Chapter 14: Demon Guild

Naruto dashed silently among the trees as he followed the herd of undead corpses moving through the forest. So far, everything was going according to plan. The zombies took the bait as his clone was the one being escorted among their ranks. Naruto tried to keep a fair amount of distance from the mass of corpses to avoid being detected, but far enough to keep them in sight.

His shadow clone walked among the horde of undead as they continued to trudge toward their destination. Even from this distance, Naruto could see that his double was unbound. No restraints were applied on his clone leaving him capable of free movement. His captors were either very arrogant or very confident in their abilities. Naruto knew there was a huge difference between the two.

Naruto dashed to another tree and waited for a few moments before moving on to the next branch. The undead's pace was relentless but slow-going. Naruto even noticed one of the bodies drop to the ground for no reason and lay still. Naruto narrowed his eyes at the scene.

After about an hour of trekking, the procession came to a halt. The clone Naruto raised his eyebrows as he wondered if they reached their destination already. He didn't think so. They were still in the middle of the forest. The clone scanned his surroundings. He knew that the real Naruto was somewhere among the branches of the trees, following their progress.

"Well done my pets," A feminine voice rang out. "Another successful sacrifice and another step closer to awakening Lord Zeref!"

A hooded figure stepped out behind one of the trees in front of them. She pulled down her hood and long pale white hair fell over the mages shoulders. Her slightly slanted eyes and pinkish colored skin were her most prominent features. She held her index figure to her smirking lips as she strode forward. He noticed that she was a head shorter than him when she drew near. The undead parted before her as she moved to get a closer look at Naruto.

Also, she mentioned someone named Zeref. Naruto had heard that name before. He was the one who created the demon Lullaby, an ancient dark wizard from some distant era in the past. Hearing her mention his name was troubling.

A small smile graced her lips as she looked the blonde up and down. "What do they call you, handsome?"

Naruto met her gaze evenly as his bright blue eyes met her deep brown ones. "Ladies first."

Her smile widened. "Aren't you the gentleman? They call me Cynthia," she said, unable to resist the blonde's charm. "Your turn."

His clone hesitated a bit before answering. "Naruto."

"Hmm, Naruto," Cynthia said, trying it out. "What a strange name."

She then turned her back to him and made her way to the front of the procession. "That's enough small talk for now, let's move on."

With a casual flick of her hand, she signaled the undead to proceed forward. The real Naruto observed the proceedings from his hidden location. Naruto noticed that while Cynthia was introducing herself to his clone, two more of the undead corpses she controlled flopped to the ground for no particular reason. A theory started to form in his mind about Cynthia's magic, but it wasn't much to go on. Still, he had to make use of whatever assets he has.

Naruto then decided to track them with even greater caution. There was no telling if Cynthia could detect his presence or not. Better to be safe than sorry, he thought.

After another hour of endless marching, the trees began to thin out and lessen as they emerged into a vast open grass field. Naruto cursed mentally as the cover that the trees provided began to decrease. He knew he couldn't get any closer to them without being seen. Unfortunately, he could barely see what was going on in the space in front of him. He would have to hang back for a little while until he was confident enough to make his move. Failure was not an option tonight. His clone also noticed this as they lead him toward the raised square platform on the open space.

The structure was similar to that of a ziggurat, a step pyramid, only smaller. Made of some sort of marble-like rock, smooth edges, Naruto could see that the top was led to by stairs on all four sides. Two cloaked figures stood waiting at the base of the steps in front of them. They came to a halt just a few meters away from the two.

The two mages approached them and Cynthia signaled for the undead to make way for them. The corpses parted before the three mages as they approached Naruto. He observed the profile of his two new adversaries.

All three of them bore the same silver white hair. The one on the right hunched, making him look shorter than he really was. His hair was cut short and messy. What was the most bizarre thing about him were his eyes. His left eye had a yellow glowing quality to them, while his right iris was a bright green. Naruto turned his attention to the one in the middle.

He was the tallest among the three. His pale white hair was greasy and had a mop-like quality to it. He had a broad jaw and a tattoo on the left side of his face: a black crescent moon. He wore a strip of cloth that was tied around his forehead, like Naruto's head protector. Naruto didn't know why, but he had a bad feeling about him.

They all stopped in front of him.

The tallest mage scrutinized Naruto's copy. "You're different."

"How so?" Naruto asked, raising an eyebrow. The mage was studying him from head to toe.

"But you have to admit, Kentaro," Cynthia spoke, eyeing the blonde. "He's gorgeous!"

The other mage with the mismatched eyes grunted. "It doesn't matter. The ritual goes as planned."

Cynthia pouted. "Pity, we could have had so much fun together."

There was an insane glint in her eye that made Naruto nervous. For some reason, Naruto could tell that they both had a different definition of "fun".

Kentaro studied him for a moment longer before turning his back to him. "No, Neil is right. The ritual proceeds without question. Bring him."

Cynthia was more than willing to wrap her arms around Naruto's as they started to make their way to the top of the ziggurat. She rested her head on Naruto's shoulder like they were a couple walking to dinner or something. Naruto did not like contact between them. Something was off about her. That went for her companions as well; Kentaro and Neil.

"If you don't mind me asking," Naruto said. "What kind of ritual is this?"

Cynthia giggled as if it was a silly question. "Oh don't worry, you won't feel a thing. Besides, you don't need to know, you're not a mage after all."

That was right. They thought he was a citizen of Lupinus. Well they were in for quite a surprise later on.

"One other thing..."

"Hmm?"

"You three are from a dark guild, aren't you?" Naruto's tone was accusing and menacing. The three wizards were slightly caught off guard for a second. Kentaro looked over his shoulder to see two pale blue eyes glaring at him. Something about this man was…unnerving. He could see it in the blonde's eyes.

Naruto had pieced it together when Cynthia mentioned Zeref. He had only encountered one so far, and that was Eisenwald. Now he was certain about what he was up against: Dark Wizards who might be more powerful than Erigor.

"At least you're not as dumb as you look." Neil commented. He on the other hand didn't give any thought about Naruto. He was just another random citizen to be slaughtered for the cause. If that was the case, then why was Kentaro observing the blonde with a sense of uncertainty?

Naruto shook his arm free of Cynthia's grip and the girl pouted. They continued to climb the flight of stairs leading to the top of the ziggurat. Naruto scanned his surroundings as he stepped on to the last stair.

It was a very spacious area. A stone altar was positioned at the far opposite side. Runes were carved into the stone, forming a perfect circle in the middle. Naruto figured they must be ancient text from a past era long before this one. Cynthia and Neil escorted Naruto onto the circle of runes while Kentaro approached the altar to retrieve something.

When he turned, he held a gleaming long double-sided dagger about twelve and a half inches. A red glowing crystal was placed at the pommel. Naruto felt a demonic presence linger over them; a hungering presence with an insatiable appetite for blood. At first he couldn't pinpoint the source, but then Naruto found it. It was coming from the dagger.

Cynthia and Neil took their positions on either side of him and began to chant. The runes engraved on the floor around Naruto lit up in a dark red color. He could feel the dark and evil energies begin to flow around him. He had to escape. Or at least take down one of them.

Naruto rushed toward his left side toward Cynthia, hoping to tackle her. Maybe if he knocked one of them unconscious then the spell or whatever they were doing would be disrupted somehow. Once he reached the edge of the rune circle, he hit an invisible barrier and stumbled backward. He couldn't get through.

Naruto could see that Kentaro also joined in the chanting as he held the dagger with both hands above his head. The dark magical energies began to swirl around Naruto as the three began to chant faster.

"…The seal shall be released by the blood of the unwilling." Kentaor recited. "And a new era shall come forth. The Herald of Doom shall aide us in this endeavor. The death of innocence shall awaken him."

Kentaro entered the circle of manic swirling energy and raised the dagger above his head, poised to strike Naruto down. The blonde stared at him, inhaled deeply and waited for the fatal blow. He hung his head to hide the small smirk he had on his face. He wished he could have learned more about their abilities to give him an edge on the upcoming battle he knew was about to take place. There was nothing he could do about it now.

Kentaro brought down the dagger into a killing arc. The moment the blade made contact with Naruto's head, instead of splitting his skull in two, Naruto disappeared in a puff of smoke. The three mages only had a moment to register the sudden turn of events before it started to rain shuriken on them.

The moment Naruto felt his clone's memories rushing back to him he had already thrown his two shuriken and flashed quick hand signs. "Multiple Shadow Shuriken Jutsu"

Hundreds of copies of the shuriken appeared and began to rain down on the group of dark wizards and the undead. Naruto created a clone and it puffed into existence beside him on the branch.

"You know what to do." The clone nodded and Naruto began to dash along the right side of the open field. He threw two more shuriken and flashed the same jutsu. Hundreds of shuriken took down many of the remaining undead corpses. Naruto figured that the mass of zombies was his biggest obstacle so far. If he didn't finish them of first the sheer numbers could overwhelm him. Plus he had another problem to deal with.

Neil suddenly appeared before him and threw a punch at Naruto. He blocked it with his right hand and sent him a thrust kick in the gut. The mage flew back a couple of feet and regained his footing instantly. Naruto realized that Cynthia and Kentaro was already there surrounding him in three different directions. They were fast.

"I knew something was different about you." Kentaro told him. "So, the people of Lupinus have enlisted the help of a guild. I think when we are done here maybe we should pay them a visit again to remind them of their place."

Naruto took out a kunai. "I guess I'll just have to stop you then."

"You're welcome to try," Kentaro chuckled. He spread his arms out wide, inviting him to attack. Naruto noticed that he was still carrying the sacrificial dagger in his hand. "Although you won't get very far."

"It's worth a shot."

Naruto decided to go for a diversionary tactic. He would have to defeat Neil first to get to Kentaro. He threw his kunai at Neil and summoned two shadow clones. The first clone held up his arms on either side of him and the other two ran up to him, using the clone's arms as a springboard, the other two blondes shot up into the air.

Neil, who was standing in front of Kentaro, dodged the kunai with ease. Naruto formed a rasengan in his hand and his clone grabbed his other arm and launched Naruto into Neil. The mage was unprepared for the quick follow up and would have taken a direct hit if a gigantic rock arm didn't suddenly grab Naruto out of the air.

"You didn't forget about me, did you?" Cynthia said. Naruto was being held by a huge earth humanoid figure. He struggled against its tight grip around his torso and arms to no avail. Naruto noticed that it was made of hardened soil. Cynthia rode atop the creature's shoulder.

Naruto glanced behind the big creature and saw a large portion of the field missing like it had been dug up recently. Very recently, Naruto thought. He realized that the creature was formed only a few moments ago.

"You're a naughty boy." Cynthia scolded. "I had to make a hasty reanimation spell after you destroyed my army of corpses." She sighed dramatically, "Guess I'll just have to make you my own personal pet after you die...that will more than make it up to me."

Naruto continued to struggle under the golem's grip.

"Give up, little mage," Kentaro's voice resonating loud across the field. "Save your energy and strength. You cannot defeat us."

Naruto was really starting to get annoyed. "No way!"

One of his shadow clones on the ground was still active. The clone made some hand signs and substituted himself with the real one. The clone disappeared in the earth golem's grasp as it dispelled with a puff of white smoke.

Once he could move again, Naruto created another shadow clone and they both charged at the creature. Naruto's clone formed a spiraling blue sphere in his hand and Naruto poured more chakra into it. The result was a huge blue sphere with a diameter of five feet.

"Odama Rasengan!"

The two blondes rammed the sphere into the golem's chest. The resulting explosion blew Cynthia away as Naruto obliterated the golem. Chunks of rocks and soil scattered. She landed on her back next to her companions.

"Bastard!" Cynthia shouted at him. Her flirtatious was demeanor gone and was replaced by vehement anger.

Naruto stood panting slightly after that last attack. Even with his enormous reserves, he should probably conserve most of his chakra for later. He couldn't afford to waste any on ineffective attacks. Especially since Kentaro remained unscathed and the other two barely injured. Damn.

"A worthy effort," Kentaro admitted. "Yet you still cannot hope to defeat us. Individually we are strong, together we are unstoppable. Never underestimate the power of the dark guild Tartaros."

Naruto frowned upon hearing the name of their guild. "Tartaros?"

"Yes, we are part of one of the three most powerful dark guilds in existence." Kentaro proclaimed. "The Grand Magic Council labels us the weakest among the Baram Alliance. Those fools will be proven wrong once we manage to succeed in our plans to come. They're so arrogant that they do not even know that they have traitors in their ranks."

Naruto frowned at the mention of the Council. They didn't exactly see eye to eye when Naruto was brought to a meeting with them. He wasn't very fond of them, especially Siegrain, but the thought of one of them being a dark wizard in disguise left a feeling of dread to pool inside his gut. The result would be catastrophic.

He shook his head to free himself from his thoughts. He couldn't afford to get distracted by something that was out of his control for the present. He had to focus on the task at hand. Right now, that was stopping these mages.

"So you think killing innocent people will change your status with the Council?" Naruto demanded. "What could you possibly gain from this?"

Kentaro grinned like a madman. "You fail to see the bigger picture. We dedicated our lives to unsealing the keys to awaken Lord Zeref. When he rises to full power again, he will usher in a new world where magic users will thrive and those without it shall perish. A world where Lord Zeref and his followers shall reign supreme over the rest of the weak and pathetic wizards out there, including yourself. In the end, you and the rest of the world will feel the great might of the One Magic!"

Naruto sighed. This thirst for power was what led to men's demise. He knew better than anyone how this desire can destroy a person. He lost his friend to the lures of power and revenge. When will it end? Wait...where did that come from?!

"Well, setting aside the fact that you are completely insane." Naruto said, getting into a fighting stance. "I'm pretty sure I'll still be kicking your asses."

Kentaro chuckled darkly as he and his two companions readied themselves.

"Kill him." Kentaro ordered.

Naruto charged and summoned three shadow clones. Neil rushed forward and Cynthia molded three human size earth golems.

Neil met Naruto's first clone with an elbow to the gut. The clone disappeared and another clone aimed a kick at the mage's head. Neil grabbed the leg in midair, pivoted, and tossed the clone over his shoulder. That was his fatal mistake.

Turning back around he encountered the last clone that lunged toward him with a kunai. Neil grabbed the blonde's wrist and rammed his knee into the clone's abdomen, making him vanish in a puff of white smoke. Neil scanned the surroundings for the original Naruto only to see no one. He barely heard Cynthia's warning when something slammed into his shoulders from above. Before he blacked out from the pain, he caught a glimpse of the blonde man standing over him. What he did not understand was the look of sadness written on his enemy's face as he looked down at him.

Naruto had figured out his weakness when Cynthia's first golem disrupted his assault on Neil. Neil had the ability to analyze and predict his opponent's next move. However, to do this, he needed a visual on his attacker otherwise his ability was useless. For example, Neil turned his back on Naruto when he threw one of his shadow clones over his shoulder. It was only for a moment but in fierce battles like this, every moment was crucial.

Naruto crouched down and gently closed Neil's eyelids with his two fingers. He didn't revel in death or particularly wanted to kill. If he could, he would avoid killing his enemies but sometimes it was what had to be done. The corpse lying in front of him might have been a dark wizard with evil intentions. The same goes for his two guild mates as well, but they were still people. Neil was living person who had goals and dreams to accomplish no matter how sick and twisted.

They probably had reasons for causing all of what happened to the Lupinus citizens. Naruto knew that he would have to see through their eyes, feel their pain and walk in their footsteps to truly understand them. Who knows? If he were born in their place, he would be just like them, fighting for a misguided idea of a dead wizard ruling over the world of mages.

He sighed as he stood up to face his two other opponents, knowing that he probably had to end them as well. There was no reasoning with these people because they were set on their plans and it involved many people dying. He would just have to endure for the good of many. Because he knew that even though he had lost his memories, he would be able to endure any hardships to come his way. That's who Naruto is.

Cynthia and her three medium sized golems advanced. The earth creatures were much more agile than the one before, he noticed. Naruto figured that it must be the decrease in size. They were much lighter and quicker. They managed to cover the distance between them in less than five seconds.

He dodged a heavy overhead chop to the head from one golem and blocked a quick follow up roundhouse kick with his right arm. Naruto failed to see a second golem launch a heavy punch directed at his face. The earthen fist connected and sent Naruto sailing through the air. Pain throbbed on the spot where the golem's punch hit him. He back flipped in midair and managed to land on his feet before he skidded to a halt.

Cynthia gave a shouted command and the three golems rushed at Naruto once again. He was ready this time. He had begun to formulate a theory about Cynthia's magic. About how she can reanimate nonliving objects such as dead bodies and soil. He wasn't entirely sure about it though. It was time to put it to the test.

"All right you dirt bastards let's see how fast you can really move."

Naruto summoned one shadow clone and the two ran forward to meet the assault head on.

The first golem stretched both of its arms and ran forward to clothesline them. The two blondes dropped to their knees and slid under the creature's arms, matrix style. Once the creature passed them, they instantly got back on their feet and continued to dash forward.

The next golem decided to take down one of the two blondes hastily running toward it. The golem threw a punch to the Naruto on his left, knowing that it was the real one. Naruto saw it coming and placed a hand on the creature's fist. Using his forward momentum, Naruto somersaulted over the golem. When his feet touched the ground again, Naruto continued to run forward as if nothing happened.

The last golem was too slow to react. Naruto and his clone had already passed it. When Naruto noticed this, he had confirmed what he knew about Cynthia's magic. Her reanimation spells require a great deal of mental focus from the controller. Naruto first saw evidence of this when he was tailing his clone in the forest. Among the trees, Naruto saw a few undead corpses lose any sign of movement and flop uselessly to the ground for no reason. Then, Naruto noted that Cynthia's huge earth golem had perfect mobility because her focus was solely on controlling one golem. Now, her mental focus was split into three. While not as difficult as controlling a herd of zombies, it was confusing nonetheless.

Cynthia had figured out that the blonde had already noted the weakness in her magic. She frantically commanded her golems to turn back and shield her but it was too late. Naruto's clone formed a bright blue sphere in his hand while sprinting toward her. The clone disappeared and Cynthia raised her arms in front of herself as Naruto drew near.

"Rasengan!"

Naruto gritted his teeth as the orb connected to the girl's chest. She gave a shout of agony as Naruto drove his sphere deeper into her chest. The attack sent her flying through the air and she slammed into the wall of the ziggurat. She fell forward and lay in a crumpling heap. She twitched and didn't move again.

One left, Naruto thought bitterly.

Kentaro was downright shocked and enraged. Both of his comrades have fallen at the hands of a second rate wizard no less! He glared at the blonde who met his gaze with pity.

"How dare you?!" Kentaro demanded.

Naruto stared at the ground and clenched his fists. "I had to."

Kentaro seethed with rage. "Very well, I will avenge my companions and you will know true despair!"

Naruto saw Kentaro remove the cloth tied around his forehead, revealing a third human eye. The eye darted back and forth gruesomely, looking at everything hungrily as if it couldn't get enough of what it saw. With the eye revealed, Kentaro began to radiate a dark and sickly energy.

Kentaro grinned evilly. "I will teach you the meaning of death."

Suddenly, Naruto was struck by a blast of pure dark energy. He gave a shout of surprise and pain before he landed on his back a few feet from where he had been standing. He groaned as he got unsteadily back on his feet. How did Kentaro do that? Naruto didn't even see him raise his arm.

The dark mage was still in the exact same position with no indication that he even moved.

"Now that you have had a taste of agony, I think I will destroy you now."

Naruto summoned four shadow clones and together, they rushed at Kentaro. They never got close, because as soon as they ran a few steps they were blasted by that same dark energy from before. Only this time, Naruto knew how Kentaro did it. Kentaro's third eye was the source of the vile energy. Naruto noticed something else. Kentaro was already exhausted.

He tried to hide it with his bluff, but there was no mistaking it. Beads of sweat already dotted his forehead. His ragged intake of breath and slight trembling indicates the toll his body has already taken. It must be taking all of his strength just to keep himself standing. Naruto narrowed his eyes and readied himself. He slipped something from his pouch and held it tightly. He would get only one chance to get this right.

Naruto then began to dash forward once more, this time zigzagging every few steps to keep Kentaro from easily tracking his movements.

Kentaro tried but even his eyes couldn't match the blonde's speed. He moved in a blur, crisscrossing his path toward him. Kentaro did not want to shoot a blast where he might miss his target. Naruto was too fast. He could only describe it as… a yellow flash.

Naruto eventually reached his desired distance. He threw the small object in his hand on the ground and it exploded in a cover of smoke.

Kentaro cursed as he lost sight of his enemy in the midst of the smoke. He gathered magical energy in his third eye, ready to blast him the moment he emerges from the smoke. He can only muster enough of his remaining energy for one more blast. He had to make it count.

Suddenly, a dozen shuriken flew through the smoke toward him. Kentaro managed to dodge most of it except for two. The steel throwing stars embedded themselves in his right thigh and left arm. He ignored the stabbing pain and kept his attention in front of him. Then, Naruto burst from the smoke, holding a blue sphere in his hand, ready to strike him down.

Kentaro unleashed the pent up energy and blasted the blonde in front of him. To his surprise, the blonde in front of him burst into smoke as soon as his attack landed. An instant later, another rushed forward holding a similar blue sphere in his hand. The realization of what had transpired struck him with fear. He was going to die.

In a futile attempt to defend himself Kentaro raised his arm in front of him. The hand holding the dagger was outstretched ahead of him.

Naruto on the other hand did not expect the sudden movement and accidentally hit the dagger instead of Kentaro.

"Shit!" He exclaimed as the blue sphere slammed into the dagger's pommel. The red jewel attached to the dagger cracked and leaked demonic red energy. Another crack appeared and another until it shattered completely. What happened next caught both Kentaro and Naruto unprepared. The dagger exploded.

Like carbonation behind a cork, a torrent of wild untamed dark magical energy burst from the red gemstone. The explosion was so powerful that the next sensation that Naruto felt was being weightless. He could hear a faint cry of agony from the other mage but he seemed to be far away. His right arm was flaring with pain but he was so lightheaded that he couldn't even feel it much less care at the moment. He began to fall through the air, heading toward the ground like a meteor.

This is going to hurt, he thought before he eventually lost consciousness.