It was a good morning for those who were residing in the home of the bridge builder Tazuna, for they had all been informed by the Shadow Clone of Naruto that Gato was being taken care of and that within the hour they would be free from his tyrannical rule. They all celebrated in their own way. Tazuna began drinking heavily, to his daughter's ire, but she allowed it this once since it was a great day for the people of Wave Country. Tsunami made a huge breakfast for everyone (except Seras for obvious reasons) to enjoy. Inari was humming a happy tune to himself as he ate his breakfast. Life was good for them at this moment of time. And just as everyone was finishing up their breakfast and clearing up the table, there was a knock on the door. Which was weird since they were not expecting anyone at the moment. Naruto had a spare key that Tazuna lent him so he could come and go since the man was helping his country out so there was no real reason to not trust him with it. Tazuna got up from the table and went to answer the door with a smile on his face thinking it was a fellow resident of the town, and if it was he would be able to spread the good news of Gato's demise amongst the populace. And yet as soon as he opened the door, the smile he had on his face left it immediately and was replaced with a deep scowl. For standing on his porch were the ninja he hired from Konoha to protect him as well as a few extra shinobi as well.

"What the hell are you doing here," demanded Tazuna, trying to keep his anger in check, and was doing a very bad job at it, "you are not welcome here Leaf scum!"

"We have discussed it with our Hokage and he has sent us with backup to help protect your family," said Kakashi who stood there with his trademark eye smile in hopes that it would make it seem like they were here to help them with no ulterior motives.

"Yeah," said Tazuna with a chuckle, "well you can go back to your damn village and let him know that it won't be necessary since Gato has already been taken care of and peace has returned to our country."

"But how is that possible," said Kakashi with a look of utter shock on his face since they didn't expect Gato to be taken care of so soon, "who did deed and how could you even afford them to?"

"Well look who it is," said an angry voice behind the group of Leaf shinobi, "the people who I least wanted to see again in my lifetime. And to answer your question, I was responsible for taking care of Gato, and I did it for free since sometimes it's about doing the right thing in life and not about any sort of monetary compensation."

The group turned around, and their shocked faces only got more intense since standing before them was the last person they thought to see, Naruto. Kakashi counted his lucky stars since the shinobi of the Leaf village were all given the task of recovering Naruto if he was ever to pop up on any of their missions. Naruto and Zuko looked at their former brother with a sinister grin on their faces, for they were looking forward to partaking of their favorite pastime of beating Naruto bloody if he showed even the slightest sign of resisting their command to return to Konoha.

Naruto looked at the group with his rage beginning to radiate from his body. The group in front of him consisted of people he knew and a few he didn't. He easily recognized his own former siblings Naruto as well as Zuko, and he recognized his former father's sole surviving student Kakashi. There was also Sasuke as well as his twin sister Sasuki, both looking at him with a look of superiority on their faces. There was also the Uchiha fangirl Sakura. But there were two shinobi he didn't recognize, the first being the jonin instructor. He had short brown hair and black, almond-shaped eyes. He had long, unkempt hair going past his shoulders. He wore the standard attire of the Anbu of Konoha, a black, sleeveless jumper under a grey flak jacket with strapped-up shinobi sandals, arm-length gloves with guards over them. He carried a sword strapped to his back, and wore a mask that resembles a cat's face covered in green, and red intricate markings on his shoulder, and he had the Anbu tattoo on his left shoulder.

Yet out of the whole group, the one person who he really couldn't get a good read on was the last genin on the team. The genin had short, straight black hair, and dark eyes which contrast with his translucent-looking pale skin. He was carrying a small backpack with what appeared to be some brushes, scrolls, and ninja ink in it. He wore a short black-and-grey jacket with red straps. He was also carrying a tip-less tantō on his back. The rest of his outfit consisted of a high-collared midriff shirt, black pants, shinobi sandals and gloves with his index and thumb fingers exposed, most likely to facilitate the use of his drawing based techniques if the brushes and ink were anything to go on.

"So, you left this poor man to fend for himself and now are here to help him," said Naruto as he kept his guard up as he spoke to them, since he could sense their attempt to try and capture him in some way, "one is inclined to ask what brought about this sudden change of heart? Knowing your Hokage like I do, there must be some sort of ulterior motive behind this supposed gesture of kindness."

"Why we are here being none of your business freak," said Zuko, who looked at Naruto before a thought dawned on him, "but what I want to know is how in the hell you are able to use both your hands since I crippled you!"

"Oh, that is quite simple," said Naruto with a smirk on his face, "so even a buffoon with such low intelligence as you could understand me. It's not any of your business."

Zuko's anger got the best of him at this point and he made a move against Naruto, but was stopped by Kakashi before he could do anything.

"It will be okay brother," whispered Naruko to Zuko, "just wait until we get him back to the village and them you will be able to tear him apart at your own leisure." And as she said that, Zuko's anger died down and a wicked grin spread on his face. He was going to make Naruto pay for his words to him and enjoy every second of it as he screamed in pain.

"Naruto," said Kakashi, "you are under arrest for deserting the great village of Konoha and as such, you will be detained and come back with us to stand trial for your crimes."

"You say that," started Naruto with a chuckle, "but explain to me exactly how I deserted the village."

"You were a shinobi of the village and you left without the permission of any of the higher ups such as the Councils or the Hokage himself."

"You see," said Naruto as he waved a finger in front of him at them, "that is where you are mistaken. For you see I left legally. I was never a member of the shinobi forces due to the simple fact that I never attended the academy since one was not allowed to until they were the age of eight years old. Nor was I a shinobi by default via clan connections since I was disowned by my former family. And since I had no next of kin, that legally emancipated me and left me as a simple civilian. By the rules of your village, was free to come and go as I pleased since I was just that, a civilian. Ergo, you have no legal standing to warrant my arrest as you are doing right now."

"Nevertheless," said Kakashi as he whipped out a pair of chakra suppression cuffs he had on his person in case there was ever a shinobi he needed to bring back alive for various reasons, "you will come back with us to stand trial. Don't make this harder on yourself and just surrender."

"Are you really sure that you want to do that," said Naruto with a large smile on his face, "for to even attempt to capture a prince of any land is an act of war."

"Like a weak nobody like you could ever become a prince," said Sasuke with a look of arrogance on his face.

"Ah," said Naruto as he directed his attention to the Uchiha, "the Uchiha finally speaks, and like I thought the first words to come out of your mouth were an insult that you made out of some crazy idea that you are better then all around you simply because of the fact you are an Uchiha."

"I am better then everyone," shouted Sasuke, "we Uchiha are the most elite of all shinobi!"

"If your clan is the 'elite that you say, then that does not bode well for the shinobi of the world at all now does it," said Naruto with a hearty laugh.

"You dare mock our clan," screamed Sasuki as the rage began to radiate from both her and her brother.

"I not only dare mock your clan, but I laugh at your clan in its entirety since all your clan thinks that they are better since your eyes steal the hard work of those who are truly better then you could ever hope to become. Even one of the strongest of your clan, a Madara Uchiha if I'm remembering correct, was no match against Hashirama Senju. For all your boasting, your family has been beaten time and time again throughout history, and there is no erasing that. So, where this arrogance is coming from is quite baffling."

As he finished speaking, the rage that the Uchiha twins were harboring finally got the best of the both of them, and before any of either of their teams could stop them they charged Naruto in an attempt to silence him forever by killing him. But Naruto didn't flinch as they did, nor did he look surprised about it since he knew what he was doing. He used their arrogance as well as their rage against them to have them attack him. He calmly gathered magical energy into his hand and it formed into a jet-black sphere of energy that he crushed with his hand.

"Fear," said Naruto as he threw the dust of energy he had in his hands at them. It caused them to stop dead in their tracks as they both fell to their knees and screamed out in horror at what they were seeing. Unknown to the others was what they were both experiencing was a site that plagued their darkest of nightmares. In their visions, they were forced to walk through the burning remains of the Uchiha District. The bodies of all of their clan members were spread all over, both men and women, young as well as old. They ran crying out for anyone to tell them they were alive. But it wasn't until they got to their own home that the worst of their vison hit them Inside they saw their older brother Itachi with his hand piercing through their mother, effectively killing her. He then threw her body to the side and directed his attention to the twins. They ran for their lives in a vain attempt to escape their death, but Itachi was too fast and caught up to them quite easily.

"You would run like a coward then face me in combat like a true shinobi," said Itachi with a look of utter disgust on his face. "Foolish little brother/sister (depending on who's vison you are paying attention to,) prepare to die like the rest of them." But before the final blow was delivered, their Sharingans activated at the same time and the vision shattered. While they were finally free of the horrible nightmare they were forced to experience, the trauma of how realistic it was still made them fall to their knees while breathing heavily.

"What did you do to them," demanded Kakashi as he saw them fall to their knees after he threw black dust at them.

"I forced them to see their greatest fears," said Naruto simply as he walked up to Sasuki and kneeled down in front of her.

"You stay away from her," shouted Zuko as he began to run towards them.

"Stay where you are," said a voice behind all of them, "unless you want this man's brains to be splattered all over the ground."

They looked at who said that, and to their shock their stood a blond female with a rifle pointing directly at the back of Kakashi's head. They were even more shocked about the fact that none of them had heard or even sensed her in the first place. They did as she demanded and stayed where they were.

"Perfect timing as always Seras," said Naruto. As he said this, he grabbed Sasuki's face and looked her deep in the eyes, "You have potential, and yet it is blocked by some sort of barrier that you have yet to overcome. I know about your eyes and while most of your clan is arrogant because if them, I know enough about your clan that the women of it are put down and forced more to become housewives then shinobi since they are the type to believe in male superiority. So how is someone like you even here in the first place, since I highly doubt your clan would be so very willing to let a woman become a shinobi."

"My mother was the one who petitioned the Hokage to let me become one," said Sasuki with a look of sadness on her face, "and he only even allowed it since they needed one more to fill up the teams since they were short one."

"And so, you are trying to prove those who think you are weak wrong," said Naruto with a smile, "in a way you remind me of myself since I was in the same boat. Certain people didn't want me to become stronger so they tried their hardest to keep me weak. I admire your passion, and I will even help you on your way to unlocking your true potential."

"And how can you do that," asked Sasuki in genuine curiosity.

"With two simple words," said Naruto as he placed his finger on her forehead, "Dispel."

As he said that, the magical energy he was conjuring up shot through his finger into her eye, and doing so unlocked her Mangekyo Sharingan. She cried a tear of blood from both her eyes that Naruto used a handkerchief to wipe from her face. Sasuki couldn't believe it, for this form of Sharingan was the most powerful form that one could achieve, and was given to one who killed their best friend, and yet here was a man who just unlocked it with a simple word, speaking of which, didn't he say that he was going to use two words?

"Blindna," said Naruto as another burst of magic was sent through his finger into her head, forever curing her of the ailment of going blind from overuse of her new eye's power.

"What did you do to me," asked Sasuki in shock.

"I unlocked your most powerful form of Sharigan as well as stopped you from ever going blind from using it too much."

"Why would you do that for me?"

"I am a man who hates seeing someone's true potential being suppressed like yours was."

"Who are you," asked Sasuki, with the rest of her group listening closely since they were curious as well, since here was a man who just did what was deemed impossible right in front of them.

"I'm glad you asked that," said Naruto with a smile, "but proper manners state that someone should state their own name before they ask for another's."

"My name is Sasuki Uchiha."

"Well Sasuki, lovely name by the way," said Naruto, which Sasuki blushed as he said this, "I am Naruto Lucian, prince of the Lucian Empire of the West, and heir to the throne."

"There is no way that a pathetic freak lime you are a prince," said Zuko, who really wanted to attack him, but didn't want to chance it with his sensei's life on the line.

"Whether you choose to believe it or not is irrelevant. For I was adopted by the man who became Emperor and thus became a prince in the making. Your disbelief doesn't change that in the least so fell free to continue being in denial."

"So, if you are a prince as you say you are," said the other jonin in the group, "why are you here in the east in the first place?"

"Well I will tell you," said Naruto, "but only after you introduce yourselves, since I need to know what to call you."

"I am Yamato, the Uchiha still on his knees are Sasuke. The blank one there is Sai, the pink haired one is Sakura, and you seem to know the rest so there is no need for introductions."

"Fair enough," said Naruto, "and for why I am here being because I am on a mission of peace."

"You have a strange concept of peace if that is truly why you are here."

"It's not my fault since you tried to arrest me and drag me to your village. I acted accordingly and only retaliated when I myself was attacked. I even stated I was a prince and yet no one chose to listen to me and not only that, mocked me for stating it."

"And we are deeply sorry for that misunderstanding," said Kakashi as he was still nervous about the gun that was sticking him in the back of the head. While he had never seen a weapon like it before, he was certain that it would do as the woman said and blow his head off if he angered her and she used it.

"I would hardly call what just transpired between us a simple misunderstanding," said Naruto with a scowl, "and I am going to be perfectly clear when I state that I have nothing but the worst of feelings for your village and those who reside in it. The only reason I don't order my friend to terminate your existence is simply because my father wishes to be fair and offer the chance at an alliance to all villages of the Elemental Countries. If it was up to me, we would have burned the village down with the so called 'Will of Fire' you like to preach about so damn much."

"The Emperor wishes to speak with us," asked Yamato in utter surprise, and he wasn't alone in that matter since they were all shocked at this revelation.

"Yes, unfortunately," said Naruto as he pulled out a coin from his pocket and tossed it towards Yamato, who caught it with ease.

"What is this?"

"It's a Royal Token. If and when you head towards the Empire, present it to the guards and they will provide you with the proper transportation to the Citadel where the Emperor is and you will be granted an audience with him. But be respectful as you speak to my father. Or don't since the very moment you piss him off and he gives the order to attack, I will be the first to enter through those doors you believe will protect you."

"Well thank you," said Yamato as he pocketed the coin, "but we are still on a mission here and we can't leave until it is completed."

"You in fact can leave, and you will in fact do just that."

"And who are you to order that?"

"This country is now under the protection of Lucian Empire, and as for Gato he was eliminated quite easily by a few of my men. So, until the moment you gain an alliance with us, you are not to set foot here. So, leave immediate."

"Or you'll do what," asked Naruko in an arrogant voice, "don't think for one instant that you have the power to take us all on at once."

"Oh, how little you know Naruko," said Naruto with a chuckle, "but I don't need to fight you to make you leave. I just need to speak one word. Teleport," said Naruto as he snapped his fingers, and as he did the group from Konoha were each engulfed in a barrier of light and instantly teleported back to Konoha to their utter shock. It seemed that Naruto was full of more surprises then they could possibly imagine in even their wildest dreams.

The people in the surrounding area looked at them in as much shock since they just appeared out of thin air, and that is something that never happened before. After the shock value wore up, Kakashi ordered the group to the Hokage's tower so they could give a mission reports. They had no idea how the Hokage would take the news they were about to deliver, and it was that fact that scared them to the bone...

(Wave Country)

Naruto stared at the spot that his former siblings had stood just a few seconds ago and let the rage inside him freely flow through his body. Those who were around him slowly stepped away from him so as to not have that anger become directed towards themselves but after a few minutes of venting, Naruto took a deep breath and slowly walked towards Tazuna.

"Sorry for the scare just now my elderly friend," said Naruto with a smile, "but suddenly seeing my former siblings here brought back too many memories that I never wished to be brought to light in my mind."

"It's quite alright," said Tazuna as he patted Naruto on the shoulder, "I thought you handled that very well from a third person perspective."

"Well I thank you for the kind words," said Naruto as he began to walk towards town, "now if you would follow me, I wish for you to help calm the people down from seeing a large amount of people in town that they have never seen before. You too Inari, since I need to introduce you to your new teacher as well."

"Really," said Inari in utter excitement.

"Really. I am a man of my word if nothing else."

So, with that, the three of them left for town while Seras went back inside to let the rest of those inside of what had just recently happened. As Naruto walked with his group into town, Inari bombarded him with countless questions about what he had seen Naruto do to the shinobi from the window. Naruto answered all the questions he had to the best of his abilities, and yet it proved a slight challenge to try and explain the fundamentals of magic to someone who has never used it before. But Inari took to his answers like a sponge and asked if he could teach him magic as well, and Naruto thought about that for a bit before he told him that they would see how the future looked, for one never knew what the future held for someone. And soon, they reached the center of town, where just as he suspected there was a large crowd of people hassling the soldiers as well as the alchemists that Naruto had sent word to come and help them.

"People please," said Alphonse as he was trying to calm the crowd down, "we are not here to hurt you."

"Yeah right," said one of the villagers, "you were probably paid by Gato to enforce an even harsher control on our village."

"People of Wave," said Tazuna, and as Naruto hoped, they grew silent and listened to his words since they trusted him, "these people are not employed by Gato in any way. In fact, it is because of the young man beside me that Gato is dead and gone."

"Well I can't take the full credit for that," said Naruto, "for it was two men I ordered to do it for me. Hanzo, Genji!"

And as he said their names, they appeared besides him and got down on one knee. As they did this, Hanzo held out a large scroll that Naruto took from him and handed to Tazuna.

"In here is all the money that Gato has been stealing from your country as well as a lot more. With it, you should easily be able to bring your economy back up to what it once was."

"So, it is true," said one of the civilians, "Gato is dead? We don't have to live in fear anymore?"

"Yes, it is true," said Naruto with a smile on his face, "and these men are the ones to snuff out his life once and for all. The metallic one is Genji and the other with the bow is his older brother Hanzo. We are from the Lucian Empire from the West and we are here to help protect you from tyrannical people such as Gato from ever taking control ever again." As he finished speaking, the people cheered for them and many people came forward to shake their hands and set out to celebrate the death of Gato in their own ways. As they celebrated, The Alchemists as well as Naruto used chalk to circle a large area surrounding the village as well as a large amount of land. Inside the village, they placed smaller circles where the new barracks as well as the guard towers, armory, and landing pads would go, Once the transmutation circles was complete, Naruto told the people to brace themselves as he slammed his hand down, activating all the circles around town. Out of the ground arose large walls of thick concrete with thick metal centers and a large gate. Around the wall were various guard towers as well as new buildings that arose fully furnished for the soldiers to live in while they protected the people of Wave. The looks on the faces of the people were priceless since words failed to describe their emotions at that specific moment of time.

"I told you that you wouldn't believe how we build things," laughed out Naruto.

"I have learned to never doubt your young man," said Tazuna who internally told himself to drink less so such things never again would cause him to have a near heart attack.

"And now for the bridge to be built," said Naruto who stopped mid step, "wait, before I forget. Hanzo, this is your new student Inari. Inari, this is your archery teacher Hanzo."

"I hear that you wish to master the art of archery," said Hanzo as he stood before the boy with his arms crossed before his chest.

"Yes," said Inari as he bowed politely to his new instructor, "I wish to become stronger so that I may protect my family from all threats that may wish them harm."

"I am going to be honest and state that my form of training will be brutal. I will not pull any punches, nor will I sugarcoat the fact these skills will mostly be used to kill another human being if mastered."

"I am prepared to learn sensei."

"Then prepare yourself, for tomorrow we begin your training at the crack of dawn."

"Yes sensei," said Inari as he ran off to do what he needed to do for the time being.

"You have picked a good candidate for me to teach Prince Naruto," said Hanzo with a smile, "I sense he has great potential within him and it will take him far if he learns to master it."

"Well you have fun with that Hanzo," said Naruto as he began to walk with Alphonse towards the water to build the bridge, which would be a bit more difficult since there were no base materials to transmute in the water, so they had to have the materials brought manually so that they could transmute it into the bridge itself. "But I have a tight schedule to keep and you two have your missions. Don't fail me, for the lives of innocent people are on the line, and I will do all in my power to help them achieve the happiness they deserve. For they have more than deserved it."

"As you command Prince Naruto," said the brothers in unison. And as they walked away, they began their part of the Crimson Protocol...

To find and free all Jinchuurikki...

(Konoha- Hokage Tower)

Minato was having a hard time trying to control all his emotions at the moment. He was surprised, glad, amazed, pissed, angry, and furious all at once and he had no idea how to vent his emotions at the moment. He had been briefed by the two teams he sent to Wave in an attempt to get an exclusive trading contract with them, but not only did they fail to get what was ordered of them, but his lost 'son' Naruto had escaped their grasp as well. When he escaped the village all those years ago, he ordered all shinobi to capture him on the off chance that they saw him on one of their missions. For nine years there had been no word of his whereabouts, not even through Jiraiya's spy network that encompassed the entirety of the Elemental Countries could find him. Minato couldn't understand how a seven-year-old brat with no skills in the shinobi arts could stay so well hidden for so long, but one he was told of Naruto's newly found status as a Prince of the mysterious Lucian Empire of the West, so many plans ran through his mind as to how to use this to his advantage. But those would have to wait for the moment, since what was even more shocking to him above all else was Sasuki, the shinobi who he let join since Mikoto had asked him too as well as the fact they needed at least one more member to round out the numbers, had acquired the Mangekyo Sharingan with the help of his discarded son.

This display of skills only made him wonder what else Naruto could do, and once he got his hands on him, he would learn every one of them one way or another. For power such as that should only be wielded by a born leader such as him, and no one was going to stop him from taking what was rightfully his to take. For he was a Namikaze, the strongest shinobi to exist, and the true Emperor of the world once Naruto's power became his along with the rest of his glorious plan coming to fruition. As he thought about all the power that would soon be his, he laughed out loud for all in the village to hear, and to many in the village, it sent a cold shiver down their spines...

(Whirlpool Country – 1 week later)

Naruto was in his airship along with Esdeath, Ryuzetsu, and Seras. They had spent the last week helping bring the people of Wave up to speed with the technology used by the Empire. It took some time to explain everything to people, but they quickly took to it and thanked them for helping to enrichen their lives with tech to make their lives far better than they once were. Once that was done, Naruto spent a day with an army of shadow clones to engrave seals into the walls of all sorts to help protect the people that ranged from alerting seals for to seals that mad the wall nigh indestructible. Once he checked and double checked the seals to ensure that they were all in working order, he bid the people goodbye and told them that they would return someday in the future. Izumi sent him off with a punch to the shoulder that nearly tore his arm off. She just laughed and told him to walk it off. When he muttered under his breath that you can't walk off an arm injury, she cracked her knuckles at him and slowly walked towards him. He quickly boarded his ship with his girlfriends and set off for Whirlpool. He was setting out there due to a base instinct that was telling to return to his ancestral home. And he was happy to oblige this feeling so he was setting out towards it.

Yet once they were close to the country, what he saw there made his blood boil in utter rage. For in there in the country, defiling the land by mining the resources along with scavenging through the ruins of Uzu for any and all knowledge or money. Seeing them do this to his peoples' land made him see red and want to go into a murderous killing spree, but he had a better idea than that.

"Seras my love," said Naruto with a bloodthirsty look in his eye.

"Yes Naruto," said Seras, who was starting to feel her body heat up since she loved to see Naruto in this type of mood and it made her want to pounce upon him and have nasty angry sex on the spot, but now was not the time for that.

"These people dare to desecrate the home of my ancestors by doing this to the land. I want you to show them what it means to cross me, and there is to not be one single survivor left to tell the tale of horror that is to take place. Am I understood?"

"Crystal clear my love," said Seras who pounced on him and locked their lips together. She tried to dominate the kiss with her tongue, but just like every other time she tried to dominate it, Naruto turned the tables and took control. A few minutes of passionate kissing passed before they parted to take a deep breath. Seras then winked at Naruto before she opened the door and jumped out, falling towards the ground. She didn't bring any firearms with her, since she wouldn't need them for what was about to happen...

(Whirlpool – Ground level)

The men who were hard at work mining this court for its vast amount of resources were busy doing as they had been ordered to do when out of the blue, an object fell from the sky and crashed hard into the ground, forming a large crater. The people stopped working and all headed towards the crater to see what had fallen to the ground. They looked up and saw nothing there, but that was because Naruto had activated the cloaking on the ship so no one knew he was there. They then directed their attention to the crater and saw an unconscious woman laying at the bottom of the crater. The entirety of the crew in the country was made up of males, and once they laid eyes on her body, perverted thoughts came to their minds. Some of the men immediately jumped in to help her in hope that she would be thankful for the assistance an 'thank' them for the so-called act of kindness. Yet once the few men brave enough to jump in were close enough, all hell broke loose.

Seras opened her eyes, and quicker than anyone could see with their naked eye, she used her blood in the form of a scythe to bisect all of the men who jumped in to help her. Out of all the men in the hole with her, only one was still alive, but that was using the loosest definition of the word, one that she quickly corrected by chomping down on his neck and sucked his body dry of all his blood until he was nothing more than a dry husk. She then used her power to absorb the blood from the other men she killed, and she relished the aftertaste of fear that was in the blood she was consuming. The other men on the edge of the hole saw the horror of this woman, no I monster, eating their fellow workers, and all began to run for their lives, scrambling over themselves as they ran as fast as their frightened legs could take them. Seras let out a loud monstrous roar that frightened them even more than they already were, if that were even possible, and with that, the hunt began...