Naruto Shippuden -H-: Chapter 035: Naruto's Suspicion
Naruto had made his way into the fountain at the center of the city of Lazarus, which was beyond the suburbs that he had met the elderly woman at earlier.
"I have merged with my shadow clones, yet I have not gained any knowledge on these Knights of Dawn yet, though I am a little more familiar with the geography of this place." thought Naruto to himself.
"Well, if you were her for a geography lesson, you would be good, but it is obvious that the large castle you saw on that mountain range is our destination, just make sure that you are the only one who enters, we don't want those friends of yours to get caught up in some kind of massacre." said Kurama to Naruto.
"I know, I can sense two chakras coming near me right now, I will be ecstatic to see who it is, and depending on who it is, that will determine my next move." said Naruto to Kurama in his mind.
"That is the best thing you can do for now Naruto, though I would not be surprised if this entire journey, as well as the map layout on that scroll, was just one large trap put together by these scoundrels to steal me from you." said Kurama to Naruto with an angered tone.
"Heh, don't worry about that my friend, with me and you as a team, no shinobi alive can defeat us." said Naruto confident in his teamwork with the tailed beast within him.
"Don't forget, you have small portions of the one through eight tails within you as well, but they can only be accessed in special circumstances." said Kurama to Naruto as he jumped on top of the pillar in the middle of the water fountain and stared off into the northwest towards the Castle of Leviticus.
"Now, we wait and see what two people are coming this way." said Naruto as he remained in his normal Sage Mode with his senses focused on the two chakras headed towards him.
Sasuke and Bee had destroyed the underground catacombs where Zaire had been torturing innocent victims for his own pleasure, outside of the main plains of the Sun-Braced Grove.
"Even at my lowest point, I could not have made myself do that to someone, not just for no reason." said Sasuke to Bee as his Rinnegan was focused on the surroundings of the city.
"I know man, check it, I have seen and been through some terrible stuff, but still, that tortured man will be avenged, as will the rest of those helpless people." said Bee in his Version 1 eight tails chakra cloak as the two stopped in the middle of the southern plantation towards the southern forest.
"I know you are here Orochimaru, Jugo, Karin, and Suigetsu, show yourselves, or me and Bee will come find you." said Sasuke with a slightly angered voice.
"Yo, we have been followed, I would have never thought that some fool would want to by a copy of my new mix-tape that badly." thought Bee to himself.
"Still grumpy as always, but I guess you have a reason to be this time, I know I am for having to come all the way out here and be practically useless." said Suigetsu as he was the first to emerge from the forest.
"To be fair, that man's gravity based techniques from his sword made it hard for anyone to move properly, thus not allowing us to help out Lord Orochimaru from the beginning." said Jugo as he emerged second.
"Normally, I would be ecstatic to be near Sasuke's scent, but hehehe, I don't want to mess with a married man, now do I?" asked Karin to herself as she stayed close to Jugo, still fearful of the chakra she sensed earlier.
"I see you have not ran into any of these Knights of Dawn yet Sasuke, Bee, but I have, and from what I can tell, those same two are now headed towards Naruto as I speak." said Orochimaru as he walked from behind Taka and stood in front of them.
"I bet one of them was responsible for that torture chamber we found, that was some sick shit, check it." said Bee.
"Is that so, and you are here to find your brother right, any luck with that?" asked Sasuke to Orochimaru.
"Hehehe, well in a way yes, but it turns out that he is not only associated with Lazarus, he is the one who the Knights have been referring to as the Apathetic Judge." said Orochimaru to Sasuke with a slightly worried tone.
"Man, even this snake fool is worried, but we octopi are not so easily scared." thought Bee to himself as Gyuki face palmed again within his consciousness.
"We are going to continue our search around these walls of the city, I am confident in Naruto's ability to defend himself, I assume you four are headed to wherever this Hirudeguarn is, and Naruto and his team are here for the same reason as me and Bee, well, that about settles it, let's end this potential disaster before it can even begin." said Sasuke to Bee as he started to walk towards the outer reaches of the grassy plains, towards the hot springs.
"Sasuke, where did you get that golden sword strapped to your back?" asked Suigetsu who just happened to notice it the moment Sasuke turned around.
"Geez, do you really need to start fantisizing about another damn sword?" asked Karin to Suigetsu with an annoyed tone.
"Hey, I am proficient with blades now more than ever, do you think I was just loafing around for two years after the war doing nothing?" asked Suigetsu to Karin with a sarcastic tone.
"Yes, I actually do think that." said Karin to Suigetsu with a dry sense of humor.
"Me and Bee found it in a cemetery on the other side of these city walls, once we picked it up, these undead creatures ambushed us, but we fought them off, I assume it belonged to someone from within this city." said Sasuke to Suigetsu.
"You can have it though, I know how much Zabuza's blade meant to you before you lost it, I have my own sword anyway." said Sasuke as he threw the golden glade, within a diamond hilt right towards Suigetsu.
"Hmmm, that blade sure does look expensive, maybe even worth millions." thought Jugo to himself.
"Really... thank you my friend, and now, I can actually send whatever sorry bastard we run into next, six feet under in the blink of an eye." said Suigetsu with an joyful tone.
"Heh, if it turns out to be better than Kusanagi, then your blind luck is the greatest on our planet." said Orochimaru as he was jealous of the blade in a comical sense.
"Anyway, farewell for now my former Taka, try not to get too bummed out by Orochimaru's depressing demeanor." said Sasuke as he and Bee walked towards the Hot Springs.
"Wow, so that is how he views me currently, hehe." thought Orochimaru to himself as he and Taka decided to head west of where Sasuke and Bee were headed.
Deep within the Castle of Leviticus, Dretoen has entered a large room ordained with large red rubies and garnets, surrounded by Iron seams and Crystal nails. This area was the top-most floor of the back area of the Castle, above the asylum directly below it, with a dark, barely lit ambiance to it.
"Your majesty, I have been analyzing the five major countries and they appear to be aware of our operations, probably from the info that Sasuke had collected, and they plan to organize a summit in the Land of Iron, not unlike the one three years ago during Obito's war." said Dreatoen as he stood in front of a large throne surrounded by many shelves of books and tables with red cloth and candles on them.
"As if I would even begin to think about such folly things, for my depression will only be churned when I stare that magnificent boy straight in the eyes during the heat of battle, though concerning the shinobi alliance, their test is coming soon, I will see to that." said Hirudeguarn as he sat in his throne, resembling a Jackal, and had another cigar in his mouth which he had just lit.
"Still yet, it has been a while since you have left the castle, has something been bothering you lately?" asked Dreatoen to his master.
"Well, considering the current affairs and state of this lowly planet, which is surrounded by hundreds of other satellites, the insignificance of these times of peace permits me from even bothering to check out what few interesting plethora that may still exist out there." said Hirudeguarn as he looked up at the chandelier hanging above him.
"My mission to inform you of this event has been finished, I will not observe the actions of Sasuke and Bee now, I am curious to what they will do next." said Dreatoen as he began to leave his master's quarters.
"Orochimaru is coming soon, make sure to tell all of the Knights to leave him and his team be, I will gladly see them in person, assuming they can make it to my chamber without wishing to slice their cute little jugulars out of their necks." said Hirudeguarn with a slightly excited look on his large, broad face.
"Farewell, for now." said Dreaton as he shut the large door that led out of the chamber, and proceeded to enter the lower levels of the asylum down the stairs below.
"Now then, Orochimaru, what will you say, depending on that, it could be the catalyst that decides this world's next rotation." said Hirudeguarn as he lit another cigar and closed his eyes.
Naruto had jumped off of the fountain he was standing on earlier as he noticed two figures approaching him from the western part of the city. All of the surrounding citizens had gathered around the surrounding buildings to observe the events that were about to take place.
"There here." said Kurama within Naruto's mind.
"Yes, I know." said Naruto as Tetsuga and Zaire had arrived right in front of him.
"Before either of you two say anything, if you really wanted to convince me to come here in a pleasant mood, you should have left Ishigakure out of this, because now I will almost certainly kill both of you." said Naruto with a stern voice as he was still in his Sage Mode.
"Fair enough, I mean I expect anyone who saw what Zaire did back there to be atrocious, you have every right to wish death upon us, hell I would want the same." said Tetsuga with a honest approach towards Naruto.
"Let me be frank and clear about something, no one tells me what and what not to fuckin' do, and even though your entire person has captivated the eye of Hirudeguarn, our master, it does not mean I feel the same way, in fact, I would love to torture you, just like those hundreds that used to be in my catacombs." said Zaire as he decided to not use deception towards Naruto.
"I appreciate the honesty, at least I can know that you don't lie, it will make it easier to fight you two with that in mind." said Naruto as he was about to create several shadow clones.
Suddenly, Lehourihm, Andarius, Antoine, Lunesto, and Jesei had also arrived beside Zaire and Tetsuga, and all stood in front of Naruto, with everyone bowing, except Zaire and Tetsuga.
"You see, there will be a fight, but not with us, remember when you were told that our boss was your biggest fan, well he meant that in a way in which he will be the one to fight you, and that shall be two weeks from now, in the Northern Badlands, north of Sunagakure in the Land of Wind." said Zaire with a smile on his face.
"Huh, why does he not introduce himself to me now, I mean if he is really that interested in me?" asked Naruto as he had entered his Nine-Tails Chakra Mode for added assurance.
"It is not you he is interested in as much as what you have been able to do, none of us even knew of your name until around two years ago." said Jesei as he stood up beside Zaire.
"Pain's Invasion, bringing your friend Sasuke to the light, facing Obito, Madara, and Kaguya, and stopping the moon from colliding with Earth, hard to let those events go unnoticed." said Andarius with a lazy expression.
"How many people can say that they were the deciding factors in these events, none, none but you, even if you had help, you were the main card." said Lunesto with a blush towards Naruto.
"I am not falling for this tirade, I am aware of the crazy road that my life has been lately, but to think of me as some sort of Golden Hero is merely an excuse to continue your acts of terrorism." said Naruto with a stern voice to the seven men in front of him.
"Says you, but just take to time to meet Hirudeguarn, you will not be sorry, he has been talking to you in your dreams after all." said Antoine to Naruto, knowing of what his boss had been doing, concerning the luring of Naruto to their city.
"So he was the one, I see." said Naruto remembering the terrible nightmares he had ever since he and Hinata had left the beach and returned to Konoha.
"Don't be too distraught, it was merely a way to communicate with you on a psychological level, it was not an attack, and I am sure you will even come to like the atmosphere if these dreams if you bother to try and understand them." said Tetsuga with joy.
"Now with all of this said, I believe that only one question remains now, Naruto Uzumaki, will you reside here for two weeks to face Hirudeguarn, or will you return to your village, and be forever ignorant of the endpoint of what has allowed us to understand the reasons for life in the first place, the choice is yours, this test is only one that someone as deserving as you is privileged enough to undertake." said Lehourihm with a calm expression as he reached his hand out towards Naruto's.
Naruto remained silent as he deactivated his chakra mode and looked up towards the Castle of Leviticus, thinking of what could be watching him from within the walls.
"If this Apathetic Judge really wants to fight me for the sake of finding out the true reasons of why I did the things I did, tell him I will, but as for staying here, that is not an option." said Naruto to the seven men in front of him.
"Fair Enough, remember the location of the battle, and tell Shikamaru, Sakura, and Sai to come here immediately, Andarius." said Antoine to both Naruto and Andarius respectively.
"I did not say anything about getting them involved." said Naruto with an angered tone.
"And we did not say anything about why they accepted you in the first place." said Dreatoen as he suddenly appeared inches in front of Naruto.
"Is this Hirudeguarn, his chakra is amazing?" asked Naruto to himself.
"I am Dreatoen Morea, a surviving member of the Otsutsuki clan, and I know more than anyone that you will agree to this invitation, because you are aware deep down in your mind of what is at stake." said Dreatoen as he looked Naruto directly into the eyes.
"What is this, who is this man, Naruto try not to falter from his words, and be sure to keep some distance, I sense that we may be having yet another visitor soon enough." said Kurama within Naruto's mind as Andarius started running towards the direction of Sakura and the others at high speeds.
-To be continued next time with Chapter 036...-