Naruto Shippuden -H-: Chapter 032: A Man Behind the Shadowed Hell
Naruto had arrived in the city of Lazarus with his shadow clones, as Sakura, Sai, and Shikamaru stayed behind to tend to the young woman's wounds in the swamp area outside of the city.
"Huh, there sure are a lot of fancy looking buildings around here, and a lot of people too." said Naruto to himself as he walked into the suburbs of Lazarus.
"Naruto, be on guard, we do not know what kind of traps those freaks could have set in the city, look out for anything unusual." said Kurama to Naruto.
"I know, I will not be caught off guard so easily, let's ask around and get to know more about this place." said Naruto as he approached an elderly woman who was hanging her clothes on a clothes hanger outside her house.
"Um, excuse me ma'am, could you tell me a little about this place, I am new here, and I would like to find out some more about Lazarus." said Naruto to the elderly lady.
"Huh, you new here, our you trespassing on our land perhaps?" asked the older lady with a serious tone.
"Uh, no, I am just here to visit with the Knights of Dawn, they have asked for a meeting with me personally, my name is Naruto Uzumaki." said Naruto as he introduced himself to the lady.
"Did you say Naruto Uzumaki, hey kids, come and look, the Golden Hero is here!" proclaimed the elderly woman as three kids came running out of the old lady's house with excitement.
"Did she just call me the golden hero too?" asked Naruto to himself as the three kinds approached him.
"Wow, you are Mr. Naruto, we have heard great legends about you from the higher ups of Lazarus, we knew you would come, we are glad to see you!" said one of the kids with an excited tone.
"Yeah, grandma always told us that Hirudeguarn was looking for a golden hero, and that he was destined to come here some day." said another one of the kids.
"Destined to come here, huh?" asked Naruto with confusion as he looked around the suburbs of Lazarus.
Most of the buildings were made of green-looking marble and many gardens surrounded the area, with a lot of citizens working in the fields, with a large fountain in the middle of the area, adorned with the head of a sea-serpent like creature.
"This is quite the place, how long have you guys lived here?" asked Naruto to the old lady and her three grandchildren.
"I have been here for the past ten years, we were offered a home after our own was destroyed by a group of bandits, we had nowhere to go, until the Knights of Dawn arrived and fought off the bandits for me, though my daughter was killed before they could arrive." said the older lady with a saddened tone.
"I see, is everyone in this village from a former town that was destroyed in some way?" asked Naruto with curiosity.
"I think so, some are radicalists that worship the Apathetic Judge, Hirudeguarn, while others like me were just offered a place to come to after our own was destroyed." said the older lady.
"Okay, thanks for taking the time to tell me these things, I have to go now, take care." said Naruto as he waved at the old lady and the three kids before walking further into the suburbs.
"No, thank you Naruto for finally coming here, you have made our dreams come true." said the youngest kid with joy.
"Now, you three leave him alone, go play somewhere, Naruto is busy right now." said the elder as she went back to washing her clothes.
"Heh, this place is like a orphanage for people with no homes, but don't be deceived Naruto, we both know the real secrets of this place." said Kurama to Naruto cautiously.
"I understand, my other clones are also around the suburbs as well, if any of them find something suspicious, they will relay it back to me." said Naruto as he had his sights set on the large castle hanging off the mountain range overlooking the city.
Sasuke and Bee had finally arrived outside of a place resembling a cemetery with many iron gates surrounding it.
"This must be one of the areas surrounding the city, I can feel Naruto's chakra as well, we will meet with him soon, but let's explore this place first, we might find something of value relating to this whole mess." said Sasuke as he was looking around the area for any of the Knights of Dawn.
"Yo check it, this cemetery gives off bad vibes, I just hope these buried folk are dead, not alive!" proclaimed Bee.
"Oh come on, you are not scared of a little graveyard, let's explore this place." said Sasuke to Bee as the two started to walk around the area which had around three hundred tombstones and a fountain in the middle, with many flowers in vases placed around the area.
"I am not scared, I am just worried about being found out, fool ya fool." said Bee to Sasuke.
"Hey, there is something glowing over there behind the furthest tombstone, let's go check it out." said Sasuke as he and Bee ran over to the furthest tombstone from the entrance to the cemetery.
Fog started to surround the area, as a gloomy feeling began to feel the air.
"Uh oh, do ya see that, we have done screwed up, some kind of trap must have been set." said Bee with shivers throughout his body.
"Calm down, it is just a theatrical display to scare off any trespassers, but we are not the common folk, now are we?" asked Sasuke as he saw a glowing sword laying beside the tombstone.
"This person's name was Rivoulzione, huh, maybe this glowing sword belonged to him, and right beside it is another tombstone, this one has the name Iris written on it." said Sasuke to Bee as the fog intensified.
"Hey Sasuke my man, I don't want to rain on your parade, but it looks like we have some company, looks like a tirade." said Bee with a worried tone.
Several undead corpses started to come from out of the ground where the tombstones were located, and each of the undead had maces and clubs in their rotting hands.
"Heh, look at that, another trap, some kind of reanimation jutsu no doubt, to trigger when someone approaches the golden sword, how quaint." said Sasuke as he pulled out his sword.
"Eh, oh well, come on Samehada, let's go wild, wheeeeee!" yelled Bee as he and Sasuke slowly walked towards the mob of around one hundred undead.
"I will take the lead, you follow behind." said Sasuke as he swiftly ran towards the undead with his sword in an offensive position.
"Oh man this is crazy bad, if I get bitten and turn into a zombie, that will not be rad." said Bee as he pulled out Samehada and swung it at ten undead creatures, cutting them all into pieces.
"I will make short work of these imbeciles." said Sasuke as he prepared handsigns with his only arm.
"Fire Release: Great Dragonfire Technique!" yelled Sasuke as he launched three large fireballs that obliterated fifty of the corpses at once.
"My turn now, Lariat!" yelled Bee as he clotheslined five more zombies at a time, sending their heads flying into the fog above.
"Let's put an end to this Bee." said Sasuke as he and Bee channeled Lightning chakra through themselves, and released it in a glowing light, which then flew towards the remaining undead, destroying them.
"That was quite the light show, I bet those zombies wish they would have never bothered to exchange blows with us, oh yeah." said Bee as he put Samehade on the strap on his back.
"I have seen enough, let's go find Naruto now." said Sasuke as he could also feel Sakura's presence outside of the city.
Meanwhile, inside of the Castle of Leviticus, seven of the Knights of Dawn were gathered around a large table with coffee cups and scrolls laid across.
"The boss will be outside of his quarters shortly, he will give us directives on how to act next, Tetsuga is still in the Watering Grounds looking for the spy, so he wished to be left alone for now." said Andarius as he took a sip of his coffee.
"Damn, the boss has not been out of his room for days, I wonder what he was doing in there anyway?" asked Lunesto with curiosity as he did not seem to like the flavor of the coffee too well.
"I tried to make it the best I could, I guess not having any coffee creamer came back to bite me in the ass after all." said Antoine to Lunesto with an apologetic tone.
"Forget the damn coffee, Naruto is in the city as we speak if the estimated time of his arrival is correct at least." said Jesei with a serious tone.
"I cannot wait to see him, I will show him my torture chamber, bet he would like that, heehehehe." laughed Zaire.
"Someone triggered the trap in the cemetary as well, probably more backup from Naruto's end." said Lehourihm to the others.
"Sasuke and Killer Bee, they have also decided to join Naruto on this little escapade, but no matter, the greater the audience we have, the more prevalent our own agenda can unfold." said Dreatoen with a malicious grin on his face.
"Enough bickering, the boss is coming." said Zaire as the lights in the large room surrounded by stained glass windows dimmed, leaving only a little light to fill the room.
"Pleasure to have you in our presence, Lord Hirudeguarn." said Jesei as he and the other Knights of Dawn closed their eyes and lowered their heads to the table.
A loud series of footsteps could be heard as a throne made of marble resembling a Cerberus sat in front of the table where the Knights of Dawn were seated.
A large man, around nine and a half feet tall, wearing a suit and a hat resembling the attire of an old western mortician was slowly walking towards the throne that was in front of the Knights.
He had bulging muscles that showed through his black suit and red tie, which had kanji written on it, and he had a cigar in his mouth as the large man sat down in front of the Knights of Dawn, with two green serpentine pupils surrounded by bloodshot eyes and red scarlea. He had broad facial features, a large jawline, prominent creases and cheekbones, and many wrinkles that covered the old giant's face.
"Naruto is here sir, and he has company with him, I am not sure what our next move is, but could you enlighten us on it?" asked Antoine with as he shivered at the presence of the behemoth of a man that sat in front of him.
"I was gazing at the stars in eve's past and saw the world crying tears of pain and constant suffering, to cleanse the blood of this scarred world and to deliver the interim of Mankind's parabola is the purpose of our establishment." proclaimed the man with a deep, booming voice as he glared at his subordinates with a look of indifference.
"Yes sir, that is the directive that you have given us all." said Jesei with a tone of joy.
"My brothers, all of our waiting is over, this is the new age of mankind, rejoice children of Rah'Zuh, the blood of your oppressors will not be soon forgotten, for now it is the death of fear, and the birth of renewal." said the large man with a grin on his face.
"It is a pleasure to be in your presence Lord Hirudeguarn." said Zaire with a humbling tone.
"Let Naruto come to the castle, I will not be here to greet him personally though, that will be for later when I put him to my test." said Hirudeguarn as he closed his eyes, and could see around the entire city of Lazarus.
"Sasuke, Bee, Sakura, Sai, Shikamaru, Orochimaru, Karin, Suigetsu, Jugo, a good turnout, I am glad to know that my message was delivered with much success, but that is only the beginning, Zaire, I want you to tell Naruto of the details of when his battle with me is to take place, as well as the location, and make sure that he stays in the city, do not show any hostility to his friends either, make them feel at home, just as I took you all in." said Hirudeguarn as he got up out of his throne and walked towards the back door of the room.
"You are my sacred missionaries, my voices to the public, you are to convey my will and do the work of god, to ensure that peace is brought to my original vision, and to ensure that reason reigns above ignorance, until we meet again, enact my will upon this worthless damned world." said Hirudeguarn with a fierce tone as the stone around the room crackled at the presence of the large man.
"Thy kingdom come, thy will be done." said Dreatoen as he and the other Knights also got up out of their seats and left the room through the front door.
"Heh, it looks like it is my job to convince Naruto to stay here, oh well, I was looking forward to capturing some more fucking Stone shinobi and torture them." laughed Zaire with an insane look of murder in his eyes.
"No, you will listen to our leader's decree, do as you were commanded." said Lehourihm to Zaire with a stern voice.
"I will, my brother, I will." said Zaire as he calmed down and walked down the flight of stairs that led to the main entrance of the castle.
"The rest of you, hang low for a while and await any further directive from Hirudeguarn, we will leave this to Zaire for now." said Dreatoen as he walked into the back entrance of the castle into the catacombs of the facility.
Orochimaru and Taka had been looking for the chakra that Karin had detected from earlier, but could not seem to come up with a body.
"Whoever it is that is hiding from us is certainly a skilled man, even I cannot detect him." said Orochimaru as he looked around the rainy forest surrounded by caverns, but was unable to find anyone.
"My Mind's Eye of the Kagura has not failed me before, but I had honestly lost track of the chakra that I detected here, I cannot explain it." said Karin with a puzzled look on her face.
"Is it the same chakra that you said would put us all in dread?" asked Suigetsu recalling Karin's panic from earlier.
"No, while this chakra that is hiding from us is decently powerful, it is not the one that I spoke of." said Karin as she began to sweat thinking of what she detected earlier.
"You must have caught a glimpse of my brother, the leader of the Knights of Dawn, hehehe, I guess we know what our next destination is then." said Orochimaru as he decided to abandon looking for the man hidden in the forest for now.
"So, we are just going to ignore the person hidden in this forest and leave?" asked Jugo to Orochimaru.
"Yes, it is of no concern to me at the moment, for the only reason I have came here is to meet with my brother, face to face." said Orochimaru to Taka.
"Hehehe, so that is his plan, well who am I to stop you four." said Tetsuga as he made himself visible to Orochimaru and his team.
"So, you are one of the Knights of Dawn after all." said Orochimaru with a calm look on his face.
"Who am I to stop the brother of my holy leader in a time like this, please, feel free and go meet him for yourself, your three friends are welcome as well." said Tetsuga with a grin.
"Huh, he is not going to try and stop us?" asked Suigetsu with confusion.
"No it doesn't look like it, but I think we better not go anyway." said Karin with the shivers.
"Now now, don't be afraid of our holy majesty, his will is to only see everyone on this world prosper, hehehe...hahahaha!" laughed Tetsuga as he walked towards Orochimaru with no fear in his heart.
"You are not the one who was spying on our city, and even though Greshem is dead, I will let that slide as well, go ahead and meet your brother Orochimaru, he has such sights to show you." said Tetsuga to Orochimaru with a tone of great anticipation.
-To be continued next time with Chapter 033...-