Based on the experience gathered during his days as a ninja, both serving the Leaf village and as a rogue, Shimo suspected things to go wrong. In the ninja world plans rarely went without a hitch, planning was obviously wise as having a general chain of possible actions in mind always ended up benefiting any venture but one would've been a fool expecting those plans to always work as predicted.

Similarly to that experience, right as the group of three comprised of Notasa, Carnefici and Shimo approached the supposed fortified mansion of the young musician that was supposed to keep her safe from any threat a line of men in suits with a familiar abomination of flesh and steel standing in the center informed the trio that their plan was predicted and as good as useless now. The Boss of Syndicate managed to gather his people and regroup before Notasa could've been brought into a safe environment making harassing her further completely pointless. Now Shimo and Carnefici had a fight on their hands, one they would've rather avoided since Notasa was also to be involved.

"Step aside, little canary, you'll be singing in the Syndicate's cage from now on, see?" The Boss grumped out with his crushed windpipe emitting a very husky and low pitched tone, the man's eye twitched as the flesh surrounding it was only held by sticky molten mass of Audra that hardened around it.

Notasa looked at Carnefici with worry, the aged man blinked calmly and nodded his head in assurance. "Don't worry, young lady, I will allow no such thing. I'll kill them all before they'll lay a finger on you," the mass murderer of the past days grunted with annoyance and determination.

Shimo curiously squinted at the man, "I thought you don't kill anymore..." He wondered as if this group of mobsters with a near-invincible man leading the fold meant nothing.

"You said it, not me. I just don't do it as often and never hurt people who don't have it coming." Carnefici replied carelessly as his flesh began to flow as if he was made of gooey liquid, the color of it did not change, the man still stood firmly but the texture and consistency of his skin became droopier.

"Heh" Shimo cringed imagining how much trouble these Syndicate fools were in.

"What are you two goombas waitin' for?! Come at me all at once! I'll fill both 'a ye full 'a holes!" The Boss shouted out vigorously shaking his twin kunai dispensers and firing them rapidly into the air making it rain blades at the general vicinity of the trio, Shimo grabbed Notasa in his arms and moved away from the rain of blades, Carnefici remained standing and letting the blades get stuck in his oily body before firing it back from his gut right at the Syndicate mobsters, some shouted out in pain before pulling the lodged blades out, several collapsed on the spot as their wounds were just too great.

Carnefici looked at Shimo and nodded approving that the young man protected Notasa. Shimo just grinned in return confidently, no, arrogantly even.

"What are you waiting for? I've already kicked this asshole's ass once, I've no hype to fight him again. He's all yours, an invincible man VS an invincible man, I'd like to see that fight. I'll keep as many of the small fry off your back as possible and watch Notasa-chan." Shimo replied taking a defensive sword stance and preparing to protect the musician from any attacks. He needed Notasa's aid so that the golden sphere got deciphered. So that Mana would be happy again and maybe the two of them became friends again.

Silently and without rushing things Carnefici began walking up to the Boss, his texture and consistency changed again with the man returning to his normal state and stopping all the drooping of oily goo all over the place. Syndicate goons rushed at Carnefici but they were quickly stricken down in a blur, the bodyguard's hands turned to the bubblegum pink colored shapes of axes, swords and disc saws made of gum that cut almost like the real thing striking any man foolish enough to attack him down. During that moment, Shimo saw the horror of Carnage Fici reborn again and directed at the people aiming to hurt his young lady, the person he had sworn to protect, the person that granted this reformed criminal purpose. They were as good as dead the moment they stood against him...

Carnefici's back blew open letting go elongated gummy tentacles that impaled and tossed the gangsters around, they even grabbed a couple and tore them right in half. This was the scorn of the world which Carefici was... The Syndicate's medical plan must've covered injuries like this, the Boss was completely crushed by long layers of stone and Audra ores and yet he was standing here completely rebuilt. One could only wonder if whatever wonderful medical ninja worked on the Boss would've worried themselves with common crooks like the ones torn apart by Carnefici.

Shimo looked back at Notasa, "I promised your bodyguard to keep the small fry off of him, I'll do my best to keep up that promise and protect you, you'll have to trust me." He mumbled out to which the young artist just nodded hesitantly.

The Yuki's hands blurred through a bunch of hand seals creating a small scale snowstorm of freezing temperatures pelting at the criminals and slowing their movement speed and intensity exponentially. Even Carnefici's gummy body began covering with icicles and snow, the man grinned with a cruel and cold smile, "Oh, I like that!" He declared throwing a punch in the Boss' way.

The quick punch lifted the shorty with an oversized steel filled head off his feet and sent him down. It appeared that Shimo's ice ninjutsu granted Carnefici's attacks enough chakra coating to break through Audra steel and deal some damage. Still, Shimo had no time to just stand there and keep freezing the murderous bastard's body, he'll have to deal with this on his own. At the very least he could hold his own until Shimo finished with the lowlifes and could focus on helping him beat that short bastard up.

Carnefici's hands couldn't elongate or change shape once they were frozen, the man continued punching wildly while taking a moment or two to evade the counterattacking bursts of kunai blades from Boss' kunai dispenser before pummeling the man again and again. With an almighty finishing blow of the combination, Carnefici sent the rebuilt man flying and crashing straight into Notasa's mansion. The body of Notasa's bodyguard leaned forward as if falling forwards but then his muscles tensed up at the last moment using the momentum of the fall to jumpstart his dash and bolt towards the mansion. He had some business to finish with the Boss and Shimo had no objections with that.

The ex-rogue swordsman dashed around the battlefield cutting down every single Syndicate bastard that dared to do anything else but shiver in the cold air created by the technique he used before. Shimo's hands went through another combination of hand seals creating a raging vortex shaped blizzard around the area before the young man's body disappeared into the fray.

"Blizzard Cut: Three Hundred Twenty Slashes!" Shimo mumbled as his figure appeared behind the raging blizzard that was cut over three hundred times and the vortex opened up in the spots the cut was delivered. Overwhelmed by the difference of cold air inside the blizzard and the warmth coming from outside of it the vortex imploded and dissolved in on itself leaving nothing but beaten and cut down bodies. The Boss would've needed more than fifty men to cause problems to Shimo at this point... Numbers made little difference here, skill was needed to combat ninja.

Carnefici rushed into the ruined mansion, his right hand which was frozen solid and he used to pound his enemy with this winded up full powered strike was busted into pieces, drops and puddles of goo gathered around Carnefici fusing with him and recovering his missing arm.

"Hydrification Jutsu." The man mumbled to himself testing out his new arm. A barrage of blades came whizzing his way, a handful of them missed him and whizzed right by his ear, a couple of them lodged into his chest and face but were expulsed by the pressure of his oily substance. Carnefici placed his arm against the wall and grinned.

"I am the bodyguard of Notasa, the greatest child musical genius of our time, we are in her estate and you are now in my sanctuary!" The man declared making a hand seal with his free arm.

"C-Rank Seal Release!" He chanted activating a floor of spikes shooting from below and supposedly impaling the Boss on them. The spikes just scratched at the man's flesh and tore open his clothes where they cut him, sparking and breaking in contact with the man's deeper layers of Audra alloy skin.

"B-Rank Seal Release!" Carnefici chanted pressing his hand against another location as the walls opened up letting out spiraling marble pillars with blades on them rotating diagonally right at the man aiming to chop him to pieces. Being hit by such a thing would've been the equivalent of being tossed into a human shredding machine.

And yet the Boss persevered, the blades screamed as if they were capable of suffering pain in contact with the toughened deep layers of the man's skin and broke, tearing off only the chunks of the artificially regrown and put together fleshy parts of the Syndicate leader. Angered by the endless traps the Syndicate Boss dashed forward in a fist-swinging frenzy breaking through walls and tables in his path.

"A-Rank Seal Release!" Carnefici shouted opening up a wall beside him and turning it in a way that covered him and became enhanced with pure chakra lacking any elemental affinity. Creating an efficient barrier that stopped the Boss' advance.

"D-Rank Seal Release!" The bodyguard set off another trapping seal that activated chakra infused magnets on the walls trapping the Boss inside by forcing his Audra infused frame to slam against the walls completely paralyzed and unable to move.

In a blindingly fast pace, Carnefici dashed to the end of the mansion, through the endless kitchens, bathrooms and guest rooms straight into the main hall and stopped by the exit placing his hand onto the doorway opening the door that lead outside. "S-Rank Release: Sayonara Protocol Release..." Carnefici declared removing his hand from the doorway as the entire house blew up tossing the bodyguard outside its range and a large light blue flame bubble contained the explosion inside. The missing chunks of the incinerated body of Carnefici soon reformed as he continued staring at the explosion.

A half-naked singed figure burst from the smoke swearing bloody murder and whacked the bodyguard straight to the face sending the man backward leaving a large trail of ruined road where his frame slid backward. Notasa ran up to Carnefici and tried to help him up.

"There was an equivalent to a teratonne of chakra infused TNT in that explosion contained in that bubble. We may have a problem..." The slightly fazed Carnefici exclaimed looking at Shimo.

"Does this mean you're asking for my help?" The young man asked with a ridiculing smile to which Carnefici responded with a one mirroring it.

"Just telling you to not hold your breath," he replied before dashing right back into battle, swinging his ax arms at the Boss that simply bounced off the revealed purple layers of skin that laid underneath the man's flesh that was placed on top but now completely incinerated by the explosion. His current appearance was a demonic sight to be honest, a half-naked purple skinned man with blood red eyes exploding with anger.

The Boss continued to wail his arms around pounding at Carnefici but his fists only left holes that quickly patched up or splattered the man only for him to reassemble. This battle would've expanded up to an infinity longer so Shimo had to do something. The young man formed a couple of hand seals with all of the increase of speed that training with Mana allowed him to acquire.

"Water Style: Water Assault Jutsu!" He chanted out spouting out a small source of water which completely drenched Carnefici. Then Shimo made another hand seal.

"Glaciation technique!" The young man shouted out as the water drenching Carnefici froze solid creating an armor of chakra tough enough to leave lasting impact on the Boss' Audra steel alloy layered skin. Carnefici's elongated tendrils that expanded before the man was drenched stabbed at the Boss piercing his shoulders at the back. The murderer's fists ran rampant upon the Boss' face and entire body – even having all the considerable power of the man's blows in mind it was evident that the Boss of the Syndicate wouldn't go down just like that. His entire face was filled with bumps and scars that testified of his long experience of having his head bashed and crushed. The man certainly could take his fair share of punishment.

With a shoulder tackle, the Boss blasted through Carnefici's body breaking it into pieces and making the frozen man shatter all around the place. The mobster then pointed his finger at Shimo, at least where he remembered Shimo to be but the man was already gone by the time the Boss looked for him.

"Ice Style: Haze Blade!" Shimo's voice ran rampant as clones of the young man danced all around the Boss making the man angrily attempt to swat them aside only for them to be revealed as mere mirages caused by cold air playing games with the warm air around the place.

Since his opponent was finally open Shimo descended from the air drawing his blade with all of his might and speed. "Ice Wolf Jutsu: White Wolf Slash!" The young swordsman chanted out the name of his technique as all the sounds around the battlefield had grown silent just to be reset again after a howling stream of white air cutting through the Boss with the avatar of wolf made of solid ice appeared behind Shimo delivering a slash from its icy paws in addition to Shimo's drawing slash.

A violent shockwave erupted demolishing the surrounding buildings and sending Shimo rolling sideways, even Notasa who was standing quite the distance away was knocked off her feet and thrown backward through a large vendor window and into the shop itself.

"Shit... Forgot that happens when two Audra alloys clash together..." The young man complained standing back up, covered with bumps and bruises. Only then did he notice the form of Carnefici reforming.

"Let's not do that ice thing. It works but not worth the hassle, we won't leave any lasting damage like this..." The ex-murderer exclaimed with great annoyance in his tone.

"Got better ideas?" Shimo wondered looking at him.

"Does that mean you're asking for help?" Carnefici teased him before launching his assault forward. Shimo couldn't understand just what the man was trying to achieve just rushing like that, he could keep attacking whole day but until they met the exact concentrated percentage of chakra enhancements they wouldn't bust through the Audra layer of the man's skin. If the stored explosive power of billions of explosive tags containing a teratonne of explosive power couldn't break through, it was hard to imagine what would've.

"Come on! Come at me fuckers! I'll take all 'a you on!" The Boss angrily roared out before Carnefici signaled Shimo for his follow-up. The young man clapped his hands together after forming a bunch of hand seals and once again activated his Ice Wolf Jutsu, wrapping the avatar of ice around Carnefici's body with the wolf's jaws shaping around the man's fist. Carnefici leaned under the Boss' punch and delivered a finishing jaw buster that flung the Boss down.

The bodyguard leaped right on top of his downed opponent and began bashing the man's head with his only remaining arm as the one wearing the Ice Wolf exploded into thousands of crystal-like pieces of ice upon the crashing impact. Carnefici was ready to cause carnage as he pounded and pounded away at the Boss' head shouting and roaring proudly, he did not tire, he did not give in, the man just kept on bashing and bashing the Boss' head before the mobster's eyes rolled back and white slobber began running down from his throat and get coughed out through the mouth with traces of blood.

"His outer layer may be near invulnerable but his brain is still mushy soft. If it bashed against his tough skull from inside enough times it'd still cause a concussion." Carnefici explained turning back at Shimo who just looked confused at the bodyguard.

"Wow..." The young man had to admit that Carnefici had superior fighting instincts and skill. It'd have taken a ninja capable of fighting on a Chuunin or Jounin level to possess enough percentage of chakra enhancements to beat the Audra steel layer of his skin and yet the bodyguard managed to find out a weakness that helped him beat such a foe.

The two rushed to Notasa helping the young girl up. Carnefici looked completely ruined as he looked back at the mansion he worked so hard to make an invincible fortress, a place where his treasured young lady could feel safe. Now it was in burning ruins and had not a single stone on top of a stone. This whole district looked torn down.

Then as everyone thought that the danger was over the ground shook violently, a purple beam erupted piercing the night's sky as an overwhelming roaring sound of some primal untamed beast made everyone grab for their ears that burst in blood. Shimo looked on into the glowing beam of purple light and began slowly walking towards it. Notasa's soft hand grabbed the swordsman's elbow.

"I have no more home and no more place in this village. That gives me a chance to tour around the world, which means that I have a chance to start a new life without Syndicate. You helped me acquire that life so I wish to fulfill my promise to help this young lady you hold so dear, just like you helped Carne help me. Please..." She asked.

Shimo nodded and pointed at the colossal beam of light stabbing at heavens themselves. "If I know my troublemaker friends, it's likely that we'll find them there. My young lady is an idiot and keeps making the most insane enemies, be ready to suspend your disbelief..." He warned before looking at Carnefici.

"Are you going?" Shimo asked.

"Yeah, wherever the young lady goes, I go to watch over her!" The man declared with a firm nod.

The trio began heading towards the purple beam of light booming into the sky, engraving its possible location in their minds as it could've disappeared just as out of nowhere as it appeared.

"I've found Notasa... Just hold on, Mana, she'll crack that stupid sphere and we'll find that Box for sure..." Shimo thought to himself looking at the beam that looked like Hell itself was making its way onto Earth.