Shattered Pieces
Chapter X
"Suigetsu, you're an idiot." Upon finding the two missing Faunus, that was the first thing that Naruto told the older boy. Usually, he would make a big fuss and deny such an accusation, but he just looked at the ground. This was due to a combination of shame and the fact that Naruto and his team had come in, killed five Alpha-class and one Knight-level Grimm that they were definitely going to be eaten by, and then greeted him with that sentence.
"That said, I understand why you did it." The blonde continued. "Or, at least, I think I do. If something similar happened to Adam, I think I might do the same. It doesn't make it any less idiotic though." He pointed out the last statement when Suigetsu looked like he was going to start smiling weakly. He immediately sighed and nodded. "Now, Kisame, would you kindly explain to me what in the name of Dust you two were thinking?"
The shark-like man held up his hands in defense. "Hey, this wasn't my idea. The kid has been asking me a lot about Mangetsu lately and I may have… accidentally let it slip where Flounder was. He trained the last month and took missions that would specifically have Alpha-Class threat levels. He tried getting me to come along, but when I refuse he just said he'd go alone. I thought he was bluffing, but when he didn't show up for dinner last night… I decided to check for his Scroll's signal and chased after him. Oh, that reminds me, we're gonna need to send in retrieval teams for two Hawks that may have been hit by a Rook-level Drake-type Grimm's breath attack."
The blonde could feel anger rising, but stomped it down. "Okay, look, everything here would have been for nothing if we just leave. We're going to get this sword." Suigetsu started smiling. "That said, I'm not letting you touch it for three months." If anything, Suigetsu just grinned wider. "Now, how far away from the resting place are we, Kisame, Zabuza?"
They looked at each other for a moment before Zabuza spoke. "Well, here's the thing. The Swords give off this… feeling. It's not so much an Aura as something else. They're very powerful, but also have this tendency to… attract Grimm. We never learned to sense it, even if Mangetsu did. He told us it was like a… void of emotions. All of the worst negative emotions rolled into one that collapsed under the weight of its own despair."
Naruto looked at the sky and sighed as he realized what Zabuza was driving at. "It's wherever the King and Queen are, isn't it?" He didn't even have to look to know he received a nod from the two of them. The blonde turned to his party and gritted his teeth as he thought. "Zabuza, take Suigetsu back to the ship and tell Hidan to trace the signal on my Scroll." The man nodded and Suigetsu didn't put up much of a fight, understanding the immediate threat that a King, let alone a Queen, posed. "Neo, you're on retrieval. Your illusions affect Grimm too, right?" She nodded. "Haku, stay with Neo and teleport out of danger if you're found out. Kimimaro and Kisame, you're with me. It's time to go hunting."
[Bullhead]
Hidan was not what one might call a normal man. Or sane. But mostly normal. Zabuza and Suigetsu really shouldn't have been surprised at what they found upon arriving at the ship. They were, but even they couldn't understand why they didn't think this would happen. Somehow, the zealot had had the time to do… whatever it was he was doing. "Zabuza, I really want to know what that is but I'm scared of what the answer will be." Suigetsu commented to his brother's friend, getting an affirming nod. The man didn't seem to have seen them yet and was continuing to feverishly assemble… something.
"Hidan!" Turning with a deranged grin on his lips – and blood, lots of blood all over him – the cultist made eye contact. "What the hell is this?" Hoisting his scythe like some sort of scepter, the silver-haired mystic's grin widened even further.
"I wanted to help Lord Uzumaki as much as possible, so I made a shrine and gave him some sacrifices!" Now that the two thought about it, that was something he would do and the scene before them matched that description. There was a large spiral on the floor about 3 meters in radius made out of blood and Blight, the substance Grimm are formed from. In the very center of the spiral, which was Naruto's Emblem, was a meter and a half tall sculpture of a fox formed from Grimm bone. How do you even get Grimm bone? Within the spiral itself there were dozens of human corpses and hundreds of Grimm masks and a countless number of Grimm mask shards that weren't even recognizable anymore. "Did it help? Well, Suigetsu is here, so of course it did! I bet Lord Uzumaki will be so proud of me!"
Zabuza and Suigetsu shared a look but didn't mention that while Kurama would approve greatly, they doubted Naruto would. Then again, he did tend to spoil Hidan, so there was no telling what would happen. "Actually, Naruto needs your help." Zabuza mentioned as he broke from that train of thought. "We're extending the mission objective a little and searching for one of the Seven Swords that's somewhere in the Red Coast. We were sent to find you and tell you to search for and follow the signal on Naruto's Scroll. We need aerial support, which I can provide, and you can provide some ground support against the Grimm."
Lowering his scythe as Hidan's eyes gained far more zeal and his grin toned down slightly, he gave off an all too grim aura. Placing his weapon on his back with a more serious air about him, the cultist somehow became even more terrifying. "It shall be as Lord Uzumaki wills. Let us be off." Boarding the Bullhead before either the Swordsman or the Hozuki could say anything, they had to rush on the vessel or else be left behind. Knowing Hidan, he would do it too. Nothing stopped him from serving Lord Uzumaki. Nothing.
[Red Coast – Central Nest]
One of the most dangerous things that one could encounter in the World of Remnant was a Grimm Nest. In the Huntsmen Handbook of Survival, a Nest is defined as any gathering of Grimm that is self-sustaining due to the presence of a Queen Grimm. Queen Grimm, on the other hand, are defined as any Grimm that is large enough in size, scope and power that it can spawn Pawns from its own mass. While not as individually powerful as a King, a Queen could bring droves against an unprepared Huntsmen at a moment's notice and win by virtue of numbers.
The Red Coast was home to no less than three documented Nests, known as the Greater Nest, the Central Nest and the Lower Nest respectively. The terms were not meant to differentiate power levels – those could change as often as hourly given without an enemy, Grimm tended to move towards infighting and supremacy amongst themselves. They simply referred to time and location. While the Greater Nest was located farthest to the west of the coastline and the Lower was to the East, the Central covered the center parts of the coast. It was thought by some Huntsmen that the Red Coast's Central Nest gave birth to the Greater and Lower Nests since there was only ever one King and one Queen per Nest.
There was no such limit on Knights, Rooks and Bishops however.
"I've never seen so many before…" Kimimaro, who was more used to going on missions against the Schnee than against Grimm, breathed out slowly. He had a pair of bones in his hands, already preparing for what would no doubt be one of the hardest fights of his life. Kisame nodded, remembering the first time he'd encountered a Nest. Naruto, who had more experience than Kimimaro in this regard was scanning for very particular things. Getting the white-haired boy's attention, the blonde began.
"I know you haven't fought many Grimm, Kimimaro, so I'll do my best to give you everything you need to know quickly. What you're used to fighting at known as Pawns, they're the weakest forms that Grimm take." He received a nod, so continued. "There are actually three… tiers that they can be classified under: Progenitors, Protectors and Pawns. The first two are further divided. Protectors can be divided into Knights, Bishops and Rooks. Progenitors are the King and Queen of a Nest. The exact power structure goes King, Queen, Bishop, Knight, Rook and then Pawn. Each level up there's a difference in power by roughly a factor of 5. Technically, it can be anywhere between a factor of 2 and 10 depending on exact species, but 5 is a good average to remember.
"As I said, Pawns are the weakest. Rooks are formed when a Pawn is exposed to enough negative energy and has consumed an amount of Aura roughly equivalent to one hundred Huntsmen. While the form stays similar – meaning that it's still based around whatever animal they took before – they become bigger, stronger, faster and more resilient. Their bones also begin to cover more of their Blight, making them more difficult to kill on top of the bonuses. Some Bishops even gain access to some low level powers and higher – though still sub-human – intelligence due to all the Aura they consumed.
"Through a similar process – though this time it requires the equivalent Aura of roughly 1000 Huntsmen – a Rook will turn into a Knight. They have a similar evolution except they become more humanoid and concentrate the new power they've gained in a smaller body. Their bodies are about 80% bone at this point and have so much Aura that they're at least as intelligent as an average human and all of them have low to medium tier powers influenced by the types of Auras they've consumed prior to Promoting.
"10,000 more souls and the Grimm attain Bishop status. At this point they look like alabaster-skinned humans that are highly intelligent with Semblance-level powers of Master rank and… it's not quite a soul, but something like it. A corrupted Aura that is known as Nether. Their Blight is completely covered and it's impossible to kill them the easy way. To make it even worse, their Nether protects them from Aura and physical attacks. The upside is that they're highly weak against Dust for some reason. It might just be that they can't get rid of that racial weakness no matter how far they evolve.
"Lastly is the King and Queen. Oddly enough, Queens evolve from Rooks in a way different from Knights. If, instead of consuming humans, a Knight consumes other Grimm then their Blight mass increases and they grow. At a particular size, they are capable of spawning other Grimm from their bodies without any noticeable change in their size. When they can Spawn hundreds without changing size, that's when they're classified as a Queen and no longer a Rook. Kings on the other hand are an alternate evolution from Knights. By consuming both Grimm and humans, a Knight can become something… more than human and less than human. Even Yami doesn't know exactly what happens, but the effect is widely documented. Larger than life humanoid monsters with all the powers and intelligence of a Bishop and a size that puts even Alpha Class Pawns to shame, though not quite so big as to be a Queen."
Kimimaro, having heard Naruto's miniature lesson, looked down at the Nest from their position on the side of a cliff. He was attempting to find any of these other Grimm that Naruto had explained to him, but wasn't exactly sure he could. "Luckily for us, it seems that this Nest is mostly Pawns. Even Rooks take years to form under the best of circumstances given most people don't have that much Aura." Scanning the area, he nodded. "Yeah, if there was a Rook, you'd know, and I don't see any Knights or Bishops. That said, a Queen is required for a Nest to form and Queens always attract Kings vying for her attention. At the very least we can expect that we'll need to fight those unless Neo and Haku can find Flounder before then."
Kisame reached for his own weapon and pulled it off his back. It was still coated in bandages, but he quickly remedied that by shaking it a little. The effect was immediate. Every Grimm looked up at the cliff as one. Kisame simply grinned in response as he held Sharkskin up high. "Then let's give them as much time as we can!" He yelled before jumping from the cliff and slamming the scaled 'blade' against the mask of an Ursa Major hard enough to shatter it on impact. Naruto's own eyes bled into a deep, burning red as Kurama took over with his own grin. Kimimaro, the only calm – and sane, some might say – one of the three was the last to jump.