Time to Answer Comments.
Km3:
"Yeah, sorry for getting angry, but the guy literally said my story was stupid for saying Sirzechs is to blame for everything, calling me, in simple terms, an idiot for making him the culprit of everything happening in the Gremory clan, and that I'd exaggerated the consequences. That's why I got upset."
Raidentensho:
"Sorry for getting poetic, but it's my style, and I'm not comfortable with another style anymore. I mean, I started this back in 2017, and the downside of doing it for so long is that you develop a style and can't break away from it. As for Hollow Purple and Black Flash, they do exist. Naruto uses cosmos, yes, but he's also a son of the Gojo clan. He uses cosmos against strong opponents like minor gods or divine beasts, even the occasional major god looking to fight him (does Ares ring a bell?). But besides that, his peerage and he himself are versed in magic, and Naruto, due to his cursed energy heritage... although I'm still not sure whether to give him Satoru's technique or an original one. Even then, I don't think that would keep the cosmos under control. I mean, it's the most broken energy in fiction, in general. But hey, we can try."
Goldenpower124:
"There are two answers to your question, a short one and a longer one.
The short and quick one is... yes, he knows, but he doesn't care.
The longer one is, he doesn't give a damn because he's Zekram Bael, the guy who's so obsessed with his power and lineage that if there's even a tiny chance his lineage can improve and remain supreme in the underworld, he'll take it, no matter how low the probability or the consequences. Although I'm not sure what birth defects there could be, given that Naruto doesn't have Bael blood in his veins, so there wouldn't be a risk of inbreeding in that case."
Guest:
"Well, thanks. You and the one who suggested Rossweisse helped me complete the peerage, and honestly, the Excalibur saga was so irrelevant that I completely forgot that happens."
Redlox2:
"Your question isn't considered a spoiler since I already answered it in the reading, so I'll answer you. And yes, Ravel uses them to talk to him from time to time, just like Ajuka, who even dead won't lose his precious apprentice, and Zekram used them to give his strongest bishop (who's also his second most powerful piece) a message. Legally, Naruto is exiled from the fallen angel type, not the criminal type, and he hasn't committed crimes... yet. So, the other factions are like, 'Okay, we don't care if you're here as long as you don't cause trouble,' except for the Shinto, but they acted solely to, you know, screw with Sirzechs."
Dragonkeeper10:
"You didn't ask anything, but I feel weird not responding to you. I mean, I've been responding to you since the beginning of the story. So yes, you nailed everything you mentioned, from the completely illogical power scaling, to people thinking that 'giving up his heir title' means they cut ties and duties with his family, which is completely illogical, and especially the difference between Serafall and Sirzechs' ways of acting."
Chapter 10:
Barely a week had passed since the emotional cataclysm that had torn his soul, leaving behind a trail of invisible scars, open wounds that time still resisted healing. After a slow and painful recovery, like the slow thaw of an ancient glacier, Naruto felt the warm throb of power run through his veins again, a force sufficient to cautiously resume the reins of training, diligently instructing Delta and Natsumi's abilities, though not simultaneously, of course.
As diametrically opposed as fire and ice, the two young women personified divergence at its peak. Natsumi, virtuosic in the art of ranged battle, wove her attacks like the delicate brushstrokes of an expert painter, drawing in the air ethereal fire swirls and sharp daggers of crystalline ice, primordial cosmos that danced to her will. However, the elusive embrace of Absolute Zero seemed a distant chimera, unattainable as a shooting star, and her "Aurora Execution" a timid echo of the devastating technique Naruto executed with mastery, forged in the crucible of the icy depths of absolute zero. Even so, among the ranks of the nascent peerage, imperfect and minuscule compared to those of the great clans, she stood as the second sharpest sword, a tarnished honor due to the group's small scale, an almost laughable distinction.
Delta, on the other hand, was brute force embodied in its purest and wildest form, a torrent of unrefined energy, a humanoid hurricane. Adapting to her, especially when she learned to channel magic and cosmos in every strike, had been an arduous ordeal of resistance, an exhausting journey to the limit of his own capacity. Her blows, like the unleashed fury of nature itself, fell with the primal force of a devastating earthquake, a savagery capable of overwhelming and humiliating him in times past. However, time, with its unwavering patience, had chiseled into Naruto's soul and body the temperance and power necessary to match her ferocity, learning to dance among her blows like a whirlwind, and now they fought in an almost symmetrical dance of power, like two stars colliding in space-time.
But none of that mattered at that moment, for finally, after an entire week marked by the sting of uncertainty and the flickering of a new hope, Naruto glimpsed, at least in theory, a path to follow, a destiny that would allow him to tear off the chains of bewilderment and chart a new course in his existence.
"You're completely insane!" Natsumi exclaimed with a tense voice, the words springing from her lips like daggers of disbelief. Her eyes, once serene and sparkling, now burned with a restless fire, reflecting the echo of the bewilderment that reverberated in her soul. Her gaze, fixed on Naruto, seemed to try to unravel the threads of madness that must be weaving the net of that insane plan. That rash king... that imprudent monarch, in fact, had just shared with her the wires of his mind, and the blueprints seemed to have succumbed to an almost demented delirium.
"I'm not insane... well, not entirely, at least I hope not," Naruto articulated with a grimace, a shadow of uncertainty dancing in his blue eyes. He shook his head, trying to dispel the specters of doubt that still danced in the margins of his sanity, and focused his attention on the tapestry of the conversation he was having with Natsumi and Delta. Or rather, with Natsumi. Delta, true to her untamed nature, remained seated with her back straight, her single lupine tail dancing at a frenetic pace, a palpable reflection of the contained excitement that vibrated within her.
Kuroka, for her part, had slipped a comment about visiting her "little Shirone" furtively, a visit that would take her away from his side for a couple of days. That absence revealed itself as the perfect opportunity for Naruto, a window to destiny that should not be wasted. He harbored no doubts about Kuroka's ability to hinder his plans... or, at least, to try with all her might. And the prospect of a confrontation with the SS-class criminal did not appeal to him in the slightest.
"The crux of the matter, Natsumi, is that survival demands sustenance. And you yourself witnessed the chilling figure that has been offered as a reward for the head of that wolf," Naruto explained with a stoic calm, each word laden with the cold logic of necessity.
"That wolf...? Naruto-sama! That wolf is Fenrir himself!" Natsumi exclaimed, her voice broken by terror. Her petite body trembled under the weight of the destiny that weighed on her fragile shoulders. She had barely thirteen springs upon her soul, years of life she longed to see multiplied. She yearned for a future woven with the warmth of home, a future where her white tails danced to the rhythm of joy among litters of small, reddish-furred fox cubs beside her king. And above all, her instinct for self-preservation clamored with unprecedented force, refusing to be mowed down by the immense wolf destined to devour Odin during the throes of Ragnarök.
"Boss, Fenrir was that huge wolf you told me about, right?" Delta inquired with vibrant enthusiasm, her voice tinged with almost childlike impatience. The prospect of slaying a beast of such magnitude excited her hunting instinct and, above all, the sweet promise of obtaining a reward that would alleviate the economic hardship that gripped them. The memory of refined food lingered on her palate, far from the frugality of the hunt that had become their only sustenance.
"Why can't you emulate Delta's ardor, her voracious enthusiasm for adventure?" Naruto inquired, casting a scrutinizing glance at his queen, as if trying to decipher the enigma hidden behind her reluctance.
"Delta is delusional! Ignorant, incapable of grasping the scale of the 'huge' of that beast!" Natsumi screamed, her voice broken by terror, a scream that revealed the deep respect that wolf inspired, a respect that merged into fear of his devastating power. Her mind, imprisoned by apocalyptic visions, already saw her between the jaws of that being destined to tear apart reality itself during the throes of Ragnarök.
"Well, that may be true," Naruto admitted with a hint of irony, the truth dancing in his eyes like a firefly in the night. He wasn't exactly a beacon of overflowing intellect, far from it. In fact, quite the opposite. "But even so, I sense an opportunity, a thread of possibility among the shadows, to not only survive the encounter but also to rip the soul from that beast." His voice, laden with an almost reckless confidence, resonated in the air, like an echo of the certainty that dwelled in the depths of his being.
"And what intricate artifice weaves this plan, Naruto-sama?" Natsumi inquired with a piercing skepticism, doubt sharpening the edge of each word. Of course, she knew her king's peculiar custom, that obsessive mania of designing contingency plans for his contingency plans, a lesson he had absorbed from the shadows of the Dark Knight. But even so, the prospect of devising a strategy capable of taming the fury of Ragnarök seemed like a delirium.
"Well, to begin with, the reward is for trying," Naruto blurted out, with that pragmatic tone that always characterized him. "As long as we come out in one piece, even if we don't manage to kill that beast. Odin will loosen some money for the simple fact of facing Fenrir."
His voice sounded casual, but there was a hint of steel in his gaze, a cold and calculating determination. It wasn't about exterminating the damn wolf, he thought. Leaving it battered and getting out of there unscathed would suffice. Of course, if they killed it, the prize would skyrocket. But the priority was clear: fill the coffers, period.
"That... doesn't help me relax much," Natsumi murmured. Her voice trembled a little. The reason was simple and terrifying: to claim that reward, they first had to... you know... not end up torn apart by Fenrir.
"I know," Naruto nodded, with a small smile. "But remember, Delta already controls the 'Titanic Nova' like a pro. You master the cold knight techniques, and I, well... I know how to unleash the 'Galactic Explosion'."
As he said it, he let out a chuckle, as if they were the three musketeers about to enter a bar fight. That was his secret weapon. That was going to be the way to punch the wolf in the face and, hopefully, finish it off.
"Okay, to begin with, that plan has three huge cracks," Natsumi began, raising three fingers, each one thrust into the air like a sharp stake. In her eyes was a flash of disbelief, a shadow of concern dancing behind the determination. "Number one: Delta is just now halfway controlling the 'Titanic Nova'. Yes, I'm aware that it has the power of a supernova... more or less. But she needs time to charge it. It's not like she can launch that thing with a sneeze."
A small tremor ran through her hand as she mentioned the devastating technique. Then, she fixed her gaze on Naruto, seeking confirmation, or perhaps a denial of the inevitable.
"Number two: Fenrir breathes and sweats frost, you know? He lives in Asgard, which is the second coldest hell in the universe, only after Cocytus. I'm sorry, but my ice tricks are highly unlikely to melt that dog."
Her voice sounded more skeptical than ever, as if it were the death sentence of that plan.
"And, third point... you just learned to play with the 'Galactic Explosion', right? You yourself told me last night that it still lacks a pinch of perfection. Do you really think you're going to throw that at Fenrir, and he's going to come out whistling and happy?"
The last sentence came out with a sarcastic, almost joking tone, but Natsumi's gaze never left Naruto's, desperately waiting for him to counter each of her points.
"Well, at least my lessons on the acid art of sarcasm have finally found fertile ground," Naruto commented dryly, a faint relief sliding like a fleeting shadow over his face. Inside him, a whisper of gratitude rose at the realization that the countless hours dedicated to chiseling Natsumi's tongue with the sharp edge of irony had not been a futile endeavor.
"I... just seek to persevere in this existence, you understand?" Natsumi articulated with a nascent tremor in her voice. Her eyes, vast universes of longing and hope, were fixed on Naruto's, urging him to understand the magnitude of her fear. "We still have countless promises to fulfill, dreams to unravel. And... and... there are beasts less reluctant to extinction that we could hunt. We could, for example, try to slay a Kirin."
The kitsune suggested, with a thread of shyness in her voice, as if the audacity of that proposal made her blush. The Kirin, in the collective memory of the Underworld, was revered as the most vulnerable prey among the ancient beings, a target, in appearance, devoid of the immense risks involved in other hunts.
"You've lost your mind! Sanity has completely deserted your soul!" Naruto exclaimed with a torn vehemence, a spark of amused madness lighting up his blue eyes. "They are offspring of the very King of Creation and a Lunar Alicorn, primordial beings of immense power! Eliminating one of them would hang a 'priority target' sign over our heads!"
The reminder resonated with the force of an ancient warning. There was a primal reason why only the Rajang, beasts whose appetite for blood and chaos eclipsed sanity, dared to venture into the hunting of Kirin. And the truth was undeniable, simple, and raw: nobody, in their right mind, was foolish enough to awaken the unleashed wrath that accompanied the death of such an ancient and powerful being.
"Okay... alright, alright. I'm sorry; that suggestion slipped from my lips without due discernment," Natsumi apologized with a thread of voice, before exhaling a soft sigh, laden with a sudden melancholy. The truth was that she had been seized by a fit of recklessness; she should have pondered more carefully the fatal implications of a Kirin hunt, an act that would draw upon them the attention of vengeful gods. "But... you mentioned the existence of an escape, didn't you?"
The question slipped with the subtlety of poison, a curiosity tinged with silent anguish. Her eyes, vast mirrors of fear, implored for confirmation, a promise that sanity still governed the actions of her king.
"Actually, I never explicitly mentioned it," Naruto replied with an enigmatic smile, a mischievous spark dancing in his blue eyes. "But I did emphasize the fact that the reward was not limited to the death of the beast, remember?"
Even so, the inflection in his voice contained an implicit secret, a veiled affirmation that, in the depths of his intellect, germinated a real way to escape the jaws of that wolf destined to consume everything.
"So... you have an escape plan, right?" Natsumi inquired with a peculiar mix of apprehension and curiosity. Her eyes, once dilated by the fear of the unknown, now fixed on Naruto, scrutinizing every crevice of his expression in search of the truth. "Because... you have a plan, right?"
Natsumi's voice was barely a whisper, laden with an implicit plea.
Naruto, for his part, raised an eyebrow with feigned offense, as if the mere idea of not having foreseen an exit was an insult to his intellect. An outline of a smile, mischievous and confident, drew on his lips.
"Of course, I do, Natsumi. I appreciate both of you, Delta and you, too much. I would never expose you to the whims of fate, nor throw you into the jaws of certain death... for a handful of coins!"
His tone, though playful, distilled undeniable seriousness, the certainty of someone who has plotted every step with meticulous precision.
"And what exactly is that plan?" Natsumi asked with a considerable dose of skepticism, her gaze scrutinizing Naruto's expression like a hawk pursuing its prey. Even so, in the depths of her soul, a seed of hope germinated, the yearning for a viable strategy to escape the imminent danger that lurked.
"What is it?" Natsumi inquired, with a cautious curiosity, as if trying to feel the slippery ground of a dangerous secret.
"I have unraveled the arcana of teleportation," Naruto revealed with a smile that stretched from ear to ear, radiant as a child showing off his favorite toy. In his mind, the scattered fragments of the teleportation techniques studied from Mu of Aries intertwined with fluidity, creating a mental map that allowed him to envision himself as a master of instant transport.
"Of course, you did," Natsumi scoffed with a mix of exasperation and amusement, the angry tone dissipating and giving way to familiar complicity. She remembered well Naruto's obsession with that esoteric art, his tireless study since before the exile sentence. And she knew that he would never use the word "learned" unless the skill completely surrendered to his commands, becoming an extension of his will. Because when Naruto "learned," he still struggled with the technique, but upon mastering it, the technique became a part of him.
"So... are we going to hunt that gigantic wolf?" Delta inquired, shaking her king and queen from the intricate labyrinth of their thoughts and abruptly returning them to the very precipice of the original discussion.
"I suppose so, it's not like we have many other options," Natsumi murmured with a sigh tinged with resignation. The young kitsune intertwined her fingers with Naruto's, seeking a comfort that mere proximity could not offer. The mention of Fenrir, the colossal wolf capable of devouring gods, had left a shadow of unease in her hazel eyes.
Naruto gently tightened his grip on Natsumi's hand, a determined smile curving his lips. "Do you think me so foolish, my Queen? No, we're not going to throw ourselves into the wolf's mouth blindly. If we're going to dance on the edge of the abyss, we'll at least have a map in our hands."
With a fluid movement, he extended his arm around Natsumi's shoulders, drawing her towards him with protective warmth. "We're going to plan this properly. Step by step. Strategy by strategy."
Natsumi leaned her head against Naruto's shoulder, her golden hair gently brushing his neck. A soft purr vibrated in her chest, a mix of gratitude and humorous resignation at her King's peculiar mind. "Oh, yes, of course. You mean you and I plan in a secluded corner, weaving every intrigue and contingency, while our adorable prey beast... I mean... Delta, observes us and enthusiastically nods at the parts that her canine understanding allows."
A playful glimmer flickered in Naruto's emerald eyes, an echo of the youthful mischief that still pulsed beneath his stoic facade. "Basically, yes. But Delta's presence is crucial, Natsumi. I need her... enthusiasm."
And, of course, the enormous destructive power she could unleash, a wild and unfiltered force that, well directed, could become the sharpest weapon in their entire arsenal.
Natsumi sighed dramatically, though a playful smile drew on her lips. "We must be careful not to excite her instincts too much... the last time Delta felt 'enthusiastic,' we ended up with half of the Siberian forest reduced to ashes."
"It was only once," Delta complained, with a hint of innocence tinged with irritation. How on earth was she supposed to foresee that the resin of that tree, unknown to her touch, would turn out to be such a treacherous and violent fuel?
A little over a week had passed since Naruto conceived the idea of hunting Fenrir, and right now, with determination carved on his face like hieroglyphs on ancient stone, he sat outside his modest cabin. His mind, usually a whirlwind of gears and calculations, had calmed in the search for a way to travel from the frigid Siberia to the fiery entrails of Asgard. Finally, after an entire day of introspective meditation, he believed he glimpsed a path, a possible way to reach his goal. He allowed himself one more moment of reflection, weighing each of the possibilities and ramifications, before finally venturing into the process of forging what should not be forged, of demolishing what should not be demolished, of traveling where no mortal, or demon, should venture.
The Hyperdimension. A concept he had learned from that series that had driven him to master the use of cosmic energy, to create armors with properties similar to those flaunted by the Saints, to devise a method of travel once reserved exclusively for the gods. That was the tool he would use to traverse the vast expanse of the cosmos, a key that would allow him to open a path to any corner of the known universe, as long as he possessed the wisdom necessary to maneuver its intricate mechanisms. And right now, after an intense scrutiny of the very arcana of space-time, certainty began to take root within him: he was at least partially sure he knew how to conjure the Hyperdimension.
"Boss, what are you plotting?" Delta inquired, a hint of curiosity tinged with apprehension in her voice, as she watched Naruto keep his gaze fixed on a distant and invisible point, his blue eyes shining with an almost feverish intensity, a spark of obsession that always unsettled her.
Naruto, without looking away from his target, replied with an unusual simplicity, devoid of any explanatory tone or the spark of scientific enthusiasm that usually infused his most ambitious projects: "I'm about to try to open a path to the Hyperdimension."
The laconic and enigmatic response made Delta blink a couple of times, confused and perplexed by the incomprehensibility of those words. Finally, the young Therianthrope turned to Natsumi, seeking a light of understanding in her companion's face. The kitsune, however, shrugged with a mix of bewilderment and stoic resignation. Frankly, she didn't have the slightest idea what the hell that word, "Hyperdimension," meant, nor what dark mysteries its sudden mention entailed.
However, just moments later, both she and Delta felt a strange and abrupt tug in their bodies, an invisible force that attracted them with an unusual voracity. The sensation was so unexpected and forceful that it completely surprised them, tearing them from the present reality without warning, like a puppet whose strings are cut. Out of nowhere, they began to be dragged, at an unnatural speed, towards the same point that Naruto had been observing with millimeter precision, a vortex imperceptible to the eyes but irresistible to their bodies. The speed at which they were moving was so colossal that they didn't even have time to exchange a look of bewilderment, to articulate a sound of protest, before being catapulted to a place completely unknown to them, a cosmic landscape whose existence, in their naivety, they had never dared to imagine.
XXXXXX
"Okay... next time, we should definitely try to find a method for the trip to be... less... hectic," Naruto muttered to himself, somewhat dizzy as he regained his verticality, slowly getting up after being violently spat out by the Hyperdimension.
His vision was still swaying, tinged with a vague hazy halo that gradually cleared. The sensation of vertigo subsided, finally allowing him to stabilize on his feet. That experience, he admitted to himself with a grimace of disgust, had turned out more intense than expected, and the fault undoubtedly lay with his damned Six Eyes, a gift and a curse in equal parts, which at that precise moment leaned more towards the latter.
However, when clarity fully returned to his field of vision, Naruto had to admit, with a hint of self-deprecating irony, that perhaps his brilliant idea of traveling through the Hyperdimension hadn't been the most... sensible. A veritable swarm of what were presumably valkyries surrounded him, each wielding gleaming weapons with a determination that boded no good.
And now, with the inevitable conflict hanging over his head like a sword of Damocles, Naruto took an agile step back, moving away from the dangerous proximity of those warriors. His movements, precise and calculated, emanated a subtle but palpable aura of cosmic energy, an eloquent way of making his intentions clear. At the same time, he raised a hand to the sky, where he began to accumulate energy for one of his most promising attacks, though still in the process of being perfected: the "Stardust Revolution."
Only to utter a silent and mental curse when Delta and Natsumi, visibly disoriented and with a clear sign of shock, rushed to land right behind him, an appearance that seemed to further exacerbate the valkyries' hostility, who now seemed determined to unleash their fury.
However, before the conflict could erupt into a whirlwind of power and destruction, an immense force, a colossal energy like a furious tempest, whose deafening echo far surpassed anything Naruto had ever perceived, even in the fearsome Sirzechs, manifested in the clearing. The pressure wave that emanated from that ethereal presence forced everyone to kneel, bending the valkyries under its yoke, who were reduced to labored gasps and incapable of articulating any movement. Naruto, with his unusual resistance, managed to stay on his feet, although his entire body trembled at the immeasurable magnitude of the power emanating from the individual who had just burst onto the scene.
His hair, white as the freshly fallen snow on the Siberian moors, failed to hide the youthful vitality that still pulsed with warrior fervor in his figure. He wore armor no less imposing or glorious than that of the valkyries, an intricate metal that reflected the twilight light with a supernatural shine. In his calloused hands, he carried the iconic Gungnir and the reins of Sleipnir, Odin's spear and steed, unmistakable symbols of Asgardian authority and power.
"No one has been seen breaching the Hyperdimension since that man disturbed the world in the golden Age of Humanity. And much less at such a... youthful age," the old man commented with a voice imbued with resounding astonishment, congratulating Naruto with surprising warmth before clicking his tongue with a hint of disapproval. "You are undoubtedly... impressive."
The old man, whose penetrating gaze seemed to read Naruto's soul in a single blink, had clearly recognized the young intruder the moment his eyes fell upon him. "And tell me, what does Lucifer's disgraced brother do in my lands?" the old man asked, showing not a trace of surprise when the cosmic energy that enveloped the redhead, a fury born of injustice and loneliness, intensified to become violent and harrowing.
The old man had to raise an eyebrow with a hint of a grim smile, as he watched Naruto's energy, becoming redder and more intense with each beat of his heart, swirling around him like a controlled tempest. Evidently, that kid was still years away from matching his power, but the raw force that emanated from his interior far surpassed anything a demon, whether pureblood or half-blood, had any right to access.
It was genuinely impressive, especially because the boy demonstrated the tenacity to remain standing before the mere fraction of his unleashed energy, a testament to his iron will. Even so, Odin considered, he could not allow a child, however much he carried that man's blood in his veins, to rise above him. It was a matter of pride, a principle that time and battles had engraved in his soul. Therefore, he increased the energy he radiated, unleashing an overwhelming surge of power.
He couldn't help a grim smile drawing on his face as he noticed the young man finally yield to the pressure, letting his knees buckle before injecting even more fury into his cosmos, a futile effort as he still struggled to regain balance.
"You're as stubborn as that imbecile was," Odin murmured, not taking his scrutinizing gaze off Naruto. In his mind, a ghostly image danced: the silhouette of that man, bearing the same bright blue eyes, but whose hair contrasted with this young man's intense red, turning deep black. There was no doubt that this boy inherited the same obstinacy as the King of all kings. Only the passage of time would reveal if he would be as... problematic as him.
With this thought resonating in his mind, he ceased emanating his colossal power, allowing the tension-filled atmosphere to completely relax. Naruto observed the old man with a confusion tinged with caution, his scrutinizing gaze attempting to decipher the purpose of such a colossal display of power. Despite everything, prudence did not leave his blue eyes, even if he had decided to restrain the whirlwind of his cosmic energy after recognizing that his mere initial emanation had been, in retrospect, an... imprudent decision.
Unfortunately, that restraint came too late. His body, though formidable and capable of withstanding the immense amount of energy he had been radiating moments before, faltered at the sudden cessation of his defense. The brutal jolt of the hyperdimensional journey, coupled with Odin's overwhelming pressure, proved to be a precise blow that completely destabilized him. A veil of darkness descended over his eyes, and Naruto collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
The old man, whose penetrating gaze followed every reaction attentively, finally fixed his only operating eye with a tempered curiosity on the young women who accompanied the fallen redhead. A Therianthrope with lupine features and a six-tailed kitsune... there was no doubt that this disgraced boy knew how to surround himself with... interesting company.
"And well, what have you come for?" Odin inquired with a calm and resonant voice, without a hint of perceptible hostility.
"Na... Naruto-sama ardently desired... desired the opportunity to face Fenrir and... obtain the reward for trying," Natsumi managed to articulate with a broken voice and a stammer that betrayed her nervousness. Honestly, neither she nor Delta had anticipated that events would take such an... extraordinary turn.
Without articulating a single word more, Odin simply nodded gravely. He was not going to allow them to participate in a battle against that beast. At least not until they recovered an acceptable physical condition, as it was evident that they had suffered a severe deprivation of adequate food, necessary restful sleep for their young bodies, and a decent bath since they were thrown into exile by the reckless act of that kid, whose boastfulness proclaimed him stronger than Lucifer himself.
That thought provoked a mental growl in Odin, who considered it absurd. Demons had never precisely excelled in their cunning, with a few notable exceptions.
Turning to the valkyries, some of whom were still struggling to regain their composure, he ordered them with a voice that unleashed a mix of authority and concern: "Some of you take the youths and follow me... besides"—Odin's tone acquired an unusual harshness, causing a slight shudder among the valkyries—"all of you will receive special training with Thor as punishment for succumbing to such little pressure."
With a murmur of resignation that betrayed their impatience with the humiliation, the valkyries rose to take the three youths in their arms. Even Natsumi offered slight resistance, while Delta, prey to an exhaustion that incapacitated her for confrontation, allowed herself to be carried without resistance. Thus, they began marching after Odin.
End of chapter.
N/A: I know, I promised you the battle against Fenrir. But I prefer that confrontation to unfold over a mini-arc of three chapters. This one, which lays the foundation for that premise; the next, focused on a kind of... intensive instruction under Thor's tutelage, since Odin himself certified Naruto's current inability to survive against Fenrir; and finally, the climax: the battle against the Great Wolf. That said, see you in the next chapter!
But a little question before... would you like Rossweisse to be his pawn? I mean, we have to save her from falling under Rias's dominion, right? And no, it's not that I forgot about her until one of you suggested it to me in the reading... okay, yes, I forgot about her. In my defense, in DxD she's a glorified babysitter.