chapter 18

18

"Is this information accurate?" A guttural voice sounded out from within the dark confines of the chamber. To say the room was pitch black would be a massive understatement. Not a single photon of light seemed to be able to find its way into the room. Yet its two occupants seemed to have no trouble conversing in it.

"Yes. The two have been spotted along the outskirts of Kuoh. We've had several of our agents tracking them but they seem to alone. Our sco-" The second voice was quickly silenced as wet squelching noise filled the air. The squelching turned into a wet gurgling sound as a loud thump quickly accompanied it. The gurgling continued for close to a full minute before it died away.

"Should've figured he wouldn't fall for the bait. That man is no idiot." The remaining voice spoke as a soft, creaking sound filled the dark chamber. The slow sound of footsteps echoed throughout the room as a small amount of light began to seep into the room.

"Well, if he won't start a war, I'll be happy to start one for him. And I'll start by showing Sirzechs and Michael just how powerful the fallen angel's have become." The voice proclaimed as the light grew stronger and stronger. The light finally grew strong enough for the owner of the voice to be revealed.

The man had a sickly pale tone that almost seemed to glow in the dim light that had seeped into the room. He possessed long, silky black hair that flowed down and past his shoulders. His red eyes and pointy ears gave him a very impish appearance. Five pairs of black wings extended from his shoulder blades.

The light that had crept into the room also revealed what exactly had happened to the owner of the other voice. The man could be seen collapsed onto his knees on the ground. His hands were up to his neck as the pained expression that was now eternally etched on his face spoke of the pain he felt during his last living moments. A large size hole that was slowly leaking minutes amount of blood seemed to be the cause of the man's death and suffering.

"If Azazel refuses to abide by my plans then so be it. I will carry them out myself. Both the Gremory and Sitri are mistaken if they think their children are protected within this city. I will show just how dangerous the fallen can be." The man commented before allowing his wings to stretch out behind him.

"Tell Galilei and Freed to prepare their holy swords. We have devils to slay." The man seemingly said to no one. Obviously someone must've been listening as the sound of wings quickly followed the man's words. With his order seemingly being taken care of, the fallen angel gave one last long at the corpse at his feet before a large, light spear appeared within his hand. With a single flick of his wrist, the spear buried into the the man's chest, completely incinerating the body on contact.

"Trash. I don't need weaklings by my side in this war."

"Vali! I need you to clean up that mess by table six!" Naruto's cheerful voice rang throughout the shop. Standing by the counter, one Vali Lucifer let out an agitated sigh before grabbing the mop leaning against the wall next to him.

Anyone that knew Vali and what exactly he had been through in the past two weeks would be interested why exactly he was back in Naruto's shop. After the blond soundly beat him into the ground and then interrogated, one would expect him to stay as far away as possible from him and his shop. But instead, we find him with an apron wrapped around his waist and a mop in his hand.

To be completely honest, the devil had no wish to be here. His pride had been wounded by his defeat and being close to the person that handed it to him definitely wasn't helping the healing process. But unfortunately, he didn't really have many options at this point.

Azazel had … cut him off. As much as it pained for the teen to admit it, his source of resources solely relied on the fallen angel up until a week ago. When he had returned to the Grigori headquarters after his defeat, he had stormed to Azazel's office to vent his frustrations. His venting was greeted with the mocking laughter of the fallen angel general, much to the devil's frustration.

It was when he was a step away from storming out of the man's office due to his anger did Azazel reveal to him his retraction of the Grigori's funds. The fallen angel's excuse had been that he wanted the devil to learn "responsibility and initiative" from working a real job. The devil had tried to argue against the man but Azazel's stubbornness wouldn't allow it..

So with all the resentment in the world, he had to drag himself back to the stupid blond's shop and ask for his job back. The shinobi had seemed almost too exuberant when he welcomed him back by handing him an apron and a mop. When asked why exactly he needed an apron when wouldn't even be working on the food, Naruto gave him a response in a small shrug and a smile.

"Vali! The ice cream is starting to melt on the floor. Melted ice cream doesn't smell good when you let it sit for awhile. Get to it." The devil was snapped out of his thoughts by the joy filled voice of his boss. Internally, he had to hold back his urge to blow the blond and the shop off the face of the planet before eventually making his way over towards the spilled ice cream and the apologetic looking couple.

From behind the counter, Naruto was trying his best to hold back his laughter at the barely muted mumbling of his only employ. Ever since the boy had come back to work for him, his favorite activity had been to annoy the devil every single day. He had no idea why but the boy's responses were just too funny to him.

"It's probably because you've suffered so much from being the butt of every joke back in the old world." Kurama commented thus ending Naruto's good mood. The blond's smile slipped from his face as his shoulders slumped.

"You always manage to ruin my good moods." Naruto thought to his partner before instantly straightening up as two more people entered the shop.

"Xenovia, I don't think actually going into the shop is a good idea." Inwardly, Irina was cursing herself for allowing the situation to even get this far. It was because of her inability to combat the stubbornness of her partner that their mission could be coming to a quick close.

The two exorcists were currently standing by the entrance of Naruto's shop, dressed in their usual attire. To say that they stood out amongst the other sidewalk occupants would be a massive understatement. Out in public, Irina was starting to become very aware of the spandex that made up her battle suit.

Xenovia, on the other hand, didn't seem to have any of the reprehensions that her partner had. The girl stood confidently outside of Naruto's ship, her cloak hanging loosely from her shoulders while her hand rested on the cloth wrapping surrounding her sword.

"Nonsense. How do you expect us to observe our target if he is not within our sights?" The stubborn exorcist commented while taking a glance within the shop window. Within the building, their blond target seemed to shouting orders to the only other employee within the shop. The boy receiving the orders didn't seem to be enjoying it if his annoyed expression was anything to go by.

"Why don't we go attempt to find Kokabiel's hideout again and come back before closing time to tail him home?" Irina suggested. This had been the duo's fifth day with Kuoh and they had been having absolutely no luck in finding the fallen angel's base. This brought a lot of frustration to the headstrong and determined Xenovia. She had suggested scouting out their second target's location in order to take a break from finding the fallen angel. Irina had agreed, assuming that the duo would just find some relaxing spot and camp out. That illusion was shattered as she was literally dragged to the shop by her partner. It was only at the front of the shop that she was able to stop Xenovia and herself.

"We've been searching for that wretch for the past five days. I need a break from tracking his horrid stench." The girl commented while staring into the interior of the shop. Beside her, Irina had to hold in a sigh as her partner's behavior started to attract the attention of some of the other sidewalk goers.

"But … going in would take away the element of surprise. Plus Michael-Sama said we shouldn't let him know that we weren't sent." Irina desperately responded. Once again, her suggestion was denied.

"Nonsense! Stealth is within our blood. He won't even notice our presence. Now, let us stop this pointless conversation. Our target could be plotting against us this very moment." Xenovia stated before making her way through the shop's door. Irina stared at the retreating form of her partner for several seconds before sighing and following her in.

"They stand out so much." Naruto thought to himself as the two girls made their way to a corner table. Their outfits were very revealing and attracted the attention of almost everyone in the shop. The blue-haired girl's billowing cape and oversized clothed sword definitely didn't help keep away the stares. The blonde one seemed to be aware of the stares and was trying her best to avoid the looks. The giant sword wielder seemed completely ignorant of the looks she was gaining as she sat down at a table and proceeded to stare directly at the blond.

"She's not really that subtle, is she?" Kurama asked as the girl continued to hold her glare on his container. Naruto nodded in agreement before shrugging and going back to his cooking. The girls weren't bothering him at the moment so he would allow them to stay.

"Xenovia … please stop staring. He's going to notice us." Irina begged her partner as she held her head down against the table. Immediately after entering the store, Xenovia had stomped her way over to the furthermost table, sat down at a chair and proceeded to stare at their target. The idea of stealth and subtlety were completely lost on the girl. Sometimes she cursed the girl's sheltered upbringing. It made her an amazing christian and fighter but terrible at almost everything else.

"You worry too much. Our reconnaissance mission cannot truly be accomplished without careful observation. Our battle suits make us inconspicuous to the average human's eyes as well. We have nothing to fear." Xenovia commented before redirecting her attention back towards Naruto. To her right, Irina released another groan before slamming her head against the table.

They were going to fail this mission so hard.

"Did the wielder of an Excalibur fragment just walk into the candy shop?" Albion commented as Vali glanced at the duo out the side of his eye. The devil had been mopping away the ice cream mess when the exorcist duo had come walking into the shop. Their outfits were an absolute dead giveaway to their jobs. The giant sword strapped to her side was an even bigger giveaway.

"I'm pretty sure she just did." Vali thought back to his partner as he kept his eye on the duo. Exorcist and devils had never been the best of friends. The human's abilities to wield swords made them a real bane to devil kind. If the duo discovered that he was a devil, he was sure it was going to cause a problem. Luckily, they didn't seem to have noticed him yet.

"Yeah, it would be such an issue if the two exorcist interrupted your diligent mopping." Albion comment was literally dripping in sarcasm. Vali momentarily froze in his mopping as his grip on the mop increased enough to actually splinter the wood. The splintering continued for several seconds before Vali took in a deep breath and continued mopping.

"Please don't make the situation worse than it already is. I'm pretty sure my 'boss' is already attempting to make each day of my job worse than the day before."

"What type of partner would I be if I didn't add to your misery? Also, warning. Your boss is walking towards the two exorcists." Vali's eyes zipped over to the shop's counter and saw that his partner was indeed correct as his boss had walked out from behind it.

"What is this idiot up to now?" Vali thought to himself as he began to subtly prepare himself for a fight. Knowing how the blond could annoy the life out of people, a fight wasn't too bad of an outcome.

"Oh my lord, he's making his way over here. I told you that we shouldn't of came here. I knew we were going to get caught. Michael-Sama is going to be so mad. We should just run for it while we can." Irina frantically whispered as her eyes caught sight of Naruto making his way towards the duo. Earlier, it had seemed that the blond had no interest in the duo but all of a sudden he had seemed to focus all of his attention on them. Irina wanted to get up and run away immediately but once again, Xenovia had different plans.

"Calm yourself. Your paranoia is getting the best of you. He is merely walking in this general dir-" The girl was forced to cut herself off as Naruto placed himself on a direct path towards their table. By her side, Irina let out a loud groan as the blond continued to close the distance separating the two groups.

"Xenovia, he's walking right towards us. We have to leave. Michael-Sama told us to not engage in ANY MANNER and he's walking right towards us." The girl's franticism only seemed to increase as Naruto grew closer and closer. By her side, Xenovia's eyes were filled with uncertainty as they stared directly into Naruto's. The two had locked eyes only seconds ago yet the stare felt like it lasted an eternity. The power behind his cerulean pair of eyes captivated her attention yet set every single nerve in her body on high alert. She wanted to get lost within those twin pools while also wanting to get as far away as possible from him.

"I … He…" The exorcist was so engrossed in her stare that she couldn't even articulate her thoughts. She began to shake as the confliction in her body made her hesitate between grabbing her sword and swinging it at their approaching target or jumping head first through a window and returning to heaven with her tail tucked between her legs.

Unfortunately for the duo, neither would get the chance to act as Naruto finally arrived at their table. The whole entire shop seemed to descend in silence as the two groups stared at one another. Xenovia's shaking had increased even more as the urge to run increased within her yet her body refused to act.

"They look like they're about to piss themselves." Naruto couldn't help but agree as he stared at the two girls. The blue-haired one had her hand on the handle of the sword and looked struck between wanting to cut his head off or take off running. The blonde one refused to even meet his eyes as if he was Lucifer himself.

"They reek of that energy that was rolling off of that "angel" you encountered a couple of weeks ago. Most likely they were sent to keep an eye on you. They're doing an absolute horrible job at being stealthy." Kurama commented as Naruto held his gaze on the two girls. The duo had completely froze at this point, seemingly waiting on him to make the first move. And make the first move he did.

"Hi! You girls have been sitting here for awhile and looked a bit hungry. Can I get you anything?" Naruto used his patent 'hospitable' shop owner voice to speak with the duo. To say that his greeting caught them off-guard would be a massive understatement. The shock was palpable on the duo's face. All the fear and anxiety that had built up within the exorcists had instantly faded away at the sound of Naruto's voice.

"...What?" Was the only word Irina could articulate in the moment. Just moments ago, she was afraid that this man was going to attempt to rip their heads off. Now he was offering them snacks. What the hell was going on?

"I'm the owner of the shop, y'know. I would sort of look bad if I didn't offer you girls something. I'm pretty sure there's something on the menu that you girls would find tasty." Naruto's face took on a bashful look as he began to rub the back of his head. His statement was once again met with owlish stares from the duo, much to his own amusement.

Meanwhile in Xenovia's head, a fierce debate was taking place. The urge to fight or flight had departed her and now the only thing left in its place was confusion. The impression she had gotten from Michael was that the person they were spying on was a threat. Now, she could admit that she had made a rather stupid and headstrong mistake by charging headfirst into his territory but this was definitely not the response she was expecting from an individual dangerous enough to draw the attention of someone like Michael.

"He must be attempting to lure us into safety with his words before poisoning us. Michael-Sama warned us that he was dangerous. It is my mistake for falling into his den but I refuse to be trapped by him. I must defend! I will not let his sweet tone seduce my thoughts." Xenovia's value system seemed to kick back in as her expression hardened on Naruto. The blond was caught off guard as the girl began to slowly draw her sword from its scabbard.

Both Irina and Naruto immediately took notice of the action and luckily for the occupants of the restaurant, Irina was the first to act. The girl threw herself across Xenovia's body and slammed her hand down on the pommel of Xenovia's sword, slamming the weapon back down into its scabbard.

"What in the lord's name are you doing? Are you trying to get us killed?" Irina half whispered and half yelled as she glanced between her partner and the curious looking Naruto. The teen had taken notice of Xenovia's action and had decided to allow her act to see where the situation was heading. Now while seeing Irina stretched across the table holding the girl back while sending worried glances at him, he was pretty happy about his decision.

"Do not let his words fool you. He only wishes to end us. You heard Michael-Sama, he is dangerous. I would be doing Heaven a favor by ending him." Xenovia half whispered and half yelled right back at her partner. The girl was straining against Irina in order to draw her sword while her eyes stayed focused in a glare on Naruto. Meanwhile, the blond was casually standing in front of the struggling duo with a single eyebrow raised at their actions.

"Shut up before you get us both killed, you idiot!" Irina harshly whispered back as she kept glancing in between her partner and the blond. Xenovia released a growl before shoving her shoulder into her partner, throwing her fellow exorcist away from her as she stood from her seat, drew her sword and levelled the weapon at the blond.

"I will smite thee!" Xenovia yelled as she stood with her sword pointed at Naruto's chest. By this point, everyone in their shop had their full attention on the altercation going on between the three. Irina was still sat in her seat, her eyes filled with shock and alarm as the situation seemed to spiral farther and farther out of hand.

Naruto, on the other hand, looked as casual as ever as he gazed between the sword pointed at his chest and the exorcist. A small smile made its way to the boy's face as he reached behind his back to untie his apron.

"Fine. I'll give you the chance to 'smite' me. But let's take this outside. I'm sure you don't want any of these innocent people getting in the way of your 'smiting'. Follow me out back." Naruto said as he finished untying the smock. The boy twisted his body slightly before throwing the apron towards Vali. The garment hit the devil square in the face just as Naruto turned back to face the duo.

"Vali, take care of the shop for a bit. I have to take care of some business . These girls got me all fired up!" The blond's voice was cheerful as he bounded through the front entrance of his own shop. Xenovia showed no hesitation as she charged after the shinobi with her sword swinging wildly by her side. Irina sat stock still in her seat for several seconds, her mind being too shocked to even comprehend what had just happened. But, as if she had been flipped to auto-pilot, she eventually climbed to her feet and followed after her partner and their target, leaving behind a shock full of confused customers and a pissed off Vali.

"That idiot thought wrong if he thinks I'm just going to sit here like a dumbass while he is out there fighting." The devil angrily mumbled to himself as he ripped off his own smock, threw it to the ground and went charging after Naruto.

"Silence your mouth!" Xenovia screamed as she brought her sword down upon Naruto. Unfortunately, similarly to what had been occurring for the past five minutes, the shinobi side stepped the girl's swing and allowed the sword to slam into the ground. As soon as the sword made contact with the earth, a massive burst of energy emitted from its blade, creating a massive crater.

"That's a real interesting sword you have there. Don't think I've seen anything like it before." Naruto commenting as Xenovia stood keeled over, panting harshly as she attempted to catch a hold of her breath. She had been on the offensive for the past five minutes yet had made absolutely no progress. The blond was terrifyingly quick. It was either that or the boy's reflexes had evolved to such a degree that the amount of time that he was given to react allowed for a lapse in his speed. Either way, she couldn't hit the blond if her life was dependent on it and it had begun to frustrate her.

Irina stood on the rim of the clearing the duo was occupying, her eyes filled with a minute amount of concern for her partner and a huge amount of concern for the status of their mission. They had directly engaged with one of their targets, verbally and now physically, which directly went against Michael's orders. For all they knew, the blond could be working with Kokabiel and their interactions with him could ruin their whole operation.

"Why didn't I just stop her?" Irina thought to herself as her focus returned to her partner and the blond. Usually, she would have more concern for her fellow exorcist but it became clear to her within the first minute of the fight that she had no reason to worry. Shoot, if she had to worry about anything, it was worrying about Xenovia overexerting herself. The blond was quick … deadly quick. The boy seemed to react to Xenovia's movement before the girl could even make the moves. For every overextension the exorcist made, the teen could've struck down the exorcist a hundred different ways. For every slip or fall that befell the exorcist, the blond could have disarmed the girl at least a dozen times. Yet, he did none of that. All he did was dance around the girl's shoddy sword work with a care in the world. It was relieving to know that her partner didn't seem to be in any immediate danger yet she still found it disturbing. For someone who was portrayed as being extremely dangerous, this was not the sort of reaction she had been expecting.

"Quiet your mouth. I will bring God's judgement upon you with my own hands." Xenovia yelled before charging forward at Naruto. The teen casually slipped his hand into the pocket of his pants before pulling out a small kunai, much to Irina's alarm.

Xenovia got within reach of Naruto and swung her blade directly at the teen's neck. The blond raised his kunai in accordance to block the power-backed swing. Sword met kunai and a massive burst of energy travelled through the air as the chakra enhanced metal of Naruto's kunai clashed with the holy energy emitting from the blade of Charlemagne. Unsurprisingly, the holy sword won out as Naruto's kunai shattered as if made from glass. The blond was forced to duck down as Xenovia continued through with the rest of her swing.

"You should've expected that. The sword had the capability to make giant craters and you think your little blade would hold out against it?" Kurama commented as his container rolled away from the sword wielder. Xenovia quickly closed the distance between the two and attempted to cut Naruto down during his roll. The blond was too quick, however, as he sprang into the air, narrowly dodging the girl's blade and the burst of power that followed it.

"I was thinking that my chakra would've helped me out a bit but obviously it didn't." Naruto mentally replied as five kunai briefly appeared in his hands before they were sent flying towards Xenovia. From her position on the ground, the exorcist raised her massive blade in front of her and allowed the projectile to bounce harmlessly off of it's surface.

"Your tiny knives are nothing compared to the sword blessed by God's will." Xenovia proclaimed before stabbing the point of her blade into the ground. The earth seemed to ripple and crack as the energy from the sword flowed through it straight towards Naruto. The blond was forced to leap away from the path of the energy lest he be pierced by a spike made from the earth.

"That sword really is something. I don't even want to imagine what someone like Kisame or Zabuza could've done with it in their hands." That was not something the blond wanted to imagine. He was pretty sure he wouldn't be here right now if Zabuza had that sword in hand during his mission to Wave country.

The blond didn't have much time to ponder anymore 'what ifs' as Xenovia appeared in his face once again. The girl thrust the point of her sword at Naruto's midsection, hoping to catch the blond off-guard. This would prove to be her ultimate mistake as Naruto easily dodged the sluggish stab and chopped at the girl's wrist. The strength behind the blond's hit jarred Xenovia's wrist and forced her to relinquish her hold on the sword. The exorcist immediately attempted to reach out and grab it before it fell to the ground but was kicked away by Naruto before she could do so.

"No!" Both Irina and Xenovia yelled as the blue-haired girl was sent flying away from the holy sword. Irina ran from her position at the edge of the clearing and assisted Xenovia back to her feet as both girls kept their eyes on Naruto. The Excalibur fragment had since fallen and landed directly at the blond's feet. The sword's blue blade and golden edge shone brightly in the mid-day's sunlight as Naruto reached down to pick it up. Both Irina and Xenovia tensed as the blond's fingers wrapped around the sword's hilt.

A large pulse of energy emitted from the sword as soon as Naruto came within contact of it. The pulse of energy spread throughout the entirety of the clearing, blowing back and grass and the leaves while also forcing the two exorcist the brace themselves against it. The pulse of energy seemed to spread outwards for mile as the whole city of Kuoh could feel it. Everyone from Kokabiel, who was hidden within the confines of his base, to Koneko, who was suffering through the throes of education, felt the pulse wash over them. The energy coming from it was calming, serene almost. It made even the fallen angel's hate filled heart skip a beat as the calming nature of the energy clashed with his anger.

"Wow.." Irina commented as Naruto rose to his full height with Excalibur Destruction in hand. The aura the blond had held previously seemed to take on a whole new intensity as it literally glowed around him. He seemed almost holy in nature as he lackadaisically swung the blade side from side.

"Seems that the sword is responding to your Ying-Yang chakra. Whatever energy coming from the sword seems to be similar to it." Kurama commented as Naruto took several practice swings. The sword was much lighter than what is size depicted it to be. The golden edge of the blade seemed to hum with energy as its hilt melded perfectly with his hand.

"You think so? I think it's responding to the natural energy. The pulse of energy felt very similar to the purified chakra I've been releasing into the forest." The blond thoughtfully said to himself as he took his final swing of the sword before resting the blade against his shoulder while looking over at the duo of exorcist. The two were staring at him with clear shock in their eyes. It seemed that they hadn't expected him to be able to actually wield the sword.

"The sword must be similar to Samehada. Very picky with who wields its. Luckily for me, I'm really hard to turn down."

"Except to Sakura."

"Shut up, stupid fox."

"Someone report to me immediately what that energy was before I remove their head and extract that information myself." To say that Kokabiel was angry would be a vast understatement. The man was absolutely livid. And, of course, the source of this vast feeling of anger was our blond shinobi friend. Unfortunately for the fallen angel's working underneath the warmonger, they didn't know that.

"The energy seemed to have originated from the western half of Kuoh. I think everyone in the city felt it." Kokabiel growled at the information or the general lack of it. Anyone or anything that was strong enough to produce such a large amount of energy was something to be weary of.

"Someone find me what exactly made that energy immediately. I will not keep letting these unknowns stop my plans.

Koneko had to restrain her nekoshou ears from unveiling themselves as a familiar wave of energy washed over her body. The girl was currently sat in the middle of one of her classes and thus did not have the luxury of being with her club members or her boyfriend where she could actually show her features. Instead, she was stuck within the confines of this classroom.

"I have a feeling that he's behind this somehow." The girl thought to herself as her eyes narrowed. The chances of Naruto somehow being the cause of that burst of energy were extremely large. Action and trouble seemed to revolve naturally around the blond. He was like a magnet to it.

"Koneko-san." The nekoshou was brought out of her thoughts by a soft voice. She turned to her right and saw one of her classmates sat beside her. The student pointed towards the door where Kiba stood with his arm folded across his chest.

"Sorry to interrupt your class, everyone, but Koneko's presence is needed at the moment. Her absence has already been cleared with the student council." The boy's words carried through the silent classroom and the teacher seemed to give no protest as Koneko stood from her desk and exited the class.

"I wonder what trouble you've gotten into this time, Naruto."

On the outskirts of Kuoh, a certain black-haired human paused as he felt a wave of energy wash over him. The spear strapped loosely to his hip seemed to hum and glow in response to the energy as it dispersed through the air.

A small smirk made its way to the human's face as he resumed his walk, now with much more urgency in his stride.

"I wonder if that's from our new friend. If this is just a taste of the power he possesses, I think we're going to be wonderful friends."

Back with the trio, Irina had managed to recover from the shock of losing yet another fragment of Excalibur and had drawn her own sword at Naruto.

"I demand you relinquish possession of Excalibur immediately or you shall face the wrath of the church." The blonde screamed as Naruto casually stood at the opposite end of the field. The fear that had previously gripped her heart had increased tenfold as she realized the implications of their actions. Losing yet another piece of the Excalibur would not only weaken the church but would also draw the wrath of Michael onto them. She had to retrieve the fragment.

Naruto raised an eyebrow at the girl's demand for glancing down at the shouldered sword. He glanced back up at the duo of exorcist before glancing back down at the sword. This process continued for several seconds, unknowingly forcing the tension to rise between the trio.

"Okay, I'm not much of a sword guy anyway. Plus I know how you sword wielders can be about your weapons. Keeping this will cause me more harm than anything*." The tension dissipated like smoke as Naruto lifted the sword from his shoulder and sent it flying through the air at the girls. The holy sword embedded in the ground right in front of the exorcists, its previous glow quickly fading as the christian duo stared at it in shock.

"I … I don't understand." Xenovia muttered as she stared at the holy blade. Irina wasn't much better as all she could do was nod in agreement at her partner's observation. Naruto, sensing that the girls weren't talking anytime soon, decided that it was most likely the best time to leave.

"It was fun fighting with you girls. Feel free to stop by the shop anytime. Vali, if I beat you back, I'm docking your pay for the day." And with those words, the blond disappeared from the clearing in a fluster of leaves. A loud series of cursing followed the blond's comment before a blue flash of light briefly appeared within the foliage of a tree only to fade away shortly afterwards, leaving two dazed and confused exorcist in the clearing all alone.

"What in Lord's name just happened?"

"I have absolutely no idea."