Naruto is finally over. Not sure if I should feel sad or happy. But nonetheless it's had an awesome run. And at any rate, there's still the final movie coming out on top of a mini-series in 2015, focusing on his son Bolt/Boruto it would seem. Wonder how that'll go.

And almost done with my semester! Roughly 4 more weeks to go and then it's winter break. Not sure if I will be able to take any classes during that time, but if things go well, I may be able to graduate by May or August of next year. God, such a thought excites and terrifies me all at once. Real world, here I come, I guess…

Anyways, I won't hold you guys up with an AN any longer. Time to get this chapter started.

Chapter 3

The Holy Knight traversed Atlas with a practiced ease, having made it a point to memorize the basic layout of the place before setting off for here. Not that he felt he needed to really know the layout too much; now that he was finally here and journeying further into the kingdom, he was slowly beginning to pick up on the 'auras' that these ancient magi were giving off.

Of the three magi he'd been informed of, there were two of them that were relatively close by while the last one was noticeably farther away, deeper within Atlas. Which was to be expected, the Holy Knight figured, having read up on the information his captain had painstakingly gathered.

Normally, logic would dictate he'd head for either of the two magi closest to his current whereabouts, but he wasn't going to do that. As confident as he was in his abilities, he'd rather avoid fighting more than one of these ancient magi and considering how close these two seemed to be to one another, a fight with either of them would bring the other one running in short order. Unless the other decides to run away, but the Holy Knight highly doubted that.

"Takehiko…" he muttered the name of the one that was furthest away from the other two. He grinned. "Well, I guess it's you I'll be going after…"

Banking a left at the next intersection he came to, the Holy Knight ventured further deeper into the kingdom of Atlas, eager to test his mettle against an ancient magus.

Back in Beacon Academy, it was yet another day, with the aspiring students of the academy tending to their usual classes.

Team RWBY, however, was lagging behind in this little routine. "Ugghhh…" Ruby groaned sleepily. "Another day of class…" Never before had she sounded so tired or bored. As leader of a team of huntresses-in-training, it would've been expected of her to be more enthusiastic in her time here at Beacon, but alas that was only applied to things not class related, it'd seem. Save for combat class at any rate.

Yang patted her sister on the shoulder. "Cheer up, sis," she said with an understanding grin. "I know classes are a drag, but sooner or later something fun will come up." She believed this wholeheartedly. After all, if the students of Beacon were to be successful hunters and huntresses, they are going to need far more than just theory and sparring; they'd need actual combat experience, out there in the midst of battle. Sooner or later they'd have to be assigned some kind of mission and the blond girl was already looking forward to it.

"I guess," Ruby replied, trying not to be so tired. As it was early morning though, she found this to be a most pressing task.

Unlike her and Yang though, Weiss and Blake seemed rather content with how things were progressing so far. "Honestly, barely a few weeks in and already letting things get to you," Weiss commented with the same air of haughtiness that she had been exhibiting since she and Ruby first met. However, her teammates noticed that this aura of hers seemed a little muted today. It would appear that slowly but surely, the one who Jaune dubbed Snow Angel was finally beginning to thaw out and get along with them.

Such a thought made the dark haired leader regain some of her usual cheer. "Maybe. But it's so boring!" Ruby proclaimed, a smile gracing her tired face.

Weiss could only shake her head at her partner's reaction. "And that's not much of an excuse to doodle on paper all throughout class. As it is, Professor Namikaze already has little hope for you." That one comment made Ruby wince a bit in shame. Indeed, it was mainly Naruto's class that she tended to doze off in. And as patient as the man appeared to be, it was evident to all that he was slowly reaching his limit. As it is, he's already smacked her on the back of the head – albeit lightly – with a rolled up paper. That had certainly gotten her to wake up then and there.

Ruby laughed a little sheepishly. "Uh, whoops?"

Her lackluster reaction was enough to make Weiss want to sigh. As for Blake and Yang, the two simply smirked knowingly. This was just how Ruby tended to be. Yang in particular knew that better than most. "Ah, come on, Weiss," Yang began, standing up for her younger sister. "Even you have to admit that his lectures aren't all that great."

Now Weiss had to roll her eyes at the blond. "And? Just because it's not exciting, doesn't mean it's alright to just slack off! Knowledge is power!"

Sensing a potential argument in the making, Blake, always the quiet one, now spoke up. "Well, it's still only the beginning of the school year. So just let him get to the more interesting stuff before judging," she spoke calmly, reading one of her books as she walked with her team to the next class. The bow atop her head twitched a bit in excitement as she was getting close to a most interesting part in the story. To be expected considering it was a book about shinobi.

Now it was Ruby who was about to speak, but was stopped when someone called out to her. "Ruby-chan!"

Everyone perking up at the call of her name, team RWBY simultaneously turned to see Hanako walking at a leisurely pace up to them. The humanoid magical weapon bounced almost energetically, her actions belying her age and causing some rather 'interesting' parts to bounce a bit, drawing a number of male stares.

"Hanako!" Ruby greeted enthusiastically. Ever since she and the older woman had met, they'd gotten along rather well, evident in how the 15 year old energetically waved to Hanako.

Weiss simply quirked an eyebrow, her mouth slowly tightening into a slight frown. Having met this woman when she had briefly entered the classroom last time alongside Ruby, Blake, and Yang, she hadn't quite been sure what to think of her. But so far, she found her rather bubbly personality to be a little annoying.

Yang, however, simply grinned, watching as Hanako greeted them and returning the greeting in kind. It warmed her heart to see her 'little sis' get along so well with another person outside of her and a select handful of others. Especially since Hanako seemed rather similar to Ruby in temperament in a way.

However, as Ruby and Hanako quickly began to converse among themselves, the latter trying to rope a now surprised Weiss into the conversation, Yang looked to Blake and was surprised to see the girl looking at Hanako with wary eyes.

"Something up?" Yang asked.

"Hmm?" Blake now turned to Yang. As soon as Hanako had called out to them, she had immediately focused all of her attention on her, trying to determine just what exactly she was. However, her focus on the magical weapon had been so great that she had only heard Yang address her, not actually listen to her words. "Sorry, what was that?"

Now Yang's smile slowly vanished. Looking to Hanako, Ruby, and Weiss before looking back at Blake, Yang decided to ask again. "I said: something up? You're staring at her pretty intensely."

Blake spared Hanako another glance before sighing. "Sorry, it's just… the girl seems off," she admitted truthfully. When they had first met her, which really wasn't that long ago, she had been plagued with the self-imposed question of just what Hanako was. Although she couldn't tell anything by sense alone, her animalistic instincts just screamed at her that Hanako wasn't exactly some 'normal' person. The girl was hiding something and a lot of power too. She could almost literally feel it.

Yang blinked, surprised. "Off?" She couldn't understand what Blake was getting at. "In what way? She looks pretty cool to me."

Blake resisted the urge to sigh yet again. "I can't really put it in words. But she's not human."

"So… a Faunus then?" Yang's inquiry was simple enough and made enough sense. As humans and Faunus were the two types of people around (they're pretty sure the Grimm don't count), if Hanako wasn't a human, then in Yang's logic, she'd be a Faunus, right?

Blake tried not to wince at that. A Faunus herself, she could tell that Hanako wasn't one at all. But it wasn't as if she could just tell her partner or the rest of her team that particular fact. For as long as she could remember, she and many other Faunus had been discriminated against. Although her teammates looked and acted like very nice people – though Weiss was debatable in her mind – Blake feared how they'd react to her little secret.

Nonetheless, she answered Yang's question with little hesitation. "No, I'm sure she's not a Faunus either." She paused, watching in silence as Weiss was now fully swept up in the pace of the conversation Hanako had established with Ruby. It was hard to believe it herself that Hanako wasn't human or Faunus; she acted so much like a person that it was almost disconcerting.

That response only made Yang more confused. "Then…?"

No longer able to hold it back, Blake sighed. "I don't know. But I don't really trust her. And I probably won't until I know for sure what she is."

"Mhm…" Yang just nodded almost absentmindedly at her partner's words. She certainly hadn't been expecting this kind of conversation. Now she was curious too. Although she wasn't quite sure how Blake knew this about Hanako, the blond girl was certain that Blake wouldn't make something up. In which case, just what was Hanako?

She was roused from her deepening thoughts when she overheard a certain part of Ruby's and Weiss' conversation with said mysterious girl. "Look, it's actually pretty nice being able to talk and all, but we really should be hurrying along to class," Weiss spoke, looking bother amused and annoyed simultaneously at Hanako. That right there earned major props from Yang for Hanako. Bonding with Weiss so fast definitely was a feat. "Especially since Professor Namikaze will be giving us a quiz later so we have to stu-."

She was cut off by Hanako, who looked pleasantly surprised. "Oh, you're in Master's class?" she asked, her eyes wide with surprise and curiosity.

That certainly got the attention of all of team RWBY. As well as the attention of a few other students that were within earshot. Just how did Hanako know professor Namikaze?

"Master?" Ruby asked, blinking rapidly. "As in… your teacher or something? Mentor?" Those were the only things that came to mind.

"Nope!" Hanako said, ever oblivious to the 'havoc' she was about to unleash, even after all these centuries. "He's my owner!"

The hallway they had been walking down quieted immediately. So much so that a pin dropping would've sounded like car alarms going off. Team RWBY and the other passing students who heard simply froze in place.

Finally, Weiss was able to regain her voice and speak first. "Owner?! What's that supposed to mean?!"

"That him and I are pretty much one!" Hanako answered with no hesitation. "I'm his to use, however he pleases." Being his magical weapon, this actually was true; as his 'sword' and 'shield,' she is to pretty much obey any command he'd give in battle, though considering how unbelievably powerful he's become following the defeat of Odin and the absorption of his might, this had become less and less over the centuries. Just the thought made her want to pout. "Though he hasn't really been using me all that much lately…" she muttered.

Being who she was, Hanako remained oblivious to the sort of misunderstanding that her words were causing among those listening to her.

Ruby's face turned beet red, as the not-fully-innocent-minded girl began to picture just what Hanako's words meant out of its true context. Weiss' mouth opened and close rapidly, trying to form words, but failing. Blake's face seemed to burn, but she tried admirably to keep a straight face even as she silently compared Hanako's words to scenes from some of her more… adult books that she had hidden away on her side of the room. As for Yang, the girl just grinned uncomfortably.

"Well…" Yang began, taking note of the gaping and red-faced students all around them. "Looks like the professor has some, uh, interesting quirks…"

Her teammates could only stupidly nod their heads, agreeing with her on what wasn't true.

Elsewhere in the academy and in the middle of class, the second year students could only look on at their professor in slight worry and even fear as Naruto Namikaze let out a very longstanding growl of pure frustration.

"U-Uhm, professor…?" a Faunus student, Velvet Scarlatina, slowly spoke. "Is everything alright?"

Naruto ignored her in favor of glaring upwards at the ceiling, silently cursing any deity that existed that could've been causing this. Although he didn't actually know what was going on, he had just gotten the feeling that Hanako had done something.

"Damn it, Hanako…" he muttered under his breath, much to his students' confusion and worry.

Looks like he'd have a lot of explaining to do in the near future, if only to preserve his reputation.

Elsewhere in Atlas, there was a certain place currently not open to the public. It was a building of moderate size, neither small nor absurdly large, and it looked pristine, more so than any other building Atlas had to offer people in that particular area. On the front of the building, above the entrance, was a sign that indicated that the place was a club, one that was quite popular among the more elite members of Atlas' society.

However, it was currently closed for some renovations.

The Holy Knight didn't care one bit for this at all. Entering discreetly through a back entrance, he made his way inside the club. Upon seeing that the entrance he had come through led to an empty hallway, he confidently strolled down said hallway, not even the slightest bit worried that he'd be making any noise.

"He should be just up ahead…" the Holy Knight thought eagerly. This club was actually more than just a elite circle club; it also happened to double as a rather large home for the ancient magus known as Takehiko. Here, the magus in question was located. The Holy Knight didn't even need the scroll he had gotten from his captain to tell; he could literally feel it in the air that Takehiko was here.

Reaching the end of the hallway and making a sudden right, he entered the club's main floor, a large dance space. As the club was closed for now, the entire room was very dark and there were a few spots that were in the midst of being worked over, though it would seem the workers had gone home early for the day for he was the only one here.

"I take it you're not here for a glass of champagne."

Or so the Holy Knight thought at first.

Whirling around immediately, the Holy Knight looked with somewhat wide eyes at the bar area. There, he saw a man sitting there behind the bar counter, inspecting the bottles.

Dressed in a simple long sleeve dress shirt and designer pants and shoes, the young man certainly looked the part of an upper class individual, what with his regal facial features being framed by the stylish golden blond hair he had. The man looked at the Holy Knight calmly, his steel grey eyes studying the intruder even as he carefully apprised the bar's stock.

The young man chuckled. "My apologies. Didn't mean to startle you," he said to the Holy Knight as he put the bottle back in its proper place. "However, I can't say I take lightly to intruders in my club."

The Holy Knight finally reacted, a sneer appearing on his face. "I see now. So you're Takehiko, I presume?"

Takehiko, now very much a young man rather than the boy he was back during Ragnarok, simply smirked. "Oh? Now this is unexpected; you know who I am." He didn't sound the least bit concerned by this intruder's knowledge of him.

The Holy Knight took a more relaxed posture now. But his eyes never left Takehiko for a second. "I sure do. I also know that you're more than simply this club's creator and current owner… founder of Atlas."

Now that did make Takehiko truly react, his eyebrows shooting up a bit at that. But just as quickly as he had reacted in shock, the ancient magus regained his composure. "…Now just how did you ever find that out?" he asked, his smirk taking on a more predatory quality.

Said smirk was enough to unnerve the Holy Knight slightly, for Takehiko was also now letting out a bit of mana. And what a quality there was to it; it felt so much purer than any other magi he's fought and slayed thus far. Looks like there was more to these ancient magi than he had anticipated. And to think, they've yet to even get past small talk. "That's for me to know and you to find out," he joked. "But I must say, most impressive. When I had learned that you, an ancient magus, had gone on to establish the kingdom of Atlas following the end of the shinobi era…. Well, it was definitely a big time shock to me. Especially since the monarchy still in place here is descended from you."

Now Takehiko's smirk vanished entirely. And an instant later, the Holy Knight found it hard for him to breath as Takehiko's mana now seemed to just be saturating all around him. "So you know that much, hmm? And I highly doubt you're here on amicable terms too…"

The Holy Knight laughed in spite of the pressure that seemed to threaten to crush him. "You're definitely right about that."

Then to Takehiko's surprise, something seemed to change about the Holy Knight. He was especially taken aback by a familiar sensation. "Mana?!" Takehiko muttered in genuine shock.

Indeed, the Holy Knight was radiating mana. Meaning that he was a magus. But… something felt off. This mana didn't feel natural at all like his own. Instead, it felt more artificial.

The Holy Knight raised his arms and as if in response to some unspoken will, glowing lights appeared before his open palms and from these two spots, two weapons appeared to manifest. Taking hold of his weapons as the light died down, Takehiko now saw that the weapons in question were intricate sais, golden and silver in color.

"Allow me to formally introduce myself. My codename is Indra. These weapons of mine are known simply as Vajra. A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Takehiko," the Holy Knight said. He paused for a moment to relish in his opponent's shock. "Though among myself and my fellow Holy Knights, we've taken to codenaming you as Loki for the time being."

That finally got Takehiko to react. The young (looking) man did away with his shock and instead smiled cheekily. "Oh? Holy Knights you say? Interesting title you've decided to claim. And I have to say, how stupid of you to tell me that you're not exactly 'unique.'"

Indra chuckled. "Not that it'll make much of a difference. After all, by the end of this day, one of us may very well be dead. And I don't intend to kick the bucket just yet."

Without any further preamble, Indra lunged at Takehiko just as the man had begun to step out from around the bar. His sais seemed to crackle intensely with mana as he neared at great speeds, beyond what any hunter or huntress could boast of.

However, Takehiko simply smirked. "For one so boastful, you really can't back it up, can't you?" he said without any fear.

"Hm?!" Before Indra could even get within arm's length of his chosen target, he sensed immediate danger coming from his right.

Repositioning his body in mid-lunge, he blocked a metallic looking orb with Vajra and just barely in the nick of time; this orb had simply come out of nowhere. "Where-?" he had begun to think.

Before he could finish the thought though, the orb he had just blocked promptly teleported. And it took him along with it.

Making a hasty stumble as to avoid crashing, Indra quickly took note of his new surroundings, noticing it to be the rooftop of a building several blocks away from Takehiko's club.

He wasn't alone either. Takehiko stood on the very ledge of the rooftop, a metallic orb in his hand and what looked like a book floating in front of his chest. It was his magical weapon, King's Scripture, looking every bit as regal as he now did, having changed slightly over the years from its more decrepit appearance. "'This space is now closed off from the outside world.'" Takehiko spoke.

In response to his words, King's Scripture simply thrummed and Indra literally felt the change in reality itself wash over him. A shimmer now made itself known, surrounding the entire area within a twenty block radius. The Holy Knight made a mental note that the people on the streets below had disappeared suddenly from view. And he immediately understood why; they were 'allowed' within this new space.

"Hmph." Swatting aside the orb he had blocked, Indra looked to Takehiko just as the man let go of the orb he had held.

"Well now, I can't exactly have you smashing up my club now, yes? Even if I can simply fix it all up," Takiehiko commented with a grin. And then he spoke again, only this time his words weren't directed towards Indra. "And thank you for the slight assist."

"Ne~ It was now sweat off my back, Take-yan," said the other person.

Indra's eyes went wide as he then spotted the other person in question… standing atop a small cluster of the metallic orbs a good dozen meters above the building.

Dressed in both a long sleeve shirt and a short sleeved one over it and black pants and shoes, the new arrival took a second to run a hand through his short yet shaggy brown hair. His eyes were closed, making him look positively leonic when combined with the seemingly permanent smile he sported.

Then the man opened his right eye, revealing his grey iris. "But I gotta say, Take-yan, I wasn't expecting you to have such a hostile guest. Guess it's a good thing I left you one of Field Changer's orbs for safekeeping."

Takehiko laughed. "Hardly, Daisuke. I could take care of this guy easily enough… but you know me. Fighting isn't quite my thing, especially not after all these centuries."

"Heh…." Indra now snorted as he looked at Daisuke. "Now this is a bit unexpected; two of my possible targets here together… what a surprise. I'd have thought I'd be able to just fight one of you, but instead ended up with two."

Daisuke recalled the two stray orbs to him as he and the other orbs lowered to the rooftop. "Heh, so you are targeting us, eh? Now what could you want from old-timers like us, kid?" he asked with a semi-serious air about him.

"I'd have though my attack on your friend would be answer enough," the Holy Knight replied. He gripped Vajra tightly and took up a stance. The sais crackled with lightning, getting the attention of both ancient magi. "But if you really do want an answer… then here it is!"

He pointed one sai at Daisuke and from its tip sprung a massive lightning bolt. Daisuke, with hands in pockets, simply eyed the attack while standing in place. It wasn't until the last possible instant that he decided to avoid it, jumping up just in time for the lightning bolt to miss him. Landing back on the rooftop, he smirked. "Oho. Not bad at all; that attack just now packed quite a bit of mana." As he uttered these words, Field Changer began to float about in the sky, the orbs spreading all around the area. The only exception was one orb, which floated towards Daisuke. "But it's gonna take more than that to put us under."

Daisuke then gripped the orb. Then he disappeared from sight.

Through a combination of pure survival instinct and strict training, Indra leaned forward as much as possible as Daisuke teleported behind him, unleashing a sudden chop that would've broken his neck if he had been even a nanosecond slower.

Rolling forward, Indra fired two lightning bolts from his sais while proceeding to dodge three orbs that broke off from their previous trajectory to try and ram him.

Daisuke, in response, simply gave the orb in his hand a squeeze and he teleported yet again, appearing right before Indra in mid-flip. Letting loose a kick, he struck Indra right in his gut.

Or so he thought.

"Hm?" Daisuke's smirk had dropped as he looked on in slight amazement.

In spite of how fast everything just now had happened, Indra had managed to react in time to block the kick, using the power behind it to propel himself away from Daisuke and towards Takehiko, who simply remained where he was with his arms folded across his chest.

Daisuke chuckled. "Oh no you don't…" Letting go of the orb, he then snapped his fingers. And then in a slight flicker of light, he appeared to simply vanish into the orb he had just held.

Indra, for his part, suddenly found the rest of the orbs lining up all around him. And from the orb closest to him, Daisuke appeared to deliver a fierce jab. Indra dodged it by tilting his head to the left. Now dashing towards Takehiko, Indra simply increased his speed further.

Daisuke simply teleported to the next orb, unleashing a hook. Indra blocked it with his left sai. He teleported again, delivering a roundhouse kick. Indra slid right under his leg, only to have to halt in his advance and leap back when one orb positioned itself right in front of him and Daisuke appeared, nearly bashing his brains in with an overhead elbow.

Backing off several feet, Indra found himself surrounded by the orbs yet again. "Damn!" he muttered, immediately knowing what was about to happen. Sure enough, Daisuke seemed to literally transform into light that was then absorbed by the nearest orb. From there, he suddenly teleported or rather 'popped' out of the nearest orb and proceeded to try and land a one-two combo on Indra, which the Holy Knight managed to duck and weave past.

Undeterred, Daisuke simply kept on the move, teleporting from one moving orb to the other, forcing Indra back. The whole time, Indra only remained on the defensive. However, he was eventually able to spot a small lag time between Daisuke's appearances to lash out with a quick slash towards the magus.

Daisuke swatted aside Indra's attack arm, throwing off his aim just as the sai had been about to hit him across the side of the torso. But even then, he had been just a tad bit too slow; he now sported a slight gash on his side.

Teleporting away, Daisuke then mentally commanded the orbs to form a platform of sorts for him to stand on, which then floated up into the air. With a hand placed towards his wound, he took a brief moment to look it over. Being a magus, he healed at much faster rate than a human and it showed as his wound had already ceased bleeding. But it would take roughly ten minutes or so for the gash to fully heal. And although that was pretty fast, it still didn't decrease the pain he felt nor change the fact that the attack would've been far more deadly if he hadn't parried it just now. He could've very well have ended up with an organ punctured if he had been any slower and such injuries weren't something that could be shrugged off.

"Looks like you've got some skill after all," Daisuke commented, trying to remain confident. Then he looked to Takehiko, who also looked impressed. "Isn't that right, Take-yan?"

"Mhm…" Takehiko tilted his head to the side as he thought this over. "Really now, Indra. I have to ask, what's the point of picking a fight with us?"

Indra simply smiled confidently. Giving Vajra a bit of a twirl, he promptly answered Takehiko's question. "That's really not something I can go around saying. And surely, you didn't actually expect me to just tell you right off the bat, right?" And then he looked up at Daisuke and pointed a sai at him. "And do you think you're safe up there? Because guess what? You're really not?"

"Hmm?" Daisuke hummed out in confusion.

Then from the bottom of Indra's feet shot forth lightning that propelled him up into the sky until he was nearly level with Daisuke himself. As soon as he reached the same altitude, the lightning that seemed to never stop streaming out of his feet lessened until a steady stream was pouring out, traveling little more than a foot in length.

Daisuke couldn't help but laugh in spite of himself. "Well now… that's definitely a first." Never before would he have imagined anyone using lightning to keep themselves airborne. Especially not in this particular day and age; the Semblances that hunters and huntresses had weren't quite capable of things like this, the last he had ever bothered to check. "You're just full of surprises, aren't you, Mr. Holy Knight?"

Indra simply smirked in response. "You have no idea." Then he took up a fighting stance, the same one from earlier though modified to accommodate the fact that he was no longer on the ground. "And now… if it's an aerial battle you want, magus, then it's an aerial battle you're going to get!"

And with that line, Indra went on the attack yet again.

And there you go! So much for me taking my time to get the action started… Oh well, I don't mind this at all! And I hope you won't mind it either.

As several centuries have passed since the God Slaying Wolf, you can expect any/all returning magi to not only be more powerful than before, but also a little more creative and much more skilled/experienced in using their magical weapons than ever before. Daisuke in this chapter would've hopefully demonstrated that particular fact as his teleportation between the orbs is something not done before.

And just you wait until I start really bringing out the big guns…

Expect more of the RWBY characters do as I slowly yet surely work everything together into one. You won't believe the surprises I have in store involving them!

Until next time, everyone. Take care.