The room was cleaned again. The blood and bones of the tribute to Naraku to appease his hunger as the wyvern groomed itself from its bloody feast. Live animals offered a more appealing thrill as an apex predator than cut meats from a butchery. The bull tried to fight but was no match for a more cunning beast with a bite force capable of snapping those foolish horns like twigs.
In the downtime of Beryl's goons tracking every action of Sailor Venus' civilian life and that of her family, Naraku went out on his own to pillage and loot gold, silver and jewelry from the Americas (in his defense, he felt they deserved it for wronging him back when he was Naruto) as that dirty paper the humans called money had no value to an aspiring dragon. They could easily reprint the paper money like its nothing while precious metals were permanent and held a value to it that can increase over time and he hoarded those metals in his collection like a fiend holding its victim's soul.
He's had numerous heists in random locations to confuse the Americans that were trying to capture him, and he laughed at their failed attempts every time he succeeded in getting away. Their government must be blowing up swear storms by now for their failures in protecting the true wealth as their elite society is suffering from being robbed of prized goods.
Naraku had made a makeshift altar in his secret cave in dedication to his ancestors and offered them a portion of his treasure. Adding a good portion of his loot from every raid he conducted in hopes of hearing the Great Dragon Ancestors offer a blessing.
They did. They bestowed him the gift of fire breathing, the legendary Dragonfyre that signified his rite of passage. Yet that was only one half of the offerings, as he needed another offering to ascend…a virgin princess.
In this day and age, a virgin princess was like diamonds in a pig's trough. Very few countries had a monarch rule these days so even though he's acquired the Dragonfyre, no virgin princess means no final blessing to evolve into a legitimate dragon. And now that the wyvern exposed itself to the masses thinking he was an actual dragon, they have begun protecting their women with serious zeal.
The wyvern prayed that an alternative offering could replace that of the initial step. The Great Dragon Ancestors responded with the only alternative: a female saint. A genuine holy saint at that.
It only served to cause the wyvern to rampage in frustration in the countryside in Europe. Because a saint isn't just born on a whim, and Deus despite being the evil counterpart to Yaweh, is unable to create saints of his own. It was a deadlock either way as the wyvern burned the village he invaded to the ground and flew off. He had absorbed the negative emotions the villages emitted as they were consumed in the flames. Fear, anger, dread, despair, hate. All that wonderful malice became energy to evolve his powers. He could now sense negative emotions like the Kyūbi no Kitsune named Kurama had.
That fox, Naraku never met it in person as Naruto never became the Jinchuriki of it in the first place but it did respect the ability to sense evil as something worthy of respect. Because it was evil that made Naraku into the abomination he despised now in his twisted, fractured soul. Now that he has this ability, he can reap lands of sinners and get a gift from Old Scratch downstairs for all the people being sent his way.
But it seemed the Devil had other plans as Naraku's mind heard the infamous Fell Dragon whisper to him. The fact that the Sailor Guardians are reincarnated princesses stirred a realization in Naraku. He can use Sailor Venus as an offering to his ascension to dragonhood. She already arrived in Japan a while ago and then if she can't be offered…
…!
Naraku sensed it, a change in the world itself as he felt a similar presence akin to that miko he met a year ago in his serpent form. It was not of earthly powers, and most likely…
Naraku quickly teleported into the Dark Kingdom with a heavy thud that startled the youma as they cowered behind anything to hide themselves from his presence as the wyvern stormed into the throne room and met one of them. One of Queen Beryl's 'Four Heavenly Kings', Jadeite. He had been introduced to the four quickly for the hunt for the Silver Crystal and currently the wyvern and four loyal men of Beryl had different objectives. His was to find the Sailor Guardian's identities and defeat them, they on the other hand needed to collect energy for some big project their queen was doing and finding the Silver Crystal.
"Things have changed, I felt it. Did another one of those girls appear?" Naraku demanded of Jadeite as the blond man bowed his head slightly as he gave his report.
"Indeed they have o' Great One. The one called Sailor Moon had appeared last night and killed one of my youma." he reported as the wyvern hissed. Whether in approval or disapproval unnerved the man.
"Hmmm…perhaps this time I'll observe your youma in action. A domino effect is most likely to happen, and another one of the princess's protectors will arrive." Naraku stated as Beryl raised a brow at this.
"You wish to see this in person, Great One? May you enlighten us with your great wisdom in doing so?" she asked. Naraku chuckled darkly, and cold shivers ran down everyone's spines.
"If I'm lucky enough, I'll discover at least one of their mortal identities before we begin the plans of capturing them and securing the Silver Crystal faster. Yeeessss…" Naraku explained, the twisted gleam in his eyes giving Beryl a hint of apprehension as she decided to just agree with the plan.
This wyvern held a commanding presence and wit that spoke of competence as they had already found Sailor Venus' identity. So she decided it was best to trust him to get the task done.
[Crystal Seminar]
Naraku waited on a rooftop on the opposite side of where the youma was siphoning energy from students studying there, completely bored out of his mind. If there was anything Naraku hated that he picked up from his previous life as Naruto Uzumaki was studying. It wasn't that he was dumb, but rather had so much energy he lacked patience to sit down and read a book. A trait that unfortunately passed on to Naraku as the wyvern was taking a catnap to pass the time. Then he felt it and smelt it, the power of the moon. Now don't ask how he knows what the moon smells like, he just knows it.
Curiosity struck him as Naraku peeked over the edge of the roof to see…a nurse? Wait, no, that was wrong. A fourteen-year-old blonde girl, a black cat with a crescent moon on its forehead heading into the Crystal Seminar. The girl had meatballs for hair was the one thing that stood out, and Naraku made sure to have a file by the end of the night to find out who she was. But he already figured this was the young and legendary Sailor Moon herself in her beginning days.
If he wasn't interested before, a man in a tuxedo, a cape, and a mask was in the area…and he wielded a power within him that called out to Naraku.
The Earth itself told him to claim the power inside the man, to reclaim what was unworthy of the human and correct the world with his own claws. He refused, he needed to watch this play out and see if the man would interfere if Naraku made a move. He heard a name at least, "Tuxedo Mask" huh? He at least got the energy frequency detected so he'll track the man at a later date as the youma was defeated by Sailor Moon's Moon Tiara Boomerang attack. "I'll make sure to let Jadeite get mercy for his failures…for now I have learned of the details of Sailor Mercury!" The wyvern thrilled with approval as his tail shook like a rattlesnake's in excited joy as his eyes reflected the confused expression of Ami Mizuno, now Sailor Mercury.
[Dark Kingdom]
"Is it true? Thanks to Jadeite's blunder you found the identity of Sailor Mercury?" Queen Beryl asked, looking surprised as the wyvern's teeth unnerved her when he smiled.
"Yeesss…One's failure can be turned into success for another's. And now we take care of Mercury before she becomes a greater threat. That girl from what I observed is smart, and the smart ones MUST be taken out first." Naraku replied, his tone serious with eyes piercing into the souls of everyone foolish enough to look into them. Naraku's memories of Shikamaru Nara warrant enough alarm to know Ami Mizuno was the most dangerous threat at the moment. Raw power was fine, but if fighting someone with smarts, they control the battle and can lay waste to many future fights if they grew in power.
"What do you suggest I do then, Lord Naraku?" Jadeite asked, feeling humbled and respectful for the wyvern of sparing him from his queen's wrath. The sinister smile on the wyvern's face did not scare him as much as it did before, now that he knew this creature was cunning and benevolent when appeased.
"Divide and conquer. If anything, either Mars or Jupiter will awaken next. We need to prevent them all from uniting. So use actual people, no youma, to kidnap the mortal guise of Sailor Mercury. Make sure the heat dies down before going after Venus." Naraku explained as Jadeite was in deep thought. That was when another of the Four Heavenly Kings, Nephrite.
"Great One, why wait to go after Venus? Would it not be paramount to secure her first?" the general asked. Naraku hissed with disapproval as the man flinched at the sound and glare.
"Fool! Venus has experience on her side. Any reckless action will lead her back to us since she fought against the soldiers of the Dark Kingdom numerous times before! We need to observe her more and make a plan when dealing with her." he growled, annoyance written on his face as Nephrite bowed his head.
"I understand Great One, may I aid Jadeite in securing Mercury?" he requested, much to the surprise of Jadeite.
"Two heads are better than one after all." the wyvern mused, tone with approval in it. "Work it out perfectly while doing your usual tasks, because I'm personally entering the field when it comes to dealing with the Sailor Guardians, yeesss…" he thrilled as the room became darker with his malevolent smile.
*Japan-Shrine*
The young miko looked at the fire solemnly. Her visions had warned her of the black serpent before last year, only for it to escape her. Now a new vision showed the snake growing wings and feet and holding a girl in its jaws. That girl was in danger, and Rei Hino was going to make sure she was safe from the beast's jaws.