Welcome everyone, to the very first Naruto x Jade Empire crossover ever done. Allow me a few words on the front and you can be on your way. First, this might not be the best Naruto Xover you might see on this site, I am fine with that, but at least I can say that I tried to do something new. As this is my first story ever done (not counting the short prequel), please try to bear with me.

I am aware that not everyone here ever played Jade Empire, so I will try to make things understandable even for those unfamiliar with it. And last, this is technically a sequel to my ´The Beginning at the End´, so my recommendation would be to read that first, but that´s up to you. Now, let´s begin.

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It was a surprisingly warm afternoon that day, with only the slightest breeze flowing through the village of Two Rivers, a small town at the borders of the Jade Empire with a river nearby. For all intents and purposes, it was just another small settlement, insignificant with nothing of real importance located there.

Or at least, it should be that way. But not always things tend to be so simple, as a group of bandits was about to find the hard way. Just a short while ago, they arrived via boat and at the behest of their master were about to raid and pillage the town while their lord, replenishing their supplies so that they could move on.

"Nice little town you have, not a lot of guards are there? Where do you keep your stocks of food!?" demanded one of the raiders, sneering at the cowering peasants.

"Forget them, let´s start looting already. We´ll get first dibs on the good stuff, "added another.

Honestly, the villagers were disgusting in the eyes of the bandits as a whole, just helpless prey waiting to be exploited and put out of their misery afterwards. However, before anything could take place, a voice spoke out.

"Are there guests coming this way?"

All eyes turned towards where the voice originated from, revealing a figure that the villagers were quick to recognize, knowing him for quite a few years now.

After all, who could ever mistake him with someone else?

His blonde, almost golden hair and his deep blue eyes with strangely narrowed pupils were a rarity in itself, since no one else they knew possessed such exotic looks. Dressed in dark pants with a crimson sash, a simple sleeveless linen shirt and a pair of leather bracers on his arms, the figure of Naruto was unmistakable to those who knew him.

Jumping down from his vantage point on the wall, the young man did not seem all that bothered that the gathered thugs were now fully concentrated on him, ready to end his life at any moment without a moment´s hesitation.

It was natural really, some of them had weapons and others had their martial styles, what could just one person do to them all?

"Who the hell are you," yelled one of the bandits, although his tone made it clear that it did not matter one way or another, no, to them, the young man was just another victim that got in their way.

The blonde himself did not seem to be concerned with a dozen of seasoned raiders that were seconds away from killing him. No, he merely cranked his neck a bit and continued.

"I don´t think that you really have any right to demand anything, much less my name. Now, here is how things will play out. Either the lot of you will retreat so I can resume my afternoon tea…..or I will personally destroy every last one of you and then some. So what will it be?"

That was obviously the wrong thing to say, as in the next second, the gathered thugs charged forward, not too happy with someone interrupting their fun. Strangely, almost nobody seemed to have any reaction towards the absurd request itself, although some of the villagers almost made an exemplary face-plant. How odd indeed.

With a sigh, the blonde got into a stance, waiting for the first one to get within range, and then sprung forward with the speed of an attacking serpent, dodging and weaving around their clumsy blows with startling ease, hardly any energy wasted in his movements.

Before long, the group that attacked him was on the ground, either incapacitated or giving the term ´a face only mother could love´a whole new meaning if they were unfortunate, while the blonde hardly seemed worse for wear.

Prodding one of them with his foot, the young man was obviously disappointed in the outcome, either that or he was bored with the mediocre display his enemies showed in their brief fight.

Turning his head towards the arriving militia members (as few of them as this village had anyway), he enjoyed their looks of surprise before addressing their captain.

"I am leaving them in your care now, my part is done. Do what you like with them."

And with that, he gave them a fox-like grin and walked away, not really caring what would happen with the surviving outlaws next. It truly was a bit anticlimactic that the fight was over so quickly, he was hoping for someone who would present a true test of his abilities.

That or maybe his almost seventeen years of refined training and hard work were making him a bit edgy. After all, what good was being a fighter if there was no one who could offer a challenge, right?

But he would have his chance soon enough. His apprenticeship under his teacher was nearly at an end, meaning that he would soon be free to travel as he pleased. There was a lot the empire had in store for him, he was sure of that. Of course, he could really leave anytime he wanted, but there was no rush.

Here, he had a skilled teacher that raised him almost as if he were his own (not to mention taught him what he knew), respect of both the villagers and his peers and a good friend that was always there when he needed company. Was it any wonder that he hardly wanted to leave to begin with?

Funny, before his arrival to this realm, he never would have suspected that hand to hand combat could be so…..invigorating. Back when he was a ninja in training, he viewed it only as a means to an end, the end usually involving defeating his enemies, but he never took any real joy in it.

Now though, when he had given it a chance, it no longer felt so empty, but instead carried a strange satisfaction whenever he engaged an opponent with nothing but his own body as a weapon and came out on top in the end.

It was funny to see how quickly he took a liking to it, especially when he had a teacher that did not push him away in favor of someone else or gave him only vague clues how to accomplish the desired result.

While he lamented the loss of his ninja techniques (since his new body lacked the capacity for chakra manipulation), when compared to getting a new chance at life it was hardly worth even thinking about it.

Not that there were no alternatives, there was a similar energy to chakra called Chi and he was taught how to use it, but sadly so far it could only be used to empower his strikes to do more damage or speed up his natural healing, the latter at the cost of requiring a meditative trance however.

But at least it was something.

Plus now that he thought things through, it took a genuine effort to hide or sneak up on someone, making him wonder if he was not dependent on chakra a bit too much back then. If so, then this entire setback would do wonders for him in the future, of that he could be certain.

Arriving at the gates of the school of martial arts that was located just outside of the village, he stepped inside, to the place that had been his home for almost two decades in a row.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Master Li was an old man. Certainly, his wizened old body still held more power than most people could ever achieve in their entire lives, but he could nonetheless feel the pressure of the past decades pressing down on him.

But he could not rest, not yet, for there were still things he had to do before his time was up. Not so surprisingly, a few of them were connected to his senior student, things that would soon have a large impact upon the empire itself.

Over the years, he made sure that the blonde haired youth would absorb all he could and for the most part he was even surprised how good the boy could get once he put his mind on something.

He was little over twenty years old and already his aptitude for both unarmed combat was impressive even to him, coupled with his skillful usage of various weapons made him quite deadly on his own, but that was nowhere near enough.

He knew that whilst the blonde was an accomplished fighter, there were some truly dangerous people out there, beings that defied the traditional borders of what a man was capable of. He knew, because he was one such case himself.

Sun Li, younger brother to the emperor Sun Hai, former leader of the entire empire army and now a lowly teacher of martial arts known by very few people, he was all that and perhaps more.

And it was vital for his student to learn the truth, both about himself and about the heritage that was lost all those years ago. He kept it hidden for all those years, but no longer. He could feel it. The times were peaceful, but it was more akin to the quiet before the storm than to anything else.

Seeing his student walk in, the former general motioned for the blonde to join him, knowing that they were about to have a discussion that was long overdue.

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"What do you mean defeated?! It was supposed to be just another routine gathering of supplies with no expected resistance, yet you not only failed, but dare to show your face back here on your own!"

The bandit kneeling in front of his leader was doing his best not to start shaking like a leaf in the wind, not daring to look up and meet the wrath of his superior. Oh how he wished that he could simply flee from this place, but just like the rest of his fellows, he was afraid what would happen if he were to displease his lord (any more than he already had already).

It was not his fault that things ended up as they did! Who would have thought that such a measly little village would have someone as skilled as that strange blonde who took out all of them with so little effort?

Hell, he was lucky in sneaking away, since the rest of his comrades either fell at the hands of that blue-eyed menace or were executed by the local militia not long after that. Seeing how his leader was furious however made him think that maybe he should have not returned at all.

With a growl, the chief sitting on his makeshift throne leaned forward, his gaze alone being enough to pin the man to the ground through the sheer power of his gaze alone.

"Who was it? To have defeated all twelve of you alone, which should have taken some skill and no one renowned enough was seen in these parts. Who is the one that defeated you worms?!"

"It….It was probably a student from that school the locals were talking about, run by some Master Li or something like that. Blonde hair, eyes like pieces of ice, moves like an attacking serpent."

If the poor sod thought that the information would appease his chief, then he was seriously mistaken. While there were rumors of a small school teaching martial arts in the area, no one took them seriously. After all, what respectable master would make a school at the very edges of the empire?

"Are you telling me that a single student destroyed a dozen of my warriors? Get out of my sight or I will kill you myself!"

Not willing to push his luck any further, the man quickly got up and ran towards the exit of the cave, only to gasp as a dagger buried itself in the back of his skull, killing him instantly. Stepping out from the shadows, a cloaked figure strolled towards the fresh corpse on the ground, pulling the dagger out with practiced ease.

"So the rumors were true it seems. Maybe you should have a closer look at that village, perhaps it holds the one whom I seek."

"I don´t care for your mission assassin, but that village will have to pay for this," grunted the larger man, obviously not too happy at being told what to do.

But as it was, he had to obey the request (see demand), no matter how much it hurt his pride to take orders from someone else. It was that or risk being found out by the imperial patrols, a confrontation he was not willing to take…..yet.

There was no way around it, no matter how humiliating it was. Perhaps slaughtering a bunch of peasants would ease his mind. Oh yes, he could already imagine the coming atrocities, one more brutal than the next.

The village of Two Rivers would soon feel his wrath.

Without anyone noticing, the assassin slipped back into the shadows, a nasty smirk showing on his pale face. Perhaps this was a sign of the prey he and his brethren had searched for all these years.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Taking a slow stroll through the school´s gardens, Naruto pondered about what had been revealed to him during the afternoon. He always suspected that his aged master was hiding something, he had plenty of experience with people doing things like that.

Out of gratitude for all the things done for him over the years he kept quiet, knowing that sooner or later, it would resurface, every secret did in time. But still, no matter what he expected, some of the things still managed to surprise him.

To think that the one training him was one of the two brothers of the emperor himself and an ex-military general, well you certainly don´t hear that every day.

But more importantly, he discovered the true origin of the body he acquired, that of a Spirit Monk, or so it was called at least. Shepherds of the dead, warrior monks, servants of the Water Dragon, deity of both water and the dead, they were all that and more.

It would seem that his role was only just beginning, for things were set in motion years ago already, shortly before his merging with the body he now possessed if he had to estimate.

Almost twenty years ago, the empire was suffering under a long drought, one unparalleled in its long history. As the situation grew worse with every passing month and year, emperor Sun Hai tasked his brother Li (known as the glorious strategist for his tactical genius on the battlefield) in finding a way to restore things back to the way they were before.

And Sun Li did just that. The only way to do such a tremendous task was to assault the temple of the dragon goddess and claim her power, a task that no mortal before dared to even consider, let alone execute.

However, when the imperial army was about to reach its destination, the emperor´s brother had a change of heart and warned the monks of the incoming danger. In the end, it only postponed the inevitable.

But time was running out and the emperor assaulted the mountain monastery, overwhelming the defenders and seizing the power of the Water Dragon for himself.

Appalled at the siege he helped plan, Sun Li barely managed to get himself and the youngest of the now extinct spirit monks (his baby form at the time) to safety, becoming both a dirty secret (since officially he died during the siege, along with the youngest brother Sun Kin) and a first priority target for the countless assassins Sun Hai had at his beck and call.

It was a small miracle that the old man managed to stay in hiding for so long, but the sheer size of the empire apparently proved to be an advantage in this regard.

Regardless, what mattered was that with the Water Dragon gone, the spirits of the dead now had no guide to show them the way to the afterlife, some of them even going mad and attacking the living as well.

He could sympathize, during his stay at the void, he was in a similar position indeed, the key difference was that either his world had no such deity in the first place (a hard thing to believe, since the normally invisible seal he bore on his stomach was made with the help of one), or it did not care one way or another that his world ended, both options hardly making him feel any better about it.

Still, something about the whole story seemed off, like there was still something missing to it. He did not know what it was, but his instincts were telling him that there was more to this story than met the eye.

"Finally starting to think for yourself are you? It´s about time," growled a voice inside of his head.

´Kyuubi? I did not hear from you for a long time, what´s going on?´

Not to say that the fox did not make its presence known from time to time, but unsurprisingly, but it found the serene and tranquil environment of the school dreadfully boring, so it was rare for him to come out.

Almost as if knowing what he was thinking, the ancient being snorted, but it sounded a bit strained if he had to guess.

"You are not the only one who had to adjust to all this. While you were on the outside, I had to deal with the huge influx of information that we gained during the brief union of my kind.

Memories, thoughts, I have been killing all those things gathered over the years by the other eight, keeping only a little that could prove useful."

´You mean like the soul migration process we discovered?´

"Not exactly. That was a glimpse of the Juubi itself, no, what I am talking about are all the things the other bijuu did in their lives, things that no longer matter to us.

And you better believe it that looking through the thoughts of a nutcase like Shukaku was hardly a pleasant experience. The process is far from complete, but for now I must rest."

´Take it at your own pace, we have time.´

"I wonder about that. Wake me up if anything interesting happens."

In terms of the fox, it meant ´Do not disturb unless there is a major bloodbath going on or things are getting destroyed on a large-scale´, a fact that took the blonde years to fully comprehend but hey, it was progress.

Back in his first life, Naruto could never be patient or anything of the sort, his impulsive and overly reckless personality made such a task all but impossible. Not anymore however, the long training had seen to that. While he still could be a bit restless, it was definitively a far cry from his early years.

This was also one of the few reasons why he did not jump right into the scene that was unfolding right in front of him. It would seem that his best friend was just about to get into a fight with the one person he seriously disliked. Ah, what a day.

Okay, things would probably never go that far, both of them well aware that unsanctioned fights were prohibited and were too afraid of Li getting angry at them (even if one of them would never admit it, but damn, the old man could be scary when he wanted to), but it still was a funny sight.

"What´s the matter Dawn Star, are you afraid Master Li might find out?"

The dark haired girl in question only frowned and tucked a few strands of hair behind her ear, her expression that of someone who just stepped into something too disgusting to even bother naming it.

"No, what I am afraid of is how many more times do I have to keep saying the same thing over and over again. I can pick my own poison thank you very much, so leave me be Gao."

Gao the Lesser, the one student that managed to get on Naruto´s nerves more often than he would bother to count. Son of a wealthy and rather infamous criminal, he was essentially a person that the blonde would call a spoiled brat, believing that everything in the world belonged to him just because his father was a well-known slaver and pirate.

Not to say that he was unskilled, hardly so, but the blonde was better and everyone knew it, much to his amusement and to Gao´s anger. Honestly, with his attitude, he was almost begging for someone to shut him up. That made Dawn Star´s dismissal of him even funnier than it should be.

"If my charm can´t lift your spirit, I´ll buy the ground from under you."

"Flaunting your undeserved wealth will hardly impress me Gao, you should really learn some tact from others. Is this another trick learned from your criminal father?"

"Do not insult my father wench!"

As Gao moved to strike her for slandering his father, he suddenly found his wrist caught in an iron grip, staring into a pair deep blue eyes, an all too familiar face showing up behind him.

"I think she meant ´Get lost´, so maybe it would be best for you to leave," smirked Naruto, though not really in the mood to deal with the other male for much longer, especially since he was hitting on his best friend…..again.

However, his blunt dismissal only made things worse. Pulling himself free, Gao pointed at him with clearly visible disdain in his voice.

"You! Why was it you that had to fight the bandits, I am just as worthy as you are, no even more than you will ever be!"

´Man, this brings back memories. Never thought I would see someone with an ego like Sasuke again. What are the chances of him being an incarnation of that prick?´ thought the blonde, wondering if it was just his luck or if he had a knack for finding arrogant morons no matter where he was.

Fortunately, the other student was oblivious to his thoughts and stormed off, leaving the two of them alone.

"Ugh, he is Gao the Lesser in everything he does. Thank you for stepping in Naruto," smiled Dawn Star.

"Maybe he is trying to compensate for something? His name certainly suggests so. But how come you did not take him out, you are strong enough to knock him out yourself if you really wanted?"

"Who said that I can´t? But I knew you were here and Gao always fears you more than me."

Staring for a few seconds, Naruto´s eyebrows were twitching slightly. Either Dawn Star was far more devious than he gave her credit for, or she just really knew how to turn things around, a talent one would expect more from a noble than from a cloistered student of martial arts.

Oh well, if it was anyone else, the blonde might be a bit mad, but he just did not have it in him to say no to the girl.

Like him, Dawn Star was in the school all those years, almost as long as he was in fact. That aside, she was an orphan as well, one with a rather strange ability: To see the spirits of the dead. Hard to say if it was a talent or a latent ability of her own, but the girl could see ghosts straight from day one.

Most of the time it was more of a bother than help however, like that time a year ago when a little boy drowned in the river. The problem was that Dawn Star saw his spirit and conveyed his message not to feel guilty about it to the boy´s mother, something that almost caused a riot from the other villagers.

Ever since that day, she had been a bit ostracized by the rest of the village, a situation all too familiar to Naruto. After that, the girl did not try anything like that ever again, even if the ability remained with her.

Problems with the supernatural aside, Dawn Star was nonetheless a smart one with undeniable skills in combat, not equal to his own but strong in her own right. The fact that she was quite easy on the eyes was merely a bonus as far as he was concerned.

That was when he noticed that she was talking to him and he was not listening at all.

"I´m sorry Dawn Star, could you repeat that for me? I didn´t catch that."

If there was one thing he learned, it was that a little politeness can go a long way. Not on the fields of battle or in a tavern brawl, but it did wonders when you had to talk your way out of a situation. Should that fail, he could always be a smartass when it suited him.

The girl in question giggled a bit, apparently finding it amusing that her friend could be so absentminded at times. The two friends talked for a bit, unaware of the events that were destined to soon take place.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Several days have passed since then, it was a beautiful afternoon and yet, Naruto found that he was unable to keep still, which was a first in a long time. After years of practicing meditation and the like, he came a long way from his previously impulsive and reckless personality, but for some reason his more active side was starting to act up again.

Was it the revelation of his duty as a spirit monk, leftover adrenaline from the fight earlier (if it could be called a fight to begin with) or something else? He had a bad feeling about all this, one that he could not shake off no matter how hard he tried.

Was something going to happen? He hoped not, but exactly when in his life did things go according to plan?

As he sat in his room, his eyes kept going towards one of the corners, where a long, staff like object was wrapped in cloth and resting against the wall. It was a gift from Li, a weapon whose origin dated back towards the founding days of the empire, its maker long forgotten by the pages of history.

He still remembered the day when he received it from the aged teacher as a sign that he was entering his last year at the school, a sign that he was ready for whatever awaited him on the road ahead.

Normally he kept it here in his room, since most of the time his few unarmed styles kept him more than safe, plus he really did not want too many people to recognize the weapon and try to steal it. It was a legendary object after all, a treasure to anyone who wielded it.

Siwang, the cursed spear of mortality, first carried by the emperor Sagacious Tien and wielded by many after the death of its first owner. Now it was his and his alone.

But thinking about it only made him more restless, almost as if he was heading into another fight again. There was just something wrong about this day, his senses were acting up like a nest full of angry hornets, despite the seemingly calm and silent day.

Even if he had a new body and a new life, Uzumaki Naruto still carried over most of the experience he had before, experience gained through fighting enemies many times stronger or more numerous than him.

Hell, he fought two of the seven ninja swordsmen from Kiri (three if he were to count his brief skirmishes with Kisame), Orochimaru, Uchiha Itachi and countless others, if that did not count for something than nothing did. So even if he lacked the techniques from his Shinobi career, he still had enough skill and instincts that he gained throughout the countless fights he had.

Compared to that, the threat of a sudden attack seemed trivial, boring even. Maybe he even wanted for something to happen, just to keep him occupied? After all, he volunteered that afternoon to face the bandits, just because he was getting bored.

That was when he first heard the screams from the village. Thanks to being near to the small town, he could easily notice if anything was amiss, just like now.

Then, before he could even get up, the first fires appeared. The screams intensified, but this time there was another tone added to them, one that he recognized and knew well.

Those were the sounds of battle, where everything was swept into a whirlwind of chaos and carnage, a calling that tugged at his more primitive urges, begging him to join the show. And he had no intention of turning away.

As he rushed towards the school gates, he was greeted by the sight of both Sun Li and Dawn Star doing the same thing. Seeing him caching up to them, the elderly master waited for him to join them before speaking out, his voice no longer being that of a stern but fair school instructor, but that of a true military commander that would not accept no for an answer.

"I see you are up. Good, now here is what you need to do. Proceed into the village and protect the villagers, keep them safe while I ensure that there will be no reinforcements for whoever is attacking. Dawn Star, you are to go as well, the two of you should be enough to secure victory in this. Go!"

Even Naruto had to admit that the old man certainly had some undeniable charisma to him, confirmation that the man definitively commanded armies before. If anything, even most ninja who commanded him (or tried to do so) did not invoke such charisma and that meant something.

Was this the true face of Sun Li? Perhaps, but now it did not matter, repelling the attackers took precedence over anything else.

As the trio made a run from the school and towards the village, a lonely shadow observed them from the shadows, like a predator stalking his prey, before too he disappeared, rushing to perform his own task.

´Sun Li was located. After all these years, the will of the emperor will be done…´

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Dodging another blow that almost took his head off, Naruto quickly slammed his palm into the stomach of his opponent, sending him to the ground in an unmoving heap, giving the blonde some breathing room at last.

Not far from his position, he could see Dawn Star holding her own, sword in hand and doing quite a good job herself. It was no secret that while she was adept with unarmed combat, swordplay seemed to be the area where she shined most…..aside from scaring people with messages from the dead of course.

Still, he did not lament not taking his own weapon with him, given the opposition. While numerous, those thugs were not that much of a threat by themselves, the main advantage being in their numbers, not in individual skills.

And now, after the ruckus of the battle brought in more students from the school, even that was beginning to dissipate, allowing the villagers to get clear from the zones where fights were taking place. Fortunately, the few buildings that were put to the torch did not manage to spread the fire further; otherwise the situation could have been a whole lot worse.

Nonetheless, the fighting was still going strong, neither side willing to step down. The harder they pushed, the more the other side pushed back, but Naruto had confidence that the others would deal with the rest; he had a more pressing concern in mind.

Where could their leader possible be? Someone had to be in charge of this raid, but he could see no such person among the fighters. From his experience back home, he knew how bad it was to allow an enemy leader flee to fight another day, those types always seemed to come back and bite him in the ass.

If they arrived the same way that small group did a few days back, then there was only one option. Seeing his sword wielding friend finishing her opposition, he called out to her.

"Dawn Star, want to help me looking for whoever is leading those guys or are you staying to help?"

Wiping a bit of blood from her magenta colored attire, the girl nodded, the usual cheerful smile gone from her face. For someone raised in a relatively tranquil environment, she really knew how to get serious when the times called for it.

"Right behind you my friend …"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

(At the same time)

With a loud cry, the messenger bird took to the skies, carrying a simple yet important message to who knows where. The man responsible for it slowly turned around, facing towards the familiar face of Sun Li, the greatest traitor the empire had ever known in its long reign.

Shedding his traveling cloak obscuring his features, the assassin revealed a set of dark leather armor that only one order in the world had as a uniform: The Lotus Assassins, the enigmatic enforcers of the emperor´s divine will and the feared knives in the dark that silenced anyone deemed as a threat to the empire.

The assassin's pale, hairless face stretched in a hideous parody of a grin, showing off a mouthful of fang-like teeth, obviously unconcerned that he was facing such a fearsome opponent.

"You are too late, glorious strategist. But nonetheless, I have to salute you. Your strategy is impeccable as expected, we were expecting an army, yet once again, you surprised us."

Dusting himself off, the traitorous Sun sibling did not seem overly fazed by the proclamations of his would be killer.

"Your search is over assassin, but you will not live to tell the tale of your success."

The armored enforcer only smirked, preparing for combat. However, before he could even blink, Sun Li was upon him. In three unbelievably fast strikes, the man´s body was instantly paralyzed, falling to its knees. Finishing the work he started, the aged general made a quick chop to his neck, killing him instantly with a sickening crack echoing throughout the clearing.

´That went as expected. Now let´s see how my student is faring…..´

Making a dash towards the riverside cliffs, the man known as the Glorious Strategist watched the events below with great interest.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

For once it looked like the blonde was right on track. While they encountered a few more bandits on their way, they managed to find the means through which the outlaws arrived. Arriving at the beach, they were greeted with the sight of a large ship docked just a little away from the shore.

And it seems someone was expecting them as well. Leaning over the wooden railing, a tall, muscular man watched their arrival with obvious displeasure. While dressed in simple clothing, his scarred bald head and his short scruffy beard made an unpleasant visage.

"What´s this?! Those idiots can´t even stop a pair of children, useless lot."

Before Naruto could come up with an appropriate comeback however, the apparent leader looked closer at him, recognizing his features.

"Wait, I know you. Yes, you are that brat that defeated my men earlier. In that case, I will just have to make due with those things that accursed assassin brought aboard."

With a grunt of displeasure, the man took out three small spheres, each about a size of an average orange but having a sickly green mist inside of them. Throwing them onto the beach, the bald leader watched with satisfaction as the spheres shattered into pieces, the strange mist escaping violently from the remains.

For a few seconds, everything was silent, every sound in the world seemed to have vanished. A cloud obscured the sun, making the world look darker than it truly was.

Then, with an inhuman roar, the mist slowly began to take shape, taking on a humanoid appearance, or rather three of them to be precise.

But there was no humanity in those shapes, indeed, while they looked human, their semi-transparent bodies, faces twisted in bestial rage and agony, coupled with the foul aura around them hardly made for a convincing mask.

They did not look like human…..but they were. Naruto did not know what made him recognize the fact, but those truly were souls of the dead, trapped in such a monstrous form. So it was true. The dead were walking among the living, as obvious by those three. Only his iron prevented him shaking in the face of such an otherworldly opposition.

Nearby, Dawn Star gripped her head, as if a sudden pain spiked throughout her. Her ability to sense the supernatural obviously became a double-edged sword here and for the first time, the blonde was starting to regret leaving his weapon back at the school.

Glancing back at the smirking leader of the bandits, Naruto wondered if the fool really knew what exactly he was dealing with, what he so carelessly unleashed upon them. But it did not matter. For now, he would have to deal with those creatures.

With a loud shriek, the spectres lunged forward, like wild beasts that have been let off the leash. Readying himself, Naruto had a fleeting feeling that his troubles were just beginning.

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And so ends the first chapter, I hope it was enjoyable. Tell me what you think and see you all next time...