Hellooooo! Went ahead and got myself another chapter ahead. I want to make sure I'm not leaving any plot holes if I can help it.

A lot of mixed reviews, but I expected it. I didn't have the whole story ironed out when I started like I do now. I just knew where I was starting, and where I wanted to end. Actually getting there…that's the interesting part.

I'm particularly fond of the positive reviews about me not making this a harem…THANK YOU! Man, I can handle multi pairings to an extent. I think up to three or four people in a relationship…can work if it's done right and not just obviously some perverted fantasy, but it's hard to do. A harem though!? I mean sure, every guy's fantasy and what not, but where's the realism! Plus, Ruby is best girl, and best girl don't settle or share, nor should she have to.

Honestly though, it isn't realistic. As much as people want to fantasize about things (and I understand fanfiction is the best place to do that), it eliminates an element of realism. Women are just as likely to share a man as a man is to share a woman, or anybody in a relationship for that matter. Women are just as likely to feel self-conscious and jealous as any guy is. Polyamory is becoming increasingly more common, and I'm not knocking that, but it isn't for everybody. As a guy, would I like to have a relationship with multiple women without consequence? Maybe. When I think about my SO doing the same, am I cool with it? Absolutely not, and it works both ways.

And again, I appreciate the recognition for that. I want to relationship between the two of them to feel real. There are struggles, nervousness, misunderstandings, disagreements, and most importantly, bonding in every relationship. Hard to show all that development if it's happening with thirteen other girls.

Anyway…enough of my mini-appreciation rant…I appreciate all the reviews! Except for the guy who said he should have just jacked off to porn…Yeah you probably should have. I haven't decided whether this story will have any lemons in it, but if it does, it definitely won't be the focus of the story.

So, I guess a disclaimer is in order? This story…ah…isn't jack off worthy? It isn't…uh…yeah…it isn't for your typical Horny Henry. Sorry to disappoint…not really though.

So, uh…enjoy the chapter!

"So," Kurama growled out in Ruby's voice. "Not only did you make a deal that you didn't even know the consequences of, but you made the deal with beings that for all intents and purposes could be every bit the enemy that the Otsutsuki are? Are you insane!"

Naruto winced at the fox's harsh words, "I didn't think…"

"That much is obvious!" Kurama shouted. Wind began picking up around them, blowing sand everywhere.

"Kurama stop!" Naruto pleaded. "You need to control yourself! She can't handle too much of your chakra!"

"Bah, she's fine," Kurama waved him off. Regardless of his words, the winds died down. Kurama huffed and threw his head (Ruby's head?) back, looking up at the sky.

"Why are you here?" Naruto asked after a moments pause, asking the question everybody wanted to hear the answer to.

"She is still asleep," Kurama said after a moment. "Those bastards left the place a mess. I am healing what I can. She is resilient. I expect she will be fine by tomorrow. She will likely have a headache the rest of the day."

Naruto, and everybody else, let out a sigh of relief.

"What did you make of this seal?" Kurama asked.

"Not much," Naruto admitted in defeat. "It keeps you in that ring. You are able to link with Ruby's mind, and send miniscule amounts of chakra throughout the ring's network, but anything more than that is limited to Ruby. I think there is also a binding seal, so she can't take the ring off and give it to somebody else. Anything on your end?"

Kurama scoffed, "Other than a new cage that's just as small as the old one? Not much. I can delve into her subconscious while she is out, but I have no interest in the woes of a teenage girl."

"She'd make your life hell if you pried anyway." Naruto snarked half-heartedly.

Kurama shook his head exasperatedly.

After a moment, "I'm truly stuck again…aren't I?"

"I'm sorry Kurama…"

Silence fell onto the group. Since Ruby…or Kurama, had woken up, nobody else said anything as Kurama and Naruto spoke. They settled at waiting for the two to finish their talk, some more patiently than others.

"At least she isn't as insufferable as you are," Kurama scoffed. "I will be working closely with her in her training alongside you. I will not have her die before I'm free of this seal. It helps that your ideas for her are interesting as well."

"And how are you going to help?" Naruto asked. "You aren't exactly known for much outside of mass destruction. That has nothing to do with her current goals."

"That's easy," Kurama chuckled. "I'm not going to be as soft on her as you are. I'll care not for her whining when things get difficult. I'll make sure she is pushed right up to her body's breaking point…then I'll give her enough chakra to make her go further."

"You'll do no such thing," Naruto narrowed his eyes, cutting off Taiyang, Qrow, and Yang from their disagreements. "I spent my whole life with you, slowly building up my resilience, strength, and speed to where I am now. Trying to push her to the same point the way you're saying…it'll destroy her body."

"Hmm," Kurama hummed uncaringly. "If I remember correctly, one of your friends, Rock Lee was it? He was able to surpass you in a fraction of the time even without me, wasn't he? At the Chunin exam, he was much stronger, faster, and tougher than you were. You may have spent your whole life with me, but with the proper motivation, she will overcome all expectations. I will expect nothing less of my host."

"And I'm pretty sure Lee is insane!" Naruto countered. "And she isn't your host! You're in the ring. There is a difference Kurama! That fact alone changes what you are able to do! It changes how much you're able to put her through safely! I doubt you could even give her a full tail's worth of chakra with how tight that seal is!"

"Aww," Kurama cooed. "Are you jealous? Stop your worrying. You said it yourself that our minds are still linked. I will know when enough is enough. If we aren't together, you need another powerhouse. I can give you one given enough time."

"You can't make her ready for what is to come." Naruto slumped in defeat. "You heard them…if she—"

"I can't make her ready for the witch," Kurama cut Naruto off. "And if the witch has what those bastards say she does, I probably can't make her ready for that either. But I can make her ready for everything else. I can make her ready for all the distractions that you don't need to be dealing with."

"Can you two please start explaining things to the rest of us?" Yang cut in, frustration clear in her voice.

"Hn," Kurama rolled his eyes at Yang. "Truly, it doesn't matter what you want Naruto. I know she is determined enough to go along with me anyway. The question is whether you want to supervise her progress or not. She will do it with or without you, and you know that. You know her motivations better than anybody else. She will not stop on your whim just because you are worried about her. I am going to rest now. I feel her stirring. Tell these ningen what you will."

Ruby suddenly stumbled backwards, falling on her butt, and immediately began cradling her head.

"Oww!" Ruby whined softly after a moment. "This is the worst headache ever!"

Naruto sighed, and fell down on his knees in front of her. He pressed a hand to her forehead, gently shoving hers out of the way, and putting two fingers from his other hand under her chin and against her carotid.

Ruby sighed in relief as Naruto's calming chakra trickled into her head, acting as a temporary pain relief. He hadn't used his Sun Mark, but rather, something he had learned about chakra since learning Senjutsu. The slower chakra moved, the more it healed, soothed, and was easier to mold, whereas the faster it moved, the more it damaged, destroyed, and was erratic. He followed that thought, and pushed his chakra into Ruby's head slower than honey dripped from a spoon. He was pleased to see it was working slightly.

"W-what happened?" Ruby said breathily, obviously still exhausted.

"A lot," Naruto said. "I'll tell you whatever you don't remember later. You need to go back to sleep for now."

"Mmm," Ruby moaned. "No…I want to…know…what happened."

As soon as she finished her sentence, she slumped forward, her head still pressing against his hand as she began snoring softly.

Naruto gently laid her down, laying her head on Yang's lap, who had moved behind the girl as soon as she began dozing off.

"Naruto," Blake said. "What happened?"

"Things just got a lot harder." Naruto grit his teeth. "Kurama can't return to me until Salem is dealt with."

"What was that thing." Raven suddenly cut in. "It wasn't Ruby. I don't…what was it?"

"That was Kurama," Naruto answered. "A demon so big he probably couldn't even use Salem as a tooth pick. And now…he is stuck in Ruby."

"But how does that—"

"Qrow will catch you up," Naruto interrupted her as he stood up. He began walking away from the group.

"Where are you going?" Weiss called out to him.

"We are in a desert with nobody around us for miles, and I need to blow off some steam," Naruto answered shortly, and continued walking away. As soon as he was a decent distance away, he leapt away, causing sand to blow into the air all around him.

Not even a few minutes passed when a blast of wind hit them. A huge cloud of sand exploded from a point in the direction Naruto had left in. The wind started picking up, before a clone of Naruto appeared in front of them, creating a rock wall in between them and the destruction the real Naruto was creating over a mile away.

"He is going to be here for a while," The clone said bitterly. "I can take you guys back so that Ruby can rest."

"So, you're sending us away while you throw a fit?" Weiss crossed her arms.

Naruto scowled, "Don't Weiss. Just…just don't."

"This isn't helping you," Blake said. "You just got better. You can't go pushing yourself again."

"We know our limits now," The clone waved her off. "We will be fine. Boss just needs to blow off some steam."

"Whatever," Yang rolled her eyes as she picked Ruby up bridal style. "Send us home while you finish acting like a child."

"You have no idea, Yang." Naruto growled.

"Educate me."

"…She has at least seven Grimm the size of a Biju created by the God of Darkness himself."

Yang's eyes widened along with everybody else's, bar Raven, who still looked confused. After a moment, Qrow spoke.

"I chose a hell of a time to quit drinking."

"Seven?" Weiss asked in disbelief.

Naruto's clone nodded while explosions started sounding in the distance, "The God of Darkness left them, and he figures, since they can't kill Salem, she might have been able to subjugate them to her will. Now, we have to deal with her, Emerald, Neo, all her subordinates, all the Grimm she sends at us, and at least seven enormous monsters created by a god. All while Kurama is stuck in Ruby and not able to even give her a full tail of chakra without hurting her. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a fit to throw."

As soon as he finished talking, Team RWBY and Jaune disappeared, the clone having sent them back to Atlas.

"Are you good?" Qrow asked hesitantly.

"No," Naruto sighed. "Every day I feel like our chances of winning get slimmer and slimmer. The gods said they can't let Kurama return to me simply because I need to be challenged. They said they won't even interfere when the Otsutsuki come unless they kill off ten percent of the population. I didn't count on it…but I had hoped they would consider helping us against them. I just…Everything just got so much harder and I don't know how to handle it."

Raven scowled, "You beat me and Cinder at the same time. Surely you can—"

"I have cancer," Naruto cut her off. "Probably terminal."

"What?" Qrow said breathlessly. "You…How? Nothing can kill you. How has your sage mode not healed it?"

"Because it isn't an injury," Naruto shrugged. "It's my own cells going crazy. My body doesn't think it has anything to heal. I hoped Kurama would be able to heal me, or at least hold it back, but obviously he can't anymore."

"Have you told them?" Taiyang asked, speaking for the first time since Ruby and Naruto had failed to transfer Kurama.

"They have too much to worry about right now," Naruto shook his head. "I figured if Kurama healed me, there wouldn't be any problem. Now that he can't, and with how limited I'm going to be…I don't know."

"So, we are screwed?" Raven asked, not wanting to waste time on pitying the blond.

"Not necessarily," Naruto sighed. "But we need Atlas to work with us now. Vacuo too if we can manage it. I can defeat Salem, Team RWBY and JNPR should be able to handle Emerald. I have no doubt that Qrow can handle that Tyrian guy, and from what I've heard about your strength, you should be able to hold off Hazel until somebody else is free."

"And me?" Raven held up her hand. "I know I'm not viewed as the most reliable, but I am still a maiden."

Naruto shrugged, "You are an unknown factor. You might need to hold off Emerald while RWBY and JNPR help me. There is no telling what is actually going to happen, but I think we can still pull this off. I'm just not happy with how many people are going to die doing it."

"And these seven super Grimm?" Taiyang asked.

"I can either deal with Salem, or I can deal with them," Naruto said. "I doubt I can do both. If I start dealing with them, then I'm sure Salem would use that opportunity to take some of you out. If I deal with her, then they will destroy you. That would be where Atlas comes in. Their fleet should be able to deal with them long enough for me to finish with Salem."

"So, we have a plan?" Raven said uncertainly.

Naruto shook his head, "A loose one. We still have to get Atlas there. If Ironwood knew what we were actually facing, he would never go for it."

The explosions in the distance finally subsided, and the clone sighed, "He is done. We will stay in touch. Stay on top of this. If Neo gets the maiden's powers, our odds are that much slimmer. If you run into them, Raven, use your semblance to call me."

Without giving them a chance to respond, the clone vanished in a cloud of smoke. The stone wall crumbled away, showing them what looked like an approaching sandstorm. Dust, sand, and dirt lingered in the air in an almost makeshift hurricane miles away. The gathered dust was filled with so much loose energy that they could see lightning arcing inside the storm.

"Well," Qrow said, looking at the godly feat shown in front of them. "As shitty as this situation is, I doubt Salem can do that."

"You think we still have a shot?" Tai asked solemnly.

"You haven't seen what he can do, Tai," Qrow shook his head. "That kid doesn't know what limits are. Everything is just another hurdle for him. When it comes to people he cares for, he will make anything happen."

"He's been here for maybe a month," Taiyang said. "What does he have to worry about losing?"

"All of them," Qrow said confidently. "They've given him something new to fight for. They may not truly know each other that well, but he knows that they are all good kids that deserve a future. Kids that can be the best of friends in the future. And honestly, I'm almost certain Ruby is falling for him just as hard as he is for her."

"How can you say that?" Taiyang asked in a defeated tone. "I don't need to hear that! It's probably just a phase!"

"Are you kidding me, Tai?" Qrow rolled his eyes. "The way they look at each other is exactly the same way you and Summer did."

Raven frowned at the comment, but Tai just groaned, "And I remember exactly what was going through my mind when I looked at her, and I don't need some punk kid thinking about my little rose like that!"

Qrow snorted before turning and walking in the direction they had originally been travelling, "He'll kiss her first, but she's gonna make the first real move, trust me."

"Qrow!" Tai barked as he started to march towards his best friend. "Hey, fuck you man! My daughter is an angel!"

"Your daughter is gonna take after her mom," Qrow shrugged. "Think about that for a while."

Taiyang faltered in his steps, his eyes glazing over as he thought about…specific things him and Summer had gotten up to…almost entirely at her behest.

"…Nooooo!" Taiyang cried out in horror. "Qrow! Qrow! We need to go to Atlas! Like right now! I never gave Ruby the talk! I can't be a grandpa yet!"

"Covered it," Qrow waved off. "I asked Yang to do it her first year in Signal."

Taiyang slumped forward in defeat, and Qrow chuckled loudly.

]-xxxXXXxxx-[

Naruto appeared in Team JNPR's (Oscar being the P) room, and ignored everybody else there. Apparently, nobody left when he sent them back. Ruby was sitting on Nora's bed, still holding her head but looking much better than she had in Vacuo. Her restored aura was doing wonders for her, thankfully.

Naruto started walking towards the door, but was stopped by Jaune.

"Nuh uh," Jaune said. "We are talking about this."

"There's nothing to talk about," Naruto said evenly. "We got screwed out of our biggest advantage, and now we have to plan around it."

"Then let's plan," Weiss said.

"I need to train," Naruto said dismissively, trying to step around Jaune, only for the boy to cut him off again.

"You have time to train later," Jaune said. "We need to discuss this now. We need to find out if this seal is hurting Ruby, and we need to find out if it will hurt her in the future."

"The seal is beautiful," Naruto said. When everybody looked at him weirdly, he clarified. "When I created the rings, all my knowledge about seals must have been transferred into them. They are semi-sentient, so I'm guessing expanding it's understanding on seals was one of the few things it was able to improve on based on the knowledge I provided for it."

"Meaning?" Blake raised an eyebrow.

"It's basically a seal created by nine of me working a month straight with no breaks," Naruto said. "It's foolproof, and it's always harder to break a seal than it is to create one. It would probably take me years to break it."

"So, he's really stuck in me?" Ruby asked quietly.

"Yes."

"He doesn't like that," Ruby muttered.

Naruto almost let a smirk ghost his face, "I'd imagine not. I already got an earful of it."

"They told me," Ruby said. "I am going to let Kurama help me."

"I know," Naruto frowned. "But I'm not happy about it. You're going to have to make sure you get plenty of rest. Either Jaune or I are going to be healing you nightly after your training to make sure your muscles recover as fast as possible. I'm not going to have you die against a simple Sabyr because you pulled a muscle in the field."

"Absolutely," Jaune nodded determinedly, before looking at Naruto. "And how would we do that?"

"You flow chakra through whatever muscles are sore to get rid of the lactic acid and reconnect the torn tissues." Naruto said as if it was the simplest thing in the world.

"So, a chakra massage?" Jaune asked in confusion.

Naruto shrugged, and Jaune met Ruby's eyes, "Yeah, so like Naruto said, he will be doing that nightly, and we don't wanna hear you complain about it one bit!"

Nora snorted, and Yang chuckled, "Oh she won't, trust me!"

Ruby blushed a deep red, and Blake tapped a finger to her chin, "If you're doing all those squats that Naruto told you to do, won't your butt be like…really sore?"

Steam might as well have been billowing out of Ruby's ears by now, and even Naruto seemed to realize his mistake, if the blush on his own face was any indicator.

Luckily, both Naruto and Ruby were saved from any further teasing by a knock on the door.

Jaune, still being in between the door and Naruto, opened it, only to find Harriet there. The girl looked as if Jaune was the last person she wanted to be talking to, but after seeing Naruto behind him, her eyes lit up very quickly.

"C'mon foxy," Harriet called out. "Winter said you are going back out tomorrow, and I wanna fight you. The rest of the Ace Ops will be there too to get a piece of you when I'm done."

Weiss poked her head into Harriet's view, "Now might actually not be the best ti—"

"Absolutely," Naruto sighed almost happily, happy to have actual people to take his stresses out on.

"Naruto," Ruby reached out and grabbed his wrist. "You shouldn't be pushing yourself so much so quickly."

"I'll be alright," Naruto said with a small smile. "It's just a little something to warm me up after so long in bed."

"Huh," Harriet cocked an eyebrow. "Never been called a warm up before. Usually, I'm the finale! Don't go getting too cocky Uzumaki! I'm going to mop the floor with your ass! Training room 2!"

And with that, she zipped away, leaving Teams RWBY, JNPR, and Naruto alone.

"Blowing up the desert wasn't enough for you?" Yang threw her hands up.

"You blew up the desert?" Nora's jaw dropped. "Why wasn't I there!"

]-xxxXXXxxx-[

When they got to the training room, not only were the Ace Ops there, but so was Penny, Winter, Maria, Pietro, and surprisingly, Ironwood.

"Mr. Uzumaki," Pietro started when Naruto entered the room. "I have to insist that you not do this! Missions are already bad enough, but I understand that we are in a bad position. A simple spar for no reason though, I don't think that's really—"

"I am managing just fine, doc," Naruto narrowed his eyes. "How about we drop it, and you can see for yourself."

Noticing that Naruto was particularly stressing that he didn't want him saying anything in front of RWBY and JNPR, Pietro swallowed heavily.

"Yes, well…do be careful to not push yourself too far."

Naruto nodded stiffly, and moved to the center of the training room, where all the Ace Ops were huddled together.

"Alright," Naruto called out to them, stopping a respectable distance away. He began stretching his arms, "Don't you guys even think about going easy on me. I haven't been able to really let loose since Haven!"

"You guys?" Harriet asked, her hands on her hips. "Trust me when I say I can handle you all on my own."

Naruto rolled his shoulders before cracking his neck. He pointed a thumb towards his friends behind him "If you want a one-on-one fight then try one of them. If I'm gonna be fighting, I'm making it interesting. Me against the entire Ace Ops."

"Great…" Marrow groaned. "Another cocky one. Look kid, just cause you got lucky at Haven doesn't mean you can just beat the strongest huntsmen in the strongest Kingdom."

Naruto raised an eyebrow at this. No words were said until finally, Nora nudged Weiss.

"Fifty Lien says they won't land a single hit."

Winter cast a sideways glance at her sister as Marrow and Harriet both scowled at the underhanded slight. With a sigh, Weiss shook her head.

"Nora…Just because I grew up around a lot of money doesn't mean I'm ok with losing it. That's not even close to a fair bet, even if I am a little cross with him for pushing himself just after recovering."

Winter blinked in shock. She would have thought that Weiss would be the last person to join in such petty banter. Unless she actually believed this Naruto to be that good?

"Excuse me, Schnee?" Marrow ground out, having easily heard the girl even from the center of the room.

"Hey, hey." Naruto interrupted. "Let's just get on with this. If you guys are that good then we can be done with this quick, right?"

Clover sighed, and it appeared as though Vine wanted to join him in his exasperation.

'Between Harriet and Marrow, it looks like this isn't going to be any simple matter to resolve.' The team leader thought. 'And it doesn't seem like this Naruto kid is going to lay off the prodding either.'

"Tch." Harriet turned away, walking to the other end of the training room, her team following close behind. "And here I was hoping to have a little fun."

"I just hope the idiot doesn't hurt their pride too much." Maria mumbled as Naruto walked over to his side of the room.

Winter shook her head in disbelief. Clearly her current company wasn't the most realistic group in the world. While she trusted the blond's abilities, she wasn't going to delude herself into thinking he was that skilled.

Clover began tapping on his scroll, and a ten second timer appeared on the wall between Naruto and the Ace Ops.

"I'm sure you are all extremely confident in Mr. Uzumaki's abilities." Winter said in her slightly haughty tone. "But I don't think you all truly appreciate just how skilled the Ace Ops are. The General wouldn't trust just anybody with the information that he has given them."

The timer started, counting down from ten. Naruto's easy going smile quickly changed to the likeness of his foxiest friend. The Ace Ops readied themselves almost lazily. While they were taking their opponent seriously enough, they held no belief that they would lose this fight.

"Winter…" Weiss said, looking at her sister. "I would typically agree with you, but this isn't going to go in any way how you expect it."

Winter opened her mouth to respond as the timer reached zero, only for her mouth to snap shut as the sole blond disappeared from his starting position.

Vine, Clover, and Elm all leapt to the side suddenly. Marrow stumbled to the ground while Harriet suddenly moved from one side of him to the other, blocking the attack meant for the faunus. Harriet and Naruto pause in their position for a moment. Naruto had attempted to take Marrow out quickly with an axe kick to the head, and was only stopped from doing so by Harriet, who had both of her arms crossed above her head, blocking the kick.

"A speed semblance?!" Harriet grunted out, straining under the force of Naruto's kick.

Naruto's smile only widened, "Not quite." And then he was gone again.

Harriet suddenly jumped as Naruto flickered back into sight with a low leg sweep.

"She's fast." Ruby said, slightly impressed. She had seen Harriet move in the cave, but not quite like this. She winced slightly, as the constant moving of her eyes had flared the pain in her head slightly. Her aura was working fast, but not fast enough for her liking.

Winter was now paying rapt attention to the fight, any previous doubts about Naruto's abilities completely gone from her mind. Ironwood too focused on the fight with a more critical eye. She had barely seen the blond move. Even she would have been hard pressed to appropriately block the speedy attack.

She met the general's eyes. They knew that with Pietro's diagnoses, Naruto wouldn't be able to keep up this speed for long. It was only a matter of time before he slowed down and likely had another fit. Winter was almost hoping for it. Maybe then the idiot would be forced to tell his friends.

"Clover!" Harriet yelled back with an underlying tone of urgency as her and Naruto began fighting at a pace faster than most could even see.

Clover, who had been temporarily shocked, quickly shook himself out of his stupor. He quickly gathered his other team members, preparing them to attack in unison.

Naruto was having a blast. Harriet was even faster than Ruby, and better yet, she already knew how to fight! He hasn't fought hand to hand like this with somebody since he was in the Elemental Nations! He could definitely appreciate her skill.

Harriet suddenly ducked, confusing Naruto for a split second. The confusion turned to realization when he saw a fishhook coming at him from where Harriet's head used to be.

Without hesitation, Naruto dodged the sharp blade of the hook, before grabbing the line and pulling as hard as he could. With Clover now flying towards him, Naruto let go of the line, tossing the hooked blade to the side.

Clover tumbled toward Naruto, before, in a miraculous feat of what could only be luck, righting himself before Naruto could strike him. The man threw his fishing pole over Naruto's shoulder, before cocking back and throwing a punch at Naruto. Naruto stepped to the side, dodging the punch and preparing a gut shot on the man.

A tug on his wrist had Naruto looking down in confusion. Tangled around his hand was the very line that he had just discarded. Thinking quickly, Naruto kicked Clover in the stomach, pushing the man more than actually hurting him. As the brunette slid away, Naruto looked behind him.

Harriet was holding Clover's fishing pole behind him, smirking harder than he had seen her smirk so far. Looking at where he threw the hook, he saw it being grasped by an outstretched yellowy limb connected to Vine. It reminded him of his own power with Kurama oddly enough.

'Now that…' Naruto thought. 'Is some teamwork.'

Naruto heard a whistling in the air and the sound of footfall simultaneously. He quickly ducked, feeling the tips of his hair being tickled by a curved projectile. He saw a pair of feet come to a stop in front of him, before said feet were covered in an odd green aura that looked oddly like roots burrowing into the ground.

Thinking quickly, Naruto tugged on the line still wrapped around his wrist, gaining just enough slack to sidestep the hammer.

Just a minute into the fight, and Naruto was already in a pickle. Here he was, with Harriet behind him, Elm right in front of him, Clover to his right, and Vine to his left. How would he get out of this—wait, where was the fifth?

A shadow above him drew his eyes upward. Marrow was bearing down on him, his weapon ready to bash him on the head. A quick glance to make sure that Elm was still locked into the ground, and Naruto darted forward. Yelps of surprise from Marrow, Harriet, and Elm were completely missed on Naruto, who shot between Elm's legs.

Naruto scrambled through the tall woman's legs, before leaping right over her as Marrow landed on the ground. Harriet dug her feet into the ground to prevent Naruto from pulling her along with him, which was exactly what he wanted.

Naruto channeled chakra to his arm to prevent the fishing line from biting into his skin. He landed on the other side of Marrow, and pulled on the line. Elm, who had released her roots when Naruto crawled under her, stumbled forward as the line that was now wrapped around her tightened. Marrow squeaked as the woman fell atop him.

"Harriet, Vine!" Clover yelled, running towards the three tangled combatants. "Let it go!"

With the newfound slack after the two let go of their ends of the line, Naruto was able to free his wrist just in time to leap away from Clover.

Naruto rubbed his wrist while watching the team regroup. His smile was once again plastered on his face.

"That was awesome!" He exclaimed. "You guys have been working together for a long time, huh?"

Harriet was far less amused than he was though. Using Clover's fishing line in tandem with the rest of their semblances to trip people up was a common strategy for the Ace Ops. That though…that was embarrassing. Clover's luck typically accounted for any miscalculations on their part. Not that time apparently.

"Ok…" Clover said slowly. "Plan B."

The rest of the Ace Ops nodded. Naruto prepared himself for a second round as the Ace Ops changed their positions. Harriet and Elm grouped together, while Clover, Marrow, and Vine engaged Naruto once more.

Naruto began fighting the extremely annoying combo that was Vine, Clover, and Marrow. Vine on his own was as slippery as it got. Every time Naruto thought he had the man, he just kept slipping away. Clover did his best to trip Naruto up, but Naruto took extra care not to get tangled in that line again. The man had better luck with that line than Naruto had ever seen any shinobi have with ninja wire. It was equally infuriating.

He was remaining most cautious of Clover and Marrow. They were the only two that hadn't revealed their semblance yet, though Naruto seriously felt that he had already seen Clover's semblance in action, he just couldn't pin it yet.

Naruto managed to distance himself from all three huntsmen, finally giving himself a moment to breathe, or so he thought.

"Harriet! Elm!" Clover barked.

Naruto immediately looked at the two, just in time to see Elm lock herself into the ground as Harriet hopped onto Elm's hammer. Small streaks of yellow lightning danced around Harriet, signaling the activation of her semblance.

Naruto's face dropped as he realized what they were about to do. With the blast of a rocket, Elm fired her hammer around, launching Harriet at Naruto. Harriet threw a quick combo at Naruto, pushing the blond back as he blocked her attacks before readying herself to launch at him again.

It was at this point that Naruto decided he had his fun. The Ace Ops had kept him on his toes for the most part, but this fight had a purpose beyond just blowing off some steam. He needed the Ace Ops to believe in his skill, even if they didn't particularly like it. And for the top of the food chain in their Kingdom, that could only come in the form of a beat down.

Naruto dipped his hands into the holsters on his thighs, pulling out multiple kunai. He launched them at Harriet, who blocked a few, before jumping up and out of the way. Naruto's eyes widened in shock as a rocket from Elm's hammer shot towards his face from behind where Harriet was.

He bent at the hip, barely dodging the fast-flying object. He righted himself just in time to engage Harriet again.

Naruto pushed forward, slowly upping the speed of his attacks until even Harriet had trouble keeping up with him. The woman quickly began to panic. Naruto tilted his head out of the way of one of her punches, grabbed her wrist and tossed her behind him. His path now clear to the less speedy Ace Ops, Naruto prepared to end the fight.

Clover prepared himself as Naruto disappeared from his sight. He felt a small gust of wind, and saw Naruto sliding to a stop beside him, preparing an upper cut.

"STAY!" A powerful voice echoed throughout the training room, and Naruto's form quickly grew still in his awkward position.

"Quick!" Marrow yelled. "I can't hold—"

Before he could even finish, Vine, Elm, Harriet, and Clover were converging on the blond, each ready to strike the blond down.

'Yes!' They all thought as their attacks drew closer to Naruto, who was looking at them with slightly widened eyes.

And then suddenly they were flying. They all crashed to the ground roughly as Naruto straightened out and brushed himself off.

"Man." Naruto whined. "I didn't think you guys would make me use it…"

The Ace Ops all shakily get to their feet, staring at Naruto warily. Harriet growled before sprinting at Naruto again. Naruto happily obliged her, blocking each attack skillfully and slipping in his own. Harriet, being as frustrated as she was, was quickly losing her finesse, something Naruto had no problem using to his advantage.

Harriet suddenly stepped back, swinging a hand back and completely telegraphing her next punch. Naruto paid close attention to the woman, watching as her eyes flickered to his left. With a smirk, Naruto pointed his left hand in that general direction, before winding up his own punch with his right.

"STAY!"

Naruto slowed for but a second before Marrow suddenly stumbled forward slightly. Harriet, expecting to have another second or two, wasn't ready for Naruto to actually land his punch into her stomach when Marrow's semblance failed due to his stumble.

Harriet's breath flew out of her as her aura shattered around her. Naruto gently grabbed her, and after laying her on the ground, he turned and faced the rest, who were all looking at him in shock.

"Oh shit…" Marrow said rather smartly.

Marrow, Vine, Elm, and Clover were all loosely situated in a diamond formation at this point, having been preparing for another simultaneous onslaught. Even more shocked were they, when Naruto suddenly landed between all four of them.

He splayed his hands out on either side of him, pointing at Clover and Vine, with Marrow in front of him, and Elm behind him.

Suddenly, all of them found themselves being dragged towards Naruto. Elm quickly rooted herself to the ground, grunting as the ground cracked underneath her. Vine, Clover, and Marrow were not so lucky unfortunately.

They all reached him at the same time. Naruto grabbed Marrow by the back of the head, slamming his face into the ground. Using Marrow's unfortunate head to balance himself, Naruto lifted both legs, split-kicking both Vine and Clover in the face. As they both fell to the ground, Naruto grabbed Marrow and threw him behind him, towards Elm.

As Elm caught Marrow, Naruto was already running towards Clover, intent on taking out the leader of the fight.

Clover rolled to his feet, whipping his fishing line at Naruto. Naruto dodged, causing Clover to miss, only for the brunette to grab his line and yank it skillfully.

The hook swung around Naruto, hooking onto the line and successfully wrapping around him. Clover pulled on the line again, only for the line to hit an invisible wall just a foot from Naruto's torso. Naruto ducked under the line, quickly punching Clover in the chest.

Clover stumbled back, only to find himself completely horizontal in the air when Naruto swept his feet out from under him. Suddenly, Naruto was above him, putting an elbow directly into Clover's stomach with incredible force.

Clover felt the ground crack under him just as he felt his aura shimmer around him. If he took one more hit, he was done.

"S-STAY!" Naruto had whipped around just as he heard Marrow start to speak and managed to hold his hand out to the dog faunus just before he froze.

Marrow was torn from beside Elm before she could even think to grab him. As he approached Naruto, the blond stepped forward, pitting his momentum against Marrow's own. With an outstretched arm, Naruto clotheslined the newest Ace Ops member into the ground right where Clover had been, shattering his aura soundly.

Speaking of which…

Naruto lifted his arm, blocking the kick that the Team Leader had been trying to land on him while his back was turned, before spinning around and connecting his heel with Clover's cheek.

Turquoise Aura wisped around Naruto while the owner of said aura was sent tumbling across the ground.

Suddenly, Naruto jumped high into the air as two yellow aura limbs came from another place in the room. His eyes widened in shock when he looked at the last two Ace Ops, specifically Elm.

The tall woman had her Warhammer in its rocket launcher mode, aimed right at Naruto. With Naruto suspended in midair, Elm shot the rockets at the blond without hesitation.

An explosion rang out in the top of the training room as they connected with Naruto. Elm lowered her rocket launcher and let out a sigh of relief. That had definitely been worrying.

After five seconds, Elm and Vine found it odd that their opponent hadn't fallen out of the cloud of smoke yet.

They soon understood why when Vine was suddenly flying towards said cloud of smoke. Naruto came rocketing out of the cloud with an outstretched fist, directly into Vine. They smashed into the ground in a large cloud of dust.

From the dust, a small particle of blue aura flitted out, and Elm knew she was alone.

Naruto stood as the dust settled, and walked out from the rubble towards Elm, brushing himself off as he went.

"And then there was one."

Elm narrowed her eyes, gripping her hammer tightly as she prepared for all the ways Naruto could attack her. Naruto raised his hand towards Elm, and the woman felt an unknown force dragging her towards him. She grunted, twisting her feet slightly as her aura took effect.

Naruto frowned when she stopped moving, before another idea came to mind. With the same devious grin, he flickered out of Elm's vision.

"Above you!" She heard Harriet yell hoarsely.

Her eyes immediately snapped upwards, and there she saw Naruto above her, both hands pointed at her. She saw him mouth something that she couldn't quite hear, and then she felt the world fall on her shoulders.

Her still rooted feet sunk into the concrete ground slightly, and then she felt her knees buckle under the strain. There was nothing on top of her, but Atlas itself may as well have been teetering right on top of her head.

Finally, she felt her aura break, and just like that, the force was gone, leaving her on the ground heaving and seeing stars.

Naruto had beaten the Ace Ops, and hadn't seemed to take a single hit the entire time.

"Six minutes." Weiss said, tapping a button on her scroll. "They really are good!"

Winter couldn't believe what she had just seen, and a quick look at Ironwood told her that he was thinking the same thing.

'If he's this good with crippling cancer, then how strong was he before?'

Naruto let out a deep breath. That had winded him more than he expected it too, but with his current health, he wasn't really surprised. Luckily, it didn't feel like he aggravated anything too much physically, and he still had most of his chakra left after that fight and his little upset in the desert. Most importantly though…he felt a little better! Just a little…

"How the hell," Harriet groaned, finally catching her breath enough for stand. "Did you do that! Nobody can beat all of us! Even Winter can't beat all of us!"

"Oh," Naruto bounced on his feet. "Is she better than you guys? She will have to join next time!"

Harriet growled, but didn't say anything, settling with just cradling her stomach.

Pietro crawled up to Naruto in his machine, "How are you feeling? Any troubles? Pains? Dizziness?"

"I'm fine!" Naruto rolled his eyes. Team's RWBY and JNPR walked up to him too.

"Congrats," Yang cuffed him on the shoulder. "You killed their ego even faster than I thought you would!"

"They know I'm training you guys," Naruto shrugged. "Maybe now they won't give you as hard a time."

"Doubt it," Blake scoffed. "They're Atlesians. They're always going to have a big head."

Naruto shrugged again, turning to Ruby, who was pouting at him slightly.

"You shouldn't have fought all of them," Ruby chastised him. "One at a time would have been easier on you."

"It wouldn't have been fun!" Naruto tried to defend himself.

"Whatever," Ruby crossed her arms and looked away, pouting even more.

Winter joined them, giving Naruto an odd look, "While I'm sure you're happy about the win, I hope you know that this means I don't want to baby sit you on any of our missions."

"Yeah," Naruto smirked. "If you're not able to beat all of them, I guess that means I'll be the one babysitting you!"

The elder Schnee's glare had him quickly backtracking, "Or maybe not! Tch, I mean, I totally got lucky! I'll make sure you babysitting me is kept to a minimum for sure!"

Everybody bar Naruto and Winter herself started giggling at the blonde's reaction. Nobody noticed Ironwood eyeing Naruto with a critical eye.

'How am I supposed to find out whether he has aura or magic if he doesn't even take a hit?'

Obviously, he was going to have to dedicate some military equipment and manpower to observe Naruto and take some proper scans of the blond whenever he was out on the field.

'You might have them all fooled,' Ironwood narrowed his eyes before turning and exiting the training room. 'But I know Ozpin can't give anymore magic to anybody until the Branwen's magic is returned to him. As soon as I see it, I'll know who it came from. I won't allow an agent of Salem to destroy another Kingdom.'

And so, we get closer to the end of Volume 7's events. Things are going to steadily get faster and faster from here on.

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