Claymore Fan Fiction / Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ A Red Dawn ❯ Battle of Monsters ( Chapter 8 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Sneezing lightly, Naruto sighed to himself as he looked around him as he stood at the base of a snow covered mountain.

He could see nothing but a few barren trees that were not covered by blanket of snow that filled the entire area. Each and every mountain was covered from tip to the base and even some small trees were buried underneath the falling snow. A few caves he had passed by were almost completely filled with the white powder.

Even in the land of Snow, Naruto had never seen so much snow fall but despite that he continued forward.

"Damn... I didn't expect to be welcomed by a blizzard." Naruto mumbled to himself as he looked around, trying to find a safe resting place so he could rest and wait out the storm.

At first, he found nothing as the snow hid everything but with his trained eyes he spotted a small entrance in the cliff side. With a few hand seals, he blew a stream of flames that melted the snow away and revealed the entrance of a rather cozy cave.

Silently stepping in, Naruto went through a quick check to make sure the cave wasn't a den for a hibernating bear. Once he confirmed that nothing was hiding in the cave, he pulled out and unraveled a small scroll and with a minute flow of chakra a few logs popped out and fell to the ground.

Gathering what little remaining firewood he had left, he set it ablaze before creating a few clones to gather more so he wouldn't freeze to death. Despite regulating his temperature with his chakra, it was still below freezing outside and his cloak wasn't doing too much to keep him as warm as he would like.

Seating himself besides the fire, Naruto closed his eyes and began regulating his chakra flow. He knew he had to keep track to what was around him so he wouldn't be surprised if a yoma or, god help him, an awakened came looking for him for food. Letting his chakra flow slower, he began to lightly pulse his chakra to see what was around him.

As he did such, his mind became more in-tune with what was around him. He almost lost control of his focus as he suddenly felt two enormous sources of yoki, one being much higher then the other. He instantly knew one was Isley of the North as his yoki flow was on par if not just slightly higher then Luciela's.

Naruto flinched as he thought about her and lost focus of his pulse. He honestly was feeling worse about his actions by the moment despite having his reasons for them. But what could he do now as he was kicked out of the south and the west was out of the question as the witch had some sort of plan for him?

Sighing out loud, Naruto slowly began to regain his focus when he noted something peculiar about the two yoki sources he felt. Isley was the weaker of the two.

Now despite how little he actually knew of this world, he did know that the Abyssals were supposedly the strongest warriors to ever awaken and no one outside of another Abyssal could challenge them. But this one... dwarfed Isley by a long shot. The power and amount of yoki was staggering yet it was familiar to him. He couldn't place where he felt it before, but he knew he had.

Frowning as he scratched his head, Naruto was getting annoyed that he couldn't place where he had felt the yoki source before he was suddenly overtaken by two great yoki surges.

He quickly jumped up and accidentally kicked the fire out as he could not mistake who the yoki surges belonged to. The first and greater of the two made him shiver as he knew it instantly to be Teresa as the potency of her yoki was unmistakable. However, it only took fraction of a second later for him to recognize the second surge.

It was Luciela's.

Naruto went into shock immediately as he realized what had to be happening. He didn't understand was why the two were fighting, but he was going to find out.

Could it have been that Teresa was searching for him after Luciela had kidnapped him? It was possible, but he didn't understand as Clare meant everything to Teresa and coming after him would put the girl in danger unlike anything they had been in before.

It was also possible that Luciela was coming after him and had ran into Teresa along the way and Teresa was protecting Clare from Luciela. It was also highly probable that it was just a chance happening and Luciela considered Teresa a threat.

But another prospect had crossed his mind and he wouldn't have considered if it wasn't for running into Riful and Dauf. It was possible, no matter how unlikely, that his senses were being thrown off by Isley and the others yoki.

However, Naruto quickly threw that idea out as he just couldn't sense them with the polls around as they were interfering with his senses. He could sense both Luciela and Teresa and he knew they were fighting.

Dispelling the clones he had sent out, Naruto quickly exited the cave as he attempted to locate the exact position where the two were fighting. While he was unsure what would happen or who he would end up siding with, he knew he had to be there.

Getting a local, Naruto flowed chakra through his legs and was ready to take off when something caught his eyes.

In an instant, he jumped back as the snow where he stood only moments ago burst from the ground as something powerful made contact. Skidding across the snow, Naruto planted his hand into the ground to stop as he looked towards what had just tried to attack him.

However, what he heard first was a deep, dark voice emanated from the cloud of snow covering the person. "Impressive. It isn't too often someone can dodge my attack, especially when it’s a human. Perhaps you can give me somewhat of a challenge before I devour your innards."

Narrowing his eyes as he heard this, Naruto stood straight as he gazed into the snow, knowing what he would see soon enough. Preparing himself for battle, blue eyes gazed into beast-like silver.

As the dust settled, Teresa's claymore was firmly stuck into Luciela's hand.

That was what it seemed to be at first glance but Teresa instantly pulled her blade back as she noticed that it was caught in what seemed to be a mouth of jagged teeth. Frowning at this, she placed her claymore in front of her before allowing Irene to get in behind Luciela so he could not retreat and put Clare in danger.

Irene wasn't sure what she could as she got behind Luciela. Hell, she wasn't sure how she could even deter the Abyssal as much as she hated to admit it; she was nothing in the Awakened's eyes. Teresa on the other... Teresa was another Abyssal.

There was no doubting that was what Luciela saw her as. She could tell from the way her fur stood up to the hissing from the hissing reverberating that the Abyssal saw Teresa as a threat that could put an end to her reign.

It was that reason that she could be of any help. Even if she could be nothing more then a decoy to gain Luciela's attention, it would take her attention off Teresa and that could be a fatal mistake. While she hated the roll she would play, it would be the deciding factor in the fight.

Luciela flicked her tails madly as she yowled loudly at the Claymore standing before her before suddenly lunging out towards confident blonde. "Out of my way! I do not have the time to deal with you Claymores!"

Teresa held fast as she concentrated all her yoki into her arm once more and with a single slash that was unseeable to the eye had blocked Luciela's attack. "Not a chance. We're after the same thing after all."

Yowling louder then before as her claw around the blade began to form a mouth once more, the finger suddenly shot out like lances. Teresa hadn't expected this, but with another quick slash, she blocked the lances before jumping back as Luciela attempted to bite into her.

Irene quickly jumped from behind; trying to land a devastating blow from behind, but with a simple flick of her tails Luciela knocked the elvin Claymore back as if she was nothing more then a fly.

Gritting her teeth as she saw Irene knocked back, Teresa quickly changed her tactic. Irene meant nothing to the Abyssal meaning she would be on her own for the most part with Irene maybe causing enough of a distraction to give her a slight advantage. However, with Clare in the crossfire she needed some to help get her out if need be.

"Irene! Stay back! There is nothing you can do! Just protect Clare!" Not even waiting for Irene to respond, she immediately went on the attack.

Using her speed, she quickly made a charge before jumping over Luciela's slash and landed on the back of the Abyssal's neck. With a powerful swing, she brought her claymore to the Abyssal's head.

The only thing was, another mouth formed and easily caught her blade while Luciela only smirked. "It's going to take more then that sword to defeat me, Claymore. I'm completely different from those regular Awakeneds you fight."

Just as she was about to jump from Luciela's back, the flesh underneath her feet morphed into a mouth itself causing Teresa to sudden fall in and loosen the grip of her claymore. The formed mouth with many jagged teeth suddenly clamp shut and started to chew as the other mouth spit the claymore to the ground, unable to even put a dent in it.

Irene looked on in shock at what she had seen, not believing Teresa to have gone down so easily against the Abyssal. "No... It can't be. Teresa was defeat?"

Just as those words left her mouth, an unbelievable surge of yoki caught her attention along with every single being in the area. The amount being release was so unbelievable that even Clare could sense it as clear as day as the mouth suddenly began to be pried open.

Teresa grunted as she summoned more yoki then she had ever used before as she forced open the mouth. Gashes covered her body were the teeth pierced her body and had chewed on her flesh but they weren't stopping her. In fact they were healing at an accelerated rate leaving nothing but scars were the gashes use to be.

With one last grunt, Teresa jumped out of the mouth before landing in front of Luciela, panting heavily. Looking to see where her claymore was, she cursed as she noticed that the Abyssal purposely stepped on it to keep her from claiming it and possibly changing the tide of the battle.

"Impressive. Might I ask you to join me young warrior. It would be a shame to let someone of your caliber fall into others hands or be ended by the organization." Luciela stated as she was beginning to like this woman more and more by the second. While she wasn't like Naruto, she would be a good to have at her side to.

Teresa spat blood in response before wiping her lip. "I wouldn't join a monster like you. I defend humans from yoma like yourself."

Luciela only growled in response as her legs tensed and were ready to spring, not liking her response. "Then you shall die here. I can't have another around that threatens the balance!"

In a blur of motion, Luciela struck and brought her claw into Teresa. However, the former number one managed to catch it with nothing but her hands.

Grunting as she kept from being crushed underneath the pressure, Teresa was ready to jump back when she noticed Irene throw her claymore towards her while she rushed to pick up hers.

A small grin crossed her face before she suddenly released her grip on Luciela's claw and jumped back, receiving two deep gashes in her chest down to her stomach. She paid no heed to them as she suddenly caught the claymore Irene threw towards her. With another burst of yoki to her right arm, she slashed into Luciela's neck before the Abyssal could even form a mouth to stop the attack.

Blood poured down onto Teresa as Luciela hissed loudly as she stumbled back and gripped her throat before glaring at the Claymore in front of her. The wound quickly healed, but it was too close for comfort. She needed to end this fight now before she sustained any critical damage.

Suddenly, she noticed the other Claymore throwing another sword to the dangerous one. She growled deeply in her throat as the one before her now had to swords she would have to worry about. But seeing enough of her quick slash, she understood its principles. "It doesn't matter how many swords you wield. The more yoki you use, the closer you will become to awakening."

"And when that happens, you'll be mine."

Naruto rolled out of the way of the next strike. The damn awakened was faster then he believed and he was far more agile then his shape and size suggested. In fact, the only thing he had predicted correctly was his strength.

His cloak was tattered and ruined, no longer even being able to cling to his body as it fell to the ground. Sighing as that was his favored cloak; Naruto knew he was going to have to bring out his top game to win this fight.

He almost forgot about the fight he sensed in the south, but he didn't want to hasten the fight before him as he knew one mistake could be fatal and he had seriously underestimated his opponent’s strength.

"Mah. You destroyed my favorite cloak. I just can't have nice things, can I?" Naruto mopped as he looked down at his ruined cloak. In truth, he was remaining as still as he could as he could concentrate on gathering the natural energy around him.

He would like to have transformed as he did against Dauf, but unfortunately he hadn't recharged the seal he designed for storing natural energy as using his shadow clones constantly was rather taxing on him.

Despite being extremely angered by Naruto's childish taunt, the awakened knew better then to fall for it. He could see the muscles tightening and ready to spring in the blonde's body as he was ready to strike back.

He had been the only one attacking up to this point and till this point, he knew something was off. Despite tearing the cloak to shreds, he hadn't landed a single scratch on him. The blonde's speed was amazing and his reaction time was top notch. If he didn't know any better, he would think that this was Isley he was fighting.

That, however, wasn't possible as he knew what the man of the north looked like as he was the commander of his growing army. This human was something else entirely. It was like he had the power of an awakened mixed with the lithe and speedy body of a Claymore.

Still, this was the most adrenaline he felt flowing his system ever since he challenged Isley. This human was worthy, in his mind, to continue on living. This one could give him a challenge.

"What is your name, human? I would like to know before we continue with our battle. My name is Rigaldo." The lion Awakened stated with a slight growl that was most likely due to his lion like appearance.

Knowing that he had somehow gained the respect of the Awakened before him, Naruto stood up straight before popping his shoulders. "Uzumaki Naruto of the Neo Akatsuki."

Rigaldo only smirked as he crouched down into a stance, ready to pouch this Naruto. "I will remember the name then. You shall be known as the only human worthy to stand against Awakeneds!"

"Well that's fine, but shall we stop this playing around. I have somewhere to be and you're in my way. So either step out of my way or release your full power." Naruto stated as he felt he was nearly ready to make the transition.

The Silver-Eyed Lion King only smirked at Naruto before he began to laugh. "Glad you can see I was holding back as well... This will be fun!"

And at his final words, red yoki swirled violently around him, expanding greatly as Naruto watched on, hoping that he would have enough time to unleash his sage form.

Luciela was having a hard time keeping up with Teresa. While she knew that time favored her as the longer the Claymore fought, the more likely she would have to retreat in fear of awakening and that would be her prime opportunity to strike.

But to imagine that there was another of such power was unbelievable. She was getting unnerved that the longer the fight lasted, the actual chances of her awakening was a bad thing as if she awoke, she wasn't sure she would be able to kill her during any longer. She had to end this fight now.

The problem was that the speed of Teresa was keeping her on the defensive. Never had she faced such speed before and she was having a difficult time predicting her next strike. While she was able to avoid anything that would debilitate her chances of walking away with this fight.

However, it seemed like that she was going to have to take such a wound to be able to win this fight. She didn't like the risk, but it seemed to be the only way she could take control of this fight.

Yowling loudly, she began to flow all of her yoki to her limbs. She would no longer worry about defending her body except for her critical spots.

Faster then Teresa could react, Luciela sliced into the flesh of her stomach before she was able to deflected the strike to her throat, a slash that was obvious meant to end the fight quickly.

Jumping back, she quickly landed before dashing around the Abyssal to find an opening to strike. She instantly realized something was wrong as Luciela was no longer defending herself as she was. The reason was obvious as her fingers suddenly became lances and shot out towards her.

Being able to successfully deflect them, Teresa quickly jumped towards Luciela, dodging and deflecting all the lances sent her way. As she got in close, she unleashed yet another quick sword into her abdomen. To her surprise, it landed with ease and tore through but as it did, she was suddenly struck with multiple lances as Luciela followed with a slash to cut her in half.

Reacting quickly, Teresa freed herself from the lances before jumping back and barely avoiding the slash. Driving her other claymore forward, she stuck it into Luciela's chest only to be knocked back and into the camp by a wildly flailing tail.

Pulling out the claymore out of her chest, she threw it away before remembering there was another Claymore around and the last thing she needed was her to get involved. Spotting Irene, she noticed that there was a young girl next to her, who the elvin woman seemed to be shielding from the battle.

Not wanting to take a chance in losing after the fight was over, Luciela struck out towards Irene, her claw reaching them before Teresa could even get back onto her feet.

But suddenly a light green aura appeared as soon as she neared the girl and the elvin claymore. Her claw withered for a moment before it suddenly went straight through, the aura suddenly dissipating as if it had been over powered.

Her claw, however, found itself suddenly sliced off as Teresa put herself in-between Clare and Luciela.

Panting heavily, knowing that continuing this fight was foolish. Luciela was nearly finished and she was feeling like she would awaken any second. She knew she had barely enough room for one more attack before she had to start repressing the urge to awaken.

Drawing a deep breath, Teresa spoke in a slow and calm tone as Luciela yowled and hissed in pain, unable to hear what Teresa was saying. "Irene... Take Clare and get out of here. We're retreating. This isn't worth it."

Nodding in understanding, Irene lifted Clare without hesitation and rushed out of the area. Soon as she was a good distance away, Teresa gazed into Luciela's eyes before using one last quick sword.

Luciela wasn't expecting it and had it slash into her head. She was able to form a mouth in time to save it from being fatal slash, but not enough to keep it from being severely hindering her.

It was also all that Teresa needed to grab the other claymore and chase after Irene and Clare while suppressing her yoki as much as she could.

Feeling her body revert, Luciela fell the ground and began convulsing. Her entire body felt like it was on fire. She had never experienced this much pain before nor had even been worn out to such a point.

She felt weak and exposed. A regular man could walk up to her and take her without a struggle. She felt as if she was a newborn child, unable to even fend for herself and that sickened her. She was Luciela of the South, one of the three Abyssals.

But now she didn't even have the strength to crawl to shelter. "Damn that woman... Damn her... She'll pay for this!"

Using what little she learned from Naruto, she used what little of her energy that remained to flicker herself to one of her many homes in the south. Lying on the floor as her vision blurred as it faded into darkness, she could see the image of a blonde standing before her, reaching out to her.

Reaching out with the last of her strength, she spoke before finally passing out. "Naruto... come back..."

Cursing, Naruto was forced to create a few clones and have them stay out of the fight. He hadn't been able to gather enough energy to turn in his sage form. So he stored the energy into the seal and had waited for a moment to create a few clones.

He was forced mostly on the defensive and really wasn't able to get a firm hit on the Awakened before him. As soon as he finished released his stored yoki, he went straight onto the attack and unfortunately for Naruto, his speed, agility and power increased almost ten fold.

Despite this obvious difference in power, Naruto was hanging in very well. He was using every ounce of chakra he had to stay in the fight while waiting for a chance to use his sage form. Its power would tilt the battle in his favor as it increased his overall abilities far greater then he could even imagine.

However, the few hits he took were taking a toll on him. The slash across his chest wasn't much but the two inch wide holes in the lower part his abdomen and the deep gash on his collar bone were bleeding heavily and would be a problem as he was suppressing Kyuubi's chakra, not wanting to use the fox's power.

The only thing good going for him was that he hadn't taken very many hits due to his superior speed. It was one of the things he had been criticized on and he finally had enough and had Gai train him and... Well the rest is history.

Rigaldo was getting extremely irritated. Overall, the fight was a stand still as he was constantly on the attack yet he was quite sure the blonde had gotten in a few more hits then he had. This human was special indeed to fight him at this level while only increasing his power slightly. He could feel the blonde had more, but something was holding him back.

This he was going to put an end to as he stopped his assault and gazed into Naruto's blue eyes. "What is keeping you from using your full power? I want this to be a fight to remember! Not a pussy fight where one focuses entire time evading the others attacks, waiting for his opponent to tire out!"

"Nor do I." Naruto answered honestly, never having liked that style despite having to enforce it a few times to defeat certain foes. "However, my full power takes time to draw out and is why I normally have seals release for it. ...Unfortunately you caught me at a time where I haven't refilled my seal and the other I gave away years ago."

"How long will it take you to draw it out?" Rigaldo question as his blood boiled, wanting to have a challenging fight. It had been so long since he had fought to his full potential that he was beginning to rust and lose its luster. So it didn't matter if he had to wait, as long as it was reasonable quick.

Looking over at his clones and seeing their meditative stances, one suddenly released and its energy filled the remainder of his seal. Smirking at this, Naruto looked over before the snow around him began to lift into the air. "Fortunately for you, one of my clones has gathered enough to refill my seal.”

The snow suddenly exploded around him, the powdery substance floating in the air, slowly returning to earth. As it finally dissipated, Naruto stood in a patch of exposed earth, his eyes turning gold. "Sorry to keep you waiting, but this is my true strength. And now this fight is finished."

Before Rigaldo could even move, Naruto finished a series of seals before literally disappearing. Seconds later, he was behind the lion king with his hand showered with electricity. In one movement, dozens of bolts of lighting shot through the awakened being.

Rigaldo had only felt such pain on two occasions before. One was when fought and lost to Isley and the other was when he found the said man's wife years ago.

Hitting the ground as after the streaks of lighting dissipated, Naruto sighed as he suddenly fell to one knee as his sage form faded away. "Damn I hate that jutsu. It takes so much chakra to use..."

Being replenished by his other clones dispelling themselves, Naruto stood up before he began focus chakra in his hand. "I'm sorry, Rigaldo. You are a worthy foe, but not one that I can have around. This is the end..."

"Now, I wouldn't say that just yet." Another voice made its presence known just as Naruto muttered off at the end, sensing its arrival.

Oh, Naruto did not like this at all. Not only did he knew that this new comer was Isley of the north, he had recognized the other yoki source. It was coming from the young brown haired woman beside the said man's side.

Priscilla.

Naruto really couldn't think his luck could get any worse. He was half expecting Luciela, Teresa and Rifl to all suddenly jump in and attack him at once. He was glad it didn't happen, but there was really no room for him to have a celebration.

Isley was greatly impressed by what he saw in the human before him.

His stance was nearly perfect, leading him to believe he was well trained. He was extremely alert and ready for anything showing that he was well aware of the situation. And lastly, he showed fear knowing that he was overmatched in his current form.

This was a well trained warrior and a good one at that. If such a human existed while he was still human, he would had gone to great lengths to train under him instead of letting himself be sold to the organization.

But the underlying yoki in his system was what intrigued him the most. The power was incalculable and truly astonishing, well beyond his and even his own wife’s. That was a power that he could not allow to be used against him.

He wasn't a fool, however. He knew the boy had been with Luciela for over the past few years. So something had to be up if he was in the northern lands. However, having felt Luciela's battle not long ago, he knew that whatever reason the young man was here, Luciela didn't like it.

Still, he couldn't have Rigaldo be killed. "As much of a nuisance he could be for you, I cannot let you kill the commander of my Awakened army. So if you let him live, I will allow you to go and do as you please and my wife and I will not make a single fuss."

Naruto was caught off guard by Isley words; however, his attention was still firmly on Priscilla. If the girl so much remembered who he was, he would no doubly have to call on Kyuubi and hope his six tail form would be enough to drive the two away.

Catching his glance, Isley knew something had happened between Naruto and Priscilla and he knew what. The two had fought in the past, but the blonde probably didn't know that Priscilla had amnesia and had forgotten everything after her younger years, before she even became a Claymore.

Still, it wouldn't help him if the two couldn't get along. That, however, was solved for him when Priscilla suddenly walked straight to Naruto, who flinched back as she leaned her head forward and sniffed him.

Naruto wasn't sure what Priscilla was doing. The girl just continued sniffing before giving him a contented smile. Then she suddenly hugged him and rubbed her head feverishly into his chest. This threw him for a loop and he couldn't think of any response.

Isley also had to scratch his head for a moment to figure out what she was doing before shaking his head. "It seems Priscilla has taken a shine to you. Do you happen to come from the south?"

Frowning as he knew Isley knew the answer to that, Naruto nodded as he had to play along for now. It wouldhelp to get on the good side of the Abyssal of the north. For all he knew, Isley knew how to get off this rock. "Yeah. I was living in the wilderness with a friend."

"Then, why is it you came to the north?" Isley asked, coyly responded as he tried to find out why he left Luciela's side.

Understanding what Isley was getting at, Naruto came out with it as there was no reason to hold out any information. "We had a fight and she ran me off. I came here as I feel much safer her then in the east or west."

Nodding as that was understandable as he wouldn't want to deal with anything the organization or Rifl brought up. In fact, he had hoped that Rifl had fought Luciela a few days ago as he was ready to pounce on the victor, though if it was Luciela it might have been rather difficult with the blonde there.

"Well, if you don't have a place to stay, you can stay with Priscilla and me. It isn't the most comfortable place for a human, but it's bearable. I know Priscilla would love it if you did." Isley stated as he kind of wanted to see more the blonde, to see exactly what he could do.

Prying Priscilla off of him, Naruto gave Isley a harsh look before looking over towards Rigaldo. "To be frank, Isley, I rather not stay with more Awakened Beings. I had to watch Luciela feed and that has left a dark stain on my opinion of Awakens for the rest of my life. Besides, after my little run in with the witch, I'm pretty sure you would like to use my abilities yourself."

Isley shrugged his shoulders at the question while Priscilla looked mildly confused before she ran over to tend to the now reverted Rigaldo. "It means no difference to me. With or without you, I will take over the south so Priscilla can go home again. While your power would help, it isn't a needed factor. I'm just offering you shelter as I rather not get on the bad side of another powerful force."

This suddenly caught Naruto's attention as he was attempting to do exactly what he had said. So narrowing his eyes, Naruto pulling another Akatsuki cloak out of a scroll and sliding it on as the cold was getting to him. "So you wouldn't care if I was to leave after a few days, you would allow it and not try to force me to stay?"

"I would care as long as you aren't fighting against me. And to be honest, the only reason I'm not trying to force you to join is I know that with the yoki you possess, I know I wouldn't stand a chance. I only asked you as Priscilla has seemed to like you and if she were to remember you, I would only ask you to leave.” Isley stated, the wind whipping at his thick clothes while his hair seemed to gently flow with it.

Naruto didn't like the fact that Isley knew of his fight with Priscilla, but he didn't seem to want him to join sides with him. Only for him to stay out of his way, which seemed to be a pretty reasonable request. He absently wondered how Priscilla forgot about him, but he figured amnesia had something to do with it.

He also wanted to know what happened to Luciela and Teresa, but he could no longer sense their presences. So even if he went back to the south, it would take a while to find both to figure out what happened. He dreaded the outcome in any scenario and wasn't looking forward to going back to find either an enrage Demon of the South or a dead one.

And as he thought there pondering about staying or leaving, his ass was literally beginning to freeze.

"I'll stay with you for a while... But I cannot promise I will stay out of your way. I will do my best, but I cannot guarantee that we won't cross paths as enemies. Nothing in life is predictable." Naruto finally answered Isley's request.

Isley simply nodded before turning to Priscilla before lifting Rigaldo onto his shoulders effortlessly. "Come, our place isn't too far."

Naruto merely followed the Abyssal as Priscilla attached herself to his arm. He found it weird but comforting in a way as it reminded him of...

Stopping and turning back, making Priscilla stop and look at him oddly, Naruto reached out as he saw an image of a reddish-brown haired woman. "Luciela... I'm sorry..."