Chapter 83: Zatouji

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Chuckling awkwardly, Yuuto placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder as he told him, "Not helping your case, Naruto."

"Ah, who cares?" Naruto remarked with a shrug before adding, "If being an adult means being all serious and contemplative all the time, I'm perfectly fine with being a child."

"You preach too much to behave like a child all the time. Just makes you seem hypocritical," Raynare remarked snidely.

"I'm not preachy," Naruto immediately snapped back. Kind of a lie, but Raynare has made a habit of pointing it out. It's starting to annoy him.

"Sure you aren't. Now how about you two go play together with your swords. Cause that isn't gay at all," Raynare ordered gesturing for them to leave.

"…I'm gonna break you next time I train you," Naruto grunted after a second of glaring at Raynare. She tried to act like she didn't care, but Naruto saw her face pale slightly.

Never piss of the person training you. They can just ramp up the sadism during your next session. It's a lesson Naruto has learned well.

Jiraiya didn't throw Naruto into that canyon just to learn how to summon the Kyuubi's chakra.

Pa didn't beat Naruto over the head with that stick just to remove the nature energy from him. He just pissed them off a bit too much.

Satisfied that Raynare was secretly terrified, Naruto walked to the magic circle and said, "Come on, Yuuto." Once Yuuto joined him, the two teleported out of the clubroom.

The entire Occult Research Club appeared from within a crimson magic circle. They were in a varied state of dress. Rias, Akeno, Koneko, and Asia all chose to go in their academy uniforms.

Yuuto and Raynare decided on tracksuits, Yuuto a gray and white one with Raynare in a purple and black one. Naruto was wearing his preferred workout/fighting clothes.

White cargo pants, modified sandals, orange sleeveless shirt, and a white cloth around his head to hold back his longer hair.

He'd even put on the white and orange armored gloves Rias had gotten him, just in case.

As they arrived, Rias immediately announced, "This is a special forest containing many magical creatures that can be turned into familiars for devils."

The Familiar Forest. It was…actually something of a let down. The trees are very large, but almost entirely devoid of leaves or other signs of life.

The trees blocked much of the sky, and what sky they could see was overcast. The two together made it seem like it was nighttime, and not morning.

It's thankful they are all devils and can thus see in the dark. Overall it looked like a stereotypical creepy forest you see in movies.

"This place is creepy," Raynare commented as she scanned the surroundings with a pronounced frown.

"No kidding. It reminds me of a number of horror movies I've seen. I'm just waiting for zombies to start bursting out of the ground," Naruto stated in agreement.

His words seemed to frighten Asia slightly, and she started clinging to his side.

"It's not that bad. We all got our familiars here," Yuuto claimed in a reassuring voice.

"Gotta catch'em all!"

"With his help," Rias instantly announced as she looked up into the trees.

They all turned to see someone standing among the branches. He was a middle-aged man with red hair.

He was wearing some loose shorts, a white wife beater, a backwards cap, and a backpack. He looked rather weird to Naruto, like a guy that hasn't accepted he stopped being young fifteen years ago.

"I'm Zatouji, the Familiar Master. I can catch any familiar," the man announced while making a weird symbol with his hands.

Naruto looked at the man skeptically, Asia looked nervous, and Raynare appeared exasperated.

Seeing their looks, Akeno quickly informed them, "He's a familiar master. They are a small group of people that study familiars. They are professionals when it comes to familiars."

"Yes. They also aid young devils in obtaining familiars. I arranged to meet with him today over three weeks ago. Today we'll be gaining you three familiars with his advice and assistance," Rias explained to them before looking at the man and adding, "Good morning, Zatouji-san. Thank you for your assistance this day."

"No problem, Ojou-sama. I need to work to eat as well, and your family has always been generous," the man declared as he jumped down to the ground.

"These three are the ones I spoke of," Rias told him as she pointed towards Naruto, Asia, and Raynare.

"I see. A blonde bishoujo with a pure aura, an attractive brunette with some noticeable darkness, and a wild looking blond with a strong, but gentle presence to him. OK. Leave it to me. I can definitely work with you to gain familiars," the man claimed as he looked over the three of them. He then questioned, "Now what are you looking for in a familiar? Something that can fly? Or something fast? A good hiding ability?"

The three didn't reply immediately. Naruto looked between Asia and Raynare, but it was clear they didn't know. So Naruto shrugged and replied, "I'd like something with some abilities in healing. I've got no talent at it, and I'd like having at least something at my disposal that can."

Zatouji cupped his chin as he thought out loud, "Healing ability. Difficult, but not impossible. Most familiars can learn magic. Healing magic is a bit more complex than the simple magic, but it is-"

"No, that isn't what I meant," Naruto quickly interrupted. Patting Asia's shoulder, Naruto clarified, "If it's simple healing magic, then Asia's Twilight Healing is far superior. She however can't cure exhaustion, illnesses, or amputated limbs. I'm not saying they have to be able to handle those things, but I expect more than ordinary healing magic. Rias-chan and Akeno-senpai can do that. I'm looking for something…out of the ordinary."

"That wouldn't be a low-tier familiar, boy," Zatouji announced seriously.

"What do you mean by that?" Naruto asked in confusion.

"You don't even know that? Did you not take the time to study familiars at all beforehand?" Zatouji asked mockingly.

Eye twitching in annoyance, Naruto grunted out, "We learned about coming here yesterday. Of course we didn't study."

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