Greetings, fellow authors and readers. Sorry for the large amount of time between updates.
I apologize for the line spacing of my previous chapter. It will be rectified soon enough.
Thank you to all reviewers: darthdrew1704, Inumiru, Blackfang1983, kyuubilord, Stormraven, Lvmj, BoneNomad, and my good friend: Angel of Dark Intuition. Thanks go to all of you, you the story going!
Ahem…
On with the Fic!
"This is it? This is what I've run four days straight to find?" growled Naruto, his whole body trembling in anger. His eyes glared at the target of his rage: a cave.
~Yes, this is the place. Can't you feel it? The remnant of others here before you?~ said the Kyubi.
Yeah, now that you mention it, I do feel something. A ghost of a presence, maybe two, thought Naruto, slowly walking into the cave.
The cave was a small one, the walls made out of a rough stone, stalagmites hanging down from the ceiling with sharp ends, water dripping into pools from the points. The cave looked as if no one had been in it for a long while.
So… where's the teachings and tools and other such stuff that's supposed to be here? asked Naruto, searching every possible nook and cranny.
The Kyubi chuckled within his mind. ~Remember: Your eyes can deceive you, don't trust them. Stretch out with your feelings. Feel the cave.~
Naruto straitened and closed his eyes, focusing his mind. He felt the Force flow through his body, relaxing his muscles and clearing his mind. In his mind's eye, he saw the cave stretched on for about fifty feet then opened up to a large cavern.
He opened his and saw the rock had been rearranged. Where there had been a seemingly rock-solid wall, now it was a passageway, exactly as his mind's eye had seen.
Amazing, thought Naruto, walking to the passageway. I felt the rock, smelled the stone, saw it with my very own eyes.
~The force can be used to cloud the senses, make things feel and seem real and, in truth, be false.~ said Kyubi. ~Lucky for us, you are the most powerful I've met. Your illusions and skills will make those before you seem like parlour tricks.~
Naruto crept forward through the cavern, a pair of kunai in his hands. The Kyubi had taught him some advanced kunai tricks during the nights before. The Kyubi had complimented him on his ability to learn quickly. The tricks learned in the past three nights would be enough to overwhelm any attacker that may lay in wait.
The passage grew darker as he walked deeper and deeper into the cave. When he felt the walls of the cave fade away, he could not see his hand in front of his face.
~Well, I'll fix that.~
Naruto's body felt as if it was on fire, his blood boiling within his veins. He collapsed to the floor, curled into a ball and closed his eyes He felt as if he had been dunked in acid, his skin and muscles rippling as red chakra filled the air around him. The pain lasted for three minutes, then faded to a dull ache.
Naruto opened his eyes. He could see clearly as if he held a torch or a light in his hands. He could see the cavern, shelves with scrolls lining the walls, a tool bench on the far side, a variety of weapons beside it. An large open arena dominated most of the floor, half-columns, bricks and debris littering the floor.
What is this place?
~The training place of the last tow people I knew who could use the Force. I remember this place now. This was the larges of the caves, a grand library and training area for both the Force-users and their ninja counterparts.~
Naruto stepped closer to the wall. He noticed a shelf filled with a liquid that stretched out around the room. Reaching up, he dipped his finger into the liquid. He licked his finger. The taste was revolting. Naruto spat, trying to clear his mouth of the vile taste.
Ohh, Kami that tastes like crap!
~Light it.~
Huh? thought Naruto, puzzled at Kyubi's instructions.
~It's oil.~
Ohh… Naruto lifted his kunai and clashed them together, creating a shower of sparks. The oil ignited, the flames spreading on its shelf, bringing light to the entire room.
"Well, that's an improvement."
~Really? I had no idea.~
Naruto walked over to the first shelf and lifted the first scroll. He opened it and read the first line.
-Meditation, the key to a clear mind-
~Meditation will help clear your mind and, through meditation, you could catch glimpses of the future.~
Naruto looked at the other scrolls on the shelf and the other three shelves.
This is going to take a while.
~Before we begin, you're going to learn kage bunshin no jutsu. It creates solid bodies rather than illusionary clones like the regular bunshin,~ said Kyubi. ~They also can use their own jutsu. When they are dispelled or 'killed', their memories are transferred to your thick skull.~
Keep taking shots at me and I'll change my mindscape to Hello Kitty.
The Kyubi gasped in fear. ~You wouldn't dare.~
No, I wouldn't. What are the signs for the kage bunshin?
~There is only one. Simple enough for your idiotic mind. It is a modified ram seal in which your fingers form a cross.~
Okay.
Naruto formed the cross seal and channelled some charka. With a whispered "kage bunshin no jutsu," twenty clones of Naruto appeared.
~Hmm... not bad. Tell them to begin reading the first twenty-one scrolls.~
"Okay, guys. Grab the other twenty scrolls and begin reading. Dispel when you are finished," said Naruto, sitting Indian-style on the floor and opening the meditation scroll.
Three hours later…
"OWW!!!"
~I told you dispelling all of your clones at once was a bad idea.~
Maybe you should have told me that it causes extreme headaches when large amounts of clones are dispelled! thought Naruto, his anger clear in his thoughts.
~Did you learn a lot though?~
Repressing the pain, Naruto sorted through the memories of the twenty clones.
"Yeah, I learned a lot. The Force has two sides. The light side focuses on non-violent powers while the dark side focuses on destruction. Examples of the light side are the ability to heal with the Force and telekinesis. Dark side powers are grip, the ability to constrict the throat or internal organs of an enemy or lightning."
~What else?~
"Force powers are neither good nor evil, it's how you use them that makes the difference."
~Good. Now, can you display any of these powers?~
"I can try."
~NO! Do or do not, there is no try.~
Naruto raised his hands and concentrated on the bricks that were strewn in random piles around the training area. He called upon the Force, feeling the now familiar energizing feeling. He stretched out with the Force, mentally commanding the blocks to rise.
The brick trembled then lifted into the air. It hung in the air three feet above its fellows.
Naruto smiled, then violently pushed the brick with his mind. It soared through the air before smashing into a column, causing it to fall on its side with a crash, crushing other bricks and sending dust flying through the air.
~Well, you've demonstrated the bare minimum of the use of telekinesis. We will need to work on that. Create more clones and have them practice along side you.~
Naruto formed the cross hand seal and whispered "kage bunshin not jutsu," creating ten other clones. As one they lifted their hands and focused on the bricks.
Three more hours later…
The clones dispelled themselves, one after another. They had been causing the blocks of stone to fly around the training cave, crashing them into each other and hitting the semi-upright columns.
Naruto flinched as each clone was dispelled, thirty hours of information slowly accumulating in his head. He sifted through the memories, learning from all the mistakes he had made, through himself and the clones.
~Well, one day and six hours of telekinesis training. Not bad. Now, can you put the knowledge to good use?~
I know I can.
~My, my, doesn't someone sound confident?~
Naruto closed his eyes. Without moving his hands, rocks rose into the air. Their sizes ranged from pebbles the size of a coin to the half-column that he had knocked over three hours ago. The rocks soared over to him, forming three rotating rings, each at a different angle.
Naruto opened his eyes, reached out, and grabbed a floating rock the size of his palm. See? I'm much better, he thought, willing the rock to drift back to his fellows.
~It's true, you are better. Don't let it go to your underdeveloped brain. You can do this when you're focused. If you were in combat, how would you use your telekinesis powers?~
Naruto scowled. I'd figure something out, he thought, glaring inwardly at his demonic companion.
~We will work on this later. Now is the time for sleep.~
Three days later…
~Wake up.~
Naruto woke at the sound of the Kyubi's voice as he had done for the last couple of days. He stretched out his senses to alert him of any intruders. Finding none, he stood and walked to the shelves.
Creating twenty clones, he ordered them to begin reading. They grabbed several scrolls each and began to examine them.
~We are not working on telekinesis today,~ stated the Kyubi, his voice containing barely contained glee.
What are you so happy about? asked Naruto, growing slightly worried. The Kyubi being happy probably meant trouble for him.
~Form a clone and grab your sword. I'm going to begin to teach you a couple of the seven sword forms that the former force users had used.~
You mean the forms that you claim are better than anything the Konoha-nin could have taught me?
~Wow, you remembered a conversation that happened more than five days ago. Maybe your brain is not as underdeveloped as I thought.~ stated the Kyubi, grinning within his cage.
I will end you, threatened Naruto, glaring inwardly at the demon fox.
~You may try, deshi no chikara, you may try. Threats aside, make that clone.~
Naruto formed the now familiar hand sign and formed a clone. Both held their words at their sides, unsure of what to do.
The other clone was surrounded by a cloud of transparent red chakra. The clone took on animalistic features: his pupils changed from spherical irises to vertical slits and changed from Naruto's cerulean blue to the Kyubi's piercing yellow. His whisker birth-marks lengthened to stretch from his jaw line to the center of his cheeks. His fingernails lengthened to form claws. His hair turned black and spiked.
The Kyubified clone stretched his neck, popping as he rotated his head. "It's good to be out, don't you think?" asked Kyubi, waving at Naruto with his clawed fingers.
"How the hell did you get out of my gut?"
"I'm not out. I'm merely controlling a clone, though I did transform him a little so it looks like me," stated the Kyubi. "If it makes you feel any better, I can only use as much charka as you give me. You can also just dispel me like a regular kage bunshin."
"Well, that's a load off my mind," said Naruto, unsheathing his sword.
"Hey, what's with the look?" asked Kyubi, eyeing the blade in Naruto's hand.
"Paybacks a bitch!"
~Ah, shit~
Approximately three and a half hours later…
"Come back here! Stand and fight, Lord of Demons!! What's the matter? Scared of me?"
Kyubi jumped through the air to land on the ceiling, avoiding a slash from Naruto's blade. "Oh, come on! What are one or two beatings because of me being sealed in your guts, right?"
Kyubi was forced to dodge kunai, shuriken, and senbon, the throwing weapons lodging deep in the rock ceiling. I really should have waited to teach him those ninja techniques, thought Kyubi as he dodged a particularly close shuriken.
"One or two? Try hundreds! When I'm finished with you, you're gonna cower at every shadow!"
Ya know what; fuck this, thought Kyubi drawing his own sword. He threw the scabbard away, leaving his hand free in case he needed it for extra-heavy blows.
"Okay, Naruto, time for your lesson! Kataichi San: Soresu!" shouted the Kyubi, adopting a stance with the handle of his sword near his right thigh and the tip near his left shoulder.
With a blur oh his hands, Kyubi deflected the incoming weapons, batting them away seemingly effortlessly. He seemed to be the eye of a storm, his blade forming the wind that isolated him from the destruction that surrounded him.
"Naruto, remember, the sooner you release your anger and this thought of revenge, the sooner we can get back to your lesson," said Kyubi, lowering his blade as the stream of weapons slowed and stopped.
"Good point, but I couldn't resist."
"Well, I did cause you to be beaten almost daily, so revenge would be first on my mind. Now, let's get to work," said Kyubi, beckoning Naruto forward and adopted his stance once again.
"Copy what I do," said Kyubi, shifting his blade slowly through patterns in the air. Naruto mimicked him as best as possible, though he did stumble quite a bit.
"This is the third form, Soresu. This form is the most defensive of all seven forms," he said, rotating his sword through the air, as if warding off throwing weapons. "Those who become practitioners of this form use it to wear down an opponent before dispatching him, counterattacking when their opponent makes a mistake. It requires the utmost patience, something we might have to work on in your case. Remember this well: Soresu has no pre-emptive strikes."
They went through the pattern for about three hours before Kyubi stopped. Naruto looked at him with a question filled glance.
"Create shadow clones and have them attack you. Learning the pattern in a controlled environment is useless when in the outside world. Practice by defending yourself from the clones' attacks. This will give you combat experience."
With those words, Kyubi dispelled himself.
Well, might as well try it, thought Naruto, forming ten kage bunshins. They circled Naruto, lifting their swords in preparation for battle.
"Go."
The clones darted forward; three dashing low for sweeping attacks while the others went for overhand attacks and stabs.
Naruto angled his blade, deflecting two stabs and an ankle sweep attack. His blade blurred as he spun to avoid and deflect the other stabs and the attacks from above. He saw one clone over lunge in his stab. There's a mistake. Now, for the counter.
Naruto chopped down on the offending clones sword then swung his sword in a horizontal arc, separating the clones head from the rest of his body.
~Not bad, considering.~ said Kyubi as the clones headless body hit the ground and burst into smoke.
Considering what?
~Considering you've got nine left.~
Naruto felt another pair of clones take swings at his neck, aiming to decapitate him while one clone in the front took a stab at him. He tossed his sword into his left hand, lifting it over his head to stop both blades. He caught the stabbing clones' hand and pulled it past him, causing the clone to stab another.
Two down, eight to go, thought Naruto as he smiled.
The eight had formed a line in front of him, offering a forest of blue steel to Naruto. He smiled, as he lifted his sword with his mind, having it spin in full circles in mid-air, forming a barrier between the clones and himself, while beckoning the others forward with his right hand.
The two outermost rolled forward, stabbing forward with their blades, seeking flesh. Three of their companions leapt forward towards Naruto, swinging their blades in upward arcs while the other three accessed the Force and leaped over his head.
Naruto grabbed his sword out of midair and stabbed it into the dirt, deflecting the stabs with the blade. His riposte gutted the first and a quick lightning quick slash marked the chest of the other would-be stabber.
The three leaping attackers tried for chest slashes. Naruto used three lightning fast taps of his blade, sending them flying past him.
The three behind him landed and spun around to try for a stab in the back. Their stabs sunk home… into the chests of the clones Naruto had just deflected.
Naruto turned to see the impaled clones burst into smoke. He smiled, seeing the fear in his clones' eyes.
"Anyone want to surrender?" he asked, swapping his sword hand once again.
The three clones looked at each other, looked back at Naruto, and shrugged.
"Nah!"
"I thought as much." Naruto adopted his Soresu stance, waving them forward.
The clones dashed forward, their blades drawing blue arcs in the air. The first went for a stab, angling his blade to stab between the ribs into Naruto's heart.
Naruto spun his sword to a reverse grip, blocked the stab and countered with a blind reverse stab. The end result was a poof of smoke. Eight down, two to go.
"And then, there were two," said Naruto, turning to his remaining opponents.
The two clones attacked as one, one swinging for a beheading strike while the other tried to remove Naruto's legs at the knees.
Naruto took a step forward, leaned back and pulled a corkscrew flip, spinning in the air between the two arcs of steel. He landed as the two others fumbled to launch a second attack. He spun around, drawing his blade through their chests. They stumbled forwards before bursting into smoke.
Well, that's that.
~Impressive for only learning those moves three hours ago.~
Do we move on to telekinesis or create more clones and fight again?
~Continue with the Soresu training. We'll continue the training for another week and a half, then I will teach you the next form: Ataru.~ said Kyubi, smiling within his prison.
Another week and a half? Fine, time to kill more clones.
Naruto formed fifteen clones. They drew their swords, blades, winking in the firelight.
Naruto sighed, "Here we go again…"
One week and a half later…
Naruto knelt in the center of a circle, his head bowed in concentration, his eyes covered by a scrap of cloth. His blade was within the sheath on his back. Fifty clones surrounded him, blades winking in the firelight.
Naruto stood, drew his sword. The blade gleamed blue between the black seals engraved on the blade. Naruto had carved the seals into his blade as a precaution, in case the steel blade were to shatter in the training. Kyubi had taught him the seals when Naruto voiced his concerns to him. The seals would make the blade five times its original strength.
He raised his head and spoke one word:
"Come…"
The clones attacked, blades displacing the air, slashing, hacking, and stabbing.
Naruto's blade formed a blur deflecting and countering every attack that was thrown at him. He repelled attacks from every direction, even from behind, with ease.
The wave of attacks began to thin as the clouds of smoke around Naruto continued.
The last clone ran forward to attack from behind. Naruto held his blade in a horizontal barrier behind his head. Their blades clashed. Naruto pushed the clone's blade down to the ground, then severed the clones head from its' body. He pulled off his blindfold, looking around at the clone who continued to read through the battles.
How was that?
~Very good. You truly have become a master of Soresu. I might even go so far to call the master of Soresu. And only in a week and a half. Much better than the last two masters.~
What's next?
~Kataichi Shi: Ataru. This was one of the more recent sword combat forms developed. It emphasized acrobatic strength and power in wielding the blade, attributes which were frowned upon by many traditional Masters. Ataru relies on wide slashes, acrobatic proficiency and an open space for the practitioner to fight. One basis for the acrobatic nature of Ataru is that the sword can damage with brushing, light strokes, rather than hard chopping motions of other styles. Ataru practitioners are at a great disadvantage if fighting in a small area.In dire situations, Form IV practitioners use the Force to aid in their acrobatics. Spinning, jumping very high and running very fast, masters of Form IV are sometimes only seen as a blur. In order to achieve the acrobatic prowess, amazing reflexes and physical punch of this form, a Master would focus on the Force, letting it flow deeply throughout his entire physical being, even allowing him to overcome the limitations of old age, or poor conditioning. Due to its aggressive nature, it is an effective form to use against single enemies but leaves the user open to attacks from multiple opponents. Ataru is better suited to dueling than open warfare.~
Great. Time to teach.
Naruto formed a clone and Kyubi took over, making the physical changes he enjoyed.
"Time for your torture," said Kyubi, a foxy grin plastered across his face.
"You mean training, don't you?" asked Naruto, drawing his sword.
"Nope, torture," said Kyubi, unsheathing his own blade.
Oh, fuck. Here we go again!
Okay, what do you think?
If you have any complaints, criticisms, requests, questions, concerns, parting remarks, et cetera, et cetera… hit the review button.
Translations:
Deshi no chikara- Apprentice of the Force or Force Apprentice (whatever works)
Kage Bunshin- Shadow Clone (but usually people know this one)
Until the next time,
Shadow Master Seek
