"Never again..." the perverted boy mumbled darkly, twitching once for good measure. "Never again..."
Meanwhile, the human nun was healing most of his wounds, but it became obvious that his pride was what was most damaged at the moment.
Koneko supposed that he really couldn't be blamed...it wasn't like anyone told him that she had a sadistic streak.
"Ok...! That was...the last one...right?"
The rook was almost afraid to look at the red-headed duo, but her curiosity eventually got the better of her and allowed her to see this incoming spectacle.
"Oh come on Mio-chan..." Rias drawled lightly, waving a small fire on her finger with a tiny magic circle. "You yourself said that you wanted to be stronger. You need to keep going."
"Yeah I did!" Mio growled. "But not to the point of suicide!"
"Oh...you're exaggerating! You can handle this, you just need the support to push you to move beyond your limits! Which is why I'm doing this! For your sake." the high-class devil insisted, pushing the little flame closer to a piece of paper that was on the wall right next to her.
"Then why do you look like you're enjoying this so much!?"
Rias quickly hid the smile on her lips.
"...For your sake!" the Gremory heiress declared, pushing the little fire close to the note.
"DAMN IT!"
As if on cue, several blurs emerged from the note, rocketing straight towards the half-devil that was more than a little ways away.
Mio ducked the second that her evil sempai activated the seal, her hair fluttering behind her as the small projectiles flew over her head harmlessly.
The projectiles? Rocks.
...Really Naruto...?
Although she dodged the initial volley, more rocks kept getting shot out of the seal, at rapid-fire. Forcing the young red-head to make split-second decisions to move, forcing her eyes and general senses to keep up.
Her reaction time.
Rias beamed with pride as her kohai continued to dodge the incoming rocks that were set against her. She was getting better at avoiding them...it was nice for them to do this every now and again. For a sempai to aid their kohai in times of need, to help prepare them for the world with such exercises.
It was definitely very nice.
"Evil! You hear me Rias-sempai!? EVIL!"
It was also an excellent excuse to tease her relentlessly.
"Ara...it seems that Buchou is enjoying herself quite a bit, eh Koneko-chan?" Akeno noted, glancing at her companion.
The rook could only sigh, did she really expect all of them to do anything different?
Then she perked up, looking around.
"...Where's Kiba-kun?"
The queen frowned at the question, her happy demeanor evaporating. "Unfortunately...we aren't really sure. He said that he would be here but...well, he never came. It's quite worrying."
Koneko's lips twitched downwards, just what was he up to...?
"Hey! Akeno-san!" Issei called out, walking towards the two devils despite still being covered in soot. "Can you...?"
"Use you as my test subject? Of course! As a matter of fact...it'd be my pleasure." Akeno stated with a dark grin growing on her face.
The pawn shook his head back and forth so fast that the rook thought that he was about to snap it off. "No! No, no, no, no, no! Not that! I meant...well...the training that Mio-san is doing...I want to do it too!"
The black-haired devil raised an interested eyebrow. "You sure? I'm not as nice as Buchou you know?"
Issei shivered, not as nice as Buchou...?
Brown eyes trailed back to the desperate dodging of Naruto's sister, her face the picture of overwhelming physical exertion.
But he swallowed his fears, giving his sempai a determined glare.
"I'm ready."
Akeno nodded slowly, accepting his willingness to die- she meant train.
"Ok then." the queen stated simply, before turning her head slightly to regard the rook besides her. "You want to train as well?"
Koneko's eyes snapped to curious purple, before trailing to determined brown.
The young reincarnated devil closed her eyes, remembering why she had to get stronger, what was really at stake when that natural energy invaded her senses.
...This would help too, strength wasn't everything.
"...Yes, please."
"Anything yet?"
The spy of the Hero Tribe shook his head slowly. "No, he's staying quiet. Too quiet. By this point...it's likely that he decided to get some rest. We probably won't hear from him until tomorrow."
Cao Cao nodded slowly. "...And his allies?"
"They're under my scope, and if I were to take an educated guess by checking the general direction of their movements...I'd say that they're heading to Kyoto. Are you going to stop them?"
The hero leader shook his head slowly, eyes scrunched. "No...they're no doubt going to try to solve the misunderstanding that Uzumaki caused with the yokai faction. By the time that they reach Kyoto itself...it should already be too late to do anything about it."
A single eye opened up to reveal a red slit, filled with nothing but sharp cunning. "Are you sure that's all you want to do with them?"
Cao Cao faltered slightly, eyeing his spy in the Hero Tribe with interest.
"...You know something I don't?"
The young sensor shrugged helplessly. "I might, but I agonize over whether I should tell you, as it would undoubtedly cause a major shift in your plans."
The black-haired descendant of the great hero; Cao Cao, leaned closer, interested. "Come now, don't keep me in suspense. Tell me."
The brown-haired spy glanced at his leader, acquiescing shortly after doing so. "...Uzumaki's 'hero' ally that your...'servant' spoke about. Her energy signal is extraordinarily familiar...so familiar that I actually focused on her for a few moments and...discovered something very interesting."
Cao Cao's eyes narrowed, what was he-?
"It's her...your old apprentice...it's her."
Black eyes widened in absolute shock, that was...
Cao Cao took a couple of steps back, completely shell-shocked by the discovery. She was here...? Of all places? As Uzumaki's ally?
Unwittingly, a dark chuckle began to escape his lips, growing in it's volume and intensity with every second that passed. Until it reached it's apex with a full-blown hysterical laugh that rang across the field that the heroes were occupying.
It took several moments for Cao Cao to regain control of himself again, but when he did, his eyes were more than a little predatory. "That is interesting~ Thank you for bringing this to my attention...Shiba."
Shiba grinned. "Of course, who am I to interrupt such a...momentous occasion? The question is then...what are you going to do?"
The young hero leader shot his ally a grin. "...Test her of course, learn about how much she's grown over the years. As for Uzumaki himself...well, I'm setting up a strike force to deal with him the moment that he reveals himself."
A red slit eye widened fractionally. "Really? You're not going to deal with him yourself? Is that wise?"
Cao Cao simply shrugged. "That's not the point. I'm not sending them to him to...'deal' with him. I'm sending them there to weaken him. If they manage to defeat him on the other hand...then he simply wasn't worth the effort anyways."
Shiba couldn't help but smile. "You'd throw your heroes at Uzumaki...possibly get them all killed...all to weaken and make sure that he's worth your effort? How dark."
The former apprentice of the Great Hero could only smirk in self-satisfaction.
"Is it not a hero's duty...to die for the greater good?"
.
.
.
🎉The novel is available in PDF with more than 400 chapters, visit us in our Ko-Fi store🎉
🎉ko-fi.com/gokublack444🎉