~NRK~

Obito worked on the machinery of the exhibition arena, eyes hidden beneath his cap's visor.

'Screams, huh?' That wasn't encouraging or anything. 'So, Gengo was on the money about some shady acts taking place here,' he thought as he reconnected several wires, blowing on them with some compressed air from a small tube to clean off any dust.

He went on to clean maybe fifty of such wires and reconnect them before moving on to a nearby computer.

As he handled the logging of his actions, he heard a small spark by his ear.

-Obito-kun?- Came the whisper of Su-Na as Obito hummed twice. -I see. The situation, is it bad?-

He gave three small grunts as he finished off his logging before moving on. "Time to check on the observation deck."

There was a bit of typing over the hidden earpiece as he hopped out from beneath the elevated arena, going to the side to a small lift that took him up to the observation deck where he found a familiar man.

Mark Spencer folded his arms behind his back as Obito worked on the computer. The man's blue suit-covered form a small monolith to his issues.

So, someone who didn't bother him in the least. "How are you doing, sir?" He asked the man cordially, Mark's eyes going from the arena down below to him.

"Hmph, you're one of the new staff," Mark said with little confusion, looking at him with a cursory eye. "From which Genetics?"

"The West."

"Hmph, that place," the man's scoff confused him.

"Is something wrong? Do you have an issue with Margaret-san?"

'Japanese,' well that wasn't surprising. "No, it's less her but her methods."

"... I don't follow."

"Tell me, what do you think of Naruto Uzumaki?" Obito blinked at him, looking the man in the eyes in confusion.

"Well, these so-called new High-End Skills for Limiters are certainly odd," Obito said as he elevated and lowered the arena time and time again, nodding to his work. "Still, we'd need to actually have him testing them extensively before trying to release them, no? It's not like he even knows the extent to his own abilities, it seems."

"Articulate but missing key components," Mark said. "That much power and he's just handing it out."

"?"

"Do you not think it would have been better to give this power to Chevalier?" He asked but Obito felt the man's murderous intent, looking to the side of the arena like someone who was cowed.

"I don't think it's so cut and dry. He's just a kid, he seems to really care for those around him and the threat of the Nova so-"

"But what about obedience?" Mark asked as stepped in closer, the 'technician' stepping back. "What about understanding protocol?"

"Sir?" Obito frowned in concern as he looked away from the man. "This is getting rather invasive."

"... Hmph," Mark stepped back with a frown. "We don't have time. He can test them out at HQ where all the best Limiters and Pandora can ascertain and develop his skills properly."

'What the hell do you even mean by that?' Obito wondered with a hidden frown. "I mean, he's literally established a skill that can't be considered normal, yeah? Meditation is kind of ridiculous."

"And what if we could harness this so-called worldly power?"

"After so many years of training that might last even longer?" Obito countered. "And, besides, we couldn't handle how quickly the Nova threat is coming along, right? It's been less and less each time. I-It's kind of disturbing."

Mark nodded. "That's why this project must work."

"I haven't seen them up-close but are they really not doing well?"

"Hmph, it's not enough. While they may sport abilities to fend off Freshmen, it's not enough."

"... Wait, I'm confused."

"Ignore it, simply keep the work here to acceptable levels," the man said as he left down the lift, leaving Obito choking.

"Rude…" He said as the camera behind him whirled a bit. 'Very rude.'

It would seem someone was having issues with a certain blonde boy.

Well, Mark would have to learn to live with those issues.

~NRK~

Naruto groaned as he awoke to the sound of an alarm going off in his room.

"Hmm," he raised his arm to his eyes as he felt a warm, soft, weight on his chest, looking down to see Rana laying on him with a smile. "Hmph,' Naruto smiled. himself. and rolled his neck. "Rana-chan, we have to get up. The exhibition matches are today."

Her eyes fluttered open, the Tibetan rubbing her eyes as they sat up, the young woman leaning on his chest.

"Hmm, hm-hmm," she moaned into his torso before nodding, hugging him, and getting up. "We… mmm, can get breakfast with Amelia-chan and the others."

"Yep," Naruto said as he pat her back, sending her off to the bathroom. "Don't take too long."

She walked off with several off-kilter leans that cleared up as she made it into the bathroom. Rana then quickly ran back out, grabbed some clothes, and rushed back in, much to his amusement.

"Hmph," Naruto stretched, like actually stretched.

He did a few push-ups and handstands while waiting for Rana before the sound of knocking reached his ears.

"Hmph," flipping back onto his feet, Naruto walked over before answering. "Good morning-"

"Naruto Uzumaki," Mark Spencer said, flanked on both sides by a pair of Chevalier Pandora. "I think it'd be a good idea to open up communication between us."

"Alright, where?" The blonde asked as he stepped out and closed the door behind him, locking it. 'I'm getting a sense of deja vu,' he considered as Mark gestured to the side.

He connected to Rana and relayed the situation, the woman frowning mentally as he was led away, one of the two Pandora with Spencer staying by their door.

As they walked, Naruto looked out the window at the white expanse of Alaska base's hinterlands. "Man, it's cold as hell but that's a cool view."

"Hmph, the location is useful, its beauty notwithstanding," Mark said simply as the Pandora beside him kept in step two paces behind him where Naruto was, her arms behind her back. "Here we are," he said and Naruto noted that it wasn't really that far from his own room. "Come in."

Ignoring how aggressive that was, Naruto felt the deja vu hitting at full force as he felt all the Pandora in the room.

'Yep, the exact same,' he thought as he entered, ignoring the Pandora's presences without issue and taking a small recliner across from a larger one with two others on both sides that were perhaps a bit bigger than the boy's but not as big as the center one.

"Good you found your seat," Mark said as he entered before taking the seat in the middle in front of the blonde, two Pandora sitting beside him. "I'm going to be honest with you, Uzumaki, you've gained power the likes of which many would kill for."

"Well, I think I'd have to ask in what way?" Naruto asked. "Because you don't sound like you mean my Limiter skills."

"I don't," Spencer said as he leaned back in his seat. "I mean your connections, your possibilities, your tutelage, and your rapport," he added. "You've been noticed by Gengo Aoi, a man who's gained quite a bit of enmity with some in Chevalier."

"Hmm, well, Gengo-ossan is a bit of a jerk but I don't know why that's the case."

"Likely to do with his monopoly on Pandora technology and his needless need to always have the upper hand."

"Hmm? I'm confused about that," Naruto said. "Isn't he, like, the literal lead on Pandora tech and stuff? And you say it like he's hiding something, too. Didn't his assistant, that Kamui guy, just come up with some cool stuff?"

"Hmph, he has. Dr. Kamui, despite his hidden identity," Spencer's face scrunched for a moment as Naruto hummed without allowing his emotions to show. "Has made a big boon to the nature of Pandora power and it's to be praised."

"Ya know, I wonder what he actually looks like, like, he's always wearing that mask, it's almost like he's a robot."

"Yes, it is concerning."

"W-Well, I think that's a bit much, he probably doesn't want to be swamped like Gengo-ossan whenever he goes outside. I mean, can you imagine what it's like? I know, it literally happened yesterday and I could live without it."

Annoying but not incorrect. "We've gotten off the main reason for our talk. Naruto Uzumaki, what is it you seek? You've done well to keep amassing individuals under your banner but you seem to forget you work for Chevalier."

Naruto frowned at that and Mark's eyes narrowed. "I think there's a big thing you're missing here, sir. I don't talk to people because I care about who they are. I just talked to them because I wanted to help a lot of them, honestly," Naruto admitted.

"You've the Mably, El Bridgette, and Gengo's favor."

"Well, we're friends in those two cases," Naruto said. "That last one isn't me but my parents, I don't have anything that old guy would even want. And we're friends, what you see as 'favor' is… well, friendship?" He suggested with an embarrassed chuckle and grin. "To be honest, I wouldn't want them to put their necks out for me if I'm in trouble but I know they'd call me out on doing that same thing so… yeah."

'He's an idiot,' the man sighed, rubbing his temple. 'You don't honestly expect me to accept that rabble, do you?' No, the boy had to be playing up his character.

He'd likely done the same with Radox and was doing the same here.

"You see, I'd enjoy knowing it's not opposition to Chevalier, we need to be united."

"Exactly, I was trying to get Commander Radox to see that way of thinking," Naruto grinned. 'He seems like he's doing this for this reason,' which made this all the weirder.

Why the hell was he trying to intimidate him right now?

"Hmph, you've tried but the commander wasn't so accepting of your philosophy," Mark said. 'He's not made any wrong moves yet,' crafty little bastard. "Still, I need your word of not opposing Chevalier."

"?" Naruto looked confused. "Uh, I'm not."

"And your friends?"

"Nope, none of 'em are."

"So, you're saying that if they step out of line, you'll stand with us?" Mark asked as he leaned forward, Naruto's eyebrows narrowing as he frowned. "Will you bring down the law of our organization to ensure we're victorious?"

"... Are we talking about our actual enemies right now?" Naruto asked with a deepening frown as Mark's mouth slowly set in a sneer. "I'm not going to 'bring down the law', I'm going to find out what happened. Usually, that works out better."

"You're assuming too much of people."

"Aren't you assuming too little?" He shot back and the man's visage hadn't changed but the heat of emotions on him was growing. "You're assuming that everyone who might disagree with Chevalier is out to destroy humanity."

"And you'd call those same people 'comrades'?" Mark shot back. "They're going against their orders like soldiers."

"Except they're not," Naruto spat. "At least, you have a different idea of what a soldier does."

"They should obey."

"And consider the situation."

Mark's expression grew cold as the boy found himself crowded by Pandora. "Are you our enemy?"

"Nope," Naruto said without a hint of concern as Mark's eyes narrowed more.

"... Leave, young man, we'll be talking more in the future."

"Alright," Naruto said as he got up and turned to the line of Pandora. "... Geez."

A phantom slipped past them, a flash of gold, that left them looking at nothing as Naruto walked out.

"Don't make enemies out of comrades, sir, ma'ams."

He left, leaving Mark's eyes to close as he held his forehead. 'So, it'll be the brute method.'

Was it really going to end up any other way?

~NRK~

Back in his room, Naruto frowned as the Pandora situated by it left without so much as a word, leaving him checking all of his friends' signatures and coming away with relief that no one seemed bothered.

'He's ramping up for no reason,' that wasn't good.

Walking into his and Rana's room, he closed the door. "I'm back," he said to her, the Tibetan popping her head out of the bathroom, hands and brush on her hair. "... Gotcha," Naruto chuckled.

"Everything alright-de arimasu?" Rana asked as she finished up and walked up to him, eyes narrowed as she checked him over. "Everything?"

"Be careful, I'm going to tell the others but, for our sake, let's not get too separated while we're here."

"Understood," she said. "We should tell the others."

"Yeah, when we get a chance to chill together."

~NRK~

The entire group had freshened up and actually wore their school uniforms to greet the day.

In the cafeteria to have breakfast, Naruto waved down the E-Pandora group to their rather large table, thankful that it seemed they were all here early.

And he was happy that no married women would find his sides vacant for them to sit.

The E-Pandora were in their Alaska military uniforms and seemed to be more nervous than they had ever seen them before.

"D-Dammit, the suspense is killing me," Jina groaned as the others nodded. "It does feel like taking a college exam."

"You're not wrong," Amelia said with a nod and shaky smile as she bit into some bread. "But we've just gotta put ourselves out there."

"Yeah, I know," the purple-haired woman said with a huff as she looked at the amused West Genetics students. "Hmph, my suffering amusing to you?"

Eugene chuckled. "... A bit," he admitted as she squawked, Chiffon laughing. "But it's fine. You'll do fine. You're fine."

"Oh I'm FINE now, am I?"

He blushed before chuckling nervously to look at Naruto-

"Nope, don't drag me into this," the spiky-haired blonde said immediately as the boys laughed. "You dug that grave, bud."

As Jina grilled Eugene into an embarrassment steak, Naruto watched as more and more Pandora entered the cafeteria, chatting amicably amongst themselves before seeing their table.

"It's fine, it's fine, no one's gonna do anything," he told himself as Rana hummed around her spoon, chewing on something. "... Huh?" He blinked as he saw one of the… Indonesia, right?

The Indonesian Pandora came forth and bowed to them, Satella blinking before the woman smiled.

"A pleasure, I'm curious to meet the El Bridgette heir, your sibling's construction in Bali has provided a new influx into our economy," the woman said as Satella blushed.

"O-Oh, it's not me who you should be thanking. My sister is the one who deserves the credit," Satellizer said as the woman chuckled before bowing deeply.

"It's not wrong to ask you to pass on my thanks, is it?"

"N-No! It's fine!" The heiress said as the others chuckled, the woman locking onto Naruto next.

"Good evening, sir, I'm sure you don't mind me asking. This other form of meditation, I'm not sure if I can understand," the woman said and Naruto blinked before nodding.

"Well, the way I learned it to also make use of high places and a balance tile kind of thing," Naruto explained as the woman perked up, the others, in the know, chuckling nervously.

"It's ridiculous," Eugene said as Jina tilted her head. "He'd use a tatami mat and balance on one of the vaulting poles we have," he explained as the E-Pandora choked while the Indonesian Pandora looked intrigued? "Oh, you're his kind of crazy."

"Hm?'

"Sorry, reflex."

"It's kind of like understanding you'll hurt yourself from that high up," Naruto continued to explain with a snicker at Eugene. "From there, no movement, not even a twitch can happen. You move, you fall."

"Hmm, I see… I'm grateful for your teaching," she said, bowing deeply to him as Rana smiled. "Ah, Rana Linchen of the Seimon Hyakko-Ken school, yes?"

"Hmph! Good morning," the younger woman said as she and Naruto stood before bowing to the Indonesian. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"And likewise. I didn't think my sect would get the chance to see one of your practitioners."

"Reclusive is what everyone calls us-de arimasu."

"So I've heard but you've come out into the world, I'm glad."

Rana blushed some more as Naruto chuckled. "Everything is new to me, on some level, but I'm getting by!" She said with a proud smile as Amelia chuckled. "I hope we could spar in the following days."

"I'd be honored."

They bowed one last time before the two sat back down and the woman moved back to her chatting comrades, explaining things to them. They gasped, gaped, choked, which all quickly transitioned into interested looks that Chiffon looked amused at.

"Everywhere you go, your insanity decides to spread," she said as Naruto shrugged.

"Hey now, it's not the worst thing that could happen. Maybe this'll also get Chevalier off my back."

The group ate with companionable chatter between them before going their separate ways.

The time was quickly approaching.

~NRK~

Sitting down in the West Genetics section, at the front right at the divide with Cassie and Kyouichi, Naruto and co. found themselves watching the E-Pandora group and their selected opponents.

Andre hummed as Elizabeth stood down there, adjusting her fingerless gloves. "She got her wish," he said as Naruto chuckled. "Be honest with me, Naruto, Rana. How do you both feel Amelia measures up to an actual Pandora?"

"Hmm, there's a bit of my involvement there, I'll tell you guys after this week's up," Naruto prefaced. "But… I'd say she's honestly pretty close to a third-year," the group looked surprised.

"That's big praise," Chiffon said as Eugene nodded. "To have promoted them so far."

"Well, honestly, only Amelia-chan," Rana explained. "The others wanted to make this about their skills despite Amelia being their back-up," she sweatdropped as the others paled a bit. "It's an understandable situation-de arimasu."

"W-Well, it's not like it's bad to have a good backup plan," Genessa said. "Still, these are the Number 2s of the third-years, will things be alright?"

"She's got a point," Arthur said with a frown. "We've all seen this as kind of… ehhh."

"It's not wrong to say, this isn't going to be a fair fight from the get-go," Satellizer said with a huff. "Honestly, if they were going to bring us second-years here, why not have us fight them? This makes less and less sense as we consider it."

"Yeah, it's just not… good," Kazuya frowned. "I just hope their best is enough to get them the proper backing. That way, they can just get better and with Naruto's Shadow Clone Training, it'd be easier to get them up to speed."

"We'll see," Naruto said as Cassie and Kyouichi blinked at him. "Hehe, sorry, I just had a lot to do with helping them out a week back," he admitted as Cassie nodded.

"They learned some of the things we can do?" The Godspeed asked and Rana nodded.

"It might not be perfect but they're not without talent," the Tibetan said as Cassie nodded. "Plus, they can use that Volt Texture Line technique we can't fully make the most of-de arimasu," she added as her fellow Pandora perked up.

"A-Actually, about that, I was trying it out, a bit. It's really useful in small bursts. It's been helping me with my Accel Turns."

"Wait, really?" Satella asked and Cassie nodded with a grin.

"Very useful, Satellizer."

The lights in the area dimmed and one large one focused on the elevated arena below, the entire crowd watching with bated breaths.

Up above in the Science Wing observation deck, Scarlett breathed out slowly as she announced the morning's exhibition rules.

"This will be a match between the top 3 E-Pandora under the Alaska base. Rattle, Jina Purpleton, and Amelia Evans. Their opponents, the England Genetics UK's Anna Parker, South Korea Genetics's Joan Ala, and, finally, West Genetics of Japan's Elizabeth Mably," she announced with some annoyance. 'WHY?!' The more she saw the line-up, the more Scarlett grimaced, expression hidden from above. "It will be a single match-like format similar to that of Carnivals. The first to be completely disarmed or knocked unconscious will be considered the winner before moving onto the next match."

The Pandora and E-Pandora nodded.

"Then, E-Pandora, Rattle, vs Pandora, Anna Parker, will act as our first match."

Watching the two begin to climb the stairs into the arena, the scientist hoped they'd gotten enough advantages to make their mark.

"Still… they seem like different women compared to before," one of her fellow scientists said as Scarlett nodded with a smile. "That kid really makes that big of a difference?"

"His and Rana Linchen's teachers proved vital to giving them something that even some of his friends can't pull off without issue," she said with a small grin. "If we can land the funding, I know they can become just as good as Pandora, we just need more time."

"Well, hopefully, Spencer is impressed enough along with the committee."

"Don't remind me."

'This is it,' Rattle realized as she clenched her Volt Weapons into existence, surprising the crowd a good bit.

Yes, not some training weapons, not the reinforced metal items most of her other comrades used outside of Jina and Amelia.

Actual Volt Weapons brought about from her using Naruto's new methods for so long. Training, sweating, bleeding and crying from the pain.

All brought together into giving her something that was hers.

"Really?" Her opponent looked surprised as she brought her own Volt Weapons into existence, a pair of dual one-sided shortswords. "Well, color me impressed there, love."

"U-Uhhh… Not interested?" Rattle said slowly as the Pandora shook her head and hands rapidly. "... Oh, uh, culture shock," she slumped as Anna chuckled nervously.

"Sorry, I figured most people got some ol' English."

"Sorry."

"Then let the match between Rattle and Anna Parker… begin!" Scarlett announced from above.

The two dual-weapon users circled one another.

'Don't just rush in,' Rattle reminded herself.

Her original plan before meeting those two had been to rush in and bring down her opponent with as much force and aggression as she could.

Sparring with Rana made her aware that it wouldn't work, a strategy doomed to fail due to their experience difference.

So, she watched the young woman with narrowed eyes as she filled her body with Volt Textures before she focused around her weapons.

"Volt Texture Mapping, you've been learning," Anna said as Rattle nodded, the two of them stopping in place. "Let's see how this works for ya!"

She lunged and Rattle swung out with one of her chakrams.

Anna skipped around her swing and lunged at Rattle's side only for the older female to blur backward, weapon swiping at Anna's quickly tilted back head.

"?!" The Englishwoman skipped back as Rattle's retreat turned into a lunge. 'No hesitation, huh?!' She swung out to block her chakram before stepping in, her other blade raised. "!"

It stabbed down and she knew it should have hit, this former civilian couldn't dodge it so up-close-!

A force slammed into her chin and Anna's knees buckled slightly as Rattle's form slipped out of her grip, her chakram falling to the floor.

The E-Pandora grunted as she held out her empty hand and another chakram formed into her grasp.

"... A chin blow?" That didn't make sense, though, how had she… "Wait, your Volt Textures… they're like that video?"

Rattle smiled as she showed her arms, the sleeves of her Limiter Suit glowed with flame-like marks, the blue lines releasing a small bit of heat that flickered at random times.

"I've learned as much as I can to make this project a success even if I'm not the best at it," she said as her opponent blinked before nodding, grinning at her. "But I don't know if it did much."

"Well, now, lov-bud," she corrected as Rattle blushed a bit. "It's still a blow to the chin, can't call it small. Had it been hard enough, you might have made it harder to move," Anna said as she tapped her foot against the arena's surface. 'Still, that line wasn't that big,' she was honestly impressed.

Well, well, well, this project might have bore some good fruit!

She grinned as Rattle sweatdropped.

"Time for some fun."

"Hm? That's surprising," Roxanne said as Charles's eyes narrowed. "It's like Chiffon but I thought it was too strong to use in a fight."

"... Weaker Volt Textures," Shi-Jing realized as Roxanne, Charles, and her Limiter looked at him along with the rest of France and American branches' members. "They likely can't call up normal-level Volt Textures, think of it like dilution. If that's the case, they can use techniques normal Pandora can't."

Charles's head snapped back to the two down below.

Rattle was on the back foot, barely blocking the blows of the third-year from the UK… but she was blocking. That was the truth.

When she seemed to get into a rough spot, she'd somehow gain a small bit of an advantage to the point that Anna would have to dodge or give space.

Had they really pushed themselves to this point? Without the Mark IV?

'...' She looked conflicted as the results showed. '... It might not be a bad idea… father,' what was wrong with her?

Okay, sure, they were showing good work but this wasn't acceptable yet… at least, not to her and her father.

The committee, though? They might very well… accept this.

Roxanne, meanwhile, looked at her hand.

Volt Textures formed up it before she focused, the lines slowly coming to heel into a thick bar on one of her fingers.

"Hmm," she pointed it at the floor before flicking it. "Hmm-"

It punched through and she, along with the others, blinked as her finger grew a bit purple.

"Oh, that's potent."

Scarlett grinned in relief as Rattle held her own.

"It's rather interesting, just one week of training bred this much of a result?" Her colleague asked as Scarlett considered her answer.

"To be honest, it's a bit of making use of ideas that most normal Pandora couldn't," Scarlett explained as they monitored the two combatant's heart rate, oxygen levels, internal damage, and so on. "Right now, though, I know this won't be enough, unfortunately."

The next two matches would decide it unless Rattle could bring out some miraculous win that'd defy all the odds.

Naruto grinned as Rana nodded.

"I didn't think she could call on a Volt Weapon," she said in surprise but a grin found itself on her face regardless. "That's good-de arimasu!"

"So, they trained enough in the week to get this far?" Andre considered with a look of surprise. "That's not some small feat. What about High-End Skills?"

"We know that Amelia-chan and Jina-chan can do them," Naruto said as Satella blinked in surprise.

"They learned all of them in under one year?" She asked, shocked.

"Yeah, I guess to you, that'd be surprising," Chiffon said as Bridgette tilted her head in thought. "Still, they're probably training day in and out to get to these levels."

"It's probably the unfortunate truth out here," Arthur said with a sad smile as Genessa closed her eyes and nodded.

"This place does have luxuries and things for their sanity but they probably can't leave this place like this. Though… if they get funding," she considered. "It'd probably open up more opportunities for 'em."

"It's rather sad," Kazuya said as Satella nodded. "I don't think my grandfather would support this, though. If he didn't even believe in it in the first place."

Rattle let out a few heavy breaths as her opponent kept a steady breathing pattern with a look of focus.

"Five minutes, you guys really did work hard to reach this point," Anna admitted as Rattle took in a deep breath before getting into a battle-ready position. "Hmph, then I won't hold back."

Her form blurred and Rattle's eyes widened before she rolled forward in desperation, barely dodging Anna.

The young woman's long knives swung out in an arch as she lunged, Rattle swinging out to meet her blow only to be blown away and onto her back in disbelief.

'She's so much stronger-!' Rattle thought, eyes barely open from the pain.

And Anna appeared in front of her, shocking the Evolutionary Pandora before she straddled her to the floor, knives crossed over her neck.

"That concludes the first match," Scarlett said from above. "The match ends in favor of Anna Parker."

Rattle sighed as the Pandora got up but blinked at the held-out hand.

"Ya did better than I ever could have expected, no offense," the Englishwoman said as Rattle took her offered hand. "And all that in one year? That's all kinds of crazy duck."

"Crazy… duck?" Rattle sweatdropped as the younger female chuckled nervously.

"Sorry, I don't really like cursing."

"... I think I get it."

They separated after shaking hands, the E-Pandora accepting their comrade back with pats on the back and words of encouragement.

"Will Evolutionary Pandora, Jina Purpleton, and Pandora, Joan Ala, come to the stage?"

"Alright, I'm up," Jina said with a look of determination. "How'd you feel fighting her, Rattle?"

"They seem manageable before using their full Volt Textures," the black E-Pandora said. "I… I-I think you'll have a better chance than I did. I'm not remotely as strong as you and Amelia."

"Hey, you did great! And she's the second-best in England that's not somethin' to be worried about!" The purple-haired woman said with a determined grin. "Time to go and show more of what we're made of!" She declared as she walked off before stopping at Rattle's advice.

"They're really powerful," Rattle said as Amelia and the others nodded. "But… in their bases, it's not impossible. Getting to them before they can go all-out might be the key to victory."

Jina nodded as she heard that, taking the first step onto the stairs.

Going up it, she found herself faced with her opponent who slammed her quickly gauntlet-covered arms' fists together, her feet becoming covered by a similar-in-nature pair of greaves.

Jina held out her hand and called her Volt Weapon into existence, its form becoming covered in her Lightning-Type Volt Graphs, name pending. 'No time to warm up to it, just like Rattle said. All-in from the moment the match starts!'

"Let the match… begin!"

The Korean Pandora had assumed her fighting stance-

She spat out spittle as a staff found itself into her midsection before she, it, and its owner were quickly approaching the boundary of the arena.

She grit her teeth and stomped, bringing her momentum to a stop and locking eyes with a grimacing Jina.

Joan's fist swung out at the E-Pandora whose form slipped back in a familiar blur of static.

Accel Turn.

"Oh?" Roxanne was more shocked than she expected. "W-Wait, that was-"

"Accel Turn…" Charles finished, eyes wide. "They can use High-End Skills."

"After only a year," her Limiter, Citroen, considered.

The young man was easily taller than Charles, not that it was much of a mark to begin with, and had fair skin, smooth-looking blonde hair that flared out at his nape, and had a large bang covering one of his brown eyes.

"It's not wrong to say, they've easily surpassed Freshmen by this point, correct?" He offered his comrades who considered the idea.

"... Yeah, they have," Shi-Jing said slowly with some awe and a smile. "It's kind of comforting that even regular humanity can reach new heights, day after day."

Roxanne rolled the sentence in her head before sighing with a shrug. "Okay, I get it. So, they're not as brittle as we might have thought," she considered as Charles grimaced, gaining her attention. "... Uh, Charlie? You seem less than pleased."

"It's not enough," the diminutive Pandora said with a frown. "They're not good enough yet."

"I mean, yeah, it's only been a year."

"That's not the point."

"I'm failing to see where that point is."

Scarlett grinned as Jina went back and forth with the Pandora.

Even without the full use of Volt Textures on the student's part, Jina and she were seemingly close. To the point that Jina's own attacks and shots had some danger to them!

Of course, that third-year understood that, her form separating from Jina's as the grape head grinned.

"Hmph," well, despite the small scoff, Joan grinned a bit. "You're better than your fellow E-Pandora, I can tell. The difference is like night and day."

"I just go a bit harder than my friend over there, she also doesn't have a weapon that's good at using these Volt Graphs like I do."

"Oh, that's the name?"

"We kind of came up with it on our own, name pending," Jina grinned nervously as Joan chuckled some more.

"It's a proper name," the younger female said as her body burst with Volt Textures. "This time, will it be the same as with that Rattle woman? Or will you handle one of us using full power?!"

She vanished and Jina let out a yell as she was sent flying for a bit.

Jina grimaced. 'Take back control!' She thought as she righted herself by the arena's boundary, body, feet screeching against the floor. 'Remember your training!'

"Huh? Jina? What are you doing?" Amelia asked as the two of them trained into the night. "You're applying it to your weapon?"

"Yeah, I had a thought about it, ya know?" Jina said as she twirled her staff around. "This thing is made from my Volt Textures and stuff, right? It's basically another part of me and we know that Pandora can enhance their weapons… So what if I use the Volt Graphs on it?"

"It seems destructive to your weapon. Remember, you've only got about two good creations in you."

"I know but if we can get through this, I'll have more time to perfect it. Right now, we need MORE stopping power."

'And she's more ridiculous, honestly,' maybe it was Naruto's influence but even before all of that, Amelia had been a hard worker amongst hard workers. 'Still, I came up with it first!'

She locked onto Joan who fell back into her favored boxing stances and blurred.

"Now or never!" Jina said as she heard her opponent. 'React! Adjust! Counter!'

Joan brought her fist around the E-Pandora's head… only to hit air?

"What-?!" Then her vision shook as she was sent off her feet. 'W-What? How did she dodge me?!' Joan hissed as she righted herself in the air, skidding to a stop as she gasped only to taste something on her tongue.

Metallic and she rubbed the side of her mouth to find a red substance on her fist.

"... How?" She asked as she got back up onto her feet, wincing at the flare of pain in her chin as she finally looked at Jina in full and found… "... The Volt Weapon?"

Jina grinned shakily as she began to sweat, her Volt Weapon's upper half-cracked and destroyed.

On what was left of it, Joan could see those lightning-like marks running down towards the broken-off section.

"Just… you know? Really pushing that envelope."

"Holy shit!" Naruto, and the others, choked at the event on display. "I didn't think she could do that," he said with a growing grin as Chiffon cupped her chin in thought.

"Applying it to the Volt Weapon, I can see how that idea could work," she said with a growing hum. "In a way, this could help us as well. If we can just go all-out on our weapons it'd be easier than trying to do it to our own bodies."

"It's a good idea!" Rana said with a grin. "And even if it's theirs, it's still an amazing skill to consider-de arimasu."

"Hmm… exploding chain heads," Genessa considered with a wide, ferocious, grin as the others chuckled. "I like that idea a lot."

"Of course, it's common sense," Arthur said. "Such a free skill would be beyond useful and you could make a true Finisher-based skill."

"Well damn, that's deserving of tons of praise," Roxanne said with a whistle as Citroen and Shi-Jing balked. "She went in on Joan and made small movements. Joan should have known better but Jina simply had skills we couldn't expect."

Charles hadn't listened, hands clenching the railing on her section next to the Americans.

'She's… strong?' No, that was ridiculous, it couldn't be. 'It's a trick Joan simply didn't understand,' which was true. "She shouldn't be playing," she grumbled.

"It's still supposed to be an example of what these E-Pandora girls can do," Roxanne said. "Besides, that Jina woman didn't let her just go all-out in the beginning, she went straight for a knockout."

"Which wouldn't be counted."

"Charles, is everything cool? You seem… offended."

"I'm fine, there's no reason to take offense from these women."

Roxanne raised a brow at the behavior. 'Something tells me you're more bothered than you think.'

Joan and Jina went in close and traded dodges.

'She's simply that much better than me,' Jina thought as she swung her staff only for it to be blocked, Joan grabbing onto it. "Tsk!"

The Pandora's eyes narrowed in interest as Jina let go and shot back with Accel Turn. "Can you fight weaponless?"

"No but I know enough about Volt Weapons to know it's better to call it back this way," Jina said as she dispelled the one in Joan's grip and remade it in her hand. 'Still costs energy,' but it wasn't as costly when it was broken.

Observing Pandora fights, matches, Carnivals, and just profiles for so long made recognizing the small things easier.

Remaking a Volt Weapon and yet not having the previous 'incarnation', so to speak, destroyed was different compared to the opposite.

So, it was easier to let that weapon 'go' and regain some composure… which wasn't a lot now that she was thinking about it!

"Geez… it's more tiring than I thought," she said as Joan hummed before nodding.

"You're only working with a year of experience so it's fair to think you don't know how to manage your Volt Textures all that well yet," the pugilist said as she inched forward, back in her boxing stance. "You've also only fought your own level of fighters. Fighting a superior opponent out of nowhere is simply the best way to get a hang of this."

Jina blinked before nodding, getting into a defensive stance. "I don't have much left in me so this might be my last chance."

"Nothing wrong with that!" Joan said as she skipped forward with a blur of speed that shocked Jina, the E-Pandora grimacing as she released a pulse of Volt Textures on her weapon's shaft.

It shot up and barely blocked Joan's fist but the blow still broke her guard, leaving her open for the kick that slammed into her stomach.

"Kaugh!" She was sent flying back and barely brought her feet back down to stop her from flying out of the arena.

Her eyes narrowed before Jina got up and blurred around Joan who bounced on her heels.

Then the pugilist leaned back slightly as a stab came for her head's previous space.

She widened her stance and swung back, knocking off the next stab.

Joan batted aside attack after attack as her eyes locked onto the moving Jina. 'She's getting slower,' it was only fair, she didn't think any worse of her for it.

If anything, the Pandora was really seeing the benefits of this project, if only because these women were strong and had worthwhile skills that she, as a Pandora, couldn't properly use.

They likely had their places, Joan could say that with confidence.

So, she brought this match to an end moments later as her form blurred.

"What?!" Jina skidded to a stop as she barely saw a form around her. 'S-She's gonna end this,' she realized with concern. 'Is there anything I can do?' Something to at least bring this to a positive end.

She felt the wind on her back and Jina raised her weapon.

Joan knew it'd never hit her… and it seemed Jina knew that too as she brought her Volt Weapon down beneath her feet, the glowing lines on it brightening.

"Crap-!"

An explosion of metal plating and dust erupted from their location, the two combatants being covered in dust.

The audience watched on with concern as the dust cleared and they saw the damage.

The hole in the arena was impressive but Jina's knocked-out form was a solemn note.

Joan groaned on the floor a bit away, holding her head with a huff. "Well… that's going out with a bang," she said with a grunt as several Pandora of her school came down and helped her up, Jina receiving the same privilege from her own comrades. "She's good, I can't say anything else," Joan said to Amelia who perked up before nodding with a smile. "I can tell that you do have a place here in Chevalier."

"Thank you, I'm going to end this off on a positive note, I know it," the American said as she and Rattle helped Jina off the arena. "You did an amazing job, Jina," she said as the unconscious E-Pandora hung off her shoulder.

There was the sound of hurrying feet in the arena and she turned to see Naruto healing Joan for a bit before nodding and hurrying over to them.

"Sup, I've got an order of healing for one Jina Purpleton," he said with dual thumbs-ups as Amelia chuckled.

"Pre-ordered?"

"Of course."

Roxanne's form came down next to them, the Immortal quickly peeking over Naruto's shoulder to see his healing at work.

"I read the notes and stuff but I wonder if your way of doing this is that much different from mine?" she told them as the group nodded.

"Damn her and her curiosity," Charles grunted as Shi-Jing Hong shrugged.

"It's not wrong to want to know how they differ. What if she can figure something out about her brand of healing from watching his method?" He offered and Charles simply crossed her arms. 'Roxanne was right, Charles seems… on edge,' it was kind of weird.

Citroen, meanwhile, watched the cameras focusing on the blonde's healing skill. "So, that's what it looks like up close?" He considered as his fellow Limiter nodded.

The blonde's field, the gold light, and the rings around his wrists, each was a part of the healing ability, it seemed.

"The… T-That's the…" Citroen tried to recall it. "... Ah, yes, Maelstrom Circuit, correct?"

"... Yes, it is," Charles said with a frown. "A skill only he seems to be able to use."

"It's odd, yes, but he did reveal why, did he not?"

"It's too coincidental. How can we trust anything he says?"

"He's been teaching? Because he's offered good support to everyone?" Shi-Jing countered with a frown as Charles grimaced. "Yes, we don't truly know the specifics but he's doing good work as far as I'm concerned."

"You and her think so but it's not the proper protocol."

Shi-Jing wasn't sure what that even meant.

~NRK~

"Hmph," Mark Spencer grunted as he and the rest of his backers/board members watched the proceedings via a large screen in their shared meeting room.

"T-This is good," one of them said with a sigh of relief. "Within one year, we've brought these women up to the level of second-years! There's no way for HQ to not want this project continued!"

"..." Mark grimaced as they watched the boy heal up the fight's combatants, Naruto Uzumaki moving on to handle Rattle's bruised form. 'I can't believe I let him near here.'

The boy had made a muck of things, coming over and altering his project with methods he'd not authorized. It was essentially unpredictable events that had taken place under his nose!

He locked onto the screens showing the crowd's reception.

Many looked intrigued, smiled, clapped, or chatted with curious looks about them. Not a bad thing, they all seemed to have accepted the E-Pandora on some level-

There was a ring in the room and all the men there stopped and turned to Mark who picked up the phone by his position.

"Mark Spencer, advisor of the E-Pandora Project, speaking."

-Hmph, you've made quite a bit of noise in HQ- Came the familiar voice of Radox Phantomheim, the men in the room shocked. -Quite a bit of noise-

"... Good news?" Mark asked with a frown and his frown deepened as Radox chuckled.

-Well, mostly so. The higher-ups want to give you three more years to really polish those women up so they can fight with third-years and be on the frontline. On the upside, it seems like they're open to the idea of the project- Mark's eyes widened. -So, congratulations, HQ is on board with the E-Pandora Project-

Many men in the room collapsed in relief, others grinning at the possibilities, while several few considered their current position and how they could help humanity.

All of them were joyous in some way… save for one.

Mark Spencer's hand clenched the phone tightly as he spoke in a cold tone. "Very well, I'm glad the Committee could see the value in what I've done."

-Hmph, don't let it get to your head. You've got to one-up this batch in a year- Was all Radox said before cutting the line.

Mark's gaze went to the table as his blood boiled. '... This needs to be dealt with before I lose all the control at this base,' he realized.

If word got out that Naruto Uzumaki came into the location and made the project a success, Mark wouldn't just be out of a job.

He'd be the laughingstock of the Chevalier community, he'd never live it down! All because of a dumb little boy!

He got up before walking out of the room, confusing some of his board members.

"Spencer? This is joyous news, we have to celebrate," one of the men said and Mark stopped.

"Use any of the wine in the cabinet, I have to… inform my scientists of the new development that needs to be taken care of."

He left the room and walked past numerous cubicles before reaching the elevator at the end of it all, getting in, alone, and going down.

As soon as he was within the soundproof-depths of the box he growled audibly.

He pulled out his phone as his eyes darkened, pressing a number on it.

"It's time to put this little fox in a cage. Ready the disrupters, we'll be enacting this tomorrow night."

~NRK~

Naruto hopped back into his group's bleachers with a salute. "I'm back, handled my 'orders', too," he chuckled as he sat back down, the arena's surface being removed by a large set of hydraulics that slipped on another plate-like top made of metal for the final match.

"So, this will be the strongest, as you call her," Andre said with a hum as Naruto and the others nodded.

"Amelia-chan is… well, she's a really hard worker," Rana found the words as Chiffon hummed. "If Rattle is, say, the basic version, no offense to her. Then Jina is the above-average level… but Amelia is on a whole different level compared to those two."

"That's big praise," the hybrid said as she considered Amelia. 'And it's likely more than the three of them know,' it wasn't wrong to say that Chiffon could feel the power coming off of Amelia.

She knew Naruto had a hand in it but the fact the E-Pandora seemed closer to Rana in Soul Energy strength, to be specific, wasn't some small thing.

Speaking of, the Tibetan had seemingly been a deep well of energy the likes of which Chiffon never remembered her being. Something had likely happened during that week they went away.

"We'll see, won't we?" Satella said as the arena was 'fixed'. "It's time."

"Will Evolutionary Pandora, Amelia Evans, and Pandora of West Genetics, Elizabeth Mably, come onto the arena for the final exhibition match?" Scarlett asked from above.

Amelia seemed to be doing some last-second planning with her team before nodding as they broke their hustle.

She faced the arena with a look of determination, Elizabeth looking intrigued from her spot.

They walked into the arena before finding themselves a foot apart, face to face.

"A pleasure, again. Naruto and Rana spoke well of you as a person but also as a fighter," the Mably said as Amelia smiled. "A head above the rest, hm?" Elizabeth noted as she tightened her gloves.

"I want this project to work out, to succeed along with my friends here, I can't let them down and won't accept doing anything less than my best," Amelia said as she flexed her fingers, burning blue lines forming over her forearms and legs. 'Learning to make them blue instead of gold is something I'll be forever grateful for,' she thought with a grin.

With this… she was fighting as one of them.

As an E-Pandora who'd make sure their project was a success, to protect her little brother, and make her childhood friend, and teacher, proud!

Elizabeth raised her hands as Amelia widened her stance, hands wide apart.

"Let the final match between the E-Pandora and Pandora of Genetics… BEGIN!"

The first move had barely been seen as Elizabeth blocked the kick to her temple, both arms holding back Amelia's outstretched leg.

The redhead's eyes glowed as Elizabeth saw something that shocked her for only a moment.

The crowd was shocked as Elizabeth was sent flying.

"What?" Charles balked as Roxanne cupped her chin. "That's ridiculous power!"

Elizabeth had recovered but then Amelia's speed became apparent, the E-Pandora's form and leg coming at Elizabeth's face.

The Genetics student ducked low before her own leg swung out at the back of Amelia's.

The E-Pandora threw her body over it before her leg swung out again.

"Leg techniques," Shi-Jing said with interest. "They're solid and uniform, too. I guess they also get martial arts training here in Alaska."

"All-rounders in skills, I guess?" Citroen offered as the other Limiter shrugged. "Honestly, they should just have them focus on their Pandora skills. If they're going to learn how to do all these smaller skills, they should have done it after they'd gained some better control."

"Exactly," Charles said. "Hmph, all this experimental usage could be why they're not as polished on their Pandora skills."

Shi-Jing frowned as Roxanne shrugged.

"Does it honestly matter when they're giving enough of a showing?" The Number 2 in the world said as the two French students frowned while her Limiter smiled softly. "Sure, Pandora skills are important but if they're able to keep up regardless, why are you putting them down for that?"

"I am not."

"Then why can't you just say you're impressed?"

Charles turned away from her and Roxanne threw her Limiter a thumbs-up he nodded at.

They skirted around one another, the second-strongest student at West Genetics focusing on Amelia as she brought her Volt Textures to their maximum power.

'This is like Jina, isn't it?' Elizabeth realized as she and swung out with her kick.

Amelia's kick met it and they canceled out but the Pandora felt like she was taking the brunt of the damage. "That skill… you're using Ms. Purpleton's move, aren't you?"

Amelia hummed as she lifted her knee to show the Volt Graph on the side.

Elizabeth was intrigued, especially so by the wing-like mark on her feet. "It's almost like Hermes sandals."

Amelia looked embarrassed. "I don't… get that reference," she admitted as Elizabeth chuckled.

"Apologies," she said. "But, I underestimated you. Though, I should have taken Naruto and Rana's words to heart," Elizabeth said with a nod. "Sorry."

"No, no, no! It's fine," Amelia said. "... It's true, we're not Pandora, this is all a chance at being something for us. So, I can't say you were wrong to think we're not… great yet."

"Perhaps but I shouldn't be doing that in the first place," Elizabeth admitted with a nod. "I won't hesitate anymore, I'll be coming at this as it's called. Like a Carnival," she said as Amelia nodded.

They vanished in bursts of wind before reappearing at the side of the arena with their legs slamming together.

Amelia's eyes widened as Elizabeth's form doubled before the E-Pandora was sent shooting back from the copy's kick.

'She's an All-Rounder, I forgot!' Amelia realized as Elizabeth and her copy's forms lunged at her, already up in front of her face. 'Double-Accel!'

Her feet touched the arena floor before the E-Pandora vanished, dodging the Elizabeths' kicks.

The young woman's ears heard the telltale sound of something swinging and Elizabeth accelerated back and to the side, dodging Amelia's spear's swing.

The E-Pandora swung out and bisected the third-year's copy before lunging at the real one.

Elizabeth's eyes narrowed before she kicked up at Amelia's chin, the blow should land but the Englishwoman realized that, among this group of women.

Amelia was clearly the best.

The blow to her chin never landed as she seemed to halt with a grimace before she swung out with her weapon, the blade coming towards Elizabeth's arm.

And her mouth fell as the Pandora's arm swung out.

The blade fought against it before shattering, much to the E-Pandora's disbelief before she was kicked in the chest and sent rolling against the ground.

"I didn't know Elizabeth-senpai was good at martial arts," Naruto realized as Chiffon chuckled.

"She's the Number Two for a reason, you know?" The hybrid said as Kazuya sweatdropped. "Don't be fooled by our placements, I may have an amazing set of stats that befit someone at the top," the group sweatdropped. "But Elizabeth is basically the same way, she's just not as ridiculous."

"Well, one part of that was certainly truthful," Eugene said as Genessa chuckled.

"A little pride won't kill her but… uhh, she's still kind of right," she said as the others chuckled.

Amelia and Elizabeth's match hadn't been a short one… no, if anything, the fight had gotten progressively more intense.

Still… Elizabeth hadn't brought out her Volt Weapon while Amelia was beginning to breathe heavily.

'The difference is so vast?!' The two before had to have been only above average, at best!

Because Elizabeth was ridiculous!

Amelia grimaced as she made another Volt Weapon. 'Keep pushing! Keep fighting!' How long had they been fighting?

She didn't remember, all Amelia knew was that she'd never let Elizabeth out of her sight.

The Pandora, meanwhile, had nodded as she ducked, hopped, and countered Amelia's spear swing, leg sweep, and punch, the heiress gripping her spear shaft before pulling her off her feet.

'She's remarkable,' that was the plain and rather amazing truth.

Was she really fighting a civilian right now? Because Amelia made her feel like she'd been fighting for many years, reminding her of Satella back when she'd first seen her fight.

… No, better than Bridgette had been. Far more driven and obviously capable!

She punched at Amelia's startled face only to find her grip on the woman's staff lacking and a knee shooting up at her arm.

Elizabeth's eyes narrowed before she had Amelia tackled by a Tempest clone, the E-Pandora yelping as she was sent to the ground, Elizabeth making to give chase only for speartip nearly sliced into her shoulder.

She jumped back immediately and Amelia stood shakily, having dispelled her clone with a jab at its neck.

Elizabeth let out a decently long breath and wiped some sweat off her forehead. "... You're amazing, I can say nothing less," she said with a smile as Amelia nodded, back into a solid stance with her spear. 'Can't spend a breath?' Which was fair, Amelia seemed to be suffering the most, now.

So, she'd give it her one and only all that the woman across from her deserved.

She raised her hands and Amelia lunged-

Heat brushed against her cheek and the E-Pandora sent herself into a roll before recovering into a crouch, holding her cheek and hissing at the flare of heat coming off of it.

'What?' She looked at Elizabeth and felt her eyes widen as Elizabeth smiled, two swirling apparatuses beneath her hands as two very familiar diamond-shape-like things above her shoulder.

Her Stigmata Satellite System-type Volt Weapons.

Asymmetrical Strafing.

The two small satellites floated her at her sides before a four-way opening on one of them glowed-

She lunged out the way of the following laser which grazed her outer thigh. 'It can cut through the Limiter Suit?!' Still, Amelia could tell that the Suit did grant some protection.

A series of lit-up hexagons showed in the location but wasn't singed or harmed, nothing beneath it even feeling the intense heat of the laser.

"I really should have Naruto test out those Suits with my Volt Weapon," Elizabeth said with interest as Amelia sweatdropped. "Oh, above," she said with a smile as the E-Pandora paled, looking up to see the young woman's Volt Weapon spinning on its axis and its orifice shining. "Watch out for rain."

Laser beams rained down in a wide semi-circle of light and heat.

Amelia dodged through them as best she could, using her Volt Graph-

She jumped back from an oddly-directed laser.

Her eyes went to Elizabeth's other satellite, the Volt Weapon shifting about at the Mably's command.

Amelia kept going. 'Focus on the sounds!'

Her ears rang with the sounds of each laser, each step she began to make seemed to cause another laser to rain down on that area.

She crossed her arms as two more slammed into her forearms, the E-Pandora hissing. 'Isn't there anything I can do?!' She thought as her eyes looked out past each laser to look at Elizabeth.

The Pandora's fingers twitched as her eyes found each one of Amelia's movements, never letting her move without danger.

"... Fine…" Amelia said as her eyes burned. "Faster than she can see."

The air around the E-Pandora distorted and Elizabeth raised her hand as her lone satellite began to glow.

"You did well, I can see you being a greater challenge than I'll ever know in the future," she said as she clicked her hand. "Fire."

The laser did, reaching Amelia in an instant-

The E-Pandora vanished and Elizabeth raised as a brow as she looked to her right-

A blow to her cheek sent her flying, her eyes wide. 'What?!' She landed-

A force slamming into her stomach caused her to fold before she saw a shadow on the ground.

The Pandora rolled away as a tear appeared on the metal surface. 'How did she? Can she honestly go faster than Double Accel?' That was outrageous but Elizabeth couldn't see why she wouldn't do this earlier. 'She's not used to this,' she realized.

The sound of something to her left had her eyes narrowing before her satellite slipped to her side.

It pulsed out energy that blocked Amelia's hit. "W-What?!" Her eyes widened before Elizabeth smiled. 'Shit-!'

A laser slammed into the E-Pandora's side and she coughed up blood before Elizabeth's palm slammed into her forehead.

She followed through and slammed the older female into the arena's surface, the floor cratering as Amelia choked before spitting out more blood and spittle.

For a few seconds, Elizabeth waited before nodding and getting off the older female, an air horn blowing into the air as Naruto and Rana jumped out into the arena.

"You're an amazing fighter," Elizabeth said to Amelia who let out haggard coughs and inhales, her fellow Rattle hurrying over as the others tended to Jina. "... Apologies," she winced as Naruto and Rana made it over.

"No, it's fine, it was supposed to be like a Carnival match," Rana said as Naruto nodded, lifting Amelia up and raising his hand by her head.

"It's better that you took her seriously than if you didn't, senpai," he said as Elizabeth nodded with a smile. "Still," Naruto spread out his field and Elizabeth sighed with a grateful nod, her wounds and bruises getting healed along with Amelia's. "There's no way you guys didn't make it," he said to Amelia and Rattle, the former groaning softly while the latter nodded with determination.

"We gave it our all," the dark-skinned E-Pandora said as there was chatter from above. "We just have to hope the uppers believe so."

The three nodded as they left the stage only for a speaker to spark to life above.

"I'm glad all of you could come and witness the birth of the E-Pandora Project," Scarlett said from the observation deck as the group blinked. "I've been informed that, yes, we've indeed secured funding for another set of years of this new development."

Rattle's mouth fell along with her fellow E-Pandora before Naruto, Rana, and Elizabeth chuckled.

They started clapping and more and more of the audience followed suit.

Amelia groaned into working consciousness to hear it. "H-Huh? What?" She looked around dazed before seeing the teary-eyed Rattle.

"We did it."

Brown eyes slowly widened to impossible levels as Naruto's chuckling reached her ears, Rattle holding her close.

They'd done it.

"Whew, damn, I didn't think she could give Elly over there such a decent run," Roxanne said with a whistle as the E-Pandora cheered. 'They really worked hard to be here,' and it wasn't in her to go and rain on their parade.

They'd earned this.

Charles and Citroen, meanwhile, had walked out moments ago, the former pulling out her phone to make that call.

And found it unnecessary as she answered the person instead of calling them. "Father?"

-There's been a swift change in plans- Mark said over the line. -In a day's time, we'll be dealing with the boy-

Charles's eyes widened and, for maybe the first time, she didn't feel like things were… right.

She looked back to the loud entrance and swallowed.

"Understood."

"Amazing! I'm so happy for them!" Kazuya said with a grin as the crowd was let out. "T-This is amazing for them! And they're capable of using different skills as well! You all could learn more ways to use Volt Textures."

Satella nodded. "The way that Amelia used them… those Volt Graphs," she looked down at her hand as Chiffon nodded. "I feel like she had a good idea in using them that way."

"By propelling your foot or weapon, it's actually genius," Chiffon said. "If you could do so, Satellizer, your Singularity Accel might very well reach a speed we can't consider."

Eugene smiled. "I'm glad for them," especially with what he'd heard. 'How will Gengo-san take this?'

~NRK~

"Hmph… this isn't Mark's work, that's for sure," Gengo Aoi said as Su-Na nodded, the two watching a livestream of the event. "Still… this sadly isn't going to last long, at least, it shouldn't," he noted as she frowned.

"Naruto-kun clearly had a big hand in Evans-san's development the most, that's the truth. The issue is that we don't know how strong they'll actually be in the future," Su-Na said. "Outside of Amelia, Jina Purpleton did have a good showing and she's not nearly as experienced as Joan Ala was."

"Not wrong," he said as the door to the yard opened and allowed Cassandra and Arcadia inside, Windy May coming in after them. "Welcome back, have fun in the lake?" Gengo asked with a chuckle as Arcadia smiled brightly.

"Is chi-chi-ue still sneaking?" The short teen asked as Su-Na nodded, pressing a finger to her ear.

"Obito-kun?"

-What's going on? You're seeing this, too, right?- Obito's voice came from the earpiece.

"Chi-chi-ue!"

-Tell her I said 'hi'-

"He says 'hi', Arcadia," Su-Na relayed as the girl nodded excitedly. "How are things on your end?"

-Well, so far, I can't get into any of the more important places. I'll be getting into the science building tonight- Obito said. -So far, everyone I've spoken to, not including Pandora or Spencer's board members, has painted a chilling image of the man and it's not good. All things considered, I know something shady has happened here. Especially after that so-called Mark III medicine-

Su-Na told the others about the situation and Gengo sighed. "Dammit, that man," he said as Maria came into the living room with Teslad and Lucy, the two holding onto some food. "Thank you. Tell me, Obito, do you think it's possible to destroy his equipment before anyone can notice?"

-I think you'll have other things to think about, they just announced that the project is getting funding-

Said event just took place moments later, the group sighing at those women's joy.

"This will make things difficult, won't it?" Su-Na said.

-Well… that'd depend on how this changes things. We've got so many new developments as of late, we haven't seen the changes take place yet-

Gengo blinked and then considered something. "That's right… we haven't made any big changes yet… none that have stuck out because it's all in Chevalier," he grinned. "So, right now, we need to push our authority on things. And I think I know how."

-Sounds like you're going to step on some people's toes again-

"Not in the least, Chevalier may be the world's government but I have more than enough control to release any technology where I please. It's for the betterment of mankind, how could they complain?"

~NRK~

Jina grinned as the ten E-Pandora ate with joy, the West Genetics group, Roxanne, Shi-Jing, Cassie, Kyouichi, and Scarlett eating along with them.

"Haaaa…" The doctor groaned in relief, head down on her folded arms. "Things went well… Thank God."

"You all showed your best and it was rewarded," Elizabeth said with a smile as Amelia and Rattle blushed but Jina simply grinned like the proud woman she is. "Hmph, I am curious, how do you all view your Volt Graph skills? Amelia's was rather dangerous, to me, and I was surprised that you all thought of it."

"Oh, no, it was Jina's idea," Amelia said as the woman in question chuckled nervously. "While most of us copied her lead, only I can do it reliably."

"Reliably, she's scarier with the skill than I am," Jina deflected as Rana chuckled.

"It's kind of true-de arimasu," the Tibetan said as Jina slumped." N-No offense! It's just, I guess it's because she uses it on her body instead of only her weapon."

"Yeah, well… I'm not good enough at the body version," the purple-haired woman admitted as Naruto hummed. "Rattle can do it a bit but it's not perfect, Amelia's the only one who can do it completely. Don't know if that's all you or not."

"I-I tried to do my best to 'keep our curve up', like you all said," Amelia pouted a bit as Jina chuckled along with the others. "But it seemed like I wasn't even needed!" She added with a grin as the E-Pandora cheered.

"We're in!" They grinned.

"It's true but now you have to really show your colors over the next couple of years," Chiffon said as Genessa nodded.

"Ya got a long road ahead of you guys," the German said. "And that road might include giving me tips on how to use Volt Graphs with my weapon! Why it'd be an investment in you guys' future!"

"There it is," Andre said with a chuckle. "Still, you all might very well be able to open up a dialogue between your skills and Pandora's. It'll depend on your skills."

"Yep," Jina grinned as many of the other E-Pandora blushed at Andre's smile, Elizabeth's smug look comically infuriating. 'Yer just prancing around with that boy on your arm?' Well, damn if she wasn't a bit jealous! 'Honestly, they're all some kind of catch, now that I think about it.'

Naruto had a sort of charming innocence in his looks that made the switch to protective and dangerous very appealing.

Kazuya was a little cinnamon roll all wrapped up in a person, there were lecherous responses to that down in their very beings, despite the age gap, like with Naruto.

Arthur was essentially a gentleman down to the bone in looks and he carried himself casually still, making the image very approachable.

Andre, on the other hand, was gentleman-PLUS and made the entire concept his existence, it seemed.

Finally, Eugene's hair seemed the most curious to her though less in Naruto's 'I wonder if it's fur-like' way and more like 'Tussling it looked appropriate'.

And, no, she did not mean that innocently.

Jina coughed into her fist as Chiffon's eyes creaked open the slightest bit.

'Hmm?' Something interesting was occurring! "Hmm, so, what is going to be on the itinerary for the rest of the week?" The Monster of the West asked.

"Well, I think it's more potential matches if people ask," Amelia said. "Secretary Spencer is supposed to also be showing the backers around to see all the amenities and the advantages of working in Alaska."

"Hmph, sounds like a lot of little things," Naruto said before grinning. "But, hell, it's better than worrying over whether you all made it or not!"

Amelia grinned as well. "It is!"

"Hm, hmm, welcome, newbies!" Came Roxanne's voice as she sat next to Rana, her Limiter finding his place next to her. "So, how's it feel?"

"Hehe, it feels like I aced a test," Jina said as Eugene smiled. "Now, we'll have more time to figure out how to use Volt Graphs better. Next time, I'm gonna be at my best!"

"A good mindset to have, Lord knows not enough people have it," the Number 2 Third-Year said with a grin. "So, those proposal mock matches, mind taking a shot at me?" Jina looked surprised. "Hey now, Joan said it best, better to fight an out-of-nowhere opponent, yeah?!"

"... I'm all for it!"

"That's what I want to hear!"

"Hmm if we're doing that, Ms. Evans," Elizabeth began to say as Amelia chuckled. "You wouldn't be against a few spars with me, would you?"

"I'd be honored!" The American said. "Honestly… fighting you felt different," Amelia admitted as the Mably nodded. "Women two years my junior are so strong, it's kind of embarrassing."

"Well, I'm only eighteen so you don't have to feel off about that!" Rana said as Amelia looked shocked.

"W-Wait, you're eighteen? I thought you were 16!"

"Nope! I transferred in late-de arimasu," Rana said with some red on her cheeks. "I needed to make sure I had my power well-controlled so I entered late."

"Still as a second-year?" Amelia blinked as the Tibetan blushed.

"I needed to find my fated one, Naruto-kun," she admitted as the blonde coughed with red on his cheeks, Amelia's mouth dropping. "Why, I thought it'd be super-hard to do that! But we met on the very first day I came to Shin-Tokyo!"

The American's cheek twitched as Jina snickered along with the others, Rattle patting her shoulder.

"Pace yourself," was all she said before going back to engorging herself on food.

"I-I'm fine!" Amelia squeaked as Rana grinned knowingly. 'Oh no, please don't tell me she knows!' Well, Rana hadn't said anything yet so maybe she was getting ahead of herself.

"This entire group is ridiculous," Shi-Jing said with a chuckle. "Then, Naruto-kun, do you think you and I could get some training in? I was excited to know you'd be here so I could learn from you."

"I'm all for it," Naruto grinned before standing up and announcing. "Any Limiter looking to get some training in with me! Meet me at the gym at five! I'll be holding a special class!"

Many of the men perked up and looked at him with intrigue.

"All are welcome if they want!" He declared as some of the Pandora chuckled.

"And another group has become students," Genessa chuckled as Satella nodded. "Honestly, this is probably one of the best times to do it. With all the different countries here, you might not get this chance again."

"Exactly," Naruto said as he sat back down. "Gotta strike while we have as much time as possible!"

"This gathering got more exciting than I ever expected!" Roxanne grinned. "Shiji's about to get stronger~" Shi-Jing blushed as the others laughed.

All the while, Charles sat with the French Pandora and Limiters, eyes on her food as she ate slowly.

'...' She grimaced at her thoughts before sighing. "Citroen."

"I'll attend, ma'am," her Limiter said. 'I'm also curious about his in-person method, Shi-Jing,' and now he had the chance! "... Oh," Citroen realized a moment later as Charles frowned a bit.

"For the best of humanity," she whispered.

"... Yes, ma'am."

~NRK~

That's another chapter and there has been a big high… but also a hidden low on its way.

So, Mark is getting more annoyed and it shows. He's pulled a Radox but the 'intimidation' was cranked up to 100 due to his need for 'soldiers' of 'Chevalier' to be obedient and not going on to do things he considers as problematic.

That's going to be an issue for our blonde friend and his sensibilities, especially when Mark starts to… get serious.

I think I portrayed the E-Pandora's own way of fighting with Amelia taking center stage as the culmination of all the new skills, abilities, help, and focus that E-Pandora have received. They're NOT stronger than third-years save for Amelia and it shows that not even she is good enough to handle one of the best.

Finally, we've got another Naruto Class for the world's Limiters and it's bound to have some interesting stuff in it.

Now, onto the Omake.

~NRK~

~CANON Omake: Lacking ft. Obito, Su-Na, Gengo, Kim, Elize, and ?~

Obito Uchiha, age 20, ran his hand through his hair, looking down at 'his' West Genetics teacher uniform with a huff.

"If you're to truly help, perhaps you should learn, from the Genetics perspective, how we approach the skills and angles for battle."

'Gengo-san, you bastard,' he thought as he walked down the hallway, looking at his watch. "Gym, well, it's certainly better than trying to learn how to teach-"

There was a small huff as he bounced into a small but tough body, Obito blinked as he looked down at the young woman before him.

And his eyes slowly widened at the sight of her eyes, red eyes that peered back at him with a look of neither concern nor distaste.

She just smiled 'apologetically'. "Apologies… sensei?" She blinked at him, looking confused.

"I'm a temporary teacher… are you alright?" Obito asked her as the student blinked at him, looking confused. "... That look in your eyes… that's not something that should be on a student's face," he said softly.

The young woman froze, mouth falling slightly as her eyes truly saw him that second, widening to impossible levels.

"You're living in a hell of your own making, I'd assume," Obito said as she didn't flinch so much as slowly processed his words and looked away like she was viewing something out the window. "Not facing it isn't wise-"

"I'm well aware of how I am," she shot back, cutting him off as she regained her usual 'countenance'. "... I'm surprised a normal person like you can even tell without calling me 'odd'," her head tilted at him and Obito winced at that.

That didn't speak of good things. "Let's just say… I'm not unused to such an expression, I've worn it before," Obito said as the young woman finally flinched, eyes wide as they looked at his small smile. "You'll be surprised to know, it's not as permanent as you think. There are other people around who can accept you for who you are. I don't know if you found one such person or if you're still looking but know it will happen. You just have to keep trying," he chuckled. "I'm sure we'll speak again. For now, I need to find the combat class-"

"I-I'm going there," the young woman said immediately, cheeks flushing as he looked at her with a raised brow. "It's… I was going to get some fresh air before going. There was an incident… at lunch."

"... I see," he nodded before gesturing down the hall. "Lead the way if you will."

She nodded before walking and he followed by her side.

"... Sensei?"

"Yes?"

"... Who did you meet?"

"... A lot of people, sadly," he grinned somberly. "I met people who made me whole and willing and I lost them, quickly becoming cold and unfeeling. I thought the world was hell," her fists tightened. "I thought it wasn't a reality, 'what sort of reality would do that to me' was what I'd thought. So, clearly, I wasn't in a place where I could be happy so it must have been hell."

The young woman's gaze on the floor was telling but Obito simply let her process.

"I went on a dark path… one I'm sure I'll never recover from but it's one I've lived with and live to correct and NOT make again. I met others who beat the crap out of me," he smirked as she looked startled. "Trust me, it's not as weird as you might think. Though, don't go getting beat up, please? It's not the solution, people caring enough to see the real you or tell you that your way of thinking, if not right, is wrong are the ones who'll go to the ends of the earth to change you."

"..."

"..."

They walked down the hallway for a bit more before she pointed to the field outside where he saw a large building.

"That's where class will be held," she explained as he nodded. "They're starting earlier than usual," the young woman added as he chuckled nervously, the small trail of students they could see making that clear.

"Well, I don't know what you're going to do but I do need to get down there," Obito said as he opened the window, much to the young woman's disbelief. "Let's not skip on my first day, alright?"

He pushed off and out, falling a small distance before landing on a branch of a nearby tree gently, the branch barely shifting as he stood to his full height.

Obito hopped from branch to branch with ease, hands in his lab coat pockets as he made that last hop down and reached the ground. "Hmph, that wasn't so bad-" He thought as he looked up and paled as that female student from before leaned out the window?!

She looked down at him with that vacant look and his mouth fell as she did?!

"Fuck!" He cursed before leaping into the tree, rushing back up it to jump out and grab her mid-air.

He grunted shakily as they landed on the ground, the young woman in his arms princess-style. "W-Why?! Why did you do that?!" He yelled as the young woman leaned back in surprise.

"You… caught me?" She said in surprise as Obito's eyebrow twitched. "... a-apologies," she apologized honestly. 'I-I don't understand.'

And she vocalized as much as they began to walk towards the Simulation Center.

"Why…?" She asked him as Obito blinked.

"Why what?" He asked.

"... I could have landed," she said softly as he rubbed the back of his head. "I'm a Pandora and you're not. That was more dangerous to you than it ever could have been to me," the student said as he nodded.

"You're not wrong," Obito said with a shrug.

"So, why?" She asked with a frown. "Even if I'd not landed properly, we've healing rooms and a med bay, anything could be fixed."

"But I wouldn't want you to hurt yourself regardless," he said as she blinked at him. "You're right, logically, you were fine but that doesn't mean I don't worry about you despite how much time we've actually spent together."

"?" The two of them stopped as she looked at him with a frown, hands clenched into fists. "... That doesn't make sense. No one cared before, why-"

"Well, I doubt that," he chuckled. "I'm sure your Limiter-"

"He's necessary."

"... Your teachers-"

"Could care less… maybe… maybe one," she said unsurely. "... It's not enough."

"Oh?" Obito grinned as she frowned-pouted at him. "Hm, hm, cute," he chuckled as she blushed with an annoyed hum. "But, that's interesting, you want people to care, don't you?"

Her eyes widened as she flinched back. "I-I never…"

"It may not seem like it but our hearts find ways to call out even when we don't speak, not even a word," Obito said with a smirk. "And yours clearly says you want more people to care about you and to care for."

She huffed. "... E-Even if the former were true… that doesn't relate to the latter."

"What are you talking about? Of course, it does. You want a bond, that'd mean you want to care for someone who cares for you. It's not that complicated."

"... I don't have…"

"Maybe you just haven't tried?" Obito tried and she looked down only for him to chuckle, gaining her attention. "Well, no time like the present, correct?"

"W-What are you?"

"Just let yourself be comfortable around that person… o-oh, I don't know your name."

"..." The young woman looked at him like he was insane for but a moment… but Obito saw something.

A small, insignificant, thing that likely wouldn't be seen so easily were he anyone else… but he did,

He smirked as the student smiled a beautiful smile… which was clearly a platonic bit of praise, definitely.

"Su-Na Lee," the now-named Su-Na said.

"Hmph, Obito Uchiha, your temporary instructor, Ms. Lee," Obito said with a nod. "Come on, I do still need to be introduced to your… Sophomore call?"

"Juniors," Su-Na corrected him with a nod, expression going apathetic but curious, a real curious emotion on her face. "We've recently learned High-End Skills, Obito-sensei."

"Accel Turn and Tempest Turn, are you having any trouble with either skill?"

"..." Su-Na looked a bit embarrassed as he raised a brow. "No, I can handle them just fine. They're not that hard to learn."

"That's incredible, are you sure you're not overestimating yourself?" Obito asked and she shook her head.

Then she vanished from her spot before Obito felt a hand on his shoulder from his other side.

He hummed at the slightly embarrassed Pandora. "You're that good? That's rather outstanding," Obito chuckled as she blushed but smiled more than before. "Come, we'll figure out what you should build on as you show them in class."

~NRK~

Yu-Mi Kim blinked. "Hold up, Obito-senpai?!" She balked in disbelief as Obito blinked at her.

"... Wait, aren't you from the Numbers?" Obito asked as the teacher, in coach uniform, chuckled a bit. "Yu-Mi Kim, aren't you and Elize Schmitz supposed to be in Chevalier?" He asked further as Su-Na looked between the two in surprise.

"You knew Yu-Mi-senpai?" She asked as Yu-Mi looked at her in shock, seemingly only just noticing her. "... Good afternoon," Su-Na said as the other Pandora balked at the odd duo which included her in it.

"So, wait, you're the temp instructor I was told about?" Yu-Mi asked Obito before nodding to Su-Na. "I was worried something had happened," she said in relief as Su-Na looked a bit shocked while Obito smirked. "Geez, so you found him and brought him here?"

"N-No, we found one another in the hallways," the student said and Yu-Mi raised a brow at some of the young woman's mannerisms.

'Hold up, did something happen!?' She shouted mentally as Su-Na seemed so… flustered.

Not like an annoyed kind either! She seemed like a normal young woman at the moment!

"He told me he was supposed to be a temporary instructor."

"Y-Yeah, uh, well, you know I'm also new to this so I might have asked for a bit of temp help while I get into the groove of things," Yu-Mi admitted as Su-Na hummed. "Though… I didn't know you worked with the Gengo Aoi," she said to Obito as Su-Na froze while her classmates choked in unison.

"WHAT?!" They shouted as Obito grinned nervously. "You work with GENGO AOI?!"

The young women began to crowd him and Obito stepped back nervously.

Then, Su-Na's eyebrows narrowed as she stepped in front of him, shocking Yu-Mi, Obito, and her classmates.

"Control yourselves," she hissed at them and the young women froze, paled, and scrambled back. "Hmph."

Obito chuckled a bit as he scratched his cheek, Yu-Mi's look of disbelief going his way.

"I… helped?" He offered.

"Right."

Ten minutes later, after recomposing the students, they had them going through matches.

Two flew by before Su-Na was called up, leaving Obito's side to enter the ring.

"So, seriously, what did you do?" Yu-Mi asked, still in some shock at Su-Na's behavior. "Su-Na-chan has never been so… well, agreeable? I guess?"

"She really just needed someone to open up to her on her level, I suppose," Obito answered with a shrug at the Number's look of confusion. "Just some things about my past that help me relate to her. She's a good person, I'm sure she is."

Su-Na looked down with a blush at his words, turning off her ears' enhancements. 'How can you say that?' She didn't understand.

Obito Uchiha truly seemed to get her. It was weird but she could figure him out in a few ways herself.

He had a 'dark' side, too. When he spoke to her, Su-Na was sure she saw the hints of it… but it was different.

Controlled, tamed, used when he wanted to use it.

'He's so different compared to me,' she thought as she looked at her opponent, a nervous-looking young woman with two large diamond-shaped knives. '... I want to know how you… did that,' Su-Na realized as she formed her Volt Weapons. "I don't have time for this," she said without thought as her opponent grimaced.

"D-Dammit, don't look down on me!" Her opponent said as a buzzer rang out from above. "Arrhhhhaaa!" She lunged at a speed greater than some mere Freshmen!

She appeared in front of the Korean and grinned as she sliced down…

Su-Na's expression of thought slowly changed in the young woman's vision as she vanished from view.

"Huh?!" The other Juniors balked as she hit nothing but air. "Dammit! Where'd she-?!"

"Hmph," a shadow formed over her body before she was kicked away by Su-Na Lee, the Korean Pandora stalking her opponent as Yu-Mi blinked.

"Wait, hold on, they just learned High-End Skills, how'd she…" Yu-Mi balked as Obito nodded.

"She showed me a bit of her Accel before we got here and I'll say this, she's got a better grasp on the skill than I'd expect from a Junior… If anything," Obito considered. "She's more like a third-year than any sort of second-year."

There was a loud bang as Su-Na's foot sat atop her opponent's chest, the Korean defeating her in less time than it took for their conversation to end.

Then Obito's eyes narrowed as he saw the look in the teen's eyes and breathed in.

Inside, Su-Na's eyes locked onto her defeated opponent.

Her frail beaten opponent. Someone who simply didn't like keeping her mouth shut and now she was at her mercy-

"Su-Na."

Glowing eyes slowly widened beneath their hair's shadow, moving to the side of the arena to look at him. Ice fell over her shoulders, it slipped into her arms, her skin, her blood, and seemed to cause her to freeze.

All because of the red-eyed gaze of a single man she'd only just met.

And she was immediately entranced.

Yu-Mi, meanwhile, shivered at the cold that settled over her own shoulders. 'When the hell was he so damn scary?!' It was ridiculous!

She'd fought Nova, she knew how scary that was and this random guy, who she did know notwithstanding, elicited a fear reaction… out of her?!

'And seemingly even Su-Na,' she realized as the Pandora got off her opponent who looked relieved beyond words. "Alright, alright, the match is obviously over with. Su-Na, please calm down when you fight."

Her fellow Korean blinked before looking embarrassed, walking off the arena, dispelling her Volt Weapons as she did.

"I…" Yu-Mi considered her words before sighing and patting him on the back. "Go on, you seem to have gotten through a wall I can't, yet," she said with determination as Obito smirked.

"Sounds about right, I remember that part about your Numbers' days," he said with a chuckle before going after Su-Na. "Don't get me in trouble."

She rolled her eyes. 'Yep, had I not had a Limiter, I'd have grabbed him the first chance I got,' Kim shrugged, though.

She knew how to separate feelings and eye candy.

Standing in the hallway, Su-Na looked down both ways of the rather quiet and empty paths.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Obito asked as he slipped out of the Simulation Room # 1, leaning against the doorframe opposite Su-Na's.

"..." She looked at him and tilted her head as he raised a brow. "... Hmm," Su-Na smiled a bit and Obito was left stumped. "No, my thoughts are simply processing themselves, Obito-san."

'San?' Obito blinked at the smiling Korean. "Is that so?"

She nodded and Obito considered her for a moment.

"Well… I hope it's a smooth process."

"Hm, hm, hm, it is."

~NRK~

That's a wrap and we're on parts… I want to say 1 of 4 about Obito and Su-Na's relationship and its forming. She's not well but she sees, in Obito, that it's possible to control it… even if that part of her has become the start of her infatuation.

Ciao.

Words: 15.9k+

~NRK Out~