Naruto: Tornado of Souls V2

Blanket disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or RWBY

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

This is the last of the revised chapters. Here is Chapter 33. Enjoy!

[ ] Signifies hand signs.

Last time:

Training Ground 52

Naruto stood alone and focused on the sky. He made a fist and his blue eyes lit up with power. The clouds in the sky started to swirl and a tornado like funnel started forming around Naruto as the power grew. The blonde's spiky hair whipped about in the center of the vortex. Seeing he'd managed to activate the Typhoon Release at will Naruto willed the maelstrom back into the sky and the clouds dissipated back into their normal patterns…Then he started going through his sword katas and the wind seemed to whip around him wherever he cut the air. Naruto felt the power of the wind soar inside of him and started streaming it through his blade. 'I can feel the energy roaring through me. It's like a hurricane waiting to be unleashed. This is good. I need to hone it to split a waterfall next according to Jiraiya-sensei. I'll have to ask him and Kakashi-sensei for advice.'

Unknown to Naruto he had an audience. Jiraiya was watching through his spyglass as he could feel the power from that distance. 'That's it my apprentice. Well done!' thought the white haired sanin.

Beside him was ANBU Cat who was a powerful sensor. She'd seen the whirlwind in the sky and was investigating what the source of the power was when she stumbled upon Jiraiya. Now Cat was watching Naruto through binoculars. "Jiraiya-sama, what kind of a jutsu is Uzumaki using? It feels like wind but it's a lot denser and much more massive."

Jiraiya grinned and said, "That, my dear Cat; is the little known Typhoon Release. I trust you can keep this little tidbit to yourself?"

"I thought it was extinct." she thought aloud. "I heard that power could level villages when completed."

Jiraiya nodded. "Naruto is just beginning to tap his potential. Mark my words; he'll be unbelievable once he's mastered it…"

…

Chapter 33

Raven Branwen's Apartment

Kakashi was visiting the Branwen twins. "So you're actually the Spring Maiden." said Kakashi. "I'm surprised you were willing to share that information with me."

Raven huffed. "Well, if I hadn't then my idiot brother would have. He couldn't keep such a secret to himself from you Oz."

Qrow sipped on his flask. "We're all on the same side now Raven. Both the Fall and the Spring Maidens are out of Salem's grasp. Now we have to make sure to keep you both safe."

"I don't need to be coddled." growled Raven.

Kakashi smiled under his mask. "You'll do fine with Kurenai and your teammates. With two Maidens on one team you probably could overpower most enemies regardless."

"I'm surprised you don't want me on your team were you can supervise me Kakashi." said Raven irritably.

"You just want to be close to Naruto-kun." replied Kakashi with a chuckle.

Raven blushed and sputtered out, "T-that's nonsense!"

"Your blush says otherwise." laughed the jonin. "So how did you discover that your sister was the Spring Maiden Qrow?"

Qrow shivered at his sister's glare. "I was sleepy and kind of forgot my flask in the bathroom (Kakashi sweat dropped) and went back in to get it after my shower."

"WITHOUT KNOCKING!" roared Raven.

"Calm down Raven-chan." said Qrow dismissively. "Anyway, I pulled the shower curtain aside-"

"You actually had your flask of whiskey physically in the shower with you?" asked Kakashi.

Qrow stopped and said, "Doesn't everybody?" Raven nodded in agreement and the jonin face palmed.

"You were saying…?" asked Kakashi.

"Oh yeah…Anyway I pulled the shower curtain aside and there was Raven in her birthday suit." said Qrow with a shrug. Raven glared hotly and the scythe wielding man continued. "It was really no big deal but she started screeching like a banshee and-"

"I was BUCK NAKED you idiot!" yelled his sister with blazing eyes. "Of course I screamed!"

"We've seen each other naked before!" retorted Qrow. "We used to bathe together!"

"WE WERE LITTLE KIDS YOU IDIOT!" bellowed Raven. "You don't walk in on a LADY when she's showering!"

"You aren't a LADY; you're my sister!" said Qrow heatedly.

"Don't make me freeze you again…" hissed Raven.

Kakashi said, "You FROZE him?!"

Raven blushed. "It was the only thing I could think of to do at the time."

Qrow sighed. "So after that she slid me over by the space heater and thawed me out. After that I questioned why she suddenly could freeze people and why her eyes lit up. Raven explained she was secretly the Spring Maiden."

"…Thawed you out with a space heater…" mumbled Kakashi. "How is it the pair of you always get into such trouble over trivial things? You've been like that since you were children."

"It's his/her fault Oz!" yelled the twins as they pointed at each other.

Kakashi just sighed… 'I swear; they still are children mentally…'

…

Training Ground 52

The next morning at precisely 7AM the members of Team 7 all arrived at their designated training grounds. Naruto, Pyrrha and Blake all exchanged greetings and looked eager to go. Kakashi was soon there in a body flicker with a double eye smile on his face. "Looks like we've got a mission kiddies." said the jonin. "The Hokage designated us specifically for this job."

"Is it Grimm extermination?" asked Blake.

Kakashi shook his head. "Actually we're looking for missing people in the Village of Kaisei near the border of Hot Springs Country. We really don't have a lot of details. If it is Grimm we'll wipe them out."

The three genins were soon looking over the mission details. "The people missing seem to be of different ages and social standings; both men and women…I don't see a pattern here." said Pyrrha.

"I don't either." commented Blake. "Maybe something will become apparent when we get there."

"We'd better pack for a long-term mission." said Naruto. "This might take some time."

"Right you are Naruto." quipped Kakashi. "Pack for three weeks and meet at the front gates in two hours."

"Hai sensei!" answered the three genins.

….

Naruto stopped in to visit Hinata before he left only to be delayed by the two Hyūga gate guards. "What business do you have with our Heiress?" asked the straight laced guard.

"I came to tell her I'm going on a three-week mission." said Naruto.

"We'll pass it along." said the other guard.

Naruto growled, "I wish to tell her personally." His killing intent gave the two guards the chills.

"O-our Heiress is very busy Uzumaki." said the straight-laced guard. "She doesn't have time for-"

"Doesn't have time for what?" asked Hinata who appeared from nowhere. "I sensed Naruto's killing intent and came out to see him." She glared at the guards. "Naruto-kun is my dear friend. If he comes to see me then let him pass."

"I'm very sorry my Lady." said the two guards as one.

Hinata nodded and turned to Naruto with a smile. "Come in Naruto-kun; let's go inside and talk…"

The two young lovers were soon in Hinata's room where they shared a heated good morning kiss. "I hate to see you leave for so long but a mission is a mission." said Hinata.

Naruto kissed her again and said, "I'll be thinking about you Hinata-chan."

…

Konoha Front Gates

Team 7 assembled at 9AM and signed out with Izumo and Kotetsu at the front gates of the village. Kakashi said, "Looks like we're off Team 7. It will take us about three days to get there at an easy pace. Let's move out."

…

The Village of Yōgan, Magma Country*①

"You four were here a long time before I was and you know who is to blame for us all ending up in this, primitive, backwards land." said the Village Leader of Yōgan. He was hooded and his face could not be seen, sans he wore a goatee. His rust colored uniform was featureless except for a village symbol over his heart. "Go out and destroy him while he's still unaware of us. Good luck and good hunting."

"Hai, my Lord!" said four of his subordinates. "We will end him without fail!"

"Then go my loyal followers." said the Lord. "Remember his death is only the first step our victory."

…

Fire Country, Village of Konoha

Raven was sitting beside Qrow across from Ino. The Yamanaka heiress was confused. Raven said, "Haruno Sakura is part of me Ino-chan. That's why I know you and want to be friends again."

Ino gasped, "Then why did you-"

"Inner Sakura did those terrible things to you and Ayano." said the red eyed girl. "She's dead. I had to kill her. I merged with Outer Sakura, your dear friend."

The Yamanaka heiress said, "Why did Inner Sakura do what she did then?"

Raven sighed and looked over at Qrow briefly. "I'll tell you from the beginning Ino-chan…I'll explain everything…"

It was a long afternoon for everyone in Raven Branwen's apartment…

…

Fire Country, Village of Kaisei

What started out as a routine job turned out to be a carefully planned deathtrap for Team 7. The whole Village of Kaisei virtually exploded into a battleground the second Kakashi and his students entered it. Kaisei Village was near the border of Hot Springs Country and was in a scenic area surrounded by naturally by volcanic hot water geysers. That was this morning. Now the sun was setting and the entire area was a wasteland. The locals were already dead. Four ninjas of unknown origins with Lava Release turned the naturally volcanic area into a vision of hell as the day proceeded.

Flashback…

Team 7 was making good time as they entered Kaisei Village. There was a noticeable lack of villagers but there were no outward signs that anything was amiss. Kakashi and his team looked about and finally the silver haired Jonin said, "Hmmm, I suppose the villagers are staying hidden in their homes with all the disappearances going on. Still, I would have thought someone would have come out to greet us."

Pyrrha frowned. "This place is quiet as a tomb sensei; I think something is very wrong here." The redhead peered into a home and saw it was pitch black inside. "We should be careful."

"I don't even see any animals around." said Blake. "It all seems unnaturally still here."

About that time a huge ball of magma exploded into view and Team 7 had to scatter to avoid the impact of the incoming missile. All of them suffered burns in the resulting explosion that leveled several houses in the process. Kakashi was the first to recover from the shock and motioned for his genins to stay back. "Who goes there?!" roared the silver haired sensei of Team 7.

"You and those brats are faster than I expected Ozpin." said a tall kunoichi wearing a rust colored uniform. All of Team 7 gasped wondering who would know Kakashi's other identity. The kunoichi had two ninjas and another kunoichi with her in similar uniforms. It was obvious they were jonins from their chakra levels. "Sorry to tell you this but no one is left alive in this little village. They were simply bait to drag you out here. Kaisei Village will be your grave Ozpin." She motioned towards a massive ninja to her left and said, "Jun, take out the three genins. Setsu, Masao eliminate Ozpin, I'll coordinate our team from here."

The other three said, "Got it Azami." Then all four of them said, "Lava Release: Magma rain!" and filled the sky with globs of molten rock.

To Kakashi and Team 7 it was like being at ground zero in the bowels of hell…

Flashback End…

…

….Now Kakashi was alone without knowing where his students were and was nursing various burns that were slowing him down. He had two enemies after him; the tall ninja Masao and the stocky kunoichi Setsu. The other kunoichi Azami and Jun had disappeared and were presumably after Blake, Pyrrha and Naruto. The silver haired sensei recognized the forehead protectors of his enemies as being from a little known village in an area called Magma Country that once was in the territory of Hot Water Country. 'I thought that Magma Country ceased to exist after the Second Shinobi War.' thought Kakashi. 'Rumor had it that every ninja in that village had the Lava Release but I never believed it until now. How are they even in existence after all these decades?'

The kunoichi Setsu that had been pursuing Kakashi was incredibly quick which belied her stocky build. She seemed to dart in and out between the larger pieces of wreckage that were once Kaisei Village in the blink of an eye. Kakashi had been playing cat and mouse with her for some time and was gradually leading her away from the other Magma Country ninja Masao who didn't seem to be in any particular hurry. That suited the Konoha Jonin just fine. 'If I can eliminate her without Masao being involved; so much the better.' thought Kakashi.

Setsu was very carefully stalking her prey. "Damn you Ozpin. You're the whole reason I'm in this mess." she whispered under her breath. She came around the edge of a burning house and saw Kakashi squatted down looking in the opposite direction. Setsu darted a handful of kunai at her target and hit him square in the back. Kakashi cried out and she ran forward to finish him off with a Lava Glob jutsu. At point blank Setsu unleashed her jutsu only to find it was an exploding clone much to her horror. The explosion caught her completely off guard and injured her very badly. Setsu was lying on her back attempting to get up when Kakashi jumped out at her from a nearby hiding place. He stabbed her through the heart with his White Light Chakra Sabre faster than the eye could follow. Setsu knew she was dead but she still managed to grip Kakashi's sword hand with her own molten one and burned him badly before the light left her anger filled eyes. She spat out "Ozpin…." hatefully before she died.

Kakashi cradled his injured right hand and gingerly retrieved his White Light Chakra Sabre once it cooled off. "Shit!" he hissed. "Now my sword hand is injured and I can't perform the Raikiri either."

…

While Kakashi was fighting his own battle against Setsu the rest of Team 7 was fighting their own…

Blake, Pyrrha and Naruto had been on the run from a Magma Country Jonin named Jun that was basically a walking flamethrower. All three of them had been hit with fire jutsus and were burned to various degrees. Pyrrha was in the worst shape having burns around her midriff and one arm. Naruto was helping her along. It seemed that every time the three genins were able to regroup and attempt to counter the man he simply overwhelmed them with a spray of lava.

What was left of the Village of Kaisei (and any shelter or hiding places it provided) was completely engulfed in flames by that point and the three genins finally ran for it and headed down the nearest river hoping the masses of water would deter their pursuer…Alas, that was not to be…

…

Catching up with the injured genins; Jun said, "You brats led me on a merry little chase and even down a river to protect yourself from my lava but no more!" All three members of Team 7 were on the opposite shore of the river looking battered and burned. "I'll bury you three alive!" bellowed the Magma Country Jonin.

Naruto glared defiantly as he supported the injured Pyrrha and Blake was squatted beside him with her Gambol Shroud drawn. Jun stomped the ground causing a minor quake which stunned the three Konoha genins and made them slip on the wet rocks. Seeing his three younger opponents were down in the light of the setting sun Jun unleashed a virtual tidal wave of molten rock that buried the members of Team 7 alive. The three screamed before they vanished under the wave of magma…

…The lava cooled quickly and Jun thought to himself, 'I barely have any chakra left after that…Those kids were unbelievable. Genins shouldn't have that kind of stamina. I have to sit down.' He kneeled down and sat. "Damn, I wonder if the other three got Ozpin yet."

That was when the lava that marked the genin's gravesite started to creak and groan. Jun's eyes widened as a magnetic field exploded outwards revealing three very much alive Konoha genins. He saw Blake's burning amber eyes focus on him as she seemed to soar into the air across the river twirling the Gambol Shroud in its kusarigama form. Blake made a shadow clone in the air ahead of her to propel her even faster. Jun thought, 'She's moving at jonin speeds! I have to-'

Naruto roared, "Gale Palm!" as Pyrrha launched a shower of metal shards pulled straight from the still cooling magma. The shards accelerated to incredible speed thanks to Naruto's overpowered wind jutsu. The speeding storm of hot, jagged metal flew under Blake right at Jun and he dived to avoid the incoming barrage. The Jonin was too slow and was peppered was everything from needle to knife size pieces of molten metal. He screamed in agony as he rolled to his feet. His last words were, "OH FUCK, NO!" as Blake came down on him and split him throat to groin with the Gambol Shroud…there was no chance of Jun surviving that.

"One down…" hissed Blake as her teammates water walked across the steaming river to join her.

Naruto felt himself healing and said, "Let's patch ourselves up and go find Kakashi-sensei."

"Agreed." said Pyrrha. "This fight isn't over by a long shot."

…

Naruto, Pyrrha and Blake spent about thirty minutes dressing the girl's injuries (Kyubi's chakra was slowly healing Naruto). "Hinata's healing cream is a lifesaver." said Pyrrha as she stood up a slid her battered armor over her bandaged torso and arm. "I'm good to go."

Blake likewise stood up. "My burns are minor compared to yours Pyrrha-chan. Are you ready to go Naruto-kun?"

The blonde gave a thumbs up as he finished bandaging his left arm. "Let's go girls."

Staying low the three Konoha genins crept back towards what was once the site of the Village of Kaisei. As night came down Blake took point because of her excellent night vision. The feline faunus girl motioned for them to halt and the three genins remained motionless in the darkness. They heard the leader Azami's voice in the dark as the Magma Country kunoichi spoke on her radio. "Setsu is dead?!…Pathetic! She was useless. What do you mean you lost Ozpin Masao?! Where's Jun? He should have rendezvoused with you by now! All he had to do was kill the three brats and come back. I always said he was losing his edge but god damn!"

After that the cat eared kunoichi silently led her teammates all the way around behind Azami. All three genins could see the Magma Country kunoichi silhouetted against the fires of Kaisei Village beyond her as she ranted and raved at her teammate over her radio. Blake whispered, "We're downwind of her and behind her. This is the perfect opportunity to strike but we'll only get one shot with her being a Jonin. Do you want to use a wind blade Naruto-kun?"

Naruto sensed the winds with the various updrafts from the nearby flames. "I'll have to use more chakra than usual and she'll sense it coming. Pyrrha-chan; can you-"

Azami suddenly gasped at a noise and turned towards Team 7. The three genins immediately froze. She'd heard them but the way the kunoichi was wildly looking around it was obvious Azami couldn't see them in the darkness. "Who's there?!" the Magma Country Jonin called out warily. Then Azami leaped into action having caught a glimpse of Naruto's blond locks. Moving like lightning she appeared above the three genins in a body flicker. Pyrrha reacted first and threw a magnetic shield up to protect them. Blake vanished leaving a clone behind and Naruto rolled backwards to avoid the kick that would have hit him square in the head.

Azami drew a short sword to take out Pyrrha along with Blake's clone but the gladiator parried the blow with her own sword. Azami landed smartly with her blade still locked with Pyrrha's. She then lashed out with a vicious mule kick behind her to take out Blake's clone. Unfortunately for the Magma Country Jonin; Blake left behind an ice clone which caused the kunoichi's foot to become stuck and immobilized in the ice. Azami started to panic but heard a click before she could move or struggle any further. Naruto had rolled backwards into a kneeling position and had Shear Trigger in its gun form trained upon the Jonin. Looking down the gun barrel that spelled her death Azami said in incredulity, "Oh come on! You've got to be kiddin-" The blonde pulled the trigger and a 6 inch hole appeared where Azami's heart had been and ended the Jonin level kunoichi's life…Azami gurgled out a gout of blood and fell backwards still in disbelief that she'd been ended by three genins…

…Naruto blew the smoke from the barrel of Shear Trigger as he folded it back into its sword form and sheathed it.

"Nice shot Naruto-kun." said Pyrrha brightly as the body fell away from her and landed lifelessly on the ground.

Blake smiled as she reappeared and said, "That's two down and from what she said over her radio the other kunoichi is dead. More importantly Kakashi-sensei is still alive."

"Three down, one to go." said Naruto.

…

Kakashi was tired. Killing Setsu was one thing but Masao was an absolute chakra monster. Once the man caught up with Kakashi he sprayed the whole area with lava jutsu after jutsu and had the Konoha Jonin scurrying for cover. 'All four of these Magma Country Jonins were strong but this one is definitely the worst. I hope the kids are okay. They weren't ready for this kind of battle.' Kakashi used a minor healing jutsu on his hand from the injury he incurred killing Setsu earlier. Masao was currently nowhere to be seen but that didn't help Kakashi's situation all that much. He couldn't be sure he'd lost the Magma Country Jonin but likewise he was in no position to run. 'I have to find my team so we can withdraw as a group.'

…

On the other side of the smoldering village Kakashi's three genins found the remains of Setsu. "Right through the heart." whispered Naruto. "Kakashi-sensei killed her in one shot."

"You kids are still alive?" asked Masao out of nowhere. "That must be why Jun never showed up." He formed a pool of lava on the ground in front of him and said, "Fire-spray jutsu!" Thousands of tiny bits of lava shot forward at the three genins who dived back and away from the firestorm as it consumed the ground they'd just been on. Jun used the same jutsu on the trio so Team 7 was able to avoid the flame without too much trouble. Unfortunately Masao had a lot more chakra than Jun had and the genins had to keep scrambling as an endless spray of lava followed them wherever they ran….

Naruto's eyes lit up as he brought his Typhoon release into play. Masao found himself surrounded by a tornado that caught all the lava he was spraying in the vortex. The resulting firestorm was contained within the eye of the tornado along with the Magma Country Jonin. He screamed as the temperature inside the windstorm turned white hot and consumed Masao with his own fire. When the death cries stopped Naruto willed the tornado to dissipate and recede back into the sky harmlessly…

Kakashi skidded onto the scene in a body flicker when he saw the tornado. He knew Naruto was responsible for it. When the wind died down the battered Jonin was overjoyed to see his three charges were alive and safe…

As far as Team 7 was concerned the mission to Kaisei Village was over…

….

Fire Country, Village of Konoha

The first thing Team 7 did after signing into the Village at the gates was to go to the Konoha Hospital…and as much as Naruto hated hospitals; even he agreed that they all needed to be checked over…The orange loving blonde soon found himself heavily bandaged over a third of his body as the medics pulled shrapnel out of places he didn't even realize he was injured. It had been very uncomfortable but the staff was very thorough and Naruto was soon in a comfy bed filling out his after action report. "Sigh…what a bloodbath…" thought Naruto aloud as he penned his report. He was actually more concerned about Pyrrha and Blake's health than anything else. Somehow he knew they would both be alright but he still wanted to check on them. The blonde already knew Kakashi was okay as the Jonin was in the room next door to his filling out his own mission report. It puzzled the blonde as to how their enemies knew Kakashi was Ozpin though…

Naruto heard a knock on his door about an hour later and saw Sarutobi Hiruzen standing there with a soft smile on his face. Naruto was tired but his eyes lit up and he exclaimed, "Hokage Jiji! Boy am I glad to see you. This last mission was a mess."

Hiruzen chuckled and said, "I see you are lively as ever my boy. It puts my old heart at ease. Are you up to some company?"

The blonde nodded brightly. Naruto and his Grandfather figure visited for some time before the blonde started to tire and the aged Hokage bid him goodnight.

…

The next morning Naruto awoke to the smiling face of his beautiful Hinata-chan who had come in to see him a few minutes before with a bouquet of flowers. She gave him a radiant smile and said, "Naruto-kun, I'm so glad you are home and safe. I wanted to see you last night but they said Team 7 was under observation and I had to wait until morning."

Naruto grinned happily seeing his byakugan hime was there to visit him. "I've missed you Hinata-chan." said the blonde. They exchanged a warm kiss. Then he asked, "Have you checked on Blake-chan and Pyrrha-chan as well?"

Hinata giggled. "I haven't had a chance except to peek in on them. They are both still asleep. The nurses told me your whole team is going to make a full recovery though so don't worry."

The blonde exhaled in relief. "I'm so glad. The mission to Kaisei was a rough one."

…

The Village of Yōgan, Magma Country

"The mission was a failure my Lady; I cannot tell you how sorry I am." said the Leader of Yōgan Village as he kneeled before a crystal ball on a podium with several identically hooded acolytes in a circle around him.

The 'crystal ball' shifted and revealed its true nature. A Seer Grimm rose from the podium and Salem's face appeared in its crystal 'eye.' Salem sighed. "Failure…." she said in a disappointed tone. "So you are telling me that Ozpin is still alive?"

The man cringed. "Yes my Lady. He has escaped our grasp."

"Even though you had the advantage of total surprise…What of the four you chose for this mission; were they punished?" asked the white haired woman.

He shook his head. "They are dead my Lady. None of them survived the battle."

"Then you chose your warriors…poorly." said Salem.

"I…I accept the responsibility for the mission's failure." said the Yōgan Village Leader unsurely.

Salem snapped her fingers and the acolytes turned to the orb. "Even in death Ozpin continues to defy me." said the white skinned woman. "Take him away until I decide on his punishment."

The Village Leader cried out pitifully as the acolytes dragged him away…

'I will have to choose a replacement for him to lead the Yōgan Village…Hmmm, I wonder…' pondered the white haired Mistress of Grimm.

…

Fire Country, the Village of Konoha

Team 7 was gathered in Pyrrha's room at Konoha Hospital to discuss their situation. Kakashi was in his usual combat uniform but had his injured right hand wrapped and his arm in a sling. He was talking with his usual double eye smile as he held his Icha-Icha Paradise in his left hand. "In essence Hokage-sama has suspended Team 7 from active duty so we can all fully recover. Pyrrha-chan and I are fully suspended, Blake-chan is on light duty (she had her own copy of Icha-Icha in hand) and Naruto-kun is in reserve given he's already recovered due to his healing factor."

"What are we all going to do in the meantime Kakashi-sensei?" asked Pyrrha. "They say I'll be able to leave the hospital soon but I'm covered in bandages."

Kakashi smiled under his mask and said, "The order of the day is to heal up. Personally I'm looking forward to some quality reading time."

Blake smiled softly and said, "I'm all for that. Still, I have to wonder how the enemy knew about Ozpin though. That's classified information. I wonder if we shouldn't be investigating that."

Naruto nodded. "There must be a leak here in Konoha. Maybe I-"

The silver haired sensei shook his head. "Leave that to Hokage-sama. He already informed me that he's looking into it."

…

POSTSCRIPT:

*① Yōgan Village, Magma Country: This is an original place your author invented.

The revisions continue. This chapter was a bit easier to write and condense. See you next time. Blue out. 01/12/21

Updated 4/7/22