Chapter 10: "How to Train Your Dragon... With Poison"
(In which Naruto learns that threats work better than treats, dragons make terrible patients, and pride really does come before a fall.)
Naruto Uzumaki was many things—ninja, knucklehead, spontaneous snack-thief—but calm and collected in a moment of high-stakes tension? That was still a work in progress.
The battlefield wasn't even bloody yet. The sky was deceptively pretty—soft oranges bleeding into twilight purples—and the wind was annoyingly tranquil for a day that could very well end in scorched earth and heartache. Around him, his team was prepping for what came next: checking weapons, murmuring final strategies, whispering silent hopes to whatever Immortals or spirits listened on days like these.
But Naruto? He sat cross-legged on the grass like some monk who had accidentally wandered into a warzone.
His eyes were closed. His breathing was steady. From the outside, he probably looked composed, peaceful even. Internally?
Absolute chaos.
What if I mess this up? What if someone gets hurt because I hesitate? What if—
Nope. Stop. Breathe. Channel the old guy's lessons. Or Gaia's. Or... somebody's.
He tried pushing it all aside—the pressure of leadership, the dozens of eyes that would be watching him not as a fighter but as a symbol. And slowly, like fog clearing from a mountain, the storm in his chest began to settle.
At least, until—
"Honestly," a familiar voice murmured, so close it tickled his ear, "you're meditating like someone trying to hide from their own laundry pile."
Naruto cracked open one eye. Gaia stood beside him, barefoot in the grass as usual, her hair flowing like it had its own opinions on wind direction. Her expression was calm, but her eyes sparkled with that 'I know everything and will roast you lovingly' energy she had perfected over the last few weeks.
"I thought you liked it when I tried being still," Naruto muttered.
"I do," Gaia said smoothly. "But there's a difference between centering your spirit and spiraling into an anxiety loop while pretending to 'ommm' your problems away."
Naruto chuckled, the knot in his chest loosening. Leave it to a primordial earth Immortaldess to give pep talks with the grace of a therapist and the sass of a battle-hardened auntie.
"I just..." He glanced down at his hands. "It's different. Before, I fought because I had to. Now I fight to protect people I chose to care about. That's new. And a little terrifying."
Gaia sat beside him, cross-legged in one fluid motion, and gently patted his knee. "You're allowed to feel that. But you're also allowed to remember who you are. You've stood before death before. You've laughed in the face of monsters. Don't let the idea of love make you forget that you've always fought for it."
Naruto blinked. "That was... actually really inspiring."
"Don't get used to it. I've got one heartwarming speech quota per moon cycle."
He grinned, and this time it reached all the way to his bones. He stood up, shook out his arms, and cracked his neck. The weight of fear was still there, but it felt like something he could carry now—like a backpack instead of an avalanche.
"Thanks," he said, offering her a fist bump.
Gaia raised an eyebrow. "Seriously? Mortal customs are so strange."
But she bumped her fist against his anyway.
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The sky wasn't blue yet. It wasn't even orange. It was that pre-dawn color—like the world was holding its breath before someone flipped the light switch. But even without sunlight, the tension was blinding.
Naruto stood at the front of the gathered forces, looking like someone who'd accidentally walked into a Broadway performance and been told, "You're the lead now. Good luck!" Except instead of panic, he radiated a kind of chaotic confidence that could only belong to someone who had faced death, doom, and divine sarcasm and lived to talk about it.
The army—if a ragtag collection of nymphs, dryads, water spirits, and mythological outliers could be called that—stood in a semi-circle around him. They weren't just looking at him. They were leaning on him.
And Naruto felt it. Every glance. Every hope. Every unspoken prayer.
No pressure, his inner voice deadpanned.
He straightened up, rolled his shoulders, and let a wide grin split across his face. "Alright, everyone, I'm gonna need you all to chill out."
Some of the nymphs blinked. Others looked mildly offended. A few tightened their grip on their weapons like they were considering bonking him on the head.
Naruto held up his hands. "No, seriously. We've got a dragon to fight. Big, mean, fire-breathing—yes. Scary? Sure. But it's got nothing on us."
He pointed to himself dramatically. "Alice and I? We're gonna hit it so hard, it'll think gravity went out of business." He jabbed a finger toward the trees. "The wind nymphs are gonna make flying feel like bumper cars on a roller coaster. And the water crew? They're on fire duty. Literally."
A few chuckles rippled through the crowd.
"So what do we do?" he continued, voice rising with conviction. "We smile. We charge. We show that overgrown lizard that nobody messes with our forest, our friends, or our post-battle party plans!"
The cheer that followed was deafening. Even the trees seemed to vibrate with the sound. A chant began to rise—"Naruto! Naruto! Naruto!"—and he had the decency to blush slightly at the attention, rubbing the back of his neck like the lovable dork he sometimes forgot he was.
Then came Alice.
"Everything is ready," she said, stepping forward, wind dancing around her ankles like obedient pets.
Naruto turned and... wow. She wasn't just glowing. She looked like she'd walked straight out of a high fantasy mural—eyes sharp, hair lifted by invisible currents, and power humming in her veins like a melody only nature could compose.
He gave a low whistle. "Remind me never to spar with you."
"Noted," Alice replied, lips twitching upward. "I've stationed the wind nymphs for aerial sabotage, and the water nymphs are in defensive formations by the lakes. If the dragon breathes fire, it'll get a mouthful of ice instead."
Naruto nodded approvingly. "Perfect. And we'll draw it out—lure it away from the park, keep the civilians safe."
Alice's posture was tall, proud. "It will fall. With your strength, and the poison slowly weakening it, it won't stand a chance."
That was when Gaia decided to strike with her favorite weapon: humility.
"Don't get cocky," she said lazily from a nearby branch, legs swinging like a bored cat. "Pride's a good way to trip over your own shoelaces mid-victory lap."
Alice blinked, flustered. "Of course. My apologies if I—"
"Don't sweat it," Naruto said, cutting in before she could spiral. "Happens to the best of us. I once declared victory before realizing I was standing on a shadow clone. My shadow clone."
The group collectively winced in second-hand embarrassment.
"Point is," he added with a grin, "be confident. Just not 'I already won' confident."
Alice nodded, grateful for the save. Her face relaxed—just a little.
And then came Ella.
Like a feather caught on a breeze, she descended from a tree branch and landed gracefully beside him. Her golden wings sparkled faintly in the dim morning light.
"Ella is ready for combat," she said, her voice gentle but clear. "So Naruto has no need to be stressed."
Naruto gave her a sheepish look. "Was I that obvious?"
"Very much," she replied with a small, delighted smile.
He chuckled. "Alright then. After we win this, you're getting a reward."
Ella's eyes lit up. "Ella looks forward to it."
And with that, she zipped away, her silhouette vanishing into the trees like a glimmering arrow of faith.
Naruto looked around at the group. His friends. His strange, wonderful, mythically chaotic family. Each of them ready to fight for the future.
He breathed in deep, then exhaled slowly.
This is it.
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If you ever find yourself fused with a primordial forest girl who controls nature and moonlight, just a heads-up—your hair gets really shiny. Also, everything starts humming. The trees, the dirt, your internal organs—like the world's most intense meditation playlist was blasting through your blood.
That's where Naruto was: one-part blonde menace, one-part mystical nature princess, and fully loaded with more elemental energy than Zeus on espresso.
The battlefield stretched beneath a sky the color of storm-bruised grapes. Clouds swirled like angry cotton candy, and somewhere in the heavens, destiny probably cackled like a game show host. Why? Because that was exactly when the dragon decided to show up.
And no, not a friendly "I-hoard-gold-and-give-wise-advice" dragon. This one looked like it had been stitched together from ancient nightmares and kaiju-sized trauma. Scales like molten iron. Wings that could cast shade on a small country. Eyes that screamed "I skipped breakfast and you look crunchy."
Naruto didn't flinch.
He couldn't. Because inside his head, Alice's voice was calm and steady, like a breeze across a moonlit lake.
"It's coming."
That whisper hit his spine like lightning. He didn't wait for an encore. With a burst of wind-charged motion, Naruto became a golden blur, launching forward just as the dragon roared into view like a meteor wearing spikes.
Everything slowed.
The wind didn't just push him—it listened to him, guided him. His body moved like it was born in a stormcloud. He zipped past the beast's snapping jaws and struck its left wing with enough force to punch daylight through the membrane. The sound was like tearing a tarp off a semi-truck in a hurricane.
The dragon screamed—a deep, guttural noise that rattled birds out of trees ten miles away.
Still airborne, Naruto flipped mid-spin and hammered his heel into the side of the beast's head. The wind howled with him, turning his strike into a comet of force.
Boom.
The dragon reeled. For one gloriously stupid second, it hung there, suspended like a cartoon character who just realized there was no floor under them.
Then gravity remembered its job.
The dragon hit the ground like a dropped piano—if the piano was roughly the size of an oil tanker. Dirt flew, trees snapped, and shockwaves punched out in all directions. Somewhere, a squirrel's entire worldview was shattered.
Before the dust could even settle, a new player joined the party.
Ella.
Claws like obsidian daggers, eyes glowing with venomous glee, she dove from the treetops and sank her blades into the gaping wounds Naruto had left behind. Her talons glistened with Gorgon poison—because apparently that's just something she has now.
The dragon writhed, a gargantuan mass of fury and pain, its cries loud enough to send deer bolting across counties.
But Naruto?
He grinned.
"Good job, Ella!" he shouted, the wind carrying his words like banners across the battlefield.
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If you've ever had to fight a skyscraper-sized lizard with a grudge, fire breath, and the temperament of a hangry toddler, then congratulations—you and Naruto Uzumaki would have something to talk about. If not, well, let's just say there's no manual for what to do when a dragon the size of a football stadium is angry and trying to turn you into charcoal.
Naruto, currently fused with the spirit of Alice—Queen of Wind, Slightly Overprotective Ghost Roommate, and 100% certified elemental powerhouse—was doing exactly what any seasoned monster fighter would do: flipping through the air with two wind-empowered axes like he was trying out for the Olympian X-Games.
The dragon was grounded, writhing in agony thanks to Ella's well-placed poison claws and Naruto's earlier precision strikes. But "grounded" was a relative term. This thing still towered over buildings, its eyes burning with primal fury. Think "mother of all migraines," except this one had scales and could incinerate a town just by sneezing.
Naruto didn't let it get that far.
He zipped around the dragon's bulk, his wind-powered speed making him almost impossible to follow. Every time the dragon moved its head to track him, Naruto was already behind it—or above it—or somewhere that made the monster extremely, fire-breathingly annoyed.
He slashed across its haunches, twisted midair, and launched a gust of compressed wind at its face.
WHAM. The dragon flinched, eyes squinting against the miniature hurricane. Its nostrils flared—and then it opened its mouth.
"Oh, crud," Naruto muttered.
A fiery inferno burst forth, a supernova of heat and rage. But Naruto was faster.
With a sharp inhale, he let Alice's energy flood his limbs. His legs coiled, then launched him high with a thoom of wind. He twisted midair and brought both feet down on the dragon's massive jaw—CRACK—just as it prepared to roast him like a marshmallow.
The dragon's head jerked upward. The fire spiraled harmlessly into the sky, singeing a few unlucky clouds. Naruto landed in a crouch, skidding across scorched grass with his axes ready.
"I liked that cloud," he muttered, shooting a glare upward.
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If you ever thought fighting a dragon was tough, try doing it while your opponent is actively healing, on fire, and now also has thumbs.
Naruto didn't exactly plan on getting into a full-blown aerial deathmatch with a creature the size of a mountain. But plans were for people who didn't spontaneously fuse with chaos spirits and toss around giant axes like party favors.
The dragon had already eaten a double serving of pain—wind-slashes, venom-infused claw strikes, and a throat gash that would've put most monsters in an early grave. But dragons? Dragons are the drama queens of the magical world. Instead of keeling over like a polite beast, it shrieked, flailed, and somehow managed to get even more pissed off.
Ella, darting like a nightmare in motion, had just clawed straight across the dragon's eye. And if you've ever stubbed your toe and yelled, multiply that by a billion flaming bees and you'd still be less annoyed than this thing was now. It screamed, a sound that made the air itself vibrate like it was trying to escape.
"Nice hit!" Naruto shouted, though his voice was almost lost in the cacophony of fire and fury. "But I think we really pissed it off!"
"You think?" Ella snapped, leaping back before the dragon's tail could crush her. "It's trying to kill us harder now!"
The beast was in a frenzy, slamming its massive limbs against the earth, flinging dirt and debris into the sky like some deranged landscaper. Its wounds were healing too fast for comfort—regenerating flesh, sealing cuts, even the eye Ella clawed was starting to knit back together.
Naruto knew what had to be done.
No hesitation. No second-guessing. He surged forward, wind whirling around him like a loyal storm. Both of his massive axes gleamed, and in one perfect motion—schwack!—he carved deep into the dragon's throat.
It was a hit so solid that even the earth winced.
The dragon stumbled back, blood spraying like fireworks in a horror movie, wings flapping wildly even though one of them was more hole than wing now. It wheezed, fury and pride bleeding out of it just as much as, well, actual blood.
But because nothing good ever happens after the phrase "it can't get worse," it did.
The dragon's body suddenly pulsed with dark energy. And in the next horrifying moment, it shrunk—not in a cute "pocket-sized lizard" way, but into something leaner. Smarter. It stood upright, two legs, two arms, its chest still covered in scaled armor, with a tail swishing behind it like it was ready to stab someone through the stomach just for fun.
Its mouth—still full of fangs, now curled into a smug sneer—opened, and it talked. Of course it talked. Because ancient magical monsters are never humble.
"Fucking pests," it growled, voice dripping with superiority and mild murder. "You will pay for this insult. Making me do something so humiliating."
Naruto blinked. "Wow. You've got a real attitude problem for a guy who just got his butt kicked by two half-sized weirdos."
The humanoid dragon cracked its knuckles. "Be honored," it said, and even its voice seemed to vibrate with old, arrogant power, "that you made it this far."
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Naruto didn't see the dragon coming for Ella. He felt it. The way the air pressure shifted, like a vacuum being filled by a very angry furnace. One second, they had the upper hand—the next, Ella was spiraling midair, her right wing singed and torn, and the dragon looked way too smug for a lizard that just got its throat slashed.
She screamed—not the dramatic kind you hear in movies, but the raw, involuntary kind that made Naruto's chest tighten with fury. He didn't even think. One second he was on the ground, the next, wind was howling around him as he launched himself between Ella and the charging humanoid dragon.
Clang! The sound of axes meeting claws was loud enough to give a sound barrier an existential crisis. Naruto didn't back down. He pushed, even as the dragon's tail came around like a battering ram.
It hit.
Normally, getting smacked by a dragon's tail would send you flying into next Tuesday. But Naruto's armor flared to life—gleaming silver plates laced with golden wind runes. The tail crashed against it and barely nudged him.
"Interesting," the dragon hissed, with a smirk that was 70% pride and 30% please die already.
Naruto didn't wait for Act Two of that fire show.
The moment he saw the heat building in the dragon's throat, he was already moving. He jumped, wind spiraling beneath his boots. Ella, still in the air but flapping awkwardly, tried to warn him, but he was already halfway to the sky.
Then—fwoooosh. Flames exploded outward like the world's angriest barbecue.
The ground below erupted in fire. Trees burst into flame like they were made of gasoline-soaked paper. The heat was insane. Naruto's arms stung as if he'd been dipped in lava, and even with the wind cushioning him, the air itself felt weaponized.
He gritted his teeth. No time to worry about crispy limbs.
Below, the nymphs had leapt into action. Water spirits were already spinning whirlpools and dragging streams toward the blaze, their translucent bodies glowing with urgency. The wind nymphs—their hair dancing like silver threads in a hurricane—flitted past Naruto, brushing against him, lending him strength.
It was subtle, but he could feel it: the way the air bent more easily, the way his speed sharpened. He rode the updraft, twisted midair, and locked eyes with the dragon, who was now frowning like someone who just realized their prey had backup.
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Naruto had fought monsters before—giant ones, slimy ones, flaming ones, even a sentient pinecone once (don't ask). But this? This was something else.
The dragon, now in a humanoid form—still towering, scaled, and reeking of ancient arrogance—snarled as it lunged toward him. Its golden eyes blazed like molten coins, but there was something clumsy in its movements, something almost... insecure.
"That's right," Naruto muttered under his breath, axes ready. "You don't even know how to use those legs, do you?"
It swung a clawed hand at him like a drunken boxer, and Naruto ducked just in time. The wind nymphs howled around him, answering his call with a cyclone of momentum. With their power at his back, he launched forward, fist charged with compressed air.
BOOM.
His punch connected with the dragon's face like a battering ram slamming into a gong. Teeth shattered, blood sprayed in the air like crimson confetti, and the beast stumbled sideways, flailing like someone who just realized stairs existed.
"Woo!" Naruto whooped, not even pretending to be calm about it. "You taste that? That's what getting wrecked feels like!"
But he wasn't done. Not even close.
He twisted mid-air and brought his leg up, then down like a falling meteor—an axe kick powered by rage, wind, and several decades of pent-up orphan trauma. The impact echoed like thunder as the dragon's body cratered into the earth, sending up a shockwave that knocked over nearby trees and scattered the nymphs like startled birds.
Naruto landed, panting, the ground beneath him scorched and shaking. His armor flickered, responding to his strain, but he didn't back down. Not with Ella watching. Not with the forest burning. Not while that thing still breathed.
He stepped forward, wind swirling around his fists, and straddled the creature's twitching form. Its glowing scales were dulled now, cracked where his blows had landed, and poison was eating away at its strength, like termites chewing through ego.
"You thought you were immortal," Naruto growled, fist cocked back. "But guess what? Even Immortals bleed."
WHAM.
WHAM.
WHAM.
Every punch landed like a promise—of vengeance, of justice, of all the pain he'd carried since he was a kid. The dragon groaned, trying to raise a hand in defense, but Naruto batted it away and kept swinging.
Above them, the wind churned into a vortex as the nymphs danced, their voices blending into a haunting melody that made the air itself feel electric.
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Naruto had been through a lot of fights. He'd gone toe-to-toe with monsters the size of mountains, wrestled ancient Immortals with anger issues, and even survived that one tea party with Alice (never again). But as he sat on the scorched earth, bruised and barely upright, he couldn't help but think:
"This has got to be in my top five worst days."
His limbs were spaghetti noodles dipped in lava. Breathing felt like he was inhaling glass. And to top it off, his soul still hadn't stopped vibrating from the fusion technique he'd used with Alice—which, for the record, felt like cramming two very loud personalities into a single brain and yelling over each other.
But the dragon was down. Defeated. Well, mostly.
The beast—a hulking, obsidian-scaled terror the size of a small cathedral—twitched and hissed, its body writhing against the poison Naruto had oh-so-thoughtfully laced into his final strike. The Gorgon venom was nasty stuff. Even monsters that ate volcanoes for fun usually tapped out after a drop or two. Naruto had used a whole vial. On purpose.
He dragged himself to his feet like a Frankenstein reject, bones popping and joints creaking, and limped over to his new "friend."
"I know you can feel it—the poison inside you," Naruto said, his voice low, steady, and just a little smug.
The dragon thrashed weakly, its once-glorious wings crumpled like wet paper. Its breath came in heavy, angry bursts, smoke curling from its nostrils. If looks could kill, Naruto would've been extra crispy.
"It's Gorgon poison," Naruto continued, crouching just out of tail-whip range. "So if you think dying is a smart way out... yeah, not happening. This stuff sticks with you past the grave."
The dragon's golden eyes flickered. That had clearly not been part of its plan.
In fairness, it had been a pretty bad plan to begin with: show up, breathe fire, dominate territory, ignore the tiny blonde human yelling challenges like a caffeinated squirrel. But now? The pain was crawling up its spine, chewing at its nerves, and settling into its bones like an unwelcome houseguest.
"I can feel your pride screaming," Naruto said with a crooked grin. "Don't worry, it'll die off eventually. Like your will to fight. Or your liver."
The dragon groaned. Possibly in pain. Possibly just to drown him out.
"Showing resistance is pointless," Naruto added with a shrug. "Pain's only gonna get worse. Even if you do die, the poison keeps chewing away. There's only one cure."
The dragon blinked, wheezing slightly. Its jaw clenched.
Naruto folded his arms. "So. You want the antidote?"
The dragon's response was a hoarse growl that translated to something like, You absolute menace.
But then came the question. The one that mattered.
"What do you want?" it asked, voice rough with defeat.
Naruto's eyes gleamed like a kid handed the keys to a candy store.
"I want you to serve me," he said. "As my mount."
The silence that followed was so heavy you could've crushed a Immortal under it.
"…Preposterous," the dragon spat. "I would never—"
"You will," Naruto interrupted, voice like a guillotine's drop. "Unless you want to see how many internal organs that poison can melt before it gets bored."
The dragon tensed, tail twitching. Pride flared like one last dying ember.
But pride couldn't neutralize Gorgon venom.
"…Fine," it said at last, like the word was poison itself. "I accept."
Naruto's grin widened.
"Yeah, that's not good enough. Swear on the Styx."
The dragon hissed. That oath wasn't just binding—it was eternal. But the ache in its limbs, the heat in its blood, the creeping numbness in its chest… all screamed the same truth.
It had no choice.
"I swear," the dragon said at last, voice hollow.
Naruto didn't say "good boy," but his smug expression was definitely thinking it.
He pulled out a small vial of shimmering blue liquid and stepped forward. "This'll take the edge off," he said, pouring it down the dragon's throat.
The reaction was almost immediate. The violent tremors began to fade. Scales regained their color. The dragon's breath steadied, though its eyes never left Naruto's—equal parts hatred and bitter, bitter understanding.
But Naruto wasn't done.
"Stay in your humanoid form for now," he added. "You'll heal faster. Plus, I'm not riding a skyscraper with wings through a thunderstorm just yet."
The dragon grunted and shifted. Its body condensed with a rush of magic and smoke, reshaping into a tall, statuesque figure cloaked in black and crimson, with glowing amber eyes and silver horns curling from its head. Still regal. Still dangerous. Just… smaller.
Naruto looked up, cracked a grin, and dusted off his shirt like a guy who definitely wasn't moments from collapsing.
"You're lucky to serve me," he said brightly. "Stick around, and you'll be rewarded beyond your wildest dreams. Spa days, hoards of gold, a place in history—"
The dragon glared.
Naruto leaned in and whispered conspiratorially:
"…Also, you might get to burn my enemies into cinders."
The dragon paused. Considered.
"…Fine," it muttered again.
Naruto turned around, cracked his knuckles, and began limping away with all the grace of a bruised potato.