Naruto: Shinobi Hunters

Digi-Destined Saga

Interlude Arc

Kurama no Kyubi: Can't think of anything to say, so let's just get to the reviews.

Bankai777: Will Naruto meet Shizuka

Kurama no Kyubi: In one word; yes.

ShineX: While I've seen the scene of Naruto being banished from the village several times, I will admit you have a unique spin that's actually kept my attention throughout it. All the other stuff had the ninjas turning on him to, kinda ruined the whole story for every one I came across. You on the other hand, have them actually helping out instead. And while I admit a bit of irritation at not getting a greater reaction from those that know him, I will say that putting loyalty to the village before a comrade is almost certainly a practice I could see from a world like Naruto's. Hell, the one person there that wouldn't have that particular excuse, Tsunade, I could see staying simply to make sure the civilians wouldn't be able to go for a kill order. The only thing left is Naruto's reaction, and considering his character I could see him holding off on showing any grief until he's well away from Konoha.

All in all, very nicely done, you have my attention.

Kurama no Kyubi: I've seen other stories like that as well, and I've never really understood why his friends would side with the village as unlike with the other villagers, they know him, so they know that he's not like them. The only one I could kind of understand was in one story I read where Naruto killed Sasuke at the Final Valley, and Sakura became mad at him, calling him a "Demon".

Korog the Oversoul: This is good, though I do hope that Naruto will partner up with Agumon and Gabumon as well. However I must say that I was kind of expecting the egg to have the baby form of Koromon, Tsumemon, or DemiVeemon. I also was thinking that Naruto would become the next Agunimon, Lobomon, or Loweemon (so I like the Spirit Warrior series, sue me). However I like this and Shanks was a nice choice.

Kurama no Kyubi: I like Frontier as well, in fact I would say that it's my 3rd favorite, only losing out to Tamers and Adventure 01, though I haven't watched Adventure TRI yet. Also, I've always thought that Dorumon would fit Naruto the best, not to mention that the story that first gave me the inspiration to write this story was a story where Naruto had Dorumon as a partner. I don't have any plans for him to get an Agumon or a Gabumon, however, though there is a Tsunomon in the village.

"Digivolution." Normal speech

'Digivolution.' Normal thought

"Digivolution." Biju, Digital God, Legendary, transformed Laguz, Perfect, Spirit, God speech

'Digivolution.' Biju, Digital God, Legendary, transformed Laguz, Perfect, Spirit, God thought

Suzu: Kurama no Kyubi doesn't own anything other than his OCs.

Chapter 42: Great Spirit of Water, Undine

Three months ago – Mizuho, West Blue

"Suzu. The tides are changing. If the Vision is correct, then soon, we will see the return of the Demons that once tore this world apart. In order to fight them, we will need his help. You know who I mean, don't you?" The Elder of the Ninja Village of Mizuho, Fujibayashi Ranzo said as he sat across from the young 11-year old Kunoichi.

"I do. You're talking about Maxwell, one of the three Elder Spirits and the Ruler of the Four Elements. Also known by some as the Lord of Spirits." Suzu said, causing her grandfather to nod.

"However, in order to form a pact with Maxwell, one must first form pacts with the Great Spirits of the Four Elements; Gnome of Earth, Undine of Water, Sylph of Wind, and Efreet of Fire. Unfortunately, no one in this village aside from two people has studied the Art of Summoning, and after your older sister, Sheena left, that only leaves you." Ranzo said.

"So, you want me to go and make pacts with the Summon Spirits?" Suzu asked, and after a moment of silence, she rose to her feet "All right." She was ready to head out for her mission.

"Hold it, Suzu." Ranzo said, causing Suzu to turn back around to look at him "It's not as easy as it sounds. Remember when your sister went off to try and form a pact with the Spirit, Volt? I'd rather you not go through what she did."

"Onee-sama failed because she was weak. I'm not like her." Suzu said before she began walking.

"I'll assign guards to protect you. And remember, out of the Four Spirits, there's supposed to be one in each of the four oceans. I've heard that Gnome, the Great Spirit of Earth resides deep within the Cave of Spirits which is not too far away from here." Ranzo said.

"Thanks for the information, though the guards aren't necessary, they'll just get in the way. See you when I've made a pact with Maxwell." Suzu said as she left.

Ranzo let out a heavy sigh before saying "What am I to do with that girl? Ah well, maybe this journey will actually do her some good for once."

Present – Uzushio, North Blue

"Hnng." Suzu grunted as she opened her eyes.

"Ah, you're awake, Kyu!" She heard an unfamiliar voice say. That's when she noticed that she was lying on a bed inside a large tent that had obviously been made into a make-shift hospital. For a brief moment she was wondering how she ended up there.

'Oh, right. I had Gnome make a bridge for me over to the island, but it got destroyed by the strong water currents of the whirlpools and I fell into the water.' She recalled.

"Are you feeling better now, Kyu?" A small pink rabbit-like creature on two legs asked as it jumped up onto her bed. What was this thing? Some kind of Monster?

"Well, I'm glad, Kyu. You were washed up on the shore, Kyu. You were lucky that Zoe found you, Kyu." The creature said. Somehow, Suzu could tell that it didn't mean her any harm.

"Where am I?" She asked.

"You're in the Ninja Village of Uzushiogakure, Kyu. Or, at least, that's what it'll be when it's rebuilt, Kyu." The creature said.

Uzushiogakure. So she made it, after all. This was the island that was rumored to be protected by some kind of Water Goddess. And this "Water Goddess" is most likely the Great Spirit of Water, Undine herself.

"You shouldn't reveal too much to the girl, Cutemon. Remember, she's an outsider." Another voice said, and Suzu looked towards the source of it before her eyes widened. Standing there was what appeared to be some kind of wolf, except it had several drills sticking out of its body, including a large one on the tail.

"Oh, right. Sorry, Kyu." Cutemon said before the wolf, or whatever it was turned to Suzu.

"You should hurry up and get dressed. Our leader, the Uzukage said that he wishes to speak with you." He said.

The Uzukage? Surely, Suzu knew that Uzushio was once counted as one of the Great Shinobi Villages, but that was a long time ago.

"So what's your name, Kyu? I'm Cutemon, and that big guy over there is my friend, Dorulumon." Cutemon asked as he looked at Suzu.

"Fujibayashi… Suzu." Suzu said.

After getting out of the hospital gown, and dressed in her usual clothes, Suzu was escorted by Dorulumon to the Uzukage's office. Which was only just a tent for now. Once inside, she noticed that there were four people there, including the Uzukage, plus a small furry dinosaur-looking thing.

Sitting at a desk was a young boy who couldn't be more than one or two years older than her, and judging from his robe, he must be the Uzukage. Standing on the desk next to him was the dinosaur-looking thing. Standing to the Uzukage's left was a young girl with green hair who was maybe a year or so older than him, and to his right was an older girl with long blond hair. Finally, leaning with his back against the "wall" on the side of the room to Suzu's left was a man with green hair and three swords at his hip.

"So our visitor's awake, I see." The Uzukage said with a smile before asking "Did you have a good nap?"

"Um, Yeah…" Suzu said before thinking 'What's with this guy? I'm not sensing even the slightest bit of suspicion from him. Can he really be that dumb? Or is he just that good at hiding it?'

"Good. So then, what's your name?" The Uzukage asked.

"Suzu." Suzu replied, keeping it simple. She had already given her name to the wolf and the rabbit, anyway, so there'd be no point in hiding it.

"Suzu, huh? Well, I'm Uzumaki Naruto. Nice ta meet ya." The Uzukage said as he held out his hand, waiting for her to take it and catching her completely off-guard.

"Uh… Nice… to meet you, too…?" Suzu said a little unsurely as she took the blond's hand and shook it. Needless to say, she wasn't used to people being so… forward?

"Now then, let's get to the point." Naruto said before the blond girl stepped forward.

"Suzu-san, for what purpose did you come to this island?" She asked. This girl was definitely one of the Uzukage's advisors. Suzu had dealt with her kind before; she would act polite and understanding, but if someone did anything to warrant suspicion, she'd be quick to put them down.

"I'm here to… um…" Suzu began. She didn't even know for sure if the Spirit of Water was really here on the island, nor what these people's relationship with it is. So if she told them that she was looking to make a pact with Undine, they might turn hostile. Of course, there's also the slight possibility that they might end up using her to get to the Spirit so that they can form a pact with it themselves.

But then again, they're also her only hope of finding the Spirit, so, steeling herself for the inevitable, she spoke up "I'm looking for the Great Spirit of Water, Undine, who is supposed to live somewhere on this island."

"The Great Spirit of Water?" Fu asked before images of the thing that had saved her from drowning a while back came flooding into her head as she thought 'Now that she mentions it…'

"What's that?" Naruto asked as he tilted his head in confusion.

"Huh?" Suzu uttered, surprised.

"I've heard that there are some legends among the fishermen of Hot-Springs about a Water Goddess that's supposedly guarding this island." The blond girl said in thought.

"If that was true, then how come she didn't stop us from entering the island?" The green-haired man asked.

"A Water Goddess?" The green-haired girl asked.

"Huh? You know something, Fu-chan?" Naruto asked as he looked at the girl.

"Well, remember what I told you about when I found Tentomon's egg? And that I almost drowned? I'm not sure, but I think I saw some kind of Humanoid water creature helping me." Fu said.

"Could that have been the Water Spirit?" The dinosaur-looking creature asked. Suzu would've been surprised if it wasn't for the fact that the wolf and the rabbit had also talked.

"I don't know." Fu replied.

"It's funny that you should mention that, though, as at that time, the ocean itself seemed to have taken our side in the battle against the Samurai." The blond girl said.

"Hmm… Now that you mention it…" Naruto said in thought.

"That must've been Undine. I'm sure this "Water Goddess" is a legend that the fishermen must've come up with, not knowing what else it could've been." Suzu said.

"Well, that is how most religions and religious beliefs get started, after all." The blond girl said.

"Hey, Zoe? What is a Spirit, anyway?" Naruto asked the blond girl.

"You don't know?" Zoe asked, and Naruto shook head, causing the girl to sigh before explaining "You know that this World is made up of five primary Life Forces, right?"

Naruto nodded as he said "Yeah. Natural Energy, Aer, Mana, Reishi, and Chaos Energy, right?"

"Right. There's also several sub-categories of energies that you'll get by combining the main ones. For example; Chakra is made from combining Mana and Reishi, and if you combine Mana and Aer, you'll get Ethernano or Ether for short, which is what the Mages in the west are using for their Magic." Zoe explained.

"But what does this have to do with the Spirits?" Naruto asked.

"I'm getting there." Zoe asked before continuing "The world wasn't always like this. Originally, there was only one form of energy; Natural Energy. The other four got here through external means. Though, the one we'll be focusing on is Mana. One day, about 100.000 years ago, a large comet passed by this Planet. Its name was Derris Kharlan. As it drifted past our world, a race living on the comet, the Elves, came down to the surface and planted a huge tree in the center of the world; the World Tree, Yggdrasil. Yggdrasil then released Mana to every single corner of the world, and the Elves then proceeded to teach the people living here at the time Magic. However, the Mana had a very strong influence on the natural Elements of the world, resulting in the creation of a new species; the Spirits. But, amongst the Spirits, who were the physical embodiments of Mana fused with the Elements, there were some that became so powerful that they became known as Great Spirits. Undine is one of them."

"Wow, you sure know a lot, Zoe." Naruto said.

"This is actually pretty common knowledge. Every library in the world has books on it." Suzu deadpanned.

"Huh? It is?" Naruto asked surprised before turning to the green-haired man as he asked "Did you know about this, Zolo-san?"

"Never heard of it." Zolo stated, causing Fu and Zoe to face-palm.

'Seriously. How dumb is it possible to get?' Suzu thought before speaking up "At any rate; I don't know exactly where she is, so I would appreciate it if you could help me find her."

"Heh. Sure. Besides, I'm a little curious about this whole pact-making business." Naruto said.

"Thank you." Suzu said as she bowed.

"Don't worry about it. You may go now. I'll have someone come get you when we've found Undine's lair." Naruto said.

"Very well." Suzu said before she turned around and left.

As soon as she was gone, Naruto's expression turned serious as he said "Zoe, go get Soren-san of the Greil Mercenaries."

"Right." Zoe said before leaving.

"Why do you want to talk with Soren-san?" Fu asked.

"Simple. From Zoe's story, it sounds as though the Spirits were created from Mana, and there's no one I know that knows more about Mana than Soren-san does. He might have some worth-while information on Undine. As well as what forming the pact entails." Naruto said before noticing that Fu was smirking at him "What?"

"Oh, nothing. It's just that you seem a lot more grown-up than when we first met." She said.

"Huh? Really?" Naruto asked.

Suzu

"That went well. If it continues like this, you'll have made a pact with my brother and sisters in no time." The Great Spirit of Earth, Gnome, spoke from inside Suzu's mind.

"No." Suzu answered out loud, not caring if anyone heard her. If anything, that'd just make people think she was crazy.

"Huh?" Gnome uttered.

"It's too convenient. If anything, they've probably got some ulterior motive for wanting to help me. They are Shinobi after all. And now that they know that Undine is somewhere here on this island, I'm sure they'll rather want to keep her to themselves." Suzu said.

"You know, you really should be more trusting of others." Gnome said, though Suzu just ignored him.

When Suzu and her guards had reached the Cave of Spirits, they were surprised to find the place completely devoid of any Monsters. Instead, the cave was inhabited by the Gnomelettes, a tribe of Little People. Unlike the Tontattas of Dressrosa, the Gnomelettes weren't trusting towards outsiders at all and were pretty rude to boot. Completely different from their cousins in the New World.

They eventually found their way down to Gnome's Lair, at the deepest parts of the cave. Suzu was very optimistic about the pact; however, she was taken aback when Gnome told her to fight him. The books never said anything about a battle. The Spirit clearly didn't pull his punches as he ruthlessly slaughtered all of Suzu's guards, though luckily Suzu didn't need to beat him, only earn his recognition. Which she managed to do, as after 30 minutes, she was the only one still alive. No one had been able to survive a battle with him for that long in 400 years.

When Suzu returned up, she noticed that the Gnomelettes had done a complete 180 on her as they had become much nicer, though she assumed that was because she now had a pact with their master. She then exited the cave before heading up north towards North Blue, not even bothering to return to the village to give her report. She figured her grandfather had likely sent someone to keep an eye on her, anyway.

Naruto's tent

"So, if I'm getting this right, you're saying that you want to help this Suzu form a pact with Undine, the Great Spirit of Water?" Soren asked after Naruto had explained the situation to him.

"That's right." The young Uzukage replied.

"Pardon me for saying this, but wouldn't it be better to keep Undine for ourselves? After all, you all saw what she did during the battle against the Samurai, didn't you? Not to mention that it's undoubtedly her power that keeps the whirlpools surrounding and protecting the island intact." Soren said.

"Those whirlpools weren't much help when the Samurai attacked, though." Fu said.

"True, but if we keep relying on power like that to protect this island, we ourselves will grow weak as a result. And as Fu-chan just said, the whirlpools didn't stop the Samurai, so it's doubtful they'll be able to stop anyone that we can't defeat ourselves. Besides, I want to bring peace to the Ninja World, and keeping power to myself is not the way to do it." Naruto said.

"Very well." Soren sighed in defeat.

"So, any idea of what making a pact with a Spirit will entail?" Naruto asked.

"A Battle." Soren said simply, surprising Naruto, Dorumon, Zoe, and Fu.

"A battle? The books I've read never said anything about that." Zoe said.

"You won't find it in any books. It's not recorded, though I have no idea why." Soren said.

"Then how do you know?" Zolo asked with narrowed eyes.

"I met a Summoner once. She told me." Soren answered simply.

"Then do you have any suggestions for the battle?" Naruto asked.

"Being a Water Spirit, Undine is very weak against Lightning. Going by how you Shinobi have set up the Elements, you can use Earth as well." Soren said.

"Oh, I've actually got a couple Lightning Jutsu. And Suigetsu has those swords he gained after we beat Raiga. And of course, I can't forget about Tentomon." Fu said as she held up the X-Loader which her Digimon partner was currently in.

"J.P has Lightning moves as well, though I don't think we've got anyone with Earth attacks." Zoe said.

"We don't. So I guess we should focus on people with Lightning techniques. Who else do we have other than the ones just mentioned?" Naruto asked.

"I have Thunder, ElThunder, and ArcThunder Tomes." Soren said.

"In that case we've got Fu-chan, Tentomon, Suigetsu, J.P, and Soren. Obviously, Suzu-chan will have to be there as well, and I'll be coming as well." Naruto said.

"So, six people and one Digimon?" Zoe asked.

"No. We'll also need someone to heal us, and then there has to be someone to protect the healer. It also couldn't hurt to have a couple powerhouses." Naruto said.

"For the healer, I would suggest Rhys. He's capable of using Light Magic as well, so he'll be able to help in the battle, if only slightly. The one to protect him should be Gatrie. His large armor will make for a perfect shield. For the powerhouses, we should bring Ike and Boyd. I would also recommend bringing Mia for a speed-oriented fighter, as well as Prince Rafiel as his ability would be very useful." Soren said.

"Good. Now all that remains is to find her." Naruto said.

"Undine's Shrine should be exerting a lot of Mana. You should be able to find it, using your Soul Perception ability." Soren said.

"Huh? Really? I had no idea." Naruto said.

After that, Naruto had used his ability to find the place where the Spirit was while Fu and Zoe had gone to get the others. Once everyone were assembled, Soren explained the details of a battle strategy he'd come up with for the possible fight against Undine. Then they headed towards the Uzushio Ruins. At the back of the ruins, there was a mountain, and at the foot of a mountain was a cave. When Naruto had used his Soul Perception ability earlier, he had felt an incredibly strong force of something he assumed to be Mana coming from within the cave.

"This must be the Limestone Cave where the Spirit is said to be." J.P said as the group entered the cave, noticing the limestone in the cave's walls.

"Hey, so, how are you going to form that pact, anyway?" Naruto asked curiously as he stepped up next to Suzu as they walked through the cave.

Said girl sighed before bringing her hand into her weapon's pouch and pulling out a ring with an Aquamarine stone on it, and she said "With this."

"A ring?" Naruto asked.

"It's not just a ring. It's a Pact Ring." She then put it on her finger as she continued "Pact Rings are special rings imbued with a Spirit's Mana. Well, really, it's the stones that are imbued with it. There are only 15 of them in existence, one for each of the Great Spirits. The Great Spirits use them as a medium for when they're summoned, making them essential for Summoning."

"And how many of those rings do you have? Or is that your only one?" Ike asked.

"I have four. The Ruby Ring, the Aquamarine Ring, the Opal Ring, and the Garnet Ring." Suzu said.

"Judging by those rings you mentioned, can I assume that you're going after Maxwell, Ruler of the Four Elements?" Soren asked, causing Suzu to curse inwardly, this guy wasn't like the others.

"Thought so." He said after noticing the girl's expression, figuring he hit the bull's-eye.

"Hm? Maxwell?" Boyd asked as he looked at the raven-haired boy.

"As I just said, Maxwell is the Ruler of the Four Elements. Those being; Fire, Water, Earth, and Wind. He's also one of the three Elder Spirits along with the Spirit King Origin, and the Primordial Spirit Chronos. Some even say that he's the oldest and wisest being alive." Soren explained.

"He's that special?" Gatrie asked.

"Pretty much. Yeah." Soren said.

"Hey, Suzu-chan. What's that ring? Is it a Pact Ring as well?" Mia asked as she noticed a ring with a red stone on it on one of Suzu's fingers.

"Huh?" Suzu looked down on it before shaking her head as she said "No. This isn't a Pact Ring. It's a special ring called a Sorcerer's Ring."

"A Sorcerer's Ring?" Naruto asked.

"Huh? You know about it?" Suzu asked, quite surprised. With how dumb he seemed to be, or at least acted to be, she assumed he wouldn't know about the Sorcerer's Ring. Was her hunch on him just feigning his stupidity true then? But, if that was the case, then why not continue with the act now? This wasn't making any sense.

"Yeah. A guy named Yuri I met in Dahngrest had one." Naruto said.

"I see." Suzu said before thinking 'Dahngrest? That's on the Tolbyccian continent! What in the world was he doing so far away from the Elemental Nations?'

"The ring he had was probably a fake, though." She said.

"Why do you think that?" Fu asked.

"Because there only exists one Sorcerer's Ring, and that's this one. Apparently, some time ago the Government claimed to have found the Sorcerer's Ring within the Dwarven Ruins that lie at the bottom of the Morlia Mineshaft. Afterwards, their lead scientist, Dr. Vegapunk created many copies, however none of them could ever match up to the one they had found." Suzu said.

"But if it was in the hands of the Government, then how did you get your hands on it?" Suigetsu asked.

"Because the one the Government had found was a fake too. Created by another civilization that existed a long time ago, which in turn had probably based it off of a fake as well." Suzu said.

"That doesn't exactly explain Suigetsu-san's question, though." J.P said.

Suzu then suddenly stopped walking and everyone else stopped as well as they looked at her. Some of them like Naruto, Fu, and Soren noticed a sad look in her eyes, one which made her seem lonely. This was the first sign of emotion they'd ever seen from the girl.

"I think you've questioned her enough." Rafiel said as he put his hand on the girl's shoulder, and as she looked up at him, he smiled down at her.

"I think Rafiel's right. It looks like she doesn't want to talk about it." Rhys said.

"But why wouldn't she want to talk about where she got that ring fro– OWCH!" Boyd said as Ike stepped on his foot.

"Hmm? I think our conversation has been cut short, anyway." Soren suddenly said.

"I think you're right." Naruto said and the two of them quickly turned around.

"Wind!" Soren called out as he sent a single blade of wind through the cave while Naruto threw a kunai. They each hit some kind of starfish-looking Monster that was walking upright, both Monsters then falling to the ground, dead.

"What the hell are those things?" Suigetsu asked.

"I didn't know there was Monsters this close to the village." Fu said.

"Don't let your guard down! There are more coming!" Soren said, and sure enough, soon more were coming. The Monsters all looked like various sea-creatures, with the exception of some that looked like tall yellow piles of flesh with green tentacles coming out of them, and some that literally looked like walking blobs of water.

They all fought their way through the Monsters with Ike, Boyd, Gatrie, and Suigetsu taking up the front while Soren and Fu were casting spells and Jutsu from a distance respectfully. Rhys was standing back to heal them whenever needed and Rafiel was supporting them with his Galdrar. In the meantime, Naruto, and Suzu were working at solving the puzzles while Mia and J.P were guarding them in case some of the Monsters were to either get past the others or come from a different direction.

As for the puzzles, they seemed to be based around rising and lowering the water levels in the cave as there seemed to be an underground lake beneath the cave and there were various levers throughout the cave that caused the water levels to rise in some areas while dropping in others. It was quite frustrating to say the least.

Eventually, however, they reached a large open oval-shaped room that had a walkway leading up to what appeared to be some kind of shrine. There were also pillars going along the walls and on either side of the walkway was a small pool of water. There were also blue flames lining the walls, which seemed to illuminate the room in a blue glow.

"If this isn't where we'll find that Water Spirit or whatever, then I don't know where it could be." Mia said as she frantically looked around.

Rhys took note of the shrine as he said "That looks like a shrine for worship."

"Well, Beorc did originally worship the Spirits as Gods." Soren said.

"Let's go." Suzu said before she started walking across the walkway as the others followed.

"This place doesn't look suitable for fighting." Gatrie noted.

"It is as Soren-san said. Beorc used to worship Spirits, so they built this shrine for worship." Rafiel said.

"What does that word mean, anyway? Beorc?" Fu asked.

"In Tellius, where we're from, the word "Human" is used as an insult, so instead we're using Beorc, which is what the Human race was originally called." Soren explained.

"Really?" J.P asked before adding "I had no idea that Humans were originally called Beorc."

"It may just be Tellius, though, as I've heard that in a part of East Blue, Humans are called, "Over-Landers"." Soren said.

"Hmm. I see." Fu said.

The group then stopped before the shrine before Suzu walked up to it and held out the arm that she had the Aquamarine Ring on.

"Oh, Great Spirit of Water, come, as decreed by the covenant of this ring. My name is Fujibayashi Suzu." Suzu said, though nothing seemed to happen at first, however…

"What the…!" Naruto said.

"What is it, Naruto-kun?" Fu asked.

"All of a sudden, there's a huge amount of Mana coming from the shrine! It's even more than the amount of Aer I sensed from the Aer Krene at Keiv Moc!" The blond said before thinking 'I think it might even be more than the Kyubi's Chakra.'

Then suddenly, a geyser of water shot up from the center of the shrine, and as it came falling back down again, a lone figure was revealed standing there. She appeared to be female, and had blue fish-like skin. Her eyes were completely black, and her ears were pointy and webbed. Her attire comprised of a purplish sleeve-less dress as well as a veil made out of water that circled around her right arm, went behind her neck, and came back down, circling around her left arm. She also had long blue hair reaching down to her butt.

"Whoa! That's one pretty Spirit!" Gatrie said.

"That's the Spirit?" Suigetsu asked before adding "You know, I had pictured her to be, I don't know, a little more watery."

"I would advice, showing her a little more respect. She could after all erase you with just a single flick of her wrist, considering that your body is made up entirely of water." Soren said, causing the Hozuki to gulp audibly.

"Who is it that summoned me?" Undine asked, and Suzu took a step forward before speaking up.

"It was me, Great Water Spirit." She said before adding "I wish to form a pact with you."

"If thou wishes a pact, thou must first prove thy worth." Undine said.

"So we've gotta fight after all, huh?" Boyd said as he readied his axe.

"Looks like it." Mia said, getting ready to draw her sword.

"Everyone, stay sharp." Ike ordered.

"What do you mean, we must prove our worth?" Naruto asked, even though he was already pretty sure what the answer would be.

"Thou must prove yourself worthy through battle." Undine replied.

"Hah! You think you can take on all of us by yourself?!" Boyd asked.

"Thou art mistaken, axe wielder. I am not by myself, for I hast mine minions as well." Undine said, and just then, Monsters rose up from the pools beside the walkway, three on either side. They looked kind of like Humans except that their skin was completely blue and they had the lower bodies of a fish, kind of like Mermaids. Their heads were also in the shape of the head of a squid, and when they opened their mouths, lines of razor sharp teeth were revealed. Each of them also used a trident for a weapon.

"Rhys, Rafiel, get back! Gatrie, protect them!" Ike ordered, and the three did as they were told "Me, Boyd, Mia, J.P, Suigetsu, and Fu will take on the Monsters! Naruto, I'll leave Undine to you, Suzu, and Soren."

"Gotcha!" Naruto said as he pulled a kunai from his weapon's pouch while Suzu drew her tanto, and Soren pulled out one of his tomes.

"Naruto, a Great Spirit is something far beyond your comprehension. You cannot win." The Kyubi said within Naruto's mind.

'I'll never know until I try.' Naruto replied.

("Fighting the Spirit" starts playing)

"I shalt test thy worth." Undine said as a sword made up completely of water appeared in her right hand.

"Come guys, let's do this!" Naruto said as he brought his hands together to form his favorite hand-sign "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" And four other Narutos appeared.

"I can do that too." Suzu said before forming a series of hand-sign and saying "Igakuri-Ryu Ninpou: Utsushimi!" And two copies of Suzu appeared.

"ElThunder!" Soren called out as a large bolt of lightning struck down, hitting the Water Spirit as the shrine was covered in a cloud of dust.

The two Ninja and their clones then rushed at the dust cloud, however, as they approached it, Undine's water sword came slashing through the cloud, dispelling all of Naruto's clones while sending the original flying backwards. As for Suzu, on the other hand, both she and her clones jumped backwards in a backwards flip before landing on their hands and they flipped backwards again before landing on their feet and they then jumped into the air before throwing their tanto blades at Undine, each blade sticking into the floor by her feet.

"Igakuri-Ryu Ninpou: Raiden!" The three Suzus called out in unison, and all of a sudden, bolts of lightning struck each of the blades.

Naruto in the meantime skidded to a halt before weaving a series of hand-sign before he formed another clone and they both weaved a series of hand signs each before calling out "Katon: Goukakyo no Jutsu/Futon: Kamikaze no Jutsu!" And due to the combination of the fire and wind Jutsus, a huge torrent of flames were sent towards the Spirit, engulfing her completely.

However, all of a sudden, a burst of water came out from within the flames, easily putting them out. Then, with a yell of "Splash!" several geysers of water suddenly burst up from the floor, however, while Naruto was caught in the attack as his clone got dispelled, Suzu and both of her clones managed to dodge the geysers while Soren protected himself with a magical barrier.

"ArcThunder!" Soren called out, sending a powerful bolt of lightning towards Undine, however, she blocked it with a shield of water, sending the lightning coursing through the water before firing off in every direction except for where Undine was standing. Both of Suzu's clones where hit and dispelled by the lightning, and Suzu herself was hit as well, sending her rolling across the floor before she landed on one knee.

"Hey, watch where you're firing those!" Naruto complained as he claimed to his feet, having been hit by the lightning as well.

"Damn. She's a lot tougher than I thought she'd be." Suzu mumbled to herself before she noticed herself being covered in a bright light, and in slight surprise, she looked over her shoulder to see Rhys using his healing spells, and next to him was Rafiel who was currently in the middle of a song. Before Suzu could question why he was singing at a time like this, however, she felt her strength return as she rose back up to her feet.

"Hey, do you think you can distract her, a little bit?" Suzu asked.

"Sure. But what do you have in mind?" Soren asked.

"I need to get my weapon back." Suzu said before adding "I just need you to distract her for a single second."

"Very well." Soren said as Suzu went through a series of hand-signs.

"Thunder/Igakuri-Ryu Ninpou: Hagakure!" They called out respectively as Soren fired a bolt of lightning towards Undine while Suzu disappeared in a storm of leaves.

Undine just stepped aside to avoid the bolt as a new dust cloud formed from it, however, just then, there was a storm of leaves and Suzu appeared in a kneeling position next to the Spirit before pulling out the tanto and slashing it towards Undine.

"Igakuri-Ryu Ninpou: Kamaitachi!" She called out as she slashed her tanto as three blades of wind formed behind the blade, each one cutting into Undine's skin. Undine then thrusted her own sword towards Suzu, aiming for the young girl's heart, however, she jumped back as a ball of scorching hot fire flew past in-between them, and she looked towards where it had come from to see Naruto in a stance which indicated that he had just thrown something.

Suzu then smirked as she took advantage of Undine looking away as she jumped into the air before calling out "Igakuri-Ryu Ninpou: Izuna Otoshi!" And she came spinning back down towards the floor, swinging her tanto along with her momentum.

Undine noticed her attack in time, however, and blocked it with her own sword, before swinging it so hard that Suzu was sent flying, however, Naruto managed to catch her as a powerful bolt of lightning struck down on the Spirit, courtesy of Soren's ArcThunder spell.

"Keep your wits about you. While this may just be a test, Undine will not hesitate to kill you if you give her the chance. Furthermore, I suspect that she's not even going all-out." Soren observed.

'She's not even using her full power?' Naruto thought in surprise.

"I am the second strongest of the Four Spirits. If thou wishes me to accept thee as mine master, thou wilt hast to doth better than that." Undine said as Suzu gritted her teeth. If what the Spirit said was true, then that meant that she was even stronger than Gnome.

"It may be better to give up. No matter how strong or how many we are, a Spirit of Undine's caliber is just too much." Soren said.

"No. I won't give up! I came here to form a pact with Undine, the Great Spirit of Water who rules over the world's oceans, and I'm not leaving until I've done so!" Suzu said with clear determination.

"Suzu-chan…" Naruto said as he looked at the girl before nodding as he looked at the Spirit and said "Right! I'm not leaving either. I promised Suzu-chan to help her form a pact with you and I'm gonna make sure that she does, Dattebayo! And I never go back on my word; that's my Nindo!"

'Naruto-kun…!' Suzu thought in surprise, hardly realizing that she had used his name or that she had added a suffix.

Naruto then closed his eyes before he said "Over-Limit!" And as his eyes snapped open, his body surrounded by the weak winds of the first level of Over-Limit.

"Heh. Right." Suzu said as she looked over at Undine before saying "Don't think you're the only one with a trick like that. Over-Limit Level 3!" And her body was surrounded by even stronger winds "Guess it's time to pull out all the stops."

The girl then stepped forward as she bit her thumb before weaving a series of hand-signs and as she slammed her right hand down on the floor, she called out "Igakuri-Ryu Ninpou Ougi: Kuchiyose: Jiraiya!" And in a puff of smoke, a large green toad appeared with Suzu now sitting on its back.

"Jiraiya, attack!" Suzu called out as she pointed at Undine, and the toad then spat out a wave of blue flames at said Spirit. However, a wall of water came up before the Spirit before she leaped forward, through the wall and came up before the Kunoichi before thrusting her sword forward.

"SUZU-CHAN!" Naruto called out as he saw the sword of water pierce the right side of the girl's waist as the toad, Jiraiya disappeared.

'Shimata! I didn't think she'd be able to block my Mystic Arte that easily.' Suzu thought as she gritted her teeth in pain.

"Thunder!" A bolt of lightning then shot down, striking the Spirit, as well as temporarily dispersing the water sword. Suzu then landed back on the floor, clutching the wound as she looked towards the Spirit with gritted teeth, said Spirit reforming her sword as she landed herself.

"Suzu-chan, you all right?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah…" Suzu replied through her still gritted teeth. However, she then felt the pain go away as she was covered in a soft glow as Rhys healed her from a distance. Undine noticed this however, and sent a mental signal to one of her minions, the one currently fighting Mia as it was the closest, to take down the healer.

And so, the one that was fighting Mia managed to knock her down before turning around and it flew towards Gatrie, Rhys, and Rafiel as if swimming through water, and the former of the three prepared himself. However, the Monster had underestimated Mia's speed as she suddenly appeared in its face before slashing her sword, cutting off the Monster's left arm.

As it howled in pain, it slammed the side of the trident into Mia, causing her to fall down on the floor as her sword got knocked out of her hand, and the Monster was about to pierce her with the trident, however, Gatrie then came in and with a yell, stabbed his lance through the Monster. The Monster screeched in pain before suddenly turning into water which then splashed down on the floor.

"You think it's dead?" Mia asked.

"Looks like it." Gatrie replied.

In the meantime, J.P in his Beetlemon form skidded back along the floor as he was holding the Monster's trident in a tight grip. He then pulled it towards himself as he charged up electricity in his right fist before slamming it into the Monster's head, causing lightning to course through its entire body.

The Monster then created three disks of water from the moisture in the air before sending them flying at the Human-turned-Digimon. As they hit him, he took a couple steps back as he let go of the trident, and the Monster then aimed it at him before thrusting it forward. Beetlemon was however able to react in time and he blocked the trident with his right arm, though it proved to be quite sharp as it went straight through the arm.

"Ungh…!" Beetlemon grunted in pain before taking a step forward and he then threw his arm to his side, breaking off the trident's three pointy spikes in the process. Then he charged electricity into his left fist before slamming it into the Monster's gut, causing it to burst into water.

As he panted slightly, he stared intently at the water to make sure that the Monster was then, and once he was sure that it was, he pulled the spikes out of his arm, one at a time before throwing them to the floor where they too turned into water.

Meanwhile in the fight against Undine, Suzu came down in front of the Spirit as she swung her tanto at her repeatedly, though the Spirit back-stepped each swing before swinging her own sword at the young Kunoichi, only to have it blocked by Naruto's kunai. Suzu then jumped into the air before throwing her tanto down at the Spirit as she went through a series of hand-signs.

"Igakuri-Ryu Ninpou: Raiden!" As the blade hit the floor by Undine's feet, a bolt of lightning shot down and hit it, striking the Spirit in the process. And before she could properly regain her bearings, she felt three kicks connect with her that sent her into the air.

"U-zu-ma-ki…" The original Naruto used one of the clones as a stepping-board as he just up above Undine as Suzu landed back on the floor "… Naruto Rendan!" Naruto kicked the Spirit back down towards the floor where the blond's clones and Suzu were. However, the Spirit flipped around in mid-air before destroying all of the clones as she landed as well as sending Suzu flying backwards, though the girl managed to flip herself around and land safely on her feet. The Spirit then looked up towards the descending Naruto as she prepared to skewer him with her sword.

"ArcFire!" Soren called out as a large ball of flames appeared and crashed into Undine, creating a lot of steam which then served to cover Naruto as he landed and jumped out of the way before going through a series of hand-signs.

"Shakuton: Moesakaru-Rendan!" And a countless number of scorching hot balls of fire appeared in a dome formation around Undine before they all flew towards her, and at first they seemed to have hit their mark.

"Did you get her?" Suzu asked, however, as the steam cleared, a dome of water was revealed to have been protecting Undine.

"Kh! Didn't work." Naruto said.

"This isn't going as well as I had hoped. The Spirit's powers are even greater than imagined. I think it'd be best to regroup and come up with a new battle strategy." Soren said.

"You can go if you'd like, but I'm not stepping down. Not till I've made a pact with Undine." Suzu said.

"Sorry, Soren-san, but I'm with Suzu-chan on this one. I'm not gonna back down, no matter what." Naruto said.

"Sorry, Soren. But it looks like they've made up their minds." Mia said as she came up next to the Sage.

"Well, now that Mia-chan and I have gotten done with our opponents, we should hopefully get done with this quicker." Beetlemon said as he came up next to Mia, charging electricity in both of his fists.

Undine stared at them curiously from within the deforming water sphere which seemed to be melting before she then leapt out, jumping straight towards her opponents. She landed right in front of Beetlemon before slashing at him with her sword, surprisingly enough cutting straight through his exo-skeleton. And as Beetlemon stepped back, Mia moved in and blocked the water sword with her own.

Undine then swung her sword at Mia, however it got blocked again before the purple-haired girl responded in kind and the two went back and forth like that. While to the average observer, the battle looked even, those with trained senses would see that while Mia was obviously struggling, Undine had a completely calm composure as she was swinging her sword, which was matched by her calm face. The trained observer would also spot the various cuts and bruises that appeared on Mia's clothes and skin, despite Undine's sword seemingly not hitting her.

"Thunder!" Soren who had jumped away from the two women yelled, though the Spirit jumped away before the bolt of lightning could hit her, however, that's when she noticed Beetlemon coming up next to her, with his horn aimed straight at her.

"Lightning Bomber!" He called out as he rammed the lightning-covered horn into her, shocking her.

"Igakuri-Ryu Ninpou: Samidare!" Suzu called out as she came up behind the Great Spirit before punching her with her left fist, though Undine had managed to turn around in time before blocking it with her right elbow. Suzu then drew her tanto and slashed it diagonally downwards, however, the Spirit countered with her own sword, and Suzu followed up by slashing her tanto left-to-right, though it was again blocked. She then slashed her blade upwards only for it to be blocked again, and – continuing on with the attack – she began delivering a series of spin-kicks, all of which were blocked by the Spirits arms, and she finished her attack with one final upwards slash of her sword, though even that got blocked.

"Astra!" Mia called out as she came up behind Undine before swinging her sword diagonally downwards, however, the Spirit blocked it by holding her arm over her shoulder and having her sword go down behind her back as she looked over the opposite shoulder. As Mia was then about to slash her sword diagonally upwards from left to right, Undine sent Suzu away with a stream of water before turning around as she blocked the upcoming slash. Mia then spun around for her third slash, though that too was blocked, and she then followed up with an upwards slash which got blocked as well, though she herself went with her sword's momentum and leapt high into the air as she flipped around and landed on the floor a bit away from the Spirit before charging forward at a break-neck speed and slashing her sword. This however, wasn't just blocked; Undine swung her sword at the purple-haired girl so hard that she knocked the girl's sword out of her hands as the Spirit's own sword was only inches away from the girl's throat.

"Hyoton: Kessho-Sei Koraseru!" Naruto called out as the ground suddenly started freezing over, and as the ice reached Undine's feet, it started traveling up her body. Mia instinctively jumped away from the ice before it could reach her as well, as Suzu, Soren, and Beetlemon also decided to stay clear of it, worried that they may not be spared from the effects it was having on the Spirit.

In the meantime was Boyd in the midst of blocking his opponent's weapon as the Monster had attempted to pierce him with it, but he blocked it in a way which had the pole part of his axe jammed between the middle and the bottom spikes of the trident. After struggling a little he then pushed the Monster to the side, causing it to fall down before he moved his axe over his head and smashed it down. However, the Monster managed to avoid the attack as it got back up before proceeding with another attack.

Suigetsu was also blocking the trident of his own opponent in much the same way, except that he was holding his swords, the Kiba blades, in an X. He then pushed the trident upwards before pulling back his right arm as he smirked while thrusting it forward, aiming to pierce the Monster's heart with the electrified blade. However, the Monster then slammed the trident downwards, catching the sword between two of the spikes and forcing it out of Suigetsu's hand.

Fu jumped backwards as her opponent slashed its trident at her before she dispelled the water sword she had been holding as she went through a series of hand-signs. And upon finishing, she sent forth a wave of electricity which connected between several insects that were flying around. Only when the Monster was completely surrounded by the electricity was it struck, feeling a thousand volts of electricity coursing through its body. The insects on the other hand were left undamaged, probably due to the Nanabi's Chakra.

Ike managed to knock the Monster's trident out of its hands and into the air as his sword found its place next to the Monster's neck before the blue-haired mercenary swung the sword, however, the Monster ducked to avoid it before the trident came falling back down and the Monster grabbed it before twirling it around in its hands and then thrusting it at Ike. The mercenary blocked it with his sword however, and as he stole a glance past the Monster at the battle against Undine he knocked the trident away before spinning around the Monster and he hit it with the flat side of his blade with enough force to send it towards the middle of the walkway.

"Let's finish up here, guys. Throw the rest of them into the middle." Ike said.

"Right!" Boyd said as he blocked the Monster's attack before using his axe to knock its trident upwards and he kicked it with enough force to send it into the one Ike had been fighting. This was also soon followed up by Suigetsu and Fu as Ike was slowly walking towards the four Monsters.

'I wonder what he's planning on doing.' Suigetsu thought.

Ike then held his sword's blade in front of his face as he had his eyes closed before they snapped open as he entered Over-Limit Level 3 as flames surrounded his body. However, unlike most people, the flames that surrounded him weren't red, but blue.

'Is that… Over-Limit?' Fu thought. She had read about it in a book before, but she'd never actually seen it until now.

Ike swung his blade down next to him as he approached the four Monsters which got ready to attack him, not realizing that their time was up as he swung his sword at them as it was coated in blue flames as he said "I fight for my friends." The four Monsters were sent into the air as Ike jumped after them before delivering a series of slashes at them and at the end he was holding Ragnell above his head as he called out "Great Aether!" And he slashed it downwards as he went back down to the ground, taking the Monsters with him. As they hit the ground, there was another explosion of blue flames and the Monsters had all been turned back into water. Well, to be more precise, due to the hot flames, they had turned into steam.

Ike then stood up as he stabbed his gold-plated sword into the ground next to him and he laid his hand atop the hilt as he said "You'll get no sympathy from me."

"And that takes care of them." Suigetsu said as he stepped up to Ike, who was now no longer in Over-Limit due to having used a Mystic Arte.

"Did you do it?" Beetlemon asked as he and the others who had been fighting Undine looked at the frozen Water Spirit while panting.

"Stand back. This isn't over. Not by a long shot." Soren said before a small beam of pressurized water suddenly shot out of the ice and went straight through the right side of the Sage's waist.

"AH!" Naruto gasped.

"Soren!" Mia yelled before Undine appeared behind the raven-haired boy and was about to strike him down with her sword. However, just then, Ike came up and blocked her sword with Ragnell.

As Soren stumbled forward, Ike then swung his sword upwards, knocking Undine slightly off-balance and he then followed up by readjusting his sword so that it pointed at the Spirit's stomach and he thrusted it forward. Undine then burst into water and Ike looked around as Fu, Suigetsu, and Boyd came up to the others.

Looking over towards the Shrine, they saw the Great Water Spirit standing there as she said "Thou art stronger than I expected. But, that wilt still not beest enough." She then dispelled her sword before jumping into the air as her veil slithered down her arm, turned into water, and as it hit the ground, it slightly solidified to become a kind of platform that spiraled a couple feet up into the air before Undine landed on it with her left foot on the lower portion of it close to the ground and her right foot on the higher portion of it. She then held out her right arm and the water left behind from the Monsters shot into the air before gathering in front of her and forming a trident, the ends of which being transparent.

"Watch out. Here she comes." Suzu said before Undine suddenly appeared in front of Ike and kicked him away. Then she turned her attention to Mia and thrusted her trident at her.

"Ah!" Mia gasped as she didn't have time to dodge. However, Fu then came up in-between them and blocked the trident with two water swords in and X formation.

"Ngh!" She grunted as she was being pushed back, though she didn't give up as she steadied her footing.

"Fu!" Mia said.

"What are you waiting for, Mia-san? I can't hold it much longer." Fu said through gritted teeth.

"Oh, right." Mia said before stepping out from behind Fu and a small shockwave was emitted from her body as weak winds started circling her, indicating that she had entered the first level of Over-Limit.

"Astra!" She called out the name of her attack, but before she could executed it, Undine threw Fu at the purple-haired girl before spinning around to block an incoming attack from Boyd, using the pole part of her trident.

"Come on." Suzu said as she and Naruto ran towards the Great Spirit.

Suzu jumped into the air before throwing her blade as she went through a series of hand-signs before saying "Igakuri-Ryu Ninpou: Raiden!" And the bolt of electricity hit the Spirit head-on, though despite the fact that she's supposed to be weak against lightning, she didn't appear to have taken any damage from the attack at all. However that's when Naruto appeared next to her with a Scorch Ball in his hand as he was about to hit her with it like a Rasengan.

Undine then pushed Boyd to the side and jumped back as she hit Naruto in the back with her trident, sending him on a collision course for Boyd as he was sent stumbling forward. Boyd could only grit his teeth as the super-heated ball in Naruto's palm grew closer, however, Beetlemon came up in-between them as he pushed Boyd down on the ground while grabbing Naruto's wrist before the ball was dispelled.

"Thanks, Beetlemon." Naruto said before he turned to look at Undine who was now in a heavy fight with Ike before Suzu joined in as well "That Spirit is a lot stronger than I thought she'd be."

"Yeah, no kidding." Boyd said as he rose to his feet as Suigetsu joined in on the battle as well.

"Naruto-kun. You guys all right?" Fu asked as she and Mia came over to Naruto and the others.

"Yeah." Naruto said.

"That Spirit's really tough. Looks like I don't have any other choice." Fu said as she pulled out her X-Loader and in a flash of light, her Digimon partner, Tentomon, who had recently Digivolved from Motimon, appeared.

"All right, Tentomon, hit Undine with everything you've got!" Fu called out.

"As you wish, toots." Tentomon said as he flew towards Undine.

"Toots?" Naruto asked as he, Beetlemon, and Boyd looked questioningly at the green-haired girl.

"Don't ask." Was Fu's reply.

"Electro Shocker!" Tentomon called out as static electricity built up in his wings before it was sent as a bolt of lightning towards the Spirit.

Undine saw it, however, and blocked it with the tip of her trident before spinning around as she slashed through Suigetsu, temporarily immobilizing him.

"Damn. Ike-san, I need you to divert her attention her for a couple seconds." Suzu said.

"All right." Ike said before he charged forward and swung his sword, which was then covered in blue flames, at Undine, and as she blocked the attack with her trident, there was a blue explosion.

Suzu in the meantime jumped back before holding out her right arm and as a brown glyph appeared under her feet, she said "I call upon the mighty Earth of the West, the servant of Mother Earth! I summon thee, come, GNOME!" A light then shot out of the Ruby ring on her finger and as it died down, the ground suddenly started shaking violently.

"Wh-what's going on?" Rhys asked as he lost balance before Gatrie caught him.

"An earthquake?" Fu asked.

Undine tried to take advantage of Ike's confusion as she attempted to run him through with her trident, but the blue-haired warrior managed to move his head out of the way before jumping back.

"What'd you do?" He asked Suzu as he panted lightly.

"Just increasing our chances a little." Suzu said as Ike looked at her over his shoulder in confusion, but then the shaking suddenly got much worse. A huge arm made up of rocks then shot up of the ground before its open palm slammed down on Undine.

"What the…?!" Naruto uttered in surprise.

The Water Spirit dodged it however before the huge rock Golem that was the Great Earth Spirit, Gnome pulled up the rest of his body.

"Hello, sis. Long time no see." Gnome greeted.

"Gnome…" Undine said.

"Wh-what is that thing…?!" Naruto asked as he looked at the newly arrived Spirit.

'That's the Great Spirit of Earth, Gnome… So she already had a contract with a Great Spirit.' Soren thought.

"Gnome, help us subdue her!" Suzu commanded.

"You got it!" Gnome said before clapping his hands together as he said "Debris Fall!" Large boulders then started falling from the ceiling. Undine jumped backwards several times to avoid the falling debris before jumping high into the air, however, that proved to be a mistake as Gnome then slammed her into the wall with his right palm before calling out "Ground Dasher!"

The wall then started shaking very violently, causing large cracks to come out all over it before massive, razor-sharp spikes shot out of it, all over the wall. Undine had avoided it by turning into water before reforming as she landed on one of the spikes and she jumped past Gnome, turning around in mid-air as the large rock Golem turned around and held out his left arm.

"Grave!" He called out as Undine landed on the ground before she jumped back as large spikes started shooting up of the ground, causing everyone else to scamper about to get out of the way. Undine then skidded to a halt before jumping forward, above the spikes as she used the tips as footholds to run towards the Earth Spirit.

Gnome's left hand then suddenly exploded into a cloud of dust before numerous missile-shaped rocks flew out, homing in on the Water Spirit. Undine ran out of the way as the missiles shot into the sea of earthen spikes, blowing up on contact. She then jumped again before slicing a missile in half with her trident and then landing on another one as she used her excellent surfing skills to turn it around and as she got closer to the Earth Spirit, she jumped off as the missile shot into Gnome's face as it exploded.

As Undine was still in the air, however, Gnome's right hand suddenly appeared above her and he then proceeded to slam her through the spikes and into the ground with such force that if there had been a floor beneath them, he would've smashed straight through the ground.

"Stalagmite!" Gnome said, and several Stalagmites shot out of the ground around the Spirit's arm.

"Think that did her in?" Suigetsu asked as he got to his feet, though everyone else remained silent.

"Spread!" A geyser of water then shot up from beneath Gnome's hand, pushing said hand up into the air as the stalagmites all broke apart from the pressure. Undine then jumped back to the Shrine as she said "Tidal Wave!"

A huge amount of water then started pouring in from the entrance as the entire room started to get flooded. The spikes from Gnome's Grave were also pulverized as the water crashed into them.

"Wh-what's happening?!" Mia asked.

"Undine is a Water Spirit. She can freely control any nearby water source, and this cave has a lot of water in it." Suzu said.

"Ah! Gatrie!" Rhys called out as Gatrie was swept along with the waves, being that he was too heavy to float.

"I'll get him." Rafiel said as he dived down to look for the heavily armored warrior.

"H-help! I… I can't swim…!" J.P, who had been forced out of his Digimon form said as he struggled to stay afloat before sinking into the water.

"J.P!" Naruto yelled.

"I've got him!" Fu said as she breathed in before diving down into the water and she soon emerged again with an unconscious J.P.

"Suzu, you all right?" Gnome asked as the young Kunoichi swam up beside him.

"Yeah, don't worry." Suzu said.

Undine then shot out of the water before landing on it as though it was solid and she looked over everyone before holding out her left arm with her palm facing downwards as she said "Maelstrom!"

A large maelstrom then appeared, covering nearly the entire room as everyone was sucked into it, not even Gnome was speared. Soon after the water drained completely and everyone were lying spread across the room, barely able to move.

"Suzu, I'm sorry I couldn't help you more, but I can't seem to maintain my form for much longer." Gnome said.

"No, it's all right. You've done more than enough." Suzu said as she slowly climbed to her feet before Gnome vanished. She was in better shape than most of the others as Gnome had protected her.

"Ungh." J.P grunted as he woke up before climbing up on his knees as he looked around to see that everyone were badly wounded, and Rafiel, Gatrie, and Rhys were unconscious "What… happened." He then looked towards Undine angrily before three rings of data appeared around his right hand which he folded into a fist as he punched the ground.

"Shibayama Junpei Warp Digivolve to… MetalKabuterimon!"

"Electron Cannon!" MetalKabuterimon called out as he fired a beam of lightning from the gun turret on his head which headed straight for Undine. The beam seemed to pass straight through her as it impacted with the wall behind her, causing a massive explosion. However, Undine then appeared right in front of him before running her trident through him, causing him to revert back to J.P as she then through him into the wall next to the entrance.

"J.P!" Naruto yelled.

Suigetsu then came up next to Undine as the Kiba blades were charged with lightning. Due to being made of water, he hadn't been as damaged by Undine's last attack as everyone else. Before he could land a hit on her, however, he suddenly felt an invisible force which sent him splashing against the wall before landing in the pool where he was rendered as an immobile gooey mess.

"Suigetsu!" Naruto yelled before he heard a grunt accompanied by the sound of a sword hitting the ground and he looked towards Ike to see him on his knees, supporting himself with his sword.

"Ungh. Soren, Boyd, Mia, can you still move? It looks like we've got no choice but to use that." He said as he, Boyd, Mia, and Soren all surprisingly managed to rise to their feet.

"Heh. Yeah, it's about time that we got serious!" Boyd said.

"It's been a while since anyone's ever forced me to use that. Not since the time we fought the Goddess, Ashera, I believe." Mia said.

"Using that takes a lot out of us, though. In the condition we're in now, we may not survive." Soren said.

"Either way, we don't have a choice. Even that thing that Suzu summoned was defeated. This is our final trump card." Ike said, causing the other three to smirk as they all cried out simultaneously "Over-Limit Level 8!"

Ike's entire body was engulfed in blue flames as Body was covered in rocks and Mia and Soren were both covered by extremely strong winds.

"N-no way! Level 8? It's almost impossible for anyone to reach that level! Even the Chief almost died trying! For there to be four people in the same place is unheard of!" Suzu said.

"Really?" Naruto asked.

"Yes. There's no way this can be real!" Suzu said, not believing her eyes.

"Hmm… I sense the powers of a God dwelling within thee." Undine said as Ike, Boyd, and Mia were standing before her while Soren stood behind them "I see. So thou art fighting on borrowed power."

"Borrowed power, perhaps. But we've all taken it and made it into our own." Ike said before suddenly rushed forward, leaving a trail of blue flames in his wake. As he approached the Spirit, he held his blade above his head before slashing it diagonally downwards.

Undine jumped out of the way of the slash, however, as soon as Ragnell hit the ground, a wave of blue flames shot forth and impacted with the wall, leaving a severely burned trail as well as a massive hole where it had hit the wall.

Boyd then appeared above the Spirit as he aimed to swing his axe at her. As he did so, the rocks covering the axe split off as they began swirling around the deadly weapon. Because of this, the rocks hit Undine whenever she dodged Boyd's weapon, and to end his current chain of attacks, Boyd slammed the axe into the ground, causing an explosion of earth and rocks to shoot up as a small crater was formed.

Undine was hit by the rocks as she stumbled backwards before she barely got time to react as Mia appeared behind her, ready to stab her with her sword. The purple-haired girl then delivered a series of thrusts, however Undine managed to barely dodge them, though she wasn't able to dodge the cutting blades of wind that were swirling around the blade.

The Great Spirit of Water then jumped away, however when she landed, she noticed that she was in an unfavorable position. Ike was behind her, Mia in front of her, Boyd to her left, and Soren to her right. She smirked however, as she knew that Soren couldn't defend himself, and so, she rushed at him, however…

"Thunder!" Undine's eyes widened as instead of the normal lightning bolt, a cyclone of winds, charged with lightning appeared above Soren's head before shooting towards her. She then smirked as she realized that this had been their plan; Ike, Boyd, and Mia would force her into a position where she'd be surrounded by the four of them, forcing her to charge at Soren who would then fire his Thunder Spell, which was much stronger now due to the effects of Over-Limit, and hit her with it straight on. She had to admit that she was impressed; the four of them had actually managed to corner her.

She then stopped running as she waited for the spell to hit her, which it didn't not even a second later, causing a massive dust cloud to appear from where it impacted with the Spirit and the ground.

"Is it… over?" Mia asked as she panted.

As the dust cloud cleared however, there weren't anyone there, causing them all to instinctively look towards the Shrine to see Undine standing there, though the veil was back around her arms and the trident was nowhere to be seen.

"What the…? Is she giving up?" Naruto asked.

"No, that's not it. I'm the one who came here to form a pact with her, yet I've hardly done much. She wants to see what I can do." Suzu said before charging forward.

"Ah, Suzu-chan!" Naruto exclaimed before looking at his girlfriend as he said "Come on!" And the two of them ran after.

Undine held out her hand as several geysers of water started shooting up from the ground.

Naruto came up next to Suzu as he held out his hand and said "Grab my hand." Suzu did so as she felt her cheeks heat up a little as she felt how warm his hand was before he proceeded to throw her into the air, just as a geyser came up, swallowing him up.

Fu who was hovering in the air then grabbed Suzu's hand before spinning around and then throwing the younger Kunoichi towards Undine as Suzu threw her tanto, hitting the Spirit in the middle of the chest as she went through a series of hand-signs.

"Igakuri-Ryu Ninpou: Raiden!" She called out as a bolt of lightning shot down, coursing through Undine's body, and just after it stopped, Suzu landed next to her as she grabbed the tanto and swung it through her. Undine then suddenly burst into water, and sensing something, Suzu immediately leaped backwards as the Spirit rose up from a puddle in the middle of the Shrine.

("Fighting the Spirit" stops playing)

"Well done, Fujibayashi Suzu. Thou hast proven thy worth." Undine said as Ike, Boyd, Mia, and Soren to exited Over-Limit "Now, hold up the ring of the pact and state thy vow."

Suzu held out the arm which she had the Aquamarine Ring on and said "I vow to fight the evils of this world, and to protect those weaker than myself."

"I hear thy vow, and I accept it. If thou should ever break it, our contract wilt be terminated." Undine said.

"Understood." Suzu said before Undine suddenly turned into a blue ball of water and shot herself into the ring on Suzu's finger.

Uzushio Ruins

Soon after, the group had left the cave and was walking through the Uzushio Ruins on their way back to the camp site.

Suzu was looking at the two Summon Rings that she had on her fingers; the Ruby Ring for Gnome, and the Aquamarine Ring for Undine. She could hardly believe that she's already gotten her hands on two out of the Four Spirits.

"Glad that you made a pact with Undine?" Naruto asked as he walked next to her.

"Mm-hmm." Suzu replied before saying "You know, I really had the wrong impression of you, Uzukage-sama."

"Huh? Really?" Naruto asked and Suzu nodded.

"Yes. I thought you'd be more selfish and that you were only hiding your true intentions; to take me to Undine and then make a pact with her yourself, just like how most leaders of a Ninja Village are." Suzu said.

"And what do you think of me now?" Naruto asked, for some reason causing Suzu to stop walking and her entire face turned red as she blushed heavily and steam came out of her ears.

"Hmm? Suzu-chan? You all right? Is something the matter?" Naruto asked as he stopped walking as well.

"N-no! I'm just fine! I-it's just… umm… uhh…" Suzu muttered before suddenly storming off.

"Ah! Wait, Suzu-chan! And that's not even where the camp is." Naruto yelled after her.

Later

Suzu was sitting on the edge of a cliff, looking over the ocean, as well as the Coral Reef Forest. She had clearly run a long way to get there from the Uzushio Ruins. As she looked over the sea, she couldn't help but think back to the blond Kage. What she thought of him? He was brave, strong, reliable, and most importantly, kind. Suzu could also feel an unfamiliar feeling welling up in her chest. She had never felt anything like it before, it was almost as if a group of butterflies had taken up residence in her stomach, and whenever she thought about the Uzumaki, she felt her cheeks heat up. No way! Could this feeling be… love? She had certainly heard about it before, but she herself has never felt it. She found it rather funny; she had always regarded the thing called love a weakness, something for the weak,, and yet here she was, falling in love with a guy she barely knew. However, she was sure that if he knew about that, he, like everyone else, would become afraid of her, and start hating her. Even her only real blood relative, her sister was afraid of her.

"So this is where you've been." She froze as she heard Naruto's voice and she looked over her shoulder to see him coming out of the bushes before he sat down next to her.

After a moment of silence, Naruto asked "So, care to tell me why you ran off all of a sudden?"

She then answer him, however, after a while she finally spoke up "Why do you bother with me?"

"Huh?" The question had caught the blond completely off-guard "What do you mean?"

"We just met. You don't know anything about me. So why won't you just leave me alone?" Suzu questioned, nearly yelling as tears started welling up in her eyes.

"Suzu-chan…" Naruto said and as he looked at her, he couldn't help but see himself in her. He then then put his hand on her shoulder as he said "Listen, we may have only just met, but I still consider you a friend."

"You wouldn't say that if you knew everything about me." Suzu said.

"Look, I understand that you–"

"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!" Suzu yelled before lowering her tone as she said "You don't understand anything." She then rose to her feet before turning around as she walked towards the forest while saying "I want to be alone for a while."

Naruto rose to his feet and turned around as well as he said "But I do understand. I can see by the look in your eyes that you must have had a lonely and difficult life. As a friend, I want you to tell me so that I may help you. But I can see that you may not be ready to tell anyone about it yet, but when you do, I promise you that I'll be all ears."

Suzu clenched her hands tightly before she resumed walking towards the forest.

As Naruto watched her walk away, he suddenly sensed something. There was someone else present. He immediately shunshined off in the direction of whoever it was. This person also seemed to have noticed that he had been found as he had begun running away, however, Naruto managed to catch up to him as he appeared on a branch in front of the guy.

From his clothes, he was obviously a Ninja as he wore red Ninja clothes similar to Suzu's, with a fishnet shirt underneath and a black body-suit under that again which went up to cover his mouth like a mask. On his head, he wore a red Ninja hood with a Hitai-ate over it, showing a symbol that Naruto didn't recognize. He also wore black iron boots and gauntlets with golden outlines, and on his back was a tanto. The only parts of him that weren't covered by clothing were his eyes and hands.

"Who are you, and why were you spying on us?" Naruto asked.

Uzushio, Naruto's tent

The next day, Suzu was ready to leave for her next destination, but before she left, Naruto was surprised to find her coming into his tent.

"Suzu-chan?" He asked.

"Um… about yesterday. I just wanted to say, thank you." Suzu said.

"Heh. No problem." Naruto said as he rubbed the back of his head before asking "So, where you headed next?"

"East Blue. I've heard rumors that the Great Spirit of Wind, Sylph is located there." Suzu said.

"I see. You gonna be all right on your own?" Naruto asked, a hint of concern in his voice.

"I would've liked to say "yes", but after that battle against Undine, I'm not too sure." Suzu said.

"Hmm. In that case, maybe I should send some of my people with you?" Naruto asked.

"You'd do that?" Suzu asked.

"Yeah, and I think I know who to send as well." Naruto said before turning to Zoe who was standing to his right, having been there to deliver a report to him before Suzu showed up "Zoe, go get Karin, Suigetsu, Jugo, Tayuya-chan… Oh, and Kiri-san and Kouta-san as well, and have them all meet Suzu-chan at the gates."

"Understood." Zoe said as she put the report down on Naruto's desk and started walking.

"Oh, and you'll be coming with them as well." He said as his fellow blond left the tent.

"Are you really sure you should do this? Won't you spread your forces thin?" Suzu asked.

"Don't worry about it. We're on pretty good terms with Konoha, Suna, and Iwa, and I haven't done anything to provoke Kumo. And if Kiri should attack us for whatever reason, I know Konoha at least would come to help." Naruto said.

"I… I can't thank you enough." Suzu said as she bowed. She used to not think much of teammates, but after the fight against Undine, she came to realize just how much she needed them.

"Also, take this." Naruto said as he held out an Uzu Hitai-ate, surprising Suzu "I know that you're already a member of a Shinobi Village, but I would like you to consider yourself an honorary member of Uzushio."

"Ah, no, I cannot take this." Suzu said.

Fu then stepped up however as she said "It is also customary for when two Shinobi villages are allied, that they have an ambassador traveling between the two. And that ambassador tends to be carrying the Hitai-ates of both villages."

"Wait, allied? Ambassador?" Suzu asked as she was now holding the Hitai-ate.

"Yesterday, after our talk, I ran into someone who had been sent by the leader of your village to keep an eye on you, in case you got hurt. I then had him contact your village's leader, and we agreed to form an alliance over the Den-Den Mushi. And when it was suggested for you to be an ambassador, he agreed immediately." Naruto said.

"Really?" Suzu asked.

"Yup. I'm the one who suggested it." Fu said.

Suzu then looked down at the Hitai-ate as she smiled before putting it on her forehead and tying it behind her head. She had never worn the Mizuho Hitai-ate, but that was mostly because, aside from her grandfather, she had never really managed to connect with anyone, not even her sister, so she didn't really have any special feelings for the place. But in just one day, Uzushio had already done more for her than her own village ever had.

"I'll be going then." Suzu said as she turned around and started walking out of the tent.

"Good luck." Naruto called after her, causing her to blush slightly, something that didn't go unnoticed by Fu.

When Suzu had walked a fair distance, Naruto heard Fu let out a slight giggle "What's so funny?"

"Oh, no, it's nothing." Fu said as she walked out in front of his desk as she looking at the retreating back of the Mizuho Kunoichi "You know, I think she likes you."

"Really? Well, too bad, I guess. I've already got a Goddess like you." Naruto said as he looked up at his girlfriend, who now smiled back down at him before sighing.

"Actually, if you like her, I wouldn't mind having her as a harem sister." Fu said.

"Huh?" Naruto uttered in shock.

"I've been thinking about what you said about the CRA, and I've decided to go along with it. Or at least try it out." Fu said.

"Really?" Naruto asked.

"Yes." Fu said before leaning down towards Naruto as she looked at him threatingly, causing him to sweat "However, only as long as I'm the Queen, got it?"

"Y-yes ma'am." Naruto said quickly as he nodded.

"Good." Fu said before giving the blond a kiss on the lips.

Chapter preview

Jigi "Whoa! I can't believe that this is all underground!"

Kuroneko "Well, look who's here. I haven't seen you in a while, Byaku-kun."

Kalina "Ha! Is that all you've got? You disappoint me."

Murakami "Huh. As if anyone could keep up with a monster like you."

Saina "Tch. That bitch! Next time I see her, I'm getting my other sword back, and when I do, I'm gonna run her through with it."

Nekomimi "Don't let your hatred control you, Saina. If you do, then you're the one who's gonna end up dead."

Acnologia "Next time on Naruto: Shinobi Hunters: The Dragon Guard."

Byaku "About 30 years ago, a single woman fought the Dragon, Armageddon in these very caves."

Character status

Naruto: Level: 140

Chakra Level: Divine.

Techniques: Soul Perception, Henge, Kawarimi, Oiroke, Harem, Kage Bunshin, Taju Kage Bunshin, Uzumaki Naruto Rendan, Uzumaki Naruto Rendan: Rasengan Edition, Katon: Goukakyo, Futon: Kamikaze, Shakuton: Moesakaru-Rendan, Shakuton: Shakunetsu-Kyu, Ranton: Kumori, Hyoton: Kessho-Sei Koraseru, Kuchiyose, Rasengan, Over-Limit.

Weapons: Kyukiri no Kiba, bo-staff, kunai, shuriken.

Kekkei Genkai: Ranton, Shakuton, Hyoton.

Pokémon: Celebi (lvl 70), Pichu (lvl 5).

Digimon: Dorumon, Cutemon, Spadamon, ChibiKamemon, Dorulumon, Drimogemon, Leomon.

Series: Naruto.

Suzu: Level: 143

Chakra Level: Divine.

Techniques: Utsushimi, Shiranui, Izuna Otoshi, Hagakure, Manjushage, Raiden, Kamaitachi, Samidare.

Weapons: tanto.

Mystic Arte: Summon: Jiraiya.

Spirits: Gnome, Undine.

Series: Tales of… (Phantasia).

Fu: Level: 130

Chakra Level: Divine.

Techniques: Mizu Bunshin, Mushi Bunshin, Mushi no Yoroi, Takigakure-Ryu: Mizukiri no Yaiba, Mushikui, Dokugiri, Suiton: Mizurappa, Hijutsu: Rinpungakure.

Weapons: sword, kunai, shuriken.

Series: Naruto.

Beetlemon: Level: 74

Data Level: Champion.

Chakra Level: Chunin.

Techniques: Thor Hammer, Mjølnir Thunder, Lightning Bomber, Lightning Blitz.

Weapons: none

Series: Digimon.

Suigetsu: Level: 126

Chakra Level: Chunin.

Techniques: Mizu Bunshin, Suika, Suiton: Gousuiwan, Suiton: Suigadan, Suiton: Suiryudan.

Weapons: Kubikiribocho, Kiba.

Series: Naruto.

Ike: Class: Vanguard.

Level: 50 (Kurama no Kyubi: After some thinking, I decided to increase the max level for FE characters.)

Techniques: Critical Hit, Aether, Over-Limit.

Weapons: Ragnell.

Mystic Arte: Great Aether.

Series: Fire Emblem.

Soren: Class: ArchSage.

Level: 50

Techniques: Critical Hit, Wind, Elwind, ArcWind, Thunder, Elthunder, ArcThunder, Fire, Elfire, ArcFire.

Weapons: magic tomes.

Mystic Arte: Weapon Triangle.

Series: Fire Emblem.

Boyd: Class: Reaver.

Level: 50

Techniques: Critical Hit, Over-Limit.

Weapons: steel axe, silver axe, hand axe.

Series: Fire Emblem.

Mia: Class: Trueblade.

Level: 50

Techniques: Critical Hit, Vantage, Astra, Over-Limit.

Weapons: Wo Dao.

Series: Fire Emblem.

Gnome: Level: unknown

Mana Level: Infinite.

Techniques: Stone Blast, Grave, Stalagmite, Debris Fall, Ground Dasher.

Weapons: none

Series: Tales of Series.

Undine: Level: unknown

Mana Level: Infinite.

Techniques: Aqua Edge, Splash, Spread, Tidal Wave, Maelstrom.

Weapons: water sword, water trident.

Series: Tales of Series.

Character information

Name: Miya Kano.

Age: 32

Affiliation: Uzushio.

Affinity: Lightning.

Likes: Arisa-chan and Akisa-chan, Akitsu-kun (Youkai), Akagami-kun.

Dislikes: Kirigakure, Whoever's behind the Land of Sea's destruction.

Info: Kano grew up in the Shinobi Village of Uzushiogakure along with Uzumaki Akitsu, the man who would later become known as the Yonko, Youkai. However, not long after they had graduated from the academy, was the village suddenly attacked from all sides by the Shinobi Villages, Suna, Iwa, Kumo, and Kiri, with Suna coming from the south, Iwa coming from the northwest, Kumo coming from the north, and Kiri coming from the east. It was only a matter of time before the village would fall. There however many people, including Kano and Akitsu, that were able to escape, and afterwards when Akitsu decided to become a Pirate, Kano, after having been rejected by him, went on a journey around the Elemental Nations and eventually settled down in a remote area of the Land of Sea after she had children. Years later when the Land of Sea was destroyed, she returned to the Land of Whirlpools and decided to help rebuild the village she once considered her home.

Kurama no Kyubi: And I'm finally done with the chapter. Really sorry it took so long. I've been looking forward to these past three chapters almost since I started writing this story, and in all honesty, they should have been written a long time ago, but then I never really got time as I came up with Zorro, and then while writing that war I was playing through the PS3 version of Tales of Vesperia, and I was at the point of the game when you first visit Dahngrest, so I just had to add that Arc as well. And as for the Land of Sea, that's also an Arc I had been looking forward to writing, namely due to Isaribi becoming Ranamon. Now then, there's just one more chapter of this Arc, and then after that will be an Arc I've been looking forward to ever since I finished the Stone of Gelel Arc. And that little piece of information may give away what the Arc will be about.