A/N: Revised as of 4/16/2024.

"So let me get this straight. You're not really interested in the destruction of humanity, so you're just a General for the Demon King in name?"

"That is correct, boy who feels he should be the main protagonist despite needing to be dragged out of his sanctuary every morning. For a devil such as moi, who relishes in the flavors of negative emotions of humans, it would be troubling for moi if thy race were to go extinct."

Everyone had calmed down a little when Vanir revealed that he had no intention of fighting them. Essentially, he was just like Wiz in acting as a General in name to maintain the Demon King's barrier.

Aside from the unnecessary added details from their personal lives that he knew about for some reason, probably due to his alleged "all seeing eyes", Vanir didn't seem to be inherently hostile.

"In fact, moi's favorite emotion comes from changing into a great beauty to make men fall for moi. Only to transform in front of them when things are about to get good and say 'thou thought thy was about to get lucky, but too bad it is moi!'."

"Maybe it would be better just to kill you now, right Naruto?"

"Yeah, we can make it slow and painful."

Everything he said seemed to get under their skin, and especially when the devil spouted nonsense like that.

What a troublesome fellow.

But it was best to just play along for now until they could devise another plan if he chose to attack them in the end.

"You said something about the Demon King asking you to investigate something here? What is it?"

Naruto asked, his eyes clouded in suspicion as he tapped his foot on the ground lightly.

This conversation was making him anxious. Not only did he not trust this suspicious masked man one bit, but he could have sworn Vanir was referring to Wiz when he mentioned another General in Axel. He'd have to interrogate the devil about that in a bit.

'Oh please, you just want to keep fighting this guy. Not that I blame you. Things were starting to get interesting too.'

Kurama chortled, earning an eye roll from its host.

"Ah, yes. Moi was coming to Axel to investigate something at the request of the Demon King, but moi happened to stumble upon this dungeon void of a master. For you see, moi's dream is to create a dungeon with the utmost difficulty for veteran adventurers to attempt. Moi minions and traps will give them a most difficult time until they reach the innermost chamber where moi will be waiting."

Vanir suddenly started telling them about his dream, and the three adventurers found themselves listening intently as his voice rose with enthusiasm.

"'Brave adventurers, if thou want moi treasure. Defeat me, and it is yours!' Is what moi will say, and after a long and grueling battle, moi's crumpled body will fall to the ground. Upon opening moi heavily sealed treasure chest, the adventurers shall find..."

Vanir rose his hands to the air, the unmasked portion of his face shining with glee.

Naruto, Kazuma, and Darkness were basically at the edges of their seats.

"...A sign that says 'thank you for your patronage'. Yes! The blank stares, the disappointment, the most beautiful negative emotions from such an excursion! That is what moi wishes to experience in moi's final moments of consciousness! Fuahahaha! I thank thee for the delicious appetizers!"

"Kazuma, I think it would be best to take this guy out now."

"I agree, as a devout knight who follows the goddess Eris, I cannot let this devil live."

Naruto and Darkness both said with dark expressions on their faces.

As much as Kazuma agreed that this troublesome devil would be better off gone, it would be best to just leave him alone for the time being so they could come up with a strategy. Their initial confrontation showed that it would be quite difficult to deal with this General inside of the dungeon. Maybe he could just have Naruto and Megumin blow it up from the surface with Explosion…

"But alas, there is an accursed magic circle inside the innermost chamber that prevents even moi from accessing it. What annoying fellow decided to place such an irritating magic circle in the middle of a perfectly good dungeon?"

…Magic circle?

Kazuma's face went pale when he remembered they were in Keele's Dungeon, the very same dungeon he, Naruto, and Aqua had visited not too long ago. He completely forgot about it because of all of the nonsense Naruto had caused this morning with the Giant Toad.

"Say, why don't we take care of that magic circle for you and be on our way?"

"Oh, how very kind of thee. Adventurer who waits to leave his room in the evenings until thy Crusader is about to exit the washroom after taking a bath in an attempt to artificially create a 'lucky pervert moment'."

Vanir bowed his head slightly while thanking Kazuma before adding that second bit, which earned the boy a heated glare from Darkness and a flat look from Naruto.

"I-I have no idea what you're talking about, and how are you able to describe things as if you've actually been there!"

Kazuma barked but ultimately calmed himself. After all, they were one step from being able to leave without having to fight. Then he'd signal for Megumin and Naruto to blow this damn place-

"Oh! I remember now! This is the dungeon where we met that Lich and Aqua made that purifying circle for him! Then I fought all of those monsters in such close quarters in the dark… Sigh. That was fun."

Naruto suddenly exclaimed and bopped a fist on his hand in realization.

What scary things was that idiot saying with such a carefree look on his face!? Don't tell the Demon King General that our party member was responsible for the trouble he was going through!

"...fufufu…"

A strange sound came from Vanir's mouth, and Naruto and Darkness were instantly on alert.

"Fuahahaha! Moi can see it with moi's all seeing eyes! Looking into thy miserable past, the source of this problematic magic circle that even an Arch Devil like moiself had trouble with! Thy party mate, could that lazy priestess be…?"

Vanir's eyes suddenly glowed a bright blood red, a malicious aura now radiating from his form as he seemed to be peering straight through them all.

Kazuma didn't really get it, but one thing was for sure. This devil was pissed!

"Yes! Moi can see it clearly! On the surface, resembling that of a sack of potatoes, the priestess responsible for making that blasted magic circle is there! Helpless to what is about to come!"

Naruto brandished his knife and stepped in front of the agitated devil defensively.

"I don't get what your problem with Aqua is, actually I might… Anyways, regardless of what your problem with Aqua might be, I won't let you hurt her."

"That's right, Aqua is our comrade. As a Crusader, I will gladly lay my life down to stop you here and now!"

Darkness echoed Naruto's concerns with her own and pointed her sword at the Demon King General.

It seemed they had no choice but to fight now. Kazuma was glad Naruto was here, although it was his fault they were now about to fight. Had it just been him and Darkness, they would have been screwed now that things were getting serious!

"Fuahaha! Alright, boy who has been having strange awakenings due to the interactions he's had with this muscle headed knight, said muscle headed knight who often feels conflicted on which deviant in her life she should pursue but hesitates due to the impact it might have on her party's relations, and boy who continues to make requests at a certain shop to dream about a female version of his friend! Stand aside as I continue to keep moi promise not to harm 'humans'. Yes, let moi have at thy priestess!"

Vanir exclaimed and started walking towards them.

This caused an explosion of reactions from the group.

"HEY! YOU'RE STILL REQUESTING DREAMS ABOUT ME!? I'LL KILL YOU!"

"W-w-w-what kind of developments are you having, Naruto!? I don't know whether to be concerned or excited! And I haven't been conflicted over anything! Really! Don't look at me like that you two!"

"C-calm down, you two! It's obvious he's just saying these things to get us to fight with each other! Seriously, listen to me Naruto! Darkness! Help me!"

Naruto proceeded to strangle Kazuma while Darkness hid her tomato red face behind her hands.

"Sigh. I'll deal with you later, Kazutrash. Let's just take care of this troublesome devil."

The shinobi said and relented to let his fellow adventurer off the hook. For now.

They had to defeat Vanir before he could get to the surface. With the way Aqua was right now, and deservingly so, she wouldn't be able to defend herself. While fed up with her bratty attitude, it wasn't like Naruto hated the girl.

In spite of her difficult personality, she was still his friend, and he would always protect his friends.

Ignoring the gagging sounds in the back of his mind, Naruto pointed his knife towards Vanir.

"Fuahaha! Then shall we have our round two, stealthy warrior that prefers to stand out with flashy skills and bright colors?"

It was on!

Deciding not to beat around the bush, Naruto started off by creating a half-dozen clones. The clones rushed Vanir at a breakneck speed that Kazuma and Darkness found hard to follow.

But even with the new amped pace, Vanir saw through every attack and continued to dodge everything as he had in their first skirmish.

Darkness, albeit a bit baffled at the level of combat she was witnessing, tried her best to find an opening. She decided to swing when the clones suddenly dispersed throughout the room.

Vanir cackled while effortlessly dodging her attacks.

"Fuahaha! Why does this crusader's attacks miss every time? Moi does not even need to use moi's All Seeing Eyes!"

Cheeks burning red at the remarks, Darkness roared and picked up her pace.

"Your opponent is me, devil! Face me!"

Vanir, while continuing to evade the admittedly powerful swings of the female knight, looked for the other two party members. He spotted Naruto and his clones standing on the walls and even the ceiling of the dungeon. They seemed to be waiting for something.

What interesting abilities this human had.

"Where is thy third member? Moi saw him just a minute ago, and moi can still sense him."

Crack!

The earth between Vanir and Darkness suddenly broke and Naruto burst through, landing a fist square in Vanir's jaw.

The moment the devil took to the air, the clones pounced, each landing a punch or kick of their own until Vanir's form finally returned to the ground with a bounce.

Vanir, despite taking a lot of damage judging by the cracks that were forming on his body, quickly returned to his feet. But they expected as much, as the real Naruto was already rushing towards the General with a glowing blue ball in his hands.

But it seemed Vanir had seen it coming and managed to sidestep the Rasengan.

"Now, Kazuma!"

Naruto shouted as he skid to a stop next to Darkness, and the devil cocked his head to the side when the boy held out his hand towards the Duke of Hell.

'No, not at moi…'

"Steal!"

"!"

Vanir was shocked to hear a voice from the shadows right behind him, and the blue orb disappeared from Naruto's palm.

"Stolen Rasengan!"

Kazuma shouted and slammed the jutsu into the General's back. Earth blew everywhere as the technique grinded into the devil's back.

"Urk! Sneaky adventurers and thy underhanded tricks!"

Vanir yelled as he was hurled through the air by the technique. He landed in a crumpled heap just in front of Naruto and Darkness.

Kazuma stared at the fallen devil in disbelief.

"It worked! It actually worked!"

"Hehe! I told you it would!"

The moment Naruto had sprung into action, Kazuma had activated Lurk and hid himself in the shadows. While Darkness was distracting Vanir, Naruto found Kazuma and filled him in with the plan he'd come up with.

Kazuma didn't think he'd be able to "Steal" Naruto's technique, but the shinobi was adamant.

Low behold, it worked!

Naruto raised a fist to his friend and grinned a toothy grin. Kazuma grinned back and raised his arm to return the fist bump-

Kazuma's arm flopped in an unnatural direction.

. . .

"WAAAHHHH!"

He hadn't felt the shattering of his forearm due to the adrenaline that came from using a highly powerful skill on a boss level foe.

Naruto winced at the sight of Kazuma's arm essentially becoming a ramen noodle.

"OUCH OUCH OUCH! IT HURTS! IT HURTS NOW! AQUAAAA!"

As soon as his brain registered the damage that had been dealt, Kazuma's arm flared in the most excruciating pain he's ever felt. At least when he'd been massacred by the Abominable Snowman, his death had been quick and painless.

But this HURT!

"Come on, Kazuma… Let's get you to Aqua. She'll be able to heal you."

Darkness calmly instructed as she guided the sobbing boy towards the surface of the dungeon to their party's healer. Hopefully Aqua would at least have the mind to heal his arm.

As soon as they walked around the corner, Naruto chuckled nervously. He was never going to hear the end of this from Kazuma, was he?

'Anyways, time to finish this guy off. His mask must be his weakness.'

Naruto thought and turned around to find Vanir standing so close their noses were nearly touching.

"!?"

"Surprised to find moi unscathed? Fuahaha! Moi will have to use moi's secret technique!"

Vanir chortled upon seeing the blonde's surprised expression before taking his mask off and placing it on Naruto's face.

Vanir, his mask on Naruto's face, found himself standing in what seemed to be a large sewer. He lifted his now sandaled foot to find there was a couple inches of water filling the area, making a small splash whenever he stepped.

"Moi seems to have stumbled into a rather unique situation."

Walking down the long hallways, Vanir eventually found himself standing in a very large room that was dimly lit. Walking to the middle of the space, he found the doors to a rather large cage… And they were open.

Cocking his head to the side and rubbing his head in thought, Vanir failed to notice the enormous pair of bloodshot eyes open in the darkness behind him.

"Grrrr…"

A low, deep growl alerted Vanir of the monster that resided in this space. The devil turned around to come face to face with Kurama in all of his might. The Tailed Beast towered over the human-sized devil.

"Heh… Vanir? Meet Kurama."

Naruto's voice came from the boy's mouth instead of Vanir's, despite having no control over his own body.

Vanir snapped the shinobi's fingers and casually turned to face the nine tailed fox.

"Ah! A big cage does indeed require a big beastie! Hello, Kurama-dono. Moi's name is Vanir. Yes, the Duke from Hell, Vanir!"

"In taking over that brat's body, you have doomed yourself, Demon King General."

Kurama growled before snapping at the devil, and Vanir jumped back while laughing.

"Fuahaha! Thou would bite the head off of thy host's body?"

"Yeah, what's the big idea, Kurama!? Are you trying to kill me!?"

Vanir and Naruto's voices came out of the shinobi's mouth nearly at the same time.

"A casualty of war. Don't worry Naruto, I'll finish off the rest of the Demon King Army to avenge your death."

"What!?"

Kurama swiped his massive paws down upon the masked teen, and when that failed, the beast lashed out its tails in quick succession.

"Fuahaha! This body is quite agile! Moi could get used to this!"

Vanir boasted when he landed on top of the Tailed Beast's head, but was immediately forced to leap away to avoid a deft tail lashing. With his newfound mobility, Vanir used Naruto's body to bounce from tail to tail, all the while continuing his conversation with the great fox.

"Moi can sense strong negative emotions from thee… Hatred? Not my personal preference, mind you. But moi's all seeing eyes tell me this hatred is not only directed towards moi. But a certain self-proclaimed goddess with a loud mouth. Interesting… Yes, this is quite an interesting development indeed."

Upon hearing this, Kurama halted his barrage of mighty attacks and the two stared at one another for a moment.

A cold feeling washed over Naruto upon seeing this.

"Dost moi sense a comrade in thee? Kurama-dono?"

"Hmm… I suppose a partnership could be in order. If only to rid the world of true evil."

Naruto couldn't believe the words he was hearing. He knew the fox hated Aqua, but to this extent!?

Out on the surface of Keele's Dungeon, Darkness was helping Kazuma out of the entrance towards their party members.

Megumin was the first to notice them, and upon seeing the state of their party leader, she jumped to her feet and rushed over to them.

"Kazuma! Are you okay? What happened to your arm!?"

The little girl gawked at the state the boy's arm was in. It almost looked like the udon they sold at the home of Crimson Demons.

"We found the source of those little masked dolls. It was a General of the Demon King's Army!"

Darkness explained as they settled Kazuma next to Aqua who was sitting on a mat that was likely laid out by the police.

"Aqua… Please heal me! I can't feel my arm anymore!"

Kazuma pleaded but the girl remained unresponsive, her eyes the same as they'd been all day. Dark, void of life. Almost like she was dead inside.

Damn this useless woman. Wasn't she supposed to be a goddess? The two things she was good at, party tricks and healing, and she couldn't even do it when it mattered most!?

"Hey, Naruto is coming out of the cave… Phew, he's not covered in monster guts this time."

Megumin noted when she noticed a mop of yellow hair at the dungeon's opening, muttering the last bit with a sigh of relief before shivering in remembrance of that day.

But something was off about the ninja. He was wearing something on his face? A mask?

Upon seeing the mask on Naruto's face, Kazuma's stomach dropped.

"Fuahahaha! Moi hath found a comrade residing in this brat who stays in this town of beginners out of a need for friends(Hey, I'm not lonely! I have friends!)! Now, to rid this world of the root of all that is wrong(Kazuma, this guy took over my body and sweet-talked Kurama into teaming up!)!"

Was the nonsense that came out of Naruto's mouth.

"This is strange… How is this (awesome) kid resisting moi control!? Don't fret, the most he'll be able to right now is talk(why are you doing this!? If you don't stop, I'll lock the seal and ask Jiraiya sensei to seal my memories!)."

Would they all just talk one at a time? It was hard to understand them talking all at once like that.

"Oh no! The Demon King General took over Naruto's body! Curses… It should have been me, not him!"

Darkness cursed while clenching her fists and slamming it against the ground, her words seething with regret.

Sena, who had been watching the events unravel, took a step backward in fear.

Naruto, whose eyes were two shades of red behind the mask, turned to her.

"Ah, the policewoman(police lady, run!). You don't have to worry, you see(You have to very much worry!). I struck a deal with this Demon King Army General. In exchange for the life of one measly adventurer, my newfound comrade has promised not to take any other life in this town(just for the record, I took no part in the making of this deal)."

"I-I… Hyah?"

Sena stuttered before falling to her knees in shock.

She's in shock just from hearing Naruto's demon's voice? Just what did that fox say to her during their incarceration?

As Kazuma decided he'd be more lenient toward the policewoman, a big group of adventurers suddenly walked into the clearing looking rather sheepish.

What were they doing here?

"We're here for the dungeon exploration mission."

"We all saw the post on the adventurer's guild this morning. But when Luna-san told us Naruto was already going, we all kinda just gave up on it."

"Yeah, but then Luna-san scolded us when we started drinking during the day… Saying something like 'you all could learn a thing or two from Naruto!' and it kinda rubbed us the wrong way."

What a lazy bunch those guys were. Also, there was someone ELSE who had accepted that mission too you know.

But Kazuma would take the reinforcements. They just needed to buy some time for either Naruto to regain control of his body, or until he could figure out a way to snap Aqua out of her stupor.

"Everyone, Naruto was taken over by a Demon King General and is targeting Aqua! Keep him away from us and target that mask on his face! It's the devil's true body!"

Kazuma shouted while pointing his good arm at the masked shinobi, and the adventurers all stared at the whiskered teen in disbelief.

"I don't really get it, but we just gotta beat up Naruto right? I could get behind that."

"Yeah, it's for the good of humanity!"

"This is for seducing Luna-san, you bastard!"

The adventurers all shouted in unison before charging towards the shinobi with a little more enthusiasm than one would expect.

"Hmm… What are these emotions moi is sensing(good thinking Kazuma, now wake up that sack of potatoes)? Jealousy? Resentment? Retribution?(They just need to get gud) What hast thou done to reek such disdain from thy comrades(maybe I went a little too far with my pranks again)? Ahh! Shut up! Moi can't even hear moi's own thoughts(Also, who said that last accusation! I'll kick your ass myself)! Wryyy!"

It was hard to differentiate the two different dialogues coming out of the shinobi's mouth, but it seemed to be agitating Vanir to no end.

While Naruto was clearly able to speak, he didn't seem to be in control of his body as he avoided the onslaught of adventurers. Using the boy's superior agility, Vanir all but danced in-between them all.

In the midst of all of the angry shouts and maniacal laughter, Kazuma and Megumin continued their attempts at getting through to Aqua with little luck. Darkness had long since joined the fray.

"Come on Aqua, if you snap out of it now and help us I'll let you go all out at the guild for a week!"

"Please Aqua! Your friends are trying their best to protect you!"

Their pleas seemed to have fallen on deaf ears as the goddess had no reaction in the slightest. This really was worse than the time they'd used her as a tea bag to purify that lake full of Brutal Alligators.

"Guh! Unhand me, you fiend!"

Kazuma and Megumin turned around when they suddenly heard Darkness scream. The knight was now being held hostage in the middle of the crowd of adventurers by Naruto(Vanir).

"Fuahaha! If thou cares about what might happen to thy comrade(I'm sure she just let herself get captured on purpose), let moi through to that blasphemous priestess(look at her face, she totally did)! Shut up shut up! Or the girl will get a taste of moi's laser beams that are infamous for incinerating anything in a single shot(What!? Why didn't you use those on me earlier!?)!"

Kazuma, despite being in a dire situation, and his arm no better than a wet noodle, could only look at Darkness with disdain upon seeing the heavy blush on her face.

"You're clearly enjoying this right now, Lalatina."

"No I'm not! A-a-a-and what did I tell you about calling me that!?"

Darkness shouted back defiantly, her face turning a few shades darker.

"Yeah, let Lalatina go, devil!"

"That's our Lalatina you're holding hostage!"

"Don't worry, Lalatina! We won't let anything happen to you!"

Whether the adventurers were being genuine or they were joining in on the teasing, Kazuma couldn't tell. But Darkness's face was now the reddest he'd ever seen it.

Good, that'll teach her.

"Fuahaha! Thank you for this delicious meal! But it is time to make way! If thy don't head moi's commands, moi shall-"

"*Gasp* This fiend is planning on taking advantage of me in front of all of these sweaty men! In the body of my friend, no less! How despicable! Do what you must! As a holy knight, I won't give in to such humiliation!"

. . .

It seemed that not even Vanir, the devil with a powerful foresight, could have foreseen the complete rubbish that Darkness had just spouted.

"That's a little much, even for a General of the Demon King's Army…"

"Yeah, he really is the worst…"

"I was kind of nervous going into a fight with another General, but now it's just… You know…"

The adventurers were all saying things like this, causing the Arch Devil to start quivering with anger.

"...up. Shut up! Shut UP! SHUT UP! Girl who is secretly enjoying the idea of being taken advantage of by the owner of this body because she was disappointed when nothing happened that night at the mansion(wait, what?), moi hast had enough of this nonsense(seriously, this guy just said something I can't ignore, Darkness)! Gyaaahhh!"

"Wah!"

Seemingly having been pushed over the edge, Vanir flung Darkness into the air and made a mad dash in the direction of Aqua.

In a last ditch effort, the adventurers formed a human wall in front of Aqua, but they were no match against Naruto's physical stats and Vanir took advantage of this to plow right through their defenses.

Unconscious bodies went flying everywhere until Vanir finally broke through.

"Finally! Time to finish off moi sworn enemy! Di-"

"Sacred Exorcism!"

"Grah!" x2

The moment Vanir was within range, Aqua launched a surprise holy attack.

As Naruto(Vanir/Kurama) rolled on the ground while letting out various curses, Aqua stood up and brushed her blue hair over her shoulder with a huff.

"Now what was a filthy devil like you about to do, attempting to lay a hand on the great me?"

"Aqua!" x2

Kazuma and Megumin cheered as the final member of their party joined the battle.

"Curses! Moi was so close(it's about time you started pulling your weight, Aqua!), to think this sack of potatoes could move, and speak no less(Hehehe…)!"

"Hah!? You laughed just now, didn't you Naruto! You laughed at that smelly devil insulting me didn't you!"

With Aqua in the battle, they now had a chance! Her light magic did great damage to devils and undead.

But before that…

"Aqua! Please heal my arm! Naruto broke it!"

"(Hah!? I didn't break your arm! On purpose…)"

Kazuma pleaded again to his party's healer now that she was responsive, and Naruto (mostly) denied the accusation.

"Yes yes, I will heal any wounds my party members have suffered against demon filth. Sheesh. I can smell that devil stench that's worse than undead from here!"

Aqua said and plugged her nose with her free hand while casually mending her party leader's shattered bones with a healing spell.

Kazuma cradled his now usable appendage, vowing to never go along with another one of Naruto's crazy plans again.

Megumin patted his back, seemingly understanding what was going through the boy's mind.

"Hehehe… Hahahaha! We have a score to settle, water brat(wait wait wait, Kurama! Let's calm down now, alright?). Just sit tight for a little, Naruto. This will be over swiftly… Or perhaps not."

Kurama's deep voice came out this time with Naruto futilely trying to calm the fox down, and Aqua responded with an exaggerated eye rolling.

"So, the roaches teamed up against the great me? No wonder I was smelling twice the amount of stench! Just wait, I'll purify you for good this time!"

"The only thing I see is a sad, lazy woman who can't even get followers without the help of my host(hey now, she tries her best). Oh, what a splendid comeback moi comarade! What was that strange thing moi's all seeing eyes is telling moi she says? Mizuru~? Fuahaha! (Hahaha!) Kekeke…"

. . .

"Sacred Purification!"

"Too slow!"

After the exchange of insults, Aqua threw out another attack to which Naruto(Kurama) easily dodged. The water goddess launched attacks left and right, but the shinobi once again proved to be too fast.

"You laughed again! I can't believe you let those two devils take over your body so easily. Puehehe! What would you do without me? After I save you, if you get down on your knees and apologize for what you did today, for laughing at me, AND If you promise to pray to me three times a day, maaaybe I'll forgive you. Now be a good boy and stand still!"

"(Hmm… Nah. I think I'm just gonna take a nap. Kazuma, wake me up when this is over). Fuahaha! Even thy comrade forsakes thee!"

Aqua nearly tripped on her own footsteps when she heard Naruto's response and Vanir's mocking laughter.

"Why! God is offering to forgive your sins! How dare you! Fine, I'll just purify you alongside those devils you seem to get along with so well!"

-And so the battle continued.

Kazuma couldn't help but sigh from the interaction. He sypathized with how Naruto felt. He really did.

'You have my utmost condolences for having to put up with my party member.'

The adventurers who were still conscious, including Darkness, rejoined the fight to support Aqua. They all tried their best to slow the shinobi down so Aqua could land a hit, but to no avail. Even after Aqua buffed some of the adventurers, nothing seemed to stop the rampaging ninja.

It seemed Vanir was no longer pulling his punches, because the adventurers were dropping like flies.

"K-Kazuma Satou! How did it come to this!? A Demon King General? Kurama-san taking over Naruto Uzumaki-san's body to eliminate your party member? What did she do to provoke him!?"

Sena hissed, who had recently regained her senses and army-crawled over to where Kazuma and Megumin were now hiding behind some bushes.

A better question would be "what didn't Aqua do to piss off the demon fox?".

"Kazuma, the adventurers' numbers are dwindling! What do we do?"

Megumin asked while looking at him expectantly.

What did they expect him, an adventurer with the weakest class and lowest level of the group who couldn't even borrow one of Naruto's techniques without shattering every bone in his arm, to do in this situation?

It wasn't until even Darkness, after being knocked to the ground for the umpteenth time, struggled to get back up that Kazuma drew his sword and entered the battle himself.

"Damn it! Wait for my signal!"

Kazuma shouted back to Megumin, and her eyes sparked with the trademark Crimson Demon flare.

He didn't know what he was going to do yet, but maybe…

Of course!

"Hey, Naruto! I didn't think the ninjas from your home country were so weak willed they'd let demons take over their bodies so easily! Surely, you must have been lying about that place after all!"

"(This again!? Do you WANT me to kick your ass, Kazuma? Because I'll do it!) Fuahaha! Moi can see what thou is trying to do, brat! But it is useless! Moi is in full control of this body!"

What Kazuma said seemed to strike a nerve.

"Kazuma, you idiot! Are you trying to make Naruto side with those devils?"

Aqua, who couldn't read the mood to save her life, yelled at Kazuma. But he chose to ignore her and continued.

"You must have been lying about other things too, huh? Like that time you told me you weren't into Darkness because of her weird quirk! I didn't know you were into those kinds of things! Hahaha!"

"(!?)Between moi and moi comrade, this boy who is… Hm? What is this? Aside from this delicious meal of negative emotions, I thank thee by the way, there is something else… A foreign energy moi cannot identify."

As soon as the words left Kazuma's mouth, Vanir faltered in his footsteps.

It looked like… Vanir's mask was turning into stone?

"Keh… So that's what he's up to. You better abandon ship, partner. Not even I can stop this. Better luck next time."

Kurama grumbled, deciding he had enough fun for one day and returned to the back of Naruto's mindscape to sleep.

"Fuahaha! Well, this has been fun, brat whose fuse is as short as that girl with a screw loose. But moi shall take moi leave now!"

Vanir, who was nearly a quarter stone, used Naruto's body to grab a hold of the mask and tossed it into the air to save himself from the strange phenomenon.

Naruto opened his now freed sage pigmented eyes, a shit-eating grin growing on his face as a tick mark pulsated on his forehead.

"N-n-now! Megumin!"

Kazuma quickly signaled the Crimson Demon, and Meguminm flipped her cape dramatically and pointed her staff towards the airborne mask that was now panicking in a cartoony fashion.

"Shrouded in darkness, my eternal flame-"

"Explosion Style: Rasengan!"

BOOOM!

Everyone froze when Naruto suddenly leapt straight up, a ball of swirling red energy in his hand, and the surrounding area was consumed in a flashing light.

The words dead in her mouth, Megumin's lips opened and closed multiple times like a fish out of water. But no sound came out. Her spotlight had been stolen so suddenly, her mind had gone blank.

Naruto landed on the ground with a light thud, dusted himself off, then proceeded to crack his knuckles as he peered at his fellow adventurers.

"Now then, who's first?"

A/N: Thus concludes the battle with our favorite Duke of Hell.

Special thanks to zubhan for beta reading.