FicWad

One week later

The City of Hanel was a settlement that had a lot of shrubbery and forestry around it. As a local trade hub, the city had a notably large inn, a statue of the Twin Goddesses of Love in the centre, a blacksmith, warehouse, woodcutter, stores, a marketplace and plenty of other places of interest. It would be a nice place to settle down if it wasn’t so close to a so called ‘haunted mountain’ that people would venture close to, only to never return.

As he and Flora entered the city, Naruto could sense a couple of yoki signatures. None of them were in the city itself as they were in Mount Zakol nearby. A few of them were pretty strong too. One was as strong as his girlfriend, and the other three were a lot stronger than her.

Not only that but there was some sort of commotion. A quick look around showed that the people were spooked. Many of them looked like they had seen something incredibly disturbing and nightmarish. It was clear to him that something had happened here.

Then they saw him and Flora, and the civilians looked even more wary. Some looked hopeful even.

“Flora,” his girlfriend perked up a bit at being addressed, “should we find out what’s going on?”

“Yes.” she replied with a nod of agreement. Then the woman looked towards Mount Zakol with a small frown. “Do you know what’s going on in Mount Zakol?”

Naruto tilt his head with narrow eyed concentration. “Three are claymores… One’s stronger than you. And the other two are weaker, though one of them is exceptionally so. The other two would be... Voracious Eaters. Their yoki is corrupt, and they’re stronger than you and the other three claymores, combined.” He answered in a low tone as possible for only Flora to hear.

The Number 8 frowned at that. “By how much?” She asked, matching the pitch and tone of her voice to his so no one would panic. Still, he could see the worry in her eyes.

“By a lot.” Naruto answered. It’s nothing he can’t handle, but if they’re tougher than expected then he would have to use Sage Mode. Or show some of his techniques just to get an edge over them. Which would mean the Organization would know more about him if those girls in Mount Zakol were to blab what they saw him to do to their Handlers.

“I see…” If Flora was worried about what she was just told, she didn't show it. Her eyes merely narrowed with determination. “Come on, let’s go find someone to talk too...maybe they can tell us what happened here that put them on edge.”

Whatever it was, it had something to do with Mount Zakol.

----

Several minutes later…

“Thank you for your time.” Naruto told a middle aged man with an eye smile. The man in question gave the teenager a nod in return and went back to what he was doing. With a sigh the blond looked at Flora and found her talking to a small group of people. A few of them were rather animated in their gestures; they were a few years younger than he was. So them being animated in their gestures was understandable.

It didn't take long for Flora to finish her round of asking questions and the couple regrouped to tell each other what they had learned.

“Well…” Naruto began with a heavy sigh, “I learned that a team of claymores came by not too long ago and went to Mount Zakol. One of them came back grievously wounded a few hours ago, and begged for a claymore in disguise to save her team before dying of her wounds.”

“I learned the same thing.” Flora said with a heavy sigh of her own. “From a brief description I was able to get of the team that came by here, one of them was Drillsword Jean. She’s a rank lower than myself. The disguised warrior left to save Jean’s team a few hours ago.”

Naruto nodded thoughtfully with a heavy frown. Seeing that look in his eyes Flora knew what he was going to do. He was going on a rescue mission.

“Naruto…”

“Flora,” He gave her a look that made whatever she was going to say to not leave her tongue. “I’m going over there.”

If he could make a difference, you can be damn sure he was going to try and make that difference. Whatever was happening to those girls right now is very likely to be something he wouldn’t wish on his worst enemy. And he had a lot of enemies before they became his friends.

Flora was both proud of her man and worried sick for him in that moment. It warmed her heart that he felt that way and wanted to help, but at the same time… “But… what if it’s one of the…” Flora hesitated, looking around to see if anyone was listening. “W-what if it’s Riful and her consort? This is their territory and they are among the very few Voracious Eaters to have grouped up. They’re so dangerous that we are literally disallowed to engage them until the Organization finds a way to kill them!”

“If it is them… well… I never said you had to fight them did I?”

He’s fought worse than them. A lot worse. Then again, that’s not much when being compared to fighting someone who was known as a goddess back when she was around. Granted, these two could be a legit threat if they’re clever enough, so he would be a fool not to be careful about it.

“At most I’ll be distracting them until you’re able to extract the survivors.” He looked towards the mountain and frowned. Naruto looked at Flora, “Come on. The longer we stay here, the less chances those girls have of surviving.”

“A-alright…” Flora sighed, still nervous as all hell. But, she would die before letting her boyfriend go it alone.

Naruto put his hand on her forearm and gave it a comforting squeeze. Then he beckoned his girlfriend to follow him before he made a quick dash out of Hanel and towards Mount Zakol. Flora was quick to follow after him. One way or another, they were going to find a way to save those girls.

----

As they ventured into Mount Zakol, with Naruto tracking down the yoki signatures both he and Flora came to an abandoned, near ruined castle that was built into a mountain. But from the yoki the two of them sensed as they got closer, the castle wasn’t abandoned anymore. The path to the castle was pretty straight forward. There were no traps, no lookouts, there was nothing that would give away their approach. It was too easy. Far too easy if Naruto was honest.

Did their little friend clear the path for them? There were quite a few butchered youma corpses, after all, including two of those rare flying types. All of them were fresh, too, making it clear that their undercover friend was the one who’d done it. Given how weak she was in comparison to Flora, it was an impressive feat.

Passing by the youma and approaching the entrance, Naruto and Flora both paused.

“...that is a lot of rods…” Naruto said in astonishment and Flora slowly nodded agreeingly. There had to be at least a hundred of them fixed in the ground, on the walls, on the damn ceiling.

“...I can sense yoki coming from them.” Flora said after a moment of concentration.

Naruto walked inside the hallway and found they reached to his waist, though he couldn’t be too sure of that since they were deeply dug into the ground, walls, and the ceiling so they were probably longer than he thought.

Naruto stopped beside of them them and slowly out his hand on it. He frowned; it felt...weird. It was organic but the rod had a metallic feel to it at the same time. He took his hand off it after a moment and looked at it and then his hand, then back at the rod again with a deep frown of contemplation. He had no idea what these things were for, but he did feel the yoki contained within… reacting to him?

What were the chances that these rods were like an alarm system? He wouldn’t dismiss the idea, but so far, he’s not nothing to base that on.

“Flora, stay close to me. These rods could be like an alarm to whatever made it.” he warned his girlfriend.

“What?! What makes you so sure?” Flora nevertheless did as she was told and stayed close to her boyfriend.

“I felt the yoki contained in one of them react to my touch. And if one reacted-”

“-then they all reacted.” Flora finished for him with a heavy frown. She reached up to grab the grip of her sword in preparation for their inevitable encounter with the Awakened Beings.

Just then there was a loud crash followed by a rumble, as a massive dust cloud flooded the hall from further down. Naruto quickly steadied himself and Flora as the ground shook momentarily. Whatever was happening it must be pretty big.

“What was that?” Flora couldn’t help but ask that aloud. It was a rhetorical question.

Nevertheless Naruto answered her.

“I think… a part of the castle caved in.” Naruto narrowed his eyes. “Gimme a moment honey.” Then his brow creased in concentration.

“What are you doing?”

“...Seeing what the hell's going on ahead.” he answered. After a brief moment of tense silence Naruto took a deep breath and exhaled. “It seems two of the five signatures are fighting. One’s stronger than the other, and the weaker one is putting up a hell of a fight; though from the feels of it, her yoki’s slowly getting overwhelmed. The other three are doing jack squat from what I can sense… though one of them is stronger than the rest. The other two are in a different part of the castle and are doing… something?”

It was hard to tell with the rods jamming his senses, but that’s what he could make out from here. He could barely even sense those other three at the moment. He could sense the first two just fine because they were actually using yoki. That other two in a different part of the castle were using yoki as well but it was for suppressing? Yes. That’s what he felt.

There was more tremors coming from up ahead. Naruto looked at his girlfriend, shrugged, and quietly headed further into the hallway. Flora frowned and followed him. She didn’t want to be here, but at the same time, she was not going to let her boyfriend venture here alone. Not with the possibility of this being Riful and her consort.

Moments later, the couple reached a pile of rubble. They came to a stop in front of it and Naruto went and pressed his hand against it. This was probably where the cave-in happened.

“What now?”

At that question, Naruto looked to Flora with a grin. “Now, we forgo stealth. Once I get the other two focused on me, you sneak around and head to the other yoki signatures deeper into the castle. Understand?”

Flora was concerned, as had every right to be as his girlfriend, but she nodded in acknowledgement to show she did understand. He smiled widely at her before dropping his smile while bringing his gaze to the rubble in front of them.

He formed a Rasengan in one hand and eyeballed the rubble before him. Beside him a gaping and wide eyed Flora stared at the spiralling sphere in his palm. Then Naruto reared his arm back and drove it against the rubble.

----
Meanwhile, on the other side, three people - though one of them looked too monstrous to be considered human - had no idea what hit them when the rubble blocking the exit suddenly exploded outwards. Tons of dirt and rubble was launched from the makeshift wall and across the room, several hitting a large, metallic-like humanoid, who was so tall he had to crouch just so he wouldn’t break the ceiling.

“Oh, my!” A little girl with brown hair and honey coloured eyes perked up at the sight. She was very curious, now… these new arrivals clearly had some oomph to them. Perhaps she could make them her friends, too?

The girl in question looked to be about fourteen or so, with a heart-shaped face and garbed in a pink sundress. The glint in her eye made it clear that the wheels in her head were turning as she paid particularly close attention to the blast site, eagerly awaiting to see what emerged.

She was particularly interested and pleased to note that a young man fitting the description of this so-called Youma Hunter emerged from the dust cloud with his eyes closed as it started to clear. Following in with him was a warrior, just a bit stronger than her plaything in the lower levels of this hideout.

Then as his eyes opened the blond came to a stop and looked up at her consort. He looked...less than impressed. As if the young man had seen something more scary than him.

Intriguing.

Naruto saw that the guy was big, he was ugly, and looked to be encased in some kind of carapace-like armour. He was a humanoid, but was hunched over in a semi-quadrupedal stance and was apparently missing a hand.

Then he looked down to see a long-haired blonde was pinned to the ground, impaled by one of the blue guy’s rods. She was alive as well, and is currently looking at him and Flora, but mostly him, with wide eyes.

Then Naruto looked up at tall and ugly and just stared at him utterly bored. “Hmm… Well...I’ve seen a lot of scary and disturbing things in my lifetime… you’re uglier, I’ll give you that, but nowhere near being even close to them.” he snarked provokingly.

The big guy growled at him and was about to attack, but the girl stopped him in his tracks.

“Dauf,” she called out. “He’s trying to provoke you into doing something stupid. Don’t fall for it.”

“He’ll do something stupid either way.” Naruto said as he looked at the girl with an eye smile, before turning his attention back to Dauf. “From the looks of it you’re the dumb muscle. The cute Awakened Being sitting all the way over there seems to be the brains.” Said awakened being raised an eyebrow at that, surprised that he knew what she is. Then Naruto held his hands and gave the ugly monster an exaggerated pout that was shown through his face mask. “What’s the matter? Were you dropped on your head too much as a widdle baby? From the way you look that does seem to be the case.”

Flora, meanwhile, was trembling utterly paralyzed in fear at the sight of the girl in the corner. There was no doubt about it, this sweet, innocent-looking girl was indeed Riful of the West. Mustering up every last ounce of willpower that she could, the Number 8 placed a hand on Naruto’s shoulder.

He looked to her and was surprised to see the utter terror in his girlfriend’s eyes. Naruto frowned a bit in concern - not for himself, but for her. The poor thing was white as a sheet and looking about ready to piss herself.

“Again, you’re not going to fight him.” Naruto reassured his girlfriend. Then he closed his eyes and added, “I am. And if he tries to hurt you, well…” he looked towards Dauf and opened his eyes glaring at him. “Someone big and stupid is going to be in for a Bad Time.”

He perked up and hopped out of the way as what looked like a ribbon shot forth from out of the stone floor and tried to snatch his ankle. “And a certain Abyssal One will be sharing it with tall, dumb, and ugly, if she doesn’t stop what she’s doing.” The ribbon withdrew immediately.

“Just testing to see if you live up to the hype,” Riful chirped, her expression being that of an eerily friendly grin. Flora whimpered like a frightened puppy, having not even seen her move or detected any yoki spike “I’m impressed. Your reflexes and perception are just marvelous~!”

“Thanks. I spent the past eight years honing it.” He told her with a roll of his eyes. He rubbed Flora’s back comfortingly and continued. “I wonder if the dumb muscle here will force me to show more of what I can do. I wouldn’t bet on it though, he doesn’t seem smart enough.”

He grabbed Flora’s shoulder and vanished from sight, just as a massive fist slammed into the ground and shattering the floor where they once stood.

“Congratulations! You hit the ground with little to no effort. Your mama must be so proud of you!”

“Oh, what a delightful surprise~!” Riful giggled, looking up to see that Naruto was standing on the wall, his girlfriend scooped up in a bridal carry. His feet were somehow stuck to the wall behind him as he outright defied gravity before her very eyes.

One could practically see the question mark over Dauf’s head, as he looked at the two in befuddlement. “Hey! How’d you do that?”

“Do you seriously expect me to tell you that, idiot?” He deadpanned, “No, don’t answer that. Something tells me you are expecting me to tell you it.”

Then Naruto dropped to the floor and set Flora down on her feet… and they were conveniently in front of a doorway that led to the other two yoki signatures. Naruto may not be the sharpest tool in the shed at times, but he can make any situation go in his favour. Getting the excuse to leap near the entryway to the other claymores was part of his plan all along.

All Flora had to do now was go there. He subtly tapped Flora on her stomach to get her moving before crossing his arms and briefly looking at the other woman. She was still looking at him with wide eyes, though she had a small trail of blood going down her chin. At least she wasn’t being focused on.

He’d have to get her the hell out of here as soon as possible. Naruto sighed, hoping this woman was a defensive type. If so, she’d stand a better chance of surviving. He heard footsteps behind him and didn't have to look to see that it belonged to Flora. His girlfriend was going to help those other two so now he could focus on Dauf.

“So, I take it that woman with you is your lover,” Riful asked, addressing him. “I’ll be glad to leave her alone, then.” If nothing else, it would make him more compliant if she didn’t mess with what was his. “You wouldn’t just so happen to be willing to join my cause, would you? I could use more friends.”

Putting the knowledge that she somehow knew Flora is his girlfriend to the back of his head, Naruto looked at her, then looked at the only other claymore in the room, then back at Riful again.

“Oh, her? She came in and started provoking us,” Riful explained. “So, I had Dauf deal with her so she wouldn’t go causing us any more trouble.” The brunette sighed. “Quite the quite the annoying one to pin down with that technique of hers, but we managed.”

Naruto quirked an eyebrow at her. “You’re not telling the whole truth.”

Then, his image flickered and he was kneeling beside the pinned woman, who was legitimately startled to see him just suddenly appear next to her without the use of yoki. When she jumped, the woman winced in pain, her movements having caused the rod in her to open the wound even more.

“Hmm… that’s a nasty wound you got there.” Naruto reinforced his hand with chakra and casually reached behind to backhand the large fist Dauf tried to smash him with, and sent him stumbling away with a startled cry.

“Oh-ho, my~!”

Naruto bit back a frown, noting that Riful sounded far too interested for his personal comfort. But he ignored her for the moment and gave the woman pinned to the floor what he hoped with a disarming eye smile as he gripped the rod, “This is going to hurt. Bare it, okay? It’ll be out before you know it.”

“Oi! Who do you think you are!?” Dauf yelled at Naruto right after he righted himself.

“I’m the guy who’s barely putting in any effort into kicking your ass.” Was the blond’s answer; he didn't bother addressing the Awakened Being when he spoke.

“Very impressively, I might add,” Riful commented, resting her chin on one hand as she observed. “You truly do live up to your reputation. How about we make a bet?”

“Nah. Usually all bets end up in my favour. It wouldn’t be fair.” Then he yanked the rod out of the woman’s stomach in one fell swoop, ripping a pained cry from the poor thing. Then he closed his eyes as he pressed his palm against her wound. No one saw his eyes change as he healed her.

“Careful, now,” Riful urged. “Though they’re more durable than humans, hybrids like her still have their limits.” She didn’t want him to accidentally break her new toy, after all.

Naruto chuckled as he removed his hand and opened his eyes again. They were normal, and no one saw the transformation. “What are you talking about? She’s already healed.”

Both women were utterly shocked at that. The woman he healed in question touched the place where her wound was, and was shocked to feel skin. The stitching holding her stigma closed was slightly undone, but it’s nothing she couldn’t handle.

“H-how did you…?” the woman sat up with a groan, unable to take her eyes off of him. Just what was he? Do be able to casually backhand Dauf’s fist, move as fast as a single digit, to heal her all without the use of yoki? This was no ordinary human.

“I have a certain set of skills. Let’s leave it at that.” Naruto answered her evasively. Then he stood up and helped the woman to her feet too. “So… your yoki’s stronger than Flora’s… which means you’re a very high single digit warrior.”

“Galatea,” she replied, coming over her shock somewhat. “I’m God-Eye Galatea, the current Number 3.”

“Pleased to meet you, Galatea. I’m Naruto, people call me ‘The Youma Hunter’. It’s a lame alias in my personal opinion.” He reinforced his hand with chakra again and deflected several rods Dauf shot out of his fingers like a machine gun without looking.

Galatea was somewhere between bemused and gobsmacked by what she was witnessing.

Then Naruto looked at Dauf with annoyance, and without stopping his swiping he inhaled deeply before letting out a roar that sent shockwaves through the very air itself. Dauf cried out in shock as the shockwave caused him to lose his footing and he staggered back, the rods still shooting only now they were destroying the room until he was lying flat on his back.

“Stay there.” Naruto then frowned under his mask upon feeling eyes on him and looked to see Riful practically salivating from his display. “Aaand don’t try anything, yourself!”

She giggled almost hauntingly but complied… for now.

“How are you doing that?” Galatea just had to know! She needed to know!

Naruto clasped his hands together and said, “As I said before: I have a certain set of skills…” he trailed off, seemingly stopping it there, before adding a bit more to it. “...and a lot of it’s for killing.”

“So you’re a warrior?” Riful asked, looking far too interested in him. “An assassin, maybe?”

“Trained assassin. Awakened Being or not, I can kill you and your dumb muscle over there in a hundred and fifty different ways. Less than half of it requires me to be armed.”

Riful’s grin sent shivers up his spine. “I also noticed that you and your girlfriend are relieving me of my playthings,” she chirped. The way she said that made it clear that she was not at all pleased.

“What can I say? I like pissing people off.” Then Naruto gave Riful a very dangerous smile from under his mask. “Do you wanna have a Bad Time? Because if you don’t let us leave, then you’re really not going to like what happens next.”

“Oh-ho-ho, my~!” Riful giggled. “It’s been so long since someone last had the spine to threaten me~!” She returned the grin with one of her own. “How about we settle this with a spar~?”

“A spar? In a hostage situation like this, I don’t spar. I fight. And when I fight, I fight to win.”

“A fight, then~!” Riful chirped. “One on one. If I win, you swear your loyalty to me,” she continued. “I’ll even leave your girlfriend out of this. And to sweeten the deal…” she uncrossed her legs and spread them a bit, before crossing them once more in a seductive manner. “If you win… you win me and the girls go free. No fuss~!”

Though Naruto would die before admitting it aloud, the fact that she wasn’t wearing anything under that dress made it so tempting to accept her terms on the spot.

“R-Riful…” Dauf looked both hurt and shocked to hear that.

“Quiet, you!” She waved him off, dismissively. “This whole fiasco wouldn’t have happened if you didn’t let that warrior escape and you know it!” That woman had almost torn herself in half while freeing herself, too! There was no excuse... Besides, it’s not like this young man could win against her anyway. It’s why she so confidently offered herself.

Naruto blinked. He blinked some more. And he blinked again. Then he looked at Galatea and casually asked, “Has this ever happened before?”

“Only once…” Riful shrugged before Galatea could utter a word. “He lost and eventually got himself killed by the previous Number One.” She sighed in disappointment. “He was a former Single-Digit, too… such a waste.”

“Naruto, I do not think this to be a wise idea.” Galatea warned him. She just had to know what he was getting himself into if he was going to take this offer. “Dauf was a Single-Digit himself, but Riful’s a former Number One. She’s the strongest of her generation and in a class of her own. If she wanted to, she could kill Dauf in a matter of seconds.”

Hearing the grave tone in her voice Naruto quirked an eyebrow. “So I take it Number Ones are a pretty big deal, then?”

“Top of their respective generation,” Riful confirmed proudly. “The youngest girl to become a warrior in the history of the Organization and former Number One, Empress Riful of the West, at your service.”

“So, you’re like a Kage then, but without people or soldiers to lead… Interesting.” The young man had a glint in his eye. “You can call me Naruto… and I accept your challenge.”