Remnant of a Shinobi

by AuraofChakra

During the final battle between Naruto and Sasuke, things don't go so smoothly. Sent off to another world, Naruto is ready for a new adventure. What awaits him in this new world where people not only have to deal with each other, but a race of creatures that solely exist to destroy humanity?

20. Chapter 20 - The Difference In Power

Chapter 20 – The Difference in Power

Prior to Naruto and Yang's departure, we turn back the clock to a few weeks ago. It is the tenth day since the Fall of Beacon and Cinder is leading her group back to the Evernight. Cinder's condition has improved, but only enough to where she can move on her own.

Roman has had to add a crutch to his repertoire. His cane was not enough for him to get around with his broken leg. He originally thought about getting a wheelchair for Neo to push him around in. His mind changed when he thought, "That obnoxious brat wouldn't pass up the opportunity to push me down a hill. Hell, the little stain would probably push me down a whole mountain for a laugh!" The obnoxious brat he is referring to is of course Mercury. Considering Mercury wanted to fight Naruto just to hold it over Roman's head, he was right to think this.

Along their journey, this wicked group of travelers managed to hijack a Bullhead airship which shortened their journey. It was not able to get them all the way, so they have spent the last three days traveling on foot, much to Roman's dismay. At one point, Roman started lagging behind the rest of the group because of his injuries. When he fell behind, he was attacked by a Lancer, a wasp-like Grimm with red wings and white armor.

Roman would have been done for if not for the swift interference from Neo. She was able to get him out of the way before Mercury of all people took out the Grimm. It was not for altruistic reasons of course. The way Mercury thought about it, since he was defeated handily by Naruto, he could not hold anything over Roman's head. But now he can hold over Roman's head the fact that he killed the Grimm that was about to kill Roman. After that, Roman made sure to never lag behind the group again, as they are only safe from the Grimm so long as they are close to Cinder.

Now, on the tenth day of their journey, they see the eternal dark red sky of the Evernight. Mercury can't help but say, "Huh. I thought "Evernight" or "Land of Darkness" was just an over the top name for the place."

"From this point on, anything you would consider "over the top" should be taken literally" Cinder said in a weak and strained voice. This puts Mercury on guard.

As they proceed, they start to become surrounded by Grimm. The group of Grimm total twenty and all of them are Beowolves. However, what stands out is these seem to be special packs. Each pack has four normal Beowolves and one Super Beowolf leading them.

Roman's eyes widen upon seeing all of them and the others in his group start to sweat. He then asks Cinder, "I know those normal ones listen to you, but what about the big blue-masked ones?"

"I…I don't know…" Cinder answered hesitantly.

They then heard an approaching voice say, "So our Goddess' little pet has returned?" They all look in the direction the voice came from to see one of the packs make room for Tyrian as he walks forward and gives the group a psychotic smile.

While all the others are freaked out, Cinder has now calmed down. If the Super Grimm are listening to Tyrian, then they should listen to her as well. She then asks, "What are you doing here?"

"Our Goddess wanted me to keep an eye out for you and to bring you back to her when you returned" Tyrian answered. He took note of Cinder's weak voice and then further examines her horrid state before he started to laugh.

Cinder grit her teeth in anger. Even though her voice is weak, the venom in her tone was still clear as she asked, "What's so funny?"

"You obviously" Tyrian answered, clearly not afraid of her. "How did you end up like that?" Cinder did not answer him which made Tyrian stroke his chin as he asked, "It must have been embarrassing…" He then finally notices that there are others with Cinder as he says, "And you brought guests."

"Is that a problem?" Cinder asked, annoyance clear in her voice.

"Of course not!" Tyrian answered excitedly. "The more worshippers for our Goddess the better!" He then turned around and said, "Come along now." He takes a few steps before turning his head back to look at Cinder as he says, "A little warning. You might not be her favorite pet anymore." Cinder's face became confused as she started following Tyrian and then the others followed her in tow.

Roman leans towards Neo and whispers, "I'm not sure what we've gotten ourselves into…" This causes Neo to keep a concerned expression.

As they continue following Tyrian, they come across more and more Grimm. Not just normal Grimm, but Super Grimm as well. This includes Super Grimm that none of them have seen before. One of these Grimm makes Mercury stop in his tracks due to intimidation. The rest of the group look in the direction of his gaze and, with the exception of Cinder, are also left a little intimidated. It is a small herd of Goliaths around two Super Goliaths. These Super Goliaths are so large that the already gigantic regular Goliaths could be mistaken for children.

"There's so many more Super Grimm than before" Cinder comments. "What happened?"

"There was a major development while you were gone" Tyrian tells her. "It was quite a sight to behold."

Cinder continued to follow Tyrian with thoughts racing in her mind of what could have happened. They then come upon the castle and see the windows are all shattered. She asks, "Why are all the windows broken?"

As nonchalantly as possible, Tyrian answers, "The castle almost collapsed a few days ago. The Goddess fixed it. She just never got around to the windows. Her attention has been fixated on our newest asset."

"Is the castle even stable if it almost collapsed?" Roman asked in a concerned tone.

Tyrian looked back at Roman with his crazed eyes and said, "No need to be scared little lamb. Simply have faith." He then starts to cackle as he enters the castle.

"I really don't like that guy…" Roman muttered before they entered the castle.

Despite the dark atmosphere of the place, the inner architecture of the castle has a regal aesthetic that impressed all the new arrivals and even earned a whistle from Mercury. They then come to the gathering hall where Hazel and Watts are sitting at the table.

"I've brought her back as you requested" Tyrian announces.

Salem, who was staring out the large window, turns around to see them all. She then says, "Good work, Tyrian."

Tyrian bows before asking, "Can I go look?" Salem gives him a nod as she descends the staircase. Tyrian then gleefully starts going up the stairs and then quietly cackles as he looks out the window. This again confuses Cinder.

Watts rolls his eyes and says, "He does this every day now."

"He can hardly be blamed" Salem tells Watts. She then takes a seat at the head of the table before looking at Cinder and saying to her, "You are looking quite worse for wear. Tell us what happened. I want EVERY detail." Cinder then took a seat before explaining to her peers and master the events of the Fall of Beacon.

Hearing all this, Watts asks, "Did one Silver-eyed girl really do that to you?"

"We've dealt with their kind before" Hazel comments. "How did a child manage to best one of us?"

"It's because of the Maiden's power" Salem quickly answers. She then looks to Cinder and tells her, "Your newfound strength brings with it a crippling weakness. Which is why you will remain by my side to receive treatment." Cinder then meekly nods. Salem then asks, "Now, I want to hear you say it clearly…did you kill Ozpin?"

"Yes…" Cinder weakly answers. Cinder then grips her fist, clearly still feeling humiliated by her current state.

Salem sees Cinder's irritation before she calls up to Tyrian, "Tyrian…"

Tyrian turns around and asked, "Yes?"

"Your hunt for the Spring Maiden will be put on hold. You are first to hunt the girl that did this to Cinder, understood?" Salem ordered.

Tyrian bowed before saying, "As you wish!"

Salem then turns her head back to Cinder and asks, "Now, who have you all brought to me?"

Cinder looks to her subordinates and says, "The young woman wearing green is Emerald Sustrai. The young man with dark gray hair is Mercury Black. The young woman with multiple colors in her hair is named Neo, but she can't speak. Then finally the one with the hat is Roman Torchwick."

Roman then takes off his hat and says, "It's a pleasure to finally meet the head honcho."

Salem looks upon Roman and asks, "What happened to you?"

Embarrassed, Roman admits, "That brat Cinder mentioned knocked me off an airship…"

Surprised, Hazel asks, "Then how did you survive?" Roman then motions to Neo.

Salem then looks to Watts and says, "This will be your department."

"You can't be serious…" Watts responds. Salem merely narrows her eyes making Watts stand up and tell Roman, "Come with me."

Roman starts to follow Watts, but says to Neo, "I'm getting bad vibes…" Neo then follows Roman.

Watts turns back to see Neo and says, "Good. I may need someone to hold him down." Roman and Neo then exchange worried looks.

Salem then looks to Hazel and says, "You can get the children situated."

"Hey, I'm not a kid!" Mercury indignantly responds.

"Shut…up…" Cinder tells Mercury. Emerald then hits him in the shoulder.

"I'll get to it right away" Hazel finally says. He then gets up and leads Emerald and Mercury out of the room.

After Hazel has left with Emerald and Mercury, Salem stands up from the table and slowly starts walking back towards the staircase. She then tells Cinder, "You may go rest, but first you need to see what has changed."

"I did notice there were more Super Grimm than before" Cinder responds.

"That is what I'm referring to" Salem retorts. "There is a reason for this, now come see." She then beckons for Cinder to follow as she ascends the staircase. Cinder gets up from the table and slowly starts to ascend the staircase as well.

Tyrian notices them both start to approach and mutters, "Ah, yes…" He then looks at Cinder directly and tells her, "Come see the new favorite." Cinder grimaces at this statement from Tyrian.

"Tyrian, that is enough teasing" Salem tells him. Tyrian then respectfully bows.

As they approach the window, they see at least one hundred Super Grimm causing Cinder's eye to widen in shock. She then looks further along and finally sees what she assumes Tyrian must be referring to: The colossal Nine-Tails Grimm. It is sleeping and the Super Grimm are staying near it. Almost at a loss for words, Cinder simply asks, "What…is that?"

With a smile, Salem answers, "That, dear, is my new child. The one that will finally put the gods in their place."

"Is that thing why the castle almost collapsed?" Cinder asked in awe.

"Yes, with but a single roar" Salem answered with pride.

Hearing this caused Cinder to look a little panicked. Even having claimed the Maiden's full power, she could never begin to approach the power of the creature she was gazing at. Tyrian saw the concerned look in her eye and simply grinned at her realization.

---

Naruto and Yang have been on the road for a few hours now. As they come to a fork in the road, Yang is trying to figure out which direction she needs to take. After looking back and forth between the signs, she decides to take the left route.

Once then they get going, Naruto says, "Hey Yang?"

"What's up?" Yang answered, showing he had her attention.

"Remember when you said you would explain to me what you meant when you told your dad that you would find "technically both" your mom and Ruby?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah? What about it?" Yang responded in confusion.

"You never explained anything" Naruto informs her.

"Oh…" Yang said in embarrassment. "So, my mom supposedly has a pretty unique Semblance. She can create portals to people she's bonded with."

Clearly still missing information, Naruto asked, "How does that help us find Ruby?"

"Before he left, Uncle Qrow told me he would watch out for Ruby" Yang further explained. "And he's one of the people Mom can portal too."

Now understanding the plan, Naruto exclaimed, "Oh! That is clever!" Yang then smiled from the compliment.

After another ten minutes they pulled over to have a break. As Naruto is stretching his legs, Yang points out to him, "I noticed you're wearing your headband every day now."

Naruto has a solemn look on his face as he says, "The main reason I stopped wearing it was because I was supposed to be trying to start a new life. My headband represented my old life." He finished stretching and now his somber look has turned into a smile. He faces Yang as he says, "But since my old life has been revealed, now there's no reason not to wear it anymore." He then starts feeling his hair which has gotten thicker and longer since he stopped trimming it over a month ago. There are even two spikes of blonde hair that hang down over his headband. "It's also keeping my hair in control until I trim it again."

Yang observes his hair and says, "I dunno, I think I like it this way."

Naruto paused before saying, "…Then I guess it's sticking around, ya know." Yang smiles at his response and then he says, "So, we're gonna try something out." Yang gives him her full attention and he continues, "Remember when we were fighting those Super Boarbatusks and my Chakra ended up amplifying my fire Dust shockwave?"

Yang thinks back and recalls the amplified shockwave and how it also gave her enough of a boost to cracks the Super Grimm's armor. She says, "Oh yeah…that was a rush."

"And that Chakra wasn't even elemental" Naruto points out. "So, I wanna see how fire Chakra affects your Ember Celica projectiles."

"Oh hey, good idea" Yang comments. She then loads one of her gauntlets with ammo and then coats that fist in fire Chakra. She then launches one of the projectiles and it is coated in flame. Upon hitting a tree, it explodes into a fireball that incinerates everything withing a five-meter radius. Seeing the results, Naruto goes wide-eyed and slack jawed. Yang is also wide-eyed as she looked at her fist and says, "I need to be careful what I use this on…"

"Yeah…" Naruto said in agreement. "I also wanted to teach you the Fireball Jutsu."

Yang simply raised a brow before pointing to what she just did as if to say, "what for?"

Naruto rubbed the back of his head and hesitantly said, "G-good point…but what about if you're out of ammo? We don't know how abundant ammo and Dust is gonna be on this trip, ya know."

Yang shrugged and nodded before she said, "Okay, good point."

"It wouldn't hurt for you to learn a distance technique too" Kurama commented to Naruto.

"Can you think of one?" Naruto internally responded.

"I might not be able to pull it off, but I know how Shukaku's Air Bullet works" Kurama answered.

"That's great! I'll try to do it after teaching Yang the Fireball Jutsu" Naruto internally responded. Then there was an awkward silence between he and Kurama before Naruto asked, "So how does that jutsu work?" Kurama simply sighed before he relayed the information to Naruto. Naruto then tells Yang, "You need to knead the fire Chakra in your body and use the hand seals Snake, Ram, Monkey, Boar, Horse, and Tiger." He then demonstrates the hand seals for her and says, "Then you expel the fire Chakra through your mouth as either a stream of fire or a solid fireball."

Yang looks at her hands and says, "Those seals look cool when you do them, but they're a pain to get down…"

"When you get better with a technique it doesn't require as many hand signs" Naruto informs her. "But that's a long ways off." Upon hearing this, Yang signed and started practicing the hand signs.

As Yang was practicing, Naruto internally asked Kurama, "So how do I do Shukaku's Air Bullet?"

"The principal is the same as the fireball only the Chakra is concentrated around your diaphragm and lungs" Kurama informed him.

"And what about hand signs?" Naruto further inquired.

"What the Tiger is for Fire Style, Bird is for Wind Style" Kurama answered. "All Shukaku did was slam his fat gut, but that won't help you."

Naruto then concentrated his new energy in his diaphragm and lungs as he breathed in and made the Bird hand seal. He then shouted, "Wind Style: Air Bullet!" He then expelled the energy enhanced pressurized air that obliterates multiple trees…but also knocks him backwards as he still having trouble controlling this new power. Unsurprisingly, Kurama laughed at this.

Yang seen Naruto fly back and asked, "What just happened?!"

Very embarrassed, Naruto told her, "I was trying to do a wind technique, but I'm still learning to control this new power…"

"Oh" Yang stated now having the full picture. "So why a wind technique?"

"That's 'cause wind is my Chakra affinity" Naruto answered. He then smiles at her as he says, "Wind also best compliments fire, ya know."

Yang then also smiled hearing that they're also elementally compatible. She then went back to practicing, but not before sarcastically saying. "Try to keep it down."

Naruto chuckled before he went back to conversing with Kurama asking, "What do you think I should try to teach her after this?"

Kurama gave it some thought before saying, "Hmm…maybe the Body Flicker to help her get in close."

"That's a pretty good idea!" Naruto responded. The Body Flicker technique then made him think about the Raikage and internally comments, "If only she used lightning…"

"What do you mean?" Kurama asked, wanting Naruto to elaborate.

"The way the Raikage fought with his lightning cloak would be great for her" Naruto answered.

Upon hearing this, Kurama points out, "Chakra cloaks aren't exclusive to lightning. Son's Jinchuriki's had a lava cloak as you recall."

Hearing this, Naruto paused before asking Kurama, "Would a fire cloak be possible?"

"There's no reason it shouldn't be" Kurama answered. "It's just that being up close brawlers was not typical amongst shinobi."

Naruto then smirked and replied to Kurama, "It is for Yang." He then crossed his arms and internally said, "Only thing left is to figure out is whether to teach her Body Flicker first or the fire cloak."

"Body Flicker" Kurama quickly answered. "The speed increase will be more helpful against the Super Grimm and we know for a fact that it works."

"Yeah, that makes sense" Naruto answers. "I think I wanna teach Body Flicker to everybody."

"Not a bad idea" Kurama commented. "But remember, not everyone will be able to use it easily for combat like you and your father did."

"With enough practice I think they will" Naruto responded confidently. He then looks over at Yang who is slowly going through the hand seals on repeat. Naruto asks her, "Think you're ready to try the attack?"

"I think so" Yang answered. She then took a breath to concentrate before she slowly made the hand seals while kneading the Chakra. She then tried to expel the Chakra but only breathes a tiny ember and is clearly disappointed.

"Hey, that's pretty good for a first try!" Naruto tells her earnestly. "Try saying the name of the attack in your head while you're doing it. I know it sounds silly, but remember that Chakra is a mental as it is physical."

"Is that why you shouted the name of the attack earlier when you were practicing?" Yang asked. Naruto nodded to which she said, "I guess that makes sense." She then repeats the steps and shouts in her head, "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" This time as she expels the Chakra, it is a noticeable steam. Nothing compared to an Uchiha yet, but a noticeable difference.

"That was great!" Naruto shouted in excitement.

Yang was completely stunned at what she just did. She remembers reading stories to Ruby about fire-beathing dragons and how it would be so cool to do that. Now she was breathing fire just like her namesake. She smiled and said, "I can't wait to breathe like a true dragon!"

"True dragon? What are you talking about?" Naruto asked.

A little shocked, Yang asked, "Wait, did I never tell you? My name means "Sunny Little Dragon.""

Naruto's eyes widen and he said, "That's so cool! I knew Yang meant light, but I didn't know what Xiao Long meant."

Yang then giggles before saying, "Now my name has to be taken literally."

Naruto laughed in turn and said, "As proud as I am of my name, being named after ramen fishcakes isn't as cool."

"Aw, I think it's kinda cute" Yang commented.

"You know, your name also means Maelstrom" Kurama also commented.

"Yeah, but Pervy Sage thought of the name while eating Ramen so I can't really argue that…" Naruto internally responded.

"The only people besides you that know that are dead" Kurama reminded him.

Naruto was silent upon this realization until he finally said under his breath, "Damn it…"

Yang was staring at him until she finally asked, "Talking to Kurama again?"

Embarrassed, Naruto said, "Um…yeah."

Yang then snickered and said, "Did you know you have a deadpan expression when you do that?"

Naruto's eyes go wide and he starts to freak as he shouts, "I WHAT?!"

Yang laughs hard enough to need to wipe the tears from her eyes before she says, "I was joking!"

Naruto shot her a glare as Kurama commented, "I'm starting to like this girl."

Now completely flustered, Naruto shouted, "Oh, that's how she gains your approval?!"

Trying really hard not to laugh again, Yang tells him, "You said that part out loud." Naruto then looks absolutely defeated as Kurama laughs. Yang then turns around so Naruto can't see her snicker. She then turns around to look at Naruto again as she asked, "Ahem, what's this about approval?"

Naruto sighed before he said, "Kurama is starting to like you because you were able to make me freak out…"

"Well, I'm glad my skills are being appreciated!" Yang exclaims.

Naruto grumbled and said, "I'm gonna get you back for this…"

Yang simply smirked and said, "Looking forward to it."

---

After the Fall of Beacon, Weiss needed to head home to Atlas. She has spent the last month once again living under her father's rule. Learning to get used to him again has been a challenge for her. There has been only two things that have made it tolerable to be back home. The first is Klein, the family butler. He has been more of a father figure to Weiss than her actual father ever was. The second thing is that her sister Winter has been around more lately. Weiss does not know why, but she is grateful for it.

Currently, Weiss was walking by the guest room where Winter has been staying and hears another voice coming from that room. Weiss questions, "Who could that be?" She then puts her ear up to the door to try and hear. She then recognizes it to be the voice of Ironwood as she hears…

"You're certain your father isn't there to eavesdrop on this conversation?" Ironwood asks Winter from his feed on the scroll. He has grown a partial beard and is looking rather tired.

"Yes. He left a little bit ago to attend to company business" Winter answers.

"Good. What is your report?" Ironwood asks.

"Once again, no connection to the new Dust and my father could be established" Winter answers. Hearing this on the other side of the door, Weiss's eyes went wide as she now knows that Winter's reason for being around so much is to spy on their father. She understands though. The only reason Jacques would not be involved with the special new Dust is because he has not had the opportunity.

"It has been a month now with no signs of a connection" Ironwood states. "It's time you were reassigned."

"I understand sir" Winter responds ready to move on. "Has there been any progress in the study of the new Dust?"

"Yes" Ironwood confirmed. "Thanks to the sample we received a month ago we have finally been able to start tracking the Dust." Weiss overhears and is shocked, but also delighted some progress has been made.

"This is a marvelous development" Winter commented.

"It is. But…" Ironwood stated and then looked down. "There have been complications. The Grimm are attracted to the Dust and almost always get there before we do." He then looked back to the screen. "But what we have managed to uncover is astounding. Unlike any other Dust, this new Dust almost seems to have the very life force of the planet inside."

Hearing this revelation, Weiss wonders to herself, "Could that be why the Grimm enhanced by it start to learn so quick?"

"That's all quite fascinating…but what is my reassignment?" Winter asked.

Once again looking down, Ironwood tells her, "It…it's Fria. Her health has taken a turn for the worse. When she eventually passes…"

Winter simply nodded and said, "I understand sir."

"Fria? Who in the world are they talking about?" Weiss wondered to herself.

As Ironwood looks more at Winter he says, "I can tell something is on your mind. What is it?"

A little ashamed she could not hide her hesitation, Winter admits, "It's Weiss…I'm worried about her. After everything that happened at Beacon, and then having to come back here…around HIM…it hasn't done her any favors." Weiss then looks down now also feeling a little ashamed. She did not know Winter could tell how she was feeling.

"She did seem rather stressed at the charity event" Ironwood commented. There was a charity event in which Jacques convinced Weiss to sing for it. Then, during the after party where the guests were all mingling, one of the guests was arrogant enough to belittle Vale and its victims despite the charity event being to donate to Vale. When Weiss protests, her father Jacques tries to take her away. In the process, Weiss fell over and accidently created a Boarbatusk summon that attacked the Vale-belittling guest. Ironwood was able to stop it in time.

"I do apologize for that…" Winter said bowing her head.

"No need for an apology" Ironwood told her in an empathetic tone. "After what she witnessed, and then having to hear a bunch of spoiled high society fools talk so ignorantly about the victims of Vale, it would drive anyone crazy. Myself included."

"I just worry about how she will handle things when I leave" Winter admits.

Weiss then takes that as the last straw. She has been thinking of escaping for a while now, but she has been hesitant. Now hearing that Winter is worried for her mental health when she's not around? No more reason to hesitate. She marched back to her room and began to pack. As she did, she noticed some of her things were missing, including Myrtenaster. She then turned around to see Klein holding a bag with her weapon on it. She asked Klein, "Klein? How did you know?"

"My dear, don't forget I raised you" Klein told her. "I could see how different you are now compared to how you used to be. And the person you are now cannot stand by and be trapped by her asshat of a father…don't tell anyone I said that."

Weiss smiled and motioned across her mouth before saying, "These lips are sealed."

After letting out a chuckle, Klein asked, "Where do you plan to go?"

"I'm not sure…" Weiss admitted. "I can't go back to Beacon so maybe Haven or Shade?"

Klein nods and says, "I have a colleague who can get you out of Atlas. But once you land you will need to figure it out from there."

"That will be good enough" Weiss tells him. She then smiles and says to Klein, "I'm going to miss you."

Klein smiles back and says, "I am so proud of who you have become." They exchanged a hug and started hatching her escape plan.

---

Team JNPR and Ruby, who have been going by JNPRR as it was the obvious choice, have been traveling for weeks now. They have encountered some Grimm on their travels, but far less than expected. What they do not know is that this is because of Qrow who has been watching their backs and taking out any Grimm that would try to ambush them.

Pyrrha has been using a basic sword she took from the refugee base. It is not her real weapon, but she can't really complain. However, Ruby spoke up and said they should get her weapon reforged. While everyone else agreed, Pyrrha protested as what little money they had went towards supplies.

Being as stubborn as she is, Ruby said they will just have to earn some extra Lien. Jaune then suggested they offer their services to deal with any Grimm problems the next town had. Nora was ecstatic at the idea and Ren said it will be good for keeping their skills sharp.

Upon getting to the next town, they heard rumor about a Geist causing trouble. The local blacksmith agreed to reforge Pyrrha's weapon in exchange for dealing with the Geist. We now join them in the middle of fighting that Geist.

The Geist has merged with a boulder and brought several of them together to form a large construct that is swinging at Ruby. Ruby jumped away while firing her sniper. She tripped up and while falling shouted, "Bad! Landing! Strategy!"

"Nora, it's coming your way!" Jaune shouted.

Nora then waited for Ruby to get closer and lead the Geist towards her. Once Ruby was closer, Nora fired her grenades at it. The Geist staggered and then guards its face. Ruby then fired a lightning enhanced shot at one of its arms, but it didn't do anything. Ruby then shouted, "Oh come on, I only had one left of those, and it didn't do anything?!"

Nora shrugged and said, "Win some you lose some."

With the Geist busy guarding its face from Ruby and Nora, Jaune knew it would not be watching the others, so he shouted to Pyrrha, "Pyrrha! Go for its right leg!" Pyrrha nodded and ran towards the right leg of the Geist construct. Jaune then shouted to Ren, "You head up and wait for it to drop its arm from its face!" Ren then started climbing the Geist. Jaune himself ran to the left leg of the Geist construct. He and Pyrrha both knew they wouldn't be able to cut the stone legs deep enough to matter so they both did leaping shield bashes.

The Geist started to stagger forward allowing Nora to leap forward and swing her hammer through the construct's left arm and shatter it. Ren then jumped off the Grimm's back and struck the now exposed face. This caused the Geist construct to fall over. As it is starting to get up, Ruby uses her Semblance and takes herself into the air and then drops down with a swing of her scythe. The Geist was able to get its arm in the way just in time to block. Ruby smiled and shot herself back confusing the Geist. However, once Ruby dropped from view it then saw the approaching Pyrrha. It tried to swipe at her, but Pyrrha threw her sword, and it got stuck in the Grimm's mask. It was now disoriented and very vulnerable.

Jaune then said, "Nora, finish it off."

Nora, whose hammer had a charge from a new upgrade, jumped and smashed the construct apart and due to the sword being stuck in the Grimm's mask it was unable to get away. Nora then said, "Pfft, was that it? That wasn't bad at all!"

"Of course not, we're too awesome!" Ruby exclaimed.

Pyrrha smiled at Ruby and Nora's boasting as Jaune said, "Hopefully the blade is ready by now."

Pyrrha then walks over and picks up her temporary sword as she says, "It almost feels like we didn't earn it with how easy that was."

"It can't be helped" Ren stated. "Compared to those Super Grimm, how challenging can a Geist be against our whole team plus Ruby?"

"I guess that's true" Pyrrha admitted.

Over on a cliff in the distance, Qrow was watching over them. He has a smirk until he sees something moving through the bushes towards them and says, "Oh son of a…"

Team JNPRR heard a loud roar. They turn in the roar's direction and see an approaching Super Boarbatusk leading a small pack of Grimm.

Jaune gets a really annoyed face as he says, "Right, we comment how easy something was and then this happens!"

"I'm sorry…" Pyrrha said thinking it was her fault.

"You know I wasn't saying that" Jaune tells her.

Nora has the opposite reaction of Jaune as she says, "Oooh! I haven't gotten to face a super version of these guys yet!"

"Everybody be careful" Ruby tells them. "Last time I fought one of these I had my whole team and Naruto."

"Well, this time you have us" Pyrrha tells her.

"Getting to that thing's unarmored belly is gonna be tough" Jaune states. The Super Boarbatusk then rushes forward causing them all to scatter. As the other Grimm then run forward to try and pick them off, Jaune asks Ruby, "So how'd your team deal with it last time?"

Ruby dodges a swipe from a Beowolf and spins her scythe before cutting the beast down. She then shoots another approaching Beowolf before finally answering, "Last time Yang's Semblance along with Naruto somehow boosting himself were able to hit them hard enough to crack their armor and make them stagger! Massive internal damage!"

Jaune is processing this information while two regular Boarbatusks rush at him. He recalls from Naruto fighting them that if you avoid them at the last moment they can't maneuver away. He waits for them to get closer before jumping away as late as possible causing the two Boarbatusks to crash into each other. This makes them stagger as well as makes their tusks interlock. Jaune then runs forward and shield bashes one of them causing them both to get knocked over and expose their bellies. He runs one of them through with his sword before quickly doing the same to the other, finishing them both off.

Jaune thinks to himself, "The only one capable of causing massive internal damage like that is Nora, but we don't have a source of electricity nearby since Ruby already used her thunder ammo. We'll have to figure something else out."

Ren is fighting off three Beowolves pretty effortlessly. As two of them pounce towards him, he slides under and then quickly gets back to his feet before split-kicking them both and knocking them back. He then runs towards one of them and slams both of his blades into its head finishing it off. The third one rushed Ren, but he stepped out of the way and hooked that Beowolf's arm and pulled it in front of him. This was because the other Beowolf that he staggered before has recovered and tried to swipe Ren with its claw. But Ren pulled the third Beowolf in front of him making it take the hit. Ren then opened fire on the striking Beowolf landing multiple shots right between its eyes killing it. He then fires the same machine pistol into the head of the Beowolf he trapped and finished it off execution style.

Ren did not notice the Super Boarbatusk rushing towards him, but thankfully Pyrrha tackled him out of the way. As they get back up, Ren says, "Thanks Pyrrha, who knows how much damage it would have done."

"Don't mention it" Pyrrha replied as the others gathered around them.

"We don't have the power to break through its armor so we're going to have to try and knock it over" Jaune tells everyone.

"Right…and how do we do that?" Ren asked.

"We need to spread apart so it picks a target" Jaune tells them. They all then spread apart and Jaune tells them, "We know this thing's weakness which is that they can't stop themselves mid-charge."

"Okay but remember guys…" Ruby says gaining their attention. "We can only rely on that once or twice because Super Grimm can adapt!"

"She's right" Jaune states. "We also need to hit it harder and faster to knock it over."

"Then I'll be the one to distract it" Pyrrha states.

"What? That's reckless!" Jaune shouts in concern.

"We don't have much of a choice" Pyrrha responds.

"I…okay…" Jaune relents. He knows that when it comes to timing no one is better than Pyrrha. The Super Boarbatusk then charges at Jaune and he just manages to get out of the way in time. He then shouts over to Ren, "Use your Semblance to hide Nora and Ruby until it's time to strike!" Ren nods and does just that as he runs off with Nora and Ruby. Jaune then nods to Pyrrha who nods back.

Pyrrha gets some distance from the others before she throws her shield at the Super Boarbatusk to gain its attention. It rushes at her and she starts running away. The Super Boarbatusk is gaining on her quickly and she had to jump away. She was then able to cut its legs to further anger it before she ran to the trees with the Grimm in hot pursuit. She then ran up the tree trunk and jumped off making the Super Grimm crash through several trees and obstruct its view. This allowed Pyrrha to get a good distance away from the Super Boarbatusk and take a stance in front of one of the boulders the Geist was using.

Jaune readies himself and then shouted over to Ren, Nora, and Ruby, "You guys get ready!"

The Super Boarbatusk came out of the trees again and spotted Pyrrha. She used her sword to draw a line in the ground for Jaune to keep an eye on. The Super Boarbatusk began charging and Jaune is measuring its distance to the line that Pyrrha drew. Once it got the right distance, Jaune shouted, "NOW!"

Ruby used her Semblance to rocket herself and Nora to the Super Boarbatusk. Just before it is about to reach Pyrrha, Nora hits it in the side with her hammer with her upgrade activated and manages to knock it over. Not allowing any time to be wasted, Pyrrha dashed in and stabbed the unarmored underbelly. Jaune then did the same as Ruby jumped up and landed a nice slash to the belly. However, despite all that the Super Boarbatusk was still stirring.

"Oh no you don't!" Nora shouted before she jumped up and exploded herself back down to slam her hammer on the Grimm's head as hard as she could. To her shock, the armor does not crack. But thanks to the head trauma she caused, it was not able to get back up allowing the others to strike the unarmored belly again and finish it off. Once it is gone and the stream floats away, they all sit down to rest.

"Still think this was too easy?" Jaune jokingly said.

Pyrrha giggled before responding, "I won't say it again."

Ruby was smiling before she saw the confused look on Nora's face and asked, "Nora? What's wrong?"

"I hit that thing with everything I had and didn't even crack the armor!" Nora exclaimed. "But you're telling me Naruto and Yang broke through it?"

"I told you. They were boosted, you weren't" Ruby reminds her.

"You did mention him being boosted, but I want to know how" Ren told Ruby. "Was it Sage Mode?"

"I'm not really sure about it…" Ruby answered. "His eyes turned red and the pupil became a slit. Then his whisker marks spread further across his face. It was pretty cool actually."

"He used Sage Mode against Cinder but not whatever you just described" Pyrrha commented.

"I certainly have never seen it" Ren also commented.

"Me neither" Nora commented as well.

Jaune did not say anything as he was contemplating something. Pyrrha seen this and asked, "What are you thinking about?"

"You guys remember Naruto sending that Super Ursa flying during the attack on downtown Vale?" Jaune asked.

"Not really, but I was kinda eating dirt at the time…" Ruby admitted.

"I remember, it was hard to forget" Ren said as Nora and Pyrrha nodded.

"I could have sworn I seen Naruto with red beast-like eyes when that happened, but I thought I was imagining things" Jaune tells them.

Ren then looked back at where the Super Grimm was and says, "Now I really wish Naruto came."

Now Pyrrha was the one contemplating as she said, "Hmm…if he could do it voluntarily then he would have used it against Cinder."

"Then how do you think it works?" Nora asked the group.

Ren looked to Ruby and asked, "What happened right before Naruto activated that power?"

Ruby started going through the incident in her head before saying, "Blake got hurt by the Super Grimm and Yang got knocked through the road support pillar by Torchwick's robot."

Something starts to click in Jaune's head before he says, "When it happened during the Vale attack, you and your team were all down. You and Yang specifically were about to be attacked."

"So, at both incidents people he cares about were in danger" Pyrrha points out.

"Sounds like it comes from him getting really mad" Nora commented.

After a pause, Ren comments, "Something else he and Yang have in common."

This makes Ruby laugh before she tells the group, "You know the first time they flirted was when they both saw each other's red eyes."

Pyrrha chuckles and says, "Oh, that's adorable."

Jaune looked at Pyrrha with a skeptical face and said, "It is?"

Pyrrha paused before saying, "Well, for them at least." There was a little more silence before Team JNPR noticed Ruby looking sad for a moment. Ruby tried to hide it, but she missed Yang and Naruto a lot and talking about them only made it worse.

Jaune then decides they should stop talking about Naruto and Yang and says, "We should head back to town."

"Couldn't agree more" Pyrrha commented before the team got up and headed back into down.

Back on the cliff, Qrow breathed a sigh of relief as he was afraid he was going to have to reveal himself. He then says, "These kids are really something."

Now back in the town, Team JNPRR were receiving tons of praise from the townsfolk. Nora then whispered to her team, "Imagine how much they'd be praising us if they knew about the Super Grimm we took down."

"It's probably better for their peace of mind that they don't know the Super Grimm exist" Ren responded.

"It sure would be for mine" Ruby commented.

They arrive at the Blacksmith's shop. The Blacksmith is a large Faunus and puts Pyrrha's reforged Miló on the counter before he says, "I think you'll be pleased with the results!" Pyrrha stared at her reforged blade with a smile as if she were reuniting with an old friend. She then picks the blade up.

"The Invincible Girl is back in action!" Nora exclaimed.

The Blacksmith crossed his arms and let out a hearty laugh before saying, "I had such a rush working on such a high-quality weapon! I'm still eager to go, so is there anything else you need worked on? It's free of charge today!"

Pyrrha then looked at Jaune and told him, "Your armor has had better days."

Jaune then looks down at his armor covered in scuffs and scratches before saying, "You're right." He then took his armor off and handed it to the Blacksmith. Pyrrha then covered her mouth while the others started snickering. Confused, Jaune asked, "What's so funny?"

Continuing to snicker, Ruby finally exclaims, "Your shirt has a cute little bunny on it!" Their friends snickers turn into laughter.

"It…it's Pumpkin Pete!" Jaune exclaims. He then turns to Pyrrha who is trying to hide her laughter and says, "You gotta recognize him! You were on his cereal box!"

Now trying to remember, Pyrrha says, "I think I remember someone in a bunny costume during the photo shoot…but I was too nervous to really pay attention."

Confused, Ren asks, "What did you have to be nervous about?"

A little embarrassed, Pyrrha admits, "I was camera shy. All of the photos taken of me during the Mistral Tournaments were when I wasn't looking."

"That's okay, I'm not great in front of cameras either" Ruby tells her.

"Hey! We're getting off topic!" Nora exclaims, making them all look back at Jaune.

Still embarrassed, Jaune asks, "Is this really the first time you've all seen Pumpkin Pete on my sweatshirt?"

"Your armor was always covering it" Ren answered. "Even on days off and laundry days."

"It isn't that bad" Pyrrha told Jaune, trying to be supportive.

"Yeah, it's nowhere near as bad as those full-body bunny pajamas" Ruby commented. Jaune's eyes almost popped out of his head as Nora, Ren, and Pyrrha shot him a stunned glance.

"WHAT?!" Nora couldn't stop herself from exclaiming.

Ruby was surprised by their reactions and asked, "Wait, you guys really didn't know?"

"No…no we didn't…" Pyrrha answered.

"When did you get to see those pajamas?!" Nora asked in jealousy. Jaune sinks further into the ground.

"It was the night we all got to Beacon when we were sleeping in the ballroom" Ruby answered. "Jaune came walking by in them and it made Yang cringe."

"How did we not get to see it?!" Nora cried out in tragedy.

"So, what happened to the pajamas?" Ren asked Jaune.

Jaune, almost dying of embarrassment, tells them, "Naruto said I was hurting the blonde cause, so I stopped wearing them…"

Pyrrha put a hand on Jaune's shoulder and said, "That…that's rough to hear." However, on the inside she was saying, "Naruto, you don't know how grateful I am to you that I don't have to deal with the sight of my boyfriend in feety pajamas…"

Jaune then slumps away saying, "I need to lie down…"

After Jaune has left, Ruby asked, "Think we went too far?"

"He'll be fine" Pyrrha answered. "He knows we're all friends and that we didn't mean anything by it." She then paused before saying, "…Although bringing up the pajamas might have done some damage."

"Nothing a nice meal won't fix!" Nora exclaimed. "Let's eat and then bring him something."

"That's a good idea" Ruby commented as they head off.

---

After leaving her team the night Beacon fell, Blake decided it was time to go home to Menagerie. Since the Faunus sanctuary is an isolated island, she had to take a ship. On the way, a flying sea monster Grimm called a Sea Feilong attacked the ship. Luckily for everyone there, it was not a Super Grimm. Blake thought she was the only Huntsman-in-training on the ship, so she was surprised when Sun, who was in a hooded cloak prior, revealed himself. The two managed weaken the Grimm enough for the ship captain to finish it off with the ship's canon.

They reached the island, but Blake demanded to know why Sun was there. Sun informed her that he seen her running off with fear in her eyes the night Beacon fell. He did not see anyone chasing her, so he decided to follow her to see what the deal was. He then asked her why she ran. She was not able to answer him.

Once on the island, Blake reconciled with her parents and promised to tell them everything she has seen after she rests for a while. We now join Sun and Blake at a café.

Trying to break the awkward silence, Sun says, "So, Menagerie seems nice."

"It's basically a prison" Blake reminded him. Faunus were concentrated in Menagerie because human bigots had run many Faunus off and this was the only place they could be safe.

"Well, it's a nice prison then" Sun commented. This earned him a glare from Blake, causing him to roll his eyes and say, "Okay, clearly you're still in a mood."

Realizing Sun is just trying to make conversation, Blake sighs and says, "Sorry…"

"Don't worry about it" Sun tells her casually. He then sees in her eyes that something is still clearly bothering her and says, "What's wrong?"

Looking off to the side, Blake said, "Nothing's changed…" She then looked down in shame as she said, "I'm still a coward…"

"What are you talking about?" Sun asked, quite confused. "You faced that big Grimm on the ship no problem!"

"I'm not talking about the Grimm!" Blake shouted in both exasperation and shame.

Taken aback by her outburst, Sun asked, "Then what do you mean?"

Blake was quiet until she asked, "Did you see that Yang was missing an arm?"

"I don't think so…" Sun answered honestly. So much happened that night that when he seen Blake get back to the safe zone he just breathed a sigh of relief and started taking a few moments to try and relax.

Blake continues to look down before saying, "It wasn't just the Grimm and rogue Atlas robots that were attacking. It was the White Fang too."

"I heard that from some of the Atlas guards that evacuated everyone" Sun tells her.

"One of their high-ranking members was there, Adam" Blake continued to recount. "Hey was my old…partner…" Hearing the tone in Blake's voice, Sun could tell they were more than regular partners. "I confronted him, and he delighted in taking me apart. He thinks I wronged him by leaving…"

"Wronged him? I got a feeling he must have been the possessive type" Sun accurately guessed.

"You don't know the half of it" Blake responded while shaking her head. "He could have finished me off, but he wanted to torment me. He wanted to make sure I suffered emotionally, not just physically. That's when he noticed Yang coming…"

Sun's eyes widened as he said, "No…"

Blake simply nodded before she said, "He pretended to kill me to get her to rush in wildly. When she did, he cut her arm off. I felt so much shame I wanted to cry…and that's when Naruto showed up." Sun sat there only imagining what must have been going through hers and Naruto's heads at the sight of seeing Yang like that. Blake then continued, "Naruto was so full of rage he was almost unrecognizable. But unlike Yang he didn't get reckless. He overwhelmed Adam and shattered his mask. Adam got away while he went back to checking on Yang…"

Sun gulped before he asked, "Then what?"

"With our emotions in such disarray the Grimm started swarming us" Blake answered. "Naruto then desperately yelled for me to get Yang out of there while he held off the Grimm. There were so many Grimm. I wanted to stay and help, but he screamed for me to take her and go. You could hear his voice starting to break. So, I took Yang and got to the safe zone."

Sun had no idea what to say. He tried to get himself to say something, but nothing came out, so Blake continued, "After getting her to the safe zone, Naruto eventually got there too. But not the Naruto we knew."

"What do you mean?" Sun asked in confusion.

Blake looked up to the sky as she said, "The Naruto we know is bright, energetic, and makes everyone feel at ease. He's the one we all look to when things are looking tough. The complete opposite of Adam." Her gaze left the sky and drifted back down as she said, "But the Naruto I seen that night was dead behind the eyes."

"I…I can't even picture that…" Sun admitted. The positive description of Naruto Blake gave is the only one he ever seen.

"And then Jaune…" Blake said before giving a slight chuckle as she still cannot believe what she saw. "Jaune, the guy who probably admired Naruto more than any of us, was screaming in Naruto's face. Everything just felt so…wrong." Blake lifted her head and Sun could now see the sorrow in her eyes as she said, "It felt like the world had been poisoned…and I couldn't take it. So, I ran away…"

"Blake…" Sun said trying to think of how to help her. "It's okay."

"I appreciate that you're trying to make me feel better…" Blake said, once again looking down. "But it won't change the fact that I abandoned my friends when they needed me the most…" She was trying her best to held back her tears.

Seeing Blake in this state, Sun tried his hardest to think of what the Naruto he knows would say. He then told her, "It's not too late."

Blake slowly lifted her head to look at Sun as she weakly said, "What?"

"It's not too late to make things right" Sun reiterated.

Blake thought hard on those words. She knew he was right. She knew that was the mindset she needed to try and adopt if she was ever going to try and change. She then said, "You're right, it's not too late. But before that I need to get myself better…then I can make things right with my friends." She then looks Sun in the eye and said, "Thank you Sun." Sun smiled as they then moved on to brighter topics.

---

Weiss was on a cargo ship that had left Atlas. They are passing by some floating islands that surprised her. She heads to the pilot and asks, "Where are we?"

The pilot shook his head and said, "Nowhere good. Passing by some of Lake Matsu's floating islands. The gravity Dust that forms on these things is giving us a little turbulence. Nothing I can't handle, but the islands sometimes hide some nasty Grimm. I'm just betting on our friends in distress keeping them occupied." They had received a distress call earlier over the radio. Weiss wanted to help them, but the pilot told her no.

Weiss then sees something approaching the ship and shouts, "Look out!"

The pilot sees a damaged ship flying towards them and managed to avoid it before he said, "You got to be kidding me!" He then adjusts the radio frequency.

Weiss looks concerned as she and the pilot hear over the radio, "By the gods, we've lost Percy! Help!" They then notice another ship being swarmed by Lancer Grimm. Said Grimm then launch their stingers with tendrils attached into the ship as Weiss hears the voice on the radio say, "We're hooked! We're hooked!" The Lancers then start pulling the ship apart. The voice on the radio shouts, "Everyone abandon ship!" That is when another Lancer crashes into the ship from above causing it to explode. The Lancers then turn their attention to the cargo ship Weiss is on.

"Lancers…freaking Lancers" The pilot said as he changed the ship's power output. He then turns to tell Weiss, "Alright, buckle up." But he only sees her hair as she heads back to the cargo bay. He asked, "What are you doing?"

Weiss grabbed her Myrtenaster and said, "What we should have done in the first place!" She then asks, "You're carrying Dust, right?"

"Officially? No. Actually? Yes" The pilot answered.

Weiss then lifted one of the cargo boxes to see all the Dust. She smiles as she said, "Then when I tell you, open the rear door!" She then loads her rapier with Dust vials.

The ship gets jostled around due to the maneuvers the pilot had to do in order to avoid the Lancers. The pilot then said, "Better make it quick." The Lancers have now gotten close enough to fire their stingers and the pilot said, "Kid, we're cutting it close!"

Weiss forms a gravity glyph under her and shouts, "Ready!" The bay door opens, and Weiss makes a small wind glyph that sends out a horizontal wind gust that creates some distance between the ship and the Lancers. Weiss switches Dust and makes another glyph that launches six small fireballs in succession. This keeps the Lancers at bay.

The pilot sees this and chuckles in approval before once again increasing the ships power output and then said, "Hold on!" The ship went in a circle picking up speed as Weiss readied herself for more.

Weiss then created five more glyphs. Each one shot out an ice energy bolt taking out a Lancer. The ship then gets jostled again making Weiss almost get knocked out of her gravity glyph. She turned around and asked, "What was that?"

One of the Lancer's stingers penetrated the ship as the pilot shouted, "We're hooked!" Then another stinger pierced the ship. The pilot kept trying to shake them, but it was not working. He then said, "I got an idea. Hold on, literally!" He then flew the ship as close to one of the islands as he could before doing a nosedive. This launched the Lancers that were on top of the ship right into the island.

Impressed, Weiss then asked, "Can you find a pair of islands we can fit between?"

"Kid, you are reading my mind" The pilot answered. The pilot then flew into a small space between two close islands.

Weiss made three more glyphs that each launched a fireball. Those fireballs broke rocks from the island off that fell onto the Lancers. However, this also woke up the queen.

"Yeah! Great going kid! We are in the clear!" The pilot exclaimed, assuming they were out of danger now.

This made Weiss smile, clearly proud of what they accomplished. She then took a deep breath as she used a decent amount of Aura. However, she then hears buzzing before spotting the queen and exclaiming in fear, "It's a Queen Lancer!"

"What?!" The pilot shouted in surprise and fear.

Weiss made five more glyphs that launched streams of ice energy and hit the Queen Lancer. Unfortunately, it hardly phased the Queen as it fired a flurry of spikes that hit the ship.

The pilot checks if the ship is okay before he shouted to Weiss, "Do something!"

Weiss looked concerned before she turned around and looked at the Dust crates. She then created a glyph behind her that she hopped onto and then leaped behind the crates. She cut the strap holding them down and used gravity glyphs to launch the crates at the Queen. The Queen Lancer is caught in an explosion of different elements. This slowed it down for a few seconds, but it then came out of the smoke continuing to pursue them. This caused Weiss' eyes to go wide and gasp.

"I can see the shoreline!" The pilot announced. "Gods, we're not gonna make it!"

Weiss then gained a determined look as she took a deep breath and concentrated. She put her rapier into the ship floor causing a large glyph to form in front of her. She managed a perfect summon as a Arma Gigas Knight fully formed. She then told the pilot, "Pull up, now!" The pilot then did just that and the Knight ran out of the ship and towards the Queen Lancer. Weiss then concentrated making the Knight form a sword. Weiss then made the summoned Knight disappear and then reappear from another glyph under the Queen. The Knight then struck the Queen and Weiss repeated this process multiple times.

Unfortunately, the Queen Lancer launched its stinger. While the Knight deflected it, it hit the ship. The Knight then slew the Grimm, but the damage was already done as alarms on the ship went off. Weiss in one last ditch effort formed four gravity glyphs that the ship went through to slow its descent. The ship still crashed, but thanks to those glyphs they survived.

A few hours after the crash as the sun is setting, Weiss is starting to wake up. She hears footsteps approach as she looks up and weakly requests, "Help…please."

Unfortunately for Weiss, those she requested for help were bandits. They smiled at each other as one with a bandana over his eye says, "What do you think?"

Another approaching voice, a woman's voice, said, "I think…we just hit the jackpot." The woman was the same woman who saved Yang from Neo; Raven Branwen. Weiss looked up at her in fear as Raven stomped Weiss in the head knocking her out.

"Grab her and let's go" Raven told her men. "If we heard that crash then you know the Grimm did too. If one of those blue-masked ones show up, we'll be in real trouble."

"Got it" the bandana wearing bandit told Raven. He started dragging Weiss along while the other bandit grabbed Myrtenaster.

---

It is now the fourth day since Naruto and Yang hit the road. They have made a few stops per day to ask around about Raven, to eat and sleep, and or course to train. Naruto is starting to get his new energy under control and Yang is starting to breathe fire well enough to earn her namesake. She can make fire Chakra without even thinking about it. Naruto has made strides in using the Air Bullet. He managed to fire off lesser versions and he does not get knocked off his feet anymore. However, his ace technique, the Rasengan, still needs more work as this new energy has shown to be more potent than Chakra and as such needs more practice.

Having been driving for a couple hours now, they come upon a bar, convenience store, and fuel station that seems a little out of nowhere called "Just Rite." Yang came to a stop in front of the store and asked Naruto, "What do you think?"

Naruto looked at the convenience store and said, "Seems like a good spot to ask." He then paused before saying, "And I could also use a snack, ya know."

Yang smirked and said, "Yeah, that's probably the real reason you wanna go in." Naruto did not deny it as they dismounted Bumblebee and headed into the store.

The inside of the store was pretty empty. There was one employee behind a bar who was a middle-aged man with gray hair and glasses. He was wearing a green apron and bow tie as he was polishing a class. There was only one other person at the bar who was rather shady looking. He was very thin and had greasy long dirty blonde hair. He has a stubble of facial hair around his mouth. He just seemed to be waiting for people to come by.

Naruto and Yang headed up to the bartender. The bartender looks at them with an inquisitive look as he asked, "Aren't you a little young to be drinking?" He then looked right at Naruto and said, "Those fake whiskers aren't fooling anybody."

This caused Naruto's jaw to drop and Yang to turn her head as she uncontrollably snickered. Kurama then started laughing which caused Naruto to snap and shout, "The whiskers aren't fake! They're birthmarks!" He then muttered, "All I wanted were those nuts on the counter…"

Yang put a hand on Naruto's chest and made him back up before she said, "Settle down, Whiskers." She then took off her aviator sunglasses and looked back at the bartender as she said, "Two waters…and those mixed nuts please."

"O-of course…" The bartender said as he knelt down to grab the waters. He was embarrassed about what he said to Naruto.

While the bartender was getting the waters, Yang asked Naruto, "Why'd you lose it like that?"

Naruto sighed before he whispered, "Kurama started laughing and it really annoyed me."

This caused Yang to giggle as she said, "Now I really wish I could hear him."

As Naruto and Yang were conversing, they shady guy from further down the bar, who is obviously drunk, said to Yang, "Are you telling me you're too young to drink? You look like a regular Huntress, and a beauty at that."

Naruto and Yang were just eyeing him as he approached. He then got in between the two of them to get a better look at Yang. Naruto then asked, "Okay, what are you trying to do here—"

The Shady Drunk quickly turned to Naruto and cut him off as he said, "Buzz off."

Naruto stood there in shock as he whispered to himself, "Did that just happen?" He had never been told to "buzz off" so someone could talk to the girl he was with. Yang was now getting more annoyed by the second.

The Shady Drunk then turned back to Yang saying, "Where were—" He finished turning to see Yang holding her hand up.

"Let me stop you right there" Yang told the Shady Drunk. "The guy you just told to buzz off is my boyfriend. So why don't you take your own advice?"

Stunned at this reveal, the Shady Drunk said, "How'd a loser like him land a ten like you?"

Yang grit her teeth as soon as the Shady Drunk called Naruto a loser. Before the drunk could say anything else, Yang gave the drunk a swift backhand to his jaw. The Shady Drunk lost a tooth before he bounced like a pinball on the ceiling and floor until he flew out the door. As the door closed the "open" sign flipped over now saying the bar was closed. This caused Yang to get a satisfied smirk.

A little in awe, Naruto said, "That was one of the most incredible things I've ever seen, ya know!" Yang's smirk grew into a full smile as she enjoyed the praise.

The bartender handed them both a water and a bag of nuts from the jar. He tells them, "On the house. That guy has been driving me crazy." He then looks to Naruto and says, "Uh, sorry about calling your birthmarks fake…"

Naruto has already started eating the nuts as he said, "We're good."

"So, what are you two doing here anyway?" The bartender asked. "Nobody ever really comes around here, too far away from the kingdoms."

"We're actually looking for someone" Yang answered.

"Out here? The only person of any import around here is…well, Raven—"

"Raven Branwen" Yang said, finishing the bartender's sentence. "Thanks for the water." She then put her sunglasses back on.

"And the nuts!" Naruto exclaimed as he and Yang exited the bar.

As they made their way back to Bumblebee, the Shady Drunk called out, "Hey, girlie!"

Naruto and Yang were flabbergasted that the drunk was still trying to mess with them. Naruto told the drunk, "You want her to hit you for real this time?"

Hearing this, the drunk thinks to himself, "That was her messing around?!" He then tried to collect himself as he tells them, "I heard you were looking for someone."

Yang lowered her sunglasses and said, "Did you now?"

"Yeah, and I know where Raven is" the drunk tells her.

"Okay. Then tells us" Yang responded.

"It's not that easy. I'll need to direct you guys" the drunk informs them.

Yang pinched the bridge of her nose from having to deal with this drunk. She then looked at Naruto and asked, "What do you think?"

Naruto sighed and said, "It's the only lead we've gotten in days." He then looks at the drunk while still talking to Yang as he says, "Besides, you barely hit him and turned the guy into a pinball. So hopefully he's not stupid enough to try and pull something."

Yang shrugged as she said, "That's a good point. But how's this gonna work? Bumblebee only seats two."

Naruto then looks disappointed as he asked, "Does this mean I have to walk?"

Yang quickly took off her sunglasses to look Naruto in the eye as she said sternly, "There's no way I'm riding with that sleezeball while you chase us."

Said sleezeball then said, "Uh…I'm right here."

Yang looked back at the Shady Drunk and said, "Yeah, I know." She then turned back to Naruto to continue their conversation.

"If you won't ride with the guy then we all gotta walk" Naruto told her.

Yang heavily disliked that idea. She then asked the Shady Drunk, "How long would it take us on foot?"

"It'll be a few hours at least" the drunk answered.

Naruto sighed again and told Yang, "Pick your poison."

Yang looked down contemplating the two bad choices before her. She then looked back at Naruto and asked, "You really think you'll be able to keep up with Bumblebee?"

"Yeah, just try not to go too fast" Naruto told her.

Yang then let out a sigh of her own before she put her sunglasses back on to hide the disappointment in her eyes. She then got on Bumblebee and told the Shady Drunk, "Get on…" The Shady Drunk then grinned as he got on the bike causing Yang to dawn a grimace on her face.

Naruto then knelt down into a racing position before taking a deep breath and concentrated his new energy into his legs causing them to radiate that same orange energy.

"Ready to go?" Yang asked. Naruto gave her a nod.

The Shady Drunk smirked as he saw this and thought, "He'll get left behind, so this'll be a little more manageable."

Yang then took off on Bumblebee and Naruto ran after her. He was able to run next to the bike and surprise Yang as she said, "Wow! Sorry I ever doubted you Whiskers!"

"I don't know how long I can keep this up!" Naruto told her. "So hopefully we get there soon!"

The Shady Drunk was absolutely gobsmacked. First, he meets a stunning girl that after barely hitting him sent him flying out of a bar. Now he sees her boyfriend is somehow able to run alongside a vehicle. He starts to think. "What have I gotten myself into? Maybe I should rethink this ambush…"

After about twenty minutes, Yang notices Naruto is getting winded. She asked the drunk, "How much further?"

"This should be about it" the drunk tells her.

Yang then came to a stop on Bumblebee and Naruto stopped running. He started panting and Yang asked, "You okay?" Naruto just gave a thumbs up instead of a verbal response.

The Shady Drunk then got off Bumblebee and said, "I'll go up ahead and make sure the coast is clear." He then ran into the bushes.

Yang shook her head and said, "Bumblebee needs a cleaning after letting him ride."

Naruto sat down on the ground and was now breathing easier. He then asked, "Was it really that bad?"

"You didn't have to smell him…" Yang responded.

"Fair point…" Naruto admitted. A gunshot then went off and Yang blocked it with her metal arm. She then panned over to the direction the gunshot came from with an annoyed look in her eye.

The Shady Drunk walked back out of the bushes with several bandits in tow. He then said, "I can't believe you were dumb enough to let me lead you here."

"I can't believe you were dumb enough to think this would work out for you" Naruto retorted. This gave Yang a smirk. The Shady Drunk got a little flustered as his second thoughts were creeping back up.

One of the other bandits looked at the Shady Drunk and asked, "Why do you look scared?"

The Shady Drunk then shook his head and responded, "Scared of what?! These kids?!"

Yang rolled her eyes at the Shady Drunk failing to play off his nervousness. She then asked the drunk, "Is this everyone?"

"Yes, this is everyone" the Shady Drunk confirmed. "Well, if you don't count the rest of the camp." He then gestures behind him.

Naruto and Yang then looked at each other before Yang pointed behind the Shady Drunk and asked, "That way?"

The Shady Drunk nodded and gestured behind him again as he said, "Yeah, that way."

"Wow, you're really an idiot" Naruto told the drunk.

"Wha? How am I an idiot?!" The Shady Drunk asked indignantly.

"Because you just revealed where we've been trying to get to" Naruto answered.

Now very embarrassed, the Shady Drunk yelled out, "I-I-It doesn't matter since neither of you are gonna make it!"

Yang then got off her bike ready to go, but then Naruto dragged her aside. Confused, Yang asked, "What are you doing?"

"Okay look, I really you need to hold back against these guys" Naruto tells her.

Now even more confused, Yang asked, "Why should I do that?"

Naruto gave her a serious look and said, "Yang, you barely touched that drunk and sent him flying. With your new Chakra enhanced body, you're gonna kill them if you're not careful."

Yang then dodged a bullet and stared back at the Shady Drunk who fired it. She then told Naruto, "It's gonna be hard to start pulling my punches now."

"I'm sure we'll fight Grimm soon enough" Naruto told her.

"Go get 'em!" The Shady Drunk yells the other bandits. The bandits then ran at Naruto and Yang, completely unaware of the beating that awaited them. The Shady Drunk fires another shot at Naruto and Yang causing them to scatter. Their Auras would not have even been phased by these bullets. However, between fighting dangerous fighters like Adam and Cinder, the horrible threat of the Super Grimm, and finally their sparring sessions against each other, their instincts are now always telling them to dodge.

One of the bandits swung their sword at Yang and she effortlessly dodged it. Another bandit fired a machine gun at her and she fluidly dodges each bullet. The machine gun wielding bandit's jaw dropped. He had seen people run to the side to avoid bullets, but never weave between each individual one. As sweat beaded down the machine gun bandit's neck, the sword wielding bandit was joined by another bandit wielding a club. The club wielding bandit tried to ambush Yang, but she stepped back to avoid the swing and got a quick snap-jab on the bandit's stomach.

Even though it was just a snap-jab, Yang still made sure to hold back. It was the right call because the club wielding bandit fell to his knees and started vomiting. While this was happening, the sword wielding bandit once again brought his sword down on Yang. She blocked the sword with her metal arm while continuing to watch the club wielding bandit puke his guts out. She had an uncomfortable expression on her face as she said, "That's so gross…" All this happened in the short time it took the machine gun bandit to switch clips.

The machine gun bandit then took aim at Yang and said to himself, "Okay girlie. Let's see you dodge all these bullets while you're distracted." He opened fire and Yang grabbed the sword wielding bandit by the shirt before she yanked him into the path of the bullets making him act as a shield. The bullets started eating through the sword bandit's Aura, making the machine gun bandit stop firing. The machine gun bandit then shouted to his fellow bandit, "What are you doing?!"

Hearing that the gunfire has stopped, Yang kicked the sword bandit towards the machine gun bandit at a decent velocity. The machine gun bandit seen his fellow bandit fly towards him and he muttered, "Oh sh—" before the bandits collided and were sent through a tree.

Yang winced at the sound their bodies made going through the tree before she rubbed the back of her head and said to herself, "I might have put too much into that…"

Meanwhile, Naruto slid past one of the bandits he was fighting while grabbing that same bandit's ankle. The bandit fell over while Naruto kicked another bandit into the air. Two more bandits rushed at Naruto, but he caught their wrists which prevented their weapons from reaching him. One of them pulled out a pistol and shot at Naruto point blank and he moved his head to avoid the bullet. This shocked both bandits until Naruto squeezed their wrists and audible snaps were heard. As the two bandits yelled out in pain, Naruto let go of their wrists before grabbing the back of their heads and slamming them together, knocking them out.

The bandit Naruto tripped before had gotten back up and fired his shotgun. Naruto leaped over the buckshot and landed on top of the bandit. He then told the bandit, "You should have stayed down, ya know." Naruto then grabbed the bandit and threw him into a tree causing his body to bend around the tree and shattering his Aura.

Yang watched this occur as she lightly backfisted the bandit behind her; shattering his nose and knocking him out cold. She then called out to Naruto, "That's what you call holding back?"

"Hey, I didn't hear any of his bones snap!" Naruto countered.

The Shady Drunk was now the only bandit left standing. He knew this might backfire, but he never thought it would go this badly. He dropped to his knees and tried his best to sound brave as he said, "When Raven finds out, you're both dead!"

Yang shook her head and said, "I guess she might get mad, but I doubt it. I'm her daughter after all."

The Shady Drunk then lost his facade of bravery and muttered, "I'm dead…"

Naruto then looked at the fearful face of the Shady Drunk and said, "I think you might of broken him."

Yang paid the drunk no mind as she put her shades back on and mounted Bumblebee. She then told Naruto, "Come on." Naruto got on the back of the bike, and they drove off.

---

After another ten minutes they came upon the bandit camp. When they arrived they got intense stares from everyone in the camp. The bandit wearing a bandana over his eye walked up and asked, "Where are the others?"

"They're taking a nice nap" Yang answered. "We're here to see Raven." The bandana wearing bandit scoffed at this until Yang said, "You really wanna get between a mom and her daughter?"

The surrounding bandits are taken by surprise, but can see the resemblance. The bandana bandit then said, "Okay, you can go see her." He then points to Naruto and says, "But he's gotta stay put."

"Where I go, he goes" Yang said defiantly. Naruto smiles at this.

The other bandits then got ready to fight, but an approaching voice said, "Back off and save yourselves the embarrassment." She is a young woman with short brown hair and icy blue eyes. She has a bird tattoo on her left arm which is fitting considering she is in Raven's tribe. She wore a light brown vest over a white shirt. She also wore dark brown fingerless gloves and a dark brown choker. For bottom wear she wore maroon-colored jeans with the right side rolled up. She had dark brown lace-up boots that partially covered some calf guards. This was Vernal, and from the way the other bandits reacted to her she is clearly important among the tribe. She told Yang and Naruto, "Follow me." She then walks off.

Naruto and Yang follow Vernal and Naruto asked Yang, "What should we expect?"

Yang shrugged and said, "I dunno. I never actually met my mom."

Naruto did not know that so he said, "Oh…should I expect some awkwardness?"

"Probably" Yang answered.

As Naruto and Yang were being escorted, the guards who were supposed to be watching their prisoner, which was Weiss, headed off to take a look at the new arrivals. This allowed Weiss to summon a small version of her Knight that started cutting the cage to free her.

Vernal stops at the large tent letting Naruto and Yang know they have arrived. Raven then walks out of the tent wearing her helmet. Naruto whispered to Yang, "So what's with the helmet?" Yang simply shrugged.

As Yang looked at Raven, she simply said, "Mom."

Raven removed her helmet and said, "Yang." She then smiled and said, "So, after all this time you finally decided to visit me."

Yang was clearly annoyed at what her mother just said and then said in turn, "You know that I searched for you. I spent years looking for you."

Feeling no shame whatsoever, Raven replied, "And you've found me. You were patient, determined, and strong enough to make your dream a reality. Well done, Yang. But did you have to be so rough with my men?"

Noticing that Raven does not care that Yang was searching for her for years, Naruto whispered to Yang, "I already don't like her."

"Yeah, me too" Yang whispered back.

Raven saw them conversing and asked, "And who is he?"

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki" Naruto answered, unenthusiastically for a change.

"And he's here with you because…?" Raven questioned Yang further.

Yang just crossed her arms and said, "He's my boyfriend."

Raven was shocked to hear this. She then gave Naruto a once over before holding her face in her hand and saying, "Apparently we have a type."

This made Naruto feel awkward while Yang muttered, "Why do people keep saying that?"

Raven then stated, "I'm not sure how I feel about your boyfriend—"

Naruto cut her off and said, "The feeling's mutual, ya know." Yang smiled as this.

While this annoyed Raven, she still said, "You two can stay the night."

"No" Yang said with seriousness in her voice.

"What do you mean no?" Raven responded, not liking the tone in Yang's voice.

"I'm not here for you, I'm here for my sister" Yang informed her.

"Now why would—" Raven started to question.

Once again cutting her off, Naruto said, "We know how your Semblance works."

"And I know Qrow's watching over Ruby" Yang further explained.

"Damn it Tai…" Raven muttered, clearly upset he told Yang about her Semblance. "We're done here." Raven then turned away from them to walk back into her tent.

"I said I want you to take me to Ruby!" Yang demanded again.

"Hey, watch what you say to our leader!" One of the bandits yells to Yang.

Yang's eyes drift over to the bandit and she said, "Make me."

As this happened, Naruto took out Orange Spark, ready for another scrap. He then asked Yang, "How long do you think it'll take us to wipe out this camp? A minute? Minute and a half?" This made Yang's anger turn into a confident smirk. He just had that kind of effect on her.

The bandit went to attack Yang, but she nonchalantly backhanded the bandit just like she did the Shady Drunk. This sent the bandit flying right through one of the tents, much to Raven's surprise. As the tent collapsed, and caged Weiss was revealed.

Weiss narrowed her eyes as she called out, "Yang? Naruto?!"

Yang was just as shocked and Naruto asked, "Wait, what the hell's going on?"

Now that a bunch of the bandits are staring at her, Weiss said, "I guess subtlety is out…" She then makes her summon cut her restraints and return to its normal large size. It destroyed the cage and she then ran over to Naruto and Yang.

Clearly thrown off by Weiss' summon, Yang asked Naruto, "Is that big knight thing from her Chakra?"

"I doubt it…" Naruto responded, not sure what to make of the summon.

"What are you two talking about?!" Weiss asked them, completely lost.

"Forget it, we'll explain later. What are you doing here?" Yang asked.

"Well, these people kidnapped me" Weiss answered.

Yang's eyes widened as she looked at Raven and shouted, "You kidnapped her?!"

Seeing Yang's outburst, Weiss asked Naruto, "Do those two know each other?"

Naruto pointed at Raven and said, "That's her mom." This made Weiss' eyes widen.

The bandits started to attack until Raven shouted, "ENOUGH!" This was followed by a lightning bolt crashing down. She then looked to Vernal and said, "Thank you," implying Vernal summoned the lightning bolt. Vernal simply nodded. Raven then addressed her tribe and said, "If you all don't cool it then this place will be crawling with Grimm and we still haven't recovered from the last attack." She then looks at Yang and says, "Come into my tent."

"Why should I?" Yang asked, clearly still not happy with her mother.

"If you're going to go after sister, you need to know the truth about Ozpin" Raven answered as she entered her tent.

Now that they have a reprieve, Weiss hugged Yang and said, "I missed you."

Yang hugged her back and said, "I missed you too."

Naruto just smiled at this interaction. As the hug ended, Weiss looked at Naruto. Naruto started to say, "Hey Princes—"

Weiss cut him off with a hug and she said, "I missed you too, clown." Naruto was caught off guard, but he was genuinely happy to see her too.

After Weiss ended the hug, Weiss asked, "Now what's this about finding Ruby?"

"My mom's Semblance lets her make portals to people she's bonded too" Yang explained. "Qrow's one of them and he's watching out for Ruby."

Weiss groaned and asked, "So we need to rely on her?"

"Yeah, I know how you feel" Naruto told Weiss. He also was not thrilled about having to rely on Raven. He then looked at Yang and said, "I can't believe it was easier meeting your dad."

Yang just signed before she said, "Yeah, hard to believe." Then she, Naruto, and Weiss entered the tent.

Raven placed her sword leaning against a table. She then asked, "How much do you really know about Ozpin?"

Yang shrugged as Weiss said, "He's the headmaster of Beacon Academy. Well, he was…"

Raven scoffed at this answer. But before she could speak, Naruto said, "He's a reserved guy but has a lot of secrets."

Raven was genuinely surprised as she said, "Guess I underestimated you if you were able to pick up his secretive nature."

"Wait, how did you know about it?" Weiss asked Naruto.

"He reminded me of my old teacher…I mean in the way that he's hiding some kind of pain behind his calm teacher persona" Naruto answered.

Yang squinted in confusion as she asked, "He reminds you of your pervy teacher?"

"Wha? No! I meant Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto snapped back. He then put a hand on his chin and mused, "Although he was a big fan of Pervy Sage's novels…"

"Hey, focus on the topic at hand you two" Raven scolded.

Yang narrowed her eyes as she looked back at Raven. She then said with clear attitude in her voice, "Which is what? Can't trust Ozpin? You already said that, but it doesn't matter. I'm not here because of Ozpin, I'm here for my sister!" This brought a smile to both Weiss and Naruto's faces.

Raven shook her head and turned around before she said in a manner that could be confused for concern, "You don't understand the danger. They're up against forces they can't possibly comprehend. I know magic is real. And now the Grimm are evolving. They have a mast—" She turned back to Yang and stopped speaking as she was stunned by what she saw.

Yang is standing there with her hand engulfed in fire as she asks, "Still think this is all above our heads?"

Weiss was standing there in awe as she asked, "How…how are you doing that?"

Raven stood there in a similar level of awe as she asked, "When did you receive the Maiden's powers?"

Yang looked confused and extinguished the flame as she asked, "What are you talking about?" She then pointed to her right with her thumb towards Naruto and said, "Whiskers here taught me how to do it." She then noticed Naruto not saying anything so she looked towards him and he was clearly lost in thought.

Naruto was thinking, "What's this "Maiden" she just mentioned? Pyrrha also said something about the power of a "Maiden" when we were fighting Cinder…"

"Yang and the Schnee clearly don't know about it so it must not be common knowledge" Kurama commented. "I have a feeling these Maidens are one of the secrets Ozpin was carrying. As dislikable as that woman is, she isn't wrong about telling us to be wary of Ozpin."

"Yeah, you're probably right" Naruto told Kurama in agreement. He was then brought out of his internal conversation by Yang waving a hand in front of his face. He then looked at her, showing she had his attention.

"Kurama?" Yang quietly asked Naruto.

"Yeah, but I was lost in my own thoughts too, ya know" Naruto answered.

"How did you manage get more odd?" Weiss asked.

"Oh, you haven't seen anything yet!" Naruto responded.

Seeing this interaction, Raven asked Yang, "How did you manage to find a boy weirder than your father?"

Yang simply took it is stride and responded, "Expected me to pick someone boring?"

Raven actually smiles at that response. If nothing else, her and her daughter had that in common. She then said, "I'll open the portal. But understand, once you go through there's no coming back."

Naruto then looked at Weiss and asked, "So what are you gonna do?"

Weiss crossed her arms and said, "Don't ask stupid questions. Obviously, I'm going to."

Yang looked at her mother and said, "That settles it." Raven then let out a sigh before opening the portal.

---

Still on their way to Haven, Team JNPRR found their way to a desolate village in clear disrepair. As they are looking around, Ruby asked, "What do you guys think happened here?"

"The same thing that happened to all desolate villages…" Ren answered with noticeable sadness in his voice. He then looked down, seemingly lost in memory.

Knowing Ren's past, Nora placed a hand on his shoulder and asked, "Ren? You okay?"

"I'm okay" Ren answered. "It's just…all too familiar."

After panning another look at the village, Nora responded, "Yeah, I agree…"

Pyrrha was looking around for any sign of life. Unfortunately, she was unable to find any. What she did find was a broken-framed photo of a family that must have lived there.

Jaune was in the middle of the village looking at what appeared to be a children's playground. He could not imagine what it must have been like to face the horrors of the Grimm as a small child. They all then hear the familiar roar of the Super Grimm. They joined Jaune in the middle of the village and got ready.

Three Super Beowolves and a Super Alpha Beowolf then made their way towards them. Ruby asked, "Why would Super Grimm be here at an abandoned village?"

The Super Grimm then stepped aside to let Tyrian walk up and he said, "Why, they're here for you!"

Staying on guard, Jaune asked, "Why would they want us?"

"Oh, you self-deluded little fools" Tyrian said as he chuckled. "It's not you we're here for. It's the brat with the silver eyes." He then shoots his crazed glare to Ruby who readies herself and struggles to hide her intimidation. He then tells Team JNPR, "Now run along children and we won't have to kill you along with her."

Without a moment of hesitation, all of Team JNPR stepped in front of Ruby as Jaune said, "That's not going to happen."

A little concerned, Ruby asked, "Guys? Are you sure?"

"You wouldn't hesitate to protect any of us" Pyrrha answered.

"How about you take your own advice and go away!" Nora shouted.

"Oh, I like your spirit" Tyrian commented. "I'll enjoy hearing you scream…" Tyrian then gained a demented smile.

Nora grit her teeth and went to charge forward, but Ren held her back and told her, "Don't let him bait you."

Tyrian snapped his fingers gaining the Super Grimm's attention and he said, "Go get them." The three Super Beowolves rushed at the group while the Super Alpha stayed back and waited.

Jaune and Pyrrha stood in front of the group with their shields out front to act as a barricade. One of the Super Beowolves slammed into them causing them both to slide back. As they tried to hold their ground, the Super Beowolf's head rose up enough for Ruby to shoot it with her sniper. The Super Beowolf then glared at Ruby which distracted it long enough for Jaune and Pyrrha to thrust their blades into the Beowolf's head. Its head gets partially pierced, but then it backs away before too much damage is done.

While one of the Super Beowolves was facing Jaune, Pyrrha, and Ruby, the other two split off with one going after Nora and the other going after Ren. While Nora has gotten stronger, she knows she won't be able to overpower one of these things without amplification. While one of the Super Beowolves was striking at her, she kept hopping back to avoid its hits. She knows she is not quick enough to dodge its attacks while staying close, so she switched her hammer to its grenade launcher mode.

Ren was just barely managing to dodge the swings from the Super Beowolf he was fighting. He had absolutely no time to counter. It would normally take their whole team to take down just one Super Grimm. Now they had to somehow take down four of them along with the guy controlling them. That is when the thought finally occurred to Ren. How is this guy able to command Grimm?

Tyrian was watching Ruby, Jaune, and Pyrrha face off with one of the Super Beowolves. He then looked to the Alpha that he had yet to deploy and told it, "Get her."

The Super Alpha Beowolf rushed in with unprecedented speed right past Jaune and Pyrrha before swiping at the unguarded Ruby. This sent Crescent Rose flying right out of her hands causing her to be shocked and horrified.

"Ruby!" Pyrrha shouted out in concern. She then looked to Jaune and said, "Go help her, I'll hold off this Beowolf!"

"What? Are you sure?" Jaune asked with concern. Pyrrha gave him an affirmative nod. Jaune then ran to help Ruby while Pyrrha squared off with the Super Beowolf.

Ruby used her Semblance to try and get away from the Alpha, but much to her shock the Alpha managed to keep up with her. It swung at her, and she managed to guard up at the last second as she got sent flying through the wall of one of the buildings. This made her Aura to take a nose dive.

As the Alpha started stalking towards the building, Jaune was running up as he shouted, "Leave her alone!" The Alpha simply ignored Jaune not deeming him to be important. Insulted, Jaune leaped toward the Alpha yelling, "Don't you ignore me!" As he was about to strike the Alpha, it quickly countered with a thrusting claw. Jaune's Aura and armor are broken from this, but thanks to them his flesh wound is not as deep. That being said, he is quite injured and coughing up blood.

"No! Jaune!" Ruby cried out in concern. This grabbed the attention of Ren, Nora, and Pyrrha.

"Jaune…" Pyrrha said in quiet horror. She leaped over a swipe from the Super Beowolf and ran towards Jaune. She then noticed the Alpha approaching Ruby. She threw her shield at the Alpha and stood guard over the injured Jaune. As the Alpha dodges the shield, Pyrrha stood firm but full of worry since in order to save Ruby she would have to leave the injured Jaune at the mercy of the Super Beowolf.

As Ruby was about to get struck by the Alpha, she guarded up and closed her eyes. She then heard the sound of flapping wings followed by the sound of something being cut. She opened her eyes to see that her Uncle Qrow had arrived and cut the Super Alpha. While the Alpha was not phased, it did give Ruby the opportunity to get back up. She then asked, "What are you doing here?!"

"Now's really not the time for questions, kiddo" Qrow told her. "Now go get your weapon!" Ruby then ran off to do just that.

Tyrian began to walk up as he mockingly said, "Oh look, Ozpin's little birdie. I've been waiting for you."

Clearly not a fan of Tyrian's demeanor, Qrow said, "I definitely could have waited a while before meeting you." Tyrian gained a sadistic grin before aiming his tail at Qrow. The stinger gained a momentary purple glow causing Qrow to become confused, but still had his guard up. The tail then fired a pressurized beam of poison and Qrow just managed to dodge out of the way. Qrow then looked at the singed ground and asked, "What the hell was that?"

"Just the result of our Goddess' blessing" Tyrian answered. "I look forward to showing you more!"

Qrow changed his weapon into its scythe mode and said, "If it's from Salem it should probably be called a curse."

Tyrian's demented smile turned into a scowl as he shouted, "How dare you!" He then rushed Qrow with greater speed than any Qrow had ever seen. Qrow managed to duck Tyrian's swing in time, but just barely. Tyrian's tail then wrapped around Qrow's leg and tripped him up. He then swung Qrow around with his tail and slammed Qrow through multiple walls causing one of the buildings to collapse. Somehow, some of the roof fell right onto Tyrian and he was not expecting it.

Qrow them picked himself up from the beating he just took and readied himself for more. He knew that the roof falling on Tyrian was not going to be enough. However, he was expecting it to have caused decent damage. When Tyrian came out of the dust cloud not having been damaged at all, Qrow simply muttered, "Son of a bitch…"

Now having retrieved her weapon, Ruby went to back up Nora. She knew Nora was lacking in speed so Ruby figured that would be where she would be the most useful. She slashed the Super Beowolf in the back and gained its attention. This allowed Nora a second to catch her breath as she has been doing nothing but run and fire grenades so far. She then changed her weapon back into hammer form and jumped toward the Super Beowolf. She swung and caught the Beowolf off guard, managing to knock it over. She then shouted to Ruby, "Now!" They both rushed in to get damage it while they could. But while they rushed in, the Alpha did so as well and clawed at them both. They managed to block with their weapons, but they were sent flying back. The Alpha then approached the downed Super Beowolf.

Qrow glanced over and asked, "What's it doing?"

Tyrian started to giggle as he said, "These Grimm aren't mutated like the ones you've gotten used to fighting. They're more pure. Birthed right from their God!"

Qrow looked back to Tyrian and asked, "The hell are you on about?" The Super Alpha then let out a roar that caused the other Super Grimm to start convulsing as they became bathed in their Chakra. Now their claws were constantly radiating Chakra.

As the Super Beowolf Pyrrha was fighting stalks her with Chakra radiated claws, she asked, "What just happened?"

Jaune coughed and said, "You gotta be kidding…they can evolve on command now?!"

Ren, who had only been glanced so far, was not ready for the increased speed of the now evolved Super Beowolf as it landed a swipe on his leg and his Aura could not stop the slash. He fell to one knee, now at the mercy of the Grimm in front of him.

Nora saw this and tried to go help Ren, but the Super Beowolf she was fighting grabbed her hammer and pulled her back with it. She instinctually punched the Super Beowolf, but it did absolutely nothing to it. It then hit her with a claw slash that cut right through her Aura and made a bleeding gash across her torso, causing her to scream out in pain.

Pyrhha was knocked over by her Super Grimm, but she quickly got back up. The Super Beowolf then approached Jaune who had gotten to his feet but was struggling to stay up. As the Beowolf was going to strike, Pyrrha sent her weapons flying at it with her Semblance. The Beowolf parried her weapons, but Pyrrha caught them in midair and thrusted her weapon at the Grimm in spear mode. The Super Beowolf stepped back from it, but Pyrrha did not let up as she configured her spear into its rifle mode and fired two point blank shots before following up with a shield bash. The Super Beowolf shrugged off the bullets and caught her shield bash. Instead of getting away like she normally would, she jammed her rifle into the Super Beowolf's mouth and emptied the clip. This caught the Grimm off guard and staggered it.

Normally Pyrrha would be trying to switch to a defensive strategy right now. However, in her desire to protect Jaune she chose to only attack. Jaune sensed this and called out, Pyrrha!" He then tossed her his sword.

Pyrrha put her shield on her back and then caught Jaune's sword. She used her Semblance to load another clip into her rifle before configuring it back into spear mode. The Super Beowolf roared recognizing her challenge. She used her Semblance to throw her shield at it before rushing in.

Qrow was firing his weapon's heavy rounds at Tyrian who was easily dodging them. Tyrian then yawned and let one of the shots hit him only for it to bounce off. Qrow knew Tyrian was just toying with him at this point, but he also knew he was the only one who had a chance of keeping Tyrian busy. Thinking quickly, he ran into one of the taller buildings.

Tyrian followed while he asked, "Where are you going little birdie?" He then watched Qrow turn into a literal crow and fly up. Tyrian's curiosity was now peaked as he continued his pursuit. When they reached the roof, Qrow continued to fly up.

After reaching about fifteen meters above the roof, Qrow changed back into his normal form and dropped down towards Tyrian with his weapon in sword mode. Tyrian giggled ready to meet Qrow's attack. Qrow placed all his strength, weight, and the force of his fall behind his swing. Tyrian blocked the attack and did not buckle at all. However, the force causes the roof beneath them to collapse. Tyrian fell in while Qrow jumped off of him and then headed to the ground.

As Tyrian fell, he wondered, "What's the point? Does he think a tiny fall like this is going to do me in?" His eyes then widened as he also crashed through the second story floor and down to the bottom floor. Then, for some inexplicable reason, the entire building collapsed on top of him.

Qrow smirked as he started to catch his breath. He looked over to see the kids in desperate need of help. He went to go back them up, but Tyrian came bursting out of the collapsed building and with great speed, he slashed Qrow in the side shattering his Aura. As Qrow fell to a knee, Tyrian said, "That actually hurt…Ozpin's little birdie is clever at least."

"How…how are you still able to move?" Qrow asked while holding his side.

Tyrian then grabbed Qrow by the head and slammed his face into the ground, breaking his nose and giving him a bloody mouth too. Tyrian then said, "That's just the difference in power between those of us blessed by the Goddess, and those like you."

Ruby has been trying her best, but against a Super Alpha she never stood a chance. She managed to get a hit in using her Semblance, but the hit was still superficial. She stood across from the Super Alpha after that wondering what to do next. Between her low Aura levels and how fast the Super Grimm learn, she knew using her Semblance probably would not work again.

Before Ruby could think of anything, The Super Alpha ran her down. She tried to use her sniper's recoil so maneuver around it, but the Super Alpha was ready for her and parried her strike that she attempted from behind. Now off balance, the Super Alpha pierced her leg with its claw and pinned her down by it. She then yelled out in pain.

Pyrrha, who had exhausted herself fighting her Super Beowolf, heard Ruby scream. She was going to go and try to help, but her exhaustion made her slow and the Super Beowolf struck her.

Ruby now looked out at all her friends who were down and were at the mercy of the Grimm. All the fear and anger was now bringing normal Grimm to their location as well. Ruby flashed back to Penny being torn apart in front of her and her being unable to stop it. She then saw the same thing about to happen to her other friends and screamed at the top of her lungs, "STOP IT!" A bright light then erupted from her eyes. This made everyone have to shut their eyes.

"Those silver eyes sure are an impressive light show" Tyrian mocked. He was sitting on Qrow's back while still holding his head down.

Qrow opened his eyes and seen all the Grimm that showed up were all petrified. He was impressed with his niece's display…until he saw something that horrified him. While the normal Grimm were petrified, the Super Grimm were not. They had contorted and winced a little as if dealing with an allergy, but they were still quite mobile. Qrow simply uttered, "It…it can't be…"

Ruby was just as disheartened as Qrow was. This power she was told about a month ago, a power that could strike down a Grimm with just a look, was ineffectual against these new Super Grimm. Their last hope was now gone. With tears welling up in her eyes, Ruby said, "Everyone, I'm sorry…" The Super Alpha then raised its other claw.

Qrow reached towards Ruby, but Tyrian pierced Qrow's hand with his tail and started laughing. Team JNPR all seen Ruby about to be killed and tried to get back up, but the Super Beowolves roared upon seeing their movement. They were scared, but they had to do something.

As all seemed lost, a portal opened next to Qrow. He couldn't believe his eyes. He thought, "There's no way she'd be coming here…"

Out of the portal walked Naruto, Yang with Bumblebee, and Weiss. None of them were expecting to be surrounded by ruined buildings. As the portal closed behind them, Naruto asked, "Are we sure your mom sent us to the right place?"

"How should I know?" Yang answers.

"I wouldn't put it past her to trick us" Weiss commented. The new arrivals had distracted everyone including the Super Grimm.

Ruby called out, "Yang? Naruto?" She then inspected further, "Weiss?!"

The three in question then looked over to see Ruby with her leg impaled by the Super Alpha. Naruto and Yang didn't waste a second as the rushed over and punched the Alpha through one of the buildings. Everyone there was shocked by what they just saw.

Ruby thought she was dreaming. She thought, "Are they really here?" She then felt her sister turn her around and embrace her. Ruby then returned the hug overcome with emotional tears.

Thrown off by what he just seen, Tyrian became annoyed and shouted to the Super Beowolves, "Kill the other kids!" But before they could, a large sword from Weiss' summoned Knight came down between Team JNPR and the Super Beowolves.

Weiss then joined her Knight over by Team JNPR and asked them, "Are you guys okay?"

Team JNPR forced themselves back to the feet and Jaune said, "I don't care how you guys are here, I'm just glad to see you guys."

"Agreed…" Pyrrha added.

"I'll say…" An exhausted Nora said.

"I'll second that" Ren said in agreement.

Naruto then stared down Tyrian and asked, "Did you do this?"

Tyrian simply grinned and said, "That's right."

Naruto grit his teeth in anger. The Super Alpha came rushing out of the building and struck at Naruto four times. Naruto dodged each strike before nailing the Alpha with a back elbow. Much to the surprise of those that witnessed it, the Alpha showed pain for the first time. Naruto then punched it to the ground. He then grabbed it and threw it right at Tyrian. Tyrian hopped off of Qrow and out of the path of the thrown Alpha. He then stared at Naruto dumbfounded.

Naruto then simply said, "Yang."

Yang responded, "I got it." She then took the injured Ruby and brought her over to the injured Team JNPR. She then stood next to Weiss.

"What are you doing?" Ruby questioned.

Without looking back at her, Yang said, "You guys rest. Weiss and I got this."

Weiss' eyes glanced over to Yang as she asked, "You got a plan?"

"Yup. I'm gonna go kick their butts while you back me up" Yang answered confidently.

Weiss shook her head in disbelief as she said, "Are you nuts?! Those are Super Grimm!" Yang just smiled at her.

Back with Naruto, he asked Qrow, "Can you still move?"

Qrow forced himself back onto his feet and said, "Don't worry about me…"

"Go head to the others" Naruto told Qrow. "I got this guy." Qrow did not like the idea, but he was too injured to try and argue. He started walking to where the others were.

Tyrian went to strike Qrow with his tail, but Naruto caught the tail and threw him at one of the buildings. Tryian recovered in midair and landed on the windowsill. He then jumped up to the roof and asked, "Now who are you?"

Naruto took out Orange Spark and yelled, "Naruto Uzumaki! And I'm gonna kick your ass for what you did to my friends!"

---

The three Super Beowolves and the Super Alpha Beowolf were stalking around Weiss and Yang who were guarding the injured Team JNPRR. Yang slammed her fists together and said, "Now you're heading for a beating!"

Yang then concentrated her Chakra in her legs and feet to boost her movement speed as she dashes to one of the Super Beowolves before it could react and punched it in the jaw. The Super Beowolf fell to the ground hard. The other two went to strike her, but she was able to dodge roll out of the way. She then managed to kick one of the Super Beowolves into the other one before she jumped towards them and knocked them both down with a pair of hooks.

Her friends all looked on in disbelief. Ruby had never seen her sister move so fast or fluidly before. If she was not so stunned she would be cheering her sister on.

Ren rubbed his eyes and asked, "Did I really just see that?"

"If you're referring to Yang knocking three of those Super Beowolves down by herself, then yeah. You just seen that" Jaune answered.

"I don't know how she got this good, but I am certainly glad to see it" Pyrrha commented.

"Alright! Mess them up, Yang!" Nora cheered. Weiss was also curious about how Yang became able to do this, but she remained focused.

One of the Super Beowolves makes a break for the others and Yang shouts, "Oh you get back here!" She goes to pursue, but the Alpha cuts her off. She gives it a punch of the same caliber as she gave the others, but it guards up and only staggers a little. She grits her teeth knowing this one will take more to deal with.

As the Super Beowolf is rushing towards the others, Weiss rushed it with a dashing thrust. The Super Beowolf weaved to the side and swiped at her. Weiss was able to duck at the last second and then used her glyphs to gain some distance before she summons her Knight again. The Knight swing its giant blade and the Beowolf managed to dodge it. It does not know that the Knight only exists because of Weiss so it focuses only on the Knight. One of the other Super Beowolves breaks for the group too. Weiss sees this and shouts, "Stay away from them!" She ran after it, but saw that she was not going to make it in time.

Pyrrha, who while tired has suffered the least amount of injuries, stood up in front of the group with her shield presented. The others were trying to get back up as well. Before the Super Beowolf could get to them, Qrow managed to blindside it with a swing from his sword. The cut was mostly superficial, but it stopped the Grimm in its tracks as Qrow said, "Getting ahead of yourself, aren't ya?" Weiss breathed a sigh of relief so she could focus on the Super Beowolf in front of her.

Ruby sees that her uncle is tired and injured just like they are. She gets back to her feet, but stumbles with her leg injury. She then said, "He's gonna need help…"

Back on his feet as well, Jaune said, "You're right. But first we need to do something about your leg."

"I'll take care of it" Pyrrha stated.

Jaune nods and tells Nora, "You go first. Then me and Ren will follow." He knows Ren's Aura is on fumes so he will not be able to hide Nora. So, there is no point in using her for a sneak attack.

Qrow was blocking the Super Beowolf's attacks as best he could, but in his current state that is all he can do. Then to his surprise, Nora came in and swung her hammer at it. The Beowolf blocked the hammer, but then Jaune slashed it from the other side and Ren opened fire on it. Qrow was about to question them, but he realizes he cannot do this on his own. Instead, he tells them, "Show me what you kids got."

"We won't let you down" Jaune responded. He then noticed the cut Qrow made on the Super Beowolf's arm and shouted, "Concentrate your attacks on the left shoulder!

Qrow turned his sword into a scythe again and swung at the Beowolf. It hopped back, but Nora swung at it from its right side. It also managed to step back from the hammer swing, but it was unprepared for Ren striking his blades into the cut Qrow made. Jaune then stabbed his sword into that same area. The Beowolf then swung its arm and knocked Jaune back. Jaune guarded up with his shield, but Ren has no such defense. As the Beowolf is about to strike Ren, Pyrrha got there in time to block it. This gave Ren enough time to get away.

Jaune seen Pyrrha and said, "Pyrrha? That must mean—" He was cut off as Ruby rushed in and cut the unsuspecting Super Beowolf. The cut she landed joined the cuts made by Jaune, Ren, and Qrow. Jaune wondered what Pyrrha did about Ruby's leg.

On closer inspection, a small metal bar from the playground has been wrapped around her leg acting as a splint. Ruby backed away before the Super Beowolf could retaliate. She is still suffering the pain, but she is glad she can move again.

Jaune noticed that the Super Beowolf's left arm is starting to go limp. He then told his team, "Pyrrha, Ren, Nora, we're gonna go create an opening." He then looked at Ruby.

Ruby then looked to her uncle and said, "Then we'll take the arm." Qrow nodded and smiled.

Weiss was dealing with her Super Beowolf pretty well. Even after its evolution it is not easily overpowering her Knight. However, the speed difference is clear. The Super Beowolf has landed a number of hits on the Knight which reduced her Aura. She knew she was going to need to get involved herself. She used a decent amount of Dust on the Queen Lancer, but she still had some electric Dust. She has Myrtenaster switch to electric Dust before she rushes in.

She thrusts multiple times at the Super Beowolf making it guard up. She then makes her Knight bring down its blade on the Grimm's guard while she jumps back. The Super Beowolf gets almost completely cut down, but it manages to survive. She then leaps over her Knight's blade and lands an electric slash on the Super Beowolf causing partial paralysis. It only lasted a couple seconds, but it allowed her the time she needed to thrust her blade into the Beowolf. As she takes her blade out, the Beowolf swipes at her. She manages to block the swing and does not go sliding back. This let her know the Super Beowolf has gotten much weaker. She let's the Super Grimm swing again and she ducks under the swing before running the Super Beowolf through, this time finishing it off. Weiss starts to catch her breath as it finally dawns on her that she just defeated a Super Grimm all on her own. She can't help but smile.

Yang is engaged in combat with the Super Alpha and the other Super Beowolf. She glances over to Weiss and then to the others. She sees they are holding their own so she does not need to worry about backing them up and can focus on the two Super Grimm in front of her. The Alpha roars now making its own claws radiate Chakra. Seeing this, Yang wonders, "Okay, what are you trying to do now?" The Alpha then launched two slash waves at Yang, much to her surprise. She shouted, "Oh no!" before jumping out of the way.

Unfortunately for Yang, she was not prepared for the Super Beowolf that slashed her in the back upon landing. However, despite receiving a direct hit from a Super Grimm, an evolved one at that, her Aura did not break. It seems the Chakra training increased her Aura levels along with her natural durability. She then glared at the Super Beowolf with red eyes before she sent it flying with a punch. She then looked back to the Super Alpha whose claws were still glowing and radiating Chakra. She then said, "I got an answer for that!" She then armed her Ember Celica and ignited her fist with fire Chakra.

Team JNPR was rushing their Super Beowolf to try and create an opening. Jaune and Pyrrha slashed at it, but that was just to gait its attention. As the Super Beowolf swiped at them in retaliation, Nora hit in the wounded shoulder with her hammer causing a bone to break. It started flailing in pain as Ren then landed a kick to its jaw, which made it back up enough for Jaune and Pyrrha to get out of the way. Once they did, Ruby and Qrow dashed in and cut the Beowolf's wounded arm off. It started to try and run away, but it was then knocked over when the Super Beowolf Yang punched away collided with it.

"I've never seen a Grimm try to run away before…" Ruby commented.

"We still don't know a lot about these kind of Grimm" Qrow responded.

Yang's fire covered punch clashed with the Super Alpha's Chakra coated claw swipe creating a shockwave that caught her friend's attention. Yang won the exchange knocking the Super Alpha off balance before she punched it in the sternum with her other fire covered punch. The Alpha hunched over in pain before Yang kicked it over to the other two Super Beowolves.

The others were completely stunned at this. Not only did she send a Super Grimm flying, but she hurt a Super Alpha pretty badly too. Ruby was so amazed she starts to shout, "Yang, you're amaz—"

Yang cuts her off shouting, "Guys, get back!" She then starts saying in her head, "Snake, sheep, monkey, boar, horse, tiger…" She then starts weaving the signs.

"What's she doing?" Nora asked. She was then surprised when Weiss' Knight pulled her and the rest of her team back.

Qrow then did the same with Ruby as he told Nora, "Whatever she's about to do, she told us to get back for a reason."

Yang then leaped high into the air right above the Super Grimm and internally exclaimed, "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" She then breathed an intense stream of flame from her mouth that finished the Super Grimm off, the Alpha included. She then landed in the scorched spot where the Super Grimm once stood.

Qrow, Ren, Jaune, and Weiss all stood there wide-eyed, slack jawed, and speechless. Nora on the other hand shouted, "That was the craziest thing I've ever seen!" Pyrrha chuckled at this before she thought of something she wanted to ask Yang.

As Yang turned to face everyone, Ruby jumped into her arms. Yang embraced her sister as Ruby said with a quivering voice, "I missed you so much!"

"I missed you too sis" Yang responded.

As the others approached, Ruby hugged Weiss as well and said, "I missed you too!" Weiss did not fight it and even embraced her back.

Pyrrha then walked up to Yang and asked, "When did you get the Maiden's power?"

Yang rolled her eyes and said, "Okay, that's the second time I've been asked that today." They then hear one of the buildings collapse.

"What was that?" Ren asked.

Yang smirked and said, "That's Whiskers kicking that guy's butt."

---

Naruto was staring at Tyrian who was looking down on him from the rooftops. He then started running up the building which caught Tyrian off guard. Tyrian then jumped back before Naruto could get to the top and prepared to fire a poison beam. As Naruto got to the top, Tyrian fired, and Naruto just managed to avoid it.

"The hell was that?!" Naruto shouted indignantly. Tyrian grinned and dashed over to Naruto, noticeably faster than any of the Super Grimm he's faced.

Tyrian swung his claw weapon and Naruto blocked the swing with Orange Spark. Due to Naruto being on the edge of the roof he was knocked off of it. He backflipped and landed on his feet as Tyrian fired another poison beam from his tail. Naruto ran to avoid it as Tyrian fired off a few more shots. Naruto then ran into the building Tyrian was standing on. Unfortunately, this was Tyrian's plan.

"Welcome to my personal hell!" Tyrian exclaimed as shoved his tail through the ceiling and began to concentrate. His Chakra built up and then his tail began to fill the building with poison gas.

Naruto was heading up the steps when he seen the gas and shouted, "You gotta be kidding!" He then covered his eyes and jumped out the window.

Tyrian had also jumped off the roof while laughing as his plan worked perfectly. He kicked Naruto into another building while he had his eyes covered. Tyrian then followed Naruto into that same building. Naruto got to his feet and then put Orange Spark into dual staff mode.

Naruto and Tyrian got into an exchange as Naruto tried to jam one of his staffs into Tyrian's face, but he weaved his head out of the way. Naruto then spun around and swung both of his staffs in succession. Tyrian dodged one and stepped back from the other before he swung for Naruto's neck. Naruto ducked and Tyrian followed up with a double thrust from his claw weapons which Naruto blocked with his staffs. Tyrian coated his weapons in Chakra to make them more powerful. Naruto then did the same with his new energy causing them to radiate orange.

Tyrian was stunned by this as he asked, "How? You weren't blessed by the Goddess."

"Goddess? What Goddess?" Naruto questioned in turn. Tyrian then made his tail try to stab Naruto instead of answering. Naruto weaved his head out of the way and Tyrian swung his weapon again, hoping to catch Naruto off guard. This did not work as Naruto ducked under the claw before doing a spinning back kick that knocked Tyrian back. Naruto then threw one of his staffs enhanced by his new energy right at Tyrian's head. This staggered Tyrian which left him vulnerable for Naruto to dive kick him through the wall and out of the building.

Tyrian's back hit the ground and he coughed as Naruto's one kick caused more damage to him than his whole fight with Qrow. He got back up with an angry face and started spraying the area with poison gas.

"I'm ready for it this time!" Naruto exclaimed as he formed the bird seal. He then inhaled deeply while shouting in his head, "Wind Style: Air Bullet!" He then blows out a large and impactful burst of wind that disperses the gas and blasts Tyrian back through another one of the buildings causing it to collapse.

Tyrian got back up, but slowly. He then angrily said to himself, "I don't understand…how is he doing this to me?!"

Naruto started to form a Rasengan, but it exploded and knocked him down. In frustration Naruto muttered, "Still need more work to form the Rasengan…"

"There's still another signature jutsu that you can use" Kurama told him.

Naruto grinned as he made a cross with the middle and index finger of each hand and said, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" He then spawned four duplicates of himself.

Tyrian waved through the dust of the building that collapsed on him until he seen five Naruto's in front of him. He angrily shouts, "How?! I'm the one chosen by the Goddess!"

"I don't know anything about your Goddess" Naruto responds. "My Will of Fire's what pushes me forward!"

Tyrian got even angrier at his words as three of Naruto's four clones surrounded him. One of the clones rushed in and Tyrian tried to hit the clone with his claw weapon. The clone ducked under the swing and went for a rising kick which Tyrian weaved. He went to use his claw weapon again, but it was a feint as his tail attacked the clone from his blind spot. The clones Aura took the hit, but Tyrian's follow up claw strike broke through and destroyed the clone.

This time Naruto himself rushed in while keeping his clones back. He swung his staff overhead and Tyrian blocked with his claws. Tyrian lifted his leg, but it was another feint and he struck with his tail again. However, having gained the experience of his clone, Naruto stomped down on the tail and a crunching sound could heard.

Tyrian let out a pained grunt and shouted, "You bastard!"

Naruto then jammed his staff into Tyrian's stomach causing him to flinch in pain. Naruto then exclaimed, "Time for the original!" He punched Tyrian's head down while one of his clones jumped off his back as he shouted, "U!" His other two clones rushed in and kicked Tyrian into the air causing his Aura to shatter while they shouted, "ZU! MA!

Having lost one of his clones, Naruto himself leaped into the air and kicked him further up shouting, "KI!"

Barely conscious, Tyrian looked terrified as he saw another Naruto above him. The Naruto clone in the air axe kicked Tyrian back to the ground while shouting, "Naruto Barrage!" Tyrian was bleeding from the mouth and knocked out cold.

Naruto felt a deep sense of satisfaction pulling off the original "Naruto Barrage." He then undid his Shadow Clones and felt a little exhaustion. Getting his clones experiences back was a sensation he had to get used to again since it has been almost a year since he was regularly using clones.

The others were now running to where they heard the battle. They saw that almost none of the buildings were left standing as Ren asked, "What kind of fight were they having?"

"The kind you're gonna have to get used to" Yang told him. They then turn the corner and see Naruto standing over the unconscious Tyrian.

With the exception of Yang, all of them were amazed, none more so than Qrow. He did not manage to land a single meaningful blow on Tyrian despite being one of the world's best Huntsmen. Yet somehow, this kid the same age as his niece beat Tyrian into unconsciousness? Qrow simply asked, "How is that kid so strong?"

Pyrrha had similar questions. She thought to herself, "If he is capable of this, was he simply messing around with me? Were our bouts simply jokes?"

While walking towards Naruto, Yang answered Qrow's question with, "It's a long story."

Naruto noticed her approaching and asked, "Those Super Grimm still that tough?"

"Not anymore" Yang answered. They then locked metal arms and grinned at each other.

After a little silence, Jaune asked the group, "Am I the only one that's just now noticing Yang has a new robot arm?" Now that Jaune pointed it out, everyone else finally notices.

"We were a little distracted fighting for our lives" Pyrrha pointed out.

"I guess that makes sense" Ren said in agreement.

Weiss thinks to herself, "I didn't even notice back at the bandit camp. How did I miss that?!"

As Naruto and Yang were conversing, they both looked over at Ruby. Ruby tried to go over to them, but with the adrenaline from the fight having worn off, the damage to her leg was getting to her. Naruto and Yang then kneeled down next to her. Ruby stared at them both with tears welling up as she said, "I'm so happy you're back…"

Naruto and Yang smiled as Naruto said, "I told you if anything changed we'd come find you." Ruby then wiped the tears from her eyes and shared a giant grin with Naruto and Yang.

All of the others smiled at this, including Qrow. He then interrupts saying, "We should go make camp away from this place. We can all catch up then."

"Good idea" Naruto said in agreement. "There's a lot I need to tell you guys."

"As do I" Pyrrha stated.

Ruby then started getting up, but Naruto pulled her onto his back in piggyback position. She embarrassingly shouted, "What are you doing?!"

"I'm not letting you walk on that leg, ya know" Naruto answered.

Yang snickered and said, "Whiskers is right. You just gotta deal with it." She then walked off to go grab Bumblebee.

"Wow, it's like you two are already family" Weiss commented to Naruto and Ruby.

Ruby was embarrassed by the situation, but she still had a smile. Despite everything that was broken by Cinder, the ones she cherishes most are slowly coming back together again.

---

Chapter End

AN: Sometimes the hardest part of writing these is coming up with a good title for the chapter. "The Difference In Power" is what I came up with, but if one of you can come up with a better one I might use it.