Chapter 3: Changing Perspectives

Mount Justice

It was a heartwarming and serenely calm night in Happy Harbor. The peaceful sky above was filled and decorated beautifully with sparkling stars while the moon continued to shower its brilliant light upon the ungrateful inhabitants of the earth. Soft wind blew over the sea and brought forth within its delightful confines, the magnificent scent of the forests.

A lone figure sat atop the tall and beautifully covered mountain of the Heroes, Mount Justice as the soft wind blew his red cape and crimson hair away like fragile leaves. The figure was sitting calmly on top of the mountain with one hand on his upright knee and the other on his dangling feet, a calm and serene look on his ethereal face.

Naruto was gazing at the star littered sky with his sharp but kind pools of blue. A large brown owl sat upon his hand, content enough to simply gaze at the kind entity that seemed to understand it. Today seemed to be an extra peaceful day.

The sea below seemed to be almost jumping in joy, crashing its mighty waves against the shore with incredible force. The soft wind blew around with heartwarming excitement, swishing and fluttering the trees in its wake.

The team was in the cave, relaxing after their last rather disastrous but successful mission. After their report, the team had headed into their own rooms to think over the events that had happened during the course of the mission. The kind King could not blame them for their behavior, they were children after all.

Seeing a man or a rather chemically enhanced and deformed man fried right in front of their eyes in such tender age, was not one they would easily forget. Their upbringing had taught them to never kill, never take a life, so it was understandable to see them shocked and traumatized.

Batman had been rather moody since that day. He had somehow found out that Bane was nowhere to be found, not a trace of his presence as well as the heat signatures that were supposed to be on Santa Prisca.

Instead of being grateful that there were two less villains to deal with, Batman was more worried about the killer of the villains, finding it to be above anyone's authority to take someone else's life.

Naruto honestly found the man's grumbling and pouting expression entertaining beyond compare.

'Well if it isn't my favorite King, finally decided to wake up?' A twinkle of amusement appeared in the King's blue eyes as he heard the melodious and outright divine tone of feminine voice in his mind.

'You are two months late for the greetings, my dear' he replied softly.

'I must have hurt your feelings for not greeting you earlier, your Highness' the voice retorted teasingly, followed by a melodious giggle.

Naruto closed his eyes with a smile and gently rubbed the underside of the night bird's head, prompting it to release soft adorable sounds of bliss 'Perhaps … however I seem to recall the sensation of an additional form being pressed to my own for the last two centuries'

He could practically feel her smug grin 'I felt rather forsaken without you by my side, besides, your bed is much softer'

'Remind me to create you one when we meet again' he countered with a chuckle.

'Reminding you would be my pleasure, but you do know that it would be useless since I won't be sleeping in it' the voice replied in a melodious laugh.

'You are awfully cheerful today, my dear. Should I be worried?' he asked with an amused smile.

'My favorite King just woke up; I think I have a right to be cheerful'

'Is that right? I feel honored' the redhead stated in a soft chuckle before pinning the floating ball of silver sand in the sky with his sharp blue eyes 'I can feel your presence in the palace'

'That's because I am in the Palace and have to admit, without you, this place feels awfully dull and depressing, though Shukaku is providing me with enough entertainment' the female voice retorted softly.

Naruto released a musical laugh that resounded throughout the forest 'Shukaku has that sort of influence on certain individuals. I wonder why you haven't mentioned my eldest, Kurama, in your rather substantial compliments. I consider it a blow to my pride to hear you disregard my children, particularly my eldest. I am a father after all and a proud one at that'

The King couldn't help but smile when he heard a grumble from near the voice and knew Kurama was near. In fact he knew all his children were present and listening intently to their conversation 'Kurama is a dear as always but he is still sore about your departure'

'Some matters cannot be helped '

'Sorry to disappoint you my King, but I am on Kurama's side this time' the voice replied in a teasing voice, followed by a satisfied and pleased grunt which he knew came from Kurama. He knew the boy was hurt and angry, but to hear that he was still sulking even after two months was amusing.

'I feel rather left out and wounded. You cannot possibly comprehend the depth of my disappointment to hear my children stand against me for such an insignificant blunder' Naruto voiced out in a hurtful tone, a small smile dancing on his lips when he heard a dismissive snort from Kurama.

'THAT WAS NOT AN INSIGNIFICANT MISTAKE! YOU PURPOSELY LEFT TO ANNOY US!'

The redhead King tried hard not to laugh when he heard the irritated shout from the link 'Calm down, Kurama'

'I am not going to apologize!' the colossal fox replied in a growl 'and stop laughing!'

'Nor do I want you to, my boy, though I consider it discourteous to be so loud in your guest's presence' Naruto replied softly.

'Well that was … refreshing' the female said amusingly after a moment of silence 'Any chance of seeing you before my departure?'

'Not at the moment, my dear, but I may be able to present myself in your service after a while'

'Splendid, looking forward to your arrival, my King' the voice stated softly and sighed 'For now I have to resolve a conflict between Kurama and Shukaku. Honestly those two act like rival wives sharing a husband'

Naruto severed the link with soft and melodious chuckle. The conflict was no doubt about Shukaku reprimanding Kurama for disrespecting their Father, for not only shouting at him but refusing to apologize, and Kurama being the proud elder brother that he is, must have taunted Shukaku back for acting like a child.

"Green Arrow to Destiny"

Naruto raised his hand to his earpiece "Destiny here"

"Sorry to bother you, but we have a situation and need your help"

Naruto couldn't help the small smile that appeared on his lips "It wouldn't happen to be regarding the Android, would it?"

"I hate it when you do that! The creepy Bats is enough but never mind that, just get here as soon as you can. We and the other leaguers won't be able to contain it for long" Naruto chuckled slightly when he heard the dryness of Green Arrow's tone.

"On my way"

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Star City

Green Arrow lowered his hand from the earpiece and turned around to once again face the Android that seemed to keep on getting stronger by the minute, only to come face to face with the calm enigma of a man he had been speaking with just a few seconds ago.

If he hadn't gotten used to this, he would've jumped a few meters upwards from sheer fear. Instead it just increased his blood pressure to high levels.

"Would you please stop doing that? You nearly gave me a heart attack!" Green Arrow voiced in a dry tone, desperately trying to calm his frantically thumping heart.

Naruto merely smiled nonchalantly and looked around the destroyed part of the city where the battle had and was still taking place.

He watched as a peculiar Android with naked torso, pointed ears, red eyes and green armor pants known as Amazo, rotated Superman around like a child and threw him away with spot-on precision before firing optic blasts at an approaching Flash.

This robot had the unique ability of studying and then duplicating the powers and abilities of his opponents to its maximum potential. Judging from the techniques it seemed to throw around; Naruto knew the assembling of the other Leaguers had made the robot even stronger than it already was.

Wonder Woman flew towards the robot and tried to punch it in the torso, only for the Android to use Martian Manhunter's Phasing abilities to let her punch phase through his body and grab her by the throat.

Before Amazo could deliver a devastating blow to Wonder Woman's torso, Naruto zipped forward with blinding speed and caught its robot limb in a tight grip. While the robot struggled under his grip, Naruto helped Diana up with his other hand, a calm assuring smile on his face.

Diana took his hand with a pained smile and stood up with a muffled gasp, rubbing her aching throat with her hand. Before she could say anything, Naruto placed a finger on her lips and inclined his head backwards, indicating that they would talk later.

Reluctantly, she nodded and flew backwards to stand beside the other members who seemed shocked to see the all strong and mighty robot struggle to free itself from Naruto's grasp.

Superman moved to assist him but stopped when Naruto glanced at him with a pointed but calm look. He nodded and gestured to the other members to stand back and let him handle the battle.

Amazo kept using optic blasts and energy waves at the invulnerable Naruto to free himself but to no avail; the grip on its limbs was as strong as ever.

Naruto smiled at Superman and turned his attention towards the struggling robot before palming it in the torso. The palm strike sent the green robot flying into a half destroyed building, reducing it to mere rubble from the force.

The King didn't give the robot time to gather its thoughts and flew after it with a resounding boom, appearing a few meters above its sprawled form.

"Access, Superman"

Raising a clenched fist, Naruto shot downwards and struck the robot on its head before it had the time to release optic blasts or make itself intangible, causing the whole city to rumble under its intensity.

Dust and rubble flew all around the battlefield and winds picked up its pace, causing the members to shield their wide eyes of shock from the debris.

When the smoke cleared and the winds shifted back to its original speed, the Leaguers slowly opened their eyes to see the outcome of the battle, only to gape in shock. The area where Naruto had struck the Android … the area which used to be an empty and abandoned part of the city was now nothing but a deep crater with Naruto standing above a torso-less robot.

The kind King calmly dusted his red and black uniform and grabbed the lower part of the robot just as the other members arrived at the scene. The redhead turned around with a calm smile and tossed the remaining robot to a frowning Batman "I am sure you would like to know who had made it"

Batman caught the lower body part without saying a word and turned around with a deep scowl on his face. He couldn't believe that someone even Superman could not defeat was destroyed in a matter of seconds. This was what worried him above all else, Naruto's strength.

They had been fighting the damn thing for four hours and had been met with failure. Yet he destroyed it in a few seconds of his arrival. Superman was a being he had tried many times to understand and find his weakness, even though he was his best friend and he had succeeded.

Well technically Lex Luther had founded those weaknesses, but still he had been happy about the situation. He had thought that he found a powerful being's weakness that he could use should he turn against Earth, even though his conscious had tormented him for betraying his friend's trust.

However, Naruto on the other hand possessed no weakness he could exploit should the need arise. Everything he did and performed was precise and spot-on … in other words, perfect!

It was his belief that no one should be this powerful without having any weakness. Absolute power corrupts even the most kind-hearted of individuals and Naruto was no exception to that fact.

Maybe from this short battle he had recorded, he would be able to somehow find his weakness or at the very least study his movements.

As Batman walked away, Wonder Woman, Black Canary, Green Arrow and the rest of the members surrounded Naruto and fired questions after questions about the fight while he simply looked on with a smile on his face. Looking around at the various members, he saw that only Dinah, Diana and Green Arrow had sustained injuries, though nothing serious.

Dinah had a large cut on her right arm; Green Arrow had a busted lip while Diana had only received a few minor scratches on her arms and legs.

Before the situation could escalate any further, Naruto calmly raised his hand and smiled softly "I am sure you all have questions but you should not let your curiosity stand in the way of your duty. Go and help the authorities clear away the rubble, find any injured citizens and tend to your wounds"

Everyone beside Red Tornado smiled widely and nodded before departing to do what Naruto had suggested, oddly feeling compelled to oblige.

Diana remained still and smiled mischievously "And to think you declined the League Chairmanship"

The redhead chuckled softly and watched as the Leaguers worked together with the police to maintain order and calm the panic-stricken citizens "Governance of the modern world is unassumingly a name to conceal the questionable motives of a man hell-bent on imposing his will upon others"

She shook her head in amusement and awe. If someone was to look at him physically, they would only see a young and ethereally handsome man in his mid-twenties but his words of wisdom, full of concealed implications hinted at something more than that.

Naruto looked around and saw the kind Kryptonian watching them from his peripheral vision, even though he was speaking with the authorities. He smiled softly and shook his head, well aware why he was acting that way "Diana, I believe Superman would like some help in helping the citizens"

She instantly understood his hint and nodded softly, though he knew she didn't understand the true meaning of his words "Of course. I will see you in the Watchtower"

With that she flew away with a discreet smile on her face, not aware of Naruto's amused look. The tall redhead couldn't keep the amused smile from appearing on his lips as he watched the interaction between the two super powered beings.

Even in the midst of the ruins, they would elbow each other playfully; deliberately unbalance themselves to brush against one another, all the while thinking that they were being discreet.

The others may not notice but his eyes had seen far too much, experienced far too much and analyzed far too much to be deceived by mere children. Superman, being the gentleman that he was, would simply smile apologetically and turn around with a small smile on his face while Diana would do the same only a little more confidently.

Even if one was 3 hundred years old Amazonian Princess and immortal while the other was a Kryptonian whose lifespan was yet to be determined, they still behaved like children in front of their crush.

He was not one to interfere in the personal lives of others, otherwise he would've pushed them towards each other, however that didn't mean that he couldn't provide them with discreet words and maybe discreetly inform someone ,who couldn't keep his mouth in control, of their crush.

With a soft chuckle, Naruto floated upwards and flew away with a resounding boom.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Mount Justice

The team consisting of Robin, Superboy, Miss Martian and Aqualad stood on the training mat in the cave in front of Black Canary. She tossed away her short jacket and rubbed her injured arm, wincing in pain. That damn robot had used Superman's Heat Vision to almost fry her bicep before Green Arrow shot an arrow at it.

Naruto was sitting in a chair to the side of the cave, a glass of fresh juice in his hand which Kid Flash had been happy to provide, while Martian Manhunter stood beside him as they watched the proceedings. Seeing the sour look on Superboy's face, Naruto realized the boy had been rejected by Superman, again.

He would've to talk with the Kryptonian.

"Ready for training everyone" Black Canary started with a smile as the mat lit up, indicating the start of the program "I have to say I'm honored to be your teacher. I'll be teaching you every move and technique I have learned from my teachers and mentors"

Wincing in pain, she waved off Naruto's concerned look with a grateful smile and turned towards the team once again "I'll need a sparring partner"

"Right here babe!" Wally grinned widely and carelessly tossed away the peel of the banana he had been eating "but after the sparring, I'll show you my moves"

Dinah grinned mischievously and nodded at the hormonal teen as he stepped forward with a wide grin on his face, her smile widened when she overheard Naruto's soft chuckle.

Kid Flash lowered into his stance and without warning struck with an admittedly swift punch. Dinah ducked under the hit and sweep kicked the speedster legs, crashing him unceremoniously to the ground.

"T-that was fun" Wally squeaked in pain.

"Good speed" Black Canary smiled at the floored speedster and helped him up before turning to the grinning team "Did anyone see what he did wrong?"

Robin smirked and raised his hand "Oh he hit on teacher and got served?"

Wally gave him a betrayed and embarrassed look "Hey!"

Dinah suppressed her amused smile and placed her hands on her hips "He allowed me to dictate the terms"

Superboy snorted dismissively "Oh please! With my power and strength, the battle is always on my terms. I'm a living weapon and this is a waste of my time"

Dinah stared at him for a brief second and smirked in challenge "Prove it"

Conner stepped forward and stood in front of the beautiful blonde, clear challenge brewing in his eyes while Dinah simply smiled smugly.

Both lowered into their stances and sized each other up. The clone struck first with a fast punch, Dinah sidestepped the punch and grabbed his extended arm, using his momentum against him as she threw him away. The clone hit the ground loudly and groaned before standing up in anger.

"You are angry, good. Channel that anger into…" Before she could finish her sentence, Superboy struck again, forcing the blonde to flip backwards and kick the clone in the back hard enough to send him crashing to the ground.

"Arrgh!"

Naruto knew the situation would get worse, if the angry expression on Superboy's face was any indication. He stood up calmly and walked towards the mat in a calm stride "Black Canary, do you mind if I handle this situation?"

Dinah smiled and relaxed "No of course not"

She walked away and stood to the side next to Martian Manhunter with a mischievous and expectant smile on her face. She had nothing against the clone, but she was going to enjoy seeing him frustrated and angry for that egotistical claim.

She, like many of the combat oriented members of the League, had sparred with Naruto many times simply to improve her own skills in hand to hand combat and thus she knew what Naruto could do without even trying.

In all those spars, Naruto had simply dodged her attacks with such incredible fluidity and ease that she had been jealous, all the while smiling his usual calm but friendly smile. However, she had been so frustrated that she had cursed and shouted at him to stand still … and he had.

She would forever remember the stinging of her bones and the sizzling of her flesh upon contact of her fist with Naruto's muscular chest.

It had felt like hitting the very core of the earth except hard like steel!

Superboy glared at Naruto with a large sneer on his face, still angry over his humiliation. Even in his anger induced state, he knew and remembered that this man was far stronger and faster than Superman.

Naruto stood in the middle of the mat and held his hands behind his back with a soft smile "Well my boy, you seem to think of yourself a weapon of destruction, one who has no weakness, no emotions and ties to begin with. I would like to see this presumably unsurpassable power and strength you claim to possess"

Superboy roared defiantly and sped forward with his fist recoiled, ready to punch the redhead with his super strength, however said man sidestepped his blow with ease. The clone grunted in anger and turned around to deliver a flying kick to his face, only for the redheaded King to flip backwards effortlessly.

The others looked on with awed and amused expression as Naruto dodged and sidestepped each and every attack of Superboy with an amused smile while the aforementioned clone kept getting angry.

Their eyes widened in amazement when Naruto dodged a particularly hard kick and release a soft breeze from his mouth, sending the clone flying into the far wall of the cave.

Naruto zipped forward to float above the growling clone and shook his head calmly before placing his hand on the clone's shoulder.

"Superboy, getting angry is a fragment of your human nature regardless of your half Kryptonian DNA, nevertheless to let it essentially consume your sense of awareness in a battle for life and death, that's where I feel myself disappointed beyond compare"

With those words, the redhead walked away from the mat towards the Zeta Beam leaving behind a shocked team, a downhearted Superboy and a smiling Dinah.

Recognized Destiny

The team consisting of the sidekicks couldn't help but feel shocked that the kind and ever understanding Destiny just expressed his disappointment without being subtle about it. During the course of the team's formation, he had never ever expressed his disappointment in them, even though they had failed several times during missions.

But for him to leave with those words, they truly realized how much Superboy's egotistical words had displeased him.

They learned one thing from this encounter, never ever show anger or egotism in front of the calm Destiny.

No one was more shocked or rather downtrodden about the situation than Superboy himself. Sure, he strived to achieve Superman's acknowledgment as a being other than a clone made from his DNA, but Destiny had always been supportive of his situation, willing to pay attention to his frustrating words with a smile on his face.

He never realized his words would hurt him this much! It felt as though he had been robbed of the only thing that made him want to live. Acknowledgment of Superman was his life goal, but he also wanted to make Destiny recognize him since the man was even more powerful than Superman himself.

"Batman to the Cave, five hours ago, a new menace attacked Green Arrow and Black Canary in Central City. The attacker was capable of studying and then duplicating the abilities of his opponents. Green Arrow called in reinforcement which proved to be disastrous as our foe gained even more power with each new combatant."

The team listened on with rapt attention, knowing there was something for them to do with this situation since Batman never ever explained something unless and until it was necessary.

"Wow, one Android with the power of the entire League" Kid Flash voiced out in a shocked and amazed tone.

Batman gave the sidekick Speedster a pointed look "Not all the League, only eight members including Superman and Wonderwoman"

"So what happened?" Robin asked eagerly, etching to start the mission that was sure to come.

"In the end, when the rest of the Leaguers were unable to stop it, Destiny was miraculously able to defeat it" the Dark Knight continued with a frown.

The reaction from the team was entirely expected and understandable.

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Gotham City, Docks

If one were to look at Gotham city from above, all they would see would be tall and magnificent buildings reaching as far as the sky itself, rich and wealthy individuals driving away in expensive cars or private jets, teenagers running around in joy, cops moving around leisurely, without a hint of evil or malice in the very air.

However, if one were to mingle among the people instead of flying over them, if one were to look at the expressions on the citizens' faces, they would see paranoid eyes roaming here and there for signs of trouble, cops eyeing each and every citizen as suspicious, the wealthy practically shivering in their cars as if expecting someone to attack them any second.

Gotham city was what would be called a cesspool of lunatics, delusional freaks, madmen with no sense of honor and cops with no real power to put a permanent stop to their reign of terror. Thieves, robbers and all the scourges of a society seemed to run free in this city with no one but Batman to put a stop to their cruelties.

Cops seemed unable to truly stop the more powerful of the villains since they were human after all.

Even those who were supposedly put behind bars were released after a few days to do what he couldn't do before, except with more vengeance and anger than before. He would be stopped once again and put behind bars with a few extra weeks added to his sentence, only to be free after a few weeks to restart the cycle of hatred and vengeance once again.

Batman, despite proclaimed as the Greatest Detective, was oblivious to these situations, or rather he seemed to not pay attention to the atrocities committed by the villains and more focused on putting them behind bars without taking the one action needed to put a permanent stop to their series of crimes.

Dr. Jonathan Crane aka Scarecrow was one such criminal who, despite being the killer and murder of countless of Gotham citizens, got away with it only with a soft slap to the wrist. He had rendered many brothers insane with fear toxins while his sister would watch, had made father kill his children by making them appear as though they were demons raised from the deepest pits of hell.

He had killed and mutilated countless citizens of Gotham for his sick pleasure and experimentations. He had killed, maimed and dissected men, women and children alike, all for the sake of what? Material possessions and sick satisfaction of the mind!

Such men, by all rights, were not worthy of being allowed to live. His very existence threatened the safety of Gotham and the rest of the cities' citizens.

Deep in a secret underground base near the docks of Gotham city, Scarecrow was busy working on a new toxin to further his research about the many fears a human being would and could have. All his research, endless hours of constant experimentation on the human mind was finally paying off!

With this new toxin, not only would he be able to make his enemies see their worst nightmares but also put a subtle command in their nervous system to trigger the same response upon seeing him again should the victim escape.

With this new variation, it wouldn't matter if the victim escaped or not, the effect would last as long as he desired it. Even if the victim was somehow able to escape his grip, the effect would once again be triggered by his presence, meaning endless torture for his enemies!

He couldn't wait to unleash this new wonderful 'gift' of his upon the ungrateful world! Hearing the screams and pleas of mercy of his enemies as well as the delusional citizens of the world who could not see the weight of his divine ambition would be like a dream come true!

No longer would he be ridiculed by the people for his hideous appearance because they would be too busy groveling at his feet to notice! No longer would he be subjected to the ungrateful words of his subjects whereas they should be grateful to be the stepping stones to his glorious future!

Hearing the bloodcurdling screams of his henchmen who were positioned outside his lab, Scarecrow turned around with an annoyed expression on his cloth covered face, feeling deeply disturbed to be forced out of his thoughts of potential glory and conquest.

The screams and sounds of glasses shattering kept getting louder and louder until everything stopped and the door to his lab opened softly followed by the soft taps of shoes on the floor.

Honestly, he could care less about the death or life of his henchmen, they were all expendable but he was feeling quite annoyed for the loss of his precious toxin test tubes.

"Who is there? Show yourself, coward!"

The door opened fully and a tall man, dressed in a red uniform and a long red cap, leisurely floated into the darkly lit room as if he owned it while the deranged doctor looked on with a frown. The tall man floated into the more brightly lit portion of the room and touched the ground without a sound.

"Who are you!?" Dr. Crane asked with a frown on his face, eyes narrowed behind his covered face.

The mere presence of the man, a redhead from the looks of it, was taxing! His every step seemed to bombard the room with an ethereal pressure that was intent on crushing him! His body glowed dimly in the room like the moon shinning on the earth at night while his blue eyes twinkled in concealed amusement.

"Greetings Dr. Crane" the man answered with a soft and calm look on his ethereal face "My name is Naruto; I was hoping to exchange a few friendly words with you"

Scarecrow glared at the redhead "And you couldn't do this 'friendly exchange of words' without killing my men, it's pretty hard to find such expendable pawns these days, you know"

Naruto feigned a confused and somewhat apologetic look "I must express my deepest apologies for … killing your men, they were rather insistent in their foolish quest to block my path to your lab"

The deranged doctor blinked in confusion at the polite response. Okaay! That was not what he was expecting from the imposing redhead. The man stood in his lab without appearing the slightest bit intimidated or scared, a twinkle of amusement seemed to be dancing in his blue eyes.

Well, he could use this to his advantage. It was his greatest pleasure to make a fearless and daring man or woman scream in terror once subjected to his fear toxin.

"Well, what is it that you wanted to discuss?" he asked pleasantly and inconspicuously seized a small tube from within his lab coat before turning his attention back to his table to appear nonchalant and make the man lower down his guard even more.

He continued his work without a care in the world, discreetly keeping a watchful eye on his guest.

Naruto smiled at the delusional man trying to hide things from his eyes and sat down in a chair to the side near the working table "I was hoping to establish an admittedly profitable partnership between us"

"What kind of partnership?" he asked confusion and a little bit of shock. Honestly, he had expected the man to be one of those stuck up Heroes here to put him behind bars, not a hopeful of partnership.

"I'll provide you with weapons, specifically designed and modified to even harm the likes of Superman and Wonderwoman. You only have to provide me men for my protection and a sample of your new toxin"

Dr. Crane glanced at the seated man with a fake gleeful expression "What is in it for me?"

The redhead gave him a fake confused look "Isn't the promise of powerful weapons not enough to satisfy you?"

The mentally disturbed former doctor let out a loud maniacal chuckle "Oh no, it would take more than that to satisfy me. I'll be willing to enter into this … deal with you if you are willing to provide me with the weapon for free as well as pay me for providing you with security"

The Scarecrow waited with a sick smile on his as he eyed the man who, surprisingly enough, seemed to be thinking it over in his mind. No matter if the man decided against or in favor of the deal, he would still use him as the first miserable victim of his new toxin.

The appearance of the redhead just saved him the trouble of sending his men or going himself out into the city to find a poor sap to use as guinea pig for his experiment.

"Deal" Naruto replied with a smile and shook his hand with the gleeful doctor "Would it be ok for me to ask for the potential buyer of your new toxin?"

Crane smirked evilly, knowing the man would be writhing and thrashing miserably on the ground in a few moments, so it was ok for him to reveal some secrets.

"Of course not, partner. Cobblepot had been asking me for this new toxin for quite some time now and I was going to deliver him the first batch in turn of money and expendable subjects for my experiments"

Naruto stood up with a delicate smile and shook his hand with the deranged man once more before turning to walk out of the room. Jonathan Crane cracked a maniacal smile on his covered face and threw the test tube at the unaware man, covering him entirely in a light pink gas.

"Hahaha. You fool! Did you actually believe that I would partner up with a man who can't even protect himself? I don't need money, I simply enjoying seeing my victims thrashing and squirming on the ground like bugs!"

His fits of insane laughter came to a screeching halt when he noticed that the redhead seemed to be standing calmly in the midst of the gas whereas he should've been writhing on the ground. The gas seemed to be escaping from him!

What was surprising even more was the fact that the man seemed undisturbed by the show of hostility and was actually smiling serenely "My apologies, but was that actually supposed to accomplish something?"

"WHAT?!" Dr. Crane shouted in outrage "You should be on the ground squirming like a bug!"

Naruto remained as calm and composed as ever as he stepped forward, bombarding the room with a fraction of his potent energy pressure "I am not sure I approve of your attitude towards your business partners, Mr. Crane, it's somewhat discourteous and insensitive"

The deranged doctor and so called Master of Fear dropped down to his knees in shock, cold sweat dripped down his body like a fountain hose, every muscle in his body trembled and his heart thumped so hard he feared it would burst out of his chest cavity any second.

He tried and failed to make his body obey the commands he sent, to make it run as far away as possible from this man who seemed more like a vengeful icon of death.

Naruto bent down a little and grabbed the shivering man by his throat to raise him up to his eye level "Well then, tell me something, Dr. Crane, do you enjoy being the subject of the one sensation you seem eager to enforce on others of your kind? Do you find it thrilling to be on the receiving end of fear? Does it feel the way you supposed it would? Do you find it satisfactory?"

The deranged doctor shivered even harder under the piercing quality of the endless pools of ethereal blue of the redhead as he fired one question after another. The man seemed undisturbed; not the least bit angry but his actions were betraying the true course of his temperament.

He hadn't expected this to happen! This was not how things should be going! However, despite everything, he couldn't even bring himself to make his body hear his orders let alone fight back.

"W-what d-do you want?" the Master of Fear said in a whimper

The redhead King gave the man a calm look, drilling his eyes into his "Tsukuyomi"

Scarecrow stiffened like a slab of iron plate, his eyes rolled into the back of his head, his hands and feet stopped struggling and went stiff like a rod. The redhead dropped the man down uncaringly and looked down at the squirming doctor with a raised eyebrow of amusement.

This was supposed to be the Master of Fear? This was the man who had terrorized the citizens of Gotham? Pathetic.

"Oken"

The ever loyal and obedient man instantly appeared in front of the kind King and kneeled on the ground in servitude, not even glancing at the screaming and thrashing doctor "At your service, your Highness"

Naruto gestured towards the deranged Dr. Crane "Put him in a confinement cell and make sure he experiences the grief and terror of all those he had tormented in the past, both physically and mentally"

Oken gave the screaming man a cold and downright chilling look. If the man hadn't been inside the terrifying Genjutsu, he would've died from the sheer intensity of the glare alone. To think this man had displeased his Lord so much that he would subject him to a Genjutsu even he wouldn't want to be in.

"Your wish is my command"

The brown haired attendant uncaringly grabbed the shuddering man by the collar of his lab coat and disappeared with one last bow to the King. Said King walked out of the lab and out of the underground base before disappearing just as the base as well the building above it exploded in a magnificent shower of debris and fire.

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Gotham City, Ice Berg Lounge

Naruto appeared in front of the base of the gang leader known as Cobblepot and calmly strode towards the door as his red and cape hair fluttered in the soft wind. It was almost midnight so there were not many people to notice his sudden appearance from thin air.

The door was ripped out of its hinges from an invisible force and blasted far into the base before he even reached it.

Alarms went off in the base as a mob of heavily armed men ran towards the door, clear confusion and fear etched into their visages. It seemed they thought the cops had finally grown a backbone and were here to arrest them, but they couldn't be far from the truth.

Arresting criminals was the least of Naruto's thoughts.

The confusion and fear was washed away as soon as they saw that a man in his mid-twenties floated into their base without a care in the world "Who the hell are you?!"

"Salutations" Naruto greeted in a calm tone and floated past the dumbfounded thugs towards the ice berg where the pudgy and deformed man was sitting. The flabbergasted thugs stirred out of their surprise and pointed their weapons at the floating man with outrageous expressions on their faces.

"Why you…"

The men didn't even have time to blink before the bullets they had shot at the floating redhead bounced off his body like mere rubber and returned towards them twice the speed and power, drilling holes into their torsos.

The surprised and obviously dead men dropped to the ground like sacks of potatoes and painted the porcelain white marbles red with their blood.

Cobblepot stared at the carnage below with wide unbelieving eyes. He couldn't believe it! His men dissected in half by their own bullets no less! Just what the hell was going on?! Judging from the symbol of a tree on his torso and his red and black uniform, he guessed that he was one of those delusional Heroes.

But he knew one thing about each and every Hero, they never ever killed!

This one, however, was not afraid to dirty his hands with blood and that alone was enough to make him shiver uncontrollably in his comfortable seat.

Naruto floated to the ice berg with his hands behind his back and a serene smile on his face "I consider it an honor to be in your esteem presence, Mr. Cobblepot"

Penguin couldn't keep the gob-smacked expression from appearing on his face when he heard that comment. He was honored to be in his presence!? Was he kidding?! If the man considered killing his men in such a brutal way an honor, he shuddered to think what he would consider a disgrace.

The problem was he couldn't tell if the man was joking or being serious.

He gave his trembling men who were standing behind him, a discreet signal to not fire at the man and put a pleasant smile on his face, not showing the shivering of his hands and feet behind the desk.

The mere presence of this redhead was enough to put his senses into hyper-drive! Despite his smiling and serene visage, Cobblepot knew that this man was much, much more dangerous than all the Villains and Heroes combined "So Mr …"

The redhead King smiled calmly "Naruto"

"Right, Mr. Naruto, what can I do for you?" he asked pleasantly, a nervous smile on his face.

Naruto hummed in thought "I was told by Mr. Crane that you had ordered the first batch of his new … fear toxin"

"R-right"

"Well, I am here to deliver you the aforementioned toxins" the ancient King replied in a calm tone.

The pudgy man blinked once and then blinked again, his mind trying overtime to comprehend the absurdity of the current situation.

He was here to deliver him the ordered batch of the new fear toxin?! Then, why in the nine bloody hell did he blast his front door to countless pieces, walked or rather floated into his club like he had owned it and butchered his men like mere bugs!?

"Should I take your staggered expression as a sign of acceptance?" Naruto asked in fake confusion while the man stared at him with wide unbelieving eyes "Staring at your guests is rather discourteous, Mr. Cobblepot, some might even take it as a sign of disrespect"

The famous gang leader snapped out of his flabbergasted state and smiled nervously, inwardly sighing that at least he wasn't going to die. He could always hire more men to protect his club as well as him, after all, money could do anything "Well, thank you for delivering the toxins to me, what would you like in return?"

Naruto leisurely uncrossed his hands from behind his back and pinned the nervous man with his sharp and narrow blue eyes, all the while a soft smile danced on his lips "I want your life"

"What!?"

Hearing the threatening demand, the thugs standing behind Cobblepot pointed their guns and fired while the aforementioned fat man took out his umbrella-like weapon and started firing relentlessly. Eyes widened to the size of dinner plates when the fired bullets harmlessly bounced off his body and clattered to the ground.

Naruto feigned a hurtful look and shook his head "That wasn't an appreciative way to repay someone, Mr. Cobblepot, I was kind enough to deliver you the products and yet you repay my act of kindness with bullets to the chest, honestly I feel used and underappreciated"

The deformed man and his thugs stepped back when the man lightly tapped the ice berg they were standing on with his boot and floated a few inches away.

Hearing loud rumbles from the supposedly still and lifeless chunk of blue ice, the fat criminal businessman couldn't keep the widening of his eyes and the thumping of his heart when the ice fragmented into small pieces and began morphing into something as he and his men were unceremoniously dropped to the ground with no foothold for them to stand on.

The previously lifeless and cold chunks of ice wobbled and staggered around, slowing and gradually shifting form and mass until the astonishing transformation paused and revealed a pack of large ice wolves.

Each wolf was large enough to swallow a small deer without much trouble, bestowed with considerable but firmly dense ice muscles, dreadful looking claws, drool of incredible hunger oozing down a terrifying set of jaws and soul-scorching red eyes.

Naruto floated down to the ground and caressed the icy head of the largest of the wolves affectionately, the others encircling and standing behind him like a vengeful army while Cobblepot and his thugs looked on with wide and unbelieving eyes, bodies trembling like fragile leaves in a destructive storm

"My friends here seemed to have some rather disturbing grievances against your hospitality, Mr. Cobblepot. Normally, I would overlook transgressions committed against me since I am a bleeding heart of generosity, nevertheless as a fellow admirer of nature, I simply cannot disregard their perfectly understandable demands for justice"

"W-what the h-hell are you?" the pudgy man stuttered out in a terrified voice as he crawled away on his bottom, his men moving even faster than him "What the hell are those things?!"

Naruto gazed at him with those soul-piercing blue eyes of his with a calm look on his face "It's ironic how you seem to disregard the same thing you had been sitting, standing and painting in red with the blood of innocent men for so many years"

"P-please have mercy!"

"Apologies, but you will have to negotiate those … terms with my friends here and considering their expressions of starvation, I find their consent to your conditions exceedingly debatable" Naruto replied with a small smile and gestured to the hungry wolves to march forward with clear malice in their red eyes "Now then, stay still and let them 'discuss' the legitimacy of your terms"

The pack of hungry ice wolves pounced on the terrified Cobblepot and his men, tearing into their flesh and bones as if they were tissue papers, painting the white marble floor with the crimson liquid of life while Naruto looked on with a calm and composed expression on his face.

Some might find the scene and the manner of their death cruel beyond belief, but Naruto knew exactly what kind of men these were. Target killing, assassination, sabotage and black marketing were one of the many 'colorful' deals the pudgy man had a hand in.

If you were to take someone's life, be warned that yours would be taken as well.

Naruto walked out of the now red painted club seeing as the wolves had dealt with the thugs and floated a few feet in front of the building. Leisurely raising a majestic finger, the earth around the large structure rumbled as the building was hoisted up from the ground and raised to the sky like a balloon.

Naruto lightly clenched his outstretched hand, causing the floating building to explode in a shower of debris and dust, forever erasing the last evidence of the famous criminal businessman's existence.

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