Yo,

Happy New Year, guys. Have a great and prosperous year ahead.

Here is the next chapter of Shadow Light. Hope you share your feedback with me.

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"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 18

Sparring Match

The week went by without any hitch and soon the day came for Naruto to spar with Rias and Sona. As scheduled, they all met at the Occult Research Club room to talk.

Meanwhile, Naruto started training Kana, his new Rook, in Wind manipulation. Her control on the element was basic and he started with leaf cutting exercise and instructed her to cut the leaf with her wind magic alone. Her progress was good and she managed to cut halfway through the leaf in 4 days. He told her to continue her training and came here.

"So, where are we gonna do it?" Asked Naruto, Reni dutifully standing behind him.

"Usually we practise in the woods behind this building. Since your building also added, I think that gives us enough space to spar," said Rias and Sona nodded in agreement.

"We cover the area in a barrier to repel anyone who tries to enter," said Sona, continuing Rias explanation.

"Well, in that case, I don't have any problem sparring with you," said Naruto and they made their way to the woods behind their buildings.

Naruto scanned the area, it was at least half a kilometre wide with buildings covering it from the entrance of the school and wide enough to spar for him. Naruto nodded in approval to Rias and Sona.

"Ok, what are the rules of the spar?"

"Our normal rules are-

1. No killing allowed

2. Should fight with the intent to kill

3. No holding back

4. Quit or Knockout of their opponents will win" said Sona.

"But as we are going 2 on 1, we change them a bit. The first 3 apply but in the 4th one, if we hit you 3 continuous hits each, or combined hit you 10 times continuously, you lose. The same applies to you. You hit us 10 times continuously or 3 times individually. And the knockout rule will be the same" said Rias with a confident smirk. Naruto smirked at them in return.

"Yes, I agree with them. But I say we fight until I beat you or you beat me. I appoint Reni-chan as our proctor. Whatever she says according to rules will apply" said Naruto with finality and they both agreed though they had other people in mind to appoint as proctor.

'This will be beneficial for me. If Reni is made proctor then she should concentrate on 3 of us to keep track of our movement and can't observe me and Rias fully. And my peerage and Rias peerage can read Naruto's moves and get a good understanding of his moves and techniques' thought Sona in glee. Though Rias didn't think in that way, she also thought along those lines.

'Finally, I get the chance to test his strength and see whether he can be useful for me or not' thought the Redhead in joy. She is going to escape that God (ouch) forsaken marriage and will do whatever it takes to do that.

"Ready, Begin," said Reni and the fight began. Reni made a barrier around the battlefield that blocks anyone from outside entering and Naruto made another barrier around the area to restrict the damage.

Naruto remembered what he knew of their magics from his knowledge as 'Jiraiya'. As a descendent of the union between Bael and Gremory Clans, Rias has large demonic reserves and can use the Bael Clan's revered Power of Destruction(PoD).

'Power of Destruction: A unique form of demonic power that allows the user to release energies that can disintegrate matter, both living and inanimate, with relative ease. It grants its users great explosive power and can completely annihilate things when used properly.

The Power of Destruction is said to be a very difficult power to defend against due to its erasure properties, as the most effective way to guard against it would be to counter the destruction blast with ranged attacks' said an article Jiraiya read on PoD. The Bael Clan or the Gremory Clan didn't make any efforts to limit the information as they saw their PoD as a matter of pride. Naruto had a good idea as to how to deal with it. As for Sona Sitri, her Water Manipulation as a member of the Sitri Clan is not new.

'Sona's demonic power specializes in water manipulation. A form of Magic that revolves around the use of water, under the users command to employ for various purposes. Depending on its use, the caster generates large volumes of water into various shapes and forms'. Water manipulation is not something new for Naruto as he can use Water Style himself and know how to deal with it.

With a plan made, he waited for the girls to attack and after some time of no moment, they attacked him head-on and started with Taijutsu.

Both Sona and Rias are by no means weak, but when you compare it to a war-hardened and alien fought Naruto with tons of battle experience, they were like children trying to fight professional fighters.

Naruto held back a lot as he is just a clone, but he is strong enough to go toe to toe with an Ultimate Class Devil and Sona and Rias are not Ultimate Class level in hand to hand combat when combined.

The Clone won the match with his fast reflexes and agility. Rias and Sona tried their best, but couldn't give him any competition and they soon learned this.

"You are physically strong," said Rias.

"I must admit. All your medals in martial arts are for nothing I guess" said Sona as she saw Naruto's achievements in Martial Arts from his documents and the Clone smirked at them.

"Thank you for your compliments, girls. But our spar is not over I suppose" said Naruto as he saw both Rias's and Sona's bodies lit with their respective magic circles and their magic form in their hands.

Rias's fists were engulfed in PoD while Sona's body was protected with water-like armour. Naruto smiled at that. Compared to Sona's mastery over her magic, Rias's has far to be desired.

But in terms of raw strength, Rias's PoD out matches Sona's water and their properties were completely different. He knew how to deal with them.

"Good. You are not as foolish as I thought" he said and his body was lit with an orange magic circle. Rias and Sona got a tingling sensation. They got this primal urge to run and never to return.

This perplexed Sona and Rias. They only feel like this when they are close to a church or a holy object. But they were near neither of them. They wanted to move, but something kept them in place. Before they could conclude, a voice spoke from the darkness.

"This is called Shadow Binding. A technique that binds any enemy with their Shadow. Everything you felt was a part of that" said Naruto with a smirk. Though he activated his Light Magic to give them a good experience of how it feels like to be near light magic user, he chose not to push it any further. And so he bluffed by saying everything is part of the attack.

Rias and Sona sighed in relief. They didn't feel that much pressure in a long time. It felt as if being crushed under a mountain or even worse.

"That was overboard, Naruto-kun," said Reni in a chiding tone. As a Human-Devil, Light doesn't affect her as much as any normal Devil and as she is a member of Naruto's peerage, she is completely resistant to light or holy magic. That's one of the new things they discovered recently.

Though even Reni doesn't know the full power of Naruto's sacred gear as he just told her it is part of his Sacred Gear powers. She didn't ask him. She had faith in him and that's enough to counter any unnecessary questions that rose in her mind.

"Hehehe. Sorry" apologised Naruto with a smile.

"That's fair I guess. We said not to hold back" said Sona in a stern tone, managing to compose herself in the gap. All their build-up magic was lost due to their lack of concentration.

"Yes, I think he followed the rules" agreed Rias. Reni gave in to them and the spar continued. Sona and Rias switched to Magical attacks instead of Hand to hand and other types and Sona attacked first.

"Hawks," said Sona and attacked Naruto with various hawks made of water. The hawks dove in on Naruto only to be dispelled by Naruto's attack.

"Water Style: Water Bullet," said Naruto and sent bullets made of pressurised water towards the diving hawks and dispelling them.

"Lions," said Sona and sent Lions made of water towards Naruto only to have the same fate.

"Serpents"

"Wolves," said Sona and sent multiple water Serpents and Wolves towards Naruto.

"Water Style: Raging Water Wave," said Naruto and a large water wave killed all of the wolves and some remaining serpents with its attack. Sona got annoyed and used the most powerful spell in her Arsenal.

"Dragons," she said and large snake-like Dragons rose to the sky. They are long and flexible with large blue scales and yellow eyes looking at Naruto with anger. Naruto got excited here.

Because of his mastery over all elements and Rinnegan, he doesn't need to use Hand Seals to attack. This was amazing. The Water Dragons Sona made were so good. It has a large agile body with lots of raw power to attack its enemy.

"That was a good move Sona-chan" appreciated Naruto and did a similar attack.

"Water Style: Raging Dragon Blast," said Naruto. A similar Dragon was made and it flew at high speeds towards the Water Dragon made by Sona. Sona's Dragon moved out of the way from the attack. The attack missed and flew past it.

Naruto's water Dragon changed its course and attacked Sona again only for the Dragon to stand guard and take the hit head-on. It disappeared into water drops because of the force of the attack.

Not deterred by this, Sona went on the offensive and made few more Water Dragons. They are very flexible, agile and strong. They also cost a lot of magic for Sona, but because of her control, she can make them easily.

Currently, her limit is 50 Water Dragons which she aims to improve. Naruto also continued making different water Jutsu to counteract all the water Dragons Sona is making. The attack was powerful to dispel his own Raging Dragon Blast and still stand to fight.

It was fun, he must admit. It's been a long time since he had this much fun in battle as all the battles he fought were either to kill his enemy or to extract something out of them.

'Maybe coming here was not a total waste after all' thought the Clone. He was fully engaged with her and as a result, a battle of attrition ensued. Naruto won at last because of his high stamina and magic capacity.

"That was great, Sona-chan," said Naruto with a smile. The smile was neither mocking nor insulting. It was a genuine smile that made Sona happy for some reason.

"Yes, thank you" she replied curtly and fell back to get healed. Their spar lasted for 30 minutes and now it's Rias's turn. As they have decided to fight one on one with Naruto and later fight 2 on 1.

"It's my turn then," said Rias happily and jumped in. Naruto strengthened the barrier he made as Rias's magic had a corrosive property.

"Well then, as Sona is out, now it is Rias's turn," said Reni in an all too happy tone to all the spectators who were namely Rias and Sona's peerage members.

"Begin," said Reni as she stepped back from the imaginary ring. As Rias already fought in hand to hand combat, she knew his physical strength.

"I'm not going to be foolish to fight you again hand to hand. I know even with my magic enhancing my body, you'll win" said Rias in a solemn tone. She didn't concede to anyone till now as she won most of the spars. If she lost any, they were only if the opponent is a member of her brother's or parents peerage. She took them as lessons and didn't count them in.

"What do you want to fight me with then?" Asked Naruto. Though he knew she was smart, he thought her to be impulsive and jump into situations that were over the top of her head.

"Magic, of course," she said with a smirk and her body was engulfed with red and black tint and her magic was unleashed full force on Naruto. Naruto gave her a predatory smirk.

"Yes, your magic is good. Well then, I'll fight you with magic as well" said Naruto and a green magic circle lit in his hands and the atmosphere changed.

"Demolition Blast," said Rias as she sent PoD blasts towards Naruto. The Green magic circle in his hand brightened and trees sprouted out in front of him and guarded him against the destructive blasts.

"Wood Style: Wood Wall," said Naruto.

"Wood magic? Do you know wood magic as well?" Asked Rias in shock. Out of all the effective methods to counter PoD, Wood magic is the most effective one in all elemental magics as Wood magic creates and enhances life, it can decrease the damage caused by PoD and even grow the damaged areas back because of its creative properties.

"Oh my, I didn't tell you that, huh. Sorry '' said Naruto with a smile. He got Wood-style when Kurama ascended from Kyuubi to Juubi as its true form being the Shinju (God Tree). He can use Wood Style even better than Madara and Hashirama as the latter himself taught Naruto how to use Wood Style when Naruto called him back from the pure world for that purpose and mastered after that in his long life.

"I'm not gonna give up just so you have a good counter to my magic" shouted Rias and prepared some more blasts and bullets and threw them towards Naruto.

Naruto didn't move but the trees grew in front of him blocked them all and in return attacked Rias.

"Wood Style: Wood-Dragon Jutsu," said Naruto and Dragons made of Wood attacked Rias. In response, she covered her body in PoD and blasted them in all directions and disintegrated the Dragons.

"Absolute Ruin" shouted Rias as she had enough of this petty squabble. She got agitated by Naruto's treatment of her like a child and the area was engulfed in Red light as her PoD made its way towards Naruto.

"Mokuton Hijutsu: Jukai Kōtan" (Wood Style Secret Technique: Nativity of a World of Trees) said Naruto and trees started forming and unlike Naruto's previous attacks, the speed of their growth is rapid and in few seconds all the Absolute Ruin was absorbed and the arena became a dense forest, making Rias unable to see anyone. Before she could think and do anything, roots sprouted in front of her and captured her, restricting her moment and magic.

"Mokuton: Mokusatsu Shibari no Jutsu" (Wood Style: Silent Strangle Jutsu) whispered Naruto in her ear as he appeared behind her. All the forest cleared and the sparring area was perfectly fine, there is no trace of damage done to it from Rias's PoD or Sona's water attacks.

"Rias was caught. The winner is Naruto" declared Reni happily. Rias was released and went to Sona, who was mostly healed. As Devils, they can use healing magic and Tsubaki used her Magic to heal Sona. Her magic was also pretty much caught up to its capacity as she didn't use her 100% before.

As they are in the Human World, they were ordered to suppress their magic to not cause any damage and draw any unnecessary attention to them. But when they are in barriers like this, they can go all out and even then, Sona held back as they wanted to see Naruto's attacks to get a good read on the blonde only for the said Blonde to not give any information to them.

'It seems like he caught up to our plan of not going all out and so he played it cool by not using his Sacred Gear and only using some elemental magic. I must admit, he is strong while using them as well,' thought Sona, analysing the blonde enigma in front of her as he is talking to Reni.

'I must ask what they got on him during their observation,' thought Sona, noting to ask her peerage about their opinion on Naruto and his strength.

"Give me a few minutes, I'll be ready to fight," said Rias and Sona nodded. This battle went for just 20 minutes as Rias only had one type of attack and Naruto had a perfect counter for it. That holding back also applied to Rias.

'Yes, he is strong. With that water, he can even douse that douchebag's flames. With wood magic like that, I'm sure he can win a fight with that scum,' thought Rias, thinking of a certain Phenex Heir whom she is going to be a future wife of.

Meanwhile, With Jiraiya

Jiraiya and Katerea spent the week in fun and promised to talk things through next time.

"Are you sure you don't want to talk about that?" Asked a concerned Katerea. She spent a week with the man and he came so close to her heart, she didn't want to leave him.

"Didn't I tell you that we'll talk about it some other time?" Said Jiraiya with a smile. He remained true to his principles and wants to send his client satisfied and doesn't want to bring up that topic now.

"When?" She asked in a hopeful tone.

"Miya-chan will send you the invitation soon," said Jiraiya.

"That purple-haired one?"

"Yes, that one"

"Can I have it one more time?" Pleaded Katerea and Jiraiya gave her a passionate kiss and with that, they parted. In a Gold Magic circle, Katerea was teleported from the Island. Jiraiya changed back to his Naruto form.

"That was fun," he said aloud, not to anyone in particular.

"What are you gonna do now?" Asked Kurama. His connection with Naruto was restored as the purpose Naruto got here was completed.

"Hmm, I guess I'll pick my next piece," he said with a smirk.

"Meaning?"

"I'm going to visit our dear nurse"

"Wait, the Clone is currently engaged in a spar with those 2 bat girls and he narrated a good story about your Sacred Gear to them," said Kurama in a smug tone.

Generally, Naruto can communicate with his clones or anyone through Telepathy. But the sly fox interrupted before he could do that and started narrating things, enjoying himself while explaining.

After a complete explanation of what was going on, Naruto decided on a new course of action.

"Hmm, that was interesting. So he named it Abyss Shadow, huh. Good name. But I'm not changing my plan now" he said and teleported to Kuoh High school.

Naruto appeared a few kilometres above the school building and watched the spar. His Clone was taking a rest while Reni and peerage members of Sona and Rias were sparring. Sensing his presence, his clone looked up and their eyes met.

He just gave him a nod and passed orders through a clone and went on his way to the nurse quarters in the School building. He was greeted by a wooden door with the name 'Roygun' in the middle at the end of a corridor.

He changed his appearance to Jiraiya again and knocked on the door, twice. He heard footsteps on the other side and waited for the door to open.

"Yes, who is this?" Came a sweet female voice.

"Hello there, my name is Jiraiya, I'm here to talk to you," said Jiraiya, as he saw a strand of cherry blossom hair peeking through the gap of the door.

"Ah, Jiraiya-sama. It is good to see you in person. Please come in" she said as she opened the door and allowed Jiraiya in.

Jiraiya observed her. She is a beautiful young woman appearing in her twenties with long, wavy, cherry blossom hair. She wore a high-cut formal dress with high slits and had a well-endowed bust and slim waist. A doctor coat was on it, hiding what little it could.

Jiraiya went in and the door was closed immediately after his entry and he walked through a normal house with furniture and other necessities.

"I didn't think you would be here today as it is Sunday," said Jiraiya jovially.

"Yes, normally I wouldn't, but there was a small match going on behind the school. I came to watch it," she said in a calm tone, indirectly saying that she knew of supernatural and she knew who belongs to supernatural here and her appearance changed. 2 horns coming out of her head.

"That makes things simple," said Jiraiya, removing all the pretence of making small talk. Roygun took him to a coffee table and they both sat on opposite sides.

"So, what can I help you with today?"

"I'm here because of my curiosity," he said and Roygun rose an eyebrow at that.

"What made you curious, if I may ask?"

"Yes. I think you know my relationship with Naruto?"

"Yes, it was revealed at pitch dark midnight to the World. Why wouldn't I know that" she said as if Jiraiya was taking her for a fool?

"Good. When Naruto came to you last month, he felt something different about you. He got curious and asked me to learn more about you" said Jiraiya in a neutral tone.

"Did he get curious about me?" She said in glee. Roygun is into young men much like Kazehana and though she chided Naruto that day, she couldn't move her gaze from him. So hearing that her crush got curious about her made her happy, she would have jumped in joy if not for Jiraiya's presence in the room.

Jiraiya (Naruto) observed her expression closely. She got elated when she heard that he got curious and the glee in her eyes can't be mistaken.

"Yes. He got curious and asked me to investigate. I'm here to just learn some basic things about you and see if I could help you" said Jiraiya smoothly.

"What do you want to know?" She asked, dropping the stern facade.

"Just tell me who you are and what are you doing here," said Jiraiya.

"Fine, my name is Roygun Belphegor and I'm the former head of Belphegor Clan. I am a former ex-Ultimate Class Devil being a High-Class Devil now. I was ranked 2nd in the rating games and I love them-" before she could continue, Jiraiya stopped her.

"You say you were ranked 2nd in rating games?"

"Yes, after Diehauser Belial," she confirmed his question. An evil smile made its way to Jiraiya's face.

"Don't tell me you are thinking what I think it to be" asked Kurama, in worry.

"Yup, that's right," he said to his trusted companion.

"Shit. I can't help but pity those poor Bats" Kurama said in a resigned tone.

"Now, now. Don't be like that. You'll get your share of enjoyment from this, won't you?" Asked Naruto, fully aware of his partner's bipolar attitude.

"Hahahaha. Of course, I am" he said in a smug tone. Naruto and Kurama laughed like lunatics in his mind while Jiraiya stared at Roygun with a blank stare.

"Well, I guess that is good to hear. Please continue"

"I was banned from playing any rating games again and was disowned by my Clan," she said with a smile, but Jiraiya can see a tint of sadness in her eyes. And so she continued her tale.

"That's a pity that they can't understand you. How did you come here to Kuoh then?"

"It's one thing after another and I suddenly found myself in Kuoh with the help of Lucifer-sama and Leviathan-sama. They brought me and my peerage here a few years ago, but due to an unexpected attack a year ago, few of my peerage members died, while I sent the others away to keep them safe" she said in a sad tone now, a few tears forming in her eyes.

Jiraiya can understand why. For any King, their Peerage is everything and to loose such people who came close to your heart will definitely leave its mark in the King's heart. To willfully send others for their safety is also a great feat.

Being the kind of person he is and having a personal experience of losing a loved one, Jir-Naruto knew how it felt and completely understood the woman in front of him.

'She managed to endure such hardships, I'm gonna make her life better' thought Jiraiya.

"Are you going to change your plan?" Asked Kurama.

"Nope, it's not going to change, but it is going to be more effective than what I thought it would be," replied Naruto.

"Hmm, be careful, Naruto. You will walk on eggshells in this case" warned Kurama.

"Yes, my friend. I'll be careful" assured Naruto.

"I'm sorry if I have brought bad memories back, but I thank you for your help," said Jiraiya in a low tone, in sadness and gratitude.

"Don't worry about that. By the way, did Naruto-kun really get curious about me?" She asked in a cheerful tone.

"Yea. That's why I'm here. Keep your ears open, you might hear something from him soon" said Jiraiya and Roygun nodded at that. With a final goodbye, he vanished in a cloud of smoke.

"What a different personality. He is not the same as what I've heard" said Roygun and closed her door and went back to enjoy the sparring match.

With Clone Naruto

After a sparring match between their respective Peerages, which ended in a draw, the time came for the Kings to fight again, but this time it was serious.

"Relaxation time is up, Rias, Sona and Naruto-kun, can you please come here," asked Reni, taking her role as the proctor. The 3 Kings in question stepped with determined looks in the case of Rias and Sona and a calm look on Naruto's face.

"Ready, Begin," said Reni, cutting invisible air with the chop of her hand.

"Absolute Ruin" yelled Rias and blasted beams of PoD towards Naruto, not hold back anymore.

"Dragons," said Sona and sent a few Water Dragons towards Naruto. Naruto understood their serious intent and knew that the playtime was over. So he also used Shadow Magic instead of other magics he used before.

"Shadow Dragon's: Black Slash," said Naruto and a black wispy arc of shadow magic went towards the incoming attacks, dispersing them in all directions.

"Wow. That was a great counter-attack" said Rias in surprise.

"Yes, it managed to cut my Dragons as well," agreed Sona.

"I think we should use our most powerful attacks to peg him down," said Rias.

"Seems like it"

"On the count of 3," said Rias and Sona nodded.

"3,2,1"

"All Ruin" yelled Rias. All Ruin is her most powerful attack which has the raw PoD swirling within without any restrictions. She learnt it from her brother's attacks. All Ruin is the attack that gave her the title, Crimson Haired Ruin Princess in the Underworld.

She also learnt that the amount of control the user had in their magic, the more effective the attacks will be. But because of the chaotic nature of her PoD, she didn't have enough control to destroy everything.

"Sea Bed," said Sone. A large wave of water started to swirl in her hands and with a thrust, they were released at high velocities towards the Blonde boy. At her current level, Sona can destroy the town with this attack as the pressure of the attack is very high.

The attack has a high velocity with the pressure equivalent of the deep sea. The water was compressed to form this attack and can destroy anything in its way with its pressure alone.

Naruto was impressed by their strongest attacks. If Rias learn to control her magic, the attack she sent his way can destroy cities while Sona should concentrate on her power to reach the same level but she made up with her control.

Overall, their teamwork is good and their attacks are strong and he decided to show them his strongest attack as well. He started consuming air and his stomach expanded with the amount of 'Air' he inhaled.

"Abyss Decay'' said Naruto. Large amounts of shadows were released from his mouth towards the incoming attacks. The shadows engulfed the PoD and pressured water. It looked as if the shadows were eating the attacks.

Both attacks which were consumed were discharged into magic particles and the shadow disappeared from view.

Sona and Rias watched agape as their attacks were discharged into magic particles by Naruto. They didn't see anyone having a power like this to 'discharge' refined and nature changed magic like this.

"Well done, girls. You did well" said Naruto cheerfully.

"What! Does your magic discharge other magics?" Asked Rias in confusion.

"Didn't I tell you Skiadrum had developed a counter for Ddraig and Albion, this is that one. That's why it is called Abyss Shadow" said Naruto.

"So it can discharge the powers of the Heavenly Dragons, huh. No doubt it is a Longinus Class Sacred Gear" said Sona, analysing the attack she saw. Naruto smiled at her.

"Yes, dear Sona. I appreciate your cooperation during our spar. See ya" said Naruto and vanished into an Orange Magic Circle with Reni.

"I guess we can't bend him to our whims," said Sona. Rias nodded solemnly. They thought of winning this match and use Naruto for themselves. But it seems the blonde boy is stronger than they anticipated and bested them without a scratch.

"No problem. I'll just find another way to get to him" vowed Rias in determination. Akeno just smiled at her King's determination.

Roygun saw it through her window. It was amazing to her. It's been so long since she participated in her last spar or fight in general

'What an interesting person. I should talk to him sometime' she thought and left to do tend to her works.

And Cut.

That’s it for this chapter folks. Hope you like it.

Don't forget to vote in the poll.

See ya in the next chapter.

Suggestions are welcome.

RR.

Black Infinity1289,

Ja Ne.