Control 4

Scene Break

A Week Later

It's been a week since they started doing all the odd jobs Naruto selected. They got accustomed to it well and began to like the oddities each job presents.

They successfully completed 45 small jobs, 15 mediocre jobs and 3 big jobs. Now they were on their way to their 4th big job.

"Aren't you pumped up?" Asked Naruto as he saw the smiling faces of his crew. Natsu and Happy were happy since this helps better their record.

Gray was happy as it gives him a good experience and Sirius was happy since this makes one more step to his S-class job. Naruto was happy because of their overall performance.

It's time for them to learn something new and the job they were on was perfect for it. It is a monster-hunting job. But it is different from normal monster-hunting jobs.

According to the flyer, the monster they were going to hunt is a large sea monster that lives in a small lake beside the main river which connects to the sea.

The monster is pulling everything that is going through the river into the Lake and all the things pulled went missing after that.

The locals and merchants who often travel tried to confront the monster through traditional ways to no avail. The monster seem to have created an environment in which it can thrive and since became a menace.

Their job is to exterminate it and salvage anything that is left intact. They reached the lake and Naruto started to observe for any abnormalities.

And he found one. The lake in itself is an abnormality. Since the monster had created it, it was full of magic and the water in it is also different.

Half of the lake was boiling hot, filled with hot water while the other half was freezing cold, with cold water. Naruto can clearly see the contrast.

'Hmm, what an interesting case. Now to train these two,' he thought and made a plan for the 2 mages in front of him to train in the water.

"Ok, boys. This is the job site. What you see in front is the hunting area," said Naruto and as expected, Natsu jumped into the water and much to his dismay, he jumped into the cold side.

"Alright, let's get this done," he said in a cheery tone, only for it to be replaced with a cold shiver.

"It's cold. It's cold. It's cold," he said, trying to run around, but couldn't.

"Use your magic, dumbass. You are a fire mage," said Gray with a facepalm as he saw Natsu run in the lake like a headless chicken.

"Ah right," he said, hitting himself and releasing a large flame from his body which managed to heat the water around him, relaxing Natsu.

But his relaxation didn't last long as a cold wave hit the lake and it started cooling again. Gray observed the cold wave and took his shirt off to deal with it.

"Not so fast," said Naruto, pushing the ice mage into the hot side of the lake. It burned Gray like Lava and he used his own suggestion and made some ice around him.

"What's the big idea, dude," he said to the smirking blonde as he was grinning from the hill they stood on.

"This is going to be a training session for you. We have to hunt a monster. It is in that cave. I want you to master your element. As you already understood, you are in the opposite type of your element that too in water. Which is generally good for you, Gray, but they are hot water.

While Natsu was in cold water. Let me explain how this works. You will try to change the water to your element. When all your lakeside is filled with your element, your training is done." He said and saw Gray was about to interject.

"I know what you want to know. The monster you should fight is in that cave. As long as you keep it busy, it won't attack anyone.

And whoever masters their side of the lake by transforming into their element will get the chance to kill the monster. Now let's begin." Said Naruto, making a chopping motion and both Natsu and Gray started to use their magic.

"Sirius, you are going to sit in the middle and try to normalise the water with your wind. The same rule applies, if you complete it before them, you can kill the monster. All the best." Naruto said and Sirius gave him a confident look.

He knew heating and cooling water simultaneously is tough and could only be possible by wind or water combined. He can use water as well.

He also analysed how he is going to fight with 3 opponents here. First 2 being Gray and Natsu as they heat and cool their respective sides.

And the third being the monster itself. It pushes magic to keep the water to its liking and if he has to bet, it is going to be the toughest opponent for him.