Maelstrom EXE.

"Normal speech"

"Tailed Beast speech"

[Talking from the PET]

Chapter 4: Setting Up for a Lunar Bout

On the sandy shores of a tropical beach resort on Jawaiian Island which is one of the group called the Southern Islands, a muscular man with red hair and goatee wearing orange swimming trunks, white flip-flops and a yellow towel hung around his neck with visible scars all over his body as he struck a manly pose.

"Finally after countless scars and bruises from working day and night at any job I could find, I have saved enough to come here where once again I will battle Lan! Ha, do you hear me Lan?! I have come to take my revenge. Fear my fire Megaman! For this time I assure you will be the last time we meet because I will delete you!" said the man with a Scottish accent.

That's when Maylu passed by while riding on a jet ski and called out to him "Mr. Match, Newsflash! Lan's. not. here,"

The man now known as Mr. Match was slack jawed at what he just heard "He's not here?! You can't be serious!"

"It's true, I'm pretty he's gone to Netopia a long time ago," said Tory as he relaxed under an umbrella while sipping on a glass of mango juice. In the water, Yai was teaching Dex how to swim.

"Say Yai, how come Naruto isn't here with us?" asked Dex curiously.

"I did invite him to come along to a beach party, but he said that he had some things to do and wouldn't be able to come which I find strange since he hasn't in here for very long," said Yai thoughtfully.

"You're right, I wonder what he's up to right now?" said Dex, then he suddenly frowned a bit "I just got the feeling that someone's challenging me,"


Somewhere else faraway, a train sped along the rails through the rolling hills full of flowers. Inside it, we find Lan taking a big bite out of a hotdog with Megaman looking on in amusement.

"Half gone in one bite, top that Dex!" said Lan before taking another bite.

[Are you kidding me? Dex could top that with a triple and he would still have room for fries] said Megaman.

"I wish Dex was here, and Maylu, and Yai…even Naruto too since this would have been the best way for him to see most of our world,"

[Yeah me too, I can't wait to tell everybody about our trip. I mean we've seen some pretty cool places. Anyway here's our next stop, Bran city here we come…by the way Lan, have you been taking pictures of the trip like Naruto asked you to?]

Lan's face turned pale upon hearing the question "Oh no! I totally forgot about that! Naruto's going to be unhappy when he finds out about this,"

[I'm kinda wondering what he's up right about now?]


Meanwhile in an unknown part of the sea, an island unknown to many except for a few could be seen. There is a tall mountain surrounded by forests and one could hear the sounds of various animals deep within. The cabin cruiser had arrived at the dock and the competitors got off before standing on the pier and surveyed the area.

"Holding a mysterious tournament in an unknown island…kinda cliché if you ask me," said Naruto with a quirked eyebrow.

"Yeah, you pretty much see this kind of theme on TV shows and novels," said Kuro.

"I am willing to guess that the tournament would be held inside that mountain," said Gil as he pointed ahead of them.

"We might as well wait here for someone to arrive and guide us to the destination," said Barrett.

Then some sort spherical drone appeared from out of nowhere and hovered before them, its camera eye focused a bit and a beam of light shot out before widening to display a hologram of someone whom the group recognized instantly.

[Hello and welcome to Tsukumihara Island, where the Moon Cell Tournament will be held] said BB, she glanced to the side and a small smile graced her lips upon setting her eyes on Naruto [For the solo NetNavis, I'm creating a link into the drone as it leads you to the venue] then a long black cable came from a compartment of the said drone and inserted itself into a jack-in port of the console as Lancer, Nero, Caster and Elizabeth streamed into it [Now, this way if you please]

The group were led through the large and dense forest filled with both tropical and colossal trees with the forest's floor covered by exposed roots, flora and boulders. There were streams flowing nearing but the most unusual things they saw were bits of stones which appeared to have been part of a buildings and they were seeing more of them as they drew closer to the mountains. Naruto leaned over to whisper to Gil.

"Do you think that there was someone lived here before?" asked Naruto quietly.

"It seems so, they must have been foundations originating from a long time ago," said Gil.

"So you mean that this island existed much longer than we know? Then how come no one discovered this place and yet we were invited?" said Kuro.

"They might have some sort of technology which prevents them from being detected by outside forces," said Barrett.

They continued to ascend the rocky path for a while before finally arrived at the base of the mountain, built into the wall were two large gates depicting many warriors engaged in battle and a golden goblet above them as a moon shines down on both. The drone floated before the gates and made a few beeping sounds before they opened on their own to reveal a dark corridor lit up with candles.

Naruto and the others reached the end of the hallway to find themselves standing in what appears to be the interior of a cathedral with multiple doors leading elsewhere. Before them at the other side was a giant supercomputer which appears both ancient but at the same time advanced (an think of the bat computer from batman beyond), they approached the computer as the screen lit up to display BB standing before them.

[Once more as your hostess, I welcome you to the Moon Cell Holy Grail War] said BB.

"Where are the people? We didn't see anyone on our way here," said Kuro with everyone wondering the same thing.

[The ones who had built this place are since long gone, leaving it to me and the droids to watch over it and continue its purpose]

"And by purpose, you mean this Moon Cell Holy Grail War?" asked Gil.

[That is correct, to gather the strongest in order for them to compete for the ultimate prize]

[What is this 'ultimate prize' if you don't mind me asking?] said Nero via a holographic project from the drone.

[Within the moon are photonic crystals which have the power to alter reality itself, the capabilities of these crystals far surpass that of any digital media on earth as none can even hope to match its processing power. an especially large photonic crystal had been scanning the entire earth and compiling its results in its database, it is a processor with a massive memory that has recorded everything from habits and even the very souls of humanity. So as it can also affect the outside world with its calculations, it has the power to grant wishes]

Everyone was taken aback by the reveal, not only was there some sort of special mineral within the moon but it is capable of granting any kind of wishes, something which was only heard of in fairy tales but now is actually real. Most of the group were stunned but none more than Naruto and Kurama.

"Do you think it's true Kurama? That the moon could grant actual wishes? This could be the one chance of us returning to Konoha," thought Naruto.

"I can't say for sure kit, I don't want to bring your hopes up only for it to come crashing down later. The best I can say is that we aim for first for now before anything else," said Kurama.

"So that explains why few know of this tournament. Should it have gone public, the world would swamped this place just to have their wishes granted," said Gil.

[Indeed, which is why the Moon Cell began the Holy Grail War and would grant a single wish to the victor of a chosen group] said BB.

"So where do we start?" asked Naruto.

BB gestured to the computer system before them [Inside of this computer system is an artificial environment known as The Photonic Abyss, be warned that once you send your NetNavis inside, they would be unable to exit it until the tournament is over. However there are private rooms for them to rest among other things. I shall only ask if you still wish to participate?]

Naruto smirked at the question "Someone asked me a question like that and I told them this 'I'm not gonna run away and I never go back on my word, that is my nindo! My ninja way!'"

[He's right, this won't stop me from fulfilling my quest!] said Caster with her tail wagging.

"Seriously, what is this quest of hers?" said Kurama with a quirked eyebrow.

[Surely you don't expect a lady with a love for art to pass up a chance to see more do you? It would describe how illusive one is] said Nero.

"My NetNavi would be a bit angry with me if I were to leave now," said Gil.

"I have a goal to accomplish so I won't let this stop me," said Bazett.

"How can my NetNavi and I get stronger if we pass up challenges like this? I'm definitely in," said Kuro.

[The stage is bigger than I thought, a big debut awaits me!] said Elizabeth excitedly.

[Thing's just got more interesting, I'm in] said Lancer.

BB nodded in affirmation [Very then, please proceed to jack into the system]

Everyone approached the computer while the drone inserted its cable into a port, Naruto had already transferred himself into the PET while his clone took over the Holobody without anyone watching…or so he thought.

"Jack-in! Archer, Power up!" said Kuro.

"Jack-in! Gilgamesh, Power up!" said Gil.

"Jack-in! Saber Lily, Power up!" said Bazett.

"Jacking in and Powering up!" said C-Naruto.

Everyone plugged into the ports and their NetNavis streamed through the link and soon appeared in their destination. Naruto looked to see the three NetNavis whom he hadn't met before.

One was a male with tanned skin color with silver spiky hair. He wears a black tight and sleeveless shirt with silver accents and a metal plate around his collar, black pants that has two black straps on the thighs and another two around the shins, and black metal plated shoes. He wears a red coat whereby there are two separated sleeves connected by a metal plate to expose the upper body and a separate red skirt which end above the shins with the top tied into a knot and covered by a silver metal plate.

The next is also a male with golden hair, he wears golden knight armor with blue accents, excluding the helmet with a crimson skirt which end at his feet.

The third is a female with blonde hair while a single hair strand sticking out from the top, she wears a white dress of old western design with the skirt resembling the petals of a lily flower, with silver armor plating on top of it.

"I haven't met you guys before, the name's Naru- err I mean Maelstrom," said Naruto not wanting to reveal his identity.

The tanned man quirked an eyebrow at the young blonde's slip of tongue but replied nonetheless "I am Archer and Kuro is my NetOp,"

The golden haired man scoffed at the question however "Hmph, I find it rather insulting that you do not know of me or at least heard of my name. What is your origin so that I might grace them with my presence?"

Lancer spoke up "His name is Gilgamesh the 'king of heroes', many know of him for being a powerful NetNavi,"

"I thank you for educating this young plebeian," Gilgamesh looked at Naruto rather smugly.

"Great, a guy with the combined personalities of Sasuke-teme and Neji when he was a jerk to Hinata…just my luck," thought Naruto.

"Be careful around him Naruto, I feel that his strength is great," said Kurama.

"How strong?"

"Can't say for sure, but be on your guard if you ever go up against him,"

The blonde female stepped forward with a smile on her face "Hello maelstrom, my name is Saber Lily and it's nice to meet you all,"

"Same here," said Naruto.

"You know, I wasn't expecting Naruto to have a NetNavi customized to look like him," said Lancer.

"Actually it was his parents who did it for him as a birthday present," Naruto quickly lied, Lancer nodded in affirmation to the answer.

"Hey everyone, look at where we are!" Caster suddenly called out to the group.

Naruto and the others turned to look around to see that they're standing in some sort of grounds and around them were buildings varying both in height and styles with trees growing in several places. What caught a majority of their attention were people walking around while dressed in some kind of brown school uniform much to their growing confusion.

"I think I speak for most of us when I ask the question of what on earth is going on here," said Naruto with everyone nodding in agreement. In a bright flash of light, BB appeared before them.

"Where are we and why does the cyberspace look like some sort of academy?" asked Elizabeth.

"The pink one speaks the truth, what is this strange oddity which we're seeing here?" asked Nero with Elizabeth frowning at her.

"In every tournament held, the Moon Cell generates different landscapes in order to test the adaptability of the NetNavis and their NetOps. As of this moment, this place is called the Tsukumihara Academy which is where you can rest as well as gain information on enemies and puzzles which you eventually encounter within the Sakura Labyrinth," said BB.

"The Sakura Labyrinth, what is this place?" asked Kuro.

"It is a maze located underneath the academy where numerous enemies, puzzles, traps and even treasure can be found on every level. In order to access each level, you're to locate two halves of a key in to unlock the door on the fifth floor of the current level in order to link to the next area. They can be found hidden in one of the floors or are dropped when you defeat an especially strong opponent. You can also acquire the key by defeating any of your competitors should you encounter them,"

"So it's technically a race to the bottom of the labyrinth with a mixture of a free-for-all battle," thought Naruto.

"You must also beware of the ghost data, these are what you would consider to be phantoms of the participants from previous tournaments so I would advise that you exercise great caution if you meet one," BB waved a hand and cards appeared before them to take "Those cards will grant you access to your rooms to rest as the tournament shall begin tomorrow," she pointed at a building behind them before disappearing in a flash of light.

"Hmph, how interesting…this endeavors might not bore me after all. I'm off to rest in preparation for my eventual victory," Gilgamesh turned around and left for the dormitory.

"I'll be heading to the library to learn more about this place," Nero was the next to leave, each and every one of the group except for Naruto and Caster.

"Aren't you going somewhere?" asked Naruto.

"Actually…I don't know where to go," said Caster looking sheepish.

"I'm thinking of exploring the place, you can come along if you want,"

Caster smiled with her tail wagging to and fro "I would like to!"

With that, Naruto and Caster took to exploring the academy. They met with the students who greeted them in friendly manners despite the fact that they were nothing more than puppets created by the Moon Cell. The duo visited places like the church where they met someone who was very knowledgeable of the tournament, the library as well as other places. At the moment Naruto and Caster were in the school building and were climbing the stairs up to the second floor when a black blur crashed into Naruto, knocking him to the ground.

"Maelstrom, are you okay?!" Caster called out worriedly.

Naruto groaned in pain "Owwww, my skull…ringing like a bell," he reached his hand out to helps when it grabbed onto something soft and squishy which resulted in a moan.

"A, ah…! Well…that's impolite, you know. Huhuhuhu, have you figured out what you're touching…?" a feminine voice spoke out.

The gears in Naruto's head were turning as he slowly came up with an equation: The feeling of a body on his + a soft squishy feeling + a feminine voice equals… Naruto quickly jumped to his feet with the woman in tow and jumped back with a blush on his face and bowing in apology "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to do that!" he lifted his head to look at the woman.

She appears to be of oriental descent and appeared to be in her mid-twenties, she wears a black tight dress with a slit up the left side which exposes her leg and a white habit resembling a hood with a large golden necklace wrapped around it. Naruto blushed a bit upon seeing the size of her chest and his hand twitched.

"I always suspected that you liked them big, makes me wonder why you chased after that pink haired girl who's as flat as a chopping board," said Kurama with a smirk.

"Now's not the time for that Kurama!" thought Naruto.

"Sure, if you say so,"

The woman chuckled in amusement "It's quite alright, I should apologize for falling on you as well as thank you for catching me, what would be the name of my savior?"

"It's Maelstrom," said Naruto, then Caster appeared by his side and grabbed his arm while glaring at the woman.

"And my name is Caster, you should have been more careful or you could have hurt him," said the fox girl.

"My most sincere apologies, I will make sure to thank you properly. I have to go prepare for class now, so if you'll excuse me," the woman walked by and as she did, Naruto heard her whisper "I look forward to our time together, lovely young master,"

Naruto turned to ask her what exactly she meant by that, but she had already left. He noticed that Caster was still holding on to his arm with a frown on her face.

"What's with that woman bumping into you like that? You would have been hurt," said Caster.

"I'm fine now Caster, so let's continue with checking this place out," said Naruto, this had Caster wagging her tail again and nodding in agreement.

They continued to walk around for a bit before stopping before a door which had the symbol of a cross on it.

"I'm guessing this is the infirmary, let's go inside and say hello since we would be coming here to recover from battles often," said Naruto.

"Sure," said Caster.

They went inside and saw a lot of cots with grey curtains in between them, then they saw a girl who turned around and were surprised upon seeing her appearance. She has long purple hair reaching to her feet with a red ribbon tied to the left side of her head, she also wears the school's uniform with a short length lab coat.

"Who is this girl and why does she look just like BB?" thought Naruto.

The lookalike waved at them smiling shyly before speaking "Oh hello there, my name is Sakura Matou and I am the AI in charge of the infirmary,"

"Sakura huh…," Naruto smiled warmly "It's nice to meet you too, my name is Maelstrom and this is my friend here Caster,"

Caster waved at Sakura "Hi!"

"Thank you and I welcome you to the infirmary at any time during your stay here in the academy until the end of the tournament," said Sakura.

"Well we're currently exploring the academy before heading back to the dorms to rest for the tournament tomorrow but we'll be sure to come by from time to time," said Naruto.

"Me too, we could talk about stuff," said Caster.

"I look forward to your next visit, Naruto-san, Caster-san," said Sakura with a smile.

The duo bade their farewell and closed the door to the infirmary and left the school building and made their way over to where the dormitory is. Naruto escorted Caster to her private room before climbing up the stairs to reach the roof to gaze upon the setting sun.

"So the tourney begins tomorrow, what do you think of things will be going Kurama?" asked Naruto.

"I pretty much understood the rules and how are to be done, we just need to be on our guard for whatever we run into when wandering through the labyrinth. But I still feel rather skeptical about a spiritual computer capable of granting any sort of wish whether or not it's true," said Kurama.

"We'll just have to see when we reach the end of the labyrinth, if true then it might be our way home," thought Naruto.

Then C-Naruto called out to him "Hey boss, the drones are leading the NetOps to their rooms to rest and there is a computer system there so I can connect to you when the battle starts and even a machine to recharge battlechips,"

"Okay then, but keep those chakra recharge tags to avoid getting the HoloBrace to run out of energy,"

"Okay boss, see you tomorrow,"

Naruto let out a sign and was about to leave when he noticed a shadow by his side, he quickly turned and saw a little girl staring straight at him. She is a girl who appears to be eight years possesses silver which are braided, she wears a light blue dress with a lot of frills and a looped skirt, and a blue cap on her head giving her the appearance of a doll.

"Where did she come from? I didn't hear any footsteps or even sense her breathing," thought Naruto.

"She just appeared behind you just like that," said Kurama.

Both continued to stare at each other for a while with neither side speaking, Naruto gazed into the girl's eyes and could see untold sadness and loneliness in her eyes, something he was all too familiar with. He only blinked once and the girl was gone much to his confusion, he looked around but couldn't find any trace of the mysterious girl.

"Who was that girl?"

"I don't know, but I can tell that she has developed an interest in you,"

"We can think on this later, let's just get to our room and rest for tomorrow," Naruto walked away not knowing that he had caught the attention of many in this Holy Grail War.


This is Hussbek online with the latest chapter, Naruto and the others have arrived at the venue and learnt that some sort of ancient computer is capable of granting wishes, which makes things a whole lot more interesting and crazy. Naruto runs into a girl who looks just like BB, a nun who called him a master and then another who simply stared at him before disappearing. What are the mysteries behind these girls and does it mean trouble for the blond ninja.

For those who are familiar with Fate/Extra CCC, I changed the rules a bit with slight elements to Sword Art Online and this also gives you the opportunity to throw a suggestions of who Naruto would face down as a Ghost Data along with the other competitors.

For much better understanding, the labyrinth has five floors per level and two halves of a key are required to unlock the next level which only opens for the one possessing the key while the rest must collect their own. The key fragments can be found hidden in one of the floors, picked up as drops from ghost data or won off competitors when challenged and defeated. Be sure to look forward to the next chapter as the battles begin there.

For those wondering who exactly the participants are, here's the list

NetOps and NetNavis

Kuro =EMIYA

Kid Gil =Gilgamesh

Bazett =Saber Lily

C-Naruto =Naruto himself

Solo NetNavis

Nero
Tamamo no Mae
Elizabeth Bathory
Cu Chulainn

More might appear in the tournament, so read and review as always.

This is Hussbek from Ghana

Signing out