"T-This is…!" Naruto stared in shock and horror.
"What's wrong with her?" Illya tensed, haven't not seen the relaxed and self-assured Assassin caught so off-guard before.
"There are… things inside her body. Some sort of… magecraft-enhanced worms?" Naruto stared. "All over her body, her organs, her bones… even her nerves! They've burrowed into her and replaced a bunch of her body functions… and from the looks of it are feeding on her prana."
"Hm, sounds like Crest Worms." Illya said in disgust. "The lowest of familiars."
"There's more then that… the taint in her is concentrated on her heart." Naruto paused and a look of anger appeared on his face.
"What?" Illya pressed.
"From the looks of it, whoever did this tried to turn her heart into a makeshift Lesser Grail. It's a pale shadow to your own, but it could function as one, most likely. Though obviously more limited." Naruto answered.
"…Matou Zouken." Illya scowled. "He's the only one who could have done this."
"Also, there is a particularly large worm next to her heart that contains human soul, one around two centuries old. That's probably his soul." Naruto added.
"Why would he…?" Illya asked in surprise.
"It's probably how he survived this long." Naruto growled. "Taking the bodies of others as hosts. There was a man in my time who did the same."
"…What are you going to do?" Illya asked.
"First of all, let's see what Sakura knows about this." Naruto stated a he placed a hand on her head and grasped his soul with his Human Path, assimilating his memories… and gaged. "I will erase Matou Zouken. There will be nothing left of him to pass on, not a shred of his wretched soul! Matou Shinji as well!" he snarled.
"A-Assassin?" Illya asked, frightened.
It took Naruto a few moments to realize what alarmed her so, and he realized he had activated one of his Noble Phantasm unconsciously out of anger, specifically the Jinchuriki Form 1: Chakra Cloak that had already gone up to the fifth tail by the time he reigned in his temper and turned it off.
"Since she was adopted by the Matou from the Tohsaka when she was five, eleven years ago, she was thrown into the literal worm pit that Zouken calls a Workshop and had her body defiled by thousands upon thousands of Crest Worms almost nightly." Naruto said with barely controlled rage. "The worms also have different effects on males and females. In the males, they eat the bone marrow, making them frail and in some cases damaging parts of the body beyond repair. In females, however, they eat portions of her womb and the ones in her blood also act as an aphrodisiac. More so, they demanded more prana then her body can produce, so Zouken had Shinji rape her since she had her first period, and keep doing so on a regular basis. So she could get prana from his semen." He spat.
"…Damn, she had it worse then me." Illya muttered. "So… what will you do?"
Naruto was silent for a few moments as he examined the Fuinjutsu array beneath Sakura.
"With the exception of the Crest Worm that holds Zouken's soul – which Sakura does not even know about – all the other worms are currently inactive. Have been for a few days now, likely since she summoned Rider who is indeed Medusa, as I suspected." Naruto commented. "Even if destroyed, as long as I don't mess with the big one near the heart she'll be fine… however, many of them are intertwined with her nerves, so normal surgical extraction is not an option."
"Hm, maybe I can transmute them into something harmless." Illya offered.
"It might work." Naruto nodded slowly. "However, it might also trigger something we did not know about." He shook his head. "No, they need to be disposed of all at once, preferably instantly."
"If I had a good enough image of her body in my mind as well as a large supply of prana, I could probably use my Wishcraft to get it done." Illya mused.
"No, that would be a bad idea. It might trigger something in that tainted fake Lesser Grail." Naruto was quick to deny. "No, I know how to do this. But I will have to kill Rider first. There seems to be something connecting the Servant Contract with the Crest Worms. I don't know what it is, and I would rather not risk it."
"What about not wanting to push things with completing the Grail?" Illya pointed out.
"A second dead Servant won't make much of a difference. Plus, the form Medusa was summoned in was not her best possible one, unlike your Heracles. She's worth as much as an average Servant, while Heracles is worth two. As long as three more Servants don't die before I can cleanse the Greater Grail – or two with one being particularly strong – then things should be fine." Naruto sighed.
"If you say so." Illya shrugged.
"This Grail War might end quicker then I thought, the way things are going." Naruto mused before forming a few dozen Kage Bunshin and sending them outside. "Just having them pick up where I left off when Rin left."
"You're having them get rid of Gaia's hatred for humans?" Illya asked, having been told what he had been up to while they waited for Sakura to be brought there.
"Yes. I'll have to be here to send it to the Reverse Side of the World, but they can do the gathering and filtering part themselves. And, since there are so much more of them, they will work much faster." Naruto nodded as he got up. "Look after Sakura, will you? I need to get to school. Rider is probably near there, to stay on hand for Shinji."
"Sure." Illya shrugged, eyeing the unconscious girl with an unreadable look.
It was after school when Rin seemed to have decided to take matters into her own hands concerning one Emiya Shirou who had, quite stupidly, come to school without his Servant.
"Keep in mind that we can't afford Saber to die at this point." Naruto warned. "Even improperly summoned as she is, she's still worth as much as two regular Servants."
"Don't worry, my Gandr will merely knock him out or at least make him feel so terrible he wishes he's been knocked out." Rin assured him. "Then, I can take his Command Spells and add Saber to our own firepower."
"Fine, but if it looks like things are not working out, I'm stepping in." Naruto said firmly.
As he had pretty much expected, Rin could not bring herself to seriously harm Shirou allowing him to draw out the fight either by running away or blocking her attacks with Reinforced objects used as makeshift shields.
Their little chase through the school, however, ended when an area-effect spell was activated all over the place, draining the energy of the occupants, causing them to postpone their confrontation for the moment in favor of finding the culprit or at least a way to stop it.
Surprisingly enough, it was Shirou who ended up finding the one responsible, Rider, while Naruto and Rin were tricked into going to another magic sigil on the roof that was merely a decoy.
When the two arrived at the scene, Rider was engaged in battle with Saber who must have been either summoned there by Shirou via Command Spell or had had more sense than her foolish Master and come after him at school despite his personal desires.
"I need to act now, before she notices me and Astralizes to escape." Naruto decided, his Rinnegan flashing to life as a familiar jutsu formed in his hand. "Amenotejikara!" he whispered as he teleported behind and above Rider who was in midair facing downwards and thus in no position to dodge, in the unlikely event she even sensed him… which, unfortunately for her, was not the case. "Wakusei Rasengan!" he declared as slammed it into Rider's back, blasting her into the ground bellow creating a crater and causing a minor earthquake.
"Good job, Assassin!" Rin praised once she had steadied herself.
"Indeed, that was impressive." Saber admitted.
"Thank you." Naruto smiled. "Now, there is just one final matter to attend to." He stated as he teleported behind Shirou who was already being held by a couple clones are kunai-point.
"Assassin!" Saber exclaimed angrily.
"What are you…?" Rin began.
"I've told you, Rin. If you don't resolve this, I'm stepping in." Naruto cut her off having just taken his hand from the boy's head after scanning his mind with the Human Path. "Tell me, Saber, have you wondered why exactly why you're not getting any prana from this guy?" he turned to the Servant of the Sword.
"What does that…?" Saber began.
"The reason is simple: he's not a magus." Naruto told her bluntly. "The reason he is able to use a little Reinforcement is due to him cannibalizing his nerves to turn them into makeshift temporary Magic Circuits that fail as soon as he uses them, if not sooner."
"That's… impossible!" Saber exclaimed in shock and no little horror at his recklessness. Having been partially raised by Merlin, she knew a thing or two about magecraft, even if she did not personally practice it.
"Yes, normally he would be long-dead or at least crippled. The reason why he still lives, and why he summoned you in particular, is this!" Naruto reached into Shirou's body and pulled out a certain golden sheath Saber was very familiar with.
"Avalon?" she whispered in shock.
"W-What is that? What is this about?" Shirou demanded in confusion.
"It's simple, brat." Naruto said flatly. "You remember how your father kept refusing to teach you magecraft? It's because you're not a magus. Magi are born already possessing Magic Circuits which are extensions of their souls. Magic Circuits are not made. You're not a magus. You're a wannabe, a hack. And your participation in the Grail War ends here." he pressed his body against the boy's back. "Keiyaku Fuin." He uttered.
"W-What did you do?" Shirou asked in shock.
"I severed that frail connection you had with Saber. Also, you won't be needing these." Naruto pressed his hand against Shirou's Command Spells and transferred them onto his own hand. "Saber is now my Servant." He flared some power into the three sigils, solidifying the connection between them.
"Im-Impossible!" Saber exclaimed in outrage.
"I have the tendency to achieve that, yes." Naruto smiled before letting go of Shirou and shoving him away. "You can leave, brat. This no longer concerns you. Also, keep in mind that the next time you try to create Magic Circuits out of your nerves, you will likely die or be rendered a vegetable."
"You can't expect me to just leave Saber…" Shirou began outraged.
"If you want to stay, it will be permanently. I already dug out your grave. And I can make Saber put you there." Naruto gave him a smirk full of malice.
"Shirou, run!" Saber told him and, grudgingly, he obeyed.
"Well, at least that's done with." Naruto's evil smile dropped and his eyes turned to the crater. "Damn, I do need to cover that up." He formed some Handseals and the earth began to move, within seconds smoothing out and hiding the evidence of the battle.
"Naruto… was it true what you said? About him turning his nerves into fake Circuits?" Rin asked warily.
"Yes." Naruto nodded. "Now that he knows, he'll hopefully stop."
"And if he doesn't?" Rin pressed.
"Then he will die, which would still be a preferable outcome." Naruto said flatly.
"What?" the pigtailed magus demanded angrily.
"He has a Reality Marble, Rin." Naruto shook his head. "It's not complete yet, but should he be allowed to delve deeper into the world of magic, either the Mages Association will notice and give him a Sealing Designation, turning him into a lab rat at best, or a Dead Apostle will turn him since Reality Marbles are most often found in inhuman creatures like them, making him a useful pawn for whoever turns him."
"T-That's…" Rin was at a loss of words.
"You are… kinder than I believed." Saber admitted.
"I did not become the Savior of the World by being evil, Artoria Pendragon." Naruto chuckled.
"So, you do know my identity." The blonde sighed. "How did you find out?"
"Father participated in the last Grail War and kept records of the participant Servants." Rin explained.
"Ah, I should have considered that." Saber sighed. "Still…" she eyed Naruto warily "How is it that you can act as a Master? It should be impossible for a Servant to do so." she pointed out.
"I the Double Summon skill. It means I was summoned with the skills of a Caster as well." Naruto explained. "So… how pissed off are you right now?"
"…Less than I should, probably." Saber scowled. "Still, while I agree that it is best if Shirou is no longer involved in the War and the world of magic, I am not pleased by the fact that I am now unable to claim the Grail."
"Again, you mean." Naruto smirked, causing her to stiffen. "I know all about the last War and what Kiritsugu made you do. I'll tell you about it once we reach Rin's house. My work has only just begun tonight." He sighed.
As he expected, though, neither Rin nor Saber were pleased to discover a knocked-out Sakura, stripped naked and spread-eagle on the middle of a Fuinjutsu array that looked a lot like a pentagram with lit candles in the corners.
He didn't blame them, though. It did look like something out a bad satanic-themed movie.
"Naruto. Explain." Rin grin her teeth.
"The short version is that since your father gave her up to the Matou, Sakura has had her body violated by Zouken's Crest Worms almost nightly. Due to the side-effects of Crest Worms in females, Zouken also had Shinji rape her regularly since she had her first period. Oh, and to top it off, Zouken used pieces of the last War's Grail to turn he into a Lesser Grail like Illya." Naruto finished, gesturing at the white-haired girl.
"…" Rin said nothing, but tears were welling in her eyes and Naruto did not need to be an empath to feel the sheer shame and guilt skyrocketing in his Master.
"So, we're fixing her as much as we can, physically at least." Naruto concluded.
"…Very well." Saber nodded. "Do proceed."
Nodding, Naruto stepped into the circle and was suddenly engulfed in a golden aura. Without further ado, he plunged his hand into Sakure's chest – though notably it looked like it phased into her rather than punch a hole in her – and upon grasping the large Crest Worm that held the majority of Zouken's soul he activated his Rinnegan and grasp the old man's soul and began pulling at it. This was not just to take his memories or extract the soul from the Crest Worm, but to make use of the tethers it had to the other fragments of Zouken's soul, ripping them out of their current physical shells remotely.
Ten seconds into it, Matou Zouken died. There was no fight, no struggle. He simply died, ignorant of his killer. Without him, the Crest Worms that remained would stop following whatever instructions he had given them and simple become immobile, withering away as the prana they currently possessed was exhausted.
Nodding in satisfaction, Naruto removed his hand from within her body and instead pressed it against her chest, taking a few moments to fully discern what Sakura's energy signature was, without the energy from Zouken, the Grail fragments and the taint on them.
Before he moved on, though, decided it was a perfect time to end Sakura's time as a Lesser Grail as well as her connection to what Zouken's memories revealed to be Angra Mainyu within the Grail. And this happened with the application of a Keiyaku Fuin that cut her off from the Greater Grail and the evil that lay within it.
Then, he took the Avalon that he had liberated from Emiya Shirou and implanted it in her. Due to its proximity to Saber, it immediately went to work to heal its host's body. However, on its own, it would be unable to purge the Crest Worms that had integrated into Sakura to the point that they were considered part of her.
That was Kurama's job, Naruto decided and upon using his Kyubi Chakra Mode at full power, he used the Chakra Transfer Jutsu to impart on Sakura a one-tailed Chakra Cloak like he had to they whole Allied Forces when fighting against the Juubi… and then, pushed it further, into a one-tailed Blood Shroud that immediately began eroding at Sakura's body.
"Naruto!" Rin screamed in horror.
"Her body is full of Crest Worms, Rin. Some have been in her so long they've integrated into her body completely. They need to go." Naruto said firmly. "This form is doing a lot of damage to her, external and internal, but it also grants an incredible healing factor and add in Avalon's own healing she'll be perfectly fine. I'm also keeping her unconscious through it all, so she's not in pain." He assured her.
"Will there be any long-term consequences of this procedure?" Saber asked as she eyed the humanoid black and red fox Sakura had been turned into by the mixture of Bijuu chakra and blood.
"The repeated damage and healing are shortening her lifespan, but Avalon is mostly negating that problem. Otherwise, nothing." Naruto said firmly.
"I see. Very well, then." Saber nodded in approval. "What of the rapist?" her eyes narrowed in anger.
"I had a clone kill him messily as soon as I dealt with Zouken, just in case the old bastard took offense to having the last of his bloodline killed, unlikely as it was." Naruto said coldly. "By now, they will have disposed of his corpse."
"Good." Rin grit her teeth.
Thankfully, it only took ten minutes for Kurama's corrosive chakra to erode all the additions to Sakura's body, including most of the fragments the broken Grail, and then regenerate the lost parts with the aid of Avalon. When the Blood Shroud was pushed back into a Chakra Cloak, Rin, Saber and Illya gasped at the sight of Sakura's body, her entire skin having been eroded away, but it only lasted for a few seconds before Avalon and the Chakra Cloak healed that as well before being absorbed back by Naruto.
This left a once more naked Sakura on the floor, but she had obviously been changed by the experience. Color that she had previously lacked due to all the time she spent underground and being experimented on wit the Crest Worms was now returned to her skin. The purple her hair had been turned into by Zouken's alterations was purged turning her hair ebony black rather the near-black brown Rin's hair was. Her eyes that had originally been the same aqua blue as Rin's and then changed to purple by Zouken's alterations, had now taking the red from both Kurama's chakra and from the previous Lesser Grail, Irisviel von Einzbern, resulting in a striking violet. Lastly, her body had also apparently also gotten a growth spurt. Nothing too spectacular, just a centimeter in height and an accentuation of her already generous curves.
"Okay, we're done with Sakura. Illya is next." Naruto stated as he extracted Avalon from the still unconscious girl.
"Eh?" the albino blinked.
"We won't be able to fix all the damage done to your lifespan, but we should be able to insure you won't die before the Grail is even materialized." Naruto explained as he implanted the sheath in the young-looking girl that was actually his senior by almost a couple of years. Then, he infused her with Kurama's chakra as well but maintained the connection, temporarily granting her a replica of the Kyubi Chakra Mode.
"This… is not damaging me like it happened to Sakura." Illya remarked curiously. "Why didn't you use this on her?"
"I needed to erode the alterations and additions from her system." Naruto reminded. "Now, it will take longer then it did for Sakura, so why don't you all sit down so I can explain the situation to you?" he suggested.
"Okay, spill." Rin nodded as she eyed a clone dutifully dressing Sakura back up again.
"Basically, the Grail is currently corrupted." Naruto began. "It's because the Einzbern messed with the System before the Third Grail War. What they did was remove a lot of safety limitations on what sort of spirits can be summoned into the Servant Containers, and introduce a new Class, Avenger."
"What sort of limitations?" Rin frowned.
"Well, initially, only 'good' Heroic Spirits can be summoned. But without that limitation, we have freaking Bluebeard showing up as Caster in the Fourth War. It's not surprising they had to remove that limitation, they wanted to summon the Zoroastrian God of Darkness, Angra Mainyu." Naruto deadpanned.
"Hm, I assume that another limitation removed was on the level of Divinity of the summoned Servants." Saber remarked.
"Correct. You see, in truth the Throne of Gods is actually a subsection of the Throne of Heroes, for those possessing A rank and above Divinity." Naruto began.
"Like you?" Illya commented.
"And your Heracles, and Gilgamesh, as well as a whole lot of Demigods that kept ties to their Divine source during life, and obviously full Divine Spirits, Gods in their own right." Naruto nodded.
"I see. But why is the Grail corrupted by Avenger?" Rin frowned.
"Because Avenger is still in the Greater Grail." Naruto deadpanned. "Those idiots, the Einzbern, went through a lot of effort to be able summon Angra Mainyu, but forgot to make sure it will go back to the Throne after the Grail War is over like the Spirits of the Servants summoned in the seven standard Classes. So, since then, Angra Mainyu has been waiting for the Grail to be completed to be born into the world… and, well, erase humanity from existence. The fact that he himself is conceptually a wish-granting being allowed him to incorporate himself into the Grail."
"What do you mean?" Saber frowned.
"Angra Mainyu was originally a human that the priests of his village ritualistically tortured and sacrificed, forcing him to conceptually take upon himself All the World's Evil over the course of his miserable life just so that they themselves would not have any evil burdening their own souls." Naruto said in distasted. "That was the form the Einzbern summoned, hence why it was so weak. It was just some poor sap a bunch of assholes abused. However, when he died as a human, he ascended to Godhood. The same happened in the Third Grail War; when he died as a Servant, he ascended to Godhood, but he was trapped within the Grail and by its limitations."
"So… this War and the previous one are pointless since if we try to get a wish granted, we're ending the world?" Rin concluded.
"At the moment, yes." Naruto smirked. "Thankfully, I'm a stubborn bastard that won't back don't just because some God of Evil is trying to cheat me. Let me show you how I'm going to deal with it. Is that okay with you, Sakura?"
"…" the adopted Matou's eyes opened, giving him a sheepish look while everyone stared at her.
"How long has she been awake?" Illya, still covered in glowing golden chakra, asked in surprise.
"She woke up while my clone was dressing her." Naruto replied in amusement. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm feeling…" Sakura began as she sat upright "…Incredible." She admitted in surprise. "What did you do?"
"I fixed almost all Zouken did to your body." Naruto replied.
"…What?" Sakura asked in shock.
Smiling, Naruto gestured to a full-length mirror nearby and upon gazing into it Sakura froze. Slowly, as if she could not believe what she was seeing, she reached up and touched her face, watching the reflection doing the same. Then, she grabbed a strand of her hair and pulled it before her eyes, verifying that it was indeed no longer purple.
"This… this is…" Sakura trembled.
"Zouken and Shinji are also dead, so you don't have to worry about them touching you again in any way." Naruto said gently.
"T-Thank you… thank you so much!" she burst into tears.
Sighing, Naruto created a Kage Bunshin and it promptly went to comfort the crying girl since he would have had to drag Illya with him if he moved.
The room remained silent as they waited for Sakura to calm down and regain some measure of composure, but none of them made an effort to hurry her. After what she had been through, she deserved to take all the time she needed. After about half hour, though, she mostly calmed down.
"You asked me something before, Naruto-sama." Sakura mentioned.
"Lose the suffix, please, Naruto will do." He told her. "As for what I asked, I need your participation to show how I would get rid of Angra Mainyu from the Grail System." He explained.
"…I'll do my best, but I don't have much combat magecraft." Sakura admitted in embarrassment.
"Oh, don't worry, there won't be any combat involved. You don't have to actually do anything, just stand still. It will feel rather unpleasant but it's for your own health." He told her.
"Very well. I'm in your care." Sakura bowed.
"I just need you to open up the buttons of your shirt so I can touch the skin on your chest." Naruto told her before looking over to Illya. "Hm, looks like this is the best we can get." He decided as he withdrew his chakra.
"I do feel a lot more… alive." Illya admitted.
"Keep Avalon in you for now, it will lessen the strain on you from the Servants absorbed." Naruto instructed.
"Okay." Illya nodded.
"Now then, I just need you to stand still, Sakura." Naruto told the girl as he approached her, entering his Six Paths Senjutsu state, ten black spheres that were the Truth-Seeking Balls manifesting behind him before one moved in front of Sakura and shifted into a large bowl shape. "It might feel odd and likely unpleasant, but it's not doing you any harm. Quite the contrary, given what we're about to pull out of you." He said firmly.
"I'm ready." Sakura stilled her resolve as she pulled aside her shirt to reveal her bra-clad breasts.
"Good." Naruto went through seven Handseals and then pressed his right hand against her chest. "Kaija Houin!" he uttered and then made a grasping motion, beginning to pull away.
Attached to his hand, a stream of black mud emerged from Sakura's body and once he let go it poured into the bowl-shaped Truth-Seeking Ball and was erased from existence. Still, in the short time it took to fully leave Sakura's body and be destroyed, everyone there felt the sheer foulness of it, the girls recoiling from it.
"What in the world is that thing?" Saber demanded.
"Materialized curses. Merely a drop of what poured from the Greater Grail after Kiritsugu had you destroy the Grail with Excalibur at the end of the last War." Naruto replied, checking Sakura over and nodding in satisfaction as finding her curse-free. "And yet, billions remain, one for each human on the face of this world." He sighed, returning to his regular state.
"What you just did with Sakura… you plan on doing it to the Greater Grail as well, don't you?" Illya realized.
"Yep. I'm heading there right now. I just have to make a quick stop outside the mansion, first. It's best if you all remain here." Naruto confirmed as he headed to the window and after opening it he jumped out.
Approaching the window, the girls widened their eyes when the massive barrier was taken down revealing several Kage Bunshin in Sage Mode holding gigantic spheres of dark energy above their heads all over the Tohsaka lawn.
"What are they holding?" Sakura asked.
"Gaia's hatred… they actually finished! They actually separated all of Gaia's hatred for humanity from all the world's Mana!" Rin answered in shock.
Gaping, they could only watch as Naruto got rid of the taint, Rin absently telling them he sent it to the Reverse Side of the World, and then leave after dispelling his clones.
Ten no Sakazuki
"So, this is it." Naruto muttered as he gazed upon the kilometer-wide magic circle inscribed into the rock using the Magic Circuits of Justeaze Lizrich von Einzbern who even now existed as the core of the Greater Grail. He could feel it even now, the foulness that had contaminated the Greater Grail System, even as it existed in literally another dimension.
Reaching this place would have been impossible for the average person, be they magus or Servant, due to the nigh-impenetrable barrier around the whole cavern to prevent tampering. Thankfully, the Amenotejikara in his left eye allowed him to simple teleport within the barrier, a feat only Zelretch, the Magician of the Kaleidoscope, could match in this day and age.
Shaking his head, he decided to simply get to work. He formed a Kage Bunshin and then put them to work on drawing a seal on the ground around the center of the magic circle. Meanwhile, he drew another seal in the very center of the magic circle. Specifically, it was the Kaija Houin that he had used on Sakura, a written version of it much like its opposite that Kakashi had once used to contain Sasuke's Cursed Seal of Heaven. The reason he was using a written version rather than a chakra-imprint version was quite simple: he did not want to be anywhere neat when that sheer evil came out, never mind in physical contact with it. Hence the purpose of the seal his clone was drawing, to contain the effects of the Kaija Houin to just that space rather than the whole magic circle.
It only took a couple minutes to finish and double-check his work, before moving to activate it. He entered his Six Paths Senjutsu state and created six Kage Bunshin who were also in that state and quickly positioned themselves around the outer seal, promptly activating it.
Naruto then had his Truth-Seeking Balls merge into a single large one and move over the space within the boundaries of the outer seal before shifting into a dome that covered that area entirely.
The clones then went through four Handseals and set up the six-sided Musekiyoujin around the outer seal as a backup safety precaution.
It was only then that Naruto activated the Kaija Houin while at the same time focusing his will into the Truth-Seeking Ball, which turned out to be a good idea as the torrent of materialized curses erupted like a geyser and even with his full focus on the Truth-Seeking Ball it still shuddered slightly from the pressure from beneath.
It was in that position that Naruto remained for the entire night, his entire focus on ensuring not a drop of Angra Mainyu's cursed escaped. It was just after dawn that the torrent of curses ran dry, the Truth-Seeking Ball scrapping the surface of the stone just in case there was something left there.
Sighing in relief, he dismissed the clones and with them the Musekiyoujin and the containment seal after which he reverted the single large Truth-Seeking Ball into his customary ten smaller ones before returning to his regular state.
"Damn, good think I can use Senjutsu to replenish my reserves on my own, otherwise Rin would have been drained dry by now, what with all the costly jutsu I've been throwing around." He sighed as he stretched. "Another good thing is that Servants don't need to sleep, otherwise I would be screwed."
Shaking his head, he left the cavern through the same tunnel he had entered through, soon reaching the barrier… beyond which a grinning Lancer waited.
"Yo." The grinning Cu Chulainn greeted.
"Hey, long time no see." Naruto grinned. "What brings you here."
"My now former Master had a really bad reaction from whatever the hell you did in there." Lancer grinned widely. "Apparently, it was bad for his heart."
"…Kotomine is dead?" Naruto blinked, having leant from Zouken's memories that the priest was Lancer's Master, something the worm familiars had discovered not long ago.
"Yep. He did, however, give me one last order via Command Spells to come here and kill whoever was in that cave behind you." Lancer replied, twirling his spear.
"Hence why you haven't faded yet." Naruto nodded in understanding. "Well, I've had a long night so if you don't mind I'll fight you seriously from the start, unlike last time." He said as he called upon the Six Paths Senjutsu again as well as the Rinnegan and Kyubi Chakra Mode, entering his strongest humanoid state.
"Great!" Lancer exclaimed. "Now let's…GAH!" he suddenly coughed blood. Looking down, he saw an arm shrouded in golden energy piercing his chest. He then felt a hand on his head and he looked up into Naruto's Rinnegan eyes. "Damn… I was hoping… for an actual fight…" he grumbled.
"With an Assassin?" Naruto pointed out as he kept using the Human Path to read his memories, especially his knowledge of magecraft such as Runes.
"…good point." Lancer sighed as he faded away, breaking apart into motes of prana and disappearing.
"Hm, I wonder how Gilgamesh will react." Naruto mused as he made his way back to the Tohsaka mansion.
A.N.: And third.