Injustice Book 1: A Journeys Beginning (Naruto + Batman Comics crossover)

Chapter LIV - Kryptonite

"Normal Speech."

'Normal Thought.'

"Demon Speech."

'Demon Thought.'

"Other Speech variants."

Location/Time.

-X- Line Break -X-

Thursday 3rd December, 03:00.

New Jersey,

Gotham City,

Wayne Manor.

Bruce remained calm as he watched the news recount last nights robbery of the auction. A robbery that came about due to his failure, something that seemed to have been happening more often as of recently and that was something he did not like. He had already known that the criminals were getting more dangerous as they attempted to defeat him. But he always managed to rise up and meet them and come out the victor.

Slade Wilson, was one such individual that he was always wary of facing. The man had been a gifted and decorated soldier who had undergone a failed military experiment that gave him enhanced abilities. That alone combined with his skills in hand-to-hand combat made him an extremely dangerous foe that Bruce could never take lightly.

Last night however, Slade had managed to keep him stalled long enough for one of his two apprentices, Ravager to steal what was inside the artefacts. All the while the other, Marauder managed to hold off both Batgirl and Robin.

That alone was a cause for worry.

Deathstroke was skilled enough to match him blow for blow and with his enhancements, it always gave him a slight advantage. Luckily, despite his top speed being over a hundred miles per hour, the distance required to reach those speeds was too long and so, in close quarters, Deathstroke was no faster than him, only stronger.

However, with two apprentices, Deathstroke was infinitely more dangerous. Especially when one of those apprentices was capable of taking on both Batgirl and Robin. Bruce had believed that his two protégés could handle most threats in Gotham. Alone they could only be overwhelmed by some of the more dangerous villains, but together there were very few that could come out on top.

Considering Marauder took on both Batgirl and Robin, it told Bruce that this new mercenary was far more skilled than his protégés and that they weren't as ready as he once believed. Even more so, if Ravager was on a similar level to Marauder.

'I'll need to increase their training.' And with Batman's presence being known and the robbery still succeeding, Bruce knew that the criminals of Gotham would take this as a sign of weakness on Batman's behalf. 'Whether they like it or not, the coming weeks are going to be difficult.'

But above all else, one question had been in Bruce's mind.

Who were Marauder and Ravager? And while Ravager's identity remained a mystery, Bruce had a theory as to who Marauder was.

Naruto had mysteriously disappeared, only telling Jim, who in turn told Barbara that he was travelling the world. That alone didn't fit Naruto's memo as he seemed dead set on saving Gotham. That meant he was doing something he thought was more important, something that would help him save Gotham.

Training under Slade would certainly help him in improving his fighting skills, but why Slade of all people?

But the one thing that really convinced him that Naruto was more than likely Marauder was that during the assault on Arkham that the latest iteration of the Suicide Squad and performed, Naruto had shown a major leaps in strength and speed. More so than should be possible in such a short time range. And he had miraculously healed from all his injuries at the hands of Alton Carver.