Grand Magic Games

Chapter 3: Grand Magic Games

A day had passed since Naruto and Natsu had come back from their little mission and the guild was as lively as ever. Everyone was basically just chilling and relaxing and having little arguments here and there. The entirety of the atmosphere was mostly mild, that was until Makarov decided to break the ice by asking a question.

"Naruto… I have been meaning to ask this, but what exactly is your magic?"

Everyone stopped whatever they were doing and all eyes were on Naruto at the moment. The blond ninja was casually drinking a glass of lemonade seeing as it was hot. Normally he would have spit out what he was drinking because of the question, but he had been alive for many years and has had enough time to practice keeping his composure no matter the situation he was faced with.

Natsu was also anxious to know what kind of magic the man he had at the top of his list possessed, and before Naruto could protest, he spoke up. "Yeah, I want to know too… earlier you multiplied… yours…"

Before Natsu could technically complete his statement, Naruto shot him a glare that told him otherwise and he promptly shut his mouth. This was a sight to behold though because the entire guild laughed at Natsu's slight misfortune.

"But seriously though," Makarov said with a serious tone. "What is your magic?"

Naruto at this point dropped the glass that he was holding and sat up straight. "How do I say this? I don't have magic perse… I don't think we can call it magic but we can liken it to something similar to magic… and in regards to my type of magic, the nature of it makes it so that I am not actually limited to one type."

Now this was slightly confusing to all of them if the looks they were giving him was anything to go by. "Let me give a little demonstration."

Now this they were all waiting for.

Naruto stood up as brought both of his hands together and made a seal. Immediately another Naruto appeared next to him and was looking at them.

This surprised all of them because it was perhaps the first time they were seeing somebody split himself into two. "Duplication magic," somebody muttered from behind him.

"While you call it Duplication magic, I call it the shadow clone technique and with it I can create clones of myself."

The clone Naruto was just smiling as he was the subject of attention, very much opposed to the originals indifferent face.

"How many clones can you make?" Erza asked out of curiosity.

"Hmm…" Naruto thought to himself and smirked as puffs of smoke began to appear around the entire guild. As soon as the smoke cleared, everyone could see duplicates of Naruto around the guild. There were at least twenty clones in the guild.

"That many?" Lucy asked with mouth agape and so was the reaction of every single person in the entire guild.

"This is me seriously suppressing myself… I can go from one to over… I'm gonna leave that one to you guys to figure out," Naruto said as he almost revealed his maximum number.

"You've got to tell us?" Natsu and the others screamed out but instead Naruto just ignored them and continued ahead by releasing his clones.

"I am a ninja… my magic, as you people call it, is very… spontaneous."

His words definitely confused every person in the guild and the smarter ones were trying to figure out what he meant by what he said.

"That should be all the abilities I will be showing today… what fun would this be if I just showed you all my abilities like that. It will be pretty much fun if it would be revealed and I could just see the look of surprise on each of your faces… and also because if we keep going at it… this beautiful day will be wasted."

Some of them pouted and the others got all the more confused like Natsu and Gajeel.

"Besides… I will be majorly using my taijutsu from now on."

The confusion in the guild kept on increasing.

"Taijutsu?" Erza asked.

Naruto nodded as he watched her reaction. "Hand-to-hand combat."

"Oh…" was the general response he got from them.

"How good are you when it comes to hand-to-hand combat?" Mira asked.

They had basically seen him throw down with Laxus but Laxus wasn't entirely the best when it came to hand-to-hand combat and it was when he was in his base and plus it was a spar, but besides that they wanted to get a handle on his prowess.

Naruto paused and thought to himself. "… Well I should be at least good enough to take you all down in base."

Their reaction was priceless and he pretty much savoured it.

"So you have transformations or what?" Erza asked. She was one of the few people in the guild that had been seen with transformative related abilities that enhanced her powers, and some of the more proficient users were Natsu, Laxus and Mirajane. Hearing that Naruto who is already strong as is, can still bolster his strength further, it was just shocking… very shocking.

"I have a lot of transformations that I can use, but I won't use mostly because the situation doesn't call for it."

"How powerful can you get with your transformations?" Gray asked intending to at least get a glimpse of the gap that exists between them.

"That I won't say… instead you should be thinking about how you're gonna take me on in base."

Natsu felt his entire body flare up and he quickly charged at Naruto. "Fight me, Naruto!" he roared as he held a flaming fist.

Naruto watched him as he made his way towards him but rather dodge or do anything, he just stood there, arms akimbo and he waited for Natsu to get close. In an instant, his eyes took on a reddish hue and his pupils became slits immediately.

What happened next shocked everyone because without doing anything, Naruto made Natsu drop to the ground. Natsu was visibly sweating and everyone was just wondering what exactly had happened that made the Salamander freeze and become so filled with fear.

The mystery surrounding Naruto only deepened with the occurrence that just happened.

"You guys lack form and are pretty much just fighting randomly."

"We're Fairy Tail, that's how we do it," Happy said.

"That's good and all," Naruto said. "But when you're up against deadly and more experienced fighters, having form won't hurt. Being random helps because it doesn't give you any fixed patterns to fighting opponents, but having a form means you'd be able to easily execute and improve better because you have a form, and another thing I don't believe in having just one form." As Naruto said this, he shifted to a fighting stance before shifting to another stance.

"Unless you can prove that you can take me on with your randomness… I will offer to teach those that are willing to throw down."

Natsu grinned at this, apparently he had regained himself and he was ready to go again and alongside him was another dragon slayer. Gajeel wore a devilish grin on his face and he was ready to throw down.

"I must warn you, I am no Salamander or Laxus… I will not go easy on you."

Naruto smirked. "Big words from a tin man."

-Break-

The entire guild was once again outside and this time, Naruto was facing off against Gajeel and Natsu and once again Erza was the one officiating.

"What are the rules?" Erza asked Naruto.

"Any ability that isn't physical is not allowed."

"So a physical bout huh? That's nice," Naruto said as he smashed his fist against an open palm.

Natsu and Gajeel both smashed their fists together creating sparks as flames collided against iron. "We will go easy on you," Natsu said and Gajeel smirked.

Naruto merely said a word as he waited for Erza to give the signal for the fight to kick off.

"Begin!" Erza said as she leapt back a few feet to avoid being caught in the heat of the battle.

Naruto blurred out of sight for a second before appearing behind Natsu and Gajeel. He didn't do anything, but what he wanted was to display a bit of superiority during the fight but being the dense-headed idiots that they were, Natsu and Gajeel ignored it all and continued.

They roared as they charged at him, Natsu leaping and throwing a straight right hook enforced by flames and Gajeel morphed his hand into a blade intent at cleaving at Naruto.

The blond just wordlessly evaded all their attacks with minimal movements infuriating both of his attackers. Natsu and Gajeel pressed on with their attacks but Naruto paid no heed as he continued avoiding them before deciding on trying something unusual.

He ducked over Natsu's kick and swept Gajeel off of his feet. As Natsu came back with a blazing punch, Naruto just caught his hand and sent him into the ground. Without letting go of Natsu's hand, he raised the pinkette up and tossed him into Gajeel.

"If I continue like this, I might get tired quickly. So let's do this, I am going to give you guys a free hit and after that I will end the fight… does that seem fair."

Natsu huffed heavily as he stood up and dusted his clothes. "Big mistake Naruto… I am all fired up now."

"I warn you, I am not as easygoing as the Salamander."

Natsu breathed deeply as he lit up in flames. Gajeel understood what Natsu must have had in mind, afterall it wasn't the first time they were fighting as a duo. He hardened his entire body as he morphed his hand into a flat surface and started to build momentum alongside Natsu who was running around Naruto.

Gajeel ran up as Natsu slowed down and picked him up, tossing him into the air. Natsu spread his body to reduce his acceleration as Gajeel leapt up to match him and tossed him at the ground. Natsu rolled his body, building up momentum but at the same time allowing Gajeel to catch up to him.

Gajeel caught Natsu by the hand and spun before launching him at Naruto with a spin. Natsu spun as he increased the temperature of his body and enveloped the flames deeply around his head as he slammed into Naruto and caused an explosion.

As soon as the explosion occurred, Gajeel launched himself into it and incurred another explosion of dust but at a lower scale.

It took a while for the dust and the debri to settle down and Natsu and Gajeel made their way back as they waited to see Naruto's outcome.

"Is that all?" they heard a voice say.

They turned back and saw the blond looking all calm without any injuries and his arm extended.

"Ok, that was enough for a single hit."

Without a further warning, Naruto blurred out of sight.

"Where'd he go?" Gajeel asked as he frantically searched for hints to Naruto's whereabouts.

Natsu was no good because not even his well-trained nose could track Naruto down. "It's as though he just disappeared from existence."

"Now how did I do that?" they heard a voice say.

Both Gajeel and Natsu turned back only to meet a hand that grasped their face and slammed them into the ground, creating a small crater beneath their heads.

Naruto didn't waste any time as he raised both of them up and tossed them into the sky in separate places before going after Gajeel.

The Iron Dragon tried desperately to adjust himself to attack Naruto's approaching form but the blond would have none of that. He caught Gajeel's fist and proceeded to punch him in the gut before tossing him back into the ground, creating an even bigger crater.

Smirking, Naruto wove a seal and summoned a clone that he used to launch himself towards the grounds at frightening speed. Naruto's fist made their mark on Gajeel's iron scales, cracking the ground and causing a small rumble around the makeshift battlefield.

Before he could do anything more, he saw a flaming Natsu approach him with intents on a headbutt. Naruto merely held up his hands as he caught the head without even moving back in the slightest.

A clobber from his fists and Natsu was knocked out. What was weird was that he didn't even look to have used as much force as he had when knocking out Gajeel.

-Break-

Naruto watched as the latest victims of his assault woke up from their slumber and needless to say, he wore a crazy grin on his face.

"This is exactly what I was talking about," Naruto said as he made his way towards Mirajane. "Your fighting skills are too random. You could easily get killed like that."

"We've always been able to win our battles like that," Gray replied.

"But against stronger opponents, like me, you will die and I am sure that none of you want that to happen."

The guild was quiet. They all new that Naruto was right and they didn't have anything left to say to refute any of his statements.

"Are there any missions available?" the shinobi asked Mirajane.

"No," came the reply of the white-haired bartender.

"Oh," Naruto said as he arched an eyebrow. "I'll be going out then." And just like that he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"So what now?" Happy asked.

"It's the year for the Grand Magic Games, why don't we enter it," Erza suggested as she took a bite out of her cake.

As soon as she said this, the members of Fairy Tail that weren't trapped in the sphere began to shudder. The event baffled Natsu and the others.

"What is the matter?" Makarov asked.

"Well it is just that…," Macao started but paused as he considered the words that he would use to relay the message to them. "We've always placed last in the Grand Magic Games… it is so embarrassing."

"That is exactly why I want us to partake this year… we will show them why we are Fairy Tail," Natsu said as he raised a hand, always eager to fight.

"Plus the guild gets a cash prize if we win," Mira said.

"WE'RE GOING!" Makarov shouted. Money was just what the guild needed right now. At least to be able to cover the expenses that were as a result of Team Natsu blowing up buildings and all that.

"But Master… there's Blue Pegasus and Lamia Scale and even Sabertooth. How are we going to win this?" Macao started, fidgeting at the idea.

"That's bullcrap," Gray stated. "We're going to win this. We are here this time."

"Yes," the rest of the Fairy Tail members that were trapped in the ice all agreed on the idea.

"When is the event taking place?" Makarov asked the others.

"In three months."

"That's enough time to get in tip-top shape," Natsu said as embers fell from his mouth. "We are going to take back our rightful place as the number 1 guild in Fiore and we are going to make all of them pay for making our guildmates feel humiliated."

"I agree," a voice said and they all turned around to see who the voice belonged to. It was Naruto.

"If I am going to be a member of this guild, I am going to make into the best guild ever and that means I am pretty much going to train all of you…" he paused slightly. "… especially those who will be partaking in this event."

"How do you plan on doing that?"

"OK," Naruto said slightly pissed. "I think I have made it pretty clear that I am quite capable of handling you all in at least a one-on-one or even two-on-one and you don't even need to know who would win in a guild-on-one fight." He paused again.

"These guys have been training for seven years and you guys just came back. You want to top the charts with the Grand Magic Games and you're going to need as much training as you can get… and I am going to take it upon myself to whip you guys into shape."

"Are there any objections to this?" he asked them.

"None Naruto," Makarov said as he smiled.

"Now… who are the participants in this event? All you bastards that faced Acnologia should do, at least I have been able to analyse you guys over the past seven years. How does the event play over?"

"The event changes periodically but some of the rules remain unchanging. For one, there are only five participants per guild and there must be a reserve member. Aside from that, a guild can enter two teams or perhaps more as the case may be, to make winning all the more easy to achieve."

"That seems plausible enough. I think I should be fairly able to work with this information huh Master?"

"Oh… Yes. Seeing you take charge is a huge load off of my back."

Naruto looked at him. "Don't worry Gramps. If the guild loses, then in a way I lose face and I am not about to let that happen. The guild will win." He had a reassuring smile on his face, it showed that he was making a promise of a lifetime.

"With that said, first thing tomorrow morning. We will be leaving for a three month training session. I will have a clone of mine stay here alongside the Master to handle any matter that may come up. The rest of you keep on accepting jobs and whatnot while the Tenrou guys will come with me on this journey. We will be going to the beach."

That in itself seemed like a weird thing for someone of his caliber to state, nevertheless they were inspired by the speech he just gave, if they could even call it a speech. The rest of the day carried on as usual and when it was night, everyone went to their houses. Tomorrow would be a new start for the guild. Tomorrow marks the start for their Journey to being Number 1.