Chapter 2: Training and Arrival
There was something strange going on with Senjutsu in this world, Naruto thought. It still utilised natural energy, but it did so as an afterthought. For the locals, it was all about the manipulation of life energy within themselves and in others. They could use to amplify their strength, to heal, and to purify. The big problem with that approach was that they skipped the middle step.
Contrary to that, the method he had learned had relied on not only drawing in natural energy but also properly balancing it. Of course, there was the drawback of potential petrification to consider with that approach. He still deemed that better than risking insanity with every use of Senjutsu just because it was the quicker method to get to life energy. After all, life was simply a part of nature, not nature in its totality. Manipulation of life energy had been one of the most advanced topics of toad style Senjutsu precisely because the school put so much emphasis on mastering natural energy first.
The difference between the two styles explained a lot. Toad style and all the other styles of Naruto's homeworld emphasised the proper absorption of natural energy. This purified it and rid it of the emotional taint it bore. Conversely, this world relied on letting the natural energy pass through the body, which left the taint intact, but also eliminated the risk of petrification. The latter method sadly also resulted in overall much weaker Senjutsu. That was also the reason why the practice was not highly regarded beyond niche uses.
Research on Senjutsu had been hard because of how undervalued it was in this world. He had had to send hundreds of Shadow Clones on covert missions to stea- liberate the barebones information needed to figure out just why natural energy was drawn towards his new student, and why she considered Senjutsu so dangerous. Knowing these things was necessary for a good training regimen, and he only wanted the best for his student. It had been this effort that had delayed his second meeting with Koneko.
It was good that he had done that. Initially, he had planned to wait for several years before teaching her Senjutsu. That would have been a horrible idea, however. If she had been a human, the original approach would have been perfectly alright, but Koneko was a Nekoshou. That piece of information had been hard to come by, but the name of this subset of Nekomata had come up in his research for unusually high Senjutsu affinity. Unless she was at least a century old, she could not have possibly been any other Youkai and have an affinity this high. And so, he had looked more into Nekoshou.
The things he had found out about them concerned him greatly. There were only two known Nekoshou left in the world, one of which was a wanted criminal. That meant that Koneko was essentially the last of her kind, all alone in a world where nobody could understand a Nekoshou's struggle. Said struggle was another point of concern. Nekoshou needed natural energy to develop properly, yet Koneko was actively rejecting natural energy out of fear. She was already lagging behind in physical development, and if she continued this rejection, she would eventually stunt herself permanently.
That sort of thing was not something he could allow. He may not have known her for long, but Naruto considered her his responsibility. She was his student, and no student of his would be allowed to cripple herself on his watch.
He still pondered ways to make a training regimen that would get her to accept Senjutsu in the near future, when he reoriented his attention towards the girl.
She sat before him with closed eyes. Her hands slowly went through the hand signs he had shown her. Her face, despite its superficially stoic appearance, was scrunched up in intense concentration as she tried to follow his lesson. She seemed to be having success, seeing as her speed increased with every repetition.
The purpose of the exercise was twofold. Not only was it about memorising the hand signs themselves, but it was also about feeling out how the signs affected the flow of chakra. This was the basis of correctly moulding the chakra in the shape and quantity necessary for a Jutsu. The memorisation of these chakra flow patterns was also what enabled advanced practitioners to forego the hand signs. He had explained as much to Koneko, who now diligently worked to rake in the benefits of this training.
"You're doing great! You'll have it down in no time, believe it!" he praised.
While Koneko's usually stoic face took on a small smile, Rias, who had been observing the whole lesson so far, asked: "What's with the verbal tic?"
He looked at her strangely and asked back: "Are you asking because you're curious or because you're bored?"
Rias opened her mouth, closed it, then opened it again. The realisation of the rude nature of her question appeared to embarrass her. She sighed in resignation before she said: "Both."
Naruto smirked at her and said: "I got the tic from my mother if you're curious. If you're bored, I've just wasted your time. In any case, you're welcome." He turned his head to Koneko and said: "Good job. Maintain concentration, even when there are distractions."
Indeed, even while he and Rias had been talking, Koneko had kept up with the practice. There were one or two lapses, but she had not broken the flow of hand signs, and her chakra was moving as it was supposed to. She was a diligent student.
"It's fun, you know?" he said softly.
Rias looked at him and asked: "What is?"
He grinned and answered: "Teaching a student, seeing them grow; that's true satisfaction. I've had many students over the years, but that feeling of pride when they reach a milestone never gets old. You must feel something like that too, right?"
Rias nodded. "Yes. My servants are family to me. Their accomplishments make me proud."
That was the thing that broke Koneko's concentration at last. She was blushing slightly from the praise. It felt good to be valued.
"Look forward to being proud, then. Koneko's gonna go far if she keeps up this level of progress. I think that's enough of this exercise for today, though," said Naruto as he looked at his student.
"I can keep going," she said.
He nodded, but he countered: "You could, but nobody can keep up their concentration all day. Instead, let's spar a bit. I'm here to teach you Taijutsu as well, you know?"
"Isn't it a bad idea to interrupt her progress?" asked Rias.
Naruto laughed. "You'll see," he said. "Koneko, come at me."
He then took on broad stance and waited for Koneko to do the same. She raised her fists and took on her own stance. Naruto looked it over, noticing the obvious gaps in them. She looked a bit like a boxer, just a bit more grounded. It was a good beginning, but it was not suited for battle with a close-combat specialist who knew what they were doing. That was fine, though. The purpose of sparring was to find such mistakes and correct them, as well as trying out new things.
Koneko leapt at him and threw a punch. Naruto caught it. It had decent force and would definitely have sent the average Genin to the Iryonin. Sadly, it was oddly slow for how much impact it had. Perhaps it had to do with the effects of those Evil Pieces he had heard about. He would have to go over the books again if that was the case. As it was, her punch was flawed. He waited with retaliation, though, since he wanted to see how she would follow up.
A second punch came at him, this time from the other fist. It was blocked again, and Naruto noted that it had the same force as the other one, which meant that Koneko had not neglected one side in favour of the other in her physical conditioning. A series of more punches followed, all of which were deflected or blocked. The rising kick she then made was a bit of a surprise, but it was clear that this was not her preferred type of attack.
"You're not the worst I've seen," he said, "but there's still a lot of room for improvement."
Koneko stopped her assault when he began speaking. She frowned, but nodded. "It's why I wanted a teacher. I need to get stronger."
He laughed softly and said: "I won't disappoint you, believe it! Before we continue, have you noticed something?"
She frowned in thought. After a second, she swung her fists again. She went through several other movements. When she directed one of her punches against a tree at the edge of the clearing, she broke it, splintering it at the base. She had expected such a result, but what she had felt while punching was new. Her eyes widened in realisation.
"My chakra flows with every move," she said in awe.
Naruto clapped and confirmed: "You got it. Once you get enough of a feel for your chakra, it follows along with your movements and strengthens your body actively and passively. It starts slow at first, but your power and resilience will grow even without active use of chakra. It just needs to move with you while you train."
"That's amazing," said Rias.
"That's why I switched to sparring. It trains the chakra flow too," he said.
Koneko looked at him and commented: "I like it."
He grinned at her. "Great! Now come at me again. This time, I'll fight back."
Their sparring session continued for about half an hour. Naruto tested Koneko's technique, strength, endurance, and stamina. She was not bad for an amateur; certainly better than he had been right out of the Ninja Academy. That said, she was also far away from being an expert. At least he now had an idea how to continue with her training.
"Alright, let's stop here," he said after he had unbalanced her yet again.
"I can continue," said Koneko. "I'm just winded."
He chuckled and said: "We could continue until you fall over, but don't you have contracts to do?"
Koneko deflated at that. Rias, however, agreed. "I was just about to say that. We've spent more time here than I had anticipated. Let's go back to the club building."
The white-haired girl sighed. "You're right."
"It's not all bad. I now have a good idea of where you are and how to continue. Let me hammer out a training regimen. When we train next, I'll have a few things prepared to help you," said Naruto.
"Okay," said Koneko. She seemed satisfied with that.
He smiled once more. "Good. Let me send you on your way then."
A few more days went by. During that time, Asia and Rias had struck up a weird kind of rivalry which had, at first, confused Koneko a great deal, but then she had figured out what it was about. Apparently, they were competing for Issei's attention. There was no accounting for taste, she thought. The one fun thing that had sprung up from that had been the club gatherings at the boy's house. His mother had enjoyed embarrassing Issei by showing old photos of his childhood to everyone. That had been fun until Yuuto had seen that one photo with the sword in it.
Ever since that day, Yuuto had been withdrawn and scatterbrained. He did not pay attention to what was happening around him. It had honestly become a big problem. The distracted state of mind he was in lowered is performance in club activities and training as well.
Despite her worry for him, Koneko could not just stop progressing herself. She had continued to train under Naruto and had made great strides in letting her chakra flow in the desired patterns. He had even begun teaching her control exercises like walking up trees and on water. The practice with Ninshu was coming along nicely as well; her ability to read her mentor's spirit had skyrocketed. Her technique in hand-to-hand combat was improving as well, although the results were not yet that great. The few days under his tutelage had not been enough to lead to significant progress. On top of that, she had not been able to train her combat prowess as much as she wanted to. The preparation for the school's ball game tournament had taken up too much time.
The dodgeball match of the tournament was the point where another issue, the one with Yuuto, reared its head. She got a bit of a rise out of how everyone on the opposing team was targeting the pervert, but Yuuto's absentmindedness took the fun right out of it again. He just stood there and did nothing while the whole team did their best to win. Rias was clearly getting upset the longer this went on. Her temper was probably about to explode.
Fortunately, the tension was broken by a sudden development. A ball, which had been thrown harder than strictly necessary, had hit Issei in his family jewels. Koneko had little pity with him due to his antics, although she would not mock him either. The important thing was that the incident caused the game to be halted to assess his injuries. It would postpone Rias' temperamental outburst. Sadly, there were also consequences for her.
Rias had asked her to take Issei and Asia to a place where nobody was around. That way, Asia could use her Sacred Gear to heal him without witnesses. Koneko was not happy to be stuck with that job, so she simply dragged the catatonic boy along the floor. To be fair, he probably preferred that over being carried by her; that would have been humiliating for him. She did not pity him, but she was not about to add insult to injury while he was in serious pain.
So, she was now stuck observing the theatre in front of her. It was hilarious in a cosmic sort of way, but at this point, she was just exasperated.
"Issei, show me where you're hurt so I can heal you," said Asia.
"I can't!" responded the boy.
Koneko resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Asia was woefully oblivious to a lot of things. She had not noticed just where Issei had been hit and had failed to understand the very obvious euphemism Rias and Akeno had used to describe this. This would have been understandable, given Asia's sheltered life before coming to Kuoh, but she was friends with Aika Kiryuu. If there was anyone as perverted as the three dunces, then it was her. So, the former nun's selective lack of knowledge in that area was entirely by design. The blame for Asia's cluelessness could be laid at that girl's feet.
Kiryuu, you're the worst, she thought as she watched Issei struggle to give Asia instructions.
The blonde girl was almost in tears at his refusal to show her his injury. It was kind of sweet of him, in a really stupid sort of way. Koneko did not know why exactly Issei held his worst impulses back so much when it came to Asia, but he did. Ironically, that was how he upset her.
"Don't cry! Just use your power around my hips," he managed to say.
That did the trick, and his relieved sigh soon followed. It was good to know that Asia's abilities worked well, even when it was only applied to the general area of an injury. That did not stop the situation from being ridiculous.
"… I have no words for this," said Koneko.
As she watched Asia give Issei a lap pillow, she was equal parts exasperated and relieved. How those two clueless idiots did not get each other's signals was beyond her. It was like a second-rate romcom was unfolding before her eyes. Love made blind, as the saying went, though Koneko doubted there was any real love involved just yet. Still, they were her comrades and, dare she say, friends. She was glad that they were in good spirits now.
As if to accentuate this, the PA system soon announced: "The Occult Research Club wins!"
That victory in the game had come from an undermanned position. Of the ORC members, only Akeno and Rias were actively in the game. Issei was temporarily out, as were Asia and Koneko; Gasper was, as usual, a no-go; and Kiba was somewhere in lala-land. The latter would have consequences once the tournament was over.
A few hours later, that suspicion was proving true. The club president was not happy with Yuuto at all. In fact, she was angry enough to slap him.
"Are you awake yet?" asked Rias heatedly.
As the conversation progressed, Koneko could not help but worry about him. He was acting strange, and there was clearly something wrong with his mental state. Even the pervert was worried.
"What's wrong with you today?" she asked quietly.
He had not heard her, too busy arguing with Issei and Rias to notice. He really was out of it. This did not bode well. Koneko had a bad feeling about his mood and what it meant for the Peerage.
"No. I'm living so I can seek revenge. I live for the destruction of the holy sword Excalibur," she heard Yuuto say.
Her heart sank.
Not long after that disturbing incident came another worrying development. Church agents had visited Issei's home. One of them was apparently also a childhood friend of his, which exacerbated the problem with their presence. They also had holy swords with them, Excalibur fragments to be precise. Yuuto was liable to fly off the handle once he found that out.
The second meeting with them was about to begin. This time, the whole ORC with the exception of Gasper was assembled. If things went south, they had to be there in force. It was not expected, but exorcists were unpredictable in their dealings with Devils.
"Can I ask you why you're here in Kuoh?" asked Rias.
Irina explained: "It's about Excalibur."
"The legendary holy sword?" asked Issei.
He was a bit ignorant in matters such as this. In this case, it was not his fault, however. It was information he had not been told yet.
Rias asked Irina: "Could you explain that to him, please? He is new to the supernatural world."
"Of course," said the girl with the pigtails. "The Excalibur of legend does not exist anymore. It was shattered during the Great War. What remained were fragments which were reforged into new swords. Each of them has a different ability, all of which the original sword once had. Sadly, one fragment was lost. Of the remaining six, two were left in the care of the catholic, orthodox and protestant Churches respectively. One each has been stolen from the three Churches."
Xenovia, the girl with the short, blue hair took her sword of her back. The holy power it exuded made the Devils shiver. "This is Excalibur Destruction."
Irina took off her wristband in turn, transforming it into a sword. She said: "This is Excalibur Mimic. It can change its shape into anything the user wants."
"You shouldn't talk about its abilities in front of Devils," admonished Xenovia.
"We need to build some trust, don't we? We're here to request something of them, after all," countered Irina.
Rias interrupted their banter: "And what is that request?"
"We are here to retrieve the stolen Excalibur fragments from the Fallen Angels who are hiding in this town. Failing that, we are to destroy them. If it can't be helped, asset denial is enough," began Xenovia.
Koneko frowned. Why were the Fallen using Kuoh as their hideout again? Did they not know that they could start a war like that?
Xenovia went on: "The priests the higher-ups sent in all got killed, so it's up to us now."
"The Church sent priests here without permission? That is unacceptable," protested Rias.
"Like you Devils never send spies into Church territory," shot back the other girl.
Trying to diffuse the situation, Irina continued where her partner left off: "According to the Vatican's information, the culprit behind the theft of the Excalibur fragments is Kokabiel, one of the cadres of the Grigori."
The eyes of the Devils widened. A cadre was a serious threat. All of them were Ultimate Class level beings. The presence of Kokabiel posed a serious risk to everyone in the town.
"I see," said Rias. "Are you requesting our assistance, then?"
Irina shook her head and answered: "No. We can't discount the possibility that you're working together with the Fallen. The higher-ups think that weakening the Church with the theft of the Excalibur fragments is enough of a motivation for you to ally with them."
"I can guarantee you that we're not working together with the Fallen," groused Rias.
"Be that as it may, our request is that you stay out of our fight with Kokabiel," said Xenovia.
Rias looked at them seriously and asked: "Are you trying to die? This is suicide."
"We're prepared to die for the mission. Excalibur is more important than our lives," said Irina. "I ask once more that you stay out of it."
She and Xenovia then stood up and made to leave. On their way to the exit, they suddenly stopped. Xenovia turned around and looked at Asia.
"I thought I recognised you. Are you the 'witch' Asia Argento?" she asked.
Asia flinched. That girl did not like being addressed as such. Koneko was displeased with the address as well; hurting her fellow members of the Gremory Peerage was unacceptable. She glanced at Issei, who was fuming. If this continued, he was in danger of doing something stupid.
"I…," stammered Asia.
"Why have you become a Devil and abandoned the teachings of God?" asked Xenovia.
Irina said: "She hasn't. I can see it on her face. I can practically smell it on her. She still believes in God."
"I do," said Asia with tears in her eyes. "I still follow God's teachings. My whole life was dedicated to them. I can't just abandon them."
"Healing a Devil, becoming a Devil; those things are sins that go against God. If you're still a follower, you'll let yourself be cleansed. God will forgive your sins," said Xenovia, unwrapping the cloth which covered her sword.
Asia was crying now. That made Koneko angry. Her sense of decorum held her back from expressing it. Someone else had no such restraint.
"Shut the Hell up and get away from her!" yelled Issei. "How can you say that?!"
"She abandoned the Church," said Xenovia coldly.
The boy was not satisfied in the slightest with that answer. He shouted back: "The Church abandoned her first! How could anyone throw away such a kind girl just for healing someone?! The Church didn't even let her have friends!"
"Holy maidens don't need friends. Doing charity work for the community is more important. The love of God is enough," retorted
"Then where was it?! Where was the love of God when she was lonely and cast out?!" yelled Issei.
The girl with the single green bang asked: "What is she to you that you defend her like that?"
"She's a comrade! She's family! That's the reason why I'm here for her. If you try to hurt her, I'll protect her. I won't let you lay a single finger on her!" he answered.
Xenovia's eyes narrowed. "You'd go against the Church, just like that? Big words from a single Devil. Your master needs to teachy you better."
This was getting out of hand. It was not supposed to come to blows during negotiations. Rias spotted that danger as well.
She said: "Issei, that's enou-"
"If you're going to fight, I might join in as well. I will fight you," declared Yuuto.
Xenovia looked at him and asked: "Who are you?"
A smirk game upon Kiba's face as he summoned swords with his Sacred Gear. "I'm your Senpai. Unlike you, though, I was deemed a failure."
"There will be no fighting in the club room!" declared Rias. "There is a field outside we can put under a barrier."
Once issued, the challenge could not be ignored, but Rias was right in insisting on a change of venue. The place where the Peerage had trained for the ball game tournament was chosen as the location of the practice match. On the way there, Rias negotiated on the terms with Irina, who was clearly the more level-headed of the exorcists. They agreed that no lethal blows or crippling injuries would be allowed. Since there were two exorcists, and because Issei had started the provocation from the Devils' side, he was made to participate as well.
Honestly, Koneko had not minded his outburst. Despite being a total pervert, he was quick to come to the defence of his comrades. He had risked life and limb multiple times to aid those he considered important. He had done so for Asia when Raynare had held her captive; he had done so for Rias during the whole debacle with Riser; and he had been worried for Koneko too, when she had been taken out during the Rating Game. His defensiveness of his comrades was definitely one of his most admirable qualities.
It was why she could say that she liked him despite his greatest character flaw. Sadly, however, the flaw was very prominent, and it made it hard not to be angry with him when he showcased it. As the fight began, she could see it happening already.
Why must these combat uniforms be this tight? she asked herself as she took in Irina's and Xenovia's outfits.
What followed was a painfully pathetic display from both Issei and Yuuto. With the former, it was his low power and inexperience that did him in. As for the other side of the field, Yuuto's problem was that he could not keep his temper in check. His demonic swords kept getting annihilated, and his technique became sloppier by the second. Neither of the two Devils were faring well.
Then, she saw Issei's face shift. Irina noticed it too. Koneko sighed and warned the other girl: "Careful. He has a technique that allows him to strip women with just a touch."
"Hey! No fair! Why are you giving away my secret technique? We're on the same side!" he protested.
She just stared at him and said: "You're the worst."
It was a catchphrase at this point. He routinely did perverted things, garnering this response from her. On the upside, he had absolutely no ability to hide his lewd intentions, which made it easy to avoid them. That said, even if his behaviour was worthy of criticism, he derived his motivation from lewd thoughts and activities.
Case in point, as he chased a frantic Irina around the field, his speed and technique improved. He was still only at two [Boosts], but his performance was almost impressive. Irina was having a hard time evading him. In fact, it was getting to the point that she had to dodge more than deflect. And then, when Irina had backed herself up until she was just in front of Koneko and Asia, she ducked, and disaster struck.
Issei sailed through the air above the ducking exorcist. He flew right through the barrier, and his hands touched the shoulders of his two fellow Devils. His technique activated upon touch.
[Dress Break]
The clothes Koneko and Asia wore were obliterated in an instant. Nothing was left, not even underwear.
Asia tried to cover herself up, crying out: "No!"
Koneko simply shook with rage and raised her fist. He had gone too far this time, and he was seriously not helping his case with what he was saying.
"Ko-Koneko, don't be mad! I didn't meant to do that! Well, I did, but not to you and Asia. It was supposed to hit Irina, but she dodged! Oh, uh… but small boobs are still important so… I suppose I should say… thank you for the view," he said, his voice getting smaller and smaller.
The glare she sent his way was terrifying. She was struggling to find words for his stupidity, but she eventually did: "… You complete and total lecher!"
Then, she punched him in the stomach, catapulting him back inside the barrier. She had not hit him with full force; that would have been irresponsible and dangerous. Nonetheless, he needed to learn his lesson, even if he probably never would. Until such time as he toned down his antics or she stopped caring, she would use force to hammer it home.
He had to learn that stripping women did not make them harmless. Yes, it had worked against Riser's peerage, but against someone who had no sense of shame or cared more about winning than their dignity, [Dress Break] was useless. Too angry to care worked as well, as Koneko had just proven. A strategy that relied on that was unreliable, undignified, and obscene.
Although it feels kind of nice that he liked the view, a small, treacherous part of her thought. She was generally considered cute, not attractive. Although she knew why, that had been a hit to her self-confidence in recent years. So, as stupid and inappropriate as Issei's remark had been, it had been sort of a compliment.
It was partly this thought but mostly worry that saw her stay for the remainder of the match. There was a moment of fright when Irina managed to cut Issei with her sword. That could have ended in tears. As angry as she was at him right now, she did not want to see him be vapourised by a holy sword. Fortunately, it had stayed at the level of an injury. It heralded his defeat, however.
On Yuuto's side, it had not even been that much. The [Knight] was in no condition to win, and by the end of the fight, he was nothing but an exhausted pile of anger. The battle was lost.
The two exorcists left their parting comments to their defeated adversaries after that.
Xenovia's words towards Yuuto were harsh: "Senpai, if you'd kept a cool head, you would have fared much better. Gremory, I recommend you have that talk with him I mentioned. Train your servants better as well. Technique can do only so much."
Irina told Issei: "I'll tell you something. The Vanishing Dragon has already appeared. You'll meet him at some point, but if you stay like this, he'll defeat you. You- Hey, wait for me, Xenovia! Well, That would be it, Issei. Call me if you want to get judged for your sins."
The wink she sent him was odd, but Koneko did not care enough about it to say or think much about it. Now that the fight was over, she had more pressing concerns. Since Issei looked like he was not in mortal danger, she could go and fetch a spare uniform to put on.
"Let's get something to dress," she told Asia and took her along.
Once they had put on their new clothes, they came back to survey the damage. Rias was talking quite animatedly with Yuuto, so he could be left in her hands. Koneko and Asia thus decided to go look after the lecher. He was still on the ground, nursing his wound.
"Sorry you had to see that, Asia. That didn't look cool at all," he said.
Asia shook her head and said: "I'm just glad you did not die. I was afraid you'd vanish after that sword hit you. The wound is thankfully small."
His face softened at her words. As she healed his wounds, he spoke again: "I'm sorry for destroying your clothes."
Koneko was surprised to hear genuine regret in his voice. Well, at least he knew that he should not have done it.
"It's alright, Issei. You had a plan, didn't you? You fought for me too. I'm fine with anything you do for me," said Asia.
Or to you, deadpanned Koneko in her head. It was hard not to notice how smitten that girl was with Issei. It was both ironic and weird how the target of her affections was so clueless about it. At least he seemed to appreciate Asia's comment.
Speaking of comments, Koneko had her own to make: "If you had boosted again, you might have won. That you didn't notice that means you're too inexperienced."
Hopefully, he would take her harsh words to heart.
As Koneko looked away from them, she noticed that someone else was receiving harsh words as well.
"Wait! Yuuto! I won't forgive you if you run away from me! You're my [Knight]! Do you have any idea what you'd do to me if you turned Stray?! Stop!" shouted Rias.
Yuuto looked back contemptuously and said: "My comrades allowed me to escape that day. Their regrets; I need to put them into my demonic swords…"
Then, he ran.
"Yuuto, why?" cried Rias.
Koneko felt like crying too. Yuuto could not turn Stray. If he did, he would be hunted down and killed. On top of it, Rias' reputation would be tarnished as well. It was the lesser of the two concerns, but it was still important. Most of all, if Yuuto really became a Stray Devil, he would be lost forever.
I can't lose any more people, thought Koneko. Don't leave me!
She could not take being abandoned by someone dear to her again; not after Kuroka. It would destroy her.
That could not come to pass. She had to do something. Before that, she needed a plan, and before she could have a plan, she needed advice. Fortunately, she knew where she could get some.
"Damn. That reminds me of Sasuke," said Naruto.
"Who?" asked Koneko.
She had come to him as soon as Rias had dismissed the club. Instead of following their usual training regimen, she had explained the situation to him and asked him for advice. As she was now finished with that, she discussed the situation with him.
"My first real friend. I had pals before him, but no one who truly understood me," began Naruto. "But his obsession for revenge got the better of him. He left home, turned rogue, and joined a terrorist organisation in a bid to kill his brother."
"What? Why would he do that? That doesn't make sense!" exclaimed Koneko.
She resented her sister for abandoning her; there was no arguing against that. That did not mean that she wanted Kuroka to die, though. She was her sister, and she loved her despite the pain the thought of her brought on. So, she had a hard time believing how the best friend of her goofball of a teacher could do such a thing.
"Itachi, Sasuke's older brother, had killed his entire clan except Sasuke years earlier," explained the blond man.
"Oh…," said Koneko. That was indeed a reason.
Naruto nodded. "The thing is, by the time people noticed there was a problem, it was too late. He felt that too few people supported him in his goals, and that nobody understood him. I thought I did, but I didn't. So, he went rogue, and joined an insane nutcase for the promise of power. If you want to stop that from happening to your friend, you need to find a way to support him without letting him be consumed by revenge."
"That's going to be tough. I have no idea where to start. Yuuto hates holy swords. He hates Excalibur. Destroying them is all he cares about," she told him.
Her mentor laughed and said: "Then he's being stupid. Tell him you have his back. Guide him through his revenge but keep a hold of him. Keep him from directing his anger in the wrong direction"
Koneko frowned and said: "But I don't know what the wrong direction is."
"That's easy. It's the direction he's already going," retorted Naruto. "Excalibur is a symbol of his pain, not its source. Find the source, direct his anger at it, and help him let go of it once it's done."
The Nekoshou blinked in surprise. That was… enlightening, to say the least. He was right, now that she thought about it. It was not much, but now she had a point from which to start. She smiled.
"Thank you for the help, Sensei," she said.
"That's what a teacher's supposed to do, right? I'm here to teach you, and if you need something other than lessons in chakra, then I gotta teach you that," he replied with a grin. "We should get back to our exercises, though."
"Okay," said Koneko with a nod. "What is today's lesson? You said we would start with more advanced things today."
He nodded and confirmed: "Yes. You've mastered the chakra control exercises we looked at. So, today, we start with Senjutsu training."
She blinked. Worry settled in her gut. "What? Didn't you say it was too soon? What if I lose control."
"It's alright. Walking on walls and on water has trained your control over chakra sufficiently for us to start with it. And as an additional security measure, I've got this," he said.
She saw him pull out a black rod from a bag beside him. He held it in front of her.
"What's that?" she asked.
"Touch it."
She did, and she shivered. There was something weird and unnatural going on with that thing.
"This is a special device Master Fukasaku used when I learned Senjutsu under him. It can expel all natural energy from the body with a single hit," explained Naruto, "Though it doesn't work against masters of the art who can control natural energy perfectly. It's a training tool, not one for combat."
Koneko was still hesitant about it, and asked: "Isn't it way too soon to start? I don't feel confident with this."
He shook his head and answered: "No. If anything, it's almost too late. You would be right if you were an ordinary chakra user, but you're not; you're a Nekoshou."
She paled. "How did you find that out?" she asked.
"I'm a Sage, a master of sensing natural energy. I've been at it for thousands of years," he told her.
She was shocked at hearing his age. She had only thought he was a few centuries old at best, but this… If that was true, it meant that he knew what he was doing. There were questions, of course, but those took the backseat as he continued his explanation.
"I sensed how the natural energy around you moves. Figuring out what species of Youkai you were was a question of time at that point. That's why it took me a few days to lure you to my shop after our first encounter. Now that I know what I know, I have to get you started on Senjutsu as soon as possible. Nekoshou like you are meant to immerse themselves in natural energy, or else your bodies don't develop like they should."
Koneko looked at herself. She was short, flat, and had a body that was only beginning to stop looking like a child's. At her age, her sister had already been quite curvy, and until now she had believed that the reason for this was simply individual differences, but if her teacher was correct, she was supposed to look more mature at this point. She grimaced slightly.
"Are you sure it's not just me?" she asked.
"Yes," he answered with conviction. "Your body is starved of natural energy. The only reason you're developing at all is because you're a Devil, but you won't be able to keep compensating for long. You absolutely need Senjutsu."
She sighed in surrender, and asked: "Okay. How does it work."
"Eh, it depends on the style," answered Naruto. "I was taught by the Toad Sages, but their style might clash with your Nekoshou heritage. There is also the style used by Hashirama Senju, the founder of my home village, but the requirements are too stringent. So, I'll have to teach you a neutral style I cobbled together over the centuries. So far, I've never failed to make a student a Sage with this method. You'll have it down in no time, believe it!"
The grin he had by the end was reassuring, she found. She nodded at him and said: "I'm ready."
"Good. Then sit down. The first step to mastering Senjutsu of any style is to sit completely still. That was the most difficult part for me when I learned, but I have confidence you'll get it sooner than I did. You're not a hyperactive knucklehead, after all," said Naruto.
She followed his instructions and sat down. It only took her a short moment to notice that sitting still was indeed hard. The urge to move was there after less than a minute, and small twitches she had never noticed cropped up every now and then. She was making progress, however. Half an hour later, she was completely still.
Suddenly, Koneko felt something. It was around her, permeating the air, and it clung to her. She fought down the urge to react, but a momentary twitch of surprise cost her the focus necessary to keep going.
"I lost it," she said, somewhat disappointed.
"Are you kidding? That was great! It took me days to get to that point. You're a natural at this," praised Naruto. "Try it again."
The young Nekoshou stilled again and refocussed. When she felt the natural energy around her again, she did not react. It moved towards her on its own, enveloping her and eventually seeping into her skin. As it entered her body, she marvelled at its purity. There were no negative emotions captured in the energy. It was as though it unloaded all its baggage before entering her. She felt at peace.
There was a tingly feeling in her fingers as she drew in more and more of the energy. It spread to her arms and her shoulders. Then, suddenly, she felt pain on her head, and the feeling was gone.
"Ow," she said quietly and opened her eyes. "What happened?"
"You drew in too much energy. Well, not quite. You drew it in too fast. A whole lot more could have fit into you, but you didn't balance it properly," explained her mentor. "Remember that you have to balance three energies in your body, not two."
She blinked. "Oh, I forgot."
Until she had met him, she had thought chakra was pure life force, physical energy in other words. Then, he had shown her Ninshu and connected her physical energy to her spiritual energy. The two balanced themselves out naturally, so it was easy to forget that they were, in fact, not one and the same.
Her mentor just laughed and said: "Don't worry about it. I was an idiot back then, and I still got it. I needed an analogy with ice cream of all things to finally understand. In any case, you need to not only draw in the natural energy; you need to join it with the two halves of your chakra and balance it in an equilibrium. If you do that, it will stay balanced until the natural energy dissipates."
The lesson continued for another two hours. In that time, Naruto used the rod a few more times, but Koneko had an extreme aptitude for Senjutsu. It was just how Nekoshou were built. Her progress was remarkable, and by the end of their session, she was close to truly generating Sage Chakra.
"That was great, little one! I'm impressed with your progress," he praised and ruffled her hair.
"Don't call me little," she protested.
He rolled his eyes. "We've been over this. I'll call you little until you're forty."
She scoffed and said: "I'll get you to stop calling me that sooner."
"We'll see. At least you'll be growing like you should now that you let the natural energy in. That way, you'll stop being a midget soon," he teased.
She hit him in the shoulder. "Stupid Sensei," she complained.
He simply laughed at her and said: "You're not the first to call me that. I've grown to like it. Now scram, get home, and rest. And think about what I said earlier when we started, okay?"
She nodded. "I will."
And she would. With her training done, she could focus on solutions for the problem she had be pondering before it. There had to be a way too help Yuuto and stop him from going down the deep end.
"A solution will present itself, you'll see. I'm rarely wrong about stuff like that, believe it!"
When Koneko was gone, Naruto took out a phone.
"Baldwin, it's me."
"…"
"Of course I know what time it is. Listen, the main Churches screwed up. I need you to get in contact with Pahaliah."
AN: Well, hello there, dear readers!
I did not expect to be finished with yet another chapter before the new year. For those who have not followed my writing process during Headmates, my first story, I will say "don't get used to it." As the readers of that story know, my usual schedule is "three weeks or less" when it comes to new chapters. It will largely continue in the same vein for this story. I've just hit a bit of a writing frenzy this month.
As for the chapter itself, I hope you've enjoyed it. I've tried to condense a lot of stuff, about half of Volume 3, down to one chapter, and I do plan to slow the pace a bit in the future. It's just that a lot of stories get stuck in the Kokabiel arc and never move on. I wanted to avoid that.
My plans for this story are mostly in flux, so answers to some questions I get asked in the reviews and PMs may change over its course, but I've got a rough structure for certain key events.
Now, there have been several reviews that have brought up two points I wish to address:
1) As I mentioned last chapter, I will not mess with the canon pairings as they currently are. That means no Naruto x Yasaka ship. That said, there is someone under consideration for him. I'll have to see if it works and then flesh it out a bit.
2) I will not reduce Issei's role into irrelevance. I'm well aware that he's not a popular character, but I like him. He has positive character traits and redeeming qualities that often get overlooked because of just how blatant his negative traits appear, but there is an actual reason why so many women fall in love with him over the course of DxD. Besides that, I got the inspiration to write this story because Issei's and Koneko's Japanese VAs are married, hence the part of the title that says The Dragon's Hell Cat. Throwing him out the window just feels bad to me.
That said, I hope that neither of these points have diminished your enjoyment of the story.
I wish to extend a big thank you to all my readers, especially those who have favourited, followed and reviewed. Your input is very much appreciated.
Well, that's it for now. Merry Christmas, and until next time. Stay happy and healthy, everyone!
