Chapter 19

Blanket disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Ninja Gaiden or DOA

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

I couldn't find a proper map of Spa Laqua so I had to use my imagination on the locations of some things. Here's chapter 19, Bloodbath in Paradise:

Last time:

"Damn you Nyotengu, my clan will survive even though I die!" gasped out the old woman between coughs.

She could feel the smile in Nyotengu's voice when she said, "Don't be so sure about that. The Yoru Clan is as good as dead. Let me tell you a little secret about Uzumaki Naruto before you die off you old relic."

The old woman's eyes widened. "A….secret?" What had Nyotengu been hiding all this time? "What secret do you speak of?" rasped the old woman.

"Don't rush me." chortled Nyotengu. "Did it ever occur to you why I was in the land of humans?" Getting silence as her answer she continued. "Our Elder detected a source of power so great that he sent several tengus out to find the source and form an alliance. Do you know what that source of power was? Sage Uzumaki Naruto! He is a true sage of old and could wipe your clan clean off the map with ease. If he wasn't keeping such a low profile I have little doubt he would have openly exterminated you the second he heard of you.

"But the clan…." croaked the dying woman as she coughed up more blood.

Nyotengu laughed, "The Yoru Clan's extinction was a foregone conclusion the second you became enemies with him and your precious Shinagami won't lift a finger to stop him since sages seek to balance nature. It's his nature to support their actions! Hahahaha!"

All the old elder could do was shed tears of grief as Nyotengu continued to laugh. There was no deceit in Nyotengu's words; the Yoru clan would soon all be sent to the Shinigami….

Laqua, Tokyo Dome Attractions, Bunkyo Ward

The Uzumaki Clan landed near the entrance of Spa Laqua. It was a massive, multilevel hot springs resort touted as "a first-class space for healing" in the tourist guide. Unfortunately they were there to do anything but heal. There was death in the air and they were going to be in the thick of it. Spreading out they entered through different routes to prevent a defense from being mounted. The Yoru Clan's end was nigh…

On the first floor….

Kasumi and Hinata entered through the main entryway doors. Hinata was on the ceiling using chakra and Kasumi teleported in directly. Kasumi saw the Yoru ninja Genkei waiting in the center of the entry hall. He was obviously ready to fight and his body was tensed. Kasumi went to confront him directly since they both could obviously see each other….

The Yoru kunoichi known only as Kurokami was perched in a position in a tree for landscaping and planned to jump on Kasumi when she in turn was pounced on by Hinata from the ceiling. She yelled out "Shit!" as she was grazed by a juken strike that blew her left shoulder armor to smithereens. She quickly drew an odd serrated sword and went after Hinata. Hinata's hopes of defeating the woman with taijutsu alone were temporarily dashed and she drew her kodachi to counter. They soon landed in the entryway with their blades locked. Kurokami glared at Hinata and saw Hinata's byakugan eyes. 'She's….blind?' With that thought in mind Kurokami went on the offensive.

Hinata and Kurokami were soon engaged in a vicious sword duel and Hinata was losing. Her kodachi was a good match for Kurokami's serrated short sword but Hinata simply wasn't as skilled with a blade so she was losing ground fast. She stumbled back into a ride called the Geo Panic Coaster. Hinata had read about it in the tourist guide out of curiosity and found it was an indoor roller coaster that was mainly enclosed in tubular tunnels. Fortunately it was shut down so there were no issues of being run over or anything. She was considering running down the tunnel (Hinata was currently in the front car) and leading Kurokami into a trap in the darkness.

Kurokami had other ideas though and slapped the ride's activation switch as she jumped into the rear car moving forwards towards Hinata. The unexpected movement caused Hinata to lurch backwards onto her back. She turned around and staggered back to her feet with a curse just in time to block the Yoru woman's nasty serrated edge from taking her head off. As the ride started Kurokami slipped her blade underneath Hinata's grip and disarmed her causing Hinata's chakra blade to fall back behind Kurokami in the second car. The Yoru woman went to decapitate Hinata but was blocked by Hinata's hooked metal armguards. Growling, Kurokami knocked Hinata backwards so her head would hit the ground in front of the now moving car and kill her.

At the last possible second Hinata caught the car's safety guard on its seat with her feet and ankles leaving her lying on her back at the nose of the front car. The move caused Kurokami to trip up and fall awkwardly on top of her. Hinata was using all her strength to hold her head and shoulders up from the deadly tracks below and Kurokami was trying to push her down with her bodyweight and the might she could muster. The Yoru ninja grunted in exertion as she tried to drive her blade into Hinata but was once again blocked by Hinata's armguards. The armguards were holding sword off even though it meant Hinata's arms were pinned against her chest. Kurokami felt Hinata's arms start to shake from the blood rushing through them and exertion. She said. "You won't last much longer you blind bitch. Your head's going to decorate the rails here!"

They came out of one of the tunnels into the light again as the two continued to struggle. They both had to account for the inertia of the coaster as it raced along continually picking up speed. Unlike Kurokami; Hinata could see all around her because of her byakugan and as a result was doing better about being whipped around by the ride. Kurokami was furious and thought, 'Why won't she just die already?' The Yoru clan member was starting to get tired and was moving around way too much for her liking as the coaster raced along.

As they entered the next tunnel they were jolted as the ride dipped down and the pressure on Hinata's arms was let off for a split second. She focused chakra into her back to hold her body in place and wrapped her legs around Kurokami's knees pulling her forward. At the same time Hinata pushed Kurokami's sword back and upwards with her tired arms causing the surprised woman's head and upper body to shoot upwards into the roof of the tunnel. Kurokami barely had time to scream as the top half of her head was ground off on the tunnel ceiling. The grinding and inhuman shrieking noises made Hinata's eyes widen as she watched the Yoru woman's head turn to liquid and finally snap back off her neck before her lifeless body fell backwards. Hinata and the roller coaster's cars we painted in blood, gore and debris.

The exhausted Hinata pulled herself back up into the seat of the front car as she shoved Kurukami's still spasming legs out of the way so she would have room to rest. Hinata sat there breathing hard and hunched over in the rapidly forming pool of blood from Kurokami's now limp body as the rest of the ride sailed along silently. Normally Hinata would have moved from being bathed in blood but she was too worn out to give a damn. A few minutes later the ride came to an end and the green light to disembark came on. Hinata slowly got up and retrieved her Kodachi lying beside the dead woman's upper body (or what was left of it).

Hinata then stepped off of the ride and walked away disregarding the automated voice thanking her for riding the Geo Panic. The drained kunoichi decided she had no desire to ride a coaster ever again. She concealed herself keeping watch with her byakugan and decided to rest a few minutes. She was exhausted….

With Kasumi….

Kasumi went straight up to Genkei and assumed her stance wasting no words. She drew out her wakizashi Shrouded Moon so fast she nearly beheaded Genkei in the first strike. He ducked but lost his topknot in the process sending his hair everywhere. Genkei hadn't been prepared for Kasumi's speed at all. He finally drew his twin katanas and went to duel his much smaller opponent. He had reach but found he was using his twin blades to block more than counter. Finding he was losing ground in a straight up sword duel he teleported back and unleashed a fireball ninpo at Kasumi forcing the speedy kunoichi to dodge. Genkei dashed in to stab her with his blades but she spun around in a foot sweep before he began and had to jump back.

'Who is this woman?!' thought Genkei as he kept having to block her swift and precise sword strikes. He realized if he didn't have two blades he would have lost an arm or worse by now. Repeating the cycle of teleporting and shooting his fireball ninpo at her he kept her dodging but it wasn't enough for him to gain a significant advantage. Only once had he managed to get behind her and she back flipped completely over him nearly taking his head off with her blade in the process. He barely blocked it as he rolled back to his feet and took his stance only to find she was also in the ready position.

They'd fought their way across the entryway and towards the outdoor baths. Genkei was getting tired. Kasumi's relentless attacks forced him to retreat over countless obstacles. He leapt off of a park bench he was perched upon only to see it neatly bisected right where he'd been standing. He slipped up on landing and had to roll out of the way to avoid being impaled. He finally regained his footing and teleported back again near the outdoor baths. He saw her tense as she got ready to dodge another fireball. "I have the greatest respect for you as a fighter Uzumaki kunoichi." Genkei said sincerely. He sheathed his swords. "You are a better sword fighter than I; but I have superior techniques. Fire Halo!"

Genkei was surrounded by flame. Kasumi's eyes narrowed from the glare. If she didn't know better she'd have said Genkei was on fire. He said over the roar of flames, "Your speed won't help you now unless you use it to run. You sword can't cut me in this form and if your body makes contact with me you'll be charred to death!" He charged Kasumi as she nimbly dodged the balls of fire he launched relentlessly at her.

It turned out Genkei wasn't lying about the intensity of the flames. The heat was enough to scorch the cement they were on. Kasumi danced around his strikes but even his near misses felt like they were going to sear her skin. She resorted to shuriken only to find the fire halo around him was able to protect him and he batted them away. "Stand still, damn you!" Genkei yelled over the roar of his flames.

Kasumi poured on the speed and ran across the water of the largest outdoor bath hoping he wouldn't be able to cross it and buy her some time. He said, "You're just delaying the inevitable. My fire is so hot it will just turn water to steam!" He quickly dashed across the top of the water leaving steam in his wake as he ran. Kasumi threw an incendiary kunai that exploded on impact with his flames. The blast knocked him off his feet and back into the water generating even more steam. "I told you that won't work!" he said as he resurfaced and started slowly wading across the bath towards her.

He heard Kasumi's soft voice say, "I'm sorry but this is the end. Torn Sky Blast!" Genkei watched the enormous bolt of lightning she unleashed rush towards him. In slow motion he had a moment of clarity. 'A massive bolt of lightning and I'm immersed in water! I can't possibly dodge it because the water is slowing me down. Well played Uzumaki…You are truly a worthy opponent.' The ninpo hit him dead on in the chest. For the briefest of moments his body stayed standing as the electricity cooked him from both outside and in. He let out an inhuman noise as his body burned clean though. His Fire Halo went out and Kasumi saw his scorched body and his eyes rolled back in his head.

Genkei collapsed face first into the water into a dead man's float. Kasumi could see the charred exit burn from her ninpo on his now exposed back….There was no doubt he was dead. She fell to one knee tiredly. The Torn Sky Blast still took it out of her. She gave out a silent prayer for her opponent. He was in an evil cult but at the same time fought her honorably. Maybe he would find peace in the next life….

On the fifth floor….

Momiji and Aoi silently came up to the fifth floor which a sign proudly displayed was the 'Restaurant Zone & Relaxation Zone.' "This is where all the shops and eateries are." whispered Momiji. I'll take left and you take right."

Aoi nodded and whispered with a twinkle in her eye, "Alright, you go shopping and I'll check out the food. With that the two Uzumaki kunoichis nodded and split up.

With Momiji….

Momiji poked around various stores looking for targets. She heard voices and saw two Yoru Clan kunoichis in a clothing store shedding their ninja gear quietly so they could pass off for civilians. "Old man Hiroto is on his own; if any Uzumaki's show up here we'll just tell them we were hiding from the bad guys. I don't a fuck about the Yoru clan or the Shinigami anymore! I just want out alive." About that time Momiji's naginata blade erupted from her chest where her heart was before it retracted. The kunoichi let out a death gasp and no longer having the support from the naginata to hold her up she fell over dead in a pool of her own blood.

The other kunoichi stared into Momiji's cold amber eyes and kneeled. "I beg of you, please spare my life! I'll do anything!" the tears flowed out of her eyes as Momiji seemed to tower over her.

"Who is this Hiroto and where is he? How many are with him?" asked Momiji in a hiss.

The woman looked up and Momiji saw a twisted look in her eyes. "Old man Hiroto is the priest to the Shinigami for the Yoru Clan. I hate that old fossil because he doomed us all! If you spare my life I'll even help you kill him." The depravity in the kunoichi's eyes was clear.

"Where is he?" asked Momiji.

The kunoichi chuckled darkly. "He and the other five are over in that big toy store in the back. He's setting up some spell he claims. With my help I'm sure we can take him out." Momiji withdrew her blade and the kunoichi smiled. A second later the kunoichi's head was rolling across the floor.

"I will pray your soul is released from whatever twisted you in the next life." Momiji sighed as she flicked the blood off her blade. 'She was possessed with madness.'

The elder Hiroto was setting up his spell with things arranged in a traditional manner. He ordinarily would have would have used the temple upstairs for this sort of thing but his fellow elder's death on the altar meant all the dynamics had changed in that room. Now, though he had everything arranged just so, instead of being arranged by emblems of death and sacrifice he was surrounded by….plushies. (He'd never admit it but something about Hello Kitty gave him the creeps). At any rate Hiroto had three guards standing before him in a triangle facing outwards and two more guarding the entrance to the store.

The store was long and narrow so unless the Uzumakis blew down a wall they had to get through five guards before they could even approach Hiroto. He heard a noise up front and saw one of his kunoichi guard dart across to where his other guard was. He saw the woman stumble back with three shuriken stuck in her. He saw the other guard's head roll into view as a kunai shot out and finished the kunoichi guard off with a perfect heart shot. His three guards trembled at the brutal efficiency. Their comrades were cut down in seconds. Hiro spoke confidently. "Come out Uzumaki Naruto. I acknowledge you are a master but you are no match for me."

Momiji was looking through a mirror at Hiroto and his guards. His guards were in a useless position unless….

"I say again, come out Uzumaki Naruto." said Hiroto. Instead of a blond with a sword he saw an incredibly shapely kunoichi come around the corner with a naginata balanced on her shoulder. 'This is the first hard on I've had in twenty five years.' thought Hiroto lecherously as he admired the eye candy.

Momiji glared at him and said. "I'm sorry to disappoint you priest Hiroto but Naruto-kun isn't here." Then she paused for a moment and said, "Is this really where you're going to make your final stand; surrounded by stuffed animals?"

Hiroto snarled and said "Behold my power nonbeliever!" as he cast a black tornado over his guard's heads and towards Momiji. Pieces of stuffing and felt flew all over the place as the black tornado hit Momiji dead on. Hiroto waited for her to start screaming out as the spirits of the dead ravaged her very soul. Suddenly the spiritual tornado dissipated leaving Momiji standing there unscathed.

Momiji stepped out of the debris of the stuffed animals shredded around her and said. "The spirits of the dead have no effect on the spirits of the living unless the victim gives into fear –and a spiritual tornado of that low level won't even faze me. Don't you know something like death wall or black lightning? At least those look impressive even though they'd be ineffective against me. All you've proven to me is you can shred children's toys."

Hiroto color up angrily and said, "I'll show you a spell little girl! Come forward Deathwind! I summon you!" A black ethereal gargoyle like demon appeared and rushed forward to destroy Momiji.

Momji put forth her hands and an ethereal white dragon appeared. The two spirit creatures clashed again and again. Hiroto was sweating as he felt his spirit beast start to weaken. Momiji on the other hand was holding his spirit at bay with one hand. As she gradually increased the pressure the magatama necklace she wore started to glow.

'A dragon priestess?! Impossible!' thought Hiroto as he felt himself being overwhelmed. "I will not be defeated by you dragon priestess! Here's the true power of the Shinigami's disciple!" Hiroto held out his hand as black lightning struck his three guards and killed them.

"So they were going to be sacrifices all along; I'm not surprised given the formation." said Momiji. "You converted their life forces into energy to empower your demon. Do you really think you can win? I can tell your body is straining old man. You won't last at this rate."

Hiroto spat out, "Shut up girl. I can easily overwhelm a child like you!" She watched as he gathered the power of the three unwilling sacrifices a started to channel the power into his black beast. Hiroto was having more and more difficulty controlling the energy and a lot was being lost as random bolts of black energy shot about the toy store. Some struck near Momiji but she was shielded by both her own power and her magatama that glowed even more brightly. Momiji took the offense with her spirit dragon and it started tearing the black spirit beast apart and pushing it back towards Hiroto who was shaking all over from the exertion and drenched in sweat. Momiji's eyes narrowed in determination as the old man's eyes widened in fear.

They locked eyes for a moment and suddenly Hiroto cried out and clutched his chest. He went into cardiac arrest as his black beast vaporized and the white dragon spirit tore through him in an instant. The old priest cried out in pain as a gout of blood shot from his mouth. His heart had ruptured from the strain….he was dead before he hit the floor.

Momiji closed her eyes and focused willing the white dragon back to whence it came. She slowly walked over to Hiroto's corpse and saw his face was frozen in a silent scream with his lifeless eyes staring skywards. Momiji stared for a few moments and sighed. Channeling that much spiritual energy was taxing and she needed to rest….There was no point in even praying for this one's soul….

With Aoi….

Aoi quietly entered a restaurant/bar that had minimal lighting. Since the whole floor was basically closed everything but the main aisles outside were dimmed. It was perfect for a ninja to hide in. She crept in hugging the floor and heard….laughing? Peering up over the table she saw several Yoru clan ninjas and kunoichis that seemed well on their way to getting plastered at the bar. 'What the fuck? Aren't these guying aware they are being hunted? Is this a trap set for me?' thought Aoi. She quickly counted eight of them and then heard shuffling further back in the restaurant. Five more of them were sitting playing cards. They were much further back.

Aoi quietly moved around searching for others or traps but the only thing she found was a trap wire that led to one of the seats at the gambling table. She spotted it easily thanks to Naruto's extensively training all the girls in trap making. Silently thanking Naruto-kun she thought to herself. 'These people are defenseless but there are still thirteen of them and one of me. I can't get cocky.' Aoi sat there observing in the darkness as the eight at the bar got more and more inebriated. They were talking about the foolishness of the elders and how they were planning to die drunk and happy if they were going to die. They kept making references about Naruto specifically and him being monstrously strong to have killed the Hierro Gladius.

The gambling group wasn't drinking at all. After weighing the pros and cons to herself she decided taking out the eight drunks would be best. If she was discovered early she would still have an escape route. Aoi slid her hand down into her pouch and found what she was looking for; senbon needles with five minute poison. It drugged people into a stupor and shut down their respiratory systems. Seeing drunk people get drugged and appear to fall asleep wasn't nearly as alarming as the one minute stuff that caused seizures and foaming at the mouth. Loading her five shot senbon launcher on her wrist Aoi hoped to get four of them before the carousing crowd knew what hit them.

Poking her head and arm up just enough to see clearly where to aim Aoi fired off her senbon needles one by one at her targets. Two jumped and another pair acted like they'd experienced bug bites on their necks. The last shot went wide because the ninja she'd targeted threw his head forward and threw up in the floor causing her to totally miss. This turned out to be lucky because the entire group at the bar burst into laughter about him being such a lightweight. Aoi was sweating as she quickly moved and reloaded her senbon launcher. One of her targets that she'd hit had pulled the senbon that hit her neck out and was still laughing with the others.

Repositioning herself for a better shot Aoi fired off three more senbons into the remaining drunk's necks. The one throwing up in the floor was too low for her to hit. The first one of the original four fell off his chair onto the one sick in the floor who was trying to recover. He cursed and through the man off him but was lucid enough to cry out, "Holy shit! He's dead!" Pandemonium broke out at the bar as the now stone sober man who'd been getting sick stood up. Aoi was ready to take a shot at him but she heard the chairs rattle as all the ninjas who had been gambling quickly got up and drew their weapons. Quickly moving and concealing herself again in a new position Aoi watched to see how this would play out.

The Yoru ninjas and kunoichis fanned out and started looking around but the seven she'd already poisoned started dropping like flies. The six remaining were looking around with wild eyes trying to figure out where the attack had come from. One came over to the potted plants Aoi was hiding behind. He said, "Nothing over here. Try that side." to the others. It was too late for him when he turned his back to her to head back to the others. Aoi's hand clamped over his mouth as her poisoned Sai slit his throat and she silently lowered him to the floor. She'd reloaded her senbon launcher with the one minute stuff and noting the attention was focused on the opposite side she shot another ninja in the back of the neck. He let out a yell and threw a pair of kunai her way that she had to dodge. The man she'd just hit yelled. "It's a kunoichi! She's over there!"

The others were all alerted and one of them threw an incendiary shuriken that blew up a table near her. The others were about to start doing the same thing in concert but the one she'd tagged started screaming and going into seizures which distracted them. She darted towards the exit hearing another yell about poison and to chase after her. Aoi ran towards the exit but then jumped to the side behind the bar and waited. She saw the four remaining ninjas running out into the light but grabbed the last one and slit his throat behind the bar. She quickly darted to the other side of the restaurant's entrance and waited silently as the adrenaline rushed through her body. The remaining three were looking around warily and were fully alert.

That's when one of them saw her and charged with his katana outwards. Aoi knew she was spotted and shot him dead on with a pair of senbon but he didn't even slow down and tried to behead her. He missed and shattered the decorative fountain she'd been behind spraying water all over the place. She had to dive out in the open to avoid getting water sprayed in her eyes like the one with the katana just had. The remaining two had kunais to engage her hand to hand. As the rushed her she managed to foot sweep one which gave her time to draw her sais and block the other.

She jumped back as one charged her and the other regained his footing. She jump-kicked one and stabbed him through the neck with her hidden blades she was so fond of in her sandals. The other saw his friend coughing up blood as he held his throat and collapsed. He took a more defensive approach as his friend bled out. Aoi was looking for an opening when she heard the swishing sound of a blade behind heard. Than katana wielder she'd poisoned earlier took a slash at her but overextended which allowed her to get inside his guard and drive one of her sais through the bottom of his chin and into his brain which killed him instantly. Unfortunately that move left her wide open for her previous opponent with the kunais. Leaving her sai jammed in the katana wielder's head she spun around and was stabbed in the side with a kunai. She managed to block the other with her remaining sai.

He twisted the kunai and she cried out as she fell backwards. He was going to scream, "Die, Uzumaki bitch!" And thrust his kunai into her fallen form but noticed something was stuck in his throat. Aoi was sitting there with her arm extended. She'd darted her remaining poisoned sai into his throat. They both sat there frozen in those positions. He looked into her hazel eyes and saw anger and vengeance in them before he toppled over to the floor, dead. Aoi spent the next few minutes applying first aid. Once she'd thoroughly bandaged her wound she retrieved her sais from her fallen opponents bodies. Her bleeding was staunched but she still felt weak. She decided to hide herself again and regain her strength as she prayed for the safety of the others in her family….

With Ayane….

Ayane quiety entered through a window on the sixth floor and as she walked into the spas on the sixth floor she found nothing amiss. People were enjoying soaking and relaxing as they chatted among themselves. The area was well lit so there was no place to hide even for her. Ayane soon found herself the center of attention as she scanned the area silently. Most of the men were staring at her black clad body appreciatively and the women were irritated at their significant others for gawking like animals over a piece of meat. Despite the cat-calls and wolf whistles Ayane did her best to stay focused as she moved through the area carefully. She felt the area was secure and started heading up towards the seventh floor.

Ayane was caught off guard when the younger Yoru woman from the temple came down on top of her from the ceiling above. The woman was equipped with some truly vicious claws. Ayane blocked overhead with her kodachis at the last second but received a nasty gash in her left shoulder. She rolled back cursing herself for being caught off guard. The people watching from the spas around the two kunoichis were shocked. When the saw Ayane come in they thought she was some kind of cosplayer. Now they realized they were very, very wrong.

"I am Yoru Leiko of the Yoru clan. I will be your opponent. Only one of us will walk away from this alive and I've drawn first blood." declared the Yoru kunoichi.

Ayane nodded. "I'm Uzumaki Ayane and the final blood will be drawn by me."

"We'll see about that." said Leiko as she charged like a berserker. The two kunoichis clashed with both going totally on the offensive. Ayane had an edge in speed but in the kind of close combat they were doing Leiko's weapons were superior. Both had received minor cuts but nothing lethal at this point. Ayane's armor absorbed the damage other than the shoulder gash earlier. Realizing that she was at a disadvantage in this kind of combat Ayane spun rapidly and switched to her legs to fight with. She landed a brutal spin kick into Leiko that launched the woman into a table and chairs that shattered from her impact against them.

Leiko shook her head to clear the fog and once again tried to get in close where she could claw Ayane but the violet haired Uzumaki kunoichi was landing kick after brutal kick on Leiko and the damage was starting to show. Ayane felt herself slowing down a bit and wondered why but kept pummeling the Yoru kunoichi with everything she had. A particularly brutal scissor kick to Leiko's face sent blood and a couple of teeth flying. Feeling herself slowing down more Ayane realized that Leiko's claws had a paralytic agent and her left shoulder was going numb. "Poison…." she muttered.

The badly mauled Leiko said, "So it finally kicked in." as she spat out blood. "It won't kill you but it will slow you down for an hour or so….that's more than enough time for me to kill you." She rushed in and body tackled the unsuspecting Ayane into a nearby spa causing people to flee out of it in terror. Ayane pushed the girl off her with her leg but didn't inflict any damage. "Your damn legs can't move as fast in the water so they can't hurt me. But I can still claw you to pieces!" yelled Leiko as she closed the distance again. She and Ayane grappled in the water and Ayane found she was losing fast. Leiko only had claws on her right hand now because the others had broken off when Ayane was thrashing her earlier so Leiko was using her left hand to try to gouge Ayane's eyes.

The two kunoichis separated. Ayane had lost her Kodachis in the water so she was struggling to get out on land. Leiko was doing her best to prevent Ayane from doing that. Leiko said angrily. "How are you still even going? You should be too numb to move by now!" With that she did an overhead slash meant to slice Ayane's chest open but all she did was cut Ayane's uniform that exposed a lot of cleavage. Leiko stopped for a moment and stared. "You mean those melons are real?! There's no padding?! Looking down at her much smaller chest Leiko shrieked angrily, "It isn't fair! Damn you bitch!"

Her composure lost, Leiko charged Ayane straight on to gut her but Ayane slipped behind her. Ayane grabbed the Yoru kunoichi from behind and felt her grip on her left arm was weakening. Leiko was cursing and thrashing about as she tried to shake Ayane off. Ayane realized she was running out of options and reached her right hand around to her weakening left and pulled the ring off her middle finger. Attached to it was razor wire. Ayane pulled with everything she had and garroted Leiko sending blood everywhere. She felt Leiko's hands grab her own wrists in a death grip trying to desperately pull Ayane of but Ayane held fast and pulled even tighter.

Ayane felt the wire suddenly give as it cut through the trachea with an enormous gout of blood coloring the water red as Leiko's now limp body slid into the water. Flicking the wire back into its retracted position, Ayane retrieved her kodachis and waded out of the blood filled water and pulled herself out. Her left arm was numb but she felt it wearing off. Aoi had been gradually building up all of their poison immunities and it had saved Ayane's life. She saw people staring but wasn't able to do much other than say, "The police will be here soon. Stay on this floor so they can escort you out safely. Just stay away from the body." She picked up a discarded towel and wiped her face and hair. The towel was stained red from the bloody water.

"Shit, I'm a mess…." muttered Ayane to herself.

With Naruto….

Naruto entered on the eighth floor 30 minutes ago. Now there was blood and gore everywhere. The corpses were piling up fast.

Masses of shadow clones were locked in battle with a veritable army of Yoru clan members wearing Noh masks and they felt like they were in some zombie apocalypse movie. These Yoru clan members had to be totally obliterated before they stopped moving and attacking –and their numbers never seemed to end! The best solution Naruto and his clones came up with was hitting them in the upper torso with a rasengan because it caused the upper body to explode the degree that nothing could get up from that. While it was effective Naruto's clones were burning a lot of chakra….

The real Naruto sensed something beyond this gore fest in the next room back. Using chakra to silently crawl across the ceiling he came to an odd sight. Ten Yoru clan members in Noh masks were surrounding one in a devil mask. The ten in normal human Noh masks were apparently in some state of deep meditation as they were both motionless and silent as they sat there. The devil masked one was writhing all around like he was possessed or something. He was making hand motions at strange angles as if he was playing a musical instrument like a harp.

'Is this some modern version of puppetry?' wondered Naruto to himself. He silently entered sage mode and sensed the ten forming the ring were feeding ki energy to the devil masked one in the center. Stealthily Naruto made his way across the ceiling and down behind them and climbed halfway down a column out of sight and righted himself. He formed a wind rasengan and noted his targets were totally oblivious to his presence. Naruto poked his body around the edge of the column and threw the wind rasengan like a shuriken aimed to hit the devil masked contortionist in the center. The man exploded in a spectacular shower of gore that splattered all over his comrades that were completely shocked out of their meditations as the jutsu kept going and shattered several floor tiles before it dissipated.

By the time Naruto had hit the floor he'd already thrown three exploding tags into the backs of the closest Yoru members and they were obliterated in the explosions. By this time the seven remaining had regained their coherency and saw Naruto. One of them cried out "It's the Uzumaki Master!" as he stared at Naruto's toad like eyes. "Run!" Two more fell to exploding tags before they raced into the room where the Naruto's clones and Yoru army were fighting. When Naruto rounded the corner after them he saw about thirty of his clones standing there amidst the pile of bodies.

"The dead have stopped fighting for us! We are trapped!" lamented one of the Yoru clan members.

"What do you mean the dead have stopped fighting for you?" Hearing no answer Naruto said angrily, "Answer me!"

"W-well, we poisoned the water and killed everyone in the healing spas on this floor." said one of them pointing at a near empty spa with a couple bodies floating in it. "Then we enchanted the bodies to make them an army to fight for us."

Naruto's eyes flashed and he growled. "You're telling me all those people piled up back there were innocent civilians?!" he asked as he pointed to the pile of corpses around his clones.

"Y-yes!" quaked the Noh mask wearing Yoru clan members in unison. The pressure from Naruto's killing intent dropped them to their knees as they gasped for air.

Naruto closed his yellow eyes for a second and said to his clones. "Make them die slowly and painfully. I don't care how. Make them beg for death to take them."

As Naruto turned and walked away towards the Yoru temple on the ninth floor he could hear the five remaining Yoru clan members begging for mercy before their begging turned to screams of pain and agony. He never looked back. It would be nearly twenty five minutes before the last of the five joined their comrades in hell. Naruto thought he let them off too easy for what they'd done to all those innocent people….

On the ninth Floor….

Naruto made it to the ninth floor unopposed and found it both empty of life and devoid of obstacles. He did sense the cold feeling of death oozing out of the furthest end from behind an illusory wall. 'That's the presence of the Shinigami that sealed me into you Naruto. There is no mistaking it. We'll stand no chance against him.' said Kurama.

'We have no choice Kurama.' thought Naruto to his friend. 'I don't intend to fight him but the last of the Yoru clan may be in there and we'll have to wipe them out.'

'Alright Naruto but if he talks to you then show nothing but respect. He is a deity after all.' agreed the fox with hesitation in his voice.

As Naruto entered the room in sage mode he saw a rather beautiful woman chained to the wall. It was obvious she had been tortured. The woman stared motionlessly at the altar the old Yoru woman was still pinned to by the ceremonial dagger as if she was frozen. Narato noticed she had….wings? He went over towards only to hear the voice of something else….The Shinigami.

"I see you've turned up at last Uzumaki Naruto, container of Kurama. I haven't seen you since you were an infant." said the Shinigami. "I always wondered where you went but it was a matter of when you went I see. Come before me; we have much to discuss."

The frozen voice struck terror into Naruto but he swallowed his fear and walked forward.

The Shinigami said, "You needn't worry about that tengu female on the wall there. I simply placed her in a stasis so we could visit in private." The Shinigami plucked the ceremonial dagger out of the old Yoru woman and Naruto assumed a defensive stance. "Now, none of that Naruto. I'm simply taking this dagger back from mortal hands. The Yoru Clan no longer needs it as they are now extinct due to your actions." The dagger vanished into nothingness.

"Why did they-" started Naruto.

"The interactions between myself and the Yoru Clan are none of your concern, Sage. Suffice it to say they failed to achieve their task and you and your clan have exterminated them. I will speak no more on this subject." Naruto nodded in deference to the Shinigami's decree. "Now, onto business. I take it you wish to recover Kurama's Yin half as you only hold the Yang?"

Naruto and Kurama both gasped as one. Naruto quickly regained control of himself and said, "It depends on the price Shinigami-sama." Kurama had told Naruto of the way he had been split in half by the Shinigami in one of their many discussions.

"You are interested in bargaining then?" asked the Shinigami.

Naruto nodded. "Yes, Kurama is my friend but there is only so much we can do."

"It is a matter of restoring balance." said the Shinigami. "You see, two beings were granted a power by me long ago and they've misused it against my many warnings." He pulled out and abacus and said, "If you take the original price of what I granted them, add in all the times they've misused it…." The Shingami slid some beads over on the abacus. "….And compound the interest of all misuses…." The rest of the beads were slid over. "….You can clearly see their souls belong to me."

Naruto and Kurama both blinked clearly not following the math. "Why don't you just take their souls then Shinigami-sama?"

The Shinigami sighed in irritation. "Normally I don't do this but I will explain the situation so you as a mortal can comprehend it. You know of the mortal you slew named Obaba, yes?"

"She was revived by Ishtaros." answered Naruto.

"Good, you know of this." said the Shinigami with something akin to approval in his voice. "Clearly Obaba's soul should have come to me. This much is clear. She was dead and the dead are my domain."

Naruto nodded again. "Then you want me to slay Obaba again?"

"No. I want Ishtaros and her equally vexing twin sister Nicchae." answered the Shinigami. "Obaba is of little consequence. She will come to me.…eventually."

"So they abused a power you granted them and need to be killed? What power is it?" asked Naruto wondering what was so bad. Everyone dies eventually….right?

"So annoyingly inquisitive." said the Shinigami. "Fine. Long ago when the so called greater fiends entered existence and they asked me for the power to create others of their kind from humans that met certain….requirements." Naruto opened his mouth and the Shinigami held up his hand "The hows and whys are none of your concern. One of the requirements I set is the person must be alive to become a fiend. The only bearing it has to this discussion is they have abused their powers time and again to create other fiends by reviving those who have already died like Obaba. They do this to earn the eternal loyalty of those involved. This is clearly a breach of contract."

"So I kill Ishtoros and Nicchae in exchange for Kurama's Yin half?" asked Naruto.

"It's not that simple. If it was I would have had the twin's souls long ago." Once again the Shinigami held up his hand and said "Be silent and I will explain. Some of the greater fiends found a loophole of sorts. If their bodies are destroyed they can send their spirits to the underworld and then regenerate new bodies. I need you to slay them and absorb their souls with this." said the Shinigami as he held up a locket. "It will prevent their escape to the underworld and send them directly to me. There are other fiends with this annoying ability to avoid their demise but none have revived the dead like Ishtaros and Nicchae have."

"Is there some special way I use the locket? Will it be a danger to others?" asked Naruto.

"It will only affect the souls of Ishtaros and Nicchae. It will have no effect on others be they fiend, human or otherwise." answered the Shinigami. "As for how to use it; simply have it on your person when you defeat them. Once they are destroyed it will vanish and Kurama's Yin half will be restored to him."

"Is there some time limit I have?" asked Naruto.

The shingami shook his head. "No, but do try to make in your lifetime or entrust the task to your descendants. Do we have a deal?"

Determination gleamed in Naruto's eyes. "Yes, it sounds like I have a pair of fiends to hunt Shinigami-sama." Naruto heard Kurama cheer in his head.

"Good." said the Shinigami. The locket appeared in Naruto's hand. "I have other important things to do. Farewell Sage Uzumaki Naruto and Kurama. We will meet again….eventually."

The Shinigami vanished and Naruto and Kurama both cringed at the way the Shinigami bid them farewell. 'I hope we don't meet him again anytime soon.' thought Naruto.

'You and me both kid." said Kurama.

Naruto heard a gasp behind him. It was the tengu woman. He turned around and said kindly, "I am Uzumaki Naruto. Are you Nyotengu? I am here to help."

POSTSCRIPT:

Well, the Yoru Clan is officially history. I originally intended to have some interaction between the Uzumaki clan and Nyotengu, Detective Arii and Inspector Otaki but this chapter ran awfully long with all the various battles. This was the longest chapter written for this story yet. Next chapter will be the aftermath of this mess in Tokyo and the end of this particular arc. For the first chapter of 2015 I'm fairly pleased with it. Blue out. 1/1/15