My Misadventures as a Hotel Owner

by Hussbek

Despite graduating from college with good marks, Naruto's had no luck getting a fulltime job and had just gotten kicked out his landlord. Naruto certainly wasn't expecting a random questionnaire to win him an apartment and the troubles it would bring to him. It's like Lady Luck can't make up her mind about him. Naruharem and various Anime/Video Games/Manga Elements to be applied

12. Having an Adventure

My Misadventures as a Hotel Owner
Chapter 11: Having an Adventure

A glass full of red wine is shown reflecting the events of the Minotaur's terrifying growth as it evolves into something more due to the training that was given by the tall male Beastman adventurer whose voice is spoken out.

"Those who do not embrace adventure, will never be able to overcome the barrier,"

The last reflection on the glass shows the adventurer staring down at the Minotaur which roared out.

---

We now find Naruto at the Guild who's in front of the crowd of adventurers looking at the status board or more specifically, Ais Wallenstein's status. He had heard the news from around town and from Eina herself that she's reached to rank A now from having single-handedly defeated a Floor Boss all by herself on Floor 37 which required a full party high skilled adventurers in order to combat it, so facing such a boss monster alone is not an easy feat to achieve. Needless to say, Naruto was impressed and proud of her accomplishment.

"*Whistle* I gotta give credit where it's due, defeating a Floor boss on her own without help on Floor 37, that's quite impressive. I'm proud of her for reaching rank A," thought Naruto while smiling at Ais accomplishment. This only further tells him that Ais is very unique on her own which he greatly respects since he and Ais aren't so different with each other given they're both unique in their own way of getting stronger.

"I'll admit it's pretty impressive beating a Floor Boss on her own on Floor 37, but I'm sure we can do better," said Kurama, he believes that Naruto can pull off something much more impressive than Ais defeating a Floor Boss on her own on Floor 37.

"And exactly how would he top that? You realize Floor 37 is down at the Lower Floors and Ais managed to take down a powerful Floor Boss on her own which required a full party of high-ranking skilled adventurers, right? That's not something anyone could do. I know Naruto is strong but at the current level he's at, he's not ready to take on the Lower Floors, much less beat a Floor Boss from there. No offense Naruto," said Sora as she was stating the fact towards Kurama while letting Naruto know she wasn't offending him in any possible way from what she said.

"None taken, and it's fine. I know my limits so it's no surprise you would say that. Ais has been an adventurer for the longest time before I showed up so it's to be expected. Besides, this just means that I need to train harder if I want to get stronger too. I can't get left behind in the dust if Ais gets ahead of me. If I want to level up fast, my first goal is to surpass Ais and work my way up further. After all, there's no telling what kind of challenges I might face in the future," said Naruto, feeling determined to catch up to Ais which it wouldn't take him long to achieve and he will train harder than he had ever trained before. Not too hard like Rock Lee and Might Guy but he'll be training pretty hard nonetheless.

"Give it time, I guarantee whatever bullshit Naruto would find himself involved in, it wouldn't take long for him to level up faster to the point he'll probably reach up to rank A or even higher due to his insane luck," Kurama knows Naruto the longest that he somehow gets himself involved with unforeseen situations whether it be intentional or not. He's literally a magnet for trouble which the Bijuu enjoys watching from time to time.

"Oh screw you, Kurama. It ain't like I'm attracting trouble to myself, it just happens. But I won't disagree with what you said about my insane luck. Somehow and someway, I'll just level up quickly due to my training and talents. Hope I eventually grind my levels quickly enough so I can take on much bigger challenges soon. For my sake, my goddess and for my Familia," thought Naruto as he needs to be prepared for anything that'll throw at him. Like how he remembered he was forced to fight that unknown masked adventurer the other day who was testing him and telling him that his goddess has her sights on him which he still doesn't know who it is to this day. Then his memory went back to his sparring session with Ais this morning as the sparring sessions got more and more intense as they improved their battle prowess.

**Flashback Start**

Naruto slides backwards while currently armed with his Uchigatana and stops to catch his breath after exchanging a flurry of slashes with Ais who was also taking a moment to rest for a few seconds as well. The duo looked at each other with various thoughts running through their minds.

"I'm well on my way to regaining my past skills and getting stronger, but fighting her tells me that I've still got a long way to go," thought Naruto, steadying his footing and took his stance with his katana held loosely in his left hand.

On the other hand, Ais looked at Naruto intently "Just like the previous spars we had, he constantly comes up with different tactics and attacks to catch me off guard, never using the same strategy twice unless he improved upon it. And the light in his eyes, his refusal to consider the possibility of defeat and strive for nothing less than victory," she then took her combat stance upon seeing Naruto preparing to attack.

Naruto quickly dashed forward in a zigzag pattern in his approach as he launched a combo attack of several one-handed sword slashes which Ais managed to deflect with her sword before counterattacking with a high spinning kick aimed at his head which he quickly leans backwards to dodge and performed a roundhouse kick to knock away another kick from Ais with the opposing forces knocking them both back.

"But no matter what comes my way...," Both Naruto and Ais thought simultaneously as they retook their stances.

"I'm gonna/I shall...,"

*CLANG*

Both clashed in the middle with a loud metallic clang as the intense spar continues.

***Flashback End***

Naruto was brought back to reality after reminiscing about his intense sparring match with Ais. Thanks to those spars, Naruto is continuously improving and regaining his past skills due to his battles with Ais, making his swordsmanship sharper and more precise. And it's not just him, it also benefits Ais as well. She too is improving while their spars get more and more difficult for the both of them as it gets super intense due to them amping up their strategic advantages towards one other but so far it ends with a draw for them. Now that Ais has reached rank A, their spars are going be much more difficult, but Naruto relishes a challenge if it makes him stronger in the long run anyway in the end, so it doesn't bother him as much. Not one bit.

Anyways, after coming back from memory lane, he decided to leave the Guild and was currently walking down the street through town as he's conversing with his tenants.

"So what do you plan on doing now, kit?" asked Kurama, wondering what Naruto is planning on doing now for the day.

"Honestly, I don't know. I'm not really in the mood to go venturing into the dungeon today, nor do I have any errands for me to do. So… the best I could do now is either just training or perhaps gaining more knowledge about Orario's history among other things just to pass the time. I mean it wouldn't hurt to at least learn more about them," thought Naruto as he debates on what he's going to do in his spare time.

"Oh! I just remembered something important, have you checked your stats yet?" asked Sora as she's wondering if Naruto saw his stats yet or not.

"Uhh…no? Why?" asked Naruto out of confusion, wondering why she's asking about his stats.

"It's because of the whole monster wave incident you fought head on, you leveled up a bit while unlocking a new feature if you recall," said Kurama, reminding Naruto of that information which he had clearly forgotten about all that has happened.

"Oh right. Now I remember what you guys are talking about. It's all coming back to me now. I guess I must've forgotten all about that after what happened with Lili and later becoming Ais sparring partner afterwards," thought Naruto as he felt like he was forgetting something but just couldn't remember what until now.

"Yeah we thought as much, but we don't blame you for forgetting about it given what happened with your Supporter and sparring intensely with Ais," said Sora for she suspected that he might have forgotten about him leveling up a bit from his battle with the monster wave after saving Lili despite her actions against Naruto due her hatred towards adventurers and later becoming Ais partner for their daily sparring sessions.

"Well now that you mention all that, why don't you pull up your stats and see what you got. I remember distinctly that there was a new feature unlocked but it never revealed what it was. While you're at it, this also gives you a chance to examine that artifact you collected from those undead skeleton warriors who were former royal 12 bodyguards after putting them to rest," said Kurama, urging the blonde ninja to pull out his stats to see what he's got while checking out the artifact.

Naruto mentally nodded as he immediately checked his stats which a Status Screen appeared before him on display to show him what he's got so far.

---

Name: Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze

Age: 18

Race: Human (Reincarnated)

Job: ?

Title: Child of Prophecy, Sage of Peace, Hestia's Blessed, ?

Affiliation: Hestia Familia (Member) Spiraling Leaf Inn (Proprietor)

Adventurer Rank: E-Rank (Gray)

Level: 25

Strength: 106

Magic/Chakra: 112

Attack: 91

Defense: 95 (+39) (Fuinjutsu Boost)

MAG Attack: 93

MAG Defense: 84

Agility: 113

Luck: ?

Falna: Burning Will [When damaged to a critical condition, the user's overall stats are sharply increased when facing enemies of higher levels than the user. Also, the Exp Points are doubled when defeating enemies of levels higher than the user]

Weapon: Uchigatana (Katana) [ATK:100 DEF:45 MAG ATK:0 MAG DEF:30 Ability:Laceration]

Sub-Weapon: Taurus PT92 (Semi-Auto Pistol) [ATK:25 MAG:0]

Armor: Pyonkichi Mk-II

Accessory: None

Skills: Chakra Manipulation LV4, Shadow Clone, Substitution, Rasengan, Wind Manipulation LV4, Fuinjutsu LV6, Fire Manipulation LV2, Fire Magic Tier 1, Thunder Magic Tier 1, Blizzard Magic Tier 1, Inner Focus LV1, Firebolt, Shining Laser

[Reward System Unlocked]

[You can now receive various kinds of rewards from the Divine Deities of your world by the kinds of accomplishments and milestones attained in the Achievements Feature. Visit the shrine in order to meet with the envoys who will give you various special items and artifacts]

---

"A reward system? That feature could really come in handy in the future. Although it requires me to return back to my world to visit the shrine to see what rewards I've earned from my accomplishments. I'll definitely make a mental note about this down the line in the later future," said Naruto while he observed his stats and checked out the new feature he unlocked which he must say, earning various kinds of rewards from attaining Achievements from making accomplishments and completing milestones would definitely come in handy if that'll help in his adventures in the long run.

"Speaking of which, when do you plan on returning back to the Modern World? You've been in this world for quite a while now. Check back with your Inn for some time to let your maid Felicia know that you're doing alright. She's probably worried about you when you'll eventually return back home," said Sora, she was wondering when Naruto plans on returning back to the Spiraling Leaf at some point given they've been staying in the Isekai World for a long while now.

"Don't worry, I plan to return back to my Inn soon. Just not right now at the moment," said Naruto as he let both Sora and Kurama know that he plans on returning back to the Modern World.

"Why not if you don't mind me asking?" asked Kurama out of curiosity.

"I don't know but for some reason, I get this distinct feeling that tomorrow something big will happen and I don't know why," said Naruto as he's been having a strange gut feeling that something will happen tomorrow and whatever it is, it's gonna involve him in some way.

"Well, I'm not that surprised you would say that. I mean it's you after all. I've known you long enough that whenever you have a strange gut feeling which you feel right now, they tend to be on the mark every time some strange occurrence happens and you being the center of it all as you get involved with whatever events that takes place. Basically something that's getting you involved whether it's intentional or not," said Kurama while stating facts that something big will most likely happen and Naruto would be the one who gets dragged into it if he's having a gut feeling about it tomorrow.

"Hang on, isn't tomorrow when both Naruto and Ais last sparring session ends? Not to mention she and her Loki familia have their expedition scheduled on that day as well?" asked Sora, she remembers Ais telling Naruto about her Expedition soon beforehand just to let him know before their resuming of their spar to help her be prepared for it.

"Yeah, that's right. Tomorrow is the last day of our sparring session and the start for her Familia's expedition. So it's best that I bring my A game tomorrow to give her the most intense sparring session she'll experience in her life before her expedition starts. Something to which I'll be looking forward to now since she's an A-rank which will make it all the more fun for the both of us," said Naruto as he's feeling pumped and excited about it for tomorrow.

"Can't wait to see how that'll play out. It'll probably end in a draw still since you both just can't seem to get a win just yet," said Kurama as he was curious if something will change in their last sparring session tomorrow.

"Who knows, we'll just have to wait till tomorrow morning and see for ourselves if we can change our tie breaker to a win. Anyways, enough being said, let's take a look of that artifact to examine real quick that I've collected from my fight with those undead skeleton warriors I've faced during the monster wave incident," said Naruto as he begins to take out the artifact and examine it thoroughly as the information pops out in front of him.

---

[Hilt of Skofnung; The broken hilt of an ambitious king. Once known to be the sharpest sword in the kingdoms, it now houses the soul essence of the king's 12 bodyguards.]

Attack: 0

Defense: 0

MAG Attack: 23 (Per Blade)

MAG Defense: 30

Cooldown: 25.0 secs LV1

Description: Summons spectral blades that independently attack surrounding enemies or focus on a single target.

---

"*Whistle* I must admit, for a very old artifact, it still holds up for use given what I've experienced firsthand what this thing can do," said Naruto as he examines the artifact in wonder if this thing can be readjust into better shape given how old this artifact is.

"Given how old that artifact is, I'm surprised it can still be used despite the age of that thing. Imagine it in its prime if it was fixed up like it's brand new," said Kurama thinking if that artifact was spruced up, it'll probably look like it was brand new looking fresh.

"Well…we could bring it over to Hephaestus. Perhaps she can take a look at it and maybe she could readjust it to make it look brand new. It'll definitely help to make sure it doesn't break down due to its condition," said Sora, suggesting Naruto could take it over to Hephaestus to have it spruced up into shape.

"Huh…I suppose it wouldn't hurt to give it a try. Maybe she can help out by taking a look at the artifact to see if she could readjust it. Looks like I know what I'll be doing now. Let's head up to Hephaestus's smithery right away," said Naruto as he now had something to do for today which he was about to make his destination to Hephaestus's smithery until he heard a familiar female voice calling out to him.

"Naruto!" He looked over to his left to see Syr running up towards him and immediately grabbed a hold onto his left arm hugging it which caught him by surprise by her sudden action. "Whoa whoa, Syr? What's wrong?" asked Naruto in confusion.

She looked up to Naruto with a blush on her face as she spoke "I want you," That caught Naruto off guard by the sudden statement as he had no idea how to respond as he just stared at her out of confusion.

Next scene is seeing a bunch of full dirty dishes stacked up in front of Naruto which he was in disbelief as he now understands what Syr meant by her sudden wording after getting dragged into the pub.

"So this is what you meant!?" said Naruto out loud in shock by all this.

"I'm sorry. They piled up while I was goofing of-I mean taking a short break, so Mama Mia is sorta punishing me. She's angry," said Syr, explaining her reasons while looking away from Naruto who was giving her an irritated stink eye as he knew what she was about to say after hearing that initial slip up of hers.

"So then why the hell are you pushing it off on me!?" asked Naruto as he couldn't believe she's avoiding her punishment and instead decided to get him to do it instead.

"I know it's mean of me but I know you can do it," said Syr with a smile while giggling before walking away with Naruto watching her go with an annoyed expression, leaving him alone with a sink full of stacked dirty dishes…which Syr dumped her responsibilities onto him now.

"Un-freaking-believable…*sigh* fine, whatever. Let's just get this over with so I can leave. I do have places to go anyways," said Naruto in annoyance for having to put up with this nonsense.

As he was about to get started, he noticed another person walking up next to him, which happened to be Ryuu who started cleaning one of the dishes on the right side of the sink.

"This is way too much for you. Please let me help," said Ryuu for she decided to help him get through most of the dishes with him.

"Thanks. I appreciate your help," said Naruto gratefully to her for wanting to help him as he began washing his side of dishes.

As the two got halfway through washing the majority of dirty dishes in silence, Naruto decided to strike a conversation with Ryuu just to pass the time to get through them faster.

"Say…you used to be an adventurer, right?" asked Naruto curiously.

Ryuu nodded in affirmation "That was a long time ago, why do you ask?"

"I was wondering about something, are there other dungeons besides the one here in this city?"

"Indeed there are, and quite a lot at that. Both in this continent and other lands beyond the sea. They come in many forms based on the environment and the influence of the mana. In some cases, some dungeons come into existence either naturally or artificially while containing various monsters and creatures both recorded in history or completely unknown,"

"I see…," Naruto listened attentively, he had often been considering the option of going out of the city to explore the lands and see what it has to offer. Hearing her explanation only made that urge even more appealing to him.

"Which is why a party is necessary requirement to venture into such dungeons," Ryuu continued, regaining Naruto's attention "I am aware that you're quite strong and it can't be denied, but it won't be enough as you venture deeper into the lower levels of dungeons where anything can happen and monsters are much stronger with abilities you wouldn't have taken into account beforehand,"

"Sounds similar to how missions are ranked from D to S to measure their difficulty level and the Bingo Book system back in our old world," said Kurama, comparing the slight similarities between their worlds.

"Hence the necessity for a party; members of one can compensate for each other's weakness and defeat powerful opponents together,"

"You're right," said Naruto, concentrating on cleaning the dishes. "I know that I'll need to form a party eventually and even welcome the idea of it. I've been on teams before back home and know the value of teamwork, my former teacher once taught me a code 'Those who break the rules are trash, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash',"

Ryuu was surprised to hear such a saying "Those are wise words from your teacher,"

"Yeah, I've been living by them ever since then. I'd learnt so much from the time spent with the teams and value them greatly, and that's why I won't disregard your advice to form a party in the future," Naruto smiled at Ryuu who also smiled back at him.

"Of course, you are an adventurer after all; to be adventurous is the only way to get what you desire," said Ryuu.

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind,"

The two resumed washing the dishes on a much happier note, unbeknownst to them, Syr was hiding behind the doorway and had been listening to their conversation with a lost expression on her face as if unsure about something.

---

Next we see Naruto walking down through the streets on his way to Hephaestus's smithery shop after leaving the pub when he finally finished with the washing of all the dirty dishes with the help from Ryuu, he thanked her once again for the help and left afterwards to make his way to Hephaestus's smithery shop. He would've given Syr an annoyed glare for her pulling a stunt of dumping her punishment onto him just to avoid doing it herself but he decided to let it go on behalf of Ryuu asking him to forgive her and will make sure this doesn't happen again which he accepted and just left on his own devices.

"I still can't believe Syr literally made an effort to search all over for me just for her to dump her responsibility of washing dishes onto me when it should be her punishment for slacking off. Like who does that?" said Naruto for he still felt annoyed that he was dragged into covering Syr's punishment like that out of the blue.

"Given what has transpired onto you. I'm slightly curious to know what compelled her into looking for you specifically just to use you to avoid a punishment meant for her that she was supposed to take responsibility for," said Kurama as it baffles him that Syr would go out of her way to look for Naruto just to have him wash a stack of dirty dishes for her just to get out of punishment.

"Who knows. Perhaps she was too lazy to do it herself or just doesn't want to take responsibility like an adult would. But it does make me wonder why Naruto specifically of all people," said Sora since she too is curious about it as well, especially when Syr was looking for Naruto specifically no less.

"Well regardless of her unknown reasons, it doesn't matter anymore. It's over now and I have someplace to be which is paying a visit to Hephaestus at her shop," said Naruto, he'll get over this since Ryuu helped him out on cleaning the dishes.

Plus, having a conversation with Ryuu about learning that there are other dungeons outside of the city in various forms really helps him to get stronger soon so he can venture what's out there beyond the walls of Orario if he wants to travel to other places that awaits him. He just simply can't wait when the time comes for him to venture out and see what this world has to offer for him as the possibilities are endless. Anyways, Naruto eventually reached Hephaestus's smithery as he went inside the building.

"Hello Hephaestus-san!" Naruto called out while entering the shop.

The goddess turned and smiled upon seeing who it was. "Why hello there, it's been a while. How's the Uchigatana and Hestia Knife doing for you these days?"

"They're of great help and I'm almost back in the groove of using a katana and increasing proficiency in dual wielding too,"

"That's good to hear, so what brings you here besides saying hello?" Hephaestus inquired curiously.

"Actually, I came across something and wanted you to take a good look at it," Naruto reached into his backpack and took out the Hilt of Skofnung which he placed on the counter.

"Interesting…," Hephaestus looks at the hilt with keen eyes "Apparently, you've come into possession of a relic,"

"What are those?" asked Naruto, he may have already read the information on it but it won't hurt to know from her point of view.

"They're special items which occasionally grant the user certain effects like increasing magic power, enhancing speed while at times performing special attacks. Where did you get this one?"

"I fought a team of undead knights and they dropped it after I defeated them," Naruto replied, not giving full details in case someone would be listening in on their conversation.

"You fought a group of undead? But those are supposed to be encountered at the Lower Floors,"

"Believe me when I say that my luck tends to be a wildcard, sometimes I get a warped sense of good fortune," said Naruto while shrugging his shoulders.

Hephaestus picked up the hilt and squinted at it "Well, it's been a while since I last readjusted a relic. Come back tomorrow, it will be done by then,"

"Sure thing, I'll let Hestia-chan know that you send your regards," said Naruto as he started to leave the shop.

"You do that,"

---

The next day in the morning, we see both Naruto and Ais sparring with each other at their usual spot at the ramparts but this time they're spar has become increasingly intense for the both of them.

Naruto rapidly attacked with his Hestia Knife whilst Ais responded in kind with her sword as the two sparred rather intensely compared to their previous ones before.

Ais moves fluidly and managed to knock Naruto's weapon out of his hands and prepared to strike only to be shocked when the reborn blonde ninja actually caught the blade in between his palms without harming himself then redirected it away from himself then countering with a mid-kick to the chest, knocking her back before catching the falling Hestia Knife in his hand and retaking his stance to resume the battle.

"Even when disarmed, he still retained his composure and immediately retaliated with a defensive counter, there's so much more to learn from him," thought Ais as she recovers from the attack.

The two resumed their spar until the sun had fully risen to the sky, they stood away from each other then bowed to signal the end of their spar.

Ais spoke up "This is our last day of sparring,"

Naruto smiled sadly "Yeah, it is. Kinda hard to believe since it felt like it was only yesterday that we started doing so,"

"Indeed, thank you for everything. It was a lot of fun actually," said Ais with a small smile.

"Can't argue with that, we've both learnt a lot from each other. I wish you and your Familia good luck and that you all come back alive so we can spar again,"

"I'd like that…,"

Ais began walking away and moved past him towards the stairs leading out of the ramparts for the last time until she returns from the expedition.

"Well, aren't you gonna say something?" asked Sora, knowing that Naruto still has more to say.

"Ais!" Naruto called out.

"Hm?" The Sword Princess looked back to see Naruto smile at her with eyes full of determination.

"Let's have a race, I'll definitely catch up to you and eventually overtake you. So you better be stronger than you are now so we can have a battle with no holding back!" Naruto declared with a grin.

Ais was surprised at first but then realized what he means by those words; Naruto intends to become an S-rank which she also wishes to be so that they can face each other on equal ground and at the top of their game. Something about it feels so appealing to her and she responded with a smile.

"I look forward to it, I also wish to fight you at your best,"

Naruto grinned widely "Then it's a bet!"

"It is…," then she walked away with a smile on her face.

"Just you wait, Ais. One day I'll quickly catch up to you and get stronger as if it's within my reach and when that day comes…," said Naruto in thought as he watched her go with a determined smile on his face as he intends to achieve his goal and beyond to determine which one of us is the strongest. As Ais disappeared from his sight, Naruto decided it's time to pay Hephaestus a visit to see if she's done readjusted that relic he gave her yesterday. Welp, time for him to find out for himself. Naruto quickly made his way over to Hephaestus's smithery as it didn't take him long to reach his destination as he entered the shop.

"Good morning, Hephaestus-san!" Naruto called out through the shop.

The goddess turned and smiled upon seeing Naruto. "Good morning to you too Naruto. I take it you're here to pick up that relic of yours, I assume?"

"Yup that's right. I got some time left to spare before I go to the dungeon today so I wanted to pass by here real quick to pick it up before I go,"

"Well you're in luck, I've finished readjusting that relic you brought to me and it's back in perfect peak condition. Wait here while I go fetch it for you," said Hephaestus as she went to get the relic for Naruto.

It didn't take long for her to come back with the Hilt of Skofnung in hand. In fact, now the broken hilt is now returned back to its former glory of a sword as he got a good look of its appearance.

"Here you go Naruto, the relic is fully restored and back to its original form. Make sure you take great care of it," said Hephaestus as she handed over to Naruto which he gratefully accepted it from her.

He inspected the artifact as the ancient relic is that of a sword which he already took notice of it the moment Hephaestus brought it back to him. What he didn't notice is the green emerald gem in the bottom middle of the hilt of the blade while still retaining the ancient outlook but polished relic that's ready to be used once again. Needless to say, he was amazed at its appearance and he can clearly sense its magical power radiating from the sword itself waiting to be used efficiently.

"Thanks so much Hephaestus, I appreciate your help as always. So how much do I owe you for this?" Naruto asked the goddess how much this would cost him as he stored his relic away.

"No need, it's free of charge. It's not every day that I get a chance to restore an ancient relic from the dungeon. So, count yourself lucky for getting your hands on one. Use it well and use it wisely," said Hephaestus as she can tell there's still power resonating from it now that it's fully restored.

"Really? Alright then, thanks. I really appreciate it. Anyway, I need to get going and prepare before I venture through the dungeon. Again, thanks for restoring the relic for me," said Naruto thanking Hephaestus for her help before he made his way to the exit.

"It's no problem, Naruto. Good luck and stay safe!" said Hephaestus as he gave her a thumbs up before leaving her shop which the goddess smiled at him as he watched him go.

Naruto eventually came back home and is already getting himself ready to go to the dungeon with Lili as he's checking his weapons, ammo, etc as usual before heading out.

"So…did you finish your sparring session with WallenWhatserDealy this morning?" Hestia asks as she's sitting on the couch and watching Naruto gear up for his venture to the dungeon.

"Yup. Right on schedule too. The Loki Familia starts their expedition today," said Naruto as he's almost finished getting ready to head out once he's done checking his gear real quick.

"Oh good. All done, huh," said Hestia with a smile on her face, pleased to hear that he's not gonna be with Ais any more now that their sparring session is officially over.

"Well, see ya later, Hestia-chan. I'm heading off now," Naruto started making his way upstairs to the exit to go meet up with Lili who's probably waiting for him at their usual spot.

"Alright Naruto. Good luck and come back safe," said Hestia as she wished him luck. Naruto turned back and gave her a thumbs up to let her know he'll be fine before leaving as he went to the exit and left the Church. Hestia watches him go knowing that he'll be alright like he always has.

---

Next we see a group of adventurers gathering around outside at the Babel Tower while the one that's leading this large group is Finn Deimne, who has everyone's attention including the Loki Familia as he stands in front of everyone while the flag behind him bearing his the Loki Familia emblem is waving in the air then he begins speaking.

"Everyone! We're going to descend onto the Lower Floors. Just as before, will split into two groups to avoid crowding. Group 1 will go with me and Gareth will lead Group 2. The Hephaestus Familia's smiths are joining us as well. The plan is to meet on Floor 18 and head straight to Floor 50. We have only one objective; to be the first party to ever reach Floor 59,"

Finn finished giving out his orders as everyone listened while Ais appears ready both physically and mentally while looking up at the Babel tower as if she's staring at something specifically.

---

"Everything is prepared. Although one veracity little adventurer decided to sneak a peek already," said the tall man adventurer informing his goddess Freya as she looks down through the tower window with a glass of red wine in hand as she watches the Loki Familia and a group of assembled adventurers prepare to enter through the dungeon.

"Oh? Well, I hope he's about to show me something…exhilarating," said Freya, giggling with a smirk on her face for she cannot wait to see what she has set up for Naruto just to see his destructive powers be unleashed.

---

Somewhere in the dungeon, both Naruto and Lili walk down through the stairs as they emerge through the entrance side by side and continue making their further through dungeon Floor 9, their footsteps echoing throughout the dungeon. While they venture through the hallway, Naruto suddenly stops to which Lili follows suit, wondering why he stopped walking.

"Is something wrong, Master Naruto?" Lili asked Naruto out of confusion.

"Nothing. It's just…something doesn't feel quite right. I'm getting this strange ominous feeling that we're being watched," said Naruto as he looks around his surroundings.

Ever since they came here, Naruto hasn't been sensing many monsters or adventurers on this floor. Not even his Automap was able to pick up any monsters within the proximity of its radar which only made this very strange. Not only that, he's been having a weird gut feeling since yesterday that something big is about to happen and he doesn't know why which only seemed to increase since coming to this specific floor. Whenever he has that type of feeling, it's always on point and it makes him very cautious and wary of his surroundings.

"You're not wrong, your gut feeling is always on point," said Kurama, having been with Naruto since birth to know what's going on.

"It's best that you remain on guard at all times until you leave the dungeon," said Sora with a small frown, suspecting that something unknown is at play here.

"Yeah, I get what you mean. This floor's totally giving me the creeps," said Lili for she too finds this very odd with how empty and quiet this floor is. It's making her feel uncomfortable with how eerie this place looks right now.

"Yeah no kidding. I mean, there's nothing here, it's completely empty. No monsters, no adventurers, nothing. It's like this floor's been vacant for some reason. And it doesn't help that it's quiet, almost too quiet for my liking," said Naruto, pointing out facts that there's literally nothing here whatsoever and it's NOT normal by any means "This is just like before on Floor 8 when I first started out as an adventurer,"

The blonde reincarnated ninja remembers his encounter with a Minotaur that day; when he was minding his own business and completing his quests when things went quiet then he had a run in with the Minotaur that he had to take down. Given now that things are looking similar to how he experienced it from before, if this floor is extremely quiet to the point it's completely empty like how it was for Naruto before his encounter with a Minotaur on Floor 8, then they're getting closer to something so dangerous and he needs to be ready when they encounter it. Naruto suddenly gets serious, ready to draw a weapon and/or cast a magic spell/jutsu as he walks ahead while remaining on guard at all times and having deactivated the Gravity Seals on his body.

"Let's go Lili but stay vigilant," said Naruto in a commanding tone to let her know to stay on guard and be aware of her surroundings.

"O-Okay," said Lili for she's surprised to see him look so serious all of a sudden which was a clear indication that whatever is here is dangerous and Naruto clearly feels threatened by whatever is lurking here that's watching them. She quickly followed Naruto as the two continue making their way through the hallway when suddenly…

*ROOOAAARRR*

The two stopped in their tracks by the loud yet faint roar coming from around them as it echoed throughout the hallway of the dungeon floor.

"What was that? Where did it come from?" asked Naruto, sharply looking around and trying to locate where that roar was coming from. In fact, if he didn't know any better, that roar sounded very familiar and he felt like it came from…!

[DANGER] [DANGER] [DANGER]

Naruto was alerted by his HUD which was giving him danger signs and it was a first for him to receive such a danger warning. He immediately checks his Automap and it picks up a one lone red blip that's coming their way towards them from behind but this particular blip is unusually big as the Automap is showing red waves radiating from it to depict just how much of a threat this creature is. This only further confirms his gut feeling and suspicions that something indeed big was going to happen and it looks like he's about to find out for himself what it is. After learning of the impending threat, Naruto looked behind him to which Lili did the same as the two heard loud footsteps noises coming from the dark path that's getting louder and louder as it's getting closer to them. It didn't take long for the unknown creature to finally show itself to them which to their immediate surprise, it was a Minotaur.

However, this particular one looks a bit different than your average Minotaur you would come across. This one looks bigger and its skin is red rather than black. The Minotaur is missing its right horn as if it's been broken off violently from something. But that's not what got their attention for the most part aside from its terrifying appearance, the monster is wielding two different weapons in both hands; in its left hand is holding a Battle Axe and on the right hand is a bloodstained Long Sword which is being dragged across the ground in a menacing manner. Then a message appeared before him to read.

---

[Minotaur (Mutated)]
[Threat Level: Rank A]
[A monster which has fought and killed many adventurers, its hatred and influence from the dungeon's mana led to its mutation. For strange reasons, it's combat skills bears traits of training]

---

The Minotaur stopped across from them as Lili took a step back in fear upon seeing a terrifying Minotaur that shouldn't even be here on this floor.

"Why is there a Minotaur on Floor 9!? Let's run Master Naruto. It's too dangerous with both the Long Sword and a Battle Axe. Come on!" said Lili, telling Naruto that they should get out of here for it's far too dangerous to take on that Minotaur with what it's wielding.

However, she notices that Naruto isn't moving and sees him staring at the monster with a serious look on his face as if he's not afraid of that creature in the slightest which confuses her as to why he's not afraid or doing anything upon seeing that creature standing before them.

"Master Naruto?" asked Lili out of confusion wondering why he's not saying anything other than him glaring at that creature. She turned back at the monster which the Minotaur was now slowly approaching them with every footstep it makes vibrating the ground beneath them as it draws closer to the two. "W-What's the matter with you!?"

After a brief moment of silence, Naruto finally spoke "Lili, listen to me. That monster is not an ordinary Minotaur. It's something far worse. You need to leave, get out of here while there's still time before that creature attacks," Lili was completely shocked at what Naruto was saying right now. Not only that Minotaur isn't normal but he wants her to escape!? That's just crazy!

"W-What!? No way I'm doing that! If what you said is true, then that Minotaur isn't an ordinary monster, it's all the more reason for us to escape. So let's get out of here and run away!" said Lili, refusing to leave him behind. Not again.

"Lili, do not start this right now. I'm not going anywhere or rather I can't. The reason why the Minotaur hasn't attacked us yet is because I'm looking at it in the eyes with no fear. Should I look away, it won't hesitate to attack us both. You'll be in danger if you remain here with me. So take this chance now and run while it's not paying attention to you," said Naruto calmly as he's not taking his eyes off that Minotaur which continues to approach.

"You can't face that monster, Master Naruto! It's too dangerous! Don't be an idiot! We need to leave! Now!" Lili refuses to follow his orders and tries to get Naruto to think this clearly before he gets himself killed.

"Lili! Are you seriously doing this right now!? We're NOT gonna have this song and dance routine again like we did before. This is not the time to argue back at me, so listen to me now and make a run for it before it's too late!" said Naruto as he was slowly losing patience as Lili was really not listening to him.

"B-But…," Lili was still hesitating on leaving him behind again when a thought came across her mind; she could go and get help from other adventurers "I'll go and get help, please hold on until then, Master Naruto!"

Lili turned and started running around the Minotaur and towards the pathway in order to get help. However, the Minotaur wasn't as ignorant as they thought, for it turned towards Lili and threw its battle axe while aiming for her back.

"Lili look out!" Naruto rushed past the Minotaur and barely managed to overtake the thrown battle axe to tackle Lili as the weapon flew over them and crashed into the pathway which caused the rocks to fall from above and block it up, showing the monster's strength in that attack which is definitely nothing to scoff at.

Naruto groaned from avoiding that attack but he was worried for Lili's safety as he checked up on her "Lili! Are you alright?" but received no response and looked to see that Lili was unconscious, then he realized the debris of rocks that must've collided with her head which is bleeding from all that despite his best efforts to shield her.

Seeing her condition, Naruto was now being put in a difficult situation as the Minotaur was now slowly walking towards him for it had him in its sights which made Naruto glare at the monster. Since there's very few options for him, he decided to make a risk move to save her life and himself "Shadow Clone jutsu!" he created several shadow clones that appeared around "You guys take care of Lili-chan and clear the pathway so you can get her out of here!"

"You got it, boss!" one of the clones carried Lili in her arms and darted away while the others rushed over to work on removing the debris blocking the pathway.

Naruto turned towards the Minotaur with anger in his eyes "You're gonna pay for trying to hurt Lili-chan," he unsheathes his Uchigatana "I hope you're ready for this!"

Music Start: Dragon Ball FighterZ OST; Underground Lake Stage

Naruto dashed forwards at the Minotaur as he thrust his other hand towards it "Fire!" he launched multiple fireballs at the monster while he continues to run towards it. The Minotaur raised its sword in front of it to serve as a makeshift shield to block some of the fireballs before swinging at Naruto who waited at the last moment to stop launching the fire spell to perform a roll into a slide to go between the monster's legs and position himself behind it.

"Ichimonji!" Naruto held the Uchigatana above his head with both hands as he took a step forward and delivers a heavy one-hit overhead sword strike, inflicting a large slash wound on the Minotaur's who roared in pain as it sharply spun around whilst swinging its Long Sword in a wide arc to retaliate. Naruto dodged with a sliding back dash with the Inner Focus triggering due to the near miss, he sheathed his katana and took an Iai stance "Ashina Cross!" he drew the sword from its sheath and slices twice in a cross pattern at high speed on the opponent's chest.

"How's it going?" Naruto called out to the clones while he continues to keep the Minotaur occupied on him.

"We're hurrying as fast as we can!" one of the clones called out as they focus on removing the boulders in order to reopen the path so they could escape.

"Might as well step it up cause this guy's…huh?" Naruto was speaking when he noticed smoke seeping out from the Minotaur's lips then his eyes widened in shock when it opens its mouth to unleash a large stream of flames at him, the blonde ninja immediately ran and quickly took cover behind a stone pillar as flames blazed against it "What the heck? Since when do Minotaurs know how to breath fire!? Last I checked, it's the dragons' specialty!"

"It could also explain why your fire spell wasn't damaging it that much," said Sora with a small frown.

"Wonder about the whys later and focus on dealing with that bovine, it's already attacking your clones!" said Kurama urgently.

Like the Bijuu said, the Minotaur had stopped focusing on Naruto and was now attacking his clones with its newly revealed fire breath, and was even able to recover its Battle Axe while it was at it. Some of them were able to evade the incoming fire attack but others weren't so fortunate and were dispelled. The clone carrying Lili darted out of the way, placing the highest priority in her safety.

"Let's try something else," Naruto sped through a set of handsigns "Wind Style: Air Bullets!" he took a deep breath before expelling a barrage of compressed spheres of air from his mouth, slamming into the Minotaur and successfully regaining its attention judging by how the monster is glaring at him.

The Minotaur lowered its head whilst dragging a foot along the foot, that action warned Naruto of what is was going to do next and sure enough, it began charging towards him with the intent to either gore him with its remaining horn, cut him or trample underneath its hooves. Either way, Naruto has no intention of letting any of those happen to him as he jumped out of the way of the monster's charge only for it to stab one of its weapons onto the ground and perform a sharp U-turn to attack once more. This repeated several times with Naruto dodging and the Minotaur maintaining its charge and getting rather accurate after each failed attempt.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto created two clones next to him as one of them sped through a set of handsigns for a jutsu "Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!" the clone took in a deep breath before opening his mouth to unleash a power blast of wind which struck the charging Minotaur, effectively stopping it in place for the original to launch an attack of his own; he and the second clone charged forward whilst working to form a large blue spiraling sphere of energy which they held up with a hand each "Take this, Giant Rasengan!" they rammed the jutsu into the Minotaur, sending it flying into a wall.

"That oughta keep it down for a bit," Naruto muttered to himself then turned to check on the remaining clones and saw that one of them is about to use a Rasengan on the debris.

Music End

"Rasengan!" C-Naruto slammed the spiraling sphere into the debris, blasting the debris away and finally getting rid of the blockage "Boss, the way is clear now!"

Naruto nodded in affirmation "Good, now get Lili-chan out of here!"

"N-Naruto…," Lili called out unsurely, having regained consciousness during the battle.

C-Naruto smiled assuredly "Don't worry about the boss, he'll be okay an-OH CRAP!" The clone quickly threw Lili into the pathway right before he was engulfed in flames launched by the Minotaur which had already recovered from the attack.

Lili looked back in fear as she struggled to her feet "Please don't die, Master Naruto! Please don't die!" She took off to begin her frantic search for any kind of help from anyone just so she can save Naruto in time.

Upon receiving the memories of his dispelled shadow clone, Naruto was relieved to know that Lili was able to escape "And with that…," he unsheathes the Hestia Knife in order to dual wield with the Uchigatana "You now have my full attention, you stupid cow!"

The Minotaur roared in response as it held its long sword and battle axe at the ready to attack this strange adventurer while someone else observes the battle with eyes full of interest and anticipation.

---

Ais POV

Ais was calmly leading the party through the dungeon floors since today's the day of their expedition to the lower floors and felt prepared for whatever came her way. She was mildly listening on the antics of the Amazon Sisters when she heard multiple footsteps approaching from ahead of them. She looked to see two adventurers running towards them in a panic.

Tione called out to them out of curiosity "Huh? You all right, what's going on?"

"Th-There's a Minotaur back there!" said the adventurer with the bandage wrapped around his right eye fearfully. Both adventurers were soon tended to by Ais and the others as he explains to them what's going on.

"No doubt about it, there's a Minotaur wielding a large sword and a battle axe lurking on Floor 9. But this one's different from usual, it's much bigger and actually knows how to fight," said the wounded adventurer with a haunted look on his face.

"In any case, I'm just glad that you're alright," said Finn, reassuring the wounded adventurers "Are there any other adventurers?"

"There's one on his own, attacked by it in a room further back…by now, that guy with the yellow hair and fox marks on his cheeks might be…,"

"Wait, Ais!" Bete called out as Ais immediately took off upon hearing the description.

"Alright, we're on a mission!" said Tiona as she immediately went after Ais, followed by Bete while cursing under his breath as this is now turning into a rescue mission.

"Where are you three going? We're supposed to be on an expedition!" Tione called out to her younger sister, the Werewolf and the Sword Princess before running after them.

Ais continued to run as she tries to find Naruto and rescue him from the Minotaur, he may have been able to defeat one but this one seems far more different than usual.

*Roar*

*Bang**Bang**Bang**Bang*

She stopped at the sound of a beast's roar and another which is unknown to her "That was the sound of a Minotaur, faint but I can hear it. But I can't tell where with all this echoing,"

"Miss...Adventurer…," Ais turned towards the weak voice to see Lili whom she recognizes to be Naruto's Supporter but she's leaning against the wall and bleeding from the head "Please Miss…you have to save him…," she collapses to the floor, having been searching for help.

Ais quickly runs over to cheek on her "Are you okay? Please hold on!" she carries her in her arms.

"I beg you…please…save Master Naruto…," Lili pleaded once more before losing consciousness.

"…," Ais frowned, realizing that the situation is more dire than she initially thought.

"Sword Princess," a male voice called out from behind, making Ais turn to see who it is and immediately recognizes the person.

"King Ottar," Ais mutters lowly.

said person stood a short distance away with his large sword propped up against his shoulder "I challenge you to a duel,"

Ais was surprised to hear this from the adventurer "Why? Why here and now?"

"Let's just say I ran into a member of a rival Familia in the dungeon, is that not enough to warrant a fight to the death?" Ottar explained as if he was giving such an obvious answer.

"…!" it dawned upon Ais what's really going on as she recalls that night when they were attacked by those masked adventurers and one of them fought Naruto as a form of 'test' "They're targeting Naruto and warning me to stay out of the way, but…," she gently placed Lili against the wall before unsheathing her sword as she faced "I can't just stand by and let them do what they want with him,"

"Tempest!" green winds swirl around Ais as she felt her speed increase greatly by the spell casted on herself before dashing towards Ottar whilst moving in a zigzag pattern before attacking with a slash which was blocked one-handedly by Ottar's large sword. Refusing to be discouraged, Ais unleashed a flurry of slashes upon her opponent who stood there without flinching and was able to keep up with her attacks until she broke away to catch her breath.

"Hmph, you're slo-," Ottar felt something wet drip down his cheek and wiped it with a finger to see that it was blood…his blood to be exact, Ais actually managed to inflict a cut on him "I see, you're stronger than what I thought you were,"

Ais frowned mentally "After all that, I only managed to inflict a small cut on his cheek and that's because of the sparring matches I had with Naruto. Is this the prowess of an S-Rank adventurer? At this rate, Naruto will get killed!"

The Sword Princess dashes forward and was about to engage Ottar once more when two blurs flew past her from above and attacked the male warrior instead, revealing to be Tiona and Tione much to his surprise.

"The Loki Familia?" Ottar frowned, not expecting this to happen.

"Now's my chance!" Ais released a burst of speed to run past Ottar who swung his sword in an attempt to stop her but it was intercepted by a dagger courtesy of Bete who caught up to help.

"Who do you think you're pointing your sword at, asshole?!" said Bete angrily, at this point Ais was able to get away and run in the direction of where Naruto is likely to be fighting the Minotaur.

"Ais, wait up!" Tiona followed after her.

"Hey, where are you going? Wait for me!" and Bete was right behind them.

Ottar was about to go after them when he heard someone call out to him from behind.

"Well, if it isn't Ottar," it was Finn who approached with a gentle smile on his face as Riveria and Tione tended to Lili nearby "I never would have thought that you would be the one holding us up, can I ask why?"

"I don't need a reason to fight and I didn't pick this time or place for any reason either," Ottar replied stoically.

"Is that so? Then am I to understand that this action of yours is by the will of your Familia? Does your goddess Freya desire for an all-out war between us?" Finn inquired.

"…,"

"I'll ask again; was your action by the will of Lady Freya?"

"…I act on my own accord," Ottar finally responded, then he proceeded to take his leave without causing a fuss as Finn watched him walk away.

Finn turned to the others "How is she doing?"

Riveria replied "I've managed to stabilize her, she must have been desperate to find help,"

"Please help…Master Naruto…he needs your help…please save Master Naruto…," Lili could only mutter in spite of her weakened state.

"I see…," Finn looked at where he saw Ais and the others go to "I hope that they make it in time,"

---

Naruto's POV

*Clash* *Clang* *Clash*

Both Naruto and the Minotaur continued to clash blades with each other as their fight progressed with increasing intensity, raging on in pure strength and power. Neither of them were giving an inch but the Minotaur was slowly gaining the advantage over him in raw strength and ferocity as the fight continued.

"Damn, this Minotaur's tough! No matter what I do, this oversized cow is putting me on the defensive. My firearms are doing little good other than pissing it off!" said Naruto in thought as he separates himself from the Minotaur and keeps a distance between them.

"Yeah, and it doesn't even help that your magic and jutsu aren't doing much against that monster, even in close range," said Sora, noting that this Minotaur is very resilient and intelligent which is a dangerous combination for a monster like it to have.

"No kidding. This monster is clearly smart enough to prevent Naruto from getting in close to it and even if he does get in close to attack, it'll just use its battle axe to keep him away aside from its using the long sword. Either that or breathing its fire on us," said Kurama, feeling annoyed that this Minotaur is proving to be a problem for Naruto but it also excites him that they're actually getting a worthy challenge.

"Regardless, I still have some tricks up my sleeve. I just need to find out more of its abilities before formulating a strategy to take that monster out for good. The only issue is that it's using the battle axe to keep me away from doing serious damage. I need to figure out a way to break its defense and get around that long sword too before striking it. For now, I'll just have to go in blind and keep trying until I've seen enough with what it's capable of," said Naruto as he keeps an eye on the Minotaur which it's doing the same while glaring at him.

Naruto readies both the Uchigatana and the Hestia Knife as he prepares to clash with the monster once more which the Minotaur did the same for its long sword and the battle axe. Naruto wasted no time charging at the monster which the Minotaur did the same while roaring at him. As the two got close, the Minotaur uses its long sword to strike first but Naruto immediately dodge to the side nearly missing him by an inch and managed to get in close to striking the monster's waist side using his Hestia Knife which only made the monster mad and use its battle axe to strike back again but Naruto blocked the incoming attack he pulled away from it.

"Alright, clearly I need to time my attacks right in order to close the gap between us. While that Minotaur is fast, I'm faster. If I can utilize my Inner Focus to slow time a bit to attack it from different directions, with that and my Shadow Clones, it'll serve as a distraction and an all-out assault in all fronts," said Naruto in thought as he's planning a strategy that it just might work.

"Interesting strategy, Kit. Just be careful how you go about it as this Minotaur is definitely a far cry than the last one you had slain," said Kurama as this monster is too dangerous to be taken lightly which Naruto should expect the unexpected just in case. Naruto mentally nodded to Kurama as he got ready to spring his plan into action.

The Minotaur began charging at Naruto with its long sword ready to strike him down but Naruto was prepared for this as he began to put his plan into motion. As soon as the Minotaur got close enough and swung its sword towards Naruto who dodged at the last moment, his Inner Focus kicked in as his perception slowed down enough to evade and counterattack it while his ability is still active a bit. Naruto slashed the Minotaur a few times before pulling back as his ability wore off. The Minotaur got angrier at being slashed a few sides and rushed at Naruto again. Once again, as the monster got close, his Inner Focus reactivated again which he evaded and quickly put his weapons away to form hand signs "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto summoned 3 shadow clones as he took out his weapons again, as his Inner Focus ended, the Minotaur looked angry and confused as the monster was now dealing with 4 opponents who looked identical to each other.

"Charge!" Naruto ordered his clones to attack as he and the 3 clones wielding both the Uchigatana and the Hestia Knife, rushed at the Minotaur which it started to breath fire on them but they dodge out of the way to close the gap. As they got too close, the Minotaur used its battle axe to keep them away but their Inner Focus was activated as they took the opportunity to slash the Minotaur on all sides. They managed to slash the monster's chest, hip, legs, arms, back and even bits on the face for good measure. As the ability was worn off, the Minotaur was covered in slash cuts all over its body as it was bleeding from them as well. The Minotaur was groaning from the attacks repeatedly, dropping down a knee from the cuts which indicate Naruto now has the upper hand.

"Alright guys, we're overwhelming its defense and it's getting weaker. Get ready to unleash our strongest attacks to put some real serious damage!" said Naruto as he's ordering his clones.

"You got it boss!" said the 3 clones as they began to start using their strongest attack from magic spells to jutsu.

However, what they don't know is that once they attacked the Minotaur on all sides, which they managed to wound the monster, they made the monster very angry and because of that, it seemed to have triggered something that they weren't prepared for.

*ROOOAAARRR*

The Minotaur unleashed its roar which stopped Naruto and his clones in their tracks and covered themselves as the monster's eyes were glowing red and its muscles began to buff up quickly. Seeing this new predicament at play here, Naruto was about to give out his clones new orders, however, the clones suddenly got killed by the Minotaur's sudden speed which quickly shocked Naruto and before he knew it, he instinctively crossed his weapons in front of him in time to lock blades with the Minotaur. As they were in a standstill on blades, Naruto immediately noticed its strength and power had significantly increased to the point, Naruto was now being overpowered.

"W-What the hell's going on!? Did this Minotaur suddenly get stronger? I had it on the ropes and this monster somehow turned the tables back around on me!" thought Naruto, getting a bit concerned by this sudden turn of events as everything was going in his favor but that has quickly dashed away the moment this Minotaur did something which increased its body mass, power and buffed up to make it even more dangerous.

"Does this Monster possess a passive skill which was just activated because of the damage which you had inflicted on it? This is not good," said Sora as she felt this Minotaur just used what looks like a Berserker skill which grants the user buff up strength, power and probably health regen. This is definitely not good if this monster has that skill which makes it extremely difficult to kill.

[WARNING: BERSERKER SKILL ACTIVATED]

"Damn! Are you telling me this giant cow has a skill of its own? Dammit! I was not expecting this kind of outcome! It's learning and getting stronger as it fights!" said Naruto as he was slowly being pushed back by the immense buff up strength of the Minotaur before the two clashed their blades at each other.

Naruto was forced to dodge and evade the monster's devastating attacks from both the long sword and the battle axe which was creating shockwaves as it landed on the ground. Naruto was once again being put on the defensive as he began to lose control of the flow of this battle as he's trying to block and weave around the constant attacks from the Minotaur's relentless attacks. It went on for a while until the Minotaur raised its long sword down on Naruto after deflecting blow after blows of its attacks before dodging the last one. However, in doing so this made Naruto shield himself from debris of dust and rocks after the long sword crashed down to the ground which created a shockwave and Naruto was too close to it which made him cover himself from aftershock while letting his guard down.

"Naruto! Look out!" Kurama shouts out to Naruto, warning him of imminent danger but it was far too late.

Before Naruto could do anything, he was suddenly impaled in his left arm by the Minotaur's left horn which made Naruto scream out in pain. But the monster wasn't done yet for it lifted Naruto up into the air above its head which only further increased the pain as he tries to free himself but to no avail. Once he's lifted up, the Minotaur immediately lowered its head as it slammed Naruto to the ground hard, making him drop his Uchigatana and Hestia Knife in the process. He was groaning from the impact which caused him more physical pain and damage.

"Shit, shit, shit! That freaking hurts!" Naruto struggles to get up but his left arm was bleeding like crazy and his entire body aches from being slammed into the ground with such force. He'd be lucky if none of his bones aren't broken or fractured from being slammed to the ground so hard.

"Naruto! Are you okay!" asked Sora in concern as Naruto is badly wounded and damaged from that devastating attack.

"No, I'm not okay! I just got impaled in my left arm by its horn then got lifted and then slammed to the ground! I'm lucky enough it didn't fracture all of my bones," said Naruto, being in so much pain from his body and his left arm as he struggles to get up.

"Hang on, Kit. I've already started healing your left arm and easing the pain," said Kurama while he channels his chakra into Naruto to heal him.

Naruto glares at the Minotaur with so much hate as the monster slowly approaches him with its long sword and battle axe, ready to strike him down. He was currently trying to come up with any ideas but couldn't figure out what would be effective. The only thing he could think of that would give him an edge is if he were to unleash his true powers. However, he prefers using that as a last resort but it seems like he might actually have to use it. Naruto didn't want to rely on it just yet until he was left with no other choice. He's not done just yet. Not by a long shot!

As the Minotaur was getting nearly close to Naruto and prepared to strike him down, then it stopped in its tracks with the reason that someone appeared in front of Naruto in a protective manner which was none other than Ais Wallenstein herself.

"Are you alright?" Ais asked Naruto in concern while blocking the Minotaur away from him.

"Ais?" Naruto was confused since he wasn't expecting Ais to come to his rescue when she's supposed to be on an expedition with the Loki Familia.

"You did very well, but I'll save you now," said Ais as she grips her sword which made the Minotaur tense at this.

Now, Naruto wouldn't mind being rescued from time to time if the situation was putting him in mortal danger, however in his fight with the Minotaur…he wasn't. Sure, he was impaled and injured but that doesn't mean it'll deteriorate him in his fight. That just means he needs to try harder to plan out new strategies to see if it sticks. Now after learning all of the Minotaur's abilities and experiencing them firsthand, he may have two options to go about this. Either breaking its defenses and time his attacks right and go for the kill or…unleashing his true powers against it. However, now Ais is here protecting him, she's practically robbing his battle from him just because he's in need of saving…and it truly upsets him for it.

"No…no…no! I will not have my fight being taken away by her! I refuse! I finally found a worthy fight that makes me test my capabilities and I will NOT have that moment taken away from me. I won't!" thought Naruto in anger as he gets up after being healed by Kurama, not accepting what is now happening.

Ever since his battle against the Monster Wave, he's been bored slaying weak monsters easily and it bothers him because he requires something challenging that actually makes him try while being put in actual danger. Now that he FINALLY found a worthy battle which he can finally let loose, being interrupted by Ais who thought he was in trouble that needed saving. He won't let her steal his fight. Never!

Eventually both Tiona and Bete finally caught up to Ais which they also noticed she's with someone whom they assume is the guy that needed help from his encounter with the Minotaur which Ais is safeguarding him from the monster.

"There you are," Tiona said after finally catching up to her.

"What exactly are you thinking, Ais?" said Bete in confusion as she seems to plan on facing the Minotaur herself.

They walked up the two while Naruto put his hand on her shoulder to stop her before she fights the monster in his stead which she was confused by what he's doing.

"Do not interfere. I will not have my fight being interrupted and robbed just because someone thought I was in serious danger. I never was in danger to begin with, never have been. In fact, I'm quite thrilled how this is turning out. I finally found a worthy battle where I can really cut loose, but I won't accept you getting in my way," said Naruto as he's unwilling to let her take away his chance to fight without holding back. Ais was surprised to hear him say that while both Tiona and Bete were confused with what was happening.

"I appreciate your concern for my well-being, Ais, but I'm perfectly fine. I don't need help from you or anyone else nor do I require it. So do me a favor and stay out of this. If you rob me of the one thing that I've been looking forward to…I will never forgive you for this," said Naruto, letting her know of his warning which made Ais really surprised by this and doesn't know what to say to that response.

Naruto let go of her as he stepped forward in front of Ais he went over to pick up his Uchigatana and Hestia Knife then stands a few feet from the Minotaur which he could've sworn he saw a smirk being formed on its face before scowling at him with a growl. Naruto's face hardened with a serious yet intense look with a hint of anger in the mix for he will not lose to some oversized cow on steroids thinking this fight's already over just because it managed to impale him. It's gonna take a LOT more to bring him down. A LOT more than just wounding him. Soon the rest of the Loki Familia along with the injured Lili caught up with Ais as they watched Naruto facing off against the Minotaur.

"This is what I've been waiting for. A fight that I've longed for, I finally feel like I'm going on a true adventure. And it's mine and mine alone. I will not accept anyone interfering with my fight. So without being said…let's begin round 2," said Naruto as he began walking calmly towards the Minotaur before sprinting towards the monster as the two began to clash blades with each other while the others watched the ongoing battle.

Music Start: Sonic Frontiers OST; Break Through It All

Naruto rapidly slashes with the Uchigatana with one hand whilst deflecting the incoming attacks from the Minotaur with the Hestia Knife in a reverse grip in his other hand and dodging them in order to utilize the Inner Focus ability to land pinpoint strikes at targeted points of the monster's body or to quickly retreat whenever it uses its fire breath attack.

Jumping over a horizontal slash from the Minotaur's battle axe, Naruto descended to stomp on the monster's head with both feet before kicking off to jump towards the ceiling where he slashed at several stalagmites hanging overhead to drop down and land on the Minotaur, forcing it to raise its arms to use the weapons to defend itself "Thunder!" he calls down a bolt of yellow lightning to strike the Minotaur which caused its body to temporarily seize up with paralysis as he followed up with another attack "Blizzard!" he began launching multiple blue ice crystals which resulted in the monster's upper body encased in ice.

Dropping down from the ceiling to land on the ceiling, Naruto brought out the restored Hilt of Skofnung as he stabs the blade into the ground which summons seven spectral blades which launches themselves at the Minotaur and slashes at it relentlessly "Here's a bonus, Asagiri-rendan!" he moved forward at blazing speeds that he appeared like he was teleporting as he reaches the monster and joins in with the spectral blades by unleashing a merciless series of rapid attacks from every direction in front of him; horizontally, vertically and diagonally.

However, the Minotaur broke free from the ice on its body right as the spectral swords disappear after being utilized for some time then it attacks Naruto ferociously with its long sword and battle axe whilst Naruto kept a cool head and switched to defense in which he parries or dodges the incoming attacks.

Naruto held the Uchigatana with one hand and reared back as he channels chakra to his feet "Shadowrush!" he launches himself forward and attacks with a highspeed thrust attack which manages to impale the Minotaur before it could react in time then he used the impaled monster as a platform to vault into the air with a somersault while pulling the katana out with him "Shadowfall!" he then performs a spinning horizontal slash whilst falling towards the ground and landed a strike across the Minotaur's chest while it was still recovering from the impale but then he somersaulted backwards to evade a flaming breath attack from the wounded but still powerful monster.

Putting away the Hestia Knife and crouched slightly with the sheathed Uchigatana in hand and the other hovering over the handle, Naruto dashed forward with his upper body leaning forward and close to the ground. The Minotaur attacked with a flaming breath once again, Naruto narrowed his eyes in concentration as he conjures a shadow clone in front him then kicked off its shoulder to launch himself into the air to dodge the incoming attack which dispelled the clone on contact, he twisted his body in midair to land behind the Minotaur whilst gripping the katana in both hands and attacked with a flurry of slashes before quickly performing a spinning slide underneath the monster's backswing of its long sword.

Naruto frowned as he saw that the Minotaur became even stronger in spite of the damage he has inflicted upon it, he held his katana at the ready to continue the battle in spite of the odds not in his favor.

Music End

"Ain't there supposed to be some kinda rule about taking somebody else's target?" said Bete wondering if there's such a rule about taking someone's target. However, upon taking further inspection towards Naruto, he finally recognizes him back at the pub who greatly humiliated him in front of everyone "Wait…holy crap! Is that the bastard who humiliated me back at the pub? Haha! Man, what is it with this freak show asshole and these damn Minotaurs?" he laughed as he couldn't believe the brat was facing another Minotaur but not a regular one which made him question if he's attracting Minotaurs in general which he finds funny.

"I think I recognize him. He's the one Ais mentioned that defeated a Minotaur?" Tiona asked in wonder if that's the guy Ais mentioned before.

"Yeah and apparently these big smelly pigs love the brat so much, they keep coming all the way up here to hang with him," said Bete while still finding this scenario funny to him.

"Don't be like that, Bete," said Tione, while Bete just scowled at first before folding his arms.

"What? You heard the guy. He doesn't want our help. He's probably too embarrassed after making an ass of himself in front of a girl of his dreams, remember?" said Bete, mocking Naruto since he doesn't want their help which he's making himself an idiot towards Ais which he finds enjoyment in all this. Plus, he wasn't planning on helping the brat anyway after learning it's the same guy who humiliated him so seeing the bastard being put into this situation was perfect for him to watch.

"Hey Ais, are you sure about this? This isn't a normal Minotaur he's facing against. He may very well die," Tiona asked Ais, feeling unsure about all this as Naruto could be killed if he's not careful.

"So!? Who cares!" Tiona frowned at Bete's rude behavior before looking away "Seriously, just let him go. Maybe this time we will actually get to see it ourselves if he can beat a Minotaur like he claimed he did before. If he fails to do it again then we'll know clearly who ACTUALLY killed that Minotaur on Floor 8 and he'll die as a pathetic lying loser that everyone will remember him by, which I say, good riddance. Orario doesn't need some weak snot nose, no name, nobody, like him around if he can't prove himself by defeating another Minotaur. I mean, besides, I think I would much rather die than get saved by a girl anyways,"

Tiona frowned at his rude words while Riveria, Tione and Finn looked indifferent but they didn't like how he's disrespecting Naruto like that while he's in a dangerous situation. Ais remained stoic but she didn't like how Bete is treating Naruto like trash like that but didn't say or do anything for she was more focused on the fight. Lili couldn't believe what she heard from Bete as he's belittling him and mocking him without a care. It didn't help that she was now fearing for Naruto's life. If he dies, she'll lose him and she doesn't want that to happen to him.

Unknown to everyone, Naruto overheard everything Bete had said and needless to say…he's VERY pissed.

"WHY THAT GOOD FOR NOTHING FLEABAG OF A MUTT! WHO THE HELL DOES HE THINK HE IS DISRESPECTING ME LIKE THAT!? DID HE NOT LEARN HIS LESSON LAST TIME AT THE PUB!?" thought Naruto, feeling so much rage after hearing all the trash Bete just spewed out of his rotten canine mouth.

"Kit! You better finish your fight with that Minotaur, because now I want nothing more than to tear that mutt apart!" said Kurama as he was extremely pissed off at Bete didn't learn his lesson and still talks shit behind Naruto. He even has little to no care if he dies, all because he couldn't accept Naruto taking down a Minotaur and getting his ass handed by Naruto.

"Kurama, we'll neuter the mutt later. Right now, let's focus on getting rid of that Minotaur before getting to H.I.M," said Sora, who sounded calm but she's just as pissed off as Kurama. But not as much as Naruto himself for he wants to tear that asshole a new one and she doesn't blame him from what they heard from Bete. Only thing now they wanna do is to once again put Bete in his place, but first they need to kill this Minotaur before doing that.

"Oh don't you two worry about that, once I'm done getting rid of this cow, I'm gonna put Bete in his place…again," said Naruto as he's busy clashing blades with the Minotaur.

Back to the group, Lili weakly grabbed onto Bete's legs pitifully as she begs for his help. "I'm begging you, sir…please help him! I don't want Master Naruto to die!" said Lili desperately wanting him to help Naruto.

"G-Get off me you little squirt!" said Bete telling Lili to let him go but she refused.

"I'll do anything!" Lili once again begging for his help.

"She's in bad shape, not sure how she's standing. It must've taken everything she had just to bring us here," said Tiona feeling bad for Lili as she must've been very desperate in seeking help.

"Whatever it takes I'll pay you back! I swear I'll pay…just help him fight! Please don't let him die…," said Lili as she's slowly losing consciousness and her grip on Bete. The Werewolf groans in disgust as the Prum clings onto him but it looks like she's about to go unconscious due to her injuries. Riveria came over and removed Lili off of Bete then laid her on her knees as she used her magic to heal her. "You have to help…help Master Naruto…I beg of you…," she managed to muster enough strength to mutter her words before losing consciousness of herself.

Naruto who separated himself from his clash with the Minotaur, heard everything what Lili has said which made his heart ache at hearing how desperate she is for his safety. She clearly believes he's in serious need of saving which really bugs him but he couldn't fault her given she went out of her way to find help which really wasn't required but she did it anyway. Now seeing the state she's in really made his blood boil at what the Minotaur did to her. Add that to the fact of being mocked and belittled by Bete as he said all that shit behind his back, he's losing all patience to the point he's seriously considering using his full powers against the monster which he believes he plans on doing.

"Lili…don't worry Lili, I'll make sure this monster pays for harming you," said Naruto who was beginning to lose all form of enjoyment from this regardless of the situation.

"Tch," Bete clicked his teeth in annoyance as he couldn't believe himself for what he's about to do.

"Where are you going?" Riveria asked Bete, seeing him walking forward the ongoing fight.

"Okay now listen, I don't normally help out little punk bastards like him, but I rather do that than look like the guy who enjoys picking on all the wimps and the weaklings." said Bete as he looked over to his shoulder towards Riveria before making his way towards the fight. "Out of the way, I'll d-,"

*BANG*

Bete immediately jumped back in surprise as well as everyone else from the loud noise as everyone looked at Naruto who's pointing something at Bete's shoes, holding some sort of a weapon that looked more advanced than a crossbow which has smoke coming out of the cylinder-like tube which suspected he's the one who made that shot.

"Didn't I just say that nobody interferes with my fight? I'm not gonna keep repeating myself. None of you are going to interfere and that's final. So, butt out," said Naruto, giving the Loki Familia a stern yet hardened glare as if telling them they're gonna regret it if they try to get in his way.

"You little prick! Watch where you're shooting that thing! If you're weren't too busy fending off your worthless life right now, I oughta come over there and kick your ass!" said Bete angrily at almost getting shot by some strange weapon but took a step back as Naruto turned over to him with a very pissed off expression he's giving him.

"Shut. Your. Mouth. I'm not in the mood to hear that crude canine voice of yours. So how about you remain where you are and stay quiet. I'll soon deal with you once I get rid of the Minotaur," said Naruto, barely containing his anger while giving Bete a warning.

"Oh yeah!? Like 'I'm so scared', I like to see you try, that is IF you're able to weasel your way out of this one, you worthless little shitstain," said Bete not feeling intimidated in the slightest while mockingly daring him to actually try to pick a fight with him. Naruto's eyebrows were twitching uncontrollably while he can hear Kurama yelling out threats and profanities at Bete which he couldn't hear him but it shows just how much he hates the mutt.

"Oh don't you worry, you will be scared soon enough. I can guarantee you that." said Naruto, giving him an ominous answer before looking at the Minotaur who surprisingly just stood there waiting for him. "It is clearly obvious I won't be able to enjoy this fight at all due to them attempting to interfere with my fight. And getting through that monster's defense is really bugging the hell out of me. So, I've decided that playtime is over. It's about time I get serious from now on to show everyone that I'm not playing around anymore. Better consider yourself lucky, Minotaur. For what I'm about to do will show everyone that I'm not someone you wanna mess with. Because now? The real fight…begins…," said Naruto, having decided to unleash a part of his true power against the monster. "Kurama, let's do this. Send me your chakra,"

"Finally! It's about time to REALLY cut loose. Give it hell kit and put on a good show for everyone to let them know you mean business!" said Kurama excitedly as he begins to send his chakra to Naruto.

"You got this, Naruto! Show them what you're really made of!" said Sora rooting for him to show that monster who's top dog or rather top fox here.

Naruto stabs the Uchigatana into the ground next to him while still holding the Hestia Knife and forming the Tiger hand sign. He took in a deep breath and exhaled as he closed his eyes and lowered his head to concentrate.

Before the Minotaur could attack or anyone could say anything, they all felt it…a heavy pressure that suddenly washed over the dungeon room, leaving no one unaffected. To them; it felt like a beast with powers far surpassing the Mutant Minotaur has decided to make its presence known and that there will be dire consequences should it be ignored. Such a presence was being felt from Naruto and the surprises didn't end there as a red aura surged out of the blonde's body and formed into nine semi-transparent tails, the energy churned up dirt and gravel all through the large dungeon room as the tails swirled around him.

"Sister, am I going crazy or are his wounds healing quickly?" asked Tiona in disbelief, actually seeing the wounds on Naruto's body heal rapidly before her very eyes.

"You're not, I'm also seeing it," said Tiona who was also in the same boat.

"You gotta be kidding me!" Bete exclaimed "There's no way that this guy can have this kind of power, it's just not possible and makes no sense at all!" he denies the reality that his instincts are identifying Naruto's aura as an alpha.

Finn took a step back from the pressure that he was feeling from the blonde ninja "This kind of power, how is it possible for someone like him to have and yet be a D-rank Adventurer?"

Riveria was sweating from the pressure of the power that she's feeling from Naruto "The mana…it feels alive. Can it even be called mana at all? In all my years as an adventurer, I've never met anyone who could emit power like him. Just who is this man?"

"How could this be possible…?" Ais stood there stunned at she's seeing and feeling; is this the very same adventurer whom she was sparring with before the expedition? Just how could have missed that he possessed this kind of power or perhaps she didn't push him hard to the point of him calling upon it?

The red aura continues to spiral around Naruto before reentering his body then formed a shroud around it, he raised his head to reveal that his whisker marks have become more pronounced and that the pupils of his eyes became slitted like that of a feline's.

Naruto raised a hand which made the Minotaur tense as he clenched it into a fist "Time for payback, you dumb cow! And it's with interest!"

Music Start: Sonic Frontiers OST; Find Your Flame

Naruto disappears in a blur then reappears right in front of the Minotaur who barely took a step back in time when he punched it strongly in the snout, causing it to skid backwards upon impact but the ninja was far from finished with the monster as he lunged at it once more "Praying Strikes-Exorcism!" he struck first with an elbow strike to the Minotaur's torso followed by an open palm strike before ending the combo by hurling his body for a shoulder slam. The Minotaur angrily attacked with a horizontal slash of its battle axe but Naruto saw the incoming attack and quickly countered as he placed the Uchigatana into its sheath and channeled wind chakra through the blade to greatly increase its sharpness "Ashina Cross!" he drew the sword from its sheath and slices twice in a cross pattern at high speed which sliced the battle axe into pieces, rendering it completely useless.

Angered by the loss of its weapon, the Mutant Minotaur reached out with its free hand in an attempt to grab Naruto only for him to bat it aside with his sheath as he took a quick step back for an offensive move "Senpou Leaping Kicks!" he propelled himself into the air via a corkscrew backflip kick which struck the Minotaur in the chin followed by an axe kick while in midair right on the monster's head "High Monk!" he continued the assault with a combination of sword slashes and kicks in a dancelike manner which made it hard for the Minotaur to keep a proper lock on him.

It was at that moment when Naruto stabbed the Uchigatana into the ground and moved at blurring speeds to get behind the Minotaur and wrap his arms around its waist "Here's hoping that your thick skull can withstand this!" he lifted the monster into the air which shocked everyone as he performed a German Suplex then he kipped up to his feet and attacks the Minotaur which was on its knees with a flying dropkick to the face for a strong knockdown.

Sure enough, the Minotaur was back on its hooves and still rearing to go which Naruto smirked at "Nice to see that you're still capable of fighting, that's good cause I've got to vent about!"

"Did that guy just grapple with a Minotaur and slammed him into the ground?" asked Tiona in shock.

"I saw it with my own eyes, I've never seen such a technique before in my whole life as an adventurer. Just who is this guy?" Tione was both in awe and disbelief at this supposedly low rank adventurer being more powerful than his current level, it is simply unprecedented.

*ROAR*

Growing even more agitated from how things are going, the Minotaur went on a rampage as it swung its long sword to and fro in an attempt to cut Naruto down but the ninja had forgone his katana as he retaliated with powerful punches and kicks while fully utilizing both his enhanced speed and Inner Focus ability to land attacks that are both strong and swift while also using the Hestia Knife to deflect the monster's incoming attacks.

"I've had enough of you swinging that sword around…," Naruto held out his hand towards the monsters as a white orb of light appeared on it, the Minotaur saw him and rushes to attack with the long sword raised to strike but he remained focused "Shining Ray!" The orb of light immediately fired a white laser beam which pierced through the monster's hand and destroying the long sword's handle, rendering it entirely useless just like the battle axe. Seizing the opportunity, Naruto dashed forward and slid to a stop in front of the Minotaur with his right fist reared back as he unleashed a powerful uppercut to launch it into the air "Shadow Clone jutsu!" he creates two shadow clones that jump in the air as well, and creates a third to help him form a Rasengan. The two clones grab hold of the monster as they fell with Naruto jumping towards the opponent and landing the Rasengan.

At this point, the Mutant Minotaur is seeing red and lost all sense of reason as it retrogressed to its base instincts and began charging all over the place with its remaining horn in an attempt to gore Naruto who simply stood there and waited for the monster to approach him which put everyone on edge as it rapidly approaches him. Naruto took a ready stance with his hands held out and braced himself as he grabbed the bull by the forehead and horn, his feet dug into the ground which formed trenches as he's being pushed back before he anchored himself to the ground with chakra which stopped the Minotaur in its track.

Naruto looked down at the monster "It's been a great fight but…,"

*Snap*

The Minotaur stumbles back in agony as it looks at Naruto who holds the horn in his hand which he had just snapped off with great ease…just like that man who had put it through all this.

"It's time for me to put an end to this…,"

Naruto held out his free hand since the other holds the Minotaur's horn as a blue spiraling sphere of energy took shape and increases to the size of a basketball then the vermillion red aura enshrouded it. Having prepared his final attack, Naruto gazed upon the Minotaur and was already running towards it. From the Minotaur's perspective, it sees an image of a large feral beast looming over the shoulder of the approaching human, looking at it with pure disdain and intending to kill it on a whim, such an image terrified the monster to its very core and rendered it unable to move.

"This is the end, Vermilion Rasengan!" Naruto rammed the spiraling sphere into the Mutant Minotaur's torso which then expanded and engulfed the monster entirely before blasting it across the dungeon then slamming into a wall and forming a large indent upon impact

Music End

As the dust settles, Naruto appears before the downed Minotaur as it slumps against the cratered wall which he had sent crashing into earlier with his Rasengan. The monster slowly raised its head to glare at the blonde ninja who glares back at it, daring it to get up and fight him.

"…,"

"…,"

Both locked eyes for almost a minute without anyone moving or saying anything. The Minotaur glared until the light in its eyes faded away and its head slumped back down as it took its last breath and finally died, its body bursting into black smoke and disappearing.

"Defiant to the very end, it's got my respect," Naruto muttered to himself, Kurama taking back his chakra with the shroud receding into his body and the pressure which everyone was feeling disappearing like it was never there to begin with.

"Mine too, reminds me of you to be honest," said Kurama admittedly.

"It's all over, but look at what it left behind along with the horn that you broke," Sora pointed out to the two as she noted the aforementioned horn still in Naruto's hand.

Naruto looked down to see the drops with the Isekai System identifying them for him.

---

Name: Jasper
Type: Enhancement Material

Bio: A rare and valuable jewel pined for by everyone with a lot money in their pockets, sometimes used as a protective charm or to enhance various equipment.

Name: Labyrinthus
Type: Mace
Element: Null

Attack: 100
Defense: ?
MAG Attack: ?
MAG Defense: ?

Bio: A mace designed to bash charging foes where they're weakest. Especially ruinous to Minotaurs and their ilk.

Name: Mutated Minotaur Horn
Type: Material
Element: Null

Bio: The severed horn of a particularly powerful Minotaur which had been greatly influenced by the mana of the dungeon. It had slain many adventurers and grew stronger with each kill.

---

"Looks like there's five of these Jasper Stones, talk about getting a good haul," said Naruto as he examines the drops which he's gotten from defeating the Mutated Minotaur.

"Looks like your devil's luck has kicked in for this one," said Kurama with a smirk.

"And you can use some of the Jasper Stones to enhance your weapons and equipment," Sora added happily.

"Makes the fight all the more worth it," thought Naruto.

"Master Naruto!" he turned to see Lili stumbling towards him and quickly rushes over to catch her in his arms when she was about to fall "I'm so glad you're okay!"

Naruto smiled assuredly "Sorry for worrying you, Lili-chan. But as you can see, I'm doing fine. Let's get our drops and get out of here so we can get ourselves patched up,"

"Okay,"

While Naruto and Lili went on to pick up their loot, the members stood there in disbelief at what they had just witnessed; a supposed D-ranked Adventurer was able to defeat a highly dangerous Mutated Minotaur all by himself while using some sort of mysterious power which is foreign to them.

"You gotta be kidding me…that punk was able to beat that monster by himself? I can't believe it, it's just not possible," Bete looked like his world has been turned upside down and inside out due to what he just witnessed with his own eyes. Seeing something so farfetched and yet he cannot deny it.

"Tiona, how come we haven't heard of this guy?" Tione questions her twin sister.

"You're asking me a question that I don't know the answer to, Tione," Tiona retorted.

Finn frowned at Naruto who was picking up the mace and placing it inside his pouch which seems to be able to contain it "This guy…I've been hearing rumors about him ever since that night at the bar; I heard he fought and defeated a monster when it along with others went on a rampage throughout the city. At first I paid it no mind, but now I'm beginning to see that these rumors hold truth. Judging by the emblem on his hand, he's from the Hestia Familia whom Lady Loki has a rivalling relationship with the goddess,"

Riveria observed Naruto as well with a critical eye "That mana…I sense that it does not originate from him but rather from something else. Only beasts like dragons amongst other legendary beings possess such great levels of power. Could he have formed a contract with such a being? But how is it possible for him to do so?"

"…," Ais didn't say anything or rather she couldn't say anything, she had already come to an understanding that Naruto isn't an average adventurer with what she had seen him do many times; defeating the Minotaur, the silver gorilla monster, fighting alongside him against the Monster Wave and their many sparring matches. But this one…he practically took her breath away and made her speechless as she recalls his words from before.

"Let's have a race, I'll definitely catch up to you and eventually overtake you. So you better be stronger than you are now so we can have a battle with no holding back!"

"So the race has already begun," thought Ais.

Soon enough, Naruto had packed up their loot and lifted Lili in his arms, much to the Prum's surprise and embarrassment.

"M-Master Naruto?" asked Lili, her cheeks flushed pink.

"Comparing who's more banged up, I figured to be the one to carry you back. Just enjoy the ride," said Naruto with a foxy grin.

"O-Okay…," Lili relaxed in his arms and felt quite comfortable, like a child carried by her parents.

"Hey Kit, aren't you forgetting something very important? Like a certain mutt to take care of?" asked Kurama, reminding him about dealing one last issue to deal with.

"Oh don't you worry Kurama, I haven't forgotten about him. It's about time that I have few 'words' with him and teach that mutt a lesson about manners and warn him about the consequences of his constant barking at my way," said Naruto in thought for he hasn't forgotten about it as he fully intends to make his point across towards Bete fully if the first time wasn't enough clearly than it should be, then this would surely will.

"Oh this'll be fun to watch. I cannot wait to see how this'll play out," said Sora, getting excited to see Naruto putting Bete in his place yet again as her anticipation continues to grow stronger as she waited for the fun to begin.

"Actually Lili, this IS one more thing that I need to take care of before we go, so I'm gonna need you to wait a bit, okay?" asked Naruto, letting Lili know that he needs to do something real quick.

"O-Oh, okay. Sure, I don't mind. Just, what is it that you need to do?" asked Lili, wondering what it is that Naruto needs to do before they leave.

"Just something that I need to do, Lili. This won't take long," said Naruto, while being vague about what it is he's going to do soon. Naruto while still carrying Lili, created a Shadow Clone, Naruto handed over Lili to his clone which Lili continued to blush as if she's being passed off casually which embarrassed her. "I need you to hold onto Lili while I take care of something important I need to address real quick. I don't think I need to explain further given you are me after all,"

"Not at all boss, I know exactly what you're gonna do. I'll hold onto her until you're done," said the clone while giving Naruto a nod to go for it which he definitely got the message.

Now with that being taken care of, all that's left is dealing with Bete. Naruto turned around and faced the Loki Familia as his face is sporting a neutral yet barely visible angry expression and he began walking towards them which made some of the Loki Familia feel a bit tense at this from the way he's looking at them.

"Uh…why is he coming towards us?" said Tiona, feeling a bit nervous from the way he's looking at them.

"I don't know but something tells me he's not happy towards us about something," said Tione for something tells her that whatever it is the blond hair adventurer is upset about, it might have something to do with one of them and she may know 'who' to be exact.

Finn and Riveria didn't say a word but were watching him with caution yet curious eyes wondering why he's walking up towards them but the way he's looking at them, they don't think he's looking at the group in general, he's looking at one of them. Mainly…Bete. As for Ais, well, judging why Naruto is coming towards them, she knows what he's coming over to them for and honestly, she doesn't blame him for what he's about to do. She can only hope that he doesn't go overboard once it happens. Naruto finally came up to the Loki Familia but didn't stop at the group though, no no no, he stopped at a certain someone, which happened to be the Beastman himself; Bete.

For Bete, he was confused as to why the brat was coming towards them but the way he was looking his way, something in his gut telling him that he's coming over towards him which is quite unnerving. It doesn't help that after seeing him use some strange power which helped take down that Minotaur and had made his instincts tell him that the blond haired dude is an alpha which pissed him off for he ultimately refuses to see him as an alpha, let alone accept it. So seeing him coming towards him made his instincts to scream to show respect but refuse to acknowledge it but it made him tense from the way he was feeling from this. As Naruto stood in front of him while the others slowly backed away, Bete was feeling a bit uncomfortable for Naruto specifically stood in front of him but didn't say a word but just stared at him which is making him feel annoyed at this.

"What the hell do you want, punk?" said Bete, keeping his composure while still acting like he's not impressed or anything.

"…," Naruto didn't say a word but just glaring at Bete which is making the Beastman feel very uncomfortable but it's also making him increasingly annoyed for the brat wasn't saying anything to him.

"Grrr…what are you looking at? Are you deaf? What the hell do yo-,"

*Wham*

Before Bete could finish his question, he got slugged in his stomach from out of nowhere which made the Beastman gasp in pain while some of the Loki Familia members were taken by surprise by this, especially Lili who just witnessed Naruto assault a member of the Loki Familia.

"Master Naruto! What are you doing?! Are you out of your mind?!" said Lili in pure shock, surprise and horror at seeing Naruto had just attacked a member of the Loki Familia without hesitation after he had just finished his fight with the Minotaur. Is he trying to pick a fight with the Loki Familia now!? What's gotten into him for committing this act?

"Relax Lili, this isn't the first time the boss openly attacked a member of the Loki Familia but it's mainly that mutt Bete. So, this is fine," said the clone, trying to calm her down which did the exact opposite from what Naruto's clone just said.

"He did what!? Why would he attack him a second time? Doesn't he know the consequences of attacking another Familia like that!?" asked Lili, demanding an explanation from the clone to which he calmly answered.

"Oh, the boss is definitely aware. But it's within good reason and the Loki Familia are aware of this situation so they should know the reason why he openly attacked Bete. The boss is merely putting that mutt in his place yet again," said the clone, giving her the answer which she was demanding from the clone.

"Wait, again? What are you talking about?" Lili asked who looked confused by this information.

"How about the boss discusses this with you later. All you need to know is that this isn't the first time the boss is putting that dog in his place and intentionally gonna do it again as a little reminder of who he's speaking to. That's all," said the clone as he watched what's about to unfold while Lili looked worried but remained quiet as she too watched for what Naruto is about to do to Bete.

Speaking of which, back to Naruto and Bete. The blond-haired ninja still had his fist buried into Bete's stomach as he gasps and wheezes in pain with his back hunched over from the unexpected punch that he received from the brat.

"I thought I told you not to talk that way about me behind my back? And yet here you are talking all that shit once again. Have you not learnt your lesson from last time at the pub? Pfff! Probably not since you still think it was a good idea to be talking all high and mighty, acting like you know me…which. You. Don't!" said Naruto angrily while driving his fist into Bete's gut further which made him scream and wheeze out more in more pain when the brat added more pressure into his fist. "Did you really think I wouldn't hear all that crap you've been spewing out of your canine mouth, huh!? I heard every single word that came out of your mouth and boy let me tell ya…you have officially pissed me off!" said Naruto as he pulled back his fist from Bete but was immediately slugged yet again but harder this time which made Bete scream out in pain, making the Loki Familia flinch at this.

"Clearly from our last encounter back at the pub you haven't learned your lesson. Something of which I'm gonna rectify. Since you wanna be a hard ass and not learn from your mistakes, I'll have to put you in your place yet again just to teach you to watch your goddamn mouth!" said Naruto in a pissed off tone then he quickly kneed him in his face and swiftly grabbed him and tossed him across the room away from the others.

Naruto walked up to Bete while he was struggling to get back up to which Naruto kicked him to stay down and pinned him down to the ground by placing a foot on his chest. Bete looked up at Naruto with an extremely pissed off expression but upon looking at Naruto, he noticed that the brat now had glowing red eyes which Bete was unnerved by but that wasn't that caught his attention, he sees a giant red nine tailed fox glaring down at him which he saw before and it terrified him.

"This is gonna be the last time I'm gonna tell you this. Keep your damn thoughts to yourself. If I ever hear or catch you talking shit about me ever again, there's gonna be serious consequences. Remember that mutt, for your own safety," said Naruto warning Bete.

Naruto didn't let Bete say anything as he lifted his foot from the Beastman's chest and started walking back to his clone and Lili while picking up his katana along the way, unaware that he's exposing his back towards the Loki Familia which Riveria caught sight of and what she saw shocked her which Finn took notice of. The clone who had a smirk on his face gave Lili back to Naruto then dispelling himself as Naruto, now carrying Lili left the room without a word to them.

"Riveria, what's wrong? You look shocked about something?" Finn asked in curiosity, to which Riveria answered him.

"I saw his stats. His back was exposed and I was able to read a bit of his stats and what I saw surprised me. His skills and abilities looked average and normal but most of his stats information was blurred out from me. It was as if it didn't want me to look into his stats," said Riveria as she grew even more curious towards him from this information. Finn looked surprised by this as he doesn't know what to make of this. Even more so that he saw the blond-haired adventurer's gem necklace changed to white color meaning he's now advanced to D-rank.

"Ais, just what's this guy's name?" Finn asked Ais who she seemed to be smiling at this.

"It's Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki,"

---

This is Hussbek online with the latest chapter, things were pretty eventful for Naruto and at the same time eye-opening for him as he saw that he still has a long way to go as an adventurer given his many sparring matches with Ais as well as advice from Ryuu about what it means to be an adventurer and what there is to know beyond Orario. What was supposed to be the usual grind in the dungeon turned out to a fight for one's life when Naruto and Lili has an encounter with a Mutant Minotaur which was very tough and oddly enough skilled in terms of combat. Naruto had to help Lili get away in order to protect her and be able to focus without any distractions. In a strange twist of events, Ais as well as the other members of the Loki Familia were drawn into the incident and suspected Ottarl to be up to no good sin e he actively tried to prevent them from reaching Naruto. Eventually they arrived only to bear witness to Naruto's prowess and his hidden power to defeat the Minotaur much to their shock and disbelief. It also didn't help that Bete ran his mouth again and Naruto didn't take kindly to it at all which he made very well known after the fight before taking Lili away so they could both recuperate, partially aware that they had attracted a lot of eyes to them this time.

A friend of mine and I really had to pull out all the stops to make this fight as interesting and eye-catching as we can, had to refer from several games including Minotaur boss battles while still retaining some Danmachi scenarios in it. Be sure to read and review like always to let me know what you think.

This is Hussbek from Ghana.

Signing out and staying alive.