Author's Notes: Well, I can't please everyone, but it seems my story is generally well received. That's a relief! I was thinking of taking this slower, so I can always have a buffer of content between my current writing and the posted stuff (which also gives me leeway to plug plot holes here and there), but I guess everyone wants more. I'm cut from the same cloth as you guys, and I understand your pain. So I'll upload a chapter a day until we hit my last complete chapter, then we'll see how it goes from there.
aboulhosncc: If you're still reading, then firstly, Naruto realised he wasn't home anymore, so he didn't think to hide that factoid. Secondly, I could do constellations and whatnot, but that was the idea that came to me first, and I didn't think it was that unreasonable, if a bit far-fetched. Anyway, his real confirmation of his 'not-home-anymore' status was the Kuchiyose. Besides, his target time to travel back to was only decades ago; you can't really observe evolution in that time scale. Thank you for pointing that out, but really, isn't that nitpicking a little? It's a minor point at best.
seiho kentaro: His false name has no real meaning behind it. It's just an alias. If you want to know, Ráfaga means 'gust' and Remolino means 'whirlwind' in Spanish. As for why I used Spanish, well...I read Bleach. And Hiro Mashima uses various European languages when naming guilds, such as French (Crime Sorcière), German (Eisenwald) and Spanish (Oración Seis). So I thought it would be nice to use Spanish for Naruto's false name.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Fairy Tail.
Chapter 3: Maelstrom (X775-X776)
Yajima first came into contact with Maelstrom when he was returning to his abode after a long day listening to the rest of the Magic Council prattling on about a dark guild, Perdere Tria. Led by three A-class mages who regularly terrorized the small town of Kurobana, a short distance from Shirotsume, they were very suddenly taken out by an unknown entity. Kurobana residents, who found the guild members dumped in their main town square, unconscious and securely tied up, alerted the Rune Knights to their defeat.
Interrogation of the Perdere Tria members proved fruitless; they only caught a glimpse of the man's hooded navy blue cloak. There were no telltale insignias, no facial features, nothing they could use for identification. He didn't use any specialized magic they could use to ascertain his true identity either; he was just too fast, and took out the admittedly weak dark guild with nothing but fists and feet.
The A-class mages that led the dark guild only knew what the man had called himself; Maelstrom. They were told by the man to relay his self-proclaimed title to the Magic Council. It sent the members into what Yajima could only call a collective apoplexy. A nameless man, with no guild affiliations, had made the Magic Council into a laughing stock. After all, the Kurobana citizens had put up a request to the Council to get rid of the dark guild months ago. It was a huge dent to their pride that some lone ranger settled the issue before the great Magic Council could.
With no concrete way they could think of to track down the elusive man, they were tempted to declare him a vigilante, and sent out requests to various guilds to have him captured. However, the heroic actions of Maelstrom had captivated the Kurobana townsfolk, and his name spread like wildfire. Before the Magic Council could reach any decision regarding the mage, the increasingly exaggerated tales of how Maelstrom saved Kurobana from utter annihilation had reached the far corners of Fiore. The Council's hands were tied; they couldn't possibly demand for his arrest anymore. People would lose their faith in the Council, and that was something they couldn't ever bear to bring upon themselves. Image was everything to them.
Yajima was rather ambivalent over the whole issue. On one hand, he understood the dangers of having a lone vigilante of such strength going unmonitored. He could easily turn nasty, and start attacking legal guilds or worse, innocent civilians. On the other hand, he did the people of Kurobana a great service, and not being tethered to the strict laws of the Magic Council, could do far more good than mages tied to a guild. Hence, he didn't speak a word during the marathon meeting, opting to abstain from the argument between Council members.
After the meeting, he found an innocuous letter sitting on his table. It was not standard practice to leave letters on Councilmen's tables, unsecured. Trusted couriers usually delivered them personally to the hand of the Councilman. Curious, he read the letter, admiring the audacity and skill of the perpetrator. It was a note from Maelstrom; he claimed he was from Fairy Tail, but wished to be anonymous. He didn't want the rest of the Council to know of his involvement with Fairy Tail, in fear of destroying the guild's reputation. In order to secure Yajima's trust in his words, the elderly Councilman was encouraged to seek out Makarov, who was already informed of Yajima's possible questioning.
A quick missive to Makarov was responded by his old teammate, stating very simply that Maelstrom was to be trusted as a Fairy Tail guild member. Yajima was convinced; he trusted Makarov with his life, and whatever Makarov trusted was definitely trustworthy. Maelstrom had asked for his help to sell his services to the Council, as an independent mage. Yajima relayed that message to the rest of the Council, and they were both pleased with the mage's commitment to them, and dismayed by his anonymity. Given they were in a position to benefit from Maelstrom's actions (by associating the good deeds with the Council and denouncing the bad deeds as the rogue actions of an independent mage), they accepted the deal offered by Maelstrom.
Yajima became the official liaison between Maelstrom and the Magic Council. He initially didn't know how to communicate with Maelstrom about the Council's acceptance of his terms. Figuring the man was probably watching him, Yajima left a letter on his desk as Maelstrom did before. He retired for the night; in the morning, a confirmation note replaced that letter. That became the main mode of communication between the lone mage and the Magic Council. Yajima did ask Maelstrom why he didn't use Fairy Tail as a channel for their messages; Maelstrom apparently didn't want the possibility of someone else in Fairy Tail accidentally opening those letters. Yajima chalked that up to paranoia, and promptly left it alone.
In a measly year, Maelstrom had, on unrecorded missions of the Magic Council, taken down six dark guilds of varying sizes and strength. The takedowns were quiet and efficient; usually, within a week or so of requesting Maelstrom to investigate a certain dark guild, the members of said guild would be secured and dumped at the front door of the prisons, ready for instant incarceration.
The Councilmen weren't too sure if Maelstrom was showboating or just trying to make the Rune Knights' lives easier, but they accepted that his methods were his, and allowed him to continue with his stellar work. While the common folk were not made cognizant of Maelstrom's involvement in taking down dark guilds (the Council sold it as the heroic actions of the Rune Knights), it was unavoidable for people to see the now famous navy cloak and associate it with the sudden disappearance of a dark guild in the area days later.
Citizens weren't as stupid as to notice the lack of the Rune Knights' presence in the vicinity of the dark guilds that were taken down either. It did diminish the Council's reputation minutely, but given their official stance was all that mattered to them and their concept of a good image, the Council allowed the whispers and murmurings to continue. The rumours had grown to the extent that people were touting Maelstrom for recognition as one of the Ten Wizard Saints. The Council had already dismissed two petitions from towns that received help from Maelstrom. However, given his excellent record and his increasingly important role doing the work of the Magic Council as an independent contractor, some of the less stubborn Councilmen had taken to that idea.
Yajima often wondered why Maelstrom refused to reveal his ties to Fairy Tail. There really was no reason for such an action; even though the Magic Council ordered legal guilds not to fight dark guilds in any capacity, the missions from the Council were secret, and the Rune Knights took the official credit for the work anyway. Maelstrom had established enough good will with the Council to safely unveil his loyalties without repercussions to Fairy Tail.
In various discussions with Makarov, he was reassured many times that the man had his reasons for doing so. Makarov told him that Maelstrom loathed reputation, and was more comfortable with hiding his skills. The guild master had encouraged the man to expose his true abilities before, but the man refused, even though doing so would enhance Fairy Tail's repute greatly.
The Magic Council member then understood Maelstrom's staunch desire to prevent his identity from being leaked, when a copycat mage was brutally murdered by a dark guild. There had been plenty of mages who took the guise of Maelstrom by donning his now distinctive navy cloak, and used the man's reputation to intimidate others or gain benefits from unknowing civilians.
The impersonators were usually dealt with by Maelstrom himself, stringing them up somewhere, unharmed, and informing them that they ought to stop taking advantage of his name. But one of them got too cocky; thinking the stature of Maelstrom was enough to deter a dark guild member, he taunted one. He was swiftly made an example of, and various dark guilds were getting involved in hunting down the elusive mage.
Maelstrom was scared for his loved ones, and afraid of Fairy Tail getting targeted by his adversaries. Yajima was infinitely glad for Maelstrom's choice then; he was a former member of Fairy Tail, and he still harboured great love for the guild. Famous mages like Gildarts never had to worry for their guilds, because they never made themselves enemies of dark guilds. With the Magic Council's strict laws regarding inter-guild wars, legal guilds were usually not in conflict with dark guilds unless provoked first. If a man like Maelstrom, known for taking down entire dark guilds alone, was associated with Fairy Tail, then it was very possible for Fairy Tail members to be attacked in order to gain petty revenge, or lure Maelstrom out to kill him.
The copycat mage incident was morbid, but it served to scare any other mages from wearing that navy cloak again. When the dark guild responsible for the brutal murder was disbanded a month later, Maelstrom had each one of their defeated members dumped unceremoniously on the doorstep of practically every other dark guild. It sent a very harsh message that the dark guilds heeded hastily. Maelstrom knew where all of them were, and was capable of reaching them without detection. Innocent people were to be left out of the dark guilds' vendetta against him. The unspoken threat hung over the dark guilds for a good two months before any of them dared pick up unsanctioned missions once more.
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Naruto perused the note he had swiped from Yajima's table minutes ago, licking a popsicle while sitting upside down on the ceiling of a corridor. That corridor was deep inside the Rune Knights' headquarters, with plenty of the Council task-force members passing by underneath him, unaware of his presence. Even the loud sucking noises he made went unnoticed. Naruto snorted as he thought of the various shouting matches Rune Knight commander meetings had degenerated into, all over his work. They had their pride seriously dented when the Council preferred his services over theirs, painted a picture of the Rune Knights accomplishing those deeds when they haven't, and Naruto actually doing their work better than they ever did.
If they weren't incompetent enough not to notice me even when I'm barely hiding myself, they might have some skills to justify the existence of their bruised pride, Naruto shook his head, enjoying his little treat as he memorised the mission details on the paper. He had little respect for those who expected their pointless titles to mean something; who let their egos blind them to their failings. I was like that once; boy, did that war change things around. I can't believe just how immature I was before.
Apparently, there was a small dark guild named Infernum operating in the vicinity of Matsubara, a village located at the base of Mt. Himawari, an active volcano. Naruto wasn't too sure why people would find the risks of an eruption worth the extremely fertile volcanic soil they had access to, but he was no agriculturalist; he was in no position to judge. They were apparently kidnapping townsfolk for whatever nefarious purposes they had, and the small town had requested for help to deal with the dark guild.
The guild had been there for years apparently, extorting protection money from the people. They were too afraid to fight back, and when threatened with death if they tried to get help, the travesties went unnoticed. The guild was conscientious though; the scant few visitors the village had never found out about their operations, though how they managed that feat was a big unknown. Any sale of agricultural products was done in larger towns further into Fiore, and the guild was the one to handle the goods. They extracted their own commissions from 'helping' sell the farmers' goods, which ensured no one from the town could reach for assistance while outside of the town and consequently, their absolute control.
Only when the kidnappings had started to occur on a semi-regular basis did someone gather the courage to sneak out of Matsubara and contact local law enforcement in the next town about the dire situation. The request moved up the chain of authority quickly, and reached the Magic Council before long. Unable to stomach the thought of appearing uncaring to the populace, the Council immediately ordered a mission to eliminate Infernum.
It was a whole load of pointless posturing in Naruto's mind; only the thought of his actions doing some good for the helpless had convinced him to continue his tireless and thankless work for the Council and their myriad publicity stunts.
Yajima helpfully informed him that the Council was planning to send a contingent of Rune Knights to the area in three days' time, just in case Naruto didn't make it back. The blond man guessed it was a good, if transparent plan to eliminate him if they deemed such actions necessary. They could easily set off the volcano to cover up any misdeeds, call the loss of innocent lives a major tragedy, before going right back to their usual scheming. There was nothing truly important there anyway.
He could already imagine the fierce debates between the Council members right then, arguing for either his survival and continued service, or the death of an independent mage they only had the illusion of control over. None of them really appreciated his skulking skills when Yajima cheerfully informed them of his form of correspondence with Maelstrom.
Burning said correspondence with a minor application of fire chakra, and scattering the ashes to avoid it raining down conspicuously on the platoon of Rune Knights marching past, Naruto finished off the last bit of his popsicle. He had work to do.
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Naruto, covered in the signature navy blue cloak of Maelstrom, sighed inaudibly as he garnered plenty of curious and admiring looks from people as he walked into the closest town before Matsubara. He had learnt not to be too keen on being famous, given how that would have been counterproductive to hiding from Madara. It had felt good once before, when he was still seeking acknowledgement from his fellow villagers.
But that time had passed, and Naruto almost wished he had retained that same caution when he reached Earthland. He had accepted helping people of Fiore as a lifelong mission to atone for his abandonment of the Elemental Countries, but he didn't expect the people to regard him with even greater reverence than Konoha citizens did after he fought Pain.
He had enough admirers now that some towns he helped had shop names coined after his moniker. Fearing his identity leaking should someone attempt to swipe his hood off his head to see what he really looked like, he designed a Henge seal into his Maelstrom cloak. Embedding a preexisting transformation parameter made it such that he didn't need to concentrate to maintain the illusion; he only needed to allow the fūin to absorb the chakra he subconsciously exuded. He didn't put it on his regular clothes because…well, he had fewer coats than, say, shirts, and was too lazy to place the arrays on so many articles of clothing. He also felt that there was a dramatic undertone when changing cloaks to swap identities.
Hence, even if he felt like a slab of juicy, fat meat in the middle of a pack of starving wolves, he felt rather safe from being discovered. Gaining directions discreetly was impossible though, and once one person knew of his next destination, that instantly became the hottest topic on the rumour mill. Wondering when he suddenly became a Sasuke-lite, he thanked the proprietor of the shop he had entered quietly, before leaving the place as stealthily as he could. He would later find out that the man had recorded the conversation, and proceeded to sell it to various magazines and even a few ardent fans. It was quite the shock to see his hood appear on Sorcerer Magazine, and a complete personality profile derived from him asking for directions.
The directions were crude, but Naruto had enough to ascertain his route to the small town. The road was fairly worn, a winding path through the dense forests that grew so vigorously due to the rich soil. The journey would usually take people more than a day from the town he just left, but Naruto made it in four hours. It was already twilight by the time he reached Matsubara, which suited him just fine.
Matsubara spanned the narrow entrance into a shallow basin that was flanked by a lake and Mt. Himawari. The lake was likely the source of water for irrigating the extremely fertile soil of the basin. Given it was a predominantly agricultural peasant village, Naruto was greeted with tame wooden fences and thatched cottages. Naruto stopped before the suspiciously empty field of grass between the forest and the village, and climbed a tree.
On first glance, Matsubara seemed peaceful and idyllic enough. Careful surveillance and observation told a different story. So that's how they avoided detection, Naruto nodded in approval, internally praising his foes. The mages were dressed in the same clothes as the farmers, pretending to be them. They spent their time meandering around town, but a short stakeout from a good vantage point showed Naruto there was some order to the movement of the 'villagers'.
There were a few shifts of patrolling guards, who ensured that no one could leave without notice easily. There was a gap between each set of guard patrols that would have allowed someone to sneak past, but the open field made it well nigh impossible for any non-mage. The lake was likely guarded by some magic; it appeared innocuously serene. With no other way to leave Matsubara besides go over the mountain, Naruto presumed the guards got lazy when the villager made it out of there.
But with a small community like that one, it would be easy to spot missing people. It would also be easy to identify strangers. Naruto knew quite well how easily a nondescript look could completely make a person unnoticeable, but he didn't want to take that particular risk. Any fighting done in the village would probably tear all of it down. He had to find the guild master and take him out first, hopefully as quietly as he could.
If the base of operations was not in the village, then all the better. He highly doubted the guild master, the wanted criminal Saturnos, would willingly live in squalor in order to maintain the village's image of peace. He also dabbled in other illegal jobs too, and they would need a place for people to approach without anyone finding out about Matsubara. The farming town was likely no more than bonus profit for Infernum.
He wished he still had current information on all the dark guilds he gathered aggressively before he began his stint as Maelstrom. Due to his growing reputation and the copycat incident, plenty of dark guilds like Infernum went even further underground, and plenty more shifted their headquarters to evade him. His intel was rendered essentially useless, and while he was slowly collecting the data again, it was a slow process.
He was also beset with other responsibilities, such as Council missions and Fairy Tail obligations, and that restricted his free time greatly. Staying with Cana also had the side effect of having to dodge a clingy girl every time he needed to do something sensitive. He was on the verge of just ignoring the intelligence work, and just be a brainless 'point-at-enemy-and-fire' weapon for the Council.
With a formative plan in his mind, he hopped off the perch, and landed on the forest ground softly. Focusing his chakra, Kurama appeared in a puff of smoke. The fox looked annoyed at being summoned. Naruto just shrugged. "I need your help."
"You can't do your own Transformation?" Kurama sniffed haughtily, unhappy at being treated as a common animal. "Why do you need me?"
Naruto rolled his eyes. "Sorry for respecting your abilities as a magical fox, Kurama."
Kurama merely grinned, before he settled on his haunches to listen to Naruto's instructions. The crimson fox often pretended to be an adorable pet in the presence of everyone else in Fairy Tail. To compensate, the fox pretended to be all high and mighty when alone with Naruto. It was a phase the blond man hoped his companion would leave soon. He knew it was all playful banter, but he had dealt with enough snootiness when he was teammates with Sasuke; he really didn't want to endure that kind of behaviour from Kurama any longer.
Beyond his idiosyncrasies, the fox had been a great help on plenty of missions for Naruto, both open and classified. He had attached a permanent Hiraishin seal on the canine, and given the two-way connectivity of his father's signature technique, he could easily summon Kurama like the Toads he once relied upon. Teaching the fox Transformation to turn its fur midnight black also helped muddy the potential connections people might draw between Maelstrom and Ráfaga. No one could possibly mistake a black, horse-sized fox for a small crimson one.
It helped that Kurama was savvy enough to never speak and use Transformation or Titan Magic in front of Fairy Tail members, or even on legal missions. And he always made sure to transform into his alter ego when on classified ops. Which he did right then, even before Naruto asked.
Naruto delivered his orders, and the fox bounded across the flat field, a mere shadow in the darkness. As he settled on a sturdy tree branch in view of the village and threw the Tōton Jutsu over himself, Naruto resolved to treat Kurama to a big meal when they were done. He had a feeling it would take a while before the guards would return to headquarters.
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"You owe me a big meal after this," Kurama warned, as he prodded Naruto to wakefulness.
Naruto yawned as he stretched out the kinks in his torso after sleeping in a tree for the night. "Yea, I got it. Lead the way."
The fox displayed incredible dexterity as he hopped from branch to branch, before safely jumping to the ground. Naruto didn't bother; he just leapt straight down, cushioning the impact to his knees with a liberal amount of chakra. Kurama rolled his eyes at the showy action, but didn't stick a snarky comment in as he began a quick trot through the forest. Naruto followed the fox quietly, his companion still cloaked by Transformation. The trees were getting progressively bare as they continued the journey, and by the time Kurama had slowed to a walk, there were only dead trunks left.
It was a short, cautious walk before they arrived at the headquarters of Infernum. It was built into the side of the volcano, no doubt dug out by some Earth Magic expert and protected by powerful enchantments. Naruto could only tell there was an anomaly there with his magnified senses, but couldn't see through the layers of magic that shielded the entrance from view. The trees around were chopped down as with those that probably once surrounded Matsubara, and it gave any defender a clear view of any intruders headed to the guild.
"Small guild my ass," Naruto muttered under his breath. "To keep Matsubara under so efficiently, to hide their building so well…they definitely aren't pushovers."
Kurama gestured at the dead trees all around them with his paw. "Not sure what's happening here, but it reeks of death."
"Probably from experiments," Naruto groaned, recalling the kidnapped townsfolk, then the several villains from his world that sickened him to the core. "I hate mad scientist types."
Naruto scratched his cheek as he considered his options. There weren't too many to be honest. He could try to infiltrate the guild headquarters, but he usually scouted a dark guild quite thoroughly before attempting to do so. His infiltrations had three types; he either slipped into the building incognito, pretended to want to join, or if he was going to wreak havoc, replace an existing member. However, all three forms of infiltration would require some preparation of varying levels, which included making sure of success from the get-go. Infiltration gigs got increasingly harder to pull off the more times they failed on a particular target.
Given Naruto was here to destroy, he didn't see a great need to get in. He probably had enough power to blow their front doors down. Except, he shunned that sort of method ever since the war; attacking head-on usually meant getting hit by some unknown trump card move that could wreck anyone's day. He had no idea the numbers of Infernum, the relative strength of their current members, and if they had any specialties. It was frustrating for his heart and mind to do battle over how to blow up a dark guild, and every minute he spent debating his methods was every minute more time for Infernum to spot him and go into high alert.
Kurama solved that issue for him when the fox exploded in size, snarling viciously at the hidden entrance of the Infernum guild headquarters. Having an obsidian fox the size of a two-storey house was enough to scare anyone into looser bowels, and that seemed to be the case as Kurama smashed his body against the fake (possibly illusory) rock formation that hid the doors without encountering any resistance from within the base. Shaking his head in exasperation, Naruto nevertheless joined in, his eyes shifting as he entered Sennin Mōdo. Raising his hand into the air, it took a mere three seconds for Fūton: Rasenshuriken to form, and another for Naruto to shout a warning to Kurama before he hurled the powerful technique at the general location of the entrance.
Allowing it to expand the moment it disappeared into the rock without a trace, the illusion flickered and disappeared, while the double doors were wrecked. Once imposing, ornate doors that stretched three-stories high had a boulder-sized hole torn in the middle. With the gates on teetering on the edge of collapse, Kurama rammed the doors once more. The weakened structural integrity of the doors meant it was no match for a giant animal crashing into it. Kurama stumbled into the cave, proclaiming his desire for blood in a bloodcurdling roar.
Naruto chuckled as he stepped through the blown doors sedately, blowing away all and any forms of attacks with a rotating dome of harsh gales. The spinning dome of wind chakra was inspired by the Hakkeshō Kaiten, and Naruto was sure Neji would be proud of his creation. He didn't even need to twirl on the spot to generate the shield; he just needed hand seals for his Fūton: Kaiten, and it would stay active for as long as he had chakra. He knew for certain that if Neji was still around, he would be exasperated by his lack of creativity with regards to the name, but glad to have been part of the clan to provide that idea to Naruto.
As he watched a gout of fire burn its user after getting redirected back by his technique, he scratched his cheek in mild befuddlement.
Are they really that weak?
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Once they had taken down all the members of Infernum, leaving them in collapsed heaps scattered around the entrance of the cave, they proceeded to charge down the cavern rashly. Naruto rode on Kurama's back, a hand gripping his neck fur rather firmly. Kurama wasn't a big fan of being a mount, but even the fox had to admit it was cool to make an entrance like that. Dashing towards the raised dais where a single man sat on a throne, sliding to a stop right in front of him and baring gigantic teeth would turn plenty of men boneless. Credit to the Infernum guild master, he didn't flinch as Kurama roared at the top of his lungs in his face, the sound echoing through the cavernous guild headquarters.
"You…you are Maelstrom," Saturnos seethed. "How did you find us?"
Naruto peered down at the man, observing his adversary. The man was brown of hair, with dark eyes that glinted with madness. He was fairly good looking, though the gaudy priest robes that he wore ruined that. The black garment had seen far better days; it was caked with loose dirt and dried blood, with plenty of rips at the bottom hem. A silver scythe was loosely held in his hands, with a long chain attached to the bottom. The chain snaked up his arm, wrapping the appendage securely. In the barely lit cavern that was Infernum's home, it was pretty much impossible to see anything else. The man's teeth gleamed sinisterly as he flashed a wicked grin at the hooded trespasser.
"That was a stupid question. It's the famous Maelstrom we're talking about," Saturnos gestured wildly, his eyes glowing. "You are truly impressive!"
"Surrender the kidnapped villagers, and come quietly," Naruto declared for the sake of appearances. He sorely wanted to bash the guy's face in, if only to wipe the maniacal grin of his face. "Your entire guild has been defeated, and soon, there'll be Rune Knights swarming all over the area."
"I am on the cusp of an extraordinary discovery," the brown-haired man commented in mild irritation, as if the threat of incarceration meant nothing in his soon-to-succeed scheme. The sudden mood change startled Naruto. Is he bipolar? "I have no time for games with you, Maelstrom. Go and disturb some other guild."
Kurama had enough of waiting for action. With a loud howl, the massive black canine charged forwards, intent on smacking the dark guild master with his giant paw. To both his and Naruto's surprise, the man blocked the attack by merely raising his arm to meet the onrushing paw. Undeterred, Kurama reared back, and unleashed a large mouthful of white-hot flames that illuminated the entire cavern with its intensity. Naruto covered his eyes as the blaze peaked in intensity, before it was extinguished with a two walls of earth smothering it. Allowing the walls to crumble to dirt, Saturnos looked unruffled by the attacks. Kurama growled in fury, ready to attack the unperturbed guild master when Naruto patted the fox's head.
"That was helpful," Naruto remarked wryly, to which the obsidian-furred fox snorted. "Let me off."
The black fox grumbled under its breath, but acquiesced as he bent his forelegs, allowing Naruto to dismount. The ninja took a closer look at the scythe in Saturnos' hand, marvelling at the workmanship. There were runes etched into the silver blade of the weapon; Naruto surmised he had to stick to a longer range when fighting the guild master. Saturnos was less careful facing his enemy. Despite his assertion that he was more interested in completing whatever work he was doing, the man seemed eager to charge straight into battle. Naruto wished he could meet some normal villains next time, instead of crazy people like the man that stood before him; dressed as a priest, conducting experiments on humans and possibly bipolar.
He must think he's the saviour of the world, Naruto groaned, as Saturnos screamed some prayer, swiping at the hooded man wildly with his scythe. It was a pain to fight the man; the zealous attacks were wild and unpredictable, and given it was a scythe, it made it that much harder to anticipate. Naruto wondered if this was how others viewed him back when he was the most unpredictable ninja of Konoha, even as he relied on his well-honed instincts to dodge an overhead swing.
He couldn't take the various openings the man had in his unrefined stance; Saturnos' offence was too quick for him to risk a hand jabbing at soft spots. The madman was giggling as he kept up the attack, keeping Naruto on the back foot and preventing him from doing anything but avoid the scythe Naruto knew had some special properties he'd rather not know of. Kurama sighed on the sidelines, watching the debacle with boredom. He wanted to fight, but it was not worth getting minor cuts all over his face or forelimbs. It would sting a lot.
Naruto wished he had the kind of speed that Rock Lee had, as his movements grew more and more desperate. Saturnos seemed to be gradually speeding up, while he become more and more lead-footed. Only his Sennin Mōdo kept him unharmed, having afforded him better senses and reflexes. A flicker of movement in his peripheral vision caused Naruto to lose focus for a moment, and that earned him a small wound on his forearm as he raised it, reinforced with chakra, to block another overhead slice that would have lopped off an arm. Then, Naruto's eyes widened in realisation. He pulsed his chakra in a wave that expanded around him, blowing past Saturnos and Kurama.
The image of Saturnos wavered, before shattering like brittle glass, leaving no evidence of his presence. Kurama shook his giant head woozily. Naruto's eyes gleamed with anticipation and respect as he heard the clanking of what was probably large machinery. He played us like fiddles. The runes on the scythe were for Illusion Magic. He retreated the moment we were caught in his illusion. The entire fight was faked, and it gave him time to prepare whatever trump card he has. I should have expected such a ploy after seeing the amazing illusory protection the doors had.
"I see you got out of the illusion. That's impressive!" a voice congratulated on loudspeaker. "I've never had someone break it so quickly before. I barely got into my Kronos in time."
Naruto groaned internally as he saw the throne shattered by a massive mechanical hand, a giant monstrosity emerging from the gloom behind the throne. He leapt upon Kurama's back once more, and the fox enlarged his frame further, until Naruto could comfortably stand on his head. The large avatar was in the vague image of a man, with long, gangly limbs and a stout body. Saturnos was sitting in the middle of the torso, enclosed in thick armour. A small window allowed the man to see out of his machine, and Naruto to see the guild master seated within. The entire robot was covered in what appeared to be loose flaps of flesh, though in the darkness Naruto couldn't tell for sure. The grotesque thing also had a giant scythe, mimicking its pilot's weapon of choice.
"DIE!" the man screeched, his machine charging forward as it swung its weapon.
There was barely any space available for two giants to engage in a melee battle, and that suited Naruto just fine. As Kurama scrambled backwards, Naruto created a Kage Bunshin. Applying chakra to his feet to hold on, the two Narutos flashed through different hand seals even as the original shouted. "Fire!"
Kurama got the memo, as the giant fox inhaled deeply, gathering magic in his abdomen before exhaling a gigantic wave of white flames. One Naruto unleashed a huge spiralling blast of wind, while another's chest expanded before he spat out a torrent of extremely flammable oil. The triple combination turned the already intense fire into a blazing storm, completely filling the width of the cavern and engulfing Saturnos' machine fully. His Kage Bunshin disappeared, its simple job done. The fire wasn't anywhere near dying out when a man, encased in a molten armour of earth burst out of the fiery depths, screaming bloody murder. Saturnos reached forwards, his hand aiming to rip Naruto's head off as his eyes glowed with stark madness.
Naruto cocked a fist back, and smashed it into the slag that made up Saturnos' armour. He wasn't quick enough, however, to prevent the man's hand from grabbing his hood. Sending the dark guild master careening backwards also resulted in his cloak ripping. As his Henge collapsed, Naruto unleashed another gout of flames from his mouth to prevent Saturnos from seeing his face. The crazed mage fell back into the massive blaze that was still roaring, screaming death threats as he disappeared into the bright flames. The conflagration seemed to be the perfect method of annihilation for the guild that called itself Infernum.
Naruto wished he were a bit more careful about collateral damage though, as he now had a massive grease fire to put out. Combining a fire with oil was extremely effective; the slick liquid stuck to all surfaces, spread easily and the resulting fire couldn't be put out with water. Removing all the oxygen in the atmosphere was usually the best method to extinguish a grease fire. For Naruto, he had a simpler and far more effective method.
Retrieving a pre-made scroll, he unfurled the paper to expose a fūin array. He flashed through the prerequisite hand seals. Moments later, a blue vapour extended from the scroll, and floated towards the inferno. It enveloped the blaze, and pulled it into the scroll slowly, the fire seemingly sucked into the flimsy piece of paper. Bit by bit, the fires disappeared, and when all but the oil was gone, the symbol for fire appeared in the empty centre of the array, signifying a successful sealing.
"Fūka Hōin, success," Naruto announced, hopping off Kurama's head.
He made sure to insulate his feet with chakra against the boiling hot oil as he trudged over to the smoking body of Saturnos. He was groaning in his unconscious state, the earthen armour sloughing off his blistering skin in trickles of molten rock. He was lucky he wasn't left to stew in the oil any longer; his machine was already slag, a steaming pool of unidentifiable metals. Chains sprouted from Naruto's back and wrapped around the prone guild master, lifting him off the pool of oil. Forming a clone, he sent it deeper into the guild headquarters, just to see what he hadn't destroyed with his reckless use of fire.
"C'mon, Kurama, let's get the hell out of here," Naruto said, the fox grunting his approval.
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It was impossible to save any of the kidnapped villagers. A quick study of Saturnos' notes told Naruto they were doing gene modification experiments. The victims were too damaged by the inhumane trials to be rescued. All of them were malformed terribly, twisted growths and crippling deformations littering their bodies. It was easier for them to be released from that state than to try and live out the rest of a painful, likely short existence.
Naruto ended their lives quickly, his eyes misting up at the dirty work he had to do. Then, he planted exploding notes all over the laboratory, spreading them out evenly to ensure its collapse and the subsequent destruction of the data. The world didn't need someone finding the results of the experimentation, and repeating them. Once his job was done, the Kage Bunshin dispelled.
Outside, Naruto had settled Saturnos against a tree. A horde of Kage Bunshin, along with the help of Kurama, carried the rest of the Infernum guild members out of their headquarters. They efficiently bound the criminals with ninja wire, and left them leaning against the dead trees of the forest outside the cave. Naruto briefly thought about discovering the cause of the trees dying around them; the gene experiments wouldn't cause trees outside to wither.
But he decided destroying the cavern would crush the source of death as well, so he ignored the curiosity and remotely ignited the explosive tags. A dull boom echoed through the guild hideout, and the mountain rumbled as the cave collapsed. Naruto shut his eyes, praying the volcano didn't erupt. When it stayed silent for five minutes, the blond heaved an uneasy sigh of relief.
Kurama snorted as he prodded the unconscious man's head with his nose, making sure the man was still knocked out. The jet-black fox glanced around him, noting the mass of defeated mages lying around. He grinned at the job well done, letting out a garish howl that echoed through the dead forest. Patting the giant fox on its shoulder, Naruto watched as Kurama shrunk in size until he could once more fit comfortably in Cana's lap. Then, the fox's fur shifted colours, lightening into a shiny coat of crimson. Suddenly, the animal stiffened, and took two cautious sniffs of the air.
"There's someone watching us," the fox barked out a warning.
Naruto nodded curtly, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration as he called out into the empty forest. He couldn't believe he was blown so easily, by pure coincidence, no less. "I know. You can come out now…Gildarts."
The S-class mage sheepishly stepped out from behind a gnarled tree, an easy smile perched on his face. Even so, Naruto could sense the unease and wariness the older man was exuding. Gildarts waved his hand around, gesturing at the dead forest they were standing in.
"What brings you here, Ráfaga?" Gildarts asked curiously, his armoured gauntlets clanking against his steel waist-guard as he lowered his hand. "This isn't a place for mages like you."
Naruto sighed in vexation, glancing at the master of a dark guild he had secured against a tree with sturdy metallic wires, and further bound by the chains that emerged from his spine. He wondered if he could lie to Gildarts convincingly enough. He abandoned that thought moments later. Gildarts was far from stupid, and Naruto wasn't sure he could take Gildarts on if they eventually came to blows. "I could ask you the same question. Are you heading back to Fairy Tail already? You really are Fairy Tail's Ace. An SS-rank mission completed in a year when others take a decade."
"Don't change the subject," Gildarts warned, his tone darkening. The dry earth beneath his feet cracked as the man unleashed a small portion of his full magical power. "This is the stomping ground for Infernum, a dark guild. That man you have wrapped up there is a supposed S-class mage, Infernum's guild master Saturnos. You don't even have a scratch on you. That's impossible for a mage of your supposed strength, to defeat this whole guild on your own."
"I guess it is, even though he's really just barely A-class," Naruto replied noncommittally. "Look, we all have our secrets. Makarov trusts me. Isn't that enough?"
Gildarts released his full magical power. The white aura of his magic roared around his body as the ground shattered, leaving him standing in a large crater. Naruto was unfazed as he stared down the senior mage of Fairy Tail; while his face was masked, Gildarts could see from his calm azure eyes that he was completely unperturbed by Gildarts' show of strength. The fox was similarly unruffled, only growling softly in response. The man reined in his crushing magic soon after, allowing the unconscious mages in the area to breathe properly once again. He wanted to threaten the man he knew as Ráfaga, but not at the cost of someone's life.
"The only men in Fairy Tail who aren't crushed by my full power are Makarov and Ivan," Gildarts remarked, his eyes narrowing in deep suspicion. "Out with it. Who are you and what do you really want? Do you mean any harm to the guild? Are you misleading Cana-chan?"
"Don't worry, I mean no harm to Fairy Tail. It's my new home, and I don't intend to let it down like I did before," Naruto answered gingerly, pursing his lips. "I'm just not used to displaying my strength. It was essential for me to keep everything hidden before, and it's a habit now. It helps to make my opponents underestimate me."
"Does Makarov know of all this?" Gildarts waved his hand around, annoyed at having an unknown, powerful person working in the shadows in the name of Fairy Tail.
Naruto shook his head in the negative, raising his open palms up towards Gildarts indicate his good will. "Don't get hasty. He just closes both eyes, and lets me work quietly. This isn't done on his orders, but nobody said not to take out the trash."
"That's why Fairy Tail is getting more and more S-rank missions," Gildarts murmured thoughtfully, stroking his stubble. "While I admire your dedication to establishing peace in Fiore, your methods need a long rethink. Legal guilds don't get involved in dirty jobs."
"I'm not the face of Fairy Tail, you are," Naruto countered indignantly. "And my methods are not dirty. They are just…less appreciated. Even Makarov admits the need for spies."
Gildarts frowned severely, walking towards Naruto. The blond man held his ground as his fellow guild member stood before him, glaring down at the shorter mage. "These missions are unsanctioned. And spies? This isn't spying. This is elimination. It's not your decision to take out these dark guilds. You are painting a terrible picture of Fairy Tail to the Council."
"The reason for Fairy Tail's influx of S-rank missions is because of our rising reputation and you, not me. No one on the Magic Council knows me. Heck, this mission is from the Council, just that it's classified. They only know me as the independent mage Maelstrom. Yajima-dono is actually the only one on the Council who knows my affiliation to Fairy Tail, and he hasn't leaked that to his fellow Councilmen," Naruto replied dispassionately, nonplussed by Gildarts' accusatory tone. "He just tells them that I'm loyal to him and the Council's cause. I've been working for the Council for more than a year, doing secret missions to stake out and sometimes take out small dark guilds like Infernum. They trust me fully, and don't even bother questioning me about my identity anymore."
"So you're the infamous Maelstrom huh?" Gildarts grunted, remembering how impressed he had been when he had heard of that mage's record and his deeds. There was no room for the appreciation of past achievements when it came to the safety of his guild however. The imposing Fairy Tail Ace's face contorted into a fierce scowl as he squeezed Naruto's shoulder painfully. "I'm watching you, Ráfaga. As much as I enjoy drinking and brawling with you, I won't hesitate to cut you down if you so much as lay a hand on any Fairy Tail member."
"Relax, you'll get more wrinkles if you keep frowning like that," Naruto grunted, slapping Gildarts hand away. The serious conversation was effectively over with those words; Gildarts was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. "Let's go get drunk. I'm sick of this tense atmosphere."
Gildarts eyes brightened as he grabbed Naruto by his shoulders and dragged his fellow Fairy Tail mage towards the nearest town, a wide grin plastered on his face. "Fine! You're treating, you sneaky little bastard!"
"What? You're the S-class mage who just finished an SS-rank mission!" Naruto cried, even as he shifted his feet to keep pace with a chortling Gildarts. "You're the one with the money!"
Kurama looked around at the mages of Infernum, then at the disappearing backs of the Fairy Tail mages. Sighing, he broke into a run to catch up.
Whatever. The Rune Knights can find their own way here.
The fox paused.
I hope.
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The beady black eye of a raven watched as dozens of Rune Knights scattered themselves around the dead forest, picking up secured prisoners and preparing them for incarceration. The raven stayed on its perch patiently, eyes flicking over every movement of every knight. When they had left after nearly a full day of work, the raven trained its eyes on the rubble that blocked the collapsed guild headquarters of Infernum.
With a loud caw and a quick flap of its wings, it took off, leaving behind only a single black feather.