Chapter 482 - My CO Stash #82 - The Woes of an Immortal by D.i.c.ktock McJerry (NarutoXBlackClover)

-I was getting into it but then boom, interlude/ Still a nice CO fic tho, I just don't find Naruto's past that interesting I think the author should just focus on Naruto interacting with the other characters~

Synopsis: 4000 years after the end of the Fourth Shinobi World War, Naruto wakes into a land unknown to him. Still holding onto his will to fight for what he believes in, what changes can he make to a world that's forgotten his existence?

Rated: M

Words: 47K

Posted on: fanfiction.net/s/13420017/1/The-Woes-of-an-Immortal (D.i.c.ktock McJerry)

PS: If you're not able to copy/paste the link, you have everything in here to find it, by simply searching the author and the story title. It sucks that you can't copy links on mobile (´ー｀)

-I'll be putting the chapter ones of all the fanfics/originals mentioned, to give you guys a sample if you wan't more please do go to the website and support the author! (And maybe even convince them to start uploading chapters in here as well!)

Chapter 1

It was there, at the precipice war, that he truly became enlightened to the face of tragedy. The death of his teacher wounded him. The death of his brother crippled him. The death of his beloved killed him. With his mind drowned in oceans of grief, the light at the surface of that dreadful water erased his past reticence and steeled his resolve.

With the goddess dead, the teen was content to stay submerged in this sea of mourning and let the water camouflage his tears. Sadly, he felt a tug at the back of his mind, disrupting the current he had already surrendered to. The tug became a pull and he was ripped from one dimension to another.

The shift of realities left him unphased, and he chose instead to focus on the disappearing seals on the ground. If his senses hadn't left him, he would have heard the triumphant cries of the beasts that surrounded him wither into a diseased silence at the sight of the bodies beside him. He would have heard Kurama lightly call his name. He would have seen his father look on in agony at the fate that had befallen his student.

But he knew that if he took those senses back, he would be forced to look at the corpses of his team. The sensei that raised him cleaved in half. The brother he respected charred to a crisp with his eye-sockets empty. The woman he loved with a hole in her heart.

Team Seven had killed a god.

And that god had killed Team Seven.

It was truly a fate worse than death – one that, in their earlier days of coexisting, his inhabitant demon would plague him with nightmares of.

A fate that could have been avoided.

A fate that would never be again.

Thus, he buried his naivety and set a new plan into motion.

The demons agreed to be sealed inside of himself on the basis of mutual trust.

The Tsukuyomi was undone.

And human ability to use chakra was no more.

The erasure of the energy would have a cataclysmic societal impact but leaving something with such devastating destructive power in the hands of those who would do others harm seemed irresponsible. It simply wasn't something that belonged in this world; a relic that would be lost to myth. Generations would come without ever having experienced it, and soon it would disappear from even discussion.

Having accomplished his plan, the boy found a cave for himself to reside, and let himself fall into an era long journey of reflection.

4000 Years Later

It was three years ago that Naruto had risen from his meditation. His introspective musings over the eons had mutated into a desire to finally experience the world. The aches of immortality fell away after an excursion to the surface, and while withholding his status as an eternal being, joined the ranks of a dilapidated local church.

From there he had learned the ways of the new world. The new language wasn't challenging to learn with a healthy amount of study and practice, but it did leave him with a thick accent, branding him a foreigner for the first year and a half of his new life. By the time the accent had fallen from his cadence and he had integrated into the population a few national headaches began troubling him.

The rise of magic power was worrying, but from his experiences, it had a far less destructive capacity than chakra did and had become so ingrained in the everyday lives of the population that attempting to phase it out could return catastrophic results. In a very liberal estimate, roughly a third of the world four millennia ago could use chakra. In the present, however, there were only two people alive that couldn't use magic power: himself, and the boy who the church had taken in some odd fifteen years ago.

What concerned him more than the presence of magic was the aristocracy that it upheld. The nobles were those with the most magic power, who married those with equal amounts, and bore children ripe with potential to surpass their parents. The new world had incidentally created a culture where selective breeding was normalized and discrimination was societal staple.

That corruption gave him a goal, though: to rid the world of these injustices and spread equality.

Far easier said than done.

Realistically, he surmised it would take multiple generations and a complete reconstruction of the ruling classes to erase the stigma that surrounded the common folk. He'd heard that the nobles residing in the capital were quite stubborn regarding acknowledgement of peasant-born power.

However, the completion of these plans was far from the present. He was sure that he could simply fly over to the Royal Capitol at any moment and take control from the current rulers, but a kingdom ruled by fear was a kingdom doomed to fail. So, he threw that off the table, electing to work his way up the ranks himself and bring peace from within.

Here he found himself, the night before his departure to the Royal Capitol, reclined in a pew and staring at the dancing of a fire as it teased the logs in the fireplace. Sleep was a pleasantry to somebody with his healing capability, and he rarely found himself partaking anymore.

None in the convent knew of his self-induced insomnia. They had all assumed that he was late to bed and early to rise, and it wasn't until the resident nun had awoken late one night and found him in the rows of the church flipping pages of what she assumed was his grimoire that he had told her of his troubles with sleep.

From there, Lily had begun to make it a point to keep him company for an hour or so once or twice a week. She could never stay up as late as him, and Naruto often found himself either feigning slumber so that she would voluntarily rest or having to carry her to her bed after her incidentally falling asleep during their conversations. Yet he very much appreciated the sentiment and found himself going out of his way to begin helping Lily with her duties as thanks.

This night began for them much like the others, and the fire continued its waltz as Lily took her spot next to Naruto in the pew. She admired his visage as he stared soberly at the light reflecting from the crucifix aloft on the wall. That stare gifted him an aura of a man far older than he was and was part of the reason that Lily had trouble seeing him as a teenage boy.

"Are you sure that you want to go with them tomorrow?" the nun asked. It wasn't necessarily out of worry for his success – she had seen his prowess many times before. Rather, she had grown quite fond of the boy sitting next to her. He was mature for a twenty-year-old, and she found herself seeing him as a peer that she could confide in – a pleasant change from her motherly role over the other children.

"Yeah," Naruto replied. "I feel that I've done what I can here. I need to branch out and see what the world is like, and the Magic Knights seem like exactly what I'm looking for."

Silence settled again, interrupted occasionally by the cackle of the fire. All the while, Lily couldn't help but remember that this was their last night together for quite some time. There wouldn't be another chance to talk between just the two of them for some span of months, potentially even years. This was her final chance to learn who the man she had grown so fond of truly was.

"You know, in all the years you've lived here, you've never once shown us your grimoire." The statement masked the true question poorly, but straightforwardly asking to see somebody's grimoire felt weirdly wrong to her. Grimoires were personal to the wielder, so it wasn't taboo to ask to see another's, but it wasn't a practice that many partook in.

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Is that a problem?"

"No, not at all. I've just always been curious as to why that is."

The boy finally conceded. Maybe it's finally time to open up, Naruto thought. He had spent the better part of three years avoiding questions of his personal life for reasons that he couldn't truly justify to himself. Here beside him was a pure-hearted woman eager to learn about him, and for the first time since he had met her, he decided to indulge in her curiosity.

"Do you want to hear a secret, Lily?"

"What kind of secret?" she inquired.

"An interesting one." Naruto unclasped the strap that held a book firmly on his thigh and retrieved it, holding it firmly. "This isn't a grimoire. I don't have one. Never did." His fingers grazed the ruined leather cover where his Jiraiya's name was once inked.

His copy of "The Tale of an Utterly Gutsy Ninja" had been one of his only relics from his previous life. During the Fourth Great War, the book had evolved from a keepsake novel to a creed – one that he happily brandished in a leather pouch in place of the grimoire that he never had. To him, the work of fiction had a far greater power than any that a mage's spell book could produce.

"This is a novel that my god-father wrote during his time in war. My parents actually named me after the main character." He smiled lightly. Four thousand years couldn't erase the image of his parents and godparents from his memory. "It didn't sell well, and he followed it up by writing p.o.r.n, the perverted bastard; but I've always thought this novel was his masterpiece. It was the work that showed me the maturity and wisdom hidden within him."

"I'd love to meet him one day."

"He died a very long time ago." Lily grew visibly solemn at the statement, and Naruto immediately soothed her distress. "I don't let it bother me that much anymore. If he saw me sulking around feeling sorry for him he'd probably turn in his grave. I try to honor his memory every moment that I can instead. He died so that peace could be attained, and I plan on following through with his legacy."

"He sounded like a great man," she surmised.

"You'd change your mind if you met him," Naruto joked.

Lily chuckled. "Would you tell me what the book is about?"

Naruto smiled, and Lily could see that it was one of the few genuine smiles that had graced his visage since he had come to the church. He began a translated reading of his favorite excerpt while Lily made herself comfortable leaning on his shoulder – a platonic gesture that the two had come to enjoy together.

Lily had soon become enamored in the tale that Naruto was weaving, finding a numbing comfort in the rhythmic rise and fall of his shoulders coupled with the vibrations his voice caused throughout his chest.

Soon his voice found the end of the passage, and the story dissipated with the breeze of the night. Perhaps that was where it should stay. Memories of ancient past weren't for the daylight; never something to be expressed in the comfort of the sun. No, they found their home in the dark, surrounded in a cacophony of crickets and secrets.

"You know, it's also occurred to me that I don't know what magic you use, either. All the powers that you've shown have been a mix-and-match of different magic types, and I can't pinpoint an exact one out of any known archetype."

Good, Naruto thought. The man had made sure to keep a reserve on his higher end techniques while under the scrutiny of the townsfolk. There had already been occasions of mages with the ability to sense magic becoming distraught with the magicless foreigner who could still cast spells. He didn't need them to see the scope of his destructive power or to realize that he was drawing on chakra, not magic energy.

Additionally, if the kingdom could witness the raw, carnal power that he had stored away, he was sure that a summons would be sent for him to report to the Capitol to explain his abilities, and there were simply no events following that scenario that didn't end with his mind being searched and his immortality being discovered.

Thus, he never risked it.

"My magic is being a jack-of-all-trades," he teased.

Lily chuckled a bit. He always seemed so dedicated not to discuss anything personal about himself. She wondered how somebody could become so close to her and yet so distant.

"But how do you cast your "jack-of-all-trades" magic so efficiently without a grimoire, then?" she pressured. If this was the last night she would be with him for an unknown amount of time, she was determined to get some information out of him. She couldn't very well claim to care so much for somebody and not know a single thing about them.

"I don't know," he replied. "It's always just come naturally to me, I guess."

Naturally, the explanation didn't satisfy Lily in the slightest, and she found it increasingly difficult to keep her patience. Her selfish desire for answers was beginning to overcome her sense of empathy and secrecy. Perhaps her desperation clouded her politeness, but it had been a long while since she could say she had desired something with such passion; and right now, she desired answers.

Naruto could see the childish pout forming on her face and let out a chortle, causing the younger woman to separate from his shoulder and playfully hit his arm.

They bantered for a little while longer, and before either realized it, the sun was peeking its way through the windows of the chapel. The stained glass cast brilliant shades of color onto the walls and floors, and for a few moments, Naruto let himself be lost in the beautiful hues.

Lily instead stared up at him with intent, examining the oceans of his eyes and the terrain of his cheeks one final time. Maybe she was trying to memorize his face, as if it was the last time she would see him. Perhaps she was afraid that the moment she blinked he would be gone, and she would be left alone at night again.

She didn't know herself.

There was no explicit desire behind it. His departure wasn't the loss of a lover or even the next chapter in a good friend's life. It was saying goodbye to a family that she wasn't quite ready to say goodbye to.

Asta and Yuno's journey was one that she had seen coming since their childhood. One that she had come to terms with. She had watched them grow from children to a.d.u.l.ts, seeing herself more as a mother-figure to them than anything else. She had raised them and recognized their journey as a necessary one for their development into a.d.u.l.thood. With Naruto, though…

Naruto was a peer. A brilliant, thoughtful, charismatic man that she had incidentally latched herself onto. He made her feel grounded and safe in a world that was everything the opposite. He gave everyone in the village a figure to aspire to, and she was no exception. His advice was wise beyond his years and compassionate down to his core.

He was funny and kind and a ray of light in a place that desperately needed one.

She would miss him dearly. More than she could put into words.

Without notice, she felt tears welling up, and Naruto finally looked from the colors on the walls and stared her in the eyes, seeing the strain in her mind and giving her a soft smile of understanding. A tear fell and he used his thumb to wipe it away from her cheek, only causing another to run down her other cheek.

Lily found herself embraced in a hug whose warmth she couldn't describe, and for the first time in a very long time, let herself cry. She wrapped her arms around his torso and held on as tight as she could, hoping that if she didn't let go, he wouldn't leave.

Naruto felt the desperation in her touch and lightly stroked her head, whispering words of comfort to her. He didn't try to stop her crying. It was something that she needed. A bittersweet end to the nights that were for only the two of them.

The odyssey to the capital was harsh and nostalgic for Naruto. It reminded him of his treks to and from the Hidden Villages, when terrain would change abruptly and weather conditions always bordered their climates' extremes.

He even found the constant bickering of his two companions charming to some extent, reminded of himself and Sasuke in their youth. Though he broke up their quarrels if they ever went too far, he concluded that a healthy rivalry between the two was exactly what they needed to grow stronger.

Hell, if it worked for Sasuke and him – as horrifically dysfunctional as it was – why couldn't it work for another two of similar standing?

Before long the dirt paths gave way to cobblestone roads as an enormous walled city bounded into view. Asta – as with most things – was utterly enthralled by the sight along with Yuno, who kept his expression on a much tighter leash.

It was far different from the Leaf, yet Naruto enjoyed the familiar feeling of an energetic town ripe with patriotism and sincerity, nonetheless.

Their journey finally came to a close when the trio entered the large brick archway of the examination arena. Once the boys had breached the inner field, things instantly took a turn for the chaotic.

For one reason or another, the captains of the knights saw it fit to use some rare species of bird to make initial examinations of the magic levels of the prospective recruits. Within seconds, both Asta and Naruto were flocked with dozens of avians, indicating their severe lack of magic reserves. The conduct with which the birds conducted themselves, however, was the difference between night and day.

Asta ran fervently around the arena, desperately trying to save his face and shoulders from being nicked by the birds' beaks. It drew a small laugh from Naruto and a pitiful smile from Yuno.

The birds flocking on the sage, however, instead perched on his shoulders and head, nuzzling into him as if seeking warmth. He surmised that it was due to his connection with nature energy, and instead of swatting them away, carefully reached into his pack and pulled a loaf of stale bread from his travel rations, tearing pieces off and letting the birds peck at them as they pleased.

This action did not go unnoticed by a certain man in the sea of children, who, before he could make his way towards Naruto, was run into by the turbulent mass that was Asta. Within seconds, Asta was grabbed by the face and lifted into the air.

With all eyes in the arena on Asta and the man, Naruto let ring another laugh at the expense of his companion. If this was what the capitol would be like every day, he was sure that he could come to enjoy it.

When the commotion ended with the large man disappearing into the corridors outside of the field, a fanfare of cheers and applause erupted, drawing Naruto's eyes from the birds on his shoulders to the seats adorning the upper deck of the seats in the colosseum. There stood nine figures, among which was the man who had disciplined Asta not moments ago.

Most of the birds flew away at the start of the noise, leaving only those still gorging themselves on Naruto's rations, seemingly unaware that their brethren had already evacuated. The sage took this time to have a seat on the ground, easing himself into a lotus position and still happily enjoying the company of his new friends while absentmindedly listening to what a man in the balcony was saying.

Soon the helmeted man shouted some incantation and a hole seemed to open in the sky. From it descended the roots of a tree, which molded and perversed themselves into the shapes of brooms – a single broom for each of the participants.

After a broom was laid gently on the ground in front of him, Naruto dismissed the rest of the test after hearing the rules. He could fly, sure. Throw on his Six Paths Sage Mode and he could probably hit Mach one by the time the rest of the examinees could mount their brooms.

Yet, he felt no need. This wasn't the place to pull out some divine power and show his superiority over those who were testing with him. He didn't need to outshine anybody here at the art of broom straddling.

Rather, while the other candidates were trying to maintain what little balance they could manage in the air – or, in Asta's case, attempting to achieve liftoff – he stayed seated, feeding and stroking the birds around him, content with failing this part of the examination. He had heard that the last stage was a mock battle test, and that was where his true colors would shine.

His inactivity, however, did not go unnoticed by the Captains watching. A majority cast him aside as either a talentless wannabe, while others cursed his seeming disrespect for the sacred rite that was being administered to him.

Only three Captains had no such thoughts, all watching him speculatively in their own right.

How is it those birds are so passive towards him? I already know he has little to no magic power, but shouldn't they be attacking him rather than coddling him? William thought.

How is this child so content with completely blowing the first part of the exam? Charlotte thought.

I wanna fight this guy, Yami thought.

There was something about him, Yami saw, that none of the other potential recruits had. Though he looked carefree, his guard was up. The blonde's hand was constantly hovering a pouch on his right thigh, which the captain assumed contained some type of weapon. Furthermore, if the other captains looked closer, they could see the boy's eyes constantly darting around the arena. What he was searching for one could only guess, but somehow, Yami knew.

Escape routes, strategic points, evacuation plans. He sized each and every one of us up the moment he laid eyes on us. Our physical capabilities, blind spots, fighting styles based on physicality. He has the fortitude of a seasoned veteran.

Yami took the last drag of his cigarette, flicked it on the floor and stomped it out. He formed a relaxed smile and let the smoke billow through his teeth with the exhales of a chuckle.

This kid is something else, I can already tell.

Naruto soon sent the birds away, with the test ending poorly for both he and Asta. Soon many other tests followed.

Shooting magic into a brick wall? Naruto didn't think he had many techniques that would suffice for the task without obliterating a large chunk of the floor as well.

Hitting moving targets? He sent out a few kunai which all hit bullseye, but he could tell it wasn't quite what the captains were looking for.

Create a small figure with magic? A little wood style would've done the trick, but he didn't need them to think he was related to that tree-magic user in anyway. So, Naruto piled up some small rocks into a small tower, excitedly showing Asta and Yuno how high he could get it until it toppled to the ground with the placement of a small pebble at the apex.

The trio laughed a bit at the antics, much to the dismay of many of the captains watching. Still, Naruto was happy to give Asta a bit of relief from the frustration he was surely going through.

Finally, the last test was announced. A mock battle between participants to ascertain their fighting capabilities. Naruto took a look at both Yuno and Asta. Yuno held his calm demeanor well, most likely entirely confident in his capabilities. Naruto was certain that whoever was unfortunate enough to fight the kid would regret it for the next few days.

He felt the same for Asta but looking at the boy told a different story than Yuno's confidence. He must have been shell-shocked at his lack of ability in all of the previous tests. It was most certainly draining whatever poise he had regarding his capabilities.

Naruto took the opportunity to put his arm around Asta's shoulder and whisper closely into his ear.

"Listen to me, Asta. You've been preparing your whole life for this moment. You know as well as I do that with your physical prowess and that sword of yours, you'd mop the floor with any of these chumps. So, stick your chest out, keep your head up, and wipe those smug looks off of everyone's faces, alright?"

Asta looked over at Naruto and his defeated face became a feral grin. He nodded sharply, his confidence coming back to him, and he entered the arena for his bout.

And what a slaughter it was. Just as Naruto had predicted, Asta took the kid out in a single hit, erasing all doubts about his power to any of those in attendance.

Yuno came later, cementing his prodigal status and earning the respect he deserved from the captains.

Soon most of the fights had ended, with Naruto standing alone in the center of the arena. The sound conclusion of the examinees was that they would rather stick with fighting the magic that they had seen during the exam than risk fighting the foreigner who could handle weapons. Even with the assurance that he had little to no magic power, an unknown threat was not one that you should jump into.

A good conclusion in Naruto's eyes.

Yet, there were no more recruits to be tested save for him, and he stood relaxed, staring up at the captains, wondering what their solution for this problem would be.

"So, uh, I wouldn't happen to just get a freebie and pass this part, would I?" Naruto joked.

He could tell that they didn't find it funny, so he turned to the other participants and scanned for any willing challengers.

"Anybody want to go again?" he asked.

He immediately heard the sound of a wooden chair creaking as he turned to the balcony. Getting up from his seat was the man who had a run-in with Asta before the tests had begun. He towered over the rest of the captains, wearing a tattered black cloak over his dirt-ridden tank top.

The man hopped the railing and landed with a resounding thud a few meters away from where Naruto was standing. He took a drag from a cigarette and blew the smoke, walking slow paces towards where Naruto was standing.

"If nobody wants him, I'll take him," Yami said.

Most of the examinees cowered backwards in fear at the sight of the man. He protruded a dark aura, one that Naruto could compare to the killing intent of Zabuza. He was obviously trying to frighten Naruto into backing out, but with hard head like Naruto had, there was always something to prove to an opponent who thought themselves superior. Instead, Naruto gave a genuine smile at the challenge.

Many of the captains began harsh whispers between themselves, wondering what Yami's plan through all of this was. The whispers were cut quiet as William raised his hand. He stood from his seat and peered at the two from his perch.

"This is quite unprecedented," the captain said. "Normally there would be another participant willing to fight again or we would have a junior knight on standby in cases of odd numbers. Yet, I'm interested to see what your answer to the provocation is, Mr.…?"

"Uzumaki," Naruto replied. "Naruto Uzumaki. And yeah, I think I'd like to have a go at the big guy. He seems strong."

Yami and William smiled at this. They both liked a guy who wouldn't back down from a challenge, no matter how insurmountable the odds.

William sat back down. "Then I see no reason to deny this request. Yami, don't hurt the boy too much."

"Sure thing," Yami replied grinning.

The combatants both turned to face each other, both eager to cross fists.

Naruto raised his voice. "I can tell that's a nice katana you have strapped to your waist. Wanna go with just swords for a bit?"

Yami would've grinned harder if his face would allow it. Instead it contorted into something that looked much more sinister. Still, Naruto wasn't lost on the sentiment. Yami nodded, unsheathing his sword and holding it to his side.

Naruto in turn let his right hand open wide, from which an abnormally long chokuto emerged from thin air, shocking everybody in the arena. There were murmurs of spatial magic and teleportation, all of which Naruto ignored. It had been thousands of years since he had faced any sort of challenge, and while he wasn't proud to admit it, he loved the thrill of a good battle.

Naruto and Yami locked eyes, and when the holler cried out for them to begin, they both dashed at each other.

From the initial speed that Yami held, Naruto could tell that he was using some type of magic to bolster his physical capabilities. Probably something similar to channeling chakra in certain body parts to augment your movement and power.

Still, Naruto wasn't a slacker when it came to physical conditioning, and he readily met the speed at which Yami began his assault.

They launched into their respective patterns, with Yami aiming for powerful attacks or parries to precede them. Naruto on the other hand favored evasion, weaving between strikes to find some sort of opening; and to Yami's credit, those openings were few and far between.

It wasn't just that the guy practiced. Naruto could tell this man had seen real battle. He had learned his weaknesses firsthand by way of getting wounded in a fight. He had the heart of a warrior – one that had both given and received countless blows.

But so did Naruto.

And this man was a few millennia too early to challenge a sage.

Twenty seconds of furious slashing had past, and Naruto was finally able to slip through the man's guard and aim a thrust to his chest. Noticing his fault, Yami's reflexes kicked in and his sword was suddenly coated in black magic energy, gaining speed and aiming its trajectory at Naruto's throat.

Feeling the sword getting closer, Naruto abandoned his attack and leapt away, landing in a crouch nearly five meters from his opponent. He looked up grinning, both excited by the fight and prideful that he had pushed the man this far. He now ascertained the purely physical capacity of the man.

"I guess the swords only rule is off the table now?" Naruto asked.

Instead of answering, Yami didn't relent in his attack, sprinting forward at the ninja.

Great battle sense. Don't ease off the attack. If he had, I would have beaten him there, Naruto thought.

His chokuto disappeared into his right hand again, and in its place came five kunai, each with a corked handle coated in strange black markings. He stood up lightly and waited for Yami to diminish the gap between them. When the captain was just close enough to begin his sword swing, Naruto shot the kunai into the ground, forming a tight pentagon around them both.

Instantaneously, when Yami closed the distance between them and entered the ring of knives, Naruto disappeared in a blinding yellow flash, causing Yami to squint his eyes for a split second. In any normal fight, that split second would've been negligible due to the captain's reaction time. However, in this moment, that split second was all that Naruto needed to secure his victory.

The minute the flash erupted Yami felt a boot collide with his left temple. Once the impact had set, he immediately felt another shot straight in the solar plexus. Another in the right cheek. A knife cut through his arm. A fist to the ribs. A roundhouse to the back. An uppercut. Finally, a kick to the back of the leg forced him to a knee, which brought his head right to the level of a haymaker that sent him barreling across the field into the brick wall.

He slammed to the ground in a heap, trying to register just what the hell had happened. He painfully turned his head to where he was just standing and saw Naruto gingerly picking up the knives that he had thrown into the ground. Once finished securing them, he made his way over to the man he had just pummeled, and in a show of respect, offered a hand for Yami to get up with.

Yami eyed the smiling man standing above him, in absolute disbelief at what had just occurred. One minute he was poised to strike a lethal blow, and the next minute he was fifty feet away in a crater of the boy's making.

He couldn't help but laugh. The man let out a hysterical fit of laughter as he took the boys hand to get himself up. His laughter was occasionally disrupted by grunts of pain, and when he fumbled due to the strain on his legs, Naruto helped him steady himself, smiling while looking up at the captain.

"So does this mean I pass?"

Yami laughed harder at that. He had Naruto help him turn to the balcony and look up at the rest of the Captains. When his laughter died, all that was left was a smile far brighter than any of his comrades had seen him make.

"I want this kid," Yami said.

Many of the captains still sat in disbelief at what had transpired. The only evidence that anything had happened in the last stretch of the fight were a few seconds of blinding golden light followed by Yami being catapulted into the side of the arena.

Fuegoleon was the first to voice his disbelief.

"Did that boy just beat Yami?"

Muttered words of 'There's no way' and 'I can't believe it' were traded between the captains as William stood from his seat. While his composure was that of a usual stoic commander, his inner thoughts were a turmoil of confusion and attempts at figuring out what the hell this kid just did.

There were very few things that registered in his eye during the final confrontation. He knew that there were multiple flashes of the golden light, each followed by Yami receiving a devastating blow. The amount of power to send Yami hurdling away must have been tremendous – an even more surprising feat given the absolute lack of magic power the boy was deemed to have.

He collected his thought as best he could and raised his voice to make announcements.

"The winner of the final match is Naruto Uzumaki! Now, if all participants would gather in the center of the arena so that we may give you our placement offerings."

While the participants entered the arena – most keeping their distance from the blond-haired monstrosity who just demolished a seasoned veteran – a boy suddenly erupted from the corridors under the stadium seating, sprinting over to Yami.

"Captain Yami! Are you okay?" he yelled.

Nearing the pair of fighters, the boy took Yami from Naruto, letting him lean on his shoulder for support. Naruto stayed put as the guy took Yami into the corridors again, either for medical treatment or to take him back to the balcony for the placements.

While disappearing into the darkened hallways, Yami gave a wave to Naruto over his shoulder.

"That was fun, kid. Let's do it again next time when I don't go easy on ya."

Naruto chuckled at that. "Anytime old man. I haven't kicked someone's ass like that in a while."

Yami muttered something inaudible under his breath and he soon dispersed into the halls, reappearing on the balcony of the stadium as the boy with him helped him into his seat.

Every captain was staring at him, expecting some sort of inane excuse as to why he lost a physical battle – his specialty – to a boy barely out of his teens.

Yami, however, wasn't one for excuses at that point. When he realized he had the attention of each of his peers, he gave an exasperated sigh, leaning back into his chair as easily as he could to dull the pain.

"What do you want?" he asked rhetorically. "The kid was just that good."

The group grew even more distraught at learning that this wasn't just some ploy where Yami had taken it incredibly easy on his opponent. Before they could launch into a barrage of questions, Yami silenced them with another thought.

"I've never met somebody who could completely overwhelm me like that. I didn't lose because I did poorly. Hell, I got serious the minute I felt his first sword blow. I lost because that Naruto brat is leagues ahead of me in terms of physical combat."

"But just what was that power that he used?" Charlotte asked.

Yami narrowed his eyebrows. "I have no clue. One moment I had him, the next I was on the ground and hurting bad. Feel free to go see for yourself," he added.

With the discourse dying down in the box, the selection began. Many prospects received no offers from a squad. Some received one. Even fewer received more than that.

Naruto grew excited for Yuno when he got his choice of whatever squad he wanted and was equally as elated when Asta received an offer from the man that Naruto had beaten. They had finally achieved the first steps of their dreams, and he was thrilled to be able to witness each of them coming into their own.

When Naruto had stepped into the center of the arena for one final time, he could feel the eyes of each individual in the premises boring into him. William hesitated for a moment, then finally raised his voice.

"Number 166!"

Each captain shot their hand upward with blinding speed. It surprisingly took Naruto a little off-guard. He had expected offers from most – if not, all – of the captains, but the enthusiasm with which they were pursuing him was quite astonishing.

Still, without having known who would give him offers, he didn't put too much thought into who he would join. Now that he had his pick, he was able to narrow it down to two options.

The whole plan to fix the aristocracy could very well ride on whatever choice he made here. So he had to consider which story would read better to the masses: an unknown foreign commoner rising through the ranks of the Golden Dawn to become a prominent figure in society, washing away the prejudices as to what a commoner could achieve; or an unknown foreign commoner joining the misfit ranks of the Black Bulls, helping to raise the Bulls' reputation from a squad of nobodies to the most elite force in the kingdom.

Now that he thought about it, the answer was quite obvious to him.

He gave a smile as he yelled to the captains. "Thanks for all the offers guys but I think I'm going to have to go with-"

His sentence was cut short as a gentle hand was placed on his shoulder.

"Now now, Mr. Uzumaki. I wouldn't be too hasty with your choice."

Audible gasps quelled the silence that once dominated the arena. Naruto turned to look at the man who had interrupted him, standing face to face with a figure he thought he wouldn't meet for at least another few months.

"Lord Julius?" Naruto commented. "I wasn't aware that the standing Wizard King presided over the recruitment exams."

Julius gave an innocent smile and a look into Naruto's eyes that read: You know exactly why I'm here.

"Well usually they wouldn't. However, I heard of some special talent beating a Captain in a duel and thought that I'd come have a private chat with the young man."

He gestured towards the exit of the arena.

"Why don't you come with me and we can talk a bit before you decide which squad to join."

Naruto didn't have much reason to hesitate other than the worries of government officials searching through his mind. He opted against his qualms, however, electing that a one-on-one chat with the current most powerful wizard wouldn't be an unwelcome experience to elevate his current standing.

"Sure thing," Naruto replied, following the man from the center of the field, only leaving those in attendance more confused, more shocked, and more enviable.

A comment from Yami gave concrete sound to the thought that every person was working their head around.

"What the hell was up with that?"