A/N: Well, I finally managed to finish this fourth Chapter of this story. I hope you'll enjoy reading it.
Year X780, December
The port town of Narcissus had managed to recover after the Crimson Reaper ordeal. Theo, the young page, had received ownership of the Golden Ship, after Eite had been killed by the Crimson Reaper. Since Eite had not named a successor himself and did not have any family who could inherit the Inn it fell to the mayor to reassign the ownership of the building.
Generous as he was he had given it to Theo, knowing no one else to sufficiently take care of the inn.
On another note, Mayor Preence had been unanimously chosen to be mayor once again even before the official reelection. Afterall he was the person who had hired the mage to kill the notorious criminal known as the Crimson Reaper. Such a wise decision had to be rewarded. Thus it could be said normalcy had returned to the city.
Right now however a stranged purple colored person was walking through the streets of Narcissus, receiving looks of disgust for his unusual skin color.
The person in question was small and stocky. He had blond hair, slicked back with a widow's peak and prominent sideburns. He possessed a massive head, round black eyes, a flat nose and a distinctive black goatee on his massively bulbous chin, which splits into two points. He carried a wide smirk on his face, showing his clenched teeth. His torso and head are quite large in comparison to his thin arms and legs.
Draped over his hunched back was a white cloth acting as a cape, with two large, red motifs reminiscent of stylized suns adorning its sides. Furthermore he wore a dark shirt with sleeves reaching down below his elbows, where they end in large, bolted armbands. His outfit is completed by a pair of dark olive pants, held up by a light, bolted belt, and simple shoes.
His goal was the Golden Ship inn. Walking through the white door, he walked towards the counter where the new owner, Theo, was waiting.
"Welcome to the Golden Ship. How may I be of service?" the boy asked his guest
"I'd like to make an enquiry." The violet skinned person stated
"Currently we have 12 empty rooms. Our new fee is 5000 Jewels per day." Theo answered, thinking that would answer the person's questions
"That is not what I would have asked, Owner-san" The person responded "I would much more like to see the list of people that were using this establishment from late October to early November."
"I'm sorry, sir but that is confidential information."
"I'm sure we could work something out."
"Please understand, sir. I just can't tell you about our customers."
Suddenly the purple skinned man's arm morphed into something that resembled a spiked club "You don't seem to understand me, Owner-san." The mage's voice while polite had a dangerous edge to it" You can show the guestbook to me and stay alive or…" he left the threat hanging in the air
Theo gulped audible and pulled forth the guestbook, where the name, duration of stay and room was noted.
"H-here…" He stammered "Take it, b-but please let me live."
The mage's hand returned to its normal shape "I'm pleased we could come to arrangement. Have a nice day." The man pocketed the book and left the building
Once he was sure he had not been followed, he opened the book.
During the week from late October to early November very few people had checked in. For example someone named Vasilli, he had occupied room twenty five. He had stayed for three days.
But what interested him were the people that checked out around the date the Crimson Reaper had been announced dead.
Only two people were of interest. Erza Scarlet the new celebrity of the magic society, being known as the slayer of the Crimson Reaper. For her outstanding deed she had been dubbed Titania, strongest female of Fairy Tail.
The other was someone named Naruto Uzumaki. Suddenly a person appeared in front of the purple skinned mage.
He was a tall, muscular man with black hair and tanned skin. His face is sporting a unique looking beard. He is wearing an ornate cloak along with a dress shirt and an ascot tied in a full Windsor knot.
"Have you retrieved what I demanded of you, Pudding-chan?" the man asked
"Yes, Ivan-sama." Nullpudding responded with utmost respect "The name of the Crimson Reaper is Naruto Uzumaki."
"Very good, Pudding-chan." Ivan said stroking his beard "All that remains for now is to find him."
"I'm sorry if I offend you Master but the Crimson Reaper is dead, there is no way for us to find him." Nullpudding argued, making a very good point
"You incompetent idiot." Ivan growled and exuded a terrifying aura that could be felt even through the mere Thought Projection he was using "As if one of those flies had it in them to kill a person. They don't have the heart for such a deed. No, most likely it just looked like he was killed and escaped. A resourceful mage like Reaper-chan wouldn't die so easily. Now be gone, Pudding-chan. Start devoting our resources to finding him."
"Of course. As you wish, Ivan-sama." Nullpudding bowed and the Thought Projection of Ivan flickered out of existence
Central Fiore, a day's march from Shirotsume
Draped in a thick midnight black cloak Naruto felt a shiver go down his back. Exhaling he could clearly see his own breath. It had become cold in Fiore, though unless one went further north or climbed one of the many mountain ranges one would be hard pressed to find snow.
A month had passed since his 'death'. He still could remembered the day he found out that he had been declared 'dead'.
One Month ago
Naruto had just entered Iris Town when he was faced with many happy people. He wondered what the reason was for these joyous faces. When he saw someone reading a newspaper. Normally that wouldn't interest him but this time the headline caught his attention.
'Crimson Reaper stopped: Fairy Tail declared Number One Guild in Fiore.'
He rushed to the next Newspaper sale. Naruto grabbed a newspaper, paying for it, before beginning to read the article.
'The notorious Crimson Reaper has been stopped as of two days ago. Erza 'Titania' Scarlet had been forced to kill the criminal in self-defence. While the Rune Knights sent to investigate the scene of the fight were unable to find a corpse, the collateral damage and the amount of blood clinging to the surroundings give enough reasons to believe that he died of blood loss. The corpse itself seems to have fallen into the sewer system from which point it must have drifted on the open sea. Thus it is likely that the body of the Dark Mage will never be found.
Furthermore our reporter could not find the Reapers name or description. Any attempts to get Erza Scarlet to divulge them has been met with silence.
Fairy Tail's Guild Master Makarov has given his statement to the situations "It is obvious that Erza has been distraught by the events that transpired not long ago in Narcissus. Killing a human being, even in self-defence, weighs heavily on her conscience. That is why I ask you not to bother her about it."
Attempts to gather information from the residents of Narcissus have proven to be futile as well, as they collectively refused to talk to our reporter teams.
Evidently the Crimson Reaper disappeared as quickly and mysteriously as he appeared two years ago.'
For more information on the Crimson Reaper's crimes turn to Page three
The official statement of the Magic Council can be found on Page five
Page ten features an exclusive report on Fairy Tail's strongest female, Erza Scarlet
Page fifteen details Fairy Tail's rise to 'Number One' Guild in Fiore
He was dead? Well his other identity had been declared dead but still he was officially dead. That stumped him. What should he do now? If he started using his signature magic as he did before the Magic Council would catch wind and then start to actively hunt him down 'Especially if Erza is going to tell them about my name and looks.'
For now Naruto needed to lay low.
Somewhere in the Sky, Grimoire Heart Airship
"Master Hades, it seems the Crimson Reaper is dead." Ultear Milkovich, a pale-skinned woman with dark purple hair and brown eyes, reported to her Master
"It seems he wasn't as talented as I thought he would be." The old man commented "A shame, considering he would have made for a great seventh member for the Kin of Purgatory."
"But Master, surely you don't think him to be dead already?" the head of the kin asked
"Even if I didn't think he was dead, what would you have me do about it?" the bearded man asked slightly irritated "We have far more important things to do than devote our precious resources to the search of a ghost. Our first priority will stay finding the keys to unlocking Zeref and nothing else. I hope you didn't forget that, Ultear?"
"No, of course not Master." The purple haired woman bowed in apology, before leaving the 'throne room' of the Master of Grimoire Heart
Undisclosed Location, Raven Tail Guild
"Master Ivan, the Crimson Reaper has died, his last known locations was the port city Narcissus." Corona Flare told her Master
"Send Pudding-chan to Narcissus and have him find out whatever he can, by any means." The large muscular man ordered
"But, Master he is dead what purp-…" Corona was cut off as the man's large muscular hand impacted on her cheek
"Don't question my orders." Ivan roared in anger and watched as the red haired girl nursed her bruise, before slinking off to relay his order
Present Time
Travelling was considerably easier now, since nobody was actively looking for him. A few times during his travels the guards demanded some form of identification, along with details like reason for stay and the duration of his stay. These checkpoints were annoying to say the least but now he didn't have to deal with them anymore.
In any case there wasn't much he could do at the moment. Since he couldn't use his Blood Magic to drain targets of their knowledge, as he would risk exposure, his search for information on Zeref came to a halt.
Not that he should be fighting already, after his lost fight against Erza he had recovered for the most part but even with advanced regenerative the broken bones he had received needed time to heal. They were still somewhat brittle and he estimated that he still needed at least two to three weeks before he could attempt to fight someone on his own level again without risking re-injury.
Two Weeks later
Yesterday Naruto had been contacted by a strange purple man, who he was supposed to meet again today. The most disconcerting thing was, this man knew, he didn't believe, didn't joke but knew to one hundred percent that Naruto was the Crimson Reaper.
One day ago
It was night time. The dark winter sky filled with stars. He had just entered an unnamed village to rest and stock up on food and water.
"Hey…" a voice called and in the shadows of some building he saw a figure, though it was too dark to make out anything beyond that this person was pretty small for an adult. He was about to ignore the voice when it spoke once again "Hey, Reaper-san…" the voice called out
The blonde's eyes widened and narrowed to dangerous slits, his irises flashing red "How do you know that?" he growled threateningly and walked up to the small person, who he now could see had purple coloured skin.
"Come to the clearing outside the village tomorrow morning, Reaper-san… that is if you want to find out more." The person laughed and disappeared
Present time
If Naruto didn't want to find out how the purple skinned mage came into possession of that knowledge he probably would have killed him on the spot 'Even if that meant breaking my bones again it would be worth it.' Naruto thought grimly 'That man is dangerous.'
The blonde mage patiently waited at the spot he had been told to wait at, a small forest clearing. The cold wind blew through the de-leafed trees, causing the wood to creak ever so silently.
"You came after all, Reaper-san." The purple mage commented his teeth exposed in his trademark grin "I was afraid I'd have to drag you with me." The man chuckled in sadistic mirth.
"Who are you, what do you want from me and how do you know that I am the Crimson Reaper." The blonde instantly demanded his voice gaining a dangerous edge
The purple man laughed "Not so hasty, Reaper-san. I am not the one that's going to talk to you, but if you must call me something, call me Nullpudding." The man, now introduced as Nullpudding, responded "I want you to meet, Alexei-sama."
Suddenly an armoured form flickered into existence in front of them.
'Thought Projection!' Naruto realized as he looked at the large armoured person that had appeared out of nothing
Alexei looked just like a medieval knight, instead of wearing a helm he wore a mask. His large body was completely covered in armour, except for the man's visible hair. His face was hidden behind a golden mask. It was slightly triangular, with a square part in the chin's region and two pointed parts on the sides, in the region of the ears. The characteristic feature, of the mask was a trident-like plate in the forehead's region, forming a "W" pattern. It also had two opening next to the plate that allowed Alexei to see, as well two white strips on each side of the mask. The rest of the armor was composed by a metallic pectoral, separated to the waist's cingulum by a piece of dark cloth. The cingulum also has two pointed plates on each side of s body. For the legs that were also separated from the cingulum by cloth, Alexei used the traditional cuisse, with round poleyns and stylized greaves. Alexei's arms were also covered by the dark cloth, and end into metallic bracelets attached to gauntlets, that had sharp pointed fingers.
"Hello, Naruto. My name is Alexei. I am the representative of the Guild Raven Tail." The knight said his voice slightly muffled
"Sounds an awful lot like Fairy Tail." The blonde commented with a smirk and he could hear Alexei's teeth grinding beneath his mask
"Yes, we are not on best terms." Alexei stated "You could say we are Fairy Tail's pendant."
"So a Dark Fairy Tail?" the blonde asked sceptically 'That's actually pretty pathetic.'
"That is correct, we are Anti-Fairy Tail." Alexei confirmed "And after your last interaction with that Guild we would like you to join us."
The blonde frowned "Forget it. I won't join your little club of copy cats."
"The offer still stands, think about it and to help make your decision I even have something useful for you." The knight said
"And what should that be?" the blonde asked carefully
"We heard you are looking for information on Zeref. I know of someone that might be able to tell you more, but he has hidden himself." Alexei explained
"Who is it?" the blonde asked eager to get information on Zeref
"My old teacher, Orochimaru." The armoured man stated "You need to travel further north until you get to a town called Tetsuiro. Once you have passed that town, you'll come across a coniferous woodland. There will be a single tree that is completely barren. If you walk west from this tree you will find a large rock wall. Carved into the rock is a small snake, if you press down on that part a hidden door will reveal itself to you."
On one hand he could get his hands on prime intelligence on Zeref on the other hand he could be walking right into an elaborate trap. Of course he had heard of Orochimaru, one of the Three Legendary Mages. Not to mention he had some of old man Sarutobi's knowledge on them. A team of three Saint-class Mages that were famous for their immense strength. And while Naruto was confident he could match the strength of most S-Class Mages, the S-Class Mages that are on the level of the Ten Wizard Saints are generally much more powerful.
'But this is a chance I have been waiting for… I can't let it slip through my fingers.' The blonde contemplated his options "Say I follow your instructions and enter that hideout of his what happens when I meet Orochimaru? I'm sure he won't hand over that information of his own volition."
"Do you need me to state the obvious?" Alexei asked with glee "You kill him of course."
Naruto mulled over his options a last time before deciding what to do "Alright, I'll do it."
"Excellent." Alexei said "We'll contact you after you are done."
Naruto remained silent, he didn't like the fact that they knew his identity, but what did they want to do? Travel to Era and say they, a Dark Guild, know the whereabouts of the Crimson Reaper.
Who would believe them?
'Yeah, that's pretty unlikely.' Naruto agreed with himself and set his course north towards the town of Tetsuiro.
Once the blonde had left Nullpudding spoke up.
"Are you really giving him a choice in that matter, Ivan-sama?"
The armoured man laughed boisterously "Of course not, Pudding-chan." Ivan denied "You are going to tail him. If he manages to come out alive he will likely be weakened enough for you to overwhelm him and bring him to me. If he doesn't manage to come out, we'll just have to track Orochi-chan down again and drag him out of there."
"What makes you think Orochimaru-san won't kill him?" the purple skinned man inquired curiously
Beneath his mask Ivan grinned "You apparently don't know him as well as I do." He said knowingly "Orochimaru is always interested in young and talented mages, especially if he has such a unique magic as Naruto has. He won't kill Reaper-chan, no, no. He'll capture him and perform unspeakable experiments on him until his mind and body are broken and is no longer useful to him but a scientist like Orochi-chan wouldn't ever kill an interesting specimen."
"How ingenious, Ivan-sama." Nullpudding praised his master, before the Thought Projection flickered out of existence
One week later
He had just arrived in Tetsuiro. The city wasn't as big and wealthy as Narcissus had been, in fact it couldn't even compare to the size of that city but the streets were still bustling with many people, especially since it was close to Christmas. A thin layer of snow covered the ground and even more was softly falling from the sky.
He pushed himself past the shopping mass of people. Until he bumped into a large queue. This queue consisted of many men and some women. As he followed the queue he saw that it led to a book store. A large sign was posted outside serving as an advert.
On the sign he could read in large letters: Grand Release! Icha Icha Special XXX-mas Edition. Just today, buy one copy and get it signed by the author, Jiraiya, himself.
Jiraiya was the second of the Three Legendary Mages and easily the most perverted. After his first book had flopped, he began writing more erotic works, much to the delight of the many men and some women who praise the book series as one of the greatest works of literature in human history.
But behind all that perverseness that man was indubitably just as strong as Orochimaru.
However Jiraiya and his book wasn't why he was here. Naruto turned away from the store and continued along his way, following the instructions Alexei had given him.
Out of the corner of his eyes the white haired author, better known as Jiraiya, spotted a peculiar shade of blonde hair he knew only a certain amount of people to possess and with the way it was spiked there came only one person to his mind 'Minato!' Jiraiya thought alarmed 'But he died on that dreadful night fourteen years ago.'
Jiraiya quickly stood up dropping his pen, which he had used to autograph the copies he sold and rushed out of the book store, following the blond haired figure he had seen.
"Jiraiya-sama!" the distraught owner of the bookstore called after the author, while all the fans who had yet to get an autograph moaned in dismay that they wouldn't get it now after all, while all the ones who had a signed copy felt so much better.
The white haired mage trailed behind the blonde boy, carefully hiding his magic signature and presence.
Jiraiya had originally come to Tetsuiro because he had heard from certain sources that his old teammate Orochimaru had a secret base of operations hidden somewhere in the area surrounding the city. After the fallout between the three Mages, which had been caused by Orochimaru, he had taken it upon himself to keep an eye on the Dark Mage, feeling somewhat responsible to keep Fiore safe from the man's machinations.
So now imagine his surprise when an almost carbon copy of Minato, opened a hidden door on the surface of a rock wall.
'No, doubt there. It's almost like a younger version of Minato.' The white haired mage noted
While Minato had been taught by Sarutobi, just like himself, he had been good friends with the blond haired man. They had rid the world of the occasional Dark Guild, when he was still actively doing missions instead of fully devoting his time to being an author, not to mention they had shared the occasional drink. He even had let Minato read his very first book, being one of the few people to like it, his wife Kushina being one other person. They even had decided to name their son after the Main Character.
'That's right, Minato and Kushina had a son!' he realized 'But shouldn't he have died back then, during the Crimson Massacre?' That was the big question Jiraiya had. He of course had heard of the Crimson Massacre, the day the Crimson Reaper had turned his home village into a ghost town, leaving not a single person alive that day 'Obviously, Naruto must've survived somehow… but how?'
Jiraiya mused inwardly but decided that, that was a question for late for now he had other worries. Namely if Minato's son could be in cahoots with Orochimaru? How else would he have known about the entrance to that man's hideout?
Jiraiya was about to follow the blonde boy when he sensed a new presence.
"Come out." He shouted in the general direction of the magical source he had sensed and watched as a small purple skinned man appeared from behind the shadow of the nearby trees.
"It seems you are just as skilled as people say you are, Jiraiya-san." The man commented
"Who are you?" the white haired man inquired carefully, extending his senses should he have any more backup
"My name is of no concern to you." Nullpudding responded "You aren't the reason why I am here."
"Do you belong to Orochimaru?" Jiraiya asked his expression growing stony as he prepared himself for a fight
"No, I don't work for Orochimaru-san." The purple skinned mage responded "However it seems that I will have to fight you to complete my goal."
Needles grew from the purple skinned man's skin, as he bloated up like a puffer fish "Needle Barrage."
A stream of thick and sharp needles shot from the man's body towards Jiraiya.
The white haired man's index and middle finger were stretched out, the rest of his fingers were pressed against his palm. He made a circular motion, creating a bright circular shield "Circular Defence Seal."
The needles repeatedly impacted on the shield, which soon began to crack under the pressure of the attack. Quickly realizing that he would have to fortify his defence he prepared a second defensive seal. He slammed his palms together and pulled them apart revealing a cube between his palms. He thrust his arms forward, throwing the cube into the way of the oncoming attack. The large cube, which was littered with seal script stopped the attack without further problems.
'I shouldn't take him so lightly. He has at least S-Rank ability.' The white haired man decided and went on the offensive. He thrust his index finger towards the purple skinned man "Amaterasu Formula 31." A purplish beam consisting of script shot towards the Dark Mage, who brought his large arms to the front to block the spell. The small beam struck the purple man and exploded upon impact, despite throwing up his guard the small man was thrown back into a tree leaving pin shaped holes on the bark.
The purplish skin was blackened from the explosion and a few light burn marks could be seen on it.
Nullpudding pulled himself out of the tree shaking the pieces of bark that hung to his pointed body off of him.
With speed betraying his small stocky frame he charged towards Jiraiya, intent on crushing the man with his massive fists that resembled two morning stars.
'I can't let those hit me.' The white haired man thought to himself 'I guess hand-to-hand combat is no option at all against him.'
He crossed his arms and flung them towards his opponent unleashing an x-shaped formula "Formula 55."
As tempted as Nullpudding was to just take the attack head on he knew this time it was far too dangerous. He rolled out of the way and the formula detonated upon hitting one of the many trees. Many trees behind the first were missing a large part of their trunk. The damaged trees soon fell over.
Meanwhile with Naruto
Naruto had found the hideout as Alexei had described. He was walking down the stairs into the depth of the complex. As soon as he arrived at the bottom of the stairs he already came upon an intersection "Left or right?" he muttered to himself and decided to go left. He followed the hallway, which was littered with many doors each leading either to another corridor itself or to an empty room.
Apparently Orochimaru's underground complex was a maze. He had been wandering the hallways for a few minutes now and so far he had found nothing, which he found quite irritating. Fortunately he came upon a room which was inhabited for once.
Inside were two masked men playing a card game.
"Do you think Orochimaru-sama will ever have us do anything?" the first asked
"I wish I knew the answer to that question." The second one answered with a heavy sigh "What would I trade for some exci-… urk."
He was cut off as a whip made from the blonde's blood wrapped around his throat stopping him from talking.
"Your wish has been granted." The blond said with a smirk and pulled the blood whip tighter around the man's throat until with one more tug his head rolled from his shoulders.
The first mage was about to attack when he felt the weapon constricting around his throat as well.
"Lead me to Orochimaru." Naruto demanded his glaring crimson eyes instilling a great amount of fear in his captive, who could barely nod in acceptance of his role as a hostage.
"It seems we have an intruder, Orochimaru-sama." A shadowy figure commented, while pushing up their pair of glasses
"Kukukuku. Let the 'Five' play with him." Orochimaru responded his yellow snakelike eyes glinting with malice
Naruto had been led to a large spacious room. In the back he could see two figures. One was standing, his hands at his sides, showing that he was relaxed. The other one was sitting on a large throne like chair. In the distance he could see that the sitting person had piercing yellow eyes.
"Welcome, to my humble abode." A raspy voice came from the far end of the room
"O-Orochimaru-sama, please help me." The strangled hostage pleaded and the raspy voice chuckled in response
"Why should I save you? You are expendable." Orochimaru stated coldly "But I shall put you out of your misery if that is what you want."
The man snapped his fingers and Naruto dodged to the side as he heard the barely audible whizzing of some projectile in the air. A single red arrow had pierced the man's head straight through, killing him instantly, before the corpse went up in flames.
"Fucking trash." Naruto heard a decidedly female voice curse from somewhere behind him
"A lady shouldn't curse so much." A rough, male voice said in a chiding tone
"Shut up, fatty." The female one replied again
"Kukuku. I don't know what you want from me little boy, but have fun playing with the 'Five'." Orochimaru stated with a grin, as light lachryma, which hung on the walls of the room, lighted and filled the room with light.
The 'Five' Orochimaru had mentioned, had surrounded him. One was a large, fat, boy with an orange Mohawk. The second one was a dark tanned boy with black hair, in his hands a golden coloured bow. The third was a female member, she had red hair covered with a black hat and in her hands was a single flute.
The fourth person was someone with dark grey hair and light blue lipstick, he looked very androgynous but could be identified as a male person, besides him stood, the fifth member of their group, a person that looked just like the fourth, which obviously meant they were brothers.
The fatty of the group charged straight at him, however Naruto knew focusing just on him would be fatal.
The instant the fat guy had cleared half the distance between them, the blond heard a flute melody and his vision started to distort, a second fatty had joined the first and he couldn't discern who was real and who was not.
The same melody started to play once again and the two that charged at him multiplied by two once more.
Naruto decided he could no longer wait and needed to defend himself 'When in doubt, just attack all of them at once.' He thought to himself "Light Rain." Multiple beams of light shot towards the four fatties "Mirror Shot" four round mirrors appeared in front of his targets swallowing the light and sending it back at him.
The sudden return of his own attack surprised him, forcing him to jump out of the way on a short notice, only then he realized the mistake of his actions as he heard the whirring of an arrow in the air.
"Golem's Fist." A large stone fist rose from the earth and tried to stop the incoming arrow, unfortunately the arrow pierced through the stone but was veered of trajectory, tearing through his cloak instead of body.
As slow as he was, the fatty had used this window of opportunity to deliver a powerful punch. The punch held enough force to throw him quite a bit back, while knocking the air out of him.
It was evident that these five or at least four, for the fifth one had not yet done anything, were a very good team, but in the end they would kneel before him. After his loss at 'her' hands he would not be defeated again.
"What a pathetic, guy." The female one taunted "Can't even last one hit, I wonder what he thought, coming here."
She walked towards the downed blond "How did you like my Doppelganger Melody?" she asked smirking at him, suddenly her eyes widened as she felt something cold grip her leg. Something red had wrapped around her left leg.
"Kneel before me!" the blonde ordered defiantly and pulled the red head face first into the ground, bruising the girl's face. Naruto pulled himself up and was about to hit her once more with his blood whip.
"Fire Arrow." The tanned guy had shot a burning arrow towards Naruto, who fell back as a small patch of fire burned where he had stood, cutting him off from the red head.
"Thanks, Spiderman." The red haired flute using mage said rubbing her bruised face before she glared at Naruto "I'll kill you for that, fucker."
She put her flute to her mouth and began to play this time a different melody.
There was a high pitched sound and suddenly he couldn't hear anything anymore. He was deaf, at least temporarily.
Which would prove to be a decidedly disadvantage for him, as he didn't hear the fat guy charging once again towards him or the beams of light, which he definitely knew weren't his, flying towards him. However his sixth sense was sharp enough to pick up on those attacks.
"Protector Golem." From the earth rose a two meter tall stone man, who threw himself into the path of the fat guy, since he seemed to be the strongest of the five, at least in the physical strength department.
"Light Shield." Next he threw up protective light shields to defend himself from the light magic that had been cast his way.
While the two light based attacks cancelled each other perfectly, Naruto went on the offensive.
He knew though that he could not overly use his Blood Magic as the only blood he had access to at the moment was his own. He could not risk to weaken himself through blood loss right now.
For now he just had to deal with the two drag queens and the guy with the bow 'The red haired girl may have made me deaf, but that means at the same time I can't hear her melodies, which makes her reliant on her teammates to beat me.' He thought to himself 'Now if I only knew which of the two used the mirror magic…' he cursed inwardly
This wasn't the time for mistakes, but he couldn't waste any more time either.
"Howling." He sent a wave of high-pitched sound towards the brothers, knowing that using mirror magic he wouldn't be able to absorb and throw the attack back, before following up with a second attack "Blinding Flash." The moment he saw that the brothers had been blinded by the attack Naruto concentrated on the dangerous one of the five, the sniper.
Holder Type Magic users were a bane to him, their magic was incredible versatile even if it depended on an object, but the archer of those five would be able to shoot all kinds of arrows at him, which would be quite difficult to counter.
"Spear of Blood." Siphoning some of his blood to throw the spear-shaped blood at the bow-magic using boy, knowing he would dodge them he already had gathered the magic energy for his follow up spell "Grappling Hook." A large grappling hook attached to a long translucent chain shot forward and grabbed the boy as he was jumping out of the blood spears path. He tugged on the chain and pulled the boy harshly to the ground, dazing him and keeping him from shooting more arrows. Meanwhile Naruto shortened the distance between the two of them, by reeling him in like a fish.
As the black haired teenager was lying before him he sensed a strong vibration, a quick glance back he saw that the fatty had just punched a hole straight through the stone construct which was slowly crumbling and the fatty once again charged at him. The two brothers were slowly recovering as well. Naruto had to be quick now.
"Crimson Blade." A one-handed sword formed out of his blood and the blonde mage quickly cut his opponents bow in half, before mustering his strength and flinging his chained enemy into his charging ally. The fatty had caught his teammate without problems, which had set him back for just a single instant.
Naruto however didn't try to get out of the way of the charging juggernaut, knowing that if he just barely dodged the fatty would overextend and be open for a point blank counterattack. As the orange haired mage closed in on him, the blonde's legs tensed for a timely dodge, but then he noticed that his feet were stuck. He couldn't move, but why? Then he saw the grinning archer, who motioned for him to look down. His feet were covered in a thick web like substance.
'He must've done that when I threw him into the fatty.' Naruto realized and crossed his arms in front of him to lessen the impact. The orange haired juggernaut hit him and he felt as if his arms, would break. The moment he could no longer keep his guard up, the fatty threw a quick second punch towards his stomach, ripping the web and lifting him from his feet, as he was punch into the ceiling above, making a slight indentation into the stone. As he laid there on the ground in pain the archer pointed his wrists at him and thick spider webs hit him, wrapping his in a thick cocoon that kept him locked down.
The Five walked closer to him, all with a mocking smile on their lips. Slowly his hearing returned as well.
"Not so tough now, are you?" the red head laughed gleefully "Didn't it strike you as odd, that Kidomaru let you destroy his bow so easily? Or how Sakon, Ukon and I never stopped you from doing so?"
"And now, I would love nothing more than to kill you now, but I have an even better idea." She smiled like a sadist that had found a new victim
'I could escape using Sanguine Pool, but I don't think now's the right time, they are still too much on guard.'
"Jirobo here…" she pointed to the fatty "Has a special magic called, Magic Drain. With a single touch he copies whatever magic you use, he has a limit of being only able to store three types of magic though and he only copies a person's main magic, but I think he wouldn't mind playing a bit with you using your own magic."
Jirobo nodded and grabbed Naruto's face, his hand glowing pale blue. The fatty dropped him again and a pale aura of crimson surrounded him.
Naruto began to laugh, as the fatty actually did what he did.
"What are you laughing about, shit-head? You are completely at our mercy." The red head spat at him "Or perhaps you've just gone insane?"
"Pitiful creatures." He spoke and his crimson eyes caused the red head to recoil "Didn't you parents ever tell you to be careful about what you eat?"
Jirobo began to cough, as blood streamed out of his mouth. The orange haired mage fell to his knees convulsing, as blood streamed out of every of his orifices… The price for trying to use Blood Magic without having the body needed for it.
"Jirobo!?" Sakon or was it Ukon, exclaimed surprised before glaring at Naruto in anger "What did you do to him?"
"Nothing it was all his own fault for trying to use 'MY' magic." Naruto answered sincere and smirked, before muttering "Sanguine Pool." He could feel his body turn into blood which slipped through the web cocoon.
'What an interesting magic.' Orochimaru thought grinning like a madman
The four remaining were greatly confused at losing their target. The blonde reassembled in front of the surprised red head and grabbed her by the throat, before she could use another of her pesky melodies. He choked her, while she clawed at his hand until she went slack in his hand. He was about to snap her neck, when Erza's form overlapped her.
Naruto snarled in anger and threw the body aside to concentrate on the last three, who were pelting him with webs and light.
He forcefully ripped all the blood from Jirobo's dead body and fired it at Kidomaru, who was pelting him with webs.
"Blades of Blood." The blood formed into a myriad of knifes and shot towards the web using mage.
"Silken Steel Web." A large hexagonal web with no holes formed in front of his opponent, sticking to the ceiling and floor, causing the many blades to impact upon this defence. The web shield was elastic and hard at the same time. The blades of blood impacted without visible damage as the shield simply caved backwards from the impact.
"Light Beam." "Mirror Shot." He heard the two brothers shout their attacks "Light Shield." He once again threw up a shield to block the attack, but to his surprise the beams of light shot past him, at the same time he noticed that the mirrors weren't placed in front of his opponents.
Quickly turning around he saw the mirrors absorbing the light, before shooting a second wave of beams at him. Naruto threw himself out of the way so he wouldn't risk being caught in the attack.
"Web Shot." Kidomaru had moved past his defence to attack Naruto, shooting sticky webs at the blonde. While in mid-air the Blood Mage turned his body, but still one of his arms was hit. His left arm was covered in sticky web, so for now he would be unable to use it.
Naruto pointed his right arm towards Kidomaru "Disturbed." The web magic using boy hid himself behind his web shield, in the belief Naruto would attack him from the front.
Suddenly the ground burst beneath him as he was hit with a high pitched sound attack.
While the archer was incapacitated he charged towards him, knowing that the shield would block his ranged attacks.
"Lion of Light." "Two-way Mirror."
The large beast of light jumped through the large mirror that held a reflective surface on both sides and from each a lion exited the mirror. The two lions pounced towards the blonde.
"Protector Golem." A new construct of stone rose from the ground and threw itself between the two beasts and its master. With a single punch of its heavy hand one of the light constructs faded out of existence, while the second one tore out the stone man's right arm and continued to charge towards the blond, when a large stone fist impacted upon the lion, as the golem had shot its second arm like a projectile.
Just as Kidomaru was about to pull himself from a ground he felt a cold blade at his throat. The blade of a large red scythe was inches away from his neck and not even a second later the web mage's head rolled from his shoulders, while Naruto reabsorbed the blood into his body, knowing that he would need his arm free to use spells to beat the two brothers.
"You'll pay for killing the others." The two brothers spoke in unison "You'll fall to our ultimate combination, technique. No one has survived it."
Sakon pressed his right palm against Ukon's left palm, as they concentrated their magic power "Unison Raid: Hall of Piercing Mirrors."
The moment the last syllable left their lips, all around the blonde mirrors appeared trapping him inside. Soon one mirror glowed, as a beam of light shot towards him, which he barely managed to dodge. The beam impacted upon one other mirror and was reflected. Naruto's eyes widened as he noticed that the mirror that was hit began to glow too and soon a second beam of light joined the first.
'If I can't dodge this it's over for me.' The Blood Mage realized and more and more light bounced between the mirrors each time it was more difficult to dodge. Slowly his clothes were ripped by the beams and occasionally his body was grazed.
Soon he would not be able to dodge anymore. Naruto closed his eyes and concentrated, just as the mass of light was about to impact upon him.
The mirrors shattered and the light vanished and all that was left was a single bloodstain on the ground.
"We did it, brother." Sakon said panting in exertion
"Yes, we avenged the others." Ukon agreed equally as exhausted as his brother that was when the blood reformed into the black cloaked blond, who was shivering a little.
'Having to use Sanguine Pool two times in such a short time, is pretty taxing.' He noted 'I can feel how weak my body is at the moment but it's not like those two can do anything as exhausted as they are.'
"Golems Fist." Two stone hands rose from the ground and captured the two brothers in their mighty grasp, squeezing their bodies tight in their grip, until beneath the strong grasp of the stone fists their bodies broke.
The moment he had finished the last of the five, he turned to the snake like man. He knew that if he fought Orochimaru right now, he was certain to loose 'Well, it's not like I care for Alexei and his schemes anyways.' But he still had to get the information from the Legendary Mage.
"Kukuku. You are certainly not an agent of my dear old friend Jiraiya, Reaper-kun." The pale mage stated "The question is who told you how to find this hideout and why are you here?"
"I was told you knew something about Zeref." Naruto stated darkly "What do you know about that man?"
"Zeref?" Orochimaru asked surprised, before chuckling darkly "Why, you certainly don't belong to the Balam Alliance then… they know to respect my privacy. But how about I tell you about Zeref as a reward for beating those five incompetent idiots?"
The blonde remained silent and nodded.
"Very well. This is third hand information, but very reliable. Quite a while ago an associate of mine visited me, he goes by the name of Brain. He told me that Grimoire Heart, the second of the three corner stones of the Balam Alliance, is searching for the 'keys' to awaken Zeref, but they are certain that the Dark Mage is still very much alive."
Naruto was shocked. This was prime intelligence on Zeref. If he had known that he was still alive he wouldn't have spent so much time researching anything on resurrection. Perhaps he should try to track down Grimoire Heart, but he had no idea where to start…
'Wait… He mentioned this Brain. Perhaps that man knows how to find Grimoire Heart!'
"Now, tell me where I can find this Brain." The blonde demanded encouraged to have found a hot trail towards his goal
"I only said I would tell you about Zeref, didn't I?" the snake man laughed amusedly
"You will tell me, NOW!" Naruto growled in impatience and threw a knife made from his blood at the pale skinned man, who made no attempt to dodge. Instead the knife passed straight through him, like Orochimaru wasn't even there.
"Thought Projection." The blonde muttered in anger
"Correct." Orochimaru praised his yellow eyes mustering the Crimson Reaper "I knew that someone had detected this hidden base. So I moved a few days ago. Only very few of my subordinates were actually stationed here. Those five you fought were actually supposed to ambush who ever dared to find his way into this room, but you defeated them so magnificently. Well then Reaper-kun, I have important things to attend to. Until the next time, if you survive that is. Because below this Throne is a large stash of explosive lachryma hidden, with Living Link Magic tying the trigger to the Five you fought, as a contingency plan should they fail." The snake like man laughed, before the thought projection disappeared.
The grey haired, bespectacled man nodded towards him and then spoke "We'll meet again, Reaper-san." Before his thought projection too, disappeared.
That was when he felt explosions shaking the ground. Naruto quickly ran through the door of the large room and navigated through the narrow corridors. The explosions became more frequent and soon he could see a large orange fireball racing towards him, just as he had arrived at the exit.
Naruto dived through the door and ran the stairs up, but the explosive blast finally managed to catch up and violently expulsed him.
Jiraiya and Nullpudding were both panting in exhaustion, littered in bruises.
'I've really gotten rusty.' Jiraiya realized much to his own displeasure, but knew he could end this fight pretty soon. A while ago he had used the cover of an explosion to inscribe a seal on the ground that activated when an alien magic source stepped on top of it.
Nullpudding charged once more towards Jiraiya and because of his exhaustion his perceptiveness had taken a hit, which is why he didn't notice the seal on the ground.
The moment he stepped on top of it the seal flashed a bright blue and the ground turned into quicksand.
"Trap Seal: Quicksand."
Jiraiya cancelled the seal once Nullpudding was sufficiently submerged in the ground. All that stuck out of the ground was the man's head, as the ground had solidified once again.
"Now you'll tell me what you plan to do with Naruto." Jiraiya demanded and glared intently at the purple skinned man "And believe me when I say, I have my methods to make you speak."
"It seems the Master will be displeased with my Failure." Nullpudding commented absentmindedly and suddenly they felt an explosion shake the earth.
Jiraiya heard a crash and turned around. There lying against a tree was the blonde he had tailed. His body was bruised, on his forehead was a slightly bleeding gash and he was shivering. He rushed towards the downed blonde and picked him up, throwing him over his shoulder.
When he returned to his captured opponent all he saw was an empty hole.
"How troublesome." Jiraiya muttered to himself and walked back towards Tetsuiro, he had some questions for the blonde once he woke up.
Unknown Location
"So Pudding-chan you mean to tell me that you failed your task and Reaper-chan is now in the hands of Jiraiya?!" Ivan bellowed in rage
"Yes, Ivan-sama." Nullpudding bowed in apology
"If you were here your punishment would be most harsh, but that will have to wait for now you still have use to me.
Unknown Location
"He was quite interesting wasn't he, Kabuto? That Crimson Reaper is so very interesting." Orochimaru commented to his right hand man "I must have him and study him. That magic of his could be an important clue to immortality."
"Shall I send Guren or Kimimaro after him?" the bespectacled boy asked his master
"Send Guren. Kimimaro is in no condition to face the Reaper right now." The Dark Mage instructed and Kabuto left to do as he was told
A/N: And that's it. Hope you enjoyed it and until the next time.
Spell Grimoire
As always any Spell or Magic not mentioned here has either already been used in a previous Chapter or can be found on
Needle Barrage: Caster Type, Offensive, A-Rank
Once the initial transformation required for the use of Needle Magic is finished the User can fire a barrage of needles at his opponent. The needles possess great piercing power.
Circular Defence Seal: Caster Type, Defensive, B-Rank
The Caster forms a circle in the air and creates a barrier of seal characters. This Seal can withstand some Damage but not all and will easily crack under pressure.
Cubic Defence Seal: Caster Type, Defensive, A+-Rank
The caster slaps his palms together and forms a three dimensional seal cube, which will stop close to all frontal attacks.
Amaterasu Formula 31: Caster Type, Offensive, B-Rank
A seal beam is shot towards the target from the casters fingertips that explodes upon impact. The spells form betrays the little piercing capabilities it possess, as despite being a beam it can pierce only the most brittle of things, before exploding.
Formula 55: Caster Type, Offensive A-Rank
An X-shaped blast is shot towards the casters enemy. As soon as it hits a target everything behind it explodes in an X-shaped blast.
Blood Whip: Caster Type, Offensive, Supplementary C to A-Rank
A strong whip is formed out of the caster's blood. The whip can be used to hit, but also to grab and grapple targets. The length of the whip is determined by the amount of blood spend on it.
Mirror Shot: Caster Type, Offensive, Defensive B+-Rank
The caster creates a mirror or mirrors which begin to absorb ambient light for a shot at the caster's opponent. Should a light spell hit the mirror's the light is absorbed and used for the spell instead, which greatly decreases the charge time.
Doppelganger Melody: Holder Type, Supplementary B-Rank
The caster plays their flute any enemy affected by this melody will have an object in their sight doubled. This Melody can stack upon itself and will always increase the sight twofold.
Fire Arrow: Holder Type, Offensive, C-Rank
The caster creates a fire arrow and shoots it at his intended target. Should the arrow miss a small patch of fire is created at that spot. This fire will continue to burn for a while.
Melody of Silence: Holder Type, Supplementary A-Rank
For a short while the victim of this spell is made deaf. The caster is thus dependant on their allies to finish the victim, as the deaf victim can't be affected by any more melodies.
Protector Golem: Caster Type, Offensive, Defensive, Supplementary A-Rank
The caster creates a golem from the ground below. The size is dependent on the magic power spent to create it. The Golem is given a single command upon its creation, either verbal or non-verbal. This command can't be changed and the Golem follows it until it is destroyed or dismissed.
Spear of Blood: Caster Type, Offensive B to A-Rank
The caster creates a spear of blood from their blood, which either can be thrown at the enemy or be used in melee combat.
Grappling Hook: Caster Type Offensive, Supplementary C to A-Rank
The caster creates a chain with a grappling hook at the end using their magic and shoots it towards their opponent. The target of the spell can then be reeled in or hurled around.
Crimson Blade: Caster Type Offensive, Defensive C to A-Rank
The caster creates a sword formed out of their or others blood. The size of the sword is dependent on the amount of blood spent, but will at least always take on the shape of a short one handed sword.
Silken Steel Web: Caster Type, Defensive A-Rank
The caster creates a large shield from the web they create. This web is very durable, but also elastic, which makes it hard to penetrate. However this shield needs points on which it must hang (Trees, Ceiling, Ground and so forth). In a completely open field this shield would be useless as it would have no upper fix point.
Lion of Light: Caster Type, Offensive, Defensive A-Rank
The caster creates a single lion out of light. The lion has semi-sentience and can react according to certain situations to fulfil its purpose and is not restricted to the usual linear movement of light magic.
Two-way Mirror: Caster Type, Defensive, Supplementary B to A-Rank
The caster creates a Two-way mirror which will reflect light in both directions. Any light magic spell cast upon it will pass through its surface and is doubled exiting from both parts of the mirror.
Reaper's Scythe: Caster Type, Offensive B to A-Rank
The caster creates a large scythe from their blood. The size is dependent on the amount of blood spent.
Unison Raid: Hall of Piercing Mirrors: Caster Type Offensive S-Rank
Sakon and Ukon combine their Mirror and Light Magic to trap the enemy inside a cage of mirrors. A single mirror will fire a beam of light towards their enemy. Once this beam hits another mirror the beam is reflected and another beam is fired. Until every single mirror has fired once and the victim trapped inside is pierced upon every last beam.
Trap Seal: Quicksand : Caster Type Supplementary C-Rank
The caster marks a spot on the ground with this seal. Once a foreign source of magic steps on top of the seal the ground below turns into quicksand, dragging the victim down. If the seal is cancelled the ground returns to whatever material it was made of before.