Chapter 2: Fanning the Flames

Hey everyone, thanks for the wait as I unexpectedly took my time to get this one out. Hope you enjoy it.

I just thought I'd announce as soon as possible that I have made my final decisions for the pairing. It will be a double pairing primarily—maybe a third girl added in later on depending on how the story progresses—with Irina and Valerie Tepes. However, there will be girls that have crushes or romantic feelings on Naruto that are not necessarily reciprocated in the sense of dating or sex. Ex: As I mentioned before Kunou will be an important character in the story, but will not be a part of the pairing because of age reasons.

One more thing about pairing related matters, just because a girl is not romantically involved with Naruto does not necessarily mean that she will be paired with someone else. I don't really know why, but it's kind of a turn-off for me to read a story where it feels like every character needs to be paired off, so I don't intend on writing one. The only exception is if two characters were paired together in the source material, but when it's something like Issei's canon harem...I don't think so.

Before anyone starts the chapter, let me first say that I am not particularly fond of emotionless characters. So if Naruto comes across as that way to some people, it is because of the environment he grew up in and his past experiences. I do not plan for him to remain that way and he will grow to have very strong emotions through important connections with other characters and important realizations about himself or his situation.

And to clarify, who I referred to at the end of the last chapter was not Riser. I said the Phenex family's second son, Riser is the third. The order of siblings of the House of Phenex goes: Ruval, an unnamed second son, Riser, Ravel. I was referring to the unnamed son, for those who thought I was talking about Riser and how that would benefit Rias in the future.

Disclaimer: I own neither Naruto nor Highschool DxD.

Heart of a Human

I don't remember much about my childhood before Root...That was the price of my sacred gear. I remember bits and pieces here and there of my old life, but the most prominent is the memory of my "death"...Back then my body wasn't strong enough to wield the [Operation] on its own energy, so my memories were used instead. It took nearly all of my memories to regenerate the damage done to me, but in exchange I was given another chance at life.

The only problem was that whatever happened to me on that day got into me too early.

I said that the memory of my death was one of the most clear to me, but that isn't quite true. I don't remember the circumstances surrounding my "death"...what I remember is the feeling. The feeling that I've wanted to experience once again for everyday since then...

I don't know what made me the way I am, but it left a hollow place inside me.

What happened next is what I refer to as my "birth".

I woke up in a pool of my own blood, nearly every inch of my body stained in deep crimson. At the time my mind was a complete blank. No idea who I was, how I got there, or how things ended up the way they did.

Rather than a miracle, that second chance at life may have been a curse.

Unlike other members of Root—who undergo extensive training in order to suppress their emotions—I don't feel much of anything.

People fake a lot of human interactions, but I feel like I've faked them all...And I've faked them very well. It's one of the things that makes me so effective as a field operative.

That's my burden, I guess.

I'm not a sociopath by any means and understand the concept of emotions just fine...I've just always been so...detached from everything going on around me.

Lately that's begun to change though...

I don't think it's a bad thing.

It's just...something inside me is screaming that I'll only find suffering and anguish should I try to find out what made me the way I am.

I want to know why that is.

Heart of a Human

Fanning the Flames

The entire apartment unit trembled from the sheer intensity of the chakra that Naruto was exuding—though because of the barrier seals that were set up, the apartment itself acted as its own little dimension—despite the fact that he was only going through simple exercises to familiarize himself with the shift in his chakra. He didn't possess the largest chakra reserves by any margin, but there was no comparison to the density and weight behind his chakra.

A steady humming sound could clearly be heard throughout the room as Naruto emitted a small amount of chakra from one of his fingers, which he used to balance above the ground—his body remaining vertical in the air. His left arm was tucked behind his back and sweat dripped downward onto the floor below, having already been holding that position for several hours now. The best way to get accustomed to a change in chakra was by comparing it to one's usual training methods, and making small adjustments where necessary.

Because of the nature of this highly-advanced chakra control exercise wearing any shirt other than a form-fitting one would only serve to get in the way so he had chosen to forgo one for training purposes, revealing the lean muscle that covered his body and a tattoo-like marking on his chest just over his heart.

The marking took the appearance of a variant of the Om symbol that is sacred in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, though with a ring surrounding it. It was neither a tattoo nor was it a seal, it was a curse placed on him by the previous [Telos Karma] possessor upon her death.

Not that he held it against her, he was the one who killed her after all. He should have never pursued her and she should have never indulged him, it only made the betrayal that much more intense. It was inevitable though, there existed no future where things could have gone different—despite how much either had wished there was.

Idly he noted that the times he spent with her were the first where he truly felt human.

She was one of the few that left this much of an impact on him.

Her death was the very first that left him feeling...empty inside...

He couldn't bring those memories back to the surface. Every time he did, he only felt more and more confused.

The only time in his life he had ever shed a tear, was when he held her lifeless body in his arms.

He wasn't bound to emotion in the same way that most were, but even he knew what it meant to shed a tear at someone's passing.

Why did he want for her to still be here? Why did he wish that she had chosen him instead of her faith? Why did he long for her to be standing by his side? Why did he regret running her through with his blade? Why did he feel that it should have been him instead of her?

Naruto shook his head violently upon seeing where that train of thought was going and shoved it back into the deepest corner of his mind, instead choosing to flare his chakra even more in order to make the process of refining and stabilizing it much quicker.

The drain was only more taxing than it normally would be because Naruto had sealed the Dragon King, Vritra, within himself the previous night. Despite being the weakest in terms of raw power compared to the other Dragon King's, having Vritra sealed within him greatly altered his chakra signature to the point where it was near unrecognizable.

Though they are rare, there are members of Root who have powerful monsters and beasts sealed inside of them. But in that case the seal was preformed just after their birth or, at the very latest, when they were only a few years old. It was extremely rare for someone who has already begun to mature to seal something as powerful as a Dragon King within themselves because of the immense strain it puts on the body.

Only because of his powerful regeneration was the sealing successful.

His body was still a little numb from the extensive sealing process—though it had already recovered from the phase where it felt like his chakra was trying to tear him apart piece by piece—but he needed to get himself back into mission-ready condition by nightfall.

Tonight was the night.

The night that he would deal with the devil that had thought he could take over Yokohama.

After the night Naruto received his mission details, he had spent the next four days observing and investigating his primary target, Raizen Phenex—the second son of the Phenex family.

Raizen Phenex was a very influential figure in the media of the Underworld and was deeply involved in the entertainment industry rather than rating games, however, this did not make him weak by any means. His natural talent was enough to surpass his younger brother's own by a large margin and rumor had it that he had left for the Human World in order to begin putting together his own peerage.

Tonight was the only possible chance to deal with Raizen before the week's end, where he would be leaving for Tokyo to promote the media company that he had established in the Yokohama using his family's wealth and influence, and which he was currently using as his base of operations in the Human World.

Since the target this time around was rather high-profile, there was no room for mistakes.

That was why Naruto had gone to such lengths to find out everything he could about his target. Whether it be behavioral patterns, personal habits, social tendencies, personality traits, family relations, business outlook, or any other aspects that could give him a feel for his target, Naruto made sure not to overlook a single detail.

And because of that he had managed to pinpoint a window of time where Raizen Phenex would be alone and out in the open.

Raizen Phenex was almost always guarded by close to a dozen bodyguards who served the House of Phenex—the majority of them watching over him from a distance while at least two remained by his side—whether he be at his company office working or traveling the streets like a common man. However, the bodyguards that accompanied his every move were a condition of the House of Phenex to make sure he wasn't shirking his duties, rather than of his own choice. Which was why on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays he would escape the watchful eye of his bodyguards while they went through their regular shift change and instead venture out for a stroll through the Harbor View Park.

For twenty minutes he would have no protection and have no contact with anyone. He wouldn't be defenseless by any means, but it would be the ideal time for Naruto to make his move.

Until then, all he could do was try to stabilize and subdue his chakra as best he could with what little time he had.

Azazel—the creator and current leader of the Grigori—pressed a hand up against his temples as he put down the damage report from the attack on the research institute a few days ago back down on his desk. Not only Vritra's consciousness was stolen as the initial on-scene report had suggested, but also the fallen angel technique for removing a sacred gear from its host and the blueprints for artificially creating sacred gears—though vastly incomplete—were also taken. That isn't even counting the damage that was caused or the lives that were lost as a result of the infiltration.

Though Grigori and Root had been bitter enemies for decades, neither had ever made an attempt on the other's base of operations quite like this—not that the location of Root's headquarters was a location known by any but its most loyal agents. Azazel did not believe this incident to be a declaration of war, otherwise there would have been far more casualties. Root's goal all along in this scenario seemed to be Vritra's consciousness, while also looking into research that would be of use to them in the future. But if so, then how did Root manage to conclude that the Grigori facilities were in possession of those particular sacred gears.

Though an important line of questioning that needed to be looked into later on, that wasn't what was worrying Azazel to such an extent.

He was a man of peace and would freely admit to such. He'd fought in his share of battles and shed more blood than he would have cared to, but more than anything else he was a man of peace. He was among the first to fall from Heaven and the one who formed to fallen angel organization, Grigori, but after so many years of war and continuous conflict, he'd simply grown tired of it all.

He was of the polar opposite to Root who's endgame seemed to be a war the likes of which the world had never seen before—at least from what he had seen. He supposed that with their opposing ideologies, it was only natural that conflict sparked about wherever it could between Grigori and Root, much to the joy of one of his oldest comrades, Kokabiel.

What was eating at Azazel's mind was not the fact that Root had attacked Grigori facilities, but rather why now of all times they decided to make their move and why they had sent their top agent to do so.

Vritra was indeed ranked amongst the current Dragon Kings, but his strength alone wouldn't be enough to bring one of Root's leaders to the Underworld. When the fact that each of Root's branch executives are—at the very least—on equal footing with Ultimate-class devils is taken into consideration, then their motives for taking Vritra become even more difficult to decipher.

One that stood out though was using Vritra's power to open the Dragon Gate in order to summon someone like Great Red. It would certainly fit in with their presumed endgame, but it was also equally just as unlikely.

That was the problem when dealing with an organization shrouded in mystery, too many things to take into consideration.

"You may enter." Azazel announced, removing his head from his hand after hearing a series of knocks from outside his office door. The old wooden door creaked as it opened, allowing Slash Dog to slip in. "Ah, Slash Dog. Take a seat, I've been expecting you."

Azazel motioned to the two seats that were placed a few feet in front of his desk, but Slash Dog stood at attention near the center of the room instead, Jin resting on his shoulder.

"Thank you Azazel-sama, but I would prefer to stand." Slash Dog responded, clasping his hands together behind his back. "I apologize beforehand if it seems that I am acting out of line, but I would like to make a request."

"You want to go after the Root member with the dog mask, or am I mistaken?"

"No, you are indeed correct, Azazel-sama." Slash Dog did not hide his desire to pursue the one who had gotten away. "Vritra aside, he took information that could become very dangerous if in the wrong hands. It would be a mistake not to send someone to pursue him and recover those documents."

Azazel nodded his head in agreement. It was no secret that Root was already conducting advanced sacred gear research on their own—what with how many of their members had reached Balance Breaker in the past and the level at which even low-ranking members wielded their sacred gears—but now that they had in their possession the blueprints for artificial sacred gear technology and the fallen angel technique for removing sacred gears from humans, their already outrageous threat level could increase substantially. Especially if they managed to get their hands on a Longinus possessor, if they haven't done so already.

"We both know it's more than that, but that doesn't change the fact that I came to that conclusion as well. I have to ask though, are you really ready to go after him? He's different from the opponents you've fought before, what happened a few days ago should've given you a good idea of that."

The Japanese teen closed his eyes and let the images from his fight a few days ago play in his mind before opening them once again, a strong resolve reflecting from within them. "I don't need to win, I just need to get that research back...but if I'm free from the restrictions that bind me while in the Grigori and release the seals that my grandmother placed on the [Canis Lykaon] while I was still a child, then things should play out much differently the next time around."

The release of the seals that have bound him for so long...the Inugami of the Black Blade...Balance Breaker...He was not in any way of a similar nature to Vali—who lived solely for battle—but for one reason or another he found himself wanting to see just how far his power could take him. It was an odd sensation for someone who preferred fighting behind the scenes and disliked the spotlight, but not an unpleasant one.

"If that's how you feel, then I won't bother trying to stop you. Therein lies a problem before we can even begin worrying about that, though. It's likely the Root's top operative didn't simply come here on a whim or of his own volition, which means that he was sent by the higher-ups of the organization. As one of Root's executives, the only higher authority he could have is the one running the entire operation—meaning that he'd be returning to their headquarters rather than one of their various branch territories." Azazel concluded, absentmindedly stroking his goatee.

"Which we still haven't found the location of..." Slash Dog muttered under his breath, realizing that the task at hand would be more complicated than the standard recovery mission.

"No, that's not completely true." Azazel brought his hand up to his chin, appearing to be deep in thought as he recalled something from long ago. "In the first few years after Root emerged a large portion of Japan's youkai population went missing or wound up dead, which led a lot of people to believe that the organization operated out of Japan. Though that notion seemed to matter less and less as Root's influence spread like wildfire and started up their activities in other countries and their mythologies...It might be a shot in the dark, but starting up your search in Japan might turn up some results."

Slash Dog looked up after hearing Azazel mention his home country. Ever since being expelled from the Himejima clan nearly a decade ago—solely because they feared what his Longinus embodied—he hadn't stepped foot in Japan. He had no reason to since the missions he was usually assigned tended to bring him to European or South American countries. The last news he had heard of his clan was that his little cousin, Akeno, had been taken in by the House of Gremory and reincarnated as a devil.

"Japan, huh? It's been a long time since I've been back home..."

"Since you're of Japanese descent and a human at that, your presence shouldn't alert any Root agents—should they happen to catch you off-guard—and may even work to your favor. Add in your expertise in tracking and stealth and you're the obvious choice for this assignment, Slash Dog." Azazel elaborated, leaning back into his chair. "But even then it would still take weeks, or maybe even months, to grab hold of a solid lead. Bar our spies, the missions that Grigori usually undertakes are straight to the point and require immediate action. Do you think you're prepared for an assignment that'll span that kind of time?"

"Time is of little consequence to me...This is something that I feel I have to do."

Azazel let out a dry chuckle, bringing a hand up to his forehead before dragging it down his face until it rested below his chin. All members of the Grigori had a few screws loose and Slash Dog was no exception. The humans that joined were especially amusing since each of their defining character traits were enough to push them away from their own species. Though technically a devil/human hybrid, Vali was a battle maniac who lived for seeking out strong opponents and would willingly welcome death should those fights ever become meaningless to him. Slash Dog—on the other hand—was a human through and through, but held an insatiable thirst for blood deep within him that could rise to the surface at any given moment and once he'd set his eyes on a target...he would never let up his pursuit until blood had been spilled.

Whether it be his target's...or his own.

These humans needed to be broken in one way or another in order to ally themselves with an organization of fallen angels rather than their own kind.

"Very well then." Azazel relented, realizing the futility of the argument he was presenting. "Once you get to the Human World, try starting your search in Kuoh Town. The fallen angels that were used as suicide bombers as well as the one that was used to gain entry to the vault in the research facility were supposed to be stationed in that area, watching over a human which I suspected to possess a Longinus with the intention of preventing him from awakening it and going berserk. I also have reason to believe that the wielder of the [Absorption Line]—which happens to be a Vritra-type sacred gear—also lives in that area. It's likely that Kuoh Town was targeted first if one of Root's goals is Vritra...Root isn't the type to leave evidence behind, but maybe you'll find something there that'll lead you in the right direction."

Slash Dog nodded in understanding. "And if I should encounter trouble from those of the Japanese mythological system?"

"Deal with them in a way that won't cause too much political fallout." Azazel couldn't believe that he was actually saying this. It went against everything he believed in, but then again this wasn't the first time he'd had to do such when dealing with Root. "I will take responsibility for any trouble you may stir up...I don't see this situation with Root ending well on either side, but I intend to see it through to the very end."

The warm summer breeze that swept through the night sky caused Raizen Phenex's blonde hair to blow about as he walked up the final steps of the path and into the large viewing platform that overlooked the Yokohama Bay. The tie that accompanied his business suit fluttered in the wind—having already loosened it so that he could unbutton the top few notches of his collared shirt—while he walked through the gardens that were planted in the center of the observation deck. He stopped just meters before the small set of steps that led up to the railing and turned around, his dark blue eyes piercing through the darkness that lied beyond the illumination which the lighting of the viewing platform provided.

"How long are we going to keep playing this little game of cat and mouse?" Raizen's calm and composed voice cut through the silence of his surroundings, echoing throughout the platform which allowed even those beyond it to hear his challenge. "I've been cooped up in the office all day, so I'm a little restless. Stretching out my muscles might do me some good...So will you keep sneaking around in the shadows or come out and face me?"

For a moment there was no response, though that didn't last as he was seized by the indescribable sensation of being transported to another space. Though the scenery of his surroundings remained the same, the air felt calm and motionless. So the entire area had been covered and isolated with a barrier technique that could control space, now had it? His wealth of experience when it came to fighting was far inferior to his older brother, Ruval's, but he had only ever seen techniques of this nature from the youjutsu and senjutsu of powerful youkai.

From the darkness that lay beyond the reach of the platform's artificial light, a figure clad in a deep black cloak emerged, discarding any pretense of stealth as he stepped into the light. The hood worn over his head covered all features that would have humanized his presence, but the mask that was left to be showcased to the world was all too recognizable.

"So you've finally come." Raizen's voice was barely above a whisper, but could be heard clearly throughout the platform. "I was beginning to think that this city was actually a nice, quiet place where I could settle down and start a new life...but it's never a story worth telling without a few bumps in the road. As someone who makes a living in the media industry, I know that better than anyone."

Moonlight reflected off of the cold steel of Naruto's blade as he drew his ninjatō from its place on his back, bringing it down to his side as he eyed his target. "I hear that the only ways to deal with those from the House of Phenex are to overwhelm them with immense power or to completely shatter their spirit...Care to show me if that's really the case?"

"So you already know who I am, do you? It makes me wonder how long I've been under surveillance..." Raizen wondered aloud, letting two large wings lit ablaze by the fire of the Phenex family's pyrokinesis sprout from his back. "I've heard the stories. I know what organization you belong to and what it represents...but I was expecting something that fit more along the lines of the silent-but-deadly archetype."

Naruto felt his face split into a large grin behind his mask. He always felt so emotionally separated from the rest of humanity but at moments like these he could truly embrace who he was, who he'd always been. Someone who lived for the thrill of the chase, looking for someone who could push him to his limits. There was a time in his life, not so long ago, where he had nearly forgotten this feeling and thought that he was capable of change—a time that could be comparable to living underwater while holding his breath, whereas now he could finally breathe freely—but that path crumbled and what resulted from it was the curse that now bound him.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but I'd consider relocating to somewhere else. This city's just as plain and lifeless as I remember it and with the people to match, so I've been pretty restless myself..." Naruto let a thin blue energy outline the blade of his ninjatō as he activated his sacred gear, turning his sword into a scalpel that could only be stopped by the strongest of defenses. "I suppose it'd be polite to offer you a chance to surrender, which would save us both a lot of time and effort...but where's the fun in that? Besides, I think we're already past the point of no return."

"Don't act so haughty. Do you really believe you can defeat me? You may be strong for a human, but I can tell from your voice that you're still young. Your words and confidence are far ahead of your experience. If you can't comprehend what I'm saying, then there's no choice." Overturning one of his hands so that his palm was facing upwards, Raizen summoned an orb of intense flame which rapidly fired off a number of projectiles the crossed the distance of the platform in mere seconds.

Naruto was still for only the briefest of moments, acting upon the incoming firestorm immediately but without haste. He exploded forward in a burst of speed, dancing through the barrage of heated projectiles fluidly as he carved through them with ease. His blade shone vibrantly in the darkness as it dealt with the flames, avoiding those that would be a waste of effort to cut with the faintest of movements.

When the last projectile had been vanquished, Naruto continued his path forward disappearing from sight as he moved faster than the eye—human, devil, or whatever other species they may be—could follow. Faster than that very eye could blink, Naruto was crouched down in front of Raizen with his assault already in motion. However, the Phenex was already in motion to take to the skies, so when Naruto slashed forward with his sword he only managed to sever Raizen's legs from the knee down—leaving the raw power behind the swing to tear apart the landscape in Naruto's path, creating a deep depression in the earth and causing the viewing deck to collapse off of the high-ground it was built on.

Flames licked the edge of Raizen's wounds as he flew up into the air, a sign that he was already healing. It was only by pure luck and chance timing that he'd been able to get off as easy as he had. He hadn't predicted that his opponent would be able to get out of the range of his fireballs without being worse for the wear, nor had he been able to follow the boy's movements. Only because he had planned to get in the air for a follow-up did he escape being bisected at the waist and torn to pieces from the shockwave.

Naruto didn't miss a beat, transitioning fluidly from the follow through of his swing into his next charge. In a tremendous show of leg strength Naruto shot into the sky with superior high-speed movement, crushing the area of ground that he pushed off of because of the force exuded. He brought his sword down to his waist—though kept it pointing upwards in preparation for a strong thrust—and wrapped his free hand around it as well, rather than carelessly wielding it one-handed.

Raizen looked down from his position in the sky, unsure of where his attacker had vanished to. That was really the only way to describe the occurrence, as the boy was simply too fast for his eyes to follow. Just from their battle's opening sequence it became clear that the boy's fighting style relied heavily on physical condition, rather than magic or another form of energy—though it seemed that he was capable of senjutsu and youjutsu since he set up the barrier around them. This was what left Raizen in his current predicament. Once moment he was at the edge of the crevice he created, the next he was gone. Catching the slightest distortion in the air coming right at him, Raizen hastily summoned a large spear of fire in one of his hands and thrust it forward.

At that same time, Naruto let the energy surrounding his blade increase in output as he crossed the distance between himself and the Phenex in mere moments. He struck outwards with his own weapon, tearing through the left half of Raizen's body and into the sky past him. Feeling his left arm do limp as it fell of his sword's handle, Naruto glanced to the right and saw a large spear of fire embedded into his shoulder.

Looking down at the falling form of the devil, he saw that the man's entire left side was missing—though already regenerating. Switching the grip on his sword, Naruto spun around and used the torque to send the blade down toward Raizen at breakneck speeds. The blade pierced the man through the throat, causing him to cough up a bit of saliva as it sent him toward the ground at an even quicker pace. Because of the speed he picked up during his descent, Raizen's impact resulted in the creation a small crater—where he was pinned to the ground by the sword lodged through his neck.

With his right hand now free, Naruto grabbed onto the spear of fire that was pierced through his shoulder and forcefully removed it. After dropping the spear and letting it fall back down to earth, Naruto let the skin on his palm regenerate itself before reaching into the storage pouch on his back hip and withdrawing a tri-pronged kunai from its confines.

With his high regenerative abilities Naruto was in no mortal danger from a fall of this particular height, though he didn't especially feel like going through that experience. As such, he threw his hiraishin kunai into the ground far below his position and teleported to its location just as soon as it touched down on the earth. By the time he had set foot on ground again, the gaping hole in his shoulder had closed up—leaving behind the tears in his cloak as the only evidence that he had ever been injured—and any lasting damage dealt to him up in the air had already ceased to exist.

The trait that set his regenerative capabilities apart from those displayed by various others in the world was that it was near absolute. Meaning that even if his body was deconstructed at a molecular level, he would still come back from it good as new. Really, anything short of eradicating his spirit or erasing him from existence was simply a means to an end.

Taking hits and dealing them back was really all his fighting style boiled down to. They say that sacred gears are influenced depending on the thoughts and feelings of the wielder...but it's never said what that influence would do. A sacred gear—the Longinus-class in particular—has the potential to become a blessing or savior to whomever they awaken...but there is also the distinct possibility that it should bloom into a curse. The will of the host and the will of the sacred gear oftentimes become synonymous with one another, though there are indeed cases where the consciousness of the sacred gear cannot accept the will of their host...

Naruto lived his life in search of an opponent that could push him to his very limits and then break them, but that wasn't solely because he loved that feeling of adrenaline pumping through his veins or wanted to test how far his mind and body could take him. No, things would never be that simple...His salvation would be but sleep and sweet dreams...His salvation would never be anything but death.

That was but another burden that he had to bear.

[Operation], it had many abilities but none more ever-present than the two that promoted it to the level of Longinus. Regeneration that essentially prevented any but the strongest of Gods from killing him. Physical condition that allows him to defeat even legendary creatures with only a single punch...For someone who only wished to reach salvation, his own power was the cruelest of punishments.

Naruto's cerulean eyes locked onto Raizen's regenerating form across the garden, analyzing the current condition of the devil's body and reading how much energy it had expended thus far. While the regenerative traits of the House of Phenex were exceptional, they were a far cry from Naruto's own. That being said, the regeneration that Raizen had needed to use over the course of the battle had barely made a dent in his high levels of demonic power. As one would expect from a pure-blooded devil.

By this point Naruto had already come to the conclusion that this opponent was not the one that would bring him to the limits of paradise, though it was still someone who he had been chosen to deal with. Seeing as how the fight was already progressing towards an inevitable outcome rather than one whose course was filled with many twists and turns, Naruto—albeit reluctantly shifted his demeanor from someone fighting with a purpose to someone merely doing their duty.

"ROOM." Bringing his arm out slightly in front of him, Naruto summoned a transparent, light blue spherical territory that expanded to cover the entirety of the area in which the platform was located. This particular technique was one of his most basic as well as being a prerequisite for nearly all of his other sacred gear abilities aside from his regeneration and physical condition, but it was arguable one of his strongest.

Noticing that Raizen's body was on its way to being completely healed, Naruto flipped his right hand over and formed a rapidly rotating Rasengan that nearly doubled its standard size.

"Shambles." Extending his free hand outwards Naruto made a single hand gesture, allowing him to instantaneously shift spaces with his sword that was still pierced through Raizen's neck. Appearing directly above the older devil, Naruto thrust forward his arm and drove the Rasengan into Raizen's exposed back with tremendous force. The impact of which was enough to shatter the surrounding earth and send the Phenex even further down into the depression where he lie.

Naruto, once again, swapped places with his sword in order to avoid the collapse of the ground. Despite the severity of the damage that had been dealt by his technique, however, Naruto held no illusions that Raizen was finished.

His thoughts were proven accurate when a pillar of fire erupted from beneath the ground, destroying the rubble and earth that had collapsed in on the area. Once the pillar dispersed, it revealed Raizen Phenex—looking none the worse for wear—hovering in midair with his two wings of fire spread widely across the sky, though Naruto noticed that his demonic power had dropped significantly in such a brief amount of time and that he was panting slightly.

"You're strong. Far stronger than I expected, in fact. But even so, you're still a human and have the limits of one." Raizen managed to get his breathing under control and let the fire surrounding his body intensify even further. "Even so, I ask that you don't die just yet. There are still questions that need answering from you!"

Naruto watched on as Raizen crossed his arms above his head and amassed a large amount of flames at their focal point, coalescing them into a mass of intense fire that illuminated the entire night sky. As Raizen sent the mass of flames hurdling down toward the ground with his arms, Naruto held his hand out and preformed a lifting motion with his index finger—pointing it upwards toward the sky—which sent all of the large chunks of earth and debris on the ground flying through the sky toward the older devil, making sure to avoid a collision course with the fireball.

"Takt."

The most basic trait of [Operation] was the ability to manipulate anything within the ROOM's territory, such as people, objects, and debris—typically in a surgical manner. And despite being the most basic trait, it was plenty powerful as Naruto's telekinetic pull was enough to uproot towering trees and lift the section of the viewing deck that had earlier collapsed off the hillside from his first charge. Because their levitation was being manipulated even as they flew toward their intended target, the speed of the debris far surpassed that of the fireball and reached Raizen while his attack was still crashing down toward Naruto.

Raizen braced himself as the storm of loose debris coming at him from essentially every direction was already upon him. In a last-ditch he formed a thin shield of fire around him with the fire from his wings while they too wrapped around him—and they did protect him for a moment from the first wave that rained down on him from all directions—but his last line of defense was ultimately ineffective as it was pierced through by thick tree branches, crushed by large boulders, and shattered as everything in the surrounding sky came at him all at once and encased him in an enormous satellite that easily dwarfed the size of the technique Raizen had sent Naruto's way.

At the same time that Naruto used the Takt on the surrounding environment, he eyed down the mass of flames that continued to descend towards him. Raising his right arm over his head, Naruto activated Shambles once again—though because he was only bringing an object to himself, there was no requirement of an object or otherwise to exchange it with—summoning his previously discarded sword to his hand and swiping it downwards, separating the meteor-like fireball into two halves before it even had the chance to reach him.

Not wasting even a moment, Naruto exploded into the sky, moving directly between the divide created from splitting the fireball in two as it fell to the earth below—crossing the distance between his original position and the satellite levitating in the air in mere moments. When he was finally within striking distance of the satellite, he reached out with his left fist and released his hold on the terrestrial body causing all of the debris to separate and fall from the sky, leaving a beaten and barely conscious—despite all his body's best attempts to bring him back up to fighting condition—Raizen to slowly begin his descent back to earth. Naruto, however, had other plans.

"Radio Knife." Naruto brought his blade in close to his body and wrapped his second hand around the handle in addition to his first for a finishing strike. After charging his sword with no small amount of high-frequency electricity, Naruto thrust his blade forward and pierced it through the falling Phenex's heart, the momentum carrying them across the night sky. Purple electricity exploded outward in large arcs upon impact of body and blade from the small amount of resistance Raizen's body provided for an instant before the electrically-charged blade easily cut through the tissue and organs within.

"I see...so this is the difference between us..." Raizen finally coughed up the first bits of blood that he had shed throughout the entirety of the fight, his regeneration having reached its limit and his demonic power completely drained. The blow to his heart was the final straw as the pain that coursed through his body sent him over the edge, his mind and body finally fading into the bliss of unconsciousness.

The momentum carrying the two of them finally faded, forcing them into a downward trajectory as they neared the edge of spatial barrier that Naruto had erected. They crashed into the ground—miles away from the observation platform where they had fought the majority of the battle—resulting in a fair amount of destroyed landscape from the force of the impact and the creation of a particle cloud from disturbed dust particles.

When the dust cleared after several long moments, it revealed Naruto standing tall over Raizen's unconscious body—electricity still arcing across the blade protruding from the devil's chest. They had covered quite the distance, but they just barely remained within the territory of Naruto's ROOM. Had they landed only a few more meters towards the spatial barrier, then the electricity would have dispersed entirely.

Naruto wrapped a hand around the handle of his ninjatō and slowly removed it from Raizen's chest, returning it to its place on his back despite the cracks all along the edge and the charing of its blade. Seeing as how that last technique had done the job—not just in quickly finishing the fight, but also in numbing the body and mind due to the high-frequency electrical current forcing the muscles to contract along with interrupting the electrical signals in the brain—Naruto reached down and threw the unconscious Raizen over his shoulder.

As per orders directly from headquarters, he had made sure not to kill this one.

All previous injuries that Raizen Phenex had suffered in battle had fully regenerated aside from the stab wound to the chest—though the electrical current from the strike had cauterized the wound to prevent any immediate danger—and a few surface wounds that remained from being encased in the satellite. Otherwise, he was only suffering from physical exhaustion and a depletion of demonic power.

Activating the power of Shambles once more, Naruto located the Hiraishin kunai that he had left somewhere back on the observation platform through the influence of the ROOM and shifted it into his hand. After returning the kunai to the storage pouch on his back hip beneath his cloak, he deactivated his ROOM after which he released the spatial barrier that he had used to transport them to another space. Despite the barrier space being identical to that of its physical location in the real world, the two were not the same area. So when the barrier was dispelled, all damage that had been done within it ceased to exist as well.

With the devil that had been given control of Yokohama subdued, all that was left to do was deal with the connections he had brought with him and made here—such as altering the memories of his bodyguards or staging his escape from the watchful eye of his noble family—before any potential fallout could take place, meaning that Naruto still had a long night ahead of him.

"Oh my. You all really are an interesting bunch...Longinus gears, holy sword wielders, demon sword wielders, sacred gear possessors, and even magicians." Kabuto—Orochimaru's second in command—commented in amusement, his eyes sweeping across the abandoned warehouse at the various different personalities spread throughout the premises. "Even if you do make such scary faces at me, your group is nothing more than a few humans with powers that they could never come to understand...Even with such powerful tools at your disposal, your bodies are weak. Such a pitiful dilemma."

Kabuto stood on one end of the warehouse while the members of the Hero Faction who were present remained spread out across the other upon his entry.

"...Kabuto...So you came yourself this time. For what reason would Orochimaru's right hand come all this way for a simple business exchange?" Cao Cao held a spear in his hands—the [True Longinus]—and patted it on his shoulder as he questioned Kabuto.

"Though since those are high-tier Longinus, I suppose it wouldn't matter too much." Kabuto paid no attention to Cao Cao's inquiry, instead eyeing the spear on his shoulder with intrigue. "So that's the Ultimate Longinus...The holy spear that even the Seraphim of Heaven fear. The spear that carries the blood of Jesus Christ. The Longinus that managed to pierce through the body of a God...How interesting...For what purpose did the will of the Biblical God decide on you, Cao Cao?"

Kabuto narrowed his eyes as they drifted from the [True Longinus] to Leonard and Georg who were standing a ways back behind Cao Cao. The earlier reports from past encounters had clearly labelled the two of them as the wielders of the [Dimension Lost] and [Annihilation Maker], respectively. Longinus users were rather hard to come by due to their low numbers, but this little group already had its hands on three. It was unprecedented to have three of the four high-tier Longinus gathered together like this and it was especially worrisome because they were sure to cause problems down the road.

Though it was odd how not one of these three had made it onto Root's radar before they joined the Khaos Brigade...

"You may find surprising, but it is incredibly simple. We just want to know the limits of what it means to be 'human' and challenge it. This world was meant for humans from the very beginning, so it will be the humans who defeat devils, dragons, fallen angels, and other supernatural races. No, definitely, it is humans who will reclaim this existence as their own." Cao Cao raised the index finger of his free hand and pointed it up above his head. "This is just a little challenge presented by us frail humans. Under the heavens, how far can humans go, that is the answer we shall be searching for."

"...I see...Honestly it would be troublesome if you all were to die now, so I'll give you this." Kabuto adjusted his glasses before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a scroll, which he threw to Cao Cao. "You already know how it works, just spill some blood on the seal and the scroll will release its contents. That aside, the Chaos Break—as you called it—was vastly incomplete and impractical for constant usage, so our researchers developed it into something more feasible. Within that scroll are enough vials to last your faction for a few months. Each injection is now more controlled per intake and without the previous side effects, but they will eat through your stamina much faster while in use."

"That is what our deal was, but I doubt that was all you came to this meeting point for. A mere grunt would be sufficient for something like this."

"You really can't see the bigger picture, can you?" Kabuto pulled out an envelope from within his cloak and held it out to the side. From one of the shadows behind him, a four-legged monster no larger than a dog emerged and took the envelope in his mouth in order to relay it to Cao Cao. The monsters that were hidden all across the room were most likely products of the [Annihilation Maker]. "Were such precautions really necessary? I already knew that there were monsters like this one watching me from every shadow in sight, but not having the decency to pretend as if I didn't makes me wonder if you people don't trust me...Do heroes really fear a single man to such an extent?"

After taking the envelope from the monster, Cao Cao opened it up and read over the contents. He then put a doubtful expression on his face as he looked back up at Kabuto. "Are these orders coming straight from the top?"

"Don't be so surprised." Kabuto wore a smug expression as he pulled the hood of his cloak back over his head. "An apocalypse of a different sort is brewing and Kyoto's leylines will be where our dreams come to fruition. For humans wishing to rid the world of all evil in the world, you should know that this world itself is already past the point of salvation. To create a world worth living in, first the old one must be razed to the ground. Was that not the chaos that you of the Khaos Brigade were trying to recreate?"

Raizen Phenex groaned from discomfort as his eyelids slowly opened, revealing to him a dark and cold room that he was unfamiliar with—leaving him wondering how he had gotten here. While his eyes adjusted to the almost nonexistent light, he dragged himself toward the nearest wall using his arms and leaned his back up against it. Why was his body aching so much?

As a devil he was able to clearly see despite the darkness, so when his eyes adjusted from only just waking up he was surprised to find himself confined to a small room in what appeared to be a singular prison cell. It was then—after surveying his immediate surroundings and attempting to recall the events that led him to his current situation—that everything came flooding back to him. Ducking out of work to get some time to himself, ending up at the Harbor View Park, fighting that Root agent, and ultimately being defeated.

After losing consciousness he must have been captured and imprisoned, rather than being eliminated on the spot. But for what purpose?

"Your bodyguards have had their memories altered. Your company has been bought out in a ruthless takeover. All traces of your existence in the Human World have been erased. And that prison seals away all your demonic power. Now that any hope you may have had for anyone coming to your rescue has been crushed...would you care to tell me what you and your people were doing here at my vacation home?"

After hearing the voice resound throughout the room, Raizen wearily looked up passed the bars of his prison to see the very same man he fought earlier standing against the far back wall.

"What is it that your organization wants from me?" The devil managed to ask despite the unbearable feeling of pain emanating from his chest, his voice laced with no small amount of fatigue and defeat. "From what I've heard, you people are ruthless and don't hesitate to eliminate anyone who gets in your way. Not women, not children, not the elderly...not even an entire race. Which must mean you have a reason to keep me alive, otherwise you would have killed me in the park."

Naruto stood across the room from the small prison cell, leaned up against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. He paid little attention to the ramblings of his prisoner, instead going over the events of the battle several hours earlier in his head. He wasn't going over how the events did play out or what could have been done differently, but rather what didn't happen.

More specifically, the curse that plagued him didn't come to pass.

Ever since the event that led to him being cursed, he had learned the hard way about just how much karma and fortune affected everyday life. Whether it be simple tasks such as getting somewhere on time or a high-stakes situation such as infiltrating a kingdom and assassinating the ruler, karma factored into everything and judges everything. Though his judgement is quite different from those that are simply suffering from a case of bad karma catching up to them.

The law of karma operates independent of any deity or process of divine judgement. It is a law that is both complex and difficult to define, but is oftentimes simplified to—actions begetting the consequences in tandem with the nature of those actions. A good action creates good karma, as does good intent. A bad action creates bad karma, as does bad intent.

Because of the complex and far-reaching nature of the laws that it wields, the curse created by the dying will of the [Telos Karma] is capable of inflicting an infinite number of consequences depending on the nature of his actions...and it never hesitates to deliver judgement, however it sees fit.

This time though, the curse never came to life...

It felt as though the grip it had on his very being had lessened as well...

How odd.

"A ransom from the House of Phenex, perhaps? No, if that was the case then you wouldn't bother with altering the memories of my bodyguards. A source for producing Phoenix Tears? That wouldn't be a bad plan, but the ritual couldn't be met under these condition. You won't get anything from me..." Raizen glared—despite how difficult it was to even keep his eyes open—at the man who hadn't moved an inch or said a single word since he first spoke. "So let's get this over with. Either kill me or set me free...What's it gonna be? You can't just keep ignoring me."

"Well that's not really your choice to make, now is it? It's not really mine either..." Naruto finally thought that the conversation was going somewhere that wouldn't waste his time. "I like to think I'm a pretty merciful guy, unlike some of the others in my organization. It's more humane to put an animal to sleep rather than let them suffer, after all. But in this case I'm on direct assignment from my boss, so everything's gotta be by the book."

Naruto pushed his body off from the back wall and stepped toward the prison cell, only stopping a few inches away from the bars. From there he looked down at the barely conscious devil with cold, apathetic eyes.

"Remember this, Raizen Phenex. The weak don't get to decide anything, not even how they die. The moment your wings broke and you fell from the sky, you forfeited away any right you had to your life."

Chapter End

There we go everyone, it's been a while but there you have the second chapter. I normally like to get the second chapter of my stories out within the week that I posted the first, but I jumped the gun a bit in posting the original because I wanted to start off finals week with something that would put a smile on my face. After that I had to actually get through those tests and had to spend a lot of time working on my Naruto/One Piece crossover, which I eventually decided to put on hold for the time being. Then came actually writing out this chapter which took a lot of time and garnered more than a few rewrites.

I gave you all a look at Naruto's Sacred Gear this chapter and—though you may be rolling your eyes at me for blatantly giving Naruto an ability that is originally of neither Naruto or Highschool DxD—it's not quite exactly what you would think since it is a subspecies. The conception of the [Operation] came from me planning to write a straight-up Naruto story with this set of abilities, but that changed as you can probably see. And since many of its abilities are similar to ones from the Naruto series and I can incorporate others into it, it made sense and fit well with a medical/surgeon/doctor Naruto.

And it seems that the Hero Faction has ties with Root, which is not all that out there considering that they are the only human factions out there aside from magicians. It should be interesting to see how that plays out...

I know at this point "Naruto" still doesn't really resemble Naruto all that much, but—as I've already informed a number of people who have contacted me through review or PM—this first arc as it moves toward its climax is meant for Naruto to develop into something closer to the original through these next few missions and the people he will come to meet, though at the same time different because of his experiences in Root and awareness of the world around him.

So review, flame, criticize, rant, correct, analyze, PM, do whatever you want.