Chapter 12 – The Siltvelt Wave…
I own neither Naruto, nor Rising of the Shield Hero... I would be nice, but I own neither. I just write a story that mixes both.
You must trust in others or success is impossible. Unknown
Start
Menma, Melty and Chena had finished breaking camp and were waiting outside of the capital of Siltvelt. Melty asked, "Why aren't we going into town?"
Menma replied, "It would be a waste of energy. You are part of my party. Which is a subset of my brother's main party. His total party is about four hundred and sixty. We just need to be ready for when we transport. We work as a team and then we find my brother, a captain, or a general and ask for orders."
Melty nodded her head and adjusted her armor. It consisted of bracers, a breast plate, light grieves, and a light helm that had a nose guard.
Break
Naruto stood next to General Shimera and looked over the assembled soldiers and adventurers. There were two distinct groups. The smaller group was about five hundred people and were assembling and getting ready to leave. Naruto looked at the timer and yelled, "We have four minutes people! Get everything ready or put it in the wagons and then finish up when we get there." He turned to eight people on flying dragons and exclaimed, "Report group! Do not head into the area the where the rift is at. I want you to scout where we are and then head directly to the capital. If you can get some information on combatants, great, but do not risk any of yourselves getting intercepted! I want all of you to make it to the capital. It is more important that they know where we are than what we are fighting!" He turned to a lightly armed and armored group. He then explained, "Scout group! Your job is to find the local towns and report back. After that, you are to find the main boss monster and report back. Do not engage! The general and I have agreed that it can wait until we have secured the area's people and then we can then engage the monster." He turned to the group as a whole and then said, "We have ten seconds! Ready yourselves."
The parade ground was encompassed in light and the assembled were now less five hundred.
On a hill overlooking a town
General Shimera exclaimed, "Scouts! We can see this town! Check the other three directions. Report group! Off you go! First Defense group head into that town!"
Naruto and his party including Jiraiya, who looked a little confused, headed towards the town with about thirty others. A couple minutes later Menma, Melty and Chena came up to the General and asked, "Where do you want us?"
The general did a double take and exclaimed, "Naruto! I already told you and your party to go to the village… Wait… You're not Naruto, are you?"
Menma chuckle and replied, "No, I'm his brother, Menma. I'll take Chena and Melty to back up Naruto-nii-san."
The general nodded and said, "That should work. Keep on your toes. He already has a good head start… Wait where are they?" She looked around and the trio were gone.
Many meters away
Melty on Menma's back, asked, "Why didn't you wait until she was finished?"
Menma chuckled and continued to accelerate, with Chena keeping up. He replied, "Why wait? We need to keep the civilians safe and then move them to safety before we can move to the boss monster."
At the entrance of the village
A large lizardman was waiting for the charging group of soldiers. It seemed to purr with excitement. Suddenly the group's formation split and a blond with a shield began to sprint straight at the lizardman. The blond literally ran the lizardman over. Being almost three times the boy's height. The lizardman was thrown up and to the side. The blonde didn't slow down as he came upon a group of goblins. He blasted through them at near supersonic speed and those that weren't hit were bowled over. Those that were, well… they didn't survive. Who says that a shield couldn't be used as a weapon? (Steve Rogers sneezes in another universe.)
Naruto turned a corner and ran into a group of insects that spattered on his shield. He was making a wide sweep in the town to gather the monsters to follow him and try to distract them, if possible, away from the civilians. He was succeeding. He had slowed his pace to a fast runner's clip now. He now left the village out the north gate, taking another lizardman out. He quickly turned and reversed course. He grinned manically. He pushed chakra into his legs and took the same course he had and began to clear the street of monsters on his way back to his team. He came a couple blocks short and found the team fighting house to house clearing out civilians and escorting them out of the village. Sylvie asked, "So, how was the run?"
Naruto shook the goop off the shield and replied, "Rather productive, but we need to take a team and do some more clearing. This clearing is going too slowly."
Captain Garis explained, "I understand, Naruto, but we might get spread too thin if we do that."
Menma came up and asked, "How about Nii-san's team and mine go and do some exploring?"
Garis looked between Naruto and Menma and Naruto and sighed. He then said, "My men can do the slow work and you guys can go ahead, but we can't save you."
Naruto chuckled and said, "Menma and I are one men armies if needed. Don't worry about us. If you see a big plume of smoke and no fire you know we went ballistic. We also have more than magic to use."
Garis then said, "You also have the children to worry about."
Naruto nodded and said, "I know and they will be safe. We have Jiraiya and if nothing else we can summon help."
Garis nodded and said, "Troops continue house to house searches and work your way down the street."
The twenty men with him replied, "Yes sir!"
Naruto and his party moved out.
As Naruto and his party moved down the street, they continued to clear the streets and clear buildings. Naruto explained, "Alright newbies, you will be keeping the civilians we find protected. I will rotate you into the front-lines to get you experience, but also send you back to protection duty to make sure you don't tire too quickly. Rifana, you're first. Keep beside me."
Rifana ran forward and replied, "Yes sir!"
Melty looked dejected and asked Menma, "Why did he ask her first?"
Menma replied, "She has been working with the group and has some of the teamwork down. You on the other hand have not worked with them. Watch and learn. Use your magic to hit aerial and targets of opportunity. The more you do. The more you will instill trust in them. You may earn their trust before the day is out."
Melty scowled and said, "I'm the princess. They should trust me now."
Menma and Chena chuckled and Menma explained, "Your sister burned almost of all the trust that Naruto has for Melromarc. Trust must be earned. My dear, you are starting at a negative in that department, because of your family. Your sister and father did this. You will have to ask him for the details. He might also not divulge them, but he might."
Melty asked, "But as his brother don't you have some sway?"
Menma chuckled and replied, "It doesn't work that way. Work for it and earn it. It will make you feel better in the end. Also, pay more attention to the fight and less to the politics." Menma did several hand seals and exclaimed, "Ninja Art: Lightning Ball." A succession of small balls of lightning appeared in front of Menma's 'ram' seal and headed toward a group of goblins. The balls each hit a goblin. The goblins are electrocuted and fell to the ground dead and smoldering.
Melty looked on in awe at the carnage. She then began to see the wider scale of how the group worked. They appeared to work in small groups of four or five and would then take on enemies. They would either lure them into an ambush with another group or just slaughter them where the enemy stood. She watched as Naruto would defend the backs of each of those in his group, but occasionally slip into another group and defend them. He would also heal civilians or militia they came upon. She now understood why he had the 'newbies' guard the civilians. While they weren't as experienced as the others, they would delay enemies until help could arrive to either eliminate the enemies or drive them away. Melty got a nudge from Menma and she nodded. The trio began to stray from the 'guard' group and began to look for civilians. Melty now understood that Naruto and Menma were serious about battle. While Naruto couldn't use a weapon. He would occasionally use his shield as a weapon. This was impressive to her. She watched him use the sharp edge of the shield like a sword and nearly cut a lizardman in half. As the battle for the town continued. She began to figure out to help out with her water magic. Menma then declared, "Time to go back."
Naruto looked at Menma and said, "I agree. We have enough and we have liberated half of the town. We also can't protect too many more people. Some of us also need a rest. We will do a fighting withdrawal. Erosenin, I need a wall of fire here. Milly, I need a wall of fire here. Melty, was it? I want you to hit the houses on each side with some mild water magic to make sure we don't burn them down. Execute. Everyone else behind me and turn back the way we came. We are going for the quickest way to the East exit. Civilians are first priority, then militia. Pick up any weapons of use that you can along the way."
Milly exclaimed, "As source of my power, Zwite fire wall."
Jiraiya exclaimed, "As source of my power, Zwite fire wall."
Melty exclaimed, "As source of my power, first aqua shots." She noticed that Naruto had taken the lead of the group heading back. She had also noticed the bunny girl and raccoon girl seemed to keep close to his side most of the time, unless sent to back up others. She saw Menma take up the back position with Chena. She also noticed both kept their heads on a swivel. She watched Menma throw a couple of what looked like knives into alleyways and she heard inhuman screams and then nothing. Chena nodded. After a few small skirmishes they had made it to the gate of the village. The villagers were released to another group to head to a safe location while their group was guided to a cart with some drinks and snacks ready. She asked, "Why are we not going back into save more?"
She jumped when she heard Naruto's voice behind her explain, "We all have a job. We need to trust those with a job to do it. We cannot truly secure the village, but limit the damage to it. From what I have heard we are about two hours from the castle and the rest of the troops will arrive in an hour. We rest for fifteen minutes, go back in and finish securing all the villager. We then leave a token force to protect the village and move towards the boss monster. We've done well. In an hour, we've secured about three quarters of the village. I want to save everyone, but that may not be possible. The scouts also report that the boss monster is an insect of some type. I want to be there with Sherman and some of the adventurers. There are some nasty bugs in my world, so I don't want to take any chances."
Melty asked, "How are the losses?"
Naruto smiled and replied, "Other than civilian and militia… only minor injuries and a couple heavily wounded that didn't follow orders. They got baited by the lizardmen and goblins into traps."
Melty exclaimed, "But people are suffering!"
Naruto replied, "Yes and we are overtaxed! I could send in the whole army and liberate the town, but we would then lose a lot of good people. We also have to deal with a continuous replenishment of the enemy. We kill a hundred of them, it doesn't matter. They will just be replaced. The only way to stop it is to kill the boss monster. I want to save the people first and then work on the boss monster. It will take longer, but we save more lives that way. We also get a gauge on the enemy as we engage them."
Melty teared up and said, "But you're so strong."
Naruto sighed and replied, "While I'm strong. I'm not stupid. I know that some people would argue that, but I don't care. This strategy has already changed from the original. We didn't expect them to be this strong. Our soldiers get worn out and need rest. The reason that you're not that winded is that Menma, Jiraiya and I did our best to control the battles. We could have pushed harder and farther, but we would have had to leave you and the younger members behind. You and them need to learn about combat firsthand. You will be stronger for it and learn how to work in a team. I more than likely would be able to put you in any one of the sub teams in my group and you could at least keep up for a little while. Menma knows what he was doing when he took you out hunting. It was training. This is both serious and training at the same time. I have mostly hatred for royalty. They have an idea that they know what is good for those that they don't know and feel that those they serve are below them. You now have gotten down and dirty. You've fought in the trenches with the common soldier. They will respect you more. Heck Siltvelt soldiers will respect you now for fighting for their homeland. This will go a long way diplomatically."
Melty took a drink and then said, "You're more than I thought you were, Shield Hero."
Naruto scowled and said, "Call me Naruto. Heroes die epic deaths. I want to die when I'm old and after I'm Hokage. I also haven't called you princess, have I?"
Melty blushed and replied shyly, "No… I'm sorry."
Naruto smiled and ruffled her hair. She scowled and he said, "Finish the snack. We move out in five! I figure we should finish the village in about twenty minutes and then we can move towards the boss."
The rest of the group raised their goblets and nodded. They finished their food and cleaned their weapons. Naruto noticed militia moving into the ranks and moved over to the captain. He then said, "The militia are yours to control. There are still going to be monsters in the village, but we still have a sector to clear. Monsters will continue to enter the village after we clear the villagers. Do you think that you can hold it?"
The captain nodded and replied, "Yes sir. The added militia will help. We also have the added help of the med station on the hill. We will also be rotating out when the army arrives."
Naruto chuckled and said, "Lucky. We aren't done until the job is done."
The captain smiled and said, "The price of being the 'Hero'." He nudged Naruto and both began to laugh. The captain then exclaimed, "Alright! Everyone pack it in! We're moving back in to save the rest of the village!" The men and women yelled happily. The now larger group of nearly seventy-five moved into the village towards the southwest portion of the village. They came upon some injured soldiers. Naruto quickly ran over and switched to his chimera-viper shield. A minotaur came out of the shadows and swung an axe at him. Naruto smiled and deflected the blow taking no damage. The vipers on the shield came to life and bit into the minotaur. It cried out in pain and staggered back. After a minute fell to the ground dead. Sylvie and Raphtalia moved to his side and he turned the injured soldiers and said, "As the shield hero. As source of power, fast heal." Twice.
Some lizardmen came out and were quickly cut down by the girls. The soldiers were moved to the center of the formation. Naruto then said, "We are getting stronger opponents, so be careful."
Down another street they found a battle where there were beetles, goblins, lizardmen, minotaurs, and chimera fighting a group of soldiers. Naruto looked at the captain who just nodded. Naruto exclaimed, "Relieve your comrades and take it to the enemies. Any not involved clear the houses behind us." Naruto, the captain, Raphtalia, Milly, Keel, and Nala all charged at the chimera. Naruto changed his shield to the Light metal shield and a blue sphere began to appear in his right hand.
Milly did several hand seals and exclaimed, "Fire Release: Flame Bullet!" She then spit out a fireball that hit the chimera in the face. The stunned monster didn't see Naruto come up underneath and hit it with a Rasengan. While the fire jutsu didn't do much damage it did stun it. The Rasengan on the other hand took nearly half of its hit points and slammed it into a brick building.
Keel was coming in for a slash only for Naruto grab her by the waist and put his shield in the way of the monster's snake head. The snake head suddenly then fell from the monster and Raphtalia appeared with her sword near the severed head. This took a toll on the hit points of the monster. Nala had jumped on top of the monster and drove her sword into the back of the dragon head. The group backed off and Filo exclaimed, "Drifa Tornado!" and the chimera is engulfed in a whirlwind. The chimera then fell to ground dead.
Suddenly a minotaur falls headfirst to the ground. Melty looks up and sees a white and red dragon. It then darts into the melee where the soldiers and the monsters are and comes out with a couple of goblins in its talons. It flies up to where she can barely see it and then it seems to nosedive. She watches in awe as the dragon continues down until just before the tops of the buildings and it releases the goblins in an open area, while it pulls up. The goblins of course land on their heads dying upon impact. The dragon circles around and does this again. Melty jumps when Menma says, "That is Ryoko. Naruto's dragon and the filolial is named Filo. Both help out. I wondered where they were."
Melty shook herself out of her stupor and then asked, "What is going on? A dragon, a talking filolial?"
Menma chuckled and replied, "Now that would be telling. We have a battle to win and people to save. Now get back to work." Melty nodded and they went back to finishing this battle. Ten minutes later the battle was over and Naruto was healing quite a few of the soldiers. While Sylvie, Raphtalia, and Menma were working as field medics, for the less injured. Naruto had sent the captain and his troops to finish the sector along with Jiraiya, Milly, and the youngsters.
Another ten minutes later the captain returned with a dozen civilians and more injured soldiers to Naruto's position. The captain explained, "The village is becoming untenable. We might have to abandon and just retake it after you kill the boss."
Naruto nodded as the green glow faded on his right hand. The sweat on his brow evident. He was breathing heavy and replied, "Then we have to get all the soldiers out of the town and these people too. I'm at my limit."
Jiraiya wore a look of surprise and said, "I've only heard that a couple times in his life. The wounded must have been bad."
Naruto nodded and replied, "Yes, I nearly lost a couple of them. We need to get them out of here ASAP. If you feel you can't hold the town then we don't. I don't want to lose anyone needlessly. Call the retreat."
The captain waved to a man. The man chanted and a red flare went up over the village. Stretchers were made quickly and there was an orderly retreat. They reached the exit of the village a few minutes before the main army arrived. General Shimera came up to the captain and Naruto. She looked at Naruto and said, "You don't look so good."
Naruto chuckled and replied, "Had to heal about ten gravely wounded. Three near death injuries. That took a lot out of me in both magic and chakra. Based on the resistance we were getting. I agreed with the captain that we will not be able to hold the village while we push to the boss. I need a soldier pill and should be okay, but my mana is shot, though." Jiraiya handed him a pill and Naruto swallowed it. He then said, "Thanks, that helped."
Menma then said, "We should be able to move to the gash in about ten minutes, but should keep a guard up on the village side. There are minotaurs and chimeras. Both are strong monsters."
General Shimera nodded and replied, "Very good. Captain, you stand relieved."
The captain sighed and then stood at attention. He then exclaimed, "Yes sir! Thank you sir!"
Naruto then looked at Nala and asked, "So what have you got for me?"
Nala sighed and replied, "The boss looks like a weird beetle. Large, big pinchers, small abdomen. It isn't moving far from the gash. We do have our work cut out for us to get there though. I saw several Nue, Chimera, some small dragons, lots of goblins, lizardmen, some undead, beetles, salamanders, and a few others I couldn't identify."
Naruto nodded and said, "Good work Nala, and you too Ryoko."
The dragon smile and nuzzled Naruto and said, "Thank you master."
Naruto sighed and looked at the two generals and asked, "What do you think?"
General Shimera replied, "I think we take the fresh troops and use them to fight our way to the gash and take care of the boss monster. We use you, your party, the adventurers, the vassal user and the fresh troops to take care of the monster."
General Hanz shook his head and said, "I say we keep some of the fresh troops in reserve and use them to keep the edge of the village and hospital area safe. We also let the initial troops rest, so that we can use them as a reserve if needed."
Shimera exclaimed, "We need to end this now!"
Hanz shook his head and said, "I disagree. I know that the Shield Hero and his party are tired, but we need to also take this slowly. We will not will this battle to a swift victory, but an approach that goes to our strengths. If we extend or expend ourselves, we will lose."
Shimera sighed and said, "You are right. I'm just tired from the fight. We will trust in your ability like you trusted in ours. Keep the Shield hero and his party safe."
Hanz nodded and replied, "Of course! He is a great asset to this battle. Also, the king will kill me if anything happens to him." The generals share a laugh.
Naruto wore a dejected look on his face and said, "I'm right here."
Hanz looked at Naruto and replied, "I know." He smiled and slapped him on the back. He then said, "Rest for a little bit, then we will move out using a leapfrog strategy. This should allow us to move quicker through the enemy. We will of course slow down if needed. By the way… Where is that Vassal Hero?" He wandered off to try and find the Vassal hero.
Naruto took a senza position and began to relax. His party took his example and either did what he did or laid down. About twenty minutes later a captain came to his group and said, "Naruto sir, we're moving out."
Naruto replied, "Very well." He then got up and his party wordlessly followed him. They found themselves in the back of the formation along with the healers. This didn't bother them, since they knew that they would eventually encounter some fighting eventually. It only took another ten minutes before they were finishing off some monsters as the army advanced. Naruto was impressed with how the General was keeping on top of the battle and rotating troops before they became tired to the rear. This saved many injuries from becoming major. The healers only had to heal minor injuries, because of this quick rotation method. Also, anyone injured was immediately sent back to the healers. Afterwards they were sent back to their unit.
The rotation finally came for Naruto and his group to the front and Naruto came upon a Nue. Nala explained, "Watch that one. They have a nasty electrical attack other than a nasty melee attack."
Naruto changed his shield to his chimera shield and shield bashed the Nue. Sylvie quickly sliced the snake head off when it tried to take advantage of the shield bash. Both Naruto and Sylvie backed away as the monster seemed to generate an electrical charge. The area around the monster was covered in electricity. Ryoko came down and slammed into the monster the monster collapsed from the momentum. Ryoko quickly bit the neck and gave it a twist. The Nue's eyes went wide then glazed over, dead. Ryoko turned and then spat out a lightning bolt at a large undead behind her. The undead fell backwards, smoldering. She then jumped up into the air and took flight. Naruto smiled and then took an attack from a small dragon. His shield activated and the snakes on the shield bit down the neck of the dragon and it reeled back in pain. Raphtalia then thrusted her sword into the sternum of the dragon. I roared, but fell forward as she pulled the sword from the dragon.
Jiraiya slammed a Rasengan into another dragon and it collapsed into the crater that was created. He then kicked a skeleton in the face, destroying it. Milly had just finished a fire jutsu and roasted a group of goblins. She then pulled out several kunai and threw then at targets downrange. The kunai hit targets and then exploded taking out monsters in the area. Rino came around and slid her sword into a large lizardman. She put her foot on its chest and pushed it off, falling back dead. She then parried a large skeleton with said sword. Jiraiya appeared with a Rasengan to the head and the skeleton fell back. Filo created a tornado that sucked up a large group of bees and locusts, sending them into a cliff face, splattering them.
Ryoko was now circling with a small flying black dragon. She appeared to have the advantage in speed and agility. Both were using lightning attacks. The funny part was that Ryoko would allow herself to be lined up for an attack when she was above the enemy on the ground and would then dodge when the dragon would use its breath weapon, thus attacking the enemy ranks. Menma and Chena kept close to Melty while working on an undead formation. After a few minutes of heavy fighting Naruto's group was passed up by the next group of soldiers that encircled the enemy ranks, as Naruto's team and the fresh troops slaughtered them. Naruto noticed that even children were not quite winded from fighting this time. He was glad he trusted General Hanz's idea of the leapfrog movement of troops.
As Naruto finished a skeleton with a shield bash with his Animal Needle Shield. This broke the skeleton apart. He then exclaimed, "Everyone alright?"
Melty replied, "This is a lot of work."
Naruto replied, "What do you expect? This is war."
Melty then nodded and said, "Very well."
Keel asked, "Naruto-sama, how much longer do you think it will take?"
Naruto pointed to a swirling area ahead and replied, "Our target is that area. The boss monster is there. We need to make it to that area. Based on the Melromarc fight… it might take us a couple hours to finish off the monster. I'm hoping it will be quicker. They also went directly to it. We have already fought for about three hours. If we can find a weakness, then we can finish it quickly. Insects are known for having strong carapaces. I figure fire or ice might help us."
Jiraiya smiled and said, "You've learned. Have you talked to the Aburame clan?"
Naruto shook his head and replied, "One of my classmates was from that clan though. We went on a few missions."
The group continued to move forward. Suddenly there was a screaming and Naruto's team ran forward. Naruto and Menma were the first to reach the area. They quickly ran through a different set of hand seals. Menma exclaimed, "Earth Style: Mud Wall!" He spat out mud in the form of a large wall to protect the fallen troops.
Naruto exclaimed, "Water Style: Water Wall!" He spat out a stream of water that formed a wall of water on the other side of the mud wall.
Troops were gathering the injured and moving them to a rear location. Suddenly the wall of water seemed to turn to steam and was thrown back towards the hardened mud wall. Naruto did several more hand signs and exclaimed, "Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!" He swung his hand forward just as the wall was burst through by a lightning bolt. The wind hit the lightning and diverted it back at the wall. The wind sent the debris back into the wall and away from the troops. Naruto quickly switched to the Light Metal shield. Naruto sighed and explained, "This is some weird type of bombardier beetle. The back mixes chemicals to create a hot concoction. I have no idea where the lightning came from."
Menma exclaimed, "Less explaining! More fighting! Fire Release: Fire Dragon Bullet!" Sending a fireball at the giant beetle. It hit the beetle around the thorax. The beetle appeared to glare at Menma, as much as a beetle could glare at someone.
Lilly exclaimed, "First Flame arrows!" Several flaming arrows appeared in front of Lilly and then hit the beetle.
Rino exclaimed, "First Flame strike!" A magic circle appeared in front of Rino and a column of flame splashed into the face of the beetle.
Naruto had stood in the gap and watched the beetle carefully. He then did several hand seals and exclaimed, "Wind style: Cyclone barrier." A near tornado began to swirl around Naruto. Blue light could be seen from the sides of the opening and then sparks of lightning in the cyclone. The cyclone dissipated. Naruto was on one knee breathing heavily.
Menma was immediately by his side, as were Jiraiya, Milly, and Raphtalia. Suddenly a lightning bolt hit the beetle from above. Most looked to see an angered Ryoko circling. Suddenly the beetle was encased in ice and Rino was carrying Sylvie to the back-lines. There were a few moments of reprieve, but the flanks of the wall were still fighting monsters. The ice suddenly blew away and the air was heavy with humidity. The huge beetle still had ice on it, but the back was free of it.
Naruto shook his head and then said, "Everyone behind me! Wind style: Cyclone barrier!" The barrier formed again, also the others around him noticed a magical barrier around Naruto and those behind him. Jiraiya then noticed his HUD.
Jiraiya exclaimed, "Naruto, you can't take more than one those again."
Naruto smiled and said, "I know, but we need to win."
A blue area hit the cyclone and lightning danced throughout the cyclone. It hit everyone in the cyclone, but it seemed to do the most damage to Naruto. When the jutsu dropped Menma exclaimed, "Shadow clone jutsu." Two clones appeared. Both ran at the beetle with rasengans. He had completed another set of hand signs and said, "Wind style: Wind Dragon!" The air became oppressive and a barely visible dragon formed of air. The clones had done their job and taken off a couple of legs from the beetle. The wind dragon then slammed into the beetle's head, driving it into the ground with such force that it shook the ground. Menma wasn't done. He had just finished another set of hand seals, "Fire Release: Grand Fire Drake!" A dragon formed from the fire that Menma breathed out. This caused the beetle to back up, but Menma guided the dragon to clamp down on the beetle's body and then envelope it in flames. Menma's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he collapsed.
Raphtalia threw several kunai at the joints of the beetle and seconds later they exploded. The beetle made an inhuman sound that could be interpreted as pain. Jiraiya took a deep breath and exclaimed, "Water Release: Great Gunshot!" This hit the sizzling carapace and slams into the center of the creature. The thorax bursts open and the creature begins seizing. Raphtalia appears right below the head and pushes her sword up into the head. The creature stops moving and collapses. The sky changes back to a normal sky and the monsters are no longer coming from the gash.
General Hanz exclaims, "We've succeeded, but we need to finish off the stragglers and clean up the area of monsters!"
Naruto attempts to stand, but collapses into Milly's arms. She then notices his hit point, mana, and chakra bars, all are dangerously low. She turns to Jiraiya and said, "You take the others and help clean up. Naruto and Menma are done for today."
Jiraiya nodded agreement and replied, "I agree. Take good care of them. They did good today."
The cleanup lasted a several more hours, but there were few casualties, because of the tactics of Naruto and the generals. Some of the monsters were driven into the wilderness, but that was acceptable. There was one question though, 'what happened to the Pike vassal hero?' When the army marched, he seemed to disappear.
A/N: I hope I did well on the fight scenes. I look forward to how you guys like or dislike the first wave outside of Melromarc. Naruto and Menma can do Earth jutsu, but it takes more chakra or so, since they don't have the affinity.
Here are the affinities of the those in the party:
Naruto= Magic: Support and healing; Chakra: All basic except earth; Lvl: 41; Race: Jinchuuriki
Milly = Magic: fire + light + darkness (illusion); Chakra: fire; Lvl: 43; Race: Fox
Raphtalia= Magic: light + darkness (illusion); Chakra: wind; Lvl: 43; Race: Tanuki
Sylvie = Magic: fire + water+ ice; Chakra: water; Lvl: 43; Race: Rabbit
Jiraiya = Magic: fire + wind; Chakra: all basic except lightning; Lvl: 44; Race: Human
Rino = Magic: lightning + fire; Chakra: none; Lvl: 43; Race: Human
Filo = Magic: Wind; Chakra: Unknown; Lvl 25; Race: Filolial
Ryoko = Magic: Lightning; Chakra: Unknown; Lvl 25; Race: Wyr Dragon
Rifana = Magic: Unknown; Chakra: Unknown; Lvl: 29; Race: Weasel
Keel = Magic: Unknown; Chakra: Unknown; Lvl: 29; Race: Wanui
Menma = Magic: See chakra; Chakra: Same as Naruto; Lvl: 40; Race: Blood Clone(human)
Fried = Magic: Unknown; Chakra: Unknown; Lvl: 29; Race: Dog
Nala = Magic: Unknown; Chakra: Unknown; Lvl: 38; Race: Panther - citizen of Siltvelt (scout)
I hope you liked the chapter and am sorry it took so long. Had a busy time myself. Had to put house hunting on hold and had to deal with some personal injuries along with my mother going in for surgery. She has made it out fine and is doing good. I myself have some more pain in my life and would like some more time to myself, but wouldn't we all. I'm also looking to get back into software so that I can earn some actual money and hand my mom's care to some people who are more qualified than myself. Well I look forward to your comments on this chapter and the next chapter is a mix between Konoha and some of this world. Until next time, since it is mostly written.
RaiderXV
