Dark revelations

Tsunade could not help but smirk as she saw Kushina almost literally bounce her way into the room. Minato had been sulking die to him not having appeared within the story and that his boy was, in this world, not his.

There was some unease however due to the fact that 9 tailed foxes were a real thing in the world that they were watching. Though some of the females, Hinata especially, were in a state o almost permanent blush due to the images of the boy that had been shown. Not that he could exactly be called a boy due to his age.

Thus it was that they all sat down and readied them selves for what was to come. Pop corn and various other drinks and snacks were prepared for the up and coming event. Thus it was that the event started and every one quietened down. There had after all just been an assassination attempt upon Naruto and they wanted to see how he would handle such a thing compared to how the Naruto they knew would handle it.

…

Chapter 3

Hungary, Corinthia Hotel

Across the street from the Corinthia Hotel three members of the Cleaners were travelling up to the roof of a building to examine the spot that the grenade launcher had been fired from. It had taken some time but doing the maths and tracing the most likely trajectory brought them to this place. The three Cleaners were Samuel and his subordinates Yvette and Gustav. There they found an ideal place to set up for a sniper…and in the middle of it was a blonde fox lying lazily on the ground. "Is that a fox?" asked Gustav to no one in particular. "What's it doing here on a roof in the city?"

Yvette cooed, "What a wonderful little cutie! What are you doing here little guy?" She giggled when the fox's ears twitched.

Samuel watched as Gustav tried to shoo the animal away and Yvette tried to baby talk the fox into submission. Finally the fox got up and left much to Gustav's relief and Yvette's disappointment.

"He was adorable!" said Yvette irritably.

"It was vermin!" growled Gustav.

"Can we please just get to work?" asked Samuel. "Good god; it was just a fox!"

…

The raikage had to hold back a groan at an all to familiar type of scene. Despite the fact that they all do there jobs well it was an unfortunate side effect that senior jonin tended to develop personality quirks to help deal with the stresses that are put upon them by the tasks that they are assigned. It just so happened that unlike other villages, his shinobi tended to go down the childish route. It really tested his patience.

Tobirama was in a similar predicament but was unable to do anything about it. His brother despite being one of if not the strongest kage in history meant that when the man decided to sulk in his overly childish manner only his wife could handle the man, mostly because she terrified him in a way that only an Uzumaki can.

Hungary, the city of Dunaújváros

Forty three miles south of Budapest on the Danube is the city of Dunaújváros. It is highly industrialized and was built after World War II. The city is widely known for steel production. Below the factory complex of Dunaferr Steelworks was the underground safe house that Kraven had constructed secretly during the Communist era. Only a few members of the Old World Coven at Ördögház had any idea that it existed and even fewer actually could confirm it. Kraven and a powerfully built Chinese man with a V shaped scar marring his face were talking to an absolutely gorgeous Japanese woman on the large flat screen television. The look on her otherwise beautiful face was quite angry.

Images of the people were shown upon a screen so that those in the room would know who the players are. For some of them though they were more amazed by the technology on display. Their world had essentially been in a state of stagnation due to the constant wars that had been on going. So to see what to them was a new creation , the television, in such a way and being used as what was essentially a messenger bird was shocking to them.

You two sent a human assassin with a grenade launcher to take out the likes of Uzumaki Naruto-sama?! Is that what you are telling me Kraven?!" asked the seething woman.

Kraven cringed at the woman's wrath, "Lady Kurami,*① it was Shǒuwèi's idea. I assure you that the entire room was destroyed in the explosion. Our employee was very thorough." Lady Kurami let out a feral growl, "Uzumaki Naruto, or Naruto Corvinus as you know him could easily shrug of even an anti tank round if he wasn't caught by surprise." (Shǒuwèi scoffed).

Kiba could not hold back the snort at this mans snort, it had a all too familiar arrogance imbedded into it. In other words it sounded too much like a sasuke snort for him. He did however try to keep it to himself as everyone was all too aware that Sakura still held a crush close to her heart for the emo.

"Though he's a half breed Lord Naruto is probably the most powerful and fearsome of the kitsune race in existence! I told you both time and time again that if he ever appeared to you to not engage him and direct him to me so I could talk to him. Now the entire plan behind the Far East Coven is in danger. The yako*② that serve me fear him and the zenko*③ do not associate with him as he is a half breed. You are a fool Kraven. As for you Shǒuwèi, you must be stupid and blind to think that would have worked. Do not expect me to protect you from Lord Naruto's wrath." Shǒuwèi growled and said, "I do not need your protection. I will prove to you who is the stronger Lady Kurami, that half breed is no match for me."

Kurami laughed scornfully. "Gloat about that to me after you've defeated him Shǒuwèi. You lost to him countless times when he was a General for the Manchu when the Qing Dynasty defeated the Ming Dynasty you served in China. Hell, he held the honorary title of Manchu Prince when he crushed your forces in Southern China. It took you twenty years to recover from your injuries after he defeated you or have you forgotten? You were beaten so badly that it took you years to recover. You still have that scar on your face from his blade. I've lost count of how many times he's bested you through the centuries Shǒuwèi."

Kushina barked out a laugh at this. Her sochi was continuously demolishing this guy and humiliating him. That is the typical Uzumaki sadism kicking in their. True the usual outlet for such is in their pranks but still it existed and no one wanted to be on the receiving end of such an inclined Uzumaki.

Shǒuwèi roared, "THIS TIME IT WILL BE DIFFERENT! This time it will be just me and him with no armies to protect him from my might! I am a five tailed huxian*④ and he is a mere half breed. I will prove to you I am mightier and you will see who truly the better choice in a mate is!"

Shǒuwèi hated Naruto with a passion for two reasons; Naruto had outwitted and outmanoeuvred Shǒuwèi from the 1600s till the 1900s in all kinds of wars in all sorts of countries in the Far East. Every time Shǒuwèi felt he had victory in his grasp the wily, clever and utterly ruthless Naruto would turn the tables and crush Shǒuwèi's forces. That would have been reason enough for the huxian to loathe the kitsune for all time but there was something even worse. Shǒuwèi wanted Lady Kurami to be his mate but for some unfathomable reason the seductive vixen held only Naruto as worthy of the title. She'd had countless lovers over the centuries including Shǒuwèi but in the end it was only Naruto she wanted and considered all her dalliances as poor substitutes for the damned half breed.

This caused the Inuzuka in the room to laugh. If there was one insult above all others it was to be used as a placeholder for ones truly desired mate. It was essentially them telling you that you will always be second to the other. That alone would hurt but for the chosen to continuously defeat them in battle thus proving the superiority would only sting more.

Reining in his temper Shǒuwèi growled, "Mark my words Lady Kurami, when next you hear from Kraven and I; it will be news of Uzumaki Naruto's death!"

Kurami's purple eyes narrowed and she said, "If you don't win this time Shǒuwèi then don't bother to survive because I will never see you as worthy if you fail again." She ended the transmission from her end and Shǒuwèi roared in impotent rage at the blank screen…

…

The Frigate Sancta Helena

Samuel came in to report to his commander Alexander Corvinus on the team's findings. "We estimate the weapon used was a Heckler & Koch AG-36 grenade launcher and the explosion was consistent with a 40mm high explosive round. It's widely used and reliable. Odds are whoever had it was using a laser sight due to the range. Unfortunately due to the fact it is so widely used attempting to track such a weapon would be virtually impossible as it is easily procured on the black market. I'm afraid tracing the assassin through his or her weapon of choice would be a dead end sir."

Alexander sighed. "Well, on the positive side we know that both Naruto and his guest are alive since he escorted her to her car last night. Any information on that vampiress?"

"She's a Death Dealer of some note named Selene." replied Samuel. "We don't have a lot on her but she's been active in the records for hundreds of years and often is a team leader. She also is noted to be connected to the Vampire Elder Viktor in some way. Aside of that we have no idea what her place in the vampire hierarchy is or what connections she might have with Naruto Corvinus."

"Anything else?" asked Alexander.

Samuel shook his head. "No sir, I'm afraid not."

"I have something else." came a voice from nowhere. Both Samuel and Alexander jumped in fright as a blonde fox appeared in the middle of Alexander's desk. "Your security here is too lax old man."

This caused snickers to break out amongst the konoha shinobi. Whilst they had not noticed it at the start of their careers the konoha 11 had never actually put much thought into how stealthy Naruto was, mostly due to his constant wearing of the colour orange. It was only after they had become chunin that they realised just how good at infiltration he was as to wear such loud colours and still not be caught was something none of them could achieve.

"N-Naruto?" asked Alexander.

"In the flesh old man." The fox's single tail shimmered and became nine. "I've practically been tap dancing around your office here to see if you'd notice me and neither one of you seemed to sense a thing. If I'd been here to kill you then you would be dead and I would have escaped. Tsk. Very sloppy."

Alexander looked at Naruto. "So you have nine tails now; you've grown powerful as your Mother was my son."

"Humph." said Naruto. "You haven't seen me in 1400 years old man; of course I've grown stronger."

Samuel was a bit frazzled. "Mister Naruto, how did you find your way here?"

The kitsune gave Samuel a withering stare. "I was the fox up on the roof of that building when you were searching for evidence of the grenade launcher. I followed you back to your car and rode over here with you. I've been within a few feet of you the entire time."

This caused the shinobi to blink at that statement. To be able to do such a thing was unthinkable but then again with that much experience one would have to learn a few tricks of the trade. It was also quite funny that these trained specialists who work in a supernatural field completely missed such an obvious trick.

"Though I'm happy to see you this is unexpected Naruto. We have a lot to catch up on." said Alexander. "Won't you show me your face my son?"

Naruto answered, "This isn't a social call old man. I didn't plan to come to visit you at all. However, I have need of your intelligence network on this ship."

Samuel asked, "Why would we share that with you?"

Naruto growled, "First of all I spared your miserable lives, second of all the old man owes me for abandoning me to say the least and thirdly….I know who the assassin is and what he looks like. I want him and I want whoever hired him dead by my hands. You have the means to enable me to track Marcel Feist down and I'm going to put you to work."

"How could you know his name?" asked Samuel.

The fox asked, "Remember how you all saw me laying on the very spot the assassin was when he fired?" Samuel nodded. "Figure it out genius."

Samuel looked puzzled and a bit irritated at his question not being answered. Alexander snapped his fingers. "You have psychometry don't you Naruto?"

"It seems your decrepit old head still has some brain cells after all old man." said Naruto sarcastically.

"Psychometry?" asked Sakura confusion clear in her voice. There was a flash from the note that provided context. Walking over Mei the Mizukage went and retrieved it before reading.

"Psychometry, one of a branch of abilities to do with the mind, This ability gives a person the ability to 'read' an objects history via touch." This seemed to gain a certain yamanikas attention as her clan tended to revolve around mind techniques.

Samuel was going to tell Naruto off for insulting Alexander but the Corvinus patriarch silenced him with a frown. Samuel then asked, "What is psychometry?"

Naruto face pawed and shook his head.

There was an image of a small fox with 9 tails with its paw on its face. The sight was adorable, something which was quickly confirmed by the loud squeal of 'Kawaii!'from the female contingent within the room.

"You should know this. Psychometry is the ability to touch on object and 'read' it. By sitting on the spot Marcel Feist was on I was able to tell who had been there and what they were doing."

"I thought that was a myth." said Samuel.

"So are vampires and werewolves Samuel." said Alexander smiling. "You have to learn that the supernatural is all around us every day my young friend."

Samuel looked embarrassed and said, "Of course sir; forgive me."

…

Ördögház Mansion

Selene was surfing the web looking for a description of kitsune; most of it was simple folklore or just plain ridiculous but then again almost everything out there on vampires was too (the idea that vampires glitter in the sunlight made Selene nauseous).

Kitsune are believed to possess superior intelligence, long life, and magical powers. They are a type of yōkai, or spiritual entity, and the word kitsune is often translated as fox spirit. However, this does not mean that kitsune are ghosts, nor that they are fundamentally different from regular foxes. Because the word spirit is used to reflect a state of knowledge or enlightenment, all long-lived foxes gain supernatural abilities.

Once again the context paper flashed indicating that it had been updated. This time it was Minato who took it.

"The 'web' or internet is a creation that has many purposes. One of which is to contain human knowledge, Thus it is there are ways to access almost the entire repository of human knowledge from across the world from a device such as the one she is using." This rose some eyebrows Everything? Whilst they could see the gains from such a thing there were negatives as well. Knowledge is power after all.

There are two common classifications of kitsune. The zenko are benevolent, celestial foxes associated with the Fox Kami Inari; they are sometimes simply called Inari foxes. On the other hand, the yako (also called nogitsune) tend to be mischievous or even malicious. Local traditions add further types. For example, a ninko is an invisible fox spirit that human beings can only perceive when it possesses them.

"Well that's certainly interesting. I wonder which type Naruto is." thought Selene aloud.

Kushina could not help but speak up here " I doubt my sochi would fall into either of those ,too narrow for him he probably fluctuates between the two." said the red head with a confident smirk, it was an observation that none of them said anything against as it was the most likely answer.

Physically, kitsune are noted for having as many as nine tails. Generally, a greater number of tails indicates an older and more powerful fox; in fact, some folktales say that a fox will only grow additional tails after it has lived 100 years. One, five, seven, and nine tails are the most common numbers in folk stories. When a kitsune gains its ninth tail; its fur becomes white or gold. These kyūbi no kitsune (nine-tailed foxes) gain the abilities to see and hear anything happening anywhere in the world. Other tales credit them with infinite wisdom.

Selene continued to look over things like shape shifting, their hoshi no Tama (star ball) and even their trickster nature. 'I hate to say it but Naruto fits this trickster category to a tee. I'll have to ask him just exactly how he robbed the Red Cross. He may have turned into a beautiful woman or something.' she thought chuckling to herself. 'I guess I should look up this Shadow General…'

She thought back to Naruto's rather angry exclamation. 'Look up the Shadow General called the Blood Red Tide that won the Battle of Sekigahara and later the Siege of Osaka for Tokugawa Ieyasu that was the founder of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan and the atrocities that were committed! Then tell me no one's families would hold a grudge for hundreds of years.'

"I wonder what he meant.' thought the dark haired beauty. After searching all over the web Selene found a research paper online from Osaka University's Archaeology program that had been transcribed.

This caused the kage to really pay attention. True it had said that he had been a general many times over the years but they had no idea how good he was. The boy was naturally charismatic and had come up with good strategies but he had no leadership experience. This version of him did so they could evaluate his potential from this. They knew that they were two different people with differences due to their situations but it would give them a base line to work off of.

…

TOKUGAWA'S SHADOW GENERAL

Preface:

Most of these writings are taken directly from the Chronicles of the Japanese Imperial Courts during the 1660-70s. They are reflections and are folktale like in nature meant for story telling but they do give us some valuable insights on the early Tokugawa Shogunate period. Here are some excerpts with commentary as the full translation has still not been completed:

On 21 October in the year 1600 the Battle of Sekigahara took place and Tokugawa Ieyasu who started out with 75,000 men against 120,000 credited his a major part of his victory in his private journals to a 'Shadow General' that had the nickname of 'Akai.' In his retirement Ieyasu stated that wherever the enemy stood unyielding Akai and his small army of 1,000 red clad warriors could break the will of the enemy and stood invincible. He claimed Akai won the battle for him. So who was this Akai? Not much is known about Akai other than he wore red armour (Akai Yoroi) and lived alone in a forest. He later earned the name 'Blood Red Tide.'

…

A group of Tokugawa's forces sought to occupy the forested area and were slain to the last man. After 100 men died there a brave retainer carrying only a walking staff entered the forest and found that dismembered bodies of the men sent in littered the area. There he found a man in a tattered crimson cloak and straw hat fishing at a lake in the Center of the forest. He could not see the man's face under the shade of the hat. The retainer greeted him in a friendly way and said, "I am a retainer of Tokugawa Ieyasu-sama and this forest is rumoured to be haunted by a vengeful spirit that took the lives of the many warriors scattered about. Does this not concern you my friend?"

"There is no vengeful spirit here, only you and I." the man in the straw hat said simply.

"Troublesome," came the famous words of the Nara. "True people have active minds and tend to attribute things that the don't or can't understand to such things." said the Nara as it was how such superstitions begin. One thing that is unexplainable would happen and then it would start to grow through word of mouth.

"Well at least he is still as blunt as he has always been" said Ino getting nods from the group.

The retainer said, "Then you slew those men? For I certainly did not."

The crimson cloaked man said, "No man came and spoke to me. They hid like cowards behind their weapons and threatened me to make me leave while I was fishing. I do not tolerate such treatment." Then he turned back to his fishing.

But the retainer was clever and asked to join the man in fishing. They spoke of many things while they fished together. After some time the retainer said, "Tell me friend, if I told you Tokugawa-Sama was going to send 1,000 men here to drive you out of your fishing spot then what would your reply to him be?"

The crimson cloaked man's face was hidden by the straw hat but the retainer could tell the man was thinking. Finally he said, "I would tell you to inform Tokugawa-Sama that the bodies of 1,000 of his men would lay slaughtered in this forest and Akai would still be fishing here."

"Hmmm…I believe your words Akai-san." said the retainer. "What if Tokugawa-Sama offered you those 1,000 men to fight for you as one of his Generals?"

Akai answered, "Then I would make them unstoppable as the most virulent plague and serve Tokugawa-Sama as his retainer."

…

This is mostly fabricated but records show that a General named 'Akai' appeared from nowhere and was given 1,000 men to command. He was noted to live in a forest though its location is not named. It was also noted that his background and birth were a complete mystery to those around him. No one ever saw his face but his mask and armour were described.

This cause those within the room to smirk at this. He was up to his usual tricks again. Kushina was preening at this practically vibrating in her pride of her son the only thing stopping her from loudly praising him was Minato. Much to the amusement of those that knew the couple.

…

Akai was said to have offended the other Generals sensitivities when he made this claim but Tokugawa Ieyasu felt the hand of fate at work and said to his retainer, "Bring this Akai before me and tell him he may pick 1,000 men from all the armies at my disposal so long as they are not officers." The other generals privately scoffed at this idea but did not question their lord. The next day the retainer returned with a man clad in very old style red samurai armour that wore the mask of a smiling fox. Many of the generals wore fearsome masks of demons or dragons but a smiling fox? They all laughed at Akai.

It was said the youngest and most boisterous General named Warai exclaimed, "This clown is no General! I will strike him down with a single strike of my blade. Tokugawa-Sama, may I test this fool?"

Tokugawa said, "It is your life youngster; if you wish to test yourself against Akai-san then go ahead and try."

It was silent within the room as none of them had expected him to get this type of reception. True they were shinobi and thus did not look at things the way they did but still it was a grave mistake to underestimate an opponent just because of their looks.

Ohnoki on the other hand was in agreement with the leader. If the boy challenged him and lost he would simply traded one combatant for another better swordsman. If not he would not have to worry about a possible unknown within his ranks. He was starting to like this Tokugawa.

The young General laughed and said, "Fox clown, your armour looks like something my grandfather's grandfather would have worn. You are so amusing that I almost hate to kill you." Then he took his katana out and got in the ready position. "Come at me clown!"

Akai placed his hand on the hilt of his blade and said in a growling voice, "Fool." In a flash the young General stopped laughing and fell to pieces. Even the young General's katana and armour were sliced into pieces as if they were made of rice paper. No one even saw Akai move. Blood erupted everywhere from the young General's remains and Akai stood impassively and aloof as the blood spattered on his red armour. That's when everyone noticed the fox mask was no longer smiling but bearing its teeth in a ferocious snarl. He bowed to Tokugawa and said, "If it pleases you my Lord I will choose my soldiers now."

Minato could not help but shiver at this as Kushina was known for her swordsmanship and it seemed that this version of his son had indeed inherited that from her. That along with her anger when her skills are questioned.

After receiving permission Akai went through the men standing there and seemed to choose at random. He looked at each without saying a word and then motioned to those he picked to stand away from the other armies. The men he picked were not the biggest or the strongest or even the most fleet of foot. When he was done all of the General's were puzzled as to why he picked men that seemed very ordinary instead of exceptional. Tokugawa-Sama wisely knew there was a reason but asked to quell the questions in his General's hearts and minds. "Tell me General Akai; what made you choose those particular men?"

"They did not flinch in my presence as all the others did." said Akai. Akai turned to his thousand men and said in a commanding voice that chilled all the others to the bone, "Welcome to the path of carnage. Now follow me." That was only the beginning and Akai returned to his forested area to train his men for the next few months…

Tokugawa had only called upon Akai once six months later and Akai said his men were not ready yet but should be blooded. Whoever General Akai's Army was sent to face was slaughtered to the last man and it was said that Akai's men were literally bathed in so much blood that their armour was stained red like their commander. One of Tokugawa's Generals named Urami had been sent along to observe and quickly defected along with his army after witnessing the massacre. He renounced Tokugawa and said he would never serve alongside monsters.

This caused some to flinch Minato despite flinching knew that despite his hatred of the old man Danzo he was correct on one thing, sometimes it was required for the safety of the people that the men get their hands dirty in foul ways. This did not mean he had to like it or that he could not try to avoid it if possible but there will always be times where a great evil is in fact the lesser evil.

…

A young General named Warai was said to have been cut down for having too much pride in the very presence of Tokugawa himself. It also was recorded that General Urami defected to those opposing Tokugawa during this time frame. Neither incident even makes mention of General Akai but the facts do line up with the story.

…

A year later the Battle of Sekigahara took place and Akai would settle things with Urami once and for all. After a hard day fighting for all involved General Akai's Army was sent to break the iron defences of a village named Korosu. Ironically it was defended by General Urami who defected not so long ago. Urami had 7,000 men at his disposal and he found the idea of Akai attacking with a seventh of that number to be utter foolishness.

…

In the official history of the battle Urami's forces were mentioned as 'erased' though once again no mention is made of Akai.

This got the kage attention as the term erased was very rarely used in combat reports. It had a very specific usage meaning that the enemy no longer existed in their entirety. It was not a term to be used lightly. It was the reason why defeated was most commonly used. As despite having won there was the chance of the enemy having survived. This was one of the reasons why Minato was so scary to many as he was one of few who had gained that upon the war records during the shinobi war.

…

General Akai's 1,000 men drove down into General Urami's forces of 7,000 without rest or respite. They gave no mercy and no quarter. General Akai commanded, "Spare no one!" and led the charge himself. No man withstood him or his followers. General Urami and his men were distraught as they were driven back towards their home village of Korosu. No matter what Urami's soldiers did, they were slain utterly. Some even tried to flee under the onslaught but General Akai hated cowards more than anything and had them cut down mercilessly.

When General Urami's forces found their backs close to the river upstream of Korosu Village Urami exclaimed, "We will give no more ground! The time to counterattack is now!" The unspeakable slaughter inflicted upon them by the red clad warriors cut Urami's forces to less than a third. Finally General Urami's remaining 2,000 battered and broken men fell back to the river. Urami himself hid behind his strongest warriors until General Akai cut every last one of them down. Finally General Urami prostrated himself on the blood soaked soil and tried to surrender in fear of General Akai and his thousand red warriors though his army still outnumbered the red clad warriors two to one. "We surrender to you Akai-sama; we will serve you as your loyal vassals if only you will spare us."

General Akai said in his deep growling voice, "So you said to Tokugawa-Sama before you betrayed him." Akai turned to his men and steam seemed to roll from the mouth of his fox like mask. "Dismember every last one of these cowards and throw the pieces in the river. Only when the water flows red and their families view the carnage downstream will that village surrender. Then I will be satisfied."

Within hours the formerly unbreakable village of Korosu that held the Tokugawa forces at bay surrendered on their hands and knees as their spirits were so broken seeing their dead clansmen's dismembered remains that they had no will left to fight. A few clans that Tokugawa Ieyasu ordered spared such as the Shimazu Clan were fortunate. For any opposing clan not protected by Tokugawa's orders that General Akai's army came upon was slaughtered to the last infant. After the Battle of Sekigahara General Akai was known as the Blood Red Tide because wherever he walked be it over earth or across the water the blood of his enemies drenched the soil or filled the streams nearby. It was said the families that survived the Purge of the Blood Red Tide swore vengeance for 1,000 years against the red clad general.

"Well the boy was telling the truth" Said Ohnoki as he knew such oaths of vengeance were not taken lightly. He also knew that people like that general were not trust worthy in his eyes. If someone can turn their coat once they can easily do it again. True the boy had been a bit savage and could have went about it in a different manner however their was a good reason why. First the town surrendered without a fight. Then there was the fact that his reputation would now precede him and some of his enemies would likely surrender when they see his men thus leading to less loss of life. True it could also have the opposite effect but most often it wouldn't this was the problem with such tactics it was never a one size fits all situation.

….

Legend said that Tokugawa Ieyasu's other Generals begged the Shogun to never give the Blood Red Tide more than 1,000 men for they feared Akai would kill them all. Akai was rarely seen outside of the battlefield but was always available should Tokugawa Ieyasu need him and his army. There is a further record of note that the Blood Red Tide appeared only once in the Imperial court. He was said to have shown up in his usual armour and all the others were shocked as they were dressed in their finery to respect the newly appointed Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu.

….

The Blood Red Tide stood aloof and kneeled respectfully before Tokugawa while wishing him a long and successful reign. After speaking with the Shogun the Blood Red Tide stood alone and away from the others and all feared him save two, Tokugawa himself who trusted the Blood Red Tide implicitly and the beautiful courtesan Kurami Hotaru who was immediately smitten with him. It was said no man could resist her charms but The Blood Red Tide took little notice of her and left alone that night without her company.

"Ahh, so this is how she knew and met him" said Tsunade getting nods from those around her. She was proud at his strength of will as the woman was one of great beauty yet he still left without her.

Minato despite not showing it or saying anything was proud of his son being able to attract such fine women. He would never say it out loud as he knew that he would never survive a pissed kushina. What he did not know that his wife was on the same track of mind as she wanted grand kids. The only way for that to happen was if he found a worthy female. Not that she would say anything out loud, it would ruin her image. Then again she never did tell Minato about her and mikoto and their experimenting. Meh his loss.

….

It should be noted the actually was a highly influential courtesan named Kurami Hotaru and for her to not get what she wanted was unheard of. After that point General Akai or the Blood Red Tide only made one other appearance at the Siege of Osaka were he once again left a trail of corpses and slaughter in his wake. As those records are still being reconstructed a transcription is not available at this point. One thing is certain; whoever the Blood Red Tide or Akai was known to have spread such carnage that all but Tokugawa himself and Akai's own men feared him and his fellow Generals avoided him whenever possible. He may forever remain a mystery.

…

Selene finished the document and thought to herself, 'How could such a person as Naruto do such things? I can see why he would think others held a grudge though. Just who are you really Naruto Corvinus?'

"Yes having such a record on the field of battle would indeed leave an impression. I have my own father as an example" growled out the Raikage. This got nods of agreement as for Tsunade her own grandfather certainly left behind a massive shadow which had always been there. They all knew of someone that was in the same category of 'larger than life'.

…

Hungary, the city of Érd

Érd was just south of Budapest and with the Cleaner's help Naruto tracked the assassin Marcel Feist to the Romantika Hotel. Feist was sitting down to read the newspaper that had the 'Corinthia Hotel Attack' on the front page and smirked. Suddenly he had a blade at his throat. "Enjoying your handiwork Mister Feist?" asked a voice behind him. "I can't tell you how irritated I was when you tried to blow my lady friend and I up with that grenade launcher." Naruto wasn't happy. "If you want to live another day Mister Feist I believe you should tell me who hired you and where I can find them." hissed the kitsune. "Otherwise your next breath may well be your last."

….Naruto had to hand it to Marcel Feist. He was a tough cookie and it took chopping off all the fingers on his right hand one knuckle at a time before the man completely broke. He had been hired by a Chinese man named Shǒuwèi (it couldn't be….) but the actual money was transferred in by a man named Kraven. Naruto already had traced the money transfer thanks to the Cleaners but he didn't know Kraven's location. Feist finally explained that the entire transaction was held at a business office at the Dunaferr Steelworks in Dunaújváros. As Naruto no longer had any use for the assassin he burned him alive with fox fire and then removed the silencing barrier he'd put around the room…

Naruto quickly departed as he had an appointment to keep…

Whilst the kage nodded at this as a necessity it did not make it any easier on those of the younger generation. Sure they had all heard about the ominous T&I department and knew that the T stood for torture but they also knew that there was a difference between accepting such things mentally and seeing them actually happen. It was not a pleasant thing to accept.

…

Ördögház Mansion

Selene was relaxing in the tub and soaking. The warm water had done wonders to relax her sore muscles. Maybe it was because of her own warrior background but somehow, she was accepting of Naruto's past. She'd exterminated countless lycans so the dark haired Death Dealer didn't see how Naruto's situation was any different. Truthfully Selene felt that she'd like to see that side of Naruto in action. She was confident that Naruto would certainly be a match for Amelia or her savoir Viktor. Selene wasn't as sure about Elder Marcus though. She wondered if Naruto was related to Marcus closely; like a son or grandson. Elder Marcus was supposed to be awakened soon so perhaps he could shed some light on the subject.

For now though, Selene was under orders to relax and fully recover. She wanted to see Naruto but she knew he was busy tracking that assassin. Once she was healed Selene planned to join him in the hunt…it could be fun…

This was too much for a certain red head as she broke out in sinister chuckles. The more she learned about this Selene the more she liked her. A Strong and loyal woman who could be there beside her son in his times of need? Yes she was really beginning to like this woman a lot.

…

Dunaújváros

The young lycan tracker Ildi was in Dunaújváros on a scouting mission and the smell of the soot and steel industry was bothering her sensitive nose. Her job was to find Kraven's liar so Lucien could pass that information to Naruto Corvinus. The idea had her excited for two reasons. One was they could get rid of that fool Kraven that she hated with a passion and the other was simple. She liked Naruto's scent. Ildi was young (she was only 70) but pretty strong and very talented. She hoped that maybe Naruto could become her 'playmate.' Unlike the vampires, the lycans didn't have taboos about having mates that weren't lycans. Unfortunately she wasn't strong enough to go on dangerous missions like this alone…

Thus she was stuck with the muscle bound lycan clod Ambrus who she'd sooner shoot than work with. He was strong; Ildi acknowledged that. But he was also a complete idiot in her opinion. He tried to have his way with Ildi once but she tore the living hell out of him with her claws. He still wanted her but Ildi wasn't going to ever let him touch her again. She planned to cut his balls off if he ever tried anything. Still; Ambrus was always trying to sweet talk her and impress her with his overwhelming manliness. It was times like these that Ildi really appreciated people like Raze. He was strong and smart…and quiet.

This got inquiring looks at kiba and his mother the clan head of the inuzuka. They had all known that the clan had more feral qualities but this was something else. Tsume could not help but sigh at this "yes this is similar to our clans way of selecting mates though I should say that it depends upon the people, some prefer strength others smarts so whilst yes the roots of it are the same there are differences" she explained to the group. What she said was true as they did follow their instincts on such matters and it was different person to person however it appeared that these lycans had a much higher drive on an instinctual level.

With Ildi leading the way they soon found a trail. Ildi knew Kraven's scent from him visiting the den. "Maybe we can go out for drinks after we find this place Ildi." said Ambrus much to her irritation.

"Fuck off Ambrus!" growled the tracker. "We're going to find Kraven's hideout, turn around and go straight back to Lucien."

Ambrus said, "Bitch! I was just trying to be nice."

"Be nice to one of the whores that can actually stand your smell." hissed Ildi. "Now shut the hell up so I can concentrate on this vampire's scent." The two went down into the Dunaferr Steelworks and looked about. "The scent leads here." said Ildi. "There's so much damn soot in the air that I'm not sure which way to go."

She dropped to all fours to try to catch a scent on the ground only for her concentration to be shattered by Ambrus slapping her rear and saying, "Shake that ass for me baby!"

Ildi was about to retaliate when they heard a male voice. "What are two lycans doing around here?"

The man's scent was unknown to Ildi but Ambrus said, "You aren't Kraven. Who the fuck are you?!" Ildi wanted to face palm. Ambrus just gave away their whole mission.

"I'm Shǒuwèi; you two are here after Kraven?" asked the large man. "This is the wrong place kiddies."

Ambrus grabbed the Shǒuwèi's collar and growled, "Then where's the right place bastard?!"

Ildi's danger sense went off and a split second later Ambrus was screaming because Shǒuwèi had wrist blades and removed Ambrus' arms at the shoulders….

Seconds later Ildi was running flat out down the street and she heard Ambrus stop making sounds with a crunch that was obviously the lycan's spine. 'I've got to get the hell out of here!' thought the lycan girl. Then she caught a slight fox like scent…

…

The shinobi within the room could not help but face palm at the lycan. The girl had been right the man was a complete idiot. The most helpful thing he had done was get killed. The thing that surprised them was that being 70 years old was considered young by these people. Wasn't that surprising, especially to Ohnoki the girl was almost the same age as he was and she was concidered little more than a child. That was almost painful to his pride.

Ildi was injured from a blade slash to her thigh as well as one across her midriff. Shǒuwèi was enjoying toying with her. She'd fired every round she had from her pistol and Shǒuwèi nimbly avoided the shots as he pursued her. 'Fuck, Fuck, FUCK!' she thought desperately. Even if she fully transformed she couldn't regenerate fast enough even to run away from this…person. Ildi stumbled to the ground. "W-what are you?!" she asked hoping to buy time.

Shǒuwèi chuckled, "Hoping to buy time to heal those wounds little lycan? Fine. I'll indulge you. I'm a huxian and I don't even need to transform into my full state to deal with the likes of you little girl. Now I think you'll make a nice appetizer before I eat the main course." Ildi shivered in fear.

"So you've been a huxian all along Shǒuwèi?" said Naruto's voice from above. "I can't believe you didn't tell me you weren't a kitsune. I feel so betrayed." The blonde was perched on a ladder about 30 feet up on a smokestack. "Here I figured Kraven was behind that assassination attempt. Don't tell me you're working for that coward of a vampire"

This caused them to snigger as the naruto that they knew was coming out, Insults and sarcasm all into tricking his opponents into giving away necessary information. Naruto the master of combat banter.

"How dare you!" growled Shǒuwèi. "I work with him for Lady Kurami. That's the only reason I tolerate him half breed."

"Are you telling me Kurami Hotaru is a kitsune too?" asked Naruto playing dumb.

"Of course she is you stupid dolt; and she's going to be my mate after I finish killing you and proving you are inferior." Shǒuwèi laughed. "Why she's so devoted to a half breed like you is beyond me. But enough about that; it's just you and me now. You don't have an army to protect you from my full might so prepare to die!"

Ildi watched in horror as Shǒuwèi transformed into a ten foot tall rust coloured fox with five tails massive waving behind him. Shǒuwèi growled, "Feel free to run little coward, I doubt you can even transform given your heritage."

Naruto said in a low tone to Ildi, "I hope I bought you enough time to regenerate that leg girl. Get clear and run if you can."

Ildi was very frightened but got up and hobbled out of the battle zone. "Thank you." she whispered.

Shǒuwèi laughed, "Don't tell me you've actually grown chivalrous in your old age Naruto. The ruthless butcher I knew wouldn't have spared that lycan girl a second glance. You're too soft." Shǒuwèi lunged and snapped at Naruto only to be sliced deeply across the nose with Naruto's katana. The huxian yelped and then growled angrily as he recoiled.

Naruto laughed. "Did you seriously forget I carry a katana Shǒuwèi? For shame. You've got that mark on your face to remind you every single day. Are you getting senile in your old age?"

"Typical Naruto, insult them until they get angry and keep going till they are blind with rage and thus not thinking right." said kakashi, he had seen it happen enough times to know how he tended to operate in combat situations and this fool was dancing in the palm of his hand.

The huxian let out a roar and flooded the area with a mass of killing intent that made Ildi shake in terror. Naruto seemed unfazed. "Is that it?" asked the blonde.

Shǒuwèi roared, "Die Uzumaki Naruto!" and swiped at the kitsune with his massive paw. Naruto leapt over the swipe only to be waylaid by one of Shǒuwèi's tails. "See the superiority of a pure blooded huxian now you little fool?" Shǒuwèi was salivating heavily as he gave a vulpine smile and said, "Prepare to become a feast you puny half breed…."

Naruto's blade disappeared and he said, "Fine." Naruto then focused his energy and turned into his fifteen foot kitsune form which revealed he had nine tails and his fur glowed golden like fire. The level of killing intent he hit Shǒuwèi with utterly overwhelmed the huxian who was shaking in fear.

Shǒuwèi yelled, "HOW?! You are just a half kitsune! How can you possibly have that kind of power?!"

"Good breeding I guess." said Naruto nonchalantly. In a flash of gold Naruto was on Shǒuwèi and bit deeply into the huxian's right shoulder causing blood to flow liberally and Shǒuwèi to howl in pain. Naruto's attacks were relentless and the five tailed huxian was quickly being overwhelmed. Shǒuwèi turned tail to run feeling discretion was the better part of valour when he felt two of his tails pinned by Naruto's golden paw. "I never said you could leave Shǒuwèi." said Naruto as steam seemed to condense out of his hot breath.

Those in the room could only watch as the screen showed the two in combat. They were slack jawed at the two fox's not only at their ferocity but their size and strength. For those who had been their it was like the kyubi attack all over again. That was not a pleasant thought.

Shǒuwèi screeched in agony as Naruto brutally bit into the huxian's left hind leg to the bone and lifted the flailing Shǒuwèi before he impaled the huxian on a low sitting crane truck. Shǒuwèi was whimpering in anguish as he saw the crane sticking out of his chest like a sword wound from behind. His left lung was rapidly filling with his lifeblood as at spilled out onto the ground. The huxian let out a mournful howl and tried to break loose but Naruto simply slammed Shǒuwèi backwards driving the crane deeper into the dying five tailed fox.

Those watching the fight could only wince at how feral and brutal it was. The thing that caught them all off guard was how quickly it was ended, the sheer gap between the two was glaringly obvious during the fight.

Naruto's soul crushing killing intent was too much for Shǒuwèi to handle and the huxian cried out, "N-no! L-ady Kurami was supposed to be mine! I-I'm a pure-bred." He watched in horror as Naruto extended his claws and slowly ripped open Shǒuwèi's gut causing him to howl in agony as his intestines spilled onto the ground.

Naruto locked eyes with his dying opponent and said, "Was it you or Kraven that hired Marcel Feist?"

"It was I L-lord Naruto." cried the huxian "Please spare my life! I'll do anything!"

"Anything?" asked Naruto with steaming breath. The agonized huxian nodded as the tears spilled out of his eyes and blood ran out of his mouth. "THEN DIE!" roared Naruto as he bit Shǒuwèi's throat out….

Naruto said as he watched the light leave his fallen opponent's eyes, "Take these thoughts with you to hell Shǒuwèi. You were an incompetent general with one dimensional tactics. You should have given up and killed yourself after I finished crushing the Ming Dynasty in the south. Lady Kurami will probably dance on your grave." Naruto then turned back into his human form and snapped his fingers causing blue fox fire to consume the remains of his foe without even leaving ash behind….

The only thing left was the intestines littering the place that Naruto was about to burn when Ildi hobbled out and said "Please wait! I need to eat that meat to regenerate my wounds…."

Naruto looked a bit disgusted by the idea but relented and said, "Go ahead, I hope it doesn't make you sick."

This made those in the room go green in disgust. However the note flashed as it was updated. Minato who had still had it started to read the message.

" Both the vampires and lycans possess a form of high-speed regeneration similar to that of the Uzumaki clan. However for such healing to work a person needs to have a certain level of energy. For Vampires this is derived from the blood that they consume. For lycans it is meat for both of the species they had highly advanced digestive tracts that are able to destroy anything that would harm them be it disease or poisons that are not specifically created to effect them." this caused those in the room to nod in understanding except for some of the youngsters who were wondering about this Uzumaki clan and if naruto was related to them.

Ildi hobbled over and ate ravenously. She felt a massive power coursing through her and her wounds regenerated almost in an instant. Ildi panted a bit from gorging herself so much and licked the blood off of her hands and chin (being a lycan she wasn't the most well mannered eater). Ildi then laid back against a wall to digest from overeating as Naruto burned the rest of the mess up. "I owe you my life man. I'll never forget this!" said Ildi. "I thought you looked like you'd be fun but WOW!" said the overexcited lycan girl. "I feel incredible!"

Naruto said, "What were you doing here to begin with girl?" asked Naruto.

The lycan tracker said, "Call me Ildi! –and I was sent here to try and track down Kraven for Lucien. He wants to hand Kraven over to you so we can be allies!"

"So Kraven is here in Dunaújváros…." said Naruto.

"Yep! He's got a safe house hidden around here somewhere." said Ildi enthusiastically. "I had his scent and then that….were-fox with the metal blades killed my partner and tore me up bad. I thought I was a goner until you showed up and ripped him to pieces. You were awesome! I really like you Naruto Corvinus!"

"Huh?!" answered Naruto intelligently.

This made kushina giggle. The girl was similar to her when she was young. Bubbly, confident and speaks her mind. In many ways she was the same but opposite of Selene. Kushina could not help but smirk at what she assumed was going to happen soon.

Minato however was praying for his sons immortal soul. He himself had a woman like that and if there was one thing he had learned it was that his wife was a force of nature and all you can do once she gets going is hold on and pray for a good out come as there was nothing that one could do about it.