Chapter 5

Two words. Tatsuya couldn't comprehend how two simple words were capable of such devastation, he remembered watching the figure land or should he say appear next to Hajime, palms outstretched in a pushing motion.

"Shinra Tensei."

An almighty force was expelled, the world around it stood no chance as it spiralled and struck against everything with the force of a miniature missile. The catastrophic technique decimated half of the building, destroying everything in its way, Tatsuya was no exception when he felt the force rupture the earth below him and throw him straight into several pieces of jagged rubble.

He groaned in pain, blood rushing out from his mouth. 'Ruptured spleen…Several broken bones…Pierced lung.' He blurrily looked up from his position and saw two people standing next to the unconscious Hajime. Tatsuya couldn't see them in detail, dust and shimmering light flickering all around the now open building. The damage that the man had done, he had blown half of the building apart, sending everything flying in every direction. His mind flickered to the events before the mysterious figure's arrival and he immediately became concerned for Kirihara. And yet he couldn't see him, feel him…he wondered if he was dead.

As the dust settled and his vision cleared more, he could see them more clearly and couldn't help but notice the difference in their stature. The woman was dressed in a long traditional dress, her upper face covered by a silver mask, she stood there regal and proud. The masked man was dressed in pure black armour, the type of armour that was used by army magicians to effectively stop armour piercing round and lower-ranked magic. Though the masked figure's interesting feature lay behind his kitsune mask, red concentric eyes spun furiously, a stark contrast to the figure's laid-back stance.

The masked man said, "I'm sorry I can't let you take him." Tatsuya's eyes began to close as his mind instinctively activated regrowth, rewinding the damage done to his body back to what it was before the attack. The damage wasn't so bad all it took was a mere few seconds before he regenerated completely.

"Onii-Sama!" Tatsuya's eyes snapped open in shock as Miyuki screamed and rushed to his side. She raised her CAD in pure rage, "I'll kill you." She roared.

The masked woman laughed sadistically, "I'll take the girl." But Tatsuya wouldn't allow anyone near his sister, he aimed his pistol at her and fired mist dispersion at her.

A black orb appeared immediately in front of her and expanded into a cocoon-like structure, surrounding Sayuri. Naruto clicked his tongue, "Now…Now. You didn't think I would allow you to erase my partner did you." The cocoon cracked and released an angry Sayuri.

"If you put me in that thing again…I will vaporize you." She snarled, smouldering fire rippled from her feet and danced towards the pair of siblings on the ground. Miyuki stood up straight, raising her CAD and an icy blast rippled away from her. The resultant clash of ice and fire released an immense amount of steam, Tatsuya quickly grabbed his sister and jumped out of the way when he felt a spike in energy.

A high-pitched sonic screech echoed through the steam, Tatsuya and Miyuki watched as a blue energy shuriken struck their previous position. It burst into a small explosion, Tatsuya immediately raised his gun and used Mist Dispersion to stop it from expanding any further, yet all his technique did was seemingly cause to implode even more vigorously. Tatsuya and Miyuki were launched into the rubble once more by the sheer concussive force from the blast, Tatsuya groaned in pain as he watched the two figures emerge from the dust and steam.

Miyuki muttered, "Onii-Sama…What do we do?"

Tatsuya mouthed, "Find the others." He needed her out of the way if he was going to be able to fight without having to worry about her. Miyuki nodded and rushed towards into what remained of the Blanche headquarters, her path was cut off by a powerful streak of lightning that spiralled from the sky.

The woman grinned, "Where do you think you're going, little girl." Tatsuya raised his twin silver horns and aimed one at her but was quickly forced to disengage when wooden roots began to erupt from the ground and grabbed his foot.

"Let the girls have their fun." Tatsuya fired a mist dispersion at him and the other at the root wrapped around his foot. The black orbs once more came to his rescue, effectively blocking the attack without taking any damage. 'I don't have a choice…I have to use it.' He closed his eyes for a single moment as he activated his elemental sight.

What he saw was nothing short of an impossibility. Pure energy, it was as if the man was simply emitting the energy as if he was a solar battery. This man wasn't using magic, or rather his ability to affect the world didn't involve the manipulation of eidos, he was simply using this unknown energy to cause the effect that he wanted.

Worse yet, his elemental sight couldn't decode what the energy was and why it seemed so resistant to his mist dispersion. "Find something interesting." The figure ran towards him, hands blurring in signs before Tatsuya felt an immense spike in energy.

"Fūton: Ryūtai no Jutsu." He let out a tremendous stream of wind, Tatsuya jumped back in interest as he watched the wind begin to spiral and form into a dragon-like apparition. The figure quickly sped through another set-out hand signs, breathing in as he let out a similar stream of air but this time the dragon was set alight.

The combination of wind and fire proved to be almost unbearable, the heat of the technique literally melting the metal and glass shards on the ground. It seemed to almost roar as it came thundering down to him, Tatsuya narrowed his eyes as he analysed how the technique worked, he could see how the energy was simply being converted into what the man wanted it to be...but there was something else, it was as if the energy was made up of two different components that melded together in exactly the right quantity to form such a malleable form of energy. He raised his gun and aimed it at the roaring dragon of fire and wind that was heading his way and activated his mist dispersion, this time aiming for the energy source in itself and dispersing it into its constitutive elements. Interestingly, his technique didn't explode this time but instead seemingly dispersed into two separate wisps of energy, one bright and the other dark.

Like Yin and Yang. He thought to himself.

He raised his gun once more, this time a small smirk played on his lips. He had finally broken passed the first barrier to defeating this man and yet the mysterious man simply stood there, clapping his hand in applause.

"Bravo. Bravo. You're much keener than I thought you were." He spoke, his tone was jovial and mocking as if he had been expecting it.

Tatsuya raised his gun, only to find himself being launched into the air by a gut-wrenching punch. He quickly enhanced himself with a Psion coat to block the impact of a downward kick that sent him spiralling into the ground.

"But you are still human, after all." The figure floated above him, "So weak, so pathetically vulnerable." He dove down to the earth, a spiralling blue of ball energy grew in his palm, Tatsuya grabbed his second gun from his waist as he allowed himself to be struck by the ball of energy. Pain erupted from his midsection, the earth below him cracked as he felt himself being pushed down into the ground from the sheer power of the technique.

All it took was one good shot. Mist Dispersion wasn't limited by walls or physical boundaries, he spun the gun behind his back and pointed it at the figure.

He fired.

It was relatively painless, easy, almost impossibly so. The figure was there one moment and the next simply wasn't.

Now to deal with the last pest. He turned to see Miyuki being driven back by several powerful streams of lightning and fire, the woman was extremely aggressive with her magic and it worked in her favour as Miyuki was unable to respond, at least, until she had access to her full power.

Tatsuya raised his gun and aimed it at the woman.

Slink

A black blade ruptured through his chest, he heard a growl from behind him, "That hurt, you bastard." Blood splurged from his mouth, the small hole in his chest blew open to form a gaping wide hole, Tatsuya fell to the ground, body numb as he felt himself on the verge of unconsciousness. Blurry eyes saw the unmistaken form of the masked man walking to his sister.

No!

He had to save her.

And yet it was too late, he was too weak to keep himself from raising his gun, no, it wasn't that he was too weak, his body simply shut itself down to activate regrowth. And with one last breath, his eyes shuttered closed and he fell unconscious.

Self-repair spell…Autostart.

Core Eidos Data, Reading from Backup.

Load Magic Sequence.

Error…Data Corruption.

Reanalysing Core Eidos Data….Complete.

This cycle continued as Tatsuya's body continued to try and heal itself from the continuous cellular damage that blade stuck in him was causing.

Meanwhile

Miyuki raised another ice wall to stop another barrage of flames from turning her to ash, frustration and fatigue quickly settling in. This battle was going nowhere and by the looks of it, this woman wasn't going to run out of stamina any time soon.

She had to use it.

She had no choice.

Raising her palm, a chilling cold erupted from it and spread towards the woman. She stood no chance, the world around her remained normal but the masked woman was simply frozen. Cocytus, it was called. The forbidden magic that could freeze someone's very soul, it was unstoppable, irreversible and the only ability that could kill her Onii-Sama.

And yet, there he was, her precious brother on the ground, a black blade speared onto his back, he wasn't moving. Miyuki felt tears drip from her face, rage erupted from inside her as her magic spread far and wide throughout the entire building, freezing the world around her.

Clap Clap

"I see you disabled my partner." The masked man began to walk towards her, his hand merely touching the frozen woman's shoulder, Miyuki felt herself crumble to the ground out of shock as the masked woman's body returned to normal. Her magic…it held no consequence to this man.

"Oh, you are so going to regret doing that. I'm going to skin you alive." Fire bellowed from the woman's feet and spiralled towards her. Miyuki raised her CAD and fired an icy blast towards her but the woman merely grinned as she raised a device and pressed a simple button.

Psion's erupted from her body like a cyclone enveloping the fire and causing it to roar to life, it was so hot that it melted the metal around her. Miyuki felt fear grip her body, as she continued to try and stop the flow of the fire, but it was no use, it was as if it was simply eating her magic up and using it as fuel to grow.

She was going to die here. As it inched closer and closer to her body, her skin began to burn just from its presence, her magic barely doing anything to stop the forthcoming storm of fire.

"Phalanx." Juuminjo Katsuto landed in front of Miyuki hands outstretched as he summoned a large rainbow-like shielding the size of a small van. The flames slammed into the shield but did no damage, Miyuki couldn't even feel the heat.

Katsuto looked back, "Are you alright, Shiba-San." She nodded slightly. "Who are these people?" He asked.

Miyuki murmured, "I…I don't know." She remembered her brother's prone body and the way the mysterious man easily countered her Cocytus even if it wasn't at full power. "But they're dangerous."

Katsuto muttered, "It's a good thing, I brought back up then." He needed to act fast or else there may be more lives in danger. Using his Phalanx, he expanded it across the range of the fire, encompassing it all and simply causing it to extinguish releasing large amounts of water in the form of water vapour. "Now…Leo, Erika." He muttered through his coms.

"Tch…These pests keep coming and coming." The masked woman said. She raised her hand and summoned a large amount of fire to attack Miyuki and Katsuto.

"Panzer." She heard a roar from above her as Leo came down from the ceiling alongside Erika, ready to attack these unknown perpetrators.

The masked man merely raised his hand and muttered, "Shinra Tensei." An immense blast of gravity sent the two of them flying straight into Juumonji and Miyuki. "We need to go." He warned.

The masked woman moaned in disappointment, "But I was having so much fun." But the now nearing sounds of police sirens and helicopters forced them to leave.

Juumonji said, "You're not going anywhere." A glowing shield erected around the two of them, the masked woman whistled impressedly as she felt her magic flicker on and off.

"So, this is the Phalanx." Juumonji looked at the silent masked man who had simply moved to grab Hajime.

"How about an exchange." A vortex spiralled from in front of him and out came an unconscious and heavily bleeding Kirihara. "His life for Hajime's." He took his silence as him accepting the deal The masked man didn't even wait for Juumonji to take down his Phalanx before he grabbed his partner and Hajime, whisking them away in a vortex.

Erika asked, "Did he just…" Katsuto nodded, his gaze firmly on the spot that the attackers were, it was teleportation and one that managed to bypass the antimagic field of his Phalanx. This was bad, really bad.

He moved to check on Kirihara whilst Miyuki was already sprinting towards the prone body of her brother. A thankful smile played on her lips as she felt his body activate regrowth and heal him. Brown eyes flickered open and Tatsuya let out a strangled gasp, "What…What happened, Miyuki."

Miyuki held him in a tight hug as she murmured, "You're alive…You're alive." Tatsuya held his sister in his arms whilst she sobbed. He felt angry moreso at himself for allowing this to happen but also at his attackers.

What did they want?

Who were they?

Tatsuya couldn't quite help but feel as though he knew the mysterious man. Sirens began to bellow as soon the police began to surround the area and interrogate them. Thankfully, Juumonji-Senpai was able to use his status as an heir to one of the Ten-Master Clans to stop the police from taking them into custody.

Kirihara was taken to the hospital, Juumonji forced Tatsuya to get himself checked up. Erika asked, "What happens now?"

Tatsuya shook his head, "I don't know." They had taken Hajime, managed to defeat him and his sister if his aunt had gotten wind of what happened here. He had no doubt that the repercussion would go far and wide. 'I hope you are ready, you just waged war against the Yotsuba Clan.' He certainly would be the next time they met.

"Maya-Sama. There's been an incident." Maya frowned intensely as her butler, Hayama Tadanori rushed into the room. He detailed the events that had taken place a few hours prior, how Tatsuya had defeated the Blanche leader only for them to become attacked by two masked perpetrators. "Is Miyuki alright?"

"Yes, Juumonji-Sama saved her using his Phalanx. Or at least that was he told during his report."

She clicked her tongue, "And what of Tatsuya?"

Hayama muttered, "Juumonji only recalled that Tatsuya was unconscious during that time, he didn't see the majority of the fight." Maya had never heard of such feats, a man capable of manipulating gravity, teleportation and could disable her precious weapon. This couldn't bode well for her or the entirety of the master clans. "Have you spoken to Tatsuya."

Hayama frowned, "He was not very forthcoming about details but he did say that the man had managed to survive his mist dispersion." Maya's eyes widened in shock, the teacup almost fell from her grasp.

"Are you sure?"

"As far as I can tell there is no other reason to believe that Tatsuya can lose…even if he was fighting with his limiter on." The Butler said.

Maya muttered, "Go. I need to be alone." Hayama bowed and exited the room, Maya threw her cup at the door in frustration. First, Belarus, then Daichi and now she learnt that neither Tatsuya nor Miyuki's magic was as formidable as she believed it to be. It was as if this person or persons were toying with her, taking her plans apart bit by bit.

She had to go on the offensive, even if it compromised their hidden identity. It was time she reminded the world why the Yotsuba were known as the untouchables.

Sayuri pushed Naruto off her as they returned to her base, "You could have killed them…Why didn't you." She growled. "You even let that boy live."

Naruto narrowed his eyes, "I could have also simply grabbed Hajime and left without any of them even knowing I was there. And yet I let you have your fun, Sayuri."

Sayuri sighed. "Don't tell me you didn't see how powerful those two are, letting them grow any further isn't going to help our plans."

"Let's just say, I have plans for them as well." Sayuri couldn't help but wonder what his plans for them were and though she wasn't satisfied with letting them, there wasn't much she could do anyway. "Besides, if you're so thirsty for bloodshed, you'll get your fair share come sunrise."

It was time that Naruto seized control of the criminal underground of the Kanto region. He picked up the unconscious Hajime and used Ningendo to absorb his soul, he flicked through his memories effectively learning each of his mannerisms and behavioural pattern.

Sayuri looked at him with confusion, "What do you mean?"

"We have a meeting to attend. Wear something nice." He said as he channelled his chakra and used Henge to transform into Hajime.

Sayuri smirked, "Maybe, I'll get my fun anyway." Naruto gulped slightly when he felt her predatorial gaze roam over him, he had a feeling showing her his Henge was going to bite him back in the ass.

Every once in awhile, there would be a large shift in power and the many heads of the criminal underworld in Japan would meet to discuss what to do. The culling of the Yakuza in Hachioji and the slow movement of an unknown element had prompted Hajime to call a meeting with the remaining criminal leaders in the Kanto region in hopes that they could bound together to defeat this unknown enemy. However, an unknown tip that he had received the morning that he was planning to attack the First Magic High School had given him the opportunity of a lifetime. If he could acquire the magic from the school and defeat this organization that was causing the underworld so much grief, he would be in a position to rule the region.

Then he would finally be able to challenge his master.

Unfortunately for him, he hadn't planned for the presence of Sayuri and Naruto. Arrogance had always been a tactician's greatest weakness, not that Hajime was much of one, to begin with.

The meeting was meant to take place in the mountains that surrounded Hajiochi, an abandoned yet somehow well-kept building hidden far from technology and view. It was the perfect place to conduct secret meetings.

"Hajime-Sama." The security guard bowed as Naruto disguised as Hajime walked into the room. The room was plain and bare possessing only a table in the middle of the room. Naruto noted the seven men and women that sat comfortably on their seat, drinking tea and chatting among themselves as if they were all friends.

But anyone with a keen mind would be able to observe the awkward mannerisms, the constant flickering of their gazes to their bodyguards. Sayuri smirked, "What do we want with these old farts anyway."

"Control," Naruto muttered. He sat on the allocated chair for the Blanche leader, "Gentlemen…And women. " He said. All of their heads turned towards him as he greeted them, none of them saw his flicker red.

Mayumi Saegusa rushed to the hospital when she had heard what had happened, she had been against the idea of it, to begin with, but to learn that they had been attacked by an unknown force made her all the more worried.

"What happened?" She asked Juumonji, seeing him speak with Mari.

Juumonji detailed what he had happened during their time attacking the Blanche base. "I remember running towards Kirihara to stop him from killing Hajime when I felt something just blow everything apart. I lost consciousness and when I came around, Tatsuya and Miyuki were fighting these two mysterious people. I went to go look for the others, but I only found Chiba and Leonhart." He paused, frowning as he remembered how easily the night could have ended up with all of them dead. "…And they disappeared just as quickly as they came."

Mari asked, "Disappeared?"

Juumonji said, "Yes, the masked man…He had this power that allowed him to teleport in some sort of vortex."

"Vortex?" Mayumi whispered; her hands fell to her sides in slight shock.

No. It couldn't be.

Could it?

A/N

And finished.

Short chapter, I know but this chapter was just to serve as a bridge point for the next arc. The fight was from Tatsuya and his group's perspective, just because I found that it would be more interesting that way.

Next Chapter is the beginning of the nine school competitions though there will be less emphasis on it as Naruto will quickly realise just how hard it is to control the underworld.

Cookie for anyone that can guess what Mayumi knows.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter.

Till next time, Raido out.