I do not own Persona 3 and Senran Kagura!

Hey guys, I back with Chapter 2! To be perfectly honest with you guys, I didn't realize that this story would get this popular on the first chapter. It makes me happy knowing that you guys are into this story. Before we begin though, let me take this time to answer a few of your comments.

Thunder Dragon: I can understand what you mean, but there is a reason that I had Minato still be somewhat connected to the Great Seal that will play a major role in the main plot of the story.

Matemeo3: Minato still has access to all of his past Persona's. You could say his situation in the Senran Kagura-verse is kinda like NewGame+, where after starting a new game, you can carry over bonuses from past playthrough's and other things such as the Protagonists level, the removal of fusion level limits, and Compendium data. I did this so that way I wouldn't nerf Minato, but at the same time not make him too overpowered.

Cross: Which ever one feels would be best. Possibly harem, but I have yet to decide that part.

Mrcrazyman94: I can understand where your coming from, I was slightly unsure about that myself, but then I did some research on some of the characters from Senran Kagura and found a compromise for that. First off, lets say that Minato himself gets into a battle against a shinobi. Without a Persona, he could probably handle his own against the more lower ranked shinobi, but would probably have a harder time the higher you get in shinobi ranks.

Now with Persona's, depending on the level of the Persona and the rank or experience of the shinobi, you could argue that they're pretty evenly matched. But then there's Kagura from Deep Crimson. Kagura is quite possibly the strongest character in the Senran Kagura franchise next to Jasmine and in her true form, she could easily wipe out most of Minato's normal Persona's, given that she is able to annihilate yōma such as True Orochi without even trying and even stand up against Asuka in her Ultimate Mode and Homura in her Crimson Mode at the same time.

But after looking into it, I can say that if Kagura were to go up against Minato's ultimate Social Link Persona's (Surt, Cybele, Odin, etc.), then they could probably hold their own for a good while before being bested. But if there was a Persona of Minato's that I could say would stand up against Kagura, that would be his three strongest Ultimate Persona's: Thanatos, Orpheus Telos, and Messiah. Since Orpheus Telos and Messiah are pretty OP in the game anyway and Thanatos is pretty much the definition of brutality, I could say against one of them, Kagura would have a hard time. But thank you for mentioning that, it gave me a lot to think about.

Now then, with all of that aside, lets get into the next chapter!

(Opening theme: Burn My Dread -Spring of Birth ver.-)

Chapter 2 - Fateful Encounter

Ikaruga stepped out of the dorm house before turning back towards the door. " Come on everyone, we're going to be late."

"Right!" Asuka, Hibari, and Yagyū exited from the door not long after, with a rather exhausted Katsuragi following behind them.

As the five Hanzō shinobi walked through the streets of Asakusa, the blonde gave a drowsy yawn before wrapping her arm around Asuka's shoulder. " So sleepy... I'm dying here."

Asuka shrieked when Katsuragi's hand reached down and grabbed her by her left breast. "Come on, Katsu-nee!"

"It's my custom to fondle you every morning!" Katsuragi said with a lecherous grin. "I bet you're wide awake now!"

"Don't turn it into a custom!" Asuka retorted. "And you were the one who felt sleepy!"

While the brunette tried desperately to get the perverted blonde off of her, Hibari gave a bright smile to Yagyū. "It's another beautiful morning!"

The white-haired girl could only smile back.

Meanwhile, Ikaruga quietly led the group with a frown on her face as she recalled the events of yesterday after telling Kiriya about their little "encounter."

"Kugutsu?" all five Hanzō girls asked at the same time.

Kiriya nodded in confirmation. "As you probably know already, Kugutsu, or puppetry, is a shinobi technique that allows the wielder to freely manipulate a puppet and use it to toy with the enemy. And from what I've heard, you were attacked by a skilled Kugutsu Master."

"Kugutsu Master?" they all asked at the same time yet again.

Kiriya sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. "Yes, now can you keep it to one person answering for everyone?"

Ikaruga raised her hand. "What is this Kugutsu Masters' goals? Why did they attack us?"

"It is impossible to tell right now." Kiriya replied with a slightly grim expression before looking off towards the another part of the Ninja Room. "But right now though, we have a different problem to worry about."

The girls followed their gaze where they saw the blue-haired boy from before laid out on a small bed. After hearing from his students about what he did, Kiriya thought it best and safer for him to rest here in the Ninja Room until he regained consciousness.

"Kiriya-sensei." The teacher turned to Asuka, who gave him a worried expression. "Is Minato-kun going to be okay?"

It took a short moment before Kiriya replied. "...I believe so. Though once he regains consciousness, we will have to question him about earlier. He now knows about your secret, which means we will have to keep a sharp eye on him."

He then looked down at the silver gun-like object that the boy had earlier in his hands.

"And if what you've told me is true, then we'll also need to look into this 'special ability' of his."

"Something wrong, Ikaruga?"

The girls thoughts were cut off as Yagyū spoke up. The other three girls seemed oblivious to Ikaruga's distant expression as they were walking behind them and chatting among themselves.

"...I just hope nothing bad happens." she replied, causing Yagyū to look at her with slight concern.

"Welcome back to the Velvet Room."

Minato's eyes slowly opened to find himself once again in a familiar blue room. Looking ahead of him, he saw Igor sitting before him with Elizabeth and Margaret standing by his side. The elderly man grinned as he eyed a tarot card that was laid out on the table before him.

"It would appear that you have once again awoken to Orpheus." Igor said. "It would appear that your next journey has officially begun."

Minato looked around, slightly confused. "What...happened?"

"It would seem that you lost consciousness after once again awakening to your Persona." Margaret explained. "Since you haven't summoned one for quit some time, it is understandable why you would have such a reaction to the summoning."

"With you acting as the Great Seal for 2 years, and the months of peace you have been having in this new world, your mind has become somewhat not used to summoning a Persona." Elizabeth added. "That, and the fact that harnessed the power of the Universe outside of the Dark Hour."

That was understandable. Minato recalled the first time he summoned Orpheus at the top of Iwatodai Dormitory when he and Yukari were attacked by the Arcana Magician Shadow. He then remembered that was also the time when Thanatos ripped its way out of Orpheus to destroy the Shadow, which had caused him to be unconscious for nearly a whole week.

He would never get used to the mental strain of Persona summoning, especially when it came to using Fusion Spells. Using Armageddon would always give him a serious headache.

Minato then noticed the card that Igor was staring at and looked slightly surprised. "Is that...?"

The old man chuckled. "Indeed it is, young man." Igor gave a small wave of his hand and the card seemed to levitate off of the table and slowly spin so that the front of the card was facing the boy. Minato's eyes widened when he recognized the design of the card.

The Fool.

"As you probably already know," Igor began, "the Fool is represented by the number 0. It is empty, yet also filled with infinite possibilities. This is also true for the Wild Card."

Wild Card. That's right, the ability to wield more than one Persona at once. It was an ability he had put to good use back in his world with all of the battles he and his friends took part in.

Igor then snapped his fingers and more tarot cards appeared in the air, all aligned side by side with each other after the Fool Card. Each card had a different design, as well as a different number, but Minato could never forget what they each meant. Igor began to list off each card from left to right.

"Magician, Priestess, Empress, Emperor, Hierophant, Lovers, Chariot, Justice, Hermit, Fortune, Hanged Man, Death, Temperance, Devil, Tower, Star, Moon, Sun, and Judgement. Each of these cards represent a bond you have forged with someone from your world, and the Persona's held within each represent the strength of that bond. Just as they have protected you in your world, they will continue to do so in this one as well."

With that, each card vanished into blue particles that seemed to seep into Minato's body, causing a warm feeling to flow through him. However, he then noticed another card hovering before him, this one with the same Roman numeral as the Judgement Arcana: XX, or 20.

"Ah, it would seem I nearly forgot about that card. The Aeon Arcana, which represents your bond with a certain simulacrum back in your world." Igor gave a small chuckle. "I think you should know, she did rather well with the power that you granted her. Almost as well as you."

Minato couldn't help but smile. He felt he made the right choice in choosing Aigis to inherit his Wild Card after he "died". She was a precious friend to him and an irreplaceable living being, even if she was an android. Their bond that created the Aeon Arcana would never break, no matter what challenged it. The card disappeared before also seeping into Minato's body, causing the warm feeling to slightly return.

"Well then, I believe our time here is done for the day. Time marches on in your world." Igor said as everything began to go black for Minato. "Until next time, farewell."

Minato groaned as he groggily opened his eyes, only to find himself staring at an unfamiliar ceiling. Slowly sitting up in a bed, he looked around to find that he was in a small room that had a very traditional Japanese design to it. He wasn't quite sure how to describe it, but whoever designed it seemed to have some good taste.

Rubbing the side of his head, he tried to think of how he could have gotten here, since this clearly wasn't his apartment. Then he recalled the four girls from earlier and those puppets that he fought off. He wondered if they had something to do with why he was here. Perhaps they had brought him here for some sort of purpose.

Before he could try and piece that together though, the door slid open as an older gentleman entered the room. He noticed Minato sitting up in the bed and approached the bedside.

"Ah, good. You're awake." he said.

Minato stared at the man before casting his gaze around the room again. "...Where am I?"

"Somewhere safe." he replied. He then placed a clean Hanzō Academy uniform on the bed. "Meet us outside once you've finished changing. There is much we need to discuss."

He didn't get a chance to respond as the man turned and walked out the door. Minato changed into the uniform before hesitantly peaking out of the door. Seeing that the hallway was empty, the boy stepped outside the room and walked down the quiet hallway, mentally preparing himself for what he was about to face. He didn't know what to expect, but he needed some answers about why he was here.

Just as Minato was about to turn the corner into what he believed was the main room, he paused when he heard several familiar voices speaking among themselves.

"I'm trying to tell you Asuka-san, we can't just trust him."

"But you don't know that, Ikagura-san!" Minato was surprised when he heard Asuka's voice come from around the corner. "Didn't he save you guys?!"

"He's still dangerous, Asuka. If he has the power to summon monsters, who's to say he won't turn on us?"

"That's mean, Yagyū-chan! He helped us defeat the puppets! We should be thanking him!"

"Thanking him?!" Minato was almost startled by the anger he heard from the fifth female voice. "We're shinobi! We could've defeated those puppets no problem! We didn't need a civilian's help to beat those piles of wood! We were trained for fighting! He wasn't, and he still beat them!"

He then heard the voice of the man from earlier speak up. "You've made your point, Katsuragi. However, regardless of how some of you must feel, he is still our guest. We should treat him with the proper hospitality and make him feel safe and welcome here until we gain enough knowledge about him."

"...Alright, fine."

So they were going to question him about who he was. At least now he knew what to expect now. From what he heard, however, some of those girls didn't seem all too grateful for his aid the other day. Still though, he knew that what he did was the right thing, else someone would have surely died. With that, Minato decided to face what was surely the inevitable and finally turned the corner and entered the room.

"Ah, here he is now." He heard the older man speak. Looking up, Minato saw five familiar females standing together nearby. The boy remembered the four girls from before, but as soon as his gaze met Asuka, he could have sworn he could see an uplifting smile on her face.

"Please, sit." the man said, gesturing towards the floor in front of him. Minato approached cautiously, feeling on full alert just in case it was a trap. Slowly lowering himself to the ground, he sat in front of the elderly gentleman. "Now then, do you know why you're here, Arisato-san?"

"...Somewhat."

It wasn't a complete lie. He knew that they were no doubt here to question him about who he was, but that was all he knew.

"I see... Well then, I suppose introductions are in order. My name is Kiriya. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Wait, Kiriya? He had heard that name before. "Aren't you a math teacher at Hanzō Academy?"

The girls seemed surprised while Kiriya seemed intrigued. "Yes, I am. Where did you hear that from?"

"Eito and Kazuyo told me about you." he replied with a straight face. "Apparently they said you're a good teacher."

Kiriya smiled at that. "Ah, you must mean Takahashi and Agaki. I can say that Agaki is quite an intelligent young woman. Takahashi... well, he has his moments of inspiration from time to time."

"That sounds like him."

"Indeed." Kiriya nodded before raising his hand towards where the girls were. "Allow me to introduce you to my students. This is Ikaruga and Katusragi, the third-years of my class."

When Minato glanced towards both girls, the black-haired girl gave a polite nod of greeting, while the blonde seemed to be giving a slight glare towards him. It seemed she was still sour about him helping them before.

Kiriya continued. "These two are our first years, Hibari and Yagyū."

The pink-haired girl waved at Minato with a bright smile, but the white-haired girl forced the girl to lower her arm while flashing a suspicious look at him. Guess not everyone was very welcoming of his presence.

"And lastly, this is Asuka, our second-year. Though I'm sure you two are already acquainted with each other." Kiriya finished.

"We are." Minato replied, glancing at the brunette, who seemed to be trying to avoid his gaze. Wait, was she blushing? Why was she blushing?

"Well then," Kiriya started, "let us get down to business. Arisato-kun, I would like to ask you a few questions, if you don't mind."

Minato had expected this, though he wanted to check something first. "Before that, what do you know about me?"

The teacher stared at him with an unreadable expression before he then pulled out a folder and opened it up, scanning its contents. "Lets see... Minato Arisato, 17 years old, enrolled in Hanzō Academy more than a month ago. I see here that it makes no mention of either of your parents. May I ask why?"

"...They died in a car accident 10 years ago." He might as well tell them about that part since he asked.

He noticed how the other groups demeanor's seemed to change from suspicious and alert to surprised and somber. Even Kiriya gave him a sympathetic look. "I...apologize for bringing up such a sensitive subject to you."

"It's okay. It was long time ago." The boy shook his head, giving Kiriya the okay to go on. "Please continue. You were going to ask me some questions?"

"Ah yes, very well then. First of all, do you know what a shinobi is?"

Minato blinked, looking slightly confused. "...What?"

"I suppose I should explain then." Kiriya admitted, before he began his explanation. "You see, in the past, shinobi were once servants of the feudal lords that ruled Japan in the past and specialized in different tasks such as espionage, subversion and assassination. But then when influx of western culture came to Japan and the feudal system collapsed, the story of shinobi faded into legend."

To be honest, this story was already beginning to sound a lot like something out of a manga that Junpei or Kenchi would read. He nodded to Kiriya, waiting for him to go on.

"Shinobi still exist today, although we now work in secret, mainly working for politicians and heads of corporations." Kiriya explained. "But there were those who hired shinobi as tools for their own self-interests, causing the government to confront us for the crimes we committed. This created the rift between Good Shinobi who serve the law and Evil Shinobi who break the law."

Minato stayed silent as he let the information sink in for a moment. He hadn't expected this to be what Igor had warned him about when he said that he would get involved in a much different conflict. He had to admit, it was an unfathomable concept, such an insane suggestion that had he not experienced the strangeness of the Dark Hour and climbed the unnatural creation that was Tartarus, he would have thought they were lying.

But they were not. That much was clear to him. They were being completely truthful to him.

He noticed they were all watching him, waiting for his response to Kiriya's explanation.

"I see," was all he said after what he had hoped was a respectful period of silence.

"Do you have any questions before we continue, Arisato-san?" Kiriya asked with a serious expression.

"No."

"I understand it may be a little too much for you to take in at once," Kiriya said, mistaking his abrupt answer for uncertainty. "If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. It is the least I can do in exchange for helping my students."

"Not that we needed it..." Katsuragi grumbled under her breath, earning he a light jab in the side from Ikaruga.

Kiriya ignored the blonde's comment and remained focused on Minato as he waited for his answer.

"No," he repeated, "It's sufficient."

They stared at him. He could understand why. Yukari had always said that he appeared apathetic and cold to approach. Attempting to get a rise out of him was next to impossible, not that Junpei lacked for trying. But they misunderstood. He wasn't as apathetic as he used to be, he merely saw things in a different light.

"Very well then." Kiriya said while folding his fingers together. "We have told you who we are. So if you don't mind, we would like to know who you are."

This was it then. He knew he could try and lie to them to keep his power a secret. He wasn't like that though. They had told him who they were, it was only fair that he do the same.

"How did you defeat the puppets?" the man asked. "My students claim that you summoned a creature by shooting yourself in the head with a weapon."

He then reached around and held out a silver, gun-shaped object in his hands for the boy to see. "This weapon, I believe. What is this weapon?"

Minato was inwardly surprised. He had not noticed that his Evoker was missing when he woke up earlier.

"It's not a weapon." he replied to Kiriya's question. "It's my Evoker."

They once again stared at him, this time with slight surprise. It was Ikaruga who spoke first. "An Evoker? What is that?"

"It lets me summon my Persona's."

"Persona's? And what are those?" Kiriya asked curiously.

Minato slightly reached his hand out. "I can show you, if you'd like."

Kiriya eyed the boy, as if trying to scan for any sign of deceit. After what felt like a good long while, Kiriya seemed pleased enough and handed him the Evoker. Minato held the gun-like object in both hands and eyed it for a moment.

Their eyes went wide when he raised the Evoker and brought the barrel to the side of his head. Asuka reacted first and stepped forward.

"Wait! Minato-kun-"

He pulled the trigger and instantly felt chilling power spread through his mind, letting it gather and reach into his psyche, calling out to the countless manifestations that were stored within him.

The familiar form of Orpheus manifested above and behind Minato, his lyre resting on his back and his height made it so his head nearly touched the ceiling. The Persona was motionless aside from his hair slightly blowing in a non-existent breeze, his red eyes staring blankly down at the Hanzō group.

The silence that followed he predicted, as did the exclamations of surprise once the silence had run its course.

"That's the monster we saw; the one that beat those puppets!" Katsuragi managed to shout out, putting all of her fellow shinobis' thoughts together in one simple statement.

"What...is it?" Asuka asked, since this was the first time she had seen the blue-haired boy summon such a creature.

"Orpheus," he couldn't help but add veneration to his tone.

"What?" Hibari asked with her head cocked to the side innocently.

"Orpheus." Kiriya corrected her, his eyes wide with interest as he observed the floating being. "According to Roman mythology, he was the son of Apollo, a god once associated with arts such as music and poetry before he later transfigured into the God of the Sun. Apollo gifted Orpheus with a lyre that had originally been passed down to him by Hermes, and he had become incredibly skilled in music that he came to be called the Master of Strings. After his wife Eurydice passed away, Orpheus was so distraught that he traveled to the underworld and used his music to persuade Hades to allow him to return with his wife as long as he walked in front of her without looking back until they both made it out. However, after he made it out, he turned around before she could, and she disappeared forever, resulting Orpheus becoming an apostate and spurned all the others gods aside from his father. His change in attitude resulted in his death after he was torn apart by followers of the god Dionysus and his head floated down the Hebrus, singing sad songs until it was buried under the island of Lesbos."

The girls stared at him in awe at the large amount of information that their teacher just dropped on him, while Minato smiled. Orpheus was the very first Persona he awoke during the Iwatodi Dormitory incident before Thanatos ripped his way out of his body to slaughter the Arcana Magician. Orpheus had been by his side since the very beginning, during every Shadow battle. During every floor of Tartarus. During every moment of the Dark Hour.

"What exactly are these 'Personas'?" Kiriya asked again.

"Manifestations of thought," he replied simply. "Resolution of the mind given form."

They now stared at him with confusion. Yagyū spoke up. "What can it do?"

Minato was more than glad to demonstrate.

"Agilao."

Orpheus held out a hand and from its open palm and a wave of suffocating heat erupted, blasting into a wooden dummy stationed at one of the far walls of the room, causing it to be enveloped in a torrent of angry, orange flames before it became nothing more than a pile of ashes in just a few seconds.

"Whoa..." Katsuragi breathed in shock.

"That was...impressive." Ikaruga finally admitted.

"That's so cool, Minato-kun!" Asuka blurted out with a bright smile. "That must mean you're a shinobi, too! You have a guardian!"

A what? Minato wasn't sure what a guardian was supposed to be, but judging from what she said, he assumed it was supposed to be something shinobi related.

"I understand that you must be new to the concept of shinobi," Ikaruga said, "But could it be that you grew up with this power and thought of it as a 'manifestation of thought' when in reality it was just a guardian revealing itself?"

"A guardian is normally an secret animal that a shinobi can draw their powers upon. The only way to awaken a secret animal is by imagining one that the shinobi believes it connects with." Kiriya explained to him. "They can often be imaginary animals of myth or ordinary animals that we encounter everyday, but it mostly comes down to whether or not the animal of choice matches the wielders innate characteristsics. Though for a guardian to take the form of ancient historical figures? It's something that I've never seen before. I may require research."

"That's amazing Minato-kun!" Asuka smiled at him. "You're a special shinobi!"

Minato closed his eyes. From what he had heard so far, guardians or 'secret animals' were somewhat like Persona's in a way. The initial Persona's of his fellow SEES members were mostly representations of their innate characteristics as well, like how Mitsuru first summoned her Persona, Penthesilea, to protect her father from Shadows. There was also Akihiko and Shinjiro's initial Persona's, Polydeuces and Castor, which represented their brotherly relationship, and Ken's Persona Nemesis, which represented his desire for revenge on his mothers killer.

However, it seemed that each shinobi could only access one creature, while he had access to many thanks to the Wild Card. He wanted to prove that he was far more different from them than they really thought.

He allowed the power that summoned Orpheus to recede back into his psyche, resulting in the Persona to vanish. He delved back into the Sea of Souls to try and search for the right manifestation to call upon. It didn't take long for one to volunteer.

He raised the Evoker back up to the side of his head, letting the tip kiss his skin before pulling the trigger without a second thought.

"Apsaras."

Familiar power flowed through him, accompanied by a pale skinned, female creature with dark blue hair appearing behind him.

"Impossible!" he heard Ikaruga exclaim.

"It look beautiful!" Hibari beamed.

"Holy crap! Did it just change gender?!" that was no doubt Katsuragi.

Ignoring their comments, he focused on his newly called Persona.

"Bufula."

Apsaras raised one of her hands towards another wooden dummy. In just a matter of seconds, the entire dummy became completely surrounded by a thick layer of ice. Eventually, the ice shattered along the rest of the dummy, turning it into broken chunks of frozen wood.

He could see the flickers of doubt in their eyes. He knew he couldn't explain with words what a Persona was without them hand waving it away as another function of guardian. He could only show them, and though twice he had demonstrated the elemental powers a Persona wielded, he still had a third he could show.

Without warning, Minato pulled out a freshly sharpened pencil from his pants pocket before bringing his arm out. Before anyone could protest, the blue-haired boy stabbed the tip of the pencil into his forearm before removing it, feeling the lead cutting into his skin. When he lifted it, they all could see the ugly tear in his arm and the blood leaking down the limb.

"Arisato-kun!" Kiriya exclaimed with surprise. "That was not necessary!"

"Why would you do that Minato-kun?!" Asuka cried out, her normal cheer forgotten at the sight of an injured friend.

It wasn't a question of what, but one of why. If they still needed proof, he would give it to them the only way he knew how.

"Dia."

Apsaras brought her hands up as a warm glow spread across Minato's arm. He held up his limb for them to see and waited as the healing spell did its work. The skin re-knit, closing over with methodical slowness. The bruises followed, the dark pigments in the flesh faded second by second until only pink, healthy skin remained. he clenched his hand, showing them the unblemished arm that had bled real blood not seconds ago.

He saw the stunned faces of those around him, and knew he had succeeded.

"Not a guardian," he repeated, saying every word slowly for emphasis, "Persona."

In the end, Kiriya allowed Minato to leave. School was about to start and he didn't want to be responsible for the boy to be late for his classes. Minato promised the teacher that he would keep this mornings events secret, and Kiriya once again could tell that he was telling the truth.

Ever since Minato left, looks of shock were plastered on Asuka and Katsuragi's faces, and Hibari seemed more fascinated. Ikaruga and Yagyū both seemed to keep their emotions in check, though one could tell that the bombshell the blue-haired boy dropped on them earlier was still fresh on their minds.

"Personas..." Ikaruga muttered the word in a low tone. "When you think about it, it certainly does sound different from our guardians."

"And after seeing what it did to those puppets, they're pretty dangerous as well." Yagyū added before taking a bite out of her dried squid.

Hibari gave a bright smile. "Then that means Minato-chan must be super strong!"

"ARGH!" Katsuragi suddenly punched her fist against the floor before standing up, looking quite peeved. "There's no way that guy could be stronger than a shinobi! Unless I see it for myself, I won't believe he's as good as us!"

"Katsu-nee," Asuka stared at the blonde with wide eyes, "You don't mean that you..."

Katsuragi then flashed a grin. "Oh, I mean it Asuka. I wanna fight that guy myself!"

The others stared at her with absolute shock. "Katsuragi-san! Why would you want to do that?!" Ikaruga exclaimed.

"Why not?" she replied with a tilt of her head. "I just wanna see how tough that kid really is, and unless he fights me, I won't be convinced that he could be as tough as us."

"But he beat up all of those puppets." Hibari spoke up timidly. "So wouldn't that already make him pretty strong?"

"Those were just puppets. I wanna see what he can do against an actual shinobi." Katsuragi said while waving her hand dismissively before turning towards her teacher. "How 'bout it, Kiriya-sensei? Do you think we could?"

Kiriya sighed as he put down the scroll he had been reading before looking up at her. "Katsuragi, you know that we don't permit fights with civilians. Though I suppose since he seems capable of handling himself, it could be fine. But unless he willingly agrees to take part in a training battle, I can't allow it."

After hearing his response, Katsuragi grinned while rubbing her hands together. Ikaruga saw this and pinched the brim of her nose. 'This can't possibly end well.'

"Arisato, are you still with us?" Minato glanced up from his desk towards, seeing Mr. Nakajima staring at him from the front of the class.

"Yeah. Sorry." was his only reply. In honesty, he was still trying to process the events of everything that had happened to him earlier. It was still hard to believe that five other students in this school lived secret lives as ninja's- er, 'shinobi', and didn't even attend normal classes. It was still a lot to take in, but hopefully he wouldn't have to get involved with them again.

Mr. Nakajima nodded. "That's good to here, then hopefully you wouldn't mind answering my next question. In Greek Mythology, Dionysus is seen as the god of wine and theater. However, can you tell me which god before him gave up their seat for him to take over?"

Minato thought on the question, but his thoughts were soon interrupted by a voice within his subconscious.

"Hestia."

"...Hestia?"

The teacher nodded with a bright smile. "That's correct Arisato. Good to see you're still paying attention. Before Dionysus became one of the 12 Olympians, Hestia was the goddess of hearth and home. However, because of the frequent arguing among the other Olympians, she decided to leave Mt. Olympus and gave her seat to Dionysus. I suppose even Greek Gods can act more like modern day mortals from time to time."

Several people in the class laughed at Mr. Nakajima's light joke and Minato slightly nodded, more focused on the Persona that spoke earlier.

'Thanks.'

"Thou art welcome."

...Was it just him, or was Orpheus being more vocal as of late?

Eventually, class ended and Mr. Nakajima left the classroom, allowing the students to converse among themselves. Minato was looking through one of his text books when he glanced up to find Eito and Kazuyo starring at him with concern for some reason.

"Hey, you doing okay Arisato?" the boy asked. "You've been kinda out of it this morning."

"Is it you headache? Are you feeling well?" Kazuyo asked with worry.

Oh, right. With everything that had happened earlier that day, he had almost forgotten about his 'illness' yesterday.

"I'm feeling fine now." he replied. "Just tired."

The two seemed relieved after hearing his reply. "Oh, good. Glad to hear that you're doing fine." Eito then grinned at him. "So, does that mean you're okay to hang out after school today?"

"Eito!" Kazuyo exclaimed while smacking his arm. "Arisato-kun just recovered and you're already trying to drag him out with you?! Be more considerate, would you?!"

"Okay, okay! Sorry about that." Eito replied while trying to calm the shouting girl.

"Good." Kazuyo then turned towards Minato, slightly blushing. "So, Arisato-kun, would you want to come over to my place after school? I can help make sure that you're fully recovered."

Eito's eyes widened before pointing an accusing finger at the brunette girl. "Oi, what the hell?! Weren't you just saying that we shouldn't be dragging him around just five seconds ago?!"

Kazuyo glared at the blonde-haired boy. "At least I'm doing it for his recovery! I bet you were planning on dragging poor Arisato-kun to the arcade and force him to gorge on junk food when he should be taking it easy!"

"'Taking it easy'?!" Eito repeated. "I bet you were gonna drag him to your place to do God-knows-what to him while he's vulnerable!"

The girls blushed even harder. "W-wh-what!? I would never do something like that to Arisato-kun!"

"Then why are you always starring at him throughout class while drooling?"

Kazuyo's eyes widened. "I drool while I stare at him?! Oh god, no wonder my chin always feels wet after class."

Eito pointed at her again with a grin. "Ha! You just admitted that you stare at Arisato!"

"N-no I didn't!"

"Well, I didn't hear you deny it either."

"Shut up!"

Minato stood up from his seat. "I think I'll just go home after school, if that's okay."

The two finally ceased their argument and turned to him. "Oh, o-okay then..." Kazuyo replied with a slightly dejected tone.

He felt a little bad for hurting Kazuyo's feelings, but he just wanted to spend the evening by himself for a bit so he could think about what happened that morning.

"Sure thing Arisato. You're probably pretty tired anyway." Eito said. He seemed to be fine that Minato wasn't in the mood to hang out, and he was glad about that.

"Alright! Class is about to resume!" Mr. Nakajima announced as he walked into the room, prompting the other students to return to their seats.

As soon as school ended, Minato immediately made his way towards his apartment. Since he didn't have work tonight, he could spend the rest of the evening thinking over this mornings events while going through his assignments. While everything he had just learned from Kiriya hadn't been as jaw-dropping compared to the Dark Hour and Tartarus, it wasn't as far-fetched sounding either.

To think that the 'ruling power' Igor had warned him about were super-powered ninjas. He would have to prepare himself in the event he were to come across more shinobi. Still though, it was surprising to him that Asuka was actually one of those shinobi's. She didn't really strike him as someone who would be an fighter, but more like your average high school girl that you saw walking down the halls. Oh well, guess there really is more to people than what you get from first impressions.

Before he knew it, Minato was already standing on the steps of his apartment complex. It was a fairly simple building that didn't have any really noticeable features that set it apart from most other apartments, but it was his new home. Thankfully the rent was cheap despite how nice the rooms were. With him working only part-time work, he wouldn't be able to afford a more expensive place.

He approached his room located on the second floor and was about to put his key into the lock when he paused. Something felt...off. Minato could've sworn he could hear voices coming from inside his room, even though he lived alone.

He slowly reached into his pants pocket, slowly drawing his Evoker before quietly turning the key and opening the door.

"Katsu-nee! We shouldn't be doing this! We'll get in serious trouble if we get caught!"

"Relax, Asuka. We'll be fine. Besides, don't you wanna know more about this guy too?"

"Katsuragi-san, I honestly agree with Asuka-san that snooping around Arisato-san's apartment isn't quite a good idea."

"What if Minato-chan finds us and gets mad at us for sneaking around?"

"Don't worry Hibari. I'll protect you if that happens."

...Honestly, he should've expected to find the Hanzō shinobi snooping around. How they could've possibly gotten into his apartment room without anyone noticing was beyond him. Deciding he no longer needed to hide his presence, Minato put his Evoker back into his pocket and closed the door behind him loud enough so that they could hear.

The five girls quickly spun around to see the blue-haired boy starring at them with his usual black stare. Asuka's eyes widened before raising her hand with a sheepish smile. "H-hey Minato-kun. How was you day...? Uh... Welcome home."

"..." Minato remained silent and straight faced, making the brunette worry that he was mad at them, but was keeping his anger hidden.

"W-we're sorry, Minato-kun! It was all Katsu-nee's idea!"

"My idea?! It was Yagyū's idea to follow him around the school!"

"Only because you wished to learn more about him."

"Guys, stop fighting! You're gonna make Minato-chan more mad!"

Instead of speaking up to try and stop them, Minato simply walked over to one of the walls where a portrait had become slightly crooked from the girls going through his room. After correcting it, he turned to face the arguing girls and clapped his hands together as loud as possible. It seemed to work as the five Hanzō girls turned to look at him.

"Since you're here," he started, "would you like some tea?"

It was still surprising to the five girls that Minato wasn't angry at them for sneaking into his apartment. Then again, like he mentioned earlier, it was next to impossible for Minato to lose his cool or even to get a rise out of him despite Junpei's numerous attempts. The Hanzō shinobi situated themselves on a couch next to the coffee table while Minato brought out some tea before sitting down on another couch across from them.

Once they got themselves situated, Ikaruga bowed her head in thanks. "Thank you for your hospitality Arisato-san. Again, I would like to apologize for the trouble we may have caused you."

Minato shrugged. "It's fine. I'm used to people breaking into my room by now."

He still remembered that one time Aigis broke into his room after she joined SEES to wake him up. Then there was that other time during their school trip to Kyoto when she broke into the hotel room he, Ryoji and Junpei were staying in and tried to switch rooms with the latter two so she could be alone with him. He felt a slight shiver crawl up his spine upon remembering that incident.

"So, can I ask why you were following me around today?" After asking his question, he noticed the uncomfortable and hesitant looks they gave each other.

Asuka spoke up first. "Well...we were hoping you could tell us a little bit more about yourself."

Minato raised an eye brow. That was it? That was all they wanted to find out? "...Sure. What do you want to know?"

"Where are you from, Minato-chan?" Hibari asked innocently.

The boy thought on how he should answer her question. It was quite possible that Gekkoukan High or Port Island didn't exist in this world if even the Kirijo Group didn't exist, but he might as well be sure.

"Have you heard of a place called Port Island?"

The girls responded with looks of confusion before Ikaruga responded. "Not that we've heard of. Is it somewhere outside of Japan?"

"I guess you could say that." he replied. Guess that answers his question.

"Does that mean you're a foreigner?" Yagyū asked.

"No."

"So you really are Japanese?" Asuka asked as well.

"Yes."

Hibari smiled. "You're pretty quiet Minato-chan. Just like Yagyū-chan!"

Minato glanced at the white-haired girl and saw the mild blush on her face, though he suspected it had nothing to do with the fact that they were similar.

"Are there any other questions?" he asked.

"I have one!" Katsuragi finally spoke up as she shot up and leaned forward so that she was in Minato's face. "Tell us more about those things that come out of you!"

The boy had to slightly lean back at how uncomfortably close she had gotten to him. "...You mean my Personas?"

"That would be it." Ikaruga said as she grabbed Katsuragi by the back of her shirt collar and forced her to sit back down. "We were hoping that you could tell us more about them, if you wouldn't mind."

He should've guessed that their conversation would lead to this. It didn't surprise him that they would be curious about his Persona's, though since they were willing to share their true identities to him, he might as well share a little bit about his Persona's.

"What do you want to know?"

"How many do you have?" Ikaruga asked. "Given that you summoned two different Persona's this morning, does that mean you have multiple?"

"169." he responded almost immediately.

There was a brief silence that followed after his reply, blinking as they did a double take. "What was that?" Asuka asked, looking quite stunned.

"I said I have 169 Personas." he repeated.

"Whoa..." Katsuragi whispered before she leaned forward again, looking quite interested now. "How long have you had them?"

"About three years." And that included the two years he spent as the Great Seal.

Hibari slowly raised her hand. "Are they...strong?"

He nodded. "Some more than others."

"Which one's your strongest?" Yagyū asked.

"I can't really tell. Too many to count." In all honesty, if he had to choose which one was his strongest, it was probably a tie between Messiah and Orpheus Telos, though he only used those two as a last resort.

"Can I ask one more question?" Katsuragi asked, making Minato nod. "Why did you decide to help us?"

...Yep, he should've guessed they were still probably pretty sour about him intervening in their fight against the puppets. Though he still didn't quite understand why. Ever since his parents died, he spent the next ten years of his life in apathy. It was only during the year he spent with SEES that he truly felt alive. The time he had spent with his new friends had made him develop the exact opposite of people refer to as bystander syndrome. Instead of simply ignoring an attack on someone and expecting someone else to take care of it, Minato would always be the first to act and protect that person. This was what encouraged him to help protect his fellow SEES members if they ever got cornered during their battles against Shadows.

Though unlike his friends, who had always been grateful for his help, it was the exact opposite for these girls.

"...Would you have felt better if I simply left you alone to quite possibly die?"

The looks of surprise at his counter question were somewhat pleasing, but he still wanted to know why they were mad at him just for helping.

"It's not that we aren't grateful, Minato-kun." Asuak defended. "It's just that, well..."

"We're shinobi. We can take care of ourselves." Katsuragi interrupted. "Besides, it was our first mission outside of school premise. It was a huge deal for us!"

"...I see. Then I apologize for stepping in and I hope I can do something to make up for it."

Once again they were stunned by his reply. He had just apologized for his part in aiding them and was willing to accept anything to make up for it. However, it seemed to be the reply that Katsuragi was waiting for as she stood up from her seat again with a grin.

"Oh, I think you could do something for us?"

Minato looked up at her expectantly. "What's that?"

"Are you sure that you want to do this, Arisato-kun?" Kiriya asked as the two walked down an empty hallway.

Minato had to admit, he had been completely unprepared when Katsuragi demanded that he and the five Hanzō shinobi participate in a practice battle. The last thing he had expected after meeting them was for them to pick a fight with him. However, if fighting them would help build a better relationship with them, then he was willing to go through with it. If he was going to be hanging around these girls more often in the future, he might as well try to be on good terms with them.

"It's fine. I can handle myself." he replied. "Besides, I think it'll be interesting."

"I still think I should warn you Arisato-kun, these five girls have been trained to be powerful and skilled fighters. I just hope you know what you're getting yourself into."

Minato nodded at the advice before Kiriya opened a pair of double doors that led to a large gym-like setting. Standing on the other side of the room, he spotted the Hanzō girls standing side-by-side facing him.

"Yo!" Katsuragi called out. "About time you showed up! You ready for this?"

"Katsuragi-san, please don't rush Arisato-san any further." Ikaruga scolded before turning towards him with what he could only assume was an apologetic look. "I apologize for this, Arisato-san. You don't have to go through with this if it makes you uncomfortable."

"It's fine." he replied calmly.

He then noticed Yagyū's attention was on a peculiar item on his person. "What's that for?"

'That' was a long luggage bag that looked like one used to carry an instrument like a flute or a saxophone. He set the box down and shrugged. "Just extra insurance."

He opened the box up and reached into it with one hand before slowly lifting up the item within. It was a long one-handed sword with a gold-colored guard and pommel. The boy gave it a few practice swings, feeling satisfied with how easy it was for him to maneuver. He turned towards the others, seeing the slight looks of surprise from them, though Asuka gave a smile.

"That's cool you can use a sword too, Minato-kun! But I bet you can't use one as good as me!"

Oh, they would find out eventually. This weapon had been with him ever since he joined S.E.E.S, given to him my Mitsuru and created by the Kirijo Group to kill Shadows. It was this very weapon he brought with him to battle against Nyx Avatar and used to stab her in the head. He would be lying to himself if he said that holding his trusted sword didn't bring back some nostalgic memories. Using what little amount of the power of the Universe Arcana he still had, he had crafted this sword from memory for this battle.

"Ready when you are." he stated while pointing his blade towards them.

Asuka smiled. "Alright then Minato-kun. Lets do this girls!"

With that, the five shinobi each made a sign with their hands before shouting out, "Shinobi Tenshin!"

Minato was surprised to see their bodies suddenly begin to glow before reappearing in the same clothes he saw them in the other day. However, this time he noticed Asuka was dressed in what appeared to be a school uniform composed of a yellow vest over a white shirt, a green plaid skirt with a matching tie, black thigh-high stockings with brown loafers. She still had her red scarf around her neck and around her waist were straps that held a pair of wakizashi, or otherwise called short swords.

Asuka unsheathed her dual swords and pointed one towards him and smiled again. "Lets do out best, Minato-kun!"

He felt the corners of his mouth twitch a little as he forced back a smile. This girls positive behavior was beginning to rub off on him and was increasingly becoming too damn likable.

"I always do." he replied.

"Is everyone ready?" Kiriya asked as he raised his hand. Seeing them all nod, he swiped it down. "BEGIN!"

BGM: Unavoidable Battle

Asuka lunged forward with Ikaruga and Yagyū close beside her while Katsuragi and Hibari stuck close behind them. Minato quickly drew his Evoker from his pocket and trained it towards his head.

"Orpheus!" A single shot rang out as his Persona manifested in front of him. Orpheus grabbed his lyre from his back and blocked a strike from both Asuka and Ikaruga. The Persona then swung his lyre and sent the two flying back before turning his attention towards Yagyū, who thrust her paper umbrella forward like a spear.

An umbrella, he thought, was a peculiar choice of a weapon. It was the last thing he expected someone to use in combat. Then again, Akihiko was able to kill Shadow's with only his fists and Koromaru could wield a kunai knife despite being a dog, so it probably wasn't too ridiculous.

Orpheus reached out and blocked the blow from Yagyū with his forearm before punching at her with his free arm and sent her flying towards where Asuka and Ikaruga landed.

"Heads up!" Minato looked up and noticed Katsuragi was already in the air above Orpheus and dropping down towards him, one of her gold boots pointed towards him.

"Orpheus, Assault Dive!" Minato gave the command and Orpheus swung his lyre with more power than before, striking Katsuragi's incoming boot. Eventually, Orpheus overpowered Katsuragi and sent the girl crashing into the far wall before she fell to the floor, grunting in pain.

"Damn, that guy can hit like a truck." she said to herself as she picked herself up.

"Are you alright, Yagyū-chan?" Hibari asked with concern as she knelt beside her.

"I'll be fine, Hibari." she replied as she too got up. "But he's really strong."

"Do you wanna stop?" Minato asked. He didn't want to hurt them too much, and he most certainly didn't want to end up seriously injuring them accidentally. He didn't want to go too overboard against them in this battle and give them more reason to hate him. That's why he planned on using him more weaker Persona's against them instead of having Satan and Helel go full-blown Armageddon at the start.

"Oh, no way!" Katsuragi exclaimed while pointing at him. "We only just started the fight! There's no way we're ending it this early!"

"Please don't hold back, Minato-kun!" Asuka added as she also stood up. "We wanna have a serious fight, so don't go light with us!"

Well, if that's what they wanted, then he could do that. "Orpheus, Maragion!" The Persona strummed his fingers along the strings of his lyre, which was followed by a series of explosions. The five shinobi quickly got out of the way as explosion after explosion rang out all around them, making them feel the searing heat.

Suddenly, Ikaruga charged out of the flames so fast that she almost looked like a blur, unsheathing her katana and swinging it towards Orpheus. The blade cut into the Personas arm, making Minato grunt in pain when he felt the same pain inflicted upon Orpheus. Yagyū followed up after her by striking Orpheus hard in the chest with the tip of her umbrella, eventually making Minato grunt and Orpheus disappear.

As soon as Orpheus retreated back into his subconscious, Minato saw Asuka close in with her dual wakizashi in hand, prompting Minato to raise his one-handed sword and block her attack. As they each tried to keep the others blades back, Asuka smiled. "You're really good with a sword, Minato-kun."

"You as well." was his reply.

He then noticed Asuka's smile become apologetic. "I wanna say sorry in advance, Minato-kun."

Minato blinked with confusion. What was she apologizing for? He got his answer when he noticed movement out of the corners of his eyes and saw Ikaruga and Katsuragi coming at him from his left and right respectively at incredible speeds. They were fast, he had to admit, and Orpheus wasn't built for speed. He would need a Persona that was just as fast if not faster.

He removed one hand from his sword as he continued to block Asuka's wakizashi and drew his Evoker again, bringing it to his head. "Valkyrie!"

As soon as he pulled the trigger, an armored woman wielding two blades appeared riding a bright red horse, startling Asuka and the others. Valkyrie turned and registered Ikaruga and Katsuragi, who were still on a collision course with him. "Power Slash!" The Persona immediately responded to Minato's command and went at Ikaruga first, swinger one of her sabers and countering the girls attack. "Bufula!" While still blocking Ikaruga's attack, Valkyrie used her other blade and swung it in Katsuragi's direction, unleashing a blast of ice at her.

The blonde's eyes widened and was completely caught off guard when she was struck by the attack, sending her flying back before skidding against the floor. Valkyrie turned her attention back to Ikaruga and swung the same blade at her, forcing the black-haired girl to jump backwards to dodge. With that, Valkyrie quickly spun around on her horse and charged at Asuka, who was still having her own little sparring match with Minato. She was surprised when she saw the Persona coming at her and jumped away to avoid a downward swing from one of Valkyries blades.

Just when he thought he had some breathing room, he then noticed Yagyū and Hibari charging him next. Minato decided to dismiss Valkyrie back into the Sea of Souls and once again trained his Evoker towards his head. "Jack Frost!" A small, snowman-like creature dressed in a blue hat and boots appeared in front of him, giving off a hearty chuckle.

"AW! IT'S SO CUTE!" Hibari's comment resounded through the room, the happiness in her voice nearly making Minato crack a smile again.

"Be careful Hibari. It must be some type of trick." He had to hand it to Yagyū, she was quite the cautious and skilled one, which was what probably made her such a dangerous fighter.

"But look at it Yagyū-chan. It looks really harmless to me." In contrast, Hibari was as innocent as could be and looked like she wouldn't hurt a fly. And for some reason, he could sense something strange from Yagyū every time Hibari spoke to her in a cutesy manner. It was odd indeed, but that wasn't important right now. He would have time to figure that out later.

"Mabufula!" Minato gave the command and Jack Frost raised his arms towards them. Several blasts of ice shot from his hands and flew towards the two, making them both jump back as jagged blocks of ice appeared where they were standing earlier.

Yagyū landed perfectly on her feet while Hibari stumbled before landing on her rear beside her, glaring at Minato with puffed up cheeks. "That was mean, Minato-chan!" she pouted.

"I'm sorry, but it is a fight after all." he said apologetically. He then swiped his arm before giving another command. "Sonic Punch!" Jack Frost laughed as he flew towards them, bringing his fist back as he got in close.

Yagyū quickly got in front of Hibari in a protective manner and opened her oil paper umbrella, blocking the attack. Minato was impressed, her umbrella was more durable than he anticipated. Though it seemed she still fell for his trap.

"Yomotsu-Shikome!" The boy fired his Evoker again, and in Jack Frost's place was a lanky, pale figure with long black hair and dressed in dark robes with a piece of cloth covering its face, making its appearance that much more terrifying. For some reason, as soon as the Persona appeared, Yagyū felt her body suddenly become drained and severely weakened. It seemed Auto-Tarunda was already doing its work.

"Magaru!" Yomotsu-Shikome's hand, which was touching Yagyū umbrella, suddenly released a blast of wind that blew both girls back and sent them tumbling to the floor. "Again, sorry about that."

"Maybe you, but not me!" Minato looked up and noticed Katsuragi dashing towards him before jumping into the air, preparing to strike him with another kick. "Lights out, kid!"

He was inclined to disagree. Minato dismissed Yomotsu-Shikome and brought up his Evoker."Zouchouten!" A green skinned armored man appeared wielding what almost resembled a small pole with sharp, star-shaped ends. As Katsuragi got in close, the Persona of the Chariot Arcana reached out and grabbed her by the leg before her attack could even reach him, shocking her.

"Assault Dive!" Kouchouten tightened his grip on the blondes leg before throwing her towards Ikaruga, who was coming back for another attack. The black haired girl saw Katsuragi coming like a projectile and jumped over her as she crashed into the ground. Ikaruga swung her sword at the Persona, who blocked it again with his own weapon. "Zio!" Kouchouten raised his free hand into the air as a bolt of lightning came crashing down onto the girl, making her cry out as she flew back.

Minato quickly leaned back to avoid a surprise sword swing from Asuka, who swung with her other sword and prompted the boy to block with his one handed sword again. This time though, Minato was able to push her back and stepped back to get some distance between them.

"You're really strong, Minato-kun." Asuka smiled. "Do you wanna be friends after this?"

That was an odd question to ask in the middle of a battle, despite it only being an exhibition battle. She seemed to sense his surprise and continued. "I'm not lying, I really do think you're strong, Minato-kun. And I would really like it if we could be friends. So please?"

Honestly, the way she was giving him those puppy eyes was throwing him off guard. Her smile and positive demeanor were beginning to melt away his stoicism. A part of him really wanted to say yes to her, but he knew he had to remain on guard.

"...Sure?" Damn him and his weak self-control! Not to self: Do NOT underestimate this girls' overwhelming level of cuteness.

"Really?! YES!" she cheered with excitement. "Then lets do our best, Minato-kun!"

Minato nodded and raised his Evoker to his head once more. "Archangel!" From his subconscious, a heavily armored Angel with crimson red wings emerged while wielding a large broadsword. "Sukukaja!" Archangel raised his sword as a green aura briefly surrounded the boy. Already, Minato felt incredibly light as the enhancement spell did its work. "Holy Arrow!" The Persona's sword began to glow with Holy energy before it sprouted its wings and flew towards Asuka with said sword raised.

Asuka retaliated by crossing both of her wakizashi in an X formation and blocking the sword. After a brief stalemate, Archangel was able to overpower the girl and force Asuka to break her defense and jump back as the Persona's blade crashed into the floor.

"Now!" Asuka shouted. At that moment, Minato looked up and saw Ikaruga up in the air with her hand on the grip of her katana, ready to unsheathe it.

"Secret Ninja Art - Oukaensen!"

...What? The next thing he knew, Ikaruga unsheathed her sword, giving it a wide swing and (much to his surprise) unleashing blue flames in the shape of a large phoenix. The phoenix gave a sharp cry as it flew towards him at incredible speeds. Minato knew he had to act fast, but against something like this, he would probably need to up the anti.

"Sati!" A pale skinned woman dressed in a black and gold dress materialized in front of Minato, who held his arm out. "Agilao!" Sati reached out with both hands and unleashed a blast of fire towards the incoming phoenix, causing it to collide and releasing a huge explosion of red and blue flames.

"Me next!" Oh great, Katsuragi had already recovered from her sling across the room. She landed right in front of him in a hand stand. Then (again, much to his surprise), he briefly say the image of a large green eastern dragon appear behind her before she began to spin around on her hands like a top and began to create a huge tornado around herself.

"Secret Ninja Art - Tornado Spindle!"

Another one?! Minato grunted as he covered his face with his arms to keep the wind out of his face. He brought his Evoker to his head and dismissed Sati."Queen Mab!" A female figure with a green and blue striped body and long, fluffy pink hair appeared from his mind. As the tornado came close to Minato, Queen Mab raised one hand and stopped it effortlessly as she employed Null Wind to nullify the damage of the attack. Sparks flew as the savage twister pushed against the Persona's hand. Eventually, the attack receded and Katsuragi jumped back to her feet, looking up at Minato with shock.

"What the-! How'd you do that?!" she exclaimed.

"It's just my way of fighting." he replied calmly."Flauros!" In Queen Mab's place, a giant demonic creature with a leopard head on its chest appeared. "Mighty Swing!" Flauros gave a heavy swing of his arm and struck Katsuragi, sending her flying yet again.

After picking herself off the ground, Katsuragi looked up at him. "That... was awesome!" she exclaimed with excitement. "You really are tougher than I thought! Guess maybe I was wrong about you, kid." Well, at least it seemed he had finally gained her approval. "Still though, this is a fight and it ain't over until one side loses."

"I couldn't agree more."

Katsuragi gave a wide grin. "Y'know, I like you kid. Too bad we gotta beat you. Now Yagyū!" Minato looked up to see the white-haired jump into the air from behind the blonde and opened her umbrella as she pointed it towards him.

"Secret Ninja Art - Leg Sweeper!"

'Okay, do all of them have those things?' he thought. A giant blue squid appeared from behind her and began to spin rapidly in a fashion similar to Katsuragi while its arms acted almost like a giant saw around it, kicking up a large amount if dust with it. Looks like he had another one to take care of.

"Titan!" This time, another large figure emerged, only this one was more human-like with purple skin, a shaggy white beard, and fully adorned in golden armor on the upper body with a large sword. "Kill Rush!" Titan stomped forward and smashed into the squid with (surprising) enough force to cause it to disperse. Despite that, Titan had been struck by one of the squids tentacles in the process, causing the Persona to vanish as well as making Minato grunt and slightly stagger from the force.

From the sidelines, Kiriya was in utter shock at what he was witnessing. 'He was able to counter all three of those Secret Ninja Art techniques so easily. Just how strong are these Personas?'

Minato was feeling slightly exhausted. At this rate, he would probably end up using up all of his SP unless he could find a way to end the fight here and now. Still, he didn't want to go too overboard against them, not knowing how they would react if he did.

"Minato-kun, are you still holding back a little?" Asuka asked, much to his surprise. "We already said we wanted you to give us your best, so please don't hold back anymore."

"...Are you sure?" He really didn't want to go too crazy on them unless they were absolutely positive about it.

Hibari smiled brightly. "Of course we are! Lets all do our very best!"

Katsuragi grinned. "You're really tough Arisato, and that makes me wanna fight you at you're very best! So come on, let loose!"

Guess he really didn't have a choice in the matter. If they wanted him to fight harder, than he would. Still though, which Persona could he use to help end this fight quickly.

"Allow me to test these children."

The sudden voice from within his subconscious startled him slightly, but he couldn't help but give off a small smirk. Guess he didn't have to search too hard. Slowly raising his Evoker, he pressed it again his head once more.

"Persona." He pulled the trigger.

If it is A Fight You Desire, Than I Shall be More Than Willing to Give You One.

A booming voice rumbled through the air as a funnel of blue energy churned behind him, a figure slowly taking shape inside of it. A tall, muscular being with dark, crimson red skin and long, dark blue hair began to appear. A long black cape with gold fringes was draped over his shoulders and a large gold medallion hung from his neck. A cloth covered his lower body while his upper body was left bear. A dark grey crown composed of jagged horns rested atop its head and resting over its shoulder was a long blade with multiple sharp points jutting out from each side of the blades edge and curving upwards.

For Years I have Trained the Mightiest Warriors Throughout the History of this Prosperous Land. However, I Shall Now Decide Whether You are Worthy to Call Yourselves such.

The five Hanzō shinobi stepped back as the figure rose to his full height, his imposing frame casting a shadow over them. He removed his blade from his shoulder before stabbing the tip into the ground.

You Wish for Him to Not Hold Back. So be it. I, as the Child of the Great Izanagi and the God of Storms, Shall be the One Who Answers your Wish.

His glowing yellow eyes rested upon the Hanzō girls, who stared back with slack-jawed expressions. He cast a dark grin down at them.

I am Susano-o.

And I Shall Deliver Upon You a True Fight.

(Ending Theme: Beauty of Destiny -P4G Special Mix ver.-)

If you guy haven't guessed by now, Susano-o in this story will essentially play the role of Metatron from A Demon Among Devils, being the Persona that Minato will summon in times of political conflict between Good and Evil Shinobi. But since this is Senran Kagura and undoubtedly everyone worships Shinto legend, I will be using the Shinto Gods. I'll probably even add Amaterasu and Tsukiyomi later on down the line, but we'll see.

Anyways, I hope you guys liked this chapter and I hope I have lived up to your expectations so far. So if you haven't realized it yet, yes this story was inspired by A Demon Among Devils, but only a few parts were inspired from the actual story, like the scene when Minato first demonstrates his Persona powers to the Hanzō Group and when he first summons Susano-o.

Well, I'll see you guys later in the next chapter and I hope you guys liked this one.

This is Godzilla Boy signing off.

Next Time: The First Conflict