Naruto: Shinobi Hunters

Digi-Destined Saga

Ninja Storm Tournament Arc

Kurama no Kyubi: Welcome back, guys. Now, I wasn't planning on uploading this quite yet since I wanted to get quite a few chapters ahead so that I could upload on maybe a monthly basis in the worst case, but the reason I'm doing this is mainly because I'm in a really good mood this week since we finally got confirmation for Toaru Majutsu no Index III (A Certain Magical Index III). Also, one last thing before we get to the chapter, and that is that I'm actually planning on adding a lemon scene at some point during this Arc. I will of course put up warnings both before and after so that those who don't like it can just skip it.

"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

Yukari (OC): Kurama no Kyubi doesn't own anything!

Cosmog: Pew!

Chapter 47: Ninja Storm Tournament

Dragons. An ancient and mysterious race of giant flying reptiles, closely connected to Magic. Not much is known about these majestic creatures, however, while many view them as nothing more than mindless beasts, that couldn't be further from the truth. In truth, Dragons possess a great deal of intelligence as well as a large vocabulary. Their ability to seemingly understand any language first time hearing it, and then speak it fluently has left many scholars baffled.

Something that would probably surprise most was the fact that they even had a hierarchy. Unlike in Human society, however, in Dragon society, there was two separate governing factors; strength, and wisdom. And the stronger or wiser a Dragon was, the higher it was in the hierarchy, and only one which possessed both strength and wisdom could be called "Bahamut", the Dragon King.

The Dragons under the current Bahamut seems to have a close relationship with the Shinobi of the Elemental Nations on the south-eastern end of Ishgar as they have been reported of forming Summoning contracts with them on two occasions. First with the Shodai Hokage, Senju Hashirama, and then again with the Sandaime Uzukage, Uzumaki Uzumaru. However, it seems that not all Dragons were on board with this, not wanting to take orders from Humans, causing conflicts to form and for many Dragons to set out and form their own Factions.

Many have of course tried to challenge Bahamut for his title, however, none has succeeded thus far.

Despite this, Bahamut is by far not the strongest Dragon out there, or even anywhere close to the top of the hierarchy for that matter.

Standing above Bahamut were the Gem Dragons; eight powerful Dragons titled after gemstones, and serving directly under one of the Four Great Black Dragons; the Black Queen herself. They also each commands an entire legion of Dragons that would even make a global super-power like the World Government tremble.

And above them again were the Elemental Dragons; four great Dragons said to have formed the Earth itself. They were the Vine Dragon, the Tide Dragon, the Storm Dragon, and the Magma Dragon.

Then there is one that is only known as the "Big Red One". By far the largest Dragon to ever have been recorded, being able to reach his head into the clouds while still standing on the bottom of the sea. Not much is known about him other than that he serves as the personal bodyguard of the Black Queen. And oddly enough, if you're lucky enough to meet someone who has met him, they'll describe him as "the strong silent type".

Then we have what are the strongest Dragons to have been recorded to date. The four Dragons known as the "Four Great Black Dragons".

The Black Queen. She has many names, depending on where you are in the world, and out of any others, has the most Dragons serving her. It is also said that the Holy Capital of the World Government was named after one of her names. Other than that nothing else is known about her.

Grima, the Fell Dragon. A giant multi-winged Dragon who is still being worshipped at many places across the world. He was originally believed to have died a long time ago, however, a recent incident showed that he could be resurrected, though he was killed again before he could do too much damage.

Acnologia (Acnolodramon), the Dragon of Apocalypse. As one of the Perfect, and thus, a Digimon, it is still heavily debated whether he should really be put here or not, but his power is still something that cannot be denied.

Armageddon, the END Dragon. Hardly anything is known about where this Dragon came from, only that one day about a thousand years ago he appeared and single-handedly destroyed the Nekomata Kingdom, birthplace of the Nekomimi race, and has since been hunting the descendants of the survivors. His title is an acronym for "Ethra Nokrihm Dakhu", a Nekomimi phrase which has multiple meanings, though they all correlate to one thing; "death".

And finally, we have the three wisest of the Dragons; The Elder Dragons. These are the oldest and most respected of all Dragons, even the Black Dragons wouldn't dare to raise their claws against them. However, for unknown reasons, they have secluded themselves to remote locations throughout the world.

There are other Dragons even above those like the Yin-Yang Dragons, the Spirit Dragon, the Ancient Dragon, and the Dragon God, however, those only exist in myths and there have been no proof of their existence. Sure, there is the Ryujinkiri, the sword currently held by the Samurai Emperor, which is said to have been carved out from one of the Dragon God's fangs, and this was supported both by how old the sword was, and by the fact that it never seemed to decay. This was disproven however, when the sword recently began showing signs of decay.

A field in the Land of Fire

Bakuto walked through a large open field. In his left hand, he was holding the Cosmic-Type Orb. Just recently, he had first-hand witnessed a miracle. After Hachimon had left and everyone had gone to the ruins of the town, they found that every single one of the townspeople had somehow mysteriously survived. He had later tracked down Medusa who had disappeared at some point to ask her if she knew anything about it, though she wasn't much help. Bakuto was certain that she knew something, but it was clear that she wasn't going to talk so he determined further questioning to be pointless.

It also seemed that the inhabitants of the Crescent Moon Kingdom had decided to leave the destroyed island behind to form a new Kingdom elsewhere, though they didn't know where yet.

"If it isn't everyone's favorite stray Dragon." Bakuto looked towards where the voice came from to find two girls standing atop a nearby hill.

One of them looked to be 17 and had short silver hair and bluish purple eyes. She wore a black tank top over her F-cup chest, and blue pants and boots.

The other one who appeared to be two years younger had long red hair and silver eyes. She was wearing a blood-red kimono and geta sandals. It was hard to tell through the kimono, but unlike her generously gifted companion, she only had B-cups.

"Margaret-san. Sounga-san." Bakuto said.

Soon after

"Your father entrusted Margaret to be your bodyguard, so you can't just go disappearing on her like this!" Bakuto, Margaret (the silver haired girl), and Sounga (the red haired girl) were walking through the field.

Sounga then turned to Margaret.

"Hey, say something!" She said.

"Oh no, it's fine! I don't mind!" Margaret said with a smile, causing Sounga to mentally face-palm.

Bakuto just ignored them however as he walked towards a hole in the side of a hill.

"What are you doing?" Sounga asked as she looked towards him.

"Is there something in there?" Margaret asked as she leaned in to peek into the hole.

Inside was a young girl who appeared to be about 6 years old sleeping soundly. She had short deep purple hair and was wearing a white silk dress with two straps going over her shoulders. She didn't have anything on her feet, though. What stood out about her the most, though, was the fact that she had two small horns protruding from her forehead, slightly pointy ears, and a black tail with an arrow-head-like tip which she was cutely gripping in both hands was coming out of her back.

"AH! TOMOKYAN!" Margaret exclaimed with stars in her eyes as she saw the cute girl as Sounga came up to look as well.

The girl then stirred as she started to open her eyes and she looked up at Bakuto.

"DADDY!" And she instantly jumped up and hugged him.

"Ah?! Daddy?! I didn't know you had a daughter!" Margaret yelled in surprise.

"I don't." Bakuto simply stated before looking down at the young girl who was clutching to his leg as she was half-hiding behind it "Yukari-chan, say hello to Margaret-Onee-san, and Sounga-Onee-san."

"… Hello…" The girl, Yukari said.

"Ohh! Tomokyan! She's so adorable!" Margaret said with stars in her eyes.

Sounga however, just took notice of Yukari's horns, ears, and tail.

"Bakuto-kun. This girl, is she…?" She trailed off.

"A Demon? I suppose you could say that. And I'd prefer it if you didn't mention about this to anyone." Bakuto said.

Bakuto then looked down at the Orb in his hand before looking down at Yukari.

"Yukari-chan, I've got a little surprise for you." Bakuto said as Yukari looked up at him curiously. Bakuto then held out the Orb and a black beam of light shot out.

Appearing from the light was a small gas-like creature which looked like it could've come from space. In fact, it looked like a nebula cloud.

"Pe-pew!"

"Kyaaaahhh! It's so cute! TOMOKYAN!" Margaret exclaimed.

Yukari stared at the creature for a bit before she ran over and glomped it.

Noticing the questioning look on Sounga's face, Bakuto spoke up.

"It was sealed inside the Cosmic-Type Orb." He then turned to Yukari as he continued "It's a creature known as a Pokémon. I believe the proper name for this one is, "Cosmog"."

Land of Whirlpools, Uzushiogakure, Naruto's tent

"The Ninja Storm Tournament?" Naruto asked as he sat at his desk. Fu and Zolo stood on either side of him while Dorumon and Tentomon were off to the side. Standing before the desk was Takeda, who was now dressed in a Uzushio Chunin/Jonin uniform.

"It's a tournament for Shinobi – any Shinobi may enter, be they Genin, Chunin, Jonin, Kage, or even Nuke-nin. The only real requirement is that they are Ninja. Some may even come from the other side of the world. As a new Ninja Village this tournament would be the best opportunity to gain some recognition." Takeda said.

"Heh. A tournament, you say? Sounds interesting." Zolo said.

"Naruto-kun?" Fu asked, looking at the boy as he sat there with his hand on his chin, looking as if he's thinking "You think we should join?"

"Hmm? Oh, I'm all down for that. I was just wondering when it starts, since I still need to show Tazuna around the reconstruction area." Naruto said.

"Exactly one week from now, on March 1st." Takeda confirmed.

One week later – March 1st

Naruto, Fu, Zolo, Akagami, Nowi, Isaribi, Norma, Kano, Arisa, Akisa, and the members of the Greil Mercenaries were on a boat heading towards a small island just to the north of the Elemental Nations, though to the south of the newly renamed Land of Spring.

Naruto had of course left Takeda in charge of the village while they were gone.

"I'm actually surprised that they allowed those guys to come as well." Kano said as she leaned with her back on the railings, glancing towards some of the Greil Mercenaries.

"Why's that?" Naruto asked as Arisa, Akisa, Akagami, Mist, Rolf, Mia, Nowi, Dorumon, Tentomon, and Fu ran by in the foreground, playing.

"The Ninja Storm Tournament is a tournament for Ninja, by Ninja. Usually only Ninja, whether they're there to compete or spectate, are allowed. The Greil Mercenaries may be a cooperative institution to you, but they're not Ninja." Kano said.

"Hold on!" The two looked towards Norma "Didn't Takky say that competing in this tournament would be the best opportunity to gain recognition? If there's only Ninja there, then how will potential clients learn about the village?"

"That's actually a pretty good question." Kano said before beginning to explain "You see; if a new Ninja Village compete, and they impress the referees, then they will go around and spread rumors about the village."

"So have you competed before?" Naruto asked.

"Hmm? Oh, yeah. I did once. A long time ago." Kano answered.

"How far did you get?" Naruto asked.

"Oh, I just completely lost in the first round." Kano said with a smile.

"HUH?!" Naruto and Norma both looked at her shocked.

"The first round is comprised of 10 consecutive 4-person battle royals, and of course only one person can proceed to the next battle. I was of course fully confident that I would get through all 10 battles; however, one of the opponents that I got in the very first battle was in a completely different league. And the way she handled those ropes… She defeated the rest of us in an instant. At the time I was already at Jonin level too, so I took the loss pretty hard." Kano said.

"Sounds to me like you just got unlucky on the draw." Norma said.

"Yeah. It was that girl who won the tournament too. Apparently none of her fights lasted more than an instant. It was pretty crazy." Kano said.

"Man, I hope I won't have to fight someone like that." Naruto said.

"Who knows? Maybe that girl will come back to compete again." Norma teased, causing Naruto to sweat heavily.

"No, that's not possible." Kano said with her eyes closed before opening them as she continued "You see, you only get one chance at the Ninja Storm Tournament. Once it's over that's it, you can never reapply for it. This holds true for both the winners and the losers. I hear that even the referees changes every time."

"Still doesn't mean someone else really powerful couldn't show up." Norma said in thought.

"Well, I'm sure that if that's the case, I've no doubt we can handle it." Fu said as she came over to them.

"Aren't you being a bit overconfident?" Norma asked.

"Hey, you'll never get anywhere if you don't believe in yourself." Fu said.

"You'll also never get anywhere if you're overconfident and just charge straight in." Norma said.

"Sounds like you're talking from experience." Fu said.

"What was that?!" Norma yelled.

"Hmm?" Naruto looked over his shoulder out over the ocean.

"What is it?" Kano asked.

"Ah, no. I just felt as if someone was looking at me, but it was probably just my imagination." Naruto said before adding "Although, there was something familiar about it."

Later

As the sun was setting, a small island was finally coming into view. The island where this year's Ninja Storm Tournament was going to be held. Beyond the island was a large orange wall which looked like it could even dwarf mountains.

"Hey, Uzukage." Naruto was on the middle of the deck talking with Ike and Zolo as someone came up behind him. When he turned around, he saw that it was Soren.

"What is it, Soren?" Ike asked.

"I overheard your conversation with Norma earlier. And as much as I don't like that pompous brat, I must admit that she's got a point." Soren said before continuing "Remember what we came here for; to bring attention to Uzushio. And according to Kano, the only way to do that is to impress the referees. And we don't know what it'll take to impress them, but I can assure you that charging blindly at an opponent without knowing their strength is not how."

"There's no need to worry. I'm well aware of that." Naruto said.

"And besides, he's not gonna be alone." Zolo stated.

"You're joining too?" Soren asked.

"Sure I am! No way I was gonna pass up something like this." Zolo said.

"Are there anyone else joining?" Ike asked as he looked at Zolo.

"Beats me." Zolo said.

"Fu-chan said that she wanted to join as well." Naruto said as he turned to the blue-haired swordsman.

"We should keep it to that." Soren said.

"Huh? Why?" Naruto asked.

"Remember what Kano said?" Soren asked "The first round is a series of 10 consecutive 4-person battle royals. I don't know how many participants there are, but the more people we enter, the more likely it is that they'll end up having to fight each other."

"Hmm… You've got a good point." Naruto said in thought.

As they were talking, in the meantime, some others were at the front of the ship, looking towards the island they were headed for. These were Fu, Nowi, and Isaribi.

"So that's the island we're headed to, huh?" Nowi asked.

"Yeah. That's where they're holding the Ninja Storm Tournament. Though, I must say that it's smaller than I expected." Fu said.

"Ah, say, what is that orange wall on the other side of it?" Isaribi asked.

"Hmm? Oh, that is a huge mist which has never let up." Fu said "It's only orange due to evening sun."

"A mist that never lets up?" Nowi asked.

"Yeah. Apparently it's been there for as long as anyone can remember. There's supposed to be an island somewhere within it, but I have no idea whether that's true or not." Fu said.

"An island…?" Nowi asked as she looked towards the island and the mist behind it before her eyes dilated and she suddenly found herself floating in the air under a blood-red sky. In the distance she saw a large island with a lot of towers on it, and in the sky above were a number of Dragons flying around, firing at each other with their respective breath attacks. Some were breathing flames, others ice, and some lightning.

Just then, a huge Dragon which towered over everything else rose up from its previous lying position. It then extended its large wings out over the ocean before letting out a beastly roar, causing the water to ripple.

Nowi then heard what sounded like the voice of an old man coming from within her own head.

"The Dragon King Festival. It was a great and terrible war 400 years ago where Dragon fought against man, man fought against man, and Dragon fought against Dragon."

"Hey, Nowi-chan, is there something wrong?" Nowi gasped as she came back to reality as Fu and Isaribi looked at her worriedly, having noticed that the Manakete had been spacing out.

"Ah, no, I'm fine." Nowi said with a bright smile.

"You sure? You look a little pale." Isaribi noted.

"As I said, I'm just fine." Nowi said before thinking 'I can't trouble them with this. But… just what was that anyway…? Some kind of vision?'

Shijin Island

By the time they had gotten to the island, the sun had already gone down.

As they walked off the boat and onto the rocky beach, Fu looked around as she whistled.

"So this is the island where the Ninja Storm Tournament will take place, huh?"

It was a relatively small island. Atop a cliff overlooking the beach they were on was a large building; the hotel they'd be staying at. Coming out of the back of the hotel was a long tunnel leading to a large dome in the middle of the island, and from that dome were another five tunnels leading to five smaller domes.

They walked into the hotel's lobby as Naruto, Fu, and Zolo walked up to the reception/registration desk.

The man standing behind the desk was tall and had long shoulder-length black hair, and was wearing a business suit. He also had shining silver eyes and was wearing a bright smile on his face. He had a name plate, but rather than a name, it displayed a series of numbers. 629532.

"Welcome. I take it that the three of you are competing? Right, Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto-san?" The receptionist said, causing the three to look at him in shock.

"How did you know my name?" Naruto asked.

"We're all Ninja here, whether current or former. I know the names of all of you. Fu, formerly of Taki. Roronoa Zolo, son of Samurai Emperor Roronoa Zorro. I even know the names of your companions of the Greil Mercenaries who are from the South Blue." The receptionist said.

The receptionist then reached under the desk before putting down three papers in front of them.

"So, I'm guessing you wanna compete?" He asked, but before Naruto and the others could reply, Akagami called out as he began moving towards them.

"Hey, I wanna compete as well!" He yelled, however, he suddenly found himself face-first on the floor as he felt a weight pressing down on him.

"I'll keep him in check. You guys just go ahead and sign up." Norma said as she sat on Akagami's back, having used her Magic to slightly shift the ground under his feet to make him fall.

"Hey! Get offa me, you brat!" Akagami yelled, but of course, it landed on deaf ears.

"I'm older than you." The 17-year old girl said as she continued to sit on the 13-year old boy.

"Heheheh…" Naruto looked at them before turning back to the receptionist.

"Anyway…" The receptionist said before pointing at the papers "We need you to write down your names, your rank, and what village and/or Clan you're from. And if you're either former Ninja or Nuke-nin, write down what rank you were and your village of birth."

"Whoa, you really do allow Nuke-nin to participate." Fu said as she was looking through the paper.

"Well, of course. We do not discriminate here." The receptionist said.

Just as he said that, the door to the lobby opened and someone came in before walking over to the reception desk where he walked up between Naruto and Fu.

"My comrades arrived before me. They should've already taken care of everything." The man said, and Naruto and the others turned towards him with Naruto's and Fu's eyes widening at who they saw.

"Oh, right. Then you must be Kakuzu-san." The receptionist said, his smile never leaving his face "Here you go. The key to your room." He handed the key to Kakuzu.

"Thank you." Kakuzu said before beginning to turn around, stopping as his eyes met Fu's fearful ones "You can relax. We didn't come here for you two, or that other Jinchuriki."

He then walked towards the elevator and took it up to the twentieth floor.

"And here you have the keys to your rooms." The receptionist said, holding out three keys, one for each of them.

"Oh, thank you." Naruto said as he took the key before noticing the number on it. 2009.

"Wait, this is…!"

"Don't tell me we're gonna be on the same floor as the Akatsuki." Fu said.

"You won't just be sharing a floor. You'll be sharing a hallway." The receptionist said, still smiling.

"I see…" Naruto said as he looked down at the key before he let the information sink in "Wait, say what…?!"

The next day

Naruto woke up the next day before taking the elevator down to the ground floor and entering the lobby.

"Sleep well?" Naruto turned towards the voice to see the receptionist standing behind the reception desk.

"Did you stay up all night working, or something?" Naruto asked, commenting on how early it was.

"Well, of course. You never know when more people will show up." The receptionist said with a smile.

"That… takes dedication." Naruto said before staring intently at the man's name plate and asking "By the way, what's up with that?"

"Hmm? Oh, you mean the name plate?" The receptionist asked before answering "It's a code alluding to my name. If you look at a Hiragana chart, then count the top symbols from right to left before counting them from top to bottom, and repeat."

"Hmm… Let's see; ha, hi, ra, ro, sa, shi." Naruto stared at the name plate intently before looking up at the man's face "Hiroshi?"

"That's me!" The receptionist said.

"But, should you really be telling me this?" Naruto asked.

"There's no need to worry about it. It's a really simple code. Any Ninja worth their hitai-ate should be able to figure it out." Hiroshi said before asking "So where were you off to so early in the morning?"

"Oh, I thought I'd go exploring a bit before the tournament." Naruto said.

"Sure. Just be back in the lobby by 12. Also, I would suggest stepping outside. You might find something surprising." Hiroshi said.

Heeding Hiroshi's words, Naruto headed for the exit before walking outside, bringing him face-to -face with the cliff over the beach. He looked around, wondering what Hiroshi had meant, and he decided to walk around the corner of the hotel, only to come to a complete stop at what he saw.

Just on the other side of the hotel was a large town which seemed to reach all the way to the center dome, and the fact that the hotel stood on a cliff on a hill above the town made for quite the view. Strangely enough though, Naruto didn't remember seeing any signs of a town there the previous night.

Town

Naruto walked through the streets of the town as he looked around before spotting a ramen stand on the right side of the street, and he walked into it. He sat down on a chair before ordering a miso ramen from the clerk.

When the ramen arrived in front of him, he took a whiff of it as he sighed in contentment before taking a pair of chopsticks.

"Itadakemasu!" Naruto and a man who appeared to be in his early twenties said at the same time as they both began slurping down the ramen. They both finished at the same time as they placed the empty ramen cups down "Ahhh! That was delicious!" They then held the ramen cups out in front of them "More please!"

The two's eyes then met as they looked at each other as if they were getting ready for a fight.

As the ramen came, they immediately began scarfing it down, and they didn't stop there; soon enough there must've been up to thirty empty cups next to each of them.

"Ahhh! I can't eat another bite." They both sighed as they rubbed their stomachs.

"Say, I'm Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto, the Uzukage. What about you?" Naruto asked.

"Ryukushi Jinryokou." The man said before looking at Naruto "Man, I haven't someone who could compete with me in eating ramen in a very long time, you're quite something Naruto-kun. So, are you competing in the tournament?"

"Hehe. You know it Dattebayo!" Naruto exclaimed with his trademark foxy grin "And you?"

"Same. We might even end up facing each other." Jinryokou said.

"If we do, don't expect me to hold back." Naruto said.

"I wouldn't want you to." Jinryokou said "But, you know, I'm from a really powerful Clan from a while back, so you shouldn't underestimate me."

"Really?" Naruto asked.

"Hai. 100 years ago, the Ryukushi Clan was a large Clan that was feared all over the world, even spreading to all corners of the world. All four Blue Seas, both halves of the Grand Line; even the Red Line wasn't safe from them." Jinryokou said with a fond look on his face as if he was reminiscing better times, but then his look turned sour "Then one day, the whole Clan suddenly vanished. I am the only one left."

"Oh, sorry. I'm one of the last members of my own Clan, so I can kinda understand how you must feel." Naruto said.

"Don't worry about it. The Ryukushi Clan will return, that is already guaranteed." Jinryokou said.

"Oh? They'll return? Well, that's great 'ttebayo!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Yeah…"Jinryokou said with a sad look on his face, which didn't go unnoticed by Naruto.

Later

Naruto later walked through the streets, wondering what the look on Jinryokou's face meant.

"Hey, Goggle-head!" Naruto looked up to see Kurotsuchi waving at him. Akatsuchi, Kitsuchi, and Onoki were there as well, as well as three people that Naruto didn't recognize. Two, a boy and a girl, who appeared to be around his age, and one who was clad in armor from head-to-toe.

Soon after, Naruto and Kurotsuchi stood a bit away from the others as they talked.

"So you're joining the tournament too?" Kurotsuchi asked.

"Yup! And since you're here, I'm guessing you're joining as well?" Naruto asked.

"Yup." Kurotsuchi said before saying "We're actually going to Konoha after this, though."

"Really?" Naruto asked.

"I was surprised too. Jiji's never been interested in talking with another village before." Kurotsuchi said.

"Ahem." Naruto looked behind Kurotsuchi who also turned around to see the girl he didn't recognize standing there with her arms crossed under her C-Cup chest and a pissed-off look on her face as she glared at Naruto.

She had wavy shoulder shoulder-length white hair and yellow eyes with white pupils. For clothes, she wore a dark red tank-top under an open black vest that was lined with brown fur. And she also wore dark blue shorts which only went half-way down her thighs. She had a white Iwa Hitai-ate on her forehead.

"Yes? Can I help you?" Naruto asked as he slightly tilted his head to his side.

"As a matter of fact, you can!" The girl said in a commanding tone before pointing an accusing finger at the blond "Who are you? And just what is your relationship with Kurotsuchi-sama?"

Not quite sure how to respond, Naruto turned his head to Kurotsuchi.

"This is Kokuo Mina. Heiress of the Kokuo Clan, and my closest friend." Kurotsuchi said.

"I see. Nice to meet you. I'm Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto, Dattebayo!" Naruto said as he held out his hand, however, Mina just pulled away from him as she again crossed her arms under her chest, still glaring at him.

"Uhhh…?"

"She also has a huge crush on me and gets jealous easily." Kurotsuchi said with a slight blush on her face.

"Eh, what…?"

"Also…" Kurotsuchi said as she stepped over to Naruto and whispered something into his ear before pulling back with a blush on her face.

"Say what…?!" Naruto reeled back in shock and Kurotsuchi nodded.

Elsewhere

"Weird. I'm pretty sure there wasn't a town here yesterday." Fu said as she walked through the town.

"It can't just have appeared out of nowhere." Tentomon said as he flew next to her.

"Hey, girl, you seem troubled." They turned towards the voice to find a man sitting on a wooden chair on the side of the street with a round table next to him which had a crystal ball on it. The man had laid-back spiky dark red hair with a black bandana and he wore a dirty black robe. He also had silver eyes and a wide thin smile on his face.

"Who are you?" Fu asked as she walked towards the man, and as she got closer, she thought that his eyes looked familiar "Ah! You're the receptionist back at the hotel!"

The man's mile widened.

"The name's Hiroshi." The man said.

"But what are you doing here? And why are you in disguise? Shouldn't you be back at the hotel?" Fu asked.

"What? You saying I can't be in two places at the same time? This is just the form I use in the town." Hiroshi said, and Fu gave him a questioning look.

"Oh, so you're some kind of Bunshin? And using Henge?" She asked.

"No, that's not quite it." Hiroshi said before he gestured to the crystal ball "Want me to tell your fortune?"

"Huh? You can do that?" Fu asked as Tentomon landed on the table and observed the ball.

"It looks just like any other normal glass ball." He said.

"It is. But it's not the ball itself that is special." Hiroshi said before turning fully towards the ball as he closed his eyes and held his hands over the crystal ball as dark clouds began swirling around inside the ball, causing Tentomon to jump back.

"I can see an old mansion and an army of ghosts within its walls. And a giant black horned beetle protecting you." Hiroshi said before opening his eyes as the dark clouds faded.

"An old mansion? Ghosts? What are you talking about?" Fu asked, having never been one to believe in ghosts or the supernatural.

"Who's that giant black horned beetle?! I'll give him a piece of my mind! I'm the only one allowed to protect Toots!" Tentomon yelled, causing Fu to chuckle nervously.

Naruto and Kurotsuchi

Naruto and Kurotsuchi were still talking as the others had left the two alone, Bakutsuchi and Akatsuchi having had to drag Mina away.

"So, umm, do you have any plans later?" Kurotsuchi asked as she looked at Naruto.

"No, not really. Why?" Naruto asked.

"Well, I was wondering if–"

"Hey, Naruto-kun~!" The two looked towards the voice to see Fu running towards them and waving as Tentomon flew after her.

"Ah! Fu-chan!" Naruto said as Fu came over to them before noticing Kurotsuchi.

"Oh, hey. Who are you? I'm Fu." She said.

"Oh, I'm Kurotsuchi…" Kurotsuchi said before asking "So, um, what exactly is your relationship?"

"Oh, Fu-chan's my girlfriend 'ttebayo." Naruto said.

"Ah, girl… friend? Kurotsuchi said, a dejected look on her face.

"?" Naruto looked at her confused, though Fu got an air of realization about her.

Near the hotel

Atop a cliff looking over the hotel, a large shadow suddenly emerged from the ground before disappearing, revealing four people. Bakuto, Margaret, Sounga, and the young Yukari who was holding Cosmog.

"We're here." Bakuto said.

"Hey, where is this place?" Margaret asked as she looked around frantically.

"The home of an incredibly powerful Dragon." Bakuto replied.

"Huh? Why would you take us to–?!" Sounga began asking before she noticed that Bakuto was walking away with Yukari walking after him "Hey, where do you think you're going?!"

"Don't worry. The Dragon won't attack you. You guys can just enjoy yourselves at the beach. In the meantime, I'll be going down to the town." Bakuto said.

"To the town! To the town!" Yukari added as she marched next to him.

"Pew! Pew!" Cosmog said.

"Ah, wait–!" Sounga yelled after them

"YAY! The beach!" Margaret yelled.

Bakuto

Bakuto and Yukari walked through the town as Cosmog, now free of Yukari's arms, floated near her head.

"Hey, daddy, I don't really like this place." Yukari said as she grabbed onto Bakuto's pants leg and Bakuto looked down at her.

"Pew?" Cosmog asked.

"Hey, now, there's no reason to be scared." Bakuto said as he went down on his knees and put his hand on her head "Want me to give you a piggy-back ride?"

"No, I'm fine. I can handle it." Yukari said as she shook her head and smiled, trying to act brave. At this, Bakuto smiled as well.

"All right, then." He said as he rose to his feet before continuing walking, Yukari and Cosmog following after him.

'Yukari-chan is sensitive to illusions. I wonder if it's this illusory town that upset her. If so, then maybe I should have left her behind with Margaret-san and Sounga-san.' Bakuto thought before letting out a sigh, and he then added 'Then again, if I had done that, then she would've just followed after me anyway. And I'd rather not imagine the kind of trouble she'd get in if she did that.'

He then let out another sigh before hearing some nearby voices, and he looked towards the source of the voices to see some familiar faces.

'Hey, isn't that…?!'

Naruto, Fu, Kurotsuchi

"So, Kuro, are you joining the tournament as well?" Fu asked, and Kurotsuchi nodded.

"Yes, I am. In fact, there are participants from most of the Hidden Villages, though from what I have seen, there seems to only be one from Konoha." Kurotsuchi said.

"Really? Who was it? What do they look like?" Naruto asked, wondering if it was someone he knew.

"No, I don't think it is anyone you would know. Or at least, I hope not." Kurotsuchi said as Naruto and Fu looked at her confused "I can't exactly explain why, but for some reason he reminded me of that Mizuki guy."

"Mizuki?!" Naruto asked.

"Who is that?" Fu asked.

"Someone who once tricked me to steal Konoha's Secret Scroll for him and then tried to leave the village with it while also trying to kill me because he saw me as the Kyubi." Naruto said.

"Ah! Then, you don't think that this guy–!" Fu began.

"Probably." Naruto affirmed.

"Might be someone who holds a grudge against the Kyubi and somehow learned that you would be participating." They turned towards the voice to see Bakuto coming towards them.

"Bakuto-san?" Kurotsuchi asked.

"You know him, Kuro-chan?" Naruto asked.

"I ran into him one time." Kurotsuchi said before turning to Bakuto "You come here to participate as well?" The thought made her kinda worried as she recalled how strong Jigi had been, and Byaku was supposedly far stronger, yet even he had gotten cold feet when Bakuto had showed up.

"I'm not a Ninja, so I can't. I only came here with some friends to watch." Bakuto said.

"Friends…?" Naruto asked before noticing Yukari hiding behind Bakuto's leg with Cosmog floating by her, and he leaned down "Well, hello there. And you are?"

"Ah!" And she hid even more behind Bakuto's leg, and Naruto stood back up as he scratched the back of his head.

"Sorry about that. She's a bit shy around new people. It might also be because she can sense that you're a Jinchuriki." Bakuto said.

"Wait, you mentioned that earlier too, didn't you? How did you know that I was a Jinchuriki?" Naruto asked.

"Fu-san as well. I know that the both of you are Jinchuriki, Naruto-san. I even know which of the nine Biju it is that you carry." Bakuto said, causing Naruto and Fu's eyes to widen at not only the fact that he knew their names, but also that he knew exactly which Biju they held.

"What?! But how? The only ones who should know are the people of Konoha and Uzushio, as well as a few other people who I've told." Naruto said.

"And as for me, only Taki and Uzushio knows." Fu said.

"Don't you think you're being a bit too naïve, saying that?" Bakuto asked "You're Ninja, aren't you? Just like almost everyone else here. You shouldn't be surprised if someone discovers your secrets."

"But… didn't you just say that you weren't a Ninja?" Kurotsuchi asked.

"I did. But I still have my ways." Bakuto said.

"Hey, daddy, I'm hungry." Yukari said as she tugged on Bakuto's pants and her tummy growled.

"Oh? Then, I suppose we should find some place to eat. Anything in particular you want?" Bakuto asked.

"Human meat." Yukari said in an innocent tone as she held up her hand.

"You can't just go around saying something like that. Besides, I don't think Hiroshi-san included any cannibal shops when creating this town." Bakuto said.

"But what about them?" Yukari asked as she pointed at Naruto, Fu, and Kurotsuchi.

"!"

"No. You can't eat people." Bakuto said, causing Yukari to pout.

"Umm, I don't know if you'd be interested, but I know of a ramen stand not far from here." Naruto spoke up nervously.

"Thank you." Bakuto said "How does ramen sound?"

"Ugh… fine…!" Yukari groaned in disappointment.

"Now, now." Bakuto then turned back to Naruto and the others "Before I go, let me give you a piece of advice; do not let appearances fool you. Here, even the most innocent-looking people will kill you if you pull your punches."

"Well, then, see you later, and good luck." Bakuto said with a smile and a wave as he and Yukari walked past them.

"What's that guy's deal anyway? Just appearing out of nowhere. And what was up with that girl calling him "daddy", asking for Human meat?" Kurotsuchi asked.

As Kurotsuchi and Fu looked at Bakuto and Yukari's retreating backs, Naruto noticed something as he looked over his shoulder.

"Anyway, Naruto-kun, why don't we–?!" Fu began as she turned around, but Naruto wasn't anywhere to be found "Huh? Where'd he go?"

Naruto

Naruto landed on a cliff over-looking the town as he looked around before noticing a silhouette standing a ways off. Earlier in the town, he had felt someone's eyes on him, and when he had turned to look, he was able to just barely make out the silhouette of someone running away across the rooftops, so he did the most obvious thing and gave chase.

As Naruto got closer, he noticed that the person he'd been chasing was a girl. She was wearing purple ninja garments, and she had her hair tied in a spiky pony-tail. The sclera on her left eye was also black and she had a black Dragon tattoo on the left side of her face. Naruto recognized that from somewhere before, it was the same thing as on Saina's face.

Another thing was that the girl's face looked familiar somehow, though he couldn't recall where he had seen her before.

"Who are you? A friend of Saina's?" Naruto asked as he got on guard.

"The name's Fujibayashi Sheena, also known as "Sheena the Summoner", and I'm of the Dragon Guard's Death Squad." The girl said.

Just then a message sounded over the island's loud-speakers.

"To all contestants, it is now 11:30, you all need to come to the hotel lobby. Anyone who fails to do so will be assassinated in their sleep."

Elsewhere

In a big dark room that kinda resembled an audience chamber there was a lone figure, though it was far too small to be Human.

"So, Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto of the 13th generation Digi-Destined, I look forward to see you perform in the tournament." A rasping elderly voice sounded as three green thin long scaly clawed fingers brushed through a long beard and another three were resting on an old cane.

Chapter preview

Gildarts "Everyone, welcome to the 776th Ninja Storm Tournament."…"This tournament has been around since the dawn of the Shinobi World, and today, you have all come here to compete."…"There are a total of 1.568 contestants, each from different corners of the world, and each with vastly different battle styles and Ninjutsu at their disposal. This will not be an easy struggle for sure."

Naruto "Next time on Naruto: Shinobi Hunters: Round 1."

Gildarts "Now, HAJIME! Go and bring glory to your villages!"

Character information

Name: Soren.

Age: unknown

Affiliation: Ike.

Affinity: Wind.

Likes: Reading.

Dislikes: Being addressed as a child, Laguz in general.

Info: Being the illegitimate child of a Beorc (Human) and a Laguz, Soren was born as a half-breed known as a Branded, and as a result spent most of his early life being hated by his Laguz peers, and even when he stepped into Beorc society, things didn't change much. It wasn't until he met a young Ike that he found someone who didn't treat him like an outcast, and eventually he joined the Greil Mercenaries, becoming their tactician. As a member of the Greil Mercenaries, he fought alongside them against both Daein and then the Begnion Empire three years later, but he never really felt any attachments to most of the other mercenaries, nor the armies they were fighting alongside of; the only reason he fought with them was due to his sworn loyalty to Ike. After Ashera's reawakening, Soren joined the group entering the Tower of Guidance to slay the Goddess. After this, he would then join Ike on a journey to new lands, though even after their return, they never spoke a word of what they saw.

Kurama no Kyubi: As much as I would want to bring you the next chapter soon, the only reason I'm giving you this chapter is because of Index III getting announced, but now I will go back to my original plan of getting several chapters done with before uploading them. Also, I would like to add that I don't own either Margaret or Sounga, they're OCs created by the same guy who created Bakuto, Bakuto Masaki.