the rest of my generation.”

“Your generation… wait a minute…” Naruto’s eyes lit up, “You’re from Isley’s generation right?”

“Indeed I am,” the being nodded. “My name is Chronos. I was the Number 4, back then.”

“Well, it’s nice to see someone else from the forgotten generation after all this time.” Naruto said with a grin, he slowly eased Elise down on her feet and didn’t mind when she hid behind him. Using him as a human shield against Chronos. “I have to ask, how are things for you out here?”

Chronos blinked, then shrugged. “Rather dull,” he admitted. “Nothing to do out here, really. I was thinking about heading to Morris, ever since it showed back up on the map. Rumour is, awakened beings are safe there. They’re even fed, I hear. I wanted to see it for myself. Maybe see how an old friend of mine is doing while I’m at it. Last I heard, he was heading there, too.”

“Oh? I can personally confirm you awakened beings are safe there… so long as you folks don’t cause trouble, of course. And yes, you’re being fed too. Someone is working on a method of growing food for you, actually. Until she’s done setting up the lab, though, you’ll have to make due with bandits and criminals.”

Chronos blinked owlishly. “Truely? In that case, I’ll make my way there as soon as I can then.” a roof over his head, a place where he doesn’t have to hide and he’s being fed? Count him in! “Sorry for the misunderstanding, by the way. I’d rather not depart on bad terms.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Naruto waved him off. “No one got hurt, or killed. I’ll see you there soon then, Chronos.” with that the blond held the hybrid to him and they disappeared in a yellow flash.

“Heh…” Chronos chuckled, reverting back to his human form. He smirked as he crossed his arms over his bare chest. “For someone with that much power flowing through him, he’s surprisingly friendly. What a nice kid.” then he sighed and looked down at himself. Now he has to find a new set of clothes.

----

Diana yelped when a yellow flash popped into existence in front of her and Naruto appeared with another woman in tow. This one, like Diana, had a bowl cut, but looked significantly younger.

“N-Naruto? Who’s this?” the woman asked, looking at Elise with wide eyes,

‘Her name is Elise,” Naruto explained. “Number 21 of the current generation.” Said woman shyly waved at her as she nervously kept close to him; the hybrid was clearly shaken from her near death experience.

Diana narrowed her eyes. “What happened?” she asked.

Naruto snorted. “The Organization happened. They set her up to die.” that was unsurprising to be honest; that cutthroat mysterious organization was a pain in the ass. Thank god Miria had the foresight to bring his seal up two weeks ago, or Elise would have died. “You mind showing her around and getting her settled in?” he asked. “She’s… ‘gone missing’ and I’d like to keep it that way.”

Diana nodded gesturing for the warrior to follow her. Elise looked at the former Number 44 nervously, but with Naruto’s prompting she followed her fellow hybrid and allowed Diana to guide her around.

Naruto sighed. First the thing with Teresa and Clare, then this, what’s next? The awakened beings who were outside Morris for the past two years are finally brave enough to wander on through to the fortress? Nina, Miata and Clarice finally calling on him as well, after they get themselves into a lot of trouble with some youma that outnumber them 5 to 1? The sky falling as well, for the sake of it?

Seriously, it was getting that ridiculous…

----

Speaking of ridiculous, Dae was at it, again. This time, he hooked Teresa’s corpse up to a capsule of harnessed lightning, alongside those of Cassandra and Roxanne. The man figured he may as well get those two out of the way while he was at it, since they were ready for revival.

Miranda was on standby, and was to keep Cassandra from murdering Roxanne the second she saw her.

“IN THE FUTURE!” Sistina bellowed.

“KEEP HER OUT OF HERE!” Dae yelled to Chloe, Licht and Lutecia. He was looking very, uncharacteristically angry. The man was really fed up with her.

“THE STORY OF A SPIDER-THING FALLING FROM THE SKY SHALL MAKE THE WORLD AFRAID OF CLOWNS!” Sistina exclaimed, still going on as if nothing had happened.

Growling under his breath Dae looked back down at Teresa, Cassandra and Roxanne’s corpses. Teresa was the strongest of all claymores - Cassandra was right behind her and Roxanne was in third.

Getting them revived in preparation for the Ladykiller was the highest priority!

Taking a deep breath to calm himself he looked to Miranda and started relaying his orders for her to perform. “Miranda I pull all three levers, exactly two seconds away from one another,” Dae commanded.

“Understood,” Miranda answered, obeying to the letter.

The first lever was pulled. Two seconds past, then the second was pulled; another two seconds past, and the third was pulled. Lightning shot from the machine and into the cables hooked up to the slabs the deceased women were lying on top of.

Dae then pulled another lever and Miranda felt a surge of yoki flowing from the contraption and into the three women. All three opened their eyes, their eyes glowing a demonic gold, though they were still clearly dead, as lightning and yoki coursed through their veins. However, oddly enough, one of them had her irises moving the combined yoki and lightning having briefly jumpstarted her heartbeat.

Teresa was… terribly confused. One moment she was within Clare and the next she was… somewhere else. She recognised the place she was in as her own body. But she wasn’t in it. Not completely at least. She couldn’t see anything but the ceiling, and all she could hear was the sound of machinery and electricity. She was being shocked - like her whole body was being struck by lightning; though she had no idea what being hit by lightning felt like..

Then her eyes closed and when she opened them again Teresa found herself back in the familiar, endless white plain that was Clare’s mindscape. She shook her head, blinking owlishly.

“...Strange. What was that?” she asked herself. Was that actually real? Or, was it just something her imagination cooked up?

Either way, she had no idea what was going on.

But then she remembered Naruto’s words… was someone really trying to bring her back to life? Who? Why?!

----

The next day

Naruto was caught between a rock and a hard place, so to speak. The instant they’d heard about the new arrival popping up out of nowhere in addition to five awakened beings, Riful, Priscilla, Miria, Cynthia, and even Jean - of all people - teamed up on him in a jealous fit and now, he was buried under a dogpile of mostly pregnant, newly-satisfied, happily-snoozing wives.

“I can’t tell if you’re the luckiest man I’ve ever met or the most unfortunate,” Karui chuckled, eyeballing the fine mess her husband had gotten himself into. To her left, a very worried Clare stood beside the chocolate redhead.

“Probably the happiest, regardless,” Naruto replied with a chuckle of his own. “So, what brings you to here? Is something wrong?”

“I’m here to give you a progress report on the new arrivals,” Karui stated. “Seeing as how you’re… occupied, Samui decided that I should be the one to tell you, so as to avoid the wrath of four pregnant women.”

Smart move on her part, Naruto had to admit.

“As for Clare,” the redhead continued, “it would seem that you were right about someone trying to revive Teresa.”

The former Number 47 nodded. “She… woke up in a room, feeling as though she was being struck by lightning, though it was only for a brief instant.”

“I see…” the whisker-marked blond mused aloud. “Seeing as how she told you this, I take it the attempt failed.”

Clare nodded.

“Looks like we might have to deal with them sooner than expected…” Naruto muttered. Recruiting the awakened beings waiting outside Morris might be a good idea, in that case. Most of them were former Single-Digits, after all. “If they’re trying to revive Teresa, then it stands to reason that they’d try and revive other dead warriors, as well. I’ll let Miria know when she wakes up.” He gestured to the woman lying on top of him. “If anyone here’s likely to know the biggest threats they could go for it’s her.”

Clare nodded and Karui smiled at Naruto. That was a sound course of action.

“Alright,” Clare said, visibly relieved, though only just a bit..

Clearing her throat, Karui decided to address the reason she was here. “Right,” she said. “Seeing as how that’s out of the way, I suppose now’s as good a time as any to tell you how the new arrivals are progressing.”

Naruto smiled and gestured for her to continue.

Karui nodded and did just that. “Elise is progressing pretty well with the tree-walking exercise. Glissa, Pyrrha, and Megan have completely mastered it, and will be ready to start with their elemental training, tomorrow. Evianna and Betty are well on their way to catching up, now that they’ve learned Kage Bunshin. They should be ready in a day or two, if they keep it up.”

“Very nice!” Naruto said, visibly impressed. “Evianna’s team is looking good, then. Tell Irene that she and Elise are gonna be a team, once the newbie’s ready for elemental training. Miria felt that would be the best thing to do with them.”

Karui nodded. “Alright. Is that all?”

“For now,” Naruto confirmed. “Unless you have anything else to report.”

The redhead shook her head, no.

“Alright, you’re free for the day once you tell Irene.”

----

The next morning

Cassandra groaned pitifully as the phantom pains of her brutal death still lingered. Then her eyelids snapped open, her eyes were gleaming gold and her irises slanted like a felines. Scowling the elf-eared woman sat up with a fierce growl as she looked around for the bitch - that Love and Hate bitch! - who allowed her best friend to be brutally mutilated and killed.

She didn’t know how she was still alive, but by the Twin Goddesses she was going to go and fucking HACK that bitch apart with her Dust Eater! She was about to go ahead and look for Roxanne to do just that, until...

“Cassandra!”

The woman jumped in surprise; her eyes grew wide at the familiar voice of her best friend, and when she looked in the direction she came from the woman was enveloped in a hug by her best friend. Who was alive!

So shocked was she, that Cassandra didn’t know how to react to the sight of her best friend hugging her with such a bright smile and actively flowing tears.

“M-Miranda?” she asked, whispering in trembling disbelief.

“Yes! I’m here! I… I…” Miranda pulled back and gave her friend a tearful smile. “I missed you!”

With shaking arms and running tears, Cassandra pulled the Number 35 into a hug and buried her face into Miranda’s hair.

Cassandra’s bottom jaw trembled, as the unshed tears she had for that day were finally shed. “I’m sorry, Miranda. I am so, very sorry.” She was sorry, that she couldn’t save her friend. She was sorry, that she couldn’t avenge her death. She was sorry, that she hadn’t been there for her when she was needed most!

She had died with a lot of regrets.

Miranda sniffed and rubbed her friends back. “I’m here. You’re here. We’re both here.” she pulled away again and gave her best friend a tearful smile. “A lot has happened, Cassandra. We need to catch you up.”

Sniffing herself Cassandra rubbed the tears out of her eyes as she regarded her friend with confusion. “Ah… catch up?” she allowed herself to be guided out of the… strange room she awoke in. “Catch up to what?”

“I’ll tell you once you’re dressed.”

Blinking owlishly Cassandra looked down at herself. Oh… so that was why there was a breeze. “Uh… fair enough,” she chuckled sheepishly. “Can you tell me at least how we’re alive? I remember being... “ she shuddered as the memories of her fellow comrades hacking into her skin and bone flashed through her mind.

“Dae.” was her answer. And Cassandra understood immediately. Really, that creepy old man was always experimenting and cooking up some… weird ideas. She let the matter drop there.

“A-alright,” Cassandra said, “How do we get to the supply department from here? I don’t know where we are.”

“Where I’m staying is close to it actually.” Miranda replied, “And as for where we are - we’re in Staff… specifically Dae’s lab. The room I’m staying in is only about three doors down the hall.”

Cassandra blinked, immediately recognizing where she was in the building. She’d always wondered what lied behind that door as she passed by, but never asked. “Alright, then. Lead the way.”

Miranda nodded and did just that. But, just as she opened the door she paused and suddenly looked rather nervous. “Uh… one more thing… You see, I was revived for a reason.”

Cassandra looked to her friend both worried and confused.

“You and a few others were brought back, because the Organization is facing a threat like nothing they’d ever seen before,” Miranda elaborated. “Someone who will take everything we have to eliminate… That… includes Roxanne.” She immediately scrambled to calm her friend down upon feeling the malice. “S-she will not be a problem!” Miranda assured. “In face, she was executed a few months after she… uh… yeah. Y-you have nothing to worry abo-”

“IN THE FUTURE, YOUNGSTERS SHALL LISTEN TO MUSIC BY INSERTING GIANT COINS INTO SINGING CLAMS!”

“CAN’T A GIRL GET SOME SLEEP?!” Roxanne screamed. “I SWEAR I’M GOING TO RIP THAT WOMAN’S TONGUE OUT!!”

“You think I haven’t tried?!” Chloe asked. “She’s a defensive type - it just grew back.”

Miranda chuckled nervously at the expectant, utterly befuddled look Cassandra gave her. “Thaaat was Sistina, the Divine Oracle and Heavy-Bladed Chloe.” she explained. “Both of them were the Number Ones of their generation when they died, and were revived as well.”

Cassandra blinked owlishly. “How many have been revived?!”

“Out of everyone, including you? Seven. Dae tried to bring back another. Someone named Teresa of the Faint Smile, but that failed. He’s going to try one more time with that one though, since she’s reputed to be the Strongest Number 1 of all Generations. There are quite a few more who are still in the process of being brought back.”

Cassandra looked at her friend nervously. That… legitimately scared her. “What the hell could we possibly be facing that would require so many Number Ones?!”

The door opened, and Sistina was there, looking at the two friends.

Sistina gave her fellow Number One a cool look. “Someone who’s stronger than all three Abyssal Ones combined.” she told her.

That got Cassandra’s attention. “Wait, there’s three, now?!”

----

Glissa giggled as she saw Naruto enter the training chamber, blatantly ogling him as she turned to face the blond. “Oh, hello~!” She chirped. “Come to check on our training?”

“Of course.” he chuckled. “What kind of a teacher would I be, if I wasn’t here to watch over my students?” he walked beside her and looked at Pyrrha, Evianna, Megan and Betty and saw they were still training in their chakra control. Looks like they were getting in some last minute training before they do their elemental techniques.

Speaking of elemental techniques, he has to see what kind of elemental affinities they have first. Luckily, he came prepared for that occasion.

Then, he turned to Shizune - who was overseeing their exercises - and asked, “So, how’ve they been doing, Shizune-Neechan?”

“Quite well,” She said with a giggle. “I’m impressed, actually. They should be ready for elemental training.”

“Very good, any time they want, they can see what kind of elemental affinities they have.” that got the attention of Team Evianna almost immediately.

“Ooh~!” Glissa chirped, enthusiastically scurrying up in front of him. “So how do we do that?”

Naruto answered by taking out a scroll, unfurling it, and after channeling his chakra into the seal, took out five chakra papers for them to use. “Just channel your chakra into one of these slips and I’ll tell you that the reaction means,” he explained.

Glissa hastily snatched one up and did just that, her slip instantly turning brown and crumbling before her. She and the other four blinked owlishly at the… admittedly odd reaction her chakra had on the paper and they looked at the blond. All of them were confused and wondered what that meant.

“It looks like you got an Earth and Lightning affinity… the earth is the dominant one too. It’s defensive in nature, but a savvy enough user can make deadly traps with it.” Naruto gave Glissa a grin as he added, “It can also be used to harden your skin to be as tough as diamonds and increase the power of your physical attacks. So looks like you’re going to be a tank. Someone who can tank hits and deliver just as much damage too.”

Hearing that, the Former Number 45 of the current generation squealed in excitement. Having skin as tough as diamonds? Count her in! “I can’t wait to try that out~!”

“Get far in your training and you will.” he told her with a grin. “We’re going to have to tell you the strengths and weaknesses of the elements too, and what is strong against what and so on. But outside of the other warriors that cannot use chakra, you’re going to be pretty hard to take down. Imagine how deadly you’re going to be in your awakened form though~.”

That got her salivating. She’d be unstoppable~! Or close to it.

Evianna was next; she took the sheet of paper from Naruto and channeled her chakra into it. It unsurprisingly split down the middle, but then, the two halves started to crumple up.

“Looks like you have two element affinities there, Evianna the same as Elise; we may have to get you a new nickname soon~” he grinned at her with wagging eyebrows. “So, you have Wind and lightning. The Wind affinity is stronger though, so there’s no surprise there. The lightning, though, is a bit surprising. Those two are opposing elements, so even among people with double affinites it’s rare to see them together. You’re going to be a heavy hitter too, since wind and lightning are aggressive elements.”

She was pleased to hear that. “I see… and what about this new nickname?” she asked with a playful grin.

“Hmm…” he allowed the woman to lean against him suggestively. “I can think of a few~. Stormbringer Evianna is one. Blazing Evianna is another. Storm Crusher Evianna. I can probably think of a few more in time, but which of them do you like most?”

“Oooh, Stormbringer Evianna is one I like the most~!” the former number 2 was very happy with that nickname, it was a hell of a lot better than the one Roxanne had given her. Highland Harpy - the deceased bitch deserves an embarrassing nickname of her own!

“Then, Stormbringer Evianna it is!” Naruto solidified it by giving the woman a playful spank. The awakened being giggled girlishly, but did not otherwise move from her spot. Chuckling, the blond handed the next awakened being, Megan, a sheet of paper.

It went up in flames, startling her and the other four.

“Looks like you have an affinity for fire, Megan.” he told her. “And in my opinion fire is the most aggressive.” he grinned as he came up with a pun. “It looks like you’re quite a, hothead!”

Everyone was quiet for a moment; then it was broken when Shizune groaned and palmed her forehead in exasperation.

“Naruto, that was a lame pun.”

Naruto turned to the brunette with a look of faux outrage, “Screw you, Shizune-Neechan! That pun was bloody good one!”

“Um…” Pyrrha raised her hand, “Can we continue with our chakra affinities now?”

Naruto looked at her, then shrugged. “Yeah, sure, here’s your chakra paper.”

When the redhead channeled her chakra into it, she was curious to see it turn brown and then light ablaze. She yelped, dropping it out of surprise.

“Fire and Earth… Interesting.”

The last one to channel her chakra into her sheet of paper was Betty. Hers turned brown as well.

“Huh… So, we have every element accounted for between the five of you, except for Water,” Naruto mused aloud. “Yours is Earth, as well Betty.”

“I see…” the blonde crossed her arms, “so when can we begin training in our respective elements?” Betty asked, looking at Naruto expectantly.

“As soon as you want to. I got several scrolls for various elemental techniques translated into your language - so you can learn many different elements step by step from them. Team Samui has also been assigned to help anyone who needs it. They’re from the same continent as I am, like Shizune-Neechan and Granny-Tsunade. Elemental Training takes place in the bailey.”

“Understood.” Betty then looked to Evianna and asked, “Should we wait and rest a bit, or go straight on there?”

“You’ve been training for a few hours,” Shizune pointed out to them. “I recommend resting for a bit to let yourselves regain any lost chakra. If you exhaust yourself, you can die if you keep on using it beyond the limit of what your body can produce.”

“That’s the only downside,” Naruto added. “Chakra’s made from your physical and spiritual energies. If you run out of chakra: you die. So resting, or exercising to increase the amount of chakra you have, is key to stop that from happening. Then again I can just share my chakra with you babes, and you’ll be as energised as a five-year-old with a sugar high.”

“That was… oddly specific, Naruto.” Shizune said.

“I’m trying to increase my vocabulary.” was the blond’s lame-ass excuse. Then he cleared his throat and looked at the apprentice of Tsunade, “So when the next ‘ meat shipment’ coming?”

Meat shipment was code for ‘criminals on death row’.

“Two days from now. It’s a large shipment too. Seems Kirigakure and Iwagakure want to help out as well, no questions asked.”

In translation, that meant Kiri and Iwa had a few missing-nins they want to get rid of. And they didn’t care what was to happen to them. Naruto certainly didn’t mind, that meant the awakened beings here had some more innards to eat; and the more they had to eat the less chance they are to go and cause havoc anywhere else.

Chronos would have a field day, if he manages to get here before then. Thankfully, he was pretty far away then they met, so he should take a while. The awakened beings that are still lurking in the mountains around the town, on the other hand… he’s going to have to make contact with them soon. Either they piss off, or they join. No matter what happens, his family wouldn’t be agitated or nervous by a potential threat to the wellbeing of their children.

“Interesting…” Naruto muttered. “I’ll have to send them a token of my gratitude, sometime.”

----

“The golden haired one shall confront the many with the power of the one, and they shall submit to his might…” Sistina muttered, pacing about in a little circle.

“Is she always like this?” Cassandra looked to her best friend with concern. “She’s always talking like this. What are they, some kind of… predictions?”

“We’re… not quite sure,” Miranda muttered. “Sistina said they are, and they tend to come true. The golden haired one is someone we so far know as ‘Ladykiller Naruto’. The many with the power of one, is most likely you, and the other Number Ones here, though we’re not sure… She’s been a bit tight lipped about it.”

“So who is this Ladykiller person anyway,” Roxanne asked. “From what I gathered, he’s strong. But what is he like? Do we even know?”

“Not much…” Licht answered, since she knew Cassandra and Miranda have a… sour relationship with the woman. “What we do know is that he just showed up one day to the South.”

“The golden haired one ventured forth from the East. A land beyond the sea,” Sistina muttered, “many trials, he has faced. Many trials, he had overcome. Growing up with nothing, he has become strong. Growing up with pain, he has become kind... understanding. The beasts with many tails he has befriended.”

“If he’s so kind and understanding,” Roxanne asked, “then why the hell is he being a thorn in the Organization’s ass? Shouldn’t he be helping us?”

At that Sistina looked at the curly-haired blonde, her eyes still distant and glazed over. “The one of the phantom has asked him, to help rescue us,” she said. Then she went back to pacing. “He shall be our salvation, slaying youma and handler alike for their sins. He shall heal us of that which cannot be healed. Thus, the many with the power of one shall be impaled upon his mighty spear and bear him twenty sons and twenty daughters...”

“It… it sounds like she’s saying we’re fucked. Literally, at that.” Cassandra said in bewilderment, her cheeks turning beet red. “But… who’s the one of the phantom she’s mentioned?”

It sounds like a ghost. Or, possibly someone with a unique technique...?

“From what I can tell,” a beet red Miranda answered, “that’s probably this ‘Phantom Miria’ Dae mentioned a while back. She’s the Ladykiller’s second-in-command and former Number 6 of the previous generation.”

“It sounds like this Phantom Miria is the one behind this whole mess,” Roxanne said with a giggle. “Didn’t you hear what that delusional woman said? The one of the phantom asked him to help her. If anything she’s the leader, and he’s the second-in-command… or maybe just her attack dog.”

“That ‘attack dog’ is strong enough to dominate two Abyssal Ones,” Licht pointed out. “The first time, from what I discovered of the reports ‘God Eye Galatea’ had given, was when he wasn’t even known to the Organization. He managed to kill Riful’s rumoured consort to the degree that only a crater was left. And the rumoured consort was fully transformed, and the Ladykiller was not. The second time, it was when Luciela of the South intentionally sought him out. He dominated her by himself, right in front of her own sister, no less, before moving on to dominating said sister.”

“And I personally know how vicious Luciela is.” Chloe added, “She utterly dominated me, in combat and then devoured me. And there’s the newest awakened being by his side, and she’s considered to be beyond the power of the Abyssals, themselves, and he managed to dominate her.”

Cassandra and Miranda shuttered. No wonder so many warriors were being revived to deal with him!

Roxanne scoffed and gave the blonde a small smile. “If you ask me, this is just a waste of time. However…” she looked at Sistina, “is she ever wrong? Has any of her so called ‘predictions’ gone against her?”

Suddenly Sistine went ramrod straight, as her eyes went wide as saucers. “IN THE FUTURE, A MOB OF EASILY-OFFENDED YOUNGSTERS WILL DRESS IN BLACK AND START PUNCHING PEOPLE FOR HAVING THE WRONG OPINIONS!”

“I hope so…” Miranda muttered worriedly. “The future sounds… apocalyptic, otherwise.”

“Oh gawd,” Sistina whined as she massaged her temples. “It happened again, didn’t it?”

“‘The many with the power of one, shall be impaled upon his mighty spear~!’” Roxanne quoted with a disturbingly wide smile. “Why, it sounds like you’re predicting the Ladykiller having his way with us all~.”

“...I wonder if he has a big dick?”

“CASSANDRA!!?” Miranda exclaimed, utterly aghast.

“What? It’s a perfectly legitimate question,” Cassandra replied defensively. “‘Impaled upon his mighty spear’ doesn’t exactly make it sound small, and if we’re going to be defeated that way, I would frankly hope it’s at least by a stud!”

“Fifteen inches.” Sistina automatically answered, before she covered her mouth with horrified eyes. She looked at everyone in the room, and found all their eyes were on her. “Uh… you didn’t hear that. At all.”

Cassandra was about to say something, but clammed up then she was elbowed in the ribs by her friend.

Miranda sighed heavily. “I knew Neideen would be a bad influence…” Then, she groaned, rubbing her temple, “and it would be just my luck that she’s next in line for revival! Ugh...”

“...She’s going to obsesses over his dick isn’t she?” A blushing Roxanne questioned in a deadpan. Damn it! That pervert was insufferable, the first time around! At least she was a good cunt-muncher, though; shame she had to go and… ‘have an accident’ on her awakened being hunt.

“Most likely,” Miranda confirmed. “Among other things…”

Lutecia hummed to herself with a thoughtful expression. “Maybe she can keep him distracted long enough for us to kill him before her prediction of us losing in… that way comes to pass?”

“I’m actually thinking of throwing down my claymore the second we meet him.” Cassandra admitted; a big dick like that, reaching all the way to the deepest depths of her neglected pussy? There’s no way she’s going to pass that up! “Hell, I’ll be the distraction...”

“Cassandra, no, you’re not going to offer yourself to the Ladykiller…” Miranda paused, and feeling a little vindictive she looked at the one responsible for the deaths of herself and her best friend. “Let Roxanne do it, instead.”

“Excuse me?!” said woman demanded.

Miranda grinned deviously, “Consider it payback for getting me, Cassandra and so many others killed with the bullshit you pulled in your first lifetime!”

As Cassandra's eyes lit up at the very suggestion, Roxanne scowled deeply at that. She had no fucking intention on being some fucking live bait.

Licht and Chloe suddenly felt a bit uncomfortable, literally feeling the malice in the air. Hopefully, these three would put their priorities first.

“The golden haired one shall be unpredictable. The one of the ‘Dust Eater’ shall be a match for him with her own unpredictability.” Sistina uttered, now back in her trance. “Her most hated ability shall be her greatest advantage… until he becomes one of golden flames.” she began to slowly pace as everyone's eyes were on her, listening to her prediction. “As shall the one with a Blade of Evil, as shall the one of Windy Storms, as shall the one with insatiable lust for men and women alike, as shall the one called a Master of the Hunt. The one of elegance will be at a disadvantage as he surpasses those of one in all their abilities and skills. As shall the one of the Heavy Blade, as shall the one with three arms, as shall the one with a sword of beauty, as shall the Universal One, as shall the coated in red, as shall the one with a heart of black, as shall the one with a heart of gold, as shall the one with the insight of gods. All will fall before his golden elegance of power and domination. Thus the many with the power of one shall be impaled by his mighty spear and bear him twenty son and twenty daughters.”

“That… is starting to become a bit too consistent… and specific for my liking…” Miranda muttered uncomfortably.

Licht, Chloe and Lutecia all exchanged looks.

“It sounds like the Ladykiller likes strong women, all things considered… and he’s coming for us, specifically, because we’re strong?” Licht asked, sounding a little unsure towards the end.

“She keeps mentioning those with the power of one… so… single digits then?” Chloe asked aloud, thoughtfully. She looked to Miranda. “If that’s the case, then, what happens to you? And that one other warrior that’s going to be revived?”

“The one with a heart of gold and the one with the Blade of Evil shall be impaled upon his mighty spear and bear him five sons and three daughters,” Sistina droned robotically, still pacing.

“Well… there’s that answered. Thanks for the nightmare fuel.” Lutecia said, giving Chloe a mocking clap.

“The Universal One shall be the first to fall, should she not learn from errors past,” Sistina continued.

“Oh, shut up!” That loss she’s suffered to Isley was quite visibly still a bit of a sore spot for her.

“...I just realised something.” Miranda started, as her eyes followed Sistina back and forth.

“What is it?” Cassandra asked.

“Whenever we ask a question pertaining to the mission, Sistina would always answer.” The Number 35 pointed out to them.

“The one with the insight of gods knows many things,” Sistina droned. “The one with the insight of gods warns ye all, the men with robes of black provoke a demon lord the likes of which they cannot comprehend.”

“Can Naruto Uzumaki really turn into a mountain sized, Nine-tailed fox?” Miranda asked, opting to go for the questions directly. If she really has the ‘insight of gods’ then they would be able to learn much about him!

“IN THE FUTURE,” Sistina suddenly shouted, stopping dead in her tracks.

...once she was done being weird, of course.

“THE WAY SHALL BE SHOWN BY A MAGIC BOX THAT TALKS TO THE SKY!”