Naruto boarded a red-eye boat at 2:17 a.m. He ignored the strange looks he was getting from people on the port. It was probably because of his unique way of dressing.
Fortunately he could store Purgatory away in the seal on his belly. Otherwise, the security would not have allowed him to board the ship. Limbo, however, was stored in a briefcase beside him.
Naruto browsed through the Internet, checking out the latest trends and news. Maybe update his dating profile while he was at it.
The ticket In his hand was crisp, bought by Susan under six fake aliases twice removed. The destination printed in bold foreign script read: Vie de Marli, Coastline District. The ship would drop him at the ports, far from eyes, close to nothing… which ironically made it close to everything demonic.
He reclined In his seat, black coat draped like a crow's wing over one shoulder. Passengers around him either slept or pretended they weren't staring at the guy whose aura hummed faintly like a contained natural disaster. Humans could feel pressure, even when they couldn't name it.
And Naruto was pressure given rent-free residency.
The ship soon set sail, heading toward vie de marli.
Kurama stirred finally. "You know absolutely nothing about this place."
Naruto cracked one eye open. "I don't need to know the ocean to hunt what swims wrong in it."
"Poetry is for dead enemies, not planning."
"Lucky for you, my targets love preparing monologues nonetheless." Naruto smirked.
"Lucky you"
"Quiet Kurama I need to get some rest while I still can" Naruto muttered as he settled comfortably into his seat slowly.
Kurama grumbled as he quickly watched Naruto drift off into sleep,
…..
Vie de Marli
The train screeched to a halt at Marli–West Station at 4:44 a.m.
Cold air slapped Naruto awake like a bouncer checking him for sins. The city lights flickered even at dawn, a coastal shimmer leaking inward like a hologram failing to render fully. Salt tinged every breath, but beneath it was another scent, iron, ozone, and the kind of spiritual corrosion only demons carried like cologne.
Naruto stepped onto the platform with a yawn.
Susan's files were gone. Henry's questions were gone. The city behind him was behind him. This new one didn't yet know it was hosting its own apocalypse. Which meant it was Naruto's favorite kind of starting point: blissfully unaware.
He grabbed his briefcase, and walked out of the ship. As soon as he got off the ship didn't waste any time and quickly left the place like it was a plague.
The city greeted him in motion: fishermen prepping nets, paper vendors arranging headlines about last night's "earthquake event," delivery bikers too tired to check his face twice. Quiet lives waking up while nightmare politics rehearsed behind curtains nonetheless.
"What a beautiful and gothic sight"
There was a dark cloud over the city, and the atmosphere was a little weird. Maybe because of the recent "earthquake" the city felt half abandoned. However, Naruto liked it that way.
The fewer people around, the fewer casualties there will be once everything goes south.
He made his way to a nearby rundown hotel. After having a chat with the receptionist, he received the key to his room and quickly settled in.
Naruto threw the briefcase on the bed and walked to the window to look out side. Few people were wandering around the street almost like there was a curfew.
From the chat he had with the receptionist downstairs he found out that there had been rumors about kidnapping and killings going on in the city these days.
At first nobody noticed, or they did but didn't pay much attention to it. But as more and more people started disappearing day after day, people became concerned and fearful.
And to make matters worst the government didn't do anything about it. Just the other day an earthquake shook the whole city. They still don't know what caused it.
Now people were frantically leaving the island. Those who didn't leave were unwilling to leave their homes.
"Looks like the situation was worst than we expected " Naruto frowned as he put his phone back in his pocket. The signal here is bad, and there's a power outage. There's definitely something weird going on.
"Do you sense anything when we entered the city?" Naruto asked Kurama telepathically. When it comes to sensing demons, Kurama was the best.
"Nothing yet. They must be hiding after that earthquake they caused." Kurama replied while using purgatory as a toothpick. He yelped in pain as the blade slipped and scratched his gum.
"So we have to sniff them out ourselves" Naruto nodded understandingly, ignoring the painful roars of the beast. It was reasonable for them to go into hiding after that recent stunt they pulled.
Winced as the stab wound slowly healed. Naruto shook his head at his foolishness. Why the hell will a demon be using a sword used for slaying demons as a toothpick? Granted that Kurama wasn't originally a demon but a chakra entity.
But unfortunately after crossing over to this world he became a demonic entity. This wasn't the first time he has accidentally cut himself while playing with purgatory. He just never learns.
Naruto grabbed the briefcase on the bed and pulled out limbo. The gun shimmering a silver hue as if thanking for pulling it out of the dark and stuffy briefcase.
Inspecting the gun, he saw his name inscribed on the ebony grip of the gun in beautiful lettering. While on the other side was the word Limbo.
The gun was made of black demonic steel body, revolving barrel infused with liminal demon cores. Trigger bound to the user's soul. Bullets that tear open gaps in Limbo rather than just hitting targets, while the rest of the gun was silver with the ejected port being a golden color.
On the pull of the gun were the words, "To slay and to protect"
Dante said the gun was made by some old lady called Goldstein. Apparently she knew her way around this things. Maybe he should put in a commission on day.
Putting it in it holster before walking out the room. It was already passed 8PM. And according to the information he got form the receptionist it should be a curfew right now. Which means that it was time to start his investigation.
….