Hello, I'm new here so please forgive me if I happened to make any mistake.

The Leon Ace that appeared in the previous chapter is undoubtedly me. No worry though, I'm only fodder who only appear once in a while.

Disclaimer: This is a fanfiction. I don't own anything I don't own.

Trash of the Phenex Family


Chapter 2

"So… what are we doing here?" Kuroka, the beautiful black hair Nekoshou asked as she looked around with a curious expression. Standing behind her was Naruto Phenex in his casual cloths and another young woman with silver hair which reached the middle of her back. She wore cloths that didn't reveal much skin, completely different from Kuroka who was wearing a simple black Kimono that revealed her shoulders and cleavage. The young woman also had a black cloth completely covered her eyes.

"Scouting potential peerage members."

"I know that. But, scouting peerage members in a forest? Are you serious?" Kuroka asked with a doubtful expression. One month had past since Uzumaki Naruto officially became Naruto Phenex and the blond had finally decided to visit the Human World with his only two peerage members. Kuroka, his Queen and Leah, his Knight.

"There are rumors going around saying that there is a very big panther living in this forest. It can speak human language and is extremely strong and fast. The panther calls itself Panther King and claims this forest as its territory. Many peoples have gone into this forest to investigate, among them were forces of the Three Factions, however, none returned." Naruto said, remembering the information he had gathered for the past month.

"…So you want to recruit that self-proclaimed Panther King? Even though you already have an awesome youkai like me by your side?" Kuroka said in a slightly envious tone with a cute pout on her face. But knowing the playful Nekoshou, Naruto thought she was just teasing him so he ignored her without much thought.

"To call itself King, that panther must have a lot of pride. I don't think the negotiation would go smoothly." Leah said, her voice was small and soft, but very clear and beautiful. The blond Phenex nodded and the trio entered the forest with Leah leading, Naruto in the middle and Kuroka at the rear. Though Leah was blinded, she was talent in magic and had since long mastered how to see with her magic power.

Similar to how a bat perceived its surrounding with sonic waves but not quite, being constantly active around Leah was an invisible magic barrier that acted as a radar with her in the middle. With this ability, Leah was able to see her surrounding as if she had eye from the sky, giving her 360 degrees vision. On theory, the technique was perfect for a Knight, but there was one fatal weakness that Leah was clearly aware of.

That weakness was the barrier's effective range. Its radius was only 25 meters. That was why Leah was almost unable to cope with the barrage of magic bullets came flying at her from afar. 'Almost', because as soon as the first magic bullet entered the barrier's radius of 25 meters, Leah had already began infusing mana into her sword and preparing herself.

Sparks flew as the violet magic sword continuously fended off the barrage of blue magic bullets without stopping. It was a beautiful sword dance that would captivate anyone looking at it, however, it wasn't time for Naruto and Kuroka to just stand still and watch.

"There!" Kuroka shouted and swung her arms, immediately, a black magic circle appeared behind her and 8 blue balls condensed of mana fired toward the location she could sensed their enemy was. The entire process from the moment the magic bullets came flying towards Naruto's group to their counterattack took a total of 4 seconds. During that time, Leah had blocked a total of 34 magic bullets without letting one pass or scratch her, showing her amazing reaction speed and splendid swordsmanship.

Kicking the ground with enough force to crack it, Naruto quickly followed the Energy Blasts Kuroka had fired earlier and came upon a giant panther with its jaw widely opened… and a condensed ball of red energy in it.

"Cero." A strong voice echoed through the area and a pillar of red energy flew toward Naruto who was in midair. His blue eyes widened in slight surprise, but the blond kept his calm and crossed his arms to guard against the attack. Naruto then used the repulsive force of the pillar of energy the moment it came into contact with his arms to maneuver out of its range.

"A blinded woman, a cat and a low-class devil. What an interesting combination. What are you doing here, in my territory?" The giant white panther said arrogantly as it snarled at Naruto's group. But as if it had just remembered something, a feral grin appeared on its face as it continued.

"…No, I know. You come here to capture me, don't ya? Then Die! I would rather die than becoming a slave of you devils." The giant panther growled angrily at the trio before pouncing toward them with astonishing speed. Having no chance to even talk, Naruto's group could only jumped out of the way to dodge the attack.

"Leah and I will keep him occupied, attack him from afar, Kuroka." The blond Phenex shouted before kicking the white panther's side with a dropkick. Though he no longer possessed chakra, Naruto had found out that mana and chakra were quite similar to each other. So he had tried and successfully reinforced his physical strength by infusing his body with mana. The technique required excellent mana control skill, but thanks to his pitiful amount of mana in this world, Naruto had easily mastered it.

He had even gone as far as trying to recreate Tsunade's fighting method, but the technique was a lot more complicated than the old woman had said. Even without it though, every punches and kicks Naruto threw out were already dangerous and shouldn't be underestimated.

The giant white panther roared angrily and tried to slap Naruto with its paw but the blond had already jumped out of harm way after landing a successful hit. As its body was twisted since it was in the middle of its attack, the white panther couldn't react to the blue fire wheel came flying at its face from above. It was Kuroka who had strike the moment she saw an opening in the panther's stance.

However, the fight was yet to end. Befitting its name of Panther King, the giant feline only spotted a few burnt on its face after Kuroka's attack. Spark flew and one of its claws easily stopped Leah's sword from approaching its neck.

"So you guys aren't pushovers like the previous ones. Fighting in this form is troublesome, so I won't hold back anymore…" The white panther said with a feral grin on its face before it began shrinking. From a giant panther, the white feline turned into a 2m tall panther and then, it stood up on its hind legs. Human features like blue hair, white skin gradually appeared before it completely turned into a human.

"…Come!" A handsome man with spiky blue hair and blue eyes who looked to be in his mid twenties said excitedly before rushing toward the group himself. Comparing to his panther form, his human form was a lot faster.

"Even after turning into a human, he still doesn't want to talk… Leah!" Naruto grimaced as he blocked a strong punch coming to his jaws and countered with a fist to the chest.

"Haha! This is fun, isn't it? Beat me first and I will listen to your words, devil!" The panther said as he grabbed Naruto's arm and lifted the blond into the air. The blue hair man then narrowly dodged a stab to his heart coming from Leah and threw Naruto toward Kuroka who was about to fire an Energy Blast. The black hair Nekoshou quickly caught Naruto and jumped just right on time to avoid Leah, who was sent flying toward them with a strong roundabout kick.

"…Strong." Leah muttered, her eyebrows slightly furrowed beneath her blindfold.

"The density of his Mana has increased, so its natural that his overall strength would increase as well…" Kuroka commented after some observation. Nodding at his Queen, Naruto made a signal with his hands before he quickly covered the distance and once again engaged the blue hair man in hand-to-hand combat. Thanks to his past experience fighting strong and overpowered shinobi, the blond firmly stood his ground against the panther-man, who has become stronger after his transformation.

"You are pretty strong, aren't ya? Tell me, are you a Rook?" The blue hair man excitedly asked after taking a punch to his left cheek.

"I'm no one's Rook. My name is Naruto Phenex, a Devil and a King. Are you ready to talk now?" The blond said after jumping away from the panther-man. Though on the outside, the two was quite equal in their combat prowess, but because of his pitiful amount of mana, Naruto was gradually growing tired. His breathing was harsh and quick, his body had several bruises and his fists were glowing red from punching the man's hard skin.

"Hoh… So you are here to recruit me? Interesting, for someone with such pitiful amount of mana to be so strong! Good! But I don't serve those weaker than me, beat me first, then I may think about joining you." The panther-man said before charging at Naruto with his claws outstretched. Spark flew as sword and claws clashed. The one who received the panther-man's attack was Naruto's Knight, Leah.

"Don't forget that we are here too." Leah quietly exclaimed as she parried his claws and countered with a quick slash toward his neck. The blue hair man had no choice but to parried the attack with his other arm because his forward momentum was making it impossible to dodge. Blood flew and the panther-man now had a bloody line running from his right shoulder to the middle of his chest.

"Tch." The panther-man jumped back to gain some distance and inspected his wound. If he had hesitated in using his right arm to deflect the attack, his neck would have been cut off. Though coming here to recruit him, the trio surprisingly didn't pull any punch back. Honestly, he felt like they were testing his strength and not the other way around. A feral grin appeared on his face as fighting spirit and determination to prove himself rose up in his chest.

'This is it! The thrill of a great and hard battle! I have been holing myself in this forest for so long that I almost forgot it! But... why isn't that woman approaching?' Just when the panther-man was wondering why the blinded knight wasn't pressing her attack, a shadow appeared in the sky and Kuroka, who had done nothing during their fight finally showed up. Hovering behind her were seven giant blasts of concentrated energy.

"Be judged by the seven stars… Grand Chariot!" The black hair Nekosou shouted as she placed both hands on top of each other, with her top hand having only the index and middle fingers spread out. Behind her, the seven giant blasts of energy forming the Grand Chariot constellation strongly flashed and flew toward the blue hair man. Seven consecutive explosions all happened at the targeted location and Kuroka landed beside Naruto with a satisfied smile on her face.

"Sorry for being late. That magic took more preparation than I thought…"

"No worry. Good job, Kuroka." Naruto complimented the black hair Nekoshou by patting her head and looked toward the cloud of smokes and dusts before him. Sure enough, as the smokes cleared away, the panther-man with blue hair was left standing in the middle of a large crater. Though his body was heavily burnt and he was panting harshly, the panther-man's eyes were still full of fighting spirit and motivation.

"…A final question. What piece are you planning to give me?" He asked while picking out a sheathed sword from his dimensional pocket.

"…Pawn." Naruto answered after pondering over it for a while. Hearing his answer, the blue hair man was stupefied for a second before he started laughing maniacally.

"Pawn? A PAWN? You want me to be just a fucking fodder piece? Are you fucking kidding me?" The blue hair man exclaimed angrily before unsheathing his sword and held it up, like the start of a low sweep stroke.

"If you are underestimating the pawn pieces then you are severely mistaken. In Chess, the strongest piece are no doubt, pawns. As someone who has exchanged fists with you, I'm sure that you will make the best Pawn ever with your versatile way of fighting. You are a master of hand-to-hand combat, but you are also capable of delivering devastating attacks from afar with your magic bullets and Cero."

"As a Pawn, with promotion, you can freely evolve into any other piece you want except the King piece during battle and obtain the benefit provided for the evolved piece. If you needed speed, evolved into a Knight, if you needed strength and endurance, evolved into a Rook. If you needed mana, evolved into a Bishop and if you needed a little of all, evolved into a Queen. Being able to adapt to any situation, isn't that better?" Naruto continued. Those were all his honest thoughts about the promotion ability of the Pawn pieces. If the panther-man was to accept the pawn pieces, all aspects of his strength would increase a little, and when necessary, with promotion, he could explosively increase what he needed the most. It was like an ace that could change the flow of battle.

"…Talk no more. I have made my decision…" With a sadistic grin on his face, the panther-man put his left hand on his sword. Though the outcome of the battle had been decided since he didn't have much mana left, he still wanted to go all out one last time. It was thanks to them that he finally realized his current way of living was wrong after all. For him, this was a sign of respect.

"My name is Grimmjow. Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez. Remember that name." The sword in his hand began glowing blue. A torrent of blue mana then came out of the sword and swirled around Grimmjow's form, creating tremendous gusts of wind in his immediate vicinity.

"His magical signature is becoming stronger and stronger… His mana is also becoming heavier and denser… This feeling… no doubt about it. Its…" Kuroka exclaimed with a grim face before creating several blast of energy in the air.

"…Balance Breaker…"

"BALANCE BREAKER - GRIND – PANTERA!" As soon as the black hair Nekoshou exclaimed, Grimmjow roared out the release command of his Sacred Gear and the blue torrent of energy strongly entered his body. An explosion of mana then occurred, causing dusts and debris to fly everywhere, obstructing Naruto's and Kuroka's vision.

The sound of metal hitting metal rang through the air as Leah blocked and parried Grimmjow's attack with her violet sword. Because of her constantly active barrier, the Knight didn't have any problem locating the blue hair's surprise attack. Though being able to block and parry all of Grimmjow's fast attack, Leah found it difficult to counterattack him. Compared to before, Grimmjow's form had changed drastically, becoming more suited for combat and with a tail that could act as a whip to boost.

Leah ducked to avoid a roundabout kick aimed at her head and stabbed Grimmjow's neck, but the blue hair man kicked her sword out of the way his other leg and began gathering a small ball of condensed energy in the palm of his hand which was pointed at Leah.

"Rasengan!" But before Grimmjow could fire a Cero at Leah, Naruto suddenly appeared before him and slammed a swirling blue ball of mana into his chest. The force behind the attack was enough to pushed the blue hair man back and inflicted serious damage on his chest after it exploded. The blond then fell to his knees, panting.

"Naruto-sama! Are you ok?" Leah asked worriedly while helping Naruto stand up.

"...I'm fine. I just used too much mana." The blond said with a frown. When he was still Uzumaki Naruto, he could spam thousands of Rasengan and still had chakra to spare. But now, he could only use 3 Rasengan with his maxed mana capacity. Considering the amount of mana he had used brawling with Grimmjow earlier, Naruto could only use Rasengan one more time at most.

"Poison Mist." Back to the battle, Kuroka called out as she released a green fog full of poison toward Grimmjow. A black magic circle resembling an Eight Trigrams then appeared behind her and out of it came an endless barrage of energy blasts. The black hair Nekoshou then put her index and middle finger of both hands into a familiar cross shape and called upon her chakra.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." Two bursts of smoke appeared on her sides and out of it came two other Kuroka who then covered their body in Touki and rushed into the poison mist. Looking at his Queen who was slightly panting after using his trademark technique, Naruto smiled. But the blond shook his head and concentrated on the ongoing fight inside the poison mist.

*ROAR*

Seeing the poisonous mist surrounding him, Grimmjow tried to get out but was stopped by the Kuroka Clones and the endless barrage of energy blasts coming from the outside. Without any other choice, the panther-man let out a mighty roar infused with mana, momentarily stunning both Kuroka's Clone and even Naruto's group outside the poison mist. He then pointed the palm of his bleeding right arm toward them.

"Gran Rey Cero." Light blue mana gathered in his hand, condensed into a ball before a gigantic pillar of destructive light was fired from it. The entire process took about 2s but the wide range and destructive power were impressive enough to make up for the time it took. The Poison Mist Kuroka created was blown away immediately along with her clones. Not stopping there, the destructive light pillar flew toward Naruto's group directly, creating a huge explosion upon contact.

"…Damn it, I'm out of mana…" Grimmjow weakly muttered before coughing up black blood and fell to his knees. His decision had come a little too late, the poison had already affacted his entire body and he was out of mana to fight against it. His Balance Breaker released itsel and Grimmjow coughed up black blood once more.

"…Its your lost, Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez." Naruto said while approaching the blue hair man. Just right before his group was hit by Gran Rey Cero, Kuroka had ejected her strongest barrier and put all her mana into it, saving the three of them. However, as a result of exhausting her reserve, the black hair Nekoshou had fainted and was being protected by Leah.

"The winner gains all. Do whatever you want." Grimmjow exclaimed and closed his eyes. Though he was wild and crazy for battle, the blue hair man still had his own code of honor. He would accept whatever punishment or demand Naruto gave him.

"Do you want to join my peerage as my Pawn?"

"Why the need to ask? I'm the loser and you're the winner." Grimmjow had already decided, but he still wanted to ask. He wanted to see what kind of person the man before him was. And he soon got his answer.

"I don't want to force you. I want you to join on your own and not because of the result of this battle. So, do you want to join?" Hearing Naruto's answer, Grimmjow opened his eyes to look at the blond before him. He was the low-class devil he had called when they first met. His mana reserve was low and the quality of his mana was also low, but his excellent way of using it had helped him stand his ground even against his Balance Breaker form.

His comrades were also no slouch either. The black hair Nekoshou was an amazing magician with a variety of spells, and the blinded knight's swordsmanship, perception, reflect and instinct were top notch. They were strong and reliable comrades. The three of them coming here had reminded Grimmjow of his reason to live which was to feel the exciting thrill of battle.

From the beginning, the reason Grimmjow claimed this forest for himself was so that strong peoples would come to fight him. But maybe he had enjoyed being the supreme being in this forest so much that he forgot his original intention. Because of Naruto's group, Grimmjow had remembered his purpose in life and realized that holing himself up in this forest anymore was meaningless.

Instead of waiting for strong opponents to come, wasn't it better to go looking for them himself? And so, with that thought in mind, Grimmjow accepted the hand Naruto offered.

"I accept."


End of C2.

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#Important Notes

-Kuroka - She can now use a wide variety of magic, including Ninjutsu taught by Naruto. Some of her magic might come from another series.

-Naruto's Rasengan - Rasengan is an Energy Manipulation type skill. As long as Naruto has an 'energy', he can use that technique. Mana is a type of energy.

#Character Information

Name: Leah

Age: 22

Gender: Female

Race: Human (Reincarnated Devil)

Piece: Knight x2

Rank: Low-class Devil

Affiliation: Naruto Phenex's Peerage

Height: 167cm

Weight: 56kg

Measurement: B90 - W60 - H89

Characteristic: Silver hair that reachs the middle of her back. Usually cover her blinded eyes with a piece black cloth.

Personality: Absolutely loyal to Naruto. Very hard-working and talented. Usually quiet and confident but quite shy around Naruto.

Ability: [Universal Perception] - Able to clearly 'see' things within a limited space. Give 360 degrees vision within a limited space.

[Expert Magic-Swordsmanship] - Use swords efficiently. Use Magic efficiently. Can infuse swords with magic, elements.

[?] - ?

History: Chapter 3

This character is based on: Sword Maiden (Goblin Slayer), Kirito (Sword Art Online) and Rimuru (Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken)