chapter 12

The time had finally come. After two excruciatingly long weeks, the time for the rating game had finally showed up. All the effort, sweat, blood and tears that the Rias and her peerage had shed was finally going to be put on display.

Koneko sucked in a deep breath as she checked over herself once again. The girl was sat upon the couch in the clubroom. She was by herself, completed isolated from everyone else, as they also checked over their own equipment and supplies.

The last two weeks for the girl had been hard, both physically and mentally. She had been forced to push herself further than she had ever done before. Going through school then immediately diving into training with Rias was hard enough. Leaving that training to go practice senjutsu with her slave driver of a boyfriend made it so much harder.

"Naruto..." The girl thought to herself as she inspected the small armlet wrapped around her forearm. The armlet had been a gift from the blonde given to her from the night before. The boy claimed it was made from a material that was more sensitive to natural chakra and could assist her with drawing it in. The girl had no further success in using nature's energy with it on but she still appreciated the effort.

Though she did know that the gift was also partly given in a "I'm sorry"-like manner. When Naruto had finally revealed to her his connection with Ophis and her pursuit of him, Koneko had been upset. Actually, upset was a rather mild way to put it. She was pissed. Partly because she was worried for the blonde and and partly because he had hid something so big from her.

She had decided to punish him by refusing to speak to him, even during their training session. The blonde didn't even last a full day before he began to almost beg for her to speak again. A part of her had been touched at his immediate reaction to her stoicism while another part of her felt that breaking so soon wouldn't really being punishing the boy.

Eventually, though, she couldn't keep up the frosty behavior with the boy and broke down. The depressed blonde just had an air about him that saddened Koneko whenever she was near him. Hearing his downtrodden tone and seeing the sad look on his face was just too much for the girl to handle in the end.

"Koneko." The nekoshou was snapped out of her trance by the calm voice of Kiba. The knight looked to be as calm as ever as he stood in front of his fellow peerage member. Koneko could spot the two swords that were strapped to his hips and the large cleaver on his back. The knight looked like he was ready for war.

"Ah … I'm sorry Yuuto-san. What were you saying?" Koneko asked as she began to tighten the gloves around her fist.

"I asked if you were ready? We are almost about to head out." Koneko nodded her head, earning her a small nod from the knight before he turned and walked back to the rest of the group, leaving the girl alone once again.

"Well … It's now or never." She thought to herself as she settled herself into a meditative position. This was her final chance to put what she learned from Naruto into use. And she wouldn't fail.

Naruto's hand brushed up against the low hanging foliage of the forest as he made his way around the clearing. As his fingers made contact with the greenery, the plants seemed to almost light up. Their dull green turned brilliant as a mixture of Naruto's chakra and natural chakra flowed through them.

"Stop worrying so much. You're starting to agitate me." Naruto sighed at his partner's voice as he started making his way to the center of the clearing.

"I can't help but worry. You saw how was she was this morning. She wasn't focus. She looked like crap. She was barely able to even say goodbye when she left." Naruto said as he flopped down onto the ground, smushing the grass underneath his body.

"You did everything you could do for her. Worrying about it now isn't going to help either of you at this point. Now shut up and move out the way." Naruto rolled several times to his right, just barely avoiding the wooden club that smashed into his previous position. Connected to the mace was a fully clothed and pissed off Heracles.

"I'm glad that you managed to find your towel. I really didn't want to see you naked." Naruto said to the man from his position on the ground. The blonde was laid on his stomach while looking up at the muscular man. Heracles released a loud huff as he extracted the club from the ground and shouldered the weapon.

"Fool. In my culture, us MEN are proud of our body. I am proud to show off what the Gods have gifted me with." The man proclaimed before beginning to flex. Naruto watched in disgust as the hero struck several different pose, each pose accentuating a different part of the man's body.

"The greeks were really full of themselves, weren't they?" Kurama asked as the man continued to pose in front of the two. Naruto gave the kitsune a single nod as Heracles finally stopped his "gun show".

"Enough of this banter! You may of deceived me the first time but I will not allow such trickery to outsmart the great Heracles." The man yelled while pointing his club at the teen.

"I wasn't the one who was talking plus if I remember correctly, I didn't trick you. I just beat the crap out of you." Heracles paid the blonde no mind as he charged at the boy once again, his movements very reminiscent of his first assault attempt. Seemed like the muscle-bound man hadn't learned from his mistakes.

"In the name of Zeus, I smite the-" Heracles' speech was turned into a violent string of coughing when Naruto slammed his fist the man's throat. The hero was sent collapsing to the ground, grasping at his throat as he tried to suck in air from his abused throat.

"You … dare… touch… me?" The man managed to say in between his strangled coughs. He could barely talk through his partially crushed windpipe.

"Why don't you just end him right here? This is the second time and I doubt you want to start making this a habit." Kurama suggested.

"I can't just go around killing everyth-" Naruto struck his foot out, slamming it into Heracles' head just as the man recovered from his original coughing fit. The hero was sent crashing onto his back, clutching onto his now bleeding skull.

"-ing or everyone that agitates me a little. Lets just see if we can convince him to leave us alone for now." Naruto cut off the connection between him and his partner just as Heracles' pain filled screams died down. The man was now slowly staggering to his feet, using his wooden club to help balance his shaky form. The hero's eyes screamed bloody murder as they stayed lock onto Naruto.

"If you're finished trying to kill me, I think there may be a way for us to talk it out. There's no need for us to fight each other." Heracles let out a loud huff of air as he managed to finally support himself completely.

"No! There will be no talking. It is your fault that I've been tasked with such a demeaning job and you will pay." With that single, loud and declarative shout the man's body began to grow. The black tint that could be seen in his veins previously seemed to grow darker as the man grew bigger. A dark energy began to seep out of the man's body, giving him a demented appearance.

"This energy stinks of Ophis. Is this what she was planning to do with me if I agreed to her request?" Naruto watched as the tainted man shattered his club within his hands, leaving him weaponless. The hero, if he could be called that at this point, didn't seem to be too bothered by the loss of the weapon as he stared down Naruto with a twisted smirk on his face.

"Now you shall face the true power of Olympus. Shake in fear, mortal!" Heracles screamed before slamming his fist into the ground, actually managing to uproot the earth under Naruto's feet in the process. The shinobi quickly jumped away from the unstable ground and landed near the edge of the clearing, completely unharmed by the ground strike.

"Well his strength definitely seems to have increased. It's a lot closer to his ancestors than it was before. It's probably a good idea that I don't let him hit me." The blonde thought to himself as he watched Heracles buried his fist into the ground. To the teen's surprise, the man ripped out a giant chunk of the earth with nothing but his brute strength. With a loud grunt of effort, Heracles lifted the forest ground above his head and began to laugh maniacally.

"Now you see the true power of the Greeks!" He yelled before throwing the man made boulder at the blonde. The chunk of earth went sailing through the air at fast speeds, little pieces of it breaking off during its process.

Within a few seconds, the boulder slammed into Naruto's position, exploding in a massive cloud of dust, grass and dirt. Heracles watched from afar, a large smile on his face as he waited for the dust to clear. The arrogant man was sure that his last attack had ended the annoying pest of a blonde.

"That was pretty surprising." Heracles' eyes widened at the voice that came from behind him. The man quickly spun around and drove his fist towards the blonde who had sped behind him. The blonde sidestepped the blow, allowing the fist to barrel harmlessly past his head. Naruto, taking advantage of the man's wide open stance, drove his fist straight into the man's stomach. The blonde's fist buried itself deep into the hero's stomach, causing a wad of spit to come shooting out of his mouth.

To the blonde's further shock, the spit was the only reaction he got from the man. Well that and the boastful laughter that started to exit his mouth. Naruto quickly retracted his fist when he felt the man's muscle begin to ripple and shake along his fist.

"Your weak attacks mean nothing to me! They only heal me! Strength from pain!" The man screamed at the top of his lungs before dashing over to a tree. With a single hand, the man uprooted a tree from its position and threw it directly at Naruto.

The blonde, not wanting to be struck at the giant missile, quickly dashed to the side. The tree sped past the shinobi, resulting in a loud booming noise as it eventually crashed into the ground. The teen did not react to the crashing sound, instead choosing to see how the hulking behemoth would react. And boy was the teen not disappointed.

"SIT STILL." Heracles screamed as he began to rip up every tree in his vicinity and throw it at his elusive opponent. If the man had taken a second to stop and observe the blonde, he probably would've quickly figured out that no matter how hard he threw, the boy was still going to dodge. Unfortunately for the masculine man, he never took that second.

Heracles' temper tantrum continued for several minutes until a mixture of his exhaustion and a lack of trees forced him to stop. The man stood panting, clearly out of breath, in a wide barren circle that marked his path of destruction.

"You … annoying … brat. You still haven't fallen." The man gaped out in between deep gulps of breath. Naruto looked utterly bored as the man's temper started to flare once again.

"No matter! This will finish you." Heracles proclaimed before pressing his hands together. Naruto watched curiously as Ophis' energy began to slowly pour out of the man. The energy was without form for the first couple of seconds before slowly taking form. The dark energy formed into the shape of a roaring lion's head behind the man. The hero released a deep and booming laugh as the lion seemed to roar at the same time.

"I will smite you in the name of Olympus." With those words, Heracles disappeared from Naruto's sight. The blonde felt a slight disturbance in the air from behind him, causing him to duck. His instincts paid off as Heracles appeared behind the teen and attempted to take off his head with a vicious haymaker.

While ducked down, the shinobi swung his legs around in a large arc, knocking Heracles off of his feet. The man managed to steady himself before he slammed into the ground. With his balance back, Heracles released a loud growl before slamming his fist down onto the crown of Naruto's head, causing the blonde to disappear in a cloud of smoke.

"What type of sorcery is this? I want to see blood, not smoke!" The angered man yelled as he stared at the quickly dispersing cloud of smoke. His attention was stolen away from the cloud when he an agonizing pain slam into the back of his head. The hero suddenly found himself in the air as a headache quickly began to spread through his head.

Naruto watched in his sage mode as his "opponent's" flight ended with a rough face plant into the ground. A groan escaped out of the blonde's mouth as the hero began to climb back up. The blonde had hoped that the hit would've kept the hero down.

Heracles spat out a mouthful of dirt as he hopped back up to his feet. The man's eyes quickly locked onto Naruto, the twin emerald orbs narrowing in anger at the sight of the shop owner. He quickly reached out and grabbed at one of the downed tree he had landed by. The man's thick finger dug into the tough bark of the tree as he hefted the vegetation up as if it weighed nothing.

"Looks like your buddy has found himself a new toy." Naruto let out a scoff as the hero began to swing the tree back and forth, seemingly testing the usefulness of his new weapon. Once satisfied with his test run, Heracles' eyes shifted back to Naruto.

"I will smite you!"

"You already said that." Naruto's backhanded comment went flying over the older male's head as Heracles attempted to bring the tree crashing down onto Naruto. The blonde merely rolled out of the way, allowing the thick trunk of the tree t slam against the ground and not against his body. Heracles didn't seem to enjoy the casual dodging of his attack as the man released a loud growl before beginning to spin. The man's rotations began to speed up as the tree he was holding swept around in a large arc.

Naruto, once he had saw what the man was planning, quickly jumped out of the way of the tree's path. Either unknowing or uncaring that his target was now out of range, Heracles continued to spin.

"He definitely is not the brightest person you've faced." Naruto couldn't help but agree at his partner's assessment as the man continued to spin. After several seconds of observing him, the blonde had finally decided that enough was enough and that it was time to end this "match".

With a silent command, 4 clones appeared next to Naruto. The clones glanced at the leader before giving each other a small nod and disappearing from the blonde's side.

Heracles' "devastating spin attack" was put to a rest when he felt a solid kick land against his back. The tree was sent flying out of the man's hand as he ascended upwards from the force of the kick. The man flew upward for several seconds until he looked to be slowing down, only for a clone to appear beneath him and kick at the man's back, pushing upward even more.

This process continued two more times until Heracles was well over a hundred feet in the air. Just as the man reached the apex of his flight, the original Naruto appeared above him with his leg raised to the sky. Time seemed to stop momentarily as the two opponents floated in mid-air briefly before Naruto brought his leg crashing down onto Heracles. All of the man's momentum was shifted downwards as he took off towards earth.

It didn't take long for the man to get reacquainted with the ground once again as he slammed into it seconds after Naruto's kick, throwing up a miniature cloud of smoke in the process. Naruto gently landed amongst the tree as the small dust cloud dispersed, revealing a knocked out Heracles. The energy that had surrounded the man had disappeared, returning him to his original muscularity. He laid face first in the dirt, completely naked as his loincloth seemed to have gotten torn off during his return flight.

"That is definitely not something I wanted to see today." Naruto mumbled to himself while covering his eyes from Heracles bare ass. The blonde jumped down from his tree and slowly quickly approached the downed man, making sure to avoid looking at the man's bare ass on his way there.

"What do you plan to do with him?"

"What do you mean by what do I plan on doing with him? There's nothing for me to do with him?"

"You can't just leave him here."

"Who says I can't? Just watch me." And with that, the blonde made a hundred and eighty degree turn and walked away, leaving Heracles naked and lying face down in the dirt.

She had failed. She had failed herself, she had failed Naruto and she had failed Rias.

"Why won't it work? Please work!" A hushed voice yelled to itself as the sound of explosions and roaring flames could be heard in the background. Koneko cursed, something that was rather uncharacteristic of the girl, as the flames around her only seemed to grow. The nekoshou was crouched behind a rock, her breath coming in short pants as she clutched at her bleeding shoulder.

Everything had immediately gone to shit as soon as the match had started. The strategy that Rias had laid out failed immediately. Their thinking that they had a home field advantage had been their biggest mistake. Every move they made, one of Riser's pieces seemed to be there to counteract it.

It had started off when Rias had sent Kiba and Koneko to capture the gym. The redhead had expected the duo to meet a small force consisting of some of Riser's pawn. With the training they had been through, the pawns shouldn't of been a problem for the knight-rook duo.

In truth, the pawns would've been an easy challenge for the two. But they hadn't expected Riser to send one of his strongest pieces, his bomber queen, to capture the gym stronghold. As soon as the two walked into the gym, they had fallen right into her trap. The queen had laced the entire gym with explosives. They hadn't realized it until it was too late.

Riser's queen had set off the explosives, immediately retiring Kiba and sending Koneko blasting from out of the building. The girl was sure that if it wasn't for her chess piece enhancements, she would've been retired right along with her comrade. Instead she had been sent flying across campus until eventually slamming into the campus boundaries.

And this is how Koneko found herself kneeling behind a rock, her face twisted in a mask of frustration and concentration as she attempted to pull on the natural energy of the world. She was having no luck with it as each failed attempt drove her deeper and deeper into her frustration.

"Please work.." The girl whispered to herself as she began to close her eyes for one more attempt. A loud explosion, this one closer than any of the others, interrupted her before she could even start.

[Rias's Queen has been Retired]

Tears began to pool in the girl's eyes when the announcement finished playing. Their chances of winning were quickly drifting away. Kiba was gone, Akeno was gone, she had no idea where Issei or Asia was and she was injured.

"So this is where you've been hiding?" Koneko's head snapped up at the sound of the voice. The girl's stomach dropped when she took in the flying form of Riser's Queen. A mad grin was plastered across the young woman's face as she stared down at the nekoshou.

"I was a bit disappointed when you didn't retire from my first attack. You've made this match drag on for far too long." Koneko was forced to jump from her hiding spot as the Queen started to bombard her with her attacks.

The girl was a blur as she dashed across campus with Riser's queen in hot pursuit. She dashed back and forth, barely dodging the explosive attacks that were being sent at her by her opponent.

"I need to find cover." Koneko thought to herself as she suddenly changed the direction she was travelling in, just barely dodging an explosive ball of devil energy that slammed into the ground not even a second later.

"You can try to run and hide all you want, little kitten, but I will find you." Yubelluna melodious voice floated through the air as she flew after Koneko. A small ball of energy formed in the woman's hand as she began to descend closer to the fleeing Koneko.

"Die kitty!" The purple-haired woman yelled as she released her attack at the girl. The ball of flames travelled through the air, growing larger and larger in the air is it approached the girl. At the last second, the Nekoshou turned around only to come face to face with a massive ball of fire. The girl quickly crossed her arms and braced herself for impact.

"Can I come home and not find it destroyed at least once?" Naruto asked to himself as he stepped inside of his house. The blonde had just got finished his 'fight' with Heracles and returned home with plans of relaxing. Unfortunately, his plans of relaxation was thrown out of the window when he noticed the state the interior of his house was in.

The cushions of his couch had been completely ripped apart. Clumps of fluff and feathers were scattered all across the room. Random containers of both food and drink could be seen lying in the living, some empty and some half full. The curtains that usually up in the windows had sharp claw marks in them and were lying uselessly on the floor. And in the middle of all this chaos was a carefree Kuroka.

"Maybe when you take this collar off and let me go." The nekoshou responded as she hopped to her feet. Naruto shook his head as several clones appeared in puffs of smoke before beginning to clean up the mess the woman had created.

"And let you have your power and freedom back so you can try and kill me? I don't think so." A pout formed on Kuroka's face as she quickly made her way over to the blonde. The sensual girl latched herself to Naruto's side, her cleavage conveniently pressed against his arm.

"Awwwwh but I promise that I won't try to kill you again. So pwetty pwease take this mean collar off of me?" Kuroka emphasized her request by pressing herself even more against Naruto. The girl's advances were met with a deadpan look from the boy, causing her sweet expression to quickly sour. With a light growl, the girl swiped at the blonde, burying her claws in his throat and forcing him to disperse in a cloud of smoke.

"I still can't tell the difference between the real one and his clones." Kuroka mumbled to herself as she glanced around at the room full of clones. After several seconds of observation, the devil released a sigh of defeat before making her way to the master bedroom.

To the Nekoshou's pleasant surprise, she discovered another Naruto within the bedroom. This Naruto was sat upon the untouched bed, a large scroll in one hand and a calligraphy brush in the other. A look of concentration was etched across of his face as he focused on the scroll in front of him.

"If you've come to try and kill me again, can you try a bit later? I'm a little busy at the moment." An angry murmur escaped Kuroka at being caught so easily. The Nekoshou made her way over to the bed before throwing herself on it, flopping limply against the mattress.

"Whatcha working on?"

"Weren't you just trying to kill me a second ago?" Kuroka released a huff before rolling over onto her back. Her pouty eyes met with Naruto's suspicion filled ones.

"That was just your clone, Nya! I knew it wasn't you." Naruto's deadpan look made it rather clear just how much he actually believed the girl, causing Kuroka to pout once more.

"Stop being so mean! I didn't mean it." Naruto looked to be about to respond to the weak excuse but was interrupted when an intense glowing reached his eyes. Kuroka's eyes fell upon the kanji symbol that was glowing a bright yellow along the back of Naruto's hand.

"Neko…" Kuroka managed to decipher the kanji just as Naruto disappeared from his bed, leaving the girl alone once again.

So far, Yubelluna had been having a good day. She had spent the morning getting some heavy petting from her master. After that, she had spent some time with the trains in preparation from the match. The peerage hadn't been expecting much of challenge going into the rating game so not much time had been spent training.

As soon as they had started, their predictions had come true. Rias' peerage only offered the full peerage a minimal challenge. Her trap at the beginning of the game had managed to wipe out one of the girl's strongest pieces. She had been a bit disappointed that she hadn't manage to also get Koneko but it didn't last for very long.

While searching for the Nekoshou she had discovered the perverted pawn piece known as Issei. The boy had been basically hypnotized by her figure and dress, making him a very easy target for her attack. She didn't hear an announcement announcing his retirement though which wasn't that big of a deal to her. Even if he managed to survive the attack, he didn't seem to be much of a threat in the first place.

Finally, after several minutes of searching, she had found the kitten. She was extremely pleased to see that the girl had been injured by her first attack, making her an even easier target. The girl running was only prolonging the inevitable.

"Die kitty!" She had screamed as she unleashed her strongest fire-based attack. Her smile was as wide as ever as she watched the ball of flames expand until a massive sphere that was more than 30 times the girl's size. No matter how fast the girl ran, she wouldn't be able to escape this one.

Yubelluna's grin threatened to split her face as the flames slammed into the girl, washing over the devil and setting the field aflame. A gleeful giggle exited her lips as she watched flames spread over the entirety of the field.

"Riser-sama will be so happy with me." Yubelluna said to herself as she watched the mesmerizing flames. The woman was so focused on the flames that she didn't even notice that Grayfia hadn't announced Koneko's retirement.

The girl's survival soon became clear to the purple-haired woman as the flames of her attack began to die down. To the devil's surprise, Koneko was completely unharmed from her attack. Not even her clothes had been singed from the attack. What was even more surprising was the person standing in front of the girl.

His vibrant blonde hair was the first thing that caught the woman's attention. Unlike her master's, this person's hair seemed to defy gravity and stand freely in the air. His narrowed blue eyes were trained onto her flying form. The man was dressed in a garb that was very plain to the girl. A simple yellow shirt that did well to highlight his muscular form. A pair of sweatpants hid his lower body from the world while the teen went shoeless.

"What the hell?" Yubelluna asked herself. What the lower-class devil didn't realize was that she wasn't the only one having these thoughts.

"What the hell is going on here?" A loud voice proclaimed as the massive screen zoomed in on the blonde newcomer. Settled in front of the screen were some of the most influential devils alive in the underworld. Lord and Lady Phenex, Lord Gremory and his wife, Venelana Gremory, Sirzechs Lucifer and the other three Four Great satans with a whole host of other devils.

Lord Phenex was the one who voiced what everyone else was thinking at the time. Just moments ago, the group of devils had been resigned to the fact that Rias was about to lose yet another member of her peerage. The rating game hadn't started off in the girl's favor and that hadn't changed at all. The girl losing yet another piece wasn't too surprising to anyone, not even her older brother.

What was surprising was the appearance of the blonde newcomer. No one should've been able to transport themselves into the rating game. The game was be held in a separate dimension, only accessible by the overseer of the match, which happened to be Grayfia.

"Who is this boy? How did he manage to get in there? He is one of Rias' pieces?" Question after question was fired off as the group of devils settled in a state of confusion. Sirzechs was one of the few who still had his entire focus on his screen, a small smile tugging at the man's lips.

"Do you know who this is, Sirzech-chan?" Serafall asked as she noticed the happy expression on the man's face, The redhead devil turned his head towards the young looking woman, his smile only seeming to grow larger at the action.

"All I can say is that this match is about to get a lot more interesting."

"Naru-kun.." Koneko whispered out as she stared at the back of her boyfriend's head. Only moments ago, the girl had been prepared to take a fireball to the chest. She hadn't expected the sudden arrival of the blonde though she certainly wasn't complaining.

"Just sit back and relax, Neko-chan. I'll handle it from here." Koneko could do nothing but nod at the boy's commanding tone. A comforting haze had settled over the girl like when she trained with the blonde except this feeling had an underlying tone of rage.

"What the hell is going on?" Yubelluna muttered to herself as she watched the exchange going on between the devil and the human. Whatever the boy had just said to the nekoshou had calmed the girl down considerably as she took several steps away from the blonde.

Yubelluna's attention was stolen away from the two when she felt a sharp pain rip through her wings. The woman glanced over at her right wing and was shocked to see that a hole was now present in the appendage.

Several more sharp pains tore through the girl's wings as more and more holes appeared in them. A loud cry of pain exited the woman's mouth as she quickly began to descend to the ground, her wings unable to keep her afloat.

The devil's landing was not a graceful one as she stumbled down to her feet. She quickly managed to regain her balance before beginning to inspect her damaged wings.

"What did that boy do to m-" Those were the last words the woman would be saying in the rating game as Naruto appeared by her side, a rasengan already formed in his hand. Without any warning or a single sign of remorse, the blonde slammed the spiralling sphere into the woman's side, forcing her to endure a brief second of excruciating pain before she was forcibly retired.

"Kunai? Don't you think that was a bit extra?"

"She threw a giant fireball at Koneko-chan. She signed her own fate the second she did that." Naruto stoically said as he watched the girl fade away from his eyes. Whether that signified her death in this dimension or not, he did not know. All he knew was that she had felt the pain that she had been planning to inflict on Koneko.

"Biggest energy source excluding the Rias' girl is coming from the south. This place seems to be a replica of your kitten's school." Naruto nodded as a clone appeared wordlessly beside him. The clone quickly dashed over to Koneko as the original disappeared.

"Ah … R-riser's Queen has been retired." The chaotic room quickly fell silent at Grayfia hesitant proclamation. Everyone's eyes were glued onto the screen in front of them that was displaying the quick and vicious assault that led to Yubelluna's retirement.

"Sirzechs-sama, you never reported that Rias had another peerage member. Where did she acquire such a piece?" The most powerful devil in the underworld looked as casual as ever as he leaned back into his chair. His arms were crossed behind his head as he stared at the projected screen in front of him.

"I never knew that she acquired the boy as a piece. It must've been pretty recently if it managed to sneak past me." Sirzechs explained calmly as his eyes stayed locked on the screen. The satan had no idea that his sister was even aiming for Naruto to be in her peerage. The fact that his sister had managed to get such a powerful person in her peerage filled him with joy.

"Rias-tan is going to win now!~" Inside of his head, the devil was screaming and dancing in celebration. The man knew how strong the blonde was and had no doubts that the boy would be able to defeat the Phenex.

"Ah … Sirzechs-kun, we may have a bit of a problem." The red satan turned his head to look at one of his oldest friends, Ajuka Beelzebub. The blue satan was a very handsome looking man with light blue eyes and slicked back green hair. He was dressed in simple green robes and was clutching a tablet in his hand.

"What is it Aju-kun?" The satan cleared his throat before beginning to swipe away at the tablet.

"As you know, I created the evil piece system so to say the least, I've become very familiar with it. I also helped create these rating games. Today I came to support your sister and to make sure things went as smoothly as possible." The man started off before swiping right on his tablet. Everyone's attention was directed back onto the projected screen as Ajuka's tablet began to be displayed on it.

The display was a massive layout of the Kuoh Academy. Every single detail was mapped out in extreme detail, leaving absolutely no room for error. On the map were several glowing blips that varied in size. Each of the blips had a dark red tint to it with a small name beside it except for the largest one, which glowed a blinding blue.

"As you can see, this is a layout of the dimension that Rias and Riser are battling in. The dots you see on the individual pieces and their pieces. The red glow is due to their demonic energy. All this information is sent to me via their evil pieces." Ajuka explained to the room full of devils.

"Then why doesn't that circle have a name next to it? And why isn't it glowing red?" Lord Phenex's asked, curiosity clear in his voice. The smile on Sirzechs face slowly began to fall as realization came upon the man.

"That's the issue. I can't detect an evil piece or even a single ounce of devilic energy in this boy. I've run my scans over a dozen time since his appearance and they all are coming back saying that this boy is actually a human." The silence in the room was deafening as the Satan's statement hit them. The smile on Sirzechs' face was completely gone as he realized the implication of his friend's statement.

"Are you claiming that a HUMAN is in this rating game and managed to take down a devil?" The Phenex clan head's incredulous tone was shared by everyone as the man directed his question to the Satan. There was no way a human managed

"I'm not claiming it, I'm telling you that it's true. That boy is a human."

[Ah … R-riser's Queen has been retired]

Riser's brow furrowed in confusion at the announcement. There should've been no one in Rias' peerage that could even hurt his queen enough to retire the girl. He knew that while the girl was classified as a lower-class devil, she had the potential to be mid-class just with her attacks alone.

"This is troublesome. I wanted the match to be over by now." The man's irritated tone was quickly noticed by his two rooks who were protecting them.

"I'm sure that Yubelluna just fell for a trap or something. Siris or Karmaline should be ending the match the soon." Isabela said in her usual gruff tone. Xuelan nodded her head in agreement, her confidence in her fellow pieces.

The two pieces were so focused on their master that they didn't even notice the kunai that landed in between the two. Because they didn't notice the kunai, they also missed the paper tag that was attached to it's handle.

The kunai presence was announced when the paper tag went off, releasing a massive explosion that caught the trio off guard. The two rooks were thrown to the side by the explosive force while Riser was covered in the smoke.

The pieces quickly recovered from the sneak attack and dashed back over to their master. To their shock and slight fear, the Phenex heir was no longer there.

What the two rooks didn't see was that Naruto, in the midst of the explosion and the dust cloud, dashed in, grabbed onto Riser and shunshined away. The two blondes appeared in a field along the outer limits of the school.

Riser immediately stumbled to the ground, clutching his stomach as he tried to hold in his stomach. The sudden quick and unwanted movement had caught the man off balance and almost made him throw up.

"Am I right to assume that you are the king of that purple-haired woman?" Riser shifted his focus from the ground to the blonde that was standing over top of him. The teen's face was settled into a blank mask as his arms were crossed over his chest, making for a very intimidating pose.

"Are you speaking of Yubelluna?If so, I have the displeasure of saying yes to your question. I see she failed to take out that pesky Rook. Pathetic." Riser said as he climbed to his feet, completely missing the hardening of Naruto's face at his words.

What the devil didn't miss was the fist that buried itself in his stomach. This time, the Phenex couldn't hold his lunch down as a mixture of blood, spit and throw up flew from out of his life as he hunched over his fellow blonde's fist.

The man's pain only grew worse when he felt a hand grab onto the back of his head. Mercilessly, his head was forced down into the grab, being smashed into the small puddle of bodily fluids he had just released.

"You hurt someone very close to me. In other words, you made one of the biggest mistakes of your life." Naruto said as he held the man's head down. With a slight grunt of effort, the shinobi lifted the dazed devil by his head and threw him, sending him tumbling across the field.

Riser's tumbling was put to a stop as the man's body exploded into flames. Two wings made of flames manifested on his back as the man quickly took to the skies. The devil's face was twisted in a disgusted sneer as he stared down at Naruto.

"You will die for touching me like that!" Riser yelled before beginning to unleash a volley of fireballs down at the blonde. Naruto immediately began to go through a chain of handsigns before calling out his technique.

"Water Release: Water Dragon." The blonde's cheeks puffed up before he began to spew an inhumane amount of water from his mouth. The water quickly took on the shape of a dragon before taking off towards the rain of fireball.

The balls of flame did absolutely nothing to stop the dragon's ascent as they dispersed harmlessly against the water's construct body. The dragon continued to fly higher and higher into the sky, his true target becoming clear as it's altitude increased.

Riser, realizing that his fireballs were doing nothing to halt the dragon that was coming for him, quickly dived past the creature. The dragon attempted to catch the Phenex with a snap of its jaw but missed the flying devil.

Riser kept his dive towards the ground going as he directed himself at Naruto. The shinobi was completely still as he looked at the flying Phenex. The man's fist were drawn back and covered in flames as he prepared to release a devastating punch.

As soon as Riser came within reach of the younger blonde, the man struck his fist out at the shinobi. To the Phenex's shock, his flaming punch was caught in the crushing grip of his opponent. The devil quickly struck his other fist out but was only met with disappointment when it was also caught by the blonde.

The Phenex's attention was stolen away from the blonde when he heard a loud roar come from behind him. The devil turned his head, horror quickly filling him when he realized that the water dragon was still chasing after him. The clan heir tried to pull away from the blonde's grip and was even more horrified when he realized he couldn't break the hold.

"Release me!" Riser yelled as his arms exploded into flames. The fire didn't seem to affect his fellow blonde as Naruto continued to maintain his hold on Phenex. Riser turned his head, a face a mask of fear, and saw that the dragon was now directly behind him, it's jaw open as it prepared to devour the Phenex.

With a loud roar, the dragon sunk its watery teeth into the Phenex, forcing a loud scream out of the man. Naruto finally released his hold on the man as the dragon ripped the man from his grip. The dragon began to ascend into the air, sinking its teeth deeper into the Phenex as it flew higher and higher.

Finally, after reaching a height of over a hundred meters, the dragon stopped climbing. With its head pointed up towards the sky and its wings outstretched, the dragon swallowed the Phenex whole before violently exploded into a brilliant mist of water and chakra.

Naruto watched as the drenched and battered body of the Phenex began to fall to the earth. The devil made a hard and wet sound as his body slammed into the ground before laying motionless.

"I thought you said you were against killing." Naruto ignored his partner's comment as he made his way over to Phenex. Once the shinobi had reached the man's body, he quickly flipped the man onto his back with the use of his feet.

Riser returned to the land of consciousness when a foot slammed into his head. A loud cry of pain exited the man as his body began to register the pain it was in. The man didn't have much time to wallow in his pain, however, as a hand grabbed onto his throat and lifted him into his air. His eyes quickly locked onto the eyes of the blonde who had just soundly defeated him.

"I don't know what politics or bullshit you devils go through but let me make something very clear to you. You and your minions stay away from Koneko. You hurt her or touch her or even order someone to do it again, then I will end you." The two remained in an eyelock as Riser struggled to answer due to the hand that was wrapped around his throat. After several moments of struggling, the man gave up on giving a verbal answer and simply nodded, his body unable to do anything else due to the pain it was in.

"Good. Im gl-

"Step away from the Phenex." Naruto was interrupted mid-sentence by a very loud and very familiar voice. The blonde turned his head and discovered a very shocking sight.

Behind him was what could be best described as a small legion of devils. An abundance of them looked to be on the verge of murdering him as their attacks were already charged in their heads. Several of them were floating in the air as their eyes stayed trained onto the shinobi. And leading this whole group of devils was one Sirzechs Lucifer.

"Congratulations. You've managed to piss off yet another faction of supernatural creatures. Have fun!" And with that, Kurama went silent, leaving Naruto alone to deal with the group of agitated words. Only six words came to the blonde's mind to help describe the situation he found himself in.

"Kami why do you hate me."