Chapter 1 — The Boy Beneath the Crimson Moon
The first thing Naruto Uzumaki noticed was that the moon was wrong.
It was far too large.
And it was red.
Naruto stood in the middle of an unfamiliar street, staring upward at the enormous crimson moon hanging over a city he had never seen before.
Buildings surrounded him, but they weren’t the buildings of Konoha. The architecture was unfamiliar, and the air carried something strange.
Magic.
Naruto narrowed his eyes.
“Where the heck am I?”
Inside him, Kurama stirred.
Not your world.
Naruto’s expression immediately became serious.
“You’re sure?”
I can smell chakra.
Naruto relaxed slightly.
But there is something else.
“Something else?”
Magic.
Naruto blinked.
“Magic?”
Before Kurama could answer, Naruto suddenly felt dozens of unfamiliar energies surrounding him.
He instinctively jumped backward.
A blade of light passed through the place where his head had been.
Naruto landed on a rooftop.
“What was that?!”
He looked around.
Nothing.
Then his vision changed.
For a moment, Naruto saw the world differently.
Energy flowed through everything.
The buildings.
The streets.
The air.
And somewhere in the distance, he sensed an enormous source of demonic energy.
Naruto touched his eye.
“What just happened?”
Your eyes.
“My eyes?”
One of them changed.
Naruto found a reflective window.
His eyes widened.
One eye had become brilliant gold.
The other had become crimson.
“What the...”
He immediately suppressed the strange power.
The eyes returned to normal.
Interesting, Kurama said.
Naruto frowned.
“Don’t sound so happy about this.”
I am merely curious.
Naruto sighed.
“Great. Another mysterious power.”
He looked toward the distant city.
“Well, first things first. I need to figure out where I am.”
A voice came from behind him.
“You certainly seem calm for someone who has appeared in the middle of the Underworld.”
Naruto turned.
A beautiful red-haired girl stood beneath a streetlamp.
She wore a school uniform and carried herself with confidence.
Naruto immediately sensed that she was powerful.
Very powerful.
She looked at him carefully.
“Who are you?”
Naruto smiled.
“Naruto Uzumaki.”
“And what are you?”
Naruto hesitated.
“Human.”
Her eyebrow rose.
“Human?”
“Yep.”
“You don’t feel entirely human.”
Naruto scratched his cheek.
“People say I’m weird.”
“I wasn’t calling you weird.”
“You were thinking it.”
She almost smiled.
“Rias Gremory.”
Naruto’s eyes widened.
“Gremory?”
“Yes.”
“Like the demon?”
Rias stared at him.
Naruto immediately raised his hands.
“Sorry.”
To his surprise, Rias laughed.
“You are strange.”
“Been told that before.”
Rias studied him again.
“You’re lost.”
“Very.”
“You don’t know where you are?”
“Nope.”
“You’re in the Underworld.”
Naruto stared.
“The... Underworld?”
“Yes.”
Naruto looked at the red moon.
“That’s actually pretty cool.”
Rias blinked.
“You’re not frightened?”
“I’ve fought worse.”
She sensed that he wasn’t boasting.
That made her more curious.
“Come with me.”
“Where?”
“My home.”
Naruto hesitated.
Kurama’s voice entered his mind.
She isn’t hostile.
Naruto nodded.
“Okay.”
They walked together.
Rias asked him questions.
Naruto answered most of them, although he avoided explaining everything.
Eventually, Rias asked about his strange energy.
“That power inside you...”
Naruto smiled nervously.
“You noticed?”
“I’m a devil. Of course I noticed.”
“Well...”
Naruto scratched the back of his head.
“There’s a fox inside me.”
Rias stopped.
“A fox?”
“Nine tails.”
She stared.
Naruto grinned.
“His name’s Kurama.”
Rias stared at him for several seconds.
Then she laughed.
“You’re joking.”
“Nope.”
“You expect me to believe there is a nine-tailed fox sealed inside you?”
“Pretty much.”
When they reached the Gremory estate, everything changed.
The barrier surrounding the property reacted violently.
Gold.
Crimson.
Black.
White.
All four energies exploded outward.
Naruto immediately stepped in front of Rias.
“WATCH OUT!”
Two enormous wings briefly appeared behind him.
One was white-gold.
The other was black-red.
Rias stared.
Naruto’s eyes flashed gold and crimson.
Then everything disappeared.
Silence followed.
Akeno appeared at the entrance.
“Rias?”
She looked at Naruto.
“Who is this?”
Rias slowly answered.
“Someone very interesting.”
Naruto looked back at the estate.
“Yeah...”
He smiled.
“I have a feeling things are about to get complicated.”
Far away, a black feather drifted through the night.
Someone was watching.
And the Underworld had just gained a new problem.
