I promised you I'd get three chapters, and here is the third chapter! (Sorry it's a little late, I was having a little trouble uploading it.) I promised you nearly 10K, and this chapter sits at over 9900 words! (Without the author notes, I'm not that cheap.) I said this would be an epic chapter with big reveals...well, you'll just have to read and see for yourself. Enjoy!
River in a Dry Land
Thursday, April 28, 20XX
Early Morning, Shujin Academy
4 Days until Expulsion
The sky was only just beginning to brighten when Naruto arrived at the front of Shujin Academy. He looked around and saw Ryuji's spiky blonde hair hiding in a corner. Naruto glanced around to ensure the coast was clear and then darted over until he was behind the delinquent. "Hey, Ryuji!" he whispered. Ryuji jumped into the air and whirled around.
"Damn it, Naruto! You effin' scared the shit outta me!" Naruto had the decency to look a little sheepish.
"Sorry about that Ryuji. You've got the calling card?" Ryuji grinned and held up a bundle of red half cards with a hodge-podge characters of different styles.
"You bet! I can't wait for Kamoshida to see these!" Naruto nodded.
"Alright, then we'd better get in then." Naruto lead Ryuji to a secluded side door reserved for deliveries. He reached into his bag and pulled out a set of lock-picking tools. With Iwai's underworld connections, it has been relatively easy to get a hold of them. He began to expertly work over the keyhole using the tools. Compared to the crude instruments he'd been forced to use in Konoha, using these refined tools made for modern criminals was a breeze. Within a minute he heard the satisfying click of the door opening. "Sweet, we're in," he said. The two blonds quietly entered the building. "Alright, Ryuji, we've got about 30 minutes before Ms. Chouno and Principal Kobayakawa get here to make coffee. So, we have to act fast and get out before then." Ryuji looked at Naruto in amazement.
"Dude, how do you know that kind of stuff?" he asked. Naruto couldn't help but smirk.
"Let's just say this isn't the first time I've don't this," he replied vaguely. "Anyway, let's just get moving." Ryuji looked at him for another second before nodding. Naruto followed him to the bulletin board for the school's news on the first floor. Ryuji handed Naruto a stack of the red calling cards.
"Here, you can help me pin these up to the board." Naruto scanned the note.
"Sir Suguru Kamoshida, the depraved and lustful bastard," he read aloud. "Your days of forcing your twisted, greedy desires over the students of this school have gone on long enough. This calling card serves as our notice that we will now steal those desires away and make you admit to your despicable deeds. This will occur today, so please beware. Signed, the Phantom Thieves of Hearts." Naruto looked up at Ryuji. "Really Ryuji? Phantom Thieves of Hearts?"
"Hey, I looked up a bunch of different things like this online, okay?" he replied. "Anyway, once everyone sees these today, Kamoshida's definitely gonna feel the pressure!" The two made short work of pinning the calling cards on top of the different announcements on the bulletin board. Ryuji stepped back to admire his handiwork. "Looking good!" he said. "Now we just need to get the hell out of here and come back later when school starts." He glanced at Naruto, who had his arms folded across his chest as he stared at the calling cards. "Hey, what's the matter, Naruto?" he asked. Naruto's face was contorted in deep thought as his mind ran through a gamut of ideas. He turned to Ryuji.
"Hey, they keep all the Sports Day decorations in the storage shed, right?" he asked. Ryuji looked at him in bewilderment.
"Uh, yeah, but Kamoshida has the key to it." A wicked grin sprouted on Naruto's face.
"That's even better. Come on, I'll need your help with this." Naruto hurried off towards the gym. Ryuji followed behind him with a curious look on his face.
Morning
Ann ran into Akira while walking to the school gate. "Hey, Akira!" she hurried up to catch up with him. Morgana poked his head out of Akira's bag.
"Good morning, Lady Ann!" he said cheerily. "Did you sleep well!"
"Not really," Ann admitted. "I was thinking about Shiho. Today's the day I finally get to avenge her." Akira gave her a small smile.
"Don't forget, we're all in on this together," he said.
"That's right," Morgana said. "We've got your back, Lady Ann." The pigtailed blonde smiled back.
"Thanks guys!" she said cheerily. "So, do you think Naruto and Ryuji pulled it off?"
"Only one way to find out," Akira said. The two walked through the gates and into the school. Immediately they could feel the shift in the atmosphere, as hushed whispers flittered between students in the hallway.
"Did you see the bulletin board and the gym?"
"Yeah, I can't believe someone calling Kamoshida out!"
"Does that mean all those rumor about him messing with girls are true?"
"I don't know, but what do you think they mean by stealing his desires?" Ann and Akira looked at each other before quickly heading to the bulletin board. There was already a small crowd of students surrounding it, reading the posted cards. The two squirmed her way in and quickly scanned the calling card before backing away. Ann rolled her eyes.
"Well, that's definitely Ryuji's handiwork that's for sure," she said. "Only he would sound like an idiot posing as an adult."
"He could have done better on the logo too," Morgana noted.
"Hey, I tried alright!" Ryuji walked up to them. "I only had one night to put it all together."
"It at least accomplishes what we need it to," Akira said. "Still, what's this I'm hearing about the gym?" Ryuji smirked.
"Oh yeah, you've got to see this!" He led them to the gym, where a large banner was somehow stuck to the side of the building about ten feet over the entrance. The banner had been painted over in black, with an enlarged version of the logo and the words, "It's payback time!" emblazoned on it in white. Ann looked up at it in awe.
"Did Naruto come up with this?" she asked. Ryuji nodded.
"Pretty neat huh? The dude's freakin' insane! I would have never have thought of that."
"Because you're a moron?" Morgana said. "Still, how'd he get the banner up there?" Ryuji frowned.
"Actually, I'm not sure about that," he replied. "He just had me help to repaint the banner and put the logo on. He told me he would take care of the rest and had me get out of here."
"Hmm, we can always ask him when we see him next," Akira said. "We should better get to class though; we don't want to miss the bell." The group began to walk back into the school. However, before they could make it to the stairs, they ran into Kamoshida, who was looking absolutely murderous.
"You two!" he snarled. "Are you the ones responsible for this mess?"
"I don't know what you're talking about, Kamoshida-sensei," Akira replied smoothly.
"Don't play dumb with me! You and Uzumaki set all this up!"
"What about me?" Naruto sauntered up to Kamoshida. The gym teacher whirled around.
"You! How dare you desecrate the gym with that eyesore. I'll have you expelled right now!"
"What are you talking about Kamoshida-sensei?" Naruto asked innocently. "It'd be impossible for someone like me to get that banner up there. I have this broken arm, remember?" Naruto gestured to his sling. His face hardened a bit. "I'm just pathetic trash now, right?" Kamoshida eyed Naruto's bandaged arm with suspicion. For a moment, it looked like Kamoshida was going to rush at Naruto and yank his arm out of his sling. Naruto reflexively tensed up. However, Kamoshida stopped himself.
"I'll deal with you later, Uzumaki. You all are going to be expelled soon enough." Suddenly, Naruto felt the world shift around him for a split second, similar to how they entered the Metaverse, except it was just in that area. The background faded to black. Kamoshida seemed to faze in place for a moment before being replaced with his Shadow counterpart. He scowled at the group.
"Come, try and steal my Treasure! I will crush you for your insolence!" he growled.
"Bring it on, Kamoshida!" Naruto replied. The Shadow smirked.
"Be careful what you wish for," he sneered. In a flash, everything returned to reality. Kamoshida stalked off to the gym. Naruto frowned turned to the others, who were looking at him in awe.
"Did anyone else see that just now?" he asked.
"Yeah, dude," Ryuji exclaimed. "You must have balls of steel to confront Kamoshida like that!"
"No, I meant- ugh, never mind," he replied. It didn't seem like any of the others had witnessed that little exchange. "Anyway, I'm pretty sure we've got his attention now." Morgana popped out from Akira's bag.
"Indeed," he said. "Judging by his reaction, he definitely knows what we're talking about. The Treasure has almost certainly appeared now…I think."
"Not this again," Ryuji said.
"So, we can get the Treasure today then?" Ann asked.
"Yes, but only today," Morgana warned. "This effect is only going to last so long, and we can't use it a second time. We've only got one shot at stealing the Treasure."
"Then let's take it!" Akira said firmly. "We didn't come all this way to back down." The others nodded in agreement. The warning bell rang, signaling class was about to begin. Ryuji grimaced.
"Yikes, we'd better get to class then. We can't steal the Treasure if we're in detention!" As they hurried up the stairs, Naruto couldn't help but think back to that strange encounter.
"So why was I able to interact with Kamoshida's Shadow just now and they couldn't?" he wondered. "This whole Metaverse thing is confusing as hell." For a split moment, he thought he had sensed a familiar burst of energy from Kamoshida's Shadow, something like…chakra, but he played it off as just his imagination.
After School
Metaverse, Kamoshida's Palace
In the safe room next to the throne room, the group gathered around. "Alright, our sole objective today is to steal Kamoshida's Treasure!" Morgana said. "Is everyone ready?" The others nodded solemnly.
"You ready to rock Kurama?" Naruto mentally asked.
"Do you even have to ask?" he heard the biju say. "It's not like I have something else better to do." Akira pulled up his red gloves with a snap.
"Alright, let's move!" The group rushed out of the safe room and headed toward the throne room. The doors to the throne room were now flung wide open, with no guards in sight.
"What the hell?" Ryuji asked. "Why's the door sittin' open like that? There aren't any guards around either."
"They probably all got assigned somewhere else in order to stop us from getting here," Morgana surmised. "Either way, we just need to steal the Treasure. Let's go!" The group ran through the descending rose petals into the Treasure room. While Naruto followed the others, he frowned.
"Damn it, this totally smells like a trap," he thought to himself. The group entered the room with the sea of gold and jewels. Where the white floating mist had previously been, a giant ornate crown studded with jewels now floated in the air. It sparkled in the light of the moonlight from the window.
"Sweet!" Morgana said. "The Treasure actually appeared!"
"Damn, that's one big crown," Ryuji said. Naruto scratched his head.
"How would Kamoshida even wear the thing?" he asked in confusion. Akira nodded.
"It'd probably cover his shoulders," he murmured.
"Who cares! We actually found the Treasure!" Morgana said gleefully. Ann folded her arms.
"It honestly just kinda pisses me off that THAT's his Treasure," she said. "Isn't this supposed to be Kamoshida's desires? Why is it so…pretty?" However, Morgana didn't seem to hear her, gazing at the Treasure with a manic gleam.
"So, shiny…" he breathed with excitement. The others exchanged glances.
"Uh, the cat's acting pretty excited," Ryuji said.
"Hey Mona? You okay?" Naruto asked. Morgana suddenly let out a distinctively feline squeal and leapt onto the floating crown.
"Mrrrrrowwwwww!" he said nuzzling the Treasure. The group collectively sweatdropped.
"He reminds me of Matatabi one time when Isobu brought her a giant rare fish," Kurama said.
"Looks like we know what Mona's catnip is," Akira said. "At least we'll know if we've got the Treasure though." Naruto frowned and yanked Mona off by the scruff of his neck. Morgana hissed and tried to scratch at him.
"Hey Mona, pull yourself together!" he called out. The feline seemed to snap out of his trance, looking shameful.
"Oh! Um, my apologies! I should have never behaved in such an atrocious manner in front of a lady," he said sheepishly. Ann crossed her arms.
"So, what was that all about?" she asked. "That was totally out of character for you Mona." Morgana nodded, his eyes the floor, seemingly for answers.
"I just couldn't help myself," he admitted. "Those human desires just called out to me so badly." He suddenly perked up. "But that must be a sign that I'm actually human, right?" Naruto shrugged.
"Beats me. All I know is, we've got to lug this thing out of here, pronto. The longer we stay here, the more likely Kamoshida's gonna find us."
"Right!" Ryuji agreed. "Still, that was super easy! I was at least expecting some sort of crazy trap." Akira rolled his eyes.
"Please don't jinx us now, Skull," he said. The other thieves besides Morgana gathered around the crown.
"This Palace is gonna disappear once we steal this thing, right?" Ann asked. "And Kamoshida will have a change of heart?"
"That's what should happen," Morgana agreed. They all grasped the crown by the edge. The moment they grabbed the crown, gravity seemed to resume its hold on the object.
"Dang, this thing this is kinda heavy," Ryuji grunted.
"Stop whining; I've had to carry a lot heavier stuff before," Naruto said.
"Still, I'm amazed this went so well; I even found four different Persona users," Morgana muttered to himself from the side. He grinned. "I was right to make a deal with you guys!"
"Save the celebration for after we get this out of here," Naruto said. The group made their way back through the throne room. Their slow pace made Naruto feel helpless as they crossed the open throne room. When they made it to the half-way point, they heard Ann's voice from the doorway.
"Go! Go! Ka-mo-shi-da's number one!" The crown was abruptly knocked out of their hands as a large volleyball slammed into it. A red-robed figure flew over their heads and past the crown to the pedestal the throne sat on. Naruto whirled around, simultaneously drawing a kunai and tossing a couple shuriken. Clang! Kamoshida's Shadow scowled as he deflected the shuriken with the now normal-sized Treasure crown in his hand. The bikini-clad cognition of Ann ran around and glomped Kamoshida's body. He hefted the crown in his hand.
"The lot of you will never take this away from me!" he sneered. "This is the proof that I am KING!!!" He wrapped his free arm around Ann's cognition and began fondling her breasts, causing her to squeal in delight.
"Is that how that bastard sees me?" Ann asked in disbelief. "Eww, that's just sick!"
"Were you just waiting around to ambush us, you pervert?" Ryuji asked. Kamoshida sneered.
"I was just saving myself the hassle of finding you. I wasn't going to let you all get away with desecrating my chapel. I need to crush you personally."
"You took the words right out of my mouth, Kamoshida-teme!" Naruto yelled. "I really wasn't going to be satisfied with just stealing your Treasure anyway. It'll be much more satisfying to pluck it from your hands after we've beat your ass down! You're not going to be able to hide what you've done any longer!" Kamoshida's Shadow chuckled.
"It's not like I had to hide anything. Everyone around me, teachers, students, they all just want to bask in my glory and share in my greatness. So, they just cover up what I do so we all continue to profit." Akira grit his teeth.
"So that justifies the way you abuse your authority?" he asked. "The way you abuse your students?" Kamoshida shook his head.
"You just don't get it, do you? That's fine, there are always a few dimwitted fools who can't see the elegance of this arrangement. Just like that girl who tried to off herself."
"Yeah, Shiho was stupid for letting you get in her head, and then trying to kill herself to protect me," Ann said almost as a whisper. Her hands balled into fists. "And I'm even more of an idiot for not seeing that." She looked up at Kamoshida with untold fury. "But no matter how dumb someone is…" She cracked her whip in his face. "You don't get to decide how they can life their life! A slimeball like you didn't deserve to even touch someone like Shiho-chan!"
"Hmph, you've got it backwards; she was the one who should have honored to be despoiled by me! I am far superior to-" Another shuriken whizzed at Kamoshida's face, forcing him to block it with the crown again. Naruto had his arm outstretched, shaking with rage.
"Shut your goddamn trap already!" he screamed. "You are the freaking scum of the earth! Not even fit to lick her shoes! I've met actual rulers with more class and honor than you ever will! I promised Shiho-chan I would make you pay, and I never go back on my word! So just shut up and present your ass so I can destroy it!" Kamoshida's Shadow chuckled darkly. He held Ann's cognition and his crown tighter. A blood-red aura started to rise around him and enveloped the pair completely.
"You just don't know your place!" he growled. His voice sounded even more distorted. The crimson flare grew in size quickly, soon towering over the Persona users. A massive shadow loomed over them. "I am the god of this world! I will crush you beneath my fists!" The group took a couple steps back with wide eyes as they saw…something emerge from the demonic energy, dripping slimy ooze onto the carpet.
"What the hell is that?!" Ryuji exclaimed. The red mist dispersed, revealing Kamoshida in his true form. Even while sitting on a massive throne, he now stood at least fives times as tall as Naruto. His skin had turned a gaudy, sickening pink. His mouth hung perpetually open, jagged teeth melded with his lips with drool dribbling out. A grotesque tongue at least eight feet long swung haphazardly about, occasionally dropping large globs of saliva.
Two more arms had sprouted from Kamoshida's body. His lower hands wielded a golden knife and fork, while his upper arms held a riding crop and a wine glass holding a liquid that looked eerily like blood. Kamoshida sat in front of a large golden trophy with stalks of feminine legs shooting out of it. Behind the throne, two giant golden spheres sat on the ground with chains sprouting from them. The chains connected to small little imps encased in steel helmets, who struggled to get free. Kamoshida swung his arms wildly.
"Raaugh! I will destroy you all for defying me!" Morgana looked up and spotted the Treasure crown now sitting on Kamoshida's head, atop the ram's horns spiraling out from his curly hear.
"Look! There's the Treasure! Let's wait for a moment and steal it when we can!"
"That's going to be easier said than done," Akira said dryly. Naruto sized up Kamoshida's new form.
"Alright, spread out a bit," he called out to the others. "Let's make him have to choose a target!" He proceeded to dive toward the arms holding the knife and the wine glass with Ryuji, while Ann and Morgana moved to the other side. Akira however, stayed in the middle. The little minions bound to the balls began to hurl volleyballs at the thieves, who were forced to start dodging.
"Andras, Rakukaja!" Akira called out. A ghostly image of the red-skinned owl-man appeared, behind him. With the flap of his wings, Akira was enveloped in a protective blue aura. The volleyballs seemed to bounce off of him, doing little to damage him. He smirked at Kamoshida. "Is that your best shot!"
"I'll teach you to stand before me with such an insolent look!" He raised the knife and stabbed down towards Akira, who quickly dodged the blade. Naruto saw his chance, while Kamoshida was distracted.
"Alright Kurama, Maeiha!" The fox appeared behind Naruto, his tails burning with the dark energy. "We need to shut down these goons!" Naruto said.
"One order of black magic, coming up!" Kurama flicked the energy on his tails at the minions, knocking them prone and temporarily stopping the assault.
"Awesome, thanks Naruto!" Ryuji called out. "Time to power up! Captain Kidd, Tarujaka!" The skeletal pirate spectre appeared behind him and cackled, pointing at Ryuji with his blade. Ryuji's body was enveloped in a red aura similar to Akira's. The skull-faced blond pointed at Kamoshida's head.
"Now try this on for size, you bastard! Zio!" The cannon within Captain Kidd's vessel sprang forth and fired a blast of electricity much more powerful than normal.
"Raugh!" Kamoshida's head reeled back from the force. He quickly recovered, blood dripping down from the impact of the shot. He glared at Ryuji. "Damn you...I need to heal!" Using his fork, he stabbed into the trophy holding the mass of wriggling legs before him. Withdrawing one pair of legs, he wrapped his winding tongue around it and swallowed them hole. Naruto scowled as the blood immediately stopped flowing and the injury completely repaired itself within a few moments.
"Damn it! We're gonna have to take care of that trophy before we can damage him!" he yelled out.
"Leave it to us!" Morgana hopped on Ann's shoulder. "Ready Panther?" she smirked.
"Let's go, Mona!" Kamoshida sneered.
"You? Don't make me laugh. You couldn't resist me before, and you can't stop me now!" He flicked his massive tongue towards Ann. However, the catgirl thief just smirked and ducked under the slimy appendage.
"Yeah, but now I have a way to fight back! Carmen, Agi!"
"Zorro, Garu!" Their respective Personas appeared and fired their attacks in unison at the trophy chalice. With a large explosion, the chalice shattered, destroying Kamoshida's source of vitality.
"I won that trophy when I went to nationals!" he cried out. "You'll pay for that!" he growled.
"Unlikely," Akira said. "We're the ones seeking retribution today! Andras, Bufu!" He launched a barrage of small icicles at Kamoshida, who attempted to block them with his riding crop. Naruto quickly ran up one of the pillars in the throne room and onto the balcony with his chakra.
"Kurama,Maeiha Rampage. We'll use his arms as the targets!"
"Alright kit! Let's knock that bastard down a peg!" Kurama appeared with four tails alight with the dark miasma. The fox split the burning tails into two pairs. Naruto leaped off the balcony and started to spin, Kurama following his movement.
"Eat this, asshole!" Two of Kurama's tails smacked into the guarding arms, knocking them aside, allowing the other two to slam into Kamoshida' face directly. This time, Kamoshida stumbled and fell on his back. Naruto landed on his feet and panted for a moment. "Whew, that's still pretty draining," he said tiredly. The others regrouped around Naruto. Ryuji clapped him on the back.
"That was effin' awesome Shinobi!" he said grinning. "We've got that bastard on the ropes now!" As soon as Ryuji said that, Kamoshida sat up with his features contorted in untold fury. A large bruise was forming on his face.
"That is the last time I will let you defy my rule! Prepare to die you fools!" Naruto watched as held up the wine glass. To his surprise, the cognition of Ann was bobbing in the murky crimson liquid.
"Alright! Go King Kamoshida, go, go, go!" she cheered ditzily.
"Shut up, bitch!" Kamoshida completely downed all of the liquid in one go, narrowly avoiding swallowing Ann's cognition in the process. He chucked the drained wineglass behind him carelessly, with the cognition inside of it. The glass shattered when it hit the floor, one large piece impaling Ann's cognition through her heart. Naruto saw the brief look of disbelief and despair on her face before the cognition faded away. He looked back at Kamoshida in anger, but stopped as the demonic ruler was engulfed in the demonic red aura once more, with the majority focused on his crown. The Shadow slowly stood up from its throne. "It's not every day I have to get up to deal with nuisances, but you've been a thorn in my side long enough! It's time for you pests to die!" he roared. Morgana frowned and tensed up.
"Be careful everyone. We don't know what-" Before the small feline could finish, the riding crop swept across and smacked him aside and into the wall with a sickening thud.
"Mona!" Ann cried out. She attempted to rush toward him, but Kamoshida stabbed his fork in between them. Ann tried to retreat, but the knife cut of her escape. Kamoshida leered at her.
"You're not going anywhere! I'm going to need someone who can replace my princess!" His tongue wrapped around her body and flung her up in the air before smacking her down. Ann landed on the ground, dazed.
"Why you bastard!" Ryuji charged forward, his crimson aura blazing. Akira followed behind him with his blue aura. At the same time, Naruto checked on Morgana. After a quick glance, he was relieved to see he was still breathing, just stunned. However, Kamoshida smirked.
"Time for the spike that made me the king of the world!" The Shadow suddenly jumped up into the air as a large golden volleyball flew from behind the group. Naruto wheeled around and saw the minions had recovered from his attack. Kamoshida slammed his free hand down on the ball, which hurtled toward the ground like a meteor. Akira and Ryuji were unable to escape in time as the ball landed and formed a huge explosion upon impact. When the dust settled, both Phantom Thieves lay on the ground, motionless. Kamoshida landed and looked at Naruto, who had been out of the blast range.
"And then there was just one. Of course, I've saved the best for my finale." In a flash, Kamoshida's tongue wrapped around Naruto leg and tossed him in the air.
"Kurama! The cloak!" he called out quickly. The orange chakra cloak enveloped Naruto just as Kamoshida rammed his now free fist down into Naruto's airborne form. Naruto slammed the ground with a small boom. He slowly staggered to his feet, giving Kamoshida a feral glare as the bruises healed even while forming. The demonic king just smirked.
"Interesting; let's just see how much of a beating you can take before you break like the rest." He grabbed Naruto in his free hand and began crushing him within his fist. Naruto's bones creaked and burned like fire as they simultaneously fractured and repaired themselves under the intense pressure. Naruto couldn't breathe, there was no space to expand his lungs. He struggled to push against the Shadow's massive hand.
"Naruto, you've gotta break free NOW!" Kurama said urgently.
"That's what I'm trying to do, furball!" he thought back.
"No, I mean you're about to hit my chakra limit!"
"Wait, what?" Naruto asked. Before Kurama could respond, Naruto felt the chakra cloak dissolve, along with the mask on his face. Suddenly, Naruto felt himself revert to his regular attire, his chakra vanishing from his body. Kamoshida sneered and stopped squeezing for a moment, inspecting his capture with glee.
"Aw, looks like you've reached the end of the road, Uzumaki," he said mockingly. "You could have been so great, yet you threw in with these trash," he gestured to the still forms of the other Phantom Thieves. "Since I'm feeling so generous, I'll give you one last shot to bow before me and proclaim me as your god to save yourself!" Despite being without any powers, Naruto glared at him.
"I thought I told you when we first met. I bow to no man!" Kamoshida scowled.
"You're a fool to the end. Very well; I have no use for those who can't follow my rule!" He began squeezing again, prepared to squish Naruto into a bloody paste. The Uzumaki wriggled against his grip, desperately trying to think of a last-ditch effort.
"Damn it, I can't go out like this," he thought. "Not after finally finding a way to get back my chakra. Not after promising Shiho I'd avenge her. I refuse to roll over for him!" He felt the clammy walls of Kamoshida's fingers close in on him.
"Die like the insignificant little worm you are!!" Kamoshida roared
"Who is he calling a worm?!" a bubbly, almost squeaky voice said in Naruto's head. Suddenly a small explosion burst from within Kamoshida's hand, forcing him to drop Naruto.
"What the hell is happening?" he demanded. "What did you do, Uzumaki?" he stared down at the blond and found that there was now a new mask on top of Naruto's face. The mask was round and completely white, with two small eye stalks sticking out from the top of the mask.
"Are you going to let that foul man get away with killing you? Of course not!" Naruto was flipping out.
"N-no way," he thought feeling the mask in confirmation.
"That's right!" the voice continued, thinking Naruto was agreeing with him. "As I have considered you an ally, you must do all you can to survive. So, call upon my immense power and take down this trash who dared called you a worm, OK?!" Naruto couldn't help but begin chuckling a bit, soon breaking out into full blown laughter. Akira and the others looked up from their fallen position in confusion.
"How dare you mock me! I'll kill you Uzumaki!" Kamoshida swung his fist down at Naruto.
"Alright, alright, already." With a swift yank, Naruto pulled off the mask, creating a multicolor bubble around him from the release of energy. Kamoshida's fist crashed into the bubble, causing it to explode. He recoiled back for a moment and stared at the haze left by the blast. Naruto stepped out of the haze wearing his Phantom Thief uniform once again. Only this time, the character on his back had changed from "nine" to "six." Naruto looked at Kamoshida's hateful glare and smirked.
"Still have a flair for dramatics, huh? You haven't changed one bit…Saiken." From behind Naruto, a massive white slimy slug with stubby arms appeared, looking positively pleased with itself. Its six tail like appendages flailed behind him.
"What did you expect from me? I'm already too awesome to change. Now, let's go ahead and deal with this disgusting menace." Kamoshida recovered and sneered at Naruto.
"So what if you've gotten a new trick or two? You still aren't going to be able to beat me by yourself."
"Who says he's alone?" Akira rose up from the ground, looking worse for wear but definitely still standing. "We didn't come all this way to submit to you." Ryuji got up as well. He looked a little worse than Akira did, but he still managed a lopsided smirk.
"It'll take a lot more than just you to stop us, you bastard."
"I'm never going to be your play toy, you disgusting pig!" Ann said as she stumbled to her feet and joined the others. Suddenly Naruto felt a weight on his shoulder as Morgana hopped on.
"You can't stop the Phantom Thieves Kamoshida!" he said. "If you try and knock us down, we'll just get back up again! Hang in there, guys! Zorro, Media!" Morgana's Persona appeared and raised his rapier into the air. A shower of green energy descended upon the group. Naruto saw everyone's wounds recover somewhat. Naruto couldn't help but be immensely impressed.
"These guys may not be ninjas but, damn if they're not as determined as one. Even Lee would be impressed by their grit."
"Of course, my ally would have friends determined to survive!" Saiken quipped. "By the way, whenever I think about the exploding bubbles Utakata used to use, this weird word keeps coming to mind. What does 'Frei' mean?" Naruto's eyes narrowed. Meanwhile Kamoshida was staring at the reformed group with distain.
"You all really are like cockroaches. I'll just have to squash you like one then!" Kamoshida raised his riding crop and made to swing it down. Naruto pointed at the crop.
"Here goes nothing, Saiken, Frei!" The six-tailed slug appeared and opened its mouth to spit a light blue bubble at the riding crop. When the bubble collided, Naruto and the others had to duck as a small explosion sent the crop spiraling out of Kamoshida's hands. The force of the explosion caused a small gust of wind which blew all the fallen rose petals into a frenzy once more. The others looked at Naruto in amazement.
"Damn, dude; how'd you do that?" Ryuji asked. Naruto shrugged.
"I'll have to get back to you on that one," he replied. "Right now, we've got to take Kamoshida down!" The others nodded and turned to face Kamoshida.
"You insignificant brats! Know your place!" As he lumbered towards them, an idea popped into Naruto's head. He turned to Morgana on his shoulder.
"Hey Mona, if we buy you some time, think you can nab that crown?" he whispered. "If we knock off his symbol of power, maybe that might end up actually weakening him." The others' eyes widened. Morgana nodded with a smirk.
"I was thinking the same thing. Leave it to me, Shinobi!" Morgana scurried away leaving Naruto with the others.
"Alright guys," he whispered. "We can't let Kamoshida pick us off while we're trying to buy Morgana some time. We need to stay together this time" They all nodded and turned to face Kamoshida.
"No matter how much you struggle it won't make a difference. Everyone else in this school bows to my whim!" the Shadow said. He jabbed at Ryuji this time with his knife. Ryuji kept backpedaling to avoid the stabs.
"Watch it asshole!" he yelled back.
"Skull, hit the knife with electricity!" Ann called out. Ryuji nodded.
"Alright Captain Kidd, let him have it! Zio!" Ryuji's Persona appeared and fired a cannonball of electricity at the utensil as it descended towards him. The lightning immediately raced up the fork and into Kamoshida's arm, zapping him. The massive Shadow dropped the knife and reeled back. Naruto grinned.
"Damn, that's was pretty clever Panther!" he said admiringly. "Gold does conduct electricity really well." Ann preened at the compliment.
"Hey, I did the work!" Ryuji said indignantly. Kamoshida quickly recovered from the electric attack.
"Damn it! How dare you shock me!" he growled. He looked to the minions chained to his throne. "Go and get me another ball! I think it's time for another spike!" The chained captives jumped to attention. Ryuji scowled.
"Damn it, we can't let them bring back another ball!" Ryuji said. "That last spike hurt like hell!" Ann pointed at the group.
"Carmen, Dormina!" The femme fatale Persona appeared and blew a red heart at one of the minions, putting it to sleep. However, the other minions started rushing unperturbed.
"I can't take them all out!" Ann said in frustration. Akira gritted his teeth.
"Damn it, I don't have a skill that can stop all of them either," he said. "There's got to be something we can do!" Meanwhile, Naruto had turned to his new Persona.
"Hey Saiken, are there any other weird words in your head?" he asked. He figured if Kurama had had multiple abilities, chances were Saiken did as well. The biju slug nodded.
"Yeah, there are a couple more. No clue what they do though,"he replied. Naruto scowled.
"Damn it, and we don't have time to test them." He saw the group of slaves rushing towards the exit. "Just give me one of them Saiken! We'll have to just wing it!" The slug nodded
"Alright! How about…Masukunda? That one sounds powerful!" Naruto nodded and pointed at the stampede of Kamoshida's lackeys.
"Lady Luck, don't screw me over now! Saiken, Masukunda!" The slug appeared and opened its mouth, releasing a sickly green smog that washed over Kamoshida's grunts. As they breathed in the gas, their skin color turned green as well, and they began to move slower and slower until their speed was barely at a crawl. Naruto pumped his fists. "Yes! Lady Luck smiles on me again!"
"Ugh, don't start up about luck. I've heard enough of that from Choumei to last several lifetimes," Saiken said. Kamoshida saw his infected minions and scowled deeply, stamping his feet.
"You worthless imbeciles! If you can't even follow orders, then you're just fodder to be consumed!" He used his tongue and slurped up his cronies into his mouth. He chomped down on them with a sickening crunch, making a grimace as he did.
"Ugh, they taste like the trash heaps they are. Still, they should be thankful they're able to sustain my glory!" He glared at his opponents. "You all should be grateful I even bother to look at you worthless maggots!" He roared.
"Ugh, how full of himself can he get?" Ann said in disgust. Naruto quickly glanced at Morgana, who had quietly made it around to a pillar and was stealthily climbing to the balcony.
"Come Morgana, just a little more," he thought. However, Naruto could see him panting a little. He looked at the others and saw they weren't doing much better. "Damn it, we haven't had such a prolonged battle like this before," he thought to himself. "We've been able to take care of the Shadows quickly since they don't actually take much to take down." Even he was beginning to feel the mental drain from using so many skills. It was getting tiresome to keep trying to dish out attacks to distract him, they couldn't keep it up indefinitely, especially if they still needed to take him down after Kamoshida seemed to notice this as well, as he began to sneer.
"Oh, what's wrong? Can't keep up? Why don't you just-" Before he could finish a bullet whizzed through and hit his eye. While the bullet was more like a speeding dust particle compared to the massive eyeball, it still caused the giant Shadow to stumble back a bit. Naruto turned to Akira, who had drawn his pistol and held it pointed at Kamoshida. He wore a tired but victorious smirk on his face.
"Just shut up already," The suave-looking teen said coolly. "You're nothing but an overgrown bully who needs to be cut down to size. It's a wonder how people can even take such obviously fake charm seriously." He unloaded more bullets at Kamoshida, who had to block with two of his arms while he was still furiously rubbing the affected eye. Naruto whipped out his remaining shuriken and began sending them flying as well.
"Yeah, teme," he agreed. "It's time to take down your fucking mask and show everyone how much of a colossal asshole you are," he yelled out. The others caught on and started firing their guns as well. Kamoshida was forced to keep blocking the projectiles with his arms, preventing him from seeing Morgana climb onto the balcony.
"Hmph. Your attacks barely phase me," he sneered from behind his arms. "Besides, it's not like I actually assaulted anyone. They were only too happy to throw themselves at me and get on my good side!"
"Tell that to Shiho-chan!" Naruto said as he chucked another shuriken. He reached down into his pouch for another and grasped empty space. Naruto groaned. "Damn it, I knew I should have restocked some more of those shuriken." The others soon ran out of ammo as well. Kamoshida lowered his arms and smirked darkly.
"Looks like you're out of ammo. Too bad," he said mockingly. "As for that washed-up girlfriend of yours, don't worry; I'll make sure to pay her another…visit, once I take care of the five of you!" Kamoshida's eyes widened as he realized only four opponents stood before him. "Wait, where's that mangy cat?!?" he yelled, looking around wildly.
"Too late!" Morgana dashed forward and leaped off of the balcony, smashed into the large crown. The ornate symbol of power toppled off the Shadow's head. The feline landed on the ground and quickly rejoined the others. "And I'm not a cat!" he hissed. Kamoshida's eyeballs widened impossibly and started wildly rolling around in his skull as his arms spasmed.
"No! Not my precious!" he wailed pitifully. The massive knight slumped back into his throne for a moment. His tongue lolled uselessly from his mouth. Naruto smirked.
"Awesome. Now's our chance to take him down!" He spotted the Kamoshida's discarded knife on the ground. A crazy idea formed in Naruto's mind. He looked at Ryuji. "Skull! Can you pick up that knife with that power up of yours?" Ryuji looked at the knife.
"I'll give it a shot! Captain Kidd, Tarujaka!" The delinquent was enveloped once more in a bright red aura. He wrapped his arms around the knife. "Hrrrraugh!" he roared and hoisted it above his head. Naruto pounced on Kamoshida's tongue.
"Drive it in!" he yelled. With a few awkward steps, Ryuji slammed the knife down, impaling the Shadow's tongue into the ground. Blood began seeping into the already red carpet. The shadow snarled hopelessly and began trying to use his arms to try and yank it free. Akira leaped in.
"Not a chance. Andras, Bufu!" Morgana hopped on his shoulder.
"I'll support Joker! Zorro, Garu!" The owl-man's ice and the feline's wind joined once more in a fearsome blizzard and froze the appendages in blocks of ice. Kamoshida howled and began banging his hands helplessly, trying to break free. Naruto turned to Ann.
"Panther, think you can make one more fireball and just hold it in front of you for a moment?" He asked. Ann nodded.
"Got it! Carmen, Agi!" Her Persona took her cigar out of her mouth and held it in place, creating a small fireball on the glowing end.
"Hey Saiken, think you can contain this fireball in a bubble?" he asked his new partner. The slug gave an indignant snort, despite having no nose to speak of.
"Please, Utakata had me handle much more dangerous attacks," he replied haughtily. Naruto grinned and pointed at the floating fireball.
"Alright, here goes nothing! Saiken, Frei!" Naruto watched as a filmy bubble formed around the ball of flames. The flames began to churn within the confines of the glowing energy sphere, seeking to escape. Naruto grinned and turned to Kamoshida.
"Hey asshole!" he called out drawing the Shadow's attention. Naruto tossed the bubble into the air and leaped after it. "If you like spikes so much, then here's one you'll never forget!" With a wild swing, he slammed the bubble towards Kamoshida's open mouth. The bubble landed in the back of his throat and exploded in a massive frenzy of flames. It looked like Kamoshida was comically breathing fire. Finally, the Shadow collapsed on the ground and dissolved, leaving the normal-sized Treasure on the throne pedestal. Just as Ryuji started to walk toward it, Kamoshida Shadow in his human form rushed over, snatched up the crown and fled.
"Damn it!" Naruto and the others cornered Kamoshida on an external balcony connected to the throne room. The group circled the balcony with their weapons drawn. Ann placed her hands on her hips and stepped forward a bit.
"What's wrong? Can't run or fight anymore? I thought you were supposed to be a great athlete?" she said mockingly. Naruto stayed close behind her, ready to move at a moment's notice. The dethroned ruler gritted his teeth.
"Damn it, it always comes down to this! All those vultures foisting their goddamn expectations on me!" he yelled in frustration. "There shouldn't be any wrong with getting some fucking compensation, right? I'm making sure they look good after all!" Naruto scowled deeply.
"Compensation?" he spat. "Shiho-chan wasn't some freaking reward for you to grab at your leisure. She was a person who has dignity and honor and deserves a hell of respect, and you just trampled all over it! It's time for you pay up!" Kamoshida swallowed and took another step backwards towards the edge of the balcony.
"S-Stay away from me!" he said. His eyes flitted between each Phantom Thief.
"Are you scared?" Ann asked. "Well, now you know how Shiho must have felt when she looked over the school. You made her feel like she had no choice but to jump." She gave a hollow, mirthless laugh as she took off her mask. "It's ironic in a twisted sort of way. Now you have the same option she did. You can either jump, or you can face the music!" Carmen appeared behind Ann and stretched out her hands, forming two fireballs. Kamoshida whimpered and held his Treasure closer as if to comfort him. Naruto couldn't help but smirk a bit seeing him in such a pathetic pose.
"It's your call if you want to end this bastard Panther," he said. Something seemed to break in Kamoshida as his golden eyes widened impossibly.
"N-No! Please spare me! I-I'll do anything!" he begged. Ann scowled
"Shut up. I'm sure you've heard that before as well," she said. "Did you listen then?!" Carmen launched a fireball right past his head. Kamoshida stumbled back and fell to his knees. He looked down at the ground.
"Fine then, I give up. You can take my Treasure." He tossed the crown, which Akira caught in his hands. He looked up, sweat pouring down his face as he looked at them with a sense of helpless smile.
"You can go ahead and just end me now. It'll take my real self down for the count as well." The others looked each other uneasily, but Naruto and Ann's glare hardened. Kamoshida's Shadow chuckled mirthlessly. "You won after all; you can do whatever you want with me." Naruto looked and saw Ann struggling with the decision. As much as he wanted to see the bastard brought to justice, he didn't want Ann to suffer for it. He rested a hand on her shoulder.
"Remember Ann; once you steal a life, there's no way to give it back," he said softly. Ann's eyes widened for a moment before turning back to Kamoshida. Carmen flicked her wrist and sent the second fireball careening toward the Shadow. The others looked alarmed for a moment. However, the fireball exploded next to Kamoshida.
"No, I'm not going to let you off that easy, you rotten bastard," she said. Her mask reappeared on her face. The Shadow looked up in shock. "Shutting down your mind would only mean you get to skip out on admitting what you did." The others breathed a sigh of relief. Kamoshida slumped down onto his hands.
"I'm done for now that I've lost," he muttered. "Nobody wants a loser." He looked at the floor. "What's...going to happen now? What the hell do I do?"
"You repent." Naruto looked to see Akira walking up. "You've done a lot of terrible things, Kamoshida. I suggest you start working to fix them." Kamoshida looked up at the curly haired teen.
"How should I do that?" he asked.
"Don't ask me. You'll have to figure that out for yourself. They're your mistakes." Akira replied. Kamoshida stared at him for a moment before nodding.
"Fine...I will leave and rejoin my other self," he said. His body began to glow bright and fade. In a flash of light, the Shadow disappeared. The ground beneath them started shaking.
"Just as a head's up, we don't have much time left here," Morgana said. He casually preened his fur. "We need to get out before this place collapses." Just then a large piece of the ceiling dropped down in front of them. Naruto looked at the others.
"Then what the hell are we waiting around here for? Let's get a move on already!" The group began rushing out of the throne room and down the tower halls. Naruto looked at Akira. "Can't you use that app of yours to beam us out of here?" he asked. Akira shook his head.
"We've gotta be still for that to work!" he replied. Just then, Morgana hopped on Naruto's shoulder in his cat form.
"Mrroww!" he hissed.
"What happened to you?" Naruto asked. However, the cat didn't answer him. A yelp from behind forced Naruto to look back. Ryuji had tripped and had fallen down. He looked down at his leg and grimaced.
"Sorry, just haven't run in a bit," he said. Behind him, Naruto could see the collapsing hallways.
"Damn it Ryuji!" Naruto rushed back to him and grabbed his arm. With a fierce yank, Naruto pulled the delinquent to his feet and back to running. "Come on, keep moving!" he yelled. The group kept rushing forward. At the end of the hallway, an opening bathed in light appeared.
"There's our exit!" Akira shouted out. The group crashed through the opening, just as the rest of the hallway collapsed.
The group found themselves in the small secluded alley next to the school.
"That…really…sucked," Ann said through gasping breaths. Ryuji pulled out his phone.
"Hey, look at the nav app!" he said. Akira and Ann both pulled out their phones. Naruto scowled.
"Go ahead and rub it in why don't you?" Akira chuckled a bit and showed Naruto his phone.
"The destination has been deleted," the app's voice announced. Naruto crossed his arms.
"So, we really can't go back," he said. "Not that's there's a need to." Morgana sat on the floor, still in his cat form.
"Hey, we didn't forget the Treasure in there, did we?" he asked. Akira reached in his pocket and pulled out a golden medal attached to a red, blue, and white ribbon.
"Huh? Where'd the crown go?" Ann asked in confusion. Naruto read the inscription on the medal.
"20XX Olympic Gold Medal, Volleyball Competition," he read. He scratched his head. "Wait, so this was the source of his desires?" Morgana nodded.
"That's right. Kamoshida sees that medal as being worth just as much as that crown we saw." Ryuji crossed his arms.
"So, that perv wanted to keep living his glory days long after they'd ended and wouldn't let go."
"So, does that mean Kamoshida's heart might have changed then?" Ann asked worried. "I don't want to have gone through all of that for nothing." Morgana's tail dropped.
"I'm not sure. I've never pulled this off before. Maybe?"
"Maybe? We could get expelled here!" Ryuji yelled. Akira put a hand on his shoulder.
"Calm down Ryuji," he said firmly. He turned to Morgana. "Kamoshida's Shadow definitely seemed remorseful after we beat him. I'm guessing that should have at least had some effect."
"Correct as always Akira," Morgana said. "We definitely made some change to the real Kamoshida, since his Palace is now gone. We just won't know how deep the change will run until the day he was going to expel you." Naruto sighed.
"Great, so we have to wait and see if he expels us or not," he said. "Still, I'm pretty sure we did have an impact. I think we managed to pull it off." He frowned. "Though now I have to find a new way to get back to the Metaverse," he thought to himself. "I'm sure there must be more Palaces out there."
"Naruto's right. You all should definitely feel proud of what you've achieved. Let's just take the next few days to take it easy and wait to see our results," Morgana agreed. Ryuji sighed deeply.
"Ah fine; I guess there's nothing else to do but to wait." His eyes widened. "Oh yeah!" What the hell happened with you Naruto? You busted out a brand-new Persona!" Naruto internally grimaced. He'd been hoping the others would have forgotten about that in the following chaos. The others turned to him as well.
"That's true. You did you a different Persona from before," Akira mused. "And it also was pretty unique." Morgana grinned.
"It looks like Naruto is similar to you in that he can call on multiple Persona." He frowned. "Though that still leaves the question of how you were able to unlock a second mask from within you."
"Hey, it's not like I have any idea how it happened either," Naruto shot back. "I'm just as new to this as the rest of you." Ryuji shrugged.
"Eh, I guess you're right," he said yawning. "Damn, that fight really took it out of me. Not to mention I was up most of the night making the calling cards. I think I'm gonna go home and crash." Ryuji left the alley and headed for the station.
"Sounds like a plan to me," Akira said. Morgana hopped into his bag. He looked at Ann for a moment. "Are you coming Ann?"
"Just a second; I need to talk to Naruto about something," she replied. Akira nodded and left as well, leaving the two alone. Naruto turned to Ann.
"So what's-" Suddenly Ann rushed and hugged him. Naruto's face turned red as two soft cushions pressed against his chest.
"I just wanted to say thanks for supporting me back there," she replied quietly. "I was almost about to end that bastard when you gave me that reminder. I just wanted to see that bastard pay for it, that I forgot that it wouldn't make up for Shiho." Naruto awkwardly stood there, and wrapped a hand around her.
"No worries, Ann. I've just been in a similar situation before. It's definitely not an easy choice. You really did pretty great back there." Ann let go and looked up at him.
"You think so?" she asked. Naruto gave her his classic thumbs-up.
"Definitely, Shiho would be proud!" he replied. Ann grinned, trying to hide her blush.
"Thanks for the vote of confidence. I'll see you later Naruto-kun!" Ann ran out of alley, leaving Naruto alone. Naruto yawned himself.
"Damn, I'm more tired than I thought," he said to himself. I'd better go back to the store and crash."
Nighttime
?
Naruto found himself once more, at the base of the great tree, surrounded by mist. As quickly as he could, he leaped up the massive leaves to the canopy platform. As he had hoped, both Kurama and Saiken were there to greet him. The Rokubi was in a slime-coated cell a little way down from the fox biju. with interwoven bars almost like mesh preventing his escape Like Kurama, there were two distinct chains weaving through the cell, winding through his tails and around his body. There was already a broken link on one chain and two on the other, though many more remained. Kurama saw Naruto.
"Finally! I've been waiting for you to show up brat! I never thought I'd need one hyperactive idiot to save me from another hyperactive idiot!"
"Hey!/Hey!" Both Saiken and Naruto yelled indignantly. Saiken's eye stalks pointed at Kurama as he glared.
"That's no way to be talking to your younger brother Kurama-kun! Besides, aren't you glad to have some company?" The fox facepawed his snout.
"We're the same age you idiot! And I was enjoying the peace and quiet I was having before you came along." Naruto smirked.
"Well, I guess if you're wanting to rest, then I guess I'll just have to start using Saiken from now on." Kurama leveled a deathly glare at Naruto.
"Don't you even dare, brat!" The blonde chuckled. He looked around at the still mist ridden sections of the clearing.
"If Saiken's here, then that means the others probably became Personas as well," he said. He'd been worried the other biju hadn't made whatever sane trip he'd made after being blasted through Kaguya's portal, since they had only been connected to him through Hagoromo's Yang Mark. "I wonder why Saiken only showed up now though." The slug blinked as he sank down a bit and gave the equivalent of a shrug.
"It beats me, Naruto," he said. "I only woke up once the first chain broke almost two weeks ago, and actually started being able to hear what's going in the outside world yesterday. When that man started to call you a worm, I just couldn't let that slide! You are my ally after all!" Naruto frowned.
"The chain most likely broke when that weird voice spoke after I made that deal with Iwai. Come to think of it, it was only after I spoke after I met Akira that Kurama was able to hear me."
"I think it's pretty clear that these bonds or whatever you say it keeps mentioning has to do with these chains," Kurama mused. "Though I don't know how or why."
"Yeah, I figured out that part when that second chain link broke before, though I still have no idea what made the link in the other chain break." Naruto rubbed his hair in confusion. "Damn it, I just want some answers already!"
"Calm down Naruto," Saiken said. The slug biju's mouth formed a small grin. "As my esteemed ally, I have full faith that you will discover the key to freeing us in due time."
"As annoying as he can be, Saiken's right for once," Kurama agreed. "We know Kamoshida's probably not the last asshole you are your friends are gonna mess with. They seem just as prone as you are to getting into trouble, so it'll only be a matter of time. Just take it easy for now kit." Naruto sighed.
"Alright, alright," he admitted. "I'll enjoy the reprieve, I guess. Still, it's nice to know the rest of you guys made it as well. I can't wait to see the others." Kurama groaned.
"Oh joy, it's my worse nightmare come to life: being stuck with all of my siblings in one room with no way to shut them up. Fine, I think you should probably seek out those freaky strong twins again. They definitely know a lot more than they let on, especially if they're involved with that weird friend of yours." Naruto nodded.
"Yeah, something is definitely up with those twins." Saiken blinked several times in confusion.
"I'm not sure who these 'twins' you're talking about are," he said. "But clearly, they must be powerful creatures of immense proportions! I can't wait to meet them!"
"Well…" Naruto was about to describe them when he saw Kurama glare at him, daring him to spoil the surprise. Naruto chuckled sheepishly. "I'll guess I'll have to find them as soon as I can then." The mist began to gather around them once again. "Looks like time's up."
"You'd better not take forever to find a new Palace! It's too cramped in here not to stretch out!" Kurama yelled. "Especially if I now have to share my time with the idiot slug."
"Hey," Saiken said. "Don't forget what dad said about being nice to your siblings, Kurama-kun!"
"Enough with dad!" Naruto sighed as the two biju disappeared into the mist, their argument fading with it.
"This is only going to get more crowded, isn't it?" He muttered.
AAAAAAAAND...Cut! That's a wrap. Now just to be clear, Naruto won't be busting out Biju left and right. It will take a bit of work to get them. As most of you requested, the next chapter will be an omake break, and I'll try to include the omakes in the chapters from now on. For now though, I've got to focus on school. I definitely want to hear what you all thought of this chapter and arc overall.
As always, read and review, and PMs are welcome!