Chapter 9: Enlightened One? Bring IT!

A/N: Hey guys, it's been a while, hasn't it? Took me a while to update, so I hope it was worth it.

Hope you Enjoy! And as always, thank you so much Vandebz for editing this story. It's much appreciate.

Next Update: Either Night Raid's Lazy Assassin or As You Are

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Chapter 9 START

Sometimes, you just have to act. Don't think, just do.

Kirito

Asuna woke up groggily, her heavily-lidded eyes barely open as the first rays of light filtered into her room in the guild building. Taking a moment to yawn, she stretched out her arms and her body and sat up in bed, ruffling the bed sheets from her motion.

Taking a gingerly without the sole step onto the cement floor, she shifted across the floor slowly, still rubbing her barely open eyes as she staggered over to her closet. Having memorized the position of all of the furniture in her assigned room, there was no problem even if she closed her eyes.

Sleepily grabbing her uniform, she walked over to the shower and leisurely took her time as the steamy water ran down her cream-colored body. Not that she really needed to shower; the game took care of hygiene all by itself. And the steaming water wasn't perfect; she knew it was a liquid…but the texture felt wrong sometimes. The game couldn't render it all and it wasn't perfect in everything…but it came damn close. Anyway, the shower was a daily routine, and she followed it without a fault.

A few minutes later, she was out and dressed, walking the halls with a certain aura about her figure, as if signifying the fact that she was a higher position than most of the other members after having been a part of the guild for only a month. In just a month, she had become one of the captains. The Knights of the Blood guild had grown surprisingly quickly in its short existence, so some kind of rudimentary system had to be made for the organization.

Obviously on top of the (food) chain was Heathcliff, the commander of the guild. He was amazingly strong and had already created a name for himself as a powerful soldier on the frontlines. His reputation was unreal: his health had never gone under the green in any boss battle…or anytime for that matter. Under him were the captains, who led the normal guild mates and the clearers. Each of the captains could have a sub-captain that would lead in their stead if the captain was absent. Asuna abused this system and requested for Silica to be her sub-captain, which was accepted. And finally, the people at the bottom of the guild were the clearers and normal players who had joined the guild. Of course, there was a minimum level requirement that went up every floor, but they were considered low to the captains.

But the authority didn't really matter. The only people the guild members actually respected was Heathcliff…and maybe a few of the captains. The only time the authority meant anything to the captains was during boss battles or specific quests that required a group.

Asuna yawned; all of this thinking in the morning after just waking up was making her tired again. Walking was even boring. All of the walls were so similar, it felt endless. Going through the corridors by memorization as a result of sheer repetition, the chestnut-haired captain made her way to the outside. There was plenty of space to practice or train in the lot around the guild, but it wasn't efficient. All the clearers were given some basic guidelines, and then were sent hastily to the fields to gain EXP and Col. The more of each, the better for the guild and more prestigious it (became).

Continuing her way across the dirt lot, she finally reached the front gate of the guild and opened it. Making her way outside of the guild grounds, she found the daily mail and a few select gifts. Apparently, boyfriends and girlfriends in the guilds still received things from their other. Then again, a few members inside the guild were quite popular, so gifts weren't all that sparse. Asuna and Silica were a perfect case of this, but the two only cared about one daily gift. For the past two months, Naruto and Kirito had been dropping by the guild and leaving a large cup of a random flavor of smoothie and a random pastry, respectively.

A slow wind passed the still empty street as dawn approached. Asuna hitched a breath as she shivered, quietly berating herself for not grabbing another layer of clothing. Summer was ending, and the seasons were shifting. The nature and wildlife were reflecting this change as the color of the leaves and branches began to change.

Swiftly grabbing her share of the mail and gifts, she ran inside the guild building, back into the stone corridors and uninviting hallways. Once again making her way through the corridors, she went into her room and grabbed a jacket to go over her clothing and went back out the door a moment later to wake up her sub-captain.

A few minutes later, she was knocking on the door to Silica's quarters.

"I'm coming, I'm coming."

A few seconds later, a bright sun entered…Silica, entered Asuna's view, smiling and her eyes full of stars. The captain just handed over the smoothie with a smile and began to eat her pastry. For a few minutes, the two enjoyed their treats in silence; this had become a ritual to them, in a way. The boys would bring their favorite food, and the girls would eat or drink them together in silence, both contemplating whatever that was on their minds for the few minutes they could have to themselves for the day.

"Ah…that was good," Silica mumbled in absolute bliss, throwing the cup into the air in a practiced motion before it shattered into polygons. Asuna waited for a few more seconds with her paper, twirling it in the air. Then, she quickly let it go, and not a moment later, it collapsed on itself and disintegrated into crystals, creating a beautiful effect.

"Wow, I still don't get how you do that…" the younger girl whispered, mesmerized by the crystals slowly falling in the air.

"Alright, alright. Come on, Silica, we have work to do today." The girl looked up from the glittering cloud, a pout growing on her face. "And no, I'm not giving you another five seconds. You say that every single day. Besides, the sooner we finish, the sooner we get to see them, right?" Silica sighed, resigned to her duty. They began to walk down the corridors together.

"Okay, captain."

"No captain; we don't need to be formal."

"Hai, taichou."

"…You're doing three-fourths of the paperwork today."

"Of course, hime."

"…"

Later in the captain's quarters, when one of the other sub-captains came to visit Asuna, they found said girl reading a manga. As for her sub-captain, she was busy at work, furiously brushing her pen across stacks of paper, her eyes roaming through every page as if she was searching for the land that held endless smoothies.

And next to her was a sleeping fox with five tails. Weird people.

XShuyaX

(Time Skip: Evening)

Naruto sat down on the grass, letting out a sigh as he leaned backwards, placing his hands behind him to support his weight. Kirito joined him silently, sheathing his sword on his back.

"I don't get it. Why are you still a higher level than I am?" The blond complained half-heartedly as he looked at the setting sun. The lights and shadows danced across the scenery before the two, creating an overall beautiful effect. Kirito remained silent, shrugging his shoulders as his answer; he was too busy watching the sun slowly fall over the mountain range.

The two had become much stronger over the past two months, going on quests, exploring Dungeons, and farming endlessly in the clearing fields. It was no secret that the two of them were the highest leveled pair in the whole community of Sword Art Online, and it was also no secret that Kirito was still not well received by the majority of players. However, his reputation seemed to be getting a lift. He was constantly seen with Naruto in the fields by the higher leveled players, and at first, this exposure brought a few questions. However, as time passed, players let it be and simply waved to the pair. Some even greeted them formally.

To the player population, finding out that Kirito, the Beater, the most hated player in the game, was farming and completing quests with the Dark Flash, one of the most popular players in the game, was a surprise. And this development caused (most players) to make a decision: either accept that Kirito wasn't as bad as what they assumed him to be, or assume that Naruto was worse than they originally thought. Most players picked the former; the majority of players already knew about Naruto and his upstanding reputation. Hell, a majority of the players had seen him and met him, and every one of those that had conversed with him felt that when they had talked to the blond, they were drawn to him like a magnet. The blond was a people's person. And in their short conversation, almost every single person got the impression that Naruto was a great, fun person. Lowering his reputation just because he chose to partner up with the Beater was low to them, so they just accepted it as it was.

And so, Kirito was actually able to enter Towns without hiding himself in a cloak or a hood. He was even able to go to Lisbeth's blacksmith shop without getting threatened by the majority of the players inside the establishment, although he did receive plenty of dirty looks and sneers. But at least looks can't hurt…physically. And physical things were all that mattered in Sword Art Online. Death didn't come by mental pain.

But returning to the subject of the duo becoming stronger, they trained endlessly, day in and day out. Kirito had begun practicing with his new Dual Wield skill, which had strangely appeared on a random day. Naruto asked a few questions and inquired about the new ability a bit, but otherwise, he let it be. He had his Sage Mode, and Kirito had his Dual Wield. It was fair, in a sense. Fair to Naruto, at least. His friend found it somewhat…overpowered. But then again, almost every MMO had a person that was overpowered, and numbers made a big difference. Because of the numbers, Kirito would have a slight advantage against Naruto, despite the blond's insane speed. The black-haired teen had gotten used to it with his eyes and his body; reacting was no longer an issue on his part. But that damn Sage Mode…if that wasn't the most overpowered crap Kirito had ever seen as of yet in Sword Art Online other than those Pebbles in the early floors, he didn't know what was.

"Stop complaining, Naruto. You have your damn Sage Mode," Kirito mumbled after a few minutes of silence. Just thinking about it irritated him for some strange reason. It wasn't like Naruto was that much stronger than he was; the blond did have the advantage of his Chakra and whatever went along with it, but Kirito had been practicing how to manipulate his Mana to the fullest. And to him, learning how to use Mana the way the blond used Chakra was even more difficult than learning how to Dual Wield with abilities. So, Kirito accepted the fact that he would only be able to apply Mana to certain parts of his body to strengthen his strikes and increase his speed…for now.

"True, but you know how long it takes to prepare."

"Yeah." Kirito looked over his shoulder to face his friend. "Did you find a way to shorten that time?"

"Not yet. I've been experimenting with clones to see if they could go into Sage Mode and give the energy to me when they dispersed, but that didn't work. It seems like the only way I can actually enter it is if I do it myself," Naruto explained. He had tried a variety of ways, but he had completely given up on finding a method. Two months of trying to find a loophole does that to a person.

The two remained silent after that, letting the thought linger in the air. A minute…that was a long time. An eternity in boss battles, actually. If Naruto had to remain still in a boss battle for a minute and not participate…the costs could be very high. True, there were a lot of clearers, and there were other very high leveled players currently, like Asuna, Silica, Heathcliff, and the lot, but Naruto was unique, just like all of the other high leveled clearers. When one went missing, it dropped morale and the cooperation level for a short time. He was definitely a people's person. He understood how coordination worked instinctively. It was how he saved so many people during boss battles.

"Well, I don't know what to say, then." Naruto remained silent, contemplating something to himself for a moment.

"Hey, Kirito." Said teen looked over to see Naruto pondering. He gulped; a pondering Naruto is not a good Naruto. Yes, the blond was smart, but Kirito would prefer it if he would not think.

"What?" he asked warily, his eyes narrowed slightly, preparing himself for what Naruto would say. The blond's gaze broke away from the sun that was now disappearing over the tip of the mountain and met Kirito's wary one.

"Well, we finished all of the quests on this floor, and we've also gone through the Dungeon and cleared that boss, so why don't we go down to the lower floors for a while. Just kick back and relax a little, yeah?" The black-haired swordsman actually gave that one some thought. What Naruto said was true; they had done every quest and cleared the Dungeon…multiple times over. And they were at a level that grinding was literally so tedious that it would take maybe two or three days just to level up again, and that was from fifty percent. The boss room would be found by tomorrow at the past rate of map discovery and time estimation, so taking a day off wouldn't be too bad.

"Alright, I'll go with it this time. Why don't you choose a floor?" Kirito suggested. The blond had a massive grin on his face as he opened his menu and went through each floor, trying to recall which were good and which were bad. After a few seconds, the blond decided on which floor – mainly through chance – and told Kirito.

A slow wind passed the two as Kirito took that information in.

"Wait, you want to go to Floor Twenty-Five? Why?" The blond's response should have been expected.

"Oh, just because."

XShuyaX

(Location: Twenty-Fifth Floor)

"Oh, it's so nice to be back on a lower floor," Naruto commented once the two had teleported. His partner remained silent in favor of looking around the town and making sure that everything was the same as in his memories. "So, what do you want to do?"

"I thought you had a plan when you said you wanted to relax down here," Kirito replied without looking at the blond, eyeing a certain pastry shop.

'Damn it. Asuna is getting to me now! Every time I spot a pastry shop, I have to prevent myself from buying one unless it's in the morning.'

"Not really. Hmm…I don't remember if there was a ramen restaurant on this floor."

"There isn't," Kirito immediately spouted, trying to get the blond to give up on ramen. That may be Naruto's idea of resting and enjoyment, but watching the blond storm through ramen was not his definition of enjoyment. Naruto visibly deflated from that statement, but he was smiling a moment later.

"Well, we're not going to get anything done just standing at the Teleport Gate. Let's start by walking around town and then see what we can do!"

So, the two began to walk around the town. It wasn't that populated currently; the majority of the players were either on the first floor or on the top floor. The rest of the player community was spread throughout the floors. The Twenty-Fifth Floor was extremely low in the demographic department due to the bad memories that the Clone Boss Battle brought about. However, that didn't mean that the few players that were milling around the area did not recognize the two players.

"Hey, is that him?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's him. What's he doing with the Beater?"

"Remember the news? They're partners. They have been since…whenever."

"I still don't understand why he would be hanging out with that guy."

The whispers continued all the way to the fields, which was where they ended up going. Kirito sighed. Farming it was…just at a much lower floor.

"Hey, Naruto. You know those guys were bad-mouthing you, right?" he asked, gritting his teeth in slight anger as he recalled some of the insults thrown at his friend. Naruto turned around and looked at Kirito with a confused look.

"Yeah. So what? Words don't hurt me. I'll only get pissed if they insult my friends. Come on, we're wasting daylight." Naruto quickly replied and turned around, walking already. Kirito blinked his eyes, processing what Naruto had just said. Then, he began walking after his friend with a small grin.

'So, he was thinking just like I was. He would've gotten pissed if they talked about me, but I was pissed because they were talking about him. And the words and injury…he almost took the words out of my mouth. The things that come out of people's mouths don't do damage, so it doesn't matter.'

"You know, it's already night time; the sun set a while ago."

"Details. Who needs 'em?" was the immediate response.

Kirito sighed; that was the Naruto he remembered and that everyone loved.

XShuyaX

(Location: Eleventh Floor: Taft)

'What the hell is with this development?' Kirito thought to himself as he took a small gulp of water. The teen looked around himself just to make sure that everything was real. 'There's Naruto, and there's a bunch of people that we just apparently saved, and I'm now feeling like an idiot for going with his suggestion again. This has to be real…especially because of the third detail.'

He wanted to sigh, but that would seem rude, especially in this situation. Everyone at the table was in high spirits…of course, that excluded Kirito.

'Damn them and their insanity. I'm so lonely…of course, everyone thinks I'm lonely, but for all the wrong reasons. I'm lonely because there aren't any freaking normal people around me!'

And of course, that was left unsaid. That would have been quite rude as well.

"And let's have a cheer for Naruto and Kirito, who saved us today!" The leader of the guild, the Moonlit Black Cats, drawled in a slightly drunken manner. Kirito raised his eyebrows. Alcohol can intoxicate people in game? Who knew? That guy didn't look twenty-one at all, though…suspicious, suspicious.

"CHEERS!" Everyone yelled, raising their cups into the air, and then slamming them down onto the table. Then, everyone chugged down their beverage to the last drop, leaving the cups empty. Even that shy girl next to Naruto did it.

'I hope that she isn't drinking…that's just wrong.' Kirito thought to himself. 'It seems that the more I try to find normal people, the more and more insane people become. Murphy's Law, why do you exist?!'

"Hey, Keito - " Naruto began, but was interrupted by said leader.

"Keita, but that's fine!" The leader immediately corrected with a smile…and a twitching eyebrow.

"Ah…sorry. Keita…" the eyebrow stopped twitching. The blond clearer took that as his cue to continue. "Just wondering. What were you guys doing in a Dungeon of that caliber if you guys couldn't handle it?"

Kirito face palmed.

'Way to be blunt and straightforward about it. Whoop-de-doo!' Kirito groaned internally.

The atmosphere in the house suddenly changed from bright to sullen in a moment. At the same moment, Naruto's expression went from light to serious. He had actually meant that question and wanted to know for safety reasons; he had seen too many people die, and stupid reasons wouldn't just get him annoyed. He'd be downright furious. This was life and death, and a stupid decision that costs a death was a worthless death.

Tetsuo, one of the members of the guild, spoke up.

"Ah…that was because I got too heavily damaged, so we weren't able to switch very efficiently. And then the number of monsters just continued to grow and got to a point where we couldn't handle it, so the only direction we could move was forward. Toward the safe spot inside the Dungeon. And the rest, you should already know." The forward of the group finished, a frown on his face. It was his fault, and he blamed himself for it. The guild tried to appease him, but it was all for naught. He was thinking…if he were only a little stronger…like the clearers, then maybe this situation would have never happened.

"That doesn't answer my question. What you're telling me is a screw-up. I want to know why you went in there if you weren't absolutely certain that you would be fine." Tetsuo looked at Naruto's face; the blond had a hard expression, and his eyes were an ice-cold blue. They were literally making Tetsuo freeze with his words. However, the seconds dragged on, and Naruto continued to stare at the teen.

"We got overconfident!" Keita blurted immediately, trying to get Naruto to back off from Tetsuo. The forward was depressed enough as it was. However, the blond did not let up.

"Don't cover him," he ordered, not even letting his eyes leave the teen.

"Naruto, don't you think you're being a bit harsh on people you don't even know?" Kirito asked from the side.

"I know their names and I know we just saved their lives. That's enough for them to answer a question, right?" Naruto immediately replied to Kirito before returning his focus to the depressed forward. "This isn't a game. It may be structured like one, have all of the errors like a normal one, but there is no resurrection or respawn point. Errors like overconfidence and inefficient switching are unforgivable in the eyes of mobs."

"Hey, that's enough-" Ducker began, but Naruto gave the other blond a hard glare.

"Words don't kill people, Ducker. But I'll tell you what does: those mobs and the monsters, the bosses at the end of each floor, and the quest mini-bosses. And you know what they have in common? They have no remorse or second thoughts in killing a human being, unlike us." Ducker tried to stand tall against their savior, but he ultimately relented. Naruto returned his focus to the issue at hand. "Tetsuo, this is not an insult, nor is it in anyway meant to make you feel useless. I'm trying to tell you that you have to try and reduce the number of mistakes you make to a minimum so that everyone in your guild survives…and that goes for the rest of you as well." Naruto finished with a sweeping look that caught everyone else's eyes. Suddenly, he stood up and began to walk out of the house, but he stopped at the door.

"Good night. I'll be here tomorrow morning to pick you guys up."

The door opened with a squeak, and then closed with a quiet slam…leaving Kirito alone with the guild members. Very real, indeed. Kirito was once again questioning the blond's stupidity.

"He didn't mean that, Tetsuo." He weakly tried to give the teen some comfort, but it was obvious that the attempt failed when the boy didn't respond or even look up. Kirito sighed; this would be difficult to try to make them look at Naruto in a good light. "Okay, I lied. He meant every word of it."

Ducker and Keita both gave Kirito a withering glare, but the Black Swordsman had his eyes closed at the moment.

"But he only says those kinds of words because he cares. He's seen a lot of people die in front of his eyes because he wasn't strong enough and because of miscalculations, and even both in some situations. He doesn't want the same thing to happen to you, that's all it is. When he heard that you made a mistake-"

'Which did almost kill their whole guild…' Kirito thought to himself before continuing.

"-he probably saw himself for a second and how he failed."

"…Are you certain?" Kirito remained passive on the outside, but he was surprised that he managed to make the teen respond. Interpersonal things were never his forte.

"Yeah. I'm probably his closest guy friend, and I understand him more than anyone else. We've been protecting each other's back since day one, literally. He may have sounded harsh, but don't let it get to you too much, alright?" He stood up and pushed the chair against the table before walking over to the door. "I'll be seeing you guys."

"Wait!" Keita shouted right before the door opened. The Black Swordsman turned his head around the bare minimum so only one eye was visible. Suddenly, the leader of the mid-level guild seemed abashed and nervous, but he worked up the courage to ask his question. "What…level are you two?"

Kirito raised his eyebrows.

"It's in the magazine." He quickly replied without thinking before walking out the door and gently shutting it behind him. A few steps out into the night, he began to slow down his pace. Then, he stopped, recalling the last thing he had said to Keita.

'Wait a minute…they didn't recognize us?!' Kirito considered the possibility, but threw it out the window. However, his thoughts were proven true when he heard five people screaming in surprise in the house he had just left. He dropped his head and sighed.

"I'm such a dumbass."

Putting his latest act of stupidity into the back of his mind, the black clothed teen walked along the streets, following the directions of the menu. A few minutes later, he saw Naruto sitting on a crate inside an alleyway, looking down at the ground. Kirito joined the blond, leaning against the wall on the opposite side of the small alley.

"I never did understand why Kayaba Akihiko made this game. He said that he did it…well, just for this," Naruto uttered quietly, beginning to convey how he felt at the moment. Kirito remained quiet. "Heh…and…it's so sad, thinking about it. These are the kind of things that happen in manga or anime, not in real life. To think that people die…because a person willed it to be so."

"You know that things were worse in the past, right? Kings would torture convicted felons who were actually innocent. Some students were beheaded just because they talked back to the teacher." Naruto nodded in understanding, but the darkness in his eyes did not change.

"Oh, I know that. I know that culturally, the world may have improved. We don't do those 'savage' acts anymore. We don't have kings anymore; those are long gone. But now…we have this. This game…Sword Art Online is even worse than the savagery of the past, if you think about it. Back then, kings killing with acts of torture were considered a pleasant activity; it was normal. This isn't normal. Killing off over two-thousand innocents is not normal. And we didn't do anything to deserve this fate other than buy a game for fun."

"…There's no reason to think about it now. This is our present, our reality, as you said, Naruto." The blond looked up at Kirito, then away as he glared upwards. However, his expression softened once he caught sight the full moon shining down. For some reason, the full moon in the night sky always calmed him.

"That's true…but there's also no reason to not remember what we're fighting for. I'm fighting to get out of here, and it's not just for survival. I want to know why Kayaba decided to do this." Naruto dropped his gaze from the darkness above to the shaded figure before him, staring intensely back at him with full focus. "But for now, I'll be fine protecting a group of five."

Kirito smiled.

"Sounds good to me."

XShuyaX

(Time Skip: Next Morning)

"…"

"…"

"Uhm…aren't you guys going to say something?" Kirito asked, trying to break the silence between Naruto and Keita.

"You…actually came," Keita began awkwardly. His whole body was stiff and rigid as he stood face to face with the blond. Naruto was standing a few feet away from the door while Keita was standing at the door, preventing any of the guild members from exiting the house.

"…Are you going to stay there all day, or are we going somewhere?" Naruto asked rhetorically when a few seconds passed. A few more seconds passed by and Keita finally relented before walking outside.

"I didn't know I had invited two famous people into my house," he began. Suddenly, he smiled. "It's good to know I had some celebrities over so now I can brag about it!" Naruto smirked.

"You go do that. So, where were you planning on going today?" Tetsuo walked outside at that moment, and when he saw Naruto, he lowered his gaze to the ground. Slowly, however, he brought his eyes back up until he was looking at Naruto straight in the eyes.

"We were planning on going to the Dungeon today on the Twenty-Fifth Floor again, right Tetsuo?" the guild leader asked, turning over to the forward with a wide smile. Said forward cracked a nervous smile in return.

"Well, there's no time like the present. Let's get going!" The blond exclaimed, excited at the prospect of grinding with more people.

XShuyaX

(Time Skip: Two Hours Later)

"You know, I remember this Dungeon being a lot harder," Naruto muttered quietly to Kirito. The two were in the back of the pack, keeping a watchful eye on the guild as they struggled to fight the monsters. Every time they defeated one, they pushed on relentlessly…although without much tact and skill. And that one girl, Sachi, had a few issues with confidence, it seemed.

"That's because we're a much higher level now, Naruto," Kirito told the blond beside him. The two were walking at a leisurely pace, as if they were taking just another stroll in the park. Neither of the two even had their weapons out. This action and lack of caution was not because of arrogance, but because of confidence and assurance. They knew that their stats were at the point that they could be attacked for days by the mobs at this level, and they would still be alive and kicking…with full health.

"That's true. But this is kind of fun, you know? I don't remember relaxing like this and having fun with other people for a while." Kirito thought about that statement for a bit before responding. When was the last time he actually was able to join a group other than the usual without getting berated or given a few glares because of his status as a Beater? It had to be a few months, at least. He was surprised when none of the Moonlit Black Cats minded about his status as a Beater, but it also made him happy. Then again, Naruto may have had something to do with that; nowhere in the blond's reputation did it state that he was a beta tester.

"I guess this is okay," Kirito began. However, he stopped when he saw Naruto giving him an expectant look, a small smirk on his face. The black-haired teen quickly shut his eyes and looked the other way pettily, not wanting to give his friend the satisfaction of actually giving a pretty decent suggestion.

"Come on, Kirito. I'm waiting," the blond delivered in a sing-song tone.

"I'm not saying anything," Kirito responded, now looking straight ahead at the guild in front of him. Suddenly, he grabbed his sword from his back and dashed forwards, disappearing from Naruto's side. The blond looked forwards and saw the guild in some trouble with a mob, but it wasn't too big of an issue. He frowned.

"Damn. He did that just to get away from saying it, huh? I'll make him say it, 'ttebayo. I'll make him…"

XShuyaX

"Oh, look. Silica messaged me," Naruto remarked as he looked at his messages. "What do you think you're doing in a guild after making me go with Asuna? I expect five smoothies every day, you big meanie!"

"Now that you mention it, I got one from Asuna as well. Hm…she seems upset. Well, she said she'll forgive me if I bought her the extra-large crème brûlée on the highest floor." Kirito sighed. "I can feel my wallet getting lighter already," he mumbled, but not in a complaining tone. He had expected the chestnut-haired girl to complain, and rightfully so.

"We don't have wallets," the blond pointed out. Kirito face-palmed.

"It's a figure of speech," he explained, but Naruto was already somewhere in his own world. Whistling a tune and swinging his sword from side to side, destroying mobs that charged at him, Naruto walked through the lower-leveled Dungeon as if it were a walk in the park. Kirito grumbled. Damn blond, never listening to him.

"At least listen to me, damn it!" He yelled after Naruto. Suddenly, the happy teen turned around, stopping his current activity and giving Kirito a look.

"I'm sorry, did you say something?" Then, he turned around and went back to his enjoyment.

XShuyaX

"Hey guys, have you ever tried fighting with different weapons?" The rest of the guild looked at Naruto, who was holding an array of different weapons in his hands, which he had randomly pulled out from his Inventory. Drops from the monsters were giving much better weapons nowadays on the upper floors, so Naruto spend a lot of time in the towns searching for weapons.

"No, not really," Keita replied for the group, all of them looking at the weapons with obvious interest, but also with a healthy amount of apprehension.

"Well, there's no time like the present. Try them!" the blond told them with a bright smile. So, they went out to the fields, each with an excited aura about them.

And that was the day Naruto realized that the Moonlit Black Cats were some of the most ungraceful fighters he had ever seen.

Keita, the guild leader, looked like he was dancing with an overweight woman with his battle mace.

Tetsuo seemed like a retard trying to point at something with a rapier like one normally would with a ruler.

Ducker was just ducking under his shield, not used to using a sword.

Sasamaru would be better off running away than using a dagger. Well, it was a good thing he was running away from a giant mob.

Sachi seemed to be the only one actually having a good time with her chain mace, screaming with energy she never knew she had as she swung the deadly ball around like a maniac. Naruto didn't have the heart to take it away from her, even though he and the guild members were almost hit on multiple occasions. It took Kirito's very subtle and kind words to make her give up the weapon.

"Sachi, you're an absolute menace with the chain mace…to your own guild mates."

Yeah…Kirito was very, very bad with interpersonal issues.

XShuyaX

"Hey, Naruto!"

"Hmm?" The blond turned around to face the now panting Tetsuo, who was regaining his breath. The teen was hunched over with his hands on his knees, wheezing from running after the blond for hours. The two were farming, and while Naruto was leisurely crossing the fields, the other player was having much more difficulty.

"When do you…hah…" Naruto smiled.

"Hey, take your time." Tetsuo nodded his head. A minute later, he was in good enough condition to speak normally.

"When…do you think we'll be ready to join the clearing group and fight?" He asked earnestly. Naruto's expression changed immediately from light-hearted to serious. However, that changed as well to a thoughtful look as Naruto stared up at the sky.

"Let's wait until after the Fiftieth Floor." Then, the blond looked back to the smiling player. "If you guys are going to be ready by that time, you guys will have to grind like crazy, got it?" Tetsuo's smile widened.

"Hai!"

XShuyaX

"When's your birthday, Kirito?" Said teen looked over at Sachi, who was tapping her right foot against the ground unconsciously from evident nervousness.

"October seventh. Why?" The girl immediately shook her head.

"It's nothing. I was just wondering. How about you, Naruto?"

"October tenth; pretty easy to remember ,right?" Naruto grinned at the girl, who returned it with a shy smile. She hummed to tell the two she had memorized their birthdays before skipping away. Kirito gave Naruto a look of confusion.

"What was that about?" The blond gave his friend an incredulous stare before sighing and walking away without answering. "Hey, Naruto!"

"You have some serious problems when it comes to understanding others sometimes, you know that?" The blond stated, still with his back to his friend.

"Damn it, just tell me!"

XShuyaX

"Ducker, why did you open the treasure chest? It was in the middle of a room…by itself…all the way inside. Did something about that situation scream trap, thief?" Naruto asked rhetorically as he pulled out a sword and jumped in front of Ducker. The term he had used for the other blond was not meant to be offensive; Ducker's class was actually a thief, if there were classes in the game.

"Get behind us!" Kirito ordered the rest of the group, backing the rest of them behind him. Naruto was at his six, warily looking around him as the monsters started to come out into the now blood-red room.

"Oh, aren't we in a pinch," the blond muttered to himself as he raised his sword into a ready stance. "You think we'll be fine with this?" he asked over his shoulder to Kirito. The group was now in a semicircle, with Naruto and Kirito jutting out at the ends.

"Tch, don't make me scoff, Naruto."

"You already did."

"You know what I mean. Let's just get this over with."

"Yeah. Let's just get out of here," he replied. Then, as one, the two boys twirled their blades above their heads before placing the edge right on their shoulders. Right when the first monster came within range, the two flashed out of their positions, both sprinting in a circle towards the right.

"What…the hell? Is this how strong they really are?" A moment later, the monsters began to disappear, each of them crystallizing into polygons as they were destroyed. A swirl of polygons floated into the air. From a top-down view, it would have looked like twin swirls going outwards.

Then, the two boys came into view, both of them twirling their blades again above their heads.

"Original Skill: Zantetsuken/Namikaze Sword Skill: Zantetsuken," the boys said in unison. However, instead of sheathing them, both boys each pulled out eight swords from their Inventory and began to run. On the same step, both did one full circle, throwing their weapons around to the left as hard as possible, and the swords spun around their bodies like a vortex, cutting down the remaining monsters.

The rest of the team watched from the center of the room, entranced. Since when did fighting with swords look so…graceful? Easy and smooth?

That day, the members made two conclusions: Naruto and Kirito were very strong, and that they would become as strong as possible so that they would be able to stand by their sides. It was time to stop admiring them and join their ranks, to become one of them.

XShuyaX

"Hey, I leveled up again today! Thanks, you two! It's been so much easier to fight on the higher floors ever since you guys have been with us and gave us some of your old equipment," Keita cheered happily when everyone was back at their base on the Eleventh Floor at Taft.

"It was nothing," Naruto tried to state humbly. Kirito coughed at that. Both of them were about to sell their old gear for a pretty penny, but they instead decided to give to their friends for free. Not that it really mattered, anyway. Money wasn't too big of an issue in the long run for those two.

"No really! We're all really thankful to you two," Tetsuo said honestly. The forward of the Moonlit Black Cats used to be awkward and nervous around Naruto, but over the weeks, that slowly changed from camaraderie to an actual, genuine friendship. Now, Tetsuo was almost constantly talking with the blond, trying to squeeze out all the knowledge he could so that he could become strong enough to join the clearers.

As for the guild, they weren't going at too bad of a pace when it came to leveling up. It had been two months, and they were already farming comfortably on the Thirty-Eighth Floor. Most of them were Level 40 or above by this point. Fighting monsters that were at a much higher level than they were, the guild members gained a lot more bonus EXP and Col. As a result, the mil-level guild members leveled up much more quickly than the normal player. Although this method seemed dangerous, Kirito and Naruto were there to back them up. Their protection wasn't really necessary at times; the equipment they gave to the members did more than enough to protect them. However, the clearing duo was always there just in case, as well as for morale support and advice.

"The boss battle is tomorrow, right?" Tetsuo asked, jumping back from the monsters and landing next to Naruto. The blond nodded, a serious expression on his face.

"Yeah…tomorrow is the Fiftieth Floor boss battle…it's going to be difficult." The brown-haired forward gave a look to Naruto, whose eyes were closed in thought, much like his own, except his were always closed.

"You don't think you're strong enough?" The blond suddenly chuckled, breaking out of his mental concentration.

"Oh, I know I'm strong…but that's exactly the problem. You remember what happened on the Twenty-Fifth Floor, right?" Tetsuo nodded grimly.

"I wasn't there, but I know the details. A lot of people died fighting against a copy of himself or herself. And apparently, you fought against a clone of yourself that had some kind of demonic form." With the last statement came a questioning glance, but Naruto shook it off.

"Yeah, that's what worries me. Every boss battle with a multiple of twenty is randomly generated, but it's always difficult. The Twenty-Fifth Floor boss battle had clones, and every single one of the clones was an exact replica of the level and skill number of each player. Even the equipment level was identical."

"We'll be fine. You're thinking too much about this, Naruto," Kirito suddenly interjected from his side of the path. The blond gave him a playful glare and stuck out his tongue.

"And you're thinking about this too little," he retorted. Kirito raised his palms up in a gesture to say 'I don't care'.

"Honestly, it's the same thing as the last time. We don't know what's going to happen. Thinking about it is useless either way. Worst comes to worst, we'll have to use Teleport Crystals and back the hell out of that room," Kirito said, explaining his thought process.

"It shouldn't be too bad, right?" Sachi asked hesitantly. The rest of the group had just finished off all of the mobs and monsters in the immediate vicinity, so a quick break was in order. "I mean, you two are really strong." Naruto barely prevented himself from thumping his chest in pride, while Kirito just sighed.

"We may be strong, but that doesn't mean it's not going to be bad." The mood fell heavily from Kirito's honest statement. "But I think that, in the end, we'll win and make it up to the next floor, and that we'll keep going up anyway. If we don't win tomorrow, we'll just grind for a week and try to gain as many levels and upgrades as possible."

"Geez, Kirito. Why are you so pessimistic?" Naruto asked from his side. Kirito gave the blond a glare.

"I'm not pessimistic; I'm just realistic. You're way too damn optimistic."

"Whatever. Realists are realists, optimists are optimists."

"And there goes those two, fighting again," Ducker chirped cheerfully from off the trail. The rest of the guild agreed, watching with evident amusement clear on their faces as Kirito began to say something again, but was ignored by Naruto, who was waving his hands in the air nonchalantly.

"Oh yeah, we get to meet Asuna-chan and Silica-chan again today, right? Score!" Ducker cheered, jumping in the air with a fist-pump from plain excitement. Both of the clearers suddenly turned their attention to the cheering teen.

"I'm sorry…I think I misunderstood what you just said," Naruto began, slowly walking towards the boy with a sickeningly cheerful grin.

"Did you say 'score' when you talked about Asuna-chan?" Kirito continued, his face blank, but deeply shadowed below his eyes, making him look clearly murderous. The two boys were now directly in front of the nervous, cowering Ducker, who had his hands in front of him pleadingly.

"Of course not! I would never say something like that, right guys?" The blond with the beanie turned around for support from his friends, but each of them just gave him a knowing smile and took a step backwards as one. His look of despair was obvious. "Guys! Come on, guys!" he yelled as he ran towards them. Every one of them began to run the other way; even Sachi was laughing as she played along with the game.

Naruto and Kirito dropped their previous expressions and smiled softly, watching the event take place.

Friends were the best.

XShuyaX

(Time Skip: Night time)

"So…it's tomorrow, right?" Kirito turned over on his bed, ruffling the sheets as he moved. He propped himself on his elbow and looked over at Naruto, who was silently looking up to the ceiling. His azure, blue eyes glowed with the moonlight, filled with determination.

"Yeah…"

"I wish we didn't wait. We could've gone to the floor boss two months ago if we didn't slow down after the Forty-Fifth Floor," the blond said quietly, whispering.

"Wouldn't have made a difference. We needed more clearers at higher levels, especially after all of the deaths," Kirito explained, the last words leaving a sour taste in his mouth. Both of them remained silent after that; the overall feeling in the atmosphere suddenly became much colder, and it wasn't from the winter coming in.

"I'm going to use it if I have to," Naruto said, suddenly breaking the tense silence. Kirito widened his eyes in surprise, but they quickly reverted back to fit his usual expression.

"I…see. You know what will happen if you do, right? You won't be able to go back to being a normal player after that, you understand, right?" Kirito watched as Naruto slowly nodded his head.

"Yeah…but the sooner we get out of here, the better. Besides, after this, we'll truly be the same. Brothers in arms, right?" Naruto said with a smile as he turned his head on his pillow, now looking at Kirito. The black-haired swordsman just stared at Naruto before sighing and dropping back to his sleeping position.

"It's your decision."

Silence.

"I know."

XShuyaX

(Location: Knights of the Blood Guild Building)

"Are you worried about tomorrow, Silica-chan?" Asuna asked. Said girl nodded her head quickly.

"Yes, I'm worried…extremely worried." Thoughts of the times she had almost died flashed through her mind, but one stuck out and made her flinch. "Every time I think about tomorrow, I can't help but think about the Twenty-Fifth Floor, when we both almost died." Suddenly, the girl found herself in Asuna's warm embrace, the older girl's chin resting on top of the girl's head.

"We'll be fine. I promise you that all of us will do our best and that everything will be alright. And Naruto still hasn't used his Chakra fully in battle. You know that he's able to do much more now, right?" Asuna felt Silica rub her chest and was able to discern the feeling as a nod.

"But…that doesn't mean I'm not worried. Anything can happen tomorrow." Asuna closed the hug and pressed Silica even closer to her body as she stared resolutely at the door. But she wasn't staring at the door physically, but figuratively. There was a somewhere out that door…and she would reach it. Tomorrow, she would survive and win. The boss was in her way to the somewhere she wanted to be…outside.

"I know…but we'll survive. I'll make sure of it," she promised quietly. The two girls then heard Kurama snoring, its five tails waving in the air.

XShuyaX

(Time Skip: Morning)

Kirito was watching Naruto quietly. The blond didn't yawn once in the morning, which was a tell that something was bothering the usually exuberant blond. Secondly, the blond had a forced smile on his face when he spoke to the other clearers in the room directly before the boss, but no one else seemed to notice. Finally, Naruto was playing with his dagger against, twirling it and fingering the hilt, as if making sure it was still there.

Finally, Kirito got fed up by the tenseness his friend was showing.

"Naruto, can you calm down? I know your nervous, but you're not helping any to the environment," Kirito explained, pointedly looking in the direction of the rest of the clearers. The majority of them were milling around, talking amongst each other, but they looked even more nervous than usual. It almost seemed as if they were waiting…but for what?

"They're waiting for you, Naruto." The blond quickly turned his head to Kirito in a surprised look. Kirito just sighed.

"Don't you get it? You're usually the person that is most relaxed before boss battles, so that's why people usually come to you. But today, you've been silent and terse, so everyone else is talking amongst themselves. Even Silica and Asuna walked away because they could literally feel your tenseness." Naruto widened his eyes, suddenly realizing his mistakes. He dropped his head and looked at the floor.

"Sorry. I just…"

"Was nervous, I know," Kirito finished for him. At that moment, the stone doors to the boss battle creaked open loudly, thudding with finality when the double doors crashed against the walls. The black-haired swordsman sighed as he pulled out his sword from his back. "Let's just get this over with, alright?" Naruto followed silently. All of the voices in the room dropped, and the only sounds remaining were the footsteps from the clearers as they walked to the room, each with a grim, stone-hearted face.

It was time.

The top players in the game marched into the room, each holding their weapon, each on guard as they entered the boss room. It was a large circle. A very, very large circle. One side looked black, and the other side of the floor looked white. Actually, now that everyone was looking at it…it seemed very similar to a Yin-Yang symbol. And in the center of the circle was the boss…by itself.

It was frozen in a sitting position, its stone body sitting in a lotus position. The clearers all gave it a wide berth as they stared at it warily, each waiting for the moment it would suddenly disappear from its unassuming sitting position. However, it remained still…and it was all the more frightening. The pressure weighing down on each person's mind was increasing until was at the breaking point.

Suddenly, the statue moved, creaking and crumbling as it stood up slowly, its six arms each grabbing a heavy, golden axe. The sharp ends each glinted at the now defined boss, the Six-Armed Metallic Buddha Statue, its intimidating stature facing off against the clearers by itself as its health bars and name became visible.

The clearers and the statue stayed still and silent. The former group could feel the pressure from the single boss in front of them; it was their first time fighting a boss that didn't have any sentinels or mini-bosses alongside the main boss. How strong would it be? What can it do? How efficient was it with six arms?

(A/N: Play Shingeki no Kyojin OST – Attack ON Titan. Yeah, this is literally the title)

Kirito tried to stay calm, but the tenseness in the atmosphere was suffocating him. His breathing frequency increased as his heart rate bumped up. A small trickle of sweat went down his forehead and the hairs on the back of his neck rose in anticipation and trepidation.

As one, all of the players raised their defense and tensed their muscles when the boss began to walk forwards, each lumbering step shaking the very earth. Every wary pair of eyes suddenly widened when the boss disappeared. Then the screams came.

Every player slowly turned their head around to where the sound came from, and the sight they saw was traumatizing. All of the players were still alive but already beginning to fade and turn into a bright color. Some of the players were beheaded, others had limbs chopped off, and one of the players was simply cut in half. Six were cut…and a few seconds later, six live bodies were decimated. Their names would be crossed out on the pillar forever.

And that was when every clearer made the realization that this would be the hardest boss yet. The Clone Floor boss would have nothing on this boss. Six of their comrades, destroyed in seconds, which meant that the boss was extremely proficient with six-handed dueling. Not only that, but its speed has fast. Not as fast as Naruto, but it was definitely faster than the majority of the clearers. That didn't mean the players couldn't react, but the problem was if they could block. Dodging was obviously almost completely out of the question, so blocking or defending was all that was available; the fact the boss killed six in one strike sent a very clear message to everyone: it had extremely high Strength stats. Basically, don't get hit.

So, not only was it powerful, but it was fast and would be able to deal with multiple adversaries at once. Naruto grit his teeth. He knew this might happen, and he had mentally prepared himself for what his actions would bring about. The blond jumped backwards to the very edge of the room, right in front of the entrance to the room that was still tauntingly open for the players that wanted to run away.

"Guys, we need to fight!" he screamed. Everyone heard him, but they were scared shitless. He narrowed his eyes when almost all of the players didn't respond. "Remember the boss on the Eleventh Floor? Use poison to counteract its extremely high armor!" That got the players to actually start moving. "Keep an eye on the boss, and give me one minute! Survive!"

Kirito, Asuna, and Silica nodded their heads to eac other when they heard 'one minute'. At all costs, they would protect Naruto.

"Do not switch to a weapon with poison if it is not strong enough; stay with your current weapon if that is the case!" Heathcliff shouted over the sounds of confusion. He dashed to the right, blocking all six strikes from boss with his gigantic shield. He cringed from the power behind the blow, and his health suffered a touch, but a touch was much better than six more deaths to their numbers.

The players, now with a sense of order and hope after listening to Naruto's words and watching Heathcliff block that boss' strikes, roared as they instilled in themselves a fighting spirit to survive. The game's strongest players charged at the boss and struck with coordination and precision, but the boss was skillfully able to dodge or defend against the player's strikes. A few times, the boss dodged a flying thrust, letting the player pass it. However, the player's path was ruined when the clearer was cut in half in midair.

This happened multiple times, but each time, the players seemed to become even more adamant to win. They wanted revenge for their comrades. Eleven had died, and it had been one minute. They had started the day with seventy-three. This was not heading in a very good direction. The desperation from the fighters was clear, but they found that attacking the boss was extremely difficult. True, the few nicks by the poison weapons were making a difference, and the boss was losing Health Points quite quickly as a result, now at three-quarters Health Points overall, but this process wouldn't work for much longer. It seemed that the boss was becoming faster and faster as it adjusted to the quick switching from the players.

Suddenly, after the boss blocked another powerful swing from a player, it went on the offensive, cutting and charging through the ranks of the players, polygons flying in the air with screams accompanying the sound that every player knew too well. Its eyes glowed deep, crimson red as it headed towards a specific blond.

"Stop it!" Kirito roared, flashing from his position to in front of the boss, his sword glowing white. "Horizontal!" he shouted as he flew forward, only to meet the boss' blades in a lock. But this was what he wanted. His eyes were beginning to close from struggling, but the longer he held it, the better.

'Hurry the hell up…my Health Points are going down from just blocking it!' Kirito thought mentally. Relief came when Asuna rained blows from above, and Silica stabbed the boss multiple times from the back. Kurama joined in, shooting dark matter from its mouth, the matter exploding upon impact. The boss' health bar noticeably dropped from the critical blows, going down to about half heath.

However, the boss seemed to increase in its power as it made a rumbling sounds and began to push Kirito back. Then, the boy was thrown away as his shoulder was forced out of place, making the teen lose his grip on his sword as he went flying. Kirito was still able to backflip in midair and land horizontally against the wall of the room, but the damage was done. Naruto was wide open.

The boss charged at the unmoving teen, to which many of the players screamed at. They didn't understand why he wasn't moving. Right when the boss was about to slice the blond to piece with its six axes, three figures made themselves known in front of him. The three players all stopped the boss' axes from demolishing the blond as they pressed forwards, but even that was a challenge for the three.

"I didn't think we would be working like this, Heathcliff-san," Kirito said from the right of the man, having recovered already and back in fighting condition. The leader of the Knight of the Blood just closed his eyes and smirked, but it was strained as he was having difficulties against the boss. "And you too, Agil-san." The dark, chocolate colored man grinned at Kirito.

"I owe a favor to Naruto, so this is the least I can do!"

However, right when it seemed at the three would be able to push the boss away, its strength increased again. The three groaned under the pressure, doing their best to fight back, but the boss was just too powerful in the physical department.

Suddenly, the three were blown away, and the boss' weapons were already in striking position, primed to cut through the three that had gotten in the way to its charge after the blond.

Kirito watched with wide eyes as the blades came closer and closer to his chest. He brought his sword up, but he knew that would've been a fruitless endeavor to guard against the boss. Heathcliff and Agil had a much better chance with their stats directed toward Defense, but even that would be a close call.

'NARUTO! ANY TIME NOW!'

He opened his eyes.

(A/N: You know what to do, Shingeki no Kyojin fanboys/fangirls. Go start that part. Or just start playing Armored Titan Theme)

Everything started to go in slow motion. The three players currently airborne were in dire need of assistance, but no one was close enough to help other than the blond, and he was still in a sitting position on the ground. Then, the clearers saw his eyes open as slowly start to get on his feet.

'Kaze no Yoroi (Armor of Wind)!'

Then he just...disappeared.

The boss' swords were parried by a powerful wind, and the boss itself was suddenly blown backwards as its chest and its whole composition seemed to crack from an impact. Everyone's eyes widened from shock as they saw Naruto, who was now standing in a hand-to-hand combat position, his eyes going through multiple colors and constantly shifting. And, there was an aura about the blond. The mist around the blond was also changing colors, and it was in complete sync with the color of his eyes. However, the main color that the mist and eyes seemed to convert to was the color red.

Naruto saw what had occurred the minute he had been out. Thirty-two players were now gone from this world and the real world…forever. He narrowed his eyes and his teeth grinded and his canines became visible.

The boss got up quickly, already charging at the blond; its whole attention seemed fixed on Naruto as it rushed passed the rest of the players. Naruto changed his stance, entering the Sage Style that Fuji-jiji had taught him.

'You're an Enlightened One, Buddha? Too bad, you're still fucked because I'm-'

The blond rushed forwards to meet the boss, his fist glowing white as he suddenly disappeared. A moment later, an ear-splitting sound echoed throughout the room. All of the players tried to block it out by raising only one hand to their ears; bringing two hands up would make them defenseless in case the boss rushed at someone else other than Naruto.

Asuna watched alongside of Silica, both of them with their jaws dropping. They had no idea that Sage Mode was this powerful.

'A Sage!'

The boss was now airborne, and the blond was right under it with his foot straight in the air, finishing with a splits. Then, he jumped after it, kicking it once in the back, then spinning and punching it side before kicking it again so that it continued to lift upwards in the air.

'Rise to Heaven…and next…Return to Earth!' The blond was kicked it one more time on the boss' back, sending it even higher. Right when it was just about to reach the ceiling, Naruto suddenly switched places with the boss. Now the blond was on top of the boss. It tried to swing at the blond, but Naruto was prepared. He performed a midair aerial, narrowly dodging each swipe of the axe.

"My turn! Return to Earth!" He roared as both fists turned was coated with a red glow. Then, he cocked his fist back and threw a devastating punch on the boss, sending it falling. But Naruto didn't let it go; he attached a chakra string to it and to his body, so he fell with the boss, constantly striking it as his fists became blurs, just moving back and forth. All the players watched as the blond's punches made the boss' health drop at a dramatic pace. When it crashed onto the ground, a huge plume of smoke and dust rose as a result. Immediately afterwards, a trail of smoke flew out of the large cloud.

Naruto landed next to a few of the gob smacked players, but he kept a serious expression, focusing intently on the smoke in favor of watching the players look and point at him and look with surprised expressions. Suddenly, the blond's enhanced eyes saw the boss rush out, charging at him at a much faster speed than before. Naruto flashed forwards in an instant, meeting the boss halfway.

'Kaze no Yoroi!' Once again, the boss' axes were thrown backwards by a quick force of wind, which Naruto activated and deactivated within milliseconds to conserve as much Sage Chakra as possible. He only had a few more seconds.

'Tatakai!*' Naruto took advantage of the open guard and landed a devastating punch to the chest, pushing the boss backwards, but not much. Buddha retaliated again, swiping its axes horizontally and vertically. Naruto ran straight forwards, ducking at the last second and sliding under its feet.

'Tatakai!' The blond did a quick sweeping kick, throwing the boss off balance. His anger was still pushing him through as he attacked relentlessly, going completely on the offensive.

'Tatakai!' Naruto jumped up into the air, dodging six horizontal axe swipes that would have left him heavily damaged, but not killed because of his natural defense boost from Sage Mode. Flipping once to increase his momentum, he roared as he brought down his leg on the boss, connecting his heel on the crown.

"FINISH IT!" Naruto screamed, feeling Sage Mode disappearing. 'Just a little longer. Just a little longer! TATAKAI!'

His roar made the rest of the clearers snap out of their amazement of the blond handling the frightening boss almost all by himself. The clearers felt ashamed that they literally watched the boy fight by himself, as they felt helpless in front when they watched how powerful the blond truly was. However, the majority, if not all of them were extremely, extremely skeptical of what was happening. What the hell did the blond do to become so strong?

However, now wasn't the time to think about that! It was the time to fight! For life and death! To escape from their captivity in the castle called Aincrad and to chase after Freedom! The clearers roared as one as they all charged in on the boss, who was now on its last legs of survival.

"Good-bye, Buddha. A Sage has come to take your place," Naruto whispered as he laid waste with haymaker with the last of his strength as he finally went slack and fell to the ground. However, he did his job as the rest of the clearers were able to use all of their abilities to take care of the last bar of health remaining while the boss was still down.

The last thing Naruto saw before blissful unconsciousness took over was the crystals floating in the air.

The clearers had beaten the boss.

They had cleared the Fiftieth Floor.

Halfway home.

Chapter End

A/N: I hope this was still okay. I may edit the fight scene and make it longer….a lot longer if I need to, but I'm not too sure right now.

Well, I hope you guys liked it! If not…I'm sorry. I tried.

KenzoXShuyita, peacing out!