ey everyone! Thunderito here and welcome to chapter seventeen of Naruto: The Shadow Blade! This chapter features family time and the start of the Mother's Rosario. On with the story! And read the AN at the end.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Sword Art Online. They belong to their respective owners.
Chapter 17: Family Time and Zekken
Group House
Silica, Lisbeth, Leafa, Asuna, a sleeping Kirito and a sleepy Naruto were all in ALO, in Naruto and Asuna's house. The girls had planned to do their homework online and Asuna persuaded Naruto to come and help them. "Naruto-kun? Why were the people during the Emperor Meiji's time against bringing down the Shogun system and becoming more technologically advanced?" she asked. Naruto opened one of his eyes, as he was slowly massaging the head of Yui, who was sitting on his lap asleep "The Japanese are people who respect tradition. When Emperor Meiji failed to stop the influence of the Western Powers on his country, many Japanese, ranging from peasants to Samurai, were against that. So, they followed the slogan Sonno Joi, revere the Emperor and expel the barbarians. Once the Emperor tried to bring down the traditional system, they marched on Edo Castle and begun the Boshin Wars, which ended and the Meiji Restoration came." he explained, as she nodded with a smile, typing an answer. "Naruto-kun? Why was Emperor Akihito loved so much?" Leafa this time asked. "He brought the Imperial family closer to the people. The Emperor and Empress made visits to all forty-seven prefectures of Japan and have travelled to eighteen countries. Their companies also help the people a lot." he said, as she nodded.
Naruto saw Silica about to fall asleep "Can someone cover Kirito with a blanket?" he asked, his eye twitching, as everyone laughed. "Naruto-kun? Can we go to Agil's after school?" she asked, as he shrugged "Sure. What time should I pick you up?" he asked. "Would 10 be alright?" she asked, as he nodded. "Thank you!" she smiled, as he shook his head "Don't be silly. You know I like going out on dates, wherever they are." he smiled at her. She blushed lightly, quickly going back to her studies. He smirked, before slowly rising up with Yui on his arms, going upstairs to put her to bed. After a minute, he went back down "Would you girls need anything else from me?" he asked, as their shook their heads. "Alright. I am off. Oh Asuna, want a full day-date or just at Agil's?" he asked, as she thought for a second "Well, I wouldn't mind you helping me with more homework." she said, as they laughed.
Dicey Cafe
"Here you go." said Agil, giving them two cups of warm coffee. "Thank you." they said at the same time. "You know, I didn't expect you to come here for a date. Maybe somewhere a bit more fashionable." Agil said, crossing his arms. "Compare to every shop in existence in SAO, this is fashionable." he replied, as Agil nodded, before widening his eyes "Hey I had a shop too!" he said, as Naruto snickered, with Asuna giggling. Agil sighed "You two certainly don't look like the top clearers right now." he said. "Look who's talking." Naruto fired back.
"Agil-san, were you a MMORPG player for a long time?" she asked. He nodded "Yes. I even met my wife in a game. She lived in America, but we came and opened a Cafe here. We wanted to buy two Nerve Gears, but we could only afford one. So we played a game to see who would go first. I am still glad I won." he said, as both nodded. "So, I joined the Leading group for her. I didn't want her to run this place forever." he said. Naruto nodded "Everyone wanted to return to something. Everyone fought to return to what was special for them." he said, as Agil nodded. "Asuna, you felt that too right?" Agil asked. She shook her head, looking at her reflection in the Coffee "No, I didn't actually. I am not fond of my parents, or games. I felt like I had no place in either worlds. So sometimes I forgot what I fought for. Then, Naruto came. He gave me a home that felt more real than anything I felt in the real world. And while I knew that our house in the 22nd Floor would disappear if SAO was beaten, the thought that I, Naruto-kun and Yui-chan could live there again sometime, gave me the strength to keep fighting." she said, as Naruto rubbed her forearm. "
Speaking of that, the New update of ALO is up. It features new Sword Skills and weapons, along-" "No, don't!" yelled Naruto. Agil raised an eyebrow "What is wrong with me saying Floors 21 to 30 are unlocked?" he asked, as Asuna widened her eyes. She then narrowed them at Naruto "What are you hiding, Naruto-kun?" she asked. He sighed, sipping his coffee "The update was up at 02:00 . I slept only two hours, just so I could wake up and get into the ALO. I hired a player to come to my party. I told him that if he came with me to a party for five floors of Raid and he just stood in a corner, once I beat both bosses I would give him all the money and Items. He knew my reputation so he accepted. I unlocked all five rooms in the span of two hours, using Legendary Gear and a lot of Mugetsu . I bought the house and all the furnitures and I intended to surprise you and Yui." he said, as Asuna widened her eyes. She then smiled and hugged him tightly, as he hugged her back with a smile. "Sorry for ruining the surprise." Agil rubbed his head. Naruto shook his head "While you should remember I am part of the group whose PC is used to load the Update, it is fine. We can still surprise Yui." he said. She nodded "Let's do it!" she said, rising "Bye Agil-san!" she said, rushing out. Naruto finished, his coffee, placed money on the table and fist-bumped Agil "See you later. Asuna won't stop now." he said as Agil waved goodbye.
Floor 22nd
Naruto and Asuna flew quickly through Floor 22, as Asuna watched the lake and the trees in happiness, snow falling freely to the ground, forming a sheet of white above the grass. They flew along the familiar wooden path, before Asuna widened her eyes at the log house. She quickly flew down and approached it, as Naruto came a second later. "Yui-chan, come out in your real form and keep your eyes closed." he said, as Yui appeared. He turned her slightly, as they both kneeled "Open them." he said. She did so, looking around, before she saw the house. Her eyes widened, before she squealed and hugged him. He laughed, giving Asuna a key. She nodded, opening the door. The house was just like the one they had in SAO. Everything, the furniture, the decorations even the paintings were the same, at the right place. She started crying, only for Naruto wipe her tears "Come on. Let us go outside. It is a beautiful time." he said, as they nodded and did so.
Naruto kneeled down and picked up some snow, forming two balls. "Now Yui. We shall play a family game. You take some snow, you form a ball." he then threw one of the balls at Asuna's face "And you throw it as hard as you can to someone's face." he finished with a grin. Asuna's eye twitched, before she smirked, throwing him a ball of snow, which he dodged and threw her his other ball, only to get hit by one from Yui. They started laughing, hitting each other with snowballs, running around. "Wait. I got an idea! Naruto-kun, me and Yui will be one team, you will be another. We will be eight meters away from each other. We have ten minutes to build something, then we will unleash snow balls on each other." she said, as Naruto smirked. They gained their distance, starting their construction.
"Alright Yui-chan. You take the snow and bring it together, like this." she said, forming a small hill of snow. "I see. Ok Mama!" she said, starting to collect snow. "That's a good girl! We must make this very high!" she said, as they started forming a small wall of snow. They nodded after two minutes. "Alright. Now we do the same with the sides, to form a small crescent moon." she said, as Yui nodded with a smile, taking the right side, Asuna taking the left. After five minutes passed, they formed a nice wall. "Alright Yui-chan! Our job is to cover Papa in snow from here! Let's form our supplies!" she said, as they started making snow balls. Once one minute was left, they turned to see Naruto's build only to gasp, as he had actually formed a tower of snow, from which he was on the top, smirking. The timer rung, as Naruto yelled "Begin the snow hail!" he said, as he begun throwing snowballs.
"Duck Yui-chan!" she said, as the wall kept them safe. "Bring Papa down!" yelled Yui, starting to throw snowballs at Naruto, as he started dodging them. "Yui-chan, Papa is too fast. Let's take down his tower! Hit the sides!" she said, as Yui nodded with a smirk. Naruto looked down, as they started hitting the sides of his tower, taking out the snow "Hey, no faaaaiiiir!" he yelled, as the tower collapsed, falling to the ground covered in snow. "Papa!" Yui yelled rushing and taking out the snow. However, two arms came from the snow, grabbing her, as Naruto raised her to the air and started running towards Asuna. They both hugged her, as they fell to the ground, the family of three laughing.
They slowly rose, as Naruto had an idea. He whispered something to Asuna, who nodded with a smile, rushing inside the house. "Alright Yui-chan. Now, we shall build a snowman." he said, holding her hand, going to the destroyed tower. "Now, let's make a giant ball!" he said, as she nodded "Yes Papa!" she said. Asuna looked outside the window, as she made hot chocolate. She smiled looking at them, before continuing. "That's a big ball Papa!" she said, as it was went to her stomach. "Indeed. And it will be bigger. Let us push it towards the other pile of snow." he said, as he and Yui pushed the ball halfway the distance of the other wall. They stopped, as the ball grew an inch, before going to the other wall "Now, we will make this a smaller ball." he said, as she nodded. "Papa this is fun!" she said, as Naruto nodded. "Now, this is good enough. I will take this ball to the snowman. Be a good girl and form a smaller ball with the remaining snow." he said, as she nodded "Yes Papa!" she said. Naruto placed the ball on top of the other, then started to make them smooth, taking out the excess snow. He saw Yui coming with a smaller ball, Asuna following her with a carrot, a few black orbs, a scarf and a hat. Naruto placed the ball, as Asuna and Yui decorated the snowman, making him eyes, a nose, buttons and a smile. Naruto then picked up two branches, as Asuna raised Yui, having her put on the scarf and a hat. He gave Yui the branches, before placing a recording crystal down. He pressed on it, before going to Asuna and Yui, who were sitting on the ground. He sat down "Smile and look at the crystal Yui-chan." he said, as they all smiled. A flash appeared, as Naruto went to the crystal, as it vanished, a picture of Naruto, Yui, Asuna and the snowman in it's place.
"Alright. Let's go back. We don't want Yui-chan to catch a cold do we?" she asked, as they nodded. They sat in the living room, drinking hot chocolate, as they opened the TV and watched a show from the real world. The hot chocolate and the satisfying exercise, along with the warmth of the house, made Yui quickly fall asleep. Asuna placed her head on Naruto's lap "I am glad you did this Naruto-kun." she said, as he run his hands through her hair. "Don't be. I would do anything for you two." he said, as she nodded with a smile. "Say. For how long can you stay." she said. He checked the time, frowning "Not long. It's 5 PM. I have to be at work by 6, so half an hour at most." he said. While still busy, he was now able to go to work any time if there was no important reason, as long as he stayed for four hours, due to his promotion to Major. The way things were going, in one year he would be Colonel and in charge of the Entire Japanese Military Research in FullDive technology. If that happened, he could still be in the military and use the companies of his parents. "So, you can't be with us for studying right?" she asked, as he shook his head "I am sorry sweetie. I can't." he said. She rose, hugging him "It is fine." she said. "I love you." he said, as she smiled "I love you too." she said, as they kissed. After a while, Naruto disconnected, while Asuna called her friends, asking if they would like to come later for studying at the new house.
4 Hours Later
Asuna, a once again sleeping Kirito, Leafa, Silica and Lisbeth were in the living room. Kirito was asleep in an armchair, while Asuna, Silica, Lisbeth and Leafa were taking a break from studying, talking about the recent news in ALO. "Hey Asuna, have you heard of Zekken?" Lisbeth asked. Asuna tilted her head "Zekken? Is it a new weapon or item?" she asked. "No, it's a person's name. Well, nickname. It is a player so good with the blade, he is called 'Zekken', the absolute sword. The invincible sword. The unbeatable sword. That's what it means." she said. "He sounds tough." she said, imagining a tall, bulky player in armour. "So? What are they like?" she asked. Lisbeth frowned "Well, I heard the rumours a week ago, around New Year. Oh that's right! You didn't hear about it because you were in Kyoto!" she said, as Asuna frowned. "Don't remind me." she said. "Being a rich girl must be hard." Lisbeth replied. "Indeed it is. I don't know how Naruto deals with it. I was in a separate house with no LAN, so I couldn't FullDive. My Amusphere went to waste. I had to wear Kimonos and kneel to random people, not to mention… some guys who were leering at me." she said. Lisbeth frowned "I don't know if you should tell Naruto or not. On one hand, he would barge into your house and ask your hand in marriage, on the other hand he would find those boys and beat them to a bloody pulp." she said "On second thought do tell him. I will bring a camera." she said grinning. "About Zekken?" asked Asuna, her eye twitching "Oh right! Well, he is on a small island with a large tree on Floor 24. He duels people. He is a new player, but because his skills are so high, it is possibly a converted account. He fights at 3:00 PM every day. He was first known after he posted a message on the board of MMO tomorrow, seeking challenges. Around thirty people showed up wanted to teach the duelist a lesson, but he beat them all, his HP never dropping below 70 percent." she said, as Asuna widened her eyes.
"It's almost unbelievable. He fights and flies with such grace for a newcomer. It took me six months to fly properly." said Silica. "Did you fight them Silica-chan?" Asuna asked. She shook her head "I knew I could not win with a single glance. But Lisbeth-chan and Leafa-chan fought them. They still lost though." she said, as Leafa and Lisbeth grumbled about experienes. "If he keeps fighting though, won't players just get bored?" Asuna asked. "No they won't. He is betting something very awesome!" she said "A unique sword skill! A special skill for one-handed sword, that deals an Eleven hit combo!" exclaimed Silica. Asuna widened her eyes "Eleven?!" she asked. Lisbeth turned to Leafa "What is the highest amount of hits a Sword Skill has?". Leafa frowned "General Eugene has an 8-hit combo skill called ' Volcanic Blazer ', but he doesn't teach it." she said. "Then, there is Kirito's Starburst Stream, which does 16 hits, but he can't do it with Dual Wielding. Then, there is Naruto's 20-hit combo, the Mugetsu, which can't be used unless he uses his special ID and is unique to him only as the hand-eye coordination and reflexes are too great for anyone else." Lisbeth said. "And Naruto's Kuzuryusen is 9-hits." Silica said. Everyone turned at her "What?" they asked. "Oh you don't know? Naruto-kun has a Special Katana Skill called Kuzuryusen. It is a 9-hit combo, where he attacks at the same time nine different parts of the body. He showed it to me during a dungeon clearing where I asked his help." she said. "Wow. Still, the Eleven-hit combo is much stronger." Lisbeth said.
"Have you seen the Skill?" Asuna asked, as Leafa shook her head "I am afraid I did not. They only demonstrated it on the first day. No one has forced the move out of Zekken yet. I lost easily as well, as she used only default skills." she said sadly. "I see. Wait, what is the race and weapon?" she asked. "An Imp, wielding a one-handed sword, that is near the rapier in it's width." said Lisbeth. "He is very fast. I couldn't track any of his movements. It was a shock." Leafa said. "A speed type eh? Then, if you couldn't keep up with him, I am not sure if I could. Wait, what about Naruto-kun? Or even you Kirito-kun?" she asked. Kirito scratched his head "Well, I tried to fight with one blade, but I failed. Just before the fight ended, I asked 'You are totally living in this world, aren't you?'. My answer was a smirk and a thrust at incredible speed. They are a far better duelist than me, even with a perfect Dual Wielding." he said. "And what of Naruto-kun?" she asked. Kirito shook his head "The last duel Naruto had in this world, if it was considered a duel, would be his fight with Sugou. If not, then it's the time he beat General Eugene. And I said I am no match for Zekken. But no matter how strong Zekken is, he can't possibly take on a Boss on his own and survive, something that Naruto only can do." he said, as she nodded. "That is true. Naruto was considered the strongest player in SAO, as Heathcliff was a fake. Speaking of SAO, is he perhaps an old player?" she asked.
Kirito frowned "He can't be from SAO. If he was and Naruto wasn't in SAO, Zekken would have the Dual Wielding Skill and not me." he said, as everyone widened their eyes. "Wait! Why do you say Naruto? If his reflexes are higher than your's, why does he have the Nito-Ichi and not the Dual Wielding ?" Lisbeth asked. "A skill isn't given only by your physical abilities, but also your skill with the weapon. Naruto's mastery of Katana and Curved Swords was at it's max, while his Hand-Eye coordination was the best. While his reflexes are higher than mine, the Dual Wielding requires straight sword. If I used a shield and had the highest STR in the game, I could unlock the Holy Sword . Same can be said for the other known Unique Skills, except the ' Awaken the Dragon '. That skill, no matter what I do, I can't get it." he said. "Wait, what other Unique skills exist?" Silica asked. Kirito scratched his head "Naruto searched for them and told me. Let's see. There is Battojutsu, which needs mastery of the Katana and the highest AGI among Katana users, who haven't achieved the Nito-Ichi . The opposite of the Holy Sword, the Darkness Blade. It requires Mastery of the Two-Handed Sword and having the most kills. The Infinite Spear requires mastery of Two-handed Assault Spears and the Shurikenjutsu requires the Blade Throwing skill to be maxed out. Then, there is the Smite, which requires mastery of Two-Handed Mace or Warhammer, the Separator, for mastery of Axe and the Light Stinger, for mastery of Rapier." he finished.
"I see. Well, I will still fight Zekken. I know I won't win, but something about him seems intriguing, like there is a reason for the duels, beyond giving the skill." she said. "Alright! Which character will you use?" Lisbeth asked. "I will stick with this. I don't want to focus on DPS, so I won't use a Sylph." she decided. Everyone cheered that the Berserker Healer would fight, while Asuna thought of tomorrow, while she couldn't help but think of what would happen if Naruto fought Zekken.
Done! Hope you guys enjoyed this Chapter! As I said, family time with Yui was spent! I also showed the other Unique Skills, not to mention created three more. Now, next Chapter will be a bit hard for me. Tell me what do you guys want. Do you want me to narrate the Mother Rosario Arc, except for the end, which will take around half a Chapter, or immediately go to the end? The choice is up to you guys and will determined when this story ends. Don't worry, only a day or two of difference. Until next time, Thunderito out!