Yo,

Here is the next chap.

"Normal speech" people talking.

'Normal thought' people thinking.

"Kurama/Dragons" Kurama or Dragons speaking.

'Kurama/Dragon thought' Kurama or Dragons thinking.

"Jutsu/ Magic" is being used.

Enjoy.

Shadow Light

Chapter 24

Disguise and Blessing

Naruto was walking with Sona as they decided to go to her estate together. As it was time for Naruto to visit her and play a few games of chess and train her.

They were conversing amiably when they saw an angry Rias walk towards them with someone in tow.

He is a tall and handsome young man in his early 20's with short blond hair and dark blue eyes.

His outfit consists of a burgundy blazer with gold embroidery on the right with matching pants and black dress shoes. Underneath his open blazer is a white dress shirt that is not fully buttoned (just one button short), giving a slight view of his chest.

"Rias-dear, Riser just wants to take you on a date. Tomorrow sounds good to me and-" he went on, not seeing that Rias started moving towards the mansion.

"What a unique pair," said Naruto with a smile.

"Don't be a dick, Naruto. You know how she feels. The disgust and hate can be felt from miles," said Sona, speaking freely. He looked at her in surprise. He didn't see this coming.

As Sona is generally reserved and talks only in stern and calm tones and of course, embarrassed when he teased her. But if she feels comfortable opening up with him, that's a good sign of change in Naruto's books.

"Maybe we should help her?" Asked Naruto with a raised eyebrow.

"Maybe? We should definitely help her!" Said Sona in determination.

"And how are you going to do that?"

"With your help," said Sona, looking at him, straight into his eyes.

"I didn't say I will help her," retorted Naruto.

"Won't you do it for your So-tan?" Asked Sona with puppy dog eyes. Naruto immediately caught up to her act.

"Well tried, Serafall. But you can't replace Sona," said Naruto with a victorious smirk.

"I'm surprised that she managed to act like that girl this long," added Kurama, amused by Serafall's acting.

"True. I didn't even think she had it in her." agreed Naruto and turned to a puppy-eyed Sona.

"Maybe it is because she is an actress," added Naruto.

"Mou, Naru-tan you bully. Why do you say that to So-tan," said Serafall, now in her voice instead of Sona's.

"About what?"

"Noothing. Tell me, are you coming to our house?" Asked a bouncing Serafall, changing into herself.

"That's what we planned," he replied. She inched closer to him.

"If I see something funny, I will slice you into pieces and give to Hades as a gift," whispered Serafall in a low tone menacingly. Naruto paused mid-step and gave Serafall a once over. After that, he laughed uncontrollably for a few minutes.

"Nice joke, Serafall. I haven't heard such creative jokes for a long time," he said in laughter. This unsettled Serafall. She was trying her best to be nice to the blonde.

As he is the student of Raiya-tan and 'friend' (which she begrudgingly agreed to) of her So-tan, she tried to give him a chance. Now he is taking her serious warning (which she put so much effort into sounding cruel and menacing as a joke?).

She gave him a sharp look, which in her honest opinion will make leaders of other factions unnerved, but the look she got in reply was a smooth smile, as Naruto turned towards Sona who was coming with Miya, whom she knew as Raiya-tan's assistant.

"Oh, Miya, where is sensei?" Asked Naruto, playing his part.

"Jiraiya-sama is busy with his fans," said Miya, gesturing to an area where Jiraiya can be seen laughing with a few others.

"Well, if that's all, I would like to leave, it's late," said Naruto and asked Sona to guide him to her home. Serafall thought of tagging along but one look from Sona stopped her.

"Okie. I have some important work to do. I'll be going," said Serafall in an unconvincing tone and vanished somewhere.

"Phew. I thought she would kill you," said Sona in relief.

"She tried to act like you, it went well in the beginning, but her over-enthusiastic nature got the best of her," replied Naruto.

"If you want to come to my residence, you need to come into this magic circle," said Sona as a blue magic circle formed on the ground. Tsubaki stood behind Sona and Sona waited for Naruto and Reni to step in.

Naruto and Reni stepped in it while Naruto gave Miya one last message before leaving.

'Get ready to explore. We have some work to do in the Underworld. I want to visit my territory. Teach Medusa how to be here and take her with you and show around our properties and human world in general,' said Naruto.

Miya's smile widened. 'Of course, my love. Anything for you,' she replied and they vanished in the magic circle to Sitri estate.

Sitri Estate

Naruto and Sona arrived in a luscious garden with all types of plants around and Naruto can smell a few powerful herbs that are used in medical treatment in the gardens.

"Welcome, Naruto, Reni. This is our garden which has so many plants and herbs used in medical treatment planted by my sister, Serafall Leviathan." Explained Sona proudly.

"Really? Did Serafall do this? I must admit, she has a positive side as well," said Naruto with a smile. Sona gave him an unamused look, to which Naruto shrugged.

Sona took them to different facilities in the Estate and showed him everything the Sitri Estate has to offer. Naruto felt as if being guided by a property executive instead of a young girl because of Sona's stern explanations about all the different facilities.

He waited for them to complete, but much to his dismay, they kept coming. He had enough of this impromptu property tour and was about to tell Sona when someone interrupted him.

"Let her continue, Naruto. She is trying her best to show her lover how wealthy she is," said Kurama with a foxy grin.

"Come on, Kurama. Not you too. I had enough teasing about Sona already," said Naruto, letting Sona continue.

"When will you introduce me to your peerage?" Asked Kurama curiously.

"Do I need to?"

"It would be fun to watch how they react. Can't you give me that much? I'm stuck with you always," grumbled Kurama in a childish tone and for a second, Naruto thought he hallucinated that Kurama was giving him puppy dog eyes.

"It's not my fault, you dumb fox. I always want you to go out, but you always want to sleep on that sleepy bum of yours or want to create some chaos to make things 'interesting' for you," accused Naruto.

Being together for 100 years, they both know each other inside out and Kurama knew he can't retort to that. After all, last time he was let out, in just few hours, the Elemental Nations had seen unforeseen destruction as he 'accidentally' destroyed a country for amusement, which Naruto had to repair.

And they can't be separated for more than a few minutes as the bond they share either brings one to another after that. Of course, they bypassed that with some rather innovative techniques, but Kurama doesn't like them.

"It can't be helped, Naruto. Who doesn't want something interesting in their boring life, tell me?" Asked Kurama innocently?

"Of course, everyone wants. But you always want them to be interesting, not some time like others,"

"Don't compare me to these fickle creatures, Naruto," boasted Kurama.

"Fine. How about I give you a clone? Go to Shika and ask him anything he wants to be done, ok?" Asked Naruto, coming to a bargain.

Kurama thought about it. He knew he can't play tricks on Naruto as he has full control over the clone he is going to make and the lazy Nara is the first friend Kurama made after Naruto revealed about him to his friends.

As he always had a distaste for the Uchiha brat and the pink-haired bitch scarred Kurama so much to have a good friendship with her.

It felt ok for the mighty Juubi and he agreed. Naruto discreetly made a clone and it vanished without being noticed by anyone as Sona was fully merged in the majesty of a building in front of them.

"This is the hospital created by Onee-sama from the natural reserves of our clan. It is famously known throughout the Underworld to not only have the best of our family's medical facilities but also for being named after Onee-sama which increased its popularity, as she is the most famous female Devil in the Underworld." Concluded Sona with a proud smile.

Naruto turned to see the building she was proud of and should agree with her from the majesty of it alone. It is white with Sitri's trademark blue with so many facilities for taking care of the patients.

"Yes, it is beautiful. Can we go now? I had enough of your tour and it is long past midnight, Sona," grumbled Naruto and Sona nodded.

Scene Break

Meanwhile, Unknown Location

"Are you sure this is a good idea, Marqi?" Asked a man with a hood obscuring his face.

"Of course, Tori. Should we keep quiet while those filthy creatures occupy our precious town?" Replied Marqi in pure disgust.

"But what if we were found?" Asked another member, this time, a female.

"Don't worry, Misa. I investigated thoroughly and found the bats of this town were not here now. This is our perfect chance to regain what we have lost," said Marqi in a strong and motivational tone.

That got him a few rounds of cheers from the gathered people around him. They were youkai, not from the Kyoto faction. But another.

"Let's attack and get back our territory from the Devils. Charge," yelled Marqi and everyone ran towards an unsuspecting Kuoh.

In Uzumaki Estate, Kuoh

Roygun and Kana being the best friends they were, became accustomed to their daily life easily.

Roygun would practice Crack, her clan ability and teach Kana more about the Evil Pieces and roles they play in a Rating Game.

"Tell me, Ro-chan, how did you feel when you had the King Piece?" Asked Kazehana curiously. Apart from her training in wind magic, Kazehana had vastly improved her arsenal of attacks from Roygun's experience and the scrolls Naruto provided to her before he left.

True to his word, the walls in the basement were so strong that Roygun couldn't even make a small dent in them with her current full power exertion.

As she lost touch in using her Clan trait, she is still rough around the edges, but she improved a lot and a big part goes to her student cum training partner, Kazehana.

Roygun also shared her past with Kazehana as they became practically inseparable to the extent that Kazehana is thinking of learning nursing and be helpful to her best mate in the hospital wing.

Kazehana returned the trust Roygun put in her with a secret of her own, revealing her heritage to be from the Futen clan. Roygun was amazed by this and they became most trusted friends in no time.

"So, when Naruto-kun comes back, are you going to propose him?" Asked Roygun with a teasing smile.

"Well, I didn't think that much. But maybe, I will," said Kana in unease.

From the moment she saw how intimate Naruto and Reni were, she wanted to be like that, but she didn't know, maybe in part because Naruto thought to take it slow with her or because of her lack of confidence, she couldn't express her love to the blonde.

Before they could talk any further, an alarm went off in the house, signifying someone's intrusion into the territory.

Before going, Naruto explained about the safety mechanisms he had put in place around the town to them.

The first is the intrusion alert. It gives an alarm if any unknown supernatural beings enter Kuoh without permission

How Naruto did that, they didn't ask at the time of explanation. The next one is a map, a sensory map, which shows the current location of the intruders in the town.

The major flaw in the system is it only recognises supernatural beings like the supernatural races and can't recognise exorcists and hybrids like Naruto himself.

As they moved to the lounge area where there is a map of the town being displayed through a magic circle with red spots in the town showing 15 people walking into the town from the south end.

"15. Should be easy. Don't reveal anything about Naruto-kun or his involvement in the town," suggested Roygun.

"You bet, showtime," said Kazehana. But just before she could leave, a part of the floor opened, revealing various styles of outfits in a variety of colours.

"Hey girls, how are you doing? Enjoying? That's good. I prepared these just in case you want to be as flashy like me. Choose what you like and enjoy your party. Cheers!" Said a Naruto hologram which was projected by another magic circle.

Kazehana got a mischievous smile and searched through the available outfits and got attracted to one particular one which liked a lot.

It is a very short purple Chinese dress which, when worn, shows her cleavage and belly button. As she has a well-developed body figure, she felt it would be perfect for her and it looks quite provoking as well.

She wore it and tied her hair up. She searched for something that makes her look badass and found a Tanuki mask. She liked it a lot and took it.

"How do I look?" She asked her friend who gave her an appraising look.

"Sexy and badass," replied Roygun with a thumbs up. She took the compliment and saw the intruders reach halfway through Kuoh and made her way to them

Central Kuoh

Marqi and his group were slowly making their way towards the stronghold of the town, which is the Kuoh High, to cease control of it.

They were halfway through their journey when a sensor of the group sensed someone following them and gestured for them to stop.

"Come out, you can't hide from me," said a man whose face was like a bee.

"You got me," said Kazehana as she is jumped in front of them.

"What? A Tanuki? How does a sacred spirit like this roam in a filthy and disgusting area where Devils roam?" Asked a man whose face was like a donkey.

"You idiot. That's not a sacred Tanuki. It's an imposter," yelled Marqi, alerting his people for a possible confrontation.

"First, what are you doing in Devil Territory? Do you have permission to enter?" Asked Kazehana, in a stern tone, in an attempt to intimidate them. One of the first lessons Roygun taught. Intimidate your enemy.

"Are you trying to act tough, girl? We don't give a damn about any permission as we are here to claim what is rightfully ours," said Marqi on behalf of the group.

They made a barrier to not peak any unwanted attention and not allow the girl to call for any backup.

"You are surrounded, girl. Surrender now and I promise to make your death peaceful," offered Marqi. Kazehana smiled at that, though her mask hid that.

"Surrender? You have the gall to say that while intruding in my King's territory?" Asked Kazehana.

At this, they all looked at each other in surprise. As Marqi didn't tell them about someone was present to guard the territory.

As if concluding, Marqi looked at all of them in determination, making everyone nod in agreement. Making a silent order.

"Sorry, girl. We can't leave you as your King will definitely come after us if she knows we killed you," said Marqi and they all changed. Assuming Kazehana to be part of one of the Devil heiresses peerage.

Marqi's body changed into a large Monkey. He is tall with his tail covered by grey fur which protrudes from his sleeves and pants. He has long unkempt purple hair that reached his back and long sideburns and a goatee.

He wears a black suit with mesh armour underneath, over which he wears a green and yellow camouflage sleeveless kimono shirt with white fur trimmings, and markings reminiscent of tiger stripes on it, which is held closed by a red sash.

He is the most intimidating of all the 15 youkai as he is the tallest and strongest. As others changed into an eagle, donkey, horse and other basic animals.

Kazehana was surprised by their sudden change in power and appearance, but Roygun managed to calm her down as they were in contact through a magic circle.

"This is going to be fun as I didn't fight anyone but my trainers," said Kazehana, stretching and extending her muscles and magic. Her strength is going to play a big role now.

"Attack," yelled Marqi and all the Youkai charged towards the lone member of Naruto's peerage.

They all charged towards her as she prepared herself and the fight they expected and experienced were as different as earth and sky.

"Kaze no Tachi (Wind Sword)," said Kana, a wind sword forming in her hand. With her superior strength and her favourite sword in hand, she went on a sword dance, which managed to injure a few of her enemies.

Marqi seeing the futile efforts of his men, changed tactics, ordering to use magic instead of pure physical assault.

"Not bad, Devil scum. You are good with the wind. But now it's gonna change," said Marqi as a blue smoke started to come out of his hands and soon, blue fire engulfed them.

Kazehana can feel the heat and intensity of the flame from her position. Roygun also can see and acted on it.

"Portal," she said, cracking the space around the Marqi hands which were engulfed in blue fire. Instantly, all the flames were sucked into the portal, not leaving a trace of them.

Naruto asked her to not participate in the fight in person, but he didn't say anything about helping her friend and put no restrictions either, so she opted to act on it.

And a barrier can't restrict her clan trait as Crack can break through most of the defences.

"What! My fire. Where did get sucked into?" Yelled Marqi and outrage and ordered his followers to attack and kill Kazehana.

"Dokugiri (Poison Mist)", said one of the attackers as the purple most started to settle in, they forgot that Kazehana uses wind and she dispersed the poison cloud with ease.

"Really, the best thing you can give me is poison mist?" Mocked Kazehana, feeling confident in herself. But it was short-lived as she started to feel being stabbed again and again and tried to stop it.

"Why you!" Said Kazehana and started to punch the nearest youkai and turned around, kicked the next one and so on.

Meanwhile, Marqi looked in satisfaction as the Devil filth that came out of nowhere fall into their illusion.

She didn't take in her surroundings till now as Marqi added a large number of zombies he saw in human movies to add the flavour. This proved to be his mistake.

"As you can see, anyone will fall into our trap when we do it as a team," said Marqi, gesturing to a senseless Kazehana who is fighting imaginary enemies.

Roygun can understand what was happening but don't want to help as she wanted her friend to escape this herself and it is also going to be the toughest test Kana had ever faced.

As Youjutsu from 15 Youkai is dangerous even though some are injured. The amount of power in it is enough to severely damage or kill a High-Class Devil and so she waited.

Kazehana was trying her best to restrain from property damage as she still doesn't know how to repair any damage done.

She is trying her best to not kill the zombies as well as they were once humans. But a thought crept into her mind.

'Where in the world were these people coming from?' She couldn't understand that. She chose not to pursue such foolish things and use her strength to her advantage.

Though she has control of her body, she has this distinct feeling that everything is not what it seems to be. So she started to go high above in the sky and fell to the ground.

The impact created a large shockwave ans dust and she saw the zombies flicker for a second or two. She understood what was happening. 'So this is the power of an illusion,' thought Kazehana and used all her strength, when she felt most of her power was gathered, she punched the ground, creating tremors. Not stopping there, she pushed further.

"Wind Style: Raging Storm," said Kazehana, releasing the largest storm she ever created and sending it into the direction the zombies were coming from.

As Marqi and his men walked closer to silence the threat they tried hard to catch in an illusion, she jumped and created a shockwave that sent them a few meters back.

Deciding to not take chances, they started to run towards her, intending to finish her once in and for all, but this time, she sent a large wind blast towards them.

Much to his dismay, Marqi was the centre of it and got some nasty bruises and cuts around his body. This managed to push him over the edge and he prepared the most powerful attack he had. The illusion was interrupted and Kazehana was free.

"Sarukaki: Ketatamashi Makai (Monkey Fire: Piercing Hellstrike)," said Marqi. Using both hands instead of just one, he created a thin compressed spear of heat and flame in his mouth.

He took it from his mouth with his hands, which were covered in hellfire as well and hurled it towards Kazehana, trying to impale it through her body.

Kazehana was shocked as the first thing she saw after escaping the illusion was a blue fire approaching her.

Even if it misses, this spear will cause the opponent to lose their breath because of the heat and may even cause 2nd-degree burns and dehydration. It can also evaporate any water it comes into contact with.

"Hana Sakura (Glimmering Petals),"

"Hana no Mae (Flower Dance),"

"Hana Arashi (Flower Storm),"

"Hana Senpuu (Flower Whirlwind),"

"Kami-Kaze (Flower Beauty Wind),"

Kazehana tried desperately to vanquish the coming flame but all efforts became useless and seeing this, everyone in Marqi's group started to add their own flame into the mix, intending to kill her.

"Donkey Hell Fire: Lazy Eradication,"

"Bird Hell Fire: Ripping Talons,"

"Ghost Fire: Phantom Pain," and like.

Kazehana's brain went to overdrive as she tried to come up with something to counter all the attacks that were coming towards her at high speeds. She remembered something which made her special in her King's eyes.

'You have the blessing of the Wind God, Kana. And only you can bring it out. Anything I try won't help,' said Naruto just after she was accepted into his Peerage.

Though her blessing helped her get in tune with Wind and gave her more power and control over it, it is not enough in this situation and with all the Courage and Will she can muster, she did the only sane thing. Attack back.

'Blessing of the wind, blow away the dark clouds that befall me and my King!' She prayed in her mind as she knew Gods respond to prayers.

She didn't know why she used those terms, but she said whatever came to her mind and a golden light shone brightly on her.

"Fujin Megumi," (Wind God's Blessing)" Kazehana said unconsciously. Golden wind shone brightly around her and went towards the incoming hellfire that was released by all Youkai.

The wind tore through the fire as if it is rubber and attacked all the Youkai viciously. They were shell shocked that one of their Gods was coming to kill them.

It was ironic in the end as the demons were killed with the Sacred Wind of the Wind God, which was used by a Devil nonetheless.

They couldn't do anything as the wind came towards and tore all of them apart, not even the missing limbs or a drop of blood is left on the ground after it completed its work.

It promptly vanished after that and Kazehana felt drained and can't even take a step and fell face-first into the ground, but a gentle hand grabbed her, stopping her from falling.

"Rest, Kana-chan. You did well," said Roygun as she took the Rook to their residence.

A few hours later

It was long past midnight when Kana opened her eyes and made her way towards the lounge area where she could hear someone talking.

"Wow. Did she withstand that? That's amazing," she heard a familiar voice talk and saw Miya with another woman talking with Roygun.

"Sirzechs made such a commotion?" Asked Roygun in an exasperated tone.

"Yes, he was about to tell how he was disciplined, but Sara intervened and apologized for his 'words' as she put it," said Miya with a wide smile.

Kana walked into this scene as she could hear them from the hallway and when she entered, everyone's attention was on her.

Roygun was checking whether she healed fully or not and Miya was checking the improvements Kana made from her last visit as it's been 3 weeks.

The results satisfied her and she gave her a wide smile. She took on a serious facade as all the greetings completed.

"I know you are curious about the woman beside me and what is she doing here. Let me explain what happened," said Miya and explained about the mission Ajuka gave and what they found.

She went into detail about how they found the statue and how the woman went pale according to Miya and Naruto reviving her through his Evil Piece. As his Rook.

Kana stared at the woman who is going to be her competition as both of them shared the same piece. Medusa was looking calmly, following the orders of her Master.

'Medusa, Miya-chan will take you to meet other members of my Peerage and show you around the world. Will you learn them?' Asked her Master. Medusa was elated to do something for her Master and she agreed eagerly.

'I'll meet after all this is done and we can see about things later. Make sure to stay low as I don't want unwanted attention on you,' said Naruto in her mind and she agreed again.

For her, Naruto Uzumaki is everything as he is the one to not only find her but also revive her when she was on the brink of death.

She is going to give the man who saved her everything no matter the cost. When he was impressed with her skill in the last week, her joy had no bounds and she vowed to improve herself more for her Master.

"Usa, Medusa, Medusa," called Miya, shaking her from her thoughts.

"Sorry. I was deep in my thoughts," she replied in a plain tone.

"Shall we go to my work spot then?" She asked the magenta haired woman enthusiastically.

"Yes," replied Medusa curtly.

Though Miya gave them a chance to ask Medusa any question, both Kana and Roygun were hesitant and chose to not ask.

"Ok, girls. Enjoy yourselves," said Miya cheerfully.

"Ah, before I forget, Naruto-kun asked me to tell about exploration. I don't know what it is, but it is something to do in the Underworld," said Miya and both Roygun and Kana nodded in acknowledgement. Miya and Medusa vanished in a magic circle.

"What do you think about the new woman?" Asked Roygun.

"Dunno. She is strong and I can sense something similar to mine in her. It is li-"

"Like what you felt when you used your prayer and called upon the blessing of the Wind God?" Completed Roygun and Kana nodded.

"Maybe she has some divinity in her as well?" Suggested Roygun and Kana could only nod.

"Whatever it is, Kana, we should increase our training. I want you to increase your daily routine and double what it is now. We shouldn't lose to newcomers like that," said Roygun in determination and Kana shared the same feeling and cheered in agreement.

And so started a rigorous training session for Kana and Roygun as they improved themselves for the man of their mutual interest.

And Cut.

That's it for this chapter folks.

Check out the new story covers I made and tell me your opinion.

Suggestions are welcome.

RR.

Black Infinity1289,

Ja Ne.